Like death…
Sick day numero uno.
Ps, figuring out which stroller/car seat/etc to go with sucks… Being who I am–it is likely to be the most expensive one there is…
Archives for life
Today is a solemn day of remembrance. Today, September 11th, 2008 is the 7 year “anniversary” of one of the most infamous days in American history.
For my family and I today is more. Sept. 11th, 2001 was also the day we burried my grandfather.
I remember everything about this day. I remember waking up to the phone in our hotel ringing–my grandmother telling us to turn the TV on. I remember watching the second tower fall–and I remember praying for all involved–especially those who ran IN despite the impending danger.
I also remember the tears in the eyes of the VFD members who came to mourn my grandfather–undoubtedly more to those tears than our day of mourning…
I remember the vintage fire engine that lead our way–not knowing who would be left to maintain it now that grandpa was gone.
I remember everything. I think about these things every day.
You are not forgotten Grandpa… None of you are.
May God have Mercy on your Souls.
I’m not a fool. I know that the likelihood of be lasting in EMS forever is minimal. Especially on the streets. So, I bring myself to wanting more. I have some college, not a lot. Definately nothing impressive. So what do I do? Do I do an online program, do I attend school locally? I know I can’t go full time. I can’t afford to not be working.
I’d just assume get started on it sooner than later. I don’t know what I want to get started on though… Do I want to just get a degree so I’m elligible to be supervisor/director somewhere in the future? Do I want to be an RN? I don’t think I could handle being a floor nurse, or a clinic nurse. It just isn’t my cup of tea. Any tips/pointers out there? What would YOU do?
I’m considering a few options, but am interested in those online Moron… err Medic to RN bridge programs. Are they worth a damn? I know “The College Network” is a joke. But what about Excelsior? Eh, I guess I’ll keep digging.
(Random Side thought) I want this ambulance. Not only is the “lift” brilliant, but take a real close look at that back window (click to enlarge). It reads: “It’s not a Taxi. Use it, Don’t Abuse it.
Maybe I will become a professional Blogger. You know, start 40 blogs, most of them useless. Somehow make money doing nothing? Nah? Well, guess The Golden Arches will always be around too…
I just know that the stress, the obese patients that can never walk, the hours, and the PAY will make it impossible to do this forever. What would YOU do?
(resume side thought) Ah hell, don’t bother clicking that image. Here is the close up. I rock at Google. Think I can get a job as a professional Googlerer? Yup. I made up a word, and a job.
I should add: They have an entire campaign associated with this. Good Stuff.
Sorry… I ate half of it before I took the pic…. Best part about it is that pan–as bad as it looks, pretty much wipes clean.
So I do the cooking around our house… Partly because I love to cook, and partly because my wife HATES to cook. It doesn’t bother me one bit. I make lots of “new” things, and rarely follow recipes–which only has one downside–duplicating is next to impossible.
I’ve made things that were awesome, and some things that were just…. ew… Tonight though, I made the BEST pot roast EVER. It all started today at 1030. I melted butter with olive oil in my pot. Then cranked the heat up and let it start to sizzle, then braised my roast(I should note, the best ingredients are free–and by free I mean come straight from your parents freezer…) on all sides until a nice golden brown was formed.
When the braising was done I turned down the heat, added about 1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce. Lea & Perrins is the only acceptable Worcestershire sauce. Do not substitute!
I then added 3 cups of water, some garlic powder, salt, and 2 Tbsp of Steak Sauce–the brand of this does NOT matter…
Set Oven to 275 degrees, put lid on pot, and place in oven. After 5 hours I added some carrots, and a pinch of minced garlic. 2 hours later, I served it with Mashed Tators and all was well…
It definitely meets this medics standards!
Actually, all was heavenly. Seriously. I don’t brag about my food much to my wife, but I HAD to inform her that she is damn lucky to have married me!
Now we must prepare for 7 days of glory and fun!
