Unsustainable J.O.B.

Last night I was reminded of why waitressing is just not a sustainable job for me. Can you guess where this revelation came from? Why yes, it was Monday night football. I love football. Maybe it's the grown men in tights. Maybe it's the adrenaline inspired touchdown dances. Or perhaps it's the petty fights, infinitely detailed rules and regulations, tiny ball, tons of padding, and billions of dollars. And then there's the fans. Their diversity, and commitment ought to be commended. Or is that committed? I always get those two confused. It just touches my soul to see all the fans crowd in and cheer for a common goal. Or is that gole? I guess it's really touchdown in this case.

So the whole unsustainable aspect comes into play in more than one realm. There is, of course, my attitude towards the waste of resources, etc. And then there's the tips. Yup, show me the money, that's what it always comes down to, isn't it? Last night I worked for three and half hours and I took home ....(wait for it)......a whopping total of four dollars. Of course Smokey the Bear had dinner too, but I usually don't even notice that being taken out of my tips. Last night, it was more than half ($6.12 to be exact). Perhaps it's time to just let go of this non-lucrative second job and just stay home and pet my cats. I guess I could pet the dogs too. And there's always that mysterious smell in the fridge I could investigate. Yes, the to do list is ever growing and never shrinking. If only we could harness that energy somehow....then I could quit both my jobs and spend all my time playing outside. What, a girl can dream, can't she? This one can!

Limit Set

Today I decided that zero degrees (F) is cold enough to forego the bike and give in to the vehicle. I'll start that tomorrow, you know, when my toes thaw. I think what finally got me was realizing the hazard / challenge of trying to pedal uphill while wiggling my toes. Try it some time and see what I mean. Also, I do not recommend biking below ten degrees without adding another layer to the bottom half of your clothing system. Don't wait until trying to get dressed to realize that ALL your thermal bottoms are dirty (from nine day WFR training) and decide that it isn't really that cold. You will be wrong and your hiney will go on strike.

Course Quote

I found it a bit strange to suddenly disasemble the group I had been with for 9 days on Sunday. We had acted out tragedies together, splinted arms and legs, contracted and recovered from a multitude of symptoms, even packaged up and carried each other on litters. And then suddenly it was over. No more late night cram sessions and playing fetch with a herd of dogs at the bottom of the steep driveway. No more 2 hour drives and quizes. No more frantic collection of vital signs.

And yet my life will never really be the same. I watched a couple episodes of the Dukes of Hazzard Sunday night while folding laundry. And all I could think about following the fantastic jumps over gullies was that they sure had experienced a mechanism of injury (MOI) to their spines and really shouldn't be driving. Smokey the Bear came out one night and helped with a scenario and then sat and watched the video of the exercise with the class. I think it has affected him too. This morning as we were sliding sideways along the highway on-ramp (my driving) he commented that it would suck if we got in an accident. He quickly followed that up with an explanation: it wouldn't suck for his spine because the MOI would be obvious, it would suck because no one would think to perform the Heimlich on him because they wouldn't realize he had been eating at the time of the crash. "How do you do the Heimlich on an MOI spine patient anyway?" I had a sudden moment of panic when I realized I didn't know the answer to that question. And then we both laughed.

Yes, life may never be the same again. The instructor was so good I've recommended her to everyone I know. And I'm thinking of having a shirt made for her with my favorite quote of the course. It happened when a fellow student was working with me on a patient whose symptoms indicated he had a bloody nose. We were trying to decide what to recommend for treatment and I said he shouldn't tip his head back. He followed that up with "Well, all bleeding stops eventually'. Our instructor was 5 feet away and heard that clear as a bell. That one was good for several repeats in the following days. Watch out world, I'm not the only WFR out there.

Manic Monday

We've all had those days. You know, the kind where your sleep is interupted by various pets knocking over/attempting to eat various other pets in the wee hours of the morning so that your sleep is totally fractured and ineffective. And then the dog who is locked in the kennel for attempting to eat the cat starts to puke. And you mistakenly congratulate yourself for getting her outside before she pukes.....because when you bring her back inside she eats your breakfast while you are conferring with your other household member about plans for the day. Jam side down on the carpet when you finally catch her. So that then you are late for work AND have no breakfast.

