Thursday, September 16, 2010

I helped to apprehend a hit and run driver!

Today has been an odd day.

The normal route I take to the radio station is having a bit of construction.  I got caught in a little delay and made it on time but it was a nail biter for a bit.  It was odd because normally my route has few issues except the occasional day when I'm stuck behind someone driving the ridiculous new speed limit of 30 mph on River Road.  On a side note, whoever decided that road needed to go to a 30 mph speed limit needs to get their butt kicked.

I logged on to Twitter when I got into the radio studio and discovered I'm part of a small group that is getting the new Twitter preview.  It was kind of sluggish but the features are nice.  However, the odd part is that the station's computer browser wouldn't read the new Twitter format.  So, I ended up viewing it using my laptop.  Odd!

Another odd thing that occured is we had the usual Mega Movie CW Tucson television shoot and Producer Thomas was training someone to do it for next week since he'll be on vacation in Canada (who goes to Canada from Arizona?) and one of the flat screens behind me in the studio went to screen saver.  It normally shows the Mega Movie logo during the shoot.  He didn't catch it and almost all of the shoot had to be redone because I did it in front of a screen that had the screen saver going with the Microsoft Windows logo bouncing around.  Redoing an entire shoot is kind of like repeating yourself over and over.  It was odd!

Next on the list of today's oddities:  My buddy Clint flew into Tucson today for a two week visit.  He lives in Seattle and he's the most random person I know.  He hasn't been to Tucson since he moved there more than two years ago.  He called to let me know he landed safely and his friend David picked him up from the airport at about 3 p.m.  Then, he called from random people's cell phones (apparently because he forgot to charge his own phone before he left) every couple of hours with random complaints including how hot it is here, how unhappy he was that he did stuff he shouldn't have, that he was disappointed in himself that he went day drinking, and then started asking me for a ride to the place he's staying at.  He called every hour from 8 until 11 p.m. asking for a ride which I wouldn't give him.  It wasn't unexpected (he's got some addiction issues) but it was odd.

On my way home from the radio station I went to Casino Del Sol to try and make some extra money.  Each week they put $25 in free play on my club card and I use it to try and make some gas money for the week.  Free play is basically free money they give me to gamble with and whatever I win from using it I walk out with when I'm done.  I always walk out with something... sometimes its been a large amount (I won $1,970 once using free play), usually its closer to what they put on the card.  Its always a quick half hour visit but I score some extra dough.  Today I walked out with the smallest amount I ever have:  $11.00.  Not a very lucky day and not much of a reward for driving there but its something.  However, it was odd.

On my way home I was at the stoplight at Valencia and Midvale Park and heard an extremely loud bang behind me.  The car behind me got rear ended!  I couldn't figure out what the heck that noise was until I drove ahead when the light turned green and the car behind me didn't move.  A car sped past me when I drove across the street and by the time I realized that it was a hit and run the car was far ahead of me.  I tried to catch up but got caught at a light and wasn't successful at getting a license plate to help police catch the hit and run driver.  I drove back to let the person who got hit know what I tried to do and the police department and medical crews had arrived to work the accident.  I gave an officer the best description I could of the car and what happened and drove home disappointed that I wasn't a rockstar and more helpful.

About fifteen minutes after I got home my cell phone rang and the officer who I gave my information to was on the phone.  She called to thank me for returning and telling them what I could.  It turns out that the information I gave them was helpful enough to help them catch and apprehend the hit and run driver.  The whole incident was odd but I was excited I was able to help somehow.  It was also amazing that a police officer with the Tucson Police Department called to thank me for helping.  She made what I had considered an odd day have a totally good ending and it was amazing she took time out to do that.

Odd day, happy ending!