So tonight I started my new schedule working overnights with my new partner, Rolan. I'm sitting on the corner of West 144th Street and Amsterdam Avenue at the moment, updating from my partner's laptop. We have spent most of the night roaming the city stealing bandwidth, playing online and watching a movie on DVD. We watched The Rock during our standby time. It's 7:05 AM right now and we've done two calls since our tour started at midnight.

This week went well. The new car is awesome and I love just cruising around listening to music and stuff.

The rest of my week touring with Denise was cool, we got quite a few emergencies and even a flag down. Friday was her birthday, and Soto, Sal, Cindy and I headed out to Karma Lounge but Denise never made it out because her boyfriend didn't feel like chilling.

Saturday night, Cindy and I DJ'ed a sweet 16 in College Point and it went well. We were actually on time for once. Afterwards we met up with Tommy, Mando, Fern and Nadine and hung out at White Castle while Tommy skipped around shirtless to the tune of Benny Benasi. Then we went to the World's Fair Marina and chilled for a little while having a great conversation by the bay.

On Sunday night I went to return the equipment to Jordan and then met up with Tommy, Cindy and Saltz and took a ride over to Kenny's crib. We chilled out and watched Super Troopers and played Halo 2. I drove Cindy home and then Tommy. Saltzman had forgotten his keys over at Kenny's so we took a ride back to retrieve them. I got home around 4:30 in the morning.

I spent most of Monday sleeping and watching TV before heading out around 10:30 PM for my midnight shift.

It's been pretty much uneventful other than that. It seems that between stealing bandwidth and watching movies, the overnights this week will be alright after all.

Well... I'm still on standby, and there's less than three hours left in my tour. Let's see what happens now... the pace should be picking up real soon.

Doc Out.


Current Mood: Chillin', kid... Chillin'
Current Music: Power 105.1 - Starr & Bucwild in The Morning

Well, I got called in to work at around 10:30 this morning. I had to cancel on Sal for the Met's game.

I worked with Denise today and we had a good tour. I had never actually run EMS jobs with her before... which is kind of funny since we both work for an ambulance company, are EMT's and were deployed together to Louisiana. Pretty funny.

In any case, we worked together and she's a good partner. She knows what she's doing and she has great patient skills. She'll make a fine doctor one day. Our last call dropped off in Lynbrook today, so we stopped by the house and Denise met my mom, my bro, and my two doggies.

I saw Barbie today at the base, and she gave me a big hug and told me she missed me and what not. She looked stressed, but she was smiling more than usual, so I guess it hasn't been as hectic lately for her.

Met up with Salty at the base and drove him home, and then Denise and I went for coffee at a café in Astoria. Sal and Cindy called and said they were passing through the area, so I told them to come by and say hi. We chilled for a bit and then I drove Denise home.

We talked the whole way to the heights. We have great conversations together, share many of the same interests and views on life. I think she will grow to become a great friend.

It's nice to know that I made some new friends while down south. Aside from Denise; Chris from Jersey, and John from Los Angeles have been in touch.

I checked up on Hurricane Rita just now and it's heading right for Texas now, with a possibility of turning north into Louisiana. This has been a heck of a Hurricane Season. AMR is taking names for more volunteers.... they ship out Friday. I haven't decided if I'm signing up again... but I think I may.

Saltman told me he's been hitting it off pretty well with this Jolie chick. Good for him. He deserves a good girl after all he's been though. From what he tells me... she seems like a good girl.

There aren't enough of those around anymore. And the few that remain are all taken.

Doc Out.


Current Mood: Blah
Current Music: None... the crickets are outside though...

This morning my father and I set out to finally put this whole Mitsubishi problem to an end. We changed the tire, washed the car, and then brought it back to Major World to trade it in. This car had been the source of such a headache for me over the past two months that I was so glad to be getting rid of it.


After spending many hours at the dealership bargaining for a good price and trying to decide what car I was going to buy, I finally made my choice. I present to you my brand new 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt LT Sedan. =)

To the right is a full 360° view of the vehicle. I'm very excited about my new car. It's got the LT sports package on it, a moonroof, spoiler, 16" alloy rims, and XM radio pre-installed. I'm so psyched about being able to listen to country music whenever I want to now. LOL. I'm going to take photos of the actual car tomorrow and post them up.