For most paramedics is rather steep. You get thrown in to medic school with some basic knowledge and are rapidly climbing through pages of Human physiology, anatomy, then pharmacology, cardiology, and the dreaded medical. The odd part about paramedic school as opposed to a traditional 4 year degree is that we don’t learn a “lot” about much.
We learn a little bit about a ton of things. We learn just enough physiology to help us understand pharmacology and medical. We learn just enough about cardiology to do the few things that we do.
The one thing that really lacks in paramedic school–and only because it is the hardest skill–is patient interaction. Interacting with your classmates as patients is NOT anything like interacting with real patients. This I will say is the one place where I am truly envious of my classmates who have experience as EMT-B’s, techs, etc. Most of them far surpass my abilities to interact with patients, though, gladly I can say I have little problems NOW.
Two weeks ago is an entirely different story. I fumbled, messed up words, got nervous and generally made an ass out of myself. Today I feel comfortable. I am respected by my peers, and the hospital actually calls on US for help.(Last week they had a chest pain come in to itty bitty ED at 2300–1 nurse, 1 tech, no doc… they freaked. We came, we conquered, we moved on).
One thing I didn’t expect to have to learn how to do though…. was how to be a PUBLIC figure. Very public. I made the front page of the local paper this week. Picture, story and all. Mind you this is below the fold… but still… FRONT PAGE. I went to the gas station next door today for a soda and 5(FIVE) people greeted me by name. I don’t know them. I’ve never met them. But their on the table in the “dining” area was the paper, opened flat, with my ugly mug shining for everyone to see.
Seriously?!?! I am NOT news. None-the-less I have found myself a public servant, in a very public way.
Oh the things I get myself in to….
Right in the face.
That’s what it felt like watching this video of the late Randy Pausch give his “Last Lecture” at Carnegie Mellon University. EE posted about his death. Take the time-all 1 hour 16 minutes and 27 seconds of it–you’ll find it worth it.
Here are links to some of the back story:
Prof whose ‘last lecture’ became a sensation dies
Dr. Robins’ Site about Randy–more links than you can handle
Anyways–take some time to watch this and read about him. A lot of us can use his life philosophy to take advantage of every minute.
So… Took my CBT exam today. Walked out feeling like a huge moron. There were questions I just absolutely didn’t expect. Even worse… the whole “choose the MOST correct answer” bullshit just riles me up. You aren’t choosing the CORRECT answer. You are choosing the MOST correct answer. The answer is often not the one that I would chose to do in the field.
Computer Adaptive Testing(CAT) also makes judging your performance on the test very difficult. Unlike a written test in class, this test will either get easier or harder, depending on how big of a moron you are.
Whatever. I’m pissed, anxious, and preparing myself for the reality that I might have to retest. Hopefully I’ll have something to tell you tomorrow. I’m well on my way to being my own Psych patient.
Thats right. Screw you National Registry and Pearson Vue. So it turns out my local Pearson Vue doesn’t have a CBT exam slot for me until July 11th. Yeah… That’s right. My new job is scheduled to start July 7th(and even by then I won’t have a state license). The next closest location isn’t available till July 8th.
Nope, that won’t work either. So… I’m left to drive 138(.87) miles to podunk community college in a different state to take my CBT exam. Better yet, it’s at 9am, supposed to be there by 0830. That means I need to leave by 0615… so I should get up by 5:30, realistically 0600… Fantastic.
I’m not too worried about the practical exam, which as of now is 9 hours away. I’m actually so confident that I’ve put all my eggs in one basket and planned a bbq/drunken bonanza at my little ghetto abode after the test. Brilliant, I know.
None the less… I hope to be reporting back to all of you faithful readers tomorrow with good news and one less step to go in my Paramedic journey of misery.
Until then… Chicken Wing.
