…to the Goldberg family.
Category Archives: General
Intern Of The Year
This guy should get a raise:
“When I heard gunshots, my first instinct was to head toward the congresswoman to make sure that she was okay,” Hernandez said in an interview with ABC’s Christine Amanpour Sunday. “Once I saw that she was down, and there were more than one victim, I went ahead and started doing the limited triage that I could with what I had.”
Hernandez, who is 20, told ABC that he simply “shut off all emotion.” “I knew I wouldn’t be good to anyone if I had a breakdown,” he recalled. He noted that he went to help because he had “limited experience in triage and training.”
He lifted up Giffords’ head, because he feared she might choke on her own blood, and used smocks from the grocery store’s meat department as a makeshift bandages for her and other victims.
Giffords, he says, was alert, but couldn’t talk.
“‘Just grab my hand to let me know that you’re okay,'” he recalls telling the injured lawmaker.
According to Hernandez, she squeezed his hand, and he didn’t let go, riding with her in the ambulance to the hospital, where she was rushed into emergency surgery.
“It was probably not the best idea to run toward the gunshots,” he told the Arizona Republic. “But people needed help.”
You never know how you’re going to react to such events, but he definitely performed far above and beyond.
Best Wishes ToRIPSpeedy Recovery, Rep. Giffords
This is horrible:
Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot along with three of her aides by a gunman Saturday morning outside a grocery store in Tucson while holding a public event, Fox News has confirmed.
Twelve others were shot as well at Giffords’ “Your Corner” event held at Safeway. The gunman is in custody.
Sounds like it may have been an assassination attempt. I doubt it was over space policy, though. I hope it’s not as serious as it sounds. I’m kind of surprised that a gunman could shoot twelve people in Tucson without being shot himself — at least when I lived there, over thirty years ago, a lot of people open carried, in holsters.
[Update a couple minutes later]
NPR is no reporting that she was killed, with six others. My deepest condolences to her friends and family. I had deep disagreements with her on policy, and hoped for her electoral defeat, but this should not happen in a republic.
Of course, expect that “violent” Tea Party to be blamed in 3…2…1…
[Update a few more minutes later]
More over at Hot Air. The reporting still seems to be confused, but Fox News has also confirmed that she is dead.
[Update a couple minutes later]
OK, now Fox is saying alive but in critical condition. I guess we just have to wait a while for the fog of events to clear.
[Update a while later]
Out of surgery and “responsive” (which beats the alternative, I guess). Condolences to friends and family of those who didn’t survive.
Low-Budget Disaster Prep
What Will Bloomberg Do About This?
Things are getting pretty bad in New York.
Oh, and speaking of King Nanny, I love Treacher’s suggestion: “If you really want Mayor Bloomberg to do something about the snow, just tell him that people are enjoying it.”
A Very Merry Christmas
To all my readers who celebrate it, whatever their beliefs. We’re having a quiet one, at home, with guests for dinner tomorrow.
[Update a few minutes later]
I got a Green Christmas. A lot of sequestered carbon emissions in my stocking. Again. Yay me.
[Update a while later]
Some worthwhile links for Christmas reading.
It Never Rains In Southern California
…but man, is it pouring now, with reportedly a lot more to come. It’s a real pineapple express, with a stream of moist air three thousand miles out from north of Hawaii. Glad I don’t live in the foothills. Hard to see how they’re going to avoid mudslides this week. But at least we’re building up snow pack in the Sierra.
An Exciting Night
I power washed the patio, balcony and stairs on Sunday, and didn’t get the washer put away, leaving it on the patio (which is upstairs, above the garage — our living area is upstairs and the bedrooms down).
Early this morning, about 1 AM, Patricia was awakened by noise on the patio. She thought she heard someone testing doorknobs, and there were other noises. Suddenly, the security light at the bottom of the stairs came on.
I got up to see what was happening, looked out the kitchen door, and saw a fire on the patio. I ran outside in bare feet, turned on the hose, and put it out. What you see below is the charred remains of the power washer.
Patricia called 911 while this was happening, and they sent a fire truck, even though it was under control. The firemen came, looked at it, and we all stood scratching our heads trying to figure out how it had seemingly spontaneously combusted. But the fire was out, and they shrugged and left.
After we got to bed, I think I figured out what happened. He or they were probably kids looking for an easy house to burgle, couldn’t get in, saw the washer, wondered what it was or how it worked, and picked up the nozzle and pulled the trigger. I had left it plugged in, and the power on. Even with power on, it doesn’t do anything unless the pressure in the hose drops when the trigger is pulled. Unfortunately, there was no water hooked up to it, because I’d turned off the hose and disconnected it when I finished spraying on Sunday, so probably the motor started running attempting to pressurize the non-existent water, which also acts as a coolant. I’m guessing that they held it on long enough that the motor overheated and caught the plastic case on fire, at which point he/they panicked and ran down the stairs.
I’m guessing they won’t be back any time soon, though I suppose we should report it to the police, just for statistical purposes. Normally, it’s a pretty safe neighborhood. This is the first burglary attempt of the house while we were home, as far as I know, in the almost twenty years that we’ve lived here.
[Early afternoon update]
Patricia points out that I’m understating the noise level (I was still half asleep). We actually heard things being shoved around up there, and the patio table was definitely in a new position. If it wasn’t burglars, it was very strong, aggressive and curious raccoons. I’m still going with human-caused disaster.
My Life With Jessica
Described here. Though she’s not quite as creative. Generally, she sleeps on the desk by the monitor, and when she wants food, she walks over the keyboard, sits on the edge, and reaches out to tap me on the face with a paw. Also, I’ve noticed that she doesn’t want food so much as attention and service. She’ll complain, even when there’s still food in the bowl, and demand that I add more. I don’t have to add a lot more, but I have to go through the motions.
The Holiday Sales Continue
…over at Amazon