Random
Last week I reported a fire, was disappointed by the real world, learned a little rain goes a long way, had the best time kayaking ever, decided to find and then pull the reins of time, and learned something in class.
I guess some of that deserves an explanation.
We went kayaking last week, this time over a little stretch of the patapsco river. Just as we pulled up to our usual launch spot, Ewing noticed an abandoned semi trailer near the river was on fire. About an hour later we were in the water after calling 911, escorting the engine to our remote location, watching them put out the fire, and giving our names to the police. The kayaking was certainly worth the wait. It had rained the night before raising the water level at least 7 inches. Awesomeness ensued. We didn’t hit any rocks, played in some fun whitewater, and finished a usually 2 hour trip in about an hour and 15 minutes. The only downfall was that it was, well, February, and when the water splashed up to my chin, it was brisk to say the least. As Ewing put it: “Kayaking in cold water is fun, but cold.” How profound.
A few hours before this adventure, I called the training officer for the agency where I would like to work as a paramedic. The call was immensely gloomy, as it made it clear that they would prefer local people. It would be hard to make clear here the absurdity of getting hired by them, so I’ll spare the details. But in a sense, they would own me. No holidays off, I’d work whatever shifts they told me to, regardless of what I’d like, and I have to tell them the exact dates of any vacations I want to take for the rest of my life. So, I’m feeling discouraged, and sad, and very much back at square one with this whole job thing.
All that aside, I learned that when you get a 4.0 here at UMBC you get a postcard in the mail congratulating you. That’s nice, although, I was expecting the key to the city of Baltimore, a mayoral commendation, or a parade in my honor, but a postcard will suffice.
I guess some of that deserves an explanation.
We went kayaking last week, this time over a little stretch of the patapsco river. Just as we pulled up to our usual launch spot, Ewing noticed an abandoned semi trailer near the river was on fire. About an hour later we were in the water after calling 911, escorting the engine to our remote location, watching them put out the fire, and giving our names to the police. The kayaking was certainly worth the wait. It had rained the night before raising the water level at least 7 inches. Awesomeness ensued. We didn’t hit any rocks, played in some fun whitewater, and finished a usually 2 hour trip in about an hour and 15 minutes. The only downfall was that it was, well, February, and when the water splashed up to my chin, it was brisk to say the least. As Ewing put it: “Kayaking in cold water is fun, but cold.” How profound.
A few hours before this adventure, I called the training officer for the agency where I would like to work as a paramedic. The call was immensely gloomy, as it made it clear that they would prefer local people. It would be hard to make clear here the absurdity of getting hired by them, so I’ll spare the details. But in a sense, they would own me. No holidays off, I’d work whatever shifts they told me to, regardless of what I’d like, and I have to tell them the exact dates of any vacations I want to take for the rest of my life. So, I’m feeling discouraged, and sad, and very much back at square one with this whole job thing.
All that aside, I learned that when you get a 4.0 here at UMBC you get a postcard in the mail congratulating you. That’s nice, although, I was expecting the key to the city of Baltimore, a mayoral commendation, or a parade in my honor, but a postcard will suffice.
Comments