A Work in Progress

I went on almost 300 calls this year. It seems like a lot, until you compare that to the number of hours I've worked. Far more than 40 a week, I can tell you that. But that is beside the point, whatever that was. Another year gone, as they say. It's been a good one. I spent a lot of money! Well, I guess, more accurately, I borrowed a lot of money. So I owe a lot of money. So I'll stop thinking about that because it makes me anxious. In addition to the house I bought a fancy bike and recently two cats. Yes, 2 cats, but more on that earlier. Or later. Depends on how much changing of the dates I decide on. So I ran calls and bought stuff. What a year! Lets do the year in review based on the post written on 30 Dec 2010. The photography WAP is still up and running. I booked a show for September, and if I ever get it together, will sort out the 'spring season.' The craft show circuit is amusing, but hard work. I did do more domestic travel. I shou...

I have renewed my efforts in online dating as of late. I've joined a free site that a friend recommended and I like it so far mostly because it is free, but also because it really seems like they are putting an effort into matching you with acceptable people. This recent foray has led me to create part 2 of my guide to online dating. I feel that many profile makers need a coach or a guide to follow to increase their chance of success. Despite my wild non-success, I still feel I can dole out some advice. I feel that in my absence from online dating, the weirdness has gotten worse. Now, I know you should be yourself and all that and not put up a false front, but sometimes we just need to do a better job at hiding our crazy. Everyone does it. It's quite a phenomena that we all walk around making vain attempts to look normal. We are not. No one is. That being said, women want normal guys, (as far as I know) and the more crazy you reveal in your profile, the less succes...

I have a tendency to be a reclusive hermit. It is far worse in winter months as I will take any excuse now to stay in and sit by the woodstove. It's too cold, too cloudy, too rainy, or too dry to go out today. So I will sit and watch The Incredibles and all of the bonus features until it's dinner time. Then I tend to throw some half assed dinner-esque meal together. Bits of leftovers, progresso soup, cheese and crackers, or cereal. Yes, because I'm in college. This behavior will not win me friends, health, enlightenment, or boyfriends. So, something must be done. I've decided by the new year (instead of those post new year actions that are never fruitful), I'll be joining the local arts council, a photography club and take a class with the local theatre. All of which should produce social interatction and/or amusing situations. The photo club will help me to stop missing deadlines for local shows and give me some fancy tips. Apparently one member shoots ...

Imagine yourself driving. School's back in session and you get stuck behind a bus on the way home from work. What joy. Suddenly, the school bus indicates to the right, pulls over, puts on their yellow lights and stops. Oh, thank goodness, you might say to yourself, thankful for a conscientious bus driver letting you pass. A couple of blocks away, a cop appears behind you. You duly pull over, but it turns out, he's after you. Yes, this is how my morning started. The cop, I think, never intended to give me a ticket, but wasted 15 minutes of my time anyway. 'Why did it pull over?' I asked. 'Well, to get closer to the kids.' he replied. Oh, yes. That makes sense. It was seriously one of the most stupid situations I've been in. I refrained from any eye rolls and then I did speed after the bus and tried to run over some more kids.

Welcome to the 800th post! Yes, I can feel the excitement. '800 posts?!' You are marveling to yourself 'How time flies!' Just think of all the strange and interesting and nerdy tidbits about my life you've been privy to. And you can relive the magic of 800 posts simply by scrolling to the end of this page and clicking 'older posts' about 90 times. Please do, in fact. Especially if you want to publish 'A Work in Progress' the movie. I'm open to suggestion. Ah, but now to the point. Well, to be fair, I don't have one. Oh yes, I was going to explain to the none of you out there who found yourselves wondering 'What ever happened to that car project Ellie was alluding to a few weeks ago?' Well, it is an interesting story so you sit right down and prepare yourself for a tale of woe and heartbreak. I have lusted after a classic Mini Cooper for many a year now. Constantly trolling on ebay and minimania for that perfect, cheapish...

