The Doc's Perspective

Missing Person

2006-07-10T02:56:00.000-04:00

Another question in me
One for the powers that be
Its got me thrown and so
I put on my poker face
And try to figure it out
This undeniable doubt
A common occurrence
Feeling so out of place

Guarded and cynical now
Cant help but wondering how
My heart evolved into a
Rock beating inside of me
So I reel, such a stoic ordeal
Wheres that feeling that I dont feel?

There was a boy who had the faith to move a mountain
And like a child he would believe without a reason
Without a trace he disappeared into the void and
Ive been searching for that missing person

Under a lavender moon
So many thoughts consume me
Who dimmed that glowing light
That once burned so bright in me
Is this a radical phase
A problematical age
That keeps me running
From all that I used to be

Is there a way to return
Is there a way to unlearn
That carnal knowledge
Thats chipping away at my soul
Ive been gone too long
Will I ever find my way home?

Current Mood: Lost

Breaking Night

2006-07-04T18:12:00.000-04:00

This is my 32nd hour without sleep. Last night I worked from 3 till 11 and then headed off to my friend Lars' party in Bushwick. Spent the whole night talking, having water balloon fights, drinking absynthe and just chilling on his rooftop. The sun came up and I went back to work.

It was one of the worst days aever at AMR. Fucking crazy... no units and angry people all over the place.

I'm at John's crib now and we're about to head out to meet up with Spin and Moe to watch the fireworks in Greenpoint.

Ok Bye. I'm tired.

Current Mood: Tired
Current Music: Tego Calderón - Los Maté

Saving Dre Day

2006-03-12T05:36:00.000-05:00

What a freakin' night.

Today was Dre's birthday and he was supposed to play a show with his band, Burning The Memory, at Wild Spirits in the city. It was also Figgy's birthday, he was one of the dispatchers at my job and he was having a big party as well.

The original plan for the night had been that we'd go to Dre's show and then head out to Figgy's birthday bash at The China Club for a little while before meeting up with Dre again.

We'll... none of that happened.

Nick, the band's singer, got sick and they had to cancel the show. Dre was pretty bummed out about that so we decided to save Dre's day.

After much debate on what to do in honor of Dre, we decided we'd go bowling and then head out to Sal's house to finish off the night. We went over to Whitestone lanes, and while at the bowling alley, Kiko called and said he was at Wild Spirits.

Whoops. I kinda forgot to tell him that the show had been cancelled.

We decided to meet up at Main Street and then go to Sal's house. We waited for my bro Kiko at the M Lounge and it was then we realized that we could have gone there since the beginning, since Dre wouldn't get carded because my boss owns the freakin' bar. Duh.

The first thing Mike says to me when I walk in is, "You fall again and you're fucking dead." LMAO. He was madd cool though, he took care of Dre. Free beer and a round of Patron for all.

Well after waiting about an hour and a half with no call from my bro, we decided to just go to Sal's. We stopped at Taco Bell on the way and Saltzman almost killed the drive-thru clerk for getting the order wrong. Once at Sal's we had fun just telling stories, drinking, and smoking hookah.

Kiko finally called around 2:45 to say he was at Woodside. He sounded madd drunk, so Mando and I went to go pick him up. When we got back to Sal's we had two drunk Barbosa's, since Tommy and Fern had gotten Dre all messed up.

We left shortly afterwards to drop Rachel off and then Dre, Kiko, and I went driving around Long Island to let them sober up. We ended up at the Freeport Nautical Mile where Dre tried to pee on the ducks and Kiko did silly dances to a Nina Sky song.

On the way back home Dre got sick and he puked in front of the Freeport Public Library. It was one of the funniest things i ever saw in my life.

Dre says, "I gotta puke."

Kiko responds, "Aiight, kid! Let's do it!" and pops his door open and starts making himself gag.

Dre starts puking and then Kiko finally makes himself puke just a little bit and says, "Oh lookie, I made three little puke spots!"

We leave and then Dre pukes again in front of some store on Sunrise Highway while NC Police watched us from across the road. We jetted and continued on home.

Kiko insisted on White Castle so we stopped by while Dre slept in the car.

On the final stretch home, Dre starts making puking noises again and instead of opening the door he rolls down the window, but only halfway and pukes all over the inside of my car.

Kiko, instead of helping the situation starts making fake puking noises to try to make Dre wanna puke more and I turn around and see Dre puke all over my window and door again.

So, now I'm upset and I pull into the parking lot by the Malverne Rail and start cleaning the mess with my car wipes, while wearing a pair of latex gloves and using my pen light in order to see better.

Well... as luck would have it, Malverne PD rolls up on us and we look like the guys in Pulp Fiction who had just accidentally shot the nigger in the head. I freeze as the cop shines his spotlight on me and says, "What are you doing?"

I turn around, hands to my side and respond, "Cleaning Puke."

"You been drinking?"

"No, sir, not I."

"You're the driver?"

"Yes, sir." as I turn around an continue cleaning.

"Where do you live?"

"Here in Malverne," I respond as I bend down to wipe up some puke on the side of the chair.

"You always carry those gloves around with you?"

I hold up my hands and respond, "Yeah, actually, I do."

He looks around and ponders for a second and asks, "You almost done?"

"Yes, sir, 5 more minutes."

"Ok... don't leave a mess," and drive's off.

Lazy ass cop. He should gotten out and checked us out. I could been lying.

What a freaking night. Well, at least Dre had fun. I'm gonna have to teach him about throwing up from inside cars though. Maybe Salty can give him some pointers.

Current Mood: Tired
Current Music: XM Chill

Health Insurance... Yeah Ok...

2006-02-13T23:48:00.000-05:00

You know, when you pay for health insurance, you kind of expect to have your medical needs covered when the need arises, right? Well apparently, that's not the case, since I'm looking at a bill for $1,095.37! Idiots.

In other news, my day was alright. Got a lot of work done. Got in around 11:40 AM and left after 10 PM. Mike wants me to start learning to dispatch. He want to use me as a fill-in dispatcher and have me cover an overnight tour, either on Friday or Saturday. Oh, well there goes the rest of my life. LOL. He said he'll take me off the Friday evening OPS tour... whatever. It's not like I have a girl, a wife or a family that will object. Might as well do it while I'm single. My friends and I will just rearrange our hanging schedules. LOL. It's sad how I have no life and spend all my time at work. I mean I have friends and we hang on the weekends but when you really think about it... I don't have much of a life. I go to work, and I come home.

Cindy's birthday is coming up. That's gonna be fun. I gotta pick up her gift soon or knowing myself I will wait to the last minute and not find what I'm looking for. Everyone is pretty psyched about Crime Scene Bar. Chea, kid.

Nothing else to report.

Current Mood: Pensive
Current Music: If Your're Going Through Hell - Rodney Atkins

Snowy Weekend

2006-02-12T22:17:00.000-05:00

It was your average Friday night, or was it? Howard was out cold, a lot earlier than usual. Empty White Castle boxes were strewn about and Saltzman hadn't eaten any White Castle this evening. Spin had driven herself over this time, and Fig was watching movies on a portable DVD player. There was no beer for the first Friday night ever.

No, it wasn't a regular friday at all. Suddenly, there was too much blue on the screen for comfort. 3 emergency calls. One in the Bronx. One in Brooklyn. One in Flushing. I had just worked a nine-hour tour in operations, but duty called. I glanced at Saltzman and with a slight nod of my head it was clear that he and I would ride again. Just like the good old days.

It had been months since I had been on an emergency call, and upon entering the elderly woman's home, my anxiety built up as I saw her laying in her bed gasping for breath. For about 10 seconds I wasn't exactly sure what to do. That's when Saltzman tossed his stethoscope and blood pressure cuff at me.

Forty-five minutes later we stood on 77th Street smoking a cigarette and kicking ourselves for being so rusty. Some drunk guy was roaming around trying to find York Avenue. I took a deep breath and remembered how much I missed late nights in the city.

The next day I woke up in the afternoon. It was already snowing. I drove Dre and Tim to The Hook for their meeting with the festival organizers. We finally got a date for the show, March 26, 2006. After that I dropped Dre and Tim in Downtown Brooklyn, since they needed to go to SAE for a recording session.

Drove out to Greenpoint, picked up Spin and then got the Deener. We were a bit hungry so we went looking for Colombian food. We settled for Ecuadorian. The food was horrible. Absolutely horrible.

Stopped by to visit Magda and rediscovered my old friend Stolichnaya. The snow was building up faster as the night progressed, so we departed shortly after midnight. Nadine had her first true country music experience, and that Rascal Flatts song might have hit a little too close to the heart.

Picked up Dre in Jackson Heights and we drove home at 20 miles per hour, and still managed to spin out on the Cross Island Parkway. I can't stand snow. It's beautiful, but very impractical. I stared at the median helplessly as we slipped on black ice and finally regaining control just inches from impact. Dre stared ahead blankly as if to say, "Dude... that was close."

I hope the snow's cleaned up enough for me to get to work tomorrow; I hate staying at home for no good reason.

Current Mood: Bouncy
Current Music: Time Well Wasted - Brad Paisley

I'll Take The Blue Pill, Morpheus...

2006-02-11T15:34:00.000-05:00

I woke up staring into my pillow. It took about half a second to realize what had happened and where I was. I felt my throat tight and my stomach turn. It wasn't true. Any of it. It had all been another brilliantly fabricated dream. I dug my face into my pillow and let out a few sobs.

I had experienced one of the happiest moments of my life just minutes earlier, or had I? It all had felt so real. The emptiness I now felt had me considering going back to sleep to make the pain go away. What would the purpose be? Go back to sleep only to wake up and cry over her again later. No. It would be an endless self-imposed paradox of pain.

I turned over and stared at the ceiling. I fought back the tears and forced myself out of bed. I felt like I had just lost my mother. I felt like my dog had died. I felt like my best friend had just told me she had terminal cancer. I felt like I had just lost the woman of my dreams. Oh wait, I had just lost the woman of my dreams... by waking up.

Sigh.

I'll see you in my dreams, my love. I'll be waiting, for the day when dreams may become reality. And in the words of Brad Paisley, "Honey, take your time, cause I don't mind, waitin' on a woman."

Current Mood: Heartbroken
Current Music: Making Memories of Us - Keith Urban

BTM Advances to Quarter-Finals

2006-02-10T12:42:00.000-05:00

Attention, please. I have a request of all of you.

My brother's band, Burning The Memory has advanced to the quarter-finals in the Emergenza Music Festival. In order to advance to the semi-finals, they will need a large turnout to come to the show and vote for them so that they can continue. The show will take place in March, but it may very possibly be a 21 & Over Show, and unfortuneatley, their fan base is primarily 18 - 20. I know most of you are not into metal music, but they need our help, so what do you say, public? Let me know if you're down to help a very talented band possibly score a record deal. As soon as we know the show date, I will post it up. Invite your friends and tell them to invite their freinds. The show will be at The Hook in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Thanks!

Current Music: Dark New Day - Pieces

For The Public

2006-02-07T01:09:00.000-05:00

I sit here staring at an empty screen wondering what to write. It has been months since I have chronicled anything eventful about my uneventful life... Yet the public cries out for the slightest bit of insight into my daily meanderings. Very Well. I shall write again.

I search back into my memories and sift through them, fishing for anything worth recording onto this digital journal. Where should I begin? Much has happened since November 29th.

I used to write the pages of my life religously, no matter how insignificant the events of the day were; but I realize how long this entry can get if I choose to go that route.

I glance to my right and the blazing red numbers on my alarm clock read 12:23 AM. My eyelids gain twenty pounds as I realize I've wasted precious time wondering what to write instead of simply writing. I stretch. I yawn.

Nadine sends me an instant message. She reminds me it has been a while since November. I chuckle at her timing. Here I am wondering what to write, and the public senses it... like sharks, smelling a drop of blood miles away.

Fuck you, Tom. OK. Let's start there.

Tom is one of the reasons that the public has had to wait since November. His site irritates me to no end, but yet I am compelled to use it, to stay "connected". For some reason beyond my understanding, this man has created a site in an attempt to network the entire internet culture, yet fails to provide the means by which we can all maintain a simultaneous connection. Errors plague me every single time I try to log in, ultimately resulting in me kicking my computer and resorting to more primitive means of communication such as cell phones or face-to-face interaction.

Hmm.

The public still waits to know what has happened during my hiatus from the net. Funny how most of them experienced most of it right beside me when it happened, yet they beg for it all to be analyzed, sliced, diced, and neatly packaged for their reading pleasure.

Very well. I'll tell it all. Chapter by chapter.

For those that stayed behind as I traveled to frozen lands of Minnesota on my quest for higher understanding. For those that did not dance on that cold december night in Astoria as we celebrated the day I exited the womb. For those who have never have spent a night clinking longnecks and guzzling them down as someone videotapes you on their motorola phone in a cold brooklyn garage. For those that didn't spend their New Year's morning in an emergency room. Even for those of you that never witnessed the bowl of onion dip making it's way toward an expensive Asian rug in slow motion. Yes... I'll recount all of it, and then some...

Starting tomorrow.

Current Mood: Nostalgic
Current Music: None

November in Review

2005-11-29T22:36:00.000-05:00

So it's been over a month now, and it's been a long month at that. Much has changed, and tomorrow... things change again.

I have to go to sleep in a few minutes (yes I know it's only 10:36 PM) because my day now starts at 0700 hours and I'm really not a morning person.

One month ago I was promoted from a field EMT to an Operations Duty officer (ODO) with a specialization in Risk & Safety. I was one of four new ODO's. Tomorrow, one of our ODO's begins her transition into the Human Resources department, and I have to fill her position until we find a replacement.

I'm not upset, I'm really happy to be in the position I'm at in the company. I just hate having to wake up so early. LOL.

I spent much of my afternoon in Manhattan in attendance at this month's REMSCO meeting. That was an interesting experience in of itself. Sitting around a table with the REMSCO Chairman and members, several doctors, representatives from several hospitals, representatives from TransCare, Midwood, Hatzolah and the Chief of EMS of the FDNY. It reminded me of the week I spent in the EOC in New Orleans, when I was working hand in hand with the Mayor of New Orleans, the Chief of the NOPD, many other city officials and several higher ups from the US Military.

Now I didn't say a word while I was there, but nonetheless I was honored to be present, representing AMR along with Mike and Denise.

I got my own office yesterday, so now Denise and I don't have to constantly fight over a computer and we can get more work done.

I'll be in Michigan from December 5th until the 8th, attending a training seminar for our new ePCR system. It still seems so weird to me when I sit back and think about these things. I still feel completely lost at times, but I'm starting to get the hang of things at work. However, tomorrow I have a whole new job description to deal with, temporary as it may be. LOL.

My birthday is next week, and I dunno where to go yet. I'm thinking about doing a get together on Saturday, because I don't want to take another day off just to go out. I took a day off last week to go Upstate for a Stigmata concert, but I never ended up going. I think I rather go out on Saturday anyway.

The crew has been hanging out alot lately, and we've brought in someone new, as usual. Her name is Jess and she's pretty fuckin cool. She came out the night we went to Melissa's performance (which was awesome by the way), and also for Nadine's B-Day.

There's more to write about but I can't think right now. I need to make an effort to write more often so that I don't have to write these ridiculously long entries.

Sleep time. G'night.

Current Mood: Tired
Current Music: Brooks & Dunn - Believe

Looking Back

2005-11-29T22:33:00.000-05:00

1. What did you do in 2005 that you'd never done before? I went down to New Orleans and helped out for two weeks after Hurricane Katrina struck.

2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Nah... no one ever does.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? My cousin Monica did.

4. Did anyone close to you die? No.

5. What countries did you visit? None.

6. What would you like to have had in 2006 that you lacked in 2005? My own apartment.

7. What date from 2005 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? The day Cindy and I followed a junkie around at 5 AM in the morning to make sure she wouldn't kill anyone since she was driving under the influence, because it was such a funny and stupid thing to do.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Finally started a career.

9. What was your biggest failure? I never fail... heh heh.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Not this year.

11. What were the best things you bought? My Playstation and my car.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? My brother, he's in college now AND he got a job.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? I agree with Cindy, I am appalled at this certain someone who has just been a real dick to the person he "loves".

14. Where did most of your money go? Bills. Freaking bills.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? That I might be going to London in Spring '06!!

16. What song will always remind you of 2005? Drop It Like It's Hot

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: i. happier or sadder? Happier. ii. thinner or fatter? I'm fatter. iii. richer or poorer? I'd say richer cuz I have less debt.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Going to school.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Fighting with my parents.

20. How will you be spending Christmas? At home with the family.

22. Did you fall in love in 2005? Not in any real sense of the word.

23. How many one-night stands? I don't do one night stands.

24. What was your favorite TV program? Stargate: SG-1 and Family Guy

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? I don't hate... I kill em with love...heh heh.

26. What was the best book you read? 1st to Die by James Patterson

27. What was your greatest musical discovery? XM Radio.

28. What did you want and get? A Nextel phone.

29. What did you want and not get? A fucking iPod.

30. What was your favorite film of this year? Hmmm... haven't seen too many, can't really say.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? It's coming up so I dunno yet.... shouldn't this survey be done in January?? I'll be 23 though.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? If palm trees had spontaneously started to grow in NYC.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2005? Haha, I'd say that for 80% of the year I wore AMR's uniform... so let's describe it as... Official?

34. What kept you sane? Cindy

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? I don't like celebrities, it pisses me off how people sweat someone for their social status.

36. What political issue stirred you the most? The 9th Circuit Court and it's stupid ideas, including trying to take the word God out of the Pledge.... don't our government have better things to do with their time??

37. Who did you miss? I missed the old Fernando.

38. Who was the best new person you met? Saltzman.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2005: You can't ever change other people... but you can change you're attitude towards them and you will lead such a happier life. I've learned to just do things and never expect something in return, it has helped me lead such a happier year.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: "...you had some of the best times you'll never remember with me .... Alcohol!" Brad Paisley - Alcohol

Been Busy Lately

2005-10-23T22:54:00.000-04:00

Well this past month has left little time for me to post many entries on this blog.

It's been a long and busy month for me. The overnights had me coming home around 1 PM, and then sleeping until about 9 or 10 PM, just to go back to work. It took time to get used to, but once I was in the swing of it, the overnights were not bad at all.

Of course, from the tense that I'm writing in, you can tell that I'm no longer working on overnights. As of tomorrow morning, I'll be working 9 AM to 5 PM.

In other news, Cindy and I started a new little project that has been taking up the little free time I have. Saltzman and Sal have jumped on board as well.

We went to go see Carlos Mencia at Caroline's a couple of weeks back. That was lots of fun. I came out of the club with abdominal pain from laughing so much.

This past weekend, we went to go hang in Woodside, cuz my brother was hanging out at this bar in Woodside. I got so freaking bent drinking Jim Beam in the car... it was ridiculous. At some point in the night, Kiko got my glasses and then lost 'em. I was really worried about what I would do without the glasses and then they miraculously appeared. No one is sure where they came from. LOL.

We've been going out every weekend, and I think that instead of telling stories twice, I'll just point you to Night Owlz, which is the project I've ben speaking of.

As I stated in my last entry, the Fire Department called me in for my agility test. I'll probably take it out of curiosity, but I have no intention of going to FDNY anytime soon, and possibly ever.

