Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Kicking me while I'm down!!!

“Ooooooooooooooooooh look...Mikey's getting out of the hole that we dug for him...WHACK!! (With a shovel on the noggin) WHACK! WHACKITY WHACK! …..WHACK (one last one for the ‘make sure you kick him while he’s down’ group)!”

“There! Take that!!”

“Climb out of that hole now...beeeeeoootch!”

Such is my thoughts as I wake up after finding out my truck got stolen (again) last night. I was kinda looking forward to working today too. Well…that got shot right out of the water. Sitting at the computer right now, waiting to hear back from the insurance company.

Bad jujus, karma, luck, call it what you want. That’s all it is. Mix one 2003 Dodge Ram pickup with nice and shiny 20 inch rims that sell for 400-800 dollars apiece on the black market with an easy-access-to-the-freeway neighborhood and you have the makings of a truck thief’s dream!

If I can get on the freeway from my parent’s house in less than a minute without even trying, imagine how long it takes for someone who is driving like they stole it.

I think I should just chalk this up as just one more subtle reminder that the Ulrich Family and vehicles do not get along with each other. However, that’s an entirely different post that I could make in the future. I could actually write an essay on why members of the Ulrich Family should not own vehicles…hmmmm…maybe I will.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Ok…I feel a little better…a little.

Monday, February 23, 2009

March of the Peeps!

I just realized that I’m going to be kinda perturbed this Lenten season. Tomorrow is Fat Tuesday; Paczki Day for us Metro-Detroit Polacks, and Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, the official start to Lent for Christians.

It’s not so much that it’s Lent. It is more of the fact of what Lent leads up to…Easter. As a Catholic, I understand the religious implications and I will do my best as a Catholic to sacrifice something for the season, although I am not really sure what else I can do at this point. I already gave up smoking, I don’t really go out drinking to excess, I’ve lost weight (not that I was planning on doing that), and I’ve really already hit the bottom. I’m climbing out now. I’ll have to give it a thought or two. I might have to force myself to do something rather than give something up. Might have to put a butt in the pews.

Anyways, what’s really going to chafe my behind this season is that I’m not going to be able to participate in an annual practical joke that I’ve helped with for the past 12 years or so (for all I know it’s been going on longer than that). It’s not what we would describe as a sacrifice per se. It’s more like taking something to excess…I know, I know…not very Catholic of me…but it is funnier than hell!


I guess I have set up the situation for you. One of my first partners, a good man by the name of Jim Borkowski, an EMT who’s probably been in EMS since dirt was invented, has a bit of a phobia. Bork hates Peeps! Actually, he abhors Peeps. If you threw one at him, he’d probably have a stroke. If you ever wanted to see a grown man flee for his life from something as benign as a super-sugary, brightly colored, marshmallowy-goodness chickies (or rabbits now)…now is the time to be hanging out in Jim’s office area of the garage at Medstar. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever seen another individual on this planet hate something as much as Bork hates Peeps. He’d probably nuke the Peep production facility if he had the opportunity to do it properly. Did I mention that Jim reeaallly hates Peeps? Ok, just checking.

I’m not really sure how we (the Medstar/Ruehle’s/Lifestat rats) found out, but find out we did. He might have even told us himself. I can’t quite remember. Supposedly, Jimbo’s brothers held him down when he was a kid, chewed up a bunch of Peeps and spit them out at Bork (possibly into his unwilling mouth). Apparently, Bork was (and still is) a bit scarred from the ordeal. Neurotic is a good word.

Of course, when you’re in a profession such as EMS, where we sometimes need to laugh at unfortunate souls and unfortunate situations (because it helps us maintain our own fragile sanities), you do not need to tell your partners and co-workers about such neuroses. It usually leads to more insanity and hilarity.

Last year I bought 20 full packages of Peeps. I’m not talking the 10 count packages; I’m talking the larger packages that had three or four of the 10 count packages. Rough estimate: somewhere around 600 Peeps total, maybe more. I’m pretty sure I didn’t have any left over by the time Easter rolled around. I easily had enough for each of the 40 days of Lent. I gave him a break occasionally…not so much to spare Jimbo the indignity as much as I wanted to keep him guessing.

