The Edge of Empty

I have already outed myself as a supervisor of a false alarm reduction unit. One of the tools that many jurisdictions use to make their lives easier is some kind of database and billing solution.  The system we use is known as CryWolf ® by Public Safety Corporation .  As easy as this program is to use, it is also very complex and can take years to fully understand and utilize.  Occasionally, I will feature little hints or things that I have discovered that will help others who use this program.  I guess I need to toss out a few disclaimers as well.  I am not being paid by Public Safety Corporation to do this, and my jurisdiction is not receiving any benefits either.  Also, we utilize the newer .net version so my hints may not be helpful to those using the older version. Now that all of the niceties are out of the way, let's get on to the hint. The other day, I was running some reports for a neighboring town and I wanted information from several years back....

In Japan they celebrate Ohana-kin or Flower Friday.  Many husbands dutifully bring home flowers to their wife each Friday.  Another option is for many housewives to take Ikebana flower arranging classes.  Here on the Edge of Empty we are going to celebrate Ferret Friday.   In honor of the first ever Ferret Friday, here is a look at our furry fellow.  Now how could you resist that face? Have a great weekend!

I have never felt the need to be normal or try to fit in and be popular.  My new job is a perfect example of this characteristic.  I am the supervisor of a False Alarm Reduction Unit for a local law enforcement agency.  You can bet that I am  popular with the neighbors when they receive an invoice from my office.  A recent open house at one of our stations highlighted the need for more public awareness of false alarms and the impact that they have on a law enforcement agency.  Unfortunately, this is not just a local issue.  Hundreds of jurisdictions across the country have enacted legislation to address this growing problem.  My unit and the other units like mine are tasked with enforcing the legislation. A false alarm as defined by many jurisdictions is an alarm dispatch request by an alarm monitoring center where the responding officer finds no evidence of a crime or an attempted crime.  This means that all alarms where no crime or evi...

On Sunday while eating brunch at a local eatery, I happened to pull out a pack of low calorie sweetener from the little caddy on the table.  When I turned it over, the phrase "suitable  for diabetics" jumped out at me.  A short survey of the other sweeteners also revealed similar messages on their packets as well.  Is it just me or does anyone else agree that this seem a little presumptuous of these companies?  How do they know what is good for a person who lives with a disease that can be so different for each person. It could be that as the mother of a teenager with Type 1,  I am just too sensitive.  As the numbers of people who are diagnosed with diabetes increase, I am sure that the market for "diabetic" products will grow.  Let's hope though that those in charge of marketing these products stick to marketing and not "prescribing" their products.

Today,  was errand day for me.  I work a flex schedule which gives me a weekday to accomplish all of the things that I should have done on the weekend.  My main errand was to buy several 5 gallon jugs of water for our cooler.  Bet you would never guess why though.  You might think that as a wife and mother, I was making sure that there was plenty of water for my family. After all, we refer to Eldest Boy as "the Camel" and Hubster is a triathlete. You would be wrong though. We have been out of water for days in the past--after all, we can drink the water that comes from the faucet. Shocking, I know. That was before the ferret .  In December,  we became a ferret family, and the ferret prefers his "meat soup" warm.  The warm water comes from the water dispenser at just the right temperature to fully dissolve the ferret food pellets. We ran out of water this morning when I prepared the ferret's breakfast.   While I was out getting the water, I...