Speaking of photos, I've put up the first of my photos from Louisiana. Check em out.

Sal called today, and invited me to go to a Met's Game tomorrow night. Gail (the manager at Shelter Rock) gave him two tickets for field level box seats. Not much of a Met's fan anymore, but it'll still be fun going to a game and chilling with Sal.

I miss Denise. It's weird. I got used to her being around all the time. LOL.

No word on when I go back to work yet. I'm gonna call up operations tomorrow and see what I can do about getting back on the schedule. Can't afford to go without working too long, I have bigger car payments now.

Doc Out.


Current Mood: Excited
Current Music: Rascal Flatts - Fast Cars and Freedom

Got back last night from Louisiana. The first thing that hit me was the amount of people out and about. I had become accustomed to desolate streets and highways of the Crescent City. The amount of people heading out to party it up on Saturday night caught me off guard.

The Captain called me as I was exiting the airport and told me that they already missed us down there, and that the new Emergency Management team was driving them nuts.

Denise's father picked us up at LaGuardia Airport and gave me a ride to the base. A few minutes later I was on my way to gather up Cindy and Saltzman. We headed out to Kenny's bar on the Upper East Side and that became an interesting night. Cindy tells it best, except for the part about me being so drunk. I wasn't exactly plastered. It was more of a combination of alcohol and lack of sleep that had me so out of it.

I came in early this morning and had some of the best sleep ever. After sleeping in tents, on the floor, in stacked bunks on a Navy ship, and on Army-issue cots, my bed was the most comfortable place in the world. I slept until after 9:00 PM.

I started to work on the t-shirt design that some of us down at Camp Mimosa had been talking about. This what I have so far. I just need to put an AMR logo on the front and make sure that I have all the participating operations listed correctly.

I can't believe that there's another tropical storm (Rita) with a projected path into the Gulf so soon. They say that it will most probably develop into at least a Category 2 Hurricane once it passes the Florida Keys. I'm praying for New Orleans... the city is so weak right now that even a small hurricane could devastate the area and reverse all the work that's been accomplished since Katrina struck.

My brother just came in with the pretty much finished copy of their soon-to-be released album. God damn! I've been following them since their first days back when they were all in Junior High and their music has come such a long way. It's amazing. This CD is so freaking tight that I can't even imagine how they couldn't get signed by an independant label now. I gotta show this to Saltzman ASAP.

Doc Out.


Current Mood: Relaxed
Current Music: Burning The Memory - How To Set A Fire

Last night after posting I went out for a smoke and realized I forgot my lighter. I looked to my right and saw someone standing with some of the Airborne so I asked him for a light. When he turned to look at me I realized it was Mayor Nagin. I just excused myself and got a light from someone else. It was pretty funny.

I took a ride in a Humvee today after work and then I just chilled here at the EOC with this sergeant and watched funny cartoons on stickdeath.com.

Tonight is my last night here in New Orleans.

I was kinda sad. I had made all these new friends from around the country and now I'm leaving. It was especially sad when Brian and the rest of the North Carolina team went home. They were really cool guys indeed. They offered me a paramedic position in NC again. With all the medic classes paid for. Hmm. LOL. I dunno about that. It was nice to hear them offer again though. Makes me feel like I really helped make a difference down here.

I'm gonna go get some sleep now, Geno is picking us up at 7 AM.

I need to come back to New Orleans once the city is back on it's feet. It's funny but I fell in love with this city in the two short weeks I stayed here. I'll be back to The Big Easy, and under better circumstances I hope. I'll get Cindy and the rest of the crew to come down and party it up. =)

Well, it's off to bed and then to New York.

Doc out.

After posting last night, I decided to raid the secret stash that the North Carolina Incident Management Team had hidden in the conference room at the hotel. I grabbed a couple of beers and went outside to the parking lot to chill.

This beautiful gray kitten came and kept me company while I proceeded to get all liquored up. She kept rubbing up on me and rolling over. She also drank some beer. LOL. Don't worry people, this cat was not contaminated, I was several miles away from the flooded areas and across two bridges. I stayed on the phone with Cindy while I drank and chilled with kitty.

