Resolutions

So Christmas is now over and it will soon be a new year.  As with every years beginning their will be plenty of New Years resolutions.  This isn't necessarily a bad thing.  It's good people are taking it as a chance for a fresh start.  A chance to improve upon something in their life.  My challenge is that you don't just stop with New Years.  Challenge yourself a little bit every day.  Every day is a chance for a new start.  Thank God (literally) we have the ability to have our slates wiped clean at any moment we so decide.  From now on I am going to be doing daily resolutions.  Just small things that are easy to accomplish.  Eventually all of these small changes will add up to make a big difference in my life.  A journey of a thousand miles begins with but a single step. No need to wait until New Years to take the first step.

Motorcycle

I have recently decided to get a Harley.  I realize the dangers of motorcycles, and I understand there is no amount of protection that can eliminate all danger.  I will be taking a motorcycle safety class and will always wear my protective gear.  That still doesn't protect me from other drivers, but at least I will have done what I can.  The risk is part of the appeal though.  There's just something about having that much power out on the road.  Nothing but air betwean you and the rest of the world.  It kinda gives a since of peace.  Now I don't have any plans of becoming a one-percenter or anything (motorcycle outlaw), but it would be nice to wear the costume from time to time.  I eat drink and sleep motorcycles every day.  I watch the Sons of Anarchy TV series.  It becomes an obsession.  Their is just something about a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

Give

November is coming to an end and Christmas is getting ever closer.  The holiday season is a time for joy.  School lets out for the semester so students and teachers can be full of joy.  Even those who have to work on Christmas can usually find joy in the fact that they are getting paid some sort of holiday bonus.  But, to say that most will find this Christmas a joyful time, would be a lie.  Most of the world will be hungry and suffering.  This isn't a guilt trip or a challenge to give up Christmas and go work at a soup kitchen.  I would just like to challenge you to give something.  Something that makes an impact in some way.  Whether it's taking on an extra workload at your job so that someone else doesn't have to.  Sharing part of your lunch with some one on the street.  Even something as simple as saying one kind word to every one you see.  If everyone in the world did this I'm sure the world would be a better place.

Own it

Sometimes it's better to just own up to the mistakes we make.  It may seem like lying could be a quick and easy way to stay out of trouble but sometimes it just gets you into deeper s!@#.

Who I Don't Want To Be

There's a person inside each of us, that is waiting for its chance to take control. There's also a voice that says we should give that person control. The voice starts as a whisper, easily ignored. As your childhood innocence blossoms into full blown adolescence, the voice begins to get louder. At this point some people begin to believe some of the lies, masked though they are. It's like the first time you try a beer, you want to grimace, but you keep drinking. Eventually you realize you actually like the taste. Not really the perfect analogy, because I'm trying to make the point that complacency gets easier and easier, and beer actually does taste good. Anyway, as adolescence edges toward adulthood the voice has either accomplished it's goal and is now quiet, or it's yelling louder than ever. If you can still hear the voice, then there's hope. If you don't hear anything, maybe it's time for some evaluating.

College Football

I love Saturday during football season.  I woke up at a 5:45 this morning and couldn't go back to sleep because it was game day.  There's a lot going on today.  Alabama goes to Death Valley to play LSU in a big top 10 BCS match up.  Auburn is under allegations that Cam Newton accepted 200k to go to school there.  I personally think this is probably just a result of Auburn being undefeated and Cam being the frontrunner for the Heisman.  TCU is playing Utah in a major non qualifier match up.  It will be very interesting to see how the computer rankings go after this weekend.  I've already got my spot set up: Laptop in front of me, game alerts set on my cell phone,  big screen set on College Gameday, and cold beer in the fridge.  Now it's just time to sit back and enjoy the wonderful, heart-breaking, up and down, topsy-turvy, manic depressive, roller coaster that is college football. Roll Tide!

Ethics

Sometimes when our patients are "on their way out", so to speak, we are given orders to administer morphine and ativan on a continuous infusion.  These drugs are used to keep our patients comfortable.  A subtle side affect is that the morphine and ativan will decrease the patients respiratory effort.  It's hard to walk that tight rope between comfort and euthanasia.  A small decrease in the rate would leave the patient writhing in pain and an increase would kill them.  What happens when death is the only comfort?  It's hard to watch someone lying in pain.  Increasing the rate would really only speed up the inevitable, and the patient would be a lot more comfortable, but can you kill someone?

