Monthly Archive

I got my copy of the new Harry Potter book today!  I had preordered it from Amazon.com a few weeks ago and it arrived as promised this morning.  The box had printed on it “Attention muggles, do not open until July 21.”  For those of you who don’t know, a muggle is a non-magic person in Harry-Potter-land.  I have no will power, so I admit I did indeed turn to final chapter the minute I opened the book.  And I only glanced at one page but I did see two names of characters who are still alive at the end of the saga.  Luckily neither of them was Harry, so I still do not know whether he lives or dies.  I was glad I didn’t ruin that for myself.  The book wouldn’t be nearly as much fun to read if I knew that ahead of time.  I am so anxious to get started reading it!  I have to work 12 hour shifts tonight and tomorrow night but Monday my plans are to sleep a bit after work then hole up in my living room with my book and not turn on the tv or computer til it’s done. 

Lady luck and I are not on the friendliest terms.  She doesn’t like me much of the time.  So I was pleasantly surprised last night when I checked my interoffice e mail.  I had a message saying I had won a recent drawing for a $25 gift card to a local chain of gas stations/convenience stores.  Not a huge prize, of course, but it was still fun.  And with the price of gas, hey, I’m sure not going to complain.  What’s that old saying about never looking a gift horse in the mouth?

A Chicago news reporter was recently fired from her job for a rather interesting reason that she deems a “lapse in judgment” on her part.  Amy Jacobson was seen in her bikini and a towel at the home of Craig Stebic.  Now, Mr. Stebic’s estranged wife, Lisa, has been missing since April 30.  The couple were in the process of divorcing but still living in the shared marital home when she disappeared.  Amy Jacobson was investigating Mrs. Stebic’s disappearance, in which Mr. Stebic is a “person of interest.”  So what exactly was Amy Jacobson doing at Craig Stebic’s home in his swimming pool?  Well, apparently her story is she was there getting information on the story and had been invited there by Mr. Stebic’s sister.  She had her two toddler aged children with her and was taking them to a club to swim anyway, so instead they swam in Mr. Stebic’s pool.  Uh huh.  Ok.  And this is merely a “lapse in judgment,” as Ms. Jacobson has called it?  More like unethical and crossing a line.  But more on that in a moment. 

Neighbors of the Stebic home have been reported as saying that Ms. Jacobson had been frequently seen at the Stebic home in the weeks she had been investigating the story.   Now, sure, there are legitimate reasons for her to be there to interview Mr. Stebic and other family members.  But frequently?  And to bring her two toddler aged children along?  And in a bathing suit in the pool?  Uh huh, real professional behavior.  And I’m no mother myself, but would most mothers purposely expose their children to time spent with a person the police are looking at as a possible murderer?  I would hope not. 

As it turns out, a reporter from a rival news station got video footage of Ms. Jacobson’s pool romp at the Stebic home.  Ms. Jacobson was subsequently fired from her job.  She claims she simply had a “lapse in judgment” and feels she did nothing to warrant her now being unemployed.  While I’m sure there are people who agree with her, I am not one of them.  I think she crossed a line and acted unprofessionally and unethically. 

I noticed it’s been a while since I’ve posted an entry here and was wondering what I could talk about.  My personal life isn’t all that interesting or exciting at the moment.  I’m not very politically active.  So I guess that leaves work.

Work is actually the one area of my life where I always feel competent and confident if the rest of my life feels out of control and chaotic.  I can feel in control as I’m going about my shift taking care of patients and doing things for them I have done a thousand times before.  I’m doing things I know I know how to do … and for the most part, do well. 

I really like my job, too.  One night recently I had a shift to rival no other.  It was crazy-busy.  No major problems, just a lot of small things all night long.  There were 5 of us working that night and we got off work at 7:30 am.  Not one of us left before 8 am because we all had so much left to do after the shift was over and we reported off to the day shift staff.  Even in the middle of that busy, hectic, crazy  night I couldn’t imagine any other career I would want.  I’m in the exact career I’m supposed to be in.  Even after nine years I am more sure of that than ever. 

After that insanely busy night I was lucky enough to have two pretty calm shifts in a row with a great group of patients both nights.  One of my patients one of those nights was a retired paramedic/firefighter.  He was telling me some wonderful stories of things he’d seen and done during his career.  Things most people wouldn’t really want to hear about … but I was loving the stories.   And he was enjoying sharing them.  It was really nice to have time to just talk with my patients and learn more about them personally as opposed to just their body parts.