Category: work

Busy Bee III

No rest for the wicked. I’m off but not such luck on actually being free. *sigh* I miss having a life. (Wait, did I ever have one?…*pondering*)

I’m off to work to bend fresh minds to my iron will. The current class has finished their first rotation and today is their one day classroom training session before starting 2nd rotation. Out of 18 there are 9 left. Sadly, that’s better than most. The remaining group is doing well though.

Tomorrow, I’m headed over to City College to help my previous instructor w/his new EMT class. They are coming toward the end of the semester and doing much more hands on.

Wednesday, I have to go in early (7:00am) as I’m learning the new dynamic deployment for fire side. (I’m not exactly a morning person so I’m sure I’ll be extra cranky that day.) We are switching to a new type of dispatching for medics in the city. Instead of placing them at fire stations they will be roaming. We will use an AVL (automatically verifiy location) system to deploy medics for emergency calls. Basically, it just means we’ll have more tools to do our job effectively. Not any new skills but more attention is required now. The current system is sloppy at best. After a week of training, I hit the floor. One of the perks might be better days off for awhile. I might end up w/a weekend day or two off thru the month of April.

New Readers

Lately, I’ve had a noticeable increase in my readership. Not my clicks but actual readers. I’m flattered so many folks like my rantings. I’ve tried to keep the blog “honest” so to speak in that I’ve always wanted it to become an extension of me and a reflection of my growth as a person.

With the exception of kristaki, I’m often very leary of my co-workers learning about my blog. I’m not ashamed, I just don’t want any unneccesary conflicts. I’m very professional at work, even when I’m goofing off and being a cornball. I offered my link to a female co-worker this week. Someone I’d originally made assumptions about based on her appearance. Not bad mind you, just incorrect. She is a very nice woman whom I’ve grown to respect a lot. I’m pretty sure our lives are on different paths but that’s not really a surprise. And whether she actually decides to read or not isn’t important. Having gotten to know her a bit, I feel like she is worth the risk. She is always very kind, overly considerate, and easy to work with. She has improved in her job skills tremendously since starting just 2 short years ago.

I’m sure my blog will be a bit racy for her and may even be a little bit TMI at times. However, I am confident that won’t matter and feel like she would benefit from my madness.

Year In Review

I was all ready to review my resolutions for 2005 till I discovered I never posted them. Or maybe I did just not all together. So, I’m thinking, what were my goals again?

With the break up, having to move twice, and the death of my father, the year started out on a sad note. I was also troubled about the lack of direction my life was taking. I’d put things on hold for an unhealthy LTR and was left scrambling to pick up the pieces. So where am I now compared to a year ago? I managed to shake myself out of my malaise and “get busy”, thats where I am. *g*

For the nitty gritty, click here for the rest… Continue reading Year In Review

Happy Holidays

This week has flown by! Overtime at dispatch on Monday, last day of class Tuesday (only a few hours for paperwork, etc), then dinner w/the ex that night (more on that later) and 14 hours on an ambulance on Wednesday. (Oy! was I tired. )

Last night, went to an xmas party for one of the sargents at work. It was also his 50th birthday so a good time was had by all. I got to meet his new live in boyfriend…my they are moving fast.

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas or Happy Holiday!

Ups & Downs

Every day has’em and today was a doozy.

The day starts off w/Xmas cards from hell! I had a battle w/the software I use to print stamps. I lost! If you get a xmas card from me you’ll see. Oy!

Not a mood-killer mind you but I guess it was a sign of things to come.

It’s very muggy here right now. Typical for this time of year. Today, was thunderstorm weather. Unusual for here but not for a southern boy like myself. If you live in the South, the only rain you get is usually in the form of a thunderstorm. So, I’m leaving for work (on the moped aka BLUE) only to get drenched just two blocks from home. I was late to work as I had to come home and change. I get downstairs afterwards and not a drop is falling from the sky!

At this point, I’m thinking “What in gay hell did I do to deserve this?”

