Tagged

fo' tings

I got tagged by Steve C ...

Four jobs I've had:
1. Officer Commanding AdvTrg, Trenton ACSTC
2. Commanding Officer, 2347 RC(Army)CC
3. Registered Practical Nurse
4. Ontario Patient Transfer

Four movies I can watch over and over:
1. Rio Grande
2. Chisum
3. Rio Lobo
4. Any of the Star Wars movies!

Four places I've lived:
1. CFB Trenton
2. CFB Borden
3. CFB Kingston
4. Welland, ON (one of these things is not like the other!)

Four TV shows I love:
1. West Wing
2. CSI (the ORIGINAL)
3. Law and Order (reg and SVU)
4. Family Guy ("Holy crip he's a crapple!")

Four places I've vacationed:
1. Walt Disney World
2. Scotland
3. England
4. Bahamas

Four of my favourite dishes:
1. cow
2. pig
3. poultry
4. HP Sauce

Four sites I visit daily (meaning "often"):
1. CIBC
2. the Weather Network site (hey! I work outdoors a lot)
3. Jaci's blog ('cause she's my favorite)
4. City of Hamilton eNet (they make me check at least once per shift)

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. visiting my mom
2. visiting my in-laws
3. camping
4. doing newlywed things to my sweetie

Four bloggers I am tagging in alphabetical order:
1. Gary Carr (garythenotrashcougar.blogspot.com)
2. Jaci - my better half (studiojaci.blogspot.com)
3. Margie G.
4. Mark J.

Jesus Goes To Court

In the Saturday, 28 Jan 06 edition of the Hamilton Spectator (not always a paper known for accuracy) I saw the headline "Existance of Jesus Goes to Court". This little catch prase gets my attention and my curiosity is piqued.

The story - In a small town (really though, if you have never heard of the Itialian town, chances are it's a small town) called "Viterbo" an atheist (in Italy?!?) has taken a Catholic priest to court stating that the priest broke two Italian laws. Law number one says that you aren't allowed to fraudulently deceive people and law number two says you aren't allowed to gain by attributing a false name to someone.

The players - Rev. Enrico Righi, a small town priest and Luigi Cascioli his accuser. Apparently both these gentlemen are old schoolmates.

The "facts" - Cascioli claims that the Catholic church has been deceiving people for two thousand years by "furthering the fable that Christ existed" and also states that the church has been profiting by "impersonating as Christ, someone by the name of John of Gamala, the son of Judas of Gamala." Another fact, Cascioli wrote a book entitled the "Fable of Christ".

My reaction - Are you FREAKIN' KIDDING ME?!?!?! Italy is a beautiful country whose citizenry serve in fear of two masters. The Mafia and the Roman Catholic Church. Then out of the blue this little peon tries to challenge one of the basic foundations of the Catholic faith; really of all Christian faith, WHILE IN ITALY. Astounding. He's either got cojones like mountains or the cranial capacity of a tetse fly (no offence to tetse flies).

I myself am still struggling in my journey of faith. I'm not wholly convinced of everything that has been said about Christ. However, even I am convinced that he existed. In what capacity I'm not sure but I am sure that Jesus was born to Mary, in Bethlehem, a little over two thousand years ago. This is supported by volumes of documentation and evidence both Christian and non-Christian. Even (some) other religions don't doubt the existance of Christ although they do doubt his exact role.

To conclude, I have to believe that this is a stunt to try and sell his book; and a particularly stupid stunt at that. Based on this idea of his, I have no desire to read what conclusions he drew in his book, or how he got them. I can only hope that should he live to see the case laughed from court, that he wisen up just a touch.

Not even I'm THAT kind of stupid.

'Nuff said.

The Doctor Appointment....

A few days ago I had to so see one of my doctors (a specialist) for a routine follow-up appointment. This was my first visit to his new office from the Henderson to St. Joe's Fontbonne building. I noticed some things during my visit that has since prompted me to do some ranting.

