23. February 2010 by [JP].

Well, one of ANY public safety worker’s greatest fears, is not coming home at the end of the day.
Andy Tingwell dying in the line of duty after rescuing a lost hiker.
John Sutter and Anthony Archuleta, and their pilot, when their helicopter crashed during a training mission.
And now, El Paso County Sheriff’s Office lost a LVN who worked for their detention division, when she was hit by a car, after stopping to render aid to a vehicle crash victim when she was off duty.

Its an eye opener to all of us, a realization that we are still mortal.
One of the things that has stuck with me over the years, is the second thing one of my former instructors said in class (always wash your hands being the first). He said, in order to save lives tomorrow, you have to come home today.

I’ve had some close calls over the years. I’ve been hit twice. Once by a car driven by an old lady as I was rendering aid at a scene… walked away from that with just some bruises. Another time, while working an accident scene, one of our units got sideswiped by a drunk motorist, and my partner and I were both hit with flying glass and debris.
When you’re in the middle of it, generally you’re paying more attention to the life you’re trying to save, rather then your own, and sometimes that can get you killed.
Even when you’re paying the utmost attention to your surroundings, the unpredictable actions of others will still get you.
And sometimes, only the loss of one of our brothers or sisters in the field is what it takes for all of us to start watching our own backs that much closer.

So. For the rest of us. Be careful out there, and always come home to your families, so that you can go back out tomorrow.

Posted in Written Entries | No Comments »

18. February 2010 by [JP].

Ok, pretty much have it perfected at this point.
So here we go.

First, you need the chicken. If you’re in a rush, get a roasted or rotisserie whole chicken from the grocery store. De-bone it and either shred it or cut it up into small chunks. Discard the skin and bones.
If you have the time, then instead get about a pound and a half of boneless chicken tenderloin, season them with spices, boil them till fully cooked, then drain all but about 1/4 cup of the remaining stock. Then shred the cooked chicken and let it sit in the stock until you’re ready to cook the filling.

You need:
2 15 oz cans of green chili enchilada sauce
1 small can of green chilis
1 small to medium can of green chili strips
1 onion, diced.
1 16oz tub of sour cream
Shredded or cubed chicken
1/4 cup of chicken stock (or water with a chicken cube)
2 tbsp of butter or oil
1 doz medium sized (6 inch diameter) corn tortillas, as fresh as you can get.
About 6 cups of shredded cheese. I use a mix of sharp chedder and queso blanco, but you can use any cheese you want. The mexican or fiesta blend of shredded cheese at the store works well.

In a saucepan or skillet over high heat, melt the butter or pour the oil in. Put the onion in, and fry until the onion is translucent and starting to brown, stirring frequently. Then add the chopped green chili, and continue to stir. Pour in the chicken stock and one can of enchilada sauce, and bring to a bubbling boil. Add the chicken and stir and reduce heat to medium, and let simmer for 10 minutes, stirring to keep the bottom from burning.
If you’re using a skillet, then transfer the chicken mixture to a bowl. If you’re using the saucepan, then just keep it warm.

In a skillet, mix remaining green chili sauce, strips of green chili, and sour cream over medium high heat. Stir until blended, and remove from heat.

Dip a tortilla into the sauce, coating both sides. Put on a oven-safe plate, put a small amount of cheese down the center, add 2 spoonfuls of the chicken filling, then roll. Continue with all tortillas, then pour remainder of sauce on top, top with cheese, and bake, uncovered for 10 minutes.

Posted in Recipes, Written Entries | No Comments »

7. February 2010 by [JP].

I suddenly awoke. I rubbed by eyes and blinked a few times.
It was pitch dark and cold. I pretty quickly realized I was in my own bed, in my own room, alone. Beyond that, I knew nothing.
There was a slight glow coming from my left, as my CLIQ was plugged in, but upside down. I picked it up, and typed a motoblur update for my twitter, facebook, and myspace. Halfway thru it, i saw the time in the corner. 12:55 am. Not sure which day though, although I assumed sunday morning. I had 4 missed text messages, and about 9 missed emails from various accounts, none of them anything I wanted to know about.
I got up, and come to the laptop, wearing a tank top and boxers. Its probably 50 degrees in the front room, so that wasnt too good of an idea.
I sipped powerade zero, then went and put on the clothes on top of the stack.
I slowly pieced together what i remembered. I remembered not sleeping at all last night. I remembered showering and going to the charity thing. I remembered I had a work order after it, to go assist another unit in the next county over as they worked on restoring the backup to the power unit at a critical goverment building.
I checked my email including a report on that work order, the other employee had found the problem early, a lack of fuel in 2 generators, and had corrected the problem, cancelling me. I dont know if I even got the cancel message before i slept.
My black dress shirt, black tie, and black pants were on the back of the chair.
I had one black sock on, and the other was on the box i use as a night stand.
I went back out to my computer, and found messages from Julia and Amy. Found out who the medics were involved in the crash, confirmed the one I thought was involved, and found out a second one I had worked with previously was also involved.
Responded to some messages on facebook.
I went outside and got my cap, and put it on, to tame my hair, which was pretty much doing a Don King impression.
Hmm, what is this in my pocket? Oh, its an albertsons fundraising key tag for the Children’s Grief Center. Probably from earlier today.
Oh, yes. I wore a tie.
I made several failed blurry attempts to take a picture of said tie.
Heres one that almost worked.

