Stuff They Don't Teach You in High School

     Ok friends, if you've hung around me at all lately then you know that I have a list of life rules...

     Now, don't get me wrong, the things I learned in high school were all of great value (well.. maybe except for having to learn how many hydrogen atoms are produced when you mix together a couple beakers of some ethyl-methyl-bad-stuff, but that's besides the point). However, I strongly believe that there are some lessons in life that you just can't find in a textbook. Up until recently, I chose not to share any of this knowledge I have gained with anyone else for fear that..well.. people would think it's dumb. But apparently, the little tidbits I have shared have been a big hit and have seemed to resonate in the lives of quite a few people. These people have asked for more tidbits (God bless them..) so I have developed an official list of K-rock's Rules to Live By. And here we go...

1. ALL women are crazy. Granted, some are waaaaayy worse than others, but when it all comes down to it, there are no exceptions to this rule.
2. ALL men (again, some more often than others) will at some point think with a body part other than their brain. I think you know what I'm talking about here... *** Note: this rule has been modified seeing as how I know most people reading this are not in the fire service and don't appreciate the foul language that has become common-place in the firehouse.
3. Always work what you've got
4. Always come prepared
5. Always have a back up plan
6. Be willing to try things twice. You may have messed it up the first time
7. Always pay attention, fool! Carelessness is the root of all failure
8. Don't do anything you wouldn't want to explain to the paramedics
9. First impressions are completely worthless 50% of the time
10. BS-ing might get you what you want, but it sure won't let you keep it for very long
11. You will at multiple times in your life find yourself in deep doo-doo. Learn when to own up to it and when to keep your mouth shut
12. Remember that pregnancy can also be counted as an STD
13. Actions speak louder than words. If they have to tell you they're good, they probably aren't
14. Never, never, EVER never ask a woman if she is pregnant unless she is in the act of giving birth
15. Nobody is normal. You are no exception to this rule. End of story.
16. Women may be crazy, but they are not stupid
17. Don't be rude to people who handle your food. You'll wind up with "special sauce"
18. Life is not fair, but life is not fair for everyone. So suck it up
19. Leave no evidence
20. If keeping it a secret is that big of a deal, then you probably shouldn't be doing it anyway
21. If it's not going to matter in a year down the road, then go ahead and let it go
22. If it don't kill you, then it's probably going to hurt like a son-of-a-biscuit-eating-bulldog. But eventually you'll get over it
23. Never take a sleeping pill and a laxative in the same night
24. Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car
25. If you absolutely must choose between two evils, pick the one you've never tried before
26. Don't take life too seriously. No one makes it out alive anyway
27. If someone is nice to you but rude to the waiter, they are not really a nice person
28. For every action, there is an equal and opposite government program
29. Thou shalt not weigh more than thy refrigerator
30. It ain't the jeans making your butt look fat....
31. Never lick a steak knife
32. Everyone thinks they're a good driver
33. Some days you're the pigeon, some days you're the statue
34. Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience
35. If a man uses the restroom in a woman's house, he is expected to put the seat down. Likewise, if a woman uses a man's restroom, it is polite to put the seat back up. It's not your house. Leave things the way you found them
36. In reference to #35: if you sprinkle when you tinkle, be a sweetie and wipe the seatie
37. Always say "please, thank you, ma'am, and sir." Manners will carry you a long way
38. Anything worth fighting for is worth fighting dirty for
39. Friends may come and go but enemies accumulate
40. Remember to floss

     So there they are, friends. Those are K-rock's Rules to Live By. There are more to come, I can almost promise you...unless I'm too lazy to write them down in which case that's it and you're out of luck. I hope maybe one or some or even all of these rules might come in handy for at least a few of you (you know, a few of the 6 of you who read this...)

Night friends!
K-rock

I'm glad I did...

     Ok so if you know me, which if you're reading this then you probably do, then you also know that the fire/rescue service has completely taken over my life. I'm pretty ok with that. Just sayin.. And as a young firefighter I tend to pay attention to and soak up just about every tiny piece of knowledge I can wrap my little mind around. One of those little tidbits is a Brunacini quote that has started to pop up pretty frequently..

