I'm taking a medical trascription class online.  When I get done I'll be certified through the Medical Transcriptionist's of America organization, and I'll also have some more college credits to my name. The first few lessons were easy, with multiple choice answers on the exams.  I scored high on them; the lowest I ever got was 88%. The next lessons were harder, requiring written answers in the form of essays.  I figured that if I scored higher than an 85%, I'd be happy. ...

Yes, this is going to be a very boring blog about domesticity and appliances.  If you don't like this sort of thing, feck off now.   Last Friday I put a load of clothes into the washer, set the cycles, and walked away.  an hour later I went back, expecting to find my laundered clothes spun and ready to be dried.  Not so.  The tub was full of water and it wouldn't drain. I knew what had happened because it had happened before.  There are gears and cogs u...

I've never liked Air Force pilots much. I've always thought that they were a bunch of egotistical bastards who were too full of themselves for my liking, and are/were incredibly clique-y. I still think they're egotistical, but I understand the clique-y-ness now.  My husband and family have gorwn tired of my trying to explain to them the feeling of incredible lightness that occurs as you pull back on the controls and are airborne.  We were driving around the pe...

Karma tagged me, so now it's my turn to write 5 embarrasing things about my childhood.  Hmm....let me see. 1) I used to sing in the church choir, and we wore traditional robes, ruffled collars and hats.  I was short back then - heck, I'm still short now - so the robes were a wee but too long for me.  Mum tried to hem them up, but because they were so old she was scared that she'd damage the fabric, so she tacked them a little and told me I'd have to make do and be careful. ...

My birthday is the friday after next, and Dave's been asking me what I want.  I haven't been able to come up with anything; my desires have decreased as I get older and I haven't been able to come up with anything that I REALLY want. Until today. We live on an Air Force base that has a private Aero Club for people who have little Cessnas and prop jobs to tool around in.  The Aero Club has just started offering a one hour inital training flight for $60, where you get to sit in the...

I am human.  I have human emotions, feelings...I am not controlled by them, but nonethless my words and actions are affected by them. I am not immune to hostility and anger.  When you cut me, I bleed - and today, your words and your actions cut me.  I'm not going to overexaggerate and say that you cut me to the bone, but you cut me you did, and I bled and shed tears.  I don't need many people very often; I've become adept at managing on my own...but toda...

I'm on the other side of the hospice equation now.  I'm a family member. My dad's dying.  He's been dying for years, but in the past few months I've seen a more rapid deterioration.  He's not eating well.  He's sleeping more than he used to.  He's confused and disoriented.  He's had another small stroke. I don't know how much time he has left.  I don't know if I'm going to be able to go home when it happens....I don't even know if he'd want me to come hom...

This morning I went to the funeral of the patient I sat vigilance for 3 days with last week.  She had a beautiful casket and beautiful flowers and was wearing a beautiful outfit in her favorite color, but..... ...she smelled.  As I stood by the casket I could smell the distinctive chemical smell of formaldehyde.  I touched her cold, hard, waxy hand and was instantly aware of how different it felt, how it was un-natural and cold compared to the warm, living hand I held last week...

My daughter has just gone through her closets and sorted out clothing that's either too small for her or that she simply doesn't wear.  There are jeans, pants, t-shirts, long sleeve t-shirts, sweaters and even a couple of tank tops with name brands like Lucky and Ltd Too. Can any JU-ers use them?  The pants are sizes 1, 2, and a very small 4 (they translate to a girl's 14 or 16), and all the shirts are either a sz medium or small.  I'd be more than happy to box them up and ship...

It's been a rough week.  A very rough week, actually. I lost 2 patients.  One passed away on Tuesday, very peacefully. The other....took a little time.  I spent half of Wednesday, all of Thursday, and I got called at 3am this morning to go back and be with her because the end was near.  She passed away a few hours after dawn this morning, and I'm glad that she's free of pain and suffering now. There were a couple of high points to this week, but one of them I can't tell y...

From the top, they are: 1.  Air Force Commendation Medal 2.  Air Force Achievement Medal 3.  Joint Meritorious Unit Award 4.  Meritorious Unit Award 5.  AF Outstanding Unit Award with Valor Device 6.  AF Good Conduct Medal 7.  National Defense Service Medal 8.  Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal 9.  Global War On Terrorism Expeditionary Medal 10. &...

I spent this morning thinking about something that's been giving me a problem for a few weeks. I'm Key Spouse for D's squadron.  I did it at our last base for 4 years, and really enjoyed it.  I was the only K.S. and shared the duties with the commader's wife - who was going to school full time, which meant that I ended up doing it solo.  It was a lot of fun and very rewarding. Here at this squadron, though...it's a different ball of wax.  There are four of five women wh...

Recently, something has changed in me.  I used to be able to sit and watch the TV news and take the deaths of soldiers, marines and airmen in my stride.  I used to hear about young people being killed in car accidents or shootings and stabbings and not bat an eyelid. Lately, though...I can't do it.  It HURTS.  There's this weight in my chest - I think that I now know what poets meant when they claimed that their hearts were heavy, because that's how I feel.  My he...