No. I dont smile much lately. Especially when the picture is taken a few seconds AFTER i expected it to be taken.
Ok, now that I’m more aware of what time it is, and when, I think i’m going to get something to eat. And probably drive around the cold, dark, silent city for a while.
Alone. As usual.

Posted in Written Entries | No Comments »

5. February 2010 by [JP].

I’m flipped around again. Slept all day. Awake all night.
And dang, I have to be at the thing tomorrow at 11. And i have to tie a tie in the morning, so I need to be semi-functional.

I slept part of the night, woke up at 2, screwed around on the computer. Woke up at 4, felt cold and in pain, and decided that staying in bed was better then going to the cold living room and looking for meds.
Was woken up at 8:03 by my doctor, who decided she wanted that chem20 done RIGHT NOW. Managed to get to the lab right before they opened at 8:30, got stabbed, came home, went back to sleep. Phone got left in the car. Bahahaha. Missed a few phone calls and emails. Oh well.
Got back up about 5pm. Responded to said calls and emails.
Took meds.
Ate a yogurt.
Went to get fuel.
Tossed some black clothes + my good black pants, and my black dress shirt in the hamper. I’ll go to the 24 hour laundry at some point tonight and wash them, and iron them when I get home… i wonder where my iron is.
Went to starbucks to do paperwork. An hour later, still there, no paperwork done, but deleted 56 applications off my facebook that I never use.
Planning on a cheeseburger on the way home. MMM.
I’m on call tonight, 9pm-9am. Probably NOT going to help with my schedule.
Few interesting emails of the social variety that I need to respond to.
And I have paperwork i’m still avoiding. Wont hear the results of the blood test till monday, but i’m in El Paso on monday for court.

Posted in Written Entries | No Comments »

3. February 2010 by [JP].

A trained investigator is a poor choice of customers to attempt to rip off.
I’m just pointing that out, just in case.

Arrived at the bar at 9pm.
Drank one draft beer at the bar. 4.75
Ordered a second draft beer and proceeded to kick my own ass at pool, 3 games in a row. 4.75
Ordered a mixed drink, 4.25
Slammed said mixed drink, then played 3 additional rounds of pool.
At about 10pm, decided I had enough punishment at my own lack of pool skills.
Sat back at the bar, ordered another draft beer, 4.75 which I drank slowly.
Ordered two shots of Baileys over ice, 5.25 each, total of 10.50 and closed out my tab. Tab was total of 28.75

Ordered a third shot of Baileys, paid for it with my change, and added some cash as a tip.

At this point, I had a zero tab.

Went to the car for additional cash, with the intend on purchasing two additional shots.
Ordered ONE additional shot of Bailey’s. 5.25
Recieved 9.50 in change.

See the problem here?

I called him out on it, and he paid me the 5.25 from his tip bucket.
Which was a pretty big indicator that he had in fact tried to rip me off, rather then made an accounting error or overcharged me accidentally.

I’m going to go discuss his poor judgement with his boss tomorrow. The only thing that sucks, is this is one of two bars in Albuquerque that I actually LIKE, and the other one is loud, expensive, and way too yuppie for me in general. So, this may actually affect me more then I want it to, but oh well. Its the right thing.
Besides, I only drink like once every few months anyway.

BTW, heres the calculation that I did to determine how intoxicated I was by the end of the night.
First 90 minutes, I consumed 3 standard drinks. At 190 pounds, my BAC was probably in the .07 to .08 range. I was legally drunk. (And I could feel it, mostly in my lousy pool shots)
Second 60 minutes, I consumed 4 additional standard drinks. This probably brought my BAC to a peak of .12 to .15
Well over the legal limit. Which was probably what he was counting on, for me not to notice him ripping me off.

Too bad for him, i’m very observant, even under the influance of alcohol.

A shitty pool player… good thing I wasnt playing anyone else…

But still observant enough to know when something isnt right.

Ironic for him, i probably would have tipped him at least 5 or 6 additional bucks or more when I was done, so he made less money then if he was honest.

Posted in Written Entries | No Comments »

16. January 2010 by [JP].

Made this the other night, and it turned out pretty well, so I figured i’d post the recipe up.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Recipes, Written Entries | No Comments »

6. January 2010 by [JP].

Pill on the left is Trental. Pill on the right is Lopid.

