My mind, and the places it goes

Last June, in anticipation of the birth of Muffin and Squeaker, c1 ran a CPR and first aid class in our apartment (mabfan, stormsdotter, lcmlc, my Abba, and I all got certification from this course). I had no intention of ever needing the knowledge, but it was important to have the knowledge in case (God forbid) something happened.

Yesterday, I was in Coolidge Corner running some errands, and as I walked past Trader Joe's a guy fell off his bike onto the sidewalk and did not immediately get up. I immediately put into use what I knew: make sure I was safe, that the situation was safe, and then go over to the victim. I asked if he was OK, and he said his knee was in great pain. He was lying in the middle of the sidewalk, so while he was nominally in the way of things, he was not in immediate danger, so I left him where he was. Two other people -- both women over the age of 70 -- stopped to see if the guy needed any help, and I asked if he wanted me to call an ambulance. First he said yes, but before I could dial 911, he changed his mind, saying he'd call his girlfriend to pick him up instead (noting that it would be cheaper than having an ambulance come). After he called his girlfriend, the two women and I were trying to figure out if/how to get him out of the middle of the sidewalk. My wrists are bothering me (google "mommy wrist" for more information), but I was the most able-bodied of the three of us, but as I was trying to figure out the best way to help him without injuring myself, a semi-burly guy came out of the Game Stop (where our victim had been, as evidenced from the bag that had fallen to the ground when the guy fell) and helped the injured guy get over to the side where there was a ledge he could sit on to wait for his girlfriend.

Once the two women and I had seen the injured guy to the ledge (and had collected his bags for him), we all went our separate ways. When I came out of the Post Office, the guy was still sitting on the ledge, but I presumed his girlfriend (who had been in Brighton) was on her way, so I headed to the T that was coming in my direction.

Part of what c1 taught us was to provide assistance at the needed level to the best of our abilities, and I believe I did just that in this situation.

...do humans *really* need oxygen? Breathing is overrated, really. I haven't been able to do so with much regularity since last week Tuesday.

Or we should all have gills.

stupid trees

-- Been busy, and this week looks busy, too. I'm approaching a deadline at work, so stuff is kicking into high gear. If posting is sparse here, that will be why. Alternatively, if I become Posty McPostalot, it will be due to my avoiding stuff I should be doing. :-)

-- Between Friday and Sunday, mabfan and I experienced two power outages. The one Friday started just before we were leaving for work, and power was restored long before we were home from work; yesterday's was more inconvenient (started around 5:30 PM and ended around 7:45 PM). At least yesterday afternoon's weather was on the cool (and rainy) side, so we weren't stifling in our powerless state.

-- Saturday night, I received word that I have sold my second story.

-- I've been morbidly fascinated by the ever-changing news story regarding Clark Rockefeller.

-- Some sort of allergen has been bugging me for the past week. I'm not sure if I'm now allergic to new and exciting summer plant life or if the recent consistent rainfall has stimulated my normal allergens to reinvigorate.

-- I've gotten particularly hooked on a couple of this summer's new shows, specifically "The Middleman" and "In Plain Sight." What surprises me about how much I like IPS is that I really didn't like Kate Harper, Mary McCormack's character in the later seasons of "The West Wing," and a lot of it was because of her acting style. But it seems to work well for IPS. And "The Middleman" is just plain fun. I wish it was pulling in better ratings.

Today, please think good thoughts for lcmlc (Etta Rivka bat Pesha Raizel), who is having wrist surgery this afternoon.

Tomorrow, please think good thoughts for mabfan (Michael Avraham ben Esther Miriam), who is having a minor medical procedure in the morning.

Thank you.

Since it's January, it's "Seeing Doctors Time" here in gnomiville. And due to various and sundry things from my appointment yesterday, I have a poll:

[Poll #904142]

(My mother raised us with the belief that one should dress nicely for doctors appointments (or, at least, not shlubbily) even though 99% of the time they're only going to see you in the johnny. I guessed how she'd vote in the poll, and when I asked her, she confirmed my guess as correct.)

Could the pill halve multiple-sclerosis risk?

For numerous reasons, I find this research fascinating.

Thanks to mabfan for pointing the study out to me.