A couple of personal milestones

Two personal milestones for me in the past few weeks.  On June 20, I was presented the "Heart of a Lion" award by the Visalia Pride Lions, at a banquet to celebrate their 5th anniversary.  Visalia Pride Lions (here's their Facebook page) is the second Pride Lions Chapter in the United States, and recently sponsored a Fresno Pride Lions Chapter.  They managed to keep the nomination and voting secret, and I had no idea I was going to be so honored.  I was taken completely by surprise, and I am very thankful to them for the recognition.

Sunday, July 5th, marks my 21st anniversary as an Emergency Dispatcher with the Tulare County Sheriff's Office.  I began my career there in 1994, and it has been a rewarding and enjoyable time.  My favorite saying about my job is that "I get to help people, play on the radio and computer, tell cops where to go (and sometimes how to get there), and they pay me for it! What could be better?"  (well, astronaut, but NASA has shown no interest)  I've had the pleasure to work for three sheriffs, Butch Coley (briefly), Bill Wittman, and now for Sheriff Mike Boudreaux.   It's been an interesting, rewarding, and oft-times challenging job, and I really can't imagine doing anything else.

You can read more about my 21 years at TCSO on my personal blog, here, and about the Heart of a Lion award at GayVisalia.com.