ShowMeBlog

Jim Howard is cool

  They came and installed a new air conditioning unit.  I am surfing the Internet and writing this and I am cool.  I am a cool dude.  Smile

  I watched a great movie today on DVD.  The movie is "Where the heart Is" and it was excellent. 
  "Novalee Nation is a pregnant 17-year-old from Tennessee heading to California with her boyfriend Willie Jack, but is abandoned by him at a Wal-Mart store in Sequoyah, Oklahoma. Novalee has no job, no skills and only $5.55 in her pocket, so she secretly lives in the Wal-Mart until her daughter Americus is born six weeks later. Novalee decides to raise her daughter and rebuild her life in Sequoyah, with the help of eccentric but kind strangers. Based on the best-selling novel by Billie Letts." Written by Stephen Hughes 
  I am a big Natalie Portman fan and this is another great movie for her.  Casting was just great for this movie.  Everyone was just wonderful in their parts.  Hell I want to move to that small town and live with all those odd people.  Sally Field was just in the movie for a few minutes but did a wonderful job.  Great movie.  It was made in 2000 and I never heard about it. 

Technorati Tags: where the heart is, sequoyah, natalie, portman

Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight

  The air conditioner repairman came out today.  The AC unit is on the roof by the way.  The fan was burned out.  This is an old AC unit (about 1991).  It would cost about $400.00 just to replace the fan and we could not get one until Monday or later.  The land lord decided to put in a new AC unit.  Tomorrow at 10 AM they will start installing a new AC unit here. 

Hospital Security

  Here is a comment that was posted to ShowMeBlog.

 

"Dear Mr. Howard: I viewed a couple of your stories on youtube about hospital security. I have worked in security at a hospital for ten years. The problems is, the security officers have no training, and we are always understaffed. We have a police officer (LT) who is in charge of our program and one sgt. (supervisor). We currently have only 8 officers in a nearly 600 bed hospital. I've been asking for training for the officers for years, and to be better staffed, but no one is doing anything about these problems. What is your advice? Thank you, Anthony Jordan"

  First let me thank you for the question.  Let me also thank you for your service to your community.  A hospital is the heart of a community.  People are born in hospitals, give birth and die and in between think of all the time we spent at hospitals.  Hospitals are a key part of homeland security.
  You have given ten years of your life in the service of the people of your home town.  I am sorry you don't get more credit and respect for it.  But you know that everyday you help people.  I am sure many of them thank you each day.
  You are also trying to be professional and make your department professional.  I am sorry your not having more luck.  It is a hard battle.  Hospital management now look at the spread sheets and the balance sheets and think less and less about patient care.  Of course they would never admit to that last point.
  They look at security as a loss.  They do not see you adding to their bottom line.  They see money going out and none coming in from security.  You and I know they are wrong.  We know that someone raped in a parking lot can cost them big time in PR and in a tort court case.  We know that simple things taken care of by security save them money each day;   reporting spills on the floor, getting burned out lights on,  turning off lights and other things to save power, finding pumps and motors and other hard ware that needs repair before they break and cost more money or cause a fire or some other problem.  
  Your the first person many people see when they come to a hospital.  Well I do not have to tell you all this you know it.
  You did not mention if you have a department head that is director of security.  I suspect you do not.  My guess is that some one like the director of plant operations speaks for you at meetings.  I am sure he is thinking about his own department.  It would help if you had a department head for safety and security but that is sort of out of your hands.
  Having a police officer as head of your force, I bet, does not help you much.  He is in "police" mode and not safety, security and service mode.  
  I agree 8 officers for a 600 bed hospital is not enough staff.  I worked at a 350 bed hospital, it was in a very bad area, and we had 10 officers.  We had two shot out of ten.  One was killed.  Even if your hospital is in a good area 8 officers is not enough.
  Well my advice, for what it is worth, try and get a department head.  Hope you get a security professional to head your force.  Write reports on everything.  I mean everything;  spills, lost and found and everything.  See that the person or persons that are higher up in hospital administration get copies and get the stats.  How many escorts you all do and doors found open.  How many calls for service.. everything. 
  I hope all the other officers try and act professional.  The hospital staff is professional and you need to show them that you have your own profession and that your part of the hospital team. 
  I wish you luck.  Take care of yourself.  Your number one rule should be to go home safe each day to your family.

This is me in 1973 at St. Joseph Hospital in Kansas City, MO.
The area was so bad that doctors and people did not want to come to the hospital.  We had a security staff of ten.  We had two shot in the line of duty in less than a year.  One was killed. 
The hospital had to close and move to a new location due to people not wanting to go to the hospital.
That might not happen today because people have insurance that forces them to go to certain hospital.
But still people need to feel safe and secure. 
 

Technorati Tags: hospital, guard, security, safety, osha

The start of a hot day in Miami FL

  I woke up at 0500 and put the battery back in my cell Palm device and the thing now works.  So the only thing I know that got a zap from the storm and is still not working is the air.  I got all the windows in my room open.  It is going to be a hot one today in Miami.

  Why did I wake up at 0500?  I had to wake up Russell.  He has to be at work soon.  He got home about midnight last night.  He worked from 0700 to 2330 yesterday.  He is a manager and they just gave him a big increase in pay and put him on salary and not hourly pay.  I am not sure how many hours they are going to have him working now.

Lightning Storm hit us today

  My Palm cell phone was not the only victim of the lightning storm today.  It took out the blower on the central air.  I called the land lord and they are going to call a repair service early tomorrow.  It is going to be a warm night and it will be a hot day until they get the air fixed.

  I picked up my two medications.  They cost $60.00 and that will leave me with just about zero money for the rest of the month.  I may lose some weight this month.
That seems to be the only way I can lose weight - not eating.

