Diatribe, Part the First

This is the beginning of a journey through the Geeks past.

In the 80's I had been an EMT after getting my ECA in '79 and upgrading to EMT in '80 and had worked for a private ambulance service and been a volunteer with two different departments in the county based on where I lived and worked. One system where EMS and Fire were combined and one where they were separate. I was starting to burn out a bit on the volunteer thing. The paid service was mostly standbys at car races, motocross races, horse races, concerts and other special events with some transfers in between. I had also done some fill in work for the neighboring county EMS system. My day jobs had been mechanic, carpenter, roofer, truck driver and finally owner/chief cook and bottle washer of a welding and heavy truck repair shop. Guess I was trying to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up. Still haven't answered that one yet. Met a bunch of great people and had a good time at some of it. Miss some of those folks. Still in touch occasionally with a couple people from those days.

The burnout came from being woken up / interrupted for calls that were caused by someone doing something stupid and someone getting hurt because of it. Not always the same person. I did my best to help people but found myself more and more angry with the person who was the cause of it that started the whole chain of events and the fact that most of the time they were not being held responsible. I was also getting upset at the idiocy that followed.

Now, I will not say that I was/am perfect. Lord knows I had my fair share of stupidity and maybe more than my share. I tried to make up for it as best I could and have tried to keep that going.

Whether it was parents not being responsible for their kids or drivers not being responsible for their careless driving or what have you, I was getting a bit burned out by it all. As well, I was still trying to find myself. Soon would come an event that pretty much changed the course of my life. That will be the subject of Part the Second.