I am not a big fan of growing old. I mean, I like the part about acquiring memories and knowledge and developing wisdom but the part about my moving parts having issues from aging, that part I do not like.
Thursday, March 1, 2018
Vulnerable Humans
It has been an interesting year for me and I have decided to share that journey because we need to talk about how vulnerable we are and about how our health care systems are limited in their capacity of diagnosis and treatment.
2 years ago. . . .
About 2 years ago I started to notice what I could only describe as "stress" starting to affect me.
Occasionally I felt "weird" and my body did little things that made no sense.
I brushed it off as being out of shape and getting older and told myself that at the very least I needed to get out walking more and spend less time sitting around.
I changed to a sit stand desk, I started to walk a lot more, I joined regular fitbit challenges and I was trying to be mindful about what I ate.
It was a hard year, in terms of my stress, and I had taken on a lot at work, in my personal life and with volunteering. I continued to find things more often leaving me drained and I wrote it off as stress, age and not taking care of myself. Seemed realistic that maybe mid-forties is when I would finally discover that I was no longer a teenager?
One year ago . . . .
One year ago on a family vacation away from our brutal winter I found myself unable to relax very well and feeling like I was somehow losing my grasp on everything in my life, it was like I was feeling tense when I wanted to relax. We were having great family moments and on the outside I was enjoying it but on the inside I was feeling messed up. It was our classic family vacation filled with lots of action so I had no time to dwell on these feelings, but I knew it was messing with me.
When we came home from that vacation and I returned to work, I felt like I ran into a brick wall. My absence had generated a pile of work and like never before I felt like there was no way I could catch up. I felt like I was drowning in responsibilities that needed my immediate action and demands to set out the path ahead as well.
I hadn't recently changed jobs or clients or staff. This wasn't my first vacation to return from with chaos and crisis awaiting me. Somehow I had changed in my capacity to cope.
My body began to revolt.
I started to wake in the morning with numbness in my hands and arms. I could feel parts of my body vibrating, most of the time just a subtle vibration but it was there. I started to have periods where I couldn't find my words and I would stutter stuck mid-word while my search function hourglass spun searching for the words.
It was frightening and thankfully my wife urged me to see my doctor.
My doctor ordered a lot of blood-work, put me on the list for an MRI and referred me to a neurologist. I went back to my normal routine and pushed myself to try to catch-up with work and everything else I wanted to accomplish. My body continued to reveal new mysteries in odd symptoms. My hands were now having issues with coordination and things felt funny and at times it felt like it was burning inside my hands.
The weeks that followed were exhausting and I will spare myself the effort of typing the details and you the effort of reading them.
Highlights
Bloodwork = b12 super low on the verge of deficient, nothing else
Neurologist = nothing, too much coffee? anxiety? nope. nothing wrong
MRI = spots, nothing going on to warrant a diagnosis
Second neurologist = nothing wrong with you neurologically based on our tests, but obviously something wrong with you. sorry, its a waiting game that either gets better or worse
chiropractor = your body is not responding as it should. see a new neurologist, suggests check celiac disease (I do. gluten load, celiac test negative)
By this point I have all kinds of issues with numbness, spasticity, spasms, twitching, itching, pain and weakness all over body at different times. Much of it goes away and I get short breaks were I have few symptoms.
My doctor continues to explore options as he thinks of them but as we come to Christmas of 2017 we still do not have a diagnosis and there is no sign of the symptoms stopping.
In January of 2018 I get briefed on my MRI from December. No diagnosis but my doctor immediately books my next MRI for the fall. For the first time he uses the term"Multiple Sclerosis" in the conversation as something we are trying to eliminate as the cause of symptoms. I ask for a copy of the MRI report (see below) and we agree to connect again in the future if anything changes. I honestly do not really know what the MRI report means and I admit when I got it at my last appointment I didn't ask questions because I assume no diagnosis means that there is nothing of value there.
Today my symptoms include regular/occasional leg drops where one of my legs will give out. My hands routinely struggle with certain dexterity issues and I routinely wear wrist braces to bed so that my hands don't curl in. I have random numbness in various places from my face to my toes, tension or tugging at the muscles. There are other symptoms too but lots of symptoms I have had are also gone at the moment so I am happy with that. I am on no medications and other than the legs giving out most people have no idea when I am struggling with some oddity.
