Well, tomorrow would have been my dad's 78th birthday if he was still with us. Although the time goes by fast, the memories will always be there. From the getting yelled at while he slept because in his dreams he wanted to make sure his deer blind was built just the right way, to how fast he made friends, I still dont know how he could find people and make them smile the way he did. One memory was of me returning home from school to a yard full of cars that I did not recognize, and then spending the next hour and a half running back and forth from the corn roast in the yard with the road construction crew to the Kegerator in his room to refill all the glasses. Another memory that will always be with me was when we were playing basketball on the court behind the Buckhorn Inn and having dad come out and bring me in for a pop that ended up with me getting 20 bucks from a guy that had the same name as me. I have you to thank as well when I choose to go to college my freshman year, when I was trying to figure out how to get my books, you had money saved for a rainy day, and it was enough to get me everything I needed to start college.

As tomorrow comes and goes, I have to say that you have made a difference in my life. You helped me to realize how important it is to keep on task, how you can do anything as long as you keep your focus and how much it really effects people when you are there to help. There have been many people that were touched even if they dont speak about it when year after year they always looked to you to provide them with something they would not be able to have when we would go out all night smelt dipping, and when I slept, you continued on through the morning and into the afternoon giving away enough smelt to make a bar smelt fry look small.

Thank you for all that you have given me over the years, through the good and the bad. You always looked out for my best. I hope you can look in on me and be proud of how things are going (at least what I can be responsible for) and smile knowing that you helped me to be who I am. I miss you dad.

Current Location: Sault, MI
This is me right now: blank

Was reading the news sites tonight about the Wal-mart worker who was killed after being literally run over by a mob of customers as he opened the door to Walmart at 5am. What is this world coming to when people are so anxious to spend their money they would kill someone with their stupidity? The eye witnesses said that they were like an angry mob, and after the guy dead they closed the store. People complained that they were waiting in line for so long and did not want to leave. This makes me sick. Just goes to show you how far from being the Christmas spirit we have strayed. Christmas is not about presents or how much you spend on someone. Its about families. Its about being with and around loved ones. I think that everyone in that line should take a step back and re-evaluate their priorities. It was said that people were "Stepping over him" instead of trying to stop so they could move him after he was knocked down. Even here in Sault Ste. Marie at 4am there was a line all the way down the side of the store, a few hundred people at least waiting to get in and the store did not open until 5am. People outside of Kmart were complaining that the store should open earlier because they were cold and needed to warm up. To those people...NO CRAP! Its 30 degrees outside, there is snow on the ground.

Ok, so off my soap box -

I hope everyone had a very nice Thanksgiving. It was a nice day here, my mother came over for dinner with me and the children. Was nice to spend time with her and the kids had fun with her here.

Thanksgiving. A time of sharing, a time of hope and a time to be thankful for all of those good things that have happened in the year. I guess its also a time when everyone puts on a few pounds because of that mouth watering pumpkin pie. ~grins~

When things started out and we moved to the Sault this year, It was a big time of change for me. I had to give up the Fire Department, had to give up the Ambulance, and I was actually worried about the unknown. I knew that I only had a short time left until I would be graduating and finding work. Now that I am 5 weeks from graduation I am worried a bit...because I took a career choice which I felt there would always be work in. I have applied to 3 places, and there is a 4th that I will be applying for today. 2 of the 3 places I didnt get into the interview stage. The 3rd I felt very confident about, went to the interview and felt it went real well. I have always remained positive, I have a good friend to thank for helping me realize The Secret.

As I look towards the future I am trying to keep a great outlook on things. Perhaps I will do what I had thought about. I would love to get my Paramedic licensure, but that would be another 18 months of constant schooling. It would give me plenty of opportunities, but I am wondering how well it would work in this area with bad knees. We know that a lot of the runs are in the middle of the night during the winter 5 miles from the closest road. I wish I could land a job where I could have a normal schedule and have a normal life. I think thats everyone's dream.

