Below are the 9 most recent journal entries recorded in Diego Torres' InsaneJournal:

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009
3:00 pm	008 - Sounds of Silence. Any work is good work, especially when I get a break from chasing down drug dealers in alleyways. I know I have a dangerous job, one I signed up for probably before I was old enough to really understand what the commitment meant. But since I've been doing it for so long, I can't imagine doing anything instead. I don't do desk jobs. I lack patience when dealing with people over the phone. Honestly, I have little patience for people in general, so I could never work in customer service or retail. Having a job that lets me chase people down, either on foot or by truck, lets off some steam. Sometimes, the nightmares are there. Sometimes things happen on the job that put images in my head that I can't shut off when I turn out the light. But I honestly feel like I'm doing good. I feel like I'm helping, contributing to society. I feel like I'm helping to keep my family safe. Gina has started seeing this guy named Brian. He's a few years older than you and he works in advertising. I don't know what I think about him yet, but I've only met the guy once. He wasn't at the house long enough for me to give him the third degree. Sure, it's the thing a father might do (a father, not our father; He rarely noticed when boys came over to court his daughters. This Brian didn't seem sketchy, or nervous to meet me. Maybe he has some balls. It's too early to tell. Last night, while riding along with my pal Barry, we responded to a call near a convenience store where a deaf woman had been assaulted in the parking lot, and left for dead. The assailant tried to take her purse while she was filling up her car with gas, and when she ran after him, she reached him, got ahold of the purse, and the guy turned on her and started to wail on her with his fists. I was back at the station when they were doing her interview, with a sign language interpreter to really understand her side of the story. She had no idea why she was targeted, or what the man stood to prove by beating on her just because she didn't want him to have what little cash and a few credit cards she had on her person. The interviewer asked her, through the translator, why she fought so fiercely for her purse. She explained that the wallet had a photograph inside, a priceless one that was irreplaceable. She was willing to die for a photograph. It made me think about what I would be willing to die for. I told Barry to keep me informed on her case. If the assailant resurfaces, I want to see his ass nailed to a board and ripped apart. Current Mood: awake Current Music: The Devil Went Down To Georgia || Charlie Daniels Band (12 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009
5:56 pm	007 - Almost Worse. So Carly went and got herself knocked up, and apparently she has the fool notion that she's going to keep the kid. Catholic ideas towards abortion aside, our family has never been religious, and even if we were, Carly's the least faithful of the lot. I'm sure Whats-His-Nuts thinks he'll be a great daddy but he won't. The kid is a toolbox with his head so far up his own ass, he's shitting out his thoughts. I don't know if the boy has ever had a decent thought flicker through his idiot skull. She wants to play happily ever after with that dumb shit? Good riddance. To be honest, even though they've been together for years, I just kept hoping she'd come to her senses and leave him for someone more deserving. But she sees something in that brainless idiot. And now with this damned baby he'll be permanently linked to our family, whether they get married or not. And that's the best part. They still haven't talked about a wedding. I know you don't have to be married to be serious about another person, but I just don't trust the kid to not run out on my sister and leave her baby without a father. Well, I wouldn't put it past him to run out on her even if they were married. A bad father is almost worse than no father at all. Current Mood: irritated (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, April 27th, 2009
1:46 pm	006 - Mad World. ( Private - Maggie Only ) (9 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, February 23rd, 2009
7:50 pm	Irrational. ( ...and the world spun out of control ) Current Mood: awake (Comment on this)
Monday, January 12th, 2009
7:42 pm	005 - Bend The Spoon Gina's back, and somehow I get the feeling that this partnership between she and I isn't exactly equal, if I was hurting this badly without her while she was gone. It really made me appreciate the way we all work as a unit, because I'd be in way over my head if I tried to take care of the girls and work full time all by myself. I compromised by taking my time to myself during the day when the girls were at school. Not that I did a whole lot with myself, just gathered my thoughts, grabbed a drink, chased a few smiles. Nothing special. Nothing came of it. January always starts out really optimistically, then peters off by February. We're almost halfway through the month, and already Christmas seems so far away. Oh, did I mention that the Captain said I might get saddled with a partner soon? I can't say that I'm thrilled with the idea. Current Mood: contemplative Current Music: Tom Sawyer || Rush (10 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, January 2nd, 2009