Sometimes I wish I had a diagnosis so I could go to a support group or something so that other people who have also had these symptoms can validate that its not all in my head. I regularly find myself worrying that I have some psychosomatic condition and that by worrying about a diagnosis I am making it worse. I have gone from feeling "normal" and focusing on life to getting distracted when my body doesn't behave normal. I like doing things, not worrying or thinking about health stuff.
It's very frustrating to try to pick something up only to struggle to get your fingers to actually pick the item up and then to realize people are watching you as you seem to be almost playing with the item.
It is so annoying to regularly drop things because apparently my hands either didn't grip something adequately or they let go, I never know the cause as it happens so sudden and I didn't think about picking something up I just did it.
I have a whole new appreciation for people struggling with invisible conditions. To the outside world you look completely normal but on the inside you can feel like you are falling apart. It's not that you want sympathy or pity or any number of other things people might assume, you really wish you could just be better or even normal again.
End of rant. Thanks for reading.
MRI Report
"There are relatively extensive punctate areas of increased T2 signal intensity in the subcortical white matter of both hemispheres. They are nonspecific in etiology.
There are two more linear areas of increased T2 signal intensity in the genu of the corpus callosum that are somewhat more concerning in appearance. They are insufficient for a definitive diagnosis. "
2 years ago. . . .
About 2 years ago I started to notice what I could only describe as "stress" starting to affect me.
Occasionally I felt "weird" and my body did little things that made no sense.
I brushed it off as being out of shape and getting older and told myself that at the very least I needed to get out walking more and spend less time sitting around.
I changed to a sit stand desk, I started to walk a lot more, I joined regular fitbit challenges and I was trying to be mindful about what I ate.
It was a hard year, in terms of my stress, and I had taken on a lot at work, in my personal life and with volunteering. I continued to find things more often leaving me drained and I wrote it off as stress, age and not taking care of myself. Seemed realistic that maybe mid-forties is when I would finally discover that I was no longer a teenager?
One year ago . . . .
One year ago on a family vacation away from our brutal winter I found myself unable to relax very well and feeling like I was somehow losing my grasp on everything in my life, it was like I was feeling tense when I wanted to relax. We were having great family moments and on the outside I was enjoying it but on the inside I was feeling messed up. It was our classic family vacation filled with lots of action so I had no time to dwell on these feelings, but I knew it was messing with me.
When we came home from that vacation and I returned to work, I felt like I ran into a brick wall. My absence had generated a pile of work and like never before I felt like there was no way I could catch up. I felt like I was drowning in responsibilities that needed my immediate action and demands to set out the path ahead as well.
I hadn't recently changed jobs or clients or staff. This wasn't my first vacation to return from with chaos and crisis awaiting me. Somehow I had changed in my capacity to cope.
My body began to revolt.
I started to wake in the morning with numbness in my hands and arms. I could feel parts of my body vibrating, most of the time just a subtle vibration but it was there. I started to have periods where I couldn't find my words and I would stutter stuck mid-word while my search function hourglass spun searching for the words.
It was frightening and thankfully my wife urged me to see my doctor.
My doctor ordered a lot of blood-work, put me on the list for an MRI and referred me to a neurologist. I went back to my normal routine and pushed myself to try to catch-up with work and everything else I wanted to accomplish. My body continued to reveal new mysteries in odd symptoms. My hands were now having issues with coordination and things felt funny and at times it felt like it was burning inside my hands.
The weeks that followed were exhausting and I will spare myself the effort of typing the details and you the effort of reading them.
Highlights
Bloodwork = b12 super low on the verge of deficient, nothing else
Neurologist = nothing, too much coffee? anxiety? nope. nothing wrong
MRI = spots, nothing going on to warrant a diagnosis
Second neurologist = nothing wrong with you neurologically based on our tests, but obviously something wrong with you. sorry, its a waiting game that either gets better or worse
chiropractor = your body is not responding as it should. see a new neurologist, suggests check celiac disease (I do. gluten load, celiac test negative)
By this point I have all kinds of issues with numbness, spasticity, spasms, twitching, itching, pain and weakness all over body at different times. Much of it goes away and I get short breaks were I have few symptoms.
