Why is procrastination so damn enveloping? I love to write, but do I write every day? No. I wish I did. I'll sit down to write and go online instead, or read something else or do who knows what. I just sat down to write tonight and...I did it! I wrote 600 words in just under an hour. Added a good chapter of dialogue to my story "A Magnificent Journey" and thoroughly enjoyed it!
I wonder if I had one wish and wished away my procrastinating tendencies, would I be happier? Would I get everything done that I wanted to? Maybe. I am happy just the way I am. I don't want to change anything drastically. My life is good. I just need a little extra push sometimes. Not too much...just a little.
Anyways, back to my writing. If anyone ever read this they probably would think I'm a bit of a nut. I am but I like to think of it as eccentricities. I wrote, I could write more but it is 1am. SO...off to bed. Good night Internet, good night Microsoft Word, good night HP laptop and good night blog.
Me at work
Monday, March 26, 2012
Thursday, March 22, 2012
A sleepy town
Intensely sad. A co-worker murdered. Shot by her own husband. Did he feel grief? Remorse? Pain? Whatever he felt, he then turned the gun on himself and took his own life. Both were found by their thirteen year old daughter. What that poor girl is thinking, I will never know. How her life has been shattered, I can only imagine. Her life will never be the same. She will never be able to be held by her mother or loved by her father again.
What causes people to be so selfish? Why do they hurt and even kill the ones they "love?" The girl will never be the same. I only hope and pray that she will be able to recover from such a tragic loss. Her father's rage has torn her life to shreds. She will always remember finding her parents dead, in her own home, by the hand of her own father.
How bad was his life that he had to murder his own wife? He wasn't homeless. He wasn't poor. He wasn't hungry. He wasn't in need. They lived in a five bedroom house in a beautiful town. They drove new cars. There was food on the table to feed a family twice their size. It was all about what he WANTED. His wife no longer wanted him so he had to make sure that she would never have anything ever again.
"Father, forgive them. For they know not what they do." Amen
What causes people to be so selfish? Why do they hurt and even kill the ones they "love?" The girl will never be the same. I only hope and pray that she will be able to recover from such a tragic loss. Her father's rage has torn her life to shreds. She will always remember finding her parents dead, in her own home, by the hand of her own father.
How bad was his life that he had to murder his own wife? He wasn't homeless. He wasn't poor. He wasn't hungry. He wasn't in need. They lived in a five bedroom house in a beautiful town. They drove new cars. There was food on the table to feed a family twice their size. It was all about what he WANTED. His wife no longer wanted him so he had to make sure that she would never have anything ever again.
"Father, forgive them. For they know not what they do." Amen
Monday, March 19, 2012
Carolyn's first filling
My six year old had her first filling today. She was very brave. During the last week, she kept saying, "it will be easy"..."no big deal"..."over with quickly." She's always been a very strong girl. She didn't show a sign of nervousness or fear...until we stepped into the dentist's office around 10:20am. I could tell she was slightly nervous. When she got into the chair, she had this vacant stare. Looking out the window at nothing in particular.
She had no idea that she was going to get a shot to numb her tooth beforehand. All she knew about was the numbing medicine that would be applied to the gums before the injection.
During the injection, the dentist shook her cheek vigorously. Her eyes were closed. He slowly pushed down the plunger of the syringe and Carolyn still had no idea that a needle was injecting medication to numb her mouth. She started to bounce her feet slightly on the chair in response to the strange sensation...something I've noticed myself do in the chair also. When she let out a few little whimpers, my heart sank. :( It was over so quickly that neither of us had time to make a mountain from a mole hill. The entire filling couldn't have taken more than fifteen to twenty minutes. She hopped out of the chair with a smile on her face and we walked to the toy basket where she picked out an airplane. She did great!
I was so proud!
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Blogging
I'm very new to blogging. I just started this blog in February. I am enjoying expressing random thoughts in these posts. Writing has always been a form of communication that I have loved. I think I'm better at writing than speaking sometimes. Writing lets me get it all in the open. I can better organize my thoughts. When five million things are flying through your brain at a thousand miles per hour, it helps to jot things down.
Also, I thoroughly enjoy reading other blogs. News blogs mostly. The succint, short and to-the-point blogs are perfect for getting the info in a hurry. I get bored reading lengthy articles in the newspaper and magazines. Novels are really the only "long-form" writing that I like.
I'll keep writing and reading all those great blogs in blogosphere.
Cheers.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Zombies
I'm fascinated with zombie stories. Books, movies, outbreaks, infections, viruses and even parasites. The paradox of the "living dead" is so twisted. They can rise from the grave in a sleepy cemetery or reanimate in a twisted metal wreck on the side of a busy interstate. Some zombies can shuffle, some limp. Others crawl, trailing a foot and a half long trail of bloody intestines to tease the next member of the undead. Hell...some can run!
Watch out cause they'll bite, spit and scratch!
A group of zombies can moan; telling others in the area that "fresh meat" is near. BRAAAIIINNNSSSSS......is the food that so many zombies have an insatiable craving for. It can keep their flesh from rotting off thier bones. While other will eat everything and anything they come into contact with. Zombies....you can't live with them, unless you become them!
A group of zombies can moan; telling others in the area that "fresh meat" is near. BRAAAIIINNNSSSSS......is the food that so many zombies have an insatiable craving for. It can keep their flesh from rotting off thier bones. While other will eat everything and anything they come into contact with. Zombies....you can't live with them, unless you become them!
