Michigan makes a hire

I have my flights of fancy.  I'll take minutes, hours, and sometimes days, and just let my mind wander off in some direction.  I've even posted about some of those things here.... exercising, my next phone, getting a bachelor's degree.

So it's no wonder that for the past two days I've been thinking a lot about Michigan's future coach.  Not much else has been on my mind so I've thought around a lot of different angles on this.

First, just to encapsulate what's happened.  The long view:  Lloyd Carr retired in 2007.  Michigan thought outside of the box and hired Rich Rodriguez from West Virgina.  That sucked.  He didn't get support from the university, the fans, the alumni, the players.  He didn't know the traditions of the school.  And worst of all... he didn't win.  After four years he was fired,  and Brady Hoke was hired.  Not everything was perfect, but Brady was a 'Michigan Man'.  He didn't just know the tradition, he lived and breathed it.  But where he got every break that RichRod didn't (fan support, alumni support, player adoration...), he didn't do the key thing that a coach a Michigan should do... he didn't win.  He was fired earlier this month after going 5-7 this year.

They made an Ass out of U and Me

I think I just got complimented at work... by doing something wrong.

I've been working in 5 block a lot lately.  More or less they don't have a regular person for the afternoon shift, so two nurses along with me are sharing it.

I got quite the nasty gram (an email) from the regular nurse on how I had screwed up several things lately.  Evidently I had processed some orders incorrectly, I had ordered some meds incorrectly, I had notified the psychiatrist about an issue incorrectly, and I had documented something incorrectly.

Overall I was quite upset.  I hadn't been trained on how to do any of these things in 5 Block, and had simply done them how we do them over on the South.

I thought I had made it clear in a meeting we had a week ago that I hadn't been really trained out in 5. Sure, I had my orientation out there about 18 months ago.  And sure, I had worked out there for many of the past weekends and the occasional weekday.  But in between that original orientation and now, there have been major changes in how 5 block operates.

Chistmastime

Oh, the times they are a hectic.  Christmas really seemed to sneak up on me this year.  I know, I know... I wrote about getting Christmas gifts just a few days ago, but I'm talking over a little more time.  It seems like Thanksgiving was just yesterday.  Add in the fact that the family had it's Thanksgiving on this past Sunday (the 21st), and the season felt more sudden than it normally does.

We had to do our Christmas gift exchange on Sunday as it was the closest day that all of us had off.  Obviously, mom has all the days off, but my brothers and I, our schedules were all screwed up.

Getting prepped was more than a little bit of a pain.  Mainly because Mom got sick on the preceding Friday.  A bad cold that had her coughing all day and practically all night.  So R and I took over and made her sit quietly while we did everything.

The day itself was fine.  Mom felt a little better that day (in hindsight I believe she was the same and simply lying to us),  The kids really enjoyed their gifts.  The adults really enjoyed theirs.  Mom was ecstatic about her car starter and even more excited that it would get professionally installed the next day.

Christmas Shopping

I like giving gifts.  Finding that one thing that someone wants whether they asked for it or not.  It is a true joy to see them get all happy and excited.

And that's what's so cruel about Christmas.  Because that just doesn't happen all that often.  Sometimes my gift giving fu is something impressive.  Most of the time it's just sad.

Obviously for many MANY years I couldn't really afford good gifts.  Sometimes I couldn't afford ANY gifts.  Last year was a bit of a crunch as I was hired in by the state just before the holidays.  Normally that would be a good thing, but as a contract worker I got paid for the previous week's work.  As a state employee I got paid every other week, and they more or less held back a week.  So while my bills paid up, I went without a check for three weeks.  When I did get that first check, the majority of it had to go to the bills that had accumulated, leaving only a bit for Christmas cheer.  They year... oh this year though, I have a very high budget.

Unfortunately I'm just missing out on that creative spirit.  I don't know what to get for anybody.

An Apple A Day

When I met my doctor, I had three things on my mind.  Diabetes, Cholesterol, and NOT talking about smoking.

It turns out the doctor had other things in mind.

Let me back up a bit.  Before I get into out interactions, lemme go over what I want in a doctor.  I want knowledge, confidence, and curiosity.  Knowledge is hard to define in a profession like medicine.  To get their licence they have to go through a lot of schooling.  It's easy to say that the worst doctor is better educated than most other people.  So when I say I want knowledge, I want a doctor that has the know how of his trade quickly at hand, as well as a basic understanding of disease process, medicine, and medical procedures.  I accept that he won't have it all at hand at all times.  He can research and learn what he needs when it isn't an every day occurrence.

That easily leads into the curiosity aspect.  He should be naturally curious about things that don't quite fit into a standard diagnosis.  Yes, most things I'll go to a doctors office for will be straight forward.  I pee a lot, am always hungry, am always thirst... diabetes.  But if there are other things that don't quite fit into that diabetic definition, I want him curious enough to find out.  To ensure that the diabetes diagnosis is the correct one.  I also want that curiosity to go into the little things I say.  I mention that I have 'this' problem and later in the conversation say that I have 'that' problem.  Individually they may mean nothing, but when added together they may point to another problem or disease process.  In short, I don't want him to be constantly satisfied with the easy straight forward answer.  I want him curious enough to get to the REAL answer.

UPDATED 12/14/14

CFP, Michigan Coach, Doc Visit, Work

Let's start with the College Football Playoff, as I just finished watching the playoff presentation show (I started it a bit late, caught up to live, took a few hours off for dinner, and finally got it done about 10 minutes ago).

The Sugar Bowl will have #1 Alabama playing #4 Ohio State.  The Rose Bowl will have #2 Oregon playing #3 Florida State.

I like the match ups.  I like the rankings.  The only big issue I have is I would put Florida State as #4.  Yes they're undefeated, but they never looked invincible.  Just about every game was a nail biter for them.  While all the others lost a game, they looked dominant in many other games.

I do like that Ohio State went ahead of both Baylor and TCU.  All three are close, but having another game to show dominance is important.  OSU's out of conference schedule was more impressive even with the loss, and that loss can partially be chalked up to an injury which the panel said they would consider.  Just think about it, that was JT Barret's second start in college because Braxton Miller got injured just before the season.  Sure, this will now be their new quarterback's second start, but he blew out Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship game.

Fuck your freedoms, mine are more important

I'm not sure if this is making national news, but it's really REALLY pissing me off.  It's a specific example that represents a FAR larger trend.