Inspiration

What inspires you?  Are you inspired by touching stories of rags to riches?  Do you leave the gym feeling inspired?  Inspiration is defined as "arousal of the mind to special unusual activity or creativity".  You may have noticed that this definition has no moral undertones.  The first thing that comes to mind in the instance of inspiration is, usually, something uplifting, but the truth is that you can be inspired positively or negatively. When I'm driving down the road and someone in a massive, jacked up truck cuts me off, my mind is aroused to some very creative ways to hunt down that person and kill them.  My iPod is full of inspirational music, some of it christian and some of it lewd and degrading.  Sadly, both of these types of music inspire me.  I am going to make a concerted effort to really monitor what I allow to inspire me, because inspiration is an amazing tool for productivity. 

Bro Code

There are certain things that a "bro" just doesn't do.  First let me define what a bro is.  A bro is not just a good friend, a bro is much more and much less.  You don't even have to know someone to consider them a bro.  A bro is simply a fellow man that you are destined to walk this earth as a co-conspirator in life.  Therefore, the bro code applies to in any situation.  A bro never hits on another bro's girl.  A bro doesn't, under any circumstance, admit how awesome Project Runway really is.  But most importantly is the very old and very familiar "bros before hoes".  Women may say that men can't develop as deep of relationships as women can, but I say nay.  Men develop deep relationships much more easily than women.  When you walk into a bar and another bro eyeballs you the wrong way, you immediately have a relationship with that person.  You know this person intimately enough to give them a good old fashioned beat down.  So remember to always be a bro to those in need.

Top 10 Video Games of All Time

Metal Gear: Solid
Halo 3
Mario 3
Call of Duty Modern Warfare
Super Mario Kart
Zelda: Ocarina of Time
NCAA Football
James Bond: Goldeneye
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
RBI Baseball

Mounds or Almond Joy

Today I watched How I Met Your Mother, which is my favorite show.  If you don't watch this show I highly suggest going back to season one and watching every episode.  The series is based around one of the main characters, Ted.  Ted is telling his kids the story of how he met their mother, and each episode is usually an encounter with a potential girl that doesn't end up being the kids mother.  I'm not writing this to tell all about the show, I actually wanted to talk about what I saw in the most recent episode.  They were talking about guys in the locker room and how awkward it is and there is always that old guy just standing there naked.  Well in the very last clip there was an old guy standing naked with his leg up on the bench.  The clip was short and the show ended, so at first I wasn't sure what I saw, but with the aid of DVR I was able to go back and make sure.  The mans saggy balls hung below his leg and you could see them.  On CBS you could see an old mans balls.  I'm sure that there will be some issues with this episode and  they will have to edit this part for future reruns, but hopefully they will show both versions of the show, because sometimes you feel like a nut sometimes you don't.

Slot Machines

I recently had a run in with a machine known as Davinci's Diamonds.  This machine seemed trustworthy at first, but in reality it was a wolf in sheep's clothing.  There was a large picture of  the Mona Lisa at the top of the machine and to begin with I felt that the Mona Lisa was smiling at me.  As I well know now, she was not.  I don't know what it is about these machines that puts you in an almost elated and heightened state.  I had only put ten dollars in and couldn't lose.  I was calling my shots left and right.  I bet 40 cents and won over 40 dollars on one spin.  I gradually worked my way up to over 100 dollars.  I was in a frenzy and I couldn't lose.  So I started betting bigger.  Eventually I hit the max bet button.  As I pressed it I could almost see the Mona Lisa's eyes turn down in an evil grin as if to say "Gotcha".  From there I began to lose over and over.  I would hit a five or ten dollar spin every now and then, but it was really just to keep me thinking that I could climb back to my previous glory.  It was a long fall from 112 dollars to nothing, but in the end I only lost ten dollars and I got to eat an amazing buffet at the casino.  All in all a good day.

