Another-One-of-Those-Blog-Updates-You-Hate-But-Read-anyway

 Yeah, I know it's not like you're dying to know how my life has been. I just had this sudden and random thought--"Blog? Oh yeah, I have a blog! Man, I totally forgot about that!"

It's funny that I would have a sudden urge to post on a social media website, since I was just reading a section of my psychology textbook about the effects technology and social media have on human behavior, which is decidedly (but not entirely) negative.

 Yes, psychology is one of my classes for this term. Besides that (for those of you who may be interested) I am taking Intermediate Algebra (which is actually one of my preferred subjects), English Composition and Public Speaking. The first three classes are online, which is both convenient and bewildering. It's nice to be able to do all the course work from the comfort of home, but navigating the eLearn website...well, I don't have the best sense of direction. I printed out the syllabus for each class, so I now have enough paper to have cleared a small forest.
 Public Speaking. Let's not even go there.
-shudders-

 Besides preparing to start school, I have been volunteering at the hospital and I did a day-long ride along with the Sheridan medic.
 Doing a ride-along, I thought, is pretty cool. Call me warped, sick or twisted, but there's nothing like riding in the back of an ambulance with lights and sirens on.
 I went on two calls that day. One was a woman who had inhaled the fumes of some bleach compound she made, and the other was a guy with chest pain, dizziness and trouble catching his breath between words.
We transported the lady to the hospital, and the man was in no apparent distress when we got there, so there wasn't much we did there.  I say "we", but I was not actually allowed to do anything technical, unless you can count carrying the big red bag which I think has all the respiratory stuff in it. I felt special anyway.
 The rest of the day at the fire station was spent reading textbooks, helping with station chores (dusting and cleaning windows), wandering around aimlessly and trying to coax my mostly dead cellphone back to life.
 While I am writing willy-nilly about nothing in particular, I may point out that sometimes I am a complete dimwit.
 During my time at the station I turned my cellphone (okay, it's actually my mom's cellphone) on vibrate and slipped it into my jacket pocket.
As we pulled into the ambulance entrance of the Mac hospital with our first patient I felt this weird sensation in my stomach, like a queer throbbing, vibrating. 
 'What is that?' I wonder, putting my hand on my stomach and wondering if I'm dying. Well, at least if you start dying, what better place to do it than in an ambulance in front of a hospital?
 What a nitwit I am!

 At the Mac hospital I first volunteered  in Admitting, where you check patients in and help them get where they need to be for their appointments. That was okay, but altogether too much sitting around for my liking.
Then I helped at the Information Desk for two consecutive weeks.
That was a nightmare! The best thing I can liken it unto is being in a position where people need you to be an encyclopedia, when in reality you're just an ABC's book.
 The gal who trained me at the info desk is one of the world's sweetest, most patient and lovable occupants, but even under her guidance I still sent people to the wrong floors/suites, stammered on the phone and bungled most things up.
Needless to say I was very glad to do odd jobs like filing paperwork and making copies for the next few weeks.
After that I was put on the Med-Surg floor, where I made up the binders with blank patient charts, made coffee, stocked the kitchens, the wall caddies, door caddies and patient rooms. The single most terrifying aspect of the Med-Surg shift was taking the patients' lunch trays into their room.
 For me, an extremely shy person, this was pushing my social skills to the limit. I mean, you have to talk to the patients, and while I did manage to rise to the occasion, I won't say that I never stayed awake until midnight some nights writhing over whether or not I said and did the correct things.

 Now I am volunteering in the Emergency Department (ED), which you have to be 18 to do. I can honestly say I love it. It's a lot like being on in Med-Surg, stocking things, making coffee, cleaning beds and changing the linens, but the atmosphere is very different.
Med-Surg is quieter, more routine. The ED always has a constant flow of new patients, with Ambulance crews coming and going, rooms cleaned, used, vacated and cleaned again within very short amounts of time.
 I like being more active and being surrounded by that kind of activity, so it suites me well.

 So that's about the gist of my activities. I'd like to say I've been training for a 5k, or something similar, but the rain, literally, dampens my enthusiasm. Don't get me wrong! I like running in the rain, if it's the light kind of rain that makes you feel waaay more hard-core and cools the face. The kind of rain we've been having here these past few days is the kind of rain that soaks you the minute you step out the door, the kind that makes the gutters overflow and plasters your hair to your skull within seconds.
In short, the kind of rain that necessitated the building of Noah's ark.
And of course, once I get off my running groove I get off my stretching groove, my calisthenics groove and my pilates groove.


 Story of my life. No wait! The story of my life is as follows:


 By the way, Happy Holidays, since I probably won't post again before then. :)