Who I am and where and what I am, for those just joining me.
My name is Tom Reynolds – except, that this isn’t the name written on my cheque book. It’s a pseudonym that I cooked up years ago, and when I started blogging I thought that a bit of anonymity would be a good idea. Lots of people, even those who know the truth call me Tom, which is fine by me.
I work for the London Ambulance Service (in the UK). I’m an EMT-3, which means I’m one of those people in a green uniform who looks after sick people. At the moment I am a solo responder working on an FRU, or ‘First Response Unit’ (or is it ‘Fast Response Unit’?).
I drive around in a fast car, getting to the sickest patients as quickly as possible. At least, that is the idea. Often my patients aren’t that sick at all. My ‘patch’ at work is pretty much all of East London. It is 33 miles in circumference – which is from where I live to Southend. There are a lot of people in that area. I am a very busy person.
I’ve been writing this blog since July 22nd 2003. So that’s coming up on two and a half years. It seems much longer. I now consider it my second job. This is not a bad thing.
L.A.S. management know that I blog, they also know who I am. No it doesn’t make me worried.
There are various ways of contacting me, all of them can be found here. Email is the most reliable way to talk to me, because if I’m not at work, or on my computer, then I’m normally asleep.
I love getting comments – I know this makes me someone needy looking for validation. But that’s fine.
There are things going on in the world that make me angry – I used to write about them here, but for the past two years, I consider it ‘going off topic’, so now I stick to ambulance stuff on the whole.
I have a secret blog that no-one knows about. I dream of writing fiction, or comics. These two facts may be connected.
Actually…I dream of getting paid to write.
I’m thirty-something, and was born on the 28th of November. I have a brother (1), a mother (1), and no idea where my father is (1?, 0?). I like my bachelor lifestyle – but would like to become someone’s stalker.
I am currently preparing my next big post – which might take a day or two, but will hopefully be worth it.
Warren Ellis did this, so I thought that with my new-found desire to write stuff, that it’d be a good idea for me to do it as well.
Stalk me! … I have some spare time .. however I am up the other end of the country so it will have to be done by appointment.I enjoy your blog … 🙂
Funny that – I'm paid to write, yet dream of being a paramedic.And about getting paid to write…
TP
oh no, being a very nosey person now I'm going to be wondering what that other blog is, go on tell us you know you want to….
Thanks for the recap, Tom. I've discovered your blog a little while ago and I enjoyed it so much I started reading it from the very beginning (I am circa end-of-HIV-scare at the moment). Unfortunately I don't have any original comment to add, other than I am sure you will become a writer, and a good one at that too. Ciao xx
Is it possible to stalk your own stalker? I'm quite easily stalkable, when I don't post anonymously.I know all.
😀
Well now I don't know what to think. I was starting to feel worried about your identity when I came across the suspiciously similar sounding Tom Riley in the 11 November post over athttp://www.claphambulance.blogspot.com/
But I thought no, it can't be him really, just a fictional character with a coincidentally similar name. But now I'm not so sure. You could be anybody.
Nothing to do with me. My secrets are nothing to do with ambulance work. C'mon I have to work to get material for one blog, let alone trying to fill up another one…
Well done!Although I'd rather do what I do now than go back to college for a course in Feminism…
Besides my idea of Feminism is the same about any 'ism', “Can't we just be nice and polite and treat everyone like equals?”.
Doing what I do is a stupidly enjoyable job if you have the right attitude.
See…the point about the last post was that I do write.Problem with the blog format is that you may have posted this comment before reading the last post.
I think you mean that you are sure I'll get paid for writing.
But whatever you mean, thanks for the compliment. It's appreciated.
Regarding your ambition to become a writer, the most helpful thing I can point out is Mil Milington's advice: http://www.mil-millington.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/writing.htm. What I took from it is that you should not write for money nor vanity. Why do it then? So I guess if you can find a good answer to that, you're on your way. Personally, if I ever take up writing, it will be for therapy. Often when I am clouded with something that just won't leave my mind and doesn't let me do anything else, I write about it. I don't have a blog or anything, just emails to friends or to myself (how sad is that?). Happily (or sadly, depending how you look at it) I lead a worry-free, unclouded life at the moment, which means I don't really have anything to write about. Can't wait for those years of gloom to really start cracking.Cheers mate, you're a damn fine writer as you are… and if you don't get paid for it, well heck, that's just like the artist whose art 'never got recognised'. And at any rate, as I told you before, you definitely have an interesting life to talk about, and knack for putting it on paper, so it's just a matter of time before you hit the bookshelves.
Of course that is what I meant 🙂 Bloody Italians (moi), can never make themselves understood. I think you deserve to be a well paid writer and I'm reserving some space on my book shelf for you, right between Neal Stephenson and Paul Auster. I hope you'll like the company.
Great Blog! Keep writing, glad so know someone else is up as wierd times of the day/night dealing with shit : )Stalking…explain more 😕
you could stalk your secret identity!
Love reading your blog and those that you have linked to. Now I either get up early or go to bed later so I can check for new posts. Sad I know….
Great re-cap, especially for those of us who are relative newcomers to the blog. I think you write very well and I hope that you do get to fulfil your ambition of getting paid to write. I have to admit I enjoy your writing style, it's better than a lot of stuff published now (I should know I work for a publishing company!)Thanks for brightening up my day!
At the moment I am a solo responder working on an FRU, or First Response Unit (or is it Fast Response Unit?).Erm, shouldn't you know?
It can also be called an RRU for 'Rapid Response Unit'…It all means the same thing though, so I can only shrug and and say 'dunno'.
At least I know (most of the time) what I'm supposed to be doing – and that's the important thing.
You'd like to become someone's stalker?Whoah man! That sort of talk will get the thought police into you.
I'd keep quiet about it if I were you…
“Can't we just be nice and polite and treat everyone like equals?”. That's the aim.
TP