My doctor continues to explore options as he thinks of them but as we come to Christmas of 2017 we still do not have a diagnosis and there is no sign of the symptoms stopping.
In January of 2018 I get briefed on my MRI from December. No diagnosis but my doctor immediately books my next MRI for the fall. For the first time he uses the term"Multiple Sclerosis" in the conversation as something we are trying to eliminate as the cause of symptoms. I ask for a copy of the MRI report (see below) and we agree to connect again in the future if anything changes. I honestly do not really know what the MRI report means and I admit when I got it at my last appointment I didn't ask questions because I assume no diagnosis means that there is nothing of value there.
Today my symptoms include regular/occasional leg drops where one of my legs will give out. My hands routinely struggle with certain dexterity issues and I routinely wear wrist braces to bed so that my hands don't curl in. I have random numbness in various places from my face to my toes, tension or tugging at the muscles. There are other symptoms too but lots of symptoms I have had are also gone at the moment so I am happy with that. I am on no medications and other than the legs giving out most people have no idea when I am struggling with some oddity.
Sometimes I wish I had a diagnosis so I could go to a support group or something so that other people who have also had these symptoms can validate that its not all in my head. I regularly find myself worrying that I have some psychosomatic condition and that by worrying about a diagnosis I am making it worse. I have gone from feeling "normal" and focusing on life to getting distracted when my body doesn't behave normal. I like doing things, not worrying or thinking about health stuff.
It's very frustrating to try to pick something up only to struggle to get your fingers to actually pick the item up and then to realize people are watching you as you seem to be almost playing with the item.
It is so annoying to regularly drop things because apparently my hands either didn't grip something adequately or they let go, I never know the cause as it happens so sudden and I didn't think about picking something up I just did it.
I have a whole new appreciation for people struggling with invisible conditions. To the outside world you look completely normal but on the inside you can feel like you are falling apart. It's not that you want sympathy or pity or any number of other things people might assume, you really wish you could just be better or even normal again.
End of rant. Thanks for reading.
MRI Report
"There are relatively extensive punctate areas of increased T2 signal intensity in the subcortical white matter of both hemispheres. They are nonspecific in etiology.
There are two more linear areas of increased T2 signal intensity in the genu of the corpus callosum that are somewhat more concerning in appearance. They are insufficient for a definitive diagnosis. "
Monday, December 18, 2017
Star Wars The Last Jedi
Star Wars The Last Jedi.
I loved the movie.
I liked how gender and appearance didn't define or confine what the characters could accomplish.
I liked how leadership, and the potential to make a difference in the universe, was coming from many different angles.
It was a refreshing look at the battle of good and evil that admits that masculinity is not the strong hero that saves the day that we have been fed in so much fiction.
Once again the idea that you can outsmart evil even when they have resources beyond your capacity.
Finally, I was left with the thoughts that dwelling on our past doubt and mistakes can cloud our vision of what we have to offer. Sometimes wisdom comes not in teaching others from what went well but in sharing our pain from losing control of that which we purported to be leading.
I loved the movie.
I liked how gender and appearance didn't define or confine what the characters could accomplish.
I liked how leadership, and the potential to make a difference in the universe, was coming from many different angles.
It was a refreshing look at the battle of good and evil that admits that masculinity is not the strong hero that saves the day that we have been fed in so much fiction.
Once again the idea that you can outsmart evil even when they have resources beyond your capacity.
Finally, I was left with the thoughts that dwelling on our past doubt and mistakes can cloud our vision of what we have to offer. Sometimes wisdom comes not in teaching others from what went well but in sharing our pain from losing control of that which we purported to be leading.
Sunday, December 17, 2017
fact or fiction
We have for a long time had The National Enquirers and "Professional" Wrestlers and those that believed that their fiction was real.
Currently though this game to attract readers/viewers and therefore advertising revenue is beginning to emerge as a absolute chaos of capitalism.
Everywhere you turn there are links to content that looks "real" but its fake. Whether purely for entertainment purposes or to cement their beliefs further people are clicking into this content.
What makes matters worse is not only that fiction, pretending to be fact, is ever increase but also that what we once considered journalism is being tainted ever increasingly to compete.
