The Real Reason

I'm alone... not only by choice, but by circumstance. I was going with, what I thought of as my second (maybe third) soul mate. for over 6 years...

We did everything together as our working schedules allowed. Family visits...trips, (including a 4 day Jamaica holiday I won from a radio station) weddings (on my side anyway)

But alas... her daughter was to be married and lo and behold, I was not invited with a lame excuse of her not wanting to subject me to her ex. (she's divorced for many years)

This hurt... a lot... but then I got sick with 2 bouts of diverticulitis... an intestinal problem. My first stay was only (ha only) 6 days in hospital. My second was 11 days... she visited my once during the 6 day stay and twice during the 11 day stay.

I am not the type of person that likes friction, conflict, fighting and rage... I find it hard to find the right words to explain my feelings in many instances and so I found it difficult to tell her just how hurt I was... It got to the point where I stopped calling her as often, we did not do out as often and eventually both of us stopped calling one and other altogether.

Fault... probably mine... for not having the balls to sit down and talk it out. Probably because the harm had been done and could not be undone. I miss her... and the good times we had together. But I believe I am better off to be without someone who was either ashamed of me for some reason (therefore no invite to the wedding) or there is some other embedded reason I am not aware of at this point.

So here I'll stay... alone... missing her... but without. So let it be written....

Tsunami hits Pacific Ocean

On Friday morning, March 11, 2011 (Japan time) an 8.9 magnitude earthquake off the coast of north/eastern Japan produced a very strong Tsunami throughout the Pacific Ocean at a very bad time. While devastation in Japan was enormous, I was worried for a different reason.

My Son, Jay, sails on a tall ship for SEA Semester (Sea Education Association) and was about 500-600 miles south east of Hawaii when the tsunami was to roll through that area. Jay is (2nd Mate) sailing on the Robert C. Seamans... a beautiful white tall ship.
Unbeknown-st to land lubber me, I feared for everyone's safety on board the Seamans...

However, SEA stated (on their site) Even major tsunamis are nearly undetectable to ships at sea. The damage caused by tsunamis results from the energy contained in these waves entering shallow water near a coastline, building into destructive waves and washing inland. During a tsunami, it is safer to be at sea in deep water than in port.

... So I am now somewhat relieved to know my son and his shipmates are safe. Jay is due home after a stint in Hawaii, March 31st... Can't wait to see him again.

All for now... see ya...

Wow..Time Flies..

I've been neglecting posting here... time flies... with my last post back in 2009...

Lots ha happened in that time... working at NPFD continues... I love it there... but things around home are quite regular... lol rather than normal, since my life is anything but normal...

My daughter, Rachel now working at University Hospital @ Stony Brook NY for the past year, working in the Emergency Department as a Nursing Assistant... She loves it and I am so proud of her.

Jay is still sailing around the world... mostly with SEA (Sea Education Association) and is presently in Tahiti. (poor boy) He will sail to Hawaii in late March and then be home for a short while until his next assignment. Jay had his Captains Ticket and I wait for the day her steers his own ship.

Dan has been in Israel (Ashdod) since October 2010 as a volunteer on a 5 month mission to teach English to elementary school children. Dans' sister Rachel, her boyfriend Jed, and I visited Dan in Israel for a week, Jan 14th to the 22nd. What a great trip. If, you'd like to see how that went, visit http://amstersinisrael2011.blofspot.com

Oh BTW... Jed and Rachel became "engaged" while we were in Israel... MAZEL TOV!!.

I'm still on the board of directors at MVAC... but that may change soon... don't know.. seems to be momentum gathering for replacement of many positions within the corps. If a new Chief is elected, the present Chief will take (probably) the position I hold on the board now (past Chief). I'll be off the board unless I am elected to the board as a director, a position I have been nominated for as a just in case measure. All in all, while I like being involved in the board of director activities (i.e. financial responsibility for the corps) I would not be devastated if I did not get back on the board...

I continue my work with my home business of 27 years. Medford Compu-List... and still enjoy getting the jobs done...the money does not hurt either...lol...

I'm organizing my finances, working out a proper budget and dealing with lowering my interest rates with many of my credit cards...

My social life is non-existent since a stopped seeing Liz...I miss her but could not deal with the manner in which I was treated... that's a whole other story. Things will get better...

I realized that all the walking we did in Israel back in January was GOOD for me and allowed for better movement... so I need to get into a proper exercise regimen.

We'll see how that goes... now to go out and clean out my car... Bye

NOT THAT ANYONE REALLY READS THIS...

well... time sure does fly when you throw the clock out the window...

Been quite some time since my last post...Lots has happened, much of which I dare not write about here... however... I will say, once again I am back on the board of directors of my local volunteer ambulance corps. Funny thing about it... I can't say it will matter much.

I'm on as past chief... a single, non elected position on the board, automatically held by a past chief, usually the most recent. I served as Chief 2004-2005... but the last Chief (obviously before the current elected Chief) wanted to stay on the board no matter what... If the current Chief did not win re-election, then the past Chief would be out and the most recent Chief would take the seat... Have I lost ya yet? ... So the person who had been a Chief and was sitting on the board as past Chief, decided to run for election as a director, for a 2 year term. This way, whether the current Chief was re-elected or not, this past Chief would remain on the board. Whew... So he was elected to a directors slot and so the board had to look back to the next most recent past Chief, me... I took the slot, as there was no other past Chief to take it.

