6w 2d

and counting. Not too bad I guess. Halfway to D-day.

Learned - yet again - to never judge anything by first appearances. Sat in with a group of people for a while - correction, a long while - and then spent some time with another, only to have my initial view rocked a few times over.

Nature's little oddities

Most people are familiar with porcupines. Those that aren't, are probably spending their entire lives playing with any number of varieties of flightless, snow covered birds that swim quite well. Just about every animal - and person - out there, knows (or quickly comes to said knowledge) not to mess with a porcupine.

Now then, there also exists an animal called the fisher, which not quite as many people know about. This cute little guy (or gal) is only a couple of feet long, weighs around ten pounds give or take, and is very adept at killing and eating porcupines. They do this by biting the porcupine in the face until the porcupine goes into shock or can't defend itself anymore, and then they flip it over and make the kill through the stomach, as the quills do not protect its underbelly.

The real clever part about all of this is, fishers don't live in areas with porcupines.

What's your story?

Came across this topic, and never really thought about it. After all, it's just a toon. However, I did think that this would make quite the fun little writing exercise, and turned out this little gem:

The summer sun, late in the evening, cast a warm red hue across the plains that baby Mutegi was grazing. A fresh breeze brought with it a variety of aroma, the strongest and most pleasing being that of the delectable yellow and white petal flowers that dotted the landscape.

“Why hello there little one,” came a voice from behind. It was not his mother’s, for it was far too deep.

Mutegi, with stem still in mouth, turned to see an old Tauren standing behind him. He leaned on an equally aged and crooked staff, patches of gray dotted his dark coat of fur. “My name is Cryth. And you are?”

“Mutegi,” he replied, proudly pointing to himself.

“Care to see a trick little one?” Cryth then asked.

Mutegi simply nodded with a bright smile. He was always fond of tricks and games.

A moment later, Mutegi’s newest friend was no more. What lay before him was a frightfully large bear that sat on powerful haunches. Its face, though smiling, revealed a maw of horrifying teeth. Shocked, the little Tauren fell over backwards, screaming and crying.

Just as quickly, the bear disappeared and his kindly new friend was back, offering a consoling arm. “There, there little one,” he said soothingly. “I did mean to scare you so!”

Eyes still wide, Mutegi brought himself into a sitting, upright position. He sat silent for just a breath, his head turned to the side. With great joy and glee in his eyes, Mutegi started to laugh and clap. It was a fun trick indeed and one he would just have to be able to do.

Orders

I have been ordered to prepare myself for a beach run. So I should probably lobster myself a few times before hand so I can get the rest of my usual burn out of the way. One or two more ought to do it.

More hours...

and more and more and more. Mr CL - whose name has been changed to protect the innocent - has called me a few times now asking for my availability. This of course, is quite good. More hours for me means more tolls for them. And a toll is a toll. And a roll is a roll. And if we dont get no tolls, then we dont eat no rolls. I made that up.

It's fun to get what use to be a couple week's worth of pay (and then some) for just a couple day's worth of work. I don't even consider it work really - although I'm still quite convinced the vast majority of people would run the other way. I do believe this now satisfies what I was told since I was little by my gramps: Find something you love to do, and the rest will fall into place.

Huh...that's weird (again)

You heard of this thing, the 8-Minute Abs? Yeah, this is going to blow that right out of the water. Listen to this: 7... Minute... Abs.

But back to the original topic I intended - When I first started, I wondered how long it would take before I would see someone from my past as a pt. More specifically, if that would ever occur, and even more specifically, if it would be someone who had been out of touch for several years (or more) and as such, completely oblivious to my career line. Well, I guess that question was answered: just over 9 months.

Walking into that room - after wondering to myself if this rather familiar looking name was who I thought it might be - was very odd. And then I had to ask myself if this was even possible for me to do what I needed to do, and if it was a conflict of interests (esp. since this was not a routine visit). Worked out in the end I believe.

Anyway, my brother likes chicken.

Intern meet chaplain

So I got called into the hospital today for some funky issues which basically meant a ton of pts needed to be seen, and the slave labor (intern) just wouldn't be able to handle the load on his own. It was rather funny that a person a few years my senior (5-7?), had more formal education than I (a year or so) and had been in a paid leadership role was now talking to me from an underling position. Shouldn't suprise me though. I always said the first six months was like bootcamp. You get through that, and you are "in the club". He's just cresting his halfway mark, and in comes the help, who is by his eyes, a veteran at this (technically still a rookie I guess, since my 1 year mark will be in August).

"You are going to be a resident?"
"Yeah"
"Wow...So you got in?"
"Yup, I was rather excited to get one of the few spots. I can't wait."
"It takes a special calling for this..."

Yeah I've heard that a lot. I do and don't think that at the same time. I do ultimately realize that this work is very draining, is very scary, and goes to a lot of places most people don't even want to think about - let alone sit in for an hour, or two hours, or days on end. However, it does have it's rewards. And I don't think it's a special calling, because its just something I like to do. It's something I have to do - in the duty sense. While I have never recieved the medal of honor - or any real high ranking decoration - I think I can identify with all the recipients who when asked about the event, merely reply "I was just doing my job"

So yeah, it's rough and it's not for everyone, but I feel odd and akward when people oogle over what I do - or rather, that I *want* to do it. I'm just doing my job.

Well I get tomorrow and Wednesday off, then its back in the saddle Thursday for another 10 days or so.

T-minus: 02M 07D.

Exactly 10 years ago

I can remember staring up at the humming, fluorescent ceiling, tired and confused having just woken up abruptly, and for the half second of peace that existed, realizing where I was, what was going on, and how this was just the first day.

Semper Fi