Personal

Got 1 wrong on my first EMT quiz. Not bad, but nothing to brag about since this is the 3rd time I have taken an EMT basic course in 10 years. CPR class is boring. I got most of the scenarios right on the first try. It was like riding a bike, you never really forget. I just needed to brush up on what is the current protocol for things.

I am getting a cold, or that is how I felt this afternoon. I took some cold meds to try and head off the impending shitty feeling. I will know tomorrow if I get any worse.

I want to write more about stuff that happened at work today, but I am tired. Hopefully I will post this weekend and talk about the good conversation we had with some high up exec’s at Cisco. I always find it weird (in a good way) when very high up people at billion dollar companies spend time to talk to people at relatively small companies about buying their product. I felt the same way when Gus spoke to John Chambers last spring. More about that later.

I went to Bed Bath & Beyond with Jayson and Gretchen last night before dinner. I was planning on getting some towels for my bathroom and maybe check out the bedroom sets. I left the store 30 minutes later with new towel’s, and a nice comforter set to replace my aging Ralph Lauren Denim set I currently have. In return BB&B decided to keep a whole bunch of my money. I wasn’t planning on spending as much as I did, but I saw something I liked and decided to just buy it. It wasn’t what I set out to get. I was looking for another set of denim sheets and comforter. Funny how things don’t end up how you planned them, but you end up being happy anyway?

It is now the 2nd of the month and I will be watching my budget the rest of the month. But I will be sleeping nice and comfy in my new blanket.

On a side note, Ralph Lauren why did you stop making plan denim comforters? They rocked.

After shopping we went to eat at a decent Italian restaurant. Then we watched Dead Like Me on showtime. I like that show and it would be the only reason I get showtime. But I won’t spend the money showtime for just 1 show. So every so often I get to see it at Jay and Gretchen’s. Then I went home. With my traveling and the spending, it was a long day.

I have been looking for a halfway decent person to cut my hair since I moved. I can’t even travel back to my old neighborhood and use my old guy, I tried. he is not working there for a while. I have tried 2 different places. One by work that has like 30 people working there, and a smaller place by my apartment. I went to the local place by my apartment again today. I am lazy, the last guy who cut my hair there wasn’t very good, but I figured I would try someone new. Thankfully I went. I got an older “old school” hair cutter. He actually did exactly what I wanted and used the nice straight razor to clean up the back of my head. I am very happy. The little things make me happy. I nice haircut feels good, and looks good for a few weeks.

I need to live up the good haircuts while I can. Sooner or later (hopefully later) the hair will fall out, and then I will be really upset:)

The class was long. I really am not used to class. My but hurts from those dam hard college desks. Once we got into some lecture stuff the second half of the class went by quick. I hope that is how it is most nights.

I didn’t get home till after 10PM. I am hanging in there. I just plugged my schedule into Outlook. Man the next 3-4 months will be busy. More when I am not tired. Off to bed.

My EMT class starts tomorrow. I am looking forward to getting the certification again, but I am not looking forward to the class. It is allot of time commitment. I hope I don’t have issues with work regarding it. I also haven’t taken a class since I got right out of college. I am not a fan of sit down education so I hope I can sit through 3 days of class.

I also hope I can handle the medical stuff. I used to be able to do it no problem. That was why I wanted to goto medical school. Now it is years later and I am getting back into EMS, I hope I can handle it. it has been a while. I am probably just worried because the class is a big change for a few months, but I haven’t ridden on a call in years. It will be an interesting transition.

Of course if my last EMT class is any gauge on my knowledge (even if it is book knowledge) I will be ok. I got like an 86 or 88 on the last written exam I took, and a perfect score on my practical exam. High marks to live up to. I know I wont ever get a perfect mark on the practical. I don’t know how I did it the last time. I just want to live through the class and get my certification card again.

Tomorrow will be an extra difficult day at work also. Jayson is down in Baton Rouge cleaning up his house so he can sell it. He wont be back until Wednesday. Then I am off to Kingston for Thursday and Friday. That means we will be short handed at work all week. Him being gone means I will have to do some helpdesk work. I hate that, but I gotta do what needs to be done. Danny will hang out with me in my office while Jayson is gone. He likes our office since he can hide (if only a bit) from some of the developers. With him working out of my office, I am not all by myself. It gets lonely sometimes back there. other times I actually get allot done when no one is around. So after that all being said, I was looking forward to the quiet to get some extra work done with Jay gone, but Danny is cool, and it does get really quiet in my office when I am alone.

