I'm not from Chicago, but rather rural Wisconsin. I moved to Chicago back in 1989. I still refuse to root for any Chicago or IL team when they play one of my beloved WI teams, but when they don't ...I'll root for them.
So it was nice to see a team that hasn't won a World Series since 1917 (!!) win. I let out a big holler at 11 pm at night when they finally clinched it. I worked night shift and heard the White Sox win in 14 innings @ 1 am the night before when they won game 3.
So let's hear it for the Sox!
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
The joy of bad consequences happening2bad people
Forgive the spelling of the title, I wasn't sure if the title would be too long and fit in the title line.
It was really nice to hear last week about Tom DeLay's indictment. I was so pleased at what happened to the Hammer that I wrote the mini essay below about him, then I printed it and taped on my hospital locker for all my co-workers to see. Did you see his mug shot??? What kind of silly bastard smiles in a mug shot?!??
SO WHAT’S ALL THE FUSS ABOUT TOM DeLAY?!?
Tom DeLay is the former Republican Majority leader of the US House of Representatives. We should be happy when bad things happen to bad people. So what makes him bad?
Tom DeLay’s first career was as a pesticide salesman. He sold bug killer to farmers and other people in Texas. One of the pesiticides was DDT. DDT was too good at killing because it rendered our national animal, the Bald Eagle, nearly extinct. Therefore, 30some yrs. ago Congress, under the Nixon administration, passed a law banning DDT. DeLay was greatly offended that one of his better selling products was banned. "This is an outrage. I hate big government!" he screamed; never minding that the rest of the nation (even smart Republicans) thought that not killing off eagles might be a good thing.
That "outrage" inspired his political career. A career of following a reverse Robin Hood ethos of robbing the poor and rewarding the rich which was his political base. In 1999, when a natural disaster struck which 100s if not 1,000s of people were afflicted by, President Clinton declared the afflicted area a "Disaster Area" He asked Congress for millions of dollars to help the stricken people out. TOM DELAY lived up to his name and delayed funds to those people to spite Clinton. His tactics were so mean and ruthless that our current president who was running for office at the time criticized this venomous Majority Leader. Time and time again, Tom DeLay has campaigned with gutter style, alley cat tactics to triumph over his political foes. Time and time again, DeLay has been in the hip pocket of his rich friends to the detriment of the rest of his country, including but not limited to the poor and middle class.
Hopefully, we live in better times where his awful politics and gutterstyle tactics are finally going to land him with a big fine, much discredit and a defeated reelection bid next year. It’s probably too much to hope that he’ll be thrown in jail. Oh well, I'll be satisfied with seeing a vain, evil man given a giant dose of humility.
It was really nice to hear last week about Tom DeLay's indictment. I was so pleased at what happened to the Hammer that I wrote the mini essay below about him, then I printed it and taped on my hospital locker for all my co-workers to see. Did you see his mug shot??? What kind of silly bastard smiles in a mug shot?!??
SO WHAT’S ALL THE FUSS ABOUT TOM DeLAY?!?
Tom DeLay is the former Republican Majority leader of the US House of Representatives. We should be happy when bad things happen to bad people. So what makes him bad?
Tom DeLay’s first career was as a pesticide salesman. He sold bug killer to farmers and other people in Texas. One of the pesiticides was DDT. DDT was too good at killing because it rendered our national animal, the Bald Eagle, nearly extinct. Therefore, 30some yrs. ago Congress, under the Nixon administration, passed a law banning DDT. DeLay was greatly offended that one of his better selling products was banned. "This is an outrage. I hate big government!" he screamed; never minding that the rest of the nation (even smart Republicans) thought that not killing off eagles might be a good thing.
That "outrage" inspired his political career. A career of following a reverse Robin Hood ethos of robbing the poor and rewarding the rich which was his political base. In 1999, when a natural disaster struck which 100s if not 1,000s of people were afflicted by, President Clinton declared the afflicted area a "Disaster Area" He asked Congress for millions of dollars to help the stricken people out. TOM DELAY lived up to his name and delayed funds to those people to spite Clinton. His tactics were so mean and ruthless that our current president who was running for office at the time criticized this venomous Majority Leader. Time and time again, Tom DeLay has campaigned with gutter style, alley cat tactics to triumph over his political foes. Time and time again, DeLay has been in the hip pocket of his rich friends to the detriment of the rest of his country, including but not limited to the poor and middle class.
