Living In the World, Not on It

It really is usually far nuttier on Thanksgiving, but the gods smiled upon us this year. One call, at 1820, for a syncope patient. That's it. And the patient was a perfectly wonderful person, having a good chuckle over this. We liked our patient, and our patient liked us. That is usually not the case with holiday calls. Even 65 had an easy night. They were called out when we were enroute to the hospital for a 19-year-old choking (worry not, I believed all turned out well) and then around 2100 for someone at Greystone - better them than us. I've been to Greystone far too often this year... that is not my side of town and let's face it, no one wants to go to the scary old mental patient facility. Granted the facility we usually go to is modern and well-kept, but it is still freaky. A little bit. After that, silence reigned - except 69 (the Hevy Rescue guys) had a board up to go to. Happy Thanksgiving indeed!

As you., my few readers know, I went to Philadelphia Tuesday afternoon, had my doctor appointment at 0800 and left shortly after to return home. We drove down Route 287 for a while until the navigator, harboring its own thought-processes on how to get there, took us off the highway and put us on Route 206 South, which was, in short, a nightmare. We passed through small towns; many, many traffic lights, all of which turned red just for us; cows; farms; open fields... it was boring, long and complete with schoolbusses, the root of all evil where road travel of any kind is done. I wanted off of those backroad, backwoods lanes NOW! Eventually we made it to Route 95S (the other Route 95S - don't ask!) and there I happily took my chances with the local constabulary doing 80 - 85 the remaining distance until we reached Route 30 in Philly. Then the wretched traffic confined my speeding to low but steady numbers. That, and sheer stress - I hate driving in cities. Any city, really, but espe

Every Thanksgiving is the same, whether we go somewhere or not. When I was little, Thanksgiving was a Grandparents' holiday. I was exchanged at Checkpoint Charlie (The then-lone Howard Jonsons restaurant on Route 80 right at the Delaware Water Gap on the Pennsylvania side) from my mother to my paternal grandparents, Grandma and Pop-pop (usually both grands have funny nicknames, but I wonder if my grandmother would have considered that beneath her dignity. I don't know, and it is unlikely I will ever know, but that sort of fits her. That lasted into my 11th or 12th year, maybe into my midteens. Once my grandmother allowed herself to show anger that I was getting my menstrual cycle, Thanksgiving became the Platt Family sideshow. Just a freaky little behaviour from my grandmother that no one could have predicted. All families have their idiosyncrasies and homegrown weirdnessess, but this was so pervasive that I elected to stay home for every holiday. They'd send gifts, but the

I don't know if it has been the sleeplessness of being on call 23.75 hours, the DM II, the weirdness that my life has become, but I am feeling very depressed. I have no doubt that the westerned sun at this early hour has a part in it as well, but not so much as the rest. Maybe medication adds to it. And a million other little things. I don't want to feel this way. I feel like my life doesn't have enough meaning. Like I'm just taking up space or converting oxygen into carbon dioxide. That may sound valuable, but a vegetable can do that. I don't know what to do about this. We'll be in Philadelphia on Wednesday, though to meet with the DM specialist and maybe there will be something - a new direction or insight or I don't know what - to help me deal with all of this. Well, enough for now. One hour left of covering.

with Anu Garg Little strokes make a letter and those letters come together to form words. We assign meanings to the words. Often they express simple ideas: a tree, a rock, water, and so on. Sometimes a word describes a more complex idea. Have you ever found yourself wondering, "Wouldn't it be nice if there were a word for it?" Well, there is a word for almost everything under the sun. This week we have dug up five words you may not have known existed. acnestis PRONUNCIATION: (AK-nist-uhs) MEANING: noun: The part of the body where one cannot reach to scratch ETYMOLOGY: From Greek aknestis (spine), from Ancient Greek knestis (spine, cheese-grater). USAGE: "In what has to be the longest post-election season in living memory, the last five months have felt like an acnestis upon our collective soul; like that little patch of skin on our backs that we just can't reach to scratch ourselves. It's irritating. It's annoying. It's left us reaching and spinning a

