(at L it's me at the OBX with some EFY Counselor friends clumping)I've done a pretty good job keeping up with all y'all's blogs, but I haven't done a great job keeping up with mine. I am going to give a quick update on my past, present and future.
Past:
In the past I posted some of my goals. Here is the update:
I carried my beginning Braille book with me all summer, and didn't take the chance to feel it up at all. (Actually, I am learning to "read" it with my eyes first). So that isn't going super well, but I did do some research and am narrowing it down to which book of fine literature I am going to purchase to fuel my desire to learn to read with my fingers. It is definitely going to be one of the Hardy Boys series.
I am not much closer to finishing the Appalachian Trail hike I'd love to do than I am to starting it. I have, however, made the acquaintance of an EFY counselor who was a ranger (the one who starts troops out on their trips) at Philomont Scout Ranch. She has quite a lot of knowledge about that sort of thing, and I was impressed, so I am going to need to do some research to get to know the requisite info before I embark on what will likely be 2-3 month trips.
I started my ASL class at NOVA last week. I guess if I can't read with my hands, I can at least start to learn to speak with them. I know the words for right, wrong, yes, no, "you're over my head", "slow down", boring, Republican, Democrat, "If McCain gets elected I'm moving to Canada" (my teacher is, I think, a Democrat : ), and the alphabet as well as numbers one through five and the word "first". I have learned that there is a continuum of deaf speech which goes all the way from "Signed Exact English" to "Pidgin Sign" to ASL. ASL and SEE are the extremes with most deaf culture groups/people using Pidgin Sign, although the only actual language is ASL. What does that make SEE and Pidgin, dialects? I'll need to look up the definition. Very interesting.
I started Paramedic classes again last week as well. This semester I am taking Special Populations (Pediatric/Neonatal/Geriatric/Obstetric patients), Medical Care (with an Advanced Cardiac Life Support Class, though I am already ACLS certified), and the ever popular clinical (6 hrs now vs. 3 last semester) and the added bonus of 12 hr internship on an Ambulance. The one hitch is that I need to recertify (technically called "reentry" in this case, but never mind) my EMT. I am not sure if I passed my re-certification test. I really hope I passed, but if I don't I will just recertify a few weeks later and postpone this semester (stinky option, but I am looking into other ones, all while hoping I passed).
Going to space. Yup, that one's gonna take a little while. The closest I have gotten has been dinner table conversations and looking at this site for the chance to have a Zero-G flight like the ones the astronauts train on. Yup, $4,950
Speaking of weightlessness; Griffon, the coaster at Busch Gardens, is my next quarry. Some time in October I think. Watch this space for the recounting of the experience...
That's all for now folks. I'll be dealing up another update soon. Any suggestions?
