Tip #21. You can learn how useful wisdom is by asking an RT with 20 plus years experience

So you are an RT student. You have a question.  Perhaps it's a question you need to know for a test. Perhaps it's information you need for your RT or CRT test. Then you need to know the answer for that. 

Yet sometimes I witness RT students asking us RTs questions. Well, actually it happens a lot. And most of the time we have answers. And the reason we have answers is that it's the information we find useful and that we use, at least from time to time. 

But if you ask an RT of 20 plus years a question, and they don't know the answer, it's probably because it doesn't matter. The answer might be useful to help you pass a test or impress someone. But it's not a bit of wisdom needed in the real world. 

Example: 

Student: "What type of a ventilator is this?"

RT of 20 years: "It's a Servi i." 

Student: "No. I mean, is it flow cycled or pressure limited." 

RT of 20 years. "I have no idea. I remember studying those in school. But it's information I forgot as soon as the test was over." 

This information is not important to the typical therapist. It may prove helpful to engineers who are developing such equipment. But it's not helpful in the field of RT work. 

Example #2. 

Student. "When peak pressure and static pressure both increase, what does that mean?"

RT of 20 years: "It means that your compliance has decreased. It means your lungs are stiffer. Severe COVID-19 is a perfect example of this. Their lungs are stiff, and therefore there pressures are higher. This is why we use low tidal volumes and high respiratory rates and are happy with some degree of respiratory acidosis." 

Student. "Wow! I am impressed with your knowledge.

This information is very helpful in the line of RT work. I guarantee there will be one or maybe more questions about peak and static pressures. There may be a question about what it means if they both go up. There may be questions about what happens when the gap between them increases. So, know this wisdom. You will definitely benefit from this wisdom when you are a real RT.

If you ask this question to an RT who has worked at a certain hospital for 20 years or longer. And that therapist doesn't know the answer. Then it probably doesn't matter. 

Think about it. That RT has worked 

Here's why I will never own an electric car

My friends were trying to convince me to buy an electric car. This conversation was spawned by the increasing gas prices. They told me since gas prices are so high, this would be a good incentive to by an electric car. 

I said, "I will never in my life buy an electric car." 

And of course, my friends were concerned about this. "Why would you not want to buy an electric car? Are you selfish? Do you not care about the Earth?'

I said, "None of that. The reason I won't ever buy one is that I am 51 years old. And right now the least expensive electric car is $100,000. And that is $88,000 over my budget. Plus electric cars require new batteries every few years. And I don't want to have to pay $3-5,000 for a new battery, or whatever that cost is. For me, it's more cost-effective to buy a car run by gas. And I am certain that the price will not come down to fit into my budget by the time I need a new car.

"Plus, I continued. I only buy used cars. So, by the time a cost-effective electric car is on the market, plus one that fits into my budget, I am certain I will be long gone by then." 

And of course, there are others reasons too. I live in Michigan. I have learned that batteries have moving parts in them. They have lithium-ion batteries including the ions. And in cold weather, they freeze the cathodes. And this makes it pretty much a solid rather than a jelly. And if these ions can't move the battery cannot make the electricity needed to start the car. 

Also, in cold weather, there is no wind. So, there won't be any way for the wind turbines the liberals want to create electricity with to spin. And when this happens there will be no way for people to charge those batteries for those electric cars. So, unless some engineer figures a way to solve this problem. And enough time passes for the patent to expire and the cost to come down to earth. There is no way an electric car will be available for me during my lifetime. 

And this is just me being honest. It's me looking at the bit picture. And this is something liberals fail to do: look at the big picture. They just look at the idea and say, "Yeah, this is what we need." And this is another good example of idealism (liberalism) versus realism (conservatism). 

America Is NOT inherently racist

Critical race theory. 

It’s a theory that America is inherently racist. And it was true prior to the 1960. But it is not true today. But, according to democrats, it is true.

In the 1960s people were defined by their color. Today, people are not defined by their color. In fact, we even had a 2 term black President. This in itself proves America is not systemically racist. But don’t tell a democrat that.

Democrats want you to believe America is still systemically racist. That all our systems are racist from the top down. And this is simply not true.

Studies show that COVID hit the black population harder than the white population. So, democrats think this is proof of systemic racism in the healthcare system. So this explains why Governor Whitmer said the hospital system is inherently racist. That some poeple are being turned away just because they are black. Which just isn’t true.
Still, based on this theory, she has decided that we healthcare workers need race training.

This is B.S. I have been working in a hospital for 25 years not. And I have never once seen a patient turned down due to color. If they choose not to seek treatment, it is their own fault for not coming in. It is not our fault.