Finally I can write a boring post without being the cause. I have been in refresher class all this week, thus, nothing exciting to write about whatsoever. The End. Of course not. Like many of our instructors and fellow paramedics, I like to hear myself talk, so here's some more for you. This class is boring. And I worry about how boring it is. It should be introducing me to new innovations in our field and the medical community as a whole. New research, tools, tricks, etc. It should not be a rehash of the most mundane aspects of our job. I am assuming they're following the DOT recommendations, but seriously? I was hoping that this wouldn't feel like a waste of time. But, having missed a year of con-ed, this class is certainly a necessary boredom for me. I also wish that we could go ahead and do the extra stuff so I can bridge from being a paramedic to being a paramedic for national registry purposes. Yes, if you haven't heard of this, Registry is revampin...

A lot of my friends are having babies this year. As a friend and non-mom, I have little advice to give them. Or anyone for that matter, regardless of their situation. But over the years, thanks to work, I have developed a few blanket statements that are applicable to everyday life. For example when it comes to drinking. Don't drink and drive, drink and hunt, or drink and ride a bike. Always wear a helmet. Perhaps literally always, because life is unpredictable. Don't sleep with your infant in your bed. Period. Be exceedingly careful if your morning routine is changed. Especially when it comes to who is dropping the baby off at daycare. Just trust me on this one. When you mow your lawn, lock the kids in the house. Or, the neighbors house. Or, a house in the next town over. Take your medication. But not too much of it. Just quit smoking. Just stop speeding. On that subject, don't drive and talk on the phone, text, or eat a pie. It only takes a second. D...

I think it may be safe to say that a class reunion is one of the more strange social situations one can encounter. It is an evening full of seeing people who look vaguely familiar and, in my case, completely blanking on their name. I really should have reviewed the yearbook before I came. But instead, I went with my closest friend from high school and we relied on eachother to ID people. And a number of the people we came up empty on. I guess that's typical after ten years and hundreds of classmates. But you can't help feeling like a jerk when someone shouts "OMG, Ellie, how are you?!" after you spent five whole minutes sitting in the corner trying to remember their name. The whole thing brought me back and I should have panicked about what to wear far sooner than I did. As I went to my fallback stores and found nothing, I began to realize that I am as in touch with fashion and trends now as I was ten years ago. I felt just as lost choosing what to wear to ev...

Having house guests had the desired effect on me. We ate plenty of meals at regular intervals, rearranged the living room (for the better) and hung out like normal humans. My fridge was stocked and I bought a new chair. I learned I can deal with a dog, but that whole 24 hour job thing still gets in the way. In addition, they brought their bikes here and we had to justify that. I've been biking more in the last month than I have in the last three and it feels good and bad to be back on that track. I am reminded that the bike was expensive and I have to take it out to justify it. I was also reminded that if you stop exercise, it doesn't take long to feel like an out of shape lazy-ass. Inspired by my house guests' fitness, I have started back at the gym, which I immediately regretted when I climbed stairs the next day. But, fear not! Especially if it keeps snowing and unseasonable amount, I will have no reason to avoid it. The biking has been great and with only a f...

It is simple and concise. Far from elegant thoughtful yet chaotic, typed and careful. Paragraphs and lists. These are the reasons, the pains and unmet needs. The counting of the blessings. Thankful for the good times, it reassures and probably, assumes too much. This whole life in a few lines. Are these words enough, this simple correspondence. Enough for forgiveness, for understanding. Is it long enough to heal a broken heart. Is it desperate enough to make it okay, to pull the trigger.

I've been back a year today.  It feels somehow like a far longer time has passed.  A lot has happened, unhappened, and rehappened.  It's almost as though nothing has changed, though everything has.  And now I am out of 'life changes, deal with it' type statements.  It's been a great year!  And strange, but I am beginning to feel that strange is the new normal.  I haven't done anything with my degree from last year except to hang it on the wall.  I only yesterday applied for an internship that I am probably not qualified for.  But who cares?  I still love my job and the people I work with.  The commute is getting annoying and the pay stagnet, but at the end of the day, it's employment.  And that alone is saying something.  I would like to avoid lateral career moves, but something closer to home might be nice.  The photo selling wild ass plan is...um, going, and will probably be on hiatus until the spring.  After...

