The Time I Almost Got Car Jacked on Business 20…

If you watch the news you might see a story tonight about a shirtless man stopping traffic on business 20 in Midland today right at lunch time…if you do think of me.

I typically take the same route at lunch. I go down Wall St which then turns into Business 20…  Today as I was doing this the traffic slowed to a crawl right as I passed Bowen’s on Thomason Drive and my first thought was a wreck.  However, it didn’t take for me to see what was happening.  Where was I? Oh yeah, traffic slowed then the cars in front of me began to drive along their merry way, which is what I wanted to do but I couldn’t because out of nowhere there was a shirtless man in front of my car with a clear baggie in his hand walking around like a baby giraffe.  He stops in front of my car looking at me like “what are you doing driving…on the road….right where I’m trying to learn to walk again…”  Anyway, he stops in front of me and then bum rushes my vehicle.  I hit the lock button on my doors right before his hand hit the handle and he started jerking at it trying to get in with the most insane look on his face.

Luckily I locked the doors in time.  I called Midland 911 and they were all over it like white on rice. It’s a good thing Sheriff Painter has his Mental Health Unit, I hope they were dispatched to take care of this man who was obviously in need of help.  For those of you who don’t know, Midland County has a Mental Health Unit that consists of deputies from the Crisis Response Team and Midland Police Officers that have all been trained by a Texas mental health law expert.  Up until this last October I didn’t know that either.  I learned about the unit while tuning in to an episode of “Eyes On Psych” by The Recording Library of West Texas where my fiancé and best friend (one in the same) manages a non-profit radio station for the blind.

That was alot to take in wasn’t it?  I’ll explain…

The Recording Library of West Texas is a non-profit organization that provides audio versions of books, magazines and newspapers (among other things) to enrich the lives of people who cannot access the printed word.  Individuals such as this, who cannot access the printed word can listen to their very own radio station that will read the local paper, newsletters, books and magazines  to them, covering everything from community events, local news  and obituaries to what’s for sale at the grocery store and then some!   The show “Eyes On Psych” is a radio show that focuses on mental health.  There is a special guest every week and a wide range of popular topics is discussed with host Lewis Busbee, a licensed professional Counselor in Midland.  They Facebook live the recording of the show every Friday at 3pm on the “Eyes On Psych” Facebook page.  An archive of shows can be found on the website.  Here is the episode I listened to where I found about the Mental Health Unit with Sheriff Gary Painter as the special guest. Sheriff Painter episode

All the episodes are good but one of my favorites was one with a man whose job it was to research extensively background information on particular types of criminals for the sentencing phase of court cases… all I’m going to say is serial killers…. I highly recommend listening to that one when you are done with the Sheriff Painter one and then all of the rest.

Fun fact about the Recording Library of West Texas, you can call and request to have a book recorded into an audio book, you can also come in and record one yourself if you want.  Maybe you want to record a special book for your kiddo and while you’re there stay and lay down some audio for other stuff too.  You can (and should) volunteer at the Recording Library reading books for the members of our community who no longer have access to the written word but still love a good romance novel, or true crime thriller or Harry Potter mystery! Visit the website, all the info you need if right there, or if you’re lazy like me just give them a call at 432-682-2731 and ask for Chris.

I can’t wait to go record the book “Mind Hunters”, the book that the hit Netflix original series was based off, what book would you record or like to have recorded?