I've been toying around with this book for the last couple of years. Whenever I am not doing anything else, I dig it out and add to it. I am about 10,000 words into it so far, but I am not too sure where to go now. My first impulse is to create it's own BLOG and just put it out there as it gets done, but it needs some rewriting to get it into some kind of publishable format. I mean, right now it is one long chapter. I will probably take some time this next week to write on it, but do I go back and revise what is already there to format it into chapters, or pick up the trail and just see where it takes me. Right now it doesn't really have a destination, I'm just taking the journey as it comes.
We just got V.s progress report for the new semester, so it looks like I won't have to be fighting him over the use of the computer, as he is getting two F's. The little shits IQ is probably about 140, but he can't seem to get it applied to anything but Gaming.
I am sure looking forward to a week on the Coast without any kids, just Mrs. A. and I.
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Friday, February 17, 2006
1955
Comments made in the year 1955:
"I'll tell you one thing, if things keep going the way they are, it's going to be impossible to buy a week's groceries for $20."
"Have you seen the new cars coming out next year? It won't be long before $2000 will only buy a used one."
"If cigarettes keep going up in price, I'm going to quit. A quarter a pack is ridiculous."
"Did you hear the post office is thinking about charging four cents just to mail a letter?"
"If they raise the minimum wage to $1, nobody will be able to hire outside help at the store."
"When I first started driving, who would have thought gas would someday cost 29 cents a gallon. Guess we'd be better off leaving the car in the garage."
"Kids today are impossible. Those duck tail hair cuts make it impossible to stay groomed. Next thing you know, boys will be wearing their hair as long as the girls."
"I'm afraid to send my kids to the movies any more. Ever since they let Clark Gable get by with saying 'damn' in 'Gone With The Wind,' it seems every new movie has either "hell" or "damn" in it.
"I read the other day where some scientist thinks it's possible to put a man on the moon by the end of the century They even have some fellows they call astronauts preparing for it down in Texas."
"Did you see where some baseball player just signed a contract for $75,000 a year just to play ball? It wouldn't surprise me if someday they'll be making more than the president."
"I never thought I'd see the day all our kitchen appliances would be electric. They are even making electric typewriters now."
"It's too bad things are so tough nowadays. I see where a few married women are having to work to make ends meet."
"It won't be long before young couples are going to have to hire someone to watch their kids so they can both work."
"Marriage doesn't mean a thing any more; those Hollywood stars seem to be getting divorced at the drop of a hat."
"I'm just afraid the Volkswagen car is going to open the door to a whole lot of foreign business."
"Thank goodness I won't live to see the day when the Government takes half our income in taxes. I sometimes wonder if we are electing the best people to congress."
"The drive-in restaurant is convenient in nice weather, but I seriously doubt they will ever catch on."
"There is no sense going to Lincoln or Omaha anymore for a weekend. It costs nearly $15 a night to stay in a hotel."
"No one can afford to be sick any more; $35 a day in the hospital is too rich for my blood."
"If they think I'll pay $1.50 for a hair cut, forget it."
"I'll tell you one thing, if things keep going the way they are, it's going to be impossible to buy a week's groceries for $20."
"Have you seen the new cars coming out next year? It won't be long before $2000 will only buy a used one."
"If cigarettes keep going up in price, I'm going to quit. A quarter a pack is ridiculous."
"Did you hear the post office is thinking about charging four cents just to mail a letter?"
"If they raise the minimum wage to $1, nobody will be able to hire outside help at the store."
"When I first started driving, who would have thought gas would someday cost 29 cents a gallon. Guess we'd be better off leaving the car in the garage."
"Kids today are impossible. Those duck tail hair cuts make it impossible to stay groomed. Next thing you know, boys will be wearing their hair as long as the girls."
"I'm afraid to send my kids to the movies any more. Ever since they let Clark Gable get by with saying 'damn' in 'Gone With The Wind,' it seems every new movie has either "hell" or "damn" in it.
"I read the other day where some scientist thinks it's possible to put a man on the moon by the end of the century They even have some fellows they call astronauts preparing for it down in Texas."
"Did you see where some baseball player just signed a contract for $75,000 a year just to play ball? It wouldn't surprise me if someday they'll be making more than the president."
"I never thought I'd see the day all our kitchen appliances would be electric. They are even making electric typewriters now."
"It's too bad things are so tough nowadays. I see where a few married women are having to work to make ends meet."
"It won't be long before young couples are going to have to hire someone to watch their kids so they can both work."
"Marriage doesn't mean a thing any more; those Hollywood stars seem to be getting divorced at the drop of a hat."
"I'm just afraid the Volkswagen car is going to open the door to a whole lot of foreign business."
"Thank goodness I won't live to see the day when the Government takes half our income in taxes. I sometimes wonder if we are electing the best people to congress."
"The drive-in restaurant is convenient in nice weather, but I seriously doubt they will ever catch on."
"There is no sense going to Lincoln or Omaha anymore for a weekend. It costs nearly $15 a night to stay in a hotel."
"No one can afford to be sick any more; $35 a day in the hospital is too rich for my blood."
"If they think I'll pay $1.50 for a hair cut, forget it."
VACATION!
We are taking a week to go to our time share condo on the Oregon Coast. We really need the time away. V. is going to stay with his dad, and Molly is going to stay with L. Mrs A. would really like to take Molly along, but the condo doesn't allow pets, children excepted. I would rather that they allowed pets and banned kids, but that's a different story.
