By Louis CK.

Everything's Amazing, and Nobody's Happy.

This man has taken everything I've felt, or wanted to say about people today, made it hilarious and said it a million times better than I could have. We are so spoiled.

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His line about the internet guy on the airplane (and the rest of the flying bit) almost made me spit my drink out.

-AM

Oh, Bjork.

She is a perfectly crazy person.



"I read that in a Danish book.... this morning."

Classic :)

-AM

A Note.

We have such an amazing class, and this year has been absolutely crazy. It's sad to think that we only have about 3 days left together! When I think about the first days of school compared to these days, it blows my mind. To think of how shy some of us were, and the way we are now. It feels like 8 years have passed, not 8 months.

This is by far the best class I have ever been a part of. It feels like we're all best friends when we're at school. Everyone knows everyone and we all get along. I mean, of course there are those that can drive you up the wall occasionally, but what kind of family doesn't have at least one? For the most part though, I think we've all developed the same mentality and sense of humour, which tends to get out of control from time to time... I guess that happens when you're stuck with the same group of people 5-ish days a week, 7-ish hours a day. I think we'd all rather laugh with (or at) each other than take our work too seriously.

Personally, I wouldn't be able to put up with the workload everyday if I couldn't wake up knowing that no matter how difficult the day ahead was going to be, I'd probably spend more time laughing than not. I know we'll see each other again before the year is out, but I will miss all of you crazy bastards.












-AM

craning your neck at my car wreck

Chop Chop.

Thought I'd pass along a few photos from our Auto-Extrication Day at the Firehall. Most of you have probably seen these, but here they are for the rest of the interwebs:

This is me stabilizing the neck while the helmet comes off:















Some Firefighters cutting up the "B" post on an old Neon. The cars we used were write-offs from earlier accidents. There are students under the orange tarp, in order to see what it's like from a patient's perspective as the car is being cut away:















A Dodge Caravan, much like my family's old van, has undergone a slight alteration:














The Neon is looking more like a dune-buggy now:















Finishing off the final door:















While examining the remnants, I came across some telling evidence. Perhaps the weather wasn't to blame for the downfall of this particular vehicle! Hmm...















-AM

don't drink and drive

1 Week Left.

Tomorrow is auto extrication day... in a snow-storm no less! It's gonna be a great day. The entire class together pulling each other out of smashed up cars. Smashed up before we get in them of course. I'll try to get some good pictures for you.

-AM

Desperate Times.

It's crunch time at school...

Skills sign-offs are due to be complete in about 3-ish weeks or so. Without them we can't continue on to Clinical and Preceptorship time. And most of us aren't really anywhere even remotely close to being finished. We're pulling out all of the stops now. Forming alliances, and keeping after-school lab sessions secret from each other so that fewer people show up, therefore freeing up more time for us each to complete scenarios... oh yes, it's on.

-AM

i've been meaning to call you

Shenanigans.

-AM

Lab Days.

I'm a little torn about our Thursday lab days.

On one hand, they usually go by pretty quickly because they're interactive, we're up and about doing things, joking around and having a good time. And the faster we get through them the faster we get to Friday, which is obviously a good thing (it was a little better when Fridays were optional). Lab days can be fun.

On the other hand, they are by far the. most. stressful. days of the week. And many times I would rather die than perform a scenario in front of my class that I know I'm going to fail. But that's how we learn, right? So, like everyone else, I just suck it up and do what I can while trying to hide my terror. Doesn't make it any less stressful though.

So I guess those two extremes kind of cancel each other out in a way. I can run through the full range of emotions and stress levels, but at the end of the day I'm neutral again. A strange day indeed.

-AM

just a pocketbook Brando

Bad Timing.

Of course we would have one of our biggest tests of the year this Monday. The Monday following UFC Saturday and Superbowl Sunday. Gimme a break!

On the bright side, GSP kicked BJ Penn's ass.

-AM

Zen.

Does anyone else do this?

Because this city is small enough that I can walk everywhere, I do walk everywhere. I always listen to music when I walk. I think I've been doing this for a long time, but I've only just recently noticed that I've actually stopped measuring time with, well, actual time. Now I measure it in songs. For example: A walk to the superstore takes, on average, about 4 songs. A walk home from school takes about an album. This has completely changed my life. I actually think of time as a number of songs. I don't think there's any going back now.

I noticed it as I was walking to the store tonight with not much else to think about. Actually, that's why I listen to music while I walk. It clears my head. It sort of stops my mind from wandering into daydreams too much (Which is a bigger problem for me than you might believe). It forces me to stick to observing, rather than analyzing. Example: One day, on my way home from school, the batteries in my MP3 player died. My precious Creative Zen. There is no worse sight than a flashing red bar where the battery charge should be (Am I right?). So I actually cursed quite loudly. Maybe I was in a bad mood because of that, but I found myself mentally cursing all of the people who were walking towards me on the wrong side of the very narrow, snowy sidewalk. And when there was no-one on the walk, I was thinking about those people cutting me off and forcing me into the snow, albeit only ankle-deep.