Just like in the TV business ratings make or break careers, profit and earnings. The move views/visitors the better the business, regardless of the lack of truth behind the information.
Indeed we the people are tracked such that the advertising of the fiction is customized to suit what we will most likely click on.
Government's have stepped aside as the big internet companies leverage that traffic of visitors and viewers for advertising revenue, shaping the flow for maximum audience retention and profit.
When we watched TV or read a newspaper in the past we were an anonymous consumer of advertising but today everything we do is tracked online and the ever increasing fiction content of the internet is dominating what we consume.
How long before we accept that only what we can feel, touch and taste is truth? How long before those are gone too?
Currently though this game to attract readers/viewers and therefore advertising revenue is beginning to emerge as a absolute chaos of capitalism.
Everywhere you turn there are links to content that looks "real" but its fake. Whether purely for entertainment purposes or to cement their beliefs further people are clicking into this content.
What makes matters worse is not only that fiction, pretending to be fact, is ever increase but also that what we once considered journalism is being tainted ever increasingly to compete.
Just like in the TV business ratings make or break careers, profit and earnings. The move views/visitors the better the business, regardless of the lack of truth behind the information.
Indeed we the people are tracked such that the advertising of the fiction is customized to suit what we will most likely click on.
Government's have stepped aside as the big internet companies leverage that traffic of visitors and viewers for advertising revenue, shaping the flow for maximum audience retention and profit.
When we watched TV or read a newspaper in the past we were an anonymous consumer of advertising but today everything we do is tracked online and the ever increasing fiction content of the internet is dominating what we consume.
How long before we accept that only what we can feel, touch and taste is truth? How long before those are gone too?
Wednesday, October 4, 2017
Predicting the demise of Facebook
Over 5 years ago I predicted that Facebook would be gone in 5 years.
It turns out that I was wrong.
At the time I had looked at Facebook and saw that the features and content were so juvenile that it couldn't possibly survive in the long run. Just looking at the name and the original intent was the foundation of my prediction and seeing the interactions 5+ years ago confirmed it for me that the collective "we" would grow out of Facebook.
I assumed people would stop the bickering about celebrities and consumer brands. I assumed people would learn to distinguish between truth and fiction based on gaining knowledge on the internet through credible sources. I assumed that a web site based on Facebook's model could not sustain itself.
I did not predict that people would so enjoy sharing the most mundane parts of their lives with each other in real time.
I did not foresee that a person's value would be assessed by their "likes" and "shares".
I did not predict that trolls would rise to have so much power to manipulate and provoke.
I did not predict that the online advertising regime would grow so massively reckless that the content of the tabloids in the checkout aisle would grow to dominate the content of today and be the source of so much misinformation.
I predicted the demise of Facebook because I had hope that the internet would enable people to better themselves. and I saw no role for a web site like Facebook in that future. I hoped that people would use the internet to learn about culture, science, technology, philosophy, society and peace.
That social media has bloomed around many of the dark parts of society is truly a saddening reality.
It turns out that I was wrong.
At the time I had looked at Facebook and saw that the features and content were so juvenile that it couldn't possibly survive in the long run. Just looking at the name and the original intent was the foundation of my prediction and seeing the interactions 5+ years ago confirmed it for me that the collective "we" would grow out of Facebook.
I assumed people would stop the bickering about celebrities and consumer brands. I assumed people would learn to distinguish between truth and fiction based on gaining knowledge on the internet through credible sources. I assumed that a web site based on Facebook's model could not sustain itself.
I did not predict that people would so enjoy sharing the most mundane parts of their lives with each other in real time.
I did not foresee that a person's value would be assessed by their "likes" and "shares".
I did not predict that trolls would rise to have so much power to manipulate and provoke.
I did not predict that the online advertising regime would grow so massively reckless that the content of the tabloids in the checkout aisle would grow to dominate the content of today and be the source of so much misinformation.
I predicted the demise of Facebook because I had hope that the internet would enable people to better themselves. and I saw no role for a web site like Facebook in that future. I hoped that people would use the internet to learn about culture, science, technology, philosophy, society and peace.
That social media has bloomed around many of the dark parts of society is truly a saddening reality.
