Today I took the Red Cross’ CPR/AED for the Professional Rescuer course, upgrading my previous CPR certification. As before, it covered adult rescue breathing, choking remedies, and CPR, but this course went a bit more in depth into those subjects and added child and infant breathing and cpr, and the automated external defibrillator. We also got to use those fancy face masks, instead of the basic plastic barriers.

As the course title implies, it’s intended for EMTs, nurses, SAR, LEO and the like. I think it’s a course that folks would do well to attend if they’re willing and able, but doesn’t add enough on top of the basic CPR course to warrant taking otherwise. Basic CPR you should take, whether you want to or not.

The wind was strong enough yesterday to cause power outages and cycles throughout town. When I got home, I discovered that whoever I’m borrowing my wifi from had lost his internet connection. I waited a few hours, waiting for him to do something about it, but nothing happened. Finally I fired up telnet and rebooted his AP/modem for him, which reconnected everything.

Don’t you appreciate neighbors like me?

I’ve been exceptionally unmotivated to study for my finals this time around, the first of which is tomorrow. So I haven’t.

Instead, I’ve been reading about life and trains and all that other stuff that’s dangerous and subversive to the status quo and is going cause society to fall spinning into the dark, dismal abyss.

People are confused. They think they’re subject to society and their culture when it’s the other way around.

Remember about a year ago when I said I’d update the vitals page? Yup. Did that. A little.

A couple months ago, I was kicked out of the closet I used to work in and moved to the front desk. I wrote and prominently displayed the following, so as to alleviate any confusion concerning my status as a possible receptionist. It was taken down. Something about not being appropriate for the work environment, I suppose. The last stanza has been removed to protect certain individual(s).

Dear Valued Visitor, The good looking fellow who sits in this space, is not paid as a receptionist. Can't you tell from the look on his face? He was kicked out of the closet and made to interact, but that has no effect on his employment contract. He's not here to answer phones, to assist, nor to direct. Which isn't to say, he means you disrespect. He'll do his best to help and to give you advice. Just don't make him state his job description twice. If you're on your way in, he'll tell you hello though his mind may be elsewhere thinking of snow. If you're on your way out He'll bid you farewell though if you're leaving for good someone else you should tell. This prose is no good. It's turning out to be crap. I bet [censored] could do better. He listens to rap!

Once again, I was awoken by a disturbance on the street. This time it was about 2:15AM. They were right below my window, so it was a bit hard to see what was going on. The fight looked to be between two girls, with about 10 male onlookers cheering and exclaiming the occasional “oh damn!” (Girl fights always look particularly brutal – no mercy.) As far as I could see, there were no cops or cameras. After a couple minutes, the group migrated around the corner. I drifted back to sleep to a soundtrack of “the bitch attacked me!”

Shadow Company is the documentary on modern day mercenaries. Superior and more broad in its scope than Frontline’s Private Warriors or Iraq for Sale, it essentially comes across as a film adaptation of Licensed to Kill, relying heavily on interviews with Robert Young Pelton, featuring video shot by RYP, and interviews with Cobus Claassens (the pirate hunting merc of Three Worlds Gone Mad). It felt very balanced, allowing interviewees – academics, reporters, and contractors – to cast the industry in both positive and negative light. The underlying message seemed to be a call for regulation.

Video excerpts are available on YouTube and, along with interviews with the filmmakers, on Kevin Sites’ Hotzone.

The porn shop next-door hung a large wreath with xmas lights on top of their building. I think that counts for my decorations, too.