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
The girl
There she sat, fifteen and smoking a Marlboro. Not a care in the world. She was with her sister and they had come to Bella Vista park to enjoy the warm summer afternoon along with the chance to meet some young men. Most of the teenagers who could drive or who had friends old enough to, came to the park to meet the young twenty-somethings.
The girl and her sister finished their cigarettes and put them out on the ground. The dirt around the picnic table was littered with butts. They had been sitting and chatting for nearly two hours. Thankfully, their parents had left along with big brother and little sister. Mother wanted them to all enjoy a picnic lunch and they had. Now, it was time for the girl and her sister to be teenagers.
As they soaked up the sun, a light breeze rattled the leaves of the looming oak and willow trees surrounding the park. It was a concave section of grass with a swimming pool to the east of the picnic tables. The stairs leading down to the baseball diamond west of them were currently vacant. Tables still held a few stragglers here and there. The pool was dominated with five to twelve year olds and their chatty parents.
Her sister lit another smoke and offered one to a friend that had walked over to say hi. She gladly accepted and inhaled with delight. Laughter and heavy foot steps were suddenly heard on the stairs. Two guys in their early twenties were headed to one of the diamonds. Each had his own mitt and baseball. The taller of the two was holding a heavily-used Louisville slugger.
The two groups noticed one another immediately.
The friend proceeded to introduce the two guys to the two girls. The tallest was her cousin who had moved to town three weeks earlier to work at the local steel mill. The shorter friend was a local kid who had graduated a couple years ago and was currently working at the steel mill as well.
The girl was noticed by the tall one and two were chitchatting in no time. The shorter one and her sister sat down on the bench and both lit yet another cigarette. The friend said goodbye and headed back home.
The girl and her sister finished their cigarettes and put them out on the ground. The dirt around the picnic table was littered with butts. They had been sitting and chatting for nearly two hours. Thankfully, their parents had left along with big brother and little sister. Mother wanted them to all enjoy a picnic lunch and they had. Now, it was time for the girl and her sister to be teenagers.
As they soaked up the sun, a light breeze rattled the leaves of the looming oak and willow trees surrounding the park. It was a concave section of grass with a swimming pool to the east of the picnic tables. The stairs leading down to the baseball diamond west of them were currently vacant. Tables still held a few stragglers here and there. The pool was dominated with five to twelve year olds and their chatty parents.
Her sister lit another smoke and offered one to a friend that had walked over to say hi. She gladly accepted and inhaled with delight. Laughter and heavy foot steps were suddenly heard on the stairs. Two guys in their early twenties were headed to one of the diamonds. Each had his own mitt and baseball. The taller of the two was holding a heavily-used Louisville slugger.
The two groups noticed one another immediately.
The friend proceeded to introduce the two guys to the two girls. The tallest was her cousin who had moved to town three weeks earlier to work at the local steel mill. The shorter friend was a local kid who had graduated a couple years ago and was currently working at the steel mill as well.
The girl was noticed by the tall one and two were chitchatting in no time. The shorter one and her sister sat down on the bench and both lit yet another cigarette. The friend said goodbye and headed back home.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Help the homeless
It was 11:40 pm on a fairly cool March night. As I was leaving the parking lot I saw a midldle aged man heading to the back of the lot via walker. As I approached, he flagged me down. I stopped and asked where he was going. He said downtown Antioch. He the asked if I would give him a ride. I said, "sure!"
I gave him a ride to a seedy part of town and sent him on his way. I worried all the way back home. He was very unstable without the walker. I hoped he would stay warm and said a few prayers asking God to watch over him.
What else could I do? I had no cash to give him. I had no food with me in the car.
I'm gonna go back to the spot I dropped him off and see if I find him. I would like to offer him a blanket and some food. What else can I do?
Take care Steve!
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Let's hope no one dies...
Sutter Delta Medical Center is proposing a drastic change regarding cardiac monitored patients that may lead to a delay in care and possibly even the death of a patient. Currently, there are approximately 46 beds that can handle cardiac patients who need to have their heart rhythms monitored per their physician. These forty-six beds are being monitored by two and sometimes three telemetry technicians. One tech on 2nd floor monitors up to twelve patients on their floor and up to ten more remotely from the Outpatient Care Unit. The tech on the third floor monitors up to twenty-four patients. The medical center is now informing us, the tele techs, that the cardiac monitoring is going centralized. Meaning; all patients that require cardiac monitoring will be done in one room with only one tele tech. Not only will this person be responsible for monitoring the usual forty-six telemetry patients, they will also be responsible to monitor another ten overflow telemetry patients that will be admitted to the first floor which is primarily a medical/surgical floor only. A total of 64 heart rhythms being watched by one person. In 2010, an unfortunate event occurred when someone on the third floor placed a patient's telemetry in "stand-by." This patient remained “off-tele” for more than two hours. Sadly, the patient died. No one knew if the patient had any type of cardiac arrhythmia that could have alerted the nurse to take the appropriate action to save the patient’s life. The communication between nurse and tele tech is extremely vital. Even when we work together on the same floor communication can be tricky. A nurse may be busy making it impossible for the tech to know if the patient is on the floor. The tech must stay at the monitors unless they are relieved by another tech or nurse. On several occasions in the past year, a nurse has failed to inform me that a patient has arrived on the floor. This has lead to the patient not being monitored for over one hour. This needs to be brought to the public’s attention. They need to know that Sutter Delta Medical Center is putting the lives of its patients at risk. Other hospitals in the area have two to three telemetry techs watching their centralized telemetry at all times. I have been employed at Sutter Delta Medical Center for more than a decade. I am also a patient advocate and care deeply about their safety.
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