I don't always blog -- but when I do I like to blog about ridiculous trips to the post office

Right, so I was in Vegas last week from Saturday to Wednesday and during that time not one but TWO postal workers brought a package to my apartment and tried to deliver it -- neither of those kind people decided to take said package to the leasing office when I didn't answer the door and instead left me a little note saying that the package would be at the post office.  Now, this probably seems rational to you doesn't it readers?  That is because you are missing the one critical piece of information that the post office has NEVER DONE THAT BEFORE... they always leave the packages at the office... or outside my door... now, this is only the beginning friends

I decided on Thursday to go to the post office and pick up my package b/c it was a present for B and I wanted to bring it with me when I came to visit him this weekend... and that is where the real fun starts -- I had called the post office and, because I am the most unlucky person ever, the package was sitting at the post office with the most restrictive hours in the world city.  The little card said they were open until 5:30pm but when I called they said oh no, we are only open until 4:30 now because we want to make your life miserable and we just haven't changed it on the forms.  Right, ok... whatever.  I didn't need to stay at work past 4pm anyway... So I leave at 4pm and drive over to the post office thinking I'll get in right before they close and get my package quickly and get home... and that is exactly what didn't happen.

As I walked up to the post office I could see that there were about 15 people in a waiting area that was no larger than 12x8 feet... as I got into line I could hear the first lady talking to the mail lady about how "someone" kept getting her address wrong" on all her mail... as if it were the mail lady's personal fault that this was occurring... and then she just stared at the lady who stared blindly back at her as if to say "what the crap do you want me to do about that"... she eventually got stabbed taken care of, I assume, since I got distracted by the next guy in line who went to the other window -- he was a special kind of crazy.  He was holding maybe 10-12 manilla envelopes and asked the guy if he could get them weighed so he would know how many stamps to put on them... the guy weighs one and tells him the postage is $1.95 stamps and then the guys says -- "it's a good thing I didn't do what I was going to do"  ::long silence:: post office guy: "what was that"; envelope guy: "put two stamps on it and cross my fingers" <<insert most obnoxious and painful laugh/cackle/ridiculousness known to man>>

At this point I looked to the heavens to ask what fresh hell I was being put through and why... Suddenly however, I was distracted yet again by a woman asking about postage on her 7+ manilla envelopes as well as her spawn with neon green hair... the post office lady told her that it was between 2 and 3 stamps and that she could either put two on and they would charge her the difference or she could put three on and be over by a little (she was holding a book of stamps out in front of her like a shield) and then this moron kind person spent no less than 45 seconds deciding whether to put 2 or 3 stamps on the envelopes... I couldn't make this crap up

Finally I get to the counter and get my package and go to head out to my car and as I'm putting it in the passenger side along with my purse I see a car in my peripheral vision obnoxiously creeping into my personal pedestrian space waiting to park in the spot IMMEDIATELY next to mine despite the fact that there were NO LESS than 10 other parking spots within my immediate viewing area... to top it off, this asshat was wearing headphones -- while DRIVING... at that I got in my car and got home quickly so that no more stupidity could infiltrate my evening...

Ok, that is all.  I hope this was at least mildly entertaining :-)

mantra reclaimed

Reading through some old blog posts and came across what I, at the time, dubbed to be my mantra -- I think I have changed/grown throughout the past year and I think my alteration of said mantra would be this: I am capable, I am growing, I will work to see each day as an opportunity rather than an obstacle

I have blogged before about how I feel like my whole life I've been waiting on the next thing and even though I am getting to a point in my life where I've gone through many of the these landmark things I still find myself seeing this year as an obstacle to my future happiness, a hill that I just have to get over to get to the fun part on the other side -- now, in some ways this is true since I did kind of have to put my life on hold to move here and complete my training but at the same time, I have felt recently that I am just unhappy and I think it stems from the fact that I go to work everyday thinking about what I "have" to do and not what I have the opportunity to do.

Now, those of you who know me may be thinking that I've had a stroke or been abducted by aliens or something of that nature but I haven't :-)  Also, I'm not saying that I'm suddenly going to become ecstatic about living away from all my friends/family and B but I just feel like I have to put an end to this cycle of my going into work Monday with a negative opinion of things that only gets worse as the week wears on.  And maybe some of this stems from the fact that tomorrow will be day 1 of 18 and I just don't think I can face 18 days of being angry with my life... and maybe I am trying to have a more positive outlook because B is coming in a couple of days and I want to be happy while he's here... I don't know, but I do know that I want to try to just be content for the next 244 days.  And I want to be productive.

On that note, I'll go try to get my handout ready for my topic discussion tomorrow... wah wah...

Happy Halloween Week kiddies :-)

lyrics

and I have to speculate
that God himself did make us
into corresponding shapes
like puzzle pieces from the clay

and true it may seem like a stretch
but it's thoughts like this that catch
my troubled head when you're away
when I am missing you to death

Iron & Wine
Such Great Heights

I love this song.  Period.

I'm a bad blogger

I don't have time to post... like ever...

