Tag help

 

I flopped bonelessly across the bed and stared, unfocusing, at the ceiling.  I slowly closed my eyes against the harsh light of my thoughts.
I felt my wife’s weight on the bed as she sat down next to where I was laying.  Her voice floated toward me:
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh…I’ve failed.” I grumbled in what I hoped was a matter-of-fact tone.
“What do you mean?  Failed at what?”
Our daughter was visiting a friend’s house that evening, and it was arranged that I would pick her up.  As I turned onto one of the less savory streets of our city, my daughter pointed out a man sleeping on a bench at the bus stop.  “How sad…” She commented.
“And I just drove on.”  I groaned.  “I didn’t stop or anything.  My daughter watched me as I passed by someone who was apparently in need.”
I felt my wife’s hand brush across the top of my head.
“Why didn’t you?”
“I’ve got a thousand excuses.  All cop-outs.  I didn’t have anything to give to him. I couldn’t get to where he was without crossing several lanes of traffic, then parking at a grocery store, then walking over to the bus stop while leaving our kid in the car.  In that neighborhood.”
My wife’s hand stopped. “What else?”
She had accurately sensed that those were all just excuses I created after the fact. After I had failed to stop and give help, I came up with all sorts of ideas as to why I didn’t.
I sighed.  “I didn’t think of it until I was about three blocks down the road.  I wasn’t thinking much about helping others, I was just “being Dad,” concentrating on getting my kid home. I suppose I could have turned back, but then all those excuses came to mind and I just kept going.”
She resumed her hair-stroking.  “Your reasons don’t sound too much like cop-outs to me, but I think you may be feeling guilty because, for a moment, you’ve forgotten who you are.”
We sat in silence for a few heavy moments, then her voice reached my ears again.
“Why don’t you try this…”
Now, in the front seat of my car and within easy reach lies a small duffel bag.  It is always stocked with water bottles, each bearing the Rook symbol.  They not only serve as a constant reminder of who I am as well as my mission, they provide ready access to something everyone who lives in my neck of the desert needs.  It’s an easy, convenient way to help others when you’re busily going about the other part of your life.

Today was not my day.
I have a REAL elderly parent and she sees the yellow tape at the end of the race so she’s trying to tie up loose ends.
This would not be fun in the first place, but my Mom never won any contests for Miss Congeniality so it was a day of hauling her around in the sun & listening to her chew out Bank staff, Nurses, basically anybody who got in the way of her wrath while sitting there with my face buried in my hand. Finally after a full day of this I get home to Lady Hero & dinner at a Hawaiian restaurant that just opened in Ozona when it hits me…
“Man, I got to patrol.”
I’m wiped out & on my last leg you think I’d just want to watch the Hula dancers, get home & hit the rack after the Simpson’s or something but no…
“Man I got to patrol.”
So I suit up & head for St. Pete, I get a coffee & head for the Highway when the light in front of me turns yellow. “Yellow light? No F*&^king problem…I put my foot down on the gas & nothing happens… that’s when it dawns on me…
“Oh my GOD! I’m not in the Supermobile! I’m going to F^%$ing DIE!”
So I’m literally standing on the Brake Horizontally and I think the Sentra is doing that “Bunching up” thing that the car the Pink Panther had that had a Mind of it’s own would do when it was trying to keep from sailing over a cliff or something when I manage to come to a stop right before the intersection.
I’m sitting there shaking & I look down & realize “Wow I didn’t spill a drop of coffee.”
Now that IS a superpower. You think that would be the end of it but…
“Man I got to patrol.”
So I get down there and things finally start to take a swing up. I’m on foot and there’s some kind of huge block party going on, 5 people stopped me that had seen me on HBO & supported what we were doing, another bunch just wanted photos with me or to talk about what I was doing there, but even this wasn’t quenching my desire to be out there.
“Man I got to patrol.”
So I walk away from all that & get back into the quiet, Darker, Spookier part of the city. And that’s when it finally dawns on me.
“I’m patrolling.”
“This has to be the bottom line draw to this for a lot of guys.” I think to myself.
Throughout the day they’re everyday yutzes but for just a few hours a night…
They get to be a F&*^king Jungle Cat. It’s dark, their tights are compressing against their muscles, they’re looking for prey, for just a few hours they get to be on top of the food chain in some form or another.
Everything is right in their world.
I don’t know why it’s on patrol that I always have moments of clarity, I wonder if other guys are the same way.
Because when it’s done, it’s back home to do the F*&^king dishes.
Live the Gimmick
SH
 

