Well, it's back to work for me.

I just walked into a local ambulance company and asked if they needed any medics. The guy looked at me and said, "You? you have been doing this longer than dirt, you trained me, yes we need a medic.

So Monday, it's back to sticking people with needles, sticking tubes down their throat and shocking them with a defibrillator. Two 24 hour shifts twice a week, they say, but i know they will need more as people call in sick.

I'm looking forward to it, I hated Exxon but always loved the ambulance. I will finish the wiring today. Number 2/0 wire is big, probably the diameter of a dime. I had three of these about 18 feet long running through a 2 1/2" conduit and it was heavy. It needed to be put on the pole and lowered into the breaker box then wired in. This was a daunting task for one person. I put a long ladder up and tied a pulley that I bought to hoist hogs up so I could skin them right near the top. I then ran a rope through the pulley and pulled it up.

There was no way to hold it with one hand while I guided the wire into the hole on the meter can so I thought for a moment, then got my truck back there. I used the winch and raised it, then inched it down and guided the wire where it needed to be. This wire is very unwieldy, bending it inside of the box to fit in the lugs is really an effort. I got one done and was working on the next when I had to take the dogs to the vet. I'll finish it today, then I just have to tile the living room and fence it after the electric company comes and plants their pole.

Yes, back to hanging out at the ER, cruising around looking for trouble and helping people out when they are in a bind. There is a large degree of freedom on an ambulance, you can pretty much go where you please as long as you are well within your district and can respond quickly.

Some people can really try your patience Rosebud, especially when they abuse/use the ambulance for a bullshit call like that. I had a man with a broken collarbone at his sales job. I told him if he maneuvered his arm to take the suit jacket off that he could sever the sub clavian artery, I needed to cut the suit off. He flat refused for me to cut it off, he was adamant. So I just made him stupid on nitrous oxide so he wouldn't feel the pain and took him to the ER where they could cut it off.

I finished the wiring! I had to break ice off the water trough so the horses could drink yesterday and my hands were freezing working on the wiring. Actually, for once, it went quite smooth and easily other than my hands freezing. I'll start laying the tile today and hopefully won't have any problems.

Well, it's not what I'm used to. 24 hour shift and we had one call so far. 1:45 yet to go, we slept all night. The call dropped as chest pains when actually it was hypertension, blood pressure of 214/113. Oxygen, aspirin and one nitroglycerin brought the pressure down to 163/93 with relief. My old station would have logged 8-10 calls in a 24 hour shift.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining.

Tonight is the full moon. I'm working another 24.

Oh boy! I work security at a high risk building tonight, and it's a 12 hour shift. This should be fun! A full moon always brings out the goon's.

Another 24 with one call. A frequent flyer, mental subject. She was released from the state mental institution and is always pregnant though she had a hysterectomy in 2005. They break in at night and rape her, this time they broke her arm also (her arm was fine)

I'll go do some PR Monday at the convalescence centers and see if I can drum us up some business.

We were the first and only ambulance in town, then the big boys moved in, three other services. The local hospital made 75 patient transfers to a bigger facility last month and we got zero. From what I've heard, the owner of a local service is married to an administrator at that hospital and that is actually a conflict of interest. I'll point that out without actually saying it in a very nice way.

There are also several senior convalescence homes in town and the patients must go regularly to dialysis, endoscopy and a lot of other specialized procedures. Many need continuous care as they are on a drip drug, oxygen and other special needs. They are using somebodies service but not ours. You see, they haven't been doing any PR, just going to these places and asking the charge nurse to send some business our way.

We used to bring note pads, fingernail files and other things with our number on them and just drop them off with several dozen donuts. That's how you grow the business. That part of EMS really pays the tab. 911 is fun, but medicare pays every time. You never receive pay on a lot of 911 calls.