I work at a state university. The primary focus of my job is to assist faculty with paperwork needed to plan and establish new degree programs. I do a lot of other things, too. Today I've been reading through requests that will be taken up next week by leadership in our university system. They will be talking a great deal about STEM disciplines. What is STEM? It's an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. As our society progresses, more and more focus is placed on these areas of study. I don't have any objection to that, in general, and I believe we must focus on these things if we hope to have any leadership status in the world. I also believe we need much more to make our world a good place to live!
When I think about technological advances, I wonder whether they are meant to help us through life, or whether they are meant at times to simply distract us from it! Think of all the devices we use. Are they beneficial to enhance our life experiences and be useful, or do they only entertain us and take us away from where real life is happening?
Now, you may think I'm being very hypocritical at the moment! After all, I'm sitting at a computer writing a blog post. Sometimes - even often - I use my blog to entertain or promote crafting, which may not be viewed as a critical life function. Remember when I said we need more than STEM? My crafting is a stress-relieving activity that allows me to decompress after difficult activities, and it helps me to re-center my thoughts. When I'm focused on a craft project, I'm rarely stressed! And importantly, I have something to show for my efforts. My projects bring me joy, and they often bring joy to others, too.
Some may suggest that their electronic devices, like cell phones, tablets, gaming equipment, etc., are also stress relievers. Perhaps that is true. But when do these devices stop being stress relievers, and start being time robbers that take us away from life? For example, I love to play Candy Crush Saga. I play it all the time. I just realized today that I've played more than 1300 screens! Some I've mastered in a single pass; others have taken weeks to win. I cannot even fathom how much of my life I have spent on these useless activities. They are addictive and they are life-distracting! Really?!? What am I thinking?!?!?
There are a great number of skills that I wish to learn in life - and many others that I want to practice more. I believe it is time to turn away from silly time robbers and get on with it. I want to do more things that will bring joy to others and help them avoid time robbers, too.
My greatest hope is that you will read this post, identify worthless activities in your own life, and then figure out how to replace them with something more useful. That doesn't mean you shouldn't have fun! Of course you should. But maybe there's a better way!
Anyway, thanks for dropping by. I hope you'll come again.
Showing posts with label life lessons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life lessons. Show all posts
Saturday, March 17, 2018
Wednesday, February 7, 2018
Life Lessons in a Single Day
Yesterday was an interesting, scary, frustrating, and memorable day. Everything was going just fine when I arrived at work, but within the first 90 minutes I received the first interesting "anomaly" of my day.
Now, living just about 20-25 miles from the mouth of the Pamlico River, which empties into the Pamlico Sound on the coast of North Carolina, this is no small event. A large tsunami could definitely be a threat to us! I checked out NOAA's website to see if there had been an earthquake that could have triggered an alert, but found nothing. That was reassuring! Still, I do wonder why some people may have received a warning. Glad I didn't. I'm sure a high level of panic would have ensued in my head!
The next oddity is that I didn't have lunch with me yesterday. Darling husband, henceforth DH, generally cooks dinner and makes enough for my lunch the next day. This doesn't always happen, so he had volunteered to bring me lunch at the appropriate time. When 12:20 arrived and I was getting hungry, I called to see when he would arrive. He was en route to the bank and was coming immediately after. I told him I was hungry, and he decided to come to me first. He surprised me with a nice home-cooked lunch (when I actually expected a fast-food burger), we talked a few minutes and then said goodbye, and I went back upstairs to my office. No sooner had I sat down at my desk than my phone rang. It was DH. He took a deep breath and said, "I'm okay, but...I've been in an accident." I knew he couldn't be far, as he hadn't been gone from the office more than three minutes! I turned my head to the left, looked out my office window, and I saw the police car and then his van. He hadn't even reached the first stoplight, but had accelerated to about 40 mph when a woman tried to make a left turn right in front of him and he had no chance to avoid hitting her! I don't recall what else he said, but I quickly told him I'd be right there and went flying out the door! I was on the scene within minutes.
DH has been disabled and has had leg issues for years. They had taken the brunt of the impact, so I insisted that he go to the hospital to get checked out. Long story short, he went to the hospital by ambulance, but had no breaks and no serious cuts or abrasions, and they released him. His legs are swollen and badly bruised, his left hand has a cut and huge bruise, his right forearm has some irritated abrasions from the air bags (we think!), and his left shoulder is seriously sore, probably from where the seat belt caught him. As an aside, we both wore face masks for the 4+ hours we were in the ER, as the waiting room was full of people with the flu! Not good!
So, what have we learned from this experience?
First, people take foolish risks every day that can end their own lives and the lives of others. The driver of the other car turned in front of DH's van to save herself a few seconds instead of waiting until the traffic could clear. Either one of them could have died; neither had serious injuries, but it is only by the grace of God, as both cars were almost certainly totaled. They BOTH lost more than a few seconds, and we lost a vehicle which we must now attempt to replace - through no fault of our own.
Second, just because you're doing the right thing and minding your own business doesn't mean that you can't get hurt. Life is a risky business, particularly in a vehicle.
Third, EMTs who serve the public very well and are generally wonderful, don't always offer their patients the benefit of the doubt. DH was able to get into the ambulance under his own steam (with his cane and handholds on the back door), therefore it was assumed that the ambulance crew was wasting their time. We met with a bit of an attitude. I was somewhat irritated by their mannerisms that suggested they didn't want to be bothered. They do not know my husband, his ongoing health issues, or what might not have been apparent with his condition. He needed to be checked out, and that was the safest way to get him to the hospital. They should know that people's health cannot always be judged with hardly a glance! Hardly what you want to experience in the middle of a crisis!