I'm not sure how it started, but the Michigan legislature at one point considered adding to the state's anti discrimination law.  Specifically they wanted to put in protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender groups.

Think about that for a minute... currently the state of Michigan has no laws protecting those groups from discrimination.  You can be fired for being gay.  You can be fired for people thinking you are gay.  You can be denied any service any where in the state of Michigan for your sexual orientation and/or sexual identity.

That's fucked up.

But hey... at least there was an attempt to correct that.  The problem?  Republicans.  Michigan's legislature is controlled by a Republican majority. It also has a Republican governor, but so far he hasn't been really involved with the process.

Now as this idea moved through the legislature, the Republicans could have simply denied it.  They could have stopped it from every moving forward.  Even if it did move forward, they have the votes to deny it becoming law.  Easy Peasy right?

Ferguson: Some More Random Thoughts

Watch out you might get what you're after

Cool babies strange but not a stranger

I'm an ordinary guy

Burning down the house

Hold tight wait till the party's over

Hold tight We're in for nasty weather

There has got to be a way

Burning down the house

- Burning Down The House by Talking Heads

Before I get to deep into this post, I should say that I started writing this on November 29th.  They day got away from me as well as the week, so I never returned to finish it.  My 'fire' for writing this up has diminished, so unless the act of writing itself fans those flames back to life, this will be a short post.

So I left off my last Ferguson post talking about the news getting out and the protests beginning.  Lemme say that I'm a fan of protesting.  I think there are two great types of protests.  The first is the simple, raw, emotional "We've Had Enough And We Aren't Going To Be Quiet Any More!"  This is the way that I saw the Ferguson protests  as they began.  They were spurred to protest from the news that A White Cop Killed An Unarmed Black Teenager.  As 'news' continued to trickle out it just got the people more and more angry.  Stuff like:

Schadenfreude

Schadenfreude is a feeling I try not to experience.  If you aren't aware, it means;

"pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others"

Feeling pleasure from the misfortune of others isn't all that idealistic.  I'd like to believe that I'm above that and can feel saddened by the misfortune of others.

But I'm human.  And when there is misfortune of people that I believe are behaving badly, then there is a little bit of giddyup in my step.

Thanksgiving was one of those times.  No, before you think so, my family is fine.  No misfortune at our festivities beyond my brother B working (and his family spending time with the inlaws).

The misfortune that brought a smile to my face was instead brought on by all the douchebags going out on Thanksgiving for deal shopping.  Lemme back up a bit and explain how I smiled all the way home.

Obviously, what I remember as a child is fogged and changed and not at all clear, but one thing that does come through is the streets on Thanksgiving.  They were empty.  No (or at least very few) stores were open.  The people you saw driving around were simply going from home to some Thanksgiving feast.  There were several holidays like that as a child; Christmas, New Year's Day, Easter... I think there may have been more but I recall all of those as 'empty days'.

Ferguson: Some Random Thoughts

Watching the people get lairy

It's not very pretty I tell thee

Walking through town is quite scary

It's not very sensible either

A friend of a friend he got beaten

He looked the wrong way at a policeman

Would never of happened to Smeaton

An old leodensian

-I Predict A Riot by The Kaiser Chiefs


I haven't had much chance to watch the news these past few days, but what I have seen has been about the riots in Ferguson.  Before I dive too deeply into this post, let me say that I'm only casually informed.  I do not watch the news intently.  I do not go searching for all of the information, nor do I read all the information that's made available to me.  My opinions can only be based upon what I know... if something I know is wrong, then obviously my opinion would change accordingly.

What's happening in Ferguson touches on so many subjects.  I'm sure I'll miss some and gloss over some that deserve a harder look.  I may even focus in on some that aren't worthy of any thought.  But when you have racism, police brutality, over arming police, protesters, and riots, there are going to be a lot of ways you can frame an argument.  I think one of the biggest problems is that no one can look at the entire picture.  When you focus in on one and only one of these pieces it can be easy to make an over reaching argument.  One that may be valid, but doesn't exactly fit the current Ferguson model.

Baccalaureate degree?

When I was in high school I had a lot of dreams.  One was being the first in my family to graduate from college.  I 'knew' in my junior year that I was going to be an optometrist and that made it certain that I'd graduate with a bachelor's degree.  To get to optometry it was required that I get a bachelor's degree.

Not until I shifted gears and went into photography did I ever consider that getting an associates degree could be a goal unto itself.

I briefly considered transfer to a photography bachelor's program while in school, but I couldn't find any practical use for it.  At the time I was looking at six years in school and was more than eager to get to the big city (Chicago baby!) and start working.  Having a bachelor's degree wouldn't help that goal one bit... hell, having an associate's degree didn't help in and of itself.  Having a portfolio and the know how to produce good photographs was all that was needed to land a job as a Photo assistant (oh... and a work ethic!).

So I dropped the idea of graduating college.  But it still burned a bit in the back of my head... yes I went to college.  No.. I didn't graduate from college.

To Buy or not To Buy

Everybody knows that I love Photoshop.  Photoshop, more than anything else, IS my creative force.  Yes, I'm good at photography but using a camera to take images is only a means to get them into photoshop.

There are plenty of programs out there that can do similar things.  Gimp, and Paint.net immediatly come to mind.  But I learned how to do what I do on Photoshop.  It made sense as I learned it while getting a degree in Photography and Photoshop is what the professionals use.

I learned Photoshop way back on version 4.  It's hard to follow version numbers as they switched to 'CS' versions and are now on CC versions.  But if you follow each iteration, Photoshop CC is version 14.   But they've already had a 'major' update to Photoshop CC, so we might as well consider it version 15.

Anywho, while in school I had state of the art Macintosh computers and the full version of Photoshop to work with.  I downloaded a hacked copy of it for my home pc, but it ran like absolute shit.  I think that was back on my Pentium 166 with 8Mb of ram (Megabytes.. not Gigabytes!).  After graduation Adobe kept putting out new versions and actually made them run on Windows fairly well.  For the longest time I ran with Photoshop 7 (the last 'numbered' version).  When I went to get a new hacked version I eventually got CS5.  But the hack was... well it was bad.  It actually handicapped several features in the program so I 'downgraded' to CS3.  The hack that I got was actually the entire Creative Suite and included Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Acrobat Pro, Flash, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Contribute, Soundbooth, After Effects, Premiere Pro, and Encore.

