Not even a week......

Less than one week into my LA experience, I got my first parking ticket. Who would have thought that it would take more than 21 minutes to walk around the corner, go into the bank, and deposit some checks? I certainly didn't. Maybe I should have paid the $1.50 per 15 minutes in the garage as opposed to the .15 in the meter. Damn. It isn't even a good story. US Bank just sucked monkey ass like Ivan Rodriquez did today.

Getting down to Business

I bought a bed yesterday. I only had to sleep on the floor for one night. I could have slept on the couch, but whatever.

I finally got around to putting up the pictures from my trip on Picasa. I didn't edit them out, so there are some pictures of the same things. If you are bored and want to take a look, go here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/cooleyjo

I hope everyone is enjoying themselves. I am batting 1.000 on gorgeous days since I left Michigan.
I should probably start looking for a job.

Boo.

I apologize for the technical difficulties

There was a big error in my Picasa and all of the pictures that I have put in previous posts have been erased from the blog. Although I am trying to restore some of them, it is a long and tedious process that I am not so sure I can follow through on. If there is anything anyone is missing seeing, let me know. I will post them in a web album and you can view them for eternity.

Don't worry Jacob, this little glitch is not making me switch from Google to the dark side.

The Trip.... per Co-pilot.

At last we have made it to California. Temptation was resisted, meaning Las Vegas was not visited. It is probably a good thing, since the Pilot is unemployed. I hear that Vegas is not a good place for the unemployed. Plus, we didn't want to get everything stolen out of our vehicle.

This is a recap of the trip, narrated by me of course.



I wanted to drive, but naturally Jon didn't let me. He can be a real dick.





So, I took my seat next to him, as his trust co-pilot.





Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska were especially boring. So, I will pretend those didn't happen.


I see some mountains!!!!!




I wanted to go and party with Jon and Matt in Boulder, but he made me stay at home and rest up. I guess he was planning on letting me drive if he was too tired. Again, I think it was just because he can be a real dick!

He got up early though and went to Rocky Mountain National Park. It was gorgeous!







Oh my goodness, I haven't seen snow in June before. Weird.






Then I saw the Continental Divide. Apparently my pee will run off in different directions depending on the angle I use.





That was an exhilarating day. Off to Utah. We went to Moab, to see Arches National Park. There is an awesome microbrewery there aptly named the Moab Brewery. They even let a monkey drink a Hefeweizen!
Here I am at Arches.




In addition to cool rocks, they have some cool trees too.




Holy Shit it is hot! It got up to 104 today!




Jon caught me pooping. The thing is, it was so hot, I think I passed out.




Well, apparently that was the end of the trip for me. I was 100+ degrees again the next two days at Zion. Maybe Jon was mad about me pooping on the vegetation. Maybe he was actually concerned about my safety due to the heat. I think, once again that he is a dick and forgot to take pictures of me at Zion. What an ass!

Return of the Mack

DJ's birthday party was super fun. There could possibly be a postdated blog to cover it. I have obtained pictures of the much talked about Mack of Monroe. I believe that AZ made mention of him, and I am certain that Morgan put it in his observations. I have obtained photographic evidence of referred to douchiness.

Without further adieu, here is the Mack himself.....

The most uninteresting blog ever

What is wrong with this picture?

After 7 very refreshing Hefeweizens at the Moab Brewery, and a delectable dinner, I walked outside to a very sunny and balmy 96 degrees. That is down from the 104 that it was earlier.
I ask myself, "Why do you need to drink 7 pints of beer by yourself"? Myself replies, "They were on special, delicious, and the hotel is right next door". I answer, "makes perfect sense".

Hope you all had a good summer solstice. Hopefully tomorrow is only 103, so I can enjoy the great outdoors without sweating through three shirts.

The answer to the original question, absolutely nothing.

No TV and No Beer make Andy Something, Something...

I’m not much of a natural dancer, but I’ve got a friend who’s a natural dancer. You could call her a jumping bean. She’s got ants in her pants and she’s gonna dance.

So JC is now gonna represent a Western front in the Blog Alliance. Kinda like when this here blog began in March of 2006. Everything comes full circle I guess.

I don’t know what that means.

The New York Times recently had an article discussing the town of Porter, New York. This small farming town in Northern New York tried to expand their liquor license for a restaurant, but in doing so accidentally banned the sale of alcohol throughout the entire town. For some stupid bureaucratic reason, in order to expand the sale of liquor there, there must be five questions of 300 words asking residents how they feel about selling alcohol in the town. Apparently the wording was so confusing, the residents voted no to all five questions and now the town faces losing the ability to sell alcohol anywhere within the 37 square miles of the town. One general store in Porter relies on alcohol for 78% of its revenue. I could not imagine living in a town without alcohol or having to vote to expand the license to sell it. That’s one of the great things about Wyandotte, Mi (among many). I enjoy any town where the bar-to-church ratio is roughly two-to-one, 69 bars to 34 churches. Maybe the residents of Porter can come visit Wyandotte. There is an art fair here from July 11-14.

