Peace And The "Q" Word

It's Monday morning, and I'm home alone. Well, except for the two cats and the dog, but they're all asleep at the moment, so they don't count. My wife's at work, the kids are at school, and I'm on day three of my normal four days off.

About those four days.... Almost nobody that doesn't work in Fire or EMS can figure out my schedule. My agency works what's known as a Berkeley schedule. (Yes, after the city in California. No, that doesn't mean we spend our time at work smoking dope and protesting. Most days, anyway.) I usually describe it as a nine day work week, with a four day weekend. I work a 24 hour shift every other day, and after the third shift, I have four days off. So last week, I worked Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I'm off Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Next week, I will work Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday, and so on. It makes sense once you actually start working it. The point of all this is that MY weekend doesn't necessarily correspond to the rest of the world's weekend. As a result, if my wife is working, which she normally does on at least some of my days off, and the kids are in school, I wind up at home alone after the kids get on the school bus.

I don't really mind the peace and... well, that brings us to our title, doesn't it? One of the greatest taboos in EMS is saying the word "quiet". Bad things happen when someone does that. It angers the Call Gods, who bring their wrath down upon us, usually in the form of a VERY busy day, or a really bad wreck, or worst of all, the phenomenon known as "explode-a-poo". Needless to say, the wrath of the Call Gods can be minimal when compared to the wrath of the Coworkers, and EMS providers are noted for creative problem solving on the fly. Anger us at your own risk. So we NEVER (OK, almost never.) say that word in reference to our day. It's OK to use it in the generic, particularly when the topic of conversation is noise, but not when you're talking about how the day is going. So don't do it. And don't polish your boots while on duty, and don't make plans to watch a TV show you've really been looking forward to but didn't bother to set your DVR for at home, and most of all, NEVER, NEVER plan to go to bed early and sleep all night. The Call Gods hate it when you do that, and will punish you severely for your sloth.

I like my days at home alone. Once the kids are gone, I can eat a leisurely breakfast and drink my coffee in peace. I've already gotten two loads of laundry done, and the last one is about to go into the washer. The dishwasher has been unloaded, and the few dirty dishes that wouldn't fit last night are in it and ready to be washed. Meals are planned for the day, and all the prep is done. (Actually, we're having Dr. Pepper Pulled pork tonight, so it's already cooking. It's a recipe from The Pioneer Woman, and it already smells AMAZING. Go to her site, it's well worth your time.) Animals are fed. The giant mat on Zoe's (Cat #1) side is worked loose, and if she'd quit biting me, I would be able to clip the last little bit of fur holding it on. I'm showered and dressed, and last but not least, I have complete control of the TV remote.

I'm bored.