Tuesday, 6. January 2009, 17:56:48
weather, Olympia, winter
Now this is more typical NW weather:
Not so bad. Almost temperate, in fact. :-) Of course, the only
drawback is where does all the water go?
Monday, 22. December 2008, 10:02:38
snow, winter
Being outside and shoveling snow today was great exercise and gave me some time to spend connecting with a couple of my neighbors who are great people. There's certainly plenty of it to shovel if I should feel very ambitious. My shoulders are a little sore and I can't believe how sore my hands are. That's what I get for being a computer jocky, I guess. Shoveling is hard work, but oddly satisfying. Maybe because I'm doing it because I want to, and because it brings people out to work together and share the experience.
Shot from my balcony this afternoon:
Five minutes (okay, maybe ten) after I shoveled a path:
The snow covering the patio around the walkway is less than 24 hours old. The patio has been shoveled 3 different times since Friday. I finally just stuck with creating a path:
I think I actually do have some bird seed and bread I can put out for the creators of these:
Just incredible:
Thursday, 18. December 2008, 08:01:12
winter
It snowed quite a bit last night and today just as predicted. Had 7" (17.8cm) on the ground this morning. Not bad for the first real snow of the season. (We had a bare dusting on Sunday. Not even 2" (5cm).) I went to our local co-op and had to shovel out tracks in the snow to get up the driveway when I got home. It was actually kind of fun shoveling snow. Haven't had to do it since last year, and I enjoy how physical it is. Of course everyone in town is going crazy and driving like lunatics. I swear, it amazes me how people forget to drive in snow. Even without chains it can be done if you drive slowly and don't rush it. Hills are the obvious exception, as my driveway proved, but even that can be mitigated. So yeah, I suppose I'll have to get chains. I almost bought some today, but I'll see how things play out. It's supposed to snow again by Sunday, so I may get the chains tomorrow. We'll see...
The snow was starting to melt the last time I was outside at about 11:00PM. If it freezes tonight as planned the roads will be ugly in the morning.
[Update 12:48AM] Good thing I'm not trying to sleep. The snow plows are still clamoring up and down the street with their tire chains making a grand racket.
Tuesday, 16. December 2008, 00:28:17
winter, EMT, medical training
The temperature is not supposed to get above freezing for the rest of the week. The National Weather Service
predicts snow on Wednesday and Thursday. And I'm told that the rest or the year (all two weeks of it) will be pretty much the same. I wanna ride my bike out in it, but i can only take so much cold it seems as I get older. When I was in my 20s my bike was my only form of transportation for quite a long time and I remember many mornings when the temperatures would be 15 - 25F (-9 - -2C) in the mornings. I have a car now, but I prefer to drive it as little as possible. I don't have a job presently, so I don't have to drive around alot, and don't have to go out in the cold as much. So yeah, it's cold. Not as cold as Minnesota, I suppose, but still cold.
A 24-hour coffee house just opened up a several blocks from my house. It's totally walkable. Was down there just this morning, in fact. Took my laptop (no wireless there yet) and my textbook, and read and listened to music for a while. The textbook is called Prehospital Emergency Care. I'm enrolled in an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) program at a local college. The program starts Jan. 7, so I'm reading now. I already have good grasp of the course material due my training as a
Wilderness First Responder (WFR). So I should do well. Whether I will be able to get a job as an EMT remains to be seen, of course. There's a lot that goes in to it besides just going through a program. Each county has different protocols that EMTs have to test on and pass to be able to work in that particular county. Those protocols are not taught in a classroom, but have to be self-studied. I've never been very disciplined in my ability to study outside of a classroom, unless it's been to solve an immediate computer-related issue. Plus, almost all ambulance companies require that people have previous experience. This is a classic
catch-22 in that it's hard to get experience unless you have a job as an EMT, and it's hard to get a job unless you have experience. So, I suppose we will see.
There are four discrete levels to Emergency Medicine with Emergency Medical Responder being the first step. This is synonymous with Wilderness First Responder except that we are taught an extra set of protocols that can only be used in wilderness settings or when definitive care is hours away. EMT is the second step, with Advanced EMT and Paramedic being the third and fourth steps, respectively. Each of these steps indicate progressively higher training and responsibility. In truth, my primary motivation is not so much actually being employed as an EMT--although it is very appealing--as it is in being a better
street medic. Several EMTs I've met work in clinics in poor communities around the world. I also plan to use this training as a stepping-stone to becoming a registered nurse (RN), which is my ultimate goal. However, given the cost of post-secondary education in this country and my age, I'm not sure how realistic this is. I plan to train as far as I can up the Emergency Medical ladder. My right leg was crushed when I was 19, so I'm not sure how well I would be able to perform as a paramedic working for a fire department. Won't know until I try. Once I've gone as far as I can I'll begin to study to achieve an RN degree.
It's been below freezing all day, and is supposed to be 9F (-12C) tonight... I want more coffee, damnit. Hehehe...
(43%)
November 2009January 2010
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