Orbit, et al

We both got alchohol for our respective birthdays. I gave her (Melissa the Shorter) a bottle of Coconut Arrack from Sri Lanka and some Cuban Rum in a bottle from Wall Drug. She gave me good resposada tequila from Mexico. We know each other so well :)

Even if most of the day (the annual recognition of my 24th orbit round the sun) was spent on the road, I also got to see at least a few of those closest to me. Actually rather apropriate now that I think of it, to spend this particular birthday on the road, given the events of the past year.

The occasion for putting a few jillion more miles on the truck was a confrence in Colorado of diabetic mountaineers from around the world. We had folks from Bulgaria, the U.K., France, Italy, and of course the USA. Slide shows about trips to K2, Aconcagua, Denali, Pik Lenin, and more filled the evenings, and in the day time we went hiking and climbing and mt biking and more, all with fellow diabetics. An extemely rewarding weekend it was to be sure, and inspiring.

Garage Sale

I bought a glass of lousy lemonade for fifty cents, so I figure it was justified.

We had our third annual garage sale last weekend, with the intent of cleaning out the garage of all the extraneous crap we have accumulated. There was no unifying theme to to merchandise; a bucket of door knobs lay next to a womans leather purse, a broken TV next to a tropical print chair, several pounds of ground coffee, a stack of 45's and 78's, a mini-fridge, and video cassettes that detail the argument for creation over evolution in 7 parts. There was all that and so much more. When the neighbor girl with the aformentioned lemonade stand came see what she could buy, we loaded her and her sister up with Silly String, two hats, a jewlery box, chinese finger trap, that tropical print chair, a cd player, marbles, and probably alot more. All for about 3 dollars total. It was the free halloween pencils that suckered 'em in, after that they kept coming back, first to spray Nic, myself, and the dog with Silly String, then to 'buy' more of our crap. At one point I heard their mom yell across the street to stop buying stuff. I was afraid to peer around the tree in the yard for fear of catching a mom death glare. We considered playing a joke on her and giving the two girls the big broken tv to carry home for maybe a nickel. But I thought that might be crossing the line and then we might have to take back all the stuff we had gotten rid of. In the end I gave the TV to a 7 year old boy to take apart. He and his mom were going to buy the toaster to take apart, when I heard that I convinced them that a TV is much cooler and gave it away for free.

The rest of the sale went fine, we drank beer in the garage and let the crowds come and rirle through our stuff and when it came about 11am, we put up the free sigh, closed the garage door, and went inside. Not much was left that afternoon.

That old feeling

Almost a month and a half did I make it before I could no longer deny it. Today I logged on to the Lonely Planet website, yesterday I went to the used bookstore and picked up title on El Salvador, Hati, Nicaragua, Burma, and Cuba. So I am excited, dreaming big, lots of plans and options and no idea what order to go about it all. It doesn't look like I'll be headed for the ice this year, so that opens up other opportunities. I'll be in Flag until at least early November, as I am teaching another Wilderness First Responder class here in town that ends the 3rd of Nov. (Almost a full month longer than my self imposed goal of staying put 2 full months!) After that it is hard to say, but I am thinking about a shorter trip (less than a month) to central america, followed by a longer trip in the new year to somewhere farther afield. The latter is of course contingent upon having the funds, an issue I have not yet resolved. I am still avoiding the genre of travel lit, despite my foray into Bookman's, putting off the inevitable for awhile longer yet, while I finish up on this theoretical physics kick I've been on for a few weeks.

Multi-systems trauma and acronym hell

Made it to Leadville, elevation 10,200 feet above sea level. I am here teaching a wilderness medicine class, my first time as a paid instructor, though I have assisted one or two times before. And as ever, the best way to learn something is to teach it. Yesterday, teaching part of the CPR class and then testing the students, it became obvious which parts of the lecture they understood and which they failed to grasp all the way. Don't worry, I have remedied the situation and won't be turning any underqualified WFR's loose on the world, but I can see where I still need to improve my technique. Today I taught bleeding control and oxygen administration and it went much better. Tomorrow I have burns and the next day I have all medical emergencies. I empathize with the students. For 9 days they eat, sleep, and breathe wilderness medicine, learning a whole slew of new words, concepts, and techniques. EMS, ABC's, OPQRTS, AVPU, BSI, WFR, EMT, HR, RR, BP, CSM, LOC, and the acronyms go on and on.

I expect to be back in Flag the evening of the 15th or maybe the 16th.

701

The page came yesterday afternoon.

"701"

The code for out of county disaster.

So I called in and got the recorded message. Coconino County Search and Rescue is tapping its members for a deployment of up to three weeks to the gulf coast, with responders able to support themselves unassisted for 3-4 days at a time in a disaster zone setting.

So I looked at my pocket calender, although I already knew what it said. I am slated to teach that wilderness first responder class in Colorado from the 6th-14th. Right in the middle of the deployment. After hemming and hawing for a spell, I called in and listed my availability as ongoing after the 15th, available as neccesary depending on the duration of the operation. I considered canceling my obligation to teach, but in the end descided that what I would be doing in the gulf coast could be done by any trained volunteer, but this particular class, wilderness medicine, I am in a unique position to make happen. It's not as if I am forgoing the chance to help to work at Charly's. But it is ironic that even as I was planning on registering with the Red Cross disaster relif team here in town and was able to travel to the otherside of the world to help folks with thier disaster, I can't quite make it to help my neighbors just a few states away. At least not yet...