Some photos I took earlier today, thought I would share a few of them

Well the funeral went well, as well as a funeral could go I should say.  Met some of my wifes family that I never met before.  But I can say,  I really felt underdressed.  They were all super well dressed. I do not own a suit, so I had to wear a dark shirt and dark pants.  Everyone else was in suits.  Talk about an akward moment, lol.  But it was all good, cuz they were all nice. I got to talk a bit to my wifes cousin, who is a pilot for Southern Air, he is a pilot of a Boeing 777 and flies Internationally.  Kinda weird talking aviation during a funeral, but was still an awesome conversation.  He even gave me a photo of him inside the engine, the photo was taken from the cockpit looking back into the engine. And his arms were spread out, and he was unable to reach the outer parts of the engine. Really neat photo.

I went for a hike today at Rock Cut, enjoyed some time to myself. The weather was nice, so I decided to go for a hike.  It was fun, did my 365 photo for the day as well. But I wasn’t thinking, and forgot when theres warmth, theres melting. So, it was a muddy and wet hike. But still a fun one. I got to get out for some fresh air, get some exersize, and see nature once again. Its been awhile. I can say, things do look bare and blah, during the winter. No leaves on the trees, hardly any wildlife, and really quiet in the forest. A whole new experience from hiking during the summer times.

Its been a rough week for everyone, so i haven’t did much with my websites. But now everything is done, I can refocus back on my websites.  I made the forum on Rockford Scanner public now. I did have chat rooms, but decided to hold off on those awhile.  And just stick with the forum to see how that goes. My admin Alex, made the news. He was able to capture on his cell phone, video of a robbery suspect chase, and was able to video the capture of him.  Below is the video, Way to go Alex!  And Thanks to the local media outlets that showed the video.

I am sitting here chilling and thought I would blog for a bit. It has been a few days.  Not a lot to blog about right now, so I might just do one those random blogs I seem to like to do, LOL. 

I enjoy the fact that people try to piss me off on purpose.  It is like a game to them. But what many people do not know is I am better at their game than they are. 

I decided to turn off the scanner tonight, and just jam to my hard rock music! I need a break from the scanner.  It is one of my passions, but you can only listen to it for so long before needing a break.  Plus I have some really awesome admins, who help out, so I do not miss much on there. I can say, it is nice to see more fans interacting these days and posting photos and events. Good to see them like the hobby as well. I enjoy that a lot, because it shows me that they are into Rockford Scanner. Good to see the scanner hobby has made a comeback in our area, and Rockford Scanner had a huge part in bringing it back.

I am excited the Boeing 787 is coming into Rockford in a few days!  That is one of the planes I have been wanting to photograph, that I have yet had the chance too.  So it is going to be an awesome day.  From what I heard, the national media will be in town for the event as well.  This will be one of those events you only see here in Rockford, maybe only once! So, do not miss this chance to see it. ~ http://rockfordairportspotter.com/

So, I sit here and think to myself, “what if”  I never thought I would be asking myself this question. I have always went with my heart on things in life.  I always go with my heart on things, so I never do have to ask myself “what if”  in life. But as I sit here, I am asking myself “what if?”  There are a few times in my life I did not go with my heart, and that is what happens when you don’t. You will be second guessing yourself for life.  “What If I “ 

I can’t stop thinking of a certain someone.  I know I shouldn’t be saying that, but I just can’t seem to get her outta my head.

I started my 365 project ~ Click Here

I first want to give a special shout out to my cousin Misty Kegal. Today is her birthday!  Happy Birthday Misty!

I also wanted to say to everyone, Happy New Year!  I hope new years night went well for many of you. Mine went well. I stood home with the family and we celebrated here. Nothing can beat quality time with the family. Those times are priceless.  We sat here and watched the ball drop on TV.  I was actually feeding my daughter her bottle when it turned to 2012. Made me think of how lucky I really am.  2011 was a good year for the main part. My most favorite experience was the pregnancy of my wife and the birth of my daughter. Also being able to photograph the airfest 2011, when i got to tag along with Dave at the airport. Been a good year. The downfalls of 2011, I don’t really recall any right now.  Which is a good thing. I have had many bumps in the road, but nothing major. I did not make a new years resolution. I didn’t want to jinx myself on anything lol.