Remember last Summer I did a Blog called “Sometimes the only satisfaction you get is that you tried.”? Where I pulled over on the bayside in the Supermobile to try & help a family stranded in a minivan & nothing worked or went right? Well today I pulled over to help a Lady & her Kid with a Blown out tire & everything went textbook. The Jack fit, The nuts came off & went on fine, here spare was flat, my compressor filled it. She was on the way. Perfect.
It happens every now and then
I just wish these thing didn’t always have to happen with a 110 degree heat index.
 

 

Originally posted:
By Keegan Hamilton

?Eighteen-year-old Marizela Perez disappeared on the afternoon of March 5 and hasn’t been seen since. Last night, Perez’s family, friends, and supporters–including her cousin, news pundit Michelle Malkin–gathered for a benefit concert and remembrance at the University of Washington’s Ethnic Cultural Center. It seemed more than a little odd when a man dressed all in black and wearing a ski mask first stepped onstage to a say a few words, but by the end of his speech the crowd was genuinely impressed that a Real Life Superhero is helping hunt for their missing loved one.
The man in the mask was Black Knight, a member of Seattle’s so-called “Real Life Superhero” community, who has lately been spotted patrolling the city streets with Phoenix Jones. (Black Knight is not, however, officially a part of Jones’ “Rain City Superheroes” crew.)
Before he got up on stage, Black Knight explained that he read about Perez’s disappearance in the news a few days after it happened. He says he volunteers–both in and out of costume–for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and was moved by the case.
“I contacted some of the family on Facebook,” Knight said. “I started learning about her habits, where she got her haircut, things like that, and following up as best I could. It’s been hard. We haven’t had any leads in the past few weeks.”
Perez was last seen on a surveillance camera inside the Safeway on University Way. She had plans to meet some friends at the library but never showed up. She was reported missing the next day. Police and volunteers initially searched parks in the University District and later Discovery Park. Perez’s family hired a private investigator, and the search was eventually expanded to Southern California, where Perez, a New Jersey native, has relatives. Her case twice appeared on America’s Most Wanted, but to no avail.
The months of uncertain grieving have clearly taken a toll on Perez’s family. Last night, after a slideshow of photos and videos portrayed Perez as a carefree college student who loved art, fashion, and singing along to Disney cartoons, there was hardly a dry eye left in the auditorium. The mood lightened after several musical acts, most of which featured UW students involved in the school’s Filipino community.
When the guy in the intimidating outfit–Black Knight–finally took the stage, he explained that a family friend asked him to join in the evening’s events. He spoke briefly and poignantly, saying that the search “is not just about one person, it’s about one person and all the people she touched along the way.” He also said he has spread the word to other Real Life Superheroes in Vancouver, B.C., and San Francisco to be on the lookout for Perez.
Standing outside later, Black Knight noted that he’s been active in the Seattle and Tacoma area since 2006, four years before the Phoenix Jones media frenzy, but he focuses more on community service work and doesn’t seek publicity. “I’ve always been kind of nervous about that,” he says. “A lot of us try to remain anonymous and obscure.”
Black Knight was accompanied at the event by Skyman, another lesser-known Real Life Seattle Superhero, who says he is committed to homeless outreach. Both men, however, noted they were headed out later in the evening to “patrol the streets for crime” in either Seattle or Tacoma.
Presumably that patrol entailed keeping their eyes peeled for Marizela Perez, known to her friends and family as M.M. As Daily Weekly reported back in March, Perez is:

“Asian female, 5’5″ tall, 110 lbs, skinny build, asymmetrical bob with short bangs and brown/red highlights hairstyle, tattoo on left inner arm with the words ‘lahat ay magiging maayos,’ She was last seen wearing denim jeans, light brown suede laced boots, possibly wearing green eye contacts, possibly carrying a plaid backpack with a Macbook Pro laptop, taking medication for depression.”

