All This Up One Hill and Down Another Makes Me a Little Queasy

Whew, today was a long one. And I'm pooped so I'm just updating in point form rather than going on like I usually do.

First, to the doctor.

Who tells me that if the Lyrica's not working by now, it ain't gonna, so I can stop taking it (yay, no more confusion!) Like when the doctor's office called the other day to set up my appointment for my PAP test in February and for a full 24 hours I couldn't figure out why they were calling three months in advance. God, it was like a terrifying full-clarity preview of my not-so-golden years.

My biceps reflex is hyper-reflexic and I guess this is an indication of something or other to do with my spine. No one had tested my reflexes before but I guess that's what happens when you see two locums at three different points in between seeing your own doctor - no continuity.

SO, next I'm heading off to a neurologist (well, in 2 months or so when I can get an appointment) and in the meantime, getting an MRI to help rule out the next possible diagnosis - cervical spine compression of the nerves that run down my arms.

According to my doctor's note to my unit, I'm unable to do any activity that requires physical exertion until at least after I'm re-assessed in three months.

Which means that I'll need to see a DND doctor to confirm that who'll put me on a medical category which will put me into a holding pattern. What that holding pattern means is that during that time I can't go on courses or be promoted.

I guess I'll be staying home this summer then and then everything else will be a year behind. Not that a summer at home is such a bad thing, though. :)

Then, the lawyer. Not too much detail here, sorry, just the basics.

It's no fun listening to your own 911 recording when you don't remember any of it. Trust me on that one.

However, one of the charges has been dropped due to some term I can't remember at the moment. AHHH, technicality.

We're hoping to plea bargain me down to something that doesn't involve a criminal record. Since that will be very bad for my security clearance and any future plans to deploy for the military.

Which, really, is the entire reason I'm going through all this.

Otherwise, I go to trial.

On the way home I noticed that I'd lost my bus pass. But the bus driver let me come home without it. Of course, I still haven't found it.

To top a day of good news and bad off, about an hour ago whilst trying to fix a necklace with my teeth, I chipped off a big chunker of my front tooth.

*sigh*

Tomorrow, however, is a new day and today wasn't actually all bad news. So, there's that to get me through the night.

And, since I've been vetting some new music on the MP3 player this week, let's throw in some lyrics here. Cheers.

i'm a slow motion accident
lost in coffee rings and fingerprints
i don't wanna feel anything but I do
and it all comes back to you

Nicole Ritchie Wants To Be Me

this morning's arrest of Nicole Richie for suspicion of driving under the influence. The "Simple Life" star, 25, was nabbed at 1:45 AM by California Highway Patrol officers on a Burbank freeway after she was spotted driving erratically. After posting $15,000 bail, Richie (who's listed as 5'1" and 85 pounds) was released from custody and is scheduled for a February 7 Municipal Court appearance on the misdemeanor charge.

Thank god for those crazy celebrities - I was worried the reporters would be mobbing MY trial that day.

Hiatus

These days, it seems my life is exactly what my horoscope keeps saying it is...

No matter what you do or how you try to change things, you always find yourself up against more than you have ever been up against before. Demanding though it is, you have the power to overcome it all.

In reality, however, it feels closer to this...

Error #6676556.25: Reality.sys corrupted
Universe Reset.
Reboot (y/n)?
I'll be back. Once I find the power to overcome it all. Or even just a little bit of it.

Backing Up. A Little.

Tree Smashes Car at Cathedral Grove .

A huge Douglas fir came crashing down on a car traveling through Cathedral Grove near Port Alberni yesterday morning, pinning one of the two occupants inside.

A 33-year-old man from the Lower Mainland was airlifted to Victoria with severe leg injuries, after being extricated with the jaws of life in a concerted effort by Port Alberni fire department, a logging crew who rushed to the scene from Port Alberni, and RCMP.

A woman who climbed out of the wreckage on her own was treated in Port Alberni.

"She must have been cross-legged because the whole dashboard was crushed," said fire department Capt. Peter Aspinall, who was in charge of the rescue operation.

The 2007 Audi was "totally demolished" in the freak accident and traffic was backed up for kilometres, Aspinall said.

Heavy rain appears to have brought down the shallow-rooted fir, Aspinall said.

The tree was about 30 metres long, 1.2 metres in diameter and weighed about 20 tonnes, he estimated.

"The chap was doing about 80 kilometres per hour when it came down and just hit him ... Another fraction of a second and they could have been decapitated," Aspinall said.

Firefighters used inflatable bags to lift the tree, eventually blocking it up by more than a metre, allowing them to extricate the man inside the crushed vehicle.

