It's National Hero Day. Sure, we've got these fantasy heroes who can fly and jump buildings, but heroes live among us. @walt was a paramedic for years, I'm sure he has saved many a life. Has anyone been put in a situation where you had to act fast to save someone from mortal danger? Story time, idiots. It's also National Pirogi Day, which compels me to make some this weekend. I've been on a gyoza kick so maybe I'll pivot to other meat and veggies in carby wrapper foods. Happy Friday, folks. Enjoy the fall weather. Anyone getting ready for Halloween? I've been impressed with some of the decor in the neighborhood.
Some lady got lost in the thick fog near a hiking trail in Iceland when I was there. We had to play Marco Polo for her to find us. She got separated from her group and freaked out when the weather started getting really bad. I don’t about “mortal” danger, but our wet clothes were freezing to our bodies, so I’m glad we found her. I hope she was okay after we took all her snacks and left her there.
I’ve successfully done chest compressions to keep someone alive until EMS arrived (she survived another year and a half), pulled someone from a vehicle fire who sadly did not survive, and been the first person on scene to far too many gruesome wrecks. Wrong place, right time, with fortunately the right equipment. People used to make fun of me for keeping a first aid bag with everything from SAM splints to tourniquets and Israeli bandages. I’ve lost track of the number of people, usually adults, who I’ve had to help through seizures. Most recently my nephew. Worst by far was when my now 7 year old was a newborn, started choking, turned blue in the face and was choking to where he was no longer making noise. Infant Heimlich and he was good, but that one got me pretty good for a while. It always fucking sucks, and I always try to use it as an example to everyone to invest in the training. anyone who works in the medical field right now is my hero. Especially the doctors and PTs who have helped me through all the horrible shit this year. Being in that kind of pain for that length of time just drains you, and the body heals a lot quicker than the mind. Especially after covid, I’m very fortunate to still be around to thank them in person. Finally got cleared from PT day before yesterday and for only the sixth week this year, I am healthy. Im sure this will last approximately through the weekend lol
Yeah, one or two over the course of ten years. But back then we were just doing our jobs, we didn't think of it in terms of heroics. One story just jumped into my brain: We were called to a bar on a sunny Sunday afternoon for a man down. Someone went to check on their friend and found him laying on the floor of the bathroom unresponsive. Fire Department was there and one of the EMT's who was also an ER nurse was trying to ventilate him. He said something to the effect of, "Man, I can't get any air in this guy." Something, I don't know what told me to grab the Magill forceps along with the laryngoscope ( I needed to intubate him anyhow ) and opening his gullet there was a huge ass piece of meat staring back at me from about halfway down his trachea. Insert forceps, removed the meat, and homeboy took a huge gasping breath. He was goofy from being hypoxic, but by the time we got him to the ER was fine. Doc grabs me and says "Come with me." I follow him into the room, wondering WTF was wrong. He says to the guy, who is now sitting up and 100% with it, "This man saved your life today." I turned red, he shook my hand, and I made a crack about chewing his food better before leaving. There were a lot more losses than saves, it's the heart wrenching truth of the business. But those calls where you make can the difference were what kept me going. ( Christ, I could tell stories all day, some funny as hell, others that it's amazing I got through. I've often thought about writing a book, but I'd have to use a pen name since we live in a relatively small community.)
In other news our school district had to revise the schedule for buses today due to a shortage of drivers. Admittedly, we are severely understaffed, but also have people out from Covid, long term medical, etc. I didn't help matters any, since I put in for this afternoon off over a month ago and, while I considered going in anyway decided not to. I'm going to get our son from college for the weekend and a team of fresh horses couldn't keep me from doing so. He's surprising his grandparents and I know it'll do my parents a world of good to see him. ( As well as his mother and I. )
I've been walking the whole neighborhood for a few weeks now since the weather has been so amazing. It's a great way to meet all the retired neighbors. They are impressed with my perfectly behaved dog and swoon over the cute baby. It's actually pretty amazing how well the dog walks next to the stroller. She acts like she is working.
agreed. One special that I found hilarious this year is Shane Gillis’s “live in Austin”. His first one and honestly one of the best I’ve seen in a while.
