Christopher A. Wheeler

OK, besides all the commercials that constantly bombard us, here is what I hate about primary season. This year you have all these GOP candidates (and other years also Democrats) speaking negatively about their opponents. “Romney isn’t a true conservative” or “Paul is an anti-Semite” or whatever. What happens when somebody wins the nomination? If this former candidate now endorses the nominee, how credible is that? “Oh back last week I said Romney wasn’t conservative enough, but now I support him as our party’s candidate”. Jussayin.

So I’ve been looking around for external speakers for a Kindle Fire, in anticipation of receiving such a device for Christmas. I came across this speaker on Amazon. It looked so cute! The reviews were good, and for about $20 seemed like a pretty good deal.

It arrived yesterday. I opened it up and was surprised to see how small it was, about the size of a small orange. There isn’t a lot in the box: the speaker, a mini-USB cable, and a picture of a panda you can color… you know, if you have kids. On the bottom of the device there is an on/off switch, and a door for 3 AAA batteries (not included, optional). The 3.5mm headphone jack has a short cord that wraps around the panda when not in use. On the back is a mini-USB port, which you connect to the USB port on your computer for power if you so desire.

Using this product is easy, you provide power either through the batteries or the USB cable, and plug in the headphone jack into the appropriate location on your device. I did not have batteries so I did not test this feature; I have no idea how long batteries would power this. I plugged into the USB port on the computer and tested this speaker with both my Android powered phone, as well as my laptop computer.

I must say I was impressed. This is a tiny speaker but the sound is good for what you get. Serious audiophiles need not apply, but a serious audiophile I am not. The sound output through this from both my phone and my computer were significantly improved. I tested first on the phone using the default Music application playing “The Most Beautiful Girl In The Room” by Flight of the Conchords, then on my laptop, playing a variety of songs from my iTunes library, as well as selected scenes from the movie Moulin Rouge! The big criticisms I have from both my phone and laptop speakers is the low volume and lack of bass. This works.

If I had any criticisms to this product it would be the following: the cord is too short, limiting how far away the speaker can be placed from the source, and it isn’t rechargeable. To be fair, before I ordered this rechargeable wasn’t anything I was concerned about, but I came across another speaker on Amazon that IS rechargeable and in hindsight this would be a great feature. For anyone looking for an affordable solution to portable sound, I would recommend this.

The NCLEX-RN exam, as I have told many people, is the only exam that made me cry before, during (yes, DURING), and after taking it. I took and passed the boards a year ago today, and I’m using this anniversary to reflect upon my experiences over the past year and being a nurse in general.

I feel very grateful that I was able to finish nursing school and pass this exam. There isn’t a single day that has gone by in the last year that I haven’t thanked God for where I am now, and for the people who have been in my life to allow everything to fall into their places the way they did. My job is challenging, but at the end of the day, despite  the occasional complaining, I have a feeling of satisfaction. I feel like I’m doing something real and important and useful in my life and in the lives of others. These feelings exist even when it seems the patients aren’t receptive to change; at least I can say I tried.

I am grateful to have a real job career. I have a job where I started accruing paid leave from my very first day. Paid leave! I have health insurance. I have a 401(k). I make significantly more than the minimum wage (or less, think cab driving days) that I’d been accustomed to over the past dozen+ years. These were foreign concepts to me before.

I hear complaints that nurses don’t make enough. Yes, we work hard, and maybe should make more, but I’ve made twice as much this year as I have any other year in my life. Its hard for me to argue that I am not compensated fairly. Complaining would make me an ingrate.

I have made a number of very good friends both in nursing school and since landing this sweet job. One such friend is Rhonda (the name has been changed to protect the guilty), who asked for a shout-out while I was writing this. Of course I’ve made friends in any job I’ve ever had but for some reason I’ve always felt that the connections I’ve made with my peers in nursing have been on a deeper level than other jobs I’ve had. I remember talking with my friend Josh about this a few years ago while I was still in school. I honestly can’t put into words the exact feeling. Perhaps its has something to do with the fact that oftentimes we are dealing with potentially life-or-death situations, as opposed to trying to make sure our customers are getting their soft shell taco supremes in sixty seconds or less, that bonds us in a different way. Or perhaps this is something I’ve created in my head and is merely a figment of my imagination.

I hope I can remain healthy enough (both physically and mentally) to do what I’m doing for a long time. Being a nurse is awesome, really awesome.

Here we are, September 11, 2011, 10 years after our nation suffered the most devastating attack of terrorism in our nation’s history. I lay here in bed, after having worked last evening and being due back at work in a few short hours, and while I am mentally and physically exhausted, I cannot sleep. My mind is filled with racing thoughts, remembering what happened on that Tuesday morning. I’m sure almost every single one of us remembers what happened that day in great detail. Who could forget? I remember the events of that morning quite well.

At the time I was living in Muscatine. I was the manager of the local movie theatre and we had a meeting in Des Moines that day for all the managers. My plan was to leave several hours earlier than I needed to so I had time to stop at the casino in Tama and win some money. As I was getting ready I got a call from one of my employees, Junior, asking if I had heard the news about some plane crashing into some building in New York. I turned on the news and watched. There was a lot of info that we just didn’t know at that point, and there was a lot of speculation regarding what had just happened. Until the second plane hit. At that moment I realized, nay, we all realized, the nature of what had occurred. We were under attack. WE WERE UNDER ATTACK. This was no accident. This was a deliberate act perpetrated by men who wished to hurt us, to damage our collective psyche.