After my shifts, (Jimbo was usually home because he did eight-hour shifts and I did 12-hour shifts), I’d wander into his office and start hiding Peeps. Anywhere was good. In coffee cups (he loves his coffee), drawers, refrigerators, cabinets, behind keyboards, anywhere we could think of. We didn’t try to make it too difficult to find them, because that was part of the fun. Usually we put one out in the open just to let him know what kind of day he was in for.

Invariably, he’d come in to work the next morning and, after suffering a coronary from a well placed Peep, you’d see Bork dig out the three-foot barbeque tongs and begin his morning hunt for the rest of the Peeps. It was truly epic to see Bork walking around the garage, holding a lone, innocent Peep with the three-foot tongs at full arms length away as he made his way for the garbage can to dispose of the evil Peep. Sort of like a snake handler holding a highly poisonous snake as far away as possible. Truly hilarious stuff!

I’ll even be so gracious as to take full responsibility for torturing Bork the last seven or eight years, even though I did have some help over the years. I’m not even sure that Bork even really knew it was me, but he’s smart enough to figure out that I’ll not be present to win this year. He can put two and two together and get five. He’s a smart cookie.

Last year we even outdid ourselves. The other thing you need to know about Bork is that he reeeeallly loves his coffee. He loves really strong coffee. Coffee that will take the varnish off the paint job on the ambulances. So much so that he has his own coffee pot and we know that only “Jimbo coffee” goes in that pot. There is no such thing as decaffeinated coffee at an EMS company. I think it’s against the Code or something.

I think the picture speaks for itself. Apparently, it took Jim about an hour to get all the bad Peeps out of their hiding spot. It didn’t help the situation that he couldn’t make his “Jimbo coffee” to placate himself during that hour.

For a job/profession where we need to be 100 percent focused when the crap hits the fan, it’s things like this that really make this job truly worth doing day in and day out.


Bork, I love ya! I'm gonna miss you and Kat! PEACE!

Ok, ok...I couldn't resist: http://www.marshmallowpeeps.com/

God Bless!

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Favorites!

Here I am looking at my Facebook page and I realize that the venerable Yoda graces my profile picture. Spiderman makes an “Amazing” appearance as well. My favorites! Why they my favorites and what are are the rest of my favorites? Time to go strollin’.

Yoda is my favorite Star Wars character because he is the venerable and wise teacher, but he can kick butt when he needs to. He is a character that exudes and demands respect, not because he is the head of the Jedi Order, but because he is wise and good. He is the veritable old man on the top of the mountain that you seek out for answers to life’s questions.

Spiderman is my favorite super hero. He is the reluctant hero that is all of us. He has the problems that any of us have: bringing in a paycheck, paying the rent, keeping the girlfriend/wife happy, those sorts of things. He isn’t a hero seeking glory or honor, but it is honor and responsibility that guide him, to do the right thing when there is nobody else to do the right thing.

The Lord of the Rings is my favorite story. J. R. R. Tolkien created a masterpiece that has withstood the tests of time. It is the tale of sacrifice and how even the smallest of creatures (hobbits) can accomplish the mightiest of deeds. It is a tale that has all the elements that make a great story: good, evil, hope, despair, courage and cowardice. It is a story that makes you cry and, at the same time, shout with pride when the deed is done. I try to read the trilogy every few years…at least 15 times already.

My favorite poetry is Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy. Yes, it is the longest poem ever written, it is technically written in Italian, and I don’t understand a lick of Italian. The translation is admirable. It’s a veritable window into Dante’s society, the good, the bad and the not-so-bad. A first person perspective of a walk through the two worst places imaginable (Hell and Purgatory) and then the best place imaginable (Heaven). A long, difficult read but it’s worth it. I’ve also read this at least eight times in its entirety.

My favorite person from history is Leonardo Da Vinci. Truly a remarkable individual. More knowledgeable in more subjects than anyone else in history. Probably the premier Renaissance painter as well. The Mona Lisa and The Last Supper are the two most recognizable paintings in history. His codices (his journals) fetch millions of dollars and are resplendent with notes, diagrams, drawings, recipes and essays of every imaginable topic you can think of. I have a minimum of 30 books on Da Vinci that I have read cover to cover. I’d love to sit down to dinner with this guy!