Tonight I'm staying at the Hyatt Regency, where our EOC is located, on an Army cot. I took a ride with the Good Captain to the Convention Center (where all the shit went down) and took a shower in the Army's portable showers.

I'm sitting in a pretty quiet EOC now, checking my mail and updating this blog.

I'm supposed to take a ride up in a Blackhawk tomorrow afternoon with Major Phillip to get an aerial view of the city and the still flooded areas. That should be fun. I couldn't go today because New Orleans was declared a No-Fly Zone since POTUS was in town.

OK, so I found out that I'll be coming home at some point this weekend, friends. I should be back in New York as early as Sunday night, but no later than Tuesday.

I'm gonna go chill out now. I'm beat.

Doc Out.

Last night we ended up staying in the Hampton Inn a couple of miles outside the city limits. We all slept on the floor and I froze. Why the fuck do hotel rooms have to be so damn cold?!

We got lost in New Orleans last night. The city is so dark, kind of reminiscent of the 2003 blackout. Except at least we had some kind of order as far as traffic was concerned. It's like the wild west down here. No traffic signals, no traffic cops, no stop signs. It is a total free for all. There was a terrible accident between a National Guard Humvee and a civilian vehicle that left a soldier in critical condition two nights ago.

In any case, we got lost in a pitch black ghost town. The only people on the streets at night are military and police personnel. The guys we're staying with are Emergency Management personnel from North Carolina, so since we were riding in official North Carolina Emergency vehicles, we threw on the emergency lights to alert other traffic that we were coming.

At one point, we hopped on I-10 going the wrong way and almost drove into a lake of water. We busted a u-turn and drove for about 2 miles going the wrong way on the interstate while swerving around disabled vehicles, debris, and we even found a dead body lying on top of a broken down car. We finally made it to the hotel around 11 PM and got some sleep.

Tonight we're staying here at the hotel again, and Captain "Q" from the Puerto Rican National Guard tagged along with us to do his laundry here at the hotel. The good Captain is going to let me take some photos with his 9mm Berretta, and Dennis is going to let me hold his shotgun for fun as well.

I met some Missouri National Guardsmen outside the hotel today who I will be exchanging some photos with via e-mail... so I'll make sure that I post those up for y'all to see.

Well I'm gonna head to bed now, I'll update again tomorrow.

Doc Out.

After several days at Camp Mimosa in Baton Rouge, I have landed a position working for the City of New Orleans at the Orleans Parish Emergency Operations Center (EOC). I'm on assignment here for a minimum of 8 days, working 12-24 hour shifts.

We are one-block away from the Superdome right on Poydras Street in Downtown New Orleans. The original location of the EOC was on the 8th Floor in City Hall, which is across the street from our current accommodations in the Grand Ballroom in the vacant Hyatt Hotel.

I'm working in the logistics department with Denise (from our Brooklyn Operation), entering requests for supplies, troops, and personnel and keeping tabs on our available resources for powering the city, feeding the workers, and pumping the water out of the flooded areas.

Yesterday was our first official day working at the EOC. Camp Mimosa sent a crew down to return our rig to baton Rouge and we were left without sleeping quarters or clothing. The city arranged for us to berth on board the USS Iwo Jima for the night, and tonight we may stay there as well, but it is more probable that we'll be staying in a hotel with the rest of the logistics staff.

Staying on board the Iwo Jima was an interesting experience, especially since the Navy had been the only branch of the military that had interested me since I was little. I took some pictures while on board that I will post when I return to New York.

Our new command center in the Hyatt Hotel is amazing, with over 100 computer terminals and staff representing the NOPD, NOFD, US Army, Coast Guard, Navy, the 82nd Airborne, City Utilities and Tranportation, Health Department and more. We are all working together here in the Unified Command to get the City of New Orleans back on it's feet.

I've made many friends with people from around the country including EMS, but also from the Army and several Police Departments. Everyone here is armed to the teeth, so we're pretty safe. There's one sergeant from the National Guard who's going to let me hold his M16 rifle and take a photo. LOL.

I even got offered a job in North Carolina with full paid paramedic classes by the director the EOC.

Well, that's all the update for now, I'll be here in Orleans Parish until at least Monday, so call me on my cell phone.

Doc Out.

