THIS is important!!!

I know I haven't posted here in a while due to school and life, but I have to make time for this. Aly (Alexandria) Marques is missing. She was last seen on June 7, walking on Hwy70 in Clovis, NM. She has health problems and needs meds. Minor brain damage from a car accident this past year, and leaky heart valves, plus some other issues. It took 5 days to get this into the news (I know, they were focused on the big wildfire), and my friends and I are worried sick. This is a video with pics of Aly.

 The youtube page also has links to more info. Aly's Page is on FB, spreading the word. Please share the video, flyer, info far and wide. She may be disoriented, thinking she's going to see her dad. (He is not living.) She could be anywhere by now - one week later. Hwy 70 runs through some really rough country in NM and TX. Here's a printable flyer: http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PubCaseSearchServlet?act=viewPoster&caseNum=1196303&orgPrefix=NCMC&searchLang=en_US Thank you.

Yes, I have neglected this blog. It has been a rather rough year. In light of that, I've gotten in on a clinical study for a new med to boost my current anti-depressant. That process will be on a new blog at drugstudypatient.blogspot.com.
I'm still in school, cohort didn't go too well last fall. I'm trying to finish out a pre-health sciences transfer degree so that I can get some work experience and then give paramedic school another try later on. I will be done with school this December.

Told ya I was gonna be busy!!

Yes, I'm crawling out from under the books and paperwork to update this mess a little. When we last left our intrepid heroine, she was dealing with school, health problems, a too-small apartment, roommates and the usual suspects (stress, depression and anxiety). I did manage to pass my summer classes, despite taking a week off for a run back to Michigan and Indiana. The family reunion was great, and I finally managed to get what was left of my stuff in Indiana. I even got to stop by Tom's mom's house on the way back! Since then, we have moved to a larger house on the other side of town. It has maybe 1/4 acre of land for yard and garden, too! Our temporary third housemember got his own place last week, so it's a bit quieter now, but still nice. Boxes abound still, and there's still some things that I can't lay hands on yet, but it's getting better. I made it into the paramedic cohort for this fall, and we started class last Monday. Talk about hitting the ground running! Tests and homework and skills, oh my!! There are 18 of us in the cohort, and we've split up into 4 squads. There's 5 in my squad, and we're getting to know each other. By the next month or so, we'll all be pretty tight-knit, since we see each other for a minimum of 24 hours a week in class. Bubonicon went well this year. I'm still trying to carve out a new niche for myself there, since my hectic school schedule is going to keep me from doing some of the major jobs. I finally managed to get myself a piece of Peri Charlifu's ceramic work (a nice udon bowl) at the art show with my birthday money. His work is awesome, and if you want to check it out, go to his Facebook Page. Tom is also back in school full-time, and got a work study job, too. He's excited and enjoying his classes, and that really makes me feel good. He's a great friend, and we can motivate each other if things get rough. He's going for a degree in Transportation Technology, which is auto mechanics plus core college classes. He'll not only learn the technical stuff, but also how to run a business someday. Anyway, that's a brief update. I'm on Facebook a fair amount, and there's always email. I know I will be less social for the next 7-8 months, simply because school is going to take 99% of my time, if not more. TTYL!

Don't Panic, Dammit!

Okay, people, I understand that "radiation" is this big scary thing that we don't know what to do anything about. We're not quite sure how it works, how far it can travel, and what it can do to us.
Here is your reality check - Potassium Iodine pills and such are NOT necessary, and can in fact be harmful to people with heart trouble, kidney trouble and other health issues that they may not be aware of. Potassium directly affects heart rates and rhythms, and even us EMS types are only allowed to monitor it at very low levels! If you use iodized salt, you should be fine for most anything. I mean, geez, most of us get more radiation from an x-ray!
Interestingly enough, before we had ever heard of the atom bomb or a nuclear energy plant, X-rays and fluoroscopes were the big fad. You could go to the shoe store and put your feet in a machine so they could fit your shoes and see your bunions and such without even having to remove your current footwear! http://www.museumofquackery.com/devices/shoexray.htm
The likelihood that dangerous levels of radiation will reach Hawaii, let alone the mainland US, is low. The radiation workers in Fukushima have been allowed back into the plants to continue their efforts to cool the reactors and keep us all safe. The design of these plants is different from Chernobyl's plants, and are operated according to very safe protocols (unlike the "ooh, let's see what this does" mentality that led to the Chernobyl incident).
If you simply must have something to worry about, put your energy toward something useful, like a rational plan in case of whatever natural disaster your area is prone to. And if you can, spare a thought, a prayer, a donation for the people of Japan, and remember New Zealand as well.
For my part, I am working on better living arrangements, including a garden and livestock. We have lanterns and gear for power outages, and are working on plans for self-sufficiency. If that's too much for some folks, then prep an emergency bag in case you need to leave home or be stuck at home with no power or water. Just something to think about.

