Scott’s Blog

Decided today on a trip to the mall with my brother that I would pick up some books.  I’ve been spending too much time watching some pointless things on tv and it just shuts my brain down.  The first book I picked up is called The Book of Secrets: Unlocking the Hidden Dimensions of Your Life; it is by Deepak Chopra.  I was actually looking for something akin to The Alchemist but this one jumped out at me instead.  I’ve only gotten through a few pages but I found one part I really like.  He was explaining that there is truly a mystery to life, something going on behind the scenes, and that the cells in your body are already living this truth:

1.  You have a higher purpose.  Every cell in your body agrees to work for the welfare of the whole; its individual welfare comes second.  If necessary, it will die to protect the body.

2.  You are in communion with the whole of life.  A cell keeps in touch with every other cell.  Messenger molecules race everywhere to notify the body’s farthest outposts of desire or intention, however slight.

3.  Your awareness is always open to change.  Cells adapt from moment to moment.  They remain flexible in order to respond to immediate situations.

4.  You feel acceptance for all others as your equal, without judgment or or prejudice.  Cells recognize each other as equally important.  Every function of the body is interdependent with every other.

5.  You seize every moment with renewed creativity, not clinging to the old and outworn.  Although every cell  has a set of unique functions these combine in creative ways.  A person can digest food never eaten before, thinking thoughts never thought before, dance in a way never seen before.

6.  Your being is cradled in the rhythms of the universe.  You feel safe and nurtured.  Cells obey the universal cycle of rest and activity.  Although this cycle expresses itself in many ways, such as fluctuating hormone levels, blood pressure, and digestive rhythm, the most obvious  expression is sleep.  Why we need sleep remains a medical mystery, yet complete dysfunction develops if we don’t enjoy its benefits.

7.  Your idea of efficiency is to let the flow of life bring you what you need.  Force, control, and struggle are not your way.  Cells function with the smallest possible expenditure of energy.  Typically, a cells stores on three seconds of food and oxygen inside its cell wall.  It trusts totally on being provided for.

8.  You feel a sense of connection with your source.  Due to their common genetic inheritance, cells know that they are fundamentally the same.  The fact that liver cells are different from heart cells, and muscle cells are different from brain cells, does not negate their common identity, which is unchanging.  In the laboratory, a muscle cell can be genetically transformed into a heart cell by going back to their common source.

9.  You are committed to giving as the source of all abundance.  The primary activity of cells is giving, which maintains an integrity of all other cells.  Total commitment to giving makes receiving automatic - it is the other half of a natural cycle.

10.  You see all change, including birth and death, against the background of immortality.  Whatever is unchanging is most real to you.  Cells reproduce in order to pass on their knowledge, experience, and talents, withholding nothing from their offspring.  This is a kind of practical immortality, submitting to death on the physical plane but defeating it on the nonphysical.

I think this stuff is truly amazing.  In my studies of spirituality I have seen so many connections between nature and the inner being.  Druidry has shown me how the seasons and life cycles are one in the same, how balance and flexibility are much stronger than rigidity, and how I am a microcosm of the entire planet.

I am going to read some more, but so far I am liking this book.  I would recommened checking it out!

I read a fantastic article over at a site I found called theYOUmovement, and it reminded me how important it is to express what you are thankful for.  So tonight I am thankful.

I am thankful for Melissa who has gone out of her way for me more times and I could count.

I am thankful for my job where I get to work with some amazing people; I get to learn and overcome challenges daily; and which helps me fund my many other passions.

I am thankful for Amanda who not only has been a trusted friend for years but who has given me the opportunity to grow and help people by inviting me to join a volunteer ambulance organization.

I am thankful for my brother who is always eager to help me when ever I ask him, and who has recently bonded with me over shared interests.

I am thankful for my memories which i have evolved from and give me something to hold on to when I start to lose perspective.

I am thankful for Katrina, my sister, who made a dream come true.

And I am thankful for my life, which never ceases to be interesting or exciting.

I got home tonight and the sky was so clear I had to sit outside and look at them.  I haven’t done that in so long.  I found Orion and the Snake Guy, but I couldn’t find the big dipper, and there was no moon visible.  Right before I went inside I turned around at the exact moment and got to see a shooting star, it left a huge streak in the sky.

Gawker.com published an article today about a strange creature that washed up on the Montauk shore line.  Here is the picture:

If the site is to be believed a “tipster” is linking this to a government run Animal Testing Facility Called Plum Island. Possible other explanations are someone’s fun photoshop game, Viral Marketing for something or another, and Satan’s Demon.  Personally I would love to hear about some “crazy governent experiment” (read: KFC) or a new species of animal discovered, but I’m going the photoshop route.  If you look at the shadows on the body and the head, they just don’t match up.

Going through my news feeds I came across a service called PageOnce.  Their service allows a once page view of all your online information, bank accounts, netflix, email, social networking, bills, starbucks cards, etc.  To me this idea is very appealing, I use tons of different online accounts and being able to view them all in one location without logging in and out would make my life alot easier.  My main concern is the lack of security information that is availible from their site.  The mention 256bit encryption, they mention that security is their culture and that they are insured by one of the “Top Ten A+ Rated Insurance Companies”.  When asked further they said they we’re unable to give out the name of the insurance company.  From what I can tell my information isn’t insured so if my data was stole I would be shit out of luck.  A major part of my job is protecting my client’s personal information and for that reason I understand how difficult it is to stop every possible threat that is out there.   I have written an e-mail hoping to get some further information from the company besides their “Marketing Answers”.

Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog’s second act debuted about an hour ago.  I’ve absolutely loved it so far and I am excited to see the conclusion on Saturday!  There are ton’s of reviews out and about on the net and I don’t care to congest the tubes with my own, but if you haven’t been watching you are going to want to hurry it all disappears on the 20th.

