the 100% directionless thread

[Handsome Robb]

Staged for call #6 four hours in.

It's gonna be a long day.

 

[Anjel]

I had 1 call last night. At the very beginning of the shift.

My partner was unbearable to work with. First on the call (chest pain from an urgent care to an ER) she tells me that when we get in the truck I need to hang the IV bag up, then tells me I need to put the pt on the monitor, and when we get 6 minutes out I need to call the hospital and give report, and she would do it for me if I didn't feel comfortable. Grr.

So then when it's time to go to bed, I get in the back of the truck. It was like 19 degrees so I turn the heat on. Every time I would fall asleep, she would turn the master switch off and cut power and heat to the back. She said the heat wAs too loud and she couldn't hear her music.

That is why I don't pick up OT.

/rant

 

[SSwain]

Damn....my car has a blown head gasket. So now I am faced with the dilemma of either repairing it or replacing it.
FWIW...it's a 2001 Pontiac Grand Am with 157,000 miles on it. Yeah, the cost of repairing it is almost as much as it is worth for a trade in if it were in good condition.
It was my wife's car until my '94 Toyota truck bit the dust after 18 years and 209,000 miles. Now she's doing the whole mini-van thing.

Looking at a Ford Fusion....anybody drive / own one? What's your impression?

 

[9D4]

Damn....my car has a blown head gasket. So now I am faced with the dilemma of either repairing it or replacing it.
FWIW...it's a 2001 Pontiac Grand Am with 157,000 miles on it. Yeah, the cost of repairing it is almost as much as it is worth for a trade in if it were in good condition.
It was my wife's car until my '94 Toyota truck bit the dust after 18 years and 209,000 miles. Now she's doing the whole mini-van thing.

Looking at a Ford Fusion....anybody drive / own one? What's your impression?

That would be the fault of the Dexcool :glare: Worst invention ever. I was lucky in that mine only blew the intake manifold gasket...

Personal opinion, I like the Mazda 6 better. My mom had one and that thing was awesome (bonus bit, later this year they are offering a new diesel).

Anyways, depends on the year of the Fusion. They've changed the engine a lot on them. I've heard bad things about the 2.5L (2010) and good things about the 2.3L (2008). Also good things about the 2.0L (2013). Of course, the 2.0L is the top of line motor for 2013, so...
I drove my exes 2013 Fusion a couple times that had the 1.6L turbo 4, also available in the '13 and I personally didn't feel like it was peppy enough. I felt like it couldn't get out of it's own way
The Ecoboost hype didn't live up either. Her's was rated at 25 and 32 or somewhere close and I remember her getting around 22 average, not with real spirited driving, either.

 

[Carlos Danger]

Damn....my car has a blown head gasket. So now I am faced with the dilemma of either repairing it or replacing it.
FWIW...it's a 2001 Pontiac Grand Am with 157,000 miles on it. Yeah, the cost of repairing it is almost as much as it is worth for a trade in if it were in good condition.
It was my wife's car until my '94 Toyota truck bit the dust after 18 years and 209,000 miles. Now she's doing the whole mini-van thing.

Looking at a Ford Fusion....anybody drive / own one? What's your impression?

What on earth did you do to your Toyota truck to kill it after only 18 years and 209k miles??????

Sorry to hear about your car. My little beater (2005 Suzuki Aerio) just bit the dust too. Now I am having to spend twice as much in gas and pile the miles onto my 2012 Tacoma during my long commutes.

 

[Anjel]

I was in an accident last week, totaled my cavalier.

I now drive a 2009 kia sportage. I love it. Gas kinda sucks. I get about 300 miles per tank. 20-25 mpg.

 

[Carlos Danger]

Vec drip

Used a vecuronium drip today during a somewhat longish (3.5 hours) case in the OR.

Let's just say, I will be doing that much more frequently from now on.

 

[NomadicMedic]

Used a vecuronium drip today during a somewhat longish (3.5 hours) case in the OR.

Let's just say, I will be doing that much more frequently from now on.

That's not done often? Do you normally just give a bolus and redose when needed?

 

[Carlos Danger]

That's not done often? Do you normally just give a bolus and redose when needed?

I don't think it is that uncommon, but it's the first time I've done one. Most people just re-bolus prn and reverse at the end because that it usually easier, but this was a patient who needed to be relaxed but we didn't want a dense blockade on and wanted to use minimal reversal on, and the vec drip was just surprisingly titrateable and responsive.

 

[STXmedic]

Poor decision of the day: kicking the shopping cart with my shin, right at the sensitive area from shin splints... I nearly vomited...

 

[lightsandsirens5]

The uniform is nomex. Good luck burning it.

Nomex will burn very will...in an oxygen enriched atmosphere.

 

[unleashedfury]

Damn....my car has a blown head gasket. So now I am faced with the dilemma of either repairing it or replacing it.
FWIW...it's a 2001 Pontiac Grand Am with 157,000 miles on it. Yeah, the cost of repairing it is almost as much as it is worth for a trade in if it were in good condition.
It was my wife's car until my '94 Toyota truck bit the dust after 18 years and 209,000 miles. Now she's doing the whole mini-van thing.