UPDATE:  Installed

LB Update 01

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A New Computer

When I got my job last July, I fully expected one of my first purchases to be a new computer.  I not only use my computer every single day, it's a hobby that I really do enjoy.   Building computers.

But I surprised myself when I sat down to think about it.  I came to the unlikely conclusion that I didn't need a new computer.  Even in my 'poor' days I always found ways to get updated computer parts.

Sure, mine was (at the time) a year and a half old and just jam packed full of compromises... and yes I COULD afford to get exactly what I wanted... but it just didn't make sense (or cents!).  Without looking at a single part, I knew my 'new' computer would cost me well over $1000 and frankly I had other things to spend money on.  Things that required an upgrade/new version or things that I had wanted for longer and had never been able to afford.  Fiona... a necessary upgrade from Lita.  The Galaxy S4... a much wanted upgrade over my LG Rumor Touch.  Traveling to Chicago and Dallas... something I couldn't afford to do before.  The Shotgun/Hunting Trip... something I didn't know that I really wanted.

So instead of spending money replacing something that was already eminently acceptable, I spent my extra cash in other ways.  I knew that it was only a matter of time before I would 'need' to upgrade.  A part would break down, or a new game would come out that my system couldn't handle.  At that time I would look at what money I had available and either do a major upgrade to my system, or do a new build.  Well... that time was yesterday.

(Updated:  It's built!)

Don't Call It A Comeback

Boredom leads me to writing.

I complained that I didn't have much to fill my free time in the last post.  Thus being my weekend off of course leads to even more free time.

Saturday wasn't a problem.  The day started around 10 am with college game day and ended around midnight in the middle of the Oregon at Utah game.  Sunday though...  well it would have been a good time for t.v.  

After doing my normal morning web tour I perused this blog looking for... something.  Anything that could spark me doing something.  I read about how I wanted to help my family more... but really there isn't anything TO help my family with.  I read about how I didn't game much any more, but there isn't a game out that I want to play (that will change on Tuesday as Assassin's Creed Unity comes out).  I read about traveling, but it's not as though I can hit up Chicago for a couple hours.

And then I came to the beginning of this blog.  No.. not when I closed it off and started writing from a more personal perspective.  When I had intended this to be the place to write about writing a story.  I marveled at how much effort I put into setting up a story without ever starting it.  Writing out what I at least think of as a good outline, character bios... I even went through the idea of writing it as journal entries vs a personal narrative.  And in the end I just didn't do it.

Free Time

For awhile there I was on quite the TV high.  Back in June I wrote a post about how I watch television, and almost as importantly; what I watch on television.  Since then, I've caught up on some older television shows and the new fall season has begun.

The fall television season has brought back The Walking Dead, Person of Interest, This Old House Hour, and a bit of Top Gear.  I've added another show to those that I record and watch regularly... This Week With John Oliver.  If you haven't caught this HBO news mocumentary, then you need to catch it.  John Oliver, who started on the Daily Show, is quick witted, funny, and presents the week's news with a really interesting spin.

The older shows that I've caught up with are:  Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and Luther.  All three of those shows were great successes.  I enjoyed watching them and feel better for having watched them.  I also re-watched HBO's The Newsroom in anticipation of the third season.  So far, all of that has been a success.  I've entertained myself thoroughly by watching those new and old shows alike.  But then no all is quality in TV watching world.  There are two unsuccessful TV watching experiences.

The first was American Horror Story.  My brother highly recommended this FX series, and it has a unique twist that I found interesting.  Each season is a full story.  Beginning, middle, end.  The first season was titled 'Murder House', where a family moves into a haunted house.  The second season was about an old insane aasylum the third about a coven of witches, and the current season is about a circus freak show.  All of them have the same core actors with a few single season stars.  I think one problem was that my brother got hooked on the second season, while I tried watching the first season first.  The first season is... well it's not good.

Voting 2014: For or Against

Voting.  I did it.  I've done it in almost every election since I was legally able to.  The few elections that I've missed have been all purely 'local' ones that snuck up on me.  I didn't prepare, I didn't know what or who I would be voting for, and I honestly don't believe uninformed people should be voting.  That being said, I think EVERYBODY should be voting.

I know that most people think of elections in terms of Democrat Vs Republican.  They are either registered DorR, or lean so heavily toward one party that it doesn't matter that they aren't registered.  I'd love to wax poetically how I'm different.  How I am purely independent and value all candidates on their merits.  There was a time where I could defend such statements... the elections in 1992, 1994, and 1996.  But around that time I think that the parties really started to polarize.  There were less and less conservative democrats and less and less moderate republicans.  I can't really think of any liberal republicans in my voting life.  At least not any in elections that involved my personal vote.

Anywho... around that time I started to see a trend.  The dull candidate.  The candidate that had no personal message.  The candidate who simply touted their party and demonized the party of their opponent.  It's these candidates that I just lump into their party.

Dreaming Big, Dreaming Small

My Dad always dreamed of winning the lottery.  I'm not sure how deep his dream went beyond "YAY I'M RICH!"

The bug of winning the lottery never hit me until I was driving a truck in 2006.  From 2006 until this year I would 'regularly' play the lottery.  I have to use the air quotes there as I couldn't regularly afford to play the lottery.

I was reminded of those dreams this morning as I cleaned up my desk a bit and found an old lottery ticket.  It was a winner, but only for $4.  It was my last lottery ticket.

It got me thinking about dreams.  No, not nocturnal images of me being a superhero saving a tied up damsel in distress or of being the damsel in distress being saved.  No, I mean dreams of the future.  Dreams of changing my present.

Back in 2006, I wanted nothing more than to get out of the present.  The present, at that time, was my father dying of Cancer.    Was me leaving a job that I loved and being unable to use that experience to get into a similar job.  Was me becoming financially dependent on my parents again.  Was me losing a close group of people that I hung out and worked with.  It was a bad present and I wanted.... lusted after... a grand future.  And more importantly I could see no way to get that future without some massive event changing it.  Like the lottery.

Random things on my mind

Just a few things on my mind.  None of these are worth their own post.

I'm getting a little to focused on my next phone.  It's after all JUST a phone.  Or maybe it's more appropriate for me to call it an internet device.  I rarely make or receive calls, but I have it constantly (outside of work of course) at my side and am constantly looking things up on the internet.