Well I had better go get some sleep. Tomorrow is a big day for me. =)

Current Mood: Sleepy
Current Music: Jason Aldean - Hicktown

Great Timing, FDNY!

2005-10-19T22:55:00.000-04:00

I came home today and found a letter from the FDNY asking me to report for my agility testing on Nov. 5th. After what happened today, I find the timing so amusing.

OK. Well it's late and I better get to work.

Current Mood: Amused
Current Music: Gretchen Wilson - All Jacked Up

The Backboard Carry-up

2005-10-04T05:29:00.000-04:00

It's 5:29 in the morning, Tuesday. Roland is sleeping, and here I am updating this blog courtesy of someones network on this block.

We just finished up our second call of the night which was dispatched as an ambulette call. They are always so deceiving. You always think it's gonna be a real easy call and it NEVER is.

So this patient has a fractured patella, and a cast that extends from her toes all the way up to the middle of her thigh. She lives in an old apartment building, on the fouth floor. No elevator.

We soon realize that the patient cannot make it upstairs on her new crutches, and the stairchair is out of the question since the patient cannot bend her leg. Roland brainstorms and suggests we use the backboard to carry her up.

OMG. Let me just say that I am so tired I can barely move my fingers to type. It took us about 20 minutes to complete that carry up. However we got a nice tip for a job well done.

Now we are parked on 163rd Street and Amsterdam Ave and there is a homeless man with a shopping cart full of cans and bottles singing that he can "show [me] how to love again" at the top of his lungs. LOL.

Gotta love the overnights.

Current Mood: Exhausted
Current Music: The Singing Homeless Man on The Corner

The 4-in-1 B-Day Party

2005-10-01T19:46:00.000-04:00

Last night we had a very nice get-together at Kenny's bar Pat O'Briens. We were celebrating his birthday, along with Lori's, Tommy's and my brother Kiko's.

We got there nice and early, along with Monique and Louis. We ended up waiting a while for everyone to show up, but once the crew got together we proceeded to have a blast. There was so many of us last night, but to name a few; Kenny, Lori, Tommy, Kiko, Cindy, my brother's friend Carlos, Louis, Monique, Alex, Kenny's girl, Mark, Roland, his girl Maria, Denise, Soto, Maria (from AMR), Robert Kang, like 10 of Lori's friends, and a couple more AMR peoples. I really wish Saltzman had been able to make it.

The night started off with beer pong and just great conversations in the back room. Roland and some strange chinese girl that came out of nowhere teamed up and played beer pong for a while until she became psycho and started screaming and shit.

I teamed up with Alex against Kenny (2 vs 1) and lost badly. I drank almost every cup on the table. Cindy laughed at me once the game was over. My brother kept saying beer pong is a waste of beer.

As the night progressed we move to the front of the bar, and of course Lori's friends had to start some drama outside and almost get the bar shut down. However things managed to stay non-violent and we all kept having a good time.

Kenny threw on a CD he had made and we found ourselves all dnacing and Kenny even started pole dancing on top of the bar. It was more like pole-humping but hey, to each his own.

Soto asked me to keep and eye on Maria but then Tommy started kicking it to her and it was pretty funny so I just stayed nearby and laughed. At some point in the next few minutes a Soul Train line broke out and I went down the line first, followed by Soto's ass dance, and then Kenny's riding a bronco dance. My brother did the Robot and then Roland busted out the 1980's moves. Freakin' Asians. LOL.

Afterwards, my brother outsmarted some college-nerd type kid, and sent into into a brain overload. Then he took a break on Roland's shoulder. HAHA.

The rest of the night was fun, ending with us losing Kiko on Madison Avenue as he chased someone down yelling, "Run you Athiest bastards!!!" Carlos found him about a half hour later and I made the usual drop offs and spent the night in my car outside Cindy's house until her mom came out around 10:00 AM and told me to get my ass inside because I could die sleeping in my car. LOL.

Tonight we're going to meet up with Cindy's cousin Stacey and head over to Karma again. Saltzman is coming too, as well as my friend Samantha who is in from out of town this weekend. Some of you all might remember Sam from before, yes it's the same Sam. We thought it be nice to get together and catch up.

Well... I've spent all day at Cindy's house watching Gladiator and Country Music videos, and now it's time for us to head out. Updates and more pictures later!

Doc Out.

Current Mood: Energized (or Activao! as some may say)
Current Music: Hotel Costes - Boozoo Bajou

We, Nocturnal Bandwidth Thieves

2005-09-27T07:04:00.000-04:00

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

Back to Work

2005-09-21T01:07:00.000-04:00

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...

Ding Dong The Lemon's Gone

2005-09-19T23:18:00.000-04:00

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

The Welcome Back Night

2005-09-18T23:51:00.000-04:00

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 Day in NO

2005-09-16T23:57:00.000-04:00

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.

A Kitten, Beer, and The Convention Center

2005-09-15T21:04:00.000-04:00

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.

Lost In New Orleans

2005-09-14T23:21:00.000-04:00

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.

Louisiana Update

2005-09-13T22:10:00.000-04:00

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.

Day 2 in Louisiana

2005-09-07T04:34:00.000-04:00

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.

A Few Hours Left

2005-09-05T02:23:00.000-04:00

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.

Beer Pong and Political Discussions

2005-09-04T07:24:00.000-04:00

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

Spam on my Blog?!? Oh Hell No...

2005-08-21T23:59:00.000-04:00

First it was junk mail. Then pop-ups. They even harassed us for a while through instant messages. But now for these spammers to tag up on my personal weblog like it's a brand new brick wall on some sidestreet in Brooklyn is crossing the line.

Spyware, Adware, Cookies, Worms, Bugs, Viruses, Trojans, Dialers, Scripts, Scanners, Homepage Hijakers, Toolbars, Keyloggers... ENOUGH!!

I'm fucking pissed. And this endless flood of internet advertising has to end. Or at least be controlled.

I'm writing to my congressman. It won't do much, but what else can I do?

Now that I'm done bitching... back to current events.

I haven't updated in a while and it's been pretty busy lately.

Last week I worked at the Warped Tour and my lil bro came along with us on my ambulance. The concert was great. I saw Atreyu, My Chemical Romance, and The Offspring. I didn't get to see any other bands because I was busy transporting injured to the hospital. There were so many patients, I think we did about 80 transports.

The week went by rather quick. The regular day to day transports. Had a couple of mishaps with the ambulances over the past two weeks.

Two days before Warped Tour I got stranded in Jersey when my ambulance broke down on our way back to Columbia Hospital. We had an intoxicated patient who had gotten the shit kicked out of his and we were transferring him from Palisades General Hospital over to Columbia. That was an interesting experience. We finally got towed after another unit came to complete the patient transfer. There pictures of the towing available on my photo album.

I almost flipped the ambulance over once while responding to an emergency. It was a very frightening experience. However we made it safely to our emergency after Ryan and I almost had heart attacks ourselves.

Wednesday night we headed out to van Gogh's with Lori, Crystal, and Dana. Of course Cindy, Salzman and Soto were there as well.

On Thursday night I worked with Lyonel on the BLS overnight. That tour went well.

We all went out on Friday night. It took us forever to get out there but it was nice once we were there. It was a nice reunion. From the ESob it was Cindy, Sal, Fern, Armando, Tommy, and Nadine. Louis came out as well. From AMR it was Lori, Saltzman, Crystal, Soto, and Dana. We also brought Priscilla out. That was the source of a whole drama that night. If you have clearance, click here for details.

Louis got into a car accident that night. I found out today.

The last thing he remembers clearly was when we were all outside and Soto had pulled up in front of the lounge driving my car. It was the the last time I saw Louis that night. He asked me if I was coming back and I told him I would.

I was only going to drive Soto and Dana to Lori's car. But once we came back to the lounge the police was outside making everyone leave. Lori came close to getting arrested so we all took off in different directions.

I have to admit I forgot Louis. I feel horrible.

He called me today and told me that he remembered someone driving him home. But he cannot remember who it was. He thought it was one of us. He says he thinks that someone may have drugged him. He thinks he may have even been involved in a fight. He phone is gone. He watch is gone.

He also thinks he may have imagined someone driving him and that he may have been driving himself. Someone rear-ended him on 108th Street and then he hit a parked car. The cop asked him if he was driving drunk and Louis told him that someone else was driving but there was no one to be found. He spent the night at New York Hospital of Queens.

I feel horrible because it's not like us to leave anyone behind. Especially when they've been drinking. We never do, but the one time we did, look what happened.

Thank God he's okay. He's very weak, and his arms are useless at the moment. His ribs are bruised and he's in lots of pain. This sucks.

Well after saying all that, the rest of what I have to blog is pretty stupid but for blogging's sake, I'll put it up.

The next day I worked at AmsterJam on Randall's Island and saw Snoop Dogg, 311, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Wyclef Jean. I missed the Performances by Fat Joe and Hector El Bambino.

After the concert we all went to Life Cafe and hung for a while.

That's all the news for now.

I hope Lou figures out what the hell happened on Friday night.

Doc Out.

Everyone is entitled to be stupid, but some abuse the privilege.

2005-08-07T00:59:00.000-04:00

So about an hour after posting my last entry, as I brushed my teeth and got ready to go to bed my phone rings.

It was Jose Meza.

So much for the Twelfth Day.

He needed someone to cover the overnight shift and he had exhausted all his options. So I agreed and he showed up at my house around 1 AM in M-1, to drive me back to work.

I worked with Howie, this real doofy chinese guy. He's madd cool but he's so oafish. LOL. We had a good tour though. We did three calls and we even managed to sleep for a few hours between our first and second calls.

When I got back to base, I ran into Lori who did not have a partner because Crystal was out sick. She got partnered with Ryan and I jumped in the back to get a ride off the base.

I was so tired that I passed out the minute I sat down. When I woke up we were responding to an emergency at Buena Vida Nursing Home. I ended up riding along for half of their tour until they got called into Manhattan. I got off right before the entered the Triborough Bridge.

I took the subway over to Cin's house, gave her a little die-cast police car I had bought for her at 7-Eleven and then fell asleep on her couch.

I woke up and went to dinner with Priscilla and Cindy. Then we met up with Moe & Mo and headed out to Last Call. Sal came a few minutes later and then Ryan met us there, and then he and I took a ride out to Glendale to pick up Lori.

We did the usual drinkin, chill, vibe thing and then we bounced around 3:00 AM. The ride over to Jamaica and Woodhaven (where we were dropping Lori off) was interesting....

Sal drove the rest of us all home.

In the morning I got to work really early again and fell asleep on a chair in the garage. Ryan never showed and I ended up riding with Saltzman, old school style.

We headed out into the city and found ourselves stuck in the middle of a fire scene, and we got boxed in by a couple of ladders and engines. Since the EMS Chief on scene said he didn't need us at the moment we just hung around and took pictures. LOL.

Later that night, back to Cindy's house to change and wait for Lori. We went out to NuBar and ran into Fern and Armando there. Lori brought her friends Billie and Cathy. The two ghetto-est "suburban" Queens girls I have ever met.

We had fun, danced, drank, chilled and then we left around 3 AM again. These two girls were gonna smoke up, so Lori and I were going to walk with them when they ran into some guys and somehow agreed to go home with them and smoke there.

???

Lori was not very comfortable with the idea, and I thanked God she wasn't all gung ho about it as well. However these girls were going to go regardless, so Lori was going to go and take care of them.

So, of course I had to follow as well. The guys were actually cool people, but I still couldn't get past the fact that these girls were going to just simply go with them and smoke. These girls already had their own weed. Sigh. Thus, the title to my blog.

Lori and I finally managed to hurry them out of there after they finished smoking and get them home. Then she drove me home. We talked and then chilled in front of my house over a cigarette.

I think my body pulled an override and made me catch up on all my missed sleep. I woke up at 7:04 PM. I didn't get that groggy feeling that I usually get when I sleep that late. I just felt like I had woken up at 9 AM on a normal day.

I just chilled today, downloaded more music, uploaded pictures (in the new fire album and the old miscsellaneous album) talked to Crystal since we were both bored off our shit, and then updated this blog. It's late now and I got work at 11 AM again.

Off to bed.

Doc Out.

The Twelfth Day

2005-08-04T23:13:00.000-04:00

Prologue
Picking up from where this blog left off last week, Monday was the beginning of a very long couple of days, with all kinds of new friends and new experiences. The next few days consisted of this new "after-work crew" hanging out at Rec Room, Life Café, and Kellogs. After 11 days of straight working and hardly being home, here I sit (finally), relaxing on the eleventh day.

White Smoke
Late on Wednesday night, Mike asked me to work on Thursday for an early shift. Now, Thursday is my day off but I was down for the extra hours because I really needed the cash. So I agreed to be there bright an early, and went to dinner at White Castle with the Soto, Salty & Lori.

Well, I head to work early Thursday morning when my car overheats on North Conduit Avenue. Yes, that's right.... my brand new car broke down. Well, I let the car cool off and manage to make it to base by 7:30 AM with a plume of white smoke rising from the sides of my hood, looking like the the locomotive to the Bushwick Avenue Express.

I was supposed to be at work by 7:00 AM to drive an ALS unit, but now I was too late so they sent me out with this guy Abe Jaffe. It was a good tour, but I was definetly in a shitty mood cuz of my car problems.

Back At The Bars
That night we went out to the Rec Room again, and hung out with - who else - Salty, Soto, Ryan, Lori, Crystal and Cindy! René and Monique showed up later and that made the night even better.

As the night progressed people started going home unitl it was just Soto, Lori and Myself waiting for Meza to join us. We walked over to Life for dinner when Soto got a call about working the overnight tour with Ivylesse on the BLS unit.

Stethoscope Drama
Just as Soto was finishing his food, this crackhead who had been chilling at The Rec Room comes in to pick up some food and notices us sitting by the windows. He turns and says, "You guys forgot your stethoscopes, and I'm keeping one."

Well, we all thought he was kidding. However, he really kept one and took off on his bike. The three of us stood there in disbelief for a few minutes and Soto went back to base to work. Lori and I stayed behind waiting for Meza, and with his help ending up retrieving our lost artifact.

Touring With Lori
I learned earlier that night that I would be driving a long distance transport to Arlington, Virgina on Friday morning. So I decided to sleep over at the base since I had no transportation.

Lori decided she wanted to work that job with me as well, so we spent the night at the base in 361. I woke up at around 7:30 in the morning and started getting ready for the day ahead. Lori was dead asleep and I had to wake her up because the temperature in the back of the ambulance was become hazardous to her health.

Once we hit the road and were almost over by our pickup destination, the call got 87'ed. So we ended up working a regular local tour together.

An Off-Duty MVA
After our tour, Lori and I were hanging around the base when Meza asked us to do him a favor and drive over to the BP Station on Metro and give the crew that was there another gas card because theirs was malfunctioning.

As we pulled around the corner, we noticed the flashing lights in the middle of the street and two of our guys extricating a passenger from the backseat of a old Buick that had collided with left-turning Nissan. We rolled up with our lights and the medic asked us to transport the pediatric patient that had been in the other vehicle.

We went over to Wykoff Heights Hospital and got back to base after midnight. Lori was nice enough to drive me home that night.

Living at The Base
Little did I know that the following night would mark the beginning of my living at base for a few days.

We had all planned on going out again that night; so after I finished my Saturday tour with Ryan, I hung out in Operations with Diane until everyone got back from their tours.

We went out to Van Gogh's again and then back to Life to met up with Pierre. Cindy got madd sick (details here) and disappeared at one point. I found her sitting on someones stoop all sick.

Soto borrowed Lori's car to drive Salty, Cindy, and Crystal home. I stayed behind and then Soto and I went to base, chilled with Lynn and waited for Lori to return from driving Pierre home. Then we all fell asleep in 395. (Pictures from this night can be found in the album entitled Bar Hopping.)

Dave Matthews
In the morning, we woke up and got ready for our standby at the Dave Matthews concert.

The concert was a lot of fun, and Black Eyed Peas was great. I never got to watch Dave matthews because things started getting hectic towards the end of the night. I had one patient with a broken arm, and another one that was found unconscious. (Photos)

After the concert, it was so late that I decided to attempt to drive my car home. Crystal and I got stranded over by JFK, and decided that our best bet was to head back to base and spend the night there.

Meza hooked it up and we stayed downstairs in the gym/lounge.

Back on the LIRR
The next few days were my ordinary run of the mill days. Pierre was nice enough to drive over to the Jamaica LIRR station, since his unit does the overnight Jamaica standby.

Last night, I called Major World and had my car towed back to the service department. Then we ended up at Van Gogh's again, with Cin, Ry, Soto, Salt, Lor, and Crys. We hung out for a good while and watched the Mets loose the ball game. Afterwards Lori dropped me off at Penn Station.

As I waited on the station platform for my train, I ended up having a conversation with a Police Academy recruit who was also going home out to The Island. She asked me if I ever thought about going into PD and I told her I wasn't against the idea and about how I thought it would be awesome to work ESU.

We talked the whole way and she kept saying I should be a cop and I kept telling her I'd think about it. LOL.

Bummy Day
Today I slept till 1 PM and just lay around, watched three episodes of Star Trek, downloaded music, and updated this long ass blog. Tomorrow is Friday, so I'm sure I'll find myself hanging somewhere.

I'll update sooner next time. This was a whole lot of writing.

Doc Out.

Current Mood: Chilled
Current Music: Sanchez - Frenzy (this song is HOT!!)

Starting Off The Week Well

2005-07-26T00:44:00.000-04:00

It finally happened.

I think.

Ryan and I have been split up. This sucks. That's two really cool partners that I've had to lose to a newbie non-driver.

Sigh.

On the bright side, I got partnered with Dana today and she's cool as shit. We had a real good tour together and she showed me an awesome sushi spot in Sheepshead Bay.

After the tour, I ran into the usual gang, Salty & Soto, plus Lori and Crystal. Ryan showed up a few minutes after me, and then so did Harris. We all went to the Rec Room for a drink.

It was the most blue-shirts I had ever seen in that bar at one time. We had hella fun though. I knew Lori and Crystal from before but I had never chilled with them outside of work. They're both really cool peeps.

Afterwards, we all walked back to base, and chilled with Meza for a few while we all acted drunk in the garage. We all made a date to go to Van Gogh's on Saturday.

I drove Salty home, and we grabbed some empanadas at "La Casa Del Pan", and after he and Crys were done tickling and chasing each other up and down 30th Ave, I drove her out to Rockaway Beach so she wouldn't have to go through a two hour commute.

Tomorrow is back to work, and I think I'm with Dana again. If not, then I hope I'm back with Ryan.

It's sleepy time.

Doc Out.

P.S. - Crys I have your blood pressure cuff. You forgot it in my car. I'm holding it ransom. Bwa ha ha ha. Goodnight.

Overnights at Work and at Van Gogh's

2005-07-25T01:16:00.000-04:00

This week was once again full of surprises.

I drove an ALS (Advanced Life Support) rig on Tuesday for the first time. What does that mean? Nothing except that I rode with a Paramedic on an extra long tour. For those that may not know the difference: a Paramadic has some controlled substances he can administer, and a couple of cool toys for maintaining IV's, intubation, and defribillation, like a LifePak 12 (cardiac monitor).

