Currently, I reside in Thailand where I can live in relative comfort on less than my last apartment in the States cost. In the States, I'd be a street person. I'm happy that I'm not. In the States I worked as a firefighter leaving a position as Assistant Chief because of a divorce. Then I worked in EMS for about four years in Sacramento. That leaves out a lot though because I also taught EMT, first aid, CPR and the odd fire science course. Also as a fireperson I had lots of days off to work ambulances, in Emergency Rooms, as well as lots of varied jobs. Our department ran rescue and ambulance responses.
While working in the big Tomato I became active (after a year or so to get back to starting to enjoy life again) in teaching once more. During this time one class I taught along with a couple of friends was a refresher class at Yosemite to the park medics... most fun I'd ever had, first time at the park... teach, sightsee, party with the students... crawl back to the room... rinse, repeat.
I also became involved in working to improve both the EMS system and; through union activity, the lot of workers within it (not my first dabble) I don't Really think highly of unions in general, they are like NGOs (charities or non-governmental organizations: they start with noble intent but devolve into self-perpetuating money sinks, but unfortunately sometimes they are the only option.) After that I was asked to manage the company I'd led to strike... the media cut the fact that the strike threat was not a walk-out, but to cease collecting billing information... media coverage is like that.
At the same time I ended up first doing CQI for a neighboring county, then as acting EMS coordinator. (Minimum weekly hours 136, usually much more, and taking classes. ( insanity). One day one of the medics I worked with asks, "You want to go to Kuwait?" I say no. He says, but they pay $$$$. I say no. Then he says, "and you only have to work (less than a quarter the hours I was working). And you get 2 weeks off after every shift" I say no. "And they give you a ticket to anywhere you want to go AND spending money!" I say, maybe.
..."when you get there, someone will meet you at the airport, then you'll attend orientation for a couple of weeks before you actually start work"
Well... I WAS met...
...By an ambulance.
It seems I was on duty.
Kuwait is HOT, I was wearing a tank top shorts and Birkenstocks. All my possessions were being picked up by unknown gremlins. We go to eat. Now, if you've ever worked emergency services be ye cop, fire, or EMS, you KNOW the likelihood of a call is inversely proportional to your readiness be it eating, in the bathroom, or being dressed appropriately as I can attest. Less than an hour after landing in country I found myself landing again. In a helicopter; in a mine field. "Just step where they tell you, it'll be okay!" I thought my reply was appropriate, " You mean the same guys we're here to pick up? "
That was the only 'orientation' I ever got.
Since then I've worked in lots of places, made friends all over most of the world. Mostly, I've chosen lower paying jobs that let me do what I love instead of the high-dollar ones. Not because I'm some kind of saint, but because those jobs made me feel good about myself. I like helping people. I do it a lot. That's why I'm here. To make myself feel good. What makes me feel even better is teaching others. Ive been doing it my whole life. I have been under fire, but that used to happen in Sac. I've been in war zones, usually been places after major disasters to help out and improve disaster preparedness and EMS capability. Seen a lot. Got a few of the tee-shirts. My last job was in Liberia during the Ebola outbreak, I was invited back because I was there during the war training folks and setting up EMS for Monrovia, this time they wanted help to spread it nationwide... the folks I trained are, just like folks I trained in Kenya after the embassy bombing have been; passing on information teaching and working toward a vision. Since then funding for that sort of aid has dried up and several similar job offers never got going for lack of sponsors... so, I'm retired though I'd rather be working! One thing most of those jobs had in common was never enough resources, one must teach the ability to improvise from whatever is available. We EMS folk like to boast a bit about how well we can improvise but often it really is boasting. Mostly you call for another unit with more people and equipment. Now if your backup is hundreds of miles away though, it better not be boast.
Enough of that. I built my first computer from a kit, electronics has been a hobby forever. I think my first successful repair may have been a shortwave transceiver my father traded a six pack of beer for, not sure about that now.
I'm a cat person. I quit being a dog person because I've never had a patient with toothmarks in their skull from a cat, never been bitten by a cat while trying to help it's owner. I could go on. I've written a novel during my time here as an unemployed bum and hope to sell it (hero is a cat, of course) working on another, well, I was; need parts to get my own computer up again. (If you're an agent or know one let me know) I also have a farcebook page meant to provide a degree of support for the folks I've trained. I try to make it multilingual but the only languages I'm fluent in are English and Russian (with atrocious grammar). I can conduct a patient interview in Spanish and admit to middling ability in many others but not fluency. For a while I could type faster in Russian than English. Teaching without a translator will do that.
(I have two daughters all grown up and grandkids and feline folks.
I was a supporter of right to repair long ago, am a fan of Louis Rossmann's videos (and others).
I will add a bit here on why I support right to repair. In Kenya after the embassy bombing one thing I learned was that much of the donated goods came in the form of castoffs... I suspect tax write-offs were a factor. But among these were such things as medical equipment, often non-functional. Those things were a waste of money shipping. How is a hospital in Kenya going to afford repair? Simple answer, they can't particularly when it requires the manufacturer to come do it... it is to laugh. Otherwise one might cry.
On a more personal angle, I DETEST the practice of planned obsolescence. I've a perfectly good still useful laptop, upgraded CPU, upgraded GPU, and every time I open it to perform a fix something new breaks. Why? Because it was built to last no more than 10 years. It is now 17 years old. All of the plastic has lost flexibility, zlf cables delaminated, sockets breaking. Arrgh.
That ought to be enough for now, it takes forever going back to correct the dratted autocorrect on the phone! If I made errors I'll work on it later! Howdy to all!
If you ignored my warning NOT to click on Blackie you're probably a cat person too in which case I will relate the history of that photo. The aluminum you see on the right is a ladder. Blackie used to walk out on the ledge he is perched on (above a stairwell) and in the wee hours of course, realize that he couldn't reverse course and couldn't jump all that way down... and start crying for help. Thus the ladder. Fortunately my experience as a firefighter prepared me for rescuing felines in untenable situations. The electrical outlet and cord were placed there using paintshop pro 9. It is perhaps also worth mention that as a kitten Blackie did not walk, nor did he run. He hopped. Yes, like a rabbit. Wish I'd thought to get video of it. He no longer hops.
If you've read all the way down here maybe you'd like to see photos of some of the places I've Worked and descriptions of the circumstances. I still haven't put up a page on the second trip to Liberia during the Ebola outbreak, I don't have a lot of photos on that one, but I'll probably add some on that one of these days. This link will take you to a page of photo albums and summary intros on Farcebook. Then again, maybe not. Farcebook!