A while back, my boss asked me and a co-worker to be the people who would teach our staff CPR classes. All of our staff has to be trained to do BLS (Basic Life Support) skills for our jobs. In order to be able to teach others, we each had to take a BLS Instructor class.
My co-worker has already taken the class, and I took mine on Monday. I won’t lie to you, it was pretty intense. They first have to test you to make sure that your skills are satisfactory. So they watched me run through all of the steps for adult and infant CPR. We also learn how to use the AED.
My last renewal was almost two years ago. This time the CPR dummies have lights in them that tell you if you are doing compressions too fast or too slow. It can also tell you if you are doing your compressions deep enough. That helped me a lot.
Once we showed that we were competent in those skills, the training began. We learned what to watch for, how to time everything, and did plenty more chest compressions. There was a team exercise where the entire class responded to a “code” that would last 10 minutes. We had to practice switching roles, communication, and offering positive feedback throughout. 10 minutes felt like 30 minutes. It’s crazy how time feels in those situations. My shoulders are still bugging me a bit.
Once the instructor course was complete, we had to take the test that we will be giving the students in our classes. We also had to take an instructor test. I’ve always had text anxiety, and thought I bombed them. I actually passed both tests and I am one step closer to being an official instructor.
My co-worker and I will have to co-teach a class together while someone watches us. Once we do that, and if all is satisfactory, we’ll get our instructor cards. Just like the student cards, we’ll have to renew them every two years. Once I have my card, I can actually teach outside classes if I want. They say that it is a good way to make some extra money. Not sure I feel comfortable enough to do that yet, but it’s something to keep in mind.
Our boss asked us to give her a couple dates so that we can do our first class. We sent those dates to her today and promised that it would not look anything like this:
There is so much wrong with this photo! Notice how AI gave my dummy two heads!
I’m excited to teach, but scared at the same time. We’ll be responsible for teaching the doctors and RNs, too! No pressure!
An amazing voice was silenced on this day in 2003 when Nina Simone passed away. She was a pianist, vocalist, and songwriter who went on to be a civil rights activist.
She was born Eunice Wayman in February of 1933. As a child, she showed promise on the piano and would go on to play at her church. At age 12, she would have her first concert, a classical recital. She would go on to play at various venues playing what her mom called “the devil’s music.” In order to keep this a secret, in 1954, she began using her stage name Nina Simone. In February of 1959 would release her first recording – Little Girl Blue.
One of Nina’s best known songs is Feeling Good. The song was written by ritish songwriters Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse. They wrote this as part of their 1965 Broadway musical The Roar Of The Greasepaint – The Smell Of The Crowd. It had been recorded by a couple people before Nina. Songsfacts.com says: The message of joy and contentment after hard times translated well to Simone’s vocal stylings.
The song appeared on her 1965 album “I Put a Spell On You.” The song was never released as a single at that time. However, in 1994, Simone’s recording was used in a British TV ad for Volkswagen, and it became very popular. The song was then released and was a Top 40 hit in the UK.
Mary J. Blige sampled Nina’s version for her song “About You,” while Muse covered it in 2001. Michael Buble’ covered it on his It’s Time album and used the song to open his concerts during that tour.
Nina released her last album in 1993. The same year she moved to France. Nina suffered from breast cancer for several years and lost her battle against in on this day in 2003.
Yesterday, my daughter and I watched cartoons. We also went to the symphony. Actually, we did both at the same time. We spent the afternoon at the Detroit Opera House for Bugs Bunny at the Symphony.
The day was supposed to be my friend Margaret, the kids, my wife and me. Margaret bought the tickets when they went on sale. Her husband wound up in the hospital, so she forwarded the tickets to me.
This morning Andrew was not having a good day and he said he didn’t want to go. After a lot of discussion, and lots of crying from him, he stayed home with my wife and my daughter and I had a date day.
She was pretty excited to go, and didn’t know what to expect when she saw the orchestra on stage. Once the cartoons started, she was laughing and loving it. When the conductor stopped and was talking about the music and how the show came to be, we lost her. She wanted more cartoons.