My favorite era from history is the Revolutionary War and the birth of our great nation. The struggles to win our independence and then the struggles to birth this great nation and create two of the most famous documents in history: the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America (three if you include the Bill of Rights). Our founding fathers are truly legendary and without peer from their era and every era since then.

My favorite piece of technology is the submarine. I’ve grown quite attached to submarines but more so to the crews of the submarines. Each crewmember truly was an iron man in an iron boat, somebody that you expected to be at your back when the shit hit the fan. You depended on each other and you were never disappointed. Being stuck in a steel tube for months at a time is truly a unique experience, something that you’d never forget. Lifelong friendships are made here.

I’ll admit…I had a hard time picking the nuclear reactor over the submarine as a favorite piece of technology, because it is nuclear power that got me interested in submarines in the first place. When I graduated high school, my career goal was to be a nuclear engineer. I went to the College of Engineering at the University of Michigan for a year to become a nuclear engineer…I goofed that all up and boom…I signed up in the Navy to do the next best thing…operate a nuclear power plant aboard a submarine.

Which leads me to…

My favorite school is Naval Nuclear Power School (NNPS). I’m a diehard UofM fan (and have been since I was five years old), but this school was the school that turned my life around. It is THE HARDEST school you (or anyone else) can ever go to. This school makes or breaks people and their careers. Six months of hell on earth is the best description I can give you. Nuclear and reactor physics, calculus, fluid and thermal dynamics, metallurgy, advanced algebra, frictional dynamics, advanced chemistry and more! Full third and fourth-year college courses jammed into six months. I averaged over 100 hours a week getting through this school and when I graduated; I knew that any class or school that I’d take for the rest of my life would be a piece of cake compared to this. It has.

My favorite college/university is easily the University of Michigan and its Wolverines! I started listening to Bob Ufer when I was five and he kept me glued to that transistor radio for many years. I lived and died with the Wolverines and Mr. Ufer. My Dad hated Bob (he never understood how one person could be so crazy about a football team and that he never acted his age). I think that’s why I loved listening to Mr. Ufer. I live and die with our Wolverines and have many fond memories of “The General” Bo, AC, Johnny Wrangler, The Big House, “The 10 Year War,” 1997, the yearly OSU rivalry known as simply “The Game”, and so many more. I will bleed maize and blue until I’m dead.


Bo is near the top the list of individuals that I respect because he believed in and exuded hard work and integrity, two things that seem to have taken a back seat in today's society. He was a fighter for things and people he believed in and he never backed down from a fight. He did things by the book. "Those who stay will be champions!"

Hmmmm…I’m realizing that I just might have to continue this later…already two pages!

The strangest places...


I’m going off on a tangent again. I was sitting down watching the newest addition to the Star Wars genre: the animated movie “Star Wars: The Clone Wars.” I started thinking. Things generally happen when that happens. Gears start turning and smoke starts pouring out. I started writing because I have thoughts. Damn irritating things…sometimes.

What is it about Star Wars? From the fruitfully imaginative mind of a relative unknown (at the time), George Lucas created the greatest series of movies that the world has ever known. He created a world “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…” unlike anyone could have envisioned. What resulted was more that Mr. Lucas could have ever anticipated or foreseen.

Star Wars and everything that was, is or will be forever associated with it is, in its own right, an industry of several billion dollars (maybe tens of billions by now). 31 years later, it is still a relevant slice of society. Why? How can one thing impact society such as it has? Simply, Mr. Lucas knows how to tell a good yarn. His stories, his world, his galaxy has everything that you would expect in a great story. Good versus evil, courage and cowardice, Truth and deceit, conviction and exoneration, hope and despair, and love and hate. Elements that have always existed in society; that define a society as a whole, or individually in its singular members.

