Calypso: a Thaelia's World original short story

10th day of the Bear Moon, 1194

 

Edward sat in the great hall with Sir Bryan of Foxwarre and Sir Gaston of Zulchai. Edward was the cousin of the late Earl Braeden du Faucione. Braeden’s ten year old son, Phillip was now Earl but due to his age, the lands were administered by Braeden’s half-brother Sir Kevin. After years of acting as Marshal for the Faucione family, Edward was granted lands as a reward and added to his property by purchasing surrounding acreage. Thanks to a little nudge from Queen Gaelynn, the former wife of Braeden, the romance between Edward and Sophie flourished. That Sophie was Gaelynn’s First Lady-in-Waiting and dear friend probably helped. The two women kept in touch with weekly letters. Gaelynn was influential with sending knights looking for service to Edward.

Words of wisdom to live by from a chivalrous man

I was going through one of my reference books and saw these words. I think they are relevant to Public safety in general and law enforcement in particular. They were written in the Fourteenth Century French knight called Geoffroi de Charny. Geoffroi was a very interesting man. He served in the Hundred Years war, dying at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356, carrying the banner (the Oriflamme) of the French King Philippe VI. He had, at one time, been captured by Edward III and held in London. Charny was an advocate of chivalry and big in the tourney circuits. In fact, the passages below were taken from his work, “The Book of Chivalry". His family owned the Shroud of Turin for a while.

One of his passions was passing on his knowledge.  He wrote three books, taking information from another famous knight, Raymond Lull. His words below are from his book on Chivalry.

Update on Book Three of Greycliff's Chronicles

I'm almost done with writing and editing. Cross my fingers, but I hope to have it out in July. This is the cover I am considering for use. Still not completely sold on it, though. Any opinions? It is supposed to be a picture of Gaelynn and Ranulf (not a custom picture).

Keeping current with trends in Public Safety

How do you keep up with new technology or current trends in Public Safety? I subscribe to multiple magazines and newsletters. As part of my membership to NENA (National Emergency Number Association) and APCO (Associated Public Safety Communications Officials, Inc.) I receive emailed news. APCO sends out a monthly magazine to it's members. For news about Telecommunicator Emergency Response Teams (TERT), I go to NJTI-Tert.

Death First!: Trials by Combat

In today’s society, when one individual is a victim of a crime, he or she can file a report with the local law enforcement agency. After the investigation is completed, charges may or may not be filed with the county district attorney’s office depending upon if enough evidence is found to proceed with a trial. During the medieval period, it didn’t always work that way. Authorities could ignore crimes if the involved persons were high enough in the pecking order, or a bribe was offered. Sometimes the Church would step in and claim a higher power was involved.  When a sentence of death or life in prison was given, the common people were stuck but the nobility had a second option: trial by combat.

Western Conference Finals here they come!

The naysayers have to eat some words 'cause the San Jose Sharks are going to the Stanley Cup Western Conference Finals for the fifth time in 25 years. What a game seven it was. 5-0 shut-out for the men in teal. The big stars showed up with goals by Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture, Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton, and Joel Ward. The team kept cool heads and only allowed 26 shots on goal with zero pucks in their net. Pekke Rinne had a bad night and was pulled after allowing five goals on 26 shots. The Predators goalie was less than thrilled and showed his ire by smashing his stick against the goal post, breaking the stick in two. Rinne then threw the remnants across the ice in disgust before skating to the Nashville bench.


In all, the Sharks played a good puck-possessing game. Instead of doing the dump & chase, the guys kept the biscuit in possession and carried it across the blue line. I saw more set-up and less of the usual passing. More shooting which resulted in goals. The D was on top of their game. This is how the Sharks beat their opponents.


According to the Sharks website:


"Pavelski scored at 8:22 on the power play with Viktor Arvidsson in the penalty box for delay of game. Thornton sent the puck below the goal line to Marleau, who found Pavelski in the low right circle. Pavelski, who had been knocked down by Rinne seconds earlier, scored on a wrist shot into the upper left corner.The goal was Pavelski's ninth of the playoffs. San Jose is 8-0 in the playoffs when he gets at least one point."


The team never looked backwards from that point onward. ESPN gathered ten hockey experts together and they are split, five to five in who wins the series. I say the Sharks in seven.




Game One is Sunday, May 15th at 5:00 pm (Pacific time)


official San Jose game seven recap


http://sharks.nhl.com/gamecenter/en/recap?id=2015030247&navid=DL|SJS|home


NHL Sharks/Blues preview:


https://www.nhl.com/news/nhl-playoffs-conference-finals-predictions/c-280654866?tid=280204614




Go Sharks!


Stay safe out there.

Stick 'em with the pointy end: a brief history of swords throughout history

Every epic fantasy or historical book set before the 1800’s has at least one scene with two men facing off against each other, swords clashing, until one died in a spray of blood. Swords were handed down from father to son or taken as prizes of war. Damascus steel from India, steel from Toledo, or Ulfberht swords from Scandinavia were the top of the line. Weapons could be single edged or double, straight or curved, short or long, and used for cutting or thrusting. What is a sword but a piece of metal? The weapons are the foremost symbols of war, associated with every type of warrior from ancient times to our modern military.  