Looking at a Ford Fusion....anybody drive / own one? What's your impression?

If you were closer much closer I could do that Head Gasket in about 5 hours, I usually charge, about 300 bucks. Overall 500 with parts. They are a easy fix

That would be the fault of the Dexcool :glare: Worst invention ever. I was lucky in that mine only blew the intake manifold gasket...

Dexcool, was part of the problem, the other part was GM was using a gasket design from the 70's and was incompatible with Dex Cool, thus the Gasket got eaten away causing manifold failure, I worked for GM in the height of that situation, I done enough 3.4 intakes and head gaskets that I could do one in my sleep.

My Grand Am had 23k on it when I replaced the intakes and heads with a Fel Pro Gasket set which stayed on the car on its way to the boneyard with 273k on the clock and a blown transmission.

IMHO my significant other has a Cruze, no issues whatsoever just don't buy the turbo charged one. They have no get up and go and they shift like a bear. A friend of mine bought a Chevy Sonic a few months back which is a nice ride if you buy the 4 door.

 

[9D4]

If you were closer much closer I could do that Head Gasket in about 5 hours, I usually charge, about 300 bucks. Overall 500 with parts. They are a easy fix



Dexcool, was part of the problem, the other part was GM was using a gasket design from the 70's and was incompatible with Dex Cool, thus the Gasket got eaten away causing manifold failure, I worked for GM in the height of that situation, I done enough 3.4 intakes and head gaskets that I could do one in my sleep.

My Grand Am had 23k on it when I replaced the intakes and heads with a Fel Pro Gasket set which stayed on the car on its way to the boneyard with 273k on the clock and a blown transmission.

IMHO my significant other has a Cruze, no issues whatsoever just don't buy the turbo charged one. They have no get up and go and they shift like a bear. A friend of mine bought a Chevy Sonic a few months back which is a nice ride if you buy the 4 door.

It was an issue on more than the 3.4, ha. I had to do the intake manifold gaskets on both of my 3.8's (one GTP, one base Firebird, both '98s). The Firebird's blew at 40k miles and the GTPs at 160.
Cruze's are nice. Really nice considering the price point. I'm excited about the new diesels (can you tell I like diesels?).
I haven't driven a Sonic, but my current girlfriend's family has 3 of them. One for the brother, one for her, and one for her mom. All of them seem pretty nice, considering the pricing is pretty low. The back seats were always too tiny for me, though. Those were all hatches, but I don't think there's a lot of difference in the sedan.
I'd be more apt to compare the Cruze to the Fusion, rather than the Sonic/ Fusion, but they still are nice. IMO, the interior in the Sonic is kinda... lacking... though.

 

[SSwain]

Really want a Jeep Wrangler, it's one of the things on my bucket list....but cannot afford one at this time.
I am not a big fan of GM products, only reason we had the Pontiac was because my wife was working for Mercury Marine at the time and because Mercury was using GM engines for the stern drive assemblies, we were able to get employee price levels on GM vehicles.

My Toyota was a damned fine truck. I racked up 2 deer, 1 turkey, 1 pheasant, and multiple raccoons, 'possums, rabbits and squirrels. My body shop loved me!
Still ran like a champ.
Timing chain snapped and cracked the housing and my coolant was mixing with my oil, and my oil was mixing with my coolant. Wouldn't have too bad to fix it, but the body was falling apart...literally, and the frame was showing signs of 18 winters and road salt in WI. The frame member that ran between the main frame rails that protected the transfer case was 90% rusted thru.

 

[RocketMedic]

I paid off my '08 F150 in August...and got a 2005 Kia Spectra for cheap.

Haven't taken the F150 more than a hundred miles since August. The Kia, on the other hand, is a trooper. 30mpg, runs well, and has more 'standard' features than most mid-level domestic trims.

FWIW, it's going to be very hard to get me back to domestic cars, trucks notwithstanding. The new Fusions and Focuses are great rides, but they're pretty darned pricey; the Fiestas and Sonics are 'alright', but a bit lacking in size.

Kia and Hyandai (siblings), Subaru and Nissan are solid cars and are generally 'better' purchases. I have yet to be disappointed by either my Spectra or my wife's Sportage. (BTW, the Sportage is a fantastic and sharp-looking crossover).

 

[chaz90]

I feel like a non-transporting fire medic today. I'm basically driving around an FTO and new hire/new grad paramedic, so they run every single call. I show up, put a BP cuff and 4 lead on, set up an IV in the ambulance for them, then drive around for a while alone until they get back from the hospital.

 

[VFlutter]

Really want a Jeep Wrangler, it's one of the things on my bucket list....but cannot afford one at this time.

Make sure you buy a hardtop. My Jeep is freezing in the winter with the soft top. And I wish I would have bought a Unlimited instead of a 2dr.

 

[CALEMT]

This novocaine is working to good, I can't feel the left side of my mouth and tongue haha

 

[Anjel]

Zero. Fun. Allowed. Sir!

 

[DesertMedic66]

An ambulance can never have enough lights