So, since I don't update enough according to her Tabbyness, here is an update.

Life is busy. Working as a Paramedic (still), which is the awesome. I love my job. But they just moved me to Wed-Sat, Noon-Midnight, so the hours are the not awesome. In some ways, they are, in fact, the suck. But it's ok, I can live with it. Days are hit-and-miss. Tonight, we only had one call, nothing big.

Other than that, not too much going on in life. I meet a lot of new people, and I impress both friends and newly-met strangers alike. One of my friends, he's kind of a shy guy. We went to the bar after watching UFC 100, and he was feeling all lonely, and doesn't entirely feel comfortable approaching girls. So I saw this one cute kid, she had been by herself, or around a couple other guys and girls. I walked up, started talking to her, and introduced her to my friend. They seemed to hit it off. She thought I had a lot of guts (in a good way) to start talking to her when she was talking to some other dude at the same time. The way I see it, that's just how life is, right? You have to be willing to take chances, and you also have to think, "You know, I either have to move outside of my comfort zone, or be trapped within it."

Now if I could just get other people to think that, right?

So how's life?

Work continues to go well, classes continue to go ok. Not much happening in life, and I'm the type, if I don't have anything really exciting to share, I'm probably not going to write up a blog. But I figured I'd pop my head up real quick and show that I'm still alive. What's everyone else up to?

Acacia. Go tell her you love her. She's one of my favorite people, and she's absolutely gorgeous.

In other news, I got my official results back from State testing. I passed all the practicals. I'm a paramedic and stuff. Woooooo. Gotta love it.

Another thing I've been doing lately is watching the Olympics. In years past, I'd watch a few events, nothing big. But it seems like this time, I actually like watching them, I like seeing every country represented, but I especially like seeing the U.S. win. I like hearing the national anthem being played, and see our flag raised. Kind of inspiring, I guess. Maybe it's just my patriotic spirit on overload.

Paramedic school came and went. I graduated. Sweet stuff. The State written test came and went. I passed. Awesome in a box. The State practical test came and went. I'm still waiting on the results for that. No fun. Waiting is always the hardest part. I'm pretty sure I did ok, but I might have to redo my pediatric code. It was the first one that we did, and the State way of doing it was different enough that it through me off a bit on my initial BLS. Oh well. If I have to redo it, I'm ok with it. I know I was good on my ALS, and I'm pretty sure I rocked the mega and trauma codes.

In other news, the Olympics are coming up. Cool stuff, right? I was watching a History channel couple of programs, one on the Chinese Olympic Stadium, and then one on the National Aquatic Center (I think that's what it was called) that will house the swimming events. Pretty cool buildings, in their own right. I don't know that I'm that fond of the Bird's Nest design for the stadium, but it was still interesting as a design, and pretty cool to watch how they did it.

How's life and all that goodness?

Long time with nothing from me. I've been so busy.

One week left for paramedic school. I know, kick ass, right? I'm lovin' it. Graduation is next Friday, State Practicals on August 4th or 5th. I can't remember which. Rumors are we may have to schedule the written test for another day after, which would suck, but what can you do, right? Either way, I'm so ready to be done with it. I've had a GREAT time during my internship, but while being in paramedic school is fun, not being in paramedic school anymore will be more fun.

Clio is such a cutie. Hot, hot, hot, hot! That's my new favorite saying. I don't know where I picked it up. But it's like, when you see a woman who is so amazingly attractive, the only thing you can say is," Hot, hot, hot, hot!" then you'll understand. I think that all the time whenever I talk to Acacia. She's awesome. And I heart her. But yeah, go check out Clio's new site. Tell her you love it, because you know you do.

Last but not least, The Dark Knight. Oh. My. God. Soooooooo amazing. Loved it. Fucking LOVED it. Batman Begins was good. The Dark Knight was awesome. Heath Ledger did an amazing job. It really is too bad that he died so young. Yeah, way young. Dude was my age. Makes you think though. Sometimes, you never know which breath will be your last, which word will be remembered. Don't ever let anyone remember you being angry, or pissed off. Don't leave shit between you and your loved ones.

