Fire-n-Ice

Valentines Day started out pretty cold. We had an ice storm drop about 4 inches of ice overnight and the electricity went out about 3am. So my daughters & my granddaughter huddled until the fire dept picked us up & took us to the station so we could get warm. It's was wonderful to have running water. Around 4 pm the electric came back on, so we went home & took turns draining the water heater with hour long showers. Nice to be clean & warm & home.
Too bad it didn't last long. We got a call for a structure fire so my husband (who had worked all night & stayed home trying to sleep in the freezing cold) & I jumped on the ambulance and stood around for 6 hours outside in the cold wind.
It was a beautiful brand new house, and they had just started moving in. They went "up-town" for a few hours, & when they got home the house was full of smoke. Long story short - somehow the deck on the second floor had caught fire & it spread to the inside of the house.
So we pull in first on scene, before any fire trucks got there. No one was hurt, so my husband proceded to break the cardinal rule - he went in the house to look for the source. He didn't have his fire gear on, and we had no equipment to even think about putting out a campfire let alone a house. He opened a door, not realising it went to the second floor deck, and almost fell right into the flames. He wasn't hurt, but it was a little un-nerving to say the least.
Anyway, when the trucks arrived shortly thereafter, it was awesome to see the firemen at work. It never ceases to amaze me. They charge right in, seemingly without any fore thought. What a special breed they are. And you should have seen the homeowners face when they "attacked" the ceiling with those javelin-like poles and sprayed that high power water into the house. Brand new, pristine ceilings & walls being cut to shreds just in case the fire was spreading to them. They did a wonderful job at containing the fire & putting it out, but it was still sad to see the destruction caused by the fire & the consequence of putting it out.
Even worse, the homeowner had just finished 8 months of Chemo for cancer, which he spent working on their dreamhouse. Ya know, when you think you've got it bad there's always someone else who is going thru something so much worse.

Just Rambling....

Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I like staying in one place. My home, my job, pretty much my fashion sense & hair (both straight outta the 80's haha). I was told today that a VP that has been here a little over a year is leaving for another position. Probably more money, closer to home, this place, who knows what is driving him away.

I've been here almost 24 years, holding various positions in the company. I'm not making huge sums of money, but I'm comfortable and that's the way I like it. I've seen lots of people come & go, sometimes w/i a few months of arriving. I guess it's mostly the younger people. Educated people. The people that know there is an outside world. I'm terrified of the outside world. My volunteer work doesn't count - it doesn't have to help support my family or contribute to my retirement so it doesn't scare me at all. But there is a real chance I'll be getting laid off from here, like the dozens of people that have already been laid off, and that terrifies me. The only other "real" job I've had was at Roy Rogers when I was a kid. "You want fries with that?"

Happy New Year

Ok, what's the first thing you would do when you got out of a 60 day, intensive inpatient alcohol rehab program? If you're thinking "I'd drink a 40", that's the wrong answer. Our second patient of the New Year was just such a gentleman. His wife found him unconsious, laying in the bathroom. After a few seizures, when he finally came around he didn't remember anything, including falling. He swore he had nothing to drink, but he smelled like a brewery.

That reminds me of being a kid, sneaking cigarettes & sharing a beer between 5 of us then chewing a pack of gum so my parents wouldn't be able to smell it. For some reason they always figured it out. Duh.

The first patient of the year, the "glory call", was "injuries from an assault". A womans brothers had beaten her up because she was dating someone they didn't like (at least, that's the story the crew got). She was pretty bad, dropping into seizures & cardiac arrest. Anyway, turns out "she" was a "he" and I guess her brothers didn't like her choice too much. How sad. What did they accomplish? Possibly killing their sibling.

This Saturday night we got a call for an "unconsious female". The person with her called back & said she wasn't breathing. The 911 operater tried to talk the caller into doing CPR, but the caller refused. Everyone responding was going crazy trying to get there fast, 6 minutes w/ no air usually = brain death. So when a medic arrived, it was a shock to find a totally naked woman, face down in a pool of blood. There were holes in the wall where her head & upper torso had been pushed thru, obviously a crime scene. Her family (mom, aunts, etc) were all downstairs & had no clue what had happened. The crew called for police & worked on her but it was too late.