A few weeks ago we went on a chest pain call.  Chest pain is really our bread and butter, and most of the time it's people who have stable angina that just didn't go away.  Every once in a while, we get the good old STEMI, which is our decisive way to 'diagnose' a heart attack in the field.  These patients, like this one, stand out from typical chest pain calls.  They are often writhing around, unable to get comfortable, sweating like crazy, pale, and of course, have crushing chest pain.  This patient was pretty classic.  And as soon as I saw that it is not all dramatics, we headed straight to the nearest interventional cath lab.  I love these kinds of calls.  They are the times that I feel like we're doing what we're meant to do.  I sent the EKG tracing ahead of us so that they could assemble the cath team.  I love when they take us seriously.  'The cardiologist loved your EKG.' one of the doctors told me when we arrived. So, we ...

Well, I didn't exactly promise to write more.  I didn't even take the advice of the beer cap!  I've been in a bit of a rut, in writing and pretty much everything else.  I wish that I had a good excuse for it, but I really don't.  Believe me, I've tried really hard to blame something other than myself. I kind of feel like I need a little inspiration.  Luckily, I have found several sources. Firstly, last week three of my girlfriends had babies.  I was honored to be in the room with one of them to take pictures and it was truly the most amazing thing I have ever seen.  I have never been more proud of her.  And, who doesn't love babies?!  Crazy people, that's who. It was also great to leave her room, and slide right across the hall to visit my other friend.  Their babies were born 12 hours apart.  I hope they stagger the birthday parties!  It is inspiring to see friends build their family.  Nothing was more surreal than che...

A few weeks ago, a new colleague of mine and I went on a motorcycle accident. When we arrived, the patient was being held down by about six firefighters and police officers while he struggled and shouted and was generally barely under control. They might have let him up if he hadn't cracked his helmet, been bleeding profusely from his head, and wouldn't believe that he was in an accident despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. My boss came to back us up and was immediately on the phone getting command orders for some sedation. (Yes, don't make fun of our silly state that has to ask for stuff. It happens). And, sadly, we got a (relatively) useless order for 1mg of IM ativan. My partner drew it up, handed it to me, and then as I leaned over to jab it into the patients arm, my partner pushed an alcohol prep in my face. My first reaction was, "Um, what the heck is that?!" as I continued to push the med while my boss was kneeling on the patients arm whil...

Woah, Blogger.  Slow your roll.  I guess if you're not a blogger user, you don't know all of the wacky newness of their website, but it is confusing me at the moment.  A new post was requested.  So, here it is.  The end. I can't leave you hanging like that!  Well, there's not much to report really.  Let me think.  Is it scary that I have worked quite a bit in the last few days, and yet can remember almost none of my experiences?  It's not even that they weren't memorable.  I do remember one and I am working on a classic bit of depressing resqellie poem to dedicate to it.  I just can't write happy poetry. I have been slacking on the writing, both blogging and non blogging and I hope to fix that.  I wonder how many blogposts exist on the interweb that say "I will write more." and then six months or five years later there is another post that says "Wow, I didn't follow through there!"  Yeah, I'd like to avoid that.  I h...

Yesterday I was able to cross something new off of my list of things to do: survive an earthquake. Of course, I thought I might be somewhere more exotic than the Mid-Atlantic to fulfil this one, but I'll take it. To be fair, it is only amusing and exciting in hindsight. In real time, I felt, and I don't admit this often, but, scared. I hated the feelings the experience gave me. And I've come up with several reasons why. But I guess I should begin with the story. Several things happened at once. I was in our local mall for the first time in literal years, so I entered it like a foreigner, interested to see what had changed. Secondly, I was surprised, with no offense to her, (because I certainly didn't know where we were going) that my mom immediatly escorted us to the exact place we meant to be without any fuss. Marveling at the mall and our swift arrival with the neice and nephews in tow, the third strange thing happened, in that the floor began to shake. I...

Among the millions of mnemonics one learns in paramedic class, one I still remember is "C3,4,5, keep the diaphragm alive". This refers to three of the vertebrae in the neck which if intact, keep the phrenic nerve working and telling the diaphragm to move so that breathing occurs (among other complicated things that keep you breathing). But on a physically tangible level, it is the most simple. This tidbit of information is not an extremely useful thing to know as we don't have x-ray machines and if your not breathing we'll help you out regardless. But sometimes, it just cool to know. And it allows me to say things like "Well it wasn't C3, 4, or 5, because he was still breathing." Unfortunately, our patient wasn't able to do much other than that. It was a real lesson for me in spinal shock. This patient had well, one way or another, broken a window with his head which (I now know) broke some of his cervical vertebra and because there is no li...

