“Dad! Daddy! Dad!”

Posted on April 29, 2016 by Badge415

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“I’m going to drop you off at school today with no shirt on.”

With a firm voice my 11 year old daughter said, “Please don’t.”

It was at this point, I thought I’d have some fun at her expense. I grabbed my keys and went to the garage without a shirt on. Once the garage door was up, I got in my car and waited with anticipation for her to come out.

About 30 seconds later my daughter stormed into the garage with a scowl on her face as he petite body carried a large backpack. With a serious and determined look she opened the passenger door and tossed a shirt at me as she said, “Put that on.”

The shirt landed on my lap and I tossed it back as she closed the door. I was going to put it on, but my little joke was just too good to pass up now. Of course, she tried to give me the shirt again, but I refused to take It. That’s when I put the car in reverse and started to back up.

“DAD! DADDY! DAD!”

I pulled onto the street and started heading toward school with my daughter in a panic because I was going to embarrass her. I got 50 yards down the road and couldn’t hold it in anymore as I started laughing. I finally had to pull over so I could put my shirt on.

With her arms crossed, my daughter sat there with eyes that could throw darts. I kept laughing, but she wasn’t amused. With my shirt finally on, we headed to school as I tried to get her to laugh.

She eventually cracked a smile, but she fought to keep it in.

I pulled into the school parking lot and I asked, “Why couldn’t I drop you off without my shirt on?”

“Because it’s embarrassing!”

She also hates it when I suddenly blast 80s music as she steps out of the car at school too! Maybe one day she’ll torture her kids like this because of all the fun I had with her.

My job is to keep them on their toes and to have a little fun at the same time.

Green Mist one year later

Posted on April 19, 2016 by Badge415

Last April, I published a blog story called “The Legend of Green Mist in Chino Hills.” It was a story about a creepy area in Chino Hills that was a local legend like non other.

To this date, it’s the most popular Badge415 post ever. Within a few hours the story was shared over 6,000 times on Facebook. I was shocked and amazed how many people knew about the Green Mist story and wanted to share it.

Today there was a spike on the website stats related to that story with almost 600 views. I thought it was cool to know that people were still reading it one year later. Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read and share the story.

Thanks to my Chino High School FB friends who started sharing it last year. That’s where the story took off.

As of today, it’s been shared over 10,000 times on FB.

Hopefully there will be a new generation of people who live in the area that will become interested in the legend of Green Mist.

Click here for a link to the original story.

“It wasn’t me”

Posted on March 5, 2016 by Badge415

Our cat’s name is Jasper and she has a thing for straws. We have no idea when her infatuation for straws started, but if one is out, she’ll get it. Once she has a straw, she’ll carry it around the house in her mouth. We think she’s part dog.

Yesterday, I went to the drive-thru to get some food at my daughter’s request. Right before we left, the cashier handed me three straws. We went home and I put them on the kitchen table.

My daughter and I ate and used two of the straws for our drinks. My son was at school at the time so I I left one straw on the table. After I was done eating I left to pick him up.

When we got home I told him about the food and where his drink and straw were. A minute later my son told me there wasn’t a straw on the table.

“We brought you a straw. It’s on the table,” I told him.

“I looked. It’s not there.”

I walked over to the table and looked for it because I assumed he was being lazy. I looked everywhere, but there was no straw. Where could it be? That’s when I heard the cat doing something around the corner.

I walked to the family room and guess what I found? The cat looking at me with an innocent look and my son’s straw on the floor.

Sent from my iPad

Daddy knows best

Posted on February 25, 2016 by Badge415

Waiting for the tooth fairy

This is mostly a blog about police stories, but this one was too good to pass up.

On Monday night, my daughter and I were watching a movie when she told me about her loose tooth. It had been loose for some time, but it started bleeding a little bit and seemed ready to come out.

Based on what she told me and what I saw I said, “It will probably come out tomorrow.”

The tooth bugged her the rest of the night, but it didn’t come out. The next day we hung out because she was on school break. Later on she went to gymnastics practice with no word about the tooth.

I picked her up at 8PM and was driving home when she said, “You lied to me. You said the tooth was coming out today.” She was frustrated with the tooth because it was bothering her.

“Well, I thought it would come out today.” What else can you say to an 11 year old when it comes to a loose tooth?

Right after that she offered me a cookie. I took the cookie and ate it. She took a bite from another cookie and started chewing.

She then leaned forward and put her hand up to her mouth. She turned toward me as she said, “My tooth just came out!” She held up her hand and showed it to me.

See, daddy does know best……

Badge415 hit 200 posts

Posted on February 10, 2016 by Badge415

Last night I clicked the “publish” button after finishing another blog post and a notification popped up from WordPress. It said this was Badge415’s 200th post.

I looked at the screen for a moment and wondered if this was correct. I had no idea there were 199 posts before yesterday. Where did the time go?

For blog post # 201, I just wanted to say thank you to all of the readers who follow Badge415. I appreciate all of the compliments, Retweets, comments and Facebook shares.

Keep reading and sharing Badge415 with friends and family……We’ll get to 300 in no time.

Jingle the Elf

Posted on December 25, 2015 by Badge415

The Elf holding court with the little people

It’s 11:48PM and another Christmas Eve is about to be in the history books. In a few short minutes the clock will strike midnight and the Elf on the Shelf will go back in hiding for another year.