Next, when my husband was taken to a room about 30 minutes after arrival, we were in a transition area with several beds. We were privy to a conversation a woman was having across the way, where she explained that she had been in an accident the week before and was admitted for serious injuries. She had gone home, but now couldn't walk because the pain medication she had been given for home wasn't strong enough. Now, of course there are people who abuse opioids. No one would dispute that. I can't say whether she was one of them or not, but I have long suspected that the medical community would over-compensate for the new national focus on the "opioid crisis." I don't believe she went home with anything stronger. Then it was my husband's turn. Now, granted, he wasn't seriously injured and we were grateful; his situation was somewhat different. But it was rather disconcerting when he was told that the prescriptions they had written for him were Tylenol and Motrin, "just like you buy over the counter at the drug store." WHAT?!? Why on Earth did they even bother?!? Now, he may not need anything more, and I hope he doesn't, but I was thinking ahead to the time when I will finally need total knee replacement. It's just a waiting game. I am concerned that I will be in serious pain with no decent pain control because of some perceived drug abuse. And I'm the one who generally stops post-surgical drugs within a few days and throws outdated medicine away! Good grief! Well, anyway, it's something to consider.
So, today's another day, and we pray it will end a lot better. Thanks for reading, and do come again when I have something more positive to share.
Now, living just about 20-25 miles from the mouth of the Pamlico River, which empties into the Pamlico Sound on the coast of North Carolina, this is no small event. A large tsunami could definitely be a threat to us! I checked out NOAA's website to see if there had been an earthquake that could have triggered an alert, but found nothing. That was reassuring! Still, I do wonder why some people may have received a warning. Glad I didn't. I'm sure a high level of panic would have ensued in my head!
The next oddity is that I didn't have lunch with me yesterday. Darling husband, henceforth DH, generally cooks dinner and makes enough for my lunch the next day. This doesn't always happen, so he had volunteered to bring me lunch at the appropriate time. When 12:20 arrived and I was getting hungry, I called to see when he would arrive. He was en route to the bank and was coming immediately after. I told him I was hungry, and he decided to come to me first. He surprised me with a nice home-cooked lunch (when I actually expected a fast-food burger), we talked a few minutes and then said goodbye, and I went back upstairs to my office. No sooner had I sat down at my desk than my phone rang. It was DH. He took a deep breath and said, "I'm okay, but...I've been in an accident." I knew he couldn't be far, as he hadn't been gone from the office more than three minutes! I turned my head to the left, looked out my office window, and I saw the police car and then his van. He hadn't even reached the first stoplight, but had accelerated to about 40 mph when a woman tried to make a left turn right in front of him and he had no chance to avoid hitting her! I don't recall what else he said, but I quickly told him I'd be right there and went flying out the door! I was on the scene within minutes.
DH has been disabled and has had leg issues for years. They had taken the brunt of the impact, so I insisted that he go to the hospital to get checked out. Long story short, he went to the hospital by ambulance, but had no breaks and no serious cuts or abrasions, and they released him. His legs are swollen and badly bruised, his left hand has a cut and huge bruise, his right forearm has some irritated abrasions from the air bags (we think!), and his left shoulder is seriously sore, probably from where the seat belt caught him. As an aside, we both wore face masks for the 4+ hours we were in the ER, as the waiting room was full of people with the flu! Not good!
So, what have we learned from this experience?
First, people take foolish risks every day that can end their own lives and the lives of others. The driver of the other car turned in front of DH's van to save herself a few seconds instead of waiting until the traffic could clear. Either one of them could have died; neither had serious injuries, but it is only by the grace of God, as both cars were almost certainly totaled. They BOTH lost more than a few seconds, and we lost a vehicle which we must now attempt to replace - through no fault of our own.
Second, just because you're doing the right thing and minding your own business doesn't mean that you can't get hurt. Life is a risky business, particularly in a vehicle.
Third, EMTs who serve the public very well and are generally wonderful, don't always offer their patients the benefit of the doubt. DH was able to get into the ambulance under his own steam (with his cane and handholds on the back door), therefore it was assumed that the ambulance crew was wasting their time. We met with a bit of an attitude. I was somewhat irritated by their mannerisms that suggested they didn't want to be bothered. They do not know my husband, his ongoing health issues, or what might not have been apparent with his condition. He needed to be checked out, and that was the safest way to get him to the hospital. They should know that people's health cannot always be judged with hardly a glance! Hardly what you want to experience in the middle of a crisis!
Next, when my husband was taken to a room about 30 minutes after arrival, we were in a transition area with several beds. We were privy to a conversation a woman was having across the way, where she explained that she had been in an accident the week before and was admitted for serious injuries. She had gone home, but now couldn't walk because the pain medication she had been given for home wasn't strong enough. Now, of course there are people who abuse opioids. No one would dispute that. I can't say whether she was one of them or not, but I have long suspected that the medical community would over-compensate for the new national focus on the "opioid crisis." I don't believe she went home with anything stronger. Then it was my husband's turn. Now, granted, he wasn't seriously injured and we were grateful; his situation was somewhat different. But it was rather disconcerting when he was told that the prescriptions they had written for him were Tylenol and Motrin, "just like you buy over the counter at the drug store." WHAT?!? Why on Earth did they even bother?!? Now, he may not need anything more, and I hope he doesn't, but I was thinking ahead to the time when I will finally need total knee replacement. It's just a waiting game. I am concerned that I will be in serious pain with no decent pain control because of some perceived drug abuse. And I'm the one who generally stops post-surgical drugs within a few days and throws outdated medicine away! Good grief! Well, anyway, it's something to consider.
So, today's another day, and we pray it will end a lot better. Thanks for reading, and do come again when I have something more positive to share.
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