I also drove a medic on the overnight tour on Friday morning (which to me still seems like Thursday night). That tour went awesome, and the medic was teaching how to use all those advanced gizmos.

On Friday night we had a going away party for one of our supervisors and that went well. Gino, who's in charge of Operations, barbequed right in our garage and we all hung out until past midnight. People got a little drunk and started break-dancing after some one threw on the old-school jams. I brought in my poker chips and we played some Texas Hold 'Em.

Soto and I slept over at Salty's to ensure we'd all get to work on time the next morning.

Ryan and I had a busy tour on Saturday which included driving a patient from Brighton Beach all the way to Forest Hills... on a priority one status. It had come over as Chest Pain and Shortness of Breath. The call should have been an ALS job, however we were the closest, available unit. Without the LifePak and the proper training we could only do so much for our patient. His son, who is a doctor at LIJ in Forest Hills told me I was to either drive him to Forest Hills or leave him in his apartment.

Next time, I'll leave him in the apartment. Once we got to the hospital, we discoverd he'd been having (or had had) an MI. Luckily the patient never crashed on us or it could have been our careers. Never again.

That night, Cindy, Salty, Soto, Ryan, his fiancé Nika and I went to Van Gogh's and had a great time together. It was a good end to a long, long week.

I'm off to bed now.

Doc Out.

The Past Few Days

2005-07-18T00:24:00.000-04:00

A lot has gone on in the past few weeks.

I volunteered for the Reggae Carifest at Randall's Island. I got to see a whole other angle to EMS that day. The wonderful world of standby's.

On Wednesday, Cindy and I took a drive over to CMC to visit our old instructor Joe. It was nice seeing him again, and I'm looking forward to going back and being able to visit Amanda & the rest of the CMC crew.

While we were there, one of the other guys who work there had an allergic reaction to a fruit juice he had drank and I got to watch him get an epinephrine shot. Looks painful. The needle was big. :-/

We sat in on part of Joe's class and we got a quiz! Go figure that the one day I go I have to take a test. LOL.

It was a bit weird sitting in the seats we had occupied just about a year before. The students were all different, but it still almost felt like going into a time warp. The ambient sounds, the smells, the lighting... it all brought back memories.

When we went outside I almost expected to bump into Liz, Priscilla, Trisha and others just hanging around munching on Arby's.

Cindy and I drove over to Fern's to play some poker and kill a few beers. It was fun to just relax for a lil bit and see Tommy again.

On Thursday, I finally hung out with Ryan and we went to Van Gogh's Radio Lounge with Cindy. Hung out for a bit and then headed home.

Friday, Saltzman and I had a Taco Bell craving so we raced to Greenpoint from base and got our fix. Chilled with Cindy a bit and headed home.

The next day, Ryan had taken the day off to attend a wedding in Connecticut, so I got scheduled to ride with Kenny. It was a nice slow day, a code one and a lette. The rest of the day was spent on standby in Bay Ridge.

Afterwards, Soto, Salty and myself met at the base and hung out for a while. We went to get Cindy and got some booze and we went to Karen's crib to chill. John got two bottles of rum (one Parrots Bay and one Cruzant Banana). Cindy got stuck with Tommy's bottle of Brugal (that's a whole other story). Soto only bought this little teaser bottles cuz he was broke. I hooked him up with some Mike's Hard Lemonades. I got myself a nice bottle of Gato Negro Merlot (which I killed by myself) and a bottle of Georgi that I never even cracked open. It was nice chillin with Karen.

Today was a lazy day that I spent just tweaking my site and cleaning my room.

My family is watching Fight Club right now so I think I'm gonna go watch the rest of it with them now.

Doc Out.

Current Mood: Relaxed
Current Music: Thrice - The Artist In The Ambulance

Memory Lane

2005-07-17T23:32:00.000-04:00

It almost felt like flipping the pages to someone elses life. And I haven't even gone all the way back yet. Even so, some of it seemed like eons ago.

What am I talking about?

Well... I was really bored today and as usual, I was tweaking my cyber stuff (blog, photos, MySpace) and I decided to started porting all my old entries from LiveJournal onto my Blogger account.

I went all the way back to my first entry after moving back from Florida. It was like reading a book. I mean of course I remembered it, but not with as much detail as I had chronicled everything. Now I understand why it's important to keep this written record.

We are too quick to forget mistakes we've made and lessons we've learned. We even sometimes forget the great times we've had. I encourage everyone to flip back through their blogs and relive some old times. The past might just put the present in perspective.

God bless whoever inveted blogging. Thank you, Mr. Blog-Site-Inventor for enabling me to travel down memory lane. (LOL, Sounds like thos Budweiser commercials)

Next time I'm bored I'll copy the rest of my entries over. For now enjoy the newest (old) entries found in my archives from June 2004 - November 2004. For your reading pleasure. Some of those entries we're private entries back then and have since then been de-classified.

Do not come to me bitching about something I wrote a year ago.

Doc Out.

An EMS Nightmare

2005-07-16T02:03:00.000-04:00

LOL!

I uploaded photos from the Reggae Carifest I worked at on Sunday. I'll post tomorrow.

My internet is back on. Yay!

Doc Out.

A Nice Day Off

2005-07-06T23:57:00.000-04:00

I went to get some things fixed with my car today, but alas, I have to return tomorrow to get it done. So i'll be at the dealership around 7:00 AM.

So to kill some time, Cindy, Dre and I went to go see Mr. & Mrs. Smith. It was a good movie, but I think it could have had a more dramatic ending. =) There's pictures up on my photo site (use the links on the left) if any one wants to see.

Nothing much else, just hung around the house listening to country music today.

I hope everything goes well for Mona tomorrow.

As for me, tomorrow it's back to AMR and then we may be going to the festival in Greenpoint.

Right now, though, I'm going to bed.

Doc Out.

I Can't Believe It's July Already!

2005-07-04T01:01:00.000-04:00

So things go full-circle sometimes when you least expect it. You go from one side of the spectrum to the next in the blink of an eye.

A couple of days in the grand scheme of things is just about the blink of an eye.

I bought a car on Wednesday. She's a beauty. Four days earlier, I had no car. Or rather, not one that went anywhere. I couldn't have lived without a car. I mean I can live without many things... but not a car.

So my schedule got changed back finally. I'm back on the 11-7's. And just in time for the 4th. I'm happy because now I know I'll make it on time for some BBQ and quality time with my close friends.

Cindy is hosting once again and it should be just as great as last year. I excited about spending time with her and Tommy, Monique, and Sal. I'm not sure if Rene will be there, with the whole break up thing and all. I doubt it. I invited Mariel as well, and Ivan and Joel. Even Dre and his girl may stop by. It should be a fun time.

I got home super late last night. Strolled in around 7 AM, just as my mother was waking up. I slept on a Bay Ridge street, Zone 13-style after a long night in Astoria. I drank a whole fifth of Southern Comfort in about 15 minutes. Heh heh. We hit up Liquid. I was upset that Salty wasn't in town. It almost feels wrong chilling in Astoria without him now. LOL.

Fucking Cesar keeps blowing up my phone. It's getting annoying. "Wanna smoke?" "Is Ryan there?" "Let's go hang and find some bitches."

Sigh. But he's our sandwich man and I gotta be nice if we want to keep getting the hook-up with our breakfast. It is some good ass breakfast too.

Word of advice: Don't ever hang out with the pot-head Egyptian who makes your breakfast for you in a Manhattan delicatessen.

So we threw a graduation party for my bro today. We had some food and fun with lots of family friends. We then played Spoons which brought back memories of the Nicholas family and their socials.

My cousins however, call the game "Idiota", and the penalties for not grabbing a spoon are more severe. You get a letter written on your forearm in permanent marker everytime you lose until it's spells Idiota. I think some beer would greatly improve the game. LOL. Not to mention drunk people reaching out and fighting to grab spoons would be hilarious. And instead of forearm... forehead. Heh heh heh.

I woke up with a sense of freedom this morning... or afternoon. Ivan and I had a good heart to heart that recapped the revelation that Cindy and I had.

This Independence Day will great.

Not to mention my car's faster than Fern's. Hahaha. That one was for you Cindy. LOL.

Doc Out.

Eulogy For A Faithful Friend

2005-06-28T01:33:00.000-04:00

Well the word came in today.

My car needs a new transmission. And I cannot afford to get it a new one.

It is time for a newer model to take her place. But who can fill those shoes (or tires?)

She's sitting parked in front of my house now, awaiting for her last voyage. She may end up in my yard along with all the other decomissioned vehicles my father refuses to get rid of. She may end up as a trade-in. I don't know.

I do know I will miss her. She has served me well and I will never forget her loyal service to me. The good times that she enabled me to have.

From the beaches on the South Shore of Long Island, to the beaches on the West Coast of Florida, Elise was always there. On freezing cold days, she delivered me safely from work to home. She carried my equipment to Last Call on a weekly basis, when there was no other means of transportation. No matter where I had to go, or who had to go there, she was there.

No other vehicle will ever be as endearing as she was. With her crooked headlights, and missing bumper, she was always a welcome sight in time of need.

Her missing door handles reminded me to be a gentlemen for the ladies that rode in the front passenger seat. Her stubborn windows were always a nice conversation starter.

She was the essence of the word hooptie. No car will ever be as unique as her.

But life goes on and her spirit will carry on into the next car.

I will miss you.

Rest In Peace.

Oh, and I will be taking my system out of that bitch so don't no body get any ideas.

Doc Out.

Damn It

2005-06-26T02:29:00.000-04:00

I'm in a crappy mood tonight. Real freakin' crappy.

I got screwed at work, my car won't drive, I lost my cell phone, and I was stranded in Eastern Queens.

Last night was a good night.

I went straight to my brothers high school graduation from work, and ran into the MVAC, or Malverne Volunteer Ambulance Corps, who were standing by for the event. I expressed my interest in volunteering some of my time to the corps and they said they would love to have me join.

I went home, showered, changed and headed to Brooklyn. Mel and I went to dinner at this really good Malaysian Restaurant. Dinner was delicious and we had a very nice time. Afterwards we met with Cindy and Tommy and bullshitted at The Rec Room for a while. I drove everyone home and went along my merry way back to Long Island.

This is when my day took a turn for the worse.

As I merged off the Southern State Parkway, my vehicle let out a single high-pitched shriek and my transmission disengaged. It didn't matter whether I put the car into drive, 2nd, or even Reverse, it was going soley on impulse. Pressing the accelerator only revved the engine with no increase in speed.

I manged to park my car off to the side and I lit a cigarette as I sat back and pondered how to proceed. I had never reacted so calmly to such a screwed up situation before.

I knew that if this car would not run, I was going to have a mission for the next couple of days in trying to get to work. But I didn't panic. It was 4:42 AM and I just sat there and smoked my cigarette.

I praised the Lord that my car hadn't decided to act up on the parkway or even worse, on the Verrazano Bridge. At that moment, a squad car pulled alongside me to check on me and make sure I was alright.

I called some towing companies and they told me that it would cost me $80 to get towed home. $80 to get towed 15 blocks. Ha. I laughed and hung up on one company after another.

I pushed my car home. It took close to an hour to push that hunk o' junk down all of Ocean Avenue.

I fell asleep after 6:00 AM. I woke up at 10:00 AM.

My sister was kind enough to drive me to work in the morning. I had a long distance trip up to Connecticut and at then just as my shift is ending at 8:30 PM, my dispatcher decided to screw my unit and have us make a gas run for a stalled unit on 96th Street in Manhattan. It took us almost an hour to find diesel fuel. Screwed.

THEY NEED TO BUILD MORE GAS STATIONS IN MANHATTAN!

Once we got back to the base, I hitched a ride from my partner Ryan, but since he just moved here from New Mexico, I didn't want to get him lost so I just hopped out on Union Turnpike by the Cross Island Parkway, so he wouldn't have to go out of his way.

Just as he drove off I realized I had left my phone in his car. Once again, in a very relaxed way I proceeded to kick the shit out of a nearby garbage can and walk towards a strip of stores about a mile down the turnpike.

I called my sister and she picked me up. I love her. We went for sushi before going home.

I was supposed to call Mel back. I didn't cuz I was stuck searching for gas. I'd have called her back once I was home, but the phone is in Ryan's car.

I was supposed to call Cindy back. I didn't cuz I misplaced my cell phone.

I was supposed to call Nikki so I could try to sell her the Bonneville tomorrow. But with no FUCKING phone I can't call ANYONE.

NOT TO MENTION THAT WITH THE INVENTION OF A SIM CARD, I DON'T EVEN KNOW ANYONE'S PHONE NUMBER ANYMORE!! ARRRGGH.

Tomorrow I'll hear it from all of them because I didn't call.

I feel disconnected from the world without a phone or car. Technology will be the end of us all.

It's 3:14 AM now. I'm extremely tired.

I think I'm going to have some of that vodka Sal gave me for my birthday.

It's been a tough day.

However, my good day streak was pretty good. It had been an extremely long time since I had a bad day. And this wasn't really that bad. Just annoying.

Doc Out.

The Rec Room

2005-06-23T02:16:00.000-04:00

Today was an pretty good day off.

I woke up late and then me and my cousin went to go meet up with Cindy. René called as I was on my way, so I picked him up at the Queens Supreme Court and we went to eat at the Tower Diner.

Afterwards I finally picked up my shield from the EMS store, and then we dropped René off so he could go do some more jobs in the Bronx.

Cindy and I went to go get Mo from her crib and then we chilled at Cindy's for a while to figure out what we were gonna do. We went to Uncle Louie G's for some Italians Ices. I got these two flavors called FDNY Cherry and NYPD Blue. LOL. Cindy just got NYPD Blue.

Finally we decided to hang, so we went to pick up Salty and Soto from the base, and headed off to this bar a block from the base.

It was fun, the place has car parts a hanging on the walls, and the seats to teh booths are actual car seats. The prices were great.

We got to talking with one of the bartenders and she told us they are looking for DJ's, so me, Salty and Cindy might be getting back into this DJ thing.

All in all a good night. Tomorrow it's back to work.

I had my frist trauma call last week and I've been meaning to post the story up, so I'll post it tomorrow.

By the way, Zam Zam, the name of the place we went to tonight is The Rec Room.

Doc Out.

Funny Ass Cartoon

2005-06-22T01:32:00.000-04:00

I just finished watching this funny ass cartoon that my cousin showed me.

For those of you that can understand spanish, you gotta watch this shit. Click on 4 Extraños En D.c. on the left in my links section.

Be advised that it contains a lot of Colombian slang and stuff so you may not catch of all it. I know I didn't but I still laughed my balls off.

And yes, I will post about my life too. In know it's been almost two weeks. I'll post an entry tomorrow.

Peace. Doc Out.

Another Boring Sunday

2005-06-12T17:44:00.000-04:00

So right now I should be heading out to the city to meet up with Mel and Monica. We were supposed to go to Club Exit for the PR Day Parade After-Party. However, that didn't work out for me because I had to pay my car insurance, and two credit card bills which did not leave me enough money to party with her tonight.

I'm really upset because she really wanted me to go, and for the past couple of weeks we keep planning to go out and dance, but it never works out for some reason. Not to mention Daddy Yankee, Sean Paul & Wisin y Yandel are gonna be performing tonight.

Sigh.

The past few days have been alright. My cousin Ivan came in from Colombia on Tuesday morning and I've been taking him around to chill and stuff pretty much every night. Cindy came along and we showed him around Times Square, South Street Seaport, Coney Island, and our secret pier in Greenpoint. His half-brother Joel has been chillin with us too.

Friday was a really long day for me and I ended up doing nothing for the first Friday in a long time. One of my supervisors asked me if I could come in early to cover someone's shift. So I did. I woke up at 4:30 and got to work at 6:00 AM. I should have been off at 2:30 PM but someone how I didn't get 10-2'd until 9 freakin' thirty. I mean the over time was great but damn was that a long tour. I clocked out around 10:15 or so.

I got home and knocked out within two minutes of stepping into my room.

The next morning i was late to work but Javier didn't seem to mind too much. The tour went well. I met up with Nikki afterwards and we ended up going to Last Call with Cindy, Dre, Ivan, and Joel. We stuck with Tequila for a while and just chilled. It was the weekend bartender's birthday so there was a small party going on.

Sal showed up around 2:45 in the morning with his girlfriend Geeta and her gorgeous cousin Cita (or Seeta? Yeah... probably Seeta) who I've had the hots for since the very first day I met her at Greenfield's a couple months ago. Her other cousins Mala and Camila were there too.

I was telling Nikki about how I've been into West Indians since back in High School and she was just like, "Do your thing." I'm too lazy to type the whole thing right now... but to keep it simple there was some flirting and lots of eye contact and I think I may have a chance.

When we left the bar, none of her cosuins said goodbye except Seeta who came over and gave me an interesting look which I didn't know what to really make of, followed by a big kiss on the cheek and a whispered, "See you soon."

Once outside as we drove up Utopia to drop off Joel, Sal pulled alongside and started flinging hard candies at my car. He was playing around of course, but I couldn't let it go so I threw back whatever I could find and then of of Sal's candies knocked Nikki in her face and she flipped. She grabbed an empty bottle of Smirnoff Ice and chucked it at his car.

We took off for fear of retribution, blowing about three red lights and fishtailing around the median to to escape. I called Sal once I was free to apologize, when to my surprise Seeta answered. I stayed on the phone a bit, some more flirting from her and an open invitation to chill soon. I also asked if Sal was pissed about the bottle and was relieved to find out he thought it was hilarious.

All in all an interesting night. But interesting nights have a way of always leading into a boring day the next day. I'm so bored I've considered calling AMR to ask if they need anyone to come in. LOL.

OK. That's it for now. I need to get out and do something.

Doc Out.

Back at Boozer's

2005-05-27T23:38:00.000-04:00

So this is the first time I can say I'm posting while sitting at a bar drinking. Sweet. Marina's Powerbook has a wireless internet connection which is pretty sweet.

Today was an alright day. Me and Salty got split up again, and I rode with Omar who was in my Orientation class. After work, I hung around the station with a couple of my co-workers and Nikki, Walton, Henry (who we call Quique), and my self went to this pool hall in Bushwick while I waited for Salty to get back to the station from his tour.

We got Cindy and then ate and headed on over here after trying to figure out what we should do. So we're back at Boozer's.

Angel was here when I walked in. That's about it. It's a normal dead off-season night at Boozers. As usual.

My brother got totally wrecked yesterday. When I picked him up, he ws crying and really fucking drunk. I took care of him, helped him sober up, and then snuck him back in the house.

Other than that it's been pretty normal around these parts. Nothing out of the ordinary lately. Till next time folks.

Doc Out.

The Intermission

2005-05-22T02:24:00.000-04:00

So we drove over to EX and chilled out with Sharp for a little bit while we waited to figure out what we were gonna do. Sal decided we'd go to The Beer Garden next week, and Nikki ended up going to Far Rockaway, which is just to far for me right now. LOL. Saltzman and I ended up going to Liquid after driving around Astoria trying to choose a spot.

Liquid is tight tonight, the girls are looking hot but the DJ isn't doing the greatest job of keeping the dance floor going.

So here we are, having a few beers at the crib right quick (I'm a lil tipsy already), and then we're gonna walk back to the club and grab some empanadas on the way. I wish I lived in Astoria cuz this being able to goback to the crib is hot.