Hopefully, we live in better times where his awful politics and gutterstyle tactics are finally going to land him with a big fine, much discredit and a defeated reelection bid next year. It’s probably too much to hope that he’ll be thrown in jail. Oh well, I'll be satisfied with seeing a vain, evil man given a giant dose of humility.
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
The Elvis Syndrome
42 is an interesting age just like 27 is. Of course, 27 is the age when many famous rock n' rollers died and also when my best friend, Frank Kaul, died (that's for another blog & yes, L12, I'll write it). But 42 was the age when our youngest president ever assumed office and, no, it's not John Kennedy, but rather Teddy Roosevelt. He assumed the presidency when Leon Czolgosz shot the 25th Pres. William McKinnley in 1901.
42 is also the age when Elvis died. Towards the end of his career, Elvis was taking a lot of pills. He needed pills to wake up. He needed pills to go to sleep. He needed pills to take a shit (in fact, he died taking a shit brought on by something called the vasovagal reflex). THe bottom line is he was taking a ton of pills towards the end of his life. Of course, all that medication led to his untimely demise.
Now, I don't think I'm near the end. I mean I'm overweight but I can still walk 6 miles in under an hour & a half. I walk 3 miles to work and back through a rough neighborhood. (THat's a far, far cry from 25 yrs. ago when I ran 2 miles in under 12 min) But still, I'm a little apprehensive because, like Elvis, I am taking a lot of, shall we say "medication" (or pills if you will). I need to stay up at night because the time between 3-5 am is very tough mentally & physically to stay up so I down about 6 cups of coffee during that time. I take Adderall for the same reason. Then, if I don't take sleeping pills when I go to bed @ 8 am. or if I don't take a Clonipin then I wake up after only 2 hours of sleep.
Today is a rough day. I went to bed at 7:45 am. I woke up before 11. I scheduled myself to work at this part time paralegal job & I have to catch a Metra train & be @ downtown Chicago @ 3 pm. THen I have to preside @ our condo complex's monthly meeting at 7pm tonight in our hourlong meeting.
I used to smoke Cavendish tobacco several times a year. Now here I am writing this blog, smoking my pipe as I have several times a week, now. I gotta make more money but I feel like U2's song on the Joshua Tree album that I'm "Running to Stand Still". The whole idea that I have devised is to do a "flip around".
Now, I'm working full time at the hospital and part time at a law firm. I need to "flip it around" and work full time at a law firm and part time at the hospital like I did back in the early summer of this year. I can't now because this firm I'm at now doesn't offer health insurance. I need a firm that will offer health insurance to a paralegal. A firm that is personal injury and can take unique advantage of my medical background as I can write and explain how car accidents and other "sue-able" injuries have hurt plaintiffs physically.
My wife & I are divorced, but because we have to raise 3 young kids, we are, to a certain extent, "joined at the hip". Since we have joint tenancy ownership of the condo, our plan is to have her be financially well off to have her move out of the condo and into a house. Obviously, a house is a better place to raise 3 kids than a 2 bedroom condo. THen I would pay her to get 100% ownership of the condo and certainly, 2 bedrooms is enough room for me. & Oak Forest, IL is a nice neighborhood. But some of that dream is getting back to the money I was making earlier this summer. Just remember one thing: I've lived up to my end of the divorce decree so the fact that I make less now than before has not meant that she & my kids get less child support. It has only hurt me financially. But that's ok; less money has meant less food. So with the smoking and the hellish hours, I've lost about 10 pounds.
I sure as hell won't be doing what happened last Holiday/Winter Season and gain 20 pounds. I figure if I lose another 25 pounds, I'll be in decent shape. & pipe smoking over the years isn't as addictive as cigarette smoking, so by the time I get a better paralegal job, I'll have kicked that habit too.
Well enough daydreaming, I gotta pick the bones out of my salmon, eat it & catch a train. I hope I don't end up like Elvis!
42 is also the age when Elvis died. Towards the end of his career, Elvis was taking a lot of pills. He needed pills to wake up. He needed pills to go to sleep. He needed pills to take a shit (in fact, he died taking a shit brought on by something called the vasovagal reflex). THe bottom line is he was taking a ton of pills towards the end of his life. Of course, all that medication led to his untimely demise.