When I got my current phone in July or August last year I was very excited.  I had wanted an Android phone since they first came out.  I had seen friends and even family with them and was so deeply green jealous that I just couldn't stand it.  It wasn't completely selfish though... I wanted to bring my Mom into the smart phone age too.  I was still new in the job and reveling in having enough money to pay any bills, so I decided to pay back Mom.  She had been paying for my cell phone bill for years.  And while she didn't really know what she would even do with a smart phone, I told her flat out that I was going to get her one and take over paying the bill for it.

Shopping for them was fun.  There were really two 'big' hero phones out at that time.  The Samsung Galaxy S4, and the HTC One.  They had similar specs, similar sizes, and similar features.  I was actually leaning toward the One as it had an aluminum back and, to me at least, therefore felt higher quality.  But then the sale came.  Sprint (my carrier of choice for the past 13 years or so) had a 'Buy One, Get One Free' sale on the Galaxy S4.  That made it both more economical over all and easier to convince mom to get a good phone.

Expanding into new territory

I think I've talked about my 'friends' situation.  I don't have many.

Realistically, if I count the people that I'd feel comfortable calling up and hanging out with, I have three friends.

I've never been a friend collector.  In fact, I believe three has been my ideal number for a long, long time.  In high school I had three close friends.  Those same friends lasted for the first two years of college.  The year away for college reduced that number, but I did get a temporary friend up there keeping me more or less at three (lets call it 2.5).

Photo school was probably my high water mark.  I kept one of my old high school friends, added a work friend, and met a new high school friend.  All three of these friends had several semi-friends involved.

In Chicago I had one friend there, and two long distance friends.  Back at home I was reduced to two friends.  Photo work brought that number back up to 2.5.  Those two friends are still friends.  The longest lasting friendships I've ever had.  During trucking school I met another friend that still occupies that space.  Nursing school did not introduce any friends, and work hasn't introduced any new friends.

Another Family Story

Mike Hart once famously said about Michigan State "Sometimes you get your little brother excited when you're playing basketball and let him get the lead. Then you just come back and take it back."

That was said after a big comeback by Michigan in 2007.  It was the last time Michigan beat Michigan State at Spartan Stadium.  Michigan has only beaten Michigan State one time since then.  And no... they didn't beat them yesterday.

And while it might prove helpful for me to talk about my love of Michigan football and the agonizing repeated defeats to our 'little brothers' in East Lansing... I'm here to talk about MY little Brother.  B.

Yup, this is the next installment of my family story where I talk about family members.  I previously talked about R my Big Brother.  B, my little brother, is an all together different story.

I've heard it said that the eldest sibling has it the hardest.  They get all the 'mistakes' from the parents, while the youngest sibling gets the whole 'Oh I don't care' attitude from their parents.  Well, that's just no the case with my brothers and I.  My parents were fairly even handed in our upbringings.  There weren't a lot of hard and true rules.  Grades in school were considered important, and if we got a D or less in a class we were grounded until that grade got raised.  We had a curfue that extended each year until we graduated high school.  Come home late, and get 'going out' privileges revoked for awhile.

Quick Hits - Glasses, Time Off, Unions, Shame/Guilt, Newsroom

No long write up today, just a couple odd things on my mind.

I got my new glasses yesterday.  I picked up my new sunglasses yesterday.  The sunglasses are... well they're kind of meh.  They look better than my old ones, but aren't as dark.  It's nice to have the ability to wear them on cloudy days as they are often too bright for my regular specs, but not bright enough for my old sunglasses.  And we've had quite a few cloudy days lately.  But I still find myself squinting on really bright sunny days and I fear how they'll work on bright sunny days with a few inches of snow on the ground.

My everyday glasses aren't all that different from my old ones.  They're the 'thick black plastic frames' style that I've been wearing for near three years now, but this time they have a brand name.  Oakley.  Technically they are "Oakley Currency" frames.  An appropriate name as this pair of specs cost me just  under $500 WITH insurance.  For comparison's sake I paid less than that for both of my old pair (regular and sunglasses) withOUT insurance.  It's going to take some time to get used to how the Oakley's hold on to my head.   Instead of curling behind the ear, these ones continue on straight and have a vice like grip on my head.  The fit is correct as before they were adjusted they'd fall off, and I don't have any complaint with the tightness on my head.  Unfortunately I DO have a complaint with how they actually cut into my ears.   I'll get used to it, but for now it's not comfortable at all.

A Family Story

You know, I've talked quite a bit about various people in my life.  And while I've tip toed around being obvious (like using their names), I'm not sure if I'm doing either them or myself a disservice without truly introducing them.

So, I may or may not continue this, but I was thinking that I'd introduce you to my Big Brother.  For the sake of consistency I'll simply call him R.

R is 2 1/2 years older than me.  He's the oldest child of our parents.  Our relationship is... complex.  I can say in the same breath that I love him with all my heart and that I loath him to my core.  I rarely feel either emotion that intensely, but I DO feel both at almost all times.  Lemme start by giving a quick history of R.

As a child (before high school), R was the defender and commander of my younger brother and I.  It's more or less like that old adage... no one picks on my family but me.  Up until I got into college I always looked up to him.  But as I try to wipe off the glossy nostalgia from my childhood memories, R was always more stand offish with family.  Less emotionally... there.

When he was tasked with watching over my younger brother and I, he always wore his "I'm in command" hat.  One incredibly visceral memory was of us warming up supper one night.   I don't know why, but I told him flat out that I wouldn't be eating any of his cubed and fried potatoes.  He told me in no uncertain terms that I'd either eat them or he'd stuff them up my nose.  I didn't eat them.  After much chasing, I ended up with soft warm cubed potatoes up both nostrils.

A Pain In The....

I have a headache.

I'm probably going to call into work because of this headache.  Yeah, I feel pretty small when I say that, but this headache is bad.

I think I've mentioned that I have a lot of headaches.  It's not as though I have one every day, but it's more than every other day.  Most often they come in series... I'll have a headache for several days in a row.  They range from small annoying headaches that don't really stop me from doing or enjoying anything to ones like today that make me stop and just unable to continue doing what I started, to ones that are truly debilitating.  And when I say debilitating, I mean debilitating... I mean going to bed at two in the afternoon and crying because I the extreme pain in my head is keeping me from the one thing that will give me peace... sleep.

I'm not at that 'cry on my pillow' stage, but it's still bad.  I guess what makes it bad is the fact that it's always there. It stops every train of thought, it stops every unconscious action making things like pouring a cup of coffee a sudden and terrible exercise in futility.