Ok, so two Yuenglings and it's back to Liquid.

Doc Out.

It's Saturday!

2005-05-21T22:44:00.000-04:00

So last night the EMS party was awesome. It ended up being Me, Jon, Louis, and Karen. And odd pairing but everybody really got along which was cool. We took a cab from Astoria so we all got wrecked. I think I spent over $100 but it was really one of the funnest nights I had in such a long time and it really made up for the crappy day I had been having.

We had gotten the shittiest bus in the fleet yesterday, got shitty calls, and got fucked by dispatch running errands in Coney Island while everyone else celebrated at the EMS week party back at the station.

Today was a pretty good day. I ended up spending the night at Karen's place, got up bright and early, walked the four block to Saltzman's crib, and got to work mad early.

Chilled at the station with Nikki and and Charlie while Salty slept in the bus. Ran my tour and got back in around 9:30.

I'm at Salty's now, and we're gonna head out to meet Nikki and wait for Sal to get off work so we can go explorer this spot called The Beer Garden in Astoria.

Looks like another fun night tonight. I'll holla later.

Doc out.

Off to the EMS Party

2005-05-20T22:37:00.000-04:00

Shitty ass day it's been. I'm off to the EMS party in Bay Ridge now. I'll post about my shitty day tomorrow. Good night.

Doc Out.

Chillin @ Salty's

2005-05-14T00:05:00.000-04:00

I'm posting this from my new partners house as we chill here with Cindy watching Jenna, Bella, and Midgets on tricycles? Yeah... we're weirded out too. We're waiting for our pizza to get here.

The past few weeks have gone well. My job is awesome and so is my new partner. They finally cleared me to drive the ambulance on Wednesday so I've been driving for 3 days now.

Everything else is going pretty well. I'm back on the road, bills under control (except for Discover but that's only temporary).

I hung out with Mel last night. It was nice seeing her again. I was supposed to go out with her tonight at some bar but I'm so broke this week that I just couldn't afford to.

I work tomorrow too, and then Sunday I'm going into Jersey to do some work for Ben so that I can make some extra cash.

So that's my story for now.

Doc out.

DMV & Kinkos

2005-05-10T11:40:00.000-04:00

Well it's finally done. I got my car back. I'm sitting at Kinkos right now waiting for my insurance ID cards to come in. Then off to DMV to get my plates.

Finally.

Ok, this Kinko's cashcard is about to run out. I'll post later.

Doc Out.

A Quick Thursday Morning Post

2005-04-21T11:25:00.000-04:00

Things have been going well for me lately.

I love my new job and my partner is a pretty cool dude. Today marks my fourth day working on my own without trainers and it's gone well. I'm lucky to have a partner i get along with, but there are some things we are going to have to iron out for it to be smooth sailing all the way.

Firstly, I am going to put a stop to his insistance that we fake our vitals. I may be a rookie and he may not think it's important but I want to do everything by the book.

Second, I have to explain to him that the back of the bus is my domain and I will run it as I please. He actually got annoyed that I wanted to keep pillows and fresh blankets in stock for my patients. LOL. He said it didn't matter, but I disagree. Every patient should at least have the option to have a pillow. I felt so bad when he refused to give one of my patients a pillow when we put her on the stretcher, and there were none on the bus, so I had to use several blankets.

For the most part we get along though. He's a good driver, and we joke around and we don't fight. We talk about crap, and check out girls while we drive around. It's pretty funny actually, pointing the spotlight at chicks while they walk by.

We went to this chinese food spot in Washington Heights called "U" Like. So now if we think a girl is hot, we'll ask each other, "Chinese Food?" if we wanna point out a girl without our patients knowing what we're talking about. It just sounds like we're contemplating what to eat. Ha ha.

Today I'm here at Economy for a few hours doing a few updates, and then I'm off to AMR, for another day on the Chinese Food Patrol. Hahaha.

Kush is finally opening next friday again, so I want to round up the troops and go out there next weekend. Karsh Kale will be spinning so it's gonna be a sick night over there. I know Cindy, Rene, Monique and Melissa will def be down. I can't wait to go relax in my favorite lounge.

I met this really cute Phillipino girl at the bus stop on my way home on Tuesday night. We talked all the way home about all kinds of crap. I've been out of the game for so long though that after she got off the bus I realized I hadn't even gotten her name! I felt like such a dork. However, we made plans to meet up again on the bustop soon, since we both take the same bus home. I'll rememebr to ask her name next time.

Tomorrow is Boozers again, and Saturday is gonna be my first Yankee Game ever. That's gonna be madd fun. And they're playing the Texas Rangers! Sweet, dude.

Anyways, I better wrap this one up, I'll post again soon.

Doc out.

Day # 2 at AMR

2005-04-13T21:33:00.000-04:00

It's been my second day at AMR, and I have to say that my "training" is going extremely well so far.

Yesterday, on my first day, I was assigned my trainers, Nicki and Charlie, who are really great teachers. It's been a very hands-on experience and I'm glad that it has been, after I've heard from other trainees that they have only been observing and not doing any work.

Nicki hurt her foot over the weekend so Charlie and I were basically working together as partners without Nicki.

Today Charlie did not come in, so we ran the shift with Ynoh Gomez, which is pronounced John. He's Colombian and I have no idea where he got a name like Ynoh. Ynoh and I did all of our calls without any assistance from Nicki today, and she tells me I'm basically clear to work on my own now, but she wants to keep me till Friday because of her foot. That's cool with me, I appreciate her honesty.

Many of the other ambulance comapnies have been giving us the look because of what happened on the other day in Manhattan with the doctor getting run over by the AMR ambulance. I have to admit it was weird going to work on my first day and finding out that my company had just killed someone a day before. But it was an accident. However, others see it as a chance to take a stab at us. Oh well.

Anyways, I'm very sleepy and I gotta get to bed now. I actually should have been sleeping half an hour ago, since I've been getting up at 4:15 AM. I'm also experiencing some dizziness right now, and I'm not sure if it's teh computer screen or lack of sleep. Either way, I'm heading out now.

I'll post more details about my week at a later time; It's sleepy time now.

Doc Out.

It's Beautiful Outside

2005-04-10T13:03:00.000-04:00

It's absolutely beautiful outisde. And there's nothing to do! It's such a beautiful day, I just want to be out and about.... but where... and with who. Sometimes it really sucks to be out so far in Long Island when everyone I know is in Queens or Brooklyn. Or maybe it's that I still haven't registered my car so I can't go anywhere.

I keep having dreams about a girl in particular. It's weird cuz I have no idea who she is. I can never remember her face, except that she not exceptionally beautiful but pretty. I also remember that her name is Gladys and she's Colombian. The dreams are never sexual in nature... just us walking around and shit. I can't remember anything else though. And I don't know any Colombian girls named Glady's.

The real weird part is that I miss her for a few seconds when I wake up. LOL. Mad freakin weird. Hahaha.

LOL. I'm thinking of starting a seperate blog that's just a dream log. So I can keep track of all the whacky dreams I have. LOL. I just have to figure out how I'm going to do it as soon as I wake up... because I'm such a lazy bum in the morning.

OK, I need to do something, or I'm going to feel like I wasted a perfectly beautiful sunny day. Maybe I'll take the railroad into the city... I dunno. We'll see.

Doc out.

Post Texas Hold-Em

2005-04-10T02:39:00.000-04:00

Ok, so like I said; I'd be over it by the time they got here.

I know Cindy's gonna read the entry before this one... but as long as it remains an uncommon occurence I can't forsee me and her actually having to have a talk about it. It was just twice that's she's bullshitted me in the past few days. Not an everyday thing. So no big deal. It shouldn't happen at all, but whatever.

I'm not angry anymore... but that doesn't mean I wasn't before. It irked me and that remains true, but it wasn't serious enough to get all pissy about it and ruin the night.

We cooked and played poker all night. It was alot of fun. It got a bit chilly and we took it downstairs and finished our poker game in the basement.

I love it when Cindy gets drunk though, she's so funny. Tommy on the other hand... he's a tough one to control... but we managed. Armando suprisingly was problem-free tonight.

So that's the story. I'm going to bed.

Doc out.

The Following Is An Angry Venting Entry

2005-04-09T21:42:00.000-04:00

I'm extremely disappointed right now.

We're supposed to be having a barbeque at my house tonight and my friends are pissing me off.

Oh, they're still coming. They're late, but that was expected since Fernando is the one driving everyone. He's always late. He said he's be here around 7:00 - 7:30 PM... no late than 8:00. However, it's 9:44 now. But that was expected.

The shit that royally fucking pisses me off is the following. I hadn't heard from them since 7:45, which was when Fernando called to say he was on his way. So I called them 10 minutes ago. First Cindy... no answer. Then Tommy. No Answer.

I wait 5 minutes and I call Cindy's phone again and she picks up saying, "We'll be there in 10 minutes, wait for us in front of the supermarket."

I replied, "The Supermarket?"

Then she realized I wasn't Armando and froze up for a second and says... "Oh, Oh, this is David. Uhh... uhh...we're on our way."

I was so pissed. They had been hanging up on me because they hadn't wanted to tell me that they hadn't even left Queens yet. I expected as much from Fern. I expected as much from Tommy. But for someone who bitches so much about Fernando and his inability to tell the truth or call someone... I certainly did not expect that shit from Cindy.

She didn't even tell me the whole truth after she got caught. Everything she gave me as an explanation sounded like the kinda crap the authorities give the media when they are lying. She told me there had been a "miscommunication." That Armando had been left behind and they had to go back and get him. How do you just leave someone behind. No. They waited for him. They waited because he had called me a little bit before 8:00 PM telling me to get in touch with Fern because he needed to go to do something and he wanted them to wait for him.

Right. Left Behind. Miscommunication. Apparetnly there was. But not with Mando. With me. Not miscommunication, but non-communication.

Also, it pisses me off because I wanted them here before my parents get home, so they couldn't bitch about all these people being over and what not. Now they are going to walk in with a 24-case of Coronas, and I'm going to hear it later about how we're "all a bunch drunks".

Not even that, but the laws in my town here don't allow barbequing past a certain hour, because of the the stupid people who live here. They complain about everything. So this means, we may not even get to cook, with them getting here after 10:30 and all.

Maybe it bothered me so much because she had bullshitted me on thursday and said she didn't feel well and that's why she wasn't coming to The Patriot. Then she had gone on to claim she had called me. Maybe she did, but then she should have left a message saying she wasn't coming. Especially since the reason she wasn't feeling well was because she had gotten drunk with Tommy. She thought I hadn't known though.

Fuck it. I'm pissed. I'm venting. And I rather vent onto this journal before they get here so I don't vent in their faces. It's not that serious, but it irks the shit out of me to see someone do something that they supposedly hate so much from someone else.

I'll be fine by when they get here. I'm done now.

Doc out.

Busy Busy

2005-04-08T17:40:00.000-04:00

Yesterday afternoon, I left work early to go finish up some loose ends that needed some tying before I could officially start working for AMR.

I met with René downtown on Canal so I could pick up a copy of my birth certificate from the Department of Health. Monique works across the street at the DA's office, so we met up with her real quick and got some coffee at the Starbucks she used to work at.

I headed uptown to Harlem to the DMV, because it was the only easily accessible DMV that had a licensing office and a traffic violations bureau. I got the suspension lifted off of my Florida driver's license and now have a valid NYS license. It took me almost four hours to get out of the DMV.

Afterwards, I met with Monique at the Patriot, which is rapidly becoming our new hangout. We finally decided to explore the second floor of the place and found that it is actually a fully-stocked clone of the downstairs. Sure, some of the things are arranged a bit differently, but it could very well be a whole bar unto itself.

She and René were having some problems and once he got there I gave them some time alone and hung out by the bar. The bartender upstairs wore only a bra. And she was hot. And funny. She was really wilding out, but she knew how to keep her customers happy. She got up on the bar and pranced up and down the length of it, pouring shots into peoples open mouths.

She gave me a pitcher of Coors and two shots of Jim Beam and I went back to sit with Moe & Mo. Monique left early, and Rene got extremely drunk. On the way home he threw up all over Penn Station. I found out today that he missed his stop on the train and ended up in Lynbrook of all places, where he spent the night outside on the street and then went home in the morning.

Today was bright and early off to good ol' Carteret. There was extreme flooding on the Grand Central so I missed the ride in with PJ, so I took the NJ Transit bus from the Port Authority. It wasn't a difficult trip at all, and it made me wonder about the effort put in by some a certain ex-employee of Economy. The bus literally dropped me off ONE block away from ther job.

After work I took the Q59 from Williamsburg to the doctor's office in Maspeth to have my PPD shot read. I got some fried wontons from Apollo's and some of that world famous Iced Tea. Mmm.

Took a walk from the doctor to the subway on Queens Boulevard, and off to Cindy's house. Tommy was dead asleep and Cindy and Armando were playing Street Fighter II Turbo on the SNES.

Now were just relaxing and waiting around for Fernando to come by and take us to Boozers since my car is trapped in my driveway by a non-working Bonneville, and an Explorer that has no battery. So now it will sit there until it's legal to drive it. I guess in the long run it's the better thing.

TOnight will be more pitchers of beer and whisky for me. I'm letting Cindy work solo today, but as usual I'll be around for backup. Electronics tend to obey me when they wanna act funky. One good whack on the amp usually resuurects it... kinda like a precordial thump.

Louis is coming to the bar tonight. It's his birthday next week. But he plans to get fucked up tonight. And he has to drive an ambulance on the overnight shift. It kinda worries me. I'll try to make sure he doesn't get too bad before work.

Well... that's all for now.

Doc out.

A Long & Exhausting Orientation

2005-04-06T22:46:00.000-04:00

I am so exhausted. It's close to 11 PM and i just got home from the new employee orientation at AMR. However, I have to say that after the long and mostly boring orientation, I am finally a working EMT. I'm finally putting my $1000 investment to some use.

I arrived bright and early at ten minutes to 9 AM for the orientation. The program started promtly and they started us off with a overview of the company and it's goals.

Things took a turn toward Boringsville after that.

We watched a lengthy video on sexual harrassment in the workplace. Then another long vieo on violence in the workplace. Then a video on road saftey, which centered on the story of an AMR EMT working in Massachussetts that died needlessly back in 2001 because he was not driving with due regard or wearing his seatbelt. That was actually a touching story.

Then on to fill out paperwork, paperwork and more paperwork.

After lunch, we were fitted for our uniforms, and given a temporary uniform to use during our field training. They didn't have a shirt that fit me just right, so the only option was to use a 5XL. Yes. A 5XL. As in Five. Cinco. Cinq. One, two, three, four, five. How big is a person who wears 5XL? Lord Almighty. It looks like a burka on me. And I'm a big motherfucker, but not 5XL-type big. I'm going to have it altered so it fits better.

The EMT trousers fit perfect, and the OPS supervisor was kind enough to give me an AMR jacket to wear over my excessively large shirt. So this way I can maintain some semblance of professionalism.

I can't wait until my own fitted uniform arrives.

Well after all this there was just one more step to complete. The lifting exercise involving the dreaded Stryker that Priscilla had so warned us about.

It was cake. After learning how to position my center of gravity and using only lower body strength to life the stretcher, I breezed through the exercise.

It was the stairchair that turned out to be a real bitch.

Now that bad boy is all upper body strength. One the way down it's no problem, but on the way up, get ready to use that arm strength. I broke a sweat, but I passed the exercise to the supervisor's satisfaction.

The EMT girl that we used as our "patient" gave me a hug for not dropping her down the steps and for doing a good job. She was cute... and that made it all worth it. LOL.

I need to get my NY driver's license and turn it into the Director of Operations. Then I can begin field training for a week, after which I'll be assigned an ambulance and a permanent partner and given a schedule.

So I am now officially an AMR employee... but tomorrow I still must return to the hellhole of Economy. It reminds me of a quote that one of our speakers told us today...

"Life is a shit sandwich, and everyday you take another bite."

A Word About Terri

2005-03-31T12:06:00.000-05:00

I was originally going to write this post as a complaint of how the media was making a circus out of Terri Schiavo's plight, however, just as I began to type my first sentence, I learned that Terri had passed away only moments ago. I can only hope that, now that this saga has come to it's end, Terri and her family can finally be left to the privacy of their own lives.

I will keep this brief, because my main point here is that we should mind our own business.

Over the past two weeks, I have been absolutely sickened by the behavior of the media and some politicians, including congress and President Bush. Their actions may not have been unconstitutional like the passing of "Terri's Law" by the Florida Legislature and Governor Jeb Bush back in 2003, but they were just as intrusive.

Maybe for once my friends will believe me that I am indeed a non-partisan or not a sterotypical "fanatical right-wing Christian" when I say that I feel the media, Congress, and the President overstepped their boundaries when they invited themselves to Terri's bedside. Passing a bill from one day to another, in an attempt to change the decision of a federal court is not only a cheap tactic to further ones own goals, but goes against everything our Founding Fathers had in mind
for our nation.

Terri was robbed of the dignity and privacy that she deserved. The bottom line is that this was a private family matter that should never have become the spectacle that it did. Terri's family, her husband and parents, were used as pawns by right-to-live and right-to-die groups to further their own causes. They were used by politicians in an attempt to earn more votes. They were used by the President in an attempt to impose his beliefs upon an indifferent public. They were used by the media to increase ratings and viewership, and that in of itself is upsetting but not unexpected from this reality-TV generation.

Terri had the right to die, maybe not the way she ultimately did, but she had the right to do so in peace and privacy. Yes, I feel she had the right to die. For those that may feel that their protests to keep Terri alive were done in God's Will should keep in mind that it was human intervention and modern medicine, not an act of God, that kept Terri alive for as long as it did. She had the right to die back in 1990, and she had the right to die now, 15 years later.

Maybe now that she has passed on, we can mind our own business and finally let Terri rest in peace.

A Late-Night Post By A Very Tired Blogger

2005-03-20T03:11:00.000-05:00

Excuse the rambling and droning...

Back In New York

2005-03-14T15:45:00.000-05:00

Posted while sitting in horrible traffic on the Staten Island Expressway.

The White Cribble

2005-03-14T08:11:00.000-05:00

Posted while walking over to the White House.

Georgia on My Mind (In South Carolina)

2005-03-13T21:15:00.000-05:00

Ghost In The Closet

2005-03-13T01:56:00.000-05:00

On The Florida Turnpike

2005-03-12T21:24:00.000-05:00

Southbound Update

2005-03-11T03:22:00.000-05:00

Sitting In An Empty Bar

2005-03-03T16:09:00.000-05:00

There's something oddly comforting about a completely empty bar at four in the morning. Maybe it was the calm that comes as Saturday night becomes early Sunday morning. That night was one of those rare moments when I actually liked this place. It could have been the lighting in the place, since the soft green light from the neon McSorley's sign hanging behind me definetly added to the relaxed mood in the darkened bar.

I sat knees-drawn on the wooden table of the last booth and Heather occupied the table beside mine, both of us staring blankly at the ceiling. Marina sat on a stool in front of us signing along to Concrete Blond while Joe went about cleaning up the bar. It had been a long night for everyone.