I was at my part time gig where we hang out in triage and help out in the ER (crazy, I know!). But sometimes we get to play, bandaging and starting IVs and stuff before they get to the department. The other day, a guy came in, said he had a little chest pain and thought he should be checked out. It was kind of busy so one of my colleagues took him to a spare area next to triage and hooked him up to the three lead. There it was, ST elevation in II, III and aVF. So we got him straight back, did a 12 lead, talked to the doc, sunk some IVs and he was flown to an interventional cath lab within 20 minutes. I must say, it was kind of awesome. We got settled back in after that and about 10 minutes later another guy came in saying he just didn't feel right and thought he should be checked. The triage nurse and I put him in the monitor and low and behold: a STEMI! II, III and aVF again. It was deja-vu as I wheeled him back, we did a 12 lead, talked to the doc, sunk some IVs and he ...

That title sounds dirty, but for some reason I like saying it. I mean throat hole literally, as in a hole in the throat. And not one that comes standard. I went on a trouble breathing call, arrived to find a guy leaned over sitting on a bed struggling for breath. As he looked up at me, I noticed blood running down his shirt coming from his neck. It turns out that he had a trach (a throat hole, if you will) placed a few months ago. He was attempting to change the inner catheter when he began to think that he couldn't breathe properly. He promptly panicked as any normal person would, and then pulled his entire trach out as any normal person would? Either way, it left him, not feeling much better. To add to his distress, as he leaned over, he was occluding the hole. At a loss of what else to do, I took a regular endotracheal tube and shoved it into the hole, inflated the cuff, and he kind of felt better. By then, he needed a breathing treatment which I was happy to give a...

You've been neglected.  I've been focused on gluing photo mats together and making futile attempts at assembling an ez-up tent in my woefully too small back yard.  I've been working out a wild-ass plan with almost no mention here.  I've been going to work and going to calls, and yet, not one word to you.  I've been riding bikes.  I've even been writing, with surprising regularity, but not here.  How sad this is.  How can I stray so far from my roots? I've stuck ET tubes in peoples throat holes (literally) treated two MI's in 10 minutes, and used a KED board, and do you know about it?  No!  How terrible.  If you were a person you'd be pale and emaciated, searching for nutrition and sustenance.  But, fear not, blog.  You are loved.  Please do not be sad that your sister blog has been getting more attention as of late.  Hers is a specialty topic, and I'll run out of material soon enough.  Like the prodigal kayak...

Here's a little plug, for the now, (somewhat) official photography selling biz.  I have put some wheels in motion and spent some money and am almost ready to start selling photographs at craft fairs and the like.  I am particularly excited about my business cards which will be particularly awesome and officiall looking. There's not much to see on the site at the moment, but it's a start.  Please check back often to my sister blog and come on down to a show if you can.  (If I ever get into one!) Link: http://thesamesunphotography.blogspot.com/ email enquiries ellieunderthesun@gmail.com

I can't let this weekend pass without mentioning the inescapable behemoth that is Harry Potter. After a decade of waiting for the conclusion on screen, I have finally seen it, and my review is quite simple: It. Was. Awesome. As a book purist, surely nothing can replicate the excitement I felt madly flipping through those pages of the last book back in '07, but this movie came close. For the most part, it didn't feel rushed, the effects were wonderful, and every character got their moment in the sun. It was gory and scary and artistically raw when it needed to be. The changes from the book felt necessary for cinematic purposes, it felt truly epic and on a more tangible grand scale than in the book. Really, I just thought it was great. It is not every day that I see a movie and the audience breaks into spontaneous applause more than once, and I felt that at points, no one in that theatre was breathing. Much like Toy Story 3, I felt I could have probably cried through ...

