TGIF

Or why I'm really glad it's Friday edition.

1. Some people will be on vacation next week, so it will get quiet...quiet enough to enjoy!

2. I'm going to go do my civic duty next week. I wiill be reading those books I had planned to read!

3. It's pay day. Hooray!

Hope you enjoy your weekend wherever you are...

Boo Vortex

I'm tired of the cold. The groundhogs are still hibernating. The Hotel is the same. I'm hoping the witch that jinxed my pay raise is freezing everything off.

Meanwhile, I found a recipe I want to make to forget about this cold: rum punch cake.

Wish it could take me to the tropics, too. At least, it might make me happy enough to forget the cold.

Enjoy!

I'm on fire!

The engine fired on all (most) of the cylinders, literally and figuratively. Lots of stuff done today.

I didn't win the lottery, but darn it, I was on fire...like the song says "starburst into the sky".

For Monday, I'll take it!

Sunday fun

We had to get up early to watch the gold medal hockey game. No sporting event is complete without food in our house, so we got donuts (and Bubba got a breakfast sandwich, too, just to make sure he had enough energy).

And while I was reading, I found this article on trends from the Olympics.

Sorry, folks, I already wear PJs at work (aka scrubs). I ain't wearing a onesie, unless I end up on the bobsled team. I grew out of those LONG ago.

And if that's not enough fun for you, head on over to Sunday Stealing for this week's Fifteen meme. My answers are below.

Enjoy your day wherever you are!

What was your first job like? 
Two words: Burger King.

It’s a typical Sunday, how are you spending it? 
Church and getting ready for the week.

What was the happiest day of your life? 
There are so many...

What was the best decision you ever made? 
Going to nursing school.

Tell your go-to “pretend” game as a child (who was your alter-ego?) 
I was a superhero.

What email service do you use? 
A couple.

What fandoms would you consider yourself a part of? 
None.

Do you use anything on your lips? (eg. Chapstick, gloss, balm, lipstick) 
Love me the Burts' Bees with color (watermelon).

How many devices do you own which can access the internet? 
About 10.

Last strong smell you can remember smelling? 
Skunk.

If you had to move your birthday to another date, which one would you choose and why? 
June 15. I want to have my birthday in summer, so I can have a pool party.

Inspiration behind your blog title? 
My job.

If you could spend a rainy day with anyone in the world, who would you choose and why? 
Hmm...so many. Living or dead, for living, not sure who...dead C.S. Lewis.

Is there a foreign culture that you love? 
I lived in France. I'd like to experience more of Europe and Scandinavia, then pick one (or two..)

Do you have a favorite soft drink?
No.
 

I hope it's true...

I know it's a fleeting thought, but the first day of spring is March 20th this year.

For a brief moment, we had reprieve today. It was GLORIOUS! I escaped to the acute unit of the Hotel today, and warts and all, it's getting off to a nice start, despite the rough beginnings when it opened.

Happy Friday to all, wherever you are.

There but for...

Yes, I thought the anatomy book that got to fifth grade was a big deal, until I saw this article recently about liquor chocolates going to school.

I was that super tired parent when Bubba was a young'un, because whenever he got sick, he was up and down all night. Not much changes, either. (His last bout of illness was proof that nothing has changed).

As the saying goes, there but for the grace of God go I...

More later.

I'd love Mary, too, at the Hotel

Or what I'd tell a particularly irritating paranoid person who came to my door.

I have wifi, too. Never thought about it as that scary, since the Hotel now has it everywhere.

But, yes, you never know.

Now, to go get my tinfoil hat just in case (at least they won't know who I am).

More to come...

Hair on fire?

Some days I really think the reactionary Manglement around here enjoy causing people to run around the Hotel as if their hair were really on fire.

Situation 1:
Really? You just figured out that clinics won't see enough people when 1) most of your patients are over 55 and 2) the weather is totally crappy (ice, snow and below zero)?

Captain Obvious, where are you? Obviously not in the Manglement offices.