We actually almost made it through the whole show. She asked to leave just before the last cartoon. We’d been there 2 and a half hours at that point, so that’s pretty good.
When I asked my wife if she was ok to stay home, she said she was. She then said, “I know you’ll love it. You really like that band stuff.” Of course, she’s right!
The show itself was truly wonderful. From the moment the orchestra started the Warner Brothers Looney Tunes music, I was transported back to Saturday mornings in front of the TV when I was my daughter’s age!
I cannot begin to tell you just how amazing it is to hear the symphony playing the cartoon score live as the cartoon plays on the big screen. It is like listening to it in surround sound.
There were a couple times when the music is actually playing from the cartoon and then the orchestra takes over. The transition is seamless and you can barely tell that it has happened.
At the beginning of the show, the orchestra comes on and plays the music from The Barber of Seville. This is the music that is played while Bugs Bunny is putting hair tonic on Elmer Fudd’s head and rubbing it in. As soon as they got to that part in the song, the audience started chuckling because they immediately pictured what was going on in the cartoon (without the cartoon being played!).
The Rabbit of Seville
The orchestra is completely in synch with the cartoon. Character reactions with huge music stings and cymbal crashes when something falls are perfectly timed. It was a very cool experience.
The conductor explained that the opera house used to be a movie theater. It closed and stood vacant for years until the Detroit Opera purchased and renovated it. He reminded us that when it was a movie theater, these were the cartoons that played before feature films. Now they are playing here again. Full circle.
“Music hater”
I was so happy they included the cartoon Long-Haired Hare. It is the one where Giovanni Jones, the opera singer, is practicing at his home. Bugs is somewhere outside playing first a banjo, then a harp, and then a tuba. He is close enough that his playing is distracting Jones from his practicing. Jones destroys the banjo (above), the harp and the tuba, which leads Bugs to get even.
Eventually, Bugs enters the orchestra pit dressed as famous conductor Leopold Stokowski. On the podium, Bugs administers a series of vocal tests, which Jones passes. After brief applause from the audience, Bugs scowls at Jones, then directs him to sing a prolonged high G note. Jones complies, singing until he writhes in pain and his face turns several different colors, eventually causing the stage shell to collapse in on him.
I’ve seen that cartoon so many times, but to hear that music in the theater with an audience made it something extra special. Listening to my daughter laugh out loud was an added bonus. What a joy it was to experience this show!
If the production swings through your neck of the woods, I highly recommend it.
32 years ago, my grandpa passed away. Iwas very close to my grandpa. When he died, it was one of the most difficult times of my life. When I describe him, I often tell people to think of Abe Vigoda from the Godfather (some may remember him as Fish on Barney Miller). Abe reminded me a lot of my grandpa.
He quit school at a very young age. I don’t recall how young he was, but I recall him being in elementary school or maybe junior high. He quit to go to work with his father (my great grandfather). He worked to help bring money in for the family, as times were rough and money was tight. When he was young, they had one of those cars with the crank in the front of it that you had to crank to start the car. As I remember the story, he was trying to start the car one day and the crank snapped back and caught him in the nose. His nose was broken and it remained crooked the remainder of his life.
I used to love listening him tell stories about when he was young. He often talked about the days that he and his friends would hang out on “Joseph Campau Ave.” in downtown Detroit. Detroit was very different then. He and grandma would tell stories of how they could leave the house unlocked when they left and how they could sleep out on the sun porch during the summer without ever having to worry about being robbed or hurt.
Speaking of grandma, one of the stories that they both loved to tell was how they ended up together. The story goes that grandpa saw grandma walking and wanted to ask her out, so he did. Many times. She kept telling him no, but eventually broke and decided to go out with him, after he bugged her too much. I used to love hearing those stories.
