Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The Ambulance Chronicles
:: Welcome to My Life. Just look around, read some stuff, or laugh in mockery at me.
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::I'm an EMT, and I work on an ambulance. I'm aspiring to be a paramedic someday, but I might go for the MD also.
::Anne is my silly goose and we have been married for four and a half years. Time flies when you fight wars.
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::I am a former driver's ed student and I'm probably that kid that your family talks about almost hitting them.
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:: Tuesday, August 18, 2009 ::

A 100 year institution can't even get one small thing right...

I miss college. I like to learn (although my family is convinced that I refuse to read.) I'm glad that there are institutions for people like me to congregate and share knowledge and experiences. One such institution is proudly "charting a second century" in helping bring education to the future of America.

However, after 100 years, they still haven't figured out how to properly order and distribute schoolbooks for students to purchase and learn from during class. The last semester I enjoyed at NSU was the fall of 2007. I printed off my schedule, took it to the bookstore, the book finders handed me a pile of books, and I paid for my new (or used) books. It was quite a simple task, and I was not surprised how easy it was. Apparently I did not have much company in this school of thought.

So an entrepreneur fellow decided to open an off campus bookstore and call it "The Campus Bookstore." Of course, this caused some confusion for us who don't like to shop around for better deals. My wife, on the other hand, does shop around and she found "The Campus Bookstore" to be cheaper than the campus bookstore. (It's easier to tell the difference when you can actually put quotation marks around the name.) She has had mixed experience with the campus bookstore and "The Campus Bookstore" but tends to like "The Campus Bookstore" better than the campus bookstore. (I'm trying my hardest to make this confusing so I can have a little backing on my side.)

For this semester my wife decided to buy her books at "The Campus Bookstore" and I, reluctantly, agreed to as well. I printed my schedule, handed it to the book finder, and he handed me a bag of books. "Wow. That was pretty easy," I said to myself. However, Ann wasn't as lucky. They only had one of her required books on hand and the rest she could prepay for and pick up at a later date. She, reluctantly, agreed seeing as how she had a similar problem with the campus bookstore and decided to wait.

Yesterday was the last day of waiting. We went to "The Campus Bookstore" and they still had not received any of Ann's books. We ventured around the university taking care of a variety of other tasks (some of which we didn't accomplish due to a staff member's incompetence and that didn't help matters any at all.) After a somewhat long trek (and wet trek because God decided yesterday was a perfect day for rain), Ann decided to buy her missing books from the campus bookstore and get a refund at "The Campus Bookstore."

While glancing at the receipt from "The Campus Bookstore" so we knew which of Ann's books to buy (yes, sweet love, I finally understand what book you didn't want to buy and why), I noticed I had only bought four books from "The Campus Bookstore" for six classes. That set off a little bell and whistle in my head. So after more trekking, we returned to the campus bookstore to see what books they said were required for my classes. Some quick adding, subtracting, and division later, I determined I needed eleven books for my six classes; however, I only bought four from "The Campus Bookstore." Problem? Yes.

Some quick searching, writing, and comparing later, we found out that the campus bookstore only had eight of my eleven books available for purchase. Problem? Yes. The university where I will be attending for class and rely upon to provide books for me to learn from in class didn't even have the appropriate books available for me. Problem? Yes.

So there are three options for buying books at NSU. The campus bookstore, "The Campus Bookstore," and buy them online. Between the first two, I have seven of my eleven books for class. The rest? I guess I'm just screwed because the professors are choosy about the books they want students to have and choose the most expensive.

A 100 year institution can't even supply the books students are required to have for study. One hundred years of mismanagement. Cheers to the "next century."

Here I sit, three days away from class, and totally unprepared for a few classes due to the lack of care from the two places students can (and should be able to) purchase required supplies for class.

Great way to start school again.

:: Ben 12:20 PM [+] ::
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(0) comments :: Monday, August 10, 2009 ::

Here we go, at it again?

So it's been seven months or so since I last posted. Why start again all of the sudden? Ann said, "Why don't you ever post anymore?" Here we go.

First, a little update. We live in Oklahoma again, back in our house. I no longer work for the physician staffing company; I work for Muskogee County EMS now. I finally got hired to work on an ambulance. I awfully excited about it. It's a bit stressful sometimes but still enjoyable.

I am enrolled for school again at Northeastern State University. I have changed my major, though. It used to be Education with history, but it is now cellular biology. Why? It interests me and its good for pre-med. Maybe more of the latter.

I guess that's about it for the updates.

So far this isn't like my normal posts. I guess my muse is missing tonight. We'll see if it comes back. To be honest, I think about blogging all the time while on the ambulance but when it comes down to put it on paper (or computer), it escapes me. Actually, while driving a moron from his house to the hospital with the floor of the ambulance covered in vomit, I had an awesome post thought up. "10 reasons to not call an ambulance."

