And God Created Dispatchers........

The Angel Walked In And Found The Lord Walking Around

In A Small Circle Muttering To Himself.

"what Are You Working On Now, Lord?" Asked The Angel.

"well , I Finished Creating A Peace Officer , Now I'm

Working On A Dispatcher."

Since The Angel Could See Nothing In The Room, He Asked

God To Tell Him About It.

"it's Somewhat Like The Police Officer Model. It Has Five Hands; One For Answering The Phone, Two For Typing, One For Answering The Radio And One For Grabbing A Cup Of Coffee."

"the Arms Had To Be Placed Carefully Since All The Tasks A Dispatcher Does Have To Be Performed Simultaneously."

"the Digestive System Is A Little Complicated. It Runs On Coffee, Vending Machine Food And Food That Can Be Delivered."

"i Made The Skin Tempered Duralite Covered Teflon. A Dispatcher's Skin Has To Be Tough Enough To Withstand Darts From Cranky Officers, Jabs From Citizens And Lack Of Attention From Administration."

"unlike A Police Officer, It Only Needs One Pair Of Eyes. That Leaves Extra Room For All The Ears It Needs. There Are Five Sets Of Ears; One For The Telephone , One For The Main Radio, Two For The Other Radios That Need To Be Monitored And The Last Pair To Hear Everything Else Going On Around It."

"all The Ears Fit Right Into The Head Which Has To Also Fit A Brain Capable Of;

Remembering A Full Set Of Ten And Signal Codes, Elements Of Crimes, Criminal Vs. Civil, Phonetic Alphabet, How To Handle Every Imaginable Type Of Call, Hundreds Of Voices, The Contents Of 3 Sop Manuals, Two Teletype Manuals, An Ncic Code Book, The Individual Quirks Of Each Lieutenant, Sergeant, Officer, Watch Commander And Supervisor."

"there Also Has To Be Room For It To Make A Decision, In 10 Seconds Or Less, On The Appropriate Way To Handle A Situation And The Appropriate Units To Send, While Talking On The Radio, Running Checks And Helping The Citizen At The Window."

" The Dispatcher Must Have An Abundance Of Patience. I've Made The Patience Center Extra Large And Added Three Fuses To Handle The Overload."

"there Are Overload Switches For Emotions. Its Heart Must Not Break When It Talks To A Mother Whose Child Has Just Died. It Has To Talk To A Rape Victim And Show Empathy, A Suicidal Person And Show Calmness And Reassurance And An Abusive Drunk Without Getting Angry. When One Of The Officers Yells For Help, It Can't Panic. There Is A Soft Spot For Frightened Children, Abandoned Or Hurt Animals And Little Old Ladies Who Are Lonely And Just Need To Talk To Someone."

The Angel Looked Around And Said "the Dispatcher Sounds Wonderful, Lord. Where Is This Amazing Creation?"

"well You See,"answered The Lord, "dispatchers Are Invisible Unless They Make A Mistake. Now That I Have Created One, I Can't See The Original Model To Make Enough Of Them To Go Around."

----------author Unknown

Everyone needs a little bit of sunshine

There are some simple things in life that we forget to do. With all the hustle and bustle of everyday life sometimes we forget to stop and smell the roses. When was the last time for NO reason at all you stopped to tell someone you love them? Complimented a co-worker on a job well done? Told your children or siblings how very proud of them you are? Smiled at a random stranger in the coffee shop?  We become so wrapped up in ourselves and our work that sometimes we forget to take the time. 

There are some things everyone deserves to hear. Everyone needs encouragement, flattery, recognition, compassion and so much more. It is amazing what these little things can do to turn around someones day. You never know what kind of pain that plastic smile is holding back, YOU may be the only bright spot in their day. Today as you make your way through the day if you love someone, tell them. If someone looks pretty/handsome today, tell them. If someone brightened your day with a smile, tell them. If someone did a great job, tell them. I think we will find that opening ourselves up will bring a little more sunshine into our own lives as well. 

Have a great day! 

Just hilarious!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17wqbXR8nT0

Santa BOLO

Be on the lookout......

Central to all units….

NORAD and North Pole PD are tracking a vehicle coming from a northerly direction and believed to be heading towards the City of Wilmington and County of New Hanover. Suspect number one is described as a white male, approximately 50 years of age…506…240 lbs…rosy red cheeks…a nose like a cherry…having a large belly that has been seen and described as...... shaking like a bowl full of jelly…white hair…twinkling blue eyes…wiry glasses…white, flowing beard…wearing a red and white coat…red and white pants...black boots…black belt…and a red and white floppy hat with a white ball at the top of it. Suspect goes by the last name of Claus, first name Santa, but also has aliases of Kris Kringle, St. Nick/St. Nicholas, and Father Christmas. Suspect has been seen making entry to numerous residences, possibly through chimneys. Subject does not appear to be violent. Suspects number 2 through 8 are described as tiny…deer-like in appearance…male…brown fur…four legs…antlers…wearing harnesses with bells. Suspect number 9 is a male…brown fur…antlers…bells on a harness…and what is described as a red glowing nose. Suspect vehicle is described as a large open sleigh with a personalized license plate of NOEL1…November Oscar Echo Lima One. All suspects were seen going from rooftop to rooftop and carrying a large sack that appeared to be stuffed with unknown contents. Suspect has been heard leaving each location shouting “Ho, Ho, Ho! Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.” If located, North Pole PD and children everywhere are requesting that he be sent on his way, for he has good will and peace to spread throughout the land.