After I finished watching the movie on DVD, I watched the trailers and special features DVD that came with it (I bought the two-disc special edition). If you weren’t aware of it yet, you would be after watching the first section of the special features. “It” is the weekly animated television series “Star Wars: The Clone Wars.” I was barely made aware of this series by my brother David, who just so happened to turn it on after Christmas dinner at the parents. I knew of the movie, but I was not aware of the series, simply because I really do not watch much television. If I watch television it’s Jeopardy, Law and Order, or CSI (the original or the New York version—I was never a fan of anything Florida except vacations and Walt Disney World). That’s pretty much it for my television viewing habits.

What struck me about the series was that each episode is intended to be a stand-alone, even though some stories can envelop several episodes. Each episode has a “theme” that is stated at the beginning of each episode. As the DVD special feature described the making of the series, it showed several themes (statements) and described briefly each episode. To no surprise of my own, each statement was what most of us would describe as a social more or value, while others describe them as moments of inspiration or the thoughts of an enlightened individual. Some of them sound like they just fell out of Poor Richard’s Almanac:

“Belief is not a matter of choice, but of conviction.”

“A plan is only as good as those who see it through.”

“The best confidence builder is experience.”

“Great leaders inspire greatness in others.”

“Trust in your friends, and they’ll have reason to trust in you.”

“It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness.”

Each of these themes resonates with those of good and noble hearts. They remind us that those life’s lessons we learned from our parents or their parents or their parents are not merely words. They are values that we respect and keep close to our hearts. They remind us that the worst that life seems to offer is not always as bad as it seems. They remind us that the hardest path taken is always the most rewarding.

Star Wars succeeds because the characters, their stories and their world represent us, our stories and our world. For all of our faults and our imperfections, we also retain our strengths. The Jedi Knights are the heroes of the stories, but we have our own heroes. They might not be as clearly evident as a Jedi might be, but they exist nonetheless. We have our own Sith, our own worlds and our own societies. A society cannot exist without any of these things. There will always be (to varying degrees) good and evil, heroes and villains, hope, despair, love and hate. There is never a black without a white.

We all (to some degree) strive to be the hero, if only in our imagination. That is enough to get us by the day-to-day doldrums that we are usually faced with. It’s enough to allow us to escape for a few minutes or an hour or two, to give us the strength to carry on, to hope for better days and to realize that it really isn’t as bad as we think.

Most people would look at Star Wars as strictly entertainment. When you dig a little deeper, you notice things that would not necessarily appear on the surface. Sort of like the Force…

May the Force be with you!

Friday, February 13, 2009

Decadence...dieters beware!!

First of all, Mark...I want to apologize in advance...what you are about to see here might just kill your diet, but I can't resist...I wanna!!!

I've heard of them before...a "Turducken." Basically it's a Thanksgiving Day dinner on steroids. A chicken stuffed in a duck stuffed in a turkey. I've seen a few recipies for the darn things and one of these days, I'm treating myself (and a bunch of other people) to one.

Well, now I've found something even better. A "Turbaconducken." My mouth is watering just typing this. Imagine a turducken wrapped in bacon. Yep...I'm thinking "a heart attack just waiting for a poor soul to happen along." Mmmmmmm. Yep, I'm sure Mark is not going to be too happy with me.

http://bacontoday.com/turbaconducken-turducken-wrapped-in-bacon/

The other thing I found is the Bacon Explosion. I can feel my arteries hardening already. I'm so making myself one of these babies!!

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm goooooooood!

http://www.bbqaddicts.com/blog/recipes/bacon-explosion/

I might need to have an ambulance standing by when I make these two monstrosities...I feel a heart attack coming on!

I am sooooooo going to Hell for tempting Mark and any other person even considering a diet by even thinking about posting something as decadent as this.

Which reminds me...when Christmas rolls around...I got a desert that I cut out of the Free Press waaaay back when... I have to find it though. My ultimate desert. Cover your eyes, Mark. It has over 1000 calories per slice! WOOOOOO!

It'll be worth it, no matter what happens to me...

Monday, February 9, 2009

Calvin and Hobbes


It's funny how you can be doing something, important or not, and you find something that just picks you up, shaves off a few years, and drops you off back in the middle of good memories.

I was on Facebook, replying to somebody's comment and I noticed over in the right margin the links to groups or pages, and lo and behold, I saw two very familiar figures from my earlier years: Calvin and Hobbes! Of course, I clicked on the link and I immediately was transported to 1985...the first year that Calvin and Hobbes hit the comic pages of the newspapers.