Sunday, March 19, 2017
Thursday, February 16, 2017
labels
I think perhaps the greatest lesson I will learn in my life is the expansive disruptive power of the label.
I have never liked labels, not since I was a small child. I was labeled with many negative labels as a child and I am hopeful that some of those types of labels are reducing as the system is slowly coping with issues around bullying. As I grew I came discover how labels worked in community, making it simpler for people to identify whether you were with them, or not. The problem was I often ended up out of the community either because I did not have their label or I just had not made a definitive decision to accept everything with that label. It has been an interesting path to say the least as I reflect back on it.
One troubling fault in it all though is just how deeply rooted our society is with its labels and the dependencies. From an early age we create contrast between labels that leads to further contrast as we age and are exposed to more scenarios.
I have never liked labels, not since I was a small child. I was labeled with many negative labels as a child and I am hopeful that some of those types of labels are reducing as the system is slowly coping with issues around bullying. As I grew I came discover how labels worked in community, making it simpler for people to identify whether you were with them, or not. The problem was I often ended up out of the community either because I did not have their label or I just had not made a definitive decision to accept everything with that label. It has been an interesting path to say the least as I reflect back on it.
One troubling fault in it all though is just how deeply rooted our society is with its labels and the dependencies. From an early age we create contrast between labels that leads to further contrast as we age and are exposed to more scenarios.
Monday, January 16, 2017
time
On a recent trip to Florida I experienced a lot of wasted time with travel and running errands. Twice I lost time due to poor traffic planning and or long line ups. I watched around as everyone just seemed to accept that they will not get to use their own time wisely.
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
No party before midnight [poem]
working along, working alone.
no rest for the wicked
not wanting or waiting to leave home
no celebration without sacrifice
no rest for the wicked
not wanting or waiting to leave home
no celebration without sacrifice
no party before midnight
no winning the prize
no party before midnight
no truth through the lies
no winning the prize
no party before midnight
no truth through the lies
the day is gone before you
the day is given to the others
the night is left with little of you
nothing left to share with your brothers
the day is given to the others
the night is left with little of you
nothing left to share with your brothers
no party before midnight
no winning the prize
no party before midnight
no truth through the lies
no winning the prize
no party before midnight
no truth through the lies
echoed concerns fading in the night
tired people with voices full of blisters
the curtain falls from the peaks at the top
we are left to tend to the wounds of our sisters
tired people with voices full of blisters
the curtain falls from the peaks at the top
we are left to tend to the wounds of our sisters
no party before midnight
no winning the prize
no party before midnight
no truth through the lies
no winning the prize
no party before midnight
no truth through the lies
Sunday, October 30, 2016
extra
I see the world as a division of life split into categories of entertainment, health/wellness, income sources, family/friends, social/community and our extra. Each person’s life is a collection of these categories but what separates us apart from each other is where we choose to apply our extra time, money and passion. Throughout our lives the categories grow and shrink in their impact on our lives but always there is some space left over for us to choose our extra. I would argue that the amount of “extra” capacity an individual has is determined by their wealth and the wealth of their community but it is there for all of us. I have become a student and observer of people and how they choose to spend their extras.
Note: If someone asks you how the see the world, would you be ready with an answer? This is part of mine.....
Note: If someone asks you how the see the world, would you be ready with an answer? This is part of mine.....
Sunday, October 23, 2016
SpeedSquad - Movie Concept
SpeedSquad - Movie Concept
America has become a mess of talented criminal drivers that can allude law enforcement long enough to escape and are leaving a path of destruction behind.
After a high profile death in a high speed chase police officers are no longer allowed to give chase.
A special police unit is formed to stop the chaos being caused by speed on the roadways.
The team is formed from brains, speed, brawn and teamwork
- GRIZ - a grizzly old police officer who has survived many high speed chases and seen too many good people and officers hurt or killed trying to put a speeder behind bars. (Played by James Edward Olmos)
- ON2 - a police officer turned mechanic and racer who rally races. (Played by Hayden Christensen)
- GEEK - computer genius who can interconnect everything. drives a 4x4 diesel truck outfitted with wireless internet (Played by Matt Doran)
- BUZ - a former apache pilot who can fly a helicopter anywhere.
