iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 21h

1/ This week I completed the Wilderness Medical Society’s Appalachian Trail Adventure Ed Course through the AT’s Triple Crown area of Virginia. #MedSky #Wilderness #Trails

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Greetings from a very wet finish line med tent at the Army Ten Miler today. Happy to be present and ready if needed.

Me and my crew working the finish line med tent

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Multitasking is riding a stationary bike in the firehouse while reviewing ECG strips from the pocket guide I got for medic school a decade ago.

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I grabbed a stack of $1 comics for my son last night and was absolutely not prepared for the timewarp back to my 1990s adolescence.

Stack of Marvel comics from the 1990s. $1 each!

1990s baseball card ad. I have some of these cards!

lol, they knew their audience. I had these too.

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

8yo: “Dad, can witches from the old days come back on Halloween?” Me: “Let me start by explaining the Julian vs. Gregorian calendars…” 8yo: “Nevermind!”

Scene from “Hocus Pocus” we watched last night.

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Twenty years ago I was the sawyer and cook on a USFS trail crew in Wyoming. I was terrible at both jobs, but I’ve gotten better over time. #Trails #Backpacking #Wilderness

Meal planning by sorting out all my meals, bagging them, and then weighing the entire lot

55lbs in the pack is too much. Gotta drop weight!

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Rejoice at the beginning of Jobshirt Season. So. Many. Pockets.

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Maple trees are great until the soft limbs sheer off and lawn dart into the roof of my shed. This has happened more than once.

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

We make pumpkin pie in my house year-round.

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Had to dissemble the dryer lint holder thing, vacuum out the space underneath so the lint screen would sit properly, and then reassembled the whole thing. I was able to complete this task and didn’t even have any leftover screws. Sunday chores are awesome.

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

10 mile training hike today for an upcoming backpacking trip. Not pictured is my hiking buddy who traded 35 year old Simpsons references the whole time with me and the Taco Bomba tacos + nachos I destroyed afterwards.

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Spent a long day working as paramedic at the H Street Festival and then at the DC United game. The evening ended late so that I could support the Special Olympics game afterwards. Event medicine is fun. #MedSky

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Amazon let me give away free copies of my trail crew & wildland firefighting memoir. It’s story about a clueless rookie who nearly dies every day but learns a few things along the way. But be warned. Firefighters curse, and exactly one reviewer hated that. #BookSky #Wildland #Trails #Author

This is perhaps the the greatest and most unintentional compliment I’ve ever received. I typically don’t curse a lot at work or at home, but I wanted every part of my memoir to be brutally honest about me and about work out on the fireline. It’s tough work done by people more tough than me, and I felt it served us best to be honest about all things including the harsh language expressed in harsh terrain.

That one person was shocked to learn these things tells me that I did a fair job exposing people to some of harsh realities of the work.

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

I have a backpacking trip this fall, and I’m going back to basics for the meal planning.

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Kids: “Dad, can we camp in the backyard?” Me: “It’s going to rain. Let’s do it anyway.”

The kids made the “bed.” Two of them plus Radar and myself in there. Hot and rained all night. Was worth it

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

All I want is a cordless 12-lead ECG. Why can’t I have this?

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

I spent the weekend working as a paramedic for a large athletic event, and I remain amazed at how quickly an altered hyperthermic patient with unstable vitals will return to somewhat normal after rapid cooling. It’s amazing. Cool your patients, y’all #Medsky #paramedic

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Hurricane Harvey was nine years ago. Time flies

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

I’ve been swimming since I was little and served for years on a swiftwater rescue team, but it wasn’t until two weeks ago that I attempted a flip-kick in the pool. Getting older is so rad because it’s cool to learn stuff without worrying about looking ridiculous.

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Throwback to a VRBO rental few years ago where I found and played these vinyl treasures. “Kids, you going to love this!” Kids: “Be quiet. We are watching ‘Minions.’”

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

My local used bookstore decided to go or Dolly Parton by giving away free books to kids, and of course we said yes. Dolly was great, and used bookstores are also great. Wonderbook.com #BookSky

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

With the bookshelf up, I could also rearrange the bookcase I repurposed from the kids’ room. The den is coming together in time for fireplace season.

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

My thoughts when swimming laps and getting absolutely smoked by a 10 year old: “We are not now that strength which in old days moved earth and heaven.” My thoughts 10 minutes later when I did a flip-turn for the first time in my life: “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield!”

Local pool tonight. Was quiet enough near closing time to attempt flip-turns

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Worked as a paramedic at the Indy Car race in DC today and got to see a B-52 and Air Force 1 make flybys. Event medicine is fun.

Me in the foreground. AF1 in the background

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Got the last coat of polyurethane on the cedar bookshelves and load-tested them with books. I’m glad I could finally empty the two tubs of books I had sitting in the den. Next job is assembling the cedar bookcase.

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

I can often tell who was the last person to ride my rig before me based on what they leave behind. I’m 100% sure in this case it was my critical care nurse buddy given that I found a scalpel and fancy penlight tucked away in the door.

