Artsie Fartsie

I have, for as long as I can remember, been very "into" music. In every way. I love to listen to good music. I like rock, some country, jazz, blues, some hard rock, some ska, fusion and pretty much whatever. I am not picky on style. I can only handle so much hard driving heavy metal, then i just need an ibuprofen or 2 to control the throb in my head. Rap to me is NOT music. It is simply a way for people who cannot sing to express their opinion. I am OK with that, they can have it. I just do not listen to it. I feel I am pretty eclectic when it comes to my listening habits. While I have openly detested country music over the years, I find myself enjoying some of it more and more. I like a song to tell me a story, make me think of what is valuable to me...things like family, faith and the future.
I have never been a very artsie fartsie kind of person. I am not into poetry or modern art. I have avoided it to some degree. But, I do recognize the need for it in society. it makes people look introspectively. I recently took part in an event at my church called "The First Poel remastered". We did one similar a few years ago and it went well, but we decided to do it again with a slightly different feel. My son, Sam, was asked to participate as the sole child in the event. I felt honored that he was asked. He has a history of being very talented and capable of public speaking. He was to be the little drummer boy. We were to help him write his own script. It was kind of a modern spin on a classic story. I procrastinated writing it, but in the end it was pretty good. He did an amazing job with the delivery. I was very proud of him. He memorized the whole thing. Every adult who had a part in it brought a copy of their poem with them to the stage. Sammy did not. He made it a point to have it down before ever taking the stage. I was amazed.
As I get older, I more so appreciate the arts. While they have always been a big part of my life, I find myself being more open to new forms. I look forward to see what my kids will do with the arts. I am hopeful. My eldest daughter plays bass guitar and can harmonize like no one else. She can hear harmony and sing it with the best of them. She is only 11 years old! I am sure she will go as far as she wants with that talent. Molly, my baby, pretty much sings al day long. As she learns control, she will to be a force to be recconed with. Yep, someday we will have our own theatre in Branson! HAHA! or not...

Hello?

Just visiting, seeing if there are any comments here. Guess not. On and on I go, bantering about my life. Well I am going back to LaCygne to work. After many weeks of hard thinking, I decided to drop out of the race for the supervisor job in Crawford County. I decided that I really do not want the headaches. I work my shift up north, then I go home. I can work a few hours down here to fill my time and make extra money, then just go home....no beeper, no one calling. Pretty great deal. So I am content! WOW! How did that happen? If you have never had a job where you carry a pager around and your employer pretty much calls you in everyday, then you do not realize the significance of NOT having one to carry. The past year has been pretty cool in that my income has risen, my stress has gone down and I am not working as hard. I pulled a shift at the Pittsburg station yesterday, we ran from 9am till 7pm non stop. I ran more calls in 1 12 hour shift yesterday than I have in a month in LaCygne! Big difference. Well, till next time. DJ

And the point is?

I swear that some people just like to hear themselves talk. I work with a guy who has an opinion about pretty much everything. He is also very willing to share it even if you never ask. He also has a lot of great ideas on how to get rich, but never puts legs to them, therefore is living under the thumb of having to work for someone else the rest of his life. I have a goal of being independent of any employer by the time I am 40. I will be there in 4 years. I truly hope to capitalize on some of my own business ideas and be able to support my family without having to punch a clock. While I do enjoy being able to help people, I do eventually want to get out of EMS.

Why not just conform to the norm and hold down a job like the rest of the world? I don't know...I just know that this country was founded on people who would not accept the norm, people who refused to be told what to do and who and how to worship. Some call it rebellion, I just call it an adventurous spirit. ironically I am posting this to my blog while at work on an 84 hour stretch after being told I have to pick a shift extra to work or I would be drafted...hence my desire to change the situation. Till next time... DJ

What is normal?

Many people in America work an 8-5 job. Home in the evenings and to bed by 10 without another thought to the day that has passed. My week is a bit different. Bear in mind that this month is supposed to be my "normal" month. What is normal? For me it is a schedule of 48 hours on shift and 96 hours off. This gives me about 8 hours of overtime each week. While it is not a bad living, it tends to not quite make the grade as far as making the bills go away. Lets face it, life can be very expensive. Dr. Bills, house payment, you name it. Thus, I work another job. I work part time for my former employer, Crawford Co. EMS. They need help and I have some free time while my kids are in school. I am also running around doing different business things.
This week I worked Sunday night 12 hrs, Monday I worked on eBay stuff, shipping, organizing, etc...Then had to go to work that night cuz a guy at works wife went into labor. I ran down a repo job first then I worked from 8p till 6am. Tuesday I started by driving home and then to the church where I led chappel at my kids school. That was fun. I then went home and began to clean out my garage. I went to work Tuesday night at 8 and got off at 6am so I could make it to work in Lacygne by 0800. I get off at 0800 Friday morning and go strait to Chanute to watch my kids play soccer in freezing temps. (hope for rain). Saturday I have a setup for my PA system business. I have to set up a PA and lighting for a student association event. I have guys coming Saturday afternoon to jam. It is like therapy. Then my week starts over Sunday night. I work from 8pm Sunday till 8am Thursday morning. Then I work 8pm Thursday to 5pm on Friday. Whew! Then I have Friday and Saturday off. I think I will just hang out at home. Maybe have a garage sale.

