so calm.
Do you have one with the boathouse(?) and its reflection? I feel cheated just seeing the reflection :)
Great Shots.

I enjoy B/W photos and I really like these.
I checked out your flickr webpage and I was jealous of the loon reflection shot.

well done...
that said...being a Bears fan caused me to cringe when I saw the Seahawks jersey. I still have nightmares after the Seahawks whipped the Bears.

Dear Rathyatra and Croce,
I do not understand why someone who is getting beat would then turn on their "protector" like you two. I guess the police see allot of this kind of behavior in domestic disturbances. You did the right thing but because these two women cried wolf, don't let that stop you from saving someone in the future.

That is what I felt at the time and after it was over.
My wife was a little upset with me, so I had to call my son (Colorado Springs) and talk it out with him. Most of our women do not get it as they love us so much and do not want us hurt. I cleared the air by saying "what if that girl was Sofie? (Our daughter) She understood then.

I did not have a cell phone, but my wife and I have one now (pay as you go) I use about 15 minutes a month. They way it went, I was out of my truck and in it. I appreciate your service to your community. I live in a small town and I have a nice rapport with our police. People outside our community do not care for the Rockton Police as the police will pull you over for speeding / not stopping completely / etc. I tell people I know, "just follow the law" and those that continue to complain, I tell them to "stay out of Rockton". I was arrested by our police dept. in 1996 for standing up to a mess of young people (15-21 years old). Another long story, but when the police came to my home they were apologizing and I told them I broke the law and you need to do your job. The end is that the community banded together and things got squared away. Law Enforcement can be a real thank-less job, but I applaud the men and women who try to be the best they can be.

Outstanding.
Luck does happen, but you were prepared.
Great...Great...Great shots

I enjoy seeing what we don't see.
Thanks for sharing.

Amen

If the driver was in his truck, he could have drove off, called the police. If the driver was walking back to his truck and this person was aiming at his truck, the driver could have walked to the place he made his delivery and call the police. Poor judgement on both parties. If the police confronted this person and the police are not sure if the gun is real or not and the person does not respond to the police, this person may get shot. There have been a few times that the police have shot/killed someone with a toy weapon.
Ban guns, toy guns and guns made of wood.

love it
2 and 4 just crack me up

I was raised by parents who were deaf. I was an accident baby. My siblings are 15, 11, 10 years older than me. When my siblings were growing up they got presents, not expensive but they got presents. I come along, my siblings (all quit high school at 16) are gone out of the house. I am the last one around and I get good presents. I wanted to be a drummer as my Dad would watch on TV people like Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich play the drums, he would turn up the volume and touch the speaker. They bought me a set of drums from Sears and I would play for hours. My parents also bought me a guitar amp. to plug into my stereo so I could play along with records. They would sit in front of me while I played. I ended up buying my 1st real drum kit when I was 15, working and saving for it. That was in 1973 and that kit cost me over $1,000.00. They would have bought it for me but I wanted to do it on my own. My siblings took advantage of my folks for years after my siblings became adults, I didn't want to be like them. My drumming became a great joy for my Mom and Dad as it was for me. If one of my kids wanted to play drums I would have guided them to an electric piano with headphones.
My wife on the other hand would get a coloring book and a box of new crayons for Christmas and she said she was so excited to get new crayons. Inger (my wife) is a good artist, though she doesn't think so. I tried through out the years to get her to draw but she won't.
I guess my point is that the best gifts are the gifts that will help stimulate that child. IPhone / Playstation / XBox are not the gifts that would enhance a child's advancement in their gifts that they have inside.

I agree with all of your statements. I do not carry a firearm. I did not see this girl get and say to myself, "what should I do?" It just happened. Honestly I do not remember getting out of my truck. This is not something that has happened to me before. This guy had both hands exposed and I was anticipating him to reach, if he did I would have to do something. Sure I have broken up fights before, and prevented one from a friend of mine and a drunk at a free outdoor concert (3 Doors Down) in Rockford. Gary and I were on the edge of the mosh pit watching the fools hurt themselves, when one of these idiots confronted Gary. He had Gary by the arm and this nut looks at me, I said into his ear if he didn't let go, he would miss the rest of the show. It took him about 10 seconds, just staring at me for him to understand what I meant. Later the police hauled this joker away in handcuffs with a bloody face. Looked like he grabbed someone else who decided to punch instead. I'm 55 and when I was in my early teens I took years of martial arts training. The last time I had to really fight was in my early 20's. If I had to really fight today it would have to be real quick as I know I wouldn't last for more than a couple of minutes. My job is physical and I still have good strength, but I know I have a very limited stamina, that shows when I'm coaching soccer and I show an example or two of what I want the kids to do. I make a couple of runs and I breathing as though I ran a 440.

tschmath,
thank you for you thoughts on this subject.
I have not read all of the reply's but I wanted to say that you made allot of good points.
I wish the government would tuse this type of thinking and find a good solid ground.
I will not nit-pick anything on your proposal as it would not solve anything, but I appreciate all of your thoughts you put down.

My favorite Rush song is "Working Man"

I get up at seven, yeah,
And I go to work at nine.
I got no time for livin'.
Yes, I'm workin' all the time.

It seems to me
I could live my life
A lot better than I think I am.
I guess that's why they call me,
They call me the workin' man.