At the same time, the logging crew bucked off chunks of the tree to lighten the load.

It is not the first time one of the Cathedral Grove trees has crushed a vehicle.

In December 2003, two Alberta residents were killed in the Cathedral Grove parking lot when a fir tree toppled under the weight of snow and fell across their car.

© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2006

One article went on to say....

RCMP said in a news release that emergency crews were hampered by people who were "simply in the way" and failed to respond to repeated requests to stand back from the scene of the accident.

Drivers continued trying to get past the fallen tree blocking the highway, police said.

Which, disgusts me. And, believe you me, would indicate the '#1 Reason I Should Never Be an Emergency Rescue Person' because I'd be out on the road... well, you can imagine the rest I'm sure (and then add a baseball bat to the mental picture).

Apart from the minor erm...booboos in the articles - he was airlifted to a different hospital and was far more injured than that, the only other piece of information I can add to this is a picture...


Some of the patients that come through the hospital on my shift really get to me. The dead baby in a bucket, that was one. The 36 year old that had a heart attack in the CT machine and died was another. I think pretty much anyone near my age is guaranteed to make me think, at least a little. A lot of the older people touch my heart in unexpected ways as well.

In some cases it may be 'but for the grace of god, go I' kind of realization that I may very well have narrowly escaped a similar fate as theirs at some point in my life. In some cases, there is just an overwhelming carousel of sadness, anger and hopelessness at the injustice of life, the fragility of the human body, the fickleness of fate and, sometimes, the viciousness of people towards each other.

Some people ask me why I would work at a hospital during the week and be in the reserves on the weekend - like the two things are contradictory and/or mutually exclusive. I could go into that in length but, in a nutshell, I don't think they are. It comes down to this - we all have our different ways of fighting back.

Some people choose one way, some people choose to come at it from different directions, some choose to just look the other way.

These things. And the animals. They are mine.

Hang Them With Saddam. Just A Thought.

For those of you who aren't Western Canadian, you probably haven't heard this news story from October. (It's an animal abuse case, so, proceed slowly if you're woogly about this kind of stuff. Me? Every time I read it, I cry.)

Thursday, October 12, 2006

DIDSBURY — A mayor’s tears summed up a central Alberta town’s shock and outrage over the horrific torture and killing of a dog.

“People are wanting justice and don’t know if they are going to see it or not,” a shaken Dorothy Moore, mayor of Didsbury, said Thursday.

Passersby found the dog, a female collie-Lab cross, still alive but lying in a pool of blood in the street earlier this week. Her four legs were bound together with duct tape, a bag was covering her head and there was a tow rope around her neck. It appeared she had been dragged behind a vehicle.

The veterinarian called to the scene said the rope around her neck was so tight it caused one of her eyes to pop out. Her neck, back and pelvis were also broken.

The vet euthanized the dog immediately.

---

Two Men Charged in Sadistic Dog Torture

* * Jason van Rassel, Calgary Herald
Published: Wednesday, October 11, 2006

A trail of blood led police to two suspects who allegedly bound and dragged the family dog behind a vehicle in Didsbury over the weekend.

The dog’s injuries were so severe, a veterinarian called by the RCMP had to euthanize the dog on the spot.

“This was definitely, in my 10 years of policing, the most horrendous act I’ve seen against an animal,” said Cpl. Kevin Fischer of the RCMP in Didsbury, 90 kilometres north of Calgary.

A passerby found the female collie-lab cross lying in the middle of the street sometime early Sunday and called police.

Investigators said the dog’s legs were bound together with duct tape and there was a tow rope around its neck.

“Indications are the dog was dragged behind a vehicle,” Fischer said.

The dog, between six and seven years old, was severely bleeding from several parts of its body.

“The veterinarian sedated and euthanized the dog,” said Fischer.

Although the dog had no tags, tattoos or obvious identification, police officers followed a trail of blood to a local home.

Police have laid charges against two teenagers, but Fischer said Wednesday they are no closer to learning a motive for the crime.

Daniel Charles Haskett, 19, of Didsbury, has been charged with injuring/endangering an animal and causing unnecessary suffering to an animal. He is also charged with obstructing police.

A 17-year-old male, whose identity is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, is charged with injuring/endangering an animal and causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.

The two accused youths are scheduled to appear in Didsbury provincial court on Nov. 6.

For adult offenders, each of the animal cruelty charges has a maximum penalty of a $2,000 fine or six months in jail — or both.

Which means the 17 year old won't get fuck all. You know it and I know it.

The case is also being investigated by the Alberta Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. A conviction under the province’s Animal Protection Act can carry a maximum penalty of a $20,000 fine and a lifetime ban from owning animals, but an official said no further charges are being contemplated.