Spring Cleaning and Revamping

It is high time and then some for me to get off my duff and start using this blog again. I'm going to go back to the original purpose of having it, and start putting forth my thoughts on various topics. When I first started this blog, I had intended to do just that, but ended up having an attack of self-consciousness. I mean, who'd want to read what I think about stuff?
Well, in the past year or so, I have read a lot of stuff on these here Intarwebz, and have realized that if people are really reading some of the things I've seen, then maybe my viewpoint would be appreciated after all. I mean, really, people...
This may also turn into a good way for me to explore what I really do think about certain issues. I can't pigeonhole my politics, as they don't fit the molds that are presented by the media lately, but I do have some thoughts on certain issues. My religious views are also probably in the minority, but I'm cool with that. Some things I talk about will be of mainly local interest, there will be some ranting in there somewhere, and hopefully some insights that will invite you to think. (Like the old saying goes, "You can lead a horticulture, but you can't make 'er think!") If there's interest in a certain topic, and y'all really want to know what I think, then by all means suggest it.
I can't promise any regularity of postings, especially with school, but I will do my best.
Thank you for your kind indulgence.

Getting ready for school!

Some progress in the education portion of my life. Not without frustration, of course...It seems that CNM did a wonderful job recruiting students, but FAILED to evaluate whether their infrastructure and offices could handle all that traffic!!
I didn't make cohort, so ended up doing my registration, paperwork and payment arrangement stuff all today (way late for me), because I had to wait for word on that. Unfortunately, it's also the first day for all the brand new students to do the same. Epic long lines and wait times ensued. My home printer is still not working, on top of all that, so I also had to hit a computer lab - which I *swear* had twice as many computers in it when I went by there last week! WTF??
Anyway, it's done. I have till mid-September to make the next payment for my classes, and by then I should have some financial aid coming my way.
The budget is still very tight, but not impossibly so, with that breathing room. I will deal with books once I have my loan money, and already have the most important ones, thank goodness. I am also signed up for a free algebra refresher workshop which may enable me to change math classes before school actually starts, and save me time and money by letting me skip a lower level pre-requisite for the class that my degree requires. That's a very good thing!
I've got a pagan camping event next weekend which I am looking forward to. Bubonicon is about a month away, and my birthday is the week before that. I'm still baking and hope to be able to get some orders for breads and cookies for extra cash. My roomie, Tom, is working hard, though still part-time, and is helping as much as he can. The "woods" seem a lot less threatening today. I'm not out of them, by a long shot, but it's less Mirkwood and more Greenwood sometimes. ;-)

Yes, I'm alive.

High time that I got back to blogging. My apologies for the lapse/hiatus, school and work and life...eh, you know the drill.
As of June 12th, I officially joined the ranks of the unemployed. Our call center closed down, after a long and drawn out period of false hopes and corporate assmillinery. I am getting unemployment insurance, but apparently that disqualifies me for food stamps. Things are tight, and I haven’t managed to get either of my vehicles running, though thankfully the scooter is repaired and back with me. I haven’t had my truck running since March, and apparently it needs a new engine (blown head gasket).
My friend Tom has moved in with me, and that helps. He’s only working part-time for now, but it’s better than nothing, and he may be able to get the food stamps that I couldn’t. We just got a better futon couch handed down to us, so at least he can sleep comfortably. He’s a good guy to have around.
I’m waiting to hear back on my petition to get into the paramedic cohort for this fall. I’m not optimistic, frankly. Spring semester was very rough, what with the bad reaction I had to the Prozac they put me on, and the stress over work and the truck. I should have the money to register for fall semester next week, at least, and then I can go for intermediate if I don’t make cohort. At least if I can manage to stay in school, I’m not in danger of losing my unemployment.
I’m trying to keep my spirits up, but I admit that I’ve been stressed and down a fair bit. The weather may have something to do with it, too - it’s been horribly hot, worse than normal. We didn’t manage to get the garden in, and our landlord has the backyard torn up in order to install drip irrigation.
I’m still planning to throw myself a nice birthday party on 8/21, though it looks like I’ll have to move it from my yard to the park down the road. That may actually be nicer, since the park has grass and trees and a playground. We can cook on the grill and have a good time.
Anyway, more later!