As you can see, that post hasn't come to fruition.

I encounter quite a few things on an ambulance. When you work on the streets (sometimes literally) and your "customers" are the derelict, destitute, and down right stupid people of society, you have a few things to go home and laugh about to your family. The derelict are sometimes the funniest. I can't count how many times I have been cursed at by little old ladies. ("Shut up you. Let Betty talk!") And how many times old dudes have decided to strip their clothes and let their dangles dangle all over the place.

Honestly, you just have to laugh.

I can't wait to start this blog up again. Just sitting here I'm thinking of all the funny stuff I have gone through in my short five months of working. Oh so long left to go.

This is going to be an interesting chapter.

:: Ben 7:43 PM [+] ::
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(0) comments :: Thursday, January 01, 2009 ::

Well, I never...

I know, it has been quite a long time since I have posted on here. Reasons? More like excuses I suppose. Busy with moving, working, spending time with my wife and family (who are the only ones who read this...if they do.)

New York is no longer where my wife and I call home. We're not gone forever from there; we know that it isn't going anywhere (barring alien attacks which only hit Manhattan) so we have plans to move back eventually. For now we are back in our house in Oklahoma and loving every minute of it. You easily take peace and quit for granted living in a house in quiet small-town Oklahoma. I finally finished my EMT class and now I am a licensed EMT-basic in the state of Oklahoma and New York as well as registered nationally. However, I'm still waiting on employment using this license in either state, really. I'm willing to take whatever is handed to me.

I am working, though. I'm working for a company here that staffs local Emergency Departments with physicians. I just handle the charts and send them off to the billing company. It has nothing to do with my license, but it still pays the bills.

So that's a quick update for now. I'm still alive and kicking. I can't promise I'll post again soon. I can't promise I'll ever post again. But I'm trying. Seriously.

Happy 2009 cyberworld.

God is good. All the time.
Peace

:: Ben 6:10 PM [+] ::
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(1) comments :: Monday, August 25, 2008 ::

Still alive

Too much going on. Most of you that are reading this already know what is going on. For those of you that don't, I'll explain later.

:: Ben 9:39 PM [+] ::
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(0) comments :: Saturday, July 19, 2008 ::

As soon as I get it figured out

I figured out why I never post. I can't even understand the millions of thoughts that are bouncing around my head enough to figure out what is going on in life, let alone formulate a blog post. Even now, as I type, my mind is trying to figure out where life is headed and at the same time trying to figure out if I'm hungry. It's a scary place.

I just can't get any words to come to mind. There is so much going on, so much to talk about, but just not any way to get it out. And I need to get it out. My brain is going to explode, but everyone else is too busy with life to worry about my ramblings. I guess that's where a blog comes in handy, even if you can figure out words to put down.

There is just so much to learn in such a little amount of time. In about two months, people's lives will depend on how much I know and how well I can use my knowledge. That's slightly scary. When I did my ER rotation, my knowledge wasn't important to the care of the patient, but it was a test, a very real test, to see if I knew my stuff (and see if I could handle the sight of blood.) (yes, I can.) It wasn't a pass or fail but a wake up call. A chance to test my mettle (I hope I'm using that right). Thankfully I didn't freeze up when I saw the girl that got ran over by a motorcycle, the guy shot in the leg, the drunk that fell and busted his head open, or the girl that got sliced in the forehead and bled everywhere.

I don't know what I'm trying to say. There is seriously so much in there. So many diseases and symptoms and procedures to learn and memorize. Granted, I don't need to know the difference between Beck's Triad and Cushing's Triad as an EMT-B, but if it makes me a better EMT then I will do whatever it takes.

Just a chance to toot my own horn, Beck's Triad are signs of cardiac tamponade. They are narrowing pulse pressure, jugular vein distention, and distant heart sounds. Cushing's Triad are signs of intracranial pressure. They are abnormally high systolic pressure, slow weak pulse, and slow irregular respirations. How do I as an EMT fix either problem? Transport patient to hospital. How does knowing this stuff make me a better EMT? I can maybe save the ER staff a few vital seconds to treat the patient.

I just want to the best at whatever I do. I want to be a good EMT. I want to be a good American. I want to be a good husband.

I miss my wife. All this is bottled up in my head because my partner who listens to my nonsensical rambling is gone. I know she'll soon be home but not soon enough.

So here's another post to make those who wonder where my posts are happy. It may not make any sense. Heck, nothing makes sense to me right now. My brain is full. There is no more space. I'll get it figured out eventually. And when that happens, I'll probably forget to post for so long that it fills up again.

I apologize.

:: Ben 9:39 PM [+] ::
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(9) comments

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