News and Views From my kids accomplishments, to my heretical perspective of the world

We have an Emergency Medical Technician in the family.

Derek has been studying to become an EMT, and finally took the National Certification Test on Saturday. He passed, and yesterday received his certificate.

The final step before he can actually work is to register with the state and get a license. It may take a few days because they do a background check. Once that’s done he can start applying for a job.

EMTs work in many different places. The first ones that come to mind are a hospital ER and an ambulance or rescue vehicle, but EMTs are also hired to work in casinos, schools, large companies, and sporting events, among other things.

Derek’s not sure in which area he wants to work; they all have advantages and disadvantages. It may come down to who’s hiring.

We flew to Ottawa, Ontario yesterday. While passing through Security at Phoenix Airport, I had to put my brand new $1000 laptop in one tub, and my shoes, wallet, etc. in another. After passing through the X-Ray machine, I nested the shoe tub on top of the laptop tub and took them to a bench to put my shoes back on. Got everything out of the tub — it was empty, let’s go!

Got to Ottawa, opened up my suitcase, and — extreme sinking feeling — no laptop. Frantically looking everywhere, when it dawned on me. It was left behind between the nested tubs.

Call Phoenix TSA Lost and Found. No answer — too late. Slept OK, but hard to relax completely. This morning, I called back, and they had found it! Fortunately the “empty” tubs after the X-Ray machine are only handled by TSA personnel. If it had been left anywhere else it would not be so likely to have been returned.

Boy, do I feel stupid, but lucky. Derek will pick it up for me. My presentation was on it, but fortunately my colleague Les has another laptop with a duplicate presentation (just in case!), so we are in good shape.

Gisele and I are spending next week in Ottawa, Canada.

I’m presenting at the annual meeting of “The Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections” in Ottawa, Canada, on some databasing software I’ve developed in collaboration with ASU.

Should be a fun trip. The weather there looks nicer than here (about 75 degrees there vs. about 100 here).

Not me, but Gisele and Devon left last night for Taiwan. Devon will spend the summer there, studying Mandarin. Gisele will be there just 2 weeks.

I was thinking of going too, but Derek is going through finals and Apollo is wearing a “cone of shame”, so I have too many responsibilities here.

Devon has decided to pursue graduate studies in Applied Physics at Cornell University, in Ithica, NY. Cornell is ranked 7th in the nation for Physics graduate programs (US News and World Report), so he could have done a lot worse.

He had originally applied for the PHD program in Physics, but later regretted it, feeling that the 6 or so years it would require were too much. When they offered him admission to the MS program instead, he jumped at it.

In the mean time, he has given notice at his job in Rancho Cucamonga, California, and is preparing to spend the summer in Taiwan intensively studying Chinese and having fun.

(Interesting note: Mom has traced our ancestry back to the Cornell family. We apparently are distant cousins, many times removed, of Ezra Cornell, the founder of the University.)

Apollo had a seizure again last night, the first one since October. The vet said that unless they happen more than once a month, nothing needs to be done.

I caught much of it on video and was going to post it here, but both Derek and Gisele were disturbed by the idea, so I won’t.

Devon is in Rochester, NY this weekend where he was invited by the Rochester University Institute of Optics.

This is one of the universities he applied to for Graduate Study. They accepted him, and he’s there now to review their offer.

The Institute, funded partly by the US Department of Energy, has one of the most powerful lasers in the world. Devon did most of his under-graduate work on high-energy lasers, and is interested in their programs. He has some other offers he will consider too, and it’s possible he will put off graduate school for a year in order to travel and be a young man.

Devon gave notice at his job in California as he prepares to take the summer off and decide his future.

This semester Derek has been training to be an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician). As part of his training he worked a shift in the Emergency Room at Banner Desert Hospital (used to be Desert Samaritan) in Mesa.

It sounded very interesting, as he shadowed a certified EMT on his job, treating wounds, taking vitals, and working with Doctors and Nurses.

Most EMTs end up working either Emergency Rooms, or riding in Ambulances or Rescue Vehicles. The course ends in May, and at that time he may have to decide what sounds most interesting, or see what’s available.

Many EMTs eventually work up to Paramedic, Nurse or Physician. These are options for the future, but who knows?; this may just be a temporary side trip en route to another unrelated career. But it’s a good skill to fall back on if he needs it.