Work hard, Play hard
Tuesday, October 4, 2011 at 10:09 PM By Sam “ALL JAM”
The world is usually comprised of two kinds of people; those that don’t mind working and those that can’t stand it and rather just have fun all the time. So, it is unique when you find that rare person that is comprised of both traits. It is in this realm where you’ll find beautiful Junkie listener Kindra Waluk.
Personally, I often think to myself that I have way too many things going on in my life and I need to cut back and scale it down. However, after talking to Kindra and seeing what her life is comprised of, I’m starting to wonder if I do enough. Even growing up a small town girl from the Sierra Mountains couldn’t keep her from staying busy and having fun.
A product of Markleeville, which resides in the smallest county in California, she actually grew up five minutes from the Nevada state line near Lake Tahoe; is that anywhere near Otisville? Yet even though she technically lived in California, she went to school in Nevada. Why? “Because of the weather and snow, it was a safer commute for the kids who grew up on the mountain,” she said.
Growing up on a mountain had its advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, sometimes the kids on the mountain got snow days that the other kids didn’t. On the other hand that meant being at home with not much else to do other than ski; and ski she did up until she was 14 when she discovered snowboarding. “After that I knew I would never go back to skiing,” she said.
However, skiing also impacted as to which direction she would go in life as well. While working at the local state park as a lifeguard and EMT, she witnessed medical personnel attending to someone who was in a ski accident. Kindra said, “It was at that point I knew I wanted to be a nurse because I thought that was the coolest thing.”
So after graduating high school in 1998, Kindra went from the smallest county in California, to its smallest state school Humboldt State University. “I went as far north as you can go without leaving California,” she said. As for why she went to Humboldt? Kindra told me, “My two aunts went to Humboldt in the ‘70’s & ‘80’s. Plus, I had friends since the third grade that also decided they wanted to go into nursing, so we all went into the nursing program together.”
While there, she majored in nursing, but also minored in music. Kindra said, “I had been doing musicals since seventh grade at Carson Community College as a way to get off the mountain.” It was also at Humboldt that she met her future husband to be Mike, but it wasn’t a fairy tale right from the start. After a “Jersey Shore moment,” as she put it with one of Mike’s ex-girlfriends she decided there was too much baggage there.
So, they remained just friends for a year and a half until one day one of her friends said, “You know Mike is kind of cute.” Upon realizing her friend was right, they finally got back together and have remained ever since. They eventually got married in 2005 on the island of Maui where they partied with close friends and family for a week.
After obtaining her R.N. degree in nursing, she worked in traditional medicine until 2004 when she hurt her back while caring for a patient. A torn disc had left her partially disabled and by 2006 when it didn’t get any better, she decided to go back to school and get her Master’s degree in Nursing and Mental Health Education. This has led her on a different path in nursing, patient safety education.
Kindra was approached by her employers to put together and spearhead a federally funded program geared to teaching hospitals, nursing schools and paramedic programs about patient safety, thus the Humboldt Bay Regional Simulation Center was born. Using mannequins as patients in simulated situations, Kindra and her staff educate medical professionals on improving their skills. As she says, “In the medical field, the technology can either help or hinder you; we’re here to make it work.”
Regarding MMA, it was Mike that introduced her to it. “Living on the mountain, there wasn’t much to do on the weekends, so I remember I used to watch Showtime boxing as a kid,” she said. However, after becoming a nurse she was turned off by the multiple brain injuries incurred by boxers. So when Mike suggested she watch The Ultimate Fighter Season One finale, she was intrigued.
So much so, that over the next few years she and Mike would rent UFC’s 1–100, just to catch up on their history. In the interim she kept watching TUF, especially season six when one of her favorite fighters Matt Serra let loose a verbal tirade on Marc Laimon. “I hated Laimon, I thought he was such a douche,” Kindra said. Sound familiar?
As fate would have it, Mike was also a Junkie Radio listener. So, when Marc Laimon was in studio co-hosting, he saw it as an opportunity to get Kindra to listen. Ironically, a strange thing happened. Kindra said, “I hated him; however, I learned so much from listening to him that I started to learn the game more. After listening to Laimon I started to watch differently; I would analyze the fights and anticipate strategy.”
