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My Dad asked me to stop by his house and drop off his mail. “Just use your key and leave the mail on my chair.” He asked. So, on my way into town last Friday, that’s what I did. Nothing unusual about that.
However, this is the first time I’ve used the key he gave me – and it’s probably the first time I’ve been in his house without him there. I took the opportunity to look around. I felt a little sad, a little nostalgic, a little pity/compassion, and a little sad.
Several times in my EMS career, I’ve treated patients in their home, loaded them into the ambulance, and sent them off to the hospital. Often, I was not the lead paramedic, so I was left behind to clean up the mess and chaos. Medication boxes, IV disposables, and other assorted messes we make when we are busy treating someone in the midst of a medical crisis. Indeed, someone must lock up and secure the home too.
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I’ve had a love-hate relationship with The Church my entire life. I didn’t grow up going to church, though my grandparents took me now and then, but basically I grew up in a secular home – moral, but secular.
Then, around the age of 14 my whole family started attending church. This turned out to be a good thing. Despite the behavior-based model of Church, these few years of church kept me out of a lot of trouble during my high school years. But after awhile, I couldn’t take the guilt and shame of this kind of churchiantiy, and I bailed.
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Living in one of the most developed nations in the world gives me certain advantages. If my kid were to break a leg, I simply dial 9-1-1, and within minutes a highly trained team of professionals arrive to save the day. If I run out of cheese at 3 am, I can jump in my car, drive across the bridge, and buy more! If someone I love were to succumb to a horrible drug or alcohol addiction, we most likely will find a treatment center nearby where we can enroll them – and still visit on weekends.
It is awesome to have these services available. Down the street, around the corner, and about a mile away there is a gas station with the cheapest gasoline in the county. There are at least three restaurants with free wi-fi, a library, and even a computer repair shop. I, like many, love having these services available! I can have pizza, flowers, and/or books delivered to my house – anytime.
But let me get this straight – even though I love having these services, I don’t want them in my backyard! I don’t even want them visible – I just want them available. We need to find a way to deliver these services without the unsightly nuisance of the buildings. I mean, really! Why do we need that ugly Chevron station taking away from the quaint look and feel of our little town? Why do the firefighters have to make all that racket – two or three times a day, they blast through town – waking my kids from their naps, making me pull over, and disrupting my life. Can’t they limit their activities to the daylight hours – or better yet, between 9 and 5?
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As a Dad, and one with over 20 years in emergency services, my imagination sometimes runs away with me. For instance, it really bothers me when people I love get into a car and drive off. I’ve seen too many cars wrapped around utility poles to ever feel like a car is a safe tool. To combat those fears, I like to be prepared and take precautions – whether that be in a car, at home, or online.
For that reason, I thought I’d take a few moments to share with you some of my common sense approaches to Internet safety.
Last week I received this email through the comments section of this blog:
“You might not want to be posting to foursquare when your away from home while this website is so popular. http://pleaserobme.com/ I was checking it out for a story and your name came up first. It linked to your Twitter page which links to your blog, which has your Vcard with full address and contact info. Burglars call your home make sure your still out and about and then rob you blind. Sure, maybe it never happens to you but it still doesn’t hurt to be safe.”
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In August, when I knew my employment was ending, I contacted Wells Fargo Home Mortgage to see if we could work something out. My idea was that by refinancing, restructuring, or some such – we could make our savings go longer and they wouldn’t get stuck with another empty house. I emailed our mortgage associate, I sent a message via the Wells Fargo website, and I called. After three weeks, I heard nothing back.
So, again I sent emails and placed phone calls. A few days later I received a return call. I was instructed to send a cursory financial income/expense report and a “hardship” letter. I was provided a FAX number, but no address, no contact person, and certainly no email or web address. Already this process was inspiring doubt – I don’t own a FAX machine, and I certainly don’t have a landline to FAX from my PC. What century is this!?