Seriously... I failed at pouring coffee this morning.  I failed at putting bread into the toaster, buttering said badly toasted bread, and clicking off a notification on my phone.  These aren't brain surgery tasks.  I shouldn't have to concentrate to tilt a carafe of warm liquid into a firmly planted on the counter mug.  And it's not as though my stream of consciousness is simply being interrupted by thoughts of "ow ow ow OW" (I just misspelled "ow" five times in a row).  It simply interrupts muscle memory.

Best of times?

A couple nights ago I was winding down after a day's work.  I was planted in front of the TV but not really watching it.  As I often do I grabbed my phone and was catching up on some web browsing.  News, weather, sports, facebook... stuff like that.

For one reason or another I ended up at this blog.  It's at that point that I started wandering down the rabbit whole.

I keep this blog, at least partially, as a reminder of how I felt at particular times about particular things.  I know from previous journaling experiences that it's hard to believe that I ever felt so low.  So depressed.  On the flip side of that coin, it's hard to remember just how joyous certain things feel.

For example, after passing the NCLEX I was over the moon, jumping up and down, singing my lungs out happy.  How do I know?  Well to be honest, it's not because I remember it that way.  Sure, I remember being happy, but THAT happy?  Not really.  But when I go back and read my post "I PASSED" I can relive that moment.  Not through my words... I really can't express myself that well.  But reading my own words I can remember writing them and just how excited I was.

Robots, Empires and Foundations

Asimov.  You really can't talk about Science Fiction without mentioning Isaac Asimov's name.  The Three Laws of Robotics?  Faster Than Light space travel?  Hyperwave?  Psychohistory?

The man wrote over 400 books!  Many of them firmly in the Sci-Fi realm.  I had previously read several of the Robot Series books.  I Robot, Caves of Steel, and the Naked Sun.  I'm not really sure why I stopped there.  Maybe I just wasn't in my 'binge' mode.  There are actually two more Robot Novels, two more Robot short story collections (one of which includes the short story version of 'Bicentennial Man'... one of my favorite movies), and that doesn't even include the rest of his magnum opus universe which includes the Empire books and the Foundation books.

Well... here and now I plan to fix that.  Er... well maybe 'now' is to strong of a word.  But over the next year or so (between new Stephen King Books) I plan on fixing that.

Overtime... not by choice

Yesterday was a boring one at work.  No transfers, a small handful of 'easy' call outs.  No urgents.

During the med line, when I can't see any inmates, I was slowly finishing up all of my charting.  Slowly because I had nothing else to do.  The two previous days were also slow, so I had done most of my 'busy' work then.  When I finally finished up I... well... I'm not to proud to say that I fell asleep at my computer.

Now, every time the phone rings in the clinic, there is a moment to be afraid.  Afraid that someone is in real danger... that I'm going to be called out to someone in cardiac arrest, or a suicide attempt, or a very serious injury.  I didn't like phone calls before this job, but I'm really starting to hate them now.

Yesterday the phone was going off more and more.  Up until nine o'clock they were all from other nurses in the facility.  I traded shifts with one nurse, I helped another with a difficult patient decision, I helped hunt down some paperwork.... all good calls.  But that pesky law of averages screwed me and karma caught up to me in a big way with that last phone call.  That last call was from one of my supervisors saying that the night nurse had called in sick.

Time for a change

I'm a Michigan fan.  As I have no connection to the actual university, some would call me a 'Walmart Wolverine', but there a saying about sticks and stones that seems relevant.

I was a fan when Bo Schembechler was coach.  This was after the 10 year war and Michigan owned the Big Ten.  I was a fan after he retired and Gary Moeller took over.  And yes I took my lumps when he resigned after a drunken incident.  I was a fan when Lloyd Carr took over and celebrated the 1997 National Championship.

I was a fan Tressel came to Ohio State and Michigan seemed to take a backseat.

I was a fan after Carr retired and Rich Rodriguez came to Ann Arbor.  Even when he seemingly destroyed a bunch of Michigan records and traditions.  I was a fan when they hired Brady Hoke to be their current coach.  And I'm still a fan today.

But man oh man, I've never been more embarrassed to call myself a fan.

Headers

I was bored this morning while doing my daily ritual of browsing the web.

As is normal, I ended up at this blog.  I didn't have really anything to write about and didn't have anything planned for the day.  So as I often do when I'm in this state of mind I read some of the posts here.

While reading them I kept looking up at the header and came to a conclusion... the 'mask' theme doesn't really apply here.  At least not any longer.

When I first made this blog, it was an extension of "Caitlyn's Masks"... so naturally the headers were a variation on that.  I think the thought running through my head was something like this:  Caitlyn's Masks is about the visual, so it's headers should naturally be more visual.  Almost all of them had a 'spot color' in them.  Since this blog was going to be about writing, then the color should be gone.  It would just be black and white as text on a page is.

Obviously, that idea of writing a story only lasted a few months.  When I re-started the blog as a place to write from 'my' perspective instead of Caitlyn's, it seemed obvious to change the theme.  Instead of women in masks... men in masks.  Well now over a year later and any reference to masks is gone.  It's still my 'musings', but shouldn't the headers represent that?

Work Stuff

Just some random ramblings about Work.

We are getting new phones at work.  Big Whoop right?  Well sadly enough these phones are evidently so complicated and different that you have to have training before they get them installed.

Training?  For Phones?  I understand when I have to have training for CPR... you don't want those skills getting rusty.  I understand when I have to have training on wound care... things change and techniques need to improve.  I understand when I have to have training on the new EKG machine... that thing is fucking complicated.  But phones?  Really?

Evidently yes, as I was scheduled for an hour of training on our new phones.  And not just training for me... I'm now going to be expected to train the remainder of our staff.  Our current phone setup is fairly basic.  There is one phone line into the prison and every phone then has an extension number.  When inside the prison you simply dial the extension number to get the phone you want, and all the extension numbers are 4 digits.  For example, the clinic where I work is 2000.  The other clinic is 3000.  The med room on the south is 2500.  The med room on the north is 3500.  My supervisor is 2200, while her supervisor has a number on the south (2300), and one on the north (3300).  Basically, North side extensions are in the 3000 range, while the south is in the 2000 range.  Easy Peasy.   (all of these numbers are changed to save the innocence of yet to be convicted numbers)

Stand Pat with Fiona

So I briefly mentioned that I was considering getting a new car in my last post.  I tried to make it a purely intellectual decision, but both brains and heart had their say.