When he was young he was stationed at “the CC Camp”. I’m not really sure what he did there, but some of my favorite pictures of him are when he was a young man there. He never went to war, because of his nose. They wouldn’t let him serve because it was broken. Even though he didn’t serve, he used to tell me many stories about World War II and we would often watch shows about the war on PBS when we spent the night.
I have mentioned before that grandpa was responsible for giving me my first cup of coffee. I was like 11 or 12 and it was probably more cream and sugar than coffee. He also gave me my first “job”. I used to come over and cut his grass. Before the term OCD was ever used regularly, grandpa was very strict about the way he wanted his lawn cut. I had to check with him before I started to find out if I was cutting the grass vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. He was a stickler for straight lines! We used to call him “eagle eye”. He’d stand outside while I mowed, making sure that I was keeping the mower straight. I was always afraid of making a mistake!
During the summer, you could count on him having the Tiger game on TV or on the radio. The excitement of hearing the Tigers during their 1984 season (when they went on to win the World Series) is a memory I treasure. I was familiar with the current team members, but he would share stories of the 1968 World Champions as well as many other great ball players – he always seemed to bring up Rocky Colavito. Another Rocky he would talk about was boxer Rocky Marciano.
Before he retired, he was working at the same company as my dad. It was about 2 miles down the road from my house. During the summer time, it was always a treat when he would stop by the house on his lunch break. He was probably out at the store buying his lottery tickets for that day, but he would always pick up something for my brother and I.
He would stop by with candy bars – usually Mr. Goodbar or Chunky. I remember Chunky used to be wrapped in a foil – it wasn’t sealed like they are today. It was literally a piece of silver paper wrapped around it. Today, Chunky is divided into four sections so you can break off pieces to eat it. Back then, it was just one big hunk of chocolate (with nuts and raisins)! Those two candy bars still remind me of him. He knew that my friends were usually over playing, so it wasn’t odd for him to drive up with 5 or 6 candy bars, so my friends could have one too.
When I think about Pops, I am reminded of the laughter. He made us laugh a lot. Because of his limited schooling, his vocabulary wasn’t always great. He mispronounced many words and would flub words when reading. Some people may think this is cruel, but we used to write scripts for him to read while we recorded them on a cassette tape. I did this primarily because I never wanted to forget what he sounded like. I am glad I did this, because I still have the “tapes” saved in a digital format.
Personally, I think he liked being the center of attention. He loved be the star. He never doubted we loved him, he read these scripts because he knew it made us laugh. It made us happy. We acted out plays with him on tape, too! Sometimes, while he read through the script, he’d be laughing so hard, he could barely make it through. I remember one week I wrote a bunch of stuff for him and when we came over that Sunday to visit, I gave it to him. When he saw how many things I wrote for him he yelled, “God Doggit!” – that still makes me laugh … and I can still hear him saying it! I even find myself saying it today!
I also remember that he was really ticklish, so we’d record him laughing while we tickled him. Sometimes he’d laugh so hard his false teeth would fall out! I never found out why all of his teeth were pulled, but he has a complete set of dentures.
Pops bought me my first lottery ticket. I think I was like 13 years old. He had this old raggedy book called “Skippy’s Lucky Lottery Dream Book”. The way it worked was, when you had a dream, you’d look up the subject and there was a 3 digit number. You play that number in the lottery and hopefully, you’d win.
Early in my 7th or 8th grade year, I had lost my house key. I had a dream that I found it at his house. I looked where it was in the dream, but it wasn’t there. He, of course, looked up “found keys” and found the number – 195. He told me he was going to play that number for us, and if it won, I could have the money. Sure enough, that week, it came out. I remember he came over with an envelope with 42 dollars in it. He was true to his word. He never said, but I am guessing he played it for himself, too.
He and grandma taught me how to play Pinochle. That’s what they did almost every holiday. We’d have dinner, and the adults would go in to the sun porch and play cards. My brother and I would basically sit and watch TV, bored out of our minds while they played cards. I finally asked to learn and they taught me. They were patient and taught me well. My dad was happy that I learned to play, because he never really liked to play all night like everyone else. I, however, loved playing and was a welcome addition to the card table.