Yup, I'm home. And WFR certified. Watch out world, here I come!

Perfectly Normal

You will all be thrilled to know that I am perfectly normal. My instructor informed us after last night's car crash scenario that it is 'perfectly normal' for students to be freaking out about being able to pass the exam at the end of the course at this halfway point. Great, makes me feel so much better. It's not the money or time investment that worries me, just the thought that I will fail and then I'll be somewhere in-between a helpful person in a backcountry emergency and totally helpless/possibly making it worse. Anybody up for some backcountry skiiing?

Not AWOL, just WFR

I'm a little obsorbed right now in Wilderness First Responder training. I'll be done late Sunday. Stay tuned.

Unexpected Visiting

So Wednesday I rode my bike to the office because I didn't have any work or training or other activity to attend to in the evening. It was a pleasant day for a ride and upon arriving at home I took the dogs out. And then I went for a run with one of my friends. Smokey the Bear (aka Alex) drove by us as we were running. I waved, but didn't think he saw us. We returned home to.......a locked apartment. Hmmm...so that's interesting. I wonder if the windows are unlocked? Or maybe the back door? Nope. Hmmm.....how did he miss my keys sitting on the counter, and my bike in the living room, and the dogs out of their kennels? 'Friend, where are your keys?' 'Uh, inside.' 'I see. Well, let's see if the neighbor is home and we can use her phone.' Luckily she was and I played with her puppy while my friend called her boyfriend and got him to bundle up the baby and hop in the truck and bring her the spare key. He brought the key fob. Anyone sense a theme here? She had to ride home and get the spare and be brought back out to pick up her car.

Let's pause here so I can address the questions I'm sure are brewing. Smokey's cell plan was up for renewal a couple weeks ago. He was tired of not having reception inside the apartment. He decided not to renew it. He does not have a cell phone now. Also, he has a college buddy in town from Nome (go look that up on the map, I visited there this summer on a layover) and they are going out to dinner. I thought I was joining them, but obviously I was wrong. Being that Smokey is not prone to late night drinking binges, I was confident he would be home soon. Until I thought about what it was like to live in a small town and finally come to the city (big town in this case). Who knows what kind of errands this friend needs to run!

While my neighbor tried to break into my apartment for me, I decided to leave Smokey a note and head home with my friend. She fed me and let me play with the baby and cats and gave me wine. What more could I want? I love being an unexpected visitor.

Costume revealed

I refuse to reduce myself to talking about politics; there's plenty of that at the office and at home. So instead, let's talk about my Halloween costume. A kind soul sent me a picture so I could share with you.

TA DAH!! Look, it's a forest fairy. How cute! Nice wings.....

I never dressed up as a princess or a fairy or anything froofy as a child. This seemed like the perfect time to rectify that. What you can't appreciate in this picture is that I'm wearing four inch heels. Now don't be too hasty to judge, this is a height of heels I can manage well and these shoes are normally very comfortable. I've just never worn them for eight hours straight. While walking the equivalent of several miles. On a hard floor. While carying large beers. Sideways between chairs. It took me two days to be able to walk like a human again.

Anticipation of camera shopping

No pictures for you today. Nope, none. No Halloween costume pizaz to show off, nothing. Want to know why? Because I wanted to make sure to have some for you all and I took my camera to the bar. Yep, that was dumb. It didn't come home with me because one of my co-workers (and I will find out who) decided to go through my pockets and relieve me of it. I feel sorry for them, really, I do. I can't imagine being at a point in my life where I would feel like I wanted or needed to go through my co-worker's pockets. Really though, I wish they would have just taken my cell phone and wallet. In the aftermath, I discovered that this was not their first strike. One other waitress had her purse stolen and a cook had his shoes stolen. Yes, I said shoes. A new pair of Nikes, apparently. He didn't want to get them all yucky while he was working in the kitchen, so he changed for his shift. And at the end of his shift, all gone. Pawn shops here I come......

In the meantime, I'm trying to see this as an opportunity to go shopping. It turns out I've gotten attached to having a camera and taking pictures. Now I just need to extend that to downloading them from the camera daily. Any camera recommendations?