And damage us they did, at least for a while. Personally, I cannot see an airplane up close and not immediately be overcome with anxiety. As time passes the feelings gradually become less intense, but the effects still linger with me. For quite a while after the attacks I worried about the possibilities of more horrors happening. I know I’m not the only one. Just last evening at work a coworker mentioned how she felt nervous that something might happen today, the anniversary of the attacks. And we live in Iowa. I know nothing will happen to us in Iowa.

Imagine how those who experienced person loss that day feel today. Those who lost family members or friends that day. Or those who were there and survived. I feel for those individuals, who have suffered so much because of the events of that day.

I feel grateful that the person behind this, Osama bin Laden, has been eliminated. Yet I did not celebrate his death. How tragic that many rejoiced upon hearing the news of his demise. However, symbolic as it may be, bin Laden’s death  has provided some amount of closure to a painful situation. Yes, I just said bin Laden’s death was symbolic, and I’m sure you’ll agree, for who among us truly feels as if the threat against America has vanished? But like I said, I’m glad he is gone. The United States made a promise to find him, as a matter of justice, to the thousands of people who perished on 9/11, and find him we did.

Every year on the anniversary of the attacks we hear the familiar refrains, something along the likes of “Never Forget” or “Always Remember”. I am positive on this milestone anniversary, 10 years, we’ll hear more of it. And I hope that it is something that we mean, and not just something to say to sound as if we care, for this is one of the most significant events to happen in the lifetimes of people my age. We must never forget what happened and honor those who died.

Well I’m going through my blog and I’m trying to categorize all my uncategorized posts, and I’m wondering why I’m wasting my time doing this.

I’m generally not a fan of revising history, but as I look through my blog here at some of the things I’ve written over the years I find it necessary to do just that. Some things are private and at one point in my life didn’t mind sharing with everyone, but now because of my job or my family situation I don’t feel they are appropriate to be made public. Others have to do with my marriage to Kate, and although we get along and I wish her nothing but the best, didn’t feel that it was appropriate to still have posted online.

So I’ve had a few people ask “How did you and Velvet meet?” and “Is Velvet her real name or her stripper name?”. To answer the 2nd question, the answer is “both” because that is in fact the name on her birth certificate, and what I call her when she is stripping for me (just kidding… or am I?). So anyways, here is the story of how we met…

In early May I posted a platonic “friends only” (we see how well that worked out) personal ad on Craigslist. I don’t remember the exact text of the ad but it went something like this:

I’m a 33 year old divorced father of two children fairly new to the Cedar Rapids area. I don’t know too many people in town, not ready for a relationship because I just got out of one, but I am looking for some new text buddies to keep me company…

I dunno, something like that. Anyways, a few weeks later I got a text… “You still looking for friends?” “Of course, who couldn’t use more friends!” We started texting back and forth all day that day. She seemed really cool, and I decided to ask if she wanted to hang out that night, just as friends, since we both had the evening free. She accepted the invitation and we made plans to meet at Carlos O’Kelly’s for dinner.

I got there early and waited for her. She walked in and immediately I was attracted to her. It wasn’t what I was expecting or hoping for, I honestly thought I was going in to it as friends. Yet, there was something about her that I found amazing. She was so sweet, and fun, and easy to talk to…

We finished dinner and decided to go back to my place and just hang out and watch some movies or something. We drove over to the Walgreens on 16th Ave to rent a movie from Redbox. However, it was pouring crazy hard rain out there so we decided to sit in the car and chat and wait for the rain to break. So we waited. And chatted. And then I leaned in to kiss her. And we kissed. And waited. And chatted. And kissed. And waited. And then we decided we were tired of waiting so we just went back to my place and watched something on Netflix. I think probably some stand up comedian like Brian Regan or some such guy.

We spent most of the weekend together and had a really good time. The next day she was my date to Paul and Sarah Switalski’s wedding and reception. We got to have a nice fancy dinner! And drinks! And she got to see my karaoke skillz (I’ve got MAD skillz). Oh yeah, also that day, we survived the rapture together. Thank goodness, I was worried

So there is the story. Maybe its a good one, maybe not so much. From my perspective, it is a fantastic story. Speaking of perspective, this is the story as I remember it happening. I invite my lovely Velvet to make any corrections or add any details she thinks I may have missed. After all, she is the boss

So 2010 has been quite a year for me. I’ve been really busy with work and studying and such and haven’t done a very good job of keeping up on anything. Lots of stuff happened in 2010, and now it’s over. I’m looking forward to having a great year in 2011.

So yesterday I picked up a couple and was taking them from their apartment in Iowa City to a motel in Coralville. I’m not sure why, but they stay at the same motel frequently, which is weird since they already have a place to live…

Anyways, the lady was talking about how hungry she was for wings. I brought up Wing Tuesday at Buffalo Wild Wings but she didn’t want that since they don’t deliver. I mentioned if she waited until Wednesday Pizza Hut has a special on wings. Then the lady said “I love wings. I don’t really like the wings though, I really like the celery and ranch dressing.”

So a few weeks ago I picked up a dude at Hy-Vee in Coralville, and he was telling me about these ridiculously awesome sales going on. One in particular was surely a deal: 10 brats for $7. He proceeded to tell me that made the brats 85 cents each, or 67, or something like that, but he wasn’t sure because he wasn’t good at math…

I told him I was pretty sure that made them 70 cents each. He wasn’t sure about that, so tried figuring it out again, and came to the conclusion that the brats were 92 cents each.