Music in the stero: AC/DC-Back in Black

It sure has been a long time since I have sat down and taken the time to write in my journal. Lets see. Time to play catchup.

I am now one month from graduation and have applied to three different places, one was in Madison, WI and the other two were local here in Sault Ste. Marie. The first, I was recruited by a recruiter into applying. It would have been an excellent opportunity for me and the children to get a new start on life. We would have moved to Wisconsin with the company paying for the relocation. I was very excited about it but that was shattered when I recieved the first of the "Thanks for applying but you suck" letters. I was pretty confident about the two jobs here because being local and knowing the area I know there are not a ton of people here with computer networking degrees. The first job was with the Eastern Upper Peninsula Intermediate School District working on their network. This would have been a nice career job to get into. I recieved the letter last week that they interviewed and found someone. Ok, That hurt a bit. Didn't even get into the door with that one. The second was with Hiawatha Behaviorial Health working as a PC Technician/Help Desk Technician. This would have been a nice job as well with excellent benefits. I was informed today that there were 24 people that applied and 5 that interviewed. Felt pretty good seeing as how my contact said that the interviewer was "Very Impressed" with me. About 2:30 I get a phone call from them. This was it, I was going to get the job. It was the secretary saying that they wanted to thank me for taking the time to interview but the job was being offered to someone else and they accepted it. Guess I wasnt impressive enough. So Now, Im back at square 1. In a little over 2 months I lose 3/4 of my income and will be scrambling. I have been searching daily for jobs that I can do, but it looks like I will have to take my bachelors Degree and either work fast food or work at Kmart or the "Other" mart. This state sucks.

I have my own place, me and the kids moved to the Sault back in July when I returned from my trip to see Phil and his wife.

Guess I will end for now, just kinda too bleh to write more.

This is me right now: crushed

I guess it has been a while since I have updated a blog here on Myspace.  Lets see, where to start.  I guess I will post a short blurb on how things have been.

Well, Monday morning I will be taking another trip to Milwaukee for the precautionary liver biopsy.  After 5 trips they are actually doing it this time.  They sent me all the information from the proceedure department at the hospital.  Guess it just took me getting a bit irate with them the last time after the doctor was giving me my "results" of the test I had not taken yet.

On to other things...the plans for the Trout Lake Emergency Services building are in full swing, we meet the first Wednesday of the month so that if anything needs action from the township board they can make their votes at the monthly meeting.  At the last township meeting they decided they were going to do the shotgun approach.  They are going for a grant for a brand new fire truck thats going to be sweeeeeeeeet if we get it and for the new building addition.  We need both, currently we are using delapitated equipment.  On the news of equipment my cousin John and myself drove over to Marquette this past Monday and picked up a surplus 1996 Dodge Cheyenne Fas-Tac Fire truck for wild fire fighting that the U.S. Forest Service sent to us.  Its going to be a great addition to the department.

There are plenty of people that come to MySpace and post whatever they want without really thinking what they write.  Employers are starting to search people out on MySpace just to see what kind of person they are looking at hiring.  Its a tool that some overlook.  Really is a smart idea honestly.  I have heard of a few stories where an application has been filed into the round filing cabinet after a visit to MySpace.

Something that amazes me about a few people out there is how they can look a person up to just complain to them or to brag about how good they have it...then after they have been satisfied you don't exist until the next time they need someone to unload on.  (Just to be forward, this is not to anyone in particular, just something that I have seen)

Well, I have rattled on long enough, Please feel free to drop me a comment or an email if you have any comments. ^.^

This is me right now: blah

Well, tomorrow is the day. Perhaps after that things will start getting better. Being alone on Valentines day is like going to an all you can eat buffet with nothing on the buffet. Sure you are there, but with nothing to eat you still go away hungry.

