911 Wait Time

It took 5 1/2 minutes today to reach a live operator on my cell phone

On the way in to work today I passed an accident that had just happened seconds previously. 

A young lady in her 20’s had plowed into the back of a large pick up truck, which didn’t have any visible damage.  The truck driver was exiting his vehicle and the lady’s airbags had deployed.  She was just sitting there, dazed and her car looked totaled. 

Obviously she needed emergency help.  If for nothing else to get her and her car out of the road so another on-coming car didn’t rear end her and cause more damage.

So I call 911 from my cell phone. I wait and wait and wait and wait. 

The whole time I am thinking, what if I was running from someone with a gun trying to rob me?  5 1/2 minutes is a lot of running, or a lot of anything especially if it is an emergency.

My soundoff:  I pay enough taxes to live in California that I should receive a lower response time than 5 1/2 mins for a 911 call.  Prior to this, I had heard rumors that cell phone 911 calls didn’t have priority, but I didn’t believe them until now. 

I would think that this issue would be a MAJOR concern with parents giving cell phones to the kids or with women feeling like they have a security blanket in their cell phone, because they don’t. 

Come on California, hire more 911 operators to answer the cell phone 911 calls!

Some additional articles are here and here and here for your reading pleasure.

My 5 1/2 Year Old knows what Google is!

OKAY OKAY I know what you are thinking; either big deal or is this post yet another shameless plug for GOOG? 

Neither.  Really.

Three days ago my 5 1/2 year old was talking about the planets she was learning about.  She felt bad for Pluto because it didn’t count anymore.  I asked her, how did she learn about these planets?  She replied, well my teacher just goes to google and googles the one we are learning that day.

 I was ecstatic!  Aside from the fact that I am a sales guy that enjoys keeping up with technology and know just enough to be dangerous with it, I was stoked that my kid was learning on a computer and was learning about the solar system. 

In Kindergarten. 

Wow.

The Reach

This is a post about manners and the lack thereof.  If that bores you, move on.  If not, stay with me on this. 

Last night I took the family out to dinner at the local Frankie, Johnny and Luigi’s for a nice Italian dinner.  The food was great as usual, the service was somewhat slow and the price was right. 

While waiting for our food and in between fending off crayon attacks from my son, I noticed a group of 4 people sit down at the table across from ours.  They were obviously there for business, probably a work function.  In eavesdropping (I know I know) I realized that it was a training dinner.  The infamous training dinner!  Many memories I have around these but what I observed last night was the best display of poor manners I have seen by a “leader” of the training dinner in some time. The leader was in her late 20’s to early 30’s.  I will guess 31. 

I listened to her cut off conversations, interrupt the new trainees, and when two that were running late sat down, she reached across the one in the middle to get to the new arrival and shake her hand.  This to me was very rude to the lady in the middle.  I mean she was sitting there talking with the person across from her and all of a sudden the “leader” sticks her hand across the table in front of the lady next to her to shake hands!  I thought, wow! What an Idiot!  I could tell the lady in the middle was thinking same thing too, judging by her body language.  She also kept incessantly clearing her throat and talking in a tone above everyone else at their table. 

I felt sorry for those folks to have such an unaware person as what is probably their trainer for the next week or so.

Trainers:  Please mind your manners!

Flu Shot Soreness UPDATE

I have good news to report.  I am no longer sore.  After drinking a TON of water last night, the soreness is gone.  Thank god.  Feeling much better today.  I had a friend send me the following just in case there is any interest:

What are the side effects that could occur?

• Soreness, redness, or swelling where the shot was given
• Fever (low grade)
• Aches

If these problems occur, they begin soon after the shot and usually last one to two days.Can severe problems occur?

• Life-threatening allergic reactions are very rare. Signs of serious allergic reaction can include breathing problems, hoarseness or wheezing, hives, paleness, weakness, a fast heartbeat, or dizziness. If they do occur, it is within a few minutes to a few hours after the shot. These reactions are more likely to occur among persons with a severe allergy to eggs, because the viruses used in the influenza vaccine are grown in hens’ eggs. People who have had a severe reaction to eggs or to a flu shot in the past should not get a flu shot before seeing a physician.
• Guillain-Barré syndrome: Normally, about one person per 100,000 people per year will develop Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), an illness characterized by fever, nerve damage, and muscle weakness. In 1976, vaccination with the swine flu vaccine was associated with getting GBS. Several studies have been done to evaluate if other flu vaccines since 1976 were associated with GBS. Only one of the studies showed an association. That study suggested that one person out of 1 million vaccinated persons may be at risk of GBS associated with the vaccine.

More facts about potential side effects of the influenza vaccine can be found in “Prevention and Control of Influenza, Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).”What should I do if I have had a serious reaction to influenza vaccine?

• Call a doctor, or get to a doctor right away.
• Tell your doctor what happened, the date and time it happened, and when you got the flu shot.
• Ask your doctor, nurse, or health department to file a Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS)* form, or call VAERS at 1-800-822-7967.

*Note: This link leads outside the CDC site to another federal agency or CDC partner site. Any links from these sites to nonfederal organizations’ links do not constitute an endorsement of these organizations or their programs by CDC or the federal government, and none should be inferred. CDC is not responsible for the content of the individual organization Web pages found at these links. The link will open the page in a new browser window.

What the @#%&!

I have a quick question as this has come up way too much lately.  Is it assumed that the husband writes a thank you note or card to the inlaws when they give me a gift?  I am convinced that they could care less, but the wife says it is a nice gesture.  I am drooling all over myself on this.  I really don’t want to write the thank you’s to them , as it doesn’t feel that comfortable and I think saying thank you verbally should be enough.  (damned republicans!)  Any bones you can throw me would be great!