No internet connections and the phones go through a central switchboard, so unless I go looking for a connection in town, no blogging for a week! Hopefully the weather won't be freezing ass cold so we can go for nice long romantic walks on the beach. The hike on the Tillamook Spit is 4.2 miles from the parking lot to the tip of the spit, so say 8.5 mile by the time you wander around a little. A good mid-winter excursion, as long as it isn't TOO cold.
No internet connections and the phones go through a central switchboard, so unless I go looking for a connection in town, no blogging for a week! Hopefully the weather won't be freezing ass cold so we can go for nice long romantic walks on the beach. The hike on the Tillamook Spit is 4.2 miles from the parking lot to the tip of the spit, so say 8.5 mile by the time you wander around a little. A good mid-winter excursion, as long as it isn't TOO cold.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Fun and frolic in the Dentists chair.
I was out yesterday with another Dental situation. As I whined last week, I had two root canals done on the same day. Well, root canal #2 went south on me. It seems that 60% of all people have only two nerves in #2 molar, 40% have a third nerve, and 20% have a fourth. You can probably guess which in I am. So they went in last Thursday and took out two nerves, but the side of my face swole up Tuesday and kept me up most of the night. I went in yesterday, and they spent a couple of hours looking around and located the other two, pulled out the nerves, but they couldn't fill the tooth because the canals are draining. Consequently I am sittin here with this enormous hole in my tooth which is open so that it can drain. They have me on a couple of antibiotics and Percocet.
On a different note, I gave away all my brewing equipment . I had made my own micro-brew for about ten years, It was every bit as good as the commercially available stuff. Even better, since I could tailor it specifically to my tastes. I was having trouble keeping my blood sugar under control, so the doc revised my medication, and added Metformin. The bad thing about Metformin is that I can't drink beer with it. A couple of beers, and two hours later it is killer heartburn. Nothing seems to help much, so the only alternative is (a gasp from the crowd), give up drinking beer altogether. I had a lot of fun making my own beer, but if I wasn't going to be using the equipment, someone else should. So I gave it all away.
On a different note, I gave away all my brewing equipment . I had made my own micro-brew for about ten years, It was every bit as good as the commercially available stuff. Even better, since I could tailor it specifically to my tastes. I was having trouble keeping my blood sugar under control, so the doc revised my medication, and added Metformin. The bad thing about Metformin is that I can't drink beer with it. A couple of beers, and two hours later it is killer heartburn. Nothing seems to help much, so the only alternative is (a gasp from the crowd), give up drinking beer altogether. I had a lot of fun making my own beer, but if I wasn't going to be using the equipment, someone else should. So I gave it all away.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Valentines Day
So today is Valentines day. Happy VD to all of you. This is a special day around the A. house, because it is the anniversary of our engagement as well as Valentines day, sort of.
Mrs A and I were getting really serious about each other. In fact we were moving some of her furniture up to my place. When we had carried her vanity into the house, I glanced around, and something didn't look right.
The VCR was missing. Then things began to pop out at me: the X box and all the games, my laptop. A cigarette ground in to the linoleum. So they hit me for over $10,000. I ran upstairs to check and my heart hit my heels.
I had spent many hours shopping for the perfect engagement ring (and I hate shopping). I think I had looked at every nice ring in the south end of Seattle. I finally found a virtually perfect 3/4 carat diamond with Ruby side stones. The cost was over #5,000, and it was gone.
Mrs A. had no idea I had purchased the ring. The first she knew about it was when she was sitting on the couch next to me as I gave the police my report on what was taken. You could have floored her when I reported the theft. It took a second to set in, but all the sudden her eyes got real big as she turned to me and asked "For me?".
Since I had not had time to call my insurance company, the ring was not specifically covered on my home owners. When the police left I set in motion a series of events that ranged from semi-legal to downright criminal, the result of which was that I recovered the ring. When I got it back
I asked Mrs A. if she wanted to see it, so she said yes. I showed her the ring, and went and put it away.
A couple of hours later I noticed that it was mighty quiet and I hadn't seen Mrs A. in a while, so I went looking for her. The house is 2850 Sq Ft, on three floors, so you can actually be there at the same time and not see each other for a quite a while.
I found her upstairs in the bed room, with the ring on her finger, tears running down her face. She said "I'm sorry dear, I can't help worrying about the ring." So I told her "Yeah, I figure that the safest place in the world for that ring right now is on your finger, so you just keep it there for now." I did not propose, but she knew it was coming.
For Valentine's Day we went to the Lake Quinault Lodge on the Olympic Peninsula for the weekend, where I asked her to remove the ring. I didn't immediately propose, but just put the ring in my pocket, and we went to dinner (this was on Friday night). I kept her guessing all weekend, finally did the formal one knee down "Will you marry me?" on Sunday morning after breakfast.
Mrs A and I were getting really serious about each other. In fact we were moving some of her furniture up to my place. When we had carried her vanity into the house, I glanced around, and something didn't look right.
The VCR was missing. Then things began to pop out at me: the X box and all the games, my laptop. A cigarette ground in to the linoleum. So they hit me for over $10,000. I ran upstairs to check and my heart hit my heels.
I had spent many hours shopping for the perfect engagement ring (and I hate shopping). I think I had looked at every nice ring in the south end of Seattle. I finally found a virtually perfect 3/4 carat diamond with Ruby side stones. The cost was over #5,000, and it was gone.
Mrs A. had no idea I had purchased the ring. The first she knew about it was when she was sitting on the couch next to me as I gave the police my report on what was taken. You could have floored her when I reported the theft. It took a second to set in, but all the sudden her eyes got real big as she turned to me and asked "For me?".