Ulfberht swords

San Jose Sharks play-offs round Two

Adversity, thy friend is a Shark.






How exciting: San Jose BEAT the Los Angeles Kings in five games during the first round of the 20-15-2016 play-offs. Those of us who bleed teal had no doubt the Sharks would move on and leave the Kings wondering what happened. Game five, in Los Angeles, was a blow out win (6-3). It was clear the Sharks were out for blood. Donskoi scored twice,  along with Tierney, Nieto, Pavelski, and Karlsson for the added to the total goal tallies. It should be noted that the games in which Pavelski scores were the games the Sharks won (the only loss he didn't).




What happens next?

My favorite San Jose Sharks players

Next week the National Hockey League playoffs begin. Unlike last year, the San Jose Sharks clinched a spot in the Pacific Division this time around. They won’t know their opponent until the end of regulation play on Sunday, 4-10. 

 

To get in the play-off mood, I thought I’d review my top ten favorite All-Time San Jose Sharks players.  As the team is celebrating its 25^th anniversary, selecting only ten was tough but I managed.

 

Here are my choices (not in any particular order):

 

Arturs Irbe (G) played five seasons with San Jose, 568 games winning 236 from 1991 through 1996 season. ‘Like Wall’ was his motto and he stood tall in goal leading the team to the play-offs for the first time in the 1993-1994 season. Irbe set records: first shut-out and most minutes played by a goaltender but it was his charisma that made him a favorite.

"You're not a real cop."

There are many types of law enforcement officers (LEOs) working to keep America safe. Most of you are familiar with the traditional street cop, sheriff's deputy, and highway patrol officer. How many know about the countless other forms of LEOs?

The truth about jousts

Going to Renaissance Fairs is fun. One of my favorite parts is attending the reenactments of medieval history. I love seeing folks fight in period dress, especially tournament-style jousting. Granted, what we as modern folk, observe at fairs today is only a simulation of the ancient event. Back in the day, only men competed in the mounted joust (it was considered war games). Liability prevents most venues from putting on a melee.  Does that mean today’s games are ‘fake’? Absolutely not! Participants can be injured. Legitimate organizations require verifiable training of their members before they are allowed to strap on the armor and mount a horse in front of the cheering crowds.  Multiple attempts have been made to turn jousting into a sport that anyone can enter in many countries. Alas, the cost of the events for both the producer and the athletes, have resulted in a failure of any single authorizing agency to maintain a steady season.

annual National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week

As A Public Safety Dispatcher, one of my pet peeves is the general lack of recognition of the work we (dispatchers) do. Too many field personnel take dispatchers for granted - until we're needed. When the need for help is put out, who gets the assistance to you? Who digs for information and finds that driver's license, address, or background information? Most likely  it is the dispatcher. Who obtains the descriptions during the call that allows you to ultimately catch the bad guy? Who calms the panicked caller trapped in the wrecked car or burning building until help arrives?


Do I need to say it?

Coco's first adventure at the dog park

Last week Coco and I went to the Sparks Marina to check out the dog park. Now that my fur baby has been spayed, chipped, and licensed, she is good to go for adventuring. We were fortunate in having a beautiful day. The winds were keeping the early warmth to a manageable level, which was good as I had been fighting an ongoing migraine for the last few days.

I refuse to let a migraine keep me down unless I'm praying to the porcelain Goddess, which I wasn't (thank you!). Coco is a puller and I was testing out a new harness. It is called the "Easy Walk'. It is a tangle of straps to figure out at first but it DOES work. The strap configuration allows free movement but better control of the dog.

Great for me and Coco.

Countdown to the NHL trade deadline

The 29th day of February is significant as the extra day in a leap year and the last day NHL teams can trade players. The biggest day of movement for players and one many dread. Who will get that phone call?

say what??

what doesn't kill us


WILL DRIVE US CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Guest Blogger Pete Klismet, Jr.

Welcome to retired FBI law enforcement officer Pete Klismet. Pete is a fellow member of the Public Safety Writers Association. Pete is guest blogging about his career in law enforcement and his writing. I hope you enjoy the interview and please check out Pete's books!

Welcome to my blog, Pete. Please read on to see the interview questions.

My favorite books

 

I’ve seen a lot of ‘must-read’ lists recently so I thought I would add mine tot he mix. The books in my recommended list are in no particular order.  I read some of the books when I was younger. Most have impacted me in some form or another.  I have notes attached to most of them.

Comments?

 

 

Welcome to the new Greycliff's Chronicles

I haven't posted in a while because I had some technical problems. As a result, I am finding myself in the position of rebuilding my blog. This is not fun. SO, in the coming weeks, there will be a lot of teeth-grinding on my part to get it back to speed again.


I apologize in advance.


You can still search out the old one.


What is the saying, what doesn't kill us makes us stronger? I'm not so sure of that.


Goddess grant me strength to see this through. I remember the proves was frustrating the first time around....


Stay safe out there!


Diana