Anyone with knowledge of Perez’s whereabouts should contact Seattle Police’s missing persons bureau or contact her family via their website, FindMarizela.com.
Perez’s tattoo–“lahat ay magiging maayos”–is Tagalog for “All will be well.” The words were repeated often last night and hung on a hand-painted banner behind the stage.
Follow The Daily Weekly on Facebook and Twitter.

The police department leading the investigation into the Long Island Serial Killer is in some fairly serious disarray. The New York Post reported today that the head of the investigation, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer, has been removed not just from the case, but from his job, because he let slip too many details to the press. He’s the one who told reporters that some of the bodies were wrapped in burlap, that the victims were prostitutes, and that the killer found them on Craigslist. He “embarrassed the department,” the Post’s source said.
With the investigation apparently stalled and the police fighting amongst themselves, who’s left to protect the women this killer preys on? It would appear that job has fallen to–or rather been seized by–a vigilante group calling itself the New York Initiative. Posing on their Facebook page dressed in retro-futuristic body armor and steampunk goggles, and calling themselves superheroes without irony, the group posted an ad on Craigslist last week offering its advice and services to sex workers:

If you absolutely don’t have a friend to help you [track your movements while on a date], you may use the services of the New York Initiative as your personal log book, as well as your rescue team in the event of an emergency. If you choose to do this, we will provide you with a number to call and a few one-number or one word codes you can say or text to us so that we can contact someone to assist you with a possibly violent date. Another idea is keeping us on speed dial, and if things get weird just call us and let the line open. We’ll know what’s going on immediately.
We also have other techniques which we can explain to you after confirmation via phone.

These guys obviously take themselves pretty seriously, but would some homicidal maniac do the same when they show up with their homemade armor and (presumably kind of foggy) goggles? And how long does it take to put all that stuff on, anyway? Regardless, they have a point: Letting somebody know where you are at all times and keeping in contact with a third party while on a date are both good techniques for sex workers to stay a little safer and still do their jobs.
Still, it’s hard to respond in earnest to the call from sex-worker advocates like writer Violet Blue to spread NYI’s message when they look like 12-year-olds at a Robocop-themed birthday party.

http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/cas/2329212396.html

To all Ladies: Free Protection and Safety System, (Long Island Killer) – m4w – 29 (NYC)

Hello, pretty lady!
I’m writing you on behalf of a group called the New York Initiative (We are not affiliated with law enforcement), and with the hopes that I’ve created a system that will help keep you safe when you go on dates! You can find our facebook page through Google, as well as Google us with the words New York Press or Superheroes Documentary 2011 to find out what we’re about (Craigslist doesn’t allow me to post our URL)…yes, we look a little funny, but believe me when I say that we are all quite competent and capable of doing the things we say.
So with that out of the way, let me just get down to business… The Long Island Killer is out there. He’s a scary bastard, and it’s starting to seem like he is focusing on you pretty ladies because some people are slower to report you missing, and also because apparently the law doesn’t respect your personal choices and that means cops are slower to follow through when it comes to you. Well, I’m here to say FUCK THAT. We respect you as human beings, we believe in personal freedoms and think that you’re doing something that is absolutely your choice to do.
So rock on, ladies…We are on your side. With that said, we are here to help.
In lieu of this, I have devised two systems that will keep you safe… both law-enforcement free, but one meant specifically for you to do on your own, with a friend, and the other which offers our very distinct and unusual services (free of charge, of course).
OPTION 1: Whenever you have a date, make sure a friend knows the address you’re going. Have them write it down in a book made specifically for this purpose, with the times and dates included. If you can, when on the date, text your friend with the address you are at or the general area in case your date takes you somewhere else than he had earlier specified , and let your date know that a friend knows exactly where you’ll be if he starts to get “funny”.
Give your friend hourly updates on your location so if anything goes wrong, they can send someone to help you faster. We realize that this could alter the mood of your date, but in these crazy times, a pretty lady that’s ready is a pretty lady that’s alive. If your date watches the news at all, he will understand. Be wary if he doesn’t.
OPTION 2.If you absolutely don’t have a friend to help you with this, you may use the services of the New York Initiative as your personal log book, as well as your rescue team in the event of an emergency. If you choose to do this, we will provide you with a number to call and a few one-number or one word codes you can say or text to us so that we can contact someone to assist you with a possibly violent date. Another idea is keeping us on speed dial, and if things get weird just call us and let the line open. We’ll know what’s going on immediately.
We also have other techniques which we can explain to you after confirmation via phone.
We will react quickly and without hesitation every time, using our considerable contacts to the full extent of their reach.
We also want to extend to you our services as the NYI: Namely, practical martial arts training free of charge, as well as improvised weapons training free of charge (i.e. pens, phones, keys)…Add to this basic to advanced survival skills, or pretty much anything else you want to know about that will keep you safe out there.
We care about you. We want you alive, in this world, just like everyone else. Because you’re a human being, and you are deserving of love. The NYI loves you, and we’re here to bust the asses of any asshole trying to hurt you.
This is just one of the ways we can get the Long Island Killer off the streets, as well as make what you do safer.
Let me say one more time that we won’t involve law enforcement unless you are in serious danger. The logs will be kept personal and private, because what do the police need to know about your personal life, right? It’s just a date, for cryin’ out loud.
Be safe out there, whatever you choose. You are no longer alone.
-Zero and the New York Initiative
P.S. If you have any other ideas that we can help with to keep you safe out there, don’t be afraid to ask!
You can contact the New York Initiative at [email protected]
and on facebook www.facebook.com/NYInitiative
 

