Military soldier kills 16

A military individual kills 16 people in Afghanistan and people are surprised. I am just surprised this does not happen more often.

We recruit hundreds of thousands of these young men and women out of their homes. We train them to be killing machines with minimal thinking or questioning involved. We tell these kids when to eat, drink, sleep and shit. Then send them 7000 miles away to live in close quarters away from their families and friends, in a country where they are mostly not welcomed.

Pretend you are not involved, but our tax dollars built this soldier/machine, so it is your fault.

This is not different from someone flying an unmanned Predator drone thousands of miles away, then hitting a button and killing innocent people at a wedding party. Or on the other hand, the President saying drop the bombs to start “Shock and Awe”, killing untold numbers.

This soldier was older, but it does not change the fact that this US machine broke down,  and since we paid for it, it is our fault and not a surprise.

To be continued...

It is not the end; in fact, it is only the beginning of the journey.

Photo: http://www.winnipeglovehate.com/

Evil Stepmother

It is not school and working part time that has been consuming all my time. Longer than I have been in school we have also been fighting a court battle over the estate of my late father. The evil stepmother description fits this situation well. His estate that was put in trust, then disappeared and she is refusing court orders to provide an accounting and hiding facts. The longer she can drag this out and cost us money, the more she thinks we will disappear. Not going to happen, but that is how she deals with problems.

The problem is it involves 3 states and jurisdictions. I have gone to Oregon several times and tomorrow when I should be putting the final additions on a research paper for submission, and preparing for tests, instead I will be flying to Nevada for a 9am court appearance. Next week back to Oregon for another hearing. These are the frustration I would love to blog about and get out of my head, but then again I become more hesitant of who is reading this and giving details about our case.

Life pulls us all in multiple directions and tests us regularly, hopefully this is just another life lesson.

Abe Lincoln Vampire Hunter....Really

 I guess it was a book before the movie and I like Tim burton, but I can't decide if I like this concept.

Were there alternative secondary titles?

He did more than free the slaves

or

Our President can kick your Presidents Ass

Fork in the Road

I drive by this sign often and sometimes wonder if I should just stay in the other lane today.

Kind of like life and the decisions we make, it is not about looking back, but more about going forward.

So often I do not post now because I use Google Docs, Gmail, Blogger, Google + and have a YouTube account. Actually, Google has well over a hundred products that they have decided to tie together, which makes it easy to figure out who you are. Therefore, like many bloggers if I cannot say things because others know me, so I am debating if blogger is not the right tool to keep using.    

Commuting

Is it just me or are the shittiest cars on the road also the scary ones driving the worst.

Excuse me, your 1986 Buick with the wobbly wheels was not made to do 90 mph and swerve in and out of traffic like that. Not now or back when Reagan was President.

The Shallows

Is it pick on teens week? This was reported on WebMD out of the University of Winnipeg, and finds that teens who text a lot tend to be more selfish. Well, they said more concerned with wealth and image, rather than morals. I'll hold me comment because I see plenty of so called adults who text more than they talk.

The Shallows by Nicholas Carr, referred to in the article. It is an interesting topic and book we discussed in-depth last year about the ever-increasing short attention span we are developing related to technology and the Internet.   

Please don't care.

A little thanks to the USPS.

A plastic bag in my mail with a crumpled ripped up letter inside. Taking the mangled letter out of the bag and flattening it I notice what it is. The bag apologized for the inconvenience the postal service had caused, along with other words of nothingness.
I do not care if the occasional letter gets mangled, especially if it another credit card ad or monthly bill. However, this piece of mail they randomly destroyed was my yearly W-2 form. Ripping the bottom out of a folded document produced four separate pieces of my State and Federal forms. Maybe I will do my taxes the old fashion way this year instead of electronically. I will mail my excessively stapled and taped up mess of paperwork to the IRS this year so they can have a laugh too.

Just another day, week, month...

So much to do and so many irons in the fire, I get lost and some days do not know where to start. School continues to be a challenge of attrition with all the work and papers that need to be completed. Everyone I talk to in and out of my specialty group has that same deer in the headlights feeling. You talk to them and notice this pathetic little satisfaction they have knowing people besides themselves are suffering under the workload. My practitioner peers almost make me proud.

Might not be Einstein, but...

“Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Louis Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson and Albert Einstein.”   - -  H Jackson Brown


I just need better time management and to prioritize.

Life

Treat your family honorably and in the right way now.

Jobs, status and school: Yes, they are important, but not the most important thing as people seem to forget and jeopardize everything trying to get ahead.

In the end, it will not be your job or status that will come to care and visit you on your deathbed.
It will be your family who is there, that is if you happened to be there for them earlier.

Death

This ran through my head as I heard just ONE of the new fully armed F35 fighters would cost $184,000,000 dollars.  