Thankfully, the rest of the first week of camp went by with just the usual maladies and complaints to be expected of kids on their first extended sojurn away from their parents. Most of them dislike it when I am completely unimpressed by their injury or complaint. They expect quite a lot of reaction that I expect they are used to receiving at home. Sadly for them, I don't particularly care that they have scraped themselves, have found a minute cut on their pinky fingers, or have a tiny headache. Well, I do care, but I am not going to fawn all over them. Camp is character building and although some are legitimately hurt or sick, most of the time, I'll put a band-aid over something and send them on their way. I do love the kids that I can joke around with, I become incredibly sarcastic and when they can tell I'm joking, it is a lot of fun. One kid came to me with a microscopic cut on his thumb. "Oh, my, look at that! What happened?!" "I don't rea...

I am back again as camp nurse this year, and although it's just the first day, it has already been amusing, to say the least. We always start camp with a good old fashioned nature hike at the beginning of each week. Last year, apparently everyone got a little 'misplaced' on the hike and it ended up taking twice as long and they had to come get the youngest campers in a bus and it was all a huge mess. As soon as I heard this story, I was suddenly very glad to have missed it. Other adults came along this year to ensure that the hike would be back to its usual length. Somehow, though, this didn't work out. I'm not sure when it became clear that we had taken a wrong turn but as we entered the second hour, even the least astute camper had noticed. I was more concerned with the inordinate amount of campers being stung by bees. It was like an M. Night Shyamalan movie. The suspense built, first a couple of kids were stung, then a while later four or five more, then...

There is nothing like parting traffic with a wailing siren. Nothing like stepping over puddle of blood to get to the patient. Nothing like sinking those IVs and pushing those meds. There is nothing like having a backboarded patient throwing up while we are being driven emergency through a city. Nothing like fishing out a basin while dumping the entire contents of a cabinet onto the floor. Nothing like heaving the board on to its side and balancing it on my thigh while clinging to the center bar like a crazed monkey. Nothing like having to tell the patient he has no need to apologize. Nothing like that hard turn that nearly dumps me into the puddle of sick. There is nothing like giving a clean, clear yet unrehearsed report to the trauma team. Nothing like telling a doc that 'you might want to leave that strap on, it's holding him to the board.' when moving the patient. Nothing like the renewed fresh smell of a clean ambulance. There is nothing like this job.

I must have let it be known in the previous six years of the blog that I mostly hate summer.  Almost exclusively because it's hot.  Secondly because there are school age kids in public in the middle of the day in the middle of the week.  But mostly it's the heat. A couple of weeks ago I got a hair cut (well, all of them, budum, chee!) mostly because the summer is hot and I hate it and the long hair really gets annoying.  But my hair is now just a little too short to pull back and must nearly constantly be beaten into submission and forced behind my ears.  This is fine unless I'm doing, well, anything. Last week at work I ran a cardiac arrest and I found myself poised with a laryngoscope and taking a time out to pointedly put my hair behind each ear.  It took about 20 seconds for my hair to wriggle out and then be perpetually in my face because I didn't want to touch it with my dirty gloves.  That, plus the heat of the day was causing me to sweat in a...

I press my fingers into the bruise on the back of my right hand. It does not hurt enough. It does not take their pain away, It does not save him. Hand on top of hand, I did my best to pump his dying heart back to life. Never wishing so fervently for a patient to open his eyes and smile at us as we congratulate ourselves. A slow leak in the brain has left her a widow with only one month in. Does he have to die, to remind us to live? All of our tools could not compete. Could not reverse the damage. Still I plead with his heart. Just start again and we’ll give you what you want. I press my fingers into the bruise on the back of my right hand. It does not hurt enough. It does not take their pain away, It does not save him.

They had picked up a patient at the nursing home and were coming down the hallway with him on the cot. Ahead, two women were side by side shuffling down the hall in their wheelchairs. “Ooh, it's a race!” she exclaimed as they approached, pointing at the lined up wheelchairs. Her partner laughed "Who's gonna win?" They stopped the stretcher behind them and she walked up and squeezed the shoulder of one on them. “Do you mind if I push you along a bit, dear. We just have to get by.” The wheelchair bound woman agreed and picked up her feet. The EMT pushed her up and left her six feet in front of the other woman so that they could get the stretcher by. As they passed, she pointing behind her with her thumb and, shaking her head with genuine concern said, “The other lady will never make up that time.”

