New stuff in my life.

Well, there are a lot of things going on that seemed to have culminated into a new phase in my life. In large part it is due to the economy, and then there is just stuff that comes in the course of one's life. Some things, I am really excited about, while others maybe not so much.    I am presently in the midst of the promotional process for the rank of Engineer, at the fire department. I took it a couple of years ago, last time it was offered, only to choke on the Pump Test. The first step is a written test, a predetermined number of individuals who score a passing grade will go to the pump test. The pump test is a hands on practical, testing one's ability to operate the pump on the fire engine. This was as far as I got last time. I practiced pumping so much, I could do it blind folded. Once it was test day though, I let my nerves get the best of me, I made some silly mistakes, and ultimately bombed the test. I hope things go much better this

 Thursday.

 

Opportunities to practice have been extremely rare, as for the sake of P.R. we are only allowed to pump off one hydrant in the whole county at our training center. My hopes are that my previous testing experience will be a feather in my cap. The next big thing is that after four years, I am moving to another station. I started working at Station 11 in January of 2005 as a result of another transfer from B shift to A shift. At that time, my lieutenant was Duan Patterson, engineer was Steve Bradley, and the other fire fighter was Terry Kraker. It wasn't long and Terry got promoted, move to the Second Battalion, and Tony Ruppert came up and took his place. Duan left for Station 17 and we got Tom Hancock. About a year later, a new Station 11 was built, to replace the 40 year old building we were in. With the addition of a Rescue truck, we became an ALS station. So Tom leaves and is replaced by Bill Dean (who is a paramedic as well as R.N.); we also added Jeremeiah Lewis, a Paramedic Engineer, and Chandler Pullen a Paramedic Fire Fighter. We were latter joined by J.T. Gregory another PMDC F.F. from the 3rd Battalion whoeventually got promoted off the last list. Steve left to join the Technical Rescue Team on Truck 14, and Terry Kraker came back up to take his spot. Chandler left to fill a hole at 24, and then was promoted as well. Now it's my turn. We have "Probies" already in the field who need to be moved so to gain experience with a different crew, as well as a class of new recruits coming out into the field. It is a testament to my Lt. and the other guys I work with that our Batt. Chief wants probies and rookies to work at our station. Unfortunately, either Tony or I had to transfer to 24 and Bill was all in a quandary. He told the Lt. at 24 to pick one, and he picked me. I really had no wish to leave, which is why I didn't volunteer, but I had a feeling it would be me. I have to admit though, that I may have been getting a little stagnant in my career, and it was time for a change. My goal right now is to get promoted to Engineer and then possibly go to Paramedic school. Economically, I am in the worst condition in my adult life. Katie was also working a full time job back when we bought our house. I had been on the Fire Dept. a year and a half, and I had a lawn care business on the side. The lawn care was bringing as much money as Katie was making, and so we decided our children would be better off if she was a stay at home mom. To make a long, sad story, short and sad, the lawn care business has pretty well tanked, we're a month behind on our mortgage, and quite frankly we've actually out grown our house. I've written to our mortgage holder, Citi (who by the way has received something like 400 MILLION dollars from the Gov't), but thus far, they've not yet offered much in the way of help. I fully realize that my situation is partly due to my own choices and decisions, that had I known the future, I'd have done some things differently. We are hopeful, however. My grandmother owns a farm that need to have someone living there full time to manage it and there is a Four bedroom house that has been mostly remodeled. There are just a couple of other issues to get through. The last thing I'll pontificate on here is one thing that has brought a HUGE amount of stress to my life as well as to my mother and grandmother, has been the timber harvest on the farm. It has been pure nightmare and since it was my idea, I feel responsible. Basically, the timber company acted without regard to the land and did extensive damage. The job is still unfinished and I am so ready for things to get moving forward. There are fences to repair, new trees to plant, grass seed to sow, and I'm hoping to be able to add some cows and chickens to the mix. Well, change happens whether we want it or not and that brings to mind one of the few quotes that I actually have memorized. "Change is the way of life. Those who look only to the past or the present, are sure to miss the future." John F. Kennedy

Rainy Day in February

Today was rather exciting. I had to pick up 2 dogwoods and three azaleas to plant for one of my customers. I got one tree planted and had to quit due to the rain. But it was for the best since it freed me up to go down to the NRCS office so I could apply for some assistance as a beginning farmer. The way the program works is that funding assistance is provided to farmers so they can implement soil/water conservation practices, as well as several other programs. I am very hopeful that this will facilitate moving out to the farm sooner rather than later.