I’ve been thinking alot about writing and trying to be a little more creative.  I used to write all the time, I ended up looking through tons of my old papers last night trying to find a story to share with a friend of mine.  It is kind of weird rereading all of it.  There we’re short stories and novels that I had started writing and tons of verse that I spat onto paper in fits of emotion.  I need to put this stuff someplace safe to I can look back on it.

I have been writing down some ideas about a project I’ve been calling The City.  I really don’t know what kind of story it is or really anything about the plot.  I just have a very clear image of the setting.  It takes place in this dystopian city.  I can’t really describe it in too much depth every time I try to it comes out childish and contrived.  I close my eyes and I can see it so clearly, the dark sky, cobblestone streets, the factories, I can feel it too, what it would be like to live there, the madness of it; But the why of it has escaped me so far.  Why does this city exist; what is its importance?  I think if I continue with the story I would like to present it at as graphic novel.  There is just too much visually going on for me to describe in words.  With all of this online media I think it might be a fantastic medium, of course I wouldn’t mind publishing it with Evil Ink along side The Amory Wars.

I have also been tossing around the idea of finding an illustrator to draw up some concept art.  I have such vivid images and I’d like to have them realized regardless of how far I actually take this project.  Amanda’s brother has been painting and i’ve been told it is rather fantastic I might ask him to draw for me.  If any of my readers are interested or know anyone who is I would love to sit down and talk to you about some ideas.

Go there now and enjoy!

My love for the Web 2.0 World has been strengthened today with my exploration of ChaCha!  ChaCha is a service that you use from your Mobile Phone, or from the desktop of your personal computer.  You call or text ChaCha, ask it any question you want and a ChaCha Guide searches the web and texts you back the answer. I was playing with this all day!

Me: Who holds the world record for running the fastest mile?
ChaCha: Alan Webb with a time of 3mins 16sec.  I can’t run a mile in twice that! Have a good night! Thanks for chachaing!

Me: How many calories are in the smokehouse burgera Ruby Tuesdays?
ChaCha: A lot. The burger has 1144 calories, and a whopping 73 grams of fat.  Not exactly healthy, but probably tasty.

I decided to only eat half.

I signed up to be a ChaCha Guide and work for them because I think it will be alot of fun.  Ill let you know how it goes.

Last night was my 7th or 8th night riding the ambulance. Most of my crews were uneventful with the most challenging aspect being how to deal with George’s snoring. Basic calls like the one I had last week where our patient fell off of his motorcycle at 5 mph became very exciting becuase it broke up the monotony of sleeping on the couch. Last night I got my first code (cardiac arrest).

The night started out pretty quickly, we got a first call minutes after our shift started and of course invariably as ever, right as we’re going to get food. The call was a dizzy female who passed out momentarily in her friends car. She was awake and talking to the police when we got there and refused treatment claiming that she has passed out before. Her bp was low 94/63 but she said it was normal for her and signed the RMA. Two of the chiefs has responded and we we’re all talking for a while in the lot when we got another call; “Cardiac Unresponsive, code red, proceed forthwith.” We all jumped in the ambulance and sped off. It was all organized chaos from then on.

The address they gave us was familiar, it was only two houses down from a friend of mine and levittown houses all look the same, I was almost sure it was Kristen’s house as I was running up the driveway and was relieved when I got inside, it wasn’t hers. I carried the backboard and the O₂ in and then proceeded to gather the personal information we needed on our pcr form, 40 year old male with muscular distrophy no other medical history, no meds. I got the name address and social as the rest of the crew was shouting orders in the back room and getting ready to load the patient onto the ambulance, some of the family was there just staring, one of them, the patients sister I think, was hysterical.

One of the things I hate most of all is not being able to do something, especially in an emergency situation like this if I’m not helping then i’m just in the way and that gets me pretty upset. When we loaded onto the bus I was by the head of the patient and I started bagging. I was nervous but all of that was pushed to the back of my head and I had one job and just needed to focus on that. Breath..2…3…4…5…breath…2…3…4…5 We we’re only on the road for about 5 minutes but if someone told me it was 45 minutes I wouldn’t have been surprised.

Everyone around me was working fast, one member tried getting a line in the patients neck, the other tried getting it in his foot, they were pushing epinephrine and atropine, I was still bagging pink frothy fluid was leaking out of his mouth and nose as I was trying to hold them shut. One of the chiefs Eric was doing compressions. Eric stopped so our Lifepack could analyze for a heart rythym, there was one, we took a pulse it was faint and then gone. CPR continued as we rushed out of the ambulance into the ED, finally a doctor took over bagging for me and I got some time to breath myself. I collected the last bit of information that I needed and washed my hands.

I stood around for a bit in a trance slowly processing everything that had happened. Everyone was outside talking and joking around about past calls, discussing this one. They all seemed so nonchalant, not affected. I wasn’t affected as much as I thought I might be. I had wondered how I would handle myself, I thought I did pretty well. I was told I did great, later on I found out that no one bags on their first code, most people just watch. I felt okay.

The patient didn’t make it. The doctors said they had a hearbeat for 5 minutes, but it didn’t last; they said we did good. I’m still ok. I am scared of messing up, of doing something wrong that would cause the patient to deteroriate further, but I don’thave that feeling on this call. I think it was just his time.

So I decided I wanted to test out Windows Live Writer so I downloaded it and started writing and went to publish it.  Now it is only a Beta so errors are to be expected, the poor thing wouldn’t publish.  No problem let me just take a look at the error report and find out whats going on with it so I can fix it.  Well.

Well, no shit.