Smog + heat =

Misery. Just misery. Red air quality...yuck!

It is making my allergies go crazy. Either that or it is the 50 degrees in my office since some people need it freezing to work. I love getting sick!

At least the Diet Coke will stay cool if someone like Grumpy happens by.  (the ice machine is a long walk...)

Stay tuned...

Gotta love the men

I go to my gynecologist and he's asking what my secret is to losing seven pounds since last year. I tell him I watch carbs and sweets.

He must have missed lunch because we had a lengthy discussion about donuts. (Fortunately, his office is close to a donut shop and within 2 miles of a cable network rated one).

Then I come home and read Dr. Grumpy's post about nurses over at kevinmd.com. Aww! I know who appreciates me, and who doesn't.

Yes, indeed, it was a good day. Gotta love the men!

Dr. Grumpy's gift guide

Yes, Dr. G. is getting into the spirit of the season.

Deal with a lot of a^&sholes (and they're not in the GI lab) at work? You might need a gift from these folks.

I'm really tempted to tell my sister-in-law about these so she can take them in to the lab she works in.

Priceless!

Another classic

This reminds me of the warning when I was in school abroad in college: make sure you understand the doctor's instructions on how to take your medicine. They tend to give lots of suppositories.

Weekend Call by Doc Grumpy sure reminded me of that.

That is all. Enjoy!

Mistaken identity you'll love

Grumpy:

I hope they enjoy this one as much as I did. Most of my docs hide out from patients, but you took this one head on!

Bravo!

Stay tuned...

Calling all neurologists...

Someone just needs to save Dick Van Dyke from his "throbbing headaches" which canceled his upcoming show in NY.My favorite line, in one article was that he has a "yet to be diagnosed neurological disorder".

Maybe Doc Grumpy or some of the other neurologists in the blogosphere can help him out while he waits for the tabloids to diagnose him.

Stay tuned...

Really spring?

Yes, we're having a snowstorm in RehabLand. Who could think of a better way for us to appreciate spring when it gets here? (Those crazy meteorologists.) Anywho...here are a few goodies I ran into once I got off the slick roads and out of the grocery store today. (I had to get my triple coupons!)

Since the groundhog predictions of an early spring are off, some litigious folks in Ohio want to get Phil. Thank you BBC for being on the mark for this important story.

Grumpy has a weekend rerun ALL nurses will enjoy. Thanks for thinking of us Grumpy. I'd stash you a Diet Coke, anytime!

Yet another problem: how to tell if the new iPad you just bought is really in the box. Hard to believe this could have happened at a major retailer, but if it's worth something, people will try to steal it.

I think I'll call...

Grumpy made me think of a phrase we hear often at the Hotel. Amongst the rabble, er, employees at the Hotel, we say it in jest. However, the patients take it seriously.

"I'm going to call my Congressman(woman or Senator)!"

While I was doing a follow-up call with one of our folks, he/she was really close to uttering that famous line. I was fortunate that I was able to resolve the problem thanks to one of my office pals.

What happened to a consult for an AFO that was submitted electronically? It went everywhere internally it could go. Things got messed up when it went to the vendor on paper (who'll actually make this one). Somehow the paperwork from the vendor never ended up where it should have.

That's not all...when  Patient X called right around Christmas to see what happened with his/her paperwork, someone (of course they don't have a name) told Patient X, "Well, you know, I'm sorry. We've been busy since So and So retired." Customer service? I don't think so.

Pal enlightened me. "Nobody retired over here, RehabRN. Don't worry, Mike, the assistant chief will call Patient X."

And he did. And Patient X was happy. And so was the Congressman/woman and the Senator.

Going all "Network"

1. This sign in a doctor's office from one of my favorite sites, http://www.passiveagressivenotes.com

2. Grumpy vents to Siri (at least she's not human...)

3. The quote here in this video...
My day, however, was not nearly as exciting.

At least, I got my exercise running the steps and plenty of nice comments. The stupid folk must have been hiding in the Hotel somewhere else!

Thank you Grumpy

I'd like to take this to work and put it on my door.

Please try to keep in mind that medicine is a team sport. When you view other doctors (or nurses, or whatever) as the opposition, the only person who really loses is the patient.

You can read more of this Grumpy post on his blog.

Got a couple of customers for this one

Thanks Grumpy for this ass-tonishing story. (Yes, stop groaning...bad pun, I know).

There are a couple of our Hotel customers who surely could use one set of these with all the complaints we get from them.

Hits too close to home...

In so many ways, I can't even count.

Thanks Grumpy for your post about Karl. Brain cancer is a bugaboo I hope, one day, will be resolved and cured.

Almost over...

Spring Break ends tomorrow for me and Bubba.

It's been an interesting week. Training, appointments and a couple of days of vacation thrown in. Overall, I'm happy, even if I didn't get a week to enjoy with Bubba or to have fun roaming hither and yon at whim like I'm apt to do on staycation.

I've been reading lots. Books, blogs, you name it.

Here's my reading list of the past few days, because tomorrow, it's back to being a grad student in the last part of the semester. No more breaks until May.