Now, I don't think I'm near the end. I mean I'm overweight but I can still walk 6 miles in under an hour & a half. I walk 3 miles to work and back through a rough neighborhood. (THat's a far, far cry from 25 yrs. ago when I ran 2 miles in under 12 min) But still, I'm a little apprehensive because, like Elvis, I am taking a lot of, shall we say "medication" (or pills if you will). I need to stay up at night because the time between 3-5 am is very tough mentally & physically to stay up so I down about 6 cups of coffee during that time. I take Adderall for the same reason. Then, if I don't take sleeping pills when I go to bed @ 8 am. or if I don't take a Clonipin then I wake up after only 2 hours of sleep.
Today is a rough day. I went to bed at 7:45 am. I woke up before 11. I scheduled myself to work at this part time paralegal job & I have to catch a Metra train & be @ downtown Chicago @ 3 pm. THen I have to preside @ our condo complex's monthly meeting at 7pm tonight in our hourlong meeting.
I used to smoke Cavendish tobacco several times a year. Now here I am writing this blog, smoking my pipe as I have several times a week, now. I gotta make more money but I feel like U2's song on the Joshua Tree album that I'm "Running to Stand Still". The whole idea that I have devised is to do a "flip around".
Now, I'm working full time at the hospital and part time at a law firm. I need to "flip it around" and work full time at a law firm and part time at the hospital like I did back in the early summer of this year. I can't now because this firm I'm at now doesn't offer health insurance. I need a firm that will offer health insurance to a paralegal. A firm that is personal injury and can take unique advantage of my medical background as I can write and explain how car accidents and other "sue-able" injuries have hurt plaintiffs physically.
My wife & I are divorced, but because we have to raise 3 young kids, we are, to a certain extent, "joined at the hip". Since we have joint tenancy ownership of the condo, our plan is to have her be financially well off to have her move out of the condo and into a house. Obviously, a house is a better place to raise 3 kids than a 2 bedroom condo. THen I would pay her to get 100% ownership of the condo and certainly, 2 bedrooms is enough room for me. & Oak Forest, IL is a nice neighborhood. But some of that dream is getting back to the money I was making earlier this summer. Just remember one thing: I've lived up to my end of the divorce decree so the fact that I make less now than before has not meant that she & my kids get less child support. It has only hurt me financially. But that's ok; less money has meant less food. So with the smoking and the hellish hours, I've lost about 10 pounds.
I sure as hell won't be doing what happened last Holiday/Winter Season and gain 20 pounds. I figure if I lose another 25 pounds, I'll be in decent shape. & pipe smoking over the years isn't as addictive as cigarette smoking, so by the time I get a better paralegal job, I'll have kicked that habit too.
Well enough daydreaming, I gotta pick the bones out of my salmon, eat it & catch a train. I hope I don't end up like Elvis!
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
a smart, spirited co-worker and the $3 challenge
You'll recall that in my 10/2/05 post, I wrote about Mary. Unfortunately, she has had problems with her wayword teenage daughter, and she took a leave of absence from work. Before she left , she told me about throwing her in a psych unit for a couple of weeks or even disowning her and signing her parental rights away to DCFS (Dept. of Child and Family Serivices) So, while Mary is gone we're oping her daughter is getting better.
Last night, Mary was scheduled to work, but obviously could not so I worked with a nurse, Penny. I was looking forward to working with her, not because I have a romantic interest in her. After all, she is married. (While I have been taken to task for spending too much time with 20somethings once or twice, I won't get involved with married women. (Last thing I need to hear Jesus or St. Peter say to me after I die is "Oh yeah, your the guy who broke up that marriage and the wife had 3 kids.....")
Anyway, Penny is a smart, sharp nurse. I interpret EKGs and measure atrial & ventricular waves on the EKG strip (among other tasks). Ideally, your supposed to measure the waves with an instrument called a calipers. But practically, I use my eyes & can make accurate measurements & it's a lot quicker. Penny always uses her calipers. So, about a year ago, she came up to me because I did the EKG measurements on her patients. The EKG strip is 6 seconds long. Her patient’s strip had 8 heartbeats on it (which is normal) I measured the ventriculr wave at .12 mm, but she corrected me and said it was .14. I looked again & she was right. Now clinically speaking, whether it’s 12. or 14 means very little but the fact that she wanted her patients’ EKG measurements to be perfect speaks well of her.
Penny is a Filipino from Manilla (look out, here comes the nationality tangent!)