Since I had not had time to call my insurance company, the ring was not specifically covered on my home owners. When the police left I set in motion a series of events that ranged from semi-legal to downright criminal, the result of which was that I recovered the ring. When I got it back
I asked Mrs A. if she wanted to see it, so she said yes. I showed her the ring, and went and put it away.
A couple of hours later I noticed that it was mighty quiet and I hadn't seen Mrs A. in a while, so I went looking for her. The house is 2850 Sq Ft, on three floors, so you can actually be there at the same time and not see each other for a quite a while.
I found her upstairs in the bed room, with the ring on her finger, tears running down her face. She said "I'm sorry dear, I can't help worrying about the ring." So I told her "Yeah, I figure that the safest place in the world for that ring right now is on your finger, so you just keep it there for now." I did not propose, but she knew it was coming.
For Valentine's Day we went to the Lake Quinault Lodge on the Olympic Peninsula for the weekend, where I asked her to remove the ring. I didn't immediately propose, but just put the ring in my pocket, and we went to dinner (this was on Friday night). I kept her guessing all weekend, finally did the formal one knee down "Will you marry me?" on Sunday morning after breakfast.
| Your Candy Heart Says "Cutie Pie" |
 You always seem to have a hot date, even though you never try to meet anyone. A total charmer, you have a natural appeal that keeps you in high demand. Your ideal Valentine's Day date: multiple dates with multiple people Your flirting style: 100% natural What turns you off: serious relationship talks Why you're hot: you're totally addicting |
Monday, February 13, 2006
Anticipatin'
We are going down the Oregon Coast next week, to our Time Share Condo at Rockaway Beach for some much needed R & R. Just Mrs A. and I. We are dumping off V. since he is out of school for the week for late-winter-early-spring,-if-I-have-to-be-cooped-up-with-these kids-for-one- more-day-I-will-go-postal Teacher's Break. I don't much care what the weather does, we just need a little time to ourselves.
Friday, February 10, 2006
Double Dippin'
So, I thought I was going in for a quick dental repair yesterday. Part of a dental bridge had come loose, and I was to come in so they could pop it loose, clean it up, and glue it back on. Wrong.
When they took it off, they found a rotten tooth underneath. The dentist handed me a mirror and let me watch as he used a dental tool to scrape what was left of the tooth away. It was about the consistency of half dried clay. So he had to do a root canal, insert a post, do a build-up, and put everything back together.
I woke up yesterday with the side of my face swollen yesterday. It kept real good time with my heartbeat, so I figured something was going on over there. Well, Root Canal number Two. Yeah, two in one day. Does Al know how to have fun or what? Ends up I was in the dental chair for six hours yesterday.
Al least I ended up with two prescriptions for Percocet. If I take one, I can still function, although it does take some concentration to get anything done. If I take two like the prescription says, you might just as well prop me in the corner and leave me alone, 'cuz there ain't nothin' gettin' done.
When they took it off, they found a rotten tooth underneath. The dentist handed me a mirror and let me watch as he used a dental tool to scrape what was left of the tooth away. It was about the consistency of half dried clay. So he had to do a root canal, insert a post, do a build-up, and put everything back together.
I woke up yesterday with the side of my face swollen yesterday. It kept real good time with my heartbeat, so I figured something was going on over there. Well, Root Canal number Two. Yeah, two in one day. Does Al know how to have fun or what? Ends up I was in the dental chair for six hours yesterday.
Al least I ended up with two prescriptions for Percocet. If I take one, I can still function, although it does take some concentration to get anything done. If I take two like the prescription says, you might just as well prop me in the corner and leave me alone, 'cuz there ain't nothin' gettin' done.
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Playing hookey
The sun is shining for the THIRD day in a row. Probably some kind of a record for Seattle in February. I have a dental appointment at 10:30, so I decided to just bag the whole work thing today. You know, I have an eye problem....can't see going to work today. I have a ballance problem....I can't stand going to work today. It's payday today, the sun is shining and I'm not going to work. Life is good. No telling what kind of trouble I will get in!
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Useless information
It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for amonth after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because theircalendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month ... which we know today as the honeymoon.
And NO!!! I was not there at the time!
And NO!!! I was not there at the time!
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Sunshine at last!
The sun came out yesterday. What a beautiful day! I actually got to go out and play with the "Z". 280 Zs are noted for their electrical challenges. I have been chasing one electrical problem after another ever since I got the car. Currently, I just replaced the alternator (third in two years), and I think the battery has gone bad fro being drained flat and recharged so many times. Also their is a problem with the lights that I haven;t quite figured out yet. For no explicable reason, they will turn off while I am driving down the road. All I have to do is turn them off and back on, but no telling how long they will stay on. I think that tonight after work I will go out and tear the whole switch mechanism apart and tweak it all. It has to be something simple and mechanical. I suspect the ground is not maintaining contact with the ground bar on the steering column, but won't know for sure until I tear it apart. If it wasn't so beautiful and so much fun to drive I would dump it and get something a little more reliable.
Monday, February 06, 2006
Different Tack
So I am off in a different direction now, since I didn't like where the recent posts had taken me. Don't know where I go from here, but definitely enough death for a while. Funny how something you see or hear will take you off on a journey you never intended. It's like what Bilbo says about roads being dangerous things, because once you set out on them, no telling where you might wind up.
So the Seahawks lost to The Steelers and the officials yesterday. If you take into account the touchdown that the officials took away from the Seahawks for offensive pass interference (NO WAY!!!) and discount the gift of a touchdown that never happened to Pittsburgh, the game was a dead heat, but it's hard to beat the other team and the officials both. Hey. At least we got invited to the big dance!
