When you put it like that:

Should I fall back on an old career? More here. You can look at young LL there to the right, working for the Anaheim (California) Police Department. I worked there before they switched to blue uniforms and oval badges, which doesn’t mean much to you if you’re not in the biz. I wasn’t there long, but still maintain contact from friends I made.
Back to the point, and to my question. Should I see if I could go back  into harness again, pin a shield on and round up illegal aliens? The question is fairly put to the readers of this blog. Customs and Border Enforcement is hiring thousands. So is Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Both are part of the Department of Homeland Security.
Normally, I’d take a pass on the opportunity because who can afford the pay cut (??) but the professor at California State University – Los Angeles is inspiring me. I never thought of myself as a slave catcher (or a “cracker”), but — WOW. What an opportunity to make a career change and get back to my roots.
Are We All Irish Today?
A piece of me is Irish, which is cause for celebration. However I plan to put the celebration off to Saturday because one of my daughters is having a traditional boil/party at her home tomorrow.  Still I wish all of you who have kissed the Blarney Stone all the very best. 
And which celebration causes more debauchery? Hogmanay (New Year’s Eve – which lasts a week) in Scotland or St. Patrick’s Day in Boston?
Merkel and Trump
When asked about wiretapping, Trump says “”As far as wiretapping, I guess, this past administration – at least we have something in common perhaps.” referring to a reported 2010 authorization by Obama to monitor Merkel’s phones.
E-mail Q and A from readers of this blog:
Q – What all have you done for a living, LL?
A – If I told you, you literally would not believe me. It’s amazing that I’m still alive. Really. I’ve taken opportunities that presented themselves which means that I rarely allowed myself to be placed in a box for very long. I was at Anaheim PD (as above) for about six years. My most recent straight job was a C-Level exec. at a company that spun off the Cal Tech Astrophysics Dept. That lasted about two years until the company went under. Then I started consulting, which is what I do now. Between the Orange County District Attorney’s Office and the drone company I worked for Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Counter Narcotics and Global Threats for seven years, as an executive service level person in a piece of the bureaucracy that is now called the Transnational Threats Project Office. Make of that what you will. Then there was the Navy, followed by the Naval Reserve that predated everything. If I’d stayed in the Navy on active duty, I would have been killed in the line of duty. The duty I had was clearly headed in that direction. I was shot overseas and the light went on in my admittedly hard head. Moving from commissioned service in the Navy to police work was something that I was roundly criticized for doing, but it was the right thing at the time.
Consulting work pays much better than government work even in the senior intelligence service grade and I like being self-employed. My present clients include governments and Fortune 500 Companies. I only take work outside of the US with one exception and that is one that I have with Texas A & M University (TAMUS) – used to be University of North Texas but the project moved.
And of course, I do blog.
Despite all that, I’m inching toward punching out and heading to the White Wolf Mine – if I live that long. That project is moving along, but it’s moving along glacially. 

20 COMMENTS

  1. I think we've both 'aged out' of those CBP jobs, and I know for damn sure we're both WAY too grumpy for them! 🙂 Consulting is much more 'enjoyable'. 🙂

  2. You know that I'm grumpy and salty. Between the two of us, we've pissed a lot more salt water than the Sunday customer has sailed over. I'm flying R/T to Dallas first class on Sunday. There are a series of critical last minute meetings at the Hyatt that is co-located at DFW and the customer rented a suite so that I could relax in between meetings and maybe take a nap. I'm flying back to LA first class Sunday night. Will CBP pamper me like that? How many illegal aliens do I need to catch to get platinum level treatment?

    Will CBP have a limo pick me up at home and take me to the airport and will they have a limo waiting there to take me home? I have certain expectations.

  3. Yes, I'm a bit long in the tooth to be chasing illegal aliens over back walls in neighborhoods, alas. I'm living on past glory, an old lion in winter with blunted teeth and cracked claws. — but damn, chasing illegal aliens sounds like a lot of fun.

  4. Personal liberty is being good enough at what you do, or can do, that you don't become a wage slave.

  5. It is not building the house that takes the time- it is getting the damned permitting process done. At least that was my experience. Like pushing a rope. I remember getting increasingly frustrated at the delay, and constant phone calls, etc, and going to the county planning commission to find out what the hell was going on. (WTHWGO) Turns out some guy had gone on vacation. left the file sitting on his desk, and everything came to a halt.
    Now that was 20 years ago, I cannot imagine what the tree huggers want now to build a place.

  6. Mothers don't let your babies grow up to be policemen
    Let them be doctors and lawyers and such
    Don't let them chase assholes like Starsky and Hutch.

    It is fun LL, but you know when it's time…

  7. by road, 40 miles north of Payson, 65 miles south of Flagstaff, about 40 miles west south west of Winslow and about 40 miles east of Camp Verde.

  8. Would that we all could do the things we did when younger, now it is only in our minds that we can, our bodies know better…
    Dammit Brig

  9. I remember the last time I chased someone with evil intent. I was 45 years old, in full uniform, chasing two blacks who had just committed an armed robbery in a low income housing complex at 0200 hrs. I had a plainclothes detective with me who was in the area when the call went out. We chased them for awhile before we finally lost them; I was too winded to call in our changing location (I was smoking two packs a day then). I figured that if I caught up to them I could only shoot them or puke on them. I retired four years later.

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