First is the check-in. It seems that multiple doctors are using this one reception counter with two women on the phones. This practice is becoming more and more prevalent as a cost cutting measure against the average six figure salary of a physician. These ladies (who I'm sure are perfectly lovely) don't give a rat's behind about me. The conversation went something like this:

Me: Good morning, my name is.....
Her: May I have your health card please?
Me: Sure, I have a 2:15 appointment with...
Her: Did you find your health card sir?
Me: Just getting it now. I'm checking in to be seen by....
Her: I really do need your health card sir.

It was almost like I was in one of those old black and white movies about the Iron Curtin where you were not a person; you only existed AFTER showing your "papers". I was contemplating this while waiting for that special moment when another lady comes to call my name and say "The doctor will see you now". Which is a line we all know is crap! Why don't they tell you the truth? Say something like "Mr. Robinson, thank-you for waiting in the small over-crowded waiting room, did you enjoy the Reader's Digest expose about Trudeau's government? Shocking! We are now going to move you into the private waiting room, where you will wait until the doctor deems you worthy of his presence." In this room you wait and eventually have your moment of precious time with the physician (billed in 15 minute increments).

Now in my case, this doc really is good. He's nice and compassionate and really listens to you and tries his best to help. In more than 10 years I've never seen him run CLOSE to on time but I don't mind with him because I've never left his office feeling like he didn't tell me everything or answer my questions completely. In this visit, he decides I need to go for a small imaging test, not because there's a problem, but more to get a baseline for future reference. I'm OK with this and he give me a slip to give to the women at the front (remember them from earlier?) so they can arrange an appointment.

As I'm standing in line I notice a few things. First is that there is no divide between woman number one (Mutt), and woman number two (Jeff). In fact, there may be only two feet dividing the little plastic windows. This becomes relevant to me because I am forced to listen while Mutt makes an appointment for a kindly gentleman in front of me for a barium enema as this gentleman has had such bad diarrhea that he has soiled his clothes and his bed at night. I can also hear Jeff tell a hunched over octogenarian how she should refrain from sexual intercourse for 24 hours prior to her appointment. All through this I am stunned, shocked, amazed and alarmed.

Where is the vaunted patient confidentiality? Where is the attempt to protect patient dignity? Gone are the days it would seem where the receptionist knew you better than the physician and would ask you about your wife and kids, mention how she bumped into your mother at the supermarket and how mom is looking well.

Like so many other things these days, the costs involved with health care are ballooning while it seems the customer services are shrinking. Have you ever called your family doctor's office and almost felt bad because it seems like you were disturbing these people and bothering them with your problems?

What's the solution? I don't know. Maybe if doctors had their own offices instead of seeming medical conglomerate I would feel like they really were there to help me and make me better. Maybe then I would feel more like a person and less like the picture on my health card.

'Nuff Said

Rich

Jaci gets her own blog!

After seeing how much ranting I was doing on my blog, Jaci wanted to give it a try so after some farting around she started her own. I haven't figured out completly how to get her linked on my sidebar 'cause my blog mentor is lying flat on his back. I hope his recovery is swift and sure!

studiojaci.blogspot.com

If you get a chance give Jac's blog a lookie-loo!

Burned again.

I should state up front about this that as a City of Hamilton Paramedic, this is a topic near and dear to my heart, and the views expressed here are solely my own, so don't go gettin' all legal-like on me.

The City of Hamilton has increased the budget for Hamilton Emergency Services (Fire AND Ambulance) by 4% next year to bring the total budget to around 81 million dollars (plus or minus a nickel here and there). This increase is to cover two main areas, wage increase and the building of a swanky new fire station in Ancaster. This grinds my gears and I am going to tell you gentle readers why.

First is the wage increase. Since the amalgamation of the City of Hamilton the Fire Dep't has sucessfully negotiated one and maybe two labour contracts between themselves and the City (they may have finished the second I'm not too sure). Good for them. Do you know how many contracts the City had negotiated with the Ambulance service? None, nil, zip, bupkus, zero, didly-squat and not at all. Wonder why? You aren't the only one.