I know, right? Stupid. Relax.

Then today, while walking to the store, I had my music. Fleet Foxes are the flavor of the week. The only thing I actually remember thinking about is how the crescent moon, in a clear night sky like tonight's, always reminds me of the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. I'd much rather spend my time comparing life to cartoons, that's for sure.

Well I'm out for now, folks. I'm re-certifying my CPR tomorrow morning, and I have to be up in about, oh, 9 albums or so. 'Til we speak again.

-AM

the stars will rise again

Just Watched...

Slumdog Millionaire. It was... meh. Entertaining I guess, worth a watch. But I don't see what all the hype is about when you compare it to other movies that have come out recently. It sort of reminded me of City of God, a Brazilian film. Check it out. I actually liked it quite a bit more than Slumdog.

The Wrestler was great. A very different style for Darren Aronofsky. That is, it was normal. Love his movies. If you're bored or high or both, and you feel like a really slow, artsy kind of poetic film then watch The Fountain. I think I ruled out a lot of people with that last sentence, but give it a shot! It's one of those movies that you should watch alone at 2AM. So take that as you will.

Most of all, if anyone is reading this go rent or download The Fall. And get Boy A while you're at it. Two of the best movies I've seen in a long time. I can't remember the last time I didn't want a movie to end. You won't regret watching them.

'Night.

-AM

(slow clap)

Hail To The King, Baby.

Dream Job:

To work in Marketing for Burger King. Because, apparently, you can just do whatever the hell you want. They are truly heroes for bringing us one of the creepiest mascots of all time, and for making commercials like this:


(Yeah, that's Hootie.)

...and this:


...and this and this...

This is what happens when I get bored on Sunday afternoon.

-AM

the princess is in another castle

Better Get Used To It.

I learned today that one of my favourite, albeit troublesome, patients that I had met twice during my four days of ride-alongs had passed away. Not long after we had had last taken him to the hospital. I know I've only been on the ambulance four times, but I met some interesting and troubled people. It was hard not to become attached to them in some way. This was the first time I had heard such a grim follow-up for one of "my" patients.

He was what you would call a "frequent flyer". One of those people that seems to call 911 simply because they're bored or lonely or just need some interaction. However, these people also call when they think they need help. Even if it is every day, like this particular patient. It sounds annoying and unnecessary, like a waste of everyone's time. That's exactly how most people see it at first. My instructor, though, once told us something that made me rethink the whole notion of a "frequent flyer". He reminded us all that no matter how unimportant some calls may sound, no matter that they had no medical problems at all, they called 911 because they believed they needed help. In their minds they genuinely thought that they were sick or injured. They're worried about themselves, and calling 911 is the right thing to do in that case. No matter how small the problem. It's hard to keep that in mind sometimes. I believe this is exactly what he was doing. I can't say I knew him all too well, but I got the feeling that sometimes people just weren't taking him seriously. Maybe it was something of a "boy who cried wolf" scenario, maybe he brought it on himself. I guess we'll never know what his intentions were.

The way the paramedics and hospital staff talked about him, you knew they considered him more of a hassle than anything else. But they all knew him. They all talked about him, laughed about him. I could always pick up on a small hint of affection when they did. They'll always remember him, that's for sure. He wasn't a bad person. He'll be missed.

-AM

pale blue colored iris

Cardiology, Part Deux.

Hey there.

So, things went well today! I think. I suppose if there's one thing I've learned during my time in school, it's that however I feel I scored on a test, the result is usually the opposite. So I guess now I feel like it maybe didn't go so well. Which would mean it did. Which would mean it didn't....

Anyway. I also wanted to stop back in to leave you with this neat-o interweb link to a fancy-pants little free game that you do have to download and install yourself (I know a lot of you just aren't into that), but which is more than worth it. It's called "Gravity Bone". The name really has no relation at all to the game itself, as far as I can tell, so no judging! It's some kind of silly, first-person, block-headed, mystery/espionage thing(?). It's also tiny and about 10 minutes long so there's really no excuse to not play this. You can thank me later.

-AM

i'd really like to help you, man

Back To The Grind.

Well the Holidays are over, and I think I now fall under the "recovering alcoholic" demographic. Along with many of you, I bet. Good times in the Maritimes.

I would resolve to start posting more around here, but that requires making a little decision about this place. See, the reason my posts were so sparse is because I had always tried to aim for quality over quantity. I didn't want this site to get too ridiculous. Unfortunately I feel like I write more crap than anything else so I haven't had a lot of worthwhile stuff to put here. Anyway, I think I might just start writing in little bursts and we'll see how I like it. I'll try not to be too annoying. I'm not annoying am I..?

So... Cardiology 1 went pretty well, with a 90%. Thought I'd scored a bit higher but I certainly ain't complaining. Cardio 2 is tomorrow morning, and this entire post is basically me procrastinating. But I guess I'd better get to studying, I've said enough. Back to my ECG strips... I'll let you know how things go tomorrow.

-AM

a tunnel, from my window to yours