Li'l Bandit once got me a mug that read "I'm a dad. What's your superpower?" Does that count? I am simultaneously a superhero when I fix someone's POS car, and a supervillian when I hand them the bill. This is my superhero(ine): Spoiler
I don't understand this mentality. Like if I'm paying you for something, it's because I don't have the experience or specific education to do it myself, so how the hell am I supposed to bitch and moan about what your time is worth (within reason -- assholes are assholes, and people do price gouge to see if they can sneak one over on you). What's that saying, like how good work isn't cheap and cheap work isn't good?
People will find any reason to bitch about anything, and the auto repair industry has a (not totally unearned) reputation for price gouging*. Also, some people have a hard time with the original estimate being different from the cost of the actual job. Last week, a regular customer (also a complainer) brought his '17 F350 in to replace a bad hub bearing. We gave him the quote from the labor guide, which would have been about 1.5 hours, or about $135. The problem is, when the bearing let go, it damaged his locking hub assembly (it was a 4X4), breaking some of the internal components, which made the removal MUCH more difficult. In the end, we charged him an extra $100, plus the $150 for a new locking hub assembly, and he bitched about it. He still paid us, but we still had to listen to "tHaT's NoT hOw MuCh YoU sAiD iT wOuLd Be!" Sometimes we quote a customer on something that SEEMS like an easy fix, and it turns out that shit is seriously fucked, and it can get into the thousands. Another example: A guy brought his truck in for a misfire. Should be a simple fix, right? A new coil pack or injector, and $200 later he's back on the road, right? WRONG. He had a bad lifter, which pushed his repair into the thousands. He was really pissed, but it was no fault of mine. *There absolutely are shops/ mechanics that will try to rip you off; I've know a few of them, or seen their "work". The worst part is that a lot of them get away with it. I was never very successful as an independent mechanic because I didn't charge enough, and I would give people breaks on labor prices.
which is why it's an ESTIMATE. If it's something mechanical like that, I tell them to just call me and give me a heads up if it's way over so I can prepare my wife. Stuff for the house, if it's something I don't have the time for or like tomorrow a buddy who is much more skilled than me is doing some shiplap in the bathrooms, I just figure the materials and stuff will be more at the end so if it comes out to what they figured at the beginning then that's a bonus. However, some people will find any reason to bitch about anything. If you can't pay to fix it, don't play with it from the start.
Another part of that is people who don't have any budget for unexpected problems... car repair is something that people usually don't plan on, so when you're just barely making ends meet, and all of a sudden you've got a major expense, that will totally fuck you over, you tend to shoot the messenger. The complete ignorance on their part, the frustration and anger over the situation, and shit gets emotional.
It's wine time wine time nuh nuh nuh nuh nuhhh. Nothing like emptying out the last of the box, where you have to pull out the bladder to really get it all. I'm all class y'all.
My phrase when I had to help my younger staff get used to angry customers was: “they aren’t angry at you - they’re upset because they put themselves in this position, and they’re hoping that if they make you uncomfortable, you’ll solve their problem for them.”
People will get pissed off about anything, justified or not. When I had my flea market, to drum up business, I offered a free booth to first time vendors. I had a married couple show up who got their free booth and rented another one. And then I never saw them again. But boy did I hear about them. They were running all over a tri state area proclaiming what an asshole I was and how no one should ever sell at my flea market. What did I do that was so awful? I didn't give them 2 free booths....because they were a couple and that's 2 people, thus they were entitled to 2 free booths. Hell, if they'd brought it up to me I'd probably have gone along with it. But nope....it's just easier for them to run around complaining. Considering what bitchy, entitled assholes they turned out to be, I'm glad they stayed away or else I would've had to set their booth on fire. Or something.
It’s a pretty fucked-up world where he he or Mark Normand have to give their awesome specials away for free on YouTube while Hannah Gatsby makes millions off whatever her fucking “comedy” is. I think there are a lot of people out there who have never genuinely laughed at something funny in their life. They think that dogshit like “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me” is hilarious fodder but they’re just pretending to laugh at it.
I don’t know any Hannah Gatsby material. I looked up her picture and I feel like it goes something like this: “So, I’m a lesbian (audience goes woo and she politely nods and waits for it to die down)……….and, and it’s weird, you know? People will come up to me and….and be like ‘oh wow, you’re a lesbian huh?’ (audience laughter)…..and I’m like…’yeah, I am…’ (befuddled expression while audience laughs and woos some more)”
Uhh Dave Chappelle was paid fifty million dollars to make his Netflix specials. He only co-released that one about George Floyd on youtube I assume to get his message to a broader audience for that one.