Many of you are dissatisfied with the results of last year’s Presidential election. As a political atheist and card-carrying “unaffiliated” I don’t have a dog in the fight. Most of you have sworn allegiance to a particular party, so allow me to offer you a bit of encouragement. Regardless of who holds the office of the President, the power to “make America great” resides where it always has: with The People. Here are some outstanding ways we can actually make America great.
2021 Goal Progress – September
In January of 2021 I committed to some New Year’s resolutions: spend 15 minutes per day learning Spanish, workout 3 times per week, shoot my bow 3 times per week, read 73 books, and stay off tobacco. This is my progress so far in the year.
Becoming a Paramedic
Today I write to you as a a fully-credentialed, practicing paramedic. This post is going to talk about how I got here, and the road to becoming a paramedic. I’ve written about this a little bit before, when I had just started school. There seems to be a lot of mystery about becoming a paramedic, so today I’d like to go into a bit more depth. Here’s my experience. Yours might be a bit different.
Survival Cooking: DIY Denatured Alcohol Stove
The soda can stove has always intrigued me. It’s about as cheap as a camping stove can possibly get: it takes about 30 minutes of your time and can be made from two soda cans. Fuel is also cheap; a gallon of denatured alcohol will cost you under $20 at Lowes. Today I’m going to talk about the infinitely accessible “soda can stove” or DIY denatured alcohol stove.
Build Rapport: Give a Toast and Tell a Joke
Several years ago I found myself needing to give a toast in front of a bunch of co-workers. I was able to give one, but it certainly wasn’t pretty. I vowed never to be in that scenario again. If ever again asked to make a toast, I would be ready. Likewise with a joke. Everyone should know how to give a toast and tell a joke. Let’s discuss.
Winter is Coming
With temperatures dipping into the 40s, I lit our first fire of the season last night. Fortunately I cleaned our flue in May after our last fire. I have put up plenty of wood this summer. We are well-prepared for whatever comes our way. We are comfortably ready to sit back and enjoy the cooler temperatures. It’s a really good feeling; I hope you share it. This post is a short reminder to prepare because winter is coming.
Gun Owner 101: Choosing a Carry Gun
Today we continue with the Gun Owner 101 series, finally arriving at the guns themselves. Choosing a carry gun is a daunting proposition in market crowded with competing offerings. This article will hopefully offer some tools to help you thin the herd and arrive at the best possible handgun for your personal protection.
Narcan and Choices
Last year I attended a very, very good tactical medicine class that I paid for out-of-pocket. One thing that interested me was a student question about Narcan: “why would you bother saving their life?” I have been fascinated by that question ever since, and it came up again recently. I wrote this article in May of 2020. For some reason I shelved it and forgot all about it until I read this last week. Since I wrote this article I’ve had the opportunity to administer Narcan several times on the job. My opinion hasn’t changed.
Instructor’s Guide to Using PowerPoint Well
We are all familiar with the term, “Death by PowerPoint” and for good reason. Poorly designed and poorly presented PowerPoint presentations can suck the life out of the most dedicated student. PowerPoint is one of the most misused and misunderstood instructional tools out there. It’s really fun to bash PowerPoint; it’s much less popular to admit it can be a highly effective instructional tool if used well. Here I offer you a guide to using PowerPoint well.
Helikon-Tek Mini Med Kit Pouch
A while back I reviewed the Helikon-Tek Foxtrot Mk2 lumbar pack. During that review I promised to add a review of the Helikon-Tek “Mini Med Kit” first aid pouch as an addendum to the original article. As it turns out, this is a perfect pouch for my basic first aid kit. It’s also a great add-on to the Foxtrot Mk2 lumbar pack. Let’s take a look.