Wars that cost trillions of dollars a year to operate.

Military machines and weapons that cost billions of dollars a year to build and they sit waiting to do their jobs.

Death row inmates costing $257,000 a yr to lodge, feed, supervise and supply medical and dental care.

So much money in this world is consumed by governments with the ultimate outcome of death.

Is it any different when patients are denied coverage of new and more expensive treatments, only because health insurance and pharmaceutical companies think about money to owners, stockholders and board members first. Experimental drugs and treatment are denied daily, that is unless you have money.  Research is pretty conclusive that has shown the more affluent you are, the better your health care and access. Not just in the States, but worldwide. 

Saving our loved ones and providing the best care possible should be worth more than a plane, bomb or even one of those tires off of a 184 billion dollar plane.

Just my little rant.   

Minnesota Tease

 No, Minnesota tease is not an old girlfriend, although …

 First, the National news tonight reported that Minnesota was warmer than Florida. I was there for Christmas and no snow. Yes, that is unusual or it would not make the news. It made me think that if global warming keeps this up, maybe going back to MN is a possibility. I always tell people in other parts of the country, that Minnesota is wonderful place to live eight months out of the year. Lots of fresh air, water, semi-friendly citizens (they can be a little passive-aggressive at times) and yes, weather. We will see what the future hold.

 As for that old girlfriend, when will people learn? I have not had a landline in nine years and the same cell number since. Therefore, once in a great while I get a drinking and dialing message from old an ex. Honestly, there is an ex or two I would like to hear from, but not her. Well, maybe there is one more thing in MN I do not miss.

Minnesota Teacher Salaries

Teachers are an important part of our society and I have two of them in my family. If you compare their pay to an athlete making millions for playing a game or some of those Wall Street rube's making millions from others suffering, then yes they are underpaid.

However, do not feel too sorry for the profession they choose. (Minnesota teachers Pay)

Many teachers, including my family members, want it both ways.
My brother-in-law is very happy to tell you all the rewards of being a teacher. Relishing in his summers off, and never having to work a holiday. He likes that there are only 180 school days a year, and that every month has a long-weekend so he can hunt.

In casual conversation, my brother-in-law and sister acknowledge that new teachers put in some extra prep time outside of those school days. However, saying by the time you are tenured you have a set curriculum that just needs a little tweaking each year.

 On the other hand, these two are quick to pull out the poor teacher card whenever it suits them or benefits their cheapness. Here is the problem with their claims. These two middle schoolteachers who cry poor me, each make over $72,000 a year, and I had to call them out.

You see since taxpayers pay their salaries, there is a freedom of information act. Their income is posted for all to see. So be cheap, just don't make excuses.

What your teacher or public employee makes is public information.  
Here is a link for Minnesota. Just go to the education part and type in their name.

http://www.twincities.com/dataplanet

Black Sheep

I look back at my friends and co-workers who had numerous sibling in the family, and it seems that one becomes estranged or decides they do not want to be a part of the family anymore. They become unavailable for family functions and/or stopped being sociable. At times, a spouse or fiancé influence their new thoughts about family members. Other times it was only their selfishness or perceived feeling of not being treated equally. They operate on blame and excuses, but ultimately it was their decision to alienate themselves.
 For the longest time I thought my family was immune to this situation. However, over the past few years I have watched it develop with one of my sisters and her husband.

Truthfully, if these individuals were not family they would never be friends. They would simply be people passing through our lives.

 This year the holiday is a good reminder and it reinforces my belief. I will leave the door open for their return, although I am done wasting time and energy on those who have anointed themselves the victims.     

Careful

I forget that even though I try to be anonymous, there is no such thing on the Internet. Two people have emailed me recently using my real name. I use Google+, Gmail and blogger, is it because they are all a part of the Google monopoly and that I use my real name on one of these services?  Anyway, even though I would like to be more honest and say, this situation sucks or this patient, teacher or doctor was crazy. I need to watch myself and be careful what I say.  

No rest for the ...

Could say no rest for the wicked, weary or a dozen other things. Because I am burnt, and now I have to shop and travel for the holidays. Classes are finished and grades will be posted by the 23^rd, why not just wait until Christmas day and really bring joy or despair to someone. One instructor who is a tough cookie and still puzzles me a bit, but I guess that sometimes you need that person to keep you on your toes.

The information learned and my brain still hurts with T-cells, research, disease and on and on. I thought it would help that as a nurse you give numerous suppositories and catheterize men and women patients on a regular basis. Not really, it was still uncomfortable and no help when it came to checking my first prostate and doing a cervical exam.  

Completing my bachelor’s degree was all about research and writing papers, lots of papers. Here in every class it is all about weekly quizzes, checkouts and stressful mid-term and final exams. Out one week and I am already thinking about starting again in January.

