It’s official part deux, and a little scheming along the way.

Got my state EMT-B license in the mail to go along with my national license today. Now I can actually start working. Ideally I’d like a part time or full time gig at the agency I did my ride time with, but if need be I can give the local fire dept. or maybe the hospitals or something a try. Re-read the hell out of that pediatrics chapter in the meantime, now I’m just eager to to get to work (and get paid).

And as long as there’s actually some kind of job in my future, I’m using a bit of cash I’ve managed to save to feed my lust for books which has been starved for far too long. Specifically, “The x Schemer” series, as I’ve been wanting to get these for quite some time now.
The Little Schemer for recursion and Scheme in general,
The Seasoned Schemer for functional programming and more details on Scheme,
and The Reasoned Schemer for its blend of functional and logic programming.

Eventually I intend to go through my entire TAoCP set again, this time rewriting all of the examples and problems in Scheme.

Man, I need to get laid.

It’s official.

Mail came. Got the usual congratulations letter, the diploma-ish thing, couple papers trying to sell me something or another, an arm patch (what in the world would I use that on other than a work uniform that likely has something similar anyway?), and most importantly, the actual card that says I’m an NREMT-B with the # needed to verify it, that lets me get the state license to actually work, which I’ll probably go have laminated tomorrow.

It’ll be job huntin’ time soon now. I better get a haircut while I’m out tomorrow too.

The coin landed. Guess those kids live afterall.

EMT-Basic Application Summary:
Application Confirmation ID: xxxxxxxxxx
Application Created: 11/15/2007 4:14:00 PM (CST)
Exam Date: 1/10/2008 (CST)
Results Date: 1/11/2008 (CST)

Examination Scored
Congratulations on passing the NREMT cognitive examination. Your passing result on the cognitive examination will remain valid for a one year period from the date of the examination, 1/10/2008(provided you meet all current requirements for National EMS Certification.
Please allow 2 weeks for the NREMT to mail out results letters.

The coin’s flipped. Expect to land in a couple days.

I havn’t a damn clue if I passed, and I won’t for at least a couple days.

I did all the read & signin stuff, and was told to come back in 20 minutes. The test took that damn long to load. And when it finally finished? I clicked through the usual instructions explaining such vastly complicated concepts such as how to click “next”, the last of which produced nothing but the iconic hourglass pointer. For another 5-10 minutes. Then it finally loaded the first question.

The exam kept asking a bunch of children-related questions, which likely means I was totally bombing in that area. Poor kids. And a *lot* of the questions were of the two or three of these are damn well technically correct but pick the “best” one and hell no you can’t get more detail sort. I hate that, so much. And all of the questions were situational. It would have been nice if the workbook we had was in this format, but it was more concerned with definitions and acronyms and order of steps and etc…, which the exam asked precisely zero of (if it had, I’d already know I passed).

But then again, a lot of the questions did seem fairly obvious as well, and quite a few seemed likely to be considered “difficult” (that test throws some really weird shit at you) which is supposed to happen when you’re answering correctly… so I don’t know. I’ll find out in a couple days and if I need to retest, so be it. At least I’ll know what’s coming and can adjust my study accordingly.

But for now, other than rereading the hell out of that pediatric chapter, I’m giving it a break before I get stressed out. I think I’ll write a CL package for MusicPD access or something.

“The time has come,” the walrus said…

In about half an hour I’ll be on my way to take my NREMT-Basic license examination. I don’t think I’ve never been so nervous before a test, and I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because they apparently confiscate your wallet, keys, cell phone, watch, take your fingerprints, video record the session… sounds like jail. Maybe I’m just afraid I’ll fail, given the class finished over a month ago and we’re just now getting to test, a long time to forget things. It costs $70 *per attempt*. Maybe it’s all the coffee, I’m not usually a day person. But I have been reviewing a lot these past couple days, and I certainly wouldn’t feel uncomfortable at an actual emergency, I actually found the required hospital and ambulance observation times more fun than worrying and wish I were working already. Getting *paid* to do that? Hell yeah, sign me up (and probably demand a haircut, but I’ll live). And regardless, anytime something important such as this comes up, I always seem to pass. State HS final, driving, VoTech (hell, I went to nationals), the entrance exam for college,  never had to retake anything. And if I somehow manage to fail, hell I have the $70 to study my ass off and try again. But still, I’m nervous as hell. Wish me luck. Time to jump in the shower and get my ass out the door.

24 hours.

It’s now 14:00. In 24 hours I will be starting my NREMT-B license exam.

Once it’s over it’ll be at least 2 days before I find out whether I passed. If I do, I’ll need to find something else to kill time. Maybe I’ll get back into bitchslapping Allied in WoW world PvP with my Enhance Shaman. For the Horde.

Top 10 Reasons to Date an EMT

Just something I came across on facebook, gave me a laugh.

10 ) We are used to staying up all night

9 ) We are good with multiple partners

8 ) We are experts in mouth to mouth

7 ) We are the best in rapid clothing removal

6 ) We have our own multi-positional bed

5 ) We shock the socks off you

4 ) We always come when we are called

3 ) We are prepared for any rhythm

2 ) We are familiar with Latex and restraints

And the 1 reason to date an EMT…
1 ) Anytime, anywhere, anyway you need us!

Emergency Medical Technician – Basic

EMT-Basic Application Summary:
Application Confirmation ID: xxxxxxxxxx
Application Created: 11/15/2007 4:14:00 PM (CST)

Authorization To Test Delayed
Your Application to Test process is almost complete but the NREMT is unable to submit a request for an Authorization to Test to Pearson/Vue. The State of Kentucky requires successful completion and verification of your Practical Skills which has not been electronically submitted to the NREMT by the state office.

Once that verification is received by the NREMT, please allow 1 to 2 business days for the Authorization to Test to be issued. At that time, you will be able to print your Confirmation Letter from this web page which will instruct you as to the action necessary in order to schedule your test with Peason/Vue.

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I had started the class in mid August, and passed it on Dec. 6th. I’ve been staring at this since December 8th. That’s the day we took the practicals for the actual license. Ever since then I’ve just been checking every day, seeing this every day, taunting me, driving me mad. But *finally* today, it wasn’t there anymore. It let me schedule my license exam. I’ll be taking it Jan. 10th at 14:00, so I have just under a week to cram like hell so I can pass it, so I can wait another 6 weeks for it to actually be mailed to me, so I can make the same money I would flipping burgers (I’m not kidding).

But then, it’s still better than selling my soul one super size at a time.