Why do the medics have to tell the family the person is deceased? Why can't the "man with the gun" do it? At least he's got some protection when they start going crazy. Luckily no one was hurt, but it's hard to keep people from moving a body when they want to pay their last respects.
And it's the medics that are standing there trying to explain what happened when we have no idea what happened. We can't accuse anyone, or run screaming from the house because we're sick or terrified. We have to stay with the body until the coroner gets there to make sure no one moves it. The "man with the gun" usually stands outside talking on his radio or smoking. I guess it's not hard too hard put yourself in the families shoes when you have to go thru it also.

I got a phone call Sunday morning telling me this person "thought" my grandmother had passed. How weird is that? What do I do? Call my dad & say "Did your mother die?" Of course I was emotional, but I was full of questions "What happened?" "Why" Where". Turns out it was my fathers' wife's mother that passed. Then I got a call saying one of my distant aunts had passed, this time for sure. What are the odds of that? Again with the questions. I didn't want to start punching the walls or people or cussing or spitting, which seems to be the reaction of most of the families I deal with.

What is it about this year? There have been so many deaths in the past two weeks it scary. I hope this isn't an indicator for the rest of the year. I hope everyone else is having a better start to the New Year.

Happy Holidays

Christmas was fun as usual. All of us at the beach, drunk relatives, tempers flaring, unruly children, too much food, etc etc etc. It was great to see everyone, but I've had enough family to last me until next Christmas.

I've duty all this weekend. It's always interesting to handle "overly beveraged" drivers after a minor accident. They are stumbling around, swearing they haven't been drinking....well just a 1/2 pint but he has that everyday.......

It seems like forever since I've been able to blog. I do get to look at everyone else's once in a while. Anyway, I just wanted to say Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas & Happy New Year.

Foggy thoughts

In my "day" job, I work on the 13th floor (really!). It is so foggy this morning it looks like someone threw a blanket over the building. I can't see a thing out of the windows. It's really creepy. I'm feeling a little claustraphobic. Maybe the building is floating in the clouds.....or maybe I just didn't get enough sleep last night. My youngest granddaughter (11 months) stayed over and decided to start screaming at 1am. I love her but I wish I could turn down the volume once in a while. haha

It's a "good" trauma day too. I'd much rather be on the ambulance than sitting behind a desk. I've heard people that work in trauma say they crave it, and somehow I caught that bug. I guess everyone has their cravings; chocolate, alcohol, etc. Mine just happens to include blood & guts. ha.

KT is doing great. Small headaches, but she says she can handle those. She passed her trig test yesterday so she's happy at meeting one of her goals, even with missing all that school. Trig looks like chinese writing to me so I sure can't help her. haha I have a hard enough time adding 1+1. That's why God gave us computers. haha

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Eating-too-much & no counting fat or calories day! We'll be going to my aunt's house and out to eat somewhere, then sitting in front of the tv digesting and going to bed around 7pm. Then we'll get up early & power shop. I'd prefer to sleep in, but my aunt loves to shop & since we love her we'll be hitting every store in Delaware & Maryland I think.

I like watching all the crazy people (like my aunt) act like locusts. It's humanity at it's best. I always wonder where that Christmas Spirit is when there's only one item left & there's 4 people fighting over it. And why do you have to have whatever the person next to you is looking at? It's like you're afraid they know something you don't and you just have to have that thing, even though you have no clue what it's for.

KT & I will be singing carols as we skip thru the stores, and doing everything possible to embarrass my aunt. Enjoy the holiday everyone!

Back to Reality

Thank you everyone for the thoughts & prayers & well wishes. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update - I've been in a kind of fog. I'm afraid to let my guard down & relax when it comes to KT so I think I've been like a robot. I haven't really been enjoying anything.

She's back to school part time. Still having small headaches but it's much better than it was prior to surgery. The docs say she's back to pre-surgery status, and eventually she'll have to have the surgery all over again. Great. At 6 weeks they will re-evaluate her & decide if they can wait or have to go back in right away. She says she'll take these little headaches rather than go thru surgery again and I can't blame her. We'll just have to wait and see. I hate the "waiting game".

I need to "live in the now", focus on what we've got at the moment rather than worry about the future. She had a good birthday, with a big bonfire & lots of friends & marshmallows & chocolate. And it was dark so she wasn't worried about her lovely hair doo.