Before we headed north, C suggested that we backpack one night and then hike in the high peaks the next day on a trail to "Avalanche Pass." To be honest, from the start I was not in love with the idea, and the addition of the word avalanche to our marathon of hiking didn't really sweeten the deal. But, despite a questionable weather report and a significant drop in temperature from 60 miles east, we headed into the woods from Adorandack HQ. Though I had a 'tude on from the start, it was really good hiking. The trail was interesting and variable and there were no bugs! It was sprinkling rain throughout and the wind was cutting, but that really only made things better in a weird way. Until we stopped for lunch and nearly froze to death. We didn't do the whole hike to avoid walking along some exposed areas (didn't really want to brave the wind) but did make it to avalance lake which was beautiful. The trail got incredibly silly, comprised at some point m...

Last week we headed to upstate New York, starting at Niagara Falls, which really wasn't NY at all. I'm happy to report that it only took me seven months to get back out of the country, even if it was only for a few hours. I hadn't been to Niagara since I was about 4 or 5 when I refused to get on the maid of the mist. And then, once convinced to get on, refused to get off. Man that was awesome. This time, we did the behind the falls tour on the Canadian side. Someone thought it would be a good idea to build a tunnel behind the falls which is actually pretty cool as you are literally behind the falls. The view was um, watery. We then visited illustrious Watertown, NY, a veritable hotbed of activity. If you count the production of car freshening trees and memorial day BBQs. From there we headed into the mountains and hiked and camped for three days. The first day we left from a little town called Wanakena. It was warm, but the sun was baking the piney smell right ...

Last week, my grandmother turned 95.  For the last few years I have had a work in progress poem, progressively titled 'When I'm 92...93...94' and this year, I finally settled on the lines. Happy Birthday Grandmom, I'm sure Mom will print this out for you. When I'm 95, I want to be like you. I want to be alive! I want independence, children whose successes outweigh mine, and grandchildren I can sip whisky with. When I'm 95, I want to be like you. I want to be a good storyteller. But really I would settle for the stories. They are what define you. The one of bread handed over a fence, a proud little red wagon, or how a pair of pants set you free. Or how you picked up coal from the train tracks, your adventures at the cannery, and how much you loved selling stationary at the five and dime. When I'm 95, I want to be like you. I want to have found love. I want to have given all of mine and have it be enough. I want to know the secret of a long ...

A stream in the Adirondacks.

The very astute blog reader would point out now that I have skipped two days of the photo a day project this year.  But, realizing this, I decided to do like Ramadan (not to compare the importance of Ramadan with that of posting a picture a day), but if you miss a day of fasting, you can just tack one onto the end.  Which means, a 'bonus' photo a day for June 1 and 2!  Luckily, I was doing something photogenic.  So, here's a fern.  I know, exciting!

Nine miles battling black flies finally becomes worth it.

 Oh, America.

The Niagara River

This afternoon I am headed to the northeast kingdom and the remaining pics of the day will likely not be posted until June.  Hope you'll survive the anticipation.  So, until then, imagine camping! and waterfalls! and mountains! and hiking! and miscellanea! Hopefully they'll be worth the wait.

So, firetrucks make for good subjects. 

a damn fine breakfast

...ride bikes.

contents of a fire engine

fancy new stat packs, jealous? 

I warned you about the excessive bike pictures.  Took me ages to clean. 

Possibly the most awesomely fantastic bike on the trail, no, in the whole state, no, country, no, planet. James Starley would be proud. Most definitely the coolest, most awesomely fantastic sweetest gift in the history of gift giving. And it rips.

Sorry, the pics have gotten a little messed up.  Well, I'm a day behind so far, but I've just been uninspired today.  But if I am consistantly a day behind, maybe no one will notice.  Who am I kidding, no one will notice if I am not a day behind.  Also, I kind of think I set the bar pretty high yesterday.  I pulled over on the highway, crawled over to get out of the other side of the car, then ran down a hilly, wet embankment to cut power lines out of the shot.  Then I ran back up the bank through thigh high soaking wet grass.  Totally worth it.  And really, compared to that, a picture of some CPR mannequins from my PALS refresher today would just be disappointing.  Mostly for me. Outside of that, I've gotten some good rides in recently, despite the rain.  Well, a couple of days ago, I made it 18 miles before I was drenched and had to seek refuge at a local school to wait out the torrential downpour.  Luckily, I did stop, but I wa...

