Ah, gotcha.

Southeast Louisiana Hospital (SELH) in Mandeville. I sat up all night on the ward. With the adults we (4 to 6 of us) dealt with between 20 and 30 patients. On the adolescent ward 2 of us dealt with 4 to 10 patients.

How does one go about getting qualified to commit people?

Seems like a handy ability to have.

One falls into the right job, at the right time.

13 years ago I had no idea such a job existed.

I mean I knew people went to nuthouses and ended up there, and on occasion joked about so-and-so being "certifiable."

Well ... don't ever get complacent about having a nice job with computers that don't talk back at you (much).

I had one of those jobs on a particular Friday morning.

That Friday afternoon, I didn't.

So I went through the whole unemployment thing, but needed more money than they were going to give me ... friend of mine said there was a receptionist job at the hospital where she worked.

"I won't have to deal with any of the patients, will I?"

"Nope, you'll be upstairs. Administration doesn't have anything to do with patients."

That was 12 years ago ...

Turned out that once I started having contact with patients, I kind of liked it, and I was fascinated by what was going on downstairs ... got cross trained to work as a psych tech and started a master's degree in Clinical Psychology within two years of starting there.

Wandered around from dept to dept and job to job a bit, and found my niche in Crisis/Commitment.

Commitment Officer was part of the natural progression up the corporate food chain. And I think it's cool.

Doesn't it feel good to be around your own kind? ;)

Actually it was more of a survival imperative.

You see, I know an awful lot of people who are bugfuck crazy in the community ...

Re: DO YOU SMOKE POT?
 

Not anymore, but as I stated on another thread about smoking weed, from about 1993-1997 I was pretty high damned near everyday. The main problem was that I was still living at home with the 'rents, so I wasn't home that often ('cause I wanted to be high, so off I'd go to my friend's apartment to chill out). Choice of smoking equipment: bong or pipe. Man, I hated joints and blunts. :blunt:

Had to quit it in May 1997, because I had applied for a gubmint job. Funny, it was for the DOD, and they didn't even drug test me...huh! ;)

But that's the problem. You do not feel the effects of it for as long as it is detectable in your system. That's why they can cook up all those bullshit percentages on "X% of people tested positive for pot in fatalities" and what not.

If you smoked a bowl and it kept you high for a month, which is how long it's detectable in blood (the Yahoo article was gone, never got to read it), then that would be a different story. But to say you're still affected by it a month afterwards? Nah. Maybe, maybe you've got a slight fog for a few days, a week if you get really really baked. But it's not to the effect of imparing your ability. Imparing motivation? Possibly.

The problem with people saying it's prevents motivation, is that people exepct others to do what they think they should. They want everyone to be "normal". Go to work. Have a family. Have someone you love. Whatever. It's this stereotype of what is "normal" that's the whole problem.

If I have enough money to take care of myself, or, can find a way to get enough money (since money makes the world go around) to keep myself from being dependant on you or the state, who fucking cares if I'm motivated enough to go climb mountains or jog or volunteer for the comunity on my weekends or week days?

If I want to sit around baked, enjoying the feeling of it. Watching the world go by, that should be my choice. It's not different than if you go out and "enjoy nature". You sit and stare at birds building a nest, and call it a "bird watching hobby". That's good. That's "valid". People can give you the big social OK.

But if I want to sit around baked and watch birds build a nest, then I'm a unmotivated loser.

Quzah.

No, but the government is spending I believe $3million during the same Super Bowl to tell you not to smoke weed.

Quzah.

And the current president is an alcoholic.

Quzah.

Get them all stoned. You won't have to deal with anything other than handing out snacks.

Quzah.

Unless you have a fishing pole nearby. You don't even have to hold it, to be socially acceptable.
Seriously though, I agree 100%. If I'm not affecting you, mind your own business.

I guess it's something of a dilemma.

One, if your goals are so low then more, or less, power to you, but to me I think that people, with their greater abilities should strive for more. Any monkey can sit around and respire and metabolize, but it takes a little work to rap your mind around the workings of the universe. An obligation to one's self, so to speak.