When I got my driver’s license, I would go over there on the weekends with Joe or Steve and we’d play Pinochle all night. Grandma would have coffee on and a Long John Coffee Cake for us. Grandpa didn’t like to lose. He’d get so mad sometimes! There were stories about him cutting up decks of cards when he was losing, but we never saw him get that mad. We saw him get mad … just not that mad! He was the kind of guy who at one point, you’d try to throw the game his way because you didn’t want to see him mad….lol.
My friend Steve used to make him so mad. Steve and I were always partners and sometimes, we’d get really lucky. A trickless is a hand where one team gets all the tricks and the other team gets nothing. It doesn’t happen often, and I remember one night Steve and I did it with back to back hands! We were happy as hell, but that was where the game ended that night!
One time Steve got up and went to get coffee. He opened the fridge without asking permission. My grandpa was so mad. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? Where are your manners? I don’t go to your house and go in your fridge!” I was surprised at how much this bugged him. He was probably losing at cards, and he lost it at this little thing. Steve felt bad, and apologized.
Pop’s also used to help me with my paper route. The station where we’d pick up the papers was over by his house. He’d pick me up, take me to the station, we’d get the papers and he’d drive me and my best friend, Jeff, around so we could deliver them. He had a gold Caprice Classic with tan seats. I remember he used to put a blanket down over the seat because he didn’t want the ink to get on the seat. Jeff and I used to laugh and make noises and stuff while we were with him. He never really understood what was so funny. Because of those days on the paper route, he called Jeff “the crazy one”. I’d go over there to visit when I was older and he’d say, “Hey! How’s the crazy one? Do you still see the crazy one?”
As he got older, he got more forgetful. One time, my grandma asked him to take her to the store. He went out the the garage and got in the car and went to the store. He left grandma at home. My dad had to go looking for him. Grandma called the police and they were looking, too. My dad pulled into the parking lot of Farmer Jack (I think) and found him sitting in the car. Dad asked him what he was doing and he replied, “I am waiting for your mother!” My dad had to break the news that she was still at home. He was so flustered.
He deteriorated pretty quickly after that. He was more forgetful and often repeated things. I don’t recall if it was on Christmas Eve, but I remember him sitting in his chair looking at the TV guide. Occasionally, he’d look up and say, “Murder, She Wrote” is coming on” and then stare back into the book. Later, he’d repeat the same thing. It was hard to see him like that.
I’ll never forget seeing him in the hospital on the night he passed away. I remember when everyone walked out of the room whispering to him how much I loved him and how much I was going to miss him. He had basically just been laying there the whole night, but as I spoke to him, he reached up and grabbed my neck. I remember being startled, but I again told him I loved him and it was ok to go.
My grandma came back in the room and saw him grab me and she passed out. It was crazy. So we had grandpa in one room and grandma in the ER. My dad told me to go home and rest and he would call me when it was time to come back up. Grandpa faded quickly and my dad called to say he had already passed away.
Naturally, I was devastated.
There was no obituary. My grandma didn’t want my grandpa’s sisters to know. They hadn’t spoke since the death of my great grandma. There were so many family feuds on the Italian side of the family. So sad that I never really got to know some of them.
When I think of Pops, I remember his laughter, hand so many great memories. I was so lucky to have him in my life.
Today’s recommendation is one I picked up because (1) I have read this author before and (2) I was intrigued by the title. The book is a couple years old from what I can tell and the internet says that there is a movie in the works based on the book. Let’s look at Lloyd McNeil’s Last Ride.
“Lloyd McNeil’s Last Ride broke my heart. And then it somehow mended that shattered heart, made it beat more buoyantly than before. We need books like this and writers like Will Leitch now more than ever.”—Richard Russo, author of Empire Falls and the North Bath Trilogy of “Fool” novels.
