To my loyal and wonderful readers,

I'm sorry to have to leave a message instead of a chapter. I won't be able to update this story till probably tomorrow night, if I'm lucky. I'll explain the situation a little.

I was at the hospital most of today with my grandpa. I will be there again tomorrow. Since I know some of you will show enough concern to ask, I'll explain this. His sodium level is low. It happened due to beer and water.

See if you drink so much beer and water in a certain amount of time then it dilutes your blood. Since it dilutes your blood it also dilutes your sodium. It can cause several problems and become deadly. So if you drink at a party or something please be cautious of how much you take in. And be sure to eat plenty while drinking. It slows down the absorption into the blood and therefore your less likely to dilute your blood and sodium.

Have a safe and Merry Christmas. (If you celebrate another holiday than have a Merry/Happy that. I'm a little stressed so I can't think of all the holidays going on right now… Sorry.)

Romance in the rain, Abigail

You don't have to read this but if you're a Hinder fan you may want to. I live fifteen miles from Jonesboro, Arkansas so this is cool but upset me at the same time.

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Police charge Hinder singer

by michael wilkey

JONESBORO — The lead singer of the rock group Hinder, best known for songs including "Lips of an Angel" and "Better Than Me," has been arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, Jonesboro police said Saturday.

Austin John Winkler, 26, of Hermosa Beach, Calif., was arrested by Patrolman Anthony Zaffarano at about 11:30 p.m. Friday after a traffic stop at the intersection of West Matthews Avenue and Crescent Cove. Winkler is scheduled to appear in Craighead County District Court on Jan. 2.

The officer said in his report that he conducted a traffic stop after spotting a silver 2003 Suzuki SUV traveling south on Gee Street with no headlights on.

"I could smell a strong odor of intoxicants coming from the vehicle," Zaffarano wrote in his report. "I advised Mr. Winkler for the reason of the stop. The female in the backseat advised the driver (Winkler) to turn the knob to activate the lights instead of just the daytime running lights. Mr. Winkler advised the vehicle was not his. The female in the back seat advised the vehicle belonged to her."

The Hinder frontman allegedly told police that he had two glasses of wine. Winkler later told police that he had four glasses of wine in a 4-hour period, according to the report.

Jonesboro Patrolman Rick Guimond, who assisted Zaffarano in the arrest, said in his report he questioned Winkler about where he had been drinking.

"He advised that he did have a few glasses of wine at his engagement party that he had just left from at Sheffield's Restaurant," Guimond wrote in his report.

Winkler was administered a portable breath test at the scene and allegedly blew a 0.16, considered twice the legal limit in Arkansas. The singer was later transported to the Craighead County Detention Center, where he was administered a blood alcohol content test and blew a 0.15, police said.

He was then taken to the Jonesboro Police Department, where he was cited for the court date on suspicion of driving while intoxicated.

About Hinder

The Oklahoma City-based Hinder consists of Winkler and four other musicians. The band formed in 2003, according to the group's Web site.

The band's first major release from their CD, "Extreme Behavior," was 2005's "Get Stoned," in which Winkler tells a woman that he "can handle all the baggage that you're carrying" because he enjoys making up after a fight. That song failed to crack the Billboard top 100, although it did reach the top 40 on the modern rock charts.

The band followed up that song with the 2006 smash "Lips of an Angel," sung to an ex-girlfriend. That song reached No. 1 on Billboard's Pop 100 chart, as well as No. 1 in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. A followup song, the recent "Better Than Me," cracked the top 30 in all those countries. Hinder received the Rising Star Award in November from the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame.

In his biography on the band's Web site, Winkler describes how the band formed and signed with Universal Music Group, then writes, "I don't remember anything after that thanks to the other four members of Hinder that makes me drink every day and night ... (just kidding). But not really!"