Thursday's Thoughts

"Kevin!" Somebody who didn't like me was being nice (and that is nice). 

• Today (01/09/2015) as I drove through a drive-through of a Whataburger (pronounced Water- burger in the parlance of my homeland)  the girl in the window tried to flirt with me a bit. She took note of my state of dress (short sleeves in 30 degree weather) and said, Where is your jacket or sweater? Aren't you cold? I replied, Nah, I'm good. I'm hot blooded. She handed me my change and then said, Oh, you're not much of a morning person? (although it was fairly late in the afternoon). She realized what she had said and went red all over and tried to backtrack. I said, Its all good- here this is for you and gave her a tip. She was gorgeous- literally beautiful. I don't know her story but could make some guesses. She was covered in tattoos. She seemed smart, funny and personable but not as any of them those as she had probably been in the past. Something derailed her. She didn't belong there but maybe kind of did... 

  

  Everybody in the house got sick this past winter. It was a challenge- but I pulled everybody through somehow. Half the time we were in Benadryl induced comas the other half  we were wandering aimlessly at 2 in the morning tweeked out on pseudephedrine.

  
  

  

  So a foreign born patient asks, Do you like fresh coconut? You answer- Of course! She reaches into her purse with her dirty hand and pulls this out and hands it to you. What do you do? You make a big deal of thanking her for thinking of you, let her see you place it on a paper towel on your desk and tell her you'll eat it on break of course.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Here, have some Sex Pistols
• Yesterday (01/13/2015) I initial dosed a patient on some medications. Approximately 30 minutes later she said, Kevin I don't feel right. My face is burning. I feel weird. and then a minute later she said, Hey,  I'm starting to itch. Me being the smartest guy in the room and learning in nursing school that it isn't normal nor advantageous to have a burning face, feel weird nor itch, I quickly whipped up a referral to the emergency department and sent her to the hospital.
• Although that particular case was cut and dried- a lot of what I do consists of knowing when to make my problems other people's problems.
• It is 02/25/2015 and snowing like mad. The big thing now is talk of the 50 Shades of Gray movie. I won't watch it as it looks incredibly boring and dumb- even worse than the horrifically bad book. Soon though, all the news stories will be about people damaging themselves and presenting to emergency departments acting out the dumb things they saw in that dumb movie. Also, watch for the reports centered around kids and their antics after they watch it.
• Think of the kids!

At Fort Richardson. Which of the 3 do you like?

If the air temp is cool enough to at least not be considered hot and your sodas are too warm, place them in a grocery sack of water in the shade. It will probably have a little leak or two (although you don't want it to leak like a sieve) if it doesn't- poke a couple of pin holes in it. Fill it a time or two and over a period of 30 minutes or an hour and your Dublin Dr. Peppers will be if not frosty- much more refreshing as the water running off and evaporating pulls some of the heat away. Someday you should ask me about how in my old National Guard unit we would expend a fire extinguisher over our beverages in the field to cool them.

Fort Richardson After Action Report

About as cool as anything there were the ladies in period dress.

I'll always have  soft spot in my heart for the old T-Patch.

Funny, there wan't a nickels worth of difference between the the Jeep I drove in the Army and the WWII version.

My dad was on a half track during WWII. This one seemed surprisingly nimble and quiet.

One of these guys day is about to get real bad.

• So, I saw a dude get shot today (02/07/2015) anything interesting happen in your part of the world?
• It happened during the WWII reenactment at Fort Richardson. The weird thing about that is it wasn't the first time it has happened. An old friend was a a reenactor during the late 80s and early 90s. During an engagement a guy got shot in the thigh. His unit bought him an original Wehrmacht Wound Badge to commemorate the event. 
  
  
  

  

  There was one Russian and one Japanese soldier there (that I saw anyway). No word on if they recreated the Russo Japanese War.

• I thought about the possibility of a live fire incident in a, Wouldn't it be crazy...? kind of way before I left the house then dismissed it as soon as I recalled the aforementioned event. I assumed those guys would be shook down for live ammo and even guessed they might have to buy their blanks at the event.
• When the guy got hit a woman stepped out of the crowd and used the military hand gesture for cease fire.
  