Message from Thanatos:
-I am a real life superhero here in Vancouver, dedicated to fighting crime and evil. I was inspired as a child myself by such great heroes as the Shadow, the Spirit, the Green Hornet, Doc Savage and others.
I wear a mask to hide my identity because who I am is not as important as what I do.
I fight evil by being a symbol to people everywhere to prove to all that ONE person can make a difference.
Helping Easter Seals help these kids with disabilites is my biggest challenge.
I am so proud to be a part of Easter Seal’s Drop Zone event. I have a special place in my heart for these kids. Fighting for them is one of the greatest challenges we can face.
Children with disabilities have always held a special place in my heart. I won’t go into the specifics, let’s just say I know from my experiences in the past.
These are great kids. Wonderful kids who deserve a chance to live and enjoy and just exsist like any other normal child. The fact that they have special needs and requirements to sometimes do even the simplest things we take for granted means we have to do more.
The United Nations has set forth, the basic human rights of a child. That’s right. A child. It dosent say only the rich. It dosent say only those who have two legs and can run. It dosent say only those who need no care.
It says a child. Even a child who needs help, who needs care. Who needs special devices just to live and move around.
These are the ones who need our help.
These are the ones we can reach out and help. Right now.
I am asking for you to back me in this. What ever your reasons. I would go farther than 20 storeys for these kids.
If I can do this to draw attention to what Easter Seals is doing, then you can be a superhero as well by donating and helping make a difference.
That is what it is all about. Helping to make a difference in the lives of these children.
Thank you on behalf of some very special kids.
Thanatos
I am asking everyone to please, help Easter Seals fight evil in a big way and help these kids. Last year I raised $760 to help these special kids out. I didnt get to do the rappel down the 30 story building but that’s OK. The rappel is just a perk and a good way to show the world that we, real life superheroes really do care. I am proud that I raised money to help them out and this year I am doing the same thing.
my goal is $1500 in order to rappel but I want to raise as much as I can for Easter Seals. it dosent matter if I make the goal or not. every little bit helps.
All I am asking is that everyone who reads this, everyone who goes out and tries to make this world a better place just donate $5. with all the members of these boards I should be able to go far beyond the goal and really help make a difference. You can make that difference.
go to my profile at
https://payment.csfm.com/events/bclions/dropzone_van/visitor/?action=profile&participant_id=698993361219554906
and give what you can. show the world we really are what we say we are.
Easter Seals does so much that I thought it best if youread their own words on what they do.

ORLANDO — Some underprivileged children are enjoying new presents and clothes thanks to the help of a few superheroes.
People dressed in superhero outfits handed out candy and gifts to children under the Interstate 4 underpass in downtown Orlando.
“I’ve been doing this for many years because I was once a homeless man. And I’m a real life superhero. We have a worldwide organization. We do this, and we love to do this. We want to help people. There’s definitely a need to help people,” said organizer Master Legend.
Master Legend said he helped with the search for Caylee Anthony and all the gifts are being donated in her name.
http://www.cfnews13.com/News/Local/2008/12/25/superheroes_bring_christmas_cheer_to_kids.html