12:46 am	004 - Juggling Act. Somebody had to come back and play the grown-up, didn't they? After a great holiday in Ireland, taking as much vacation time I could from the station, I'm back in Seattle. The girls and I were in the air flying when the ball dropped in Times Square, but the New Year was already rung in Ireland. I had to come back, even though after the amount of time I spent last year at Maggie's mother's house it was pretty hard to leave. The place, the people, everything sucks you in and you don't want to leave. I think if I was still at all religious, I'd think heaven looked a lot like that place. But even though I understand the pull of the place, and I couldn't deny anyone the opportunity to take a personal holiday from the hectic nature of life, I still wish Gina had come back with us. She's staying on for awhile, not sure how long. Maybe a week, maybe two. She's spoken to her boss and things will be slow while the kids are still on their winter break from school. The hard part will be balancing the kids and the badge. Mel's not so cool about stepping up with some extra responsibility, but she'll have to get over it. We're a family, and we've all got to help each other out. Besides, if she thinks she's getting a driver's licence in February, she'll have to help take care of E while Gina's gone. It's not that I'm not capable of taking care of the girls myself. It's just that having Gina and Maggie in town meant there was someone to call, someone with a car who could help out in a tight spot or a time crunch. One day at a time, one squad car ride to dance lessons, and maybe a few more put together meals instead of the taquitos and Rotel dip that Gina likes to fix. I do wish that there were more people around for me to hang out with, though. Not that I'll have much free time while juggling, but having Gina and Mags around... they're pretty much my whole social life. 2009 has a good feel to it already. Since last year managed to end a whole lot better than it began, I'm pretty optimistic that the same thing will happen this year. Wow, did you hear that? Optimism from a Torres kid. Hell must've frozen over. Current Mood: optimistic Current Music: Story Of My Life || Social Distortion (Comment on this)
Thursday, December 4th, 2008
3:13 pm	003 - Self-Made Luck I don't know how I keep getting lucky enough to be the closest officer to respond to distress calls on the radio. But it keeps happening. I was the backup guy two weekends ago when some kids held up the convenience store. I just happened to be there at the time. Actually, I'd stopped in that store for a cup of coffee on my way home, and two minutes after I walk out, it happened. This afternoon, I was in the right place at the right time again -- this time I helped to apprehend a suspect for questioning -- he was running through the park over by the E.M.P. and I was in Seattle Center on my lunch break, buying advance IMAX tickets for myself and the girls for this weekend. But I was closest, so I took off running again. I don't know if I'm really lucky, per se. It's more likely than not that I'm lucky I haven't been shot at recently. Current Mood: awake Current Music: Sway || Rolling Stones (12 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, October 29th, 2008
9:18 am	002 - Big Kettle Drum You know, I'd always considered myself more of the 'bachelor pad' type, but having a house to spread out in is a nice change. This place is huge. I'm pretty sure I stole it from the realtor for the price I got... but what'll probably happen is that the whole house will break down at once, then I'll really get my money's worth. It's interesting, thus far, having Gina and the girls living with me. Elena loves it. She's so glad to be back home, back at school. Her school's having a Halloween Carnival on Friday night, and she's dressing up as Hannah Montana. Go figure. I'm taking her since Gina has night class. I don't know if Melly will come with us or not. We've been in town for two weeks, and she's still adjusting. She'll be starting at her new school on Monday, and she's not thrilled. At least she's talking to me now -- she was pretty pissed that we uprooted her during her junior year. I refuse to apologize for my decision. She had to come with us. I wasn't going to leave her there. Hopefully one day, she'll understand. Like I said, we've been back in Seattle for two weeks. I went straight from Ireland to New Mexico, where Gina and E met me. The change isn't so big for them, since they were gone for a week. I've been gone almost a year. A lot can change in a year. I think what surprised me the most is the shuffle in department management at the station where I used to work. The hard-ass lieutenant, Lieutenant Clay, who had it out for me has been phased out. The official word is that he 'retired' but I doubt he had much say in the matter. There's a new lieutenant now, a woman. Lieutenant Shelton transferred from Olympia, and she was the one I had to meet with to fight to be reinstated. I hoped that I could just talk to Captain Matthews, but he's been tied up with media press conferences and paperwork he could probably have someone else do for him. Lieutenant Shelton judged me based on my performance record, not so much on my attendance record. I'm a good cop, and the work I do proves it. Everybody gets a shit ton of stuff thrown at them all at once at some point in their lives. The way I handled things wasn't the most professional, I'll admit. I'm grateful that I even have a job with the Seattle PD at all. But the lieutenant has decided to integrate me right back into the duty rotation, effective immediately. I guess we'll see how that goes. I'm ready to get back out there. Current Mood: mellow Current Music: When The Man Comes Around || Johnny Cash (9 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, October 6th, 2008
3:29 pm	001 - Times They Are A-Changin' ( Stubbornness ran in the family ) (Comment on this)