In fact, it is even a law saying that we cannot turn anyone down for treatment. There would be peokple going to jail if what governor Whitmer said was true.

1699 project.

A project that claims that the Revolutionary war was fought to preserve the institution of slavery. And this is not true. Still, the left is insisting that this be taught in schools. In California it is already being taught. So, our kids are basically being taught a lie by the left leaning school systems.

The founding fathers from the north were not racist

The left is trying to insinuate that America is inherently racist. That we are systemically racist. And it begins with the founding fathers. And it includes the "good guys," the founding fathers who represented the north. 

They argue that the north was against counting slaves as people. The north wanted slaves to count as 3/5 of a person. While in the south they wanted slaves to count as 5/5 of a person. They say this was because the south considered slaves as people and the north did not. And therefore the north was racist. 

This is poppycock. The truth is that the south wanted slaves counted as 5/5 because they wanted more representatives. They figured this would give them more of a say in Congress And this would give them more power to spread slavery. 

The north wanted slaves to count as zero because they hated the institution of slavery. They figured they would have more representation. And they figured if slaves counted as zero this would give them more power over getting rid of the institution of slavery. 

They also claim that George Washington was a racist. Their proof of this is that he owned slaves. Yet they fail to note that Washington put in his will that his slaves would be freed upon his death. And he also supported the Northwest ordinance. 

What is the Northwest ordinance. It banned slavery. It made it so that any new state was not allowed to have slaves. The confederate slaves did the exact opposite. The confederate constitution had it so any new state had to allow for the institution of slavery. 

So, there are some facts for you. The north was not racist. America is not inherently racist. There is not systemic racism in America.

northwest ordinance

5 Theories For Mass Shootings Other Than Guns

Lots of mass shootings lately. The left blames republicans as usual. Clinton blamed Rush Limbaugh for what the Unibomber did. Trump gets the blame for the current shootings. The left things taking away guns from law abiding citizens is the solution. Until we start looking at the root cause of the problem here, we will never get to the bottom of it.

So, what is really going on? Does anyone ever do any real investigating. What do these thugs have in common? Again, it's not politics. They come from all political ideologies. It's not Trump. These shootings occurred with Clinton, W, and Obama in the White House too. It's not guns. People have had guns for thousands of years. So, what really is going on here. Some theories are listed here.

Loss of sanctity of life.

There are a lot of changes going on in our country lately. There are liberals calling for abortions even after a baby is born. Abortions are now the leading cause of death in the United States. So, there are some who think this is the cause. There is a loss of value for the sanctity of life.

Attacks on Christianity.

The Church used to teach values. It taught principles. These were never changing. So, people grew up with a conscience. This conscience prevented people from causing harm to others. They were taught to respect others. "Do on to others as you'd have them do unto you." So, in times of trouble, people used to turn to the Church. They did this when they were looking for meaning and purpose in life. Today, the Church is attacked all the time by the media and the left. There's not one iota of religion left in public schools, of which most kids attend.

Redefinition of family.

Thousands of years ago people realized the value of the family. The nuclear family was learned to be the best way of raising kids. Kids learned values from their parents. They learned about how their country came to be. They learned patriotism. And this was passed on from generation to generation. Now, the nuclear family is being blown up to smithereens. You have something like 90% of black kids being born to unwed mothers. Many seldom see their dads. And you have people on the left saying kids don't need moms or don't need dads. I believe there's some truth to the notion that boys learn best from men, and girls learn best from girls. And boys also learn from moms. Boys are especially affected by the breakdown of the family. In 1960, only 22% of black children were born to single parents. Today it's 70%. This rise occurred almost completely parallel with the rise of the welfare state. A high percentage of these kids grow up to live in poverty. They are often lead to a life of crime. The government has now become the father. On the contrary, 8% of black married couples live in poverty. So, you can't tell me this doesn't have something to do with it. My kids often watch the Disney channel. Rare is it that you have a TV show with a traditional family. Most families are divided families. And the moms are generally very ineffective parents.

Fakebook and Social Media

A big part of the problem is a yearning for attention. People want to be famous. They want what every one else says they have but probably don't. I'm talking about Facebook. People lie on Facebook. That's why I call it Fakebook. They take pictures of themselves on vacations. They talk about how awesome their lives are. When in reality their lives are as miserable as any one else's. And so you have kids that are impacted by this. They yearn to have what everyone else says they have but they don't. They can't seem to get the attention that they want. And so they resort to violence. Look at how much attention these killers get. They get their manifesto's published in the New York Times. They get all the front pages. They become famous. They finally get the attention they yearn for.