I am also a Commissioner for the district which contains the volunteer ambulance Corps. I wear many hats... However, even though the state mandated the towns to develope and "create" ambulance districts and that they should have commissioners certain duties, commissioners in ambulance districts here are basically figure-heads with very little control or true oversight of the finances (tax-payer money) provided to the volunteer ambulance corps. They were originally supposed have veto power on budget submission, and were required to be consulted and approve or disapprove expenditure over $10,000.00... this is no longer the case. The commissioners in an ambulance district are nothing compared to fire district commissioners. Nuff said...

Since I was ill with diverticulitis a year ago... I have decreased my riding somewhat... Last year I answered only 110 alarms... The year before was in the 300 range and the year I was Chief I answered 528 alarms... We'll see how I do this year.

Anyway... that's it for now...

Passionately Pink

It has been way too long since my last post. This past September 18th was the 17th anniversary of my wife's passing. We still do not know if she started out with lung or breast cancer that spread into bone cancer. In any case, I received an e-mail about a family urging everyone to go Passionately Pink on October 15th. (that happens to be my wife's birthday... ) Participating is simple. Just wear something pink on October 15 and make a donation of $5 or more to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the leader of the global breast cancer movement.



Please wear something pink on October 15th and send a donation of any amount by visiting the web page...shown at the bottom of this post.

I post this in memory of my wife, Fran and my friend Bobbi's recently passed daughter in law. Thank you.

http://www.komendonations.org/site/TR/PassionatelyPink/PassionatelyPink?px= 3175376&pg=personal&fr_id=1080&et=iJpq3C5MiMZmp9a9gPCJjA

Old call... Back in the Day

(this true EMS story relates to the author and a volunteer ambulance company of which he is a member is not necessarily in any chronological order) Time frame, approximate 1990.

Most days my ambulance corps has set crews and each has a crew chief. The crew chief is usually the member with the highest EMT certification. I was not on duty the day of the following call, however, since I am a first responder, I respond whenever I am available, on call or not. Once on scene, I stabilize a patient until the rig arrives and then pass the patient over to the crew. I stay with the crew, to the hospital if I am needed.

It was a Saturday afternoon, about 2pm. I was enjoying the bright summer day, mowing my lawn and fixing up the front yard. My pager went off announcing a motor vehicle accident with the driver ejected from car. The Saturday crew was just coming out of the hospital after answering a call previously. I ran to quickly clean up and jump in my car to respond. I arrived at the scene after the ambulance but decided to see if I could help out anyway. I was needed.

My certification is EMT Basic. Has been for the past 22 years, and on this day I was working with what was then called, AEMT’s, (4 of them) which are Advanced EMT’s able to start IV’s, give medications, defibrillate manually, etc. Today AEMT is equated as EMT-CC. What I saw upon arrived scared the hell out of me. Our patient looked to be an 18 or 19 year old male, obviously ejected from his car after hitting a tree on the side of a service road for the interstate expressway that runs through our district. He was supine (face up) on the street with his head half on and half off the curb. He was unconscious.

In EMS, the rule is BLS (basic life support) before ALS (advanced life support). Our problem was to perform our ABC’s then immobilize this patient, properly, before doing much else. We did. It was not easy considering his position in which we found him as well as his obviously injured neck and other injuries. We moved him while stabilizing his head and neck, placed a cervical collar on him and then placed him on a long backboard for transport. Still unconscious enroute to the hospital, we assisted the patients breathing using a BVM (bag-valve mask) and our AEMT’s started their IV, then intubated the patient so our BVM assist was more efficient.

We retrieved the patients identification from his wallet and were stunned to see he was the son of one of our founding members of the corps. The time format in which this call occurred was before the advent of the cell phone, so notification of next of kin had to wait until we arrived at the hospital.

Our patient was taken into the trauma room upon arrival and the trauma team went right to work. While many EMS workers complain about care some patients get in the hospital, we had nothing but praise for the manner in which our patient was treated this day.

Not long after we completed the call (actually several days later) we learned, in a thank you note from the patients’ mother, that he had sustained a broken neck in the accident. The surgeon who worked on him said that if it weren’t for the extremely good care we gave him in the field, packaging him perfectly, he might have ended up a paraplegic. He wore a hallo device for several months until his injuries healed and walked out of the hospital on his own.

Today, the young man we assisted that bright summer day is alive and well, married, and living in Virginia. This is one of those calls where everything turned out well because we trained for it in advance. Putting our training and skills to work in the field and having an outcome such as this, is what makes working (even volunteering) so rewarding.

LOST - A BATTERED SOUL

DISCLAIMER: The images and writing contained in this blog are the thoughts and opinions of the blogger. Obviously, all names have been left out to protect both the innocent and the guilty. Thank heavens for the 1st Amendment to the United States Constitution which allows presentation of my own feelings and opinions. There are those that feel I have violated privacy or confidences, however, with no names mentioned, attachment can only be made by inference. If by chance you don't agree with what is written here, or, feel you don't like what you have read, stop reading and don't bother coming back.


My cousin Lillian, whom I've written about before, in this blog, died this past Saturday at North Shore University Hospital. She was 85.

Went to her funeral on Monday, along with my brother and my daughter. Lill was one of our last close relatives in our small family. (that we had contact with, anyway) It was a nice service and internment was simple in rainy weather.

Lillian fought off many different catastrophic illnesses throughout her lifetime and always surprised everyone by bouncing back. But not this time. This last illness was just too much and she succumbed quietly in her sleep while in the hospital.

Even though confined to a wheel chair, she was an active member of her temple in Great Neck, NY, as well as, her community in general. Lillian touched many lives and many of those she touched came to the funeral service to express their condolences and respect. She is survived by her brother, two daughters and five grandchildren and many cousins.

We'll all miss her. May she rest in peace.