Fun books:

CSI by Anthony Zuiker talks about the show of the same name.

Brandwashed by Martin Lindstrom talks about marketing and manipulation. Ah, I get warm fuzzies thinking about my time in the marketing department as a contract worker bee. Such fun with product focus groups!

And even though it might not seem like fun, I really enjoyed Help! for Writers by Roy Peter Clark. I figure it can't hurt with those assignments coming up!

Blogs:

I like to read Doc Grumpy and Nurse K regularly. Two really different points of view, but I enjoy the randomness of things that happen, because that is my life, too. 

Since I had time to meander, I also visited a few blogs I don't normally get to enough. Everyone needs Therapy is an interesting blog and I particularly enjoyed the post on March 18 about Paul Carr and drinking.

At Your Cervix is another blog I pop in and out of intermittently. I like this blog because the author is a student like me.

The snarky ones: FML, Apostrophe Abuse, and my all-time favorite, Passive Aggressive Notes, had a section on Tourist Terrorists in Spain. Just priceless. However, the best of the snarkiness category had to be this entry on the Daddle (with comment) in UHpinions. No, I'm not making this up.

Alas, I'm getting back to a delightful Hefeweizen and getting ready for the week. Can't wait until the next vacation.

Stay tuned...

Blasts from the past

I get a message on a professional network I'm on from my former boss. Didn't even know he was still around. After that, I managed to catch up with a few other coworkers, too.

Then I read this story about Mr. A. on Grumpy's blog.

Reminds me of that song, "Grandpa, tell me 'bout the good old days."



Enjoy the weekend, all, wherever you spend it.

It ain't Bob and Bing on the Road to Utopia, but..

All of these things happened to me on the road recently with the boss.

1. I was accused of drinking the last of the caffeinated coffee in the conference room. I drank decaf instead, and waited for the new stuff to arrive. "No, " I replied. "It ran out before I got there."
2. Boss almost choked. Thank goodness I didn't have to do the Heimlich on him/her.
3. Boss kept borrowing so many office supplies that my return flight seat mate said, "What are you going to have to do next? Make coffee?"

But it wasn't all terrible.

1. Boss held my spot in line to get on the plane as I desperately ran to Starbucks for a coffee and he/she declined one. (I was nice and offered, as I always do.)
2. Boss stood in the rain to get a cab.

3. Boss and I sat near each other in the conference and I didn't hide his/her pens once (although he/she "borrowed" my only notepad to take calls from people at the Hotel.) Yes, while the meeting was in progress. Boss also wrote remote orders on his/her laptop.
4. Boss complimented me on my knowledge in front of our work group, who had come from around the nation.

It is always interesting to watch
1. Specialists squirm when they don't understand something.
2. People getting in those inside comments, "We finally went out and got Nurse X a Queen's Square hammer for the clinic after that study." Thanks to Grumpy, I actually KNEW that one. (still have to find out what Boss's favorite is though...I'm guessing a Troemner)

Nevertheless, I survived. Boss, I'll miss you when you're gone the next time.

Just remember...I have pictures of you sleeping with your mouth wide open on the plane, proving, yet again, that you're still human like the rest of us.

Stay tuned...could be on the road again before you know it.

Some reruns

Are just classics, so if you haven't already seen Dr. Grumpy's latest Sunday Rerun, you just better run right on over and check out this week's version about insurance companies and bureaucracy.

It makes the Govermint look tame in comparison. Who'd have thought office folks would love Medicare?

Stay tuned...I'm relaxing and enjoying the weekend while it lasts.

Some blogs make me cry

And happily, some blogs make me laugh. Grumpy has a guest post by his wife Mrs Grumpy (aka Skool Nurse), which has a teachable moment. It would be nice for that moment to occur at home, however, without video, even though spy gadgets are really cool.

Thanks Grumpy and Skewl Nurse! I needed a good laugh.

Too cool

Yes, lots of things fit that category today.

First, I woke up to the famous "mantel of white". Usually when it's predicted, we hear the snow plows go by on our road in the early morning. Not today. In an effort to save money, the local Govahmint authority in charge of our road will be plowing a) when the wind abates, and 2) later in the day, since after all, it is a Sunday, and not everyone works anyway. Nice.

And Grumpy, one of my favorite neuros (yes, I have a couple...) posted this dream job recently on his blog. With the way my back's been acting lately, I think my dream job will be massage chiropractic therapy test patient for interning chiropractors or my father's favorite, mattress tester.

Off I go. Time to take Bubba and WildDog out to play in the snow, since we're not going anywhere. Stay tuned....

By way of Grumpy

Something only a mother (or any parent really) can love at the start of the school year, from mothershandbook.net

The Mother's (2nd annual) 12 step Back to school program

BTW Grumpy, our DragonMaster (a patient who's been a longtime Dragon user) loved your latest Dragonisms.

Thanks Grumpy!

I got this link to a cool cartoon site by a med student via Doc Grumpy. I'm sure there's a nursing student out there with similar talents...is that you? If so, send me your link.

Reminds me of my all-time favorite cartoon blog: Savage Chickens.

Health care is so entertaining!