Many hospitals in the Metro Chicago area are in neighborhoods (like Maywood & Harvey) where the minority population is about 90%. Yet, among nurses the highest proportion of any minority group is not Blacks or Hispanics/Latinos but rather Filipinos. Why that is I’ll probably never know, but I thought maybe that fact would be interesting to share. They enjoy getting together and speaking Tagalog. Reader, if you have any cogent theories on why there’s such a high proportion of Filipinos work the Chicagoland Hospitals let me know. The reader with the best theory gets $3. No, really!!
Anyway, Penny & I worked with each other for 8 hrs. 11pm-7am since Mary wasn’t there. The first hour was quiet as we interpreted EKGs and did their ventricular and atrial measurements for the 40some patients we each had. I was playing and enjoying listening to Cream, and after awhile she spoke up and asked, "Do we have to listen to that old stuff?
"No" I replied, "What kind of music do you like?"
"I don’t know"
"Well, how am I going to play something you like if I don’t know what you like?" I replied (no response). So I asked, "Do you like Filipino music?"
"Not all of it; I like the ballads"
"Oh, so you like slow, romantic music, right?"
"Yeah, I’m a girl afterall!" she proclaimed indignantly. Then she corrected herself, "Actually, I am in my 30s & have kids." So, I played Jefferson Starship and stayed away from the heavy metal music I love playing. But, I didn’t have any other ballad type of music and played Charlatans UK and U2. I asked her if she knew who U2 was, and she said no. Here’s another ? for my dear readers: has U2 ever played in the Philippines? Now, I can’t offer a prize for that piece of trivia (unless someone wanted to make it a $2 contest for the 1st correct answer). She didn’t mind either band.
The newest interest at the hospital and even, apparently, in the Chicagoland area (apart from the Great White Sox appearing in their 1st World Series since 1959) is doing "Sudoku" puzzles. The tabloid Chicago Sun Times has started putting those puzzles in their papaer and people on the 6th floor like to do them during spare time (guess we’re a boring group).
So Penny & I worked on the same puzzle separately. I started on mine 20 minutes before she did, but to my alarm after about an hour she was almost done. "Damn, Penny, you’re kicking my ass on this puzzle".
"Oh well, I don’t know if my numeric answers are right or not. My husband would be better at this than I, cos’ he’s good with numbers. I only like the ones in my checkbook" she smugly smiled.
"I’m jealous Penny. The numbers in my checkbook suck, cuz’ they’re all red!" But Penny was right about doing her puzzle, because a little later she quit in disgust. (I was able to finish the puzzle). Then we started talking about our kids. I hung up a picture of my youngest daughter (as others put up pictures of their kids and pets in the telemetry room. Like others, she made fun of the way I dressed my youngest, Brianna, because in the picture she’s wearing red striped pants with a pink polk-a-dot shirt. She pointedly asked if I dressed her and told about how she makes her husband change her kids clothes when he doesn’t color coordinate what they wear.
Later, we were getting pretty chummy as she slapped me on the shoulder towards the end and said my patients’ computer screen looked like a "XMAS tree". I was reading but not answering the alarms on my patients’ screen so the screen was flashing 5 or 6 red alarms. Then I sarcastically said, "I guess I’m not as diligent as you are, Penny".
"Oh, shut up" she replied.
So it was a good night. On the night, it’s important to keep alert because it’s a severe punishable offense to be asleep at the job 3:30 in the morning. & obviously, it’s not a good way to take care of the patients. So we were glad to find a new strategy (Sudoku) to stay alert and awake during our graveyard shift and called the night a success.
Last night, Mary was scheduled to work, but obviously could not so I worked with a nurse, Penny. I was looking forward to working with her, not because I have a romantic interest in her. After all, she is married. (While I have been taken to task for spending too much time with 20somethings once or twice, I won't get involved with married women. (Last thing I need to hear Jesus or St. Peter say to me after I die is "Oh yeah, your the guy who broke up that marriage and the wife had 3 kids.....")
Anyway, Penny is a smart, sharp nurse. I interpret EKGs and measure atrial & ventricular waves on the EKG strip (among other tasks). Ideally, your supposed to measure the waves with an instrument called a calipers. But practically, I use my eyes & can make accurate measurements & it's a lot quicker. Penny always uses her calipers. So, about a year ago, she came up to me because I did the EKG measurements on her patients. The EKG strip is 6 seconds long. Her patient’s strip had 8 heartbeats on it (which is normal) I measured the ventriculr wave at .12 mm, but she corrected me and said it was .14. I looked again & she was right. Now clinically speaking, whether it’s 12. or 14 means very little but the fact that she wanted her patients’ EKG measurements to be perfect speaks well of her.
