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March, 2018 - We were on a road trip from Lewisville down to Alpine/Big Bend/Marfa.

On the 8'ish hour drive down one of my low beam headlights burned out. Great. My car requires
you to take off the front tire, remove the fasteners on the inner plastic fender liner, and replace
the bulb from the back, then button it all up again. So, being on a road trip without jack stands,
the bulb replacement was going to have to wait until the return home.

At night a DPS trooper was sitting on the shoulder, lights off, somewhere between Balmorhea and
Fort Davis. He pulled me over, was notified of my LTC, and issued me a fixit ticket for the headlight.
No dollars needed to be paid to anyone, by the way. We chatted for a long time about LTC, pistols,
and number plates. He was somewhat surprised that I have a 1959 Texas truck license plate in pristine shape,
but of course not registered to my current vehicle. He was super friendly and we finally stopped talking so
he could get back to his mule killing.

On the way home, 2 DPS troopers who were in the same cruiser stopped me again, also for the bad headlight.
They sure looked like youngsters to me. I told them I already had a fixit ticket given by the Balmorhea area
trooper, but they gave me a duplicate. Not much talking with those 2, but they were professional.

There's a youngish trooper who works Denton County. He still has one of the few Crown Vics still in service,
license plate 03200. He is a very friendly trooper. I have talked with him on 2 separate occasions.

I am of the opinion that state troopers in any state are generally a cut above small town LEO's. YMMV.

SIA