08-12-2016, 05:15 PM
The morning I was to leave for RotR, my dog Jingles collapsed. He had been constipated, and Stacy thought it might be good to get him moving so she tried to play ball with him and he had a syncopal episode. It was scary as he has an enlarged heart, and we thought it might be the final cardiac episode. So I left for the 5 hour commute to RotR with much trepidation. Despite my plans, my rider had a last-minute work conflict and had to bail, so I faced traffic and detours on my own. It was a depressing yet reflective ride. Of course, as soon as I arrived, there was a patient in restraint. We kept him there. He kept complaining he was uncomfortable, but every time we loosened his restraints, he tried to take a swing which made us uncomfortable, and it was our comfort over his, so he stayed there for a long time. The land added a huge water pond above where JAH Med is located, but that shifted the land significantly, somewhat skewing our facility. They did give us a lot more camping space, but it was deceptively rocky because of the land shift. Still, we all fit as snug as always.
One of our vols, a longtime RN, lost her 22 year old son the month before in a shocking car accident. I volunteered to lead a memorial, donned my Shaolin robes and did something akin to what I did for Dr. Skip, a founder of Rock Med, at Shoreline so many years ago. On top of that, a good responder friend had his friend commit suicide a week before - he was the one that found him - so I found myself in the grief counseling role again, something Rock Med has eschewed over the years, but it new to JAH Med (note that this year marked the 20th anniversary of the founding of JAH Med). I am good with these roles, but given that my mind was back at home with my family and my dog, my heart wasn't quite in the game. Unfortunately my iPhone still doesn't work out there, so I kept borrowing the Doc's phone - he's a good friend and even gave me his unlock code. The RN was a wreck, losing her only child, and that was a lot of being present with her. My responder friend buried his feelings well, but we also talked a lot. Most everyone knew about my dog, and most said the wrong things trying to help, but I appreciated the effort. I planned to leave early on Saturday instead of late on Sunday - once my JediNiteKrew was in on Friday night, I was really eager to leave. None of the acts really spoke out to me, and I felt I did what I needed to do there.
The first nite I cut the krew early because it was quiet, and just as I was about to leave myself, all sorts of missions arose that kept me up until 4:20. I had a krew around me and the 4 of us tackled everything. There was a chick who had tried to sneak some L in a iOS lip balm ball in her prison purse, but stuck it up so far that she couldn't get it out. ew. The doc extracted it, but the JNK were on hand because if he failed, she would quickly become our patient. There was an agro L woman who punched out a DJ on south beach. That took a lot of time and we worked with security to get her out. She didn't have a wristband - RotR is the most porous festival of all so sneaking in is child's play for the local nut bags. We took her to ground zero and were going to release her to PD, but someone drove up that security knew and took her to the next town. She was oriented, although tripping, just an asshole. South beach was it's usual pain in the butt. So far away, and pounding all night. Can't really dance because it's river rock. I went out with the crew the following night too, just for fun, and wound up awake until 4:20 again.
There was a fair amount of work for the JNK while I was there. Nothing too overwhelming, just constant. One good hardcore restraint - L again (note that Dead&Co and Phish just came through, so there was a lot in the community). Honestly, I wasn't in the game thinking about Jingles. That just sapped any compassion I might have had for our patients. Fortunately, the JNK stepped up and covered for me.
When I finally made my escape, some asshole pinned my car in by double parking about half an hour before I was going to leave (I know because I was loading out my car). Note that I had secured primo parking for a quick exit (JM was kind to provide me with an all access parking pass) and I was so ready to go. I was really pissed. Called in some favors from my JM friends and had that ride towed ASAP. Still, delayed my exit by 2+ hours.
In all fairness, RotR #32 went well overall. I was just off because of Jingles. He's doing better now. The vet gave him some new pain meds and I added some CBD pet tincture which helps him sleep. He mostly sleeps. I wish he'd eat more. Meanwhile we're all rather disappointed to miss Yosemite, but what can you do?
One of our vols, a longtime RN, lost her 22 year old son the month before in a shocking car accident. I volunteered to lead a memorial, donned my Shaolin robes and did something akin to what I did for Dr. Skip, a founder of Rock Med, at Shoreline so many years ago. On top of that, a good responder friend had his friend commit suicide a week before - he was the one that found him - so I found myself in the grief counseling role again, something Rock Med has eschewed over the years, but it new to JAH Med (note that this year marked the 20th anniversary of the founding of JAH Med). I am good with these roles, but given that my mind was back at home with my family and my dog, my heart wasn't quite in the game. Unfortunately my iPhone still doesn't work out there, so I kept borrowing the Doc's phone - he's a good friend and even gave me his unlock code. The RN was a wreck, losing her only child, and that was a lot of being present with her. My responder friend buried his feelings well, but we also talked a lot. Most everyone knew about my dog, and most said the wrong things trying to help, but I appreciated the effort. I planned to leave early on Saturday instead of late on Sunday - once my JediNiteKrew was in on Friday night, I was really eager to leave. None of the acts really spoke out to me, and I felt I did what I needed to do there.
The first nite I cut the krew early because it was quiet, and just as I was about to leave myself, all sorts of missions arose that kept me up until 4:20. I had a krew around me and the 4 of us tackled everything. There was a chick who had tried to sneak some L in a iOS lip balm ball in her prison purse, but stuck it up so far that she couldn't get it out. ew. The doc extracted it, but the JNK were on hand because if he failed, she would quickly become our patient. There was an agro L woman who punched out a DJ on south beach. That took a lot of time and we worked with security to get her out. She didn't have a wristband - RotR is the most porous festival of all so sneaking in is child's play for the local nut bags. We took her to ground zero and were going to release her to PD, but someone drove up that security knew and took her to the next town. She was oriented, although tripping, just an asshole. South beach was it's usual pain in the butt. So far away, and pounding all night. Can't really dance because it's river rock. I went out with the crew the following night too, just for fun, and wound up awake until 4:20 again.
There was a fair amount of work for the JNK while I was there. Nothing too overwhelming, just constant. One good hardcore restraint - L again (note that Dead&Co and Phish just came through, so there was a lot in the community). Honestly, I wasn't in the game thinking about Jingles. That just sapped any compassion I might have had for our patients. Fortunately, the JNK stepped up and covered for me.
When I finally made my escape, some asshole pinned my car in by double parking about half an hour before I was going to leave (I know because I was loading out my car). Note that I had secured primo parking for a quick exit (JM was kind to provide me with an all access parking pass) and I was so ready to go. I was really pissed. Called in some favors from my JM friends and had that ride towed ASAP. Still, delayed my exit by 2+ hours.
In all fairness, RotR #32 went well overall. I was just off because of Jingles. He's doing better now. The vet gave him some new pain meds and I added some CBD pet tincture which helps him sleep. He mostly sleeps. I wish he'd eat more. Meanwhile we're all rather disappointed to miss Yosemite, but what can you do?
Shadow boxing the apocalypse