Some of the projects I'd like to complete are installing 1 or 2 wells, fencing out the creek bottoms, installing some creek crossings, as well as planting pasture forage. Monday, I'll be taking my grandmother AKA Mimi, to the FSA office in Carrollton to register and get a farm number. I learned about this while perusing the Nature's Harmony Farm website. I really hope to emulate what Tim and Liz Young are doing.

This is me carrying Sarah Jane at the farm.

They say it'll rain all weekend and I welcome it completely.

We the People: Subcommittee Reviews Animal Identification Systems

Thankfully someone is keeping track of ou r government. I fear that not enough people realize just how much freedom is being taken from us one at a time.

Check this blog We the People: Subcommittee Reviews Animal Identification Systems

David Scott, the subcomittee chairman, needs to be informed that this is truly a bad idea, and is bad for the small farmer and family farms. Why don't you give him a call and express your feelings as someone who is directlyaffected by his votes and decisions.

WASHINGTON CONGRESSIONAL OFFICE 225 Cannon House Office BuildingWashington, DC 20515ph: (202) 225-2939fax: (202) 225-4628

JONESBORO DISTRICT OFFICE173 North Main Street Jonesboro, GA 30236 ph: (770) 210-5073 fax: (770) 210-5673

SMYRNA DISTRICT OFFICE888 Concord Road, Suite 100 Smyrna, GA 30080 ph: (770) 432-5405 fax: (770) 432-5813

Sick Baby

Our past couple of days have been consumed with our sick baby girl. Wednesday we noticed a little cough. Thursday, Sarah became more and more irritable, showed little interest in eating or drinking, and mostly wanted to be held. By bedtime, she developed a fever of 101 and so we gave her some Children's Tylenol. Yesterday (Friday), I went to work at the Fire Station, around 8:30, Katie calls me to say Sarah is screaming her head off, has a fever of 103, and she has a migraine. So, I go back home. Katie said she called the Dr.'s office, but the receptionist said there were no openings. I was a little annoyed to say the least. Rather than raise a fuss with the Dr.'s office, (or get all exasperated with Katie for not being more assertive), I decided to take her to the ER at Tanner Medical. In the past, I have taken both David & James to Tanner's ER one time each, and as far as Emergency Rooms go, they were both good experiences. I had no reason to have expected otherwise this time.

For the purpose of reference, I'll share some history. Back when David was about 18 months old, we were on our way home from picking Ryan up from his mother's. Just as we were exiting I-20, David suddenly vomited violently. I mean like a geyser. Of course we all kind of freaked out and so we took him to Tanner. He was worked through triage almost immediately, put in a room, and about 20 minutes later was seen by a doctor, who was, if I recall correctly a Pediatrician. Flash forward about a year and a half. James is about 15 months old and it's Christmas time. On our front door was one of those round bells on a loop you hang from a doorknob. James being a typical child of mine, stuck his finger in one of the holes in the bell. When he pulled his finger out, the edge in the that hole sliced his finger open and peeled skin from the first knuckle toward the end of his finger. Once again, we make a trip to Tanner and received the same level of care as before. Now I take Sarah for her persistent fever with no doubt to have a repeat performance.