As you know, I love my Fiona.  She's great on gas mileage, has all the bells and whistles I could hope for, has her sexy yellow paint, and just purely the definition of 'mine'.  About the only car that has the same emotional impact on me (at least that I can conceivably afford) is the Hyundai Veloster.  And after sitting in one of those at the car show earlier this year, the Veloster is just simply a no go.

But, Fiona is destined to be problematic.  I simply put drive too many miles per year to expect Fiona to be in pristine condition until I pay her off.   At 24,000 miles a year she will have roughly 140,000 miles on the odometer when I make that last payment.  Her bumper to bumper warranty is in the rear view mirror and the power train warranty will expire at 60,000 miles.  Having 42,000 miles on her already and with my anual driving, that means that part of the warranty will expire sometime around March of 2015.  I'll be making 41 payments on her after that.

While I liked the security blanket idea of a warranty when I bought Fiona, it's never seemed quite as important as it does now.

Stand Pat at Work

So the whole job thing is done and over with.  I'm staying at my current facility.  I'd love to say that I weighed all the options and decided that staying was better.

I'd love to say that I considered everything, decided to go for it and didn't get the job.

I'd love to say that in anyway this was my decision.  Sadly conditions aligned and made the choice for me.

I was so on the fence about changing to the local correctional facility that I honestly couldn't make up my mind.  It was six one way and half a dozen the other way.  Advantages and disadvantages were plentiful on both sides but kept canceling each other out.  Just when I thought I had gotten to the end of my decision making process and picked up a quarter to flip, I thought of one last thing.  Change for changes sake.

I've changed a lot over the past few years.  Photographer to Nurse.  Productive member of society from bum.  Correctional nurse from hopeful hospital nurse.  Change for the past few years has been my bread and butter.  The problem?  I don't like change.  Oh sure, I like improving things... I like taking something that doesn't work and changing it to working order or taking something that works OK and changing it to working great... but if something is already going well then I don't like change.

Who exactly are we fighting?

My grandfather's generation had December 7, 1941.  My parents generation had November 22, 1963.

We have September 11, 2001.

I recall that day and how it seemed that everything changed.  I was up and watching the Today show, waiting for my brother and my cousin to pick me up.  We were going to go fishing.

I couldn't change the channel.  When they broke in at first and reported a plane hitting the World Trade Center I thought that it was a 'New York' story.  Sure, a plane hit the tower but how bad could it be?  The news never stopped though.  When they showed video of it and it became apparent just how bad it was.

Just about the time that I got my head around how big of a plane it must have been.... how many people died and how many were now in danger... the other plane hit.  This time they had video and it became immediately obvious;  This was intentional.  This was an attack.

Bastards.  BASTARDS!!

Beggin' Cover and the Other Job

I love discovering new music.  I've mentioned that I get a lot of my music from television shows and about 8 years ago I got a song from CSI:NY.  I really don't remember the scene, but it was from a band called Madcon called Beggin'.

Like most music, I'm not sure what initially drew me into it.  I eventually found it on iTunes and added it to my collection.  It stands the test of time as I'll often find myself jamming to it while cruising down the highway to work.

The other day while driving I was listening to 'Fresh Air' on NPR.  Terry Gross was interviewing Bob Gaudio of the Four Seasons.  Naturally the music heading into and out of the breaks was from the Four Seasons.

One song used was "Beggin'".  I immediately recognized the beat and harmony and for just a moment I thought that I was hearing a Cover of the song that I've had in my playlist for years!

Obviously Madcon made a cover of The Four Seasons' song.  I love a good cover of a good song.  In most instances it's like having a truly alternative version, but here the cover has lead me to a really good original version.  If I hadn't gotten Madcon's version I doubt that the original Four Seasons' recording would have caught my interest.  Thankfully I now have both versions:

Doorways

I may have a door opening for me far sooner than I was initially prepared to walk through.

I got a call from a colleague at work last night.  Actually he emailed me on my work account to call him at work about a personal matter.  What exactly does it say that a colleague knows that I check my work email even on my days off?

Anywho... we talked on the phone.  A relative of his talked with a nursing supervisor.  This nursing supervisor works in a prison located in the town that I live.  I think I've mentioned before that I drive quite a ways to and from work, but there are actually several state prisons in my home town.

So this nursing supervisor is looking to fill a vacancy.  This colleague at work isn't interested as its for an 8 hour shift where he is only interested in 12 hour shifts.  He figures the gains he would get by a little less traveling (he lives further away from our current prison than I do!) wouldn't make up for the extra days traveling nor for the fewer days off.  But he knows that I'm certainly interested in 8 hour shifts.  So he passed the supervisor's name on to me.

Now if this were simply a matter of transferring to a nearby prison, I wouldn't be interested.  But this job offers a very interesting opportunity.  Instead of working every other weekend (and more or less having one weekday off a week), this job is Monday through Friday and every 6th weekend.

Weekends off!?

Mentoring

So something wonderful has happened at work.  We hired a couple new nurses.  For the purposes of this writing lets call them H and B.  They're both guys, they're both in their second career, and while I haven't asked their age I believe both are in their 40s.

Sound familiar?

First and foremost, it's wonderful having an almost fully staffed nursing service.  For too long now we've been short handed with people either out on long term sick leave, or recent transfers and retirees.  We're still missing one 'first' shift nurse as well as a third shift nurse... but neither of those positions really affect me (well, the third shift one does, but I'll talk about that and the end of this post).

Between me hiring in and these two new RNs, the prison has hired four other RNs.  All four of them came in with more experience than me.  One has worked in corrections for ten years or so (five at this very facility), one has worked in corrections for four years and been an RN for almost twenty.  One was still fairly new, but she had a years experience at this facility before leaving to have a baby.  The other one had no corrections experience, and in fact had no experience with nursing in America, but had worked as an RN for twenty or so years in eastern Europe.  But these two RNs... well their story matches up with mine a year ago.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

FOOTBALL!!!!

Yes yes, its that time of year again.  Take your Birthday, Christmas, Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Vacation.  Wrap them all up together and you'll get an idea of just how excited I am today.  It's only been building up since January!

Technically the college football season started this past Thursday when Texas A&M upset South Carolina, but Saturday's during the season are more sacred.  More special.