I still remember the very first cartoon. I also remember the very last one, and every single one in between. I read that cartoon religiously. When I was in the Navy for the last few years of the 80's and thru the mid 90's, I missed a few when I was in school or underway. I played catch up by buying every single Calvin and Hobbes book that Bill Watterson published.

Calvin, the impetuous youth that all of us wish we were and weren't, did everything that we couldn't but always longed of doing when we were young. To chronicle the affair and to make it more believable is an unlikely sidekick, a stuffed tiger named Hobbes, Calvin's best and most imaginary friend. Calvin couldn't be separated from Hobbes, and indeed, it wouldn't have been a comic strip sensation without the hi-jinxs of the both of them. The yin and the yang, so to speak.

Each Sunday comic strip was a masterpiece in itself, especially if Calvin happened to be time traveling in the Jurassic period that Sunday. Never would you expect a comic strip to be so detailed, so colorful, so beautiful! Truly unbelievable and special works of art.

There wasn't a day gone by that we weren't treated to Calvin's very own special philosophy, a philosophy that sometimes changed as quickly as a child's attention span, but it was, again, a philosophy that you could identify with, even to some small degree. Calvin's irrational innocence (or not so innocence as the case may be) tempered by a more rational Hobbes was something we could all identify with and escape back into our childhood to.

I cannot begin to recall all the stories, the characters or even the multitude of plots that I experienced reading that strip. It was an experience. Sure, you read it...but you actually experienced it, being sucked into the comic with Calvin and Hobbes. That was the creative genius of Bill Watterson. Spaceman Spiff, Stupendous Boy, and Tracer Bullet were just a few of Calvin's alter ego's that kept us longing for our own childhoods.

Where else can you read about "the Noodle Incident", Hamster Huey and the Gooey Kablooie, dinosaurs flying F14's, and transmogrifiers and time machines and cloning machines? Calvinball, the super-secret club G.R.O.S.S., creating snowman sculptures from hell, taking a trip to the Yukon armed with a helmet, a globe and a couple of sandwiches, racing snow sleds and wagons from dizzying precipices downhill to certain almost-death, dancing to classical music on an old 33 1/3 vinyl record at 78 rpm (though I thought it was 72 rpm in real life...I could be wrong) when he should have been asleep, mertilizing humongous space aliens on uncharted worlds, and Rosalyn, Calvin's arch-nemesis the babysitter.

Trying to escape from school any one of a thousand different ways, and doing things that no rational child would conceive of doing; and of course...Hobbes waiting to exuberantly pounce on Calvin as soon as he walked through the door after school, happy and grateful to see his best friend once again. All trademark Calvin and Hobbes. These are good memories indeed!

I cannot pick one favorite strip of all time. I can identify with Calvin or Hobbes or Calvin's parents or little Susie Derkins in every single strip. They are all my favorites, and it would be akin to torture to make me pick just one strip over all the other masterpieces.

I read a lot if not all of the interviews that Bill Watterson did/granted over the years, his epic fights for creative license for his strip, and at the same time, against the syndicate over trademark and ownership rights and marketing. Mr. Watterson didn't write Calvin and Hobbes to become rich, though I am sure he did. He did not want marketers to cheapen his creations by creating Calvin and Hobbes toilet covers or whatever lame marketing ploy somebody could think of. He could have kept on writing Calvin and Hobbes for many years after the ten years he gave us, but he chose not to. He gave everything he had into Calvin and Hobbes, and when he couldn't give any more, he stopped. He wanted to keep Calvin and Hobbes pure for people like me.

That last day of Calvin and Hobbes was a bittersweet day. An instant classic was pure Calvin and Hobbes. Nevertheless, you realized that it WAS the last strip. A melancholy day but when you got done experiencing his last strip, you realized that Bill Watterson did what he wanted to do and that he stuck to his principles. Calvin and Hobbes left us wondering what the next hi-jinx would be and what new trouble he'd be causing for his parents. I was satisfied. I still miss Calvin and Hobbes.

I'm going to dig out my collection tonight and do some catching up.