So the Seahawks lost to The Steelers and the officials yesterday. If you take into account the touchdown that the officials took away from the Seahawks for offensive pass interference (NO WAY!!!) and discount the gift of a touchdown that never happened to Pittsburgh, the game was a dead heat, but it's hard to beat the other team and the officials both. Hey. At least we got invited to the big dance!
Friday, February 03, 2006
Looking Death in the EYE III
When I was writing up yesterdays post, my heart rate went WAY up, I started sweating, and my hands started shaking. I mean, I was THERE and the memories were getting way too real. I had a nightmare last night, so I think after one more post I will change the subject.
When I was 12 or 13 a friend and I discovered some berry bushes and a cherry tree tucked back in a little patch of woods in South Seattle. The only building on the property was an old tumbled down shed, which was covered in Boyseneberry bushes. We would stop by for a snack every once in a while when things were ripe.
The cherry tree was a big bing cherry and it must have been 40 feet tall. It had not been taken care of in years, but it produced a good crop.
My buddy and I were sitting up in the cherry tree snack ing away, when we heard a voice from below "what do you boys think you are doing?"
Now, I have to admit I am not the most timid of creatures, and more often than not, my mouth gets me into trouble. There was a 50ish smallish man at to foot of the tree looking up at us.
"What's it look like, we're building a boat or something?"
"You boys should get down from there and go away"
"Is this your cherry tree? Do you own this property?"
"No, I just keep an eye on it for the owners."
"Well we aren't hurting anything, just eating a few cherries."
"YOU NEED TO LEAVE NOW!!!!"
The little man reaches under his arm and pulls out what appears to be a .45 Army Colt, cocks it and points it at my head.
This was the first time I had met a genuine maniac. I really believe he was capable of pulling the trigger. The hole in the end of that pistol looked like a huge eye, and when the pupil dilated it would cough up death. I didn't need to be encouraged any further, I got the hell out of there.
We found out where the nasty little man lived. He had a cherry tree in his yard that had a "Y" in it about 6' up and it was partly rotten down the center.
I read later in the paper that some juvenile delinquents had poured gasoline in that hollow and set it on fire.
When I was 12 or 13 a friend and I discovered some berry bushes and a cherry tree tucked back in a little patch of woods in South Seattle. The only building on the property was an old tumbled down shed, which was covered in Boyseneberry bushes. We would stop by for a snack every once in a while when things were ripe.
The cherry tree was a big bing cherry and it must have been 40 feet tall. It had not been taken care of in years, but it produced a good crop.
My buddy and I were sitting up in the cherry tree snack ing away, when we heard a voice from below "what do you boys think you are doing?"
Now, I have to admit I am not the most timid of creatures, and more often than not, my mouth gets me into trouble. There was a 50ish smallish man at to foot of the tree looking up at us.
"What's it look like, we're building a boat or something?"
"You boys should get down from there and go away"
"Is this your cherry tree? Do you own this property?"
"No, I just keep an eye on it for the owners."
"Well we aren't hurting anything, just eating a few cherries."
"YOU NEED TO LEAVE NOW!!!!"
The little man reaches under his arm and pulls out what appears to be a .45 Army Colt, cocks it and points it at my head.
This was the first time I had met a genuine maniac. I really believe he was capable of pulling the trigger. The hole in the end of that pistol looked like a huge eye, and when the pupil dilated it would cough up death. I didn't need to be encouraged any further, I got the hell out of there.
We found out where the nasty little man lived. He had a cherry tree in his yard that had a "Y" in it about 6' up and it was partly rotten down the center.
I read later in the paper that some juvenile delinquents had poured gasoline in that hollow and set it on fire.
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Looking Death in the eye II
I was a staff member on the locked Psychiatric Ward in the Hospital at Camp Kue, so going to work started with unlocking the big steel door. After being run over by patients attempting to escape a couple of times, I learned to check close before opening the door. The guy that had held my job before me had been killed by a patient. My first duty when I took the job was to interview the patient. I asked him why he had done it, and he told me "I was convinced that he was going to kill me, so I acted out of self defense." It made perfect internal sense to him. He wasn't a bad guy once we had him properly medicated.
Paranoid/schizophrenic are the ones that are hard to deal with. Most psychotics are in such pain that they are non-functional. Add a little thorazine on top of that, and they are incapable of forming a complex thought, much less a plan.
T. was and Air Force enlisted man, who had a history of behavior problems. His Commanding Officer had had it with his disruptive behavior, so he gave him the most boring, isolated assignment he could think of. They gave him a loaded M16 and set him out guarding the perimeter of Kadena Air Force Base. After one too many joints, he decided that there were people out in the bushed, so he shot up the surrounding jungle. Luckily no one was hurt, but it earned him a trip to a padded room.
T was hard to control. Medications didn't seem to have a great effect on him, and he wanted what the wanted, and to hell with anyone who got in his way.
when I came in one morning he was in full rant. He wanted to go downstairs to the day room and play pool. "No T., you are not ready to go out there yet." So he picks up a trash can and throws it across the ward, and says "Now can I go play pool?" "No T., as long as you display this kind of behavior, you will not be allowed out".
So T. Picks up a chair and throws it into a window. Of course the windows were all security glass, with the chicken wire built in, so he busts up the window, but no big harm done "NOW CAN I GO PLAY POOL?". "No T. In fact you need to go spend some time in the padded room".
So when we went to put him in restraints, he ran to the back of the ward where his bed was and pulls out a 12" diving knife and says "You ain't putting me in there, I'll kill you all first".
We had a special number to call if things got out of hand, and a bunch of combat Vetran NCO's were supposed to come up and handle the situation. So they come upstairs and I let them into the ward and explain the situation. They look around the corner and here is this wild eyed guy standing in the middle of the floor waving a knife around. The staff is frantically getting everyone else out of the room and into a safe place. The "goon Squad" as we called them refused to go into the room.