Penny is a Filipino from Manilla (look out, here comes the nationality tangent!)
Many hospitals in the Metro Chicago area are in neighborhoods (like Maywood & Harvey) where the minority population is about 90%. Yet, among nurses the highest proportion of any minority group is not Blacks or Hispanics/Latinos but rather Filipinos. Why that is I’ll probably never know, but I thought maybe that fact would be interesting to share. They enjoy getting together and speaking Tagalog. Reader, if you have any cogent theories on why there’s such a high proportion of Filipinos work the Chicagoland Hospitals let me know. The reader with the best theory gets $3. No, really!!
Anyway, Penny & I worked with each other for 8 hrs. 11pm-7am since Mary wasn’t there. The first hour was quiet as we interpreted EKGs and did their ventricular and atrial measurements for the 40some patients we each had. I was playing and enjoying listening to Cream, and after awhile she spoke up and asked, "Do we have to listen to that old stuff?
"No" I replied, "What kind of music do you like?"
"I don’t know"
"Well, how am I going to play something you like if I don’t know what you like?" I replied (no response). So I asked, "Do you like Filipino music?"
"Not all of it; I like the ballads"
"Oh, so you like slow, romantic music, right?"
"Yeah, I’m a girl afterall!" she proclaimed indignantly. Then she corrected herself, "Actually, I am in my 30s & have kids." So, I played Jefferson Starship and stayed away from the heavy metal music I love playing. But, I didn’t have any other ballad type of music and played Charlatans UK and U2. I asked her if she knew who U2 was, and she said no. Here’s another ? for my dear readers: has U2 ever played in the Philippines? Now, I can’t offer a prize for that piece of trivia (unless someone wanted to make it a $2 contest for the 1st correct answer). She didn’t mind either band.
The newest interest at the hospital and even, apparently, in the Chicagoland area (apart from the Great White Sox appearing in their 1st World Series since 1959) is doing "Sudoku" puzzles. The tabloid Chicago Sun Times has started putting those puzzles in their papaer and people on the 6th floor like to do them during spare time (guess we’re a boring group).
So Penny & I worked on the same puzzle separately. I started on mine 20 minutes before she did, but to my alarm after about an hour she was almost done. "Damn, Penny, you’re kicking my ass on this puzzle".
"Oh well, I don’t know if my numeric answers are right or not. My husband would be better at this than I, cos’ he’s good with numbers. I only like the ones in my checkbook" she smugly smiled.
"I’m jealous Penny. The numbers in my checkbook suck, cuz’ they’re all red!" But Penny was right about doing her puzzle, because a little later she quit in disgust. (I was able to finish the puzzle). Then we started talking about our kids. I hung up a picture of my youngest daughter (as others put up pictures of their kids and pets in the telemetry room. Like others, she made fun of the way I dressed my youngest, Brianna, because in the picture she’s wearing red striped pants with a pink polk-a-dot shirt. She pointedly asked if I dressed her and told about how she makes her husband change her kids clothes when he doesn’t color coordinate what they wear.
Later, we were getting pretty chummy as she slapped me on the shoulder towards the end and said my patients’ computer screen looked like a "XMAS tree". I was reading but not answering the alarms on my patients’ screen so the screen was flashing 5 or 6 red alarms. Then I sarcastically said, "I guess I’m not as diligent as you are, Penny".
"Oh, shut up" she replied.
So it was a good night. On the night, it’s important to keep alert because it’s a severe punishable offense to be asleep at the job 3:30 in the morning. & obviously, it’s not a good way to take care of the patients. So we were glad to find a new strategy (Sudoku) to stay alert and awake during our graveyard shift and called the night a success.
Sunday, October 16, 2005
graveyard shift blues
It seems like I have to confront several problems at once, and they all seem to relate back to my lack of money. I really wanted to go to a friend/co-worker's baby shower - can't do it because I don't have enough money to get her a gift. I really wanted to go to a dance that this men's group is sponsoring because it would be fun, & I am a member of that group. Can't do it because I would have to ask someone out for a date and again that would cost money.
What really brought all of this to mind was last night and this morning. I have been walking 3 miles to work as noted in a previous post. I need to do everything I can to save money (just to make ends meet....not for anything special!!) But the problem was when I walked to work Saturday night, I have to walk home Sunday morning. I really wanted to go to Mass after working because I feel that Mass helps me, especially after attending a religious retreat last weekend.
