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 Life, Adventure, Family, Writing what else is there? Random thoughts. |
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WELCOME TO: GEMINI RISING   UPDATED INTRO 28 MAY 2024: Just a little about me. I've been married for 32 years this past NOV and currently live in Southern California, but I grew up in New Hampshire. I've got 2 boys who are young adults. I work as a 911 dispatcher for LAPD. I enjoy my job a lot. Still. If you can believe that. I love to write. Thankfully both of my boys achieved Eagle Scout. My Scouting days are over and I'm back to focusing on my writing. I like to get out in nature, drink coffee and watch football. Here's a little bio about my zodiac. GEMINI: Gemini, the sign of the Twins, is dual-natured, elusive, complex and contradictory. On the one hand it produces the virtue of versatility, and on the other the vices of two-facedness and flightiness. The sign is linked with Mercury, the planet of childhood and youth, and its subjects tend to have the graces and faults of the young. When they are good, they are very attractive; when they are bad they are more the worse for being the charmers they are. Like children they are lively, and happy, if circumstances are right for them, or egocentric, imaginative and restless. Their good qualities are attractive and come easily to them. They are affectionate, courteous, kind, generous, and thoughtful towards the poor and suffering - provided none of the activities resulting from expressing these traits interferes too greatly with their own lives and comforts. Geminians can be successful in many walks of life though their general characteristics tend to make them unreliable. They are often skilled manipulators of language, in speech and writing, and may be: debaters, diplomats (though in politics they are more interested in theory than practice), orators, preachers (brilliant rather than profound), teachers, authors, poets, journalists, or lawyers. This is me. I am a Gemini. Pure, Raw, passionate. The NEW focus of this blog is to share my adventures, travels, random thoughts, book reviews, thoughts, opinions, and writing adventures from actual writing, writing/editing tips, marketing, research. I'll get there. BLOG ACCOMPLISHMENTS: SEPTEMBER 2024: I participated in the
![Merit Badge in Nonfiction
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Congrats on your Honorable Mention in Blog Week Birthday Bastion 2024](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/type-Nonfiction.gif) Big thanks to WakeUpAndLive   for hosting the contest! OCTOBER 2024: I participated in the
![Merit Badge in Halloween
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Congratulations on completing the 13 Poetic Days of Halloween.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-Halloween-2026567.gif) Big Thanks to Lyn's a Witchy Woman  for hosting the contest!Find me at: WEBSITE: http://www.stephanieburkhart.com FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/StephanieBurkhartAuthor GOOD READS: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4031660.Stephanie_Burkhart YOU TUBE CHANNEL: http://www.youtube.com/user/botrina?feature=mhee Previous GRATITIOUS Warning, that I decided to keep in case I post about something that might offend.  WARNING I intend to be open, honest, and forthright. No topic is off limits from religion to you name it, I'm going there. If you think you might be offended...back up now - this blog isn't for you. For those who "dare"  check out the "Gemini Rising..." 
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| Just a little about my CCW... I thought I'd talk about my CCW, which seem relevant in light of the riots in Downtown LA (DTLA). While, I don't work at the downtown PSAP, every so often I have to go there on a special detail or another work related issue. DTLA is not for the faint of heart. It's changed over the years. When I was first hired in Feb 2000, I could park at the nearest parking lot, 2nd/Spring for $3.00. 25 years later that parking lot is gone. Now, while there are still parking lots in DTLA, they cost $9.00 at day. In Feb 2000, DTLA was clean and bustling. Staring in 2015, (or at least that's when I noticed it) DTLA became a sleeping ground for the homeless. There are tents everywhere. There's a lot of mental illness and drug use with homelessness and parking and navigating to the downtown PSAP became rough. Homeless people have been known to assault us dispatchers. They have vandalized our cars. They sleep in the middle of the sidewalk so you have to walk in the street to avoid them. I have many more stories. When I go to DTLA to work there I ride the train to Union Station and walk up to the building. It's 10 minutes. 10 minutes of anxiety as I have my head on a swivel to avoid danger. I thought it would be wise to obtain a Concealed Carry permit in LA County, especially if I have to work DTLA. Every county is different when it comes to getting a CCW. Riverside and San Bernardino counties take 2 months. LA County takes 2 years. I'm almost at the END of that journey. I applied for my CCW in AUG 2023 and fingerprinted that month. After a year, I had finally a 10 minute interview - over the phone. Then I waited another 6 to be approved to take a 16 hour class with my firearm - and I had to qualify with that firearm. The cost has been ridiculous! Firearm Safety Certificate: $30.00 Put the Gun in my name: $20.00 Application for a CCW $45.00 Fingerprints: $50.00 Cost of a 16 hour firearms safety class: $700.00 I'm still waiting on the final approval and call to go to the office and pick up the permit. Now you know why I why I wanted to get a CCW. In light of the riots in Los Angeles, especially DTLA, I think it was a sound and wise decision. In California, the only person who is going to watch out for you is you - or your husband - if you're lucky. NEXT: My CCW class |
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