Marina had drank one two many shots of vodka and she was a nervous wreck over her date the following night. Joe had also had too many Bud Lights and become a moody bartender, rushing the customers out once 3 A.M. had come around. Heather had been having an in-depth, almost heated conversation with Will for most of the evening. Cindy and Tommy had just left 10 minutes earlier in a cab. Poor Tommy had been stranded out here in Fresh Meadows, but Cindy had been kind enough to have her cab drop him off at home. The birthday money that Marina had given her sure came in handy. Things always have a way of working out.

I took a drag off my cigarette, glanced at the clock over the register that read 3:53 AM and reflected on the past three days. Although it wasn't without it's little bumps here and there, Cindy's birthweek had gone relatively well.

Thursday had gone well for the most part, despite the fact that it had started to snow. The place was great as we had expected: the hookah smooth, the drinks were strong, and the music was perfect. However nothing ever goes perfectly, and unfortunetly Armando and alcohol hadn't mixed well that night.

I looked over at Marina, who was sitting with a huge smile, swinging her head side to side in a 1980s kind of way. I chuckled and then silently wondered why all people couldn't be affected by alcohol the same way. Armando wants to kill anyone and everyone when he drinks. Others just had a good ol' time. It no longer saddened me the way it had on his birthday. Thursday night it had actually enraged me to see someone care so little about someone else's special day.

Friday night had been loads of fun. In fact, it had been one of the most entertaining nights we had in a very long time. We were Armando-less, and apparently, Fernando and Nadine were no longer together because he had smoked from the hookah the night before. I didn't quite understand, but since it seemed so trivial to me, I shrugged it off as such.

We had chosen this place in Astoria because they were going to let Jackie and Eddie in. Once we got to the door and stepped past the velvet curtains though my heart sank, because I heard the latin music booming inside and I immediately looked at Cindy and asked her if she wanted to go somewhere else. If she was upset she did a great job of not letting it show.

We all ended up having a great time though. We made friends with the bartender, and Cindy amazingly actually feel for a spanish girl. We gave Fernando a temporary "P.A." card and let him loose along with Tommy in the nightclub. I didn't dance much myself until the very end of the night.

The music on the jukebox ended and Heather stood up and started putting her coat on. We all got ready and stepped out into the cold night for the long trip home. Heather drove me to Jamaica station and once on the train, I sat behind this group of drunk people. They looked like the type of people that typically come to Last Call. They were just as annoying.

I could still taste the Sambuca from earlier that night. Sal, Tommy, and I had come to accompany Cindy at Last Call since Marina had bought her a birthday cake. She really outdid herself with the cake. It was the creamiest, most chocolatey, ice cream taste I had every indulged in. I don't have much of a sweet tooth, but this was Cold Stone cake, so I had to make an exception.

I wondered were the next few nights would lead us. Sal's birthday was coming up, and little did I know we'd end up at a strip club on Tuesday night. The night would turn out to be a pretty good one, ending with Sal gettin drunker than I had ever seen him, with me driving Cindy home and Sal crashing at my place.

I arrived at Lynbrook station around 4:30 and caught a cab home. The driver was much too friendly and I had little patience to talk to anyone so I probably came off as an asshole. Oh well, I was sleepy. I spent about $9 total to get home and once again, I cringed at the fact that Cindy had spent over $40 to get Tommy and herself home. I suppose living in Long Island does have it's perks after all.

Overall, it had been a good week, and I went to bed looking forward to another good week.

From The Desk Of...

2005-02-23T11:49:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting here at work, bored off my ass. I can't stand this job much longer.

So it's all set up. We went down last night again to Karma since no one was there to help us when we went on Monday, and got the space reserved for Cindy's B-Day. I'm really looking forward to Thursday, we're going to have a lot of fun.

As of now we have a decent sized group as far as birthdays have gone in the past: Cindy, Rene, Monique, Fernando, Nadine, Armando, Sal, Chris, Vanessa, Mariel, Justin, Justin's Girfriend, and myself. More are invited and may still come. We invited Melissa, Angelito, Ken, Randy, Amanda, Joe, Jackie, Eddie and others, but no confirmation just yet.

Spoke to Mariel yesterday, she told me she pulled two kids out of a burning building on Monday night. She had been babysitting her cousins when she realized the apartment two floors down was on fire. Go Mari. She's gettin more action than I am, and I'M the Emergency Responder. LOL.

She told me what her favorite song is and it's actually an really good one and now it's playing over and over in my head. LOL.

Spoke to Diana, one of the managers at Karma, and she wants to hire me to DJ there, as long as she likes the demo I'm going to give her. She told me I can also book Consider The Source to play there as long as they do it acoustically. I'm not too sure how John is gonna play bass acoustic... but they'll figure something out.

I'll audio post later on tonight.

Doc Out.

Yet another Birthweek...

2005-02-20T11:12:00.000-05:00

It's officially birthweek again, and this time the lucky candidate is my very, very dear Spindee. As is with ususal Bellevue tradition, we will be celebrating her birthday for a minimum of a week, and it may even become a birthmonth, though how likely that is with Sal's birthweek right around the corner is yet unknown. Maybe it'll be a dual birthmonth. Who knows.

So I am debating what to get Cindy for her birthday. I have some ideas but not decided on any particular one just yet. She hinted that she wants a new Yankees cap. Maybe I'll do that. Dunno.

It's going to be Priscilla's bithday on tuesday too so she's going to celebrate on thursday along with Cindy. We're trying to decide on a lounge to go to thursday night, since we are definetly not going to Last Call that day. Cindy even banned the use of Spanish on her birthday. That crazy mofo.

Priscilla took us to Hunter two fridays ago and we applied there. We should be going back this week for our second interview. Later that night she came to the bar with us and got plastered. I had never seen her like that, and Joe thought it was hilarious, since Pris is already so crazy when she's sober. Sal had a blast being himself around her. The bar got raided at around 1:00 AM, so we left early. It was the funniest thing, when we made the announcement that anyone without proper ID should leave because the police was about to raid, the whole bar cleared out. I never realized how many of the people that go there were underage.

So... I finally called Mariel. Friday afternoon I was sitting in Cindy's house and I was just like... "Screw it, I'm gonna call." We made plans to go out the next night. I picked her up in Corona and headed out to the city. We went shopping for shoes and bags before we met up with René and Monique. We headed down the Patriot and had a grand old country time. The music was awesome, and the beer was cheap and good. Rene and I drank Lone Star all night while Mariel stuck with Amaretto Sours. I need to get her on something different though, cuz that drink makes me sick just smelling it. The lipgloss I chose for her at Walgreens tasted mad good though, mmmm Passion Fruit. I'm thinking about buying one and wearing it, screw it if it looks madd homo. HAHAHAHAHAHA.

Sal joined us too last night. He drank his usual Guiness and kept hitting on the waitress. It was like Coyote Ugly in there, with girls grindin' on each other on top of the bar. Rene and I rocked out to some Brooks & Dunn, Hank Williams, Rascal Flatts.... oh man I want to go to Texas again. A couple of drinks later and even Mariel was bouncing along to the tunes. Then the depressing country came on and we had to bounce.

Took Mari home (well, to her cab) and made a big mistake on the way back to the train. I bought a chimi from one of the trucks on 108th Street. It tasted great going down... but I got so sick later that I wish I hadn't eaten it at all. I shoulda known not to buy from those truck vendors. They probably violate every health code in the book.

Mari's birthday falls on the same day as Sal's so were gonna have to plan something big. It's my Mom's birthday too that day. Great. Three birthdays on one day. But I gotta concentrate first on Cindy's cuz it's coming up first.

So now on to the update on my brother-in-law. We went to Immigration Court on Thursday. He lost the bond hearing, since he's not eligible for bail because of the nature of his crime. Then not only that, but it seems there's no hope for him staying because he's what they call and aggrivated felon, and he's on expidited departure. I hope my sister doesn't move all the way to Venezuela or Colombia. I really hope she tries to find out how they can move to Canada. I don't know how she'll make a living down there.... At least in Canada she can find a good job. And we can go visit them.

Well, I'm off now, this entry's gotten long enough. Here's not looking forward to another week of work at the hell-hole named Economy Handicrafts. At least I'll see Mari this weekend for Cindy's birthweek celebration. That will be a definite plus to what will already be a wickedly sick weekend.

Doc Out.

Live From Madison Square Garden...

2005-02-05T20:47:00.000-05:00

Back From Passaic

2005-02-04T23:37:00.000-05:00

I Need A Blowtorch

2005-01-23T21:55:00.000-05:00

This snow is ridiculous. I can't understand how it plays any meaningful part in God's Plan. Then again we're not supposed to understand everything. I'll make sure to ask about snow when I die. I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation.

This week was not bad at all. I saw two great Broadway shows and finished Metal Gear Solid 2.

Thursday night I went to see BKLYN The Musical with Melissa. She ahd gotten two free tickets from her boss and invited me at the last minute. I had no plans and I'm glad I went with her because it was a very good production. I have to agree with her that the end was underwritten, but the overall show was very good. The songs are well-written and catchy, especially the "Unfinished Lullaby". I've been humming that tune all weekend long.

Friday was fun as well. Cindy and I met up in the city and went to Toys R Us in Times Square and played in the store for a while. We had a drink and met Mel before going over to the Gershwin Theatre to enter the lottery for Wicked. We won the lottery and this really cute white chick on line asked me if my friend won if she could have her tickets because she had just one two but her friend neded one too. When the guy called Mel's name I told the white chick that my friend just won too and she was so happy she jumped up and hugged me. Then I found out Mel had just declined the tickets. I felt bad breaking the news to this girl, I could tell she was really sad. The show was amazing. I'm definetly going to see it again.

After Wicked I met up with the gang at Nadine's house. Nothing exciting. I lost my phone at some point.

It snowed yesterday. I hate it. However, the new power shovel that my sister got my father for Christmas makes the whole ordeal a tad bit easier.

Why...

2005-01-13T20:04:00.000-05:00

Man... when it rains... it always pours. Things can't just go wrong like they do for everyone else.

I had just gotten home from a long day at work and I was dead tired so I decided to put some chicken patties in the toaster oven and go downstairs to play some video games. Well about 20 minutes later my mother gets home and starts complaining that the food was burning. It wasn't, it was just crispier than she would like, but I like my food crispy. Ask anyone. They'll tell you, I even like the way mozarella cheese tastes after it's burnt and looking like charcoal. Apparently I can't have it my way in my own home.

Well... that was the catalyst for everything. She started getting loud and complaining about a bunch of other stuff and I was just like, "Why do little things like this always have to set you off fighting about everything that ever bothered you?"

She kept screaming about stuff and then I got pissed and told her , "Listen, if you got something on your chest don't take it out on me... it ain't my fault you're in a crappy mood. Shit."

She flipped out because I said shit and told me I was no one to disrespect her like that and she slapped me!!

I flipped out and threw my sandwich on the floor and stomped it. She turned into banshee mode and I went looking for my jacket. Then she tells me that if I step out the door so will she and she'll never return.

So I'm like... "Why can't I just go take a walk and cool off?" She wasn't having it and kept screaming and telling me, "What kind of Christian are you?" and "You ungrateful little piece of crap," and so on and so forth.

So I leave, buy a pack of 'Ports and take a walk around the neighborhood. Then as I'm coming around Aberdeen Street a freaking cop comes around the corner telling me to put my hands up and get on the floor! I just dropped my head in defeat and kept my hands in my pockets. Then he started yelling for me to take my hands out and get them up.

A smirk spread across my face as I thought to myself, "Why does this have to happen now?"

I lowered myself to my knees as I slowly put my hands up and behind my head and looked up at the officer.

"What's so funny?" he asked when he saw my smirk.

"If I had listened to my mom and not stepped out of the house I wouldn't be here on my knees is what's so funny," I replied.

So he questioned me about who I was and what I was doing and why I was walking around. He told me I fit the description for someone they were looking for and then kept chit chatting with me after he was sure I wasn't his suspect. The water from the rainfall earlier was slowly seeping through my jeans so I asked if I could get up. He let me off and wished me luck at home.

I walked back home and I sure this ain't over yet. My mother doesn't know how to let something end. Luckily my father wasn't home when it all happened or this could have gotten a lot worse.

I never threw something and stomped it tbefore though. I don't know where the aggression came from. I recall kick over the gate we have in the kitchen to block the dogs from roaming the house over as well. She thought I was gonna hit her. My own mother doesn't know me. I would never lay a finger on a female. Not after I saw her get beat for over half my life. Oh well.

I can't wait till tomorrow now. I'm going to Last Call to hang with Cindy and Joe. It'll be nice to see him and have a few drinks. Maybe Tracey will be there.

I need to sleep.

It's been a shitty day.

Long December

2004-12-29T20:09:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting here at Cindy's crib waiting for her to get ready. Tonight we're off to Last Call to discuss the details of our New Year's Eve gig there this Friday. Mel, Lou, and Greg are coming through it seems so we'll hang for a lil bit.

It's been a long month, between working at the new Economy, finishing my EMT course, and working at the bar, and Christmas shopping, it has been a very stressful December. However, things are a lot calmer now and I've finally found the time to sit down and update this thing.

Working at Economy is probably stressful enough in and of itself because of the commute and the I-need-it-done-yesterday attitude of the new owners. Getting to work takes me over 2 hours (since I am temporarily without a car) and the owners are slave drivers. There's no formal lunch break, and no pre-determined work schedule.

I've been entrusted to build a phone system and computer network from the ground up at our Boro Park location, which took me almost two weeks to complete since the phone system we are using was built in the Jurassic Era. Add to that almost single handedly putting together a 149-page arts & crafts catalog, since our new owners did not deem it necessary to hire full-time help. That took the entire month to complete on it's own, and now I am about a day and a half from converting all the pages into their final PDF format which we will send to the printer on Monday.

As of Monday I have about 10 days to completely renovate our online store before the catalog reaches our customers. Somehow, I'm supposed to do that while simultaneously putting together a network at our Newark, NJ warehouse and integrating it to work seamlessly with our Brooklyn offices.

Yes, so through all this stress I find myself searching my mailbox expectantly like a child awaits Santa Claus for my state certification to arrive so I can escape the hell-hole that is Economy and beginning working as something I truly enjoy.

Christmas was fun. We all got together at Jennifer's house and Rene and Fernando cooked. Well... I'll have to finish updating later because Cindy is kicking me off her computer....

Praise White Castle

2004-11-23T17:26:00.000-05:00

It was surprising to discover that even on Sunday mornings, Pennsylvania Station was still quite busy.

I sat on the cool tiled floor of the waiting area, leaning against a column, and staring at the bronze stairs leading down to Track 18. Four Port Authority Police officers stood in a huddle drinking coffee having a whole-hearted conversation. People hurried down the long corridor that ran deep underneath 34th Street connecting the 7th Avenue end of the gargantuous terminal to the 8th Avenue end. Even deeper below lay the dozens of railroads that led from here out into Long Island and the rest of the country and continent.

Here a person could purchase a ticket and pretty much go anywhere in the western hemisphere. Some people where just going to work. This is a Queens-bound E train to Jamaica Center. Next stop will be: Times Square. Some where traveling to far off destinations to visit loved ones. Amtrak Train Number 7652 to Chicago now departing Track 41. Some were off to a day of relaxation in the Garden State. The 7:14 NJ Transit train to Trenton is now boarding on Track 9. I was heading home from a long night in the city. The 7:29 train to Long Beach will be arriving on Track 18.

I had just spent my last five dollars on my ticket and I was starving. I checked my pockets and rounded up 70 cents. I looked at down the corridor at the various kiosks and tried to figure out what I could get for 70 cents. A Dunkin' Donuts glimmered in the distance.

I arose and made my way down there only to discover that somehow, donuts sold for $1.15 in Manhattan. Since when?! I knew it hadn't been that long since I last visited a Dunkin' Donuts, and I could recall that donuts had been in the 60 cent range. This was an almost 100% markup! I was bewildered.

I retreated to my column and sat down defeated. I cursed the cigarettes in my pocket. I could have had an extra seven dollars.

Ahead I saw a row of payphones. There had to be at least 100 phones scattered throughout the terminal. I checked about 15. No change to be found. I checked the ticket vending machines. Nothing. I scanned the ground for dropped change. Zilch.

Back to my column again. I still had at least 20 minutes before my train left. I fell asleep aginst the column and dreamt of her.

I was startled by a sudden trembling which was none other that a massive horde of people coming up the bronze stairs. I leapt to my feet and glanced at the large digital clock over the ticket booths. 7:28 AM. I had to hurry; my train would leave in one minute.

Once on the train I stared out the window. A young mexican woman selling imitation light up roses was strolling on the platform. I remembered her, and thought of how ironic it was that the Karaoke Lounge had been named Planet Rose. I knocked out again in the burgundy leather seat of the train and leaned my head against the strong plexiglass.

I awoke minutes before arriving at Lynbrook. I unboarded the train and as it pulled away from the platform, I saw a White Castle across the street. My 70 cents were about to get used.

God Bless White Castle and it's 65-cent burgers.

Rain, Cigarettes, Ice, and Roses

2004-11-23T14:42:00.000-05:00

It was about a quarter to nine on Saturday night. I climbed the worn and dirty steps leading out of the Second Avenue Subway station onto Houston Street. The rain wasn't coming down too hard, but still it was enough to warrant an umbrella.

I turned the corner on First Avenue and headed north towards Sixth Street. I don't like the rain much, but even the rain could not put a damper on my night out in Manhattan. I love being in Manhattan, something about the hustle and bustle, the magnitude of it all, the diversity... I love it.

I was to meet up with Melissa, Cheryl, and the cast from "Aloha, Say All The Pretty Girls" at an Indian Restaurant between 5th and 6th. There were three restaurants literally on top of each other. Which one could it be?

A short Indian man in a suit an tie wearing a grey cabbie hat approached me and insisted I enter the restaurant named Royal. After politely informing him that I was waiting to rendez-vous with some friends of mine, he persisted to insist, and I found myself having to resist introducing him to my fist. I walked a few feet away and recognized Melanie, one of Melissa's friends approaching. She was was looking around for a familiar face, and pulling her cell phone out of her purse.

She did not recognize me, even though we had met the week before at the Yaffa Café on St. Mark's Street. It was at there at Yaffa that I had met one of the sweetest, kindest, and down-to-earth girls just a week before. Melanie was a very nice girl as well, and apparently not as skanky as the character she had portrayed in the production.

"No one is here yet," I said as I took a few steps toward her.

She looked at me with confusion and replied, "Who's not here yet?"

I smiled because I knew she was wondering who the hell I was. "The Cast."

It was like speaking the magic word because her whole demeanor changed and she shifted her weight from one leg to another, twirled her finger in her hair and asked, "Who are you?"

I smiled again, extended my hand and re-introduced myself. After explaining how we knew each other we found ourselves hiding from the rain under a nearby awning sharing a cigarette as she rehearsed a special thank you for Tami in Afrikaans. Something along the lines of, "Dankie vra organiseer dit..."

Soon afterwards the group had grown to quite a few more but still no Melissa. At first it was odd hanging out with people I barely knew, I felt like such an outsider, but they were so nice and warm to me. Halfway through dinner they had succeeded in making me feel welcome.

After dinner, we all headed out to Planet Rose on Avenue A and 14th Street. The karaoke bar did not have all us excited, but Melanie had somehow convinced everyone that we should go there.