I awoke this morning at 6am.  Not too early for me, but it was a day off and I had only gotten about 5 hours of sleep.  My first thought was something along the lines of "fuck this, i'm going back to sleep", followed almost immediately by "IT'S FOOTBALL DAY!!!"

So I jumped out of bed and began the day.  By getting up this early I could ensure that I could peruse the web, get some coffee in me, go over my picks for this week's games, clean up a bit, shit/shower/shave, and be ready at 9 am for College Game Day.  The rest of the day will be spent in front of the boob toob watching college student atheletes playing the glorioust of glorious games;

FOOTBALL!!!!

I'm either a nurse or I'm not

So Friday after work I had another scare.  While getting under way I got a text from my brother... Mom is in the hospital ER.

The news really took me by surprise as I had just seen her 9 hours previous and so far as I'd known there wasn't anything going on.

Well... nothing NEW going on.  Her hernia is getting worse and will probably need to be addressed sooner rather than later, but that wouldn't send her to the ER in a matter of hours.  There is always her pace maker to consider... it DID fire off earlier this year.  But her new anti-arrhythmia medicine should help avoid that.  There shouldn't be much that could quickly happen in 9 hours that involves her ongoing issues.  So my first thought was that she fell and broke something.   Not a good situation at her age or general health, but not as bad as a lot of things could be.

So I called and found out that Mom believe she has a bowel obstruction.  She'd actually suspected it before I left for work but didn't want to 'worry' me and hoped that it would just go away.  I should add that she's had previous experience with bowel obstructions, so when she suspects it I need to sit up and take her seriously.

One step can be one step to far

I knew this day would come.  Her echo is back.

Caitlyn

It had to come eventually.  When I first posted my 'goodbye' post on Caitlyn's Masks, I vowed that I'd "Stay Away" from anything Caitlyn for at least one month.  No posting, no attempts at capping, no commenting.... nothing.

At least nothing on an 'active' scale.  I would still visit blogs, read caps, and most importantly read posts from other cap artists.  But I wouldn't lest myself interact.  It would have been just too easy to slip back into that mask and try and speak with her voice.

So I went quiet.  Like the submarine from Red October.  I'd become what I was before Caitlyn... a lurker. But eventually that would have to end, and for two very good reasons.  1) I want to ensure that the Masks blog stays up.  2) I want to interact with my friends... just not as Caitlyn or any imitation of her.  So eventually I'd want to comment on someone's blog.  Eventually I'd want to update the blog.  At that point I'd face the spectre... the echo.. of Caitlyn again.

That time is now.

The whining continues...

So in the previous post I complained about Spirit air and promised to complain about Netflix.  Here's that issue:

My family seemingly has always been proud TV viewers.  I recall being a child that my nickname seemed to be 'Remote Control', as I was the one tasked with changing the channel.  Thank God there was only about five channels and channel surfing wasn't yet in vogue.

Even without a remote control, our TV was fairly glorious back then.  I don't recall the size, but it was big, it had a beautiful wooden case, and even had the full VHW channel dial.

But back then, that was about all there was to having a good television.  Have it big, have it in a good looking case, and ensuring that you could get all the different channels.  Ever so slowly as the television landscape evolved, we've added more and more accessories.  The first was the VCR.  I remember those heady days when VHS had beaten back the superior Betamax foe.  It was a Christmas gift from Grandpa and we suddenly added 'going to the Video Rental store' to our lexicon.

Excuse me while I whine about having enough money to travel via jet aircraft and lazily stream movies from the interwebs right into my big screen television and home theater system

If you don't get what the image is, just search google for 'first world problems'.  Yeah... I have problems that I really shouldn't ever EVER complain about.

But I'm going to complain about them none the less!

Before I get into the meat of this rant/post, I do want to point out that my life is wonderful.  Every complaint I have I would still take over real world problems like hunger, hatred, war, disease, and other assorted issues.  I work, I have enough money to live my life, I am loved, and I love.  In the grand scheme of things I am doing well and should always sing the praises of my life.

But then again, I'm a natural complainer, and complainers will always complain.  So this post is dedicated to my increasingly expensive addiction to netflix streaming service and the horror show that is Spirit Airlines.  Let's go ahead and start with Spirit as I was only recently falling over myself to compliment them.  Bastards.

Getting everything in order

Twice in the past couple weeks I've caught myself thinking about dying.  Since the first focused thoughts, it's been mulling around in the back of my head.

The first time it crossed my mind I was heading in to work.  I had to go early as I was stopping by the local (local to work, not my house) court house to pay my speeding ticket.  I had no idea how long the process would take so I gave myself an extra hour.

It took 5 minutes.  So I had 55 minutes to kill.  I ended up in a parking lot near to the prison so that I could smoke and listen to the radio.  If it had been a 'normal' day I probably would have done just that... but I was getting over a cold.

A quick aside... I don't get over colds as fast as I used too.  My annual 'colds' used to last 3 or 4 days.  From the fist cough to the final one.  While some colds do last that long, I get sick more often now and sometimes they last for weeks.  Let's face it, I don't take good care of myself and with 16 years of smoking in my rearview mirror, it's no wonder that colds last longer.  Anywho...

The evolution of a driver

I've been caught speeding; 

once when I was 25... 

I enjoy speeding.

It's just as simple as that.

Well, it's just a simple fact. 

When I drive something,

I want to drive it fast!

Those are slightly modified lyrics to the Jane's Addiction song 'Been Caught Stealing'.  They're apt as a couple days ago I got a speeding ticket.  My first such ticket in about a decade.

I've been driving for just under 24 years now.  Back in my day (I feel old when I say it that way....Get Off My Lawn!) we took school sponsored Drivers Education classes at 16 years old.  Once the class was finished we went to the secretary of state, took the drivers test (written and practical), and were issued a license.  None of this 'can only drive during daylight hours with a responsible related adult over the age of 25 for the first year' type of limited licence crap that my niece is currently going through.  Nope... the state said I could drive any time I wanted to anywhere I wanted with anyone I wanted.  Suckers.  I could easily be used as an example of WHY they changed the rules as I was quite the little (well... not little) hellion when I first started to drive.

Vacation Recap

I have returned safe and sound from my vacation.  I would love nothing more than to say it was magnificent, wonderful, amazing, or any other superlative description.  It WAS good.  It WAS fun.  But overall it felt like driving over to my friends place when he lived a couple hours drive away.

And you know what... that's good enough.  If I had to describe this in as few words as possible it would go something like this:

I flew down.  I hung out.  I flew back.

