News? What News?

I’m folding my news blog. What was I thinking? I don’t have enough time to get laid these days1 much less manage a news blog. I keep hoping someone will design a custom plugin for pulling stuff off of Originalsignal.com (My favorite news aggregator). This one site allows me to scour a weeks worth of headlines at a glance. Talk about multi-tasking!

I may end up doing a side page here that I update w/plugins from other sites on news I find interesting. While this blog isn’t about world events, I often feel the need to weigh in at times. Besides, I’m almost never w/o something to say.2

1 Ok, that is stretching it a bit but you get the point.
2 Confirmed by the 42 saved posts in my draft folder. I keep thinking one day I might need to use one of’em.

Another Year…

…flies by and it is time to look ahead once more. Where was I then, where am I now, and where am I going? Of course, it is also a time when everyone invades the gym in the hopes of working off the excesses of the holiday season. They show up in their new workout gear, shiny new ipod and otherwise are completely clueless as to their rude behavior. But I digress, focus Moby focus.

Where was I? Oh right. I think I did a pretty good job of keeping last year’s resolutions. The debt is well under control. It has gone up w/the purchase of the motorcycle however, I’m in a much better place to manage it now. I also found a great apartment in the ghaytto.1 And speaking of, I did get the motorcyle as anticipated. I’m very happy with it. The only thing I didn’t do was work on getting my teeth fixed. I procrastinated until the year was finally over so it has to go top of the list for this year.

I also have 80% of my required EMT hours in now so come the fall, I can start school again. That gives me almost a 6 month reprieve from very busy days. It also gives me a chance to work on my gym schedule that has suffered greatly in the last 6 months. I think I might hire a trainer to help push me along at the gym. I’m pretty knowledgable on the body and workouts2, I just need someone to help push me. I get distracted easily and knowing I have to be there w/someone keeps me focused.

1 The castro is commonly referred to as the ‘gay ghetto’. I kinda like that however, it is fast losing its neighborhood feel. That is a rant for another day though.
2 Nutrition, muscle kinetics, fiber recruitment, blah blah blah.

Bass Ackwards

I don’t know if I read it or dreamed it but I remembered someone discovering they’d put their underwear on backwards. I thought, “I never do that“.

Of course, that is the fallacy of saying never. I get to the gym today and discover…

…My underwear were on backwards. No one noticed but me. I do think I looked pretty funny suddenly bursting into laughter for no apparent reason though.

Looking Ahead

The debriefing was last night. It was very sad as expected however, it gave all of us involved a chance to vent and share our grief together. The paramedic who treated the fallen officer was there. You could tell he was really struggling with it and was grateful to have been included.1 We all got a chance to talk and share the experience from our own perspective. I think the PD units were visibly surprised at the deph of concern that we showed.

The meeting started off on a funny note courtesy of my absent-mindedness. My bud had given me a tshirt for Chrismas that read “I have a black belt in crazy” on the front of it2. I didn’t realize I’d warn it underneath my sweater and upon taking my sweater off it sparked a few laughs. I was so completely embarrassed.3 Ironically, I think it set just the right tone for the debriefing to get under way.

I also have to give props here to a certain shift manager who gave us the rest of the evening off. In the past, she has been my arch-enemy on union issues however, she really did show compassion thru this ordeal.

So now, I’m left to focus on the future and the year ahead. I have a reprieve from school for the next 6 months and will have my required EMT hours in by the end of January. Maybe, just maybe, I can squeeze a little bit of a social life in there somewhere.

1 We were happy to invited as well. We are almost always never included. It was frustrating to discover it was not PD that was leaving us out but our own previous management team.
2 I’m fond of saying, I don’t know karate but I do know crazy. The tshirt was a spoof on that.
3 A rare emotion for me.

Christmas

Today, I’m trying to look beyond the tragedy to the season itself. Not being a “christian”, Christmas has never had the same meaning for me. Christmas is the one time of year when you put the bickering behind you and you share in the spirit of closeness, be it a lover, family, friends, co-workers, whatever. Forgetting the woes of the outside world, you rejoice in the spirit of togetherness and humanity. You take a moment to remember we are not alone in this world and that connection should be celebrated. That is the meaning of Christmas to me.

Back when I had a social life, I would always host a party for anyone who didn’t have a place to go for Christmas. I’d even invite people I wasn’t overly fond of if I knew they had know where else to go. Some of my favorite Christmas’s were spent that way. This year, I can’t host a party but I can be close to those I’ve grown to care about. That is enough for me.

I’ve also made quite a few blog friends in the last 3 years and while I can’t be with you this holiday season, you are in my thoughts and I wish you a very safe and happy holiday.

Moby

406

*This is a bit of a mood-killer so you may want to skip this if you are in good spirits*

The title is a police radio code. It is the worst radio code a police dispatcher in San Francisco could ever hope to hear. It means “Officer down and needs emergency assitance“. I can tell you the painful yell of a police officer who has just realized his partner is down stays with you for the rest of your career.

It is with a very heavy heart I report an SFPD Officer was shot and killed in the line of duty last night. I cannot go into details beyond what has been released to the public. I can say it was a shameful cowardly act. I was directly involved in the incident and words cannot express my dispair over such a loss. The officer in question was relatively new to the force. More importantly, he was a good cop. He represented all the qualities a good cop should have. His death is being felt deeply by all of us in the department.

I had to call off work today. I take the responsibilites of my job very seriously and was just too upset. I admit, I find solace in knowing the murderer is also dead. I know I shouldn’t think that way but I can’t help it. Think or say what you will about the police in general, an officer puts his life on the line every single day he goes to work. That sacrifice demands respect no matter who you are. Growing up the way I did, I’m also a firm believer in an ‘eye for an eye.’1 However, San Francisco is a very liberal city and had the suspect lived he would not have gotten the death penalty. The DA here doesn’t believe in it and wouldn’t have pursued it. That is another topic unto itself however, it comforts me to know the evil this man commited will not be rewarded in prison.2

In an round about way his death has strengthened my resolve to be a Paramedic. I can think of no finer a way to honor his memory. I think it would be an insult to turn away from a path with the potential to do so much good.

Rest in peace Officer Tuvera. You are gone from our lives but you are not gone from our hearts.

1 It is also why I chose not to be a police officer. I know in my heart if I were witness to such an event, I would have ended the suspect with extreme prejudice.
1 “Cop-killers” obtain almost celebrity status in the penal system.

Priceless

I saw a Santa today taking donations on the street. You know the ones, they setup shop and solicit donations for charity. So anyway, there was a homeless guy setup about 20 feet away with a sign reading “skip the middle man and donate to me“.

I normally don’t give out money for the homeless as they often spend it on booze or worse. I made an exception today.