My typing hands are getting tired. It is also getting late. I was hoping to get some more writing into this blogging session, but I will call it a night. Hope to get some more writing in later this week, class permitting.

Howard sent me pictures of his weightless experience this week. He on the board of a company that is now offering commercial service that until now NASA only offered. For 25 or so seconds at a time you can go weightless. It looks cool, but some people loose their lunch. Slashdot, and MSNBC reported on it.

The cost of a trip is a bit much for me, but the concept is still really cool. I can’t wait for the next cool adventure Howard goes on so I can hear the stories!

I went to apply for an EMT class today. A bit of background, I was an EMT for 6 years and a CFR for about 1 1/2 years. I did volunteering when I was in college. Since then I have not had time or motivation to really take the class again. I finally found someone willing to take the class with me, and I found a course that starts in a few weeks. Unfortunately they require a test, and interview. I took the test today. It was a basic reading comprehension test. I got a 96 on it. I only got 4% off because I rushed to finish the test. I wanted to get the interview over quick and they did it in order of who finished the tests first. When I tell you my 11 year old cousin could pass this test I would not be stretching the truth. That said it looked like people failed the test anyway.

The interview was not even 10 minutes. They said the decision boils down to first come first serve on the applications, and who passed the test. I put my application in late, but I think that is a line they tell people. I have done this before, and got high marks on the test that they value. I will find out friday if I am in or not. If I am in, the class is expensive. I never paid for one before. My squad in school always took care of the cost of the class. I think it is worth it, so I will do it if I get in.

I will have to give up 3 nights a week of my life (4 nights, 5 weeks out of the course) life until mid january. I hope work understands. This is something I want to do, and other people take classes. I figure I will end up working late other nights to catch up.

Now I wait until I hear if I got in or not. Rationally I should get in the class. My irrational part of me is worried that I wont get in. I think I just worry too much sometimes.

It is September 11. Of course you can’t forget that. Everyone is trying to remember what happened. I think we should remember all who died on that day, but sometimes I try not to remember the actual day. Maybe it is different for those who don’t live in NYC, or for those who didn’t watch everything in person. I was a very safe distance from everything, but we had a great view from our office window. Man it was a good view of southern manhattan. The one time you didn’t really want a view. Dam, a quick mention of the importance of today, and I am now thinking all about that day. I remember most of it in detail. People are right when they say you don’t forget what you were doing when something major happens. I don’t remember my morning commute or what I was doing before I heard a plane hit, but I remember everything from after breakfast on from that fateful day. Like I said, sometimes I don’t want to remember that well.

My two cents. I know I won’t forget anytime soon. In many ways that is a good thing, and a bad one. Maybe today being 9/11 is partly related to my lack of sleep. I know I couldn’t sleep for most of September 2001 either. I remember my dad was worried then. Hopefully I am just reading too much into the situation. Either way I just read a bit about some memorials that happened on MSNBC, and I got a bit upset. I will try sleeping now. Hopefully it will be a peaceful sleep. Tomorrow is another (hopefully better) day.

This week Jayson and I decided to research where EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) class’s are given in NYC. I want to get re-certified, and Jayson always wanted to take a class. While I was in an endless meeting yesterday Jay found the only place that is still taking applicants for the class. it is in Queens but right off the subway. It will cost some $$, but if we go and pay an application fee (rip off in my opinion) and sit for a comprehension test and an interview we might get in the class.

All these hoops to get into an EMT class is funny to me. I haven’t been on a call as an EMT in a while, but I was one for 6 years plus like 1 or 2 years as a CFR. I taught (as a practical skills instructor) in my last EMT class. I don’t know what they want out of an interview, but if I don’t get into the class, I don’t know who they will be having in the dam thing.

This is something that I have wanted to do for a while, so I hope we get into the class. it will be 3 nights a week. Which seems like allot since both other EMT classes and my CFR class was twice a week for like 3 hours each night. I am willing to put in the time. I just want the certification again. As crazy as volunteering as an EMT was, I enjoyed it. More news next week.