I guess since I went into so much detail in my last post about flying, I should cover how that went.  I could say that I overworried about it, but I believe that honest worry helped me research it fully and be prepared for everything that came up.  I ended up getting a ride to the airport and they dropped me off at the curbside 'departures' area.  Walking into the airport I was presented with a very long 'hallway' with all the ticket counters.  I had checked in online 24 hours earlier and therefore didn't have to stop at the counter so I stopped and packed up the last few things.

The 'Spirit' of travel

I mentioned a few posts ago that I'm traveling down to Dallas to visit with some friends on a surprise Vay Cay.  After Fiona's accident with the coyote I had decided on taking a flight down instead of driving.  I honestly didn't expect to have Fiona back.

Never having flown before, I had to learn rather quickly about buying tickets.  When I first looked at flights I was surprised by how expensive they were.  Originally I was looking at flights for the July 19th weekend and it seemed that I could get tickets for most airlines around $300.  The week of July 4th?  Yeah right... try $500.

I did shave a bit of that cost off by selecting to fly back on July 5th instead of the 6th.  But I still hesitated... and that hesitation cost me.  When I was ready to pull the trigger the costs had gone up quite a bit.  Delta, American, US Air.... they were all asking between $700 and $900.  For economy!  The only standout was Spirit Air.  Their price was still hovering around $300.  I may always try to select the best thing, but there is just no way I'm going to pay over double for something that I don't know is worth double.  So... I entered the realm of Spirit Air Bare Fares.

What do you see when you look at me?

I don't know where the thought came from, but I recently wondered... what do people see when they look at me?

I think I've described how I physically look before, but let me give a short recap.  I stand about six foot three (when I stand up straight).  I weigh about 270 pounds.  I've been told that I carry that much weight well, but I'm obviously not 'fit'.   I wear my hair in a flattop cut, and currently sport a mustache and beard.  It would be a full goatee, but I don't seem to have the genetic code required to grow hair between the bottom of the mustache and the top of the 'beard'.  I  have a bit of grey on my temples and a bit more grey in my facial hair.  I've been told that I have a 'baby face', and I imagine that's just a way to say that I look younger than I really am.

I have two states of dress;  at work I wear scrubs, when not at work I wear jeans and button up patterned shirts.  Think of 'Hawaiian' shirts and you'll be close.  So... what do people see?

Television

I enjoy television.  If I put my leisure time activities in order of time spent it would either be number one or number two on the list.  The only thing that might compare would be time spent browsing the web.

I am in the generation of adults that were raised on television.  From Saturday morning cartoons, to Sesame Street, I was often lying in front of our giant television with my eyes glued and my brain shut down.

Some of my first memories revolve around television.  I remember my parents paying to get Wrestlemania on pay per view.  I remember learning life's lessons from GI Joe (... and knowing is half the battle!).  I remember feeling like an adult when my parents let me watch Dallas with them.  I remember hurrying through meals so that we could watch The Dukes of Hazzard (Just'a good ol' boys Never meanin' no harm).  I remember seeing President Reagan's inaugural address.

And more than early memories, I can tell parts of my life through what I was watching on television.  Late elementary school was MTV (when it played music videos).  Jr High School was the time of Star Trek: The Next Generation.  High School was the time of Quantum Leap.  Early College was Friends and ER.  Chicago was Good Eats (or at least it's public television precursor).  Detroit was West Wing and the Sopranos.  Nursing school was House MD.  Waiting for a job was NCIS, NCIS LA, Parenthood, Blue Bloods and MANY more.  Even now, when my television viewing has returned to a trickle, it's Person of Interest, Elementary and The Walking Dead.

Surprise VayCay!

I've talked a bit about how a couple buddies and I have been planning on a get together.  We used to be really tight as we hung out together in addition to working massive hours together at the same company.

As the years passed, we've stopped working together and all moved away from each other.  One even went so far as to move to China for several years.

That friend is back in the States now, and while the other friend and I hung out fairly often, we still hadn't seen each other as a group for a long time.

At first, the plan was simple.  We'd pick a city, all arrive, and have a weekend blast.  At the time of this initial planning it would be easy on my part.  I had just started 12 hour shifts and had every other weekend off.  As in Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday.  That IS something that I miss about the 12 hour shifts.  But as good plans often do... they changed.  The friend that was close to me had to move about 1000 miles away.  We would all now be separated by massive amounts of miles.  Plus picking  up  your family and moving can be draining, so we put the plans off.

Fiona 1 - Coyote 0

This past Friday looked like it might be a nightmare.  Not only was it Friday the 13th, but it was a full moon.  And sadly I've learned that full moons do generally equate to more people in the clinic.

But even after all the ruckus at work the past few days (see the previous post where I'm still laying out all that went wrong), Friday passed without any problem.  Well... there WERE problems, but nothing out of the ordinary.

But fate had me in it's bullseye it seems and was simply waiting a bit longer to pull the trigger.  Saturday night while driving home I hit a coyote.  Yes, we have coyotes in Michigan.

All things considered, it wasn't a bad accident.  There were no other cars around, I didn't go off the road, I wasn't physically injured... just a dog sized animal hitting my car.

Having hit several deer in the past, I'm well aware of how vigilant one has to be when driving through my home area at night.  The county I live in, if I read this correctly years ago, has the highest deer/human ratio of a truly populated county in the United States.   Yes, there are those barren counties where only a couple thousand people live and have herds of deer, but the county I live in has a population close to 100,000 and we have a HUGE deer population.

Frustrating Days

This is going to be a rant.  This is going to be me just gushing this out to get it off my chest and off my mind.  I've had a series of bad days at work.  This doesn't change my assertion that this is a good job and that I enjoy my job.  But like any J O B, there are bad days to deal with.

Before I get into the meat of this, I'm going to describe what goes into a 'normal' day... with the understanding that there isn't a single 'normal' day to be had in this job.  I may have covered some of this before, but I just want to lay it all out here in one go so that you have a good understanding of what made these days particularly frustrating.

There are many tasks to complete in any given day ranging from important 'must do NOW' tasks to lackadaisical 'get to it whenever' style tasks.   This list is going to seem quite concrete and set in stone, but the reality is that this list is quite fluid and ever changing.  Saving a life is of course always more important than reading emails, but the rest of these tasks can gain or lose importance depending on the situation.

So first up.... Immediately important tasks: