Emergency!

   Yesterday morning I got a rather panicked e-mail from Journals Editor Jeff. "You gotta help me, it's an emergency!" he pleaded. "I have to go out of town for the weekend, and I'm leaving Thursday afternoon, and I haven't been successful in lining up a Guest Editor for this week, and I have to get something put together before noon on Thursday, and if you won't do it, I don't know what I'll do. [big breath] Please, Paul, I'm begging here."
   Yeah, I'm exaggerating. I think what he said was, "would you like to do it? If not, I'm sure I can find twenty other people who will." Or something like that. Anyway, ever the helpful type of guy, I agreed to step up and take the reins on short notice.
   In keeping with the emergency nature of this entry, I thought I would focus on something for which I have enormous respect and admiration: those who work in emergency services. I quite regularly will walk up to a police officer, firefighter, or EMS worker, offer to shake their hand, and thank them for the job they do.
   One of the earliest blogs I read here on AOL was by a gentleman named Scott Kirley, who worked in emergency medical services (read: he was an ambulance driver/attendant) in Honolulu, Hawaii, and blogged about his experiences. His entries were riveting, filled as they were with real life and death drama, and Scott had a way with words that kept people reading.
   Somewhere along the line Scott fell away from blogging, and his journal sat idle for many months. One day, not too long ago, Scott's girlfriend/fiancee posted a message there telling us that Scott was very busy, but thinking of us all. Today, when I went looking for it, I discovered that Scott's blog, Stories From My Ambulance, no longer exists. Wherever you are, Scott, I hope things are going well for you. We miss your words. If you have the chance one day, come back to us.

   Enough of the past. Here's to the present, and future of AOL journals. Listed below are several journals written by people who are employed in emergency services in some form. If you are an emergency service worker and have an AOL journal, send me an e-mail and I will add a link to your blog to this list.
   One word of caution: Some of the blogs linked below may use slightly colourful language at times. I don't remember seeing any outright profanity, but then again I probably wouldn't blink if I did, so just beware that I have not screened these blogs for content beyond a cursory glance at their front pages today. If you do see any language you consider mildly offensive, please just click the little red 'x' and move on to the next one.

Golf and Other Stuff... Sharon is a 911 operator and a golfaholic. Her journal  covers a wide variety of topics, including her job, and her golf obsession.

Becoming a Firefighter Brian is a volunteer firefighter who blogs about his experiences on the job and in training, and posts pictures of some weird-ass thing he saw in the pet store. (S-word on the front page - exercise your own discretion)(Also, that "weird-ass" term was a quote from his blog - so sue me).

Dead Investigations Dave is a cop. Currently a detective with major crimes, he has spent time as a sniper in a SWAT team as well. His stories of life on the job are peppered with humorous anecdotes about being out of shape, and jelly donuts. Not sure if those two things are related or not.

The Return of Kaseypalooza Kasey is training to be a paramedic. While she does that, she works as an EMT, a firefighter, and a security officer. Busy girl.

Life as a paramedic Mike is a paramedic with an ambulance service. His blog has been less active recently than in the past, but I always check it out to see if he has updated. Maybe a little traffic will encourage him to pick it up a bit. We're readin', Mikey.

Maria's Musings Maria is a volunteer firefighter and EMT in Illinois. She says her blog wasn't supposed to be about that, but that's just the way it has evolved.

Thin Blue Line (Dedicated to Fallen Officers On & Off duty for their Courage & Honor) The title kinda says it all here.

Behind the headset Donna is a 911 operator and former paramedic. Her AOL journal hasn't been updated in almost a year, but she appears to be blogging on MySpace now. Ah, well. We've lost another one to Internet Hell.

From Behind the Badge This is the non-AOL blog of an Ohio policeman who opines on virtually everything.

   That's it for emergency services blogs. At least that's all the one's I know about, or could find with a short Internet search. I will add to this list if I hear about any more.

   In addition to the above, I thought I would add a couple of links that I have come across recently that I found amusing. The first one is the first episode in an ongoing web comic called DM of the Rings. It is the story of The Lord Of The Rings told as if it were a Dungeons and Dragons campaign. Sure, it has a limited kind of geeky appeal, but I find it hilarious.
   The second link below is to the website of a company that makes blenders. It's a little bit of viral marketing. You will find there several videos of things being put into blenders that probably shouldn't be. Yeah, it's a little bit infantile, but does that really surprise you coming from me?

Twenty Sided ? Blog Archive » DM of the Rings I:The Copious Backstory

Will It Blend? | Presented By Blendtec

Oh yeah! I almost forgot. CarnivAOL. A new edition was published yesterday.

tags: Blogs, Blogging, Guest Editor