I been really wanting to go see the ocean. I hear many of my friends talking about how they have seen it, but I have yet to do so. This is my lifes dream, to see the ocean!  Yes, it might not sound like much, but to me it is. This is m goal in life. To see the ocean.  I am hoping 2012 brings this wish come true! Heck even the gulf of mexico would be good enough

Nascar 2012 should be coming out soon. But I am definitely not going to be buying it this year! They screwed us over pretty bad with nascar 2011 the game. I know they had good intentions on making a nascar game, but they advertised it to be great, and really it sucked! I am not wasting another $60 on their games again. If they make it more of a simulation, than an arcade game, I will buy it. I would like it to be where you can buy and manage the team. That would be a bad ass game. But I don’t see that happening anytime soon.

Rockford Scanner/Me Taking A Break For A Few Days

I finally have decided to take a break and relax a bit from R.S. I need some well needed time off.  A day or so. There is a lot of stressful stuff that goes on behind the scenes that I do not make public, and let’s just say it gets very stressful at times . I can’t seem to figure out why I get violent threats towards me, when all I am doing is providing a service, a well needed service to the community. I want to bring back the scanner hobby to our area. And I have done that.  How can someone hate something that has brung good to the community? I guess I will never understand some people.  But anyways, it is about time for me to take a day or two off from Rockford Scanner, and kick back and relax and clear my head. 

Some of you are just now visiting my website for the first time. So let me explain a few things on who I am.  My name is Rickie, of course that is obvious from the website name, LOL.  I am the creator of Rockford Scanner and Trigger Photography. On my site here, I am very vocal and voice my opinions and say what ever is on my mind. Yes, I have a sailors mouth.   Either people love me or they hate me, personally.  Like I always say, there is no in between. I tell people how it really is, I do not beat behind any bushes and I never lie.  I recently redone this website, so alot of my older posts are not on here anymore. So, bear with me while I rebuild this site.

I have met many great people over the last two years and am looking forward to meeting many more over the next several years.  All different types of people in different professions and walks of life. It is nice to see everyday people have the same passion as I do for the scanner hobby. Even emergency personnel help out with R.S. as well. And I have a good relationship with all law enforcement agencies and many media personnel. Which is awesome.  I have brung all types of people from different walks of life together, by creating R.S. which I think is awesome. I never in my wildest dreams, thought I would be where I am today. Having over 40,000 fans and over 1 million hits on the website!

Let me explain a few things,  I get asked this all the time so I figure I may as well explain it now.  Alot of people ask why do I delete their comments or ban them from R.S.? Well long story short R.S. is labeled media/press and only has freedom of press, which is why I can’t say things that I want to say on there, and that goes for everyone else too.  You can make comments, But you have to abide by the freedom of press and you don’t have freedom of speech, which many do not understand this. It gets frustrating at times trying to explain this daily to many people.  Our fans are like me. They want to say what they want. And I unfortunately need to censor them. Yes, it  sucks. Because I hate censorship. But I have no choice but to do it.  When I first created R.S. I thought I had freedom of speech, and was saying anything I wanted. And long story short I got a visit and it was made well clear I do not have freedom of speech on R.S., only freedom of press.  And honestly, if you threaten me or my volunteers, that is another reason I will ban you as well.  It is better to have 5 loyal fans, than 5,000 who are not.

I respect my fans on R.S. and I expect everyone else to do the same.

I am just an average guy that likes the scanner hobby. Just an average citizen

I have some of the best admins and volunteers I could ever ask for. They are some great people that help me out tremendously!  I owe them alot, many kudos to them!

If you have read this all so far, many kudos. You all now know who I am.  And my passion for my website.  Yes, some of you might have different thoughts and opinions on my website now, and me as well, now that you know who I am. But oh well, I am who I am, and I will never be someone who I am not.  I appreciate and respect all my loyal fans. And if anyone disagrees with what I have said or who I am, then feel free to not ever visit my site again. For those who are loyal and respect Rockford Scanner and me, I am forever grateful to have you in my life.  Thanks!

I will be active on Rockford Scanner on Friday, I am taking today (Thursday) off and relaxing a bit and clearing my head.  Just a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes, that I haven’t made public. I appreciate you guys understanding that I need a well needed break. I personally will not be making any posts today. My admins and volunteers might. But I will not until Tomorrow. Thanks for understanding.  If you hear anything of interest, feel free to post what you hear on the scanner, on our facebook walls.