One of the other Psych techs and I discussed what we were going to do. Since no one else seemed willing to do anything, we decided we had to. We came up with our plan and just did it.
We made an agreement, B. Would go for control of the patient, and I would make sure the knife was controlled.
We grabbed a mattress off of one of the beds. He held one end and I held the other. We rushed T. And just kept on pushing him backwards until we backed him into the wall, and pinned him there. While I grabbed the hand holding the knife, B. Grabbed T. Around the neck and choked the shit out of him. He choked him until he passed out, and I relieved him of the knife. When he would start to come to, B. Would tighten up his choke hold until he quit struggling. This only lasted a couple of minutes for the whole thing, but time has a way of stretching itself out when every second needs to be accounted for. It took a couple minutes for the Doctor to load up a hypo and get it into T. You are probably wondering where a psychotic patient got ahold of a knife. One of his "Friends" had smuggled it in for him when visiting. The "Friend" soon joined "T" in our care.
There were times when I held that job where I was afraid for my life, for very good reasons. It is one reason I can keep things in perspective now. Things may get incredible frantic, but I never feel that I am in danger of losing my life.
Paranoid/schizophrenic are the ones that are hard to deal with. Most psychotics are in such pain that they are non-functional. Add a little thorazine on top of that, and they are incapable of forming a complex thought, much less a plan.
T. was and Air Force enlisted man, who had a history of behavior problems. His Commanding Officer had had it with his disruptive behavior, so he gave him the most boring, isolated assignment he could think of. They gave him a loaded M16 and set him out guarding the perimeter of Kadena Air Force Base. After one too many joints, he decided that there were people out in the bushed, so he shot up the surrounding jungle. Luckily no one was hurt, but it earned him a trip to a padded room.
T was hard to control. Medications didn't seem to have a great effect on him, and he wanted what the wanted, and to hell with anyone who got in his way.
when I came in one morning he was in full rant. He wanted to go downstairs to the day room and play pool. "No T., you are not ready to go out there yet." So he picks up a trash can and throws it across the ward, and says "Now can I go play pool?" "No T., as long as you display this kind of behavior, you will not be allowed out".
So T. Picks up a chair and throws it into a window. Of course the windows were all security glass, with the chicken wire built in, so he busts up the window, but no big harm done "NOW CAN I GO PLAY POOL?". "No T. In fact you need to go spend some time in the padded room".
So when we went to put him in restraints, he ran to the back of the ward where his bed was and pulls out a 12" diving knife and says "You ain't putting me in there, I'll kill you all first".
We had a special number to call if things got out of hand, and a bunch of combat Vetran NCO's were supposed to come up and handle the situation. So they come upstairs and I let them into the ward and explain the situation. They look around the corner and here is this wild eyed guy standing in the middle of the floor waving a knife around. The staff is frantically getting everyone else out of the room and into a safe place. The "goon Squad" as we called them refused to go into the room.
One of the other Psych techs and I discussed what we were going to do. Since no one else seemed willing to do anything, we decided we had to. We came up with our plan and just did it.
We made an agreement, B. Would go for control of the patient, and I would make sure the knife was controlled.
We grabbed a mattress off of one of the beds. He held one end and I held the other. We rushed T. And just kept on pushing him backwards until we backed him into the wall, and pinned him there. While I grabbed the hand holding the knife, B. Grabbed T. Around the neck and choked the shit out of him. He choked him until he passed out, and I relieved him of the knife. When he would start to come to, B. Would tighten up his choke hold until he quit struggling. This only lasted a couple of minutes for the whole thing, but time has a way of stretching itself out when every second needs to be accounted for. It took a couple minutes for the Doctor to load up a hypo and get it into T. You are probably wondering where a psychotic patient got ahold of a knife. One of his "Friends" had smuggled it in for him when visiting. The "Friend" soon joined "T" in our care.
There were times when I held that job where I was afraid for my life, for very good reasons. It is one reason I can keep things in perspective now. Things may get incredible frantic, but I never feel that I am in danger of losing my life.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Looking Death in the Eye I
I was in the Military. I was a Social Work/Psychology Specialist for the Army on Okinawa. It was a job I enjoyed and was very good at and decided I didn't't want to do as a career.
I worked for the Psychiatric Service in the Camp Kue hospital, and was among other things the Liaison Officer for the locked Psychiatric Ward at the hospital.
One of the things we did was do interviews to determine sanity for people going into courtmartial proceedings. This is where I had the misfortune of meeting Earl.
Earl was a Marine who had murdered his commanding Officer. He had served three rotations in Vietnam, and volunteered for a fourth. It seems he had discovered a talent for killing people, and wanted to get back where it was somewhat condoned. His C.O. had refused his new rotation, so Earl had gone into his office with a loaded M16 and tried to persuade the C.O. to allow him to return to ‘Nam. When the C.O. declined, he unloaded a clip into him.
We rotated duty on the front desk as Receptionist, and it was my day to man the desk
The brought him to the Psychiatric Clinic in chains and with four armed guards. Earl was a 6’ 2” black body builder, in active duty Marine shape. Probably weighed about 180. His arms were bigger around than my legs were. He also had a look in his eye that did not make for comfortable eye contact.
The head Psychologist, R. had the duty to give him the interview to establish his sanity. He was a real humanitarian, and insisted that they take the shackles and chains off of Earl for the interview, over the protests of the guards.
They went into the conference room off of the reception area. I was a little nervous about having a murderer alone with R. so I kept a half an ear open for anything. After a while I heard some thumping noises coming from the conference room and what might be a muffled cry for help.