God Bless!

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Strollin'

I think there are few that would disagree that the Emergency Medical Services field has changed significantly over the years. In fact, I think you could say that the one constant in EMS is change. There are always new treatments, new equipment, new drugs, new protocols, new laws, and, (of course) new expectations. I’ll touch on more of these topics in later posts…today I’m just “a-strollin’.”

There are things that we were able to do way back when, that would (most likely), get us fired nowadays. The EMS version of torture: back boarding, body runs, baby powder in the vents, garbage bags of water in the wheel wells, and defibrillator gel under the windshield wipers. Well…if it didn’t get us fired nowadays, it would definitely buy us a verbal warning at the very least.

I kinda got into EMS towards the later stages of the practical jokes. I heard about more over previous years than I did actually see or participate in. All I know is that I laughed so hard I cried more than once to hear the stories of the “good ol’ days.” Mary, Dave and Eric spring to mind as epic storytellers of the days of yore. Mary used to keep me riveted night after night with stories that were just too funny to be true, but they were. I had many a beer trying to pry good war stories out of Eric. Dave was the easy one…he’d invite me over for dinner and tell me stories. I never had the opportunity to work with Dave for some reason. It just never worked out that way with the scheduling. Nevertheless, we’re pretty darn good friends anyways. I probably owe him a few dinners at this point.

I kinda felt like strolling down memory lane a little bit. I also couldn’t help but think about Gary Zingler. After Gary’s death, I wrote a column for the company newsletter about its impact on all of us but myself in particular. I have been contemplating reposting the column, but I kinda feel like I should wait for the anniversary of his death (which will be in November…meaning I kinda just missed it or I got 9 months to prepare for it). At any rate, I had many good memories run rampant in the past few days. Another thing that strayed thru the cobwebs was “The Shadow.” “The Shadow” was a mysterious figure who kinda tried to stay mysterious, but I’m not entirely sure “The Shadow” did manage that. Anyways…I’ll make a decision shortly…I think this year will be ten years since Gary’s passing. It might be appropriate to wait.

I found a bunch of pictures recently…a lot of them were Expo pictures…but was still pretty cool going backwards for a bit…I’m gonna scan them when I get a chance and I’ll probably post most of them on Facebook…I might post a few on here, I haven’t decided yet.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Aiiiiiiigggggghhhhh!!!

I hate it when I start writing and my mind starts going off in different tangents. Here i am, sitting at the computer, mulling over something that was bugging me, figuring that it would make a good blog entry.

I start writing the damn thing and, after seven or nine paragraphs, I realize that what I'm talking about now has absolutely nothing to do with what I started with. Then I re-read the entire thing and realize that the subject matter of a middle paragraph is completely different from the beginning and the ending subjects.

I now realize that it must have been by the Grace of God that I actually passed Honors English and History in high school. I can't believe that I actually stayed on one single subject for my essays and my term papers. It's nigh impossible now, it seems.

Anyways, my train of thought left me at the boarding station at that point. Now I have three (possibly four) different subjects for future blogs. Not exactly what I had planned...but who plans these things anyways? And in case anyone's asking...yes...I've had my fair share of caffiene today. It might have something to do with what transpired.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Supermom/Superdad or two parents? A question.

It kinda came up in a conversation I was having with a friend.

I've been fortunate enough to have grown up in a two parent (a mom and a dad) household. In my job and my travels through life I've met and known people that have had two parents and some that have had one parent (mainly) or that the parents were separated/divorced (probably 90% of the occurances) and they split the time/responsibilities of raising a child(ren).

It has been my experience (and as such...my belief) that children seem to be more well-rounded/adjusted when they have both parents present in the household. They seem to have less psychological problems, they do better in school, etcetera (they have generally less issues growing up).

I've seen enough research, anecdotal evidence, and stories over the years that suggest similar outcomes. I guess I'd like to hear your sides, your stories. All I know is that being a single parent must suck like no tomorrow. Having both parents around isn't easy either...I know I made life hell for my parents growing up.

So is it the single parent thing...the double parent thing? Is it just kids in general, or today's general state of society/technology/social mores and values? What makes the difference between being well-adjusted or a sociopathic nightmare?