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

My carport wood working skills continue to improve. And yes, that is native Iowa cedar.

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

This is a small thing for most but a big thing for me. My local used book store has my book in stock due to no effort my me. There are enough copies out in the wild that it you can now find it on the used book market. #BookSky #Author www.wonderbk.com/shop/product...

wonderbk.com

Trail Dogs and Firefighters: A Memoir from the Burning West

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

More bookshelves means more space for more books.

New bookshelves going up. Shelves are cedar planks from my uncle Dan who cut the cedars with help from my brother. We cut the shelves together, and I’ll have them up and finished soon.

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Used books are great for many reasons, and one of them is that the handwritten notes I sometimes find inside them offer a glimpse into how this book had a previous life before I grabbed it from the shelf.

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Me: “I’m just going to drop into the bookstore and say hi. I’m not going to buy anything.” Also me:

Kensington Row Bookshop in Kensington, MD

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Hosting a Jeep festival at a tank museum was a genius move. Kudos to the PA Jeep club and the guy who helped me climb inside a Sherman tank.

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

At my age, the only drinking I do around midnight are these delightful little mini cans of diet ginger ale I get from the hospital fridge after handing off a patient. I become surly if they run out.

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Spent last night coaching EMT students prior to their final exams, and I loved it. These young people are great.

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

I was part of the initial cohort of board certified wilderness paramedics when the IBSC introduced WP-C a few years ago, and it felt good to recertify this month. Stay safe out there!

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Spent the day in Emmitsburg, MD and had the chance to again visit the the Library on the National Emergency Training Center Campus. An 1800s era building full of books about all manner of calamities. One of my favorite places.

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Like all kids, mine don’t give a hoot about any of my work stuff, so when my Wilderness Medical Society Fellowship award arrived in the mail today I decided to go full “Darren McGavin in ‘Christmas Story’ on them. “Fra-gi-le. Must be Italian!” “It’s a major award!” #Medsky #Paramedic #Wilderness

Award materials I received from the Wilderness Medical Society for completing my fellowship. I completed the FAWM last year, but the awards are always handed out at the summer convention that missed, so they mailed it to me.

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Owning a Jeep for 18 years has provided many lessons in personal growth, and one of those lessons I struggle to learn is that there are limits to how much personal growth a guy can handle before the cursing starts. #Jeep

Slowly getting the old front shock loose

Every socket extension that I own all linked together to get a rusty bolt loose.

The socket and the wrench I used to pry the lower rear shock bolt loose with my foot

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Four years ago today my trail work & wildland firefighting memoir was released. One of the most unexpected and delightful aspects of this experience was watching friends and family members share it with others. They still do this entirely without my prompting, and I cherish it. #BookSky

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

I read “Drums Along the Mohawk” last year and decided on a whim to take the kids to Fort Stanwix on the trip back from Lake George. Coolest thing was the fact the entire fort had been buried under modern development until the city and NPS decided to excavate and then rebuild the fort.

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

I enjoy the Lake George area because it’s historically significant, has tons of mid-century tourist trap kitsch, and also has lots of water and mountains. For me it’s like having Gettysburg, the Wisconsin Dells, and Shenandoah NP all smooshed together. I love it.

Dino park near the Bloody Pond from the 1755 Battle of Lake George

Lake steamer arriving back to port at Lake George

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

“Daddy, I can see ‘New HAMSTER’ [Vermont] from here!” -My 6yo daughter taking humor and geography cues from her 8yo brother

My kids atop Prospect Mountain near Lake George, NY.

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

I first learned about the Seven Years War and Fort William Henry by watching to the movie adaptation of “Last of the Mohicans.” I have trouble reconciling the fact that I enjoy playing mini golf with my kids at the base of the fort where events like this occurred youtu.be/eBsq6Cd4Rf0?...

youtu.be

A Run to Fort Edward – The Last of the Mohicans (Director's Expanded Edition)

YouTube video by Nikolaevna

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Spent the weekend working as a paramedic at the Mubadala DC Open tennis tournament and the Otakon anime convention. I love event medicine in part because I get to see very different groups of people get excited about very different topics. I usually learn stuff too. #MedSky #Paramedic

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Saw this diagram at work, and it generated a twenty minute conversation among a group of paramedics and EMTs about the very specific sound that human vomit makes when it hits the ground and what similarities might exist with dinosaur vomit.

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Steve Zahn is great in everything, but in the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” roles he is everything I am or could hope to be as a dad. My 6 and 8 year old kids even pointed that out tonight.

Steve Zahn’s character playing a Civil War reenactor with his son.

Scene from a “Diary of a Wimpy Kid.” My 8yo son and I agreed that this was a pretty good description of our relationship too.

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Bob Roller @emergency-bob.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Made the drive from the Blackwater Canyon, through Cannan Valley to the top of Spruce Knob (highest point in West Virginia). Beautiful scenery, and I love spending time in national forests.

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