WOW!!! What a difference a little water makes. With all the ice that hit us late Jan finally melted, I’ve finally gotten my internet back online and running somewhat well. A few things are still down, but that’s okay. I’ll have those up soon enough.
Well… the weather forecasters sure got it wrong this weekend!
I had planned a 3 day 2 night jaunt to Red River Gorge in eastern Kentucky, but that wasn’t what happened. When we arrived it was raining rather heavy. We knew this might be an option so packing rain gear was definitely a smart move on our part. When we showed up at the ranger station to purchase a topo, we were informed that while they had 28 boxes of them in the back room, they couldn’t sell us any because the lady who does procurement for the station went to the hospital before signing over ownership to the rangers. What a joke.
After making a few calls, the ranger agreed to sell us a topo and filled out a couple of forms. Our brand new, first one ever sold, waterproof topo map of the area was now in our hands and would definitely come in handy over the next day. So we drove to our starting point with map in hand and ready for an exciting trip. It was already getting late and we knew that we wouldn’t be able to get far in, but 2-3 miles would be enough for that night.
As we camped close to a river, it turned real cold and windy. I was testing my hammock for the first time in cold weather and found that while I was a bit uncomfortable, I was alive. Temps that night were supposed to drop to roughly 26 - 28 F, but we found that they were closer to 18 F. With my 15 F sleeping bag and pad (Big Agnes bags don’t have down on the backside and rely on a pad for insulation) I found that my back cooled off quite a bit throughout the night. I was glad that I took an extra down coat to slip into as I was able to stay a bit warmer. On a positive note, I found that the MontBell parka that I am testing worked real well at keeping my feet warm throughout the entire night. Something tells me thought that if I plan on using this hammock more during the winter I’m going to have to get a 0F bag with back insulation.
Sleep was not going to come easy during the night though, even without the cold factor. As I mentioned before, it had begun raining as we were trekking in. You can also guess by the temperatures listed above that it didn’t stay liquid for long. When I finally got into my bag it was roughly 7 pm and the rain turned to sleet and snow. Now, while I enjoy the sound of sleet on my tent and hammock as well as the next guy, the sound of falling trees all around me was quite an experience. I have to admit that I have never been so scared in all my life. I know there were at least 15 trees that uprooted all around our campsite that night due to the weight of ice and snow. Dad even got a pic of a snow cloud that developed after a 2 ft diameter tree uprooted on the adjacent hillside. Having nowhere to go as trees were falling all over the forest, and not knowing if the trees that I was anchored to were going to be affected, thought of my wife and kids were more abundant than sleep.
That next morning we rose to find about 1.5 inches of snow in the valley where we were, but on the ridges that we needed to hike there was around 5 - 6 in of snow. We ate some breakfast and marched on. Big hills are hard enough when you can climb them in dry weather, but without some sort of crampon they become downright dangerous when icy. As we weren’t expecting ice and snow, we didn’t have any sort of foot gear and stumbled up and down the sides of mountains all day. Hiking was nice and fast on the ridge tops, but I’d say we were averaging .5 mph up and down hills.
In the end, we decided to cut our trip short as we were simply not prepared. Most of our gear was still wet and/or frozen from the night before, we knew the weather was going to be colder that next night, and it was already snowing. Neither of us was looking forward to spending another night in the woods with cold, wet, and potentially dangerous conditions. As we made good time on the ridges, we arrived back at the jeep about 2 hours before we thought we would and decided to bug out. Six inches of snow blanketed the jeep and the thermometer was showing 28 F, almost 15 F colder than we were expecting.
In short though, if we knew the conditions were going to be as such, we both agreed that we’d do it again. So I guess the trip was a success. Next time, maybe a few less falling trees, a warmer sleeping bag, less ice, and a better weather forecaster.
I gotta get out. Feel confined, all wrapped up. Want hammock, stove, pine trees, peace. Need vacation!
Unlike some previous years wish list, this one is going to be considerably different; read shorter. There are things that I’d like to have; camera lens for better pictures, new laptop, new server, etc. However, I’ve found that there are things I need more; shoes, clothes, etc.
As with Kristie’s list, all links provided are simply to show pictures of the item.
So, without further hesitations:
Rescue’s Christmas Wish List
In past years, I tried to keep everyone updated on some of the items that were on our various Christmas wish lists. Last yer, I completely dropped the ball and forgot to post a list at all. This year, I’ve decided that that simply won’t do. A bit of prodding from the wife as to when I’m going to get her list online also helped in that decision.