But after walking home, I was too late for 8 am. Mass so I decided to just go to bed. But, the same problem happened this morning that happened yesterday. I have just started working these graveyard shifts, my body isn't used to sleeping during the day, so instead of getting 8 hours of sleep per night, I'm only getting about 2 hours of sleep. Then I wake up, can't go back to sleep and pretty soon, after doing this and that, I have to go back to work and work the usual 12 hour shift.
After working Friday night, I really had a hard time sleeping at all. After working Saturday night, I went to bed around 9 this morning but woke right back up at 11. Today, I don't feel like taking sleeping pills as I sometimes do, because I really do need to go to church, see my kids as I promised my ex, and then do some work for my condo as I am president. But when am I going to sleep????
I also have a meeting to go to right before I work my 12 hour shift. The short meeting is @ 6 and work starts at 6:45. Then I have to work 12 hours again.
It's nice to make the dollar extra per hour because I need every penny of it (again, since I'm short of money I need to do everything I can to either save money or make money). But you hear all sorts of bad statistics about people working night shifts. People who work night shifts have a shorter lifespan. People who work night shifts fall asleep driving moreso than people on other shifts.
I just wish the lawyers I worked with previously weren't such assholes. I was making OK money then. I wouldn't have to work all these night shifts now, and I wouldn't have to walk to work. I worked there as long as I could, but after awhile of being berated and degraded, that job ended up having all the dignity of being a stripper or a male prostitute. So I made the right decision and work full time at the hospital, but there can be tough consequences to doing the right thing!
So now I'm going to eat, go to Church and see my beloved kids. & I hope I don't get into an accident driving to or from work doing the graveyard shift. Hopefully, tomorrow morning, I'll get better rest. If it takes 5 sleeping pills to get 8 hours of sleep, damnit, I might just do it!
What really brought all of this to mind was last night and this morning. I have been walking 3 miles to work as noted in a previous post. I need to do everything I can to save money (just to make ends meet....not for anything special!!) But the problem was when I walked to work Saturday night, I have to walk home Sunday morning. I really wanted to go to Mass after working because I feel that Mass helps me, especially after attending a religious retreat last weekend.
But after walking home, I was too late for 8 am. Mass so I decided to just go to bed. But, the same problem happened this morning that happened yesterday. I have just started working these graveyard shifts, my body isn't used to sleeping during the day, so instead of getting 8 hours of sleep per night, I'm only getting about 2 hours of sleep. Then I wake up, can't go back to sleep and pretty soon, after doing this and that, I have to go back to work and work the usual 12 hour shift.
After working Friday night, I really had a hard time sleeping at all. After working Saturday night, I went to bed around 9 this morning but woke right back up at 11. Today, I don't feel like taking sleeping pills as I sometimes do, because I really do need to go to church, see my kids as I promised my ex, and then do some work for my condo as I am president. But when am I going to sleep????
I also have a meeting to go to right before I work my 12 hour shift. The short meeting is @ 6 and work starts at 6:45. Then I have to work 12 hours again.
It's nice to make the dollar extra per hour because I need every penny of it (again, since I'm short of money I need to do everything I can to either save money or make money). But you hear all sorts of bad statistics about people working night shifts. People who work night shifts have a shorter lifespan. People who work night shifts fall asleep driving moreso than people on other shifts.
I just wish the lawyers I worked with previously weren't such assholes. I was making OK money then. I wouldn't have to work all these night shifts now, and I wouldn't have to walk to work. I worked there as long as I could, but after awhile of being berated and degraded, that job ended up having all the dignity of being a stripper or a male prostitute. So I made the right decision and work full time at the hospital, but there can be tough consequences to doing the right thing!
So now I'm going to eat, go to Church and see my beloved kids. & I hope I don't get into an accident driving to or from work doing the graveyard shift. Hopefully, tomorrow morning, I'll get better rest. If it takes 5 sleeping pills to get 8 hours of sleep, damnit, I might just do it!
Saturday, October 15, 2005
one more reason for love........
"....and when you stop and think about it, you won't believe it's true.