And, two, I think that everyone has an obligation to the species at large. It's strange, it seems that only humanity has useless members.

Now that being said, I'll hand you an example that you missed out on when trying to convince me of the comparatave successes of certain, known smokers. Carl Sagan.

And you determine what my obligation to myself is? Strange.
Absolutely untrue. There are plenty of animals that contribute nothing to the good of the pack/herd/troop. But more than that, what gives you the right to set goals for me? Why am I obligated to be useful to you? You sound like one of those team player/rah rah types that corporations love to hire. The type that came up with the term associates for employees.

Yeah. All I can say is that I agree wholeheartedly with you on this. It's not much, but it had to be said.

Sidhe

One of the first things that people assume when I make statements like that is that they are absolutes. I know that they are not.

Another is that there is a difference between standards and rules.

And, in addition, I am most decidedly NOT a team player. I only expect myself to come close to my standards. I got tired of being disappointed in people.

I never assume that what anyone says is absolute, including myself. The difference is the method people use to try to make you follow them, that's all. I have no way of knowing what or who you are. I only know what you say in your posts. That's why I said "you sound like......"

A question for those of you who do smoke pot: where do you get it? Is there a guy that hangs out under the street lamp on the corner that passes it to you on Wednesdays at 2am? Do you grow it in your basement with twenty lamps with full spectrum bulbs and may be found trimming them with the care that one takes in crafting a bonsai tree? Maybe you find an old van, coat it in "fiberweed" and attempt to cross the border and then the exhaust causes it to catch fire at the worst possible time...

I'm not looking to pick some up (no, really I'm not) but I am curious. Every so often we would hear of a friend that had a massive stash and I had to wonder where the hell they picked something like that up. It can't be easy.

I never did it and I never will... But a lot of my friends do smoke... I think over here, it's quite easy. Drive down to Amsterdam or Maastrich where smoking weed is legal, get some extra, mix it up with Oregano or something like that and sell it in your neighbourhood.
I think if you really want some, you will recognize the dealers...

But you have to know the secret handshake....

they sell it in the mini markets over here, pi. it's great.

I hope there's a little bit of sarcasm in your answer Lumberjim... Actually I think it's not a so great idea to tolerate smoking pot. There are enough drugs on the legal market

I wish i had time to argue that point with you, but im too busy today at work.....can someone sub for me?

legalize it, don;t criticize it

Sure, lumberjim ;)

See my post, page three...lol

Sidhe

Oh please...
I am a stubborn, conservative and ignorant man who has his own opinion about some things so don't try to convince be... I know that weed is healthier than alcohol and tobacco and so on...
But sorry, I won't change my mind

I wasn't trying to change your mind. Think however you want. Everyone has his own opinion. *shrugs*

Sidhe

I hit the tail end of this conversation, but I think pot should be decriminalized, not legalized. Slap on the wrist instead of jailtime for something as dangerous as wine, IMO.

Kitsune:
It's like the rest of life. You just have to know the right people. Finding those people is surprisingly easy, if you know the signs. Hang out with some stoners, and it literally falls out of the sky like rain.
Admittedly, it's stinky, green rain, but nevermind the details.

Why shouldn't it be legal? Alcohol is legal. Tobacco is legal. Caffeine is legal. Seriously, other than the fact that the government can't apply a tax on it (got a planter? got some seeds? you can grow it .. much easier than hops or tobacco, thus every day joe can grow it), but for it itself, not the government's effect on it, or lack there of, why not make it legal?

Quzah.

Guys like these make smokers look bad:

http://www.thestranger.com/2003-11-13/city3.html

SEATTLE'S DUMBEST POTHEADS
Or, How to Get Busted, Post-I-75
Erica Barnett

By passing I-75, the initiative making marijuana possession Seattle cops' "lowest law-enforcement priority," in September, voters handed potheads a pass to indulge in their favorite illicit substance without police interference. Starting in September, Seattle cops were ordered to ignore small-time possession and only arrest dope fiends dumb enough to flaunt their pot use in public.<snip>

Yea, I do, but hey....

who gives a shit?