Wow that paragraph had many twists and turns. What I was trying to say is I like beer.

Speaking of July 14, remember the Berkley Front; Dave Carducci and the Wednesdees! Doors will open at nine and it is a very fun place to see a show. Great atmosphere for good rock ‘n’ roll. Also, mark on your calendars Dave’s other shows: June 30th, Café Classics, Monroe, Mi 7PM (get there early); July 3rd, the Modern Exchange, Southgate, Mi 8PM, $7; July 5th, the Downtown Monroe Car Show, Monroe, Mi 8PM; and July 12th, Frankie’s Inner City, Toledo, Oh, 8PM, $5. And the Wednesdees have a show July 7th, the Old Miami, Detroit, Mi 8PM.

Again that paragraph was very busy. For a good summary go to www.davecarducci.com and http://myspace.com/thewednesdees.

I officially start work next Monday. Yeah, I know it’s just orientation, but I get paid and just filled out my paperwork for all my health insurance. So lay-off me. I’m excited about it, but nervous about the hours. Anyhoo…enough about me.

When Lil’ Bush debuted on Comedy Central last week I was very excited. After watching it I was amazed. Not so much because it was really good, but just because it was very, very, very, very mean. Almost too mean. And I can’t stand Dubya. I’ll watch it again tonight, because I like seeing Dick Cheney bite the head off of birds and drink their blood (that’s probably something he does in real life), but damn is this show downright mean.

Michael Bloomberg, the Mayor of New York, cut and run from the Republican Party yesterday. He was originally a Democrat (interestingly because he has close to 13 billion dollars), but changed political affiliations in order to become the Mayor of New York. What a flip-flopper. He’s a very interesting man, and I actually agree with many of his politics. There was a nice article in Time recently about Bloomberg. You all should check it out if you get a spare moment.

Terry Hoeppner, the former head coach of the Indiana University football team, passed away yesterday morning after battling brain cancer. He was 59 years old.

Farewell Lansing

As of 2:01pm, I bid Lansing Michigan adieu.

Theblogalliance goes amputee

The drummer from Def Leopard's only got one arm.

Theblogalliance is so over pizza

Theblogalliance goes to Winterfest

Hold on little girl
Show me what he's done to you
Stand up little girl
A broken heart can't be that bad
When it's through, it's through
Fate will twist the both of you
So come on baby come on over
Let me be the one to show you

I'm the one who wants to be with you
Deep inside I hope you feel it too
Waited on a line of greens and blues
Just to be the next to be with you

Build up your confidence
So you can be on top for once
wake up who cares about
Little boys that talk too much
I've seen it all go down
Your game of love was all rained out
So come on baby, come on over
Let me be the one to hold you

I'm the one who wants to be with you
Deep inside I hope you feel it too
Waited on a line of greens and blues
Just to be the next to be with you

Why be alone when we can be together baby
You can make my life worthwhile
And I can make you start to smile

When it's through, it's through
Fate will twist the both of you
So come on baby come on over
Let me be the one to show you

Theblogalliance gets people pregnant

Ah, push it
Ah, push it

Oooh, baby, baby
Baby, baby
Oooh, baby, baby
Baby, baby

Get up on this!

Ow! Baby!
Salt and Pepa's here!

[Now wait a minute, y'all
This dance ain't for everybody
Only the sexy people
So all you fly mothers, get on out there and dance
Dance, I said!]

Salt and Pepa's here, and we're in effect
Want you to push it, babe
Coolin' by day then at night working up a sweat
C'mon girls, let's go show the guys that we know
How to become number one in a hot party show
Now push it

Ah, push it - push it good
Ah, push it - push it real good
Ah, push it - push it good
Ah, push it - p-push it real good

Hey! Ow!
Push it good!

Oooh, baby, baby
Baby, baby
Oooh, baby, baby
Baby, baby

Yo, yo, yo, yo, baby-pop
Yeah, you come here, gimme a kiss
Better make it fast or else I'm gonna get pissed
Can't you hear the music's pumpin' hard like I wish you would?
Now push it

Push it good
P-push it real good

Ah, push it
Get up on this!

Boy, you really got me going
You got me so I don't know what I'm doing

Ah, push it

Theblogalliance gets sexy

To The Tick Tock Ya Don't Stop, To The Tick Top Ya Don't Stop

Come inside take off your coat,
ill make you feel at home
Now lets pour a glass of wine
coz now we're all alone,
I've been waiting all nite
so just let me hold you close to me
Coz i've been dieing for you girl
to make love to me

Girl you make me feel real good,
We can do it till we both wake up
Girl you know im hooked on you
and this is what i'll do,

(I wanna love you down)
I wanna sex you up,
All nite, (you make me feel good)
I want (to rub you down)
I wanna sex you up,
Let me take off all your clothes.
Disconnect the phone so nobody knows.
Let me light a candle,
So that we can make it better.
Makin' love until we drown.
Girl, you know it feels real good.
We can do it 'til we both wake up.
Girlyou know I'm hooked on you.
And this is what I'll do.