  
  

  

  I don't know if it was part of the play but this smoke grenade was thrown after the shot.

  
  
  
  
  
  
• The guy playing the German officer was directly in the the line of fire but when he perceived what was happening he turned and walked to the source of the fire calling for a ceasefire. That was really brave.

  

  This is him after the fact.

• There were at least 2 live rounds fired and I could be convinced there were 3. I saw one impact the ground in front and slightly to my left, then when I was turning right to identify the source I heard another live round pass from my right to left. When I turned left to see where it may have impacted I think I heard a third coming from right to left again but it may have been an effect caused by sound bouncing off the guardhouse from 2 or 3 blanks which were fired basically simultaneously.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• It is hard enough to believe what is real anymore without seeing somebody get gutshot in the middle of a bunch of guys playing war for an audience.

Happy New Yearrrrrrz

• I had a wonderful time for New Years Eve and in fact went to two parties with wonderful, amazing people.
• A lot of the talk centered around one woman's big fake boobs. The talk, woman and presumably boobs were the same as last year. It was funny though.
• Bewbs.
• We played Mexican Train dominoes. I don't know how/why Mexican figured in there- it seemed maybe a way to be vaguely and/or humorously racist but I could be wrong. It was complicated enough to be fun and challenging without being overwhelming or ridiculous.



So yeah- it involved a tiny locomotive and what could wrong with that?.

• An odd flashback: In nursing school a nursing home patient was a tough nut to crack. One of the guys in my class drew him for direct care and making care plans etc. To try and reach him he would play dominoes with him after he discovered it was something the patient really missed. The patient was a machine at the game. It was awe inspiring. I recall after just a few moves the patient would say, We might as well quit and start a new hand.  Why? my classmate would ask genuinely puzzled. With what I'm seeing in play, have in my hand and knowing the way you play and guessing what you have and what is in the bone pile- no matter what I'll win this hand.
• The female host's dog hates men and the neurotic beast would gnaw at my ankle if it sensed my foot getting too close to her mistress.



Not the ankle biter. I called this one George Jones as it looked like a possum.



Another canine in the house- also not the ankle biter. A terrible pic but a good dog. He is old and fat and cool. His name is Shooter. He digs ear scratches, eating tasty people food and sleeping by the fire. All you lady dogs he is available. Just click on the pic to contact him (just kidding- he is a confirmed bachelor).

• My lack of commitment is rubbing off on FG's friends: they serious-teased me about us getting married.
• There were recently deceased deer in the garages of both homes. They both died of a very fast acting lead poisoning.
• One mounted deer head I saw was a big whitetail buck that was shot out of a herd of 10 doe mule deer. The guesstimate is he was 6 years old at the time of his demise. I wonder what was making him shack up with the mule deer? It may be a common thing, I have no idea but I have never heard of it happening and wonder if the company he was keeping played into his longevity. He was ranged at 300 yards by my friend and taken down by a .300 Winchester Magnum. I know 300 yards?! Come on- it was probably more like 80- maybe. Nah, I believe him. After the jolt of the recoil all he could see was the does kicking up rooster tails as they split the scene. He was afraid he missed and the buck was heading for the next county with the does. The guy he was with said, Nah, he didn't move an inch. and handing the shooter his spotting scope said, See his feet up in the air? When they made their way to him he was lying on his back with his legs straight up in the air with Xs across his eyes as his spirit floated upward towards the clouds while playing a harp like a cartoon dead animal.
• Well, the last couple of things may not have been true to the scene but you get the idea.



FG's crunk cup.

• As it also happened last year we watched bad weather roll in and strategized about how to get home alive while still milking the evening for all  it was worth.                                .
• We ate pizza at one house and then at the next there was the hugest ham I have ever seen in my life. I mean really- I don't know why I didn't take a picture but wish I had. It was ginormagantuan.
• The second home had the largest television I guess I have ever seen in a private residence. I have no idea how large it is as every time the subject of it came up the guy host would add a few (or several) inches to the size.
• I sang and danced to this in front of FG. She laughed.



Not New Years but looks fun




Whoa, that is some big air



• Well, welcome to the new year. I'll assure you- this one will be both better and worse than the old.
• Good luck.