I ran over and threw doordoot open, and Earl had R. bent over backwards over his desk and was choking the crap oft od him. R. was mostly unconscious, and pretty red in the face. I ran up behind Earl and grabbed him in a full nelson, and for the next couple of minutes it was a pretty wild ride around the office, with Earl trying to dislodge me. All I did was tighten my hold until I was afraid I would break his neck. Eventually he slowed down and told me "It's OK, I"m all right now", but damned if I was going to give up the only advantage I was ever likely to get.
After Earl quit flailing around, one of the guards peeked his head around the corner and asked "Is everything OK in here?" If I had a club I would have hit him.
Anyway, I had to testify at Earls Attempted Murder court martial. The entire rime I was on the witness stand, Earl sat there with this big shit eating grin on his face staring at me with these dead eyes that said "If I ever get out of jail, you are one dead mother".
I guess the point of all this is that, when faced with a situation that could have gone very badly, I acted even though I was scared to death, and handled the situation. Just knowing how you would act in that kind of a situation instills a confidence in you that you can't get any other way.
The Court commended me for saving an Officers life, but also chewed me out for not using the word "Sir" often enough during my testimony. Talk about having a twisted set of priorities.
I worked for the Psychiatric Service in the Camp Kue hospital, and was among other things the Liaison Officer for the locked Psychiatric Ward at the hospital.
One of the things we did was do interviews to determine sanity for people going into courtmartial proceedings. This is where I had the misfortune of meeting Earl.
Earl was a Marine who had murdered his commanding Officer. He had served three rotations in Vietnam, and volunteered for a fourth. It seems he had discovered a talent for killing people, and wanted to get back where it was somewhat condoned. His C.O. had refused his new rotation, so Earl had gone into his office with a loaded M16 and tried to persuade the C.O. to allow him to return to ‘Nam. When the C.O. declined, he unloaded a clip into him.
We rotated duty on the front desk as Receptionist, and it was my day to man the desk
The brought him to the Psychiatric Clinic in chains and with four armed guards. Earl was a 6’ 2” black body builder, in active duty Marine shape. Probably weighed about 180. His arms were bigger around than my legs were. He also had a look in his eye that did not make for comfortable eye contact.
The head Psychologist, R. had the duty to give him the interview to establish his sanity. He was a real humanitarian, and insisted that they take the shackles and chains off of Earl for the interview, over the protests of the guards.
They went into the conference room off of the reception area. I was a little nervous about having a murderer alone with R. so I kept a half an ear open for anything. After a while I heard some thumping noises coming from the conference room and what might be a muffled cry for help.
I ran over and threw doordoot open, and Earl had R. bent over backwards over his desk and was choking the crap oft od him. R. was mostly unconscious, and pretty red in the face. I ran up behind Earl and grabbed him in a full nelson, and for the next couple of minutes it was a pretty wild ride around the office, with Earl trying to dislodge me. All I did was tighten my hold until I was afraid I would break his neck. Eventually he slowed down and told me "It's OK, I"m all right now", but damned if I was going to give up the only advantage I was ever likely to get.
After Earl quit flailing around, one of the guards peeked his head around the corner and asked "Is everything OK in here?" If I had a club I would have hit him.
Anyway, I had to testify at Earls Attempted Murder court martial. The entire rime I was on the witness stand, Earl sat there with this big shit eating grin on his face staring at me with these dead eyes that said "If I ever get out of jail, you are one dead mother".
I guess the point of all this is that, when faced with a situation that could have gone very badly, I acted even though I was scared to death, and handled the situation. Just knowing how you would act in that kind of a situation instills a confidence in you that you can't get any other way.
The Court commended me for saving an Officers life, but also chewed me out for not using the word "Sir" often enough during my testimony. Talk about having a twisted set of priorities.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Looking death in the eye
Mrs A. And I have been through more than our share of crisis in the short time we have been together. I don't really want to go into all the details, but it has been a whole lot more crap than most newlyweds go through. Whenever something goes wrong I am usually the solid one. The other day she asked me "Honey, how can you remain so calm when all this stuff is going on around you?" My reply was that is have been in situations where I was in real or perceived danger of losing my life violently. There are a couple of ways that can effect you. One is that you spend the rest of your life waiting for the other shoe to drop, the other is that it puts all of the other stuff in perspective. When you have looked down the barrel of a gun pointed at you, it puts things in perspective. So I thought I'd put some of them out there, mostly because I like telling stories, but I'm not sure whether to put them here, or on my other blog, which I have been using to publish short stories.
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Egg Roll Recipe
So here is my recipe for Egg Rolls. It wasn't written down completely, that is, I had the original recipe, but it has evolved a lot since then.
Clear Noodles (Rice Vermicelli or bean thread) 500 gr.
Oyster Sauce 6 oz.
Eggs 6
Onion (sweet yellow if possible) 1 large
Carrots (large) 3
Meat 3 lbs
Black pepper Dusting
Salt Palm
Sugar 2 tsp
Garlic 2 tblsp
Cabbage Small head
wrappers 100.
The type of meat is up to you. We usually use ground pork & chicken, but you can use whatever spins your beanie. Occasionally I add tiny shrimp to the mixture.
Dice all the veggies up pretty fine, since you are going to put them in a wrapper. Speaking of wrappers, use the frozen very fine spring roll wrappers The brand we usually use is O'Tasty (Funky Chinese name, huh?)
The Oyster sauce is critical. I use Lee Kum Kee, but I have experimented with other brands.I occasionally like to use spicy oyster sauce.