Even though the fire department I work for does not operate ambulances, I have ridden in to the hospital with a number of critical patients. I've seen what a busy ER looks like. When I walk in the door at Tanner, I did not witness a "slammed" Emergency Department. There was hardly anyone in the waiting room. I sign her in, and I'm then directed to have a seat and wait. I wait for almost an hour holding my child. Apparently, the staff was sticking to a strict "first come, first serve" rule and did not think a pediatric patient deserved any priority. Finally we're called to triage, after that, we go out onto the floor and are shown to room #7. There are no beds in the hallway, no traumas or full arrests being worked, no frenzied or frazzled nurses and doctors hooping from room to room. First we speak with a staff member who takes down information for billing purposes, gotta get that important stuff out of the way you know. A few minutes later, a woman, who I believe is a CNA, takes Sarah's information for a medical chart, and tells us we should be seen by the Dr. or RN in 15 minutes or so. Try an HOUR and 15 minutes. Alright, so the doc comes in, and of course Sarah screams bloody murder, as she does with most strangers, and other people outside her immediate family, he listens to her history, checks her ears, throat, listens to her lungs and says all are clear. He then says he'll order a set of chest X-rays to rule out pneumonia, I guess he couldn't hear her breath sounds over her screaming, and then leaves.  Forty five minutes later, we get called to X-ray, which is another dose of torture for Sarah because she has to lay on a table with a lead blanket over her pelvis and legs, and has to be held down. After the X-rays, we go back to room 7 and get back to waiting. It's another forty five minutes when the Dr. comes in, tells me her lungs are clear, and that he's diagnosing an upper respiratory infection, will write a RX for amoxicillin, and will close out her chart so we can leave. That must be a lot more work than most people realize because nearly an HOUR later, I was about to come unglued, so I gather Sarah and diaper bag, step out of the room, walk up to the nurse's station and announce, "I need to leave sometime today." Everyone within earshot just looked at me as if to say ,"yeah, so do we." A nurse at the computer tells me to just have a seat in the room and he'll be with me in a minute. I really didn't feel like sitting any more, so I stood there, hold Sarah, and stared at them until I got the paperwork and left to check out. By now, it's about 3:00,  I'm full of indignation and I'm going over the long letter I'm going to compose about this ridiculous experience. I think everyone who looked at my face got the hint and kept out of my way. On our way home, I get to thinking. I now have a prescription for amoxicillin. An antibiotic. How the heck does that Dr. know Sarah has a BACTERIAL infection since no test was done for it. There was no sample of saliva or mucus taken. If anything, she was practically dehydrated and could have done with about 200 cc's of Normal Saline. I have just fallen right into the Rx mismanagement that I like to criticize the medical world for. Even though I work in EMS, with my own child I needed someone else to assess her signs and symptoms and give her treatment I could not. Instead, I got a Rx that in all likely hood was not needed. 

Lesson learned, if some receptionist at your doctor's office gets snotty and says your sick child can't be seen that day, let her/him know you will be making a trip up there and so they better find a slot. I did call Sarah's pediatrician today, and after telling her the story, we were seen even though there were no openings. I am glad to say Sarah appears to be on the mend and will hopefully be her old self by tomorrow.

A beautiful day

Well it was a very beautiful day today and I'm glad I spent it outdoors. I had to get out and apply pre-em to my few remaining customers' yards. When I got to the Ballew's, I was speaking

 to Penny (the lady of the house) and I was telling her she should keep the kids and dogs off the grass for 24 hours. Just making conversation, I ask, "How's the new puppy?" to which she replied, "Ya'll want a dog?" I certainly did not expect to hear that and I asked why, she just said, that she and Hal are apparently allergic to her. I could tell she was quite distraught over it.

So, I went into an explanation about if we were living out at the farm, I'd say yes right away. So I gave Katie a call, and told her about the dog, a Yellow Lab, they named Georgia Rose. I thought for sure, Katie would say "sorry, no way." Boy was I surprised when she asked, "Well is she house broke?" I thought 

to myself, "I, think we're about to get a dog" I asked Penny, and wouldn't you know it, she's been crate trained! We decided we would all discuss it further with our families. 

So the day goes on, I go by the Brazzel's, and they paid me cash which was AWESOME, and I went to the Credit Union to keep my mowers from getting repossessed.

My next stop would've been my mother's, but she needed me to pick up some hay from Lawson's. After I get to the farm, and unload the hay, I noted that Valley Wood, Inc. hasn't been out to do the grading, and to clean out the stream bed as they were supposed to. After a number of phone calls to our timber broker (HA! that's been a bit of a joke) and my mother, I really am unsure whether there is going to be any progress. One positive thing though, I received a call from a person named Valerie from the NRCS. I found out about this agency that assists farms with the cost of conserving water and soil from Nature's Harmony Farm's blog. THAT was pretty exciting, we need all the help we can get.

Now I have a fair amount of nervous energy, and I get busy taking down the last bit of fence along the road. Then I got a wild hair and went to grading. I dug out a ford so water can drain naturally across the road. The only thing that I wish for right now is to be living there on the farm. But hey, we might have a new dog soon.