I just got my lopid filled. I was about to take two of them (Twice the normal dose, as per my doctor, since i hadnt taken my morning one yet.)
The pills seemed a little smaller then usual, so I checked the stamps on drugs.com. Needless to say i was just a little surprised at the results.
Instead of 60 pills of lopid, i had 60 pills of Trental.
Trental is a powerful blood thinner in an extended release form.
Two pills of Trental would have been very very bad normally, and potentially deadly if I had cut myself or bruised myself.

Lesson here is simple.
If you take medication on a regular basis, become very familiar with the pills, including size, shape, and any markings the pills have. If you get pills that you think arent the same as usual, look them up to confirm. Best case scenario is that the pharmacy is using a new company, and the new pills are correct. Worse case is what happened to me, completely wrong pills were accidentally substituted for my normal prescription in a pharmacy error.

Posted in Written Entries | No Comments »

13. December 2009 by [JP].

I crossposted the first few entries from my online journal for the November journal writing month thing.

Then I got bored.

Meh. I do that. The bored part, that is.

Here are a few random things worth mentioning from the last two weeks:

I smell kinda citrusy.

Apparently, Axe makes a bodyspray/odorant in the lime flavor that I like as a body wash. Trying it. I duno if I want to smell THIS limey.
I’ll have to find a chick and get an opinion.

My mother has informed me she doesnt like my usual leathery spicy smell. Mostly after i drenched my brother in it.
It was an improvement. Normally, he’s drenched in teen-boy-sparkly body sprays that his retarded friends give him.

No, really, they’re retarded.

Well some of them.

Others are physically disabled, rather then mentally.

Um.
My life is currently boring.
I’m in Albuquerque.
I have cheddar bratwurst.
I rented “Catch me if you can” and “the taking of pelham 123″
I watched the first one.
I think i’m going to bed now, and i’ll watch the second one when i wake up.
I went to walmart.
I cleaned my bathroom.
I bought all the grape powerade zero they had.
Yeah.
My life is boring.
I had tuna mac and cheese for breakfast.
Yes, yes yes. I know. I’m a single guy living alone, what did you expect?
At least i didnt wash it down with beer.
Speaking of washing, i need to go wash the salt off the top of the jeep.
Someone knocked on my door when i poured a mouthful of sprinkles in my mouth… i hid the bowl in the couch.
I miss working EMS full time. I actually got excited for a minor trauma last night (Girl went off the road and hit a tree. She was ok, she walked to her dad’s house 1/2 mile away and called 911)
I need to check weather reports down in El Paso next week.
I have a strange craving for soft, warm, chocolate chip cookies.
With sprinkles.
I need to go brush my teeth now.
I’m getting annoyed that the check from the Denver company is STILL not here. I’m giving them till the end of the week, and i’ll have a corporate attorney send them a strongly worded letter, telling them i’ll haul their asses into court down here and make them pay a crapload of additional charges.
The lawyer has to pay their keep somehow, right?

Ha. My email worked. They claim that their end client was slow in paying them, however, my check should be processed/mailed, and i should get it soon.
Lets see how true that is.

Time to go wash the truck now.
I kinda want to go spend some time in the mountains, i may go do that now.
Wish i had someone to go with me though.

I spent most of my day flashing POS terminals at Arby’s.
Oh, and an hour at the CGC looking at a broken computer and doing some random things they needed.
Its a good thing its winter. I need to be wearing long sleeve shirts.
The xanhomas on my arm are really bad, especially on the right arm.
They’re even clustering up around the elbow, which really sucks, because imagine how much pressure you put on your elbow on a regular basis.

I’ve decided that i’m sick and tired of living with the pain.
No, not the emotional pain. I cant get rid of that with a pill.
However, the sheer amount of physical pain i’m in on a regular basis has gotten to be unbearable. Im fed up with laying in bed all night, trying to close my eyes, trying to breathe deeply, trying to ignore the overall soreness from head to toe, especially trying not to wince or cry out whenever i brush my elbow against something, or hit my knee on something.

I’m finally going to listen to my doctor, my dad, and my friends, who have said that I should start taking something when the pain is at its worst.

I refuse still to take the hard stuff that i have scripts for. No vicodin or percocets, because dispite the pain that i have, i refuse to take anything that addictive long term. I’m NOT getting hooked on pills. And I know, you cant get addicted if you’re using them for their intended purpose, but I refuse to take the chance.

I had my doctor write me a script for a less powerful, synthetic narcotic, and i’m trying to stick to the minimum dose, and not take it unless i absolutely need it.

The last two nights, not only did i take twice the dose that i should have, but the pain still broke thru it a few times… plus, with that high of a dose, theres other side effects… dizzyness, the feeling of being high, light headedness, anxiety, and i just couldnt sleep at all last night.