Work was fucked-up as expected. My trainee is doing ok but still a bit slow. Of course, every idiot with a car was out driving. Add to that, the thunderstorm was flooding and knocking out power everywhere. You can begin to see the pretty picture that was my day. Oh but there is more. My lunchtime rolls around, I walk down to to the local grub stand for some food. No biggie. On the way back, my the bag disintergrates from an opened soda inside. (A soda, I didn’t order)

Now I’m thinking. “Jeez! What kind of bad karma did I build to deserve this shit.”

However, I’m happy to report, w/the shit comes the shine. Today is my Friday so I got off an hour early. (Always a bonus) I’m walking home; the weather has cleared up by now. It’s just after dusk, the streets are starting to dry and as often happens after a big storm, everything seems fresh and clean. The air is crisp and clear. The sidewalks are clean and the tempurature is a balmy 65 degrees! Ah! . . . I had the urge to walk thru a cemetary. ( I know, weird but I’ve always found cemetaries to be so calming.) Anyway, I was instantly in a better mood.

I get home to discover the new apartment I was thinking of taking has panned out. I’ll be taking it at the end of January. A little further away from work than I wanted but in the Castro. walking distance to everything, cheaper laundry, my own parking space included and I get my choice of bedrooms.

I also noticed the jacuzzi was fixed so I had a nice long soak to wash away the day’s stress. NICE! (The jacuzzi is the one thing I’ll miss about this building.)

Now, I’m sitting her (naked w/a towel over my head, don’t ask.) writing about my shitty but not so shitty day.

And how was your day?

We Interupt This Blogcast…

Ughh! I am busier than a one-legged man at a butt-kicking contest this week. Finals, instructing, work, charities. . . where does it end! I’m WAY behind on responding to personal emails. (sorry folks)

Finals are Tuesday and I’ve yet to squeeze any decent study time in. I have all of Monday but was hoping not to spend the entire day studying. I could pass the test as-is but I’ve never been one to just get by. I take pride in my skills. Oh yeah!

Work is the same. Overworked and underpaid. I have a trainee who is taking all my effort, so no time to study at work either. And my house guest never materialized. Apparently, all is not lost in his relationship. (Thankfully!)

Lately, I’ve had a hankering for some home cooking. So I whipped up a big pot of beans and rice. I’m devouring the last of ’em as we speak. I love me some beans and rice!

I did manage to get a Raeki (spelling?) massage this week. If you’re not familiar, it deals w/pressure points and intense muscle relief. It can be a bit painful if you have a lot of stress built up. However, the after affects are well worth it. My body is still thanking me for it.

The social life is pretty much non-existent. It’s been over a month since I got laid. I know for some that’s no big deal but for me it is. If I go more than a week, I’m cranky Spanky. Once a slut always a slut I guess. . . (On a side note, I have a date for New Year’s Eve, IF he ever comes back from Canada. *hint hint*)

And speaking of bitchiness, I got another less-than-polite email this week about my blogging topics. The short answer: Fuck off! The long answer, read the title doofus. My blog is for me and about me…duh! If you don’t like it, (and here’s a clue, pay attention) DON’T READ IT! The audacity of people sometimes just cracks me up. And, of course, it’s always some anonymous fuck w/no life and nothing else to do but bitch.

(see, I told you I was cranky)

Discursive Ramblings

That’s my new word for the day. . . evolve or get off the pot right?

Today started out a bit chaotic. A buddy from work called me needing a place to crash. He made a break from the live-in girlfriend (again). This time he seems more determined. As we speak, he is supposedly moving all his stuff out. Ugh! Straight people can be so mellow dramatic! I could insert an “I told you so” here however, I won’t. The short version is he rebounded from a bad marriage into his current relationship. And while I had my reservations, I really thought the old new girl was a good match. Maybe she is too much of a match and he his karma is coming back to haunt him. It probably isn’t my business to make such leaps of logic but, the parallels are stunning.