Maybe National Geographic is right.

I have a rose bush.  Try to contain your excitement

Didn't quite make it home without getting drenched. 

More post rain stuff.

Ah, rural paradise from the bike. 

Some giant plant that sprung up in the garden.  Looks cool after the rain. 

4 am boot portrait.  Late half because of blogger, half because of me. 

Check out this dinosaur!  Actually, I kind of like it, I think it only weighs like 20lbs as opposed to the 'fancy' motorized one we actually use. 

I started the call cold and irritated. After your apathetic husband, flagged us down, then disappeared into a dark, unmarked doorway your shady apartment complex. Once we found you, dramatically laying on the floor. 'Come on, get up now dear, laying there isn't going to help your breathing' Stale cigarettes are in the air and as I give you a breathing treatment, I start my lecture on smoking. But as your story unravels I soften I kneel down to look into your face and put my hand on your wrist wishing I could do the impossible. I cannot make your husband love you I cannot make your children care what I can do is offer you my help such as it is I wish I weren't so jaded didn't approach such situations with a negative attitude but I grow suspicioius when displayed in your squalid apartment is a paper thin and absolutely enormous TV.

I've been exploring where I can safely go on the bike from my new digs.  Sure, I could get back to my old bike route, but now I can get to other parts of the county too.  It's a cool city and I love how quickly I can go from downtown to a rural paradise. The only problem with urban and suburban riding is the increased number of cars I have to deal with to get to these rural paradises. (paradises? just go with it).  The problem is not only do people somehow not see me despite lights and a beautiful high-vis vest, but they continually underestimate how wide a bike is, and how I just might not want to ride through the puddles or over the grates and tons of gravel on the sides of the street.  The new law in my state is that bikes must be given three feet of space when being passed.  So, basically I need to tape a yard stick to my handlebars to illustrate just how wide three feet is. More importantly for my immediate safety is that I need to remember that in this h...

My neice and nephew turn 9 today.  Here's a couple from the 'flipbook of supidity' I made while attempting to get one sensible picture of them.  Somehow saying 'act normal' didn't have the result I expected. But, 'show me your guns' did.

The bike and I found some unauthorized trail today a couple miles from the house.  It wasn't trespassing exactly...

After six months cooped up in a suitcase, the prayer rug has found a home. Until I get a pet. 

Because I have extremely unreliable and stolen interwebs at home, the pic o' the day is probably going to be consistantly late on days I don't work. But today, it comes early for all you east coast readers. Sometimes, it's worth getting up at awful hours to go to work.  

Even though I spent the whole day with C test riding bikes, you get a picture of my garden. Lucky you.

fire hose

Housewarming spool candlesticks.

some LP15 action, jealous?

Loaner ambulance, I am not sorry to see it go.  But it looks cool. 

The post that never was. She said in a spooky voice. I meant to write about an overbearing 'doctor' mother I had who insisted that she could give me orders for racemic epi for her kid that did not need it. It was funny and frustrating and altogether amusing, but I never wrote it down. Now, If I don't publish this, the blog will make a liar out of me as I just wrote my 800th post. But technically since this one was never published, it was my 799th post. Once I hit publish, all will be right with the blogging world. Whew!

I like my sweet new fancy pedals. They do not like me.

Crappy camera phone necessity.  Bin Laden is dead.

[no picture] What a good start to my project. The day is almost over, I am at work for the night, and I only just realized it was the first of May. No problem, I thought to myself, there's plenty to take a picture of here. One tiny problem. No one can take a picture without a camera. The fancy cam is safe at home, and the camera I usually carry at work is in my camelbak. What the heck. So, please envision the most amazing, wonderful, evocative, and moving picture to fill in for today. Or you can look at the picture of a miniature horse in a minivan I posted last month. See you tomorrow.