Gratitude

It gets to a point where you do not want to study anymore so of course you check email and read blogs. I ran across this quote and decided it was time to study some more.

Develop an attitude for gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you. Knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.
-Brian Tracy

Kimmirut

One paper and five finals over the next 7 days and they are calling me to work. No thank you that is why I switched to per Diem, because I knew these days would be coming. In fact, two years ago when I decided to finish my bachelors and go on to graduate school, I knew it would not be an easy journey. I evaluated the options of whether to give up steady pay, benefits and insurance in order to put it all on the line with a goal in mind. This is the first round of finals in graduate school and although the hurdles are higher and I may stumble, I will keep going.

 What is Kimmirut? There is a little town of approx. 400 people located above the Arctic Circle on Baffin Island. The thing is they have regular weather updates and a webcam set up looking out over a few houses and a bay. I have never seen a person and I think the ice and snow was gone for 2-3 months this summer. I am a little geeky with meteorology, but why am I fascinated looking at this little Inuit town on the edge of an island in the Arctic, and their 24 hr a day webcam? Somebody walk by the camera already.

Live Kimmirut webcam

Good Luck?

Here is what my instructor emails me last night after hearing my story. “Please remember that a small bad luck prevents a big bad luck and turns into a good luck in the future.” She may be Asian and it may sound like confucious or a fortune cookie, but coming from her it meant a lot.   

It was not referring to my grades, but we will see if it applies after finals next week. She was trying to cheer me up after a long day. I had not slept much the night before and then spent 10 hours out at school and I was tired. Forgetting something, I emailed her a course question. Then seeing that it was 7:30 pm, I decided it was a good time to do a couple quick errands. My favorite little produce store was near Costco so I could grab a bag of persimmons and fill up my tank and no problem back in 30 minutes.

So produce in the back seat and tank filled up I get in to start my car at the Costco gas bar, turn the key and nothing happens. Long story short AAA; drop my car at the mechanics and a 30-minute trip turned into almost 3 hours.

Good thing I use the train to commute to school and I will be waiting for that good luck in the future.

Nature calling

 

Things are just happening so quickly that I have not felt like blogging about work or school lately. However, after practicing in the skills lab this morning I went outside to find that the fog had cleared and it was a nice day.

Walking or anything that resembles exercise has not been a regular part of my routine over the past few months. Therefore, it was nice to get some fresh air and sunshine before heading home. Not sure if I want to stay in the city after graduation, because I like having nature a little closer than a two-hour drive. A patch of grass among the high-rise buildings might work for some, but not me.

This little girl was having some fun, but I could not decide if I was amused or disgusted as I watched her run amongst the pigeons. Not the kind of nature I grew up with.

A truth be told

This was part of the speech given by Steve Jobs at the commencement ceremony at Stanford in 2005, and it was after he was diagnosed with cancer. It kind of motivated me, especially the second paragraph.


No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.


Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary

Overwhelmed

To say this quarter has been tough is an understatement and I don't know if I have ever felt this overwhelmed. Remember that feeling of being a young hormone induced teenager. That peer pressure and feeling of needing to be accepted, of being wanted and liked by that certain person in the front row who maturated a little earlier. Well, that is how out of control, stressed and overwhelmed these six classes have me feeling right now. At times an internal debate is happening as to whether this stress is worth it.

Study Groups

Never been a big fan of study groups because they always seem to turn into gossip sessions instead of productive time to learn. Although a couple of weeks ago, a few us tried to get together and it worked well for the sessions we met. However, now a couple of people decided to make it an open invitation for anyone who wants to join us. FYI, when a study group hits double digits in attendance, it is no longer is a study group. It has now morphed into an accumulation of people wasting time with different ideas of how to accomplish the same thing.  

Where are my flashcards?

Be careful where and how you study

  One of my favorite ways of studying is to make up some flashcards, leave the headphones at home and take long walks along wilderness trails. The fresh air and semi-quite surroundings seem to help me concentrate. Although, sometimes these trails will wander through a neighborhood park.


  While I review the material, I have a habit of assessing myself as I go along. Last week with the cardiac section, I would walk along pointing to my chest and say things like, here S1 mitral and tricuspid valves closing, “lub”. On the other hand, when it was the lymph nodes of the head, neck and upper torso, I walked around massaging my face where they were located and which way they flowed.

  However, today while enjoying the weather and walking around it was no different, except that this week it is the chest, breast and lungs. Part of our skills assessment is to do the exams and educate the patient on how to do a monthly breast exam at home.

  Fair enough, but I just need to remind myself that while walking alone through the park, with all the nannies and stay-at-home moms watching their kids run around. It is not cool for a man to be talking to himself while demonstrating a breast exam.