I'd really like to know and just maybe there's something that you did or experienced that might make the difference for someone else.

God Bless!!



Tuesday, February 3, 2009

My old columns/essays...

Well, I found most of my old columns/essays/etcetera. It's a good thing I'm a pack rat. Apparently I'm gonna be one of those patient's I really hate when I get old and decrepit. The ones with stacks and stacks of stuff all over the place where you can't get in the door and whatnot.

I haven't really gone back and read them all but I'm not exactly ignorant of what each was about, even though some were over ten years ago. I scare myself sometimes.

I guess the problem with reposting them is that I'm not quite sure how to do it. Of course, I could just cut and paste and post them as easy as pie. I'm referring to the fact that the articles/columns are kinda dated to that particular time. Some of them don't mean a damn thing nowadays. And if you weren't there when I published them...you aren't gonna get the "full effect" so to speak. The context just isn't there. In order to do it properly, I'm going to have to preface them somehow to kinda get them from the past into the present...if that is even possible.

Another thing I'm kinda worried about is that I can't really archive them...to blogger.com it's just another blog...not one from 10 years ago. Sure, they'll be archived...but it'll be chronologically with all my present stuff. For whatever reason...it's bugging me. Maybe I'm just being nitpicky.

I'll do my best, regardless. Just have to put my thinking cap on and screw it on a little bit tighter for these "blasts from the past."

The other thing I have to remember...I'm not exactly writing for a captive audience anymore. Most of my past stuff was EMS related. I'll have to expand my horizons. If you non-EMS types don't understand something I've posted, please let me know. I'll clarify wherever and whenever possible.

God Bless!

Monday, February 2, 2009

Strange Twists and Turns

The end of the 2008 was a bit different for me this past year. Something that I hadn't had to worry about in almost 13 years. Being unemployed (especially right now in the midst of Michigan's economic woes) was very disconcerting and frankly...quite scary.

It's hard to appreciate the security blanket that having a job means...until you lose it. All that security, that safe feeling you have but are not necessarily aware of, just disappears. Everything is day-to-day; sometimes it almost feels like it's hour-to-hour. Being unemployed is not a vacation. Sure, you don't have to go to work...but it isn't a vacation. I'd say my perspective is a bit skewed at this point, if only because I'm only supporting myself. Luckily, I don't have to worry about a family. There would be no time for self-pity because I'd be acutely more concerned with the welfare of my family.

You're more acutely aware that, even though you lived pretty much paycheck-to-paycheck anyways, the money isn't coming in anymore and it might not be there tomorrow. You budget every single penny.

You don't do anything that requires money unless you absolutely need to. Going to the movies or going to a restaurant is pretty much out of the question. Fast food? Forget it! That package of Oreo's that you buy (because you absolutely love Oreo's and milk) every time you go grocery shopping? It stays on the shelf because you can't afford it. You do without the amenities that make you comfortable. Every physical thing that you just took for granted previously, that made you feel comfortable...is gone.

I quit smoking the day after Thanksgiving. After 20 years, it's still a major struggle, every single day, every single hour. But that's besides the point. I bring it up because it's one of those things that make you feel comfortable. Honestly, I don't know why I stopped. I wasn't planning on it. I was averaging more than a pack-a-day until that point. I was on my computer playing World of Warcraft that night and I just ran out of cigarettes. I forgot to go to the corner store that day. But I started running around the house checking all my hiding spots, looking for another pack. I didn't find another pack. I signed off of WoW and went to bed.

To be honest, I'd tell you that I was just plain lazy and I didn't feel like going to the corner store. Looking back, I'd say that maybe not having the money to keep supporting the habit was sitting in the back of my mind. I know that I had the money in my pocket. I could have easily paid for another pack. Kinda one of those times when the angel on your shoulder says you don't need them anymore...without really needing to say anything. My little angel kicked the devil sitting on my other shoulder in the chops and that was it. I woke up the next morning and I haven't had a cigarette since. I wake up every morning looking for that cigarette.

I'm not proclaiming my victory over smoking just yet. It's only been two and a half months, for God's sakes. Maybe in a year...maybe in 20 years. I don't know. All I know is that it's a daily struggle.