As a parent, I think you would do just about anything for your kids. Lloyd McNeil is in a situation that any parent would hate to be in. In the book, you find out how he handles the situation and will leave you pondering what you might do in the same scenario. He is the Amazon synopsis:
From the Alex Award-winning and Edgar-nominated author of How Lucky, this twisty, funny, and ultimately uplifting novel follows a father in a race against time to provide for his child.
Lloyd McNeil has just learned he has months to live. He also learns that his twenty years as a beat cop in Atlanta haven’t earned him enough money to take care of his teenage son, Bishop, after he’s gone. But when Lloyd discovers his police benefits will increase exponentially if he dies in the line of duty, he comes up with a plan.
Lloyd begins to throw himself into one life-threatening situation after another to try to get himself killed and to provide for his son . . . but he keeps failing—and surviving. To his shock, his accidental heroics make him an inspirational icon in the community. But time is still running out for Lloyd to get his affairs in order, to teach Bishop the lessons he needs to be a good person, and to say goodbye.
Lloyd McNeil’s Last Ride is a surprising, unforgettable blend of suspense, humor, and compassion. It is a novel about what we leave behind and what we learn along the way, a bighearted and stirring story about the depths of a father’s love for his son.
This was such a great story. The love that Lloyd has for his son is apparent throughout the story. With his plan in place, he still wrestles with whether or not he is doing the right thing. The story played out very much like a movie, so I was glad to see that one was in development.
As the synopsis said, there are plenty of emotions that you’ll feel as you read the story. There are some very funny moments and moments where you are on the edge of your seat wondering what will happen next. It was a book that moved at the perfect pace and left me wanting more.
Our pup, Mabel, had to go to the vet yesterday to get fixed. The pricing is based on weight. Naturally, she put on like 15-20 pounds since we made the appointment. She’s almost 70 pounds now.
Yesterday morning, my wife dropped her off after taking the kids to school. She had some things to do during the day, and then she had to take our daughter to a gymnastics thing. So, she told me to keep my phone on while I slept today. As soon as she knew what time I needed to pick her up, she’d let me know.
Normally, I would still be asleep at 3pm, but yesterday I got up around 2:45pm. I showered and got ready for work, without getting ready for work, if that makes sense. I did everything but get into my scrubs, which I would change into when I got home with Mabel.
When they brought her out, she was being very stubborn. She was pulling away from them on her leash. Once she saw me, she came to me. Usually, she would be excited and jumping up on me, but she was still feeling the effects of the anesthesia. I had to help her into the car. She is so big now that she can’t really curl up on the seat. She sat up and I pet her the whole way home. I think at one time, she fell asleep with her head in my hand.
There were all kinds of post-op instructions, but the one that was bolded and in all caps was “NO LICKING.” They encouraged us to buy a cone for her so she couldn’t lick her wound. I found an inflatable ring that is made specifically for that purpose. When I put it on her, she looked at me like, “Really, man? I have to wear this ridiculous thing? What are the other dogs in the neighborhood going to say?!”
Doesn’t she look pitiful? I just hope that she takes it easy over the next week or so. Trying to get her to settle down is a very tough thing to do. Now that she can jump up on the kid’s beds, we may have to make sure those doors are closed. She’s always got so much energy, she’s going to have a tough time being calm.
I’m guessing she’ll be back to her old self in no time!
I’m not sure why this photo makes me laugh so much.
This was a day when I had the boys and we went out to the book store. They had gotten books and a couple magazines with gift cards. We went and had lunch at a Coney Island place and they brought all of their loot in when them.
I’m pretty sure I just picked this Scooby Doo Magazine up and started adlibbing silly things about the characters. “Oh, look, Velma lost her glasses again.” “Hi, I’m Fred Jones. Let me tell you how an ascot can make you a hit with the chicks.” “Zoinks! And other crazy one word exclamations for everyday use.”
I don’t recall if my son took this with his camera or if I asked him to take it. Either way, the ridiculousness of it cracks me up.
Like many, I am happy that baseball season is back. Even though opening day is behind us, on this day in 1940 it was a historical opening day.