So… I’ve made it through 2 days of practicals at school. It is definitely weird to be in class again…
We took a 210 question test yesterday that is supposedly very indicative of the pass rate with registry. I got an 80%. Not thrilled, but it helped me identify some areas I need to study.
Next… I found a job. It’s with the service described below. I’m pretty excited about it. Now all I have to do is actually become a paramedic…
We found a house in said town too. Pretty nice older house, 2 bedroom, 1 bath, blah blah. It’s cheap, nice, and only a block from the station.
Finally, the exciting news. We’re expecting! Not real far along right now, but we couldn’t be more excited. And terrified. We have dogs–but that doesn’t exactly equate to children…
Anyways… time to do a little studying(by osmosis), get some rest, and get at it again tomorrow…
Nope. Not dead. Not missing. Haven’t been abducted by aliens or monsters. I’ve just been a bit busy…. or something. Anyways…. expect more from me soon!
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But silly quotes get me…
We watched POTC3 again tonight and this quote stood out…And what the enemy will see, they will see the flash of our cannons, and they will hear the ringing of our swords, and they will know what we can do!
By the sweat of our brow and the strength of our backs and the courage in our hearts!
Gentlemen, hoist the colors!
Call me a dork… But sometimes we need a little something to push us through…
So I’ve been slacking off for the last few weeks. Yup. That’s me. Really, I’ve been slacking off for 24.5 years and only sometimes people notice…
So Here goes:
Life as a student is pretty much over. Sure, I’ve got tons of studying to do. But that often leads to things less productive… ie spending entirely too much time online. I’ve been lurking in the background in a few blogs, of course EE always keeps some of my blogosphere attention.
A few others will be deserving of a post all there own soon…
My internship experience is still sinking in. I learned a lot during that 6 weeks that school couldn’t possibly teach us. It also helped make the things they taught me seem real and practical.
Things I learned:
- Pediatric Codes will never be easy.
- Crazy people rock. Most people are crazy–just varying degrees and quirks.
- I’m Crazy–What was I thinking entering this field? Seriously? Lack of sleep, underpaid, overworked(I’ll do my best to slack off when possible) and seriously–how can we forget the STRESS.
- EMS is a JOB. You hear a lot of EMT/Firefighters say that EMS is a LIFESTYLE. Sure, on call shifts, etc make it hard not to take your work home with you, but it shouldn’t be your LIFE. If you can’t separate the two I don’t think you can survive in this field long.
- I am a Type A personality. My wife could have told me that a long time ago, but being on the streets proved that.
- Without my wife, I’m useless. She is my rock, my stability, my counselor, and my doctor. She’s smarter than most Counselors and Doctors too.
- I like my life. I’ve done lots of things. Worked on high profile campaigns, fished the Gulf, Backpacked in Glacier, been to college, Got Married, got yet another DOG, and have nearly finished Medic School. I love this life.
- When you’ve had a bad day, 1 beer is just fine. 10 is not. A bottle of Jack Daniels will NEVER fix the problem–despite the feeling that it might.
- IF you need 10 beers or a bottle of JACK to function, get the hell out of EMS.
- I’m lucky.
That’s good enough to call a post, isn’t it?
When I was younger and having trouble with “fitting in” my dad came to me and gave me a plague with a pretty famous Teddy Roosevelt quote on it. It was a plaque he had gotten some time ago from the huge corporation he worked for–when they used to care about their employees.
It always meant a lot to me, and that quote has stuck with me ever since. For many reasons–but one of them has been to prove to my friends, family, and myself that I could be that man. I don’t need or want thanks, praise or admiration. I want to do my job, and do it well. Sometimes that means holding a lonely old man’s hand and taking him in for a routine checkup, and sometimes that means telling a family that their mother/father/son/daughter have died and there just isn’t anything we can do or them. And… Every now and then we get to save a life–if only temporarily.
But on to the Roosevelt quote:
“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”“Citizenship in a Republic,”
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910
Thanks Dad. That has always stuck with me.