Use the smallest diameter Bean thread or Rice vermicelli you can find, soak it in hot water and cut it into 3 inch pieces. Mix everything in a VERY large bowl, except retain the white from one egg to seal the wrappers. Don't open the packages of wrappers until you are ready to use then, as they dry out pretty quickly.
Lay out the wrapper with a point facing you. Using a large dinner fork place a 3" long wad of filling about 2" into the wrapper. Fold wrapper over filling, and pull it slightly back towards you, making it firm. Roll about half way up the wrapper, and fold the ends towards the middle. Continue rolling to the end. Dip finger in the egg white you have retained, and use it to seal the flap.
Put the uncooked egg rolls in one gallon freezer storage bags, one layer deep. Depending on how consistent you have been rolling the egg rolls, you should get 14 to 18 per bag. Freeze them uncooked.
When you want to cook them up, just take them out of the freezer and deep fry them in oil until they are crisp.
Serve them with dipping sauces. The one that seems to go over the best is Thai sweet Chili sauce, which is a lot like sweet and sour, but with just a little kick.
Clear Noodles (Rice Vermicelli or bean thread) 500 gr.
Oyster Sauce 6 oz.
Eggs 6
Onion (sweet yellow if possible) 1 large
Carrots (large) 3
Meat 3 lbs
Black pepper Dusting
Salt Palm
Sugar 2 tsp
Garlic 2 tblsp
Cabbage Small head
wrappers 100.
The type of meat is up to you. We usually use ground pork & chicken, but you can use whatever spins your beanie. Occasionally I add tiny shrimp to the mixture.
Dice all the veggies up pretty fine, since you are going to put them in a wrapper. Speaking of wrappers, use the frozen very fine spring roll wrappers The brand we usually use is O'Tasty (Funky Chinese name, huh?)
The Oyster sauce is critical. I use Lee Kum Kee, but I have experimented with other brands.I occasionally like to use spicy oyster sauce.
Use the smallest diameter Bean thread or Rice vermicelli you can find, soak it in hot water and cut it into 3 inch pieces. Mix everything in a VERY large bowl, except retain the white from one egg to seal the wrappers. Don't open the packages of wrappers until you are ready to use then, as they dry out pretty quickly.
Lay out the wrapper with a point facing you. Using a large dinner fork place a 3" long wad of filling about 2" into the wrapper. Fold wrapper over filling, and pull it slightly back towards you, making it firm. Roll about half way up the wrapper, and fold the ends towards the middle. Continue rolling to the end. Dip finger in the egg white you have retained, and use it to seal the flap.
Put the uncooked egg rolls in one gallon freezer storage bags, one layer deep. Depending on how consistent you have been rolling the egg rolls, you should get 14 to 18 per bag. Freeze them uncooked.
When you want to cook them up, just take them out of the freezer and deep fry them in oil until they are crisp.
Serve them with dipping sauces. The one that seems to go over the best is Thai sweet Chili sauce, which is a lot like sweet and sour, but with just a little kick.
Friday, January 27, 2006
Egg Roll Saturday
Before I met Mrs A., I was having a fling with a very pretty Laotian woman. It was quite an experience. I once told her "There are two women living in your head. One of them is this traditional Min Lao Buddhist. The other is an independent American home owning working single mom. The two of them are at war, and some day you are going to have to make a choice". She couldn't give up her status in the Lao community and we ended up splitting up. Before she gave up on us, I asked her to teach me how to make egg rolls, because she made the best egg rolls I have ever tasted.
I still keep egg rolls on hand all the time. The recipe is for 100 egg rolls, so it takes some time to make them. What could be a chore we have turned into a fun activity.
We go to the Chinese Market and get the ingredients, one of which is a large bottle of Japanese Plum wine. (The wine doesn't go in the egg rolls, but the egg rollers). Next stop Blockbuster Video where we rent whatever latest DVD for whatever catches our eye. I make up the "Stuff" for the eggrolls, then we put up the card table in front of the big screen, slap in a movie and make egg rolls and sip wine. What could otherwise be a chore becomes something fun to do.
I do have to say that as we get to the last off the egg rolls and the bottle of wine that the quality control on the rolling process suffers some, but what the heck, they still taste the same.
I still keep egg rolls on hand all the time. The recipe is for 100 egg rolls, so it takes some time to make them. What could be a chore we have turned into a fun activity.
We go to the Chinese Market and get the ingredients, one of which is a large bottle of Japanese Plum wine. (The wine doesn't go in the egg rolls, but the egg rollers). Next stop Blockbuster Video where we rent whatever latest DVD for whatever catches our eye. I make up the "Stuff" for the eggrolls, then we put up the card table in front of the big screen, slap in a movie and make egg rolls and sip wine. What could otherwise be a chore becomes something fun to do.
I do have to say that as we get to the last off the egg rolls and the bottle of wine that the quality control on the rolling process suffers some, but what the heck, they still taste the same.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Let the noise begin!
Somewhere in my travels, I picked up this old, beat up electric guitar. It was in pretty sad shape, and the first time I plugged it in, there were sparks and smoke involved. The nut (yes guitars have nuts!) was broken, and the bass string would not stay in place. It was being kept in place by a bent up safety pin. The bridge height was all wrong, the wiring was bad. So I did the best thing: I gave it to my son.
Unfortunately, when I asked him what he wanted for his birthday last summer, he asked me to restore the guitar. Dang, just when I thought I'd escaped.