Meerkat Manor

I recently went to the zoo in Birmingham, AL.  In one of the small mammal enclosures, there were two meerkats attempting to dig a hole.  Two separate holes to be exact.  They were facing away from each other as if preparing to pace off for a duel.  As each of them scooped dirt with their tiny paws they would throw it directly into the other's hole, unwittingly of course.  They each just kept on digging, but their holes just wouldn't get any deeper.  I laughed, because I had a birdseye view of their folly.
This must be what God feels like looking down on me.  I'm sitting here digging my hole wondering why it isn't getting any deeper.  God must want so badly to tap on the glass and explain to me how silly I am.  If only I would move my hole to a different location, I would be able to dig as deep as I wanted.  Maybe I should stop digging in my own locations and look to God to direct me to where to place my shovel.

Freshly Painted Grass

Today 80,250 people will be filling the seats of Williams-Brice Stadium to watch the South Carolina Gamecocks play host to the #1 Alabama Crimson Tide.  Each one of those fans paid a minimum of $45 dollars for their tickets.  I'm not passing judgment, as I myself am an avid Alabama fan who goes to at least one game every year.  This just made me think about the society we live in.
Some of the highest paying salaries in America are paid to professional athletes.  This would be insane to most people in other countries.  To pay such exorbitant amounts of money to people who "play" a "game" for a living does seem insane.
This lead me to think about other inconsistencies in American culture.  America rewards and promotes mediocrity.  We place higher taxes on the extremely wealthy, and turn around and give that money to those that make no contribution to society whatsoever.  Over half of America is on welfare.  Don't get me wrong, I am all about helping those in need, but this redistribution of wealth doesn't encourage productivity.  Some people will actually stay out of work, because if they were to get a job they would lose their government checks.  Others are on disability for things like ADD and diabetes.  I'm sorry, but I have ADD and though it got me a lot of spankings as a child it is far from a disabling disease.
Wake up America and more importantly wake up Americans!

The Best Things

Below I have comprised a list of things that should  make you close your eyes, take a deep breath and just smile because life is good.

1.  Any change in seasons
2. Baseball in October (with your team still playing-go Braves!)
3. The completion of a really good book
4. Waking up and seeing that you still have two hours to sleep
5. Getting recognized for something you didn't think anyone saw
6. The ice cream truck (I don't care how old you are)
7. The start of football season (tailgating in Tuscaloosa)
8. Forgetting to pay a bill and then remembering that it's not due for another week
9. Hello (because it's always better than goodbye)
10. Breakfast for dinner
11. Saturday morning cartoons
12. Dancing in the car
13. Finally making it to the gym
14. Learning to play an instrument
15. Spring Break

What are some of the things that make you see how good life is?

Do Not Resuscitate

As I sit day in and day out watching over patients in the intensive care unit I often find myself passively viewing my patients as well...patients.  Not people.  Most of them can't talk and really just lie there waiting for the elevator to descend to their floor and pick them up.  This view may sound morbid, and in some ways it is, but it is also much more than that.  I am able to view death with an unbiased, unemotionally inhibited outlook.  This brings me to the DNR or "Do Not Resuscitate".  This order in a patient's chart says that in the event that the patient's heart stops or he or she stops breathing, nothing will be done.  It sounds harsh but this is actually in some instances a very humane decision.  Some people lie there in pain for a long time just waiting for deaths respite.  The Person I don't want to become is actually a couple of people.  I don't want to be that person sitting there waiting for that DNR, and I definitely don't want to be the family that has to actually request the DNR order.  As a third party bystander I can easily see who needs to be a DNR and who doesn't, but as a family member with emotions involved it completely changes things.  But on the other hand a DNR can be an incredibly empowering thing.  It allows you and the rest of your family to come to grips with the loved ones impending demise and also gives time to get affairs in order.  The grieving process can also begin at an earlier stage allowing for a sooner arrival at acceptance.  DNR isn't giving up because death comes to all.  It is strictly allowing things to happen as they naturally would.

Where to start?

This is my first blog and so I will use my first post as an introduction into what can be expected.  Simply stated, anything can be expected.  I will blog about sports, things that annoy me, words of advice, or just thoughts of the day.

I have always wanted to write a book.  One day I actually will.  As for right now I will write a blog.  It's good practice.  I don't exactly get to write on a regular basis in my current job as a nurse.  My writing presently consists of small observations on the color, odor, consistency, and amount of my patient's bowel movements.  Not really a predecessor for a national bestseller.

I'm gonna keep things short for today and leave y'all with a thought, and yes that is "y'all" not "you guys". 
Thought/Question:  How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could Chuck Norris?