- MAPPER - a middle age female cop who worked her way up through the ranks to a desk job so she could go home to her family for supper every day comes home on the bus to find that a speeding criminal high on drugs has killed her husband and two kids in a car accident. she agrees to join the squad. she is a GIS/MIS expert and can get the maps and the data to help in ways that the police never thought possible. predicting the route of a speeder becomes a valuable tool and using computers to manipulate makes their power even more powerful. (Played by Annette Benning)
- TARGET - a weapons expert who believes that creativity can beat the criminal mind who relies on best practices. (Played by Michael Dorn)
- criminals using gps drop spots and the squad uses geocaching experts to help understand and track. using a local geocaching unit to understand.
- mini quadrotor ai with ipad video display
antgonist - in addition to all of the small criminals, and people who don't see themselves as criminals speeding, the squad has found that a drug lord is using speed junkies to deliver and distract
----
Timeline
----
Act 1
- Opening scene - High Speed Chase At night - Aerial support too late, black and whites sloppy.
- Criminal gets away, property damage and private injuries reviewed
- Media coverage of disastrous chase with no results
- Police chief at mayors office getting chewed out.
- High speed chase #2
- Aerial support but lots of damage, one death and criminals abandon car after successfully eluding patrol cars and despite aerial surveillance
- Governor discovers that the person who died is a high profile lobbyist's niece tells mayor and chief of police to stop high speed chases for good.
- Chief of police and GRIZ [a grizzly old police officer who has survived many high speed chases and seen too many good people and officers hurt or killed trying to put a speeder behind bars.] having a beer talk about the old days when town was much smaller and high speed chase meant following them out of town hoping they had a smaller tank of gas.
- GRIZ talks of Smart Cop [MAPPER] who knows how to use maps well and her ideas to be more strategic about making the city “small” again but they cannot convince her to take on the more stressful position. This smart map cop happy in a quiet job making her family a priority
- MAPPER home with family eating, talking about work and having fun together.
Act 2
- Crime scene unfolding during morning rush hour
- Criminals high speed exit
- MAPPER family killed when drugged criminials sideswipe minivan and kill her husband and kids in a high speed escape without a chase.
- MAPPER finds GRIZ and agrees to work with GRIZ but she says they can’t do it alone and tells him of others she knows of that know how to work smarter to make a new way of stopping speeding criminals work
- MAPPER goes looking for her brother's old high school friend who became a chopper pilot in the military but is now a police pilot in a nearby city and bored. BUZ [a former military pilot who can fly a helicopter anywhere] agrees, his wife becomes gis cop friend and helps her deal with her loss.
- GRIZ finds a computer nerd who works in the police armory who he had hoped is the computer genius they need. GEEK [computer genius who can interconnect everything. Drives a big crew cab truck outfitted with wireless internet and a high tech office in the back seat ] is supposed to have no access to computers after he hacked into the governors home computer trying to get access to his internet activity. He got caught and was put on probation. He is not allowed to have access to a computer and had none at home or at work. GEEK turns him down as he prefers to stay out of the limelight. GRIZ catches him “using” while getting coordinates for Geocaching and recruits him as an option to turning him in.
- GRIZ and MAPPER discuss the rest of the team on a hot day over cold ice tea. GRIZ remembers a cop turned weapons expert in R&D who might like to try out his techniques in the field since the department had been neglecting his really cool ideas.
- GRIZ visits TARGET [a weapons expert who believes that creativity can beat the criminal mind]. TARGET isn't so cranked up about being the field because he has a new girl friend who has two kids and he really wants to be a normal family man. GRIZ convinces him his role will be low risk.
- MAPPER finds racing cop ON2 [a police officer turned mechanic and racer who rally races.] and he jumps at the chance to make a difference
- Team assembles in a suburban police garage and GRIZ throws out to the team the problem. MAPPER gets them brainstorming on a whiteboard how they can change the face of high speed chases and MAPPER and GEEK guy spend the evening writing it up for GRIZ to take forward.
Act 3
- GRIZ pitches the idea to the chief of police to have a trial of this new way of stopping high speed chases.