Keep in mind that links are provided simply to show product pictures. These products can be found locally, or at other various web stores, so that shipping costs will not be incurred.
So, without further hesitations:
Kristie’s Christmas Wish List
I just received notification that I passed my Instructor 1 IFSAC Certification. Woohoo!
Now… on to looking for a second job.
Years ago there was an issue brought up between the City of Madisonville and Madisonville Fire Department regarding the calculation of our overtime pay. The actual issue eludes me, but in the end we were told that our pay was not being calculated correctly and that we were actually being overpaid for by roughly $1000 per year, if I remember correctly.
Well…. someone else in the state thought that they were not being paid correctly and decided to pursue it further. The Louisville Fire Department decided that their overtime pay was not being calculated correctly and brought a lawsuit against the city. In addition, the Owensboro Fire Department brought a similar lawsuit against their city for the same thing.
My understanding is that Madisonville Fire Department is calculated in roughly the same way as these other two departments. Might that mean that our overtime rate has been miscalculated as well? If so, that could mean that we’re entitled to quite a bit of money.
Click the links below to get more information.
Owensboro Fire Fighters Pay Dispute
Louisville Fire Overtime Dispute
These past few months have been killer. Almost immediately after finishing my study for the officers promotional exam, I had to begin studying for a fire instructors exam. That, coupled with the fact that I’m working loads of overtime, has kept me so busy these past few months it’s not funny.
I finally finished taking the instructors exam and may actually be able to relax over the next few weeks. Who know, maybe I’ll actually be able to get into the woods overnight.
I took a bit of a break from everything this past summer since Abby was in town. Because we weren’t able to go on a vacation this year, I thought it would be nice if we all spent a bit more time at home together. While there were still some things to do and I (of course) had to get my gaming fix, I left some of the other stuff on the back burner for a bit.
I’ve got more pics of Christian to upload, information on the fire department, information on a new possible job, hiking information, and a bit more that needs to be blogged about sometime in the near future.
I’m back and better than ever!
Uploaded a few more pictures.
Don’t tell Kristie… I haven’t printed these out for her yet.
http://corridor9.net/gallery/v/Being+Family/Baby+Christian/
You may remember a post a while back that talked about the Rising cost of insurance. Well, recently we received some paperwork from Anthem Insurance regarding Kristie’s stay in the hospital. While we weren’t too surprised with the total amount that the hospital charged, it was a bit disheartening how Anthem tried to screw us and the hospital.
Keep in mind that Kristie was in the hospital a total of 7 weeks, and had a multitude of procedures in this time including 4-5 ultrasounds, q6h antibiotic IV drips, round the clock fetal heart monitoring at times, as well as the delivery itself and all charges incurred during that procedure. However, none of Christian’s expenses are included in this amount.
In total, the hospital charged roughly $80,000 for her little 7 week excursion. Like I said, we figured as much. However, Anthem apparently didn’t want to pay up. The EOB (Explanation of Benefits) paperwork that Anthem Insurance sent us stated that they were only going to pay roughly $2,500. Their excuse was that the stays were not covered because the hospital didn’t properly submit the request to have the hospitalization approved.
The funny part about it all is that while Kristie was in the hospital I received paperwork approximately every week from Anthem stating that the next 7 days of her stay were approved. It’s amazing how they can approve her stay, send paperwork stating that fact, but then see the final bill and just decide they don’t want to pay.
After playing around with bugs and problems for days, I decided to completely reinstall the photo gallery. So.. while the gallery itself is working, some of the links from the blog are broken. I’ll be working on these sometime in the near future.
UPDATE: All the photo links from the blog should work back to around the Grand Canyon trip. I did a general search and replace, though the replace was all manual. While some of the pictures may be different, they should work.
In addition, I did find out that it was SO MUCH EASIER than I thought to import and rework the gallery. Since I’m not using many of the advanced functions, reworking the database isn’t that much of a problem The biggest problem was resyncing the photo’s to the blog.
Either way… it should all be working correctly now. WOOT!
Yea.
Um.
Well.
Gee.
OK ALREADY! I DID IT!
I issued the wrong commands, didn’t RTFM, and borked it GOOD! Tooke me quite a bit of reverse engineering files to get it up and running again. It works now though… I hope.