Read: they're not even thinking about laying charges under the provincial act. Why? I can't even fathom a world where they wouldn't or an excuse for not doing so.

Other things uncovered by PETA lately...

Before Daisy Duke was dragged behind the vehicle, she was beaten with a shovel and run over.

She had her legs bound, and a plastic bag was put over her head. Daisy's back and neck were broken, her head gashed and fractured, and she was covered in blood. She was found alive and choking on her own blood in the plastic bag.

She was still able to lift her head when the vet, Andy Mencarelli, arrived at the scene. The police followed Daisy Duke's trail of blood 3 blocks back to the Haskett house.

The dog belonged to someone who'd moved to Calgary but had to leave the dog with his mother and three brothers as he couldn't find a place that would take pets. One of those brothers is Daniel Haskett.

Daniel Haskett goes back to court on November 22. The 'juvenile offender' goes on Dec 7.

I have seen some emails regarding signatures but rather than rely on those, I would urge the Canadians that come here to visit this page and sign the petition that will go to the Canadian Government to support to have Bill C-50 re-introduced to strengthen current laws and jail times to those convicted of animal abuse crimes.

Honestly, though? I'd rather see them hang.

I'd gladly put the rope around their necks myself.

And Still, No Answers

One day last week, while doing what I do best lately - resting, a knock on the door revealed itself to be a little old lady with a pamphlet.

I'm sure you would be amazed that hair as short as mine can look hideously disfigured, (especially at 3 in the afternoon after being 'rested' on while wet) but if you were to see it, I'm sure you would understand why the little old lady did not stay long. Barely long enough to shove the pamphlet at me, insisting, "It's a worldwide message, not just here." - presumably to soothe the wrath of the puffy faced lady with the bad hair in case she thinks that it's a personal attack. Who may or may not be an immoral lesbian, you know, cause of the short hair.

Not being in the mood for "worldwide messages" I dropped the pamphlet in a large pile of "things I need to get to / write about" and went back to resting.

I picked it up a few minutes ago.

The front page tells me that The End of False Religion is Near! and indicates that not only will it tell me what false religion is but how it will end and, most importantly, how I will be affected.

In a nutshell, false religion meddles in war and politics, spreads false doctrine (apparantly any religion that teaches that the soul does NOT die) and of course, tolerates immoral sex.

False religion will end when the harlot that rides the back of the beast of seven heads and ten horns of political power is turned on by the beast itself (political power eats itself - how shocking!) and not only will they devastate her but will make her naked, eat up her fleshy parts and completely burn her with fire!

Sounds awfully exciting.

We MUST flee from false religion. But not to atheism as it's future is bleak as well, this pamphlet tells me.

Although I'm not sure how not being religious qualifies as a religion. What do I know, anyway? I believe in faeries.

MOST disappointing and what I was most looking forward to is that there's no bit about how I will be affected. They lied! They're trying to suck me in!

I'm shocked.

But then I realize the whole base of the pamphlet is not written for people with brains because hey, if our souls really don't survive and I don't have to worry about final judgement, what the fuck does it matter anyways? Gotcha!

Man, I'll sleep well tonight now that the big mystery is solved.

and if I only could
i'd make a deal with God
and I'd get him to swap our places
be running up that road
be running up that hill
with no problems

Opinions, Please

I received my shiny 'new' driver's licence yesterday and included in the envelope was a registration to become an organ donor.

I don't give blood because ew..that's just gross. I can't handle it. And they can never find my veins anyways. For years you couldn't be a bone marrow donor unless you gave blood regularly. They changed that 10 years ago and so for the last decade I've been on the bone marrow list.

They've never called. I'm a little hurt about that.

Anyways, sitting out on the porch last night I'd filled out most of the card except the part about what you actually want to donate. The bits and pieces, so to speak.

And it's a very emotional decision, in it's way.

There's all those stories about people who've gotten heart transplants and take on aspects of the personality of the person who's heart it was. And that's kind of cool and for someone without kids it's sort of a nice metaphysical way to carry on. A heart would be a beautiful thing to give someone. There's a part of me, however, that believes my heart is what makes me, well, ME.

Vic said over the summer that I have the biggest heart in the world and if we could just bottle it, we'd make a million dollars.

As nice as it would be to give that to someone else I'm not sure I'd want to be cremated without the piece of me I believe to BE me.

So, what do YOU think?

And what do you think about lungs, liver, kidneys, pancreas, bowel (?!), eyes, skin and bone. Do any of those hold any reactions or emotional power for you? Or is it all just meat at that point?