Situation 2:
And since we've opened a specialty care unit at the Hotel, it's been even better. First, we had the unit all done. Then, there was an emergency in another area of the hospital, so that unit was reallocated to a clinic--for a year and a half. Next, there was a flood in another area (for outpatients, not rehabbers), so we got bounced again.

Hotel Specialty Care wing finally opened recently. They are still figuring out some of the staffing (luckily not nursing). WT..? Another Manglement fumble.

I'm bucking the trend. I'm staying calm for the heck of it.

It's the one thing I can control.

More to come...

This is going to be a bad Monday

How do you know?

1. Your kid is sick with this (when you were hoping it was just a migraine).

2. Your town is experiencing an ice storm. (even better reason to be trapped with all these germs inside). My Lysol fumigation continues...

3. You planned a busy day while kiddo was off school (doctors appointments, dentist appointments, meeting your friend for lunch). All get cancelled.

Maybe I just need to go back to bed and hide until Bubba calls me again...stay tuned.

Weekend fun of sorts

On weekends, besides catching up on chores around the house, I often volunteer. This weekend, I volunteered at PrivateU interviewing students for scholarships. It was very interesting.

I was assigned to a team with a current scholarship student, another alum, and myself. Here are some things I noticed.

1. The kid who wanted to major in computer science, really was a computer nerd (nice, but totally freaked out by my interview question I asked all the candidates).

2. Of the applicants our group reviewed, only two of the candidates were boys. The rest (about 10 in all) were girls.

3. Everyone (except for 2) came because PrivateU has a special early admit program to medical school.

4. Not surprisingly, everyone could tell me how medicine was so important and why they wanted to be a physician. Not one of them demonstrated a real idea of what other professionals do in health care, including the kid who planned on majoring in biomedical engineering.

From the description one gave me, it would have been more appropriate to tell her she could spend more time with patients as a nurse, but blowing her mind right then and there seemed like a bad thing to do.

5. I had all of their applications on paper, but was not sent any other details. My co-interviewers obviously reviewed their homework, but I did not. They seemed a little irritated by this at first, but they got used to me, eventually.

One gave me her form, and I reviewed it. I opted out and asked a non-standard question, which they liked, and was not on the suggested questions handout.

Not surprisingly, many more alums will interview more kids next weekend. Frankly, I thought one weekend of that was enough. 

A lot of good kids and only so many scholarships. Now I know what I have to do to get Bubba in shape for college. A whole lot of work.

More to come...

Things not to do, part 77

It really seems like it. It's so very easy to find things folks should not do.

1. Don't wear jewelry to CPR class.
Especially, if it is a long necklace and is going to get tangled up in the AED simulator. Shock anyone?

2. Diss the nurses.
Not my patient, but even my doctor relatives know this is not a good thing.

3. Stick a q-tip up your nose.
Because it really, really is a bad thing if you break off the long wooden stick, and the rest of it stays in your nose. We will have to send you for an extraction.

Stay tuned!

Things not to do at work

Oh, my coworkers just come up with new fun things to do every single day. Today's installment revolves around computer issues.

Our boss, a lovely physician who is an expert in her field, has a love/hate relationship with her computer. As usual, as soon as our support person leaves for the other side of campus, she has an emergency.

Today's emergency: typing caused the lock screen to come up in the middle of entering the password. I watched as it happened, and noticed something. A large crumb. We repeated the error, so I told our lovely doc, to hold off the attempts to log in until I came back. I brought a can of air and our Saniwipes. To no one's surprise, enough crumbs to feed a small family came flying out of the keyboard.

Moral of the story: don't eat lunch over your desk. Those crumbs are out to get you (especially if they pile up under the keys on your keyboard). A few sprays of the air and cleaning...voila! No more weirdness.

The other problem: some things just shouldn't be used as mouse pads. Here's an explanation from one of the staff: Someone has decided to use Covaderm (yes the dressing) as a mouse pads on a few of the computers causing an abundance of adhesive madness when trying to maneuver the mouse. 

Remember, friends don't let friends use adhesive dressings on computers. Stick to the duct tape.

More later... 

Lazy Sunday

Bubba and Dahey are already watching the Olympics and British football. If we had multiple TVs in the living room, it would look like a sports bar.