I called the VA Pharmacy to check on my insulin and needles so I can start with the shots, and found out that the insulin was sent from Chicago, IL on Tuesday so it should be here tomorrow, but it really is a good thing that I called...they never ordered the needles. I am so glad that I called or I would have had a few more days to wait. The pharmacist is going to send them next day so they should be here tomorrow as well.

Its been 6 years ago tomorrow that you left. I can still close my eyes and remember the last few moments I was able to spend with you as they rolled you out of the ER and towards surgery. There sure has been quite a few changes since you have been gone. I wish you were around to see how big the kids are getting. Im almost done with school, should be done for sure by the end of this year with my degree. The kids have asked about you a few times as of late, they will never forget.

Well, all day I have felt real weird...Its hard to directly explain the feelings. I have felt flush to the touch, with warm dry skin, but not running any fever. I do have diabetes and one of the pneumonics to remember what to do in certain cases is "Hot and dry, Sugar is high, Cold and clammy, need some candy". I checked my blood glucose 3 times today, and around 10pm my blood sugar hit 300. My normal range is from 79-113. 300 was the number that I told myself today was the trigger for me to go to the ER. I had not eaten since 6pm so it had 4 hours to return to normal. It kept going up. I called a friend of mine and he came over and we made the trip to the hospital. After he dropped me off he went to his wife's place. (They have two houses, one in town, and one here in trout Lake. She works for the City so she stays there during the week).

When i checked in all of my vitals were normal except for the blood glucose, it was still at 279. It dropped 21 points in the 45 minutes it took to drive. The doc came in and talked to me, said there was no "God inspired livesaving techniques" he was going to use tonight, but he would give me a shot of insulin to help me get things down. Dr. Stevenson sure has a different sence of humor. I have to say he definatly knows his stuff, and if anyone is injured or sick in the Eastern Upper Peninsula I would recommend him over a lot of the doctors here because although if you do not understand that he is different, he is taking everything in and thinking 6 steps ahead in all situations.

Just before I left the ER he came back and told me to eat a half of a sandwich when i got home so I wouldnt bottom out my blood glucose and have to come back for the exact opposite. gotta love the morbid sense of humor.

The ride home was pretty uneventful until we were about 4 miles from town. My friend borrowed his moms jeep for the trip in and the overheat idiot light came on. We pulled over and there was steam rolling from under the hood. Now tomorrow he will have to check it out to see where it was coming from. We waited for it to cool off and when we got here I gave him a gallon of anti-freeze. The funny thing of the night...There is a huge packers fan here in trout lake and he put a packers flag up on the town flag pole since the winter we take down the American flag. Well, when we got home someone had dropped the flag to half mast for the fallen Pack. It was one hell of a game, but they gave it away in the second half of the 4th quarter...and then again with the interception in overtime.

Im just afraid of messing up something else tonight...Dont really want to go to the bathroom, Definatly dont want that breaking off. Dunno how I would explain that one. "Hey Doc, Im back. The craziest thing happened..."

ok, today I have to say I was plesantly surprised! When the mail came in today there was a letter from the Office of the Governor for the state of Michigan. I opened it and it was a form letter thanking me for all of the hard work we did on the Sleeper Lakes Fire this past summer. When I looked at the signature area it was actually signed by the governor. She took a few seconds out of her busy day to sign it. I must say it was nice to get a small thank you.

Classes are in full swing now, and I have to do a problem solving problem this week for my critical thinking class. I am just getting to it, but its one that will get me thinking a bit. After Im done, I may post it here to see what everyone else thinks.

Tonight's topic of discussion is "Why do people brag about relationships"

( A cut so you dont have to read if you dont want to. )

You know how you know when you really get down low, Disney movies can bring a tear to your eye and you are not usually a sap. Sometimes the happy ending is just another way for one to look at the things they messed up with in their lives, other times it can be used to have a goal in life...To live a long happy life with the woman of your dreams.

To any that read, feel free to comment me here, or hit me up in messenger. *hugs to those that want them*

Doogie