So, far all of you that I love, love you much, friends, family, all that. For all of you that I hate, oh well. I probably don't hate you as much as I used to. I don't like to be mad at anyone. I'd rather just kick back, have a good time, and enjoy life. So if you're not doing the same, then what's wrong with you, right? Find happiness. Zen. Beer. Whatever it is that makes you smile. Just find it like now.

Have a great weekend.

Embarrassment is a funny thing. I don't think I feel much of it anymore, if at all. But I guess if I did, I'd feel it for a couple of reasons. As some of you know, I started my paramedic internship this last Monday. We had a call recently in which a 93 year old woman was having issues, and we were dispatched to help. I walked into her room, and one of my Captains and his other guys were standing around talking with her caretakers. I asked my Captain what we had, and he started to describe to me what the case was. As I start processing the information, I also asked, "Does anyone know what her name is?" I heard someone say the name "Lola," so I started calling her by that name.

I guess my Captain had finally finished his discussion with her caretakers and was now paying attention to me, and heard me call her this name. He gets a smirk on his face and says, "Joe, her name is [can't say her name due to privacy laws]." I turned and looked at my Captain, and then back to my patient, and kept right on going, apologized for calling her the wrong name, and continued with my assessment and care. I didn't really feel embarrassed then, and I still don't now. But I do think it was funny. I'm sure the guys were laughing at me for that for a while.

On an unrelated subject, I've decided I want to see two things particularly from SG. 1) I want to see Karyna made an SG officially. Her Hopefuls set, "creepy sweet violet" was actually really good, I thought. It shouldn't just be hopeful, it should be put up. Seriously. 2) I'd love to see Acacia doing duo sets. First, I would love to see her do a set with Cye. And I've just decided, if she could, I'd love to see Acacia do a set with Karyna. Or maybe a trio set with Acacia, Cye and Karyna. I think that would absolutely make my day.

If you feel so inclined (and you should), go tell those three ladies that you think they're amazingly beautiful. I haven't talked with Karyna yet, but I have spoken with Cye, and I keep in pretty regular contact with Acacia, and I can say that Acacia and Cye are very cool women, and I'm sure Karyna is too. Go get to know them.

Have a wonderful weekend, ladies and gents. I think I'm up at the local Children's Hospital ER for the next three days learning how to be a good caretaker of pediatrics. I'll just say this briefly. Buckle your kids up, and buckle them up right. Take care of them, please. I'd be completely ok if paramedics were never needed again. But the fact is, we are needed, because sometimes, accidents happens, and because other times, stupid people are allowed to walk the earth as freely as anyone else, and they don't care enough about you, or even themselves, to use caution and common sense.

Seriously. Take care of your kids, and take care of yourselves. You'll have more birthdays that way, people.

Gidgette. Enough said, right? Not only is she just dripping sex appeal, and amazingly beautiful, but she has a smile that's just honestly cute, and adorable. You see her smile, and you look into her eyes, and it's just crazy, wicked awesome. That's really the only way to describe it.

I got a 96% on my test in medic school today. That's another thing that's wicked cool. The only bummer is, this week is like, four lecture days, one hands on/practice day. Oh well. It's still cool shit.

What's new in life, people?

Trinkie has a new Hopefuls set. Go check it out, and then go vote for it. We can always use more Trinkie on the site. http://suicidegirls.com/albums/hopefuls/site/4083/ She's a beautiful girl, and very cool, too. And when you vote for her, make sure to leave a comment on her set and tell her you love her. Comments of "I loved it" just by clicking on said button don't do enough as far as voting her in. Let them know why you loved it, and stuff like that.

On another SG note, Hunter has a new set up. Go check it out.

And, on another note, school is going well. This last week, we took our Trauma test. A couple of us passed it, a couple of the people in class had to retake it. No big deal. It was hard, but it's always good for learning and stuff. We're getting into running CODEs and such, and it's always more fun to get into the hands-on stuff. A CODE is basically an unrehearsed, made-up scenario where you have to work on a mannequin and act like it's a real person, go through combinations of possible incidences and just basically show the instructors how you would act in any given situation, how you'd respond to what the patient is doing, etc. It's a lot of fun, I think.