UPDATE: I’m still working on little things, but most of it should be back up and running. If you find errors, please let me know so I can nail down these few problems. Thanks!
UPDATE 2: I’ve altered some of the configuration to make things load faster for everyone. There is no more random images in the sidebar, but that’s ok with me.
No new pictures today. I’ve been told that it was time to enjoy time with out baby and not take pictures. . Luckily, Dad’s taking a few pictures as I type so maybe I’ll update this post with a few new pictures sometime tomorrow.
Christian’s lung functions have improved a bit and he has been taken off the C-Pap machine. His O2 Saturation is still in the mid 90’s which is right where they want it. The are now doing 3 chest X-rays per day due to a problem that the found in his chest wall earlier this morning. He has a small pneumothorax; basically a small hole in his lung that allows air to escape into the chest cavity. The doctors don’t think that this is going to post any problem, but he’s still having a hard time blowing off his CO2.
The bruising on his face is looking better. I don’t know if I mentioned it, but since he’s been stuck in the same position with his head down for the last 7 weeks, his face was black and blue when he came out. It’s now a bit more pink, but they are anticipating him needing a light tent because bruised babies tend to develop jaundice easier.
His feet don’t look pretty, and I’m sure they hurt a lot. They both have numerous needle sticks for both veinous and arterial blood. While his feet are big, boy that kiddo has boats for feet, they’re even more swollen now.
Ok. So as we thought, baby Christian needed to go to the NICU based on some medications that he needed, his breathing pattern, and a bit too much CO2. Since he was put in there this afternoon, they’ve placed an IV, run a number of blood tests, hooked him up to a C-Pap machine, and kept him warm.
He seems to be doing well and has eaten at least once now. He still gets a bit stressed when touched, but that will calm down. Kristie and I attribute that to him being poked and prodded every time they took an Ultrasound. They were literally pushing him around today during the US to get proper measurements.
BTW. I changed my first diaper today. WOOT.
Christian Alex
Born 12:54 pm
5 lb 2 oz
18 in long
Welcome to Earth, Son.
Additional Pictures can be found here:http://www.corridor9.net/gallery/v/Being+Family/Baby+Christian/.
After putting together more baby items than I care to remember, I keep finding myself coming back to this same statement over and over. From the crib, to the stroller, from swing to pack-n-play, and even down to the simple mobile, I keep finding myself uttering the same mantra over and over.
It goes to show you that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Many times I’ve heard my Dad’s mantra when it comes to assembling item that are mass produced by “The Man”. Back when I was a kid, I thought he was just short tempered, but now I know exactly what it is. It’s not stress, naw that would be too simple to explain away. No, it’s something deeper, more sinister. I think I’ve finally found out what what makes us men so frustrated at instructions and assembling new items.
We’ve all been there, from Christmas toys, to baby stuff, to even working on automobiles. I think I can finally name it. Engineeritis. What is Engineeritis you say? Let me elaborate a bit.
Ever read the instructions on setting up a microwave? All that technical jargon. What about changing a spark plug on your car; your fingers never seem to be able to fit into those tight spaces. It’s everywhere. Thats Engineeitis. More simply, it’s that itchy, blood boiling, get out of my face feeling that overcomes us anytime we deal with the utter insanity of assembling store bought items. It’s just about the same feeling that we get right after we grittingly utter the words “I’m not lost Dear, I know exactly where I am. I just thought you might want to take the scenic view.”
But as I said, Engineeritis is more sinister. We may not hear the laughter, but it’s there. Every time some PhD Nothing engineer pens out the instructions to assembling a chair; he’s laughing. Laughing at us men out here in the world who have to decipher the instructions without looking like baboons in front of our families. Intertwining French, Spanish, and Japanese, all while thinking of the most scientific word he can to trip us up. Oh yea, he’s laughing all right; that evil maniacal laughter aimed at the “common man”.
So, In the spirit of all those real men out there who like to stick it to the man; let’s all chant together:
“Whoever designed this piece of {insert your own preferred explicative here} need to have it shoved so far up his {more explicatives; probably going to need two or three of them} that he needs a {mild explicative} technical manual, a {mild explicative} flashlight, a pair of {over the top explicative} pliers to get it out!”
I’ve installed a plugin on C9 that should make it easier for those of you who like to keep up with current events while on the go.
When viewing C9 from your mobile device you should see a text only version of the site that loads faster and looks cleaner.
Hope this helps those of you who are always on the move.