About an hour or so later (when my ears were officially bleeding) is when things started gettin ugly. Well not ugly. It pains me to see my friends engage in self-destructive behavior so I was quite upset when Melissa began begging for a quarter to speak to he-who-shall-remain-nameless. I refused and she got upset and I left the bar and took a walk around the neighborhood.

The cold air felt good against my warm Barcardi-151 fueled flesh. I walked through Tompkins Park and found myself at Plan B. I had only $9 left and I debated whether I should eat something, have another drink, or buy a pack of cigarettes.

I put my lighter back in my pocket as I stepped out of the grocery store on the corner and let out a plume of smoke. Nicotine's a motherfucker, ain't it. I took another drag as I walked by the front of Plan B and said what's up to the door man and he invited me in. The people on line gave the kind of look that said they hated me because I knew someone. Well in this city the only way to be someone is to know someone.

I turned down his offer and headed back towards Avenue A still puffing on my cigarette and only now realizing that I was broke. I shrugged and kept walking, the cool mist hanging in the air wrapping around me.

Melissa was waiting out front, shouting my full name and rolling the R as long as she could. How long had she been looking for me? I walked up to her and stabilized her because I feared she may fall over, the way she was swaying back and forth. She smiled because she had found me and told me eveyone was wondering where I was. I didn't believe her.

Upon going back inside I was proven wrong. Everyone had been looking for me, and they shouted my name in unison as I came back into the lounge. Once again, they had all made me feel like a part of them.

We finally left the Karaoke place and headed back to Kingshead Tavern, which had been the root of all evil the week before (details). Well, not to be outdone by the previous week, Kingshead struck again. This time however I was actually dumbstruck by what I saw. Were they? They Were! Even Melanie was shocked. I wanted to leave. I wanted to leave and not look back.

So I tried. I bolted out the door and I had not taken but two steps before I heard my name called out. It was her... No... not her. I spun around attempting to feign innocence.

"You weren't leaving were you?" Tami asked with a look of concern.

I didn't want to lie. How could I tell her I was running though? How could I explain why? I didn't want to. I couldn't possibly. So I lied.

"No," I told her, "I was just gonna grab something to eat." I thanked God no one knew I was broke.

The rest of the night was tough. I sat on top of a speaker away from everyone and just kept to myself. Melissa had gone home before my whole escape attempt. Here I was alienating myself from the very people who had tried so hard to make me feel welcome. I felt like a fool. I was a fool. A fool with no money, chewing on ice. I chewed my ice until it was all gone. Then I got myself another glass of ice water. I drank it and chewed that ice as well.

As we left that bar once it had closed, she invited to go to the diner with them. I walked along with them, each of us with our cigarettes in hand. Tami walked with Steven, Melanie with Ben (Steven's roomate). I walked alone.

Once again I thought of running, but I did not entertain the idea much. I had more ice water at the diner, since I had "eaten" earlier. I was pleased to learn Steven was broke as well. He had water as well.

Tami kept leaning on me and telling me how smart I was. How much of a good friend I was. Though she may have meant it the words were empty to me after what I had witnessed at the bar. I don't rememeber why, but she told me she loved me. It was a friendly "I love you", of course, but the words pierced me nonetheless. I remembered that there are no roses without thorns. Sometimes beautiful things hurt. Sometimes when you want to pick a rose from the bush you'll get pricked by thorns. Well the prick, I mean thorn was sitting across from me sipping on it's water. The rose leaned against me resting from her long night out.

The rose left and I may never see it again. But the thorn wants to chill he says. Oh well, I guess I'll chill with him. He wasn't a bad guy, he just got the rose I wanted, even if only for a moment. I descended the steps into the subway and headed back home. Tomorrow's a new day. The sun was rising.

Looking Back...

2004-11-23T01:43:00.000-05:00

20 Years ago....
I was almost 1 year old. It was an age of naïvité. There were no worries in the world...

15 Years ago....
I was 6, in first grade already getting in trouble with my lifetime buddy René. I rememeber how my teacher used to hit us with rulers on our hands if we misbehaved!

10 Years ago....
I visited Colombia for the second time in my life. It was a changing experience that I never quite forgot.

5 Years ago....
I was 16 years old, learning my first bitter-cold lessons of reality. School ws not as easy academically as it had been in the past, and High School brought new drama that I had to learn to cope with.

2-3 Years ago....
I was 19 years old and I had found Jesus. My life was changing, high school was over and real life had begun. I did a few semesters at DeVry and at Nassau.

1 year ago....
I was blinded and did not know it. I was not in school- I couldn't stand computer work anymore, and I was preoccupied with nothing but my girlfriend and my job. I was on the verge of losing my closest friends and possibly alienating my family. I was planning for something that could alter my life forever. I was moving away... across the country... for a girl.

This year....
Thanks to God though I made it back to a home with a family that loved me so much more than I imagined. My friends took me back with barely any incident. I got my job back. I learned the cruel lessons of love, and how it can blind you and lead you away from the things u care about most. Unfortunetly, I walked away from Jesus and haven't found my way back yet. I still don't know why I pulled away. I enrolled in EMT school and finally feel like I am doing something I love. It may not pay as much as computer programming but in the end, it's not all about the money. This job makes a difference.

Yesterday....
I slept until 7 in the evening after staying out late (real late, I got home at 8:30 AM on Sunday) on Saturday night with Melissa and the cast from her show.

Today....
Went to work and then shopped with Cindy on Steinway for my EMT uniform pants.

Tomorrow....
Work and then EMT class.

Pondering on Merrick

2004-11-22T23:47:00.000-05:00

I was at the bus stop Friday night, leaning against the bus stop pole just staring into the night sky and I asked myself... "What if the bus never comes?"

Well that was after waiting over an hour on a deserted strech of Merrick Road with nothing but the sound of squirrels scurring in the cementary behind me and airplanes flying miles above me. I took a long drag of my cigarette as I contemplated the events of the night before and scanned the street for any sign of an approaching bus. Nothing.

It had been an extremely long night the prior day and I was still upset about the realization I had come to as we drove down Northern Boulevard after leaving Sal's house. Nadine had asked me several times during the ride if I was alright. She had caught me staring blankly out the side window of Fernando's car. It was at White Castle where I made my decision. Armando and René had gone for a walk while we waited on the drive-thru. I had reached my decision and I had to escape from the confines of the stopped car. I reached for the door handle and stepped into the cool night.

I hadn't meant for anyone to realize what was going through my mind at that moment, especially not my present company. It wasn't a trust nor pride issue, because crying in public doesn't put any dents in my manhood. It was more because they just didn't and couldn't understand my family history and the parallels between Armando and my older brother. The tears slowly inching over my cheeks had given it all away though.

My brother and Armando are both artists. And damned good ones. Neither one of them excelled in school, nor did they care to. They both have deep interpersonal issues with their fathers, and they both seem to have a recurring problem finding, much less maintaing a job. That's point along the path that Armando is at now; but I know it leads into a much darker world. One of drug abuse, suicide attempts, drunken violence, self-hate, hermitism, and only God knows what other perils. Some of these he has already encountered. Some he has not.

All though my childhood I had watched idly as my brother slowly dug himself into his own grave. I was too young to do anything about it back then or to even realize something was wrong. Well the decision that I had come to sitting in the queue at the White Castle drive-thru was that I was not going to do it again. I was not going to watch it happen all over again.

I walked up that drive-thru and found Cindy leaning on a short blue fence that lined the outside of the White Castle. She saw the distress on my face and I told her what I had realized. She agreed. A loud thump interrupted our thoughts and we both peered in throught the large window of the restaurant. Armando had fallen down against the wall near the bathroom. They were behind the locked door that could only be opened using a buzzer from behind the counter. René and Tommy tried to lift him together.

He was struggling and I wanted to help them, but once again I was unable to. I was seperated from him by the locked door and I felt four years old all over again, unable to help. All I could do was watch once more. I banged my fists against the glass and leaned my head against it in defeat.

The rest of the night was difficult for me, and I got home close to seven in the morning after taking care of Armando in a Waldbaums parking lot, that in his drunken stupor he mistook for a supermarket in Southbridge.

It was a very emotional time for all of us. Or maybe not all of us. According to some people, "That's life." Well I've seen where that "life" leads, and I know it can be avoided with caring support, guidance, advice and compassion. Some of my friends are with me on this intervention and I know some could care less but wouldn't want to come across as apathetic. That's fine with me; I know not everyone feels as strongly as I do about this issue.

A bus headed to Freeport pulled up across the street. It was the fifth one going in the opposite direction. I really began to wonder if the bus was ever coming. Finally after about another 15 minutes my bus arrived.

I flagged it down and climbed aboard, MetroCard in hand. The bus was packed. I wonderd if these people had been standing at some bus stop also wondering if the bus would ever come.

Later that night I found myself with Armando after borrowing Fernando's car to go pick him up. He told me how hard it was to care about people when he didn't even love himself. I saw the pain in his face. He told me how he didn't understand why we cared about him so much. How could we care for him when he's done nothing to earn it. How he felt like he owed us something. And how he thought we'd be better off without him.

My mind raced back to verses I had read in the Bible. About how God loved us unconditionally, even through all our sins. I rememebered what love was. What true love was, and how love was not something that could be earned. I told him, and I told him we care because we love him. And that he didn't need to do anything in return to keep our love and care. We didn't expect nothing in return. At least I don't.

The whole situation reminded me of how important it is to have a loving parental figure. We all expect love from parents. It's only natural... and we don't receive this natural love it can wreck havoc on a person. But God is always there... that's why we call him Father, right? Because he will love us with that unconditional love we all so desperately need. All we need to do is look to him. And I've turned my back for so long.... but that's another issue for me to resolve. He's reaching out to me to come back... maybe I still have some lessons to learn before I stop being so rebellious. Maybe I won't learn until I'm broken down all the way. Maybe it's starting already...

My mother has cancer. The results came in on Thursday.

The World Series, Fern's B-Day, & More...

2004-11-06T05:40:00.000-05:00

Alright so it's been a few weeks since my last post, so it's time for the update.

Let's begin by saying that the friggin Red Sox won. Everyone knows by now, but it still sucks. Cindy was pretty bummed out and so was I. However, I have to give credit where credit is due, and the BoSox played a hell of a series. The "curse" is broken so there's no excuse when the Yankees whoop Boston next year.

Halloween was off the freakin' hook. Cindy and I ran Last Call for all it was worth on Saturday night. We turned it into a sick nightclub. Some sorority girls came in and they were absolutely the life of the party. We had then dancing on tables, and grinding all over the place. The costume contest went extremely well and the results pleased everyone present. The whole day was going fine but never can a night go off without a hitch. There was some drama with Fern around 4 AM which has since been forgotten so no need to go into details.

Sunday night was slow at last Call, however the crowd from the night before and then some came back and begged us to DJ. Look like we're in demand now! Yeah kid! However Fern came in as we were DJing and he seemed pissed cuz we were working without him. We cleared it up as well, but I guess it did look wrong.

On Monday, Tommy, Armando, and I went to Greenpoint to an on-location shooting of Third Watch and watched them film some scenes. Met up with Cindy and then off to Borough park for my job interview. I got hired by rhese Hacidic(sp?) Jews who are the new owners of Economy and I start this Monday at their offices in Brooklyn on 46th Street. I haven't even started and I hate it already. I just don't love computer work anymore. My passion is DJing and a hands-on kind of job. I cannot wait until I'm an EMT. The pay won't be so hot, but it'll be something I love... and that's what matters.

We took Tommy to his job interview at Sears and then off to the old Economy warehouse to do some work on some lighting. We ended up having a small birthday party for Fern in the empty warehouse with Cindy, Armando, Tommy, Chris, Nadine, Vanessa, Eddie and Jackie. That was pretty fun. We did not go home until 4 AM. Lol. Tommy cut his finger pretty bad and I got to practing my bleeding control and bandaging skills. Hee hee.

Bush won on Tuesday! Thank God. Many don't agree with me for supporting him, but I stand with the majority and the polls prove that. So I WASN'T the only one. LOL. At least the constant political arguements will be over. Eh.... No they won't... I know my friends too well. Oh well.

Took Nadine to the Bronx earlier that day so she could pick up some materials she needed from this architect she's working with. That was a fun lil road trip. LOL. I hate The Bronx.

So Trisha tells me on Wednesday that she really wants to have an affair... Cindy and just looked at each other like WTF? Then she invites me to Avalon on Saturday and says, "My husband is probably not gonna come..." That girl always comes outta left field with her shit. The next day she's showing me pictures of what she's gonna wear to the club and reminding her that she loves to drink Johnny Walker and have sex.... OK.... Nutty bitch. She thought Nadine was my girl... that was hilarious cuz Nadine and I just looked at each other like... Yeah sure...OK. Whatever.

Headed out to The Skinny, which is right across the street from where Kush used to be. Kimm works there now and we had a lot of fu. Chris and Vanessa ended hooked up together, and Fern showed up with Carlos. He's so gay, but he doesn't make me uncomfortable anymore. He kept massaging my back though ::shiver:: LOL. Vanessa kissed Cindy on the lips and took body shots off of Chris and Fern.

Tonight was fun. Nadine brought her friend Ana out. It's been a very long time since I fell for a girl like I did tonight. I mean, I like Tatiana, I've met girls, but tonight I felt like a cartoon with hearts for eyes. Nadine caught on and I sure she thought it was hilarious. Too fucking bad that Ana has a man. Damn! Oh well. Ana and I got wasted and then we went to Georgia diner (what else is new?). Fern drove my car cuz I was way gone tonight. We had an ok night at Last Call.

Tomorrow we were gonna go dancing (Avalon, rememeber?) but we got hired to work at Last Call for a Sorority/Fraternity mixer. I've got a feeling it's gonna be like last Saturday and those sorority girls will be there. If so, we are gonna tear that place up. It's me and Fern in the booth tomorrow though, so it will be a bit different but we'll do well. Cindy's working the door.

I have to work with the Jews on Sunday. That's gonna be tough after DJing tomorrow night. Sigh. I also ahve to work at Shelter rock in the afternoon Sunday, I may even have to DJ at Plan B as well. Ughhhh. The things I do to get cash in my pocket.

OK I think that's all the updating for now. Oh, by the way, I am now an American Heart Association Certified Instructor for CPR and First Aid. So if anyone needs to learn CPR for work or something, let me know, I can teach u the class at a good price.

Wow the Sun is coming up.... ok better get in my coffin before I turn to ash. I've become such a night owl that I hardly ever see the sun anymore.... It's gonna be so hard working for the Jews in Brooklyn.

Good night, Doc Out.

Choking Smurfs...

2004-10-20T02:13:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I was wondering earlier.... When you choke a Smurf.... what color does it turn? Hmmmm..... hmmmmm.... would you still call it cyanosis...? That's just the EMT brewing in me... ignore me....

Tonight was ok. Went to Manhattan to pick up Cindy but never made it to class. Met up with Mando and ran some errands with him. Then went back to Georgia Diner and had dinner with Fern, Cindy and Mando. Then off to Sal's house to play poker, watch the game and chill. I beat the shit out of Sal in chess. I gotta hand it to my lengthy matches with Nick in Florida, they sure brought up my skills.

Ken kept calling telling me that I had to get to class because it was an important lecture... I was too tired, and too late to show up. They were on break so they were probably at Arby's. We have our misterm tomorrow. Sigh.... this is gonna be a big test. I heard Priscilla in the background. I'm assuming Nixon went with them too. Pris is hillarious and Nixon is quite the character as well. He's gay but hiding in the closet and she's a sexual compulsive vegetarian. Fuck that... I don't know how she can't eat meat... I didn't fight my way to the top of the food chain to be a vegetarian. I don't see how any one else could. LOL. It's our right. Shiiit.

Anywayz, I need to get some rest, and like they say.... the only cure for insomnia is to get more sleep... LOL, So... goodnight.

What I've Been Up To

2004-10-15T01:57:00.000-04:00

So the past few weeks have been extremely busy for me. I got hired at a bar in the Lower East Side (my beloved LES), Boss Tweed's Saloon. That has turned my thursdays into the longest day of my week. I wake up at around 9 AM to go to work, work until 3 PM, go home, change, attend EMT class from 6 - 10 PM, and then speed off into the city to DJ from 11 PM - 4 AM. I usually get home around 6 AM and knock out by 6:30 or 7 AM.

Fridays I still go to Last Call to keep Cindy and Fern company. I don't DJ much and I don't take a cut anymore. It's too difficult to split the money 3 ways.

Work has been ok lately. We've booked a few bar-mitzvahs so I've been making decent tips off of that.

I didn't work at Boss Tweed's today though, because Jan had booked a private party and they had brought they're own DJ. So I just hung out at Last Call for a bit after class and went home early. Had a lil bit of haze wit Chris & Sal and it hit the spot nice.

Been in touch with Tatiana, she's gonna take the Fung Wah bus from Boston into Chinatown next weekend. She's gonna spend the weekend here and since she has no friends or family down here, she'll be stuck with us all weekend. Haha. We'll show her a good ol' New York time.

I'm about to pass out now... I'm gonna take advantage that I had tonight off and get some sleep.

WTF?!?

2004-09-20T16:05:00.000-04:00

I just finished reading my last entry and all I can say is "Damn that herb can really make your mind go where it never has before." I mean, I understand what I'm talking about in the entry, but I sound like in the middle of a conspiracy theory.

So Friday was dead as all shit at Boozers. That's all I have to say about that.

Saturday was the Private party at Shelter Rock. The DJ company did an amazing job. I got in touch with them and we're gonna see what can be worked out, either me working with them or if they can find me some gigs and supply me with the dancers and stuff. The party ended late so I stayed with Sal, Benny and Chris at Shelter Rock. They were gonna sleep over until the next morning cuz they all had to work early. We watched Futurama and The Frighteners. Sal made a ton of Chicken Nuggets for us in the deep fryer. Haha.

Sunday night I met up with Armando and then drove up to the heights to find Rene and Irene. We dropped her off and were gonna go to the Tubby Hook Cafe. However we decided on Boozers instead, so I could learn how to make a Manhattan for Rene. I also made a Tequila Sunrise for Armando. Fernando didn't feel like coming out last night, and Cindy was sick, so it was just the three of us all night. Well actually, Will, Danielle, Jess, Rob, Anthony, Christie, and some others were there with us as well. They really are a cool bunch of people.

Then Heather and I had a bad feeling when these guys walked into the bar last night, we thought they were gonna cause trouble. They ordered white russians but we didn't have milk so they left. There was something weird about those guys because my sixth sense went nuts and Heather almost threw up. Weird shit man.

Took the guys home around midnight. Chilled with Rene on 82nd street eating Pizza till like 1:30 in the morning.

I'm going down to Boozers tonight since it's Marina's birthday. I'm sure she's gonna drink either Stoli & Cranberry's all night or Lemon Drops. Probably both. So I'm gonna help Heather bartend again tonight.

I haven't eaten anything all day, so I'm gonna go eat now.

