I'm busier than a three-balled tomcat right now, but here's a quick report of a few things that have my aporism fired up this morning before I hit the grindstone at the office.

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"A Texas A&M University student who had been feared murdered after disappearing nearly seven years ago has been found alive and working in Northern Kentucky.

Police spent hours since Brandi Stahr went missing in October 1998 searching for her body in wooded parts of Brazos County, Texas, at one point even questioning a serial rapist and murderer just hours before he was executed last year.

But a telephone tip from a person in central Texas to a Texas Department of Public Safety missing persons hotline led investigators to Florence, where Stahr has been working for the last five years at a Sam's Club, said Texas Ranger Frank Malinak."  --Cincinnati Post

It seems she got mad at her parents because they cut off her financial support when she started skipping class and got poor grades during her sophomore year. I guess the next time Loretta goes on one of her walk abouts I should probably just hang out at Sam's Club.

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Sunday evening, Colorado Rockies rookie sensation, Clint Barmes, stumbled and fell on the steps of his apartment building while carrying groceries from his car. He suffered a broken collar bone in the fall that will require surgery. Barmes was the team's leading hitter (and had one of the best batting averages in the majors), and was easily the top candidate for baseball's Rookie of the Year award by this point of the season. He is expected to miss at least 12 weeks of the season.

I wonder if he's been hanging out with Brian Griese (the former Bronco's quarterback that was known to fall down at his house on more than one occassion - usually while under the influence of malted barley beverages)?

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"Alleged cop-killer Raul Garcia-Gomez - and a string of relatives and friends accused of helping him elude an international manhunt - were arrested Saturday, almost a month after two Denver police officers were ambushed at a baptismal party.

Garcia-Gomez, who had been the subject of a police dragnet in Colorado, California and Mexico, was arrested about 6 p.m. in Culiacán, Mexico, about 1,000 miles south of Los Angeles. He was in the custody of U.S. marshals, who planned to bring him to Mexico City today to face extradition." --Denver Post

This scumbag brutally murdered Denver Policeman Donnie Young and wounded his partner Jack Bishop when he shot them from behind after the officers had requested that some drunken party-goers leave the premises. The off duty cops were hired to provide security for the party and were in uniform at the time of the ambush.

Since when do you need security at a baptismal party? The thing that really chaps my ass about this is a treaty that exists between the US and Mexico that will most probably prevent this douche-pump's extradition back to Colorado. Mexico will not deliver fugitives that may face either the death penalty or life without parole sentences for their crimes. I guess the only good news is that his only option is to sit and rot in a Mexican prison while the 2 governments sort it out.

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In other news, we all had a great weekend in the Colorado sunshine. The highlight was a quick trip into the foothills by Loretta and I on Sunday evening. Our first stop was to hunt and collect some wildflowers to add to a small garden bed around my mailbox. Then we had dinner at a quaint little place in Bergen Park where I coerced Loretta into trying their rabbit and rattlesnake sausage appetizer. The look on her face as she took the first bite was absolutely priceless. But the sausage was delicious and she was really glad she tried it. The dinner entrees were a bit more tame. She opted for stuffed shrimp while I enjoyed a buffalo porterhouse. It was the first red meat I'd had in months, man was it gooood.

After dinner we came back to the house and watched "Finding Neverland" together. Good flick, but it made us both weep. I hate when that happens.

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OK - that's today's update, time for me to get back to work...