Rokko out.

Re: Herby Turkey makes me giggle.
 

I just "quit" last week after smoking almost daily for about 6 months, and semi-regularly for the last 7 years. For the previous 10 years, it was an occasional thing, mainly due to the fact that I worked in a field where a hot piss test would not only get me fired, but get me in trouble with the gub'mint.

I quit because I got tired of a) being sleepy; b) being unable to have normal conversations with people who weren't stoned; c) feeling more paranoid than mellow when I fired up; d) throat and sinus infections.

I named all of 'em. There was Blue Balls (it was blue, had little balls on it), the powerpuff pipe, Junior Deputy (just a bong, but we put a junior deputy sticker on it), Muggles (inspired by Harry Potter, but a google search of the term revealed a pot-related definition), Princess Sofia (my girlfriend named it), the Wizard (a tall ceramic thing shaped and painted as such), the Jolly Green Giant (6-ft. tall neon green bong).....I can't remember the rest lol. Damn weed.

nice... i like to see that we're up to 7 daily smokers......honesty is refreshing.....

i was a potthead from age 14-16. then i quit for my ex-husband. i tried to smoke five years ago and i had a major panic attack. so i tried again and the same thing happened. GOD i wish i could smoke weed!!!!!!!!!!but for some reason it doesn't agree with my heart. (my ex-boyfriend was with me. he said he thought i was going to die the way it was racing)

You were married before? How many times?

i married when i was 18. i dated him for 3 years and was married for 2 years. i am 27 now. this is my second marriage.

I'm disappointed.Although this database may be slightly skewed,I was hoping for a higher percentage of free thinking individuals.I guess my prediction of the end of the marijuana prohibition in my lifetime was optimistic.I feel sure it will be in my childrens generation anyway.

Don't be too disappointed. I'm teetotal (don't drink or smoke), but I am 100% for legalizing pot. I still wouldn't use it, but I don't think other people should be stopped.

I must admit that I'm a little disappointd that you're disappointed. Wouldn't it stand to reason that being freethinking would mean that you would be able to choose to not smoke pot as well?

Hey LJ, you forgot the voting option "I'm smoking it right now".

It sure would TS.Something was "troubling" me about my post even as I typed it.Good point.
I used that word only in a context of someone trying to advocate for a stupid weed that just grows from the ground.In the grand scheme of things,what does it mean?
Don't answer.

Count me in...
 

I realize that I'm a little late with my responses (perhaps because my reflexes are cloudy from all the pot haze swirling around between my ears,) but Hell, I'll add my two cents.

:p


My pot consumption has amounted to one oz per year for the last 3 years. That said, I toke up with a drag on my one-hitter pipe almost every night.

My useage is akin to the business man who unwinds with a nightcap. It isn't a necessity, but it makes my very happy world even happier for a few hours. I consider my pot use an exercise in hedonism more than anything sinister, destructive or immoral. I don't really enjoy being TOASTED.

What I haven't been able to come to terms with is all of the negative publicity pot seems to garner. Would I want my kids to smoke pot? Never. Did I smoke pot as a kid? Never. Nancy Regan's "JUST SAY NO" campaign still echoes in my brain. Have I worried that I'm addicted? Yes. Have I voluntarily gone weeks on end without a puff just to test my addiction? Yes.

Have I ever succumbed to the oft-believed scare tactic that Pot is the gateway to other more ilicit drugs? Nope. That is untrue.

There's a line from the musical HAIR that says, "Anybody who tells you that pot is bad for you is full of SHIT," and there's a lot of truth to that.

I pay my bills, I honor my friends and family and have a very stylish apartment in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles, CA. I sometimes earn my living as a musician, and career-wise, the benefits of my pot consumption far outweigh the negative aspects.

What nobody has commented on yet is how amazing it is to listen to a symphony when you're stoned. Or pop music. Listen to ANY kind of music while stoned, and you're hearing your FAVORITE piece for the very first time. Have you ever eaten a delicious meal when you're stoned? How about enjoyed pot brownies? Organized your closet while stoned? Had sex while you're stoned?