The semester is half-way over (just about), and next semester over the summer is going to be my internship. About 1,000-1,200 hours of working on the ambulances, in the E.R., all that good stuff, learning additional skills, putting new skills into use, all of that. And, since it'll be during the summer, should be good weather and fun stuff. I just have a couple of pieces of advice for people.

Don't do anything stupid this summer. Take care of yourselves. Be smart. As much as I look forward to making a difference on calls and trying to help people out who are in an emergency, I'd love it if more people didn't need us. Drive safe, buckle up, don't drink and drive, all that goodness. Have fun, but be smart. Sounds good, right?

And, on a related note. If your family member/friend/whatever is having an issue, don't use phrases like "OMG, he/she's having a heart attack!" "Hey, is grandma/grandpa having a stroke?" People know what a heart attack or a stroke is. They know it's bad juju. They know it can kill them. They flip out as much as you do. Help keep them calm, help them breathe and do what they can to try and limit the issue. If you want to know what's really up, pull one of the Medics or EMTs aside and ask them. It makes a difference.

And, on that note. Have a great weekend, people! Much love.

Clio has a set that just went up. That's what Second Chance Sundays are for, people. When the decision-makers at SG make a decision and shoot down a set that you think should go up, voice your opinion. Personally, I think Downpour is a prime example of what SCS is for. Go tell Clio you think she's beautiful.

In other news, the best part about MLK/Civil Rights Day for me is, it's a school holiday. It makes the weekend longer, and gives me another day to study. Paramedic school is long and soaks up pretty much all of my time, but it's absolutely worth it. We're learning a lot of stuff. Fortunately, I think I'm a little ahead on some parts of the learning curve because I did Intermediate, and we learned some of the drugs and rhythms, and stuff like that. Other people in this class went from Basic right into medic school, and I think it hurts them a little, but we've got a good group of people, and I have no doubt some good medics are going to come out this class.

And, as a final thing, just a little bit of "in case you didn't know" stuff. You'd be surprised how many people know what "9/11" is, in respects to September 11, 2001, but have no idea what "343" means. On 9/11, over 3,000 people lost their lives in the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and on American Airlines Flights 11 and 77, and United Flights 93 and 175. 343 of those lives were FDNY personnel. So when you see firefighter helmets or other firefighter gear that has the number "343" on it, it's in tribute to those fallen brothers.

A lot of bad stuff happened on 9/11, and it seems like everyone is ready and willing to forget about it. Don't. Seriously, that would be like forgetting D-Day, Pearl Harbor, and stuff like that. Most of our grandparents are old enough to have either been a part of that, or been involved in that era. Forgetting their sacrifices and the lives lost in WWII and other major conflicts would be just as wrong as forgetting the tragedy of September 11. Bad stuff happens around the world every day. The only way it's going to get better is if we don't forget, and we all make a change. Stand up, be proud of who and what you are, and help make the world a better place for those who will come after us.

And for anyone who thinks they may ever end up in medic school, I'll tell you a story about how to remember the doses for Valium and stuff. It's actually a good way to remember it. You'll never forget it.

If you've known me for longer than a couple days, you know I don't write blogs very often. I don't do journals, I don't just sit and write down my feelings or anything. If I've had a good day, I'm out enjoying it. If I've had a bad day, I'm out trying to forget about it.

But every now and then, I do like to share good news. And I have some right now. I got a envelope/package thing in the mail Saturday, didn't know it was there until Sunday morning. I got my acceptance letter for paramedic school! All sortsa good news. Starting January 3, I'll be spending pretty much every waking moment Moday-Friday in medic school learning even more good stuff on how to take care of people and such. Lots of work, but I wouldn't do anything else.

So yeah, good stuff. And since I always like to name new, hot SGs, or just mention some of my favorite people, I'll hit both of those with one person. Go say hello to Acacia. Not only is she a recent SG addition and amazingly beautiful, she's actually a pretty sweet person, and good to talk to. So yeah, go say hello to her.

Have a good one, people.