We are depressing our kids

By we I mean liberals. Kids are taught the world is going to end in 10 years, and it's all our fault. We are told we are all going to die. And we are told the world is over populated. And you wonder why study's show kids are depressed. As noted above, Fakebook is depressing. You see that everyone else has what you don't and what you can't afford. You get depressed by hanging around social media. So, this may very well contribute the the mass shootings.

What to make of this? 

These are just some theories. They may be contributing factors to mass shootings. There's really no way to know for sure without actually looking at the problem, and investigating it. And that won't happen as long as we toss blame at others besides those thugs who pull the trigger.

My point here is that it's a cultural problem. No law will stop these shootings. It may make people feel like they are doing something. It may give lawmakers an opportunity to show they care. But, no law will solve any of these problems. The solution will only come by investigating.

Mass Shootings Result In More Calls For Gun Control

There have been three mass shootings in the past week. They were all random acts of terror. It's a horrible thing. We all agree this is devastating. And then we started hearing people blaming one another. Mostly it's the left blaming republicans, society, guns, and the 2nd Amendment. I see this happening all over Fakebook.

It's so hard not to respond. For the most part I'm nice. I try not to say anything, especially to the nice lady's. I try not to comment on their posts. One lady said, "Another mass shooting. Damn you and your 2nd Amendment rights." Another wrote, "The only thing we can blame is guns."

Really? Like, why don't we just blame the person who pulled the trigger? Why don't we ever just hold that person responsible? Why don't we do some real investigating? Like, what do these thugs have in common. That's hard to determine. People on the left like to blame republicans. But, the ideological platforms of these thugs is all over the place. Some are radical left, some radical right, some cut right down the middle. So, ideology doesn't seem to play a role.

Is it guns? Well, the 2nd Amendment was approved in 1791. There were no mass shootings until the past 30 years. So, guns aren't the problem. Besides, some thugs use cars to just run over crowds. Others use knives. There are other weapon besides guns.

So, it's quite clear the anti-gun people, the proponents of gun legislation, are using these mass killings as reasons to advance their agenda. Heck, some democrats are even using these tragedies as strategies for campaign fundraising.

But you have a lot of young people. You have a lot of people who barely follow politics. And of course you have many who are well aware of politics. And they chant things like, "Well, we have to do something."  And that something is always government intervention. And that usually results in more laws. And that usually results in less freedom.

Think of it this way, 99.9% of American gun owners had nothing to do with those crimes. 99% of gun owners are law abiding citizens. Why is it that they are always blamed for these mass shootings. The National Rifle Association is always blamed by people on the left. Its like clockwork: Mass shooting equals attacks on the NRA and gun rights.

Truly, I don't know what the solution is. I do have some theories I will discuss in my next post. But, I'm quite confident blaming republicans won't solve anything. Taking away more freedoms won't solve anything. In fact, all that's going to do is piss off more people.

Days of Depression

I had a friend confide to me that she feels depressed sometimes. Of course, and then she pulls herself out of it. And then there's that feeling of euphoria that follows. Then you appreciate what you have all the more.

I thought it was neat she shared this. And I shared that I experience the same sometimes. I think it's normal. And it sucks when you can't think of anything good. But it's always a neat feeling when you pull yourself out of it. It's neat those moments when you truly appreciate what you have.

And while it sucks, it can be good too. I mean, I think that depression, when it just occurs sometimes, is Gods way of saying, "Something you're doing is wrong. You need to back up. You need to stop. "

I mean, I think that's why you have hangovers after drinking too much. And that's why alcohol makes you feel depressed. It's Gods way of saying, a little is good, but what you did last night was too much. Slow down!

For me, I'm most likely to have those depressed days after I take on too much responsibility. Or maybe they occur after an event that makes me very anxious or otherwise uncomfortable. Or I make a change in my life, or try to, and then realize I don't really want to do this.

I don't want to get too personal here. But, a good example I can think of is when I applied for a new job about 15 years ago. I felt excited about the prospect of getting a new job in a new city.

But, then once I was interviewed, and the shock of all the new things I'd have to learn hit me, depression hit. And the cure for the depression was to not answer the phone when they called to tell me I had the job. And to stay in the job I already have and am already comfortable with.

I think it's moments like this that help you to appreciate what you have.

Some people are good with change. They can just jump from one job to another without even thinking about it. And this is great for them as it sets them up nicely for new work, new excitement, better opportunities, and more money

Not this guy. Things must go slow. Change must be slow and easy. It does hold me back some. It prevents me from taking on more responsibility. It probably prevents me from making more money. But, oh well, 'm fine with it.

Just as my friend is fine with her life. And she has a good life. And she noted she realized this the moment she pulled herself out of her days of depression.