Schizophrenia

2004-09-17T19:57:00.000-04:00

Something doesn't feel right. I'm not sure why, but it just doesn't. There's more to meets the eye at this point in my life. Sometimes I wonder if It's possible that I'm so dillusional that I have created my own reality and see things the way I want to see them. The mind is so complex and poorly understood organ that I wouldn't be surprised. For instance, I used to wonder if everyone saw the color red the same way. What I see as red might really be what my brother wpuld see as blue. But we'd both call it red because all our lives we've been accustomed to calling it that. But if I were to jump into his body and see it, it would be blue. Am I making sense anyone? Well what if we all live in our own realities, where we controlled memories and emotions to suit our own purposes. Things would be so different if that were so, because reality wouldn't really be, well... real.

In any case, somethings up. Maybe it's not that deep, but maybe my perception and judgements have been impaired. I don't feel like the people I normally used to trust are always as trustworthy as I seem to think. People who have either been out of my normal circle seem more appealing, more trustworthy, more down to earth, more... real. The regulars sometimes seem so shady and deceptive that it sickens me. Everyone has they're own agenda these days. But I'm not one to complain because I times I do to. It could be me... and not everyone else, that would make more sense. But then I'd be crazy. Hmmm. It is possible. I'm just very paranoid lately... Very. I have this obsessive compulsion to always know things.... if something I want to know is under lock and key it drives me insane. I can't stand secrets. Maybe it's egocentric of me to think so, but I get the feeling like the situation may be manipulated by another party in order to affect me in a non-beneficial manner. Not necessarily to hurt me, per say, but affect me. That's the reason I stayed on the line with Fernando and Cindy before I moved to Florida and heard their real opinions. It's the reason I broke into Amy's e-mail when we were together. It's why I bugged my computer down in Florida and found out what I didn't want to confirm. But then... when this paranoic feeling sets in.... I'm usually right. Could it just be that somethings going on, and my "sixth sense" (if you will) is kicking in again? Or then again, we have the possibility that I am just crazy, or that everything I'm imagining isn't real. Maybe nobody I know exists. Maybe nothing I thought I knew was truth. Well it'd make a good movie at least. Well... that depends on if what I have come to know as movies really exist. Ok. Now I officially hahve a headache.

I've changed so much over the past few months. I have gone from a semi-introverted personality and drastically taken my personality to the other side of the spectrum. I make friends everywhere I go. I speak to strangers without pause. I no longer have a fear of public speaking. I am not so damned self-conscious anymore. I care about my appearance now, but in a positive way, not as negatively as before. I care about losing weight and want to do something about it now instead of just hating myself. I care about the clothes I wear and am developing a new sense of style and changing my wardrobe. Girls really don't intimidate me any longer, and I can freely spark a conversation up with a person of either sex with ease. Maybe now that I have finally broken out of my box, I have realized that there's more than what I have confined myself to for so many years. Different ways to have fun, different trains of thought, different ideas about everything, different opinions, different tastes, different lifestyles, different and diverse people. I am no longer content with a one-track lifestyle. I don't even know what I mean by all this. It's just wht is coming to mind. So often I use this journal as a mere record keeper. I jot down exactly what I did. But never what I thought or am thinking.

Unlike many people I know, I want to embrace everything and everyone into my life. There's no reason to fear a friendship, no reason to fear an outcome, no reason to fear others opinions or even death itself. Death is an eventuality that we will all have to encounter at some point. Death is just another part of life, and without it, then there isn't life. Just like there must be a balance between good and evil, moreso with death and life. Life is nothing with out death. It is the thought deep down in our minds that there is only a certain amount of time on this earth that drives us to do something with our lives. Maybe I have finally accepted that refraining from things I really want to do will only hurt me in the long run.

The past week has been a busy one indeed. DJing friday night, clubbing on Saturday (where I met the most adorable Colombian girl ever... more about her at a later time), and then work at Economy and Shelter Rock and Last Call. I began training on Monday for bartending at the bar. EMT classes have gotten more intense and now I find myself having to study the textbook or be totally lost. At least I have time for it now.

Chris, Benny, Sal, and I have gotten closer. They're a cool gang. Greg, the bartender from Shelter Rock is supposed to come down to Last Call tonight to hang and see if he can work himself into a job at the bar.

I'm going to get dressed and head out now. My sixth sense is going wild and I don't know whether to just go with the flow or be on guard anymore. I'm probably just crazy, and in the end that might be the better choice. I'll update about my week (and Tatiana) in detail later.

Doc Out.

CPR, Jose's Crown, & Nikki The Dancer

2004-09-03T01:37:00.000-04:00

So today was the third day of class. As of Tuesday, I'll be CPR certified in the State of New York. I love it so far, the instructors are great and I cannot wait until I am officially an EMT.

Had a hard day at Economomy today, a lot of manual labor, it's been that way for the past few weeks. Fernando has been going at it a lot stronger than I. It's impressive how disciplined he can be when it comes to jobs like that. I think he's more cut out for a job like that than a desk job.

Cindy and I went to Boozer's after class (since it's only like 10 blocks away) and it was really packed. Kim knows us well, we walked in and without saying anything, there was a shot of tequila for cindy, and a shot of Jack for me waiting on the bar before we sat down. I invented a new drink called Jose's Crown. It's a Corona with a double shot of Cuervo in it. It was a hit with the people around us.

So I didn't keep my promise to Mel about going to Spirit. It's ok though, because she went to go see Bombay Dreams tonight. I really envy her right now. LOL.

So as we were leaving, Luis called me and said he saw me driving away, so I came back to the bar. Greg was there too along with some other friends of theirs. It was hilarious, they walked in and left like 30 seocnds later. They didn't like the crowd.

I hung out outside with Nick for a while, when this really cute white girl named Nikki asked me for a cigarette. We started talking and she's coming back tomorrow since we're spinning tomorrow night. She gave me her number. Yeah baby. Hee hee. She goes to chool at St. John's, so she'll be a regular on the weekends. She lives out in Long Island so that's cool too. Her friend told me he knows someone with a DJ company out in Long Island, so he offered to hook me up with steady work. That would be awesome because I really would love to DJ more often.

I called Shelter Rock today, and I may work there through the winter until I get certified and hired by an ambulance company or the FDNY. That should be cool.

It's 1:30 now, and I HAVE to be at work early tomorrow. I'm gonna get some sleep now. I'm excited about tomorrow, I'll be chilling, Djing, and meeting up with Nikki.

First Day of EMT Class

2004-09-01T00:44:00.000-04:00

So I enrolled in EMT Basic Training today. We learned Rescue Breathing and CPR. They had us practice several techniques and we used a bag valve mask (BVM) instead of mouth-to-mouth, since that's what we'll be using on the ambulance.

I'm a little upset at Aramndo, he's in Massachussetts still and won't be coming back to town in time to enroll. He can't anyway because he hasn't obtained his GED yet. I feel like the boys' father sometimes. He needs to do something already.

The classes are going to run through December, and out State Exam is on December 16th. I'm excited about the job and Luis said I can come over whenever I want and shit so he can teach me shit.

Cindy is taking the course too! It's weird, but hot at the same time.

We'll be Djing at Last Call this Sunday. That should be fun.

I took Shaggy to work with me today. Everyone always loves it when he comes to visit.

Rene stopped by in his police cadet uniform today. Soon we'll both be wearing civil service uniforms. We told Fern he should become a firefighter. That's would be hiliarious.

Hung out with Dre and Dom today. It's a bit refreshing to hang out with those younger kids once in a while.

I gotta get some sleep, got work and training tomorrow.

Can You Afford This Whiskey?!?

2004-08-28T19:56:00.000-04:00

Didn't go out to Spirit Thursday after all. I was too tired from the trip up to Southbridge. promised Mel I'd take her next week though. Instead, I hung out with the guys at this pub called Matchmaker's on Grand Avenue. Shannon, the bartender there, is real nice too. I've been thinking about it, and I just don't understand why some people think New Yorkers are rude or mean. We've been going to alot of different places and I have yet to encounter one mean person. Lol.

We went to Extravaganza last night with Mel, Cindy, Fern, and a whole bunch of girls that Fern knows from school. His friends were real nice and danced really well. Mel wasn't feeling too well about 20 minutes into being at the club, so I put her to sleep in Fern's car. I had Sharp, the bouncer, keep an eye on her for me. Speaking of Sharp (which is obviously not his real name), he's another really nice New Yorker. He rememebered me from the ladt time I had been there with Margy. Sharp also works at Copa and he knows me by name already, so we may just be walking in through the VIP entrance soon at the Copa. Haha. He's also gonna see if he can hook us up with a night at EX as the Dj's. I was telling him yesterday that we're ready to move out of bars and into nightclubs. Let's see what he can pull for us at the club. The place is local and has a good crowd usually. I think it would be a good stepping stone into the nightclub arena.

So we ordered a bottle of Jack Daniels last night at the club. One hundred and thirty dollars!! Cindy almost choked when I told her the price. So did I. Haha. We got it anyway.

Fernando got really drunk, probably because the alcohol was so readily available with a bottle in front of him. I drove his car to Cindy's house and then to Staten Island. We slept in the car till 6:45 AM and then he drove it back to Queens.

Rene's waiting for me now, and here I am posting. I'd better get going.

Been a While...

2004-08-26T03:58:00.000-04:00

A shot of Jack would put me right to bed... It's definetly been a while since I last posted, and I figured since I just got home and cannot fall asleep.... it' time to post an entry.

I'm sitting here smoking a cigarette, contemplating what to do for the next 3 hours. I am 100% wide awake. I have to go to work early tomorrow, I've been late way too often lately. I just got home from Massachusetts and I am very tired, but not sleepy. What the fuck is that?? Hahaha.

Fernando and I discovered this hot little lounge about two weeks ago. They had an open bar, and we really took advantage of it. I had not been that drunk in months.... maybe closer to a year.

He and I had a little quarrel about a week ago. I did not like fighting with him, because I do not like being on bad terms with anyone. I like to clear shit up ASAP. Especially when I'm at fault. We were both at fault. It's cleared up now.

This past friday, we got everyone together and went out to Webster Hall. We had a freaking blast. Greg and I had a dispute at the end of the night over a misunderstanding, and he got physical, and I got pushed to a point I hadn't been at in years. I almost decked him. Took all my self control not to do it. The guys were all surprised by the shit coming out of my mouth. I don't even remember what I said to the guy, but after driving him home, he had a talk with Mel and I to try to clear things up. He had a hard time understanding that we (Mel was pissed at him too) weren't going to get over it right away. I'm over it now, but I learned a new lesson from the experience.

That same day I met Irene, Rene's new girlfriend. That girl is absolutely perfect for him. I've never seen him treat anyone like that, and I've never seen anyone know how to handle all his bullshit and craziness as well as she does. She's a very nice girl. We went shopping in manhattan mall for clothes for Webster Hall.

The next night we all went out to Booozer's, and had a great time. We sang, we drank, we danced. We had a jolly good time. LOL. Cindy, Mel, and Fern, got up on the bar. That was hillarious.

Tonight we took a mini-roadtrip up to Southbridge, Massachussetts. Fernando, Mel, and Cindy came along to accompany me in delivering armando to his girlfriends house. We had a blast on the way up, despite the fact that I got a $279 ticket for speeding through Connecticut. I was doing 88 miles an hour, which the officer informed me was an arrestable offense in the state of Connecticut. He wrote mr up at 85 miles, and let me off without taking me in. I almost had a heart attack when he was holding the cuffs and telling me that he could arrest me. How would I explain getting arrested 3 hours away from home, and stranding everyone up there. Let's just say I did 65 the whole way home. Haha. At least Armando offered to pay the fine. I'm grateful for that.

Armando's girl is also extremely nice. Not very talkative, but with all of us dancing to salsa in front of her house, I can see how we might have made her think we were all nuts.

Going out with Greg and Melissa to Club Spirit tomorrow night. It will be the first time I see him since our little quarrel, and I'm not particularly looking forward to going to a club with him and Mel again. The boy has a problem with controlling his temper. I'll just keep out of his way tomorrow, not that I'm scared of him, but I rather avoid any possibility of a problem.

Kim invited us to a party on Friday, night, so Cindy, Mel, and I will probably be going to check that shit out too. I have no idea where it is except that it's somewhere in LES and it's someone's birthday.

Rene, Irene, Armando, and I went up to Washington Heights and discovered this little hidden Bar/Restaurant called the Tubby Hook Cafe behind the Dyckman Marina. It's literally right on the Hudson River, and it has the most spectacular views of the GW Bridge and the Palisades that I have ever seen.

I am trying to plan another road trip. Bertito invited me to come down to Elicott with Ralph, but I haven't called Ralph yet cuz I'ma a loser. I might go there anyway, to chill, Rene might come too. If that doesn't work out, I'm gonna try to round everyone up for an end of the summer weekend road trip to Philadelphia. That should be madd fun.

About a week or two left at Economy. I am really up for anything right now as far as my next job goes. I'm going to save $700 from my next two pay checks and enroll in EMT classes. I'm doing it strictly as a job though, because I have no interest in making a career for myself in the medical field. It's a good transitional job, and it pays very well, and the hours would allow me to go to school full time and study in the ambulance while I'm on standby. Armando is definetly taking the classes too, so we can be accountability partners to make sure we follow through and stay on point. Louis has connections, so we might work with him at Hunter Ambulance. Let's see how that plays out.

Still not sleepy and it's 4:20 AM. I think I'm gonna play Max Payne 2 to pass some time.

Six Flags Tomorrow!

2004-08-06T00:45:00.000-04:00

It's almost 1 in the morning right now and I'm sitting here updating my LJ. We're going to Six Flags with the crew tomorrow since Laurie gaves us the day off WITH PAY baby. Yeah!

We just came from Fern's house where we just had a mini BBQ with Fern, Tommy, Mando, Cindy, Jenn (ch), and Mel. So anyway, tomorrow is Six Flags. Tomorrow we head out bright and early and I need to get some sleep. LOL. More details on the past few days and tomorrow later, Doc Out.

This Week in The News...

2004-08-01T13:46:00.000-04:00

So Armando hasn't disappeared yet. LOL. He's actually been chillin almost every day this week.

On Tuesday, he and I called Deeni up and we went over and found Fernando already there. At first he looked kinda pissed that we had come, but then we started playing Taboo and we had a realy good time. Nadine's mom, Daphne, also played with us. Her mom is madd cool.

Wednesday: Fern, Mando, Margy, Maize, Karen, and I went to dinner at Georgia diner. Afterwards was Taboo and Dominoes in Fern's front yard. We also had picked up Cindy and Lisa at that point and Tommy was present too. We killed a nice bottle of Parrots Bay with our new Opa beer chant.

Thursday was another night at Boozer's, Kim and Joe bartending. We had a big crew out that night. We all went to keep Cindy company on her blind date. Cindy, her date Jenn, Lisa, Sophia, Fern, Tommy, Nadine, Armando, Sal, Dre and I made up the regulars for that night. But since Boozer's is like Cheers and everyone knows everyone, our crew is was even bigger because we had Kim, Joe, Matt, Angel, Patty, and Rich came down with his friends Giselle and Steve. Louis even came out in his ambulance with his partner and another ambulance with his friends. Two ambulances parked outside, looked like the bar was the dispatcher. LOL. These guys were sitting in the ambulances watching DVDs. Jeez. Cindy got some play in Sal's car. Haha. Dre kissed Lisa. Go Dre!

Friday night we went out to Roosevelt Island and chilled out over there till about 3:30 in the morning. We had some liquor and a crave case. We were good. Margy finally got to talk alot of shit through and now we're much better in our friendship. We'll see where that goes. I had bought some Amsterdam Haze earlier and that along with the vodka got me pretty nice. I just rememeber screaming at everyone for not wanting to chill in Manhattan with me. HAHAHA.

Saturday morning (after 3 hours of sleep), drove up to South Salem for Adrianna's wedding. The party went well, and the first thing I had all day before breakfast or anything was a Stoli with Cranberry Juice. That set the tone for the rest of the day. After two Stoli's and three glasses of wine, I slowed down so I would be OK to drive back down to New York. I met Juliana, Bertito, Melissa, Yahira, and Ralph at Lucky Cheng's downtown at around 9:00 PM. We had a good time but Bertito and and I were pissed at the small portions that cost us almost 30 dollars a pop. Juliana gave some guy a lap dance and she won us an orgy for the table. An orgy is a huge drink served in a bowl with madd straws coming out of it for everyone. Kinda like a hookah for alcohol. LOL. Sean came to Chengs at the last minute.

After Cheng's Julina was kinda sick so I drove Yahira home, and took Julie, Bertito and Ralph to their hotel. Melissa, Liana, and Sean wanted me to go to a bar with them so I told them I'd call back.

I called Greg and met him, Louis, and Abe at this hip-hop lounge called Room 143 on Madison and 31st. Nice place. It was like 1:00 AM at this point. I had a beer, hung out for a bit, and then went outside for a smoke. The bouncer didn't let me back in, so I styaed out for a bit when Rene called me and told me he was in Washington Heights. I told him to meet me in Harlem on 125th. Once I had Rene we went back to Room 143, and met Greg outside. Boy was he drunk. He's such a happy drunk.

Went downtown to Second and 6th to this secluded underground bar were we finally met up with Mel, Li, and Sean at around 2:30 AM. We had lots of fun there and I chilled out with Sean outside for a while. He's a really cool guy, but he opens up too much when he's drunk. I learned alot about him. I'll leave it at that. I left him upstairs with this guy he started discussing tatoos with and went back downstairs. I spent the rest of the night talking to Liana who is really cool peoples. Poor girl was really twisted. I gave Mel and dollar and she put in in her skirt and did a pole dance for me. LMAO. Funny girl. We got kicked out at 4 AM, so I drove these guys home. All in all I had fun, I got to chill in Manhattan like I had been wanting to, and I spent the night with really fun and energetic people. A very good night. Got home at 5:15.

Probably going to Greg's house after this party I'm going to DJ in about an hour and 45 minutes. It's time to get going.

Doc Out.

[Untitled]

2004-07-27T10:26:00.000-04:00

So Friday night was fun. I went to go see I,Robot with Ophelia, Cin, Darrin, Tommy, Fern, and Nadine. Mel and I talked to Darrin about the love of his life and to console him because they are going to be so far apart from each other now. He showed us a letter she wrote him. I rememeber when love used to be that cute as his age.

After the movie we headed out to Staten Italy and stayed really late. I felt bad because I didn't realize that Cindy did't wanna stay out to late and I got her home almost at 7:30 in the morning. Mel and I were pretty twisted. I discovered Johnny Walker and I think me and Jack Daniels have broken up. LOL.

Saturday was the Baby shower gig. Went ok. I finally tried the "Taco within a taco" after the party. Not bad at all.

Finally made it to church Sunday. It was nice to see everyone again. I'm going to try my hardest to go on Wednesday. It's not that I believe there;s any power or anything in going to church. It's just that if I'm in church more, I'm surrounded by christians I can get back on track with their help.

Last night Mando came over. We built a city on SimCity 3000 and then we headed out to Queens to cruise around. Called Fern and Cindy after a while and we ended up at her house where they were having a barbeque. Cindy, Lisa, Eddie, Jackie, Tommy, Fern and Nadine. I brought Dre with me. I felt tension when I first got there and to be totally honest, I was about to leave because we (Dre and I and even Armando a little bit) did not feel welcome at all. It was the weirdest thing. I stayed in a shitty mood for a while because Armando was rolling wit me and I didn't wanna drag him home early. So I sat through it for a while and we went to the Ruins. Finally had some fun but I found myself keeping mostly to Armando, Lisa and Dre. I was still getting the strangest vibe from everyone else. I played DJ in the car for a while just so I wouldn't have to interact with anyone. I'm not normally like that. It was so weird.