Because of this, Hamilton Emergency Medical Service, or HEMS (the ambulance guys) have had one raise in pay. Just prior to the world bike racing championships, the medics were thrown a bone to keep us busy so we wouldn't be whining with global attention on the City. Since then, nothing.

Now don't get me wrong, I love my job but the fact remains that HEMS is the lowest paid service in the area and one of the lowest in the province (to the tune of about 5$ an hour difference). It is very true that a City of Hamilton Animal Control officer makes more money than a Paramedic. So that increase to cover the wages, doesn't affect HEMS one iota.

So to the new fire station; do we as Hamiltonians need it? Let me give you some facts and you can decide for yourself. The City of Hamilton covers a vast expanse of area (such as Ancasterm, Dundas, Flamborough, Waterdown, Stoney Creek, Hamilton etc). There are currently 25 Fire stations to cover this off. Most are staffed full time, some are mixed with full time and volunteer and some are strictly volunteer. There are also many stations that have multiple units within the one station, for example, Station 1 (John and King William) has a Supply Truck, a Ladder, a Pumper, and a Squad truck (baby pumper). Station one is also very busy. HES-Fire also staffs some 650 odd full time firefighters PLUS the volunteers (HEMS has about 160 full time medics).

So lets draw a picture. Say you live downtown. Downtown I'm going to define as the large block from Parkdale ave in the east to the Hwy 2 &8 junction (where Main becomes Osler) in the west. Very large right? With that area there are at least nine Fire trucks of varing types. Know how many ambulances cover the same area? Three. Assuming that all three are at base (which is rare) because if any are out then there are fewer trucks to cover more area.

So lets make this math simple. Station One (John St and King William) is one of the busier fire stations in the service. I have the 2005 statistics in black and white. In 2005 Station one responded on 3837 calls of all types. Know how many were ACTUAL fires? No? I do - 274. Remember that 3837 is combined from all three fire trucks at the station. I also know that I personally provided direct patient care on more than 1300 calls in one year. Which means that my partner had to have done "about" the same number. so 2600 calls for our little battle wagon in one year. Now you have to multiply THAT by four because there are four shifts of medics on my truck. So thinking conservitively, my ambulance was at more than ten thousand scenes. Doesn't seem to be much in the way of parity does there?

More math for you. In the HES budget for 2005, FIRE was almost 60 Million and Ambulance was less than 20 million (plus or minus some nickels). So in a nutshell, EMS does three times the call volume, takes one third of the budget, and we can't get the City to sit down and negotiate a contract that would allow us to have something simple as sick time (right now if we are off sick, we don't get paid).

So where am I going with all of this? Does Ancaster need a new Fire Station? That's not the right question. The question should be why is Ancaster not getting a Fire/EMS station? Because corporate bean counters determined long ago that property is far more valuable than life; and the greatest tragedy is that the citizenry allows it happen.

So when you wake up one morning and feel a crushing pain in your chest and call 911, and when the close by Fire Dep't shows up almost instantaneously to put oxygen on you and then stand around and look expensive, then you will wonder why it's taking the ambulance so long to get there. Then you will really care that there aren't that many of us and maybe, just maybe if you live through the night, you can pick up a telephone and discuss the matter with your elected city representative.

Here endeth the squawk. 'Nuff said.

Rich

January Election

With Paul Martin's minority government overthrown by the forces of ineptitude, we as Canadians are once again going to the polls on the 23rd of January. Politics is always a hot topic around any table (or throne room) and it has been my admittedly limited experience that the most vocally enraged are the ones who have learned the least about the issues; or they don't distinguish between provincial and federal politics. As a "fer instance", one person I know was adamant that he wasn't going to vote for Martin's Liberals because of all the trouble we are having in our local health care arena. He was quoting newspaper articles almost verbatim about the shortages of family doctors, ever increasing waiting periods for just about everything, and the terrible state of Hamilton's Emergency Departments. I almost hated to point out that while he was correct about the details, he failed to notice which branch of government was responsible.