There is a time and a place for everything, and you're a dork if you let yourself turn into a lazy slob just because you've enjoyed too much of a good thing. Therefore, I believe the real problem here is the abundance of dorky, lazy slobs in our society, not people who have a healthy respect for the Earth, and everything beautiful contained therein.

Bravo, bravo, applause, applause.:cool:

Do you smoke pot
 

Ahemmm!!! 36.07% of people that voted say they have'nt tried it,methinks some one or ones are fibbing. :D
Don't do it now as Ive stopped smoking tobacco but you can't beat puffin a doobie then clamping on the headphones to a little Pink Floyd (Wish you were here) a favorite of mine and just mellowing out to the end of the cd.
Drool............

Re: Do you smoke pot
 

I'm one of those... what can I say? I've downed my share (at least) of booze and indulged in smokin tobacco for a few months, but I just never felt the urge to try weed.

Re: Do you smoke pot
 

Even considering such a small sample, that actually seems a little low -- I mean, 63.93% of those polled confirmed having at least smoked it at some point. Most national polls (for the US and Canada at least) tend to show a 30-50% usage level.

My personal experience with the whole "is it addicting" thing. I haven't smoked for over 2 weeks now, and I haven't particularly missed it. I'm an addictive-type personality anyway. If pot was addictive, I would definitely have noticed by now. I also have an extra $50 to spend on Godiva chocolates with nacho cheese sauce. woot.

Re: Re: Do you smoke pot
 

this is probably why you like opera music so much.

Figure this one out:

My neighbor catches wild birds in a huge cage in his yard. He does this because he likes one particular type of bird to hang around his house. He lets the one kind he likes free, and smashes the heads of the rest with a hammer.

What this fuck-hole does is legal, but were I to grow a particular type of plant, I'd be in prison. What a great country.

Quzah.

Trapping and bapping birds on the head is probably not legal.

How about field mice?

little bunny foo foo...

Q, unless your neighbor is shooting crows on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday with a valid small game hunting license, he is violating the law.

Call the game warden on his ass.

and if the Law cannot/will not stop thy birdie-killing neighbor, an untimely fire (after all trapped birds have gotten away of course) might just give him pause.

Brian

I'm not what you call a green, eco-friendly kind of guy, but I'm with you on this one. Sometimes you have to step outside of the box.

Regardless of your secular/religious orientation I feel that humaity IS the steward of the environment specifically because we are outside of the usual ecological cycle. Our presence destabilizes it where ever we are present. So we have to compensate for our presence.

That fucktard needs to go.

Unfortunately, Starlings and Sparrows are considered preditory birds, and as such, it's perfectly legal for him to bash them. It doesn't mean I have to like it. I've been trying to figure out exactly what I should do. But from a legal standpoint, I can do nothing.

Quzah.

Man, you've got this opera obsession going on. Maybe we need to kidap you and take you to the Met.

LJ, while a fine guy in many respects, leans toward the neanderthal.

A friend was telling me, he and his wife had a box at the Met in NY the night after Thankgiving. The box had a TV that showed a closeup of the singer like at a rock concert. The best part was the lyrics were shown across the bottom in English. I could get into that.:)

We must becareful not to become what we hate. Killing birds or untimely fires is all the same.

I've never been in the fancy boxes so I don't know about the video! But almost all opera houses project English titles these days. The Met resisted for years, but they now have a seat-back LCD system that displays the titles so you can choose to turn off the display if you don't like it.

you're just still mad about that time when i hit you with my club and stole your woman.

actually, while i am educated, and majored in art in college, i DO tend to relate better to simple pleasures. I might actually enjoy an opera, but i think i'd have to be really really stoned. I love classical music....bach, motzart, schroeder.
http://www.funtocollect.net/images/l...EANSCHROED.JPG


you know, the masters.....

Nope, personally StraightEdge...

And how many 15 year olds can say THAT? *grin*