Having a stressful week? Oh, the stress meter’s off the scale here at Patrick’s Place, so I thought I’d make de-stressing a topic for this week. It might even make its way to tomorrow’s quiz, too. ■First to play last week: Otowi of Otowi. Congratulations! (According to the rules, “First to Play” requires you to be the first to include the link to the specific entry in which you answered the questions, not just the general link to your blog.) Here are this week’s “Saturday Six” questions. Either answer the questions in a comment here, or put the answers in an entry on your journal…but either way, leave a link to your journal so that everyone else can visit! Permission is not granted to copy the questions to message boards for the purpose of having members answer and play along there. Enjoy! 1. In the last year, which single person has helped you relieve the most of your stress? Nancy at work. She has been a huge help in listening and offering suggestions when I do get stressy. 2. In the

We all know fruits are good for us. Most of us don’t eat nearly enough of them. We don’t, for the most part, eat enough vegetables, either, but that’s another Sunday Seven for another day: this week, we’re talking about produce of the fruit persuasion! ■First to play last week: Cat. of Sweet Memes. Congratulations! (According to the rules, “First to Play” requires you to be the first to include the link to the specific entry in which you answered the questions, not just the general link to your blog.) Here is this week’s “Sunday Seven” question. Either answer in a comment here, or put the answers in an entry on your blog (with a link here), and then comment here with a link back to your blog so that everyone else can visit! Permission is not granted to copy the questions to message boards for the purpose of having members answer and play along there. Enjoy! THIS WEEK’S QUESTION: Name your seven favorite fruits. Pineapple Strawberries Kiwi Raspberries Gooseberries Pears Apples

Saturday 9: Talking in Your Sleep 1. Has anyone in your life talked in their sleep? Besides me, I know Luis has - more than once. He's funny when he talks in his sleep. He hasn't done it in a while. I would guess it is the A-PAP he wears at night. 2. What do you like about fall? The shorter list is what I don't like about autumn, which is the shortening days. Otherwise I love autumn! 3. Do you have an addictive personality? Who, me? Naaaaahhhh... 4. Who was the last person to do something extra special for you? Luis, just by being here when things are darkest. 5. Would you ever take someone back if they cheated on you? Well, that really depends on what "cheating" means to you. But the answer is yes. 6. Are you happy with where you are in life? Except for my health, I am delighted with where I am in my life. 7. Do you believe that you can change someone? I suppose it is possible, but it is not my job to do so. My job is change myself, to make myself a better person

My dear Maria I'm here to see ya Won't you please, please open the door I brought ya flowers Been waitin' hours Can't stand it anymore So here's what happened While you were nappin' I just went out for a snack I was feelin' famished And then I vanished... But now I'm back Now he's back Had a snack Now he's back My heart is burning For that love of ours Yearning For that sea of stars Let me in so I can prive to you That no one else Can love you, girl The way that I do Oh, how I miss ya I wanna kiss ya And hold you close From dusk to dawn So let's just make up And when you wake up I promise not to be gone You know I love ya Dream only of ya So please, please cut me some slack I went away Just a couple of days... But now I'm back Now he's back Cut him slack Now he's back Maria, baby, I guess that maybe You're still a little angry with me But it's getting late and The boys are waitin' Gotta get something to eat I better go

Usually November is my month to post lyrics, one song a day... I've been a wee bit distracted, but better late.... "And Then You're Gone" My dear Lorenzo You take my hand And understand The tears that I have cried We light the candles And pour the wine And laugh as if You'll never leave my side You take me In your arms and tell me That I'll always be the only one... And then you're gone! You come to see me On a Saturday Presenting peonies Knowing just what to say We dance until The break of dawn I turn my back And now you're gone Swirling in a sea of stars Twirling to the strum of guitars No one tangos quite the way you do But now my dancing days with you are through You think I miss you Each time you disappear Maybe I used to But it's becoming clear I know your tricks I've heard your song You swear your love And then you're gone Remember last time It was a perfect day You took me sailing And then you sailed away Now here you are Outside my