On the same track now, just a different train, here are some my own personal thoughts on politics. During the last federal election I was living on Hamilton Mountain where Beth Phinney has been entrenched for almost two thousand years. I have nothing against Mrs. Phinney, she in fact has been a long time friend of my dad's, however she did lose my vote for two main reasons. The first is that I firmly believe one would have to use dynamite to blow the fence-post out of her butt and make her stand up and state an original opinion. The second, and I believe most important is that I couldn't get her on the phone.

I had an issue I wanted to talk to her about, and as my elected representative I (foolishly?) believed that with a phone call and within a few days, depending on schedules, I could get a few minutes of the member's time. This didn't happen, and this cost her my vote. When I voted in the last election I remember telling my girlfriend (now my wife) that while I was 100% positive that Paul Martin would make a good Prime Minister and Steven Harper as PM scared the jeepers out of me, no way was Phinney getting my vote. Her conservative opponent that time was city councilman Tom Jackson, who I had met a few times (I lived in his ward). Now while I didn't agree with everything Jaskson said, he at least had an opinion and wasn't overly afraid to voice it.

Now the Liberals have chosen councilman Bill Kelly to win the mountain again and I think that he makes a great choice. I have heard him in council and on the radio, and on CH TV when he did the call in show. Mr. Kelly is an intelligent and informed man who seems to listen to what people say and I truly believe he makes what he believes is the best possible decision. Were I living still on the mountain, not only would I vote for Kelly, I may have even offered to volunteer to help elect him.

However, I now live in Dundas. The Dundas riding is actual the riding of Ancaster-Duncas-Flamborough-Westdale. Rather a large bit of territory. Last weekend I had a Liberal Campaigner come to the door and ask if the Liberal incumbent, Russ Powers, could count on my support. I honestly told him that I was new to the area and didn't know much about any of the candidates so I wasn't yet sure where I would vote. The man thanked me for my time and ventured off (leaving me the ever present leaflet).

An hour or two later I was greatly surprised to find Mr. Powers knocking on my front door. The first thing that went through my mind is his riding is huge, my street is small and not a through street, and he's knocking at my door because he likely wants me to get to know him. Actually the first thought that went through my head was "wow, he's kinda short", but that's neither here nor there.

Mr. Powers then stood in my living room while I asked him questions about such things as health care, same sex marriage, and taxes. To his credit he stood firm and answered each question completely and fully. To date, and to my knowledge, he is the only candidate that has knocked on my door.

I believe that voting in a free election is and should be a cherished right of citizenship. I belive that it is just as dangerous to not vote as it is to vote when you really don't know the issues. I am also a firm believer in the "if you don't vote, don't squawk" philosophy. One doesn't have to devour every newspaper and stay glued to each news broadcast, but you should get to know the candidates in your riding. Know who you are sending to represent you in governement and hold them responsible for their words and deeds. If every one did this, I believe we could have a truly responsible government

I think the Liberals are in real trouble this time around, and I don't believe they are going to win. I also don't like mud-slinging and attack ads. In my little corner of Dundas however, Mr. Powers right now has my vote. I may not agree with everything the Liberals have said and done (and I don't), but Mr. Powers stood firm in my living room and was prepared to and did answer anything I asked him. That takes some moxy, and I think just a little character; I can live with that.

p.s. I don't believe Tony Valeri did anything immoral or illegal with his lastest real estate venture, I do think he's just trying to line his pockets a little because he truly believes he will be out of a job in a few weeks. 'Nuff said.

First thoughts...

Hello everyone!

I've been hearing more and more about these "blogs" and how it's an excellant forum to put "thought to paper" so to speak, so I figured I'd give it a try; everyone's entitled to my opinion right? This blog is for Rich, Jaci has her own. So we will be posting individually as the mood strikes us.

My intent is to spout off about whatever happens to be grinding my gears from one week to the next and I have determined that I usually come up with these thoughts during trips to the porcelain throne; hence the name and theme for the blog. Did Jaci go along with the naming ceremony? Well let's just say I got to the computer first while she wasn't looking.

I encourage everyone to check back frequently for new thoughts from the throne and should the mood strike you, let me know what you think. Take care, be well, and happy reading.

Rich