  I got three DVDs today; "Where the Heart Is", "Reno 911 Miami" and "Gray Matters."

Technorati Tags: air, ac, air conditioning, lightning

Storm - I got wet and lightning got my Palm

  We had a long and heavy rain storm today.  I had a appointment with the doctor.  Ken gave me a ride to the office.  That water was deep on the streets and in the parking lots.  Well the doctor was not in the office today.  They had called my old phone number to let me know.  I have an appointment now on the 18th of this month.  I walked back home in a big heavy rain storm with lots of lightning all around me.
The following photo is me when I got to the house.
 

I am not sure if you can tell how wet I am in the photo above.  I was wet.

  I did not shut my computer down during the lightning storm.  My cell phone is was a Palm Treo 650.  My computer closed a program and opened a couple of screen after a lightning strike.  I checked the computer and it looked OK.  I then check my cell phone and found it attempting to hot sync.  It was also making clicking sounds.  I could not shut it off.  I had to take the battery out of the cell phone to get it off.  I think it is fried.  I think it is a shot, broken ...well you get the idea.  I will mess with it some more..but it looks like I am going to be without a cell phone and with out a PDA.

  I wish I could have seen the doctor today.  I feel bad.  I have to walk up tonight and pick up my two medications from CVS.  I am out of both of them. 

Technorati Tags: rain, storm, lightning, palm, treo

45 Muslim doctors planned US terror raids

  This all may have been on the news but it is new to me.  I found a story on Telegraph.co.uk saying that "45 Muslin doctors planned US terror raids" on an extremist Internet chat site.  I do not know anything about the Telegraph and maybe it is a site like Fox "news" and you can not believe it.



  Of course security people have to pay attention to all this sort of stuff.  But on the other hand do we need to worry very much about a bunch of people that say they are going to do an attack in a public chat room on the Internet?  I would also be willing to bet that half the people in the chat room were security people from the US, UK and other Western nations.
  They talked about a plan and that "night brothers" would attack the Mayport Navel Base in Jacksonville, Florida.  Yes you have to pay attention to anything you pick up like this..but these sound like a lot of guys talking a lot of crap.  They, I guess, are Muslims and they can't talk about sex, beer, wine and nude woman so this is the only thing left for them to talk about.

 
 

Technorati Tags: muslim, muslim doctors, terror, raid, mayport, jacksonville

Al Gore's Son

Al Gore's son arrested
"I would like to hear what your reaction is to this article. I bet it would be a lot different if it were happening to oh I don't know ......Bush or any other republican. grin.

Al Gore's son arrested for drug possession
Al Gore's son was arrested early Wednesday on suspicion of possessing marijuana and prescription drugs after deputies pulled him over for speeding, authorities said."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19601277/from/ET/

  No Terry if this had been one of the Bush kids I would not have made mention of it or made a comment about it.  The reason that people do comment about President Bush and his arrest for DWI and his being a reform drunk and about his past cocaine use is because he is President of the United States. 
  Remember how every Republican repeated over and over again about Clinton and how he "never inhaled?" The problem is that the right and Republicans   try and claim "family values" and paint others as evil and bad.  That is the reason that the past problems of the Bush kids get talked about.
  The fact that Vice President Dick Cheney has a lesbian daughter only is talked about because he and the right wing attack the left and charge them with being sinners on the subject. 

  Now back to Al Gore's son.  He is 24 years old. He is an adult with a degree from Harvard.  He is not like the Bush kids living at home with mom and dad and going around holding them self out as the core of family values.  
 
  The problems with Republicans is that they live in glass houses and the keep throwing stones.  That is one of the problems I have with them.  They pretend to be better than other people. 

  I have never had a drink in my life.  I have never done any drugs.  I have never done marijuana.  But I am a liberal. The Republicans drink, do drugs and point at other people and call them evil and sinners.

 

  Above is the front page of the Fox "news" web site.  They have the story about Al Gore's son being arrested.  Just in case you wonder the story is also on the front page of the CNN web site.  I do not think anyone is getting a free ride on this story.
 

Technorati Tags: al gore, bush, gop, republicans

Our Chat Room

  Please visit my chat room.  It is an excellent chat room.  We are not getting any people using it.  The few that have found their way to the chat room comment about how nice it is.

 

I have the chat set to "float" and that means you can log in and get into the chat room and have the chat any place on your desktop and then you can do other things.  You can read your mail or surf the Internet and still be in the chat room. (You can not close the page that the chat is floating from but you can minimize that page and open other pages.
Please use the chat room.  If I do not respond right away when you enter the room do not run off.  I may be working on a web page or a document and not see you in chat for a bit.  Also if there are others in the chat room chat with them.

Technorati Tags: chat room, para, hnbbs, hnb, howard, notebook, showmeblog, showmecam, howardcam

Independence Day

  Today is Independence Day (Fourth of July) in the United States. 
  "The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more."
John Adams (OK so he was off by a couple of days.)

  Both Russell and Ken have to work today.  I do not have any special plans for today.  But it is a great day for the United States of America.
  (We should thank the French today.  We would not have got our independence if it were not for the help of the French.  We can go back to hating them tomorrow.)

  Woman dies as family watches - see the CNN story.  Please be safe today.  I have seen a lot of people hurt by fireworks over the years.  I remember one sad case were a father put out the eye of his 3 year old son.  I was on duty when the kid came into the ER.  Let me tell you the father just could not forgive himself.  There is so much danger with fireworks.  Please take care. 
It is not just fireworks.  There are car accidents and boating accidents.  Today is a great day for a great nation.  Take care of your self and your family and friends. 

Technorati Tags: independence, fourth of july, john adams