At Comiskey Park, the Cleveland Indians took on the Chicago White Sox. 21 year old Bob Feller was the starting pitcher for the Indians. He would go on to strike out 8 batters and walk only 5 in a 1-0 victory.
What makes the victory a special one is that Feller “No Hit” the White Sox. He became the first pitcher in Major League Baseball history to have a no hitter on opening day. Oh, and no one else has done it since Feller. The Society for American Baseball Research says that this remains one of the most iconic achievements in MLB history, often cited as a testament to Feller’s status as a prodigy.
The weather that day was unseasonably cold. The cold kept many fans away from the ballpark. The attendance that day was only about 14,000. Feller had a really good curveball, but because of the cold, he threw mostly fastballs that day. This historical game almost didn’t happen.
“The first couple of innings, I was pretty wild,” Feller recalled. “In the second inning, I loaded the bases. Someone in the bullpen was warming up and the manager was getting ready to walk out to the mound. But I managed to strike out the last hitter (Bob Kennedy) on a full count.”
As the game went on, a thought crept into his mind. “I knew I had a chance for a no-hitter,” Feller said. “But I tried to put it out of my mind by reminding myself you never have a no-hitter until the last man is out.”
My daughter is in kindergarten. She has always seemed to be a bit ahead of the other kids. Even when she was in preschool, the teachers talked about how smart she was. She has quite the collection of chapter books and reads them all the time. I’m always surprised at the bigger words that she knows. Listening to her play with her dolls is a treat, too. Her imagination is fantastic.
Recently, they pulled her from her class to do some testing. I had no doubt that she would do well on those tests. My wife and I both shed tears when we opened up the letter from her district:
She was the only one in her school to get into this program! We could not be more proud of her.
I watch a lot of stuff at home. Usually, it is just me and the family or just me. Watching something like this is nice, however, watching something with an audience can enhance your experience (and sometimes do the opposite).
Here’s an example. I have watched the Three Stooges on TV, VHS, and DVD hundreds of times. They always make me laugh. The first time I went to a Three Stooges Festival and watched them on the big screen something was different. I was surrounded with fellow Stooge fans who were laughing just as hard as I was. It made the evening even better.
When I surf YouTube for music videos for my blog, there are always suggested videos off to the side. A lot of it is amateur content that I blow off. This week, however, the preview picture caught my eye. It was a woman wearing headphones with her hand up to her mouth and eyes wide open. She could have easily been place in the above picture.
I was told that this is called a “reaction” video. The creator watches something (or listens to something) for the first time and records the reaction. This woman was watching the Godfather for the first time. I was intrigued. Now, the video is edited down, so you don’t see the whole movie. I think her video was 45 minutes with the film playing in the lower corner.
SPOILERS:
I have watched the Godfather countless times, but watching this gal (probably about 35 years old) see it for the first time was interesting. To see her gasp in disbelief at the horse’s head, and when Sonny get’s shot was crazy. She seemed to be reacting to the movie just as I did. I was in awe of the transformation of Michael Corleone, and she was commenting about his change as the movie played.
After the movie, she commented about it and talked about what a great film it was. She talked about cinematography, and character development and how it deserved to be the third best movie of all time (on whatever list she had). She then stated she needed to watch Godfather Part II.
Her video for that was about an hour, and there were much more reactions to that film. Yes, she was still watching in disbelief as some of the things fell into play. The thing that got me was when she cried at a couple of the scenes. Watching Vito’s mom get shot, and Fredo’s death were two of the scenes that stood out. After the latter, she had to pause the movie and compose herself.
This gal has many other films that she has reacted to. Some comedies, some dramas. I’m not sure that I will make it a point to watch them, but I may. It really was interesting to watch it through someone else’s eyes.
I think if I was going to watch more “reaction” videos, it would be someone reacting to music. I mean, isn’t that like saying to someone, “You’ve got to hear this!” then watching them love it or hate it? I think about playing the Beatles or Elvis to someone who has never heard them before.
Have you ever watched any of these types of videos? What are your thoughts.
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 