Make sweet lovin' all night long...
(I wanna sex you up)
Feels so right it can't be wrong...
Don't be shy girl rescue me...
(i wanna sex you up)
Open up your heart and I'll set you free...

Theblogalliance goes religious

Life is a mystery, everyone must stand alone
I hear you call my name
And it feels like home

When you call my name its like a little prayer
Im down on my knees, I wanna take you there
In the midnight hour I can feel your power
Just like a prayer you know Ill take you there

I hear your voice, its like an angel sighing
I have no choice, I hear your voice
Feels like flying
I close my eyes, oh God I think Im falling
Out of the sky, I close my eyes
Heaven help me

When you call my name its like a little prayer
Im down on my knees, I wanna take you there
In the midnight hour I can feel your power
Just like a prayer you know Ill take you there

Like a child you whisper softly to me
Youre in control just like a child
Now Im dancing
Its like a dream, no end and no beginning
Youre here with me, its like a dream
Let the choir sing

When you call my name its like a little prayer
Im down on my knees, I wanna take you there
In the midnight hour I can feel your power
Just like a prayer you know Ill take you there

Just like a prayer, your voice can take me there
Just like a muse to me, you are a mystery
Just like a dream, you are not what you seem
Just like a prayer, no choice your voice can take me there

Just like a prayer, Ill take you there
Its like a dream to me

Bullocks to BLS!

Bullocks! Bullocks! I proclaim.

I just finished my ACLS training; Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support. I like that stuff. I had my “mega-code” simulation in which a fake code blue was performed. My fake patient was a 57 y/o female who was diaphoretic, weak, pre-syncopal with chest pain and shortness of breath. Her initial rhythm on the monitor was a sinus bradycardia.

“Okay, check the ABC’s,” I explained to my team. “Give her supplemental oxygen at two liters nasal canula and start an IV please. Draw up 0.5 mg atropine and place the pacer pads and get ready for pacing.”

She remained in symptomatic sinus brady after the atropine, so I ordered to start pacing. The pacer captured, but shortly after this she went into ventricular fibrillation.

“Okay, start CPR and hook-up the defibrillator please. Charge to 200 Joules please. Everyone clear? I’m clear. Clear. Deliver the shock please. Still in v fib. Resume CPR for 5 cycles please.” After 5 cycles my “patient” was still in v fib.

“Okay, shock at 200 please. Could you please draw up 1 mg epi? We’ll give it after this shock. Clear. Shock. Still v fib, could you push the epi please and then continue that every three to five minutes with 1 mg epi. Also could you please draw up 300 amio? Thanks.”

And thus the code continued until my “patient went into pulseless electrical activity (PEA). “Now we’re in PEA. Please resume CPR. Push 1 mg epi. Draw 1 mg atropine.” After 5 cycles of CPR (30 and 2 are the new guidelines) the “patient” was still in PEA. “Push the atropine and draw another 1 mg. Keep with the epi every 3 to 5 minutes, 1 mg please.”

Still in PEA. “Second dose of atropine given? Okay draw one more please. 1 mg. We’ll give it after this next cycle of CPR. Epi still going in? Good.” After the next cycle, the “patient” developed a weak pulse and another sinus brady.

And the code was over. She lived! The next step would be to consult electrophysiology, ship her to the cardiac ICU and have a pacemaker placed.

So that was my Friday morning. That and a written test covering essentially the same stuff. Now why the hell do I have to take the Basic Life Support (BLS) class on Monday? I obviously know CPR and how to run a code. I know the guidelines for child CPR (15 and 2 now) and everyone can do the Heimlich maneuver. I don’t want to spend four hours on Monday doing this crap, and without the fun of giving drugs and running a code. BLS….argh….

I don’t know what irks me more: having to pay the $50 for the BLS training (ACLS was $230) or giving up four hours on my last week of vacation.

Bullocks! Absolute bullocks!

Theblogalliance at the Zoo (one half)

This blog was going to be called the Cutest Blog Ever, because baby monkeys are cute, but I refrained.

Yesterday, Theblogalliance (one half) went to the Zoo. My second day of unemployment took me to M-Town to see my parents, sister, and her husband. The Zoo was invaded by the best blog to hit the universe.

Also, I tried to take pictures with my cellular telephone to send to Theblogalliance's long lost friend in Seattle. As you can tell by the quality of the pictures with a regular camera, I was struggling.








I told you that baby monkeys are cute!



This family of monkeys are pretty cool too.



I couldn't tell if this one was sleeping or dead. (If you can't tell, the monkeys are my favorite)



I don't think penguins like 86 degrees.



These guys remind me of the old school Toledo Zoo commercials. Five minutes just five minutes.



Now for the animals in my weight class:


Rhinosaurus



Elephante (with an accent over the final e).



And the spineless:



Attack of the killer jellyfish.



Unfortunately, the Hippopotamusauruses were in seclusion. I could not take a picture of the animal that I most closely resemble.

Here is a reenactment of my birth: (gross)



Theblogalliance (one half) had a fun day at the zoo.