"Risk a lot to save a lot. Risk little to save little. And risk nothing to save nothing."

     To a fireman, this basically means that if saving someone else's life calls for risking your own, do it. That's what you signed on for. If there's a job to be done but there's time to slow down, think about it, and then take a calculated risk, then do so. Take the risk but be smart and only risk what is absolute necessary. And finally, though it may seem very cold, do not risk your life trying to save something or someone that is already gone. One confirmed loss warrants not another, so don't add to or become part of the problem.

     With all that said... As I drove back to the Queen City last night from a weekend filled with big, fancy hydraulic gadgets and "blammin' tools," I came across a billboard. This billboard, I'm sure, was meant for me to see. It seemed to advertise nothing at all—there were no well-known slogans or company names or anything. It simply read: "Look back and say 'I'm glad I did.' Not 'I wish I had.'"

     So what does this have to do with the quote above? Well.. I am in the long, slow, often uncomfortable process of learning that living life—really living it—means taking risks. I know, I know. Cliché right? But it’s so true! Let me give you an example from my own life…

     Early in the spring semester of last school year, I found myself drudging through each day much the same as the one before it. Get up, go to class, go on my athletic training rotation, pretend to do homework until two a.m. but not actually do it, go to bed. That was it. I was complacent and I had settled for that kind of everyday. I had not been truly happy for quite some time and putting on a good show for the people around me was becoming more and more difficult. Those close to me were beginning to see through the happy face I put on, and some began to even call me out on it. My roommate and friend, an athletic trainer on staff (who also became my friend the day I fainted in her office. Long story for another occasion..), and even the guy I was dating at the time all made it known that they could see that I wasn’t happy and wanted, no needed something more. It was then that I decided I could no longer ignore what I had known in my gut for the entire two years I had been at the Webb: this is not where my heart is. I was doing the athletic training thing because it’s what I knew. I was ok at it and even enjoyed it from time to time, but my heart was never in it. At best, I tolerated it. And then I decided to take a risk. A big one..

     Shortly after my realization and after much discussion with and advice (most of which I didn’t follow, but that’s besides the point) from my parents and those close to me, I submitted an application for admission to UNC Charlotte. I checked my admission status almost every day until I received notification of my acceptance. And almost at once the plans I once had for my life all changed. No longer did I see myself becoming an athletic trainer, working in a high school, and having the same effect on some poor, unsuspecting students that my high school trainers had on me (a good effect, mind you). Suddenly I saw myself excited about getting up and going to work every day. Suddenly I was excited about my future and not just going along with it. I enrolled at Charlotte and declared a major in fire safety engineering and embarked on my journey toward reaching the goals that were hidden in my heart and not just in my brain.

     If you know me, and know me well, you know that a major change like that is HUGE for me. You also know that I don’t do change very well. But the point is that I took a risk. I had to give up a lot that I loved—my friends at the Webb, being comfortable and secure, having a set plan that allowed me to just go through the motions. But I also gained a lot. I gained an excitement that my life was seriously lacking. I gained the confidence in myself to be able to stand on my own two feet, and the confidence that I could withstand major changes in my own life. Those were both things I didn’t have before. I also gained new friends in a new place (that just so happened to be a huge school in a frickin HUGE city…intimidating much? Uh huh..). I risked a lot but I gained a lot.

     But I also came to the hard realization, once I got here and hit my stride of course, that making one single change in my life—taking one big risk—doesn’t mean that I won’t have to take more as I grow up and reach for more goals. But the risks I take in the future will be calculated ones. If risking everything means gaining only a little, it probably won’t happen.

   BUT I will continue to take risks. That’s just something I’ve had to accept. And when I’m eighty years old (Lord knows, if I even make it that far before dying in some freak snow mobile accident or something) I want to and WILL be able to look back on the things I did in my life and say “I’m glad I did” instead of “I wish I had…”