He captured a UCLA Bruin bear

Jingle is our Elf on the Shelf. This year Jingle appeared and performed various mischievous acts, but didn’t get too crazy like other elves. He didn’t rearrange furniture or make a Barbie do something unnatural. He mostly jumped from spot to spot and at times picked on my daughter’s stuffed animals.

New and never performed acrobats

I like Jingle’s style because he’s not afraid to get his hands dirty and shake things up. I bet he’s a carpe diem type of Elf.

Merry Christmas from Badge415.

It’s not a Christmas party anymore

Posted on December 12, 2015 by Badge415

Tonight’s my wife’s annual Christmas party. Oh, wait. I just found out the title was changed to “Holiday Party.” I always thought it was a Christmas party or an Xmas Party for short.

Since it’s now a “Holiday Party” does that mean they have to get rid of the Christmas trees that are at the hotel where it’s being held? Does this also mean I can shorten Holiday Party to Ho Party if I send a text message or email?

Just a little something I thought about when I found out it wasn’t a Christmas party anymore.

The USS Iowa

Posted on December 8, 2015 by Badge415

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Have you ever thought you had a bad day where nothing went right? A few weeks ago I met a veteran with an incredible story that made our bad days look like nothing compared to what he went through during World War II

I visited the battleship USS Iowa, which is now a museum in San Pedro, CA. This was the fourth floating museum that we’ve been to. The others were the USS Missouri and USS Bowfin in Hawaii and the aircraft carrier USS Midway in San Diego.

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While on board, I walked through the ship and looked at all of the exhibits on the self-guided tour. That’s where I saw an elderly veteran sitting behind a table that had pictures and notebooks on it. He stood up as I walked by and pointed to the photos he was in. While he was showing me the pictures he said his ship was sunk off the coast of the Philippines in 1944. That’s when he said, “I spent three days in the water.”

“Wow. What about sharks?” I asked.

“I was a lifeguard in Long Beach (CA) before the war. I knew that you had to make yourself look big so we had to get close together. That way the shark would see something big instead of one person. There was oil in the water also. We rubbed oil all over our bodies because sharks don’t like that.”

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This was an amazing story to hear. I couldn’t imagine being in the ocean for three days while holding onto debris, hoping to be saved and not be attacked by sharks.

My mom was also listening and said, “You look great for your age.”

“I’m 50 years old,” he replied with a smile. He then said, “I’m 89 years old.”

After we were done, I shook his hand and told him, “Thank you for your service.”

The Japanese officially surrendered on board the USS Missouri to end World War II. The USS Iowa was right next to the USS Missouri in Tokyo Harbor for the ceremony.

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Be thankful for your family

Posted on November 26, 2015 by Badge415

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How many of us will go to Thanksgiving dinner and truly be thankful for what we have? Will you be thankful for the family around you today or will we go through the motions because that’s what you have always done?

On Wednesday afternoon, I dropped my daughter off at my mom’s house on the way to work. After I said goodbye, I drove down the street and stopped for the stop sign before making a right turn. While I was stopped, I saw a man sitting in a chair at the southeast corner.

The sight of the man made my heart ache as a father because I knew why he was sitting there. He was there because this was the spot where his son died many years ago in a traffic collision.

He was sitting in a chair in a small grass area next to his son’s memorial, which included a skateboard and pictures. He was alone with a book in his hand as he looked down, lost in his own thoughts as traffic went by. I have seen him here before over the years, along with a woman, who I assumed was his wife.

I watched him for a moment and couldn’t imagine the emptiness he felt. This was his spot to mourn a life that was taken away too soon. This was his spot to be close to last place his son ever stood on earth. This spot was his last connection to his son.

After I turned, I thought how different my Thanksgiving was going to be compared to this man and his wife. I’m sure they wished they could have one more Thanksgiving dinner together as a family with their son.

This is something to think about when you sit down to have your Thanksgiving dinner with your family. Take a moment and be thankful for the people around you because there are others who wish they had one more chance.

Who doesn’t love the 80’s?

Posted on November 11, 2015 by Badge415

I spent my teen years in the 1980s, which was a good thing. That decade brought us movies like Top Gun, Back to The Future and Rambo. On TV you had Miami Vice, Cheers and The A Team, just to name a few. And who could forget the music? I could go on an on about that one subject forever.

Luckily I have satellite radio and the 80’s live on inside my car. Even though the radio station in primarily on the “80’s on 8” I do switch it around once in a while depending on my mood.

We’ve listened to so much 80’s music my kids know the lyrics to some songs better than I do. They have even discovered 80’s movies, along with old TV shows because of Netflix.

What can I say? They have good taste.

Today, I was driving with my son when I noticed the radio station was on the “90’s on 9.” I looked at him and asked, “Did you change the station?”

“No, I thought you did,” He replied. “I was going to ask to put it back on the 80’s on 8.”

I thought it was cool to hear my son say that. He then said something even better.

“Listening to the 90’s on 9 is like being part of the Lewis and Clark expedition. You don’t know what to expect.”

That’s my boy. Only he could associate the Lewis and Clark expedition to the unknown of listening to 90’s music.

He gets a freebee the next time he gets in trouble.