So what is normal? I have NO idea....DJ

My paid prison

Not to complain, but I have been at work for the past 60 jours and have 36 yet to go. Due to scheduling conflicts and our department being down a medic, it has this week created the need for me to work 2 back to back 48 hour shifts. That is 96 strait hours. I have never done that before. So far, we have not run any calls. We have not done anything but clean around the quarters. I am in my little room today. It is like a 13X13 cell with internet, digital tv and playstation. It is kind of like one of those white collar prisons. Where those criminals go that commit non violent crimes of a financial matter. While the key difference is that I am being paid overtime as of midnight last night. That makes it all worth it. If I were a single man, I would do this al the time. But I am not, I am a man with a beautiful wife and 3 incredible kids at home. I miss them. I really cannot wait to get home. Only 34 more hours to go.....

Another bump...

Well, the word came down...a guy who has only been a medic for a year and only applied for the supervisor job in Linn county 1 week before the interviews got the job. Why? I am not sure. Everyone thought I would be a shoe in. I had the other two supervisors rooting for me. While I am not happy with this turn of events, it really does not matter. I know God has a plan, no matter how much I try to alter it, He is in control. He is ultimately in charge of my destiny.

On to politics....I have never been very outspoken about my political views. This election however has brought out my opinions in a way that has never before been seen. I was undecided until after the democratic national convention. While Barak Obama had a lot of good things to say, I am convinced that that is all it was, a speech. I do not believe that he really knows what to do. Good plans are one thing, but having the know how to impliment them is another. I am a fan of the McCain-Palin ticket. John McCain has been in politics for many years, he fights for what is right for the country as a whole not for lobbyists. Sarah Palin has proven herself to be a strong leader both as a mother and governor. My respect lies with her. While I think that vice president is a step down for her, I think she will do good things for the country. Bush is an idiot, he has no idea how to run a country and needed to be impeached 5 years ago. I know far too many people who have been to Iraq who still have no idea why we are there. While I do not think it is a good idea to pull out of Iraq, I do think we need to begin to have our presence there become more functional. Why are wew paying to rebuild a country that we blew up? Why do we not make THEM pay for the rebuild. Make them do the work, while we concentrate our forced on border patrol and aiming our guns at the murderous killers who sneak in to kill americans. Send a few hundred special forces troops into Iran to shoot their radical islamic president and park a few hundred nuclear warheads at their border. Send them a message that says... If you do not stop making bombs, we will deliver one to you...personally. Blow up Tehran with a 100 megaton bomb, wipe out anyone who chooses to stay and make Iran a resort town for american tourists! For a people who claim to be a peaceful religion, those muslims sure tend to lean toward violence. You cannot meet agression with weakness!

I say vote in McCain, let him lead the military into right decisions, bring home our troops and strengthen our borders against illegal immigration. I am all for anyone who wants to enter our counrty to better themselves, just do it by the book. Send ALL illegals back to their respective countries. Make a policy of no return for the first offense. If you are caught illegally, you can NEVER come back. If you are caught again, you go to prison. They should be forced to work building windmills to be put up all over the midwest to power the future.

Ok, stepping down now...I am sure no one is reading this anymore at thispoint. If so, great. Now you too can disagree with me...DJ

Giggin again

I have been a mobile DJ on a part time basis for about 10 years. I stopped for a while, but decided to get back into it to make extra cash. I figure, I got all of the gear, may as well let it make money for me...right? Anyway, this weekend, my son helped me out with one. He is 9. I pretty much set up everything, but he helped by running the lights. He played on my laptop at times, but mainly he just danced around behind the DJ booth and made me laugh. He does this "robot" dance that is just hysterical. We had fun. However, it wound up going later than we thought. We did not leave until 1am. I had to be at work this morning in Pleasanton at 5:30. This means that I would get to bed around 2 and get up again around 4 to be there on time. So I decided just to stay up and drive up to Pleasanton last night. That was a long drive. I really love it whenm my kids want to hang out with me while doing some of these gigs. I really hope they move on and get a degree in nuclear medicine or something and never have to rely uon doing this kind of work. I don't consider it work though. I am a freak for music gear and love every aspect of sound system design and installation. I wold really love having a business that does that....oh wait..I do! HAHA. Yet another thing I find myself doing....till next time. DJ