Lisa was really feeling Dre yesterday. He was telling me how he thinks she's madd cute and nice on the way home. She was in love with his hair. Haha. Good old rockstar hair.

My sister's new car is sexy as all hell. She got a fully-featured Mazda 3 with the sports package. Oh man is that car hot. I'm till obsessed with the Audi RSQ from I,Robot though. Too bad it'll be another 30 years before that car is available. LOL.

I'm gonna go buy the new Webster Hall Tranzworld 7 CD. Hotness.

Hating The Rain...

2004-07-23T12:40:00.000-04:00

Yeah baby. It's Friday. Tonight we're supposedly going to Plush but who knows if that's gonna go thru because these niggaz stayed out madd late last night and now it's raining.

I'm meeting up with Darrin tonight for a while because he's moving to Melbourne on Tuesday. We'll probably shoot some pool and then I'll come meet these niggaz if they decide to do anything.

Julie is coming to New York next weekend. I'm madd excited she's coming cuz she and her husband are madd cool peoples and I haven't seen them since we deejayed their wedding in November.

I'm getting involved in something maybe I shouldn't be. No not maybe. I just shouldn't be. But I'm involved. Sigh. Money is the worst evil of them all.

On a similar note, no word yet on the the Cali job. I'm sticking to my guns about the marriage thing. Not gonna go thru with it if it's marriage. I just can't justify it to myself.

With all the things going on in my life, som which are obviously not ok, I'm noticing more and more that I've pulled so far away from God. I had an little quarrel with Margie yesterday cuz she wants to hang out on Saturday and I don't want to because I want to try to get to church on Sundays. She was like, "Oh but you haven't been going anyway," but my point is that if I don't even try, how am I going to accomplish. I've been staying out so late on Saturdays that I never wake up on time for church. I have to change that. My spiritual life is a mess and the saddest part is that I know it and I am ignoring it. I need to get back on track. Seriously.

Everything is set for this saturday's gig. As for the other gig, I just gotta get my paperwork signed, collect a down payment and then that one is a wrap too.

Colombia lost the bleeding game against Argentina Tuesday. That put a real damper on the day since it was Colombian Independance Day. Defeated on our freaking day. Bollocks.

Maybe I'll call Moe tonight. Haven't chilled with him in a while.

I hate the rain.

Your mission.... if you choose to accept it....

2004-07-19T21:51:00.000-04:00

OK. It seems that being a Colombian-born American has finally caught up with me. This guy I know who works in the Colombian Underworld has offered me my first assignment. It's weird.... it was just like you see in the movies... the guy calls you over, puts his arm around your shoulder and starts talking about, "Hey listen, I wanted to know if you could do me a favor...."

Yeah so this is what he wants. He wants me to fly to Cali and meet this girl. All my expenses will be covered and anything I need out there will be provided for me. I'll have any luxury I need or want. I'm to stay with this girl, get to know her -- and I mean know her well ;-) -- and then bring her back to the States with me. He's offering me $8,000 in addition to all the other expenses as my payment for this mission. The only problem I'm having is.... am I supposed to marry her and give her citizenship? Or just bring her with me as my girlfriend with a Visa? And what if it is marriage? I can't do that. Can I? I sure would be out of debt. And have some left over cash. But what about what I believe. I don't beleive in remarriage. Would this count? I dunno! Hoopefully it doesn't require citizenship. Maybe she just needs her visa application expidited and me requesting her would help. Sigh. He did say "Novia". But was he just sugar-coating it? I gotta think I gotta think, I can really use the cash. But then what if he wants me to run other jobs for him? I dunno....

So while my life was still normal and I wasn't presented with a job sneaking refugees out of South America I had an ok weekend. We went to Sal's crib and chilled out there till like 6 AM. I-Asia made her return and she hasn't changed much. LOL. There was some drama with Margy after we made out for hours in Sal's gynmasium but I don't feel like getting into it cuz it was cleared up this morning.

Saturday night we went to Bay Ridge and we fianlly convinced Fern that BR is the place to be. Cin and I will be moving to Bay Ridge soon, and we're pretty sure we want an apartment in the 90s near Shore Road. This way we're close to the strip and also have an awesome view of the bridge. We're looking for a 3rd roomate I think, so our rent will be more affordable. I made some calls today about my free airline tickets I got from AutoMax and I think Mykonos next year is going to definetly happen. That is gonna be so hot I can't even explain.

Last night we almost fought some Polish guys out on the Ruins. Actually, Fern almost fought them. They were just drunk and being extrememly friendly and his guard was way up so we had to leave. Then we went to McD's and got some food and then they hooked us up with free cookies and apple pies. Yeah Kid.

Just got another call from a bill collector. Maybe I should run this errand....

Sigh...

2004-07-14T21:05:00.000-04:00

Today at work I had to "lay down the law" as Greg would say. I had told Nereyda something I had overheard about her. Naturally, Nereyda had to tell Margy. Then fucking Margy who didn't even listen to the whole story before she got heated goes off on Peter, who had NOTHING to do with the issue. What didn't she say to the poor guy. Then I see Nereyda crying cuz Peter got mad at her so I walked right up to Margy and went off on her in front of all the ladies in the Packing Department. margy started crying but I was like, "Fuck that man," and walked away. I don't need bullshit drama in my life. I went to talk to Peter and he and I cleared shit up. Jeez. Then Margy tries to apologize and shit. Whatever.

On top of that, I had thought we were gonna chill things out. But today I get four consecutive voicemails from this chick talking about how she misses me. I don't need this right now. I really don't. I also don't want to hurt her. I am not doing this. No way. I gotta do something to end this before it gets out of hand and someone gets hurt or trapped. I just wanna be able to chill with my friends and shit. LOL. I mean, for Pete's sake, I only know this girl a little less than two weeks, what the fuck is she thinking calling me telling me she misses me?! Advice is definetly welcome....

I was already pissed cuz this chick took my cigarettes away. Oh man that had me ticked off.

On another note, I finally spoke to Darrin and I think I'm gonna bring him with us to Coney Island this weekend. The kid's moving to Florida in two weeks so I gotta chill with him.

Armando warned me he may be disappearing on us again if he doesn't find a job in another two weeks. I know where he's going and what he'll be doing. Let's just say he doesn't wanna shit where he eats. Saddens me, but he's trying to make something out of himself and he's trying to make the money he needs to go to EMT school. Good luck to him.

Greg went to some hot party at Crobar tonight. I wish I had some flow to have gone. Nina Sky and someojne else (I forget) was gonna be there. I need to just relax. I don't think I'll be seeing much of Margy this weekend. I need to come up with my excuses soon tho. Lol.

So Kalina and I talked tonight. She want to chill with me this Saturday. Looks like she's gonna hire Cindy for her mother's baby shower. Saturday should be fun though. Haven't seen her since I took her to prom last year.

Got an e-mail from Nadine. She's loving it down in Atlantis. I was looking on the website, that resort is off the hook! She doesn't wanna come home and I don't blame her. I reminded her about sending me my freaking postcard! LOL.

I decided I'm buying a Hookah. Now I gotta figure out how I'm gonna convince my parents that I'm only smoking Nargila out of it and not some narcotic substance. LOL. Yeah Hookah...... mmmmmmm.

[Untitled]

2004-07-13T23:01:00.000-04:00

So that Friday (the 2nd) was the most fun I've had in over a year. Maybe longer. Fern's date had to be home by 3 AM so we decided to go to Extravaganza instead of Webster Hall. I wanted to go to Webster Hall because I've never been there, but I do prefer the smaller clubs like EX because they aren't so ridiculously crowded and hard to walk in.

We had a blast once we got dancing. The bartender made me the worst LIT I ever had, so I stuck with Jack & Coke for the rest of the night. Maryuri was a lot of fun to hang out with. We left around 2:45 to get Wendy (Fern's Date) home before he mother went all samurai on us for keeping her out late (allegedly she wields a machete, but that has yet to be confirmed). Margy and I stayed out till like 7 AM just chillin out by the Marina in Flushing. I had never watched a sunrise, so that was pretty hot watching the sun creep over the horizon.

The next day we all met up again and I brought my older bro along this time. Tommy came as well. We hit up this wicked lounge in Astoria called Clic. Really, really nice place. Then afterwards we went to our main headquarters... Boozers. Kim was bartending and she made some awesome stuff for us.

On Sunday (the 4th) Cindy had her BBQ and it went well. It was a block party so there were alot of people there. Most of the gang showed up: Rene, Mariel, Melissa (with Leana and some other girl), Greg, Louis, Cisco, Dre, Margy and Jessie. There were more people there but I can't rememeber who. LOL. The fireworks looked amazing from the India Street Pier, we all really enjoyed the show. We got a little crazy afterwards setting on firecrackers on the street with everyone from the block. Sal never made it because traffic was too heavy.

I visited this church in Woodside on Thursday. It was a really amazing service. The church is real small still, they rent space from the Lutheran Church that owns the building but they are growing really fast. I went with Mando, Nereyda, and Margy. After that we had some delicious Colombian food at Pollos Marión. Mmmm.

This Friday we were supposed to all go see Anchorman (which I heard was off the hook), but Margy and I didn't make it in time so we waited for everyone to get out of the movie and then we went -- where else? Boozers. Only chilled for like an hour and a half and I only had a Baby Guiness cuz I didn't feel like drinkin' that night. I love that drink, it really looks like a miniature pint of Guiness. It's actually Kahlua with Irish Creme on top.

Saturday I had a performance at St. Patrick's Catherdral with Jorge and the gang. Afterwards I finally got see The Day After Tomorrow. That movie left me spooked lol. I had a nightmare about that.

Sunday was cool, Cindy, Margy, Jessie, and I headed out to Coney Isle and rode the Cyclone and The Water Flume. We gon head back out there, if not this week then next.

So I've been in a Greek mood since Saturday. No real reason, but I've been almost exclusively listening to Greek music. LOL. I've got all the new imports from Anna Vissi, Despina Vandi, and several others. I think I'm going to go eat at Mezzo Mezzo this weekend. =)

So... things were getting too serious with this girl and today I had a convo with her and I just told her we need to slow things down. I am not one of those people that NEEDS to be with someone, and right now, I know I can be in a relationship, that doesn't necessarily mean that I WANT to be in one. You know? So anyway, she took that well and we're gonna chill things out for a bit cuz I'm not willing to get into a commitment situation yet. I dunno, it just feels like after having spent so long commited to one person, I'm not willing to do it again so soon. I'm enjoying being single, and not having to answer to anyone. It's funny that was the reasoning Amy used when we broke up, even though that was pure bollocks cuz she's got someone now. LOL. No matter though because I like being single and going out, meeting people, and doing as I please.

Rumor has it that I-Asia is returning from South Korea this Friday. That dosn't sit well with everyone in our group, so it may be an awkward situation. Hell, I don't really know how I feel about seeing her again either. I had a convo with Cindy this afternoon and some things did start to come to mind after I got off the phone with her. Let's just say she wasn't the nicest person to all of us. However, I like to give someone a second chance. It doesn't always turn out very good (and I know from experience) but it's the way I am. So I'ma give I-Asia the benefit of the doubt and hope that she's changed. If she hasn't then I won't be seeing her again. LOL.

My friend Yari is heading off on a 2 week cruise this weekend. Nadine is coming back from the Bahamas this weekend. Everyone is fraking traveling. Lucky bastards. Hahaha.

I just finsihed my third Smirnoff Ice and I think my brain had forgotten that they were alcoholic beverages because they are chemically designed to lead you to think that they are nothing more than Sprite. It's some sort of conspiracy. I'm freaking tipsy now. Hee Hee. Maybe I'll call Fern or Cindy and annoy them. Oooh I gotta call my nurse, she's been trying to reach me for some time now. Or maybe I'll just got to sleep. Yeah, sleep sounds good. I'll call the nurse tomorrow. Well I'm out now, and rememeber:

Vote For Gorege W. Bush. =)

Thus starts the weekend...

2004-07-02T12:25:00.000-04:00

So I was wrong. I did end up doing something yesterday. LOL. Armando came over and we watched The Simpsons and Seinfeld with Dre and then after dinner at Boston Market, we headed out to Greenpoint to meet the Spinster.

Dre was all crazy about getting a milkshake and the rest of us picked up some Bacardi Raz's. We showed Dre and Mando the Pier which I have renamed "The Ruins". Played with some fireworks and went home.

Nadine called me up as I was getting home last night. She was semi-drunk and wanted to say good-bye before she left on her trip. I told her she better send me a postcard. LOL. She left this morning.

Tonight Fern and I are heading out to Webster Hall with these two girls we met. Admission is free until midnight so we gotta get out there early to save that cash, cuz after midnight it costs a pretty $30 and when u got girls with you, everything is doubled so it adds up real quick.

Cindy won't come cuz her hair is curly and you can't wear hats, so I'm thinking Fern and I should just pay to have it blown out. LOL.

[Untitled]

2004-07-01T12:24:00.000-04:00

I think today might be the first day this week I don't go out.... lol. We'll see though... cuz we never decide until like nighttime anyway.

Sunday I went to the beach around 2 PM and spent an hour there. I had not been there even 30 seconds before I tore Cindy's foot open. THE BAD ONE. She had it under the sand and I tripped over it. We left shortly after, since everyone else had been there since like 10 AM.

I went to Justin's house, watched the video from his show, got some Tabla's lessons, and smoked some lemon Nargila. Louis called me up to chill so I met up with him and we picked up Tommy and Armando and went to shoot some more pool at Masters. After all of Louis' paramedic stories, I think Armando might really be considering become an EMT.

Armando came over Monday and we played Bones and messed with the video clips on the computer. He helped get alot of the junk from the basement out to the sidewalk so the garbage truck could pick it up.

Tuesday night I headed out to Cindy's where we got 2 for 1 Dominoes and played on the computer watching stuff on rotten.com. Fernando called up cuz Nadine wanted us to come over to chill and watch a movie. I had to go to the airport to pick up my sister and brother-in-law so I couldn't go. Those buggers stayed out there till 4 AM. Jeez.

Last night we were supposed to go to my house and watch Matrix Revolutions on my new surround sound system but these blokes were so worn out from the long night at Nadine's that they cancelled on me. Luckily, Ophelia called me up talking bout she was bored so I drove out to Shaolin and chilled out wit her. I hung out while she cleaned her room and then off to the bodega to pick up some munchies. Once we got back we ordered Love Actually on pay-per-view. Not exactly The Matrix but that movie is madd funny. And as usual after watching an English flick, I'm using British slang again.

Nadine is off to Florida tomorrow for 2 weeks, and then a week in the Bahamas. Lucky girl. I wanna go to the Bahamas so bad. Actually, Melissa and I decided last night that it's been put off long enough and we're gonna take the Contiki 48-day backpack trip through Europe next summer. Hopefully more people can come with us, cuz it would be an wicked group trip. I'm gonna start saving as soon as I return from Colombia this winter.

I'm looking forward to the Independance Day BBQ at Spindee's house. As of now it seems like the whole crew is rolling through and I've even resurrected another face from the past and I'm going to bring this person as a surprise guest. (Hope you don't mind Cindy...lol... it's no one bad).

In other news, I think Fernando is really hot. (Inside Joke)

Also, Curtis called me up yesterday, told me he's getting me the parts for my car. They're gonna fall off the truck so I'm gonna get a sick discount and my cars face will finally not be broken. Yay.

The Doctor Is In!

2004-06-27T04:10:00.000-04:00

WHAT'S UP NEW YORK?! The Doc is back and here to stay! Well actually I've been here for over a month already, but I'm back on this LJ thang now.

It is so wonderful to be back in the city I love with the all my closest friends again. From the minute I set foot back in New York, my friends were out in a heartbeat to see me. I mean I was literally back in New York for like 2 hours and we were already together and hanging out. I've learned so many lessons over the past 2 years about life and one of them is that your real friends will always be there.

I'm back at my job and even though it is like my daily prison, I like it. It sure beats the hell out of sitting in my apartment all alone all day. The job is cool and now we're working toward wrapping it up because we are merging with S&S. We never thought it would happen, but we and our nemesis are joining forces. I won't be working there as of September 30th though, and since I'll be collecting unemployment from the state, I am going to be going to Colombia for at least a month. An opportunity like that doesn't come often.

The whole crew is back together. I mean all of it. It took four years to bring us all back together (and a lot of work, mostly on my part -- calling, e-mailing, stalking) but it's done. Fernando, Cindy, Armando, Rene, Sal, Mariel, Mohanie, Justin. Actually Shelley is missing but she's coming out next week or so. Also added to the crew are Tommy, Dre, Jennifer, Melissa, Greg and Louis. I also got in touch with Nadine recently, so she's been chillin and that makes me all giddy. LOL. (I'm aware that giddy is a very homo choice of word, but it's the word that best describes it).

It's been an ongoing crush that never ended since high school and something has always kept it from getting past friendship. Time, distance, girlfriends.... always something. For the last 2 years we've talked very little because she'd call and want to chill and I was always like, "OMG, I'd love to...." in my head but have to come up with some excuse not to because I had a girlfriend.

We were at Kush when I heard from her, so I picked her up and took her to Boozers. Actually we went to La Kueva in Astoria first. We had fun and then we chilled out again a few other times. Took her out to the Georgia Peach on wednesday with the niggaz after Justin's show and they were all like, "Damn when did you find her?" LOL. Then I took her home and she invited me upstairs cuz her mom wasn't home and she was lonely but I had to work the next day so I graciously declined. Last night we were at Justin's for our weekly BBQ. She wore a shirt that read, "Have you hugged my shirt lately?" and I took advantage of that a few times before she got pissed at me for sparkin up with Justin. Not pissed that I smoked, but because I was driving and smoked. And she was absolutely right. But she got over it once we were at Sal's house and we're cool now. It was just a single big hit, but I forgot Justin smokes that real good shit. LOL. Not that cheap crap I had tried in Florida. And especially since I hardly ever smoke, it hit me pretty hard.

Speaking of Sal's house, OMG that kid has the most amazing crib. Even Greg (who doesn't like Sal much) was like, "Dammnn!!". It seriously belongs on MTV Cribs or something. He has his basement hooked up with a full bar, pool table, couches, dart board, surround sound TV, and a banging stereo. I made Whiskey Sours for Mondo and Louis. That nigga Lou said it was the best drink he ever had in his life. I wouldn't say that much, but the word on the street is that I mix some pretty mean drinks. I may be going to bartending school soon too.

Hung out with Mando tonight, went to Master's to shoot some pool. It's so wonderful to be able to just go out and chill with anyone I like. I feel so great being reconnected with my friend even though sometimes we get on each others nerves or whatever. After pool we went to find his sister by the mall and then to hunt some niggaz for throwing a bottle at her. Fortuneatly we never found them, cuz Mondo was ready to kill someone.

Got home about 3:00 AM, talked to Deeni online and now I'm going to bed cuz church is early and tomorrow the whole crew is going to the beach. They'll be there early and I'm gonna meet them there later. Deeni asked if I was going and made a deal about me being there late, so I'm glad she's over my smoking thing. Tomorrow I get to see her again. Aiiiiight. ;-)