I still don't feel up to par, but the fact that I am so reluctant to eat makes the healing process just a wee bit slower than it needs to be. I'm working on it. Last night, I had rice from the Afghani restaurant. I figured that while the rice was flavourful, it was still bland enough that my stomach would feel good about it. Still, one can not help but feel tired with a day of meals such as I am having: 12 spoonfuls of Cheerios in milk a small cup of pear sorbet plain rice with some raisins four bottles of [flavoured] water instead of my usual 6 - 9 bottles a day I guess after all the eating of the past three weeks on the gabapentin, this is a drastic change. This is not what I sighned up for. I suffer more than enough abuse at the hands of my own body. Why this, too? Yes, that is just me whining. I get to do that once in a while. I haven't started the Lyrica, which in some ways is fine. I have always been anti-pharmaceuticals for many, many years. As the fun bits of this a

I cannot believe that October has gone - never to be recaptured - and we are into November. Wow. That is just staggering. Ready for something more staggering? I have been telling everyone how unhappy I am with the 12 candidates for the gubernatorial candidacy and my father told me this morning that there is a space to fill in anyone's name. I'm not sure who's name I will fill in, but that is my plan. Normally I am the world's stupidest voter. I'm not stupid, but politically speaking, I'm very ignorant. Which is fine. Normally I vote the way many do: just go down the line of my political affiliation. I'm more of a Democrat (one of them crazy liberals) than a Republican, although it is never that simple. I think I am really a little of both or at least I'm willing to see both sides or find that I don't agree with every Democratic ideal and every Reublican ideal. But I know I fall more into the Democratic party than the other. What I don't know much

More fun - well, total bullshit - that came in my work e-mail... hard to imagine people fall for this: Unesco International Awards United Kingdom Committee for Unesco House 64-78 Kingsway WC2B 6NB London United Kingdom E-mail: unesco-center@elderscrolls.co.uk This is to inform you that you have won a prize money of Eight Hundred and Fifty Thousand, Great Britain Pound Sterlings (850,000.00) for the month of October 2009 Donations which is organized by Unesco International Awards Unesco International Awards, collects all the email addresses of the people that are active online, among the millions that subscribed to Yahoo,Hotmail and host of other emails, we only select five people every Month as our winners through electronic balloting System without the winner applying, we congratulate you for being one of the people selected. You are to contact the events manager on or before your date of Claim, Winners Shall be paid in accordance with his/her Settlement Centre. Unesco International A

From oldest to most recent (Monday through Friday every week): from Anu Garg 28 September 2009: A writer usually doesn't have a boss. On the other hand, a writer's boss is his readers. You could say I have 800,000 bosses. But this relationship is not so clearcut. Let me explain. From time to time a reader is displeased with something I have written, and emails: "Keep your opinions to yourself or you will lose readers." Appreciative as I am of my readers -- they are whom I write for -- I do not always write to try to please them. I express my opinion. Some opinions resonate and some leave them fuming, but they all can see -- I hope -- that it comes from my heart. I don't expect everyone to agree with me or my beliefs. Well, at least this week, I'm at your service hand and foot, etymologically speaking. All words to be featured have either hand or foot as their origin, even though it may not always be obvious. prestidigitation PRONUNCIATION:(pres-ti-dij-i-TAY-sh

When I asked my colleague via e-mail what the Hallowe'en Pumpkin carving contest prizes should be, this was the answer I got: 1st place - you get to keep your job 2nd place - you can work here part-time until further notice 3rd place - no jobs right now - but you're at the top of the waiting list This is why I love this person. Usually serious, the fun side pops out every so often and I howled when I read this. It's always a surprise when the sarcasm comes out like that. Really funny! You will always be my friend!