Besides MMA, Kindra and Mike are also involved in an Air Soft League they started about eight years ago. It’s similar to paintball, but with weapons shooting biodegradable BB’s. What started with six has grown to about 150 and they coordinate about 25 events a year. On top of that, she’s also business manager for Mike’s independent Computer Systems Analyst Company. With no children a/o yet, their family is comprised of their German shepherd ‘Valkeri and their cat ‘Shmoo’. As Kindra puts it, “My life is simple, work hard, play hard.”
For more info on Humboldt Bay Regional Simulation Center, please go to http://hbrsc.org/learn
For more info on the Humboldt Air Soft League, please go to http://www.humboldtairsoft.com/
Reader Comments (13)
Ok it makes sense now. Kindra was a mystrey to me since I'm not on facebook.
We need to do airsoft at the next junkie gathering.
She's Hot. :)
I'm down for Vegas airsoft.
Kindra you are such a sweetheart, can't wait to hangout with everyone in vegas and of course go RAIDERS!!!. Outstanding write up Sam ALL Jam you are the MAN!!!!
Thank you guys for reading and thanks Big Juan for your comment. These Jam Session's only work because of people with interesting stories like yours and Kindra's. I've truly enjoyed doing these and have found each one not only interesting, but inspiring. Thanks to Goze for giving me the chance to do this. Easy!
You do a great job with these Sam. Thanks Kindra.
I love that pic of Sam ALL Jam and me. Soooooo much fun playing with my Junkies in Vegas!
This post is awesome,ecpecting the newest!!!LIKE IT LIKE IT LIKE IT!!! uebuef uebuef - Moncler Rockar.
This post is awesome,ecpecting the newest!!!LIKE IT LIKE IT LIKE IT!!! leedzg leedzg - Moncler Rockar.
Save money if I allow you load? Smaller, so do not overlook each of our Metallic bandage dress , Beaded Necklace Dress , Ombre Bandage Dress and Colour Block Dress , Don't be afraid, speedy grasp the possibility!
When you have your heart, buy a fake omega watches, you should raise your attention to the scam letter, because there are too many poor-qualities online posing as high-quality replica Panerai Ferrari watches and breitling bentley replica watches. Suppose you are a freshman in this transaction, you can easily be cheated. Before you buy, it is preferable by e-mail inquiries, so that you can check their feedback on the legality of a copy of the dealer. For your safety, we recommend that you use your credit card.
globalization and the internet now make it easier to find a legitimate supplier from china wholesale. For example, you can use Wholesale Watches wholesale directory list to find suppliers of the products you want to sell. You can rely on the suppliers found on Superpopular directory because they have been verified to be reputable. It is also best if you contact the supplier by phone and talk to a representative especially at the start to establish a good relationship with the supplier.
You must decide if you want to work directly with a China wholesale supplier or with a dropshipper. If you order from a Buy Cheap Jewelry you will be importing products so there are necessary documents to accomplish and customs duties to be paid. There will also be a minimum order required. The advantage here is that you will be getting the products at amazingly low prices, so you will actually be able to get higher profits. Just make sure all importation documents and duties are in order.
Now a days most of the retailers of UK imports their wholesale products from China like wholesale electronics batteries which lowers their cost and increases profit from 25 to 30 % as compared to buying from in-house manufacturing companies. The other products of China like Wholesale Jewelry, wholesale watches,mechanical pocket watch,wholesale Hello Kitty Watches,wholesale hello kitty jewelry,China Wholesale Bags,Electronic Watch,Wholesale Electronics DropShip, cloths or shoes normally confer profit from 10 to 15 %. The benefits to manufacture your products in China are also massive. You get much more cheap manpower which is very dedicated to their work. Moreover the prices of the properties of cheap china wholesale and the machinery are also very low so you can easily get enough space for your setup. These factors allow you to produce quality products in very low price, so you can make high profits.
Sometimes a wholesale electronics dropshipper can be a better option, because you will not have to deal with a lot of different wholesale suppliers. There is no minimum order required. Although the price will be higher, you will not have to deal with packaging and shipping, and you can cater to customers all over the world. Again, you can find reliable dropshippers on a wholesale directory list like Superpopular.