So I scrounged around and located a piece of mammoth Ivory I had been saving for just such a project. I had to but a diamond wheel for my Dremel tool and carved a new nut and installed it, cleaned up the electrical stuff and resoldered the connections, put it all back together, and last night I plugged it in. It works just fine now, and since I cleaned everything up it looks pretty good too. It has what they call a "sunburst" finish, which is yellow in the middle and darkens as you go out.
I have no idea what brand the guitar is. Any identifying marks have been removed. It is an arch-top, f-hole acoustic/electric with dual pickups and a tailpiece, a three way switch and four knobs. I have a tremolo bar on backorder for it, but it is essentially done.
I should probably include a picture and maybe someone could tell me what they think it is.
Unfortunately, when I asked him what he wanted for his birthday last summer, he asked me to restore the guitar. Dang, just when I thought I'd escaped.
So I scrounged around and located a piece of mammoth Ivory I had been saving for just such a project. I had to but a diamond wheel for my Dremel tool and carved a new nut and installed it, cleaned up the electrical stuff and resoldered the connections, put it all back together, and last night I plugged it in. It works just fine now, and since I cleaned everything up it looks pretty good too. It has what they call a "sunburst" finish, which is yellow in the middle and darkens as you go out.
I have no idea what brand the guitar is. Any identifying marks have been removed. It is an arch-top, f-hole acoustic/electric with dual pickups and a tailpiece, a three way switch and four knobs. I have a tremolo bar on backorder for it, but it is essentially done.
I should probably include a picture and maybe someone could tell me what they think it is.
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Rule of thumb
I got up this morning in this Kick-Ass-and-don't-bother-to-take-names mood. I had a couple of problems at work where paperwork was not up to my standards, and I was going to see that it got changed or else. I have a can of Whoop Ass and a four pound dead blow hammer on my desk and I use them as a learning tool.
When I get here all set for a good knuckle and skull session, everyone has been all nice all day. Maybe they could sense the mood I am in. Anyway, when I was laying out my expectations, I used the phrase "as a rule of thumb" which means to act to a loose set of standards, and I wondered where it had come from.
Prepare yourself for MORE USELESS INFORMATION!
IN Medieval times, society was not so civilized as it is now, but there were some standards. IN this case, a man was allowed to beat his wife. I mean it was not a crime or anything. However there were limitations. He could only use a branch "no bigger than his thumb". Hence "Rule of thumb.
I don't think it would be wise to try this on Mrs A. I mean, I do have to sleep sometime.
When I get here all set for a good knuckle and skull session, everyone has been all nice all day. Maybe they could sense the mood I am in. Anyway, when I was laying out my expectations, I used the phrase "as a rule of thumb" which means to act to a loose set of standards, and I wondered where it had come from.
Prepare yourself for MORE USELESS INFORMATION!
IN Medieval times, society was not so civilized as it is now, but there were some standards. IN this case, a man was allowed to beat his wife. I mean it was not a crime or anything. However there were limitations. He could only use a branch "no bigger than his thumb". Hence "Rule of thumb.
I don't think it would be wise to try this on Mrs A. I mean, I do have to sleep sometime.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
All Roads lead to Rome.
Some time ago I worked with an Engineer who was looking for a way to transport rocket boosters from Utah to the Space Center in Florida. The contract for the boosters for the Space Shuttle was open for bids, and we had the facility and technology to build them, but could we deliver them?
We spent months figuring out how to get them across country, including figuring out how to get them around overpasses, including letting most of the air out of the tires to get them under, and going off and then back on. We could not use the railroad tunnels because they were not big enough. The question came up, why are our vehicles, railroads and roads set to the standards they are? I had to admit it was something I had never thought about. Prepare your self for more USELESS INFORMATION!
When the Industrial revolution created the ability to mass produce goods, first Trains and later cars needed to be of common dimensions, after all the rails don't change in distance between the rails, so all locomotives and cars had to have the same wheel track. The early locomotive and car manufacturers used the same dimensions that had been used to standardize wagons, In fact early automobiles, if you let some of the air out of the tires could be driven on the tracks. Well, where did that dimension come from?
The wagons were standardized so that they would run in the ruts that existed all over Europe, and were created by the Romans in their efforts to control the entire world. The reason these ruts are the same distance apart all over Europe is that the Romans had standardize their chariots and wagons so they would run in the same tracks.
Well, what decided that standard?
If you took two horses and put them side by side and left a little room that became the distance between the two wheels for the chariot. In other words, the wheel aligned with the horses asses.
Like a lot of things in life, we are today living to a set of rules established thousands of years ago by a couple of horses asses.
We spent months figuring out how to get them across country, including figuring out how to get them around overpasses, including letting most of the air out of the tires to get them under, and going off and then back on. We could not use the railroad tunnels because they were not big enough. The question came up, why are our vehicles, railroads and roads set to the standards they are? I had to admit it was something I had never thought about. Prepare your self for more USELESS INFORMATION!
When the Industrial revolution created the ability to mass produce goods, first Trains and later cars needed to be of common dimensions, after all the rails don't change in distance between the rails, so all locomotives and cars had to have the same wheel track. The early locomotive and car manufacturers used the same dimensions that had been used to standardize wagons, In fact early automobiles, if you let some of the air out of the tires could be driven on the tracks. Well, where did that dimension come from?
The wagons were standardized so that they would run in the ruts that existed all over Europe, and were created by the Romans in their efforts to control the entire world. The reason these ruts are the same distance apart all over Europe is that the Romans had standardize their chariots and wagons so they would run in the same tracks.
Well, what decided that standard?
If you took two horses and put them side by side and left a little room that became the distance between the two wheels for the chariot. In other words, the wheel aligned with the horses asses.
Like a lot of things in life, we are today living to a set of rules established thousands of years ago by a couple of horses asses.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)