As far as the self-pity thing goes...yep, I was probably a bit depressed for a while. There was a stretch where I didn't do too much. I think that was pretty much a normal reaction. The problem becomes a problem when you let your life be encapsulated by it. Luckily for me...that's why I got friends. I know that I would have had a rougher time of it getting through some of the tough spots without the support of my family and my friends.

In many previous blogs/letters/posts, I've tried to acknowledge the importance that my family and friends have in my life. I don't know if you can truly appreciate it or not. I don't know if I can truly appreciate the importance of it. It's not something that you can quantify or qualify. Having X number of friends might mean something when we're growing up, especially when you have X and I have X+1 and I'm gloating about it because we're playing "I'm better than you!". You can't qualify it by saying that X friend is better than Y friend. At least I can't. Sure, I have a best friend...heck, I got two. But every friend is truly special and purposeful in their own special way and I can't categorize or qualify a friendship like that.

John isn't my best friend just because I've known him since sixth grade (that's 1979 for those of you keeping score). Nicole isn't my best friend just because we've known each other and went thru God know's how much in EMT Class back in 1994 and at Medstar in the years following. All my other friends aren't in second or third or fourth or even 50th. They're my friends, plain and simple. And no matter who you are or where your are, be assured that you've done something to enrich my life and make it better and more meaningful. I couldn't even begin to describe what you might have done or what you might have said, but it meant something to me.

Life took a drastic turn for me in October. Even thought I like to reminisce and laugh about the "good ol' days", I've since realized that I can't go back. Life works because you go forward, never backwards. Probably one question that I've heard more than any other is "If you had the chance, would you go back?" I've thought about that question a lot in the past couple of months and I've gone through the "woulda, coulda, shoulda" stage too.

As much as I miss my friends at Medstar and the fun (and the seniority and my meager pay), my answer is an absolute "NO." We all kinda answered that question once or twice when we were growing up: "What would you do differently if you could go through high school again?" (or a similar question). I don't think I can answer that question any more, because I wouldn't want to. I don't need a "do over." I don't need a rewind button (well, I might need a rewind button for those times when my mouth gets me in trouble).

Everything that has occurred up to this point in my life has occurred for some reason, some purpose. That means everything that I've ever done, every thought or word that I thought or spoke or heard or read, or every person that I have ever encountered was there for some purpose or some reason. I can't give that up. That's who I am.

I'll keep moving forward and see what life has in store for me. I have a new job, with new challenges and new experiences just waiting for me. But I also know that I have lots of friends and family that got me to this point, that helped me to this point of my life. That is something I cannot...will not...forget.

I'm not rich, at least not in the monetary sense. I'm not perfect, not by any simple definition of the word. But I am the richest person I know with the most perfect life I can imagine.

The Revival of Mikey's Cup of Coffee!

On a dare...OK...more like a whim and a suggestion from a good friend who shall remain nameless on the grounds that she might incriminate herself totally...(Thanks, Val!)

Mikey's Cup of Coffee exists again! And...no..it isn't about coffee...rather it's more about what I might muse about over a cup of coffee. Or two. Or three.

For those of you who don't know what the hell I'm talking about...Mikey's Cup of Coffee was started by me back in 1998 after I started a company newsletter at Medstar Ambulance...I got permission to have my own column...so to speak...and I really started off with a bang.

Through the years, Mikey's Cup of Coffee has been an off-again-on-again project. The topic of my notes/essays has varied...sometimes it was about our job in Emergency Medical Services as EMT's and paramedics, sometimes it was just about life, sometimes it was about nothing. But I always had a loyal readership of at least one person (Insert note of thanks to Nicole here!). And that always made the difference...the fact that people cared to read whatever I had to write about.

Anyways, I do plan on finding all my previous posts from the newsletter and from my myspace page and relocating them here for posterity's sake if nothing else.

Give me a few days to get my butt in gear and then we'll see where this takes off to. I make no excuses about what I might write about. I don't particularly like writing about politics and religion...but those topics aren't off the table either. Most people that know me know my political slant and my religion of choice. But I try to be open-minded about things and consider all avenues and opinions.

God Bless!