I got an email from my younger brother. (I still have a hard time getting used to him sending me email. Technology is such a foreign thing to my clan.) Apparently, things are going down hill faster than planned. Buddy’s soon-to-be ex wife had a mental break down last week. She is now on a 5150 hold at the local hospital I’m sure. Course, this just means more bad news for the kids. They are far too young to be deprived of their mother. (something I can speak on from experience) I’m hoping she snaps out of it. I don’t want them growing up the way I did.

On top of that, the land taxes are due by month end. No real crisis in itself. Since the land is still officially in Dad’s name, we are getting a big discount for the year. Next year, we have to convert the land into our respective names. This means higher taxes for moi as I am not married and nor am I a senior citizen. (In Texas, you get a discount on land tax once you reach 65.)

After the holidays, I’m gonna have to sit down and plan out some maintenance strategies w/Buddy. It is not fair to dump all the responsibility on him just because he is the only one still living on the land. But knowing the history of my siblings, I’ll probably end up footing a big chunk of the bill. I’m also gonna have to take some time out of my schedule to go down and help w/upkeep. Fifty acres of land is not easily maintained by one person. Hell, when I was growing up, my parents used us kids as free labor. Even then it was a struggle.

My schedule sign-up at work is finished. As expected, I went with a 4-10 shift w/the same days off just later hours. This will give my gym schedule a boost as I’m less likely to just roll-over, hit snooze 10 times and end up blowing it off. I also get to sign up for two three weeks of vacation this year!

Mad Skills!

I got to put my mad skills as an EMT into pratice today. A firefighter assigned to our comm center had a seizure and went down. First off, he is ok. . .transported and released already.

Apparently, this particular person is prone to seizures and has been off his meds lately. One of the dispatchers noticed he was missing and then saw his feet sticking out. The bridge officer (supervisor) yelled over for me to come assist. I was right in the middle of instructing a new trainee. Needless to say, I dropped her like a hot poker. lol I did my assessment, took vitals, did a physical exam, administered O2. All in less than 10 minutes. Not bad for a newbie. After it was all over the bridge officer commented on well I did. I really didn’t have to do much. He was already in the postical (after) stage of the seizure when we found him. He was stable and advancing A/O (alert and oriented). I mainly just administered oxygen, took his vitals, and monitored till the medic unit showed up. Still it was exhilirating! I’m so hooked. hehehe.

My instructor was working today. I called to give him the details. He was very pleased!

Yeah, score 1 for my mad skills!

Book’em Danno

Why do people go beserk on holidays? As if work isn’t hectic enough w/people doing stupid things, I get a call from my friend Tim this AM. Without spilling his kool-aid all over my blog, his LTR came to a crashing halt at about 3:30 am pacific time. I helped out the best I could w/the police details. I feel for him as this was his first really serious LTR. That said, he is better off w/o said loser in his life. Chin up young person!

Work was just off the hook w/similar situations today I’m afraid. Families get together, start drinking and then the fights break out. We also had two 801’s (suicides). The last was very sad as he was only 19. Very sad.

A bright spot in the day. I found out today one of my long time readers is coming into town for the weekend. Won’t have much time to hang out as I’m working both days but some is better than none. He’ll be #5 on the list of readers I’ve met that live out of town. Wahooo!

Crap

Can’t think of any other way to describe it. Today has been a shitty day. Lots of bad calls at work today. Nothing catastrophic but just senseless violence and senseless stupidity.

Some bright news, I was working channel when an 852 (car vandalism) suspect got detained. I love it when we catch these guys. Frelling thugs just breaking into vehicles looking to steal stuff to sell for drug money. I wish we had tougher laws here to deal with’em. Guess I’m just too progressive for SF at times. *g*

I’m a tad more confident about my vacation. I think by the time Wilma does hit Florida it will be down to a Category 3 which they are so used too there. NO biggie. Some wind damage, trees down, blah blah blah. Some good news I hope. *crossed fingers*

Not sure why I’m in such a pissy mood today. Maybe tomorrow…