Central is clear.


Annon 911 Dispatcher 

The Sunday Yummy

Chocolate Peppermint Whoopie Pies

Oh My Gosh I want one of these right now!

It is the season for baking gifts and cookie exchanges. Today's cookie is one of my all time favorites. I love anything mixing chocolate and peppermint together. This recipe has been adapted from one of Paula Deen's. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.


For CookiesIngredients:
3 cups sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
4 large eggs, room temperature
½ cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoon vanilla
6.5 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ½ tablespoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups milk

Directions:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 2 cookie sheet pans.

In a large bowl of stand mixer, cream sugar and butter with for 3-5 minutes.  Add eggs, beating well after each.  Add vegetable oil and vanilla and beat.

In a large separate bowl, sift dry ingredients together. 

With mixer on very low speed, gradually add half of the dry ingredients to the egg mixture.  Blend well. With mixer running on low, add 1 1/2 cups of the milk.  Mix until blended.  Repeat with remaining dry ingredients and milk.

Using a standard 1/4-cup ice cream scoop,  place batter on baking sheets, spacing 2-3” apart.  Bake 12 minutes, rotating pans (move lower pan to top level and top level to lower level) after the first 6 minutes.  Remove cookies from oven and transfer to cooling racks.  Repeat with remaining batter. Don’t worry if some are a little cracked on the top – that’s normal!  Cool completely prior to filling.

For FillingIngredients:
1 1/2 cups butter
1 1/2cups vegetable shortening
9 cups confectioners’ sugar
4 cups marshmallow creme
4 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
½ teaspoon salt
1 lb hard peppermint candies

Combine first 7 ingredients in large bowl of mixer and beat until fluffy.
 
Place peppermints in heavy plastic bag and crush with hammer or flat side of meat tenderizer.  Sift crushed mints through fine sieve to separate dust from bits of candy.  Fold ½ of candy bits plus “dust” into the filling.  Reserve other half of candy pieces for garnish. 

ASSEMBLY:  Place a scoop of filling on the flat side of one cookie.  Place another cookie, flat side down on top, pressing down gently.  Roll edges of icing in remaining crushed peppermints.  Package immediately in clear cellophane bags and tie with ribbon.

Lord forbid you should expect someone to know their address!

So this morning after returning to work after being out sick I begin to sift through the 99 emails in my work account. One of them catches my eye. It is a 'Heads up' email from our Director. A local newspaper owner decided to write an editorial about the 911 center and her experiences with same. Well I'm sure you can tell from the title of this that it did not display our best side.

http://www.luminanews.com/article.asp?aid=9407&iid=301&sud=44


Now let me post some points.
~ Just because Someone lives on an island that is know for it's snobbery does not mean they are better than me or any of the emergency services that serve their area.
~ Human error happens, on both ends of the phone
~ 2nd graders know their home address, adults should as well
~ No matter how much training and territorial studies we do it is impossible to memorize every street name, business name, inlet, creek, bridge, geographic marker, etc. in our area.
~ This center dispatches ALL Fire resources, EMS resources and 6 different Local Law Enforcement agencies. That Island is not the only responsibility we have.
~ When a major event occurs, such as a vehicle out of control running across 4 lanes of traffic and crashing into a house, everyone and their brother call in to report it. Lines are flooded with more calls than there is dispatchers. It takes more than 34 seconds to field a 911 call coming into the center, especially if it is one of the first calls about the incident

I welcome anyone that thinks this job is easy or that I am some reject they hired because of  tough economic times, come into the 911 center and observe. Sit here with me for 12 hours. Take 3 timed 10 minute breaks. Don't forget to bring your lunch or some money for take out food, cause  there are no lunch breaks in this 911 center. I hope you don't mind cold food because we do not stop working when we get our food, 911 is ringing. Wear something comfortable, you will be 'leashed' to a console and there is not a lot of lead for walking/stretching. Also don't forget to wear your big girl panties cause some random stranger is going to cuss you out, tell you who they know that will have your job, remind you that they pay your wages (I'm still waiting on that raise), expect you to know where they are and what the suspects look like because they told you they are in the red car across the street by the 2 oak trees. Be prepared to deliver a baby, do CPR, talk a mentally unstable person out of a homicidal rage, calm the mother of a choking baby, talk a teenager out of suicide, console an elderly man who just woke to to find his wife of 50 years dead.

Do I need to go on?

To all the dispatchers out there that read this, Keep doing the amazing job that you do every day.
We, the unwilling, Lead by the Unknowing, Do the Impossible, For the benefit of the Ungrateful. ~~ Unknown.

The Sunday Yummy

Super Easy & Super fast!

Dump Cake is an all time favorite in our 911 center. We cook it for Sunday dinners, holidays, birthdays or just because we feel like it. It can be literally thrown together in just a matter of minutes with minimal effort. Hot out of the oven with a scoop of ice cream on top or whipped topping and the afternoon perks right up.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1 (21 ounce) can cherry pie filling (or any other fruit pie filling you like)
• 1 (15 ounce) can crushed pineapple
• 1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
• 8 ounces chopped walnuts or pecans
• 1/2 cup butter

Directions

1. In a 9x13 inch pan mix cherries and pineapple. Sprinkle dry cake mix over pineapple, and cherry mixture stir until just combined. Then sprinkle walnuts over top. Drizzle top with melted butter or margarine.
2. Bake in a 350 degree F (175 degree C) oven for 35 or 40 minutes or until golden brown.