Just wanted to post quickly and let all y'all know I'm doing fine down here.

I just got back from my first mission down here and I'm at the E.O.C. (Emergency Operations Center) in Baton Rouge. I can't really discuss anything that we're doing down here, but we're all okay. We're staying in tents about 5 miles north of the E.O.C., and the families that live in the surrounding houses have been extremely nice.

I gotta run, I'll try to post again soon.

Miss y'all.

Doc Out.

I'll be leaving in just a few hours.

Tonight I went to have dinner with Rene, Monique & Cindy. I was glad I got to see all of them before I left. Monique made white-wine sangria and Rene made hamburgers.

Monique gave me a carton of cigarettes she had brought me from Puerto Rico. They sure will come in handy during my tour of duty down south.

Cindy gave me her Yankees wristband. I was speechless. Yankees apparel means so much to her... but she gave it to me so I "could represent New York while I'm down there."

She's such a good friend. I know it had nothing to do with repping New York, but more so that I wouldn't forget her while I'm away. That's my Spinster. Luv ya girl.

Well... I'm gonna go catch two hours of shut eye before I leave for base. Call me people. I know I'll need to hear friendly voices.

Doc Out.

Went out last night with Saltzman & Soto. I wasn't going to go out since my supervisor had told me that I'd be leaving on Sunday morning. However I got a call around 11 PM stating that our departure had been pushed back until Monday morning.

We headed out to the SkyLoft, which is really just the open roof top floor to Exit Nightclub. It was a big show with many big reggaeton & hip hop artists performing. It would've been cool. If we had gotten in.

Actually we did get in. But we decided to leave.

We got past the bouncers. We got passed the security check. But then we got to the cashier. Fifty dollars to get into a nightclub?! And it was 2:15 AM already? Yeah... right. That wasn't happening.

So we walked right out and decided to check out the bar that Kenny bounces at. We gased up on the way (which cost $3.31 a gallon!) and made it up there around 3 AM.

We ended up playing beer pong and just chilling in the back room, which Kenny closed off just for our crew. I had never played beer pong before but it was pretty fun.

When the bar closed, we went down to the coffee shop, ate breakfast and somehow ended up having a 2 and a half hour political dicussion about everything from the war in Iraq to the governments response to Hurricane Katrina.

We left the coffee shop around 6:30 in the morning. I dropped off Soto, then Saltzman and headed home. I got back about 20 minutes ago.

Right now, I'm just sitting here, contemplating having some coffee and reading Salty's new review on InsidePulse.com. I'm also listening to music by the band he just reviewed. I have to say that this music goes well with the sunrise, a cup of coffee, and a cigarette. I'll go make coffee in a bit.

Kudos to the Blogger staff for the quick fix on the comment spam. It is much appreciated. No more spam on my blog! Whoo Hooo!

I'm gonna go finish packing in a few minutes as well. I ship out tomorrow for the Gulf Coast. AMR is sending EMT's and Paramedics from around the country and I was one of the few selected from our base to provide some relief down there.

They sent our ambulances down on a flatbed last night, and we're flying down tomorrow morning. I'll be down there for anywhere from two weeks to a month, possibly even longer. We may or may not be actively involved in the rescue efforts, but I'm thinking we will most probably be picking up the slack in the unaffected areas.

Many local EMS workers have been relocated to the hardest hit areas, and our people will most probably be picking up their tours of duty, running 911 and transport calls. I may be deployed anywhere from Eastern Texas to the Florida Panhandle. It'll be interesting responding to emergencies in a totally different state wearing a New York State uniform and driving a New York State ambulance.

On Friday night we started our gig at Last Call again. It went fairly well. Saltzman joined us as our MC and I have to say he did a kick ass job. He was pretty excited about it too. Cindy won't have transportation while I'm away on reassignment, but Saltzman said he spoke to Shawn & Tracy about borrowing the car on Fridays. So I'll let them talk that out and figure out what they wanna do.

I'm not sleepy at all, which is surprising. I better get to doing what it is I have to do since I'm not tired. I'm sure I won't be near a computer for a while but I'll be audioblogging from down south so you can still keep tabs on me here.

Doc Out.


Current Mood: Relaxed
Current Music: Benzos - Glass Souls