I am so happy to be laying on my couch right now.  I am so happy to not be in the hospital right now.  Sometimes people tell me that I should be careful about what I post so that no one ever thinks that I don't like what I'm doing -- I think anyone who has done a residency knows that residents MUST love what they do or they wouldn't do it.  This is not a glamorous lifestyle.  No one does a residency because they want to be a resident -- it is a very fulfilling means to an end.  A challenging and fulfilling means to an end.  I am so grateful for the opportunities I've been given since graduating and I truly value the position I'm in currently.  That said, I will be happy in 259 days when I'm no longer a resident.  Anyone who thinks that is bad/wrong/inappropriate is silly.  I am so excited to join the ranks of specialists who have completed their respective residencies and pay it forward to those who are also going to pursue the residency path.  I hope I can be there for others as people have been there for me.  Additionally, I am going to be so exquisitely happy to be able to see the real B instead of the pixelated skype version of him that I am so used to seeing now.  I value him even more now that I have had to be away.

On another note - My sister is coming next month for Thanksgiving... I guess we've kind of made it out little tradition.  Last year we had Thanksgiving together too.  I have to work that holiday as well as 2 of the other 3 weekends in November... I am glad she is willing to come here and make food for me :-)

Well, I think now it is time for me and my kitty friend to continue lounging about the apartment doing absolutely nothing.  And then maybe later I will try and do something productive... perhaps laundry or going to the grocery store... or actually work on something related to work... the world may never know.

later happy people.

clinical coverage

During the week there are a large number of pharmacists (many specialists) covering the patients in the hospital... on the weekend there are 4 specialists for all the patients in all the areas of the hospital.  This weekend I am one of those four.

Saturday was only slightly better than having dental work done (and anyone who knows me knows how I feel about the dentist)... Trying to organize and figure out how to sensibly provide pharmacy care to that many people takes some thought and just some time to get set up.  Today when I got to work I had a plan.  I looked at all the SICU patients and made a list of things to f/u on and then I put in my TPNs and then I did the kinetics for the floor patients and then I looked back over the SICU patients for changes/interventions I made earlier and then I looked over the floor patients briefly to identify need for renal dosing and if there were any monitored meds that I had missed.  I think it was a good system.  I left 2 hours earlier than I did yesterday so I call that a win.

Today was day 14 of 18 so I am really starting to feel it.  I cannot wait until Thursday afternoon when I leave and go to see B.  I definitely am aching for a weekend :-)

Ok, that's really all I had to blog about.  My project is going well so far and I'm excited about it.  My last rotation went really well and Tuesday I start SICU month 2 (student included).  Should be fun.

later kids :-)

Sunday night... time to post

I don't have a lot to say to the blog world tonight... Last weekend B came here to visit and we tried several good restaurants and went to a minor league baseball game so that was really fun.  This week I have started my first rotation in the SICU.  It is an open unit so the team I'm on is a consult team which is a new experience but overall I got to start off without too many patients and I think I have a decent handle on things so far.  I had to work my first weekend alone this weekend which means 1 down and only 17 more to go.  Hazah :-)  But seriously, I worked with an AWESOME technician this weekend and although I had some weird stuff come up I feel like I did a good job and no one died.  I do however still have the fear when leaving that I might have done something terribly stupid, but after a year of practicing as a pharmacist I'm pretty sure I'm being careful enough that I didn't actually do anything too stupid.  Here's to hoping :-)

I don't really want to go to work tomorrow but alas, I must.  And not only must I go, I must go early.  I saw today that I have a couple new patients that I don't know anything about so that means I have work to do before rounds tomorrow.  The funny thing is, even though I've had a couple of 12+ hour days, I'm enjoying it for the most part.  I mean, don't get me wrong -- at 10 hours or so I'm working hard to get my ass out of the hospital but I feel like I'm doing good work and I feel like I'm learning and that makes me happy :-)

Hard to believe a month has gone by already... In a lot of ways I hope the year does go quickly so I can get back to being in the same city and state with B.  I knew it would suck but being away from him most of the time is just a lot crappier than I even anticipated.  And that's my complaining limit for this post. :-P

On a lighter note, I have some pretty cool co-residents and overall I'm having a good time.  I am excited to see where this year will take me.  I think that's all I have to say for now.

goodnight folks.

p.s. only 328 days until I become a real person.  not that I'm counting or anything...

life altered

I've done it.  I've moved away all by myself.  It was a challenge.  I got here last Thursday and my dad was here.  Friday I drove him back and then B and I came back here for the weekend.  Things were pretty nice with him here although there was a bug issue that nearly had me falling apart.  Half a can of Raid later the bugs have decreased to a manageable number.  When B left on Sunday I cried and cried.  That was the hardest moment of the whole situation.  I felt really really alone and quite nervous about the next year.  After that initial sadness/panic I managed to settle in here and get into something of a routine.  Last week of orientation was pretty easy since we had the holiday and Friday was pretty limited in terms of what we had to do but now I'll be starting my first 12 day stretch.  Those are going to be pretty prevalent for the first six months or so.  12 on 2 off is something I'm going to need to get used to... we'll see.

I'm excited to get started on rotations but I'm nervous about trying to prove myself to a whole new group of people.  I think I have a good knowledge base to work from and hopefully my training will be sufficient for me to look up my patients efficiently.  I'm trying to just focus on operations things so that I can get that figured out b/c I felt a lot smarter as a PGY1 once I figured out how things move through the hospital.  I think I'm rambling now... anyway, only 51 weeks until I'm a real person which, incidentally, means only 51 weeks for me to find a real person job... kind of weird to think about since I'm just starting my PGY2 but knowing how fast last year went I feel like those 51 weeks will go quicker than I could ever imagine...

night kids.