Best laid plans

Oh, it wasn't Monday, it was the day after a holiday and I could tell. People who were gone all week this week are buried on their return to the Hotel. (Yes, vacation is nice, and so is having that extra day until you return).

I hoped to get one of our patients set up for a clinic visit. I was greeted by the gentleman who waters the plants in my temporary home. "Don't get him upset" was what one of my coworkers said.

It's nice to know the volunteers rate higher than the actual employees here. Did I want to be in "his space"? No. Do I work here? Yes. Do I rate higher as an employee trying to do my job in a temporary location? I should! I take care of ALL my assigned patients, not just the plant guy.

Unfortunately, I'm not the only refugee in the building. Our boss has decided to move one of my cohorts, too. He/she is not happy.

To top off my day, I was working with a patient and found out he got his new stuff from the Hotel to work with us. He just needed to download one little thing. We also found out (in doing our test) that the one little thing was discontinued...on Labor Day. Ugh! Glad he can use his adaptive equipment in other ways, just not for what we intended.

Time to go to Plan B....stay tuned.

No gold rings...

But in five days, this grad class will be over.

Maybe getting up early after staying up late will allow me to see any pinot grigio induced errors in our implementation plan.

Stay tuned...

Nerdly pursuits

Yes, I'm one of those crazies who seek out trouble.

I am no longer employed in the computer industry, but I got to convince my friend to do some networking work at home and buy her kid a new computer. Happy Birthday Nico! Remember, I got you (by talking to mom) that iPod Touch last year, too. Don't pull any crap or mamasita's compadre here will mess up your box (as much as it hurts me...it'll hurt you more!)

Dearest Elderly Relative asked me to hook up his/her new PC....and transfer files. You'd swear the world would end if DER can't get those chain letters!

And because everyone's been buying new stuff and making me salivate, I'm coveting this software for one of my upcoming projects. I've been tagged by one of my instructors to publish a paper that I co-authored this semester. Two of three of us are on board to shop the project out....so we'll see what happens.

I'm heading to the online stores. Stay tuned for more tech toy updates.

You'll realize it's Monday when...

1. You neaten up your blog and think "no one's been there" since the tracking software died. It died, of course, because you needed to update the code with the changes...DUH!

2. You get three patients, one with myriad holes, one on reverse isolation and one on C-diff isolation. Leaking, freaking beautiful!

3. You pick up your child at camp, find him sleeping in a corner and realize he's not cut out for the "rough life." He's outside no more than two minutes and he's throwing up, and it's not really even hot today.

So glad Tuesday is mere hours away....stay tuned.

RehabRN book club

And now for something completely different....

Tired of reading a bunch of boring old literature that's not very interesting? I went to the stacks of the local library recently and found an interesting book. Do Gentlemen Really Prefer Blondes? by Jena Pincott is subtitled Bodies, Behavior and Brains--The Science Behind Sex, Love and Attraction and this book is an easy read since it's got a lot of small sections that describe the larger categories of bodies, behavior and brains.

Here are some interesting things mentioned in the book.

1. Praat software (found here) can analyze the attractiveness of your own voice right on your PC or Mac.

2. The relationship of the size of your index finger and ring finger can tell you about prenatal hormone exposure.

3. On page 248, the authors of one study discuss the Nash equilibrium related to dating and buying your date gifts. Who'd have thought game theory would appear in this book?

A rainy Thursday

I'm looking out the window and it's gray and rainy. The wind is also cool, too. Fall is definitely here in our neck of the woods. There is some fall color, but most of the leaves have been blowing away and not really turning too well.

I need to clean my house before my in-laws come over this weekend, and I don't want to do it. The dog looks outside and sees the damp concrete and looks at me as if to say, "You want me to wait out HERE while you vacuum? No way!" This will make things very interesting (since he tends to chase the vacuum cleaner.)

To start today, I got Bubba to school and then I went to get Bubba some stuff and some Halloween makeup. I'm actually planning on wearing a costume this year. I have enough makeup for me, Dahey and Bubba to get made up a couple of times. Rest assured, all of the makeup I bought is water soluble, made in the good ol' US of A, and supposedly hypoallergenic. (We'll test it out and see...) No idea what the boys will be this year. Bubba keeps vacillating back and forth on what he wants to be. We have costumes galore Dahey has collected since the summer and of course, Bubba doesn't want to wear any of them.

After the trip to the store, I got out my carry-on and started packing some of my stuff for the conference coming up in early November. It's in the Pacific Northwest, so I'm expecting more of the cold, rainy stuff. I won't pack everything yet, but it's easier to inventory and get stuff when you have to look at the bag every day. I just throw something in once I think of it, then I reassess when doing the final packing and checking off the list (yes, I have a list for everything I pack). I do this in an effort not to forget the important stuff, like underwear and socks (I have done this several times on trips).

I'm still working on my CRRN review. I really like the Datachem software, since it has a lot of questions and answers (about 750 in the database). If you buy it at www.rehabnurse.org (in the Bookstore section) and you're a ARN member, you get $10 off the list price. I got the Certification Review software, too, and it's a little more flashy, with a lot of sounds and feedback when you answer questions.

Well, since I'm back to work this evening, I'll stop for now and start cleaning. Hopefully, the dog will stay out of trouble! More later...