- Chief and governor have a huge argument about the situation and governor tells him yes but if it fails he takes all the heat and resigns. Chief wants the high speed mayhem to stop and agrees.
- Team assembles again and begins to prep their gear and their strategies.
- MAPPER and GEEK start to build their connections to everything traffic and make the mounds of data something they can work with to make split second decisions or to relay crucial information.
- Meanwhile GRIZ, ON2 and TARGET go to see what their options are vehicles and tools.
- TARGET asks about ON2
- BUZ heads to the airport to take a loaner chopper for a test drive and bring it for equipment fitting. BUZ finds old mentor runs the police airport garage now and has just taken delivery of a new chopper which he agrees needs some hours on it before he can turn it over to the regular pd pilots.
- BUZ is happy and goes off flying.
- After much planning, equipment prep and training they officially become an option as a unit for the chief of police to call upon and they wait on standby scanning the operational flow of police data keeping up with what is happening.
Act 4
- As MAPPER, GEEK and ON2 find themselves in the middle of a discussion on patterns they are seeing in the data and radio chatter a call comes in from the chiefs office. Jewelry store heist with cash and valuables taken from the high profile store who's owner is a big supporter of the governor. The team leaps into action.
- MAPPER and GEEk work out an optimum safe path through the city to rendezvous spot and begin manipulating traffic lights and dispatching black and whites to herd the getaway car.
- BUZ gets airborn and provides eyes in the sky from a safe distance while the getaway car begins to think they lost the cops and starts to drive normally.
- Meanwhile ON2 and TARGET in one car and GRIZ in another converge and corner the car as it pulls into a side street. they are pinned in with no get away and no one hurt.
- The chief hails it as a success
- Team celebrates
Act 5
- The whole team starts to discuss patterns again and another call comes in.
36 this time it is a chase that began as a routine traffic stop but after identifying a high profile offender with a warrant a gun battle ensued and an officer was killed whilst the bad guys drove off with a new car in chase as well as several others. the chase is already causing damage and the chief is on the verge of calling off the b/ws.
37 MAPPER and GEEK sets to finding the chase and BUZ gets airborne with TARGET using his new setup in the chopper which allows him to control some new weapons on the chopper and on the chase cars remotely.
38 GRIZ and ON2 are en route to intercept based on MAPPER projections meanwhile GEEk is clearing up the path to avoid more traffic confrontations.
39 with only one b/w left ON2 catches up (after scratching his car on a hydrant on route) and GRIZ not long after. the b/w has its tires blown out and GRIZ and ON2 proceed to encourage the car into defined patterns intent on ending the chase. just as ON2 has gotten them under control a grenade throws him off his game and its up to GRIZ to try
40 meanwhile BUZ has gotten approval to come in lower and TARGET has started to hit the car with rounds of paintball like objectives filled with fart gas and goop
41 Just when they think they are done 3 vehicles come up and knock GRIZ and ON2 off the road with ramming and shooting and they get a way leaving a path of destruction behind them all while news choppers filmed the lack of success and mocking their tactics on the evening news.
Act 6 - The bad guys are revealed
42 Drug lords office, bad guy leader explodes in anger that his drivers were almost caught and he had to risk sending in help.
43 Drug lord tells thugs to do more to make themselves invincible to being stopped.
Act 7 - One Chance
44 Chief and Griz meet and discuss how well it didn’t work in the end and how there is obviously an organization behind the rampage. Relay’s governors once chance to get this right
45 GRIZ comes back to team meeting. TARGET is ticked that they were mocking his weapons despite them doing their job and would have worked if the backup hadn’t shown up. Since when do criminals have backup?
46 More time spent enhancing equipment and getting ready.
Act 8
47 Night time. Alarm tripped off at currency house. 3 Modified performance cars seen leaving the scene in multiple directions, black and whites looking for them. Call comes to the team.
