My perfect job

Everything in my life has always involved either Cooking or Cops.

Boy what a statement, if I didn't know better I'd be confused. Lets face it the older you get the more crap you let go of. In my case I have always been torn between being a Chef and a top Cop.

I learned at an early age that being a top cop was harder than you would think. Education is the founding factor of success in any carrier you choose. In law enforcement it makes no difference how good you think you are it isn't enough. Education keeps rearing it's ugly head at me every time a take a promotion test,I pass but have never been promoted as of yet.

You have to ask yourself one question, do you feel lucky, well do you. I grew up in an era that was full of heroes or at least in the movies, They even name a syndrome in law enforcement after John Wayne " the Duke". No body here is John Wayne if you think your six foot tall and bullet proof your not. And the one I like is " The super man syndrome". For a young cop, early 20's getting your first badge has such power the minute you pin it on. Once you get away from the mirror and try to walk you find your self strutting like some hundred dollar pimp.

If you are lucky enough to have survived retirement age you are best to take it while you can. Listening to the news yesterday two cops killed in Tampa,Florida, That's where i was first introduced to the bad habit I have of being a cop 24-7. God the only thing I really want to do now is be myself.

For the last almost two years now I have been relegated to guarding the metal detector in the Court House here in Dawsonville. Now I grant you there is pretty scenery coming in from time to time. I would say the best thing that has ever happened to me was a chance to unwind from the mental roller coaster of crime and bad guys. Going on forty years of trying to get ride of that project kid inside of me. This final position in my carrier is by far the most uplifting job I have ever had.

Can you just imagine being surrounded by about 10 women all of which are different in nature but always say good morning with a hug usually,and always very sound of mind. After the first year here this gals finely accepted me at the door and we became a family of sorts. I say this because Police Depts and Sheriff Ofcs are usually so similar in nature to the military you loose your heart when your in the field to long. As I have said to many a person don't judge me until you walk a mile in my shoes.

Let's talk about happy stuff now.Cooking, is the one and only thing that we all have in common. Our taste buds may vary from zone to zone and country to country. Lets just try to keep things local, I find that the more foreign foods you try to make or eat fall by the wayside. Do you remember eating at your grandmothers home, where she had a tiny little kitchen. But the food by far was all very good and she always had some just waiting for you.

I grew up very poor, just for those who don't understand my mind set. Food as a kid consisted of grits and eggs for breakfast and gravy and bread for supper. Now we have come a long, long way since then, now where cooking is all over the TV set every day on the cooking channel and so on. Now its sometime harder than you think to come up with something different every night after watching the boob tub.

I have learned one thing about cooking shows,and that is to watch the recipe in full and don't try to use all the crap they put into it. You have a particular herb or flavor that you enjoy, than use it and use it all the time. Cook for your self who the hell cares its the flavor and the memories the food bring to the dinner table that count. Your kids grow up with the same type of food and you hand down the memories in food that you had as a kid. Trying to completely change the house hold cuisine is like trying to import and use the coffee bean that is plucked out of a special monkeys pup and sold to idiots in Europe.

All food is wonderful to me having a Norwegian background I have eaten food that I would never have made my kid eat, nor would they. People use to eat just to survive, now people eat for fun. I would say its a little like having sex but I'm not going there. Food is the substance of life in this day in time where there's a restaurant on every corner and a major hamburger joint on every main corner. Food is no more important than it was when you were small you have just graduated to being grown up.

Enjoy what ever food you cook and don't tell me that you can't cook, its as easy as boiling water, learn to do it low and slow unless your cooking streak.

I'm in the process of writing a cook book without any salt, boy now thats hart to leave out that one little thing. Short story, eating at all the fast food places all those years as a cop I got my superman food at the big M, because it was free. Every food has a place in life but if your middle aged like me you need to use less salt means lower blood pressure. means longer life , means sweater kisses to the one you want to live with for ever. I'm saying this only because salt was the biggest factor in loosing my Kidney with high blood pressure as the carrier.

I eat a lot of fresh vegetables out of my garden now , and after a year or so of doing Dialysis my kidney function has actually gotten better,even though it's broken. If I had only known, how many times have you heard this.As a rule I try to only eat MEAT PROTEIN every other day or so. Its kind of like an drinking to much, if you can only stay sober every other day pretty soon it will be two days between drinking. This may not work for you, but its worth a try. Eat fresh food on your good days and let the system work.

Food has been my salvation along with my wife, fresh food and fresh love seems to have been the ticket for me. I owe my life to the one around me who did not take any crap from me and stayed the course. Having Kidney disease has opened my eyes to my health, I don't drink as much as I used to nor do I smoke the big expensive cigars as much. My friends look different and smell of life is clear and present ever so sweet to me.