You know what I need, more then I need pain pills?

I need someone to scratch my back and put me to sleep, a warm body to curl up next to.

I found a webcomic i like.
I read A LOT of it last night, after taking pain pills, and it was pretty awesome.
It rather reminded me of my life.
I was hoping it was still awesome today before the meds, and it was.
I finished reading all of it thru the most recent one today, and now i want MOAR.
Its called Questionable Content

Its funny.

I lol’d.
The plan was to go to El Paso today.
I had one of my part timer employees cover the Children’s Grief Center job I had planned for monday, and left a message with the mail box lady to forward the check I was expecting.

I fell asleep last night around 2, and got up today around noon. Made food, watched an episode of COPS, then an episode of Emergency!. My joints were all swollen and painful, so I took a Motrin for the swelling, and a Tramadol for the pain, and lay down on the couch… and next thing I know, sirens were waking me up around 6 pm.
I could leave now, but i’d get in around 10 or 11, and I dont really want to drive during the night time, especially with the cold weather and the wind. I’ll leave tomorrow during the daytime, probably after 1pm, so I can grab the check if its there.

Speaking of checks, the Denver company said they generated the check on monday and mailed it, so it supposedly left with tuesday’s mail.
Denver to Albuquerque shouldnt have taken more then 3 days even at first class mail, so the fact that it wasnt there friday or saturday is making me rather mad at them still.
I’m not hurting for the money, the only bill i need to pay is my cell phone bill (And renew OD) and my regular check that should be here tomorrow will more then cover those, but i’m just annoyed that its taking this freaking long to get paid for work that i did just about 2 months ago.

Oh crap, need to charge my phone, 9% battery remaining. It was at 38% when i woke up, but i wasnt worried, since i was going to plug it in the car on the drive to El Paso. I think i packed my charger though, i need to look for it.

Edit: From the wind outside, i think i made the right choice in not driving back tonight. I checked the weather channel website, and its pretty windy the whole way down, and i hate driving in the wind, especially at night.

Edit2: I think its totally awesome how many of you have started reading Questionable Content now. I think its awesome, i’ve gone thru all the strips in the last few days. I highly recommend it.

Posted in Written Entries | No Comments »

24. November 2009 by [JP].

Really?

No.

Especially when it comes to clothes.

I had someone tell me they cant figure out what to get me.

Um.

Seriously?

Its simple.

Since my wardrobe is pretty much alot of the same thing.

Lets review.

I. Shirts.
I wear T-shirts. Nearly all the time. T-shirts.
No pocket, normal collar, solid color, no logo. *(See important exception below)
Black. Dark blue. Black. Dark colors. Occasionally random bright colors like yellow, bright blue, and orange to change things up a bit.
Sometimes, long sleeve t-shirts of the same description.
When its colder, long sleeve henleys and sweaters that match the above requirements. 3 buttons max.
For work, Its a solid color polo shirt. Black. Blue. Orange. Grey/orange/yellow with the company logo.

II. Pants.
My pants fall under 3 very ridged catagories.
1. Work pants: Dickies brand. Work, Multi-pocket, Cargo. Black or Navy Blue. Period.
2. Not Work pants: Same as above, just occasionally other colors such as khaki, grey or tan may appear.
OR: Propper brand EMS pants. Black. I have 3 pairs, all of them from my EMS days, all of them well worn and very comfortable. With a nametag sewn on the butt above the pocket. (Its a tactical thing, dont ask)
3. Shorts: Dickies brand as well. Cargo or multi-pocket. Pretty much every color they make, including orange.

III. Exceptions.
1. Pretty much anything that Scottevest makes. Mostly because their clothes matches my requirements, and adds a crapload of pockets that arent too noticeable. And their shirts come in black. I’ll pretty much love anything with their logo. Except the women’s jackets and vest. They dont fit my figure.
2. T-shirts with snarky or sarcastic sayings or logos. This is when I need to dress casual.
3. When its cold, my two light jackets are both Scottevest brand. Hoodie and fleece pullover. I will never get another type.
4. When its really cold, my EMS flight jacket. Because its warm as heck. And looks cool. And its not black, so i dont look trendy.

So see. I’m easy to find clothes for. Go to Walmart and buy me t-shirts and work pants. Or spend some good money and get me something with a Scottevest label. Preferably in black.

The end.

Posted in Written Entries | No Comments »

4. November 2009 by [JP].

So. My mother leaves junk in the front hallway. Dark colored junk in black trash bags. And then turns off the light.
So when I trip on it, damn near dislocate at least 3 joints, jam my right hand, and now my knee is twice the size it should be, its MY fault?
And i’m in trouble for “making so much noise and yelling” that i’m going to wake the kid? (who, mind you, is 30 feet away behind a closed door, and sleeps pretty damn soundly, usually.

S Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Written Entries | No Comments »