48 Everyone gets the txt to jump to action.
49 MAPPER jumps into action. GEEK, already on the road pulls over to do his work.
50 TARGET and BUZ head to the chopper.
51 GRIZ and ON2 head to compound for their cars.
52 B/W report finding one car from the robbery and then another, 3rd car still missing.
53 GEEK and MAPPER talk about how all 3 may have stolen goods or only one of them and its going to be tricky to provide support for all 3
54 GRIZ heads for one of the cars and b/w fall back.
55 ON2 find the other one
56 BUZZ meanwhile is trying to find the 3rd based on radio reports and MAPPER projecting where it might go.
57 GEEK is frantically changing lights to green and providing support
58 MAPPER is working to help everyone.
59 GRIZ begins to use counter measures built into his car to stop the speeder
60 ON2 deploys goop splatter to cars rear window and mirrors and goes dark in his car so speeder doesn’t know where he is until its too late and ON2 has blown their engine and forced them to stop with black and whites closing in.
61 EVIL DUDE is listening in on radio scannners, watching TV network coverage and getting stats from his cars and looses it. Gets into his own modified SUV that looks like it came from mad max and heads out tracking to the GPS coordinates of the car GRIZ is chasing.
62 Meanwhile BUZZ has found the 3rd car and given out the coordinates to ON2 who isn’t far from it. As ON2 confirms he is closing in BUZZ comes in closer and TARGET unleashes a variety of counter measures.
63 ON2 and TARGET and BUZZ holds them long enough for the black and whites to take them into custody.
64 Meanwhile shortly after GRIZ thinks he is going to take down the car he is chasing EVIL DUDE comes from the side and starts to hit him and pushes him off the road and the two of them get away.
Act 9 - Embarassment
65 Crew sitting around talking about the EVIL DUDE who came to help.
66 Team all gets a text of chase in progress. GRIZ gets a phone call. Situation is Coordinated strike with banks, jewerly, guns and a freight delivery of pharmacueticals all happening at the same time.
67 The team decides to go for the truck with the drugs
68 Meanwhile chases from the other robberies are wreaking havoc on the city.
69 team locates the semi and a crew of vehicles racing with it to provide support of the getaway.
70 We see that the truck is wired with explosives and he has been told to follow the lead car or die.
71 MAPPER suggests they must have a plan for how to lose them, its not easy for a truck to disappear. Support vehicles starts splitting off and getting away despite efforts.
72 Team agrees they need to stop the truck and as they do the last car gets away and the cab of the truck explodes and it comes to a cumpled halt. A news helicopter has captured the entire scene.
Act 10 - Plot to take the leader
73 Sitting having drinks they discuss how they need to find the brains behind the operation and take them down.
74 MAPPER shows up late. She reveals how she had traffic camera footage during the big getaways analyzed in hopes of finding a common location. She discovers a common rendezvous point on the edges of the city with no trace of where they go to next. Do they go back into the city from there or do they leave the city. They agree they need to build intelligence.
75 The next day they spend in the shop beefing up the gear and/or putting new tracking tools into place around the city to find the group behind the speed crimes.
Act 11 – Alarm Triggered
76 Alarm goes off at 3 am of excessive speed in a group of vehicles
77 The team gets into position and tries to track where they they will strike.
78 They hone in on a convergence of traffic and discover the trajectory leads to the police evidence facility.
79 They call the chief but he doesn’t believe them.
80 They head to the site to find they have quietly been taking out the guards and on duty cops and are readying to leave with a lot of drugs
81 The chase begins.
82 Several cars and heavily armoured modified transport vehicles move out in formation. Clearly lots of training.
83 Mapper tracks the trajectory and sends cars ahead but these guys are prepared for it and have reroutes planned.
84 Chopper begins to come in so that mapper who is on board can take the trucks with tracking begins shot onto their roofs. The cars prove harder to hit.
85 Meanwhile we find that geek has been learning to drive his truck more aggressively. And target is in the back of the truck with some very cool weapons
86 Griz is in high speed chase slowly taking out the chase cars and giving instructions to the black and whites to support him.
87 On2 meanwhile is going head to head with the leader who was driving with him and the leader has his own tricked out defenses in his car.
88 Battle ends with everyone stopped but leader and on2 car destroyed. Geek picks him up and they all race to where mapper thinks he will go.
89 Show down happens between griz and badguy who it turns out they have clashed before and cars crash. Leader shoots griz in the leg and mapper shoots him.
Act 12 the end
90 They have an awards ceremony and are congratulated
91 Cut to bad guys 2nd in charge going to another city to regroup.
Copyright Dale Clark 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
;-)
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