My DVD player is finally working, so I'm filling iTunes up again. For exercise, I'm jumping up every time the timer goes off on the dryer (what nurse DOESN'T multitask at home?).

Sunday Stealing is about Valentine's Day (coming up on Friday). Want to answer the meme? Head on over...

Pondering the week to come...will be a crazy busy one. Hope we don't get any more snow to mess things up.

Stay tuned...

Snow again

I'm really going to appreciate spring and summer this year.

I never thought I'd see the day when I thought freezing (32F) was warm.

Ugh!

To teach...

Or not to teach.

When I see what they pay these online teachers, I'm not really interested.

Even if I went back to school, I wouldn't get much more with a PhD.

Nice. Will have to find something else that's a little more lucrative. I have a practice test to take for one organization that at least get me CEUs. (and an average of $20 per hour for taking a test)

Might as well do that instead. Stay tuned.

One fun thing after another...

First, we had the annual inspection. It's nice that these folks care to visit, but suggesting things we don't really need is not going to fix anything. We have two perfectly smart BSNs who can act as case managers, thankyouverymuch, even if one (conveniently) forgets how many visits are done in the clinic yearly.

Get us what we ask for...not c$%p we don't want. Like enough nursing staff. You know...those 24/7 folks who make the place run. Yes, they are handy.

Next, it started snowing in the afternoon. And snowing, and snowing some more. Luckily, my driving skills in the newish family wagon are getting better as I'm getting used to traction control.

Finally, I capped off the night by going to the dentist. Thankfully, no cavities and no slipping or sliding on the icy roads.

Stay tuned...more to come.

If you thought you had a bad day...

Then you haven't seen this article (or the compelling pictures).

My day may seem crappy, but in retrospect, it's actually pretty darned good, thank you very much.

Hope your Super Bowl Sunday is going well, whether you're celebrating it on the unit or at a party.

Here's this weekend's Sunday Stealing below, since this is the All who wander are not lost (one of my favorite quotes) edition.

Enjoy!

1. Put your music player of choice on shuffle and list the first song
1. Relax, by Frankie Goes to Hollywood.
2. If you could spend a week anywhere in the world, where would it be and why? Would you take anyone with you?
1. Right now, it would be somewhere warm. Otherwise, I'd take my husband and son to Paris, France.
3. What is your preferred writing implement? (eg. Blue pen, pencil, green pen)
1. Black pen. Always, and forever. It's legal!
4. When did you go on your first trip alone (without your parents)?
1. When I went to camp at 10.
5. Do you have connections to any celebrities (even minor)? List them.
1. Only drive by ones. I'm related (by marriage) to a pharmaceutical inventor. I went to high school with a girl whose sister is a nurse on a reality show.
6. Name 3 items you could pick up from where you are.
1. Phone, paper, pens
7. How would you describe your sense of humor?
1. Offbeat
8. Do you ever play board games or other non-computer games? Got any favorites?
1. I like Monopoly
9. A musical artist you love that isn’t well known.
1. Johnny Clegg and Savuka
10. A musical artist you love that is well known.
1. Paul Simon
11. What is your desktop background currently?
1. A graphic of leaves.
12. Last person you talked to, and through what you talked to them
1. My husband. The milk was sour.
13. What do you carry your money in?
1. Wallet
14. What timekeeping devices are in the room you are currently in?
1. My phone and my watch.
15. What kind of headphones do you use?
1. All kinds (mostly earbuds)
16. What musical artists have you seen perform live?
1. Midnight Oil, Stevie Ray Vaughn, TMBG, Air Supply, all sorts of bands, really.
17. How often do you clear your browser history?
1. All the time.
18. What’s the best job you’ve ever had?
1. I like the one I have, thanks. 
19. What’s the worst job you’ve ever had?
1. Burger King at 16. Got burnt on the fry basket.
20. What magazines do you read, if any? 
1. Lots. Fashion, computers, nursing, you name it.

A sign of the times

The weather here in RehabLand is cold, cloudy and rainy. The birds are still singing.

Great day to roll over and go back to sleep.

Enjoy your weekend wherever you are.