Well, I finally got done reading the latest book. This past weekend I had my final build week and now, I'm beginning my taper. Oh, and EMT stuff. In reverse order:
First, my EMT class. The previous Saturday (March 8), I had my last EMT class, where we took our final exam. The previous couple of classes, were our TSOPEs (Technical scope of Practice Examination), which test our ability to assess and treat patients in basic scenarios. With all the stress that entailed, they really weren't all that bad, if not involving WAY more waiting to test, than actually testing. Anyways, those finished up that Tuesday, and our final written test was that Saturday. My stress level was about where it usually is. I KNEW the material, but so many of our other tests had such poorly worded questions and answers. I was worried about something tripping me up and there was a lot of information. My fears were all for naught though. The test was incredibly straight forward, almost as if a completely different institution had written it. I knocked it out pretty quickly. Checking later that day, I passed!
Now, completing that exam does not make me a licensed EMT-Basic. I am now eligible to take the State exam. Due to the state's registration deadline policies and whatnot, my exam date will April 12. I am somewhat apprehensive about making sure to retain my knowledge; I'm terrible about use-it-or-lose-it. But there is a National Registry of EMTs test that I would like to take (it's complicated, but in NC, the National Registry is not required), and I think that will help keep me on my toes.
I'm finally into the taper phase of my training. Over the weekend was my last long day, and boy was it long. I split my normally single, 35 mile run into three runs of 10 mi, 10 mi, and 15 mi, all at different times during the day. My goal was to spread out the fatigue and get acquainted with running at times I don't normally run. It was an OK day. My pacing was fine. It was very warm for the later runs, reaching into the 70s. Furthermore, my eating in between runs wasn't really idea. The second runs I went in feeling full and bloated. I really don't think my GI tract has recovered, and I've been dealing with stomach aches since, so that was no good. My legs have felt pretty ragged; I cut about 3/4 mile from my run this morning and still finished in my normal time. This is somewhat to be expected; but I'm making sure to take it easy. No is not the time to push, but to heal.
It took me a long time to get through my recent read,
Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond. The book is pretty long and written very much in the style of academia. Dr. Diamond has written several other books, kind of in the vein of historical anthropology. The predecessor this book sought to investigate the huge differences in chimps and humans, given that we share 98% of our DNA. He has written several follow ups that look at environmental consequences and factors that effect the most immediate modern world.
In
Guns, Germs, and Steel, the premise is to understand how our environment has shaped our societies and cultures. Not on a global scale; rather how have differences in the geography, climate, ecology, etc. led to the dominance of Eurasian cultures over cultures in the Americas, Australia, and Africa. Dr. Diamond likes to dig deep. Instead of sticking to immediate causes, such as food production, population, and technology, he explains what caused the causes. Very simple, but also subtle solutions are given. Things like the differences continents that extend east-west instead of north-south; or that the Americas were populated later than Eurasia.
Overall, I really enjoyed the book. Some of the enlightening points are the facts so much of our current food production relies on so very few crops. So many organisms that place is "known" for (Native Americans as great horsemen, Middle America and wheat) are not native at all. The complete diaspora of crop production and animal domestication is truly astounding. On the flip side, some of the book can be incredibly redundant. Many of the causes can apply to any culture/continent, with differences just in the fine details (cows vs. llamas, corn vs. yams, etc.) so you'd hope the author would speed things up. But like most academic to public writers/books, he doesn't infer anything from previous examples, and he details the proofs in every case. That's probably what led to me taking so long to finish the book.
Not sure what I'll read next... suggestions?
Soundtrack:
Sorry, I got nothin'.