That all the love you've been giving, has all been meant for you...."
from the song "Quesion" by the Moody Blues
That all the love you've been giving, has all been meant for you...."
from the song "Quesion" by the Moody Blues
Thursday, October 06, 2005
a night walk
I am tired of paying nearly $3 a gallon for gas so I have gotten toughened up to walking long distances. I walk to work, the hospital is 3 miles away; it takes 45 min. Tough shit if the hospital is in a rough neighborhood, riven w/ gangs and drug dealers. If I don't bother them, the odds are low of them bothering me.
The same is true with seeing my kids. They live about 6 miles away so it takes about an 1 1/2 hours to get there. When I walked home to my apartment something kind of special happened. To get from the kids' place to my place I go through a forest preserve (so named because it has bike paths and is patrolled by the Cook County Forest Preserve Police, among other reasons). It was such a beautiful night out and the temperature was perfect. The coolness killed off all those damn insects yet it was warm enough so that you didn't have to worry about your hands or feet getting cold. All I had to do was follow the yellow line of the bike path and I had no problem whatsoever in finding my way home. I saw white-tailed deer that would get close enough to try and figure out who I was, then run off as I walked next to them on the trail. It was fun trying to guess what the strange noises were.
I couldn't help but think how much more fun it would be to have a girlfriend, two sleeping bags and just being "one with nature". It was a great night to be outdoors! There was a slight bit of apprehension because I was actually breaking the rules. The Forest Preserve rules are that no one is supposed to be in the forest after sundown. (It was 8 pm) I couldn't imagine them throwing me in jail for walking home, minding my own business. Just as I was less than a 1/4 mile away from leaving the Forest Preserve, there was this white light shining on my back. "Oh shit," I thought, "The Forest Preserve cops". So here's how the conversation went after I turned around and saw this biker with a light beam coming from his helmet.
"Uh-oh!", he exclaimed
"I'm just about ready to leave at the next exit," I explained.
"That's cool; I'm just biking", he said.
"Oh, I thought you were a Forest Preserve cop"
"No, we just scared each other"
Before I could explain that I wasn't really scared just hoping that he wasn't a cop, he was too far away as he biked past me.
Yes, that was a lame conversation, and this post probably would have been a better read if I would have explained how I got thrown in jail and had the displeasure of sharing a jail cell with someone caught for sodomy.
But I'm glad none of that happened and I am happy to have such a nice, sweet, peaceful time at the Forest Preserve with the deer. Maybe months from now, I'll meet the right woman and we can have a nice time in some sleeping bags. That would be a great way to break the law.
The same is true with seeing my kids. They live about 6 miles away so it takes about an 1 1/2 hours to get there. When I walked home to my apartment something kind of special happened. To get from the kids' place to my place I go through a forest preserve (so named because it has bike paths and is patrolled by the Cook County Forest Preserve Police, among other reasons). It was such a beautiful night out and the temperature was perfect. The coolness killed off all those damn insects yet it was warm enough so that you didn't have to worry about your hands or feet getting cold. All I had to do was follow the yellow line of the bike path and I had no problem whatsoever in finding my way home. I saw white-tailed deer that would get close enough to try and figure out who I was, then run off as I walked next to them on the trail. It was fun trying to guess what the strange noises were.
I couldn't help but think how much more fun it would be to have a girlfriend, two sleeping bags and just being "one with nature". It was a great night to be outdoors! There was a slight bit of apprehension because I was actually breaking the rules. The Forest Preserve rules are that no one is supposed to be in the forest after sundown. (It was 8 pm) I couldn't imagine them throwing me in jail for walking home, minding my own business. Just as I was less than a 1/4 mile away from leaving the Forest Preserve, there was this white light shining on my back. "Oh shit," I thought, "The Forest Preserve cops". So here's how the conversation went after I turned around and saw this biker with a light beam coming from his helmet.
"Uh-oh!", he exclaimed
"I'm just about ready to leave at the next exit," I explained.
"That's cool; I'm just biking", he said.
"Oh, I thought you were a Forest Preserve cop"
"No, we just scared each other"
Before I could explain that I wasn't really scared just hoping that he wasn't a cop, he was too far away as he biked past me.
Yes, that was a lame conversation, and this post probably would have been a better read if I would have explained how I got thrown in jail and had the displeasure of sharing a jail cell with someone caught for sodomy.
But I'm glad none of that happened and I am happy to have such a nice, sweet, peaceful time at the Forest Preserve with the deer. Maybe months from now, I'll meet the right woman and we can have a nice time in some sleeping bags. That would be a great way to break the law.
Sunday, October 02, 2005
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