The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
I think I’ll go ahead and blame my recent return to the dreaded WARDS for my lack of blogging as of late. A lot has happened since two weeks ago when I last breathed life into this place.
Best Christmas ever? Hardly. But not all together terrible, either. Residency has put a new spin on the holidays. For most years of my life before residency – all years to be honest – the holidays were a time of rest and reflection, of comfort in the familiar, of returning home (or at least to wherever my parents lived at the time). My parents have moved a few times since leaving San Diego. And though those new places were never home to me, there were always aspects of being in a “house that belonged to my parents” which brought with it a certain heartwarming sensation of being steeped in the familiar. Papa Stup sitting on the couch and yelling at the Giants. Mama Stup going way overboard on the Christmas thing – from extravagant wrapping paper to multiple ornate Christmas trees to holiday cookies. Little Mal being little Mal (but bigger each year). I always enjoyed going home.
With residency there has been a shift in the paradigm, a certain step up in the magnitude of the holiday season. My intern year, I was in the midst of my well-documented depression. I was on the cardiology service over the holidays. I worked on Christmas eve until 6 pm. Then I went to the movies, ate popcorn for dinner, and saw a very dreary “Gangs of New York”, alone. I worked Christmas day, from 6 am until 7 pm. Then I went home, opened some presents my family had mailed me, had a beer, stared at my tree for a little while, stared out the window for a little longer, then went to bed. And then got up and went back to work the next day. It was a bad time.
During my second year of residency, I was a resident in the ICU. I was on call overnight on Christmas eve. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but other than a drug overdose and a septic old man, the evening was unusually quiet. On Christmas day, I left the hospital at about noon, went home, took a nap, and then got up and went to my cousin Cynthia’s for dinner. It was nice to have some family around for that. The next day, I went back to work. Better than intern year.
This year, I found myself on the wards. I rolled into work at about 7 am and took the infamous MOD pager. I had some coffee, sat back, and prepared. I thought it might be quiet again. On holidays such as Christmas, the only people who tend to come in are the very sick and the depressed. And the very sick tend to go to the ICU.
The morning was quiet, and some other residents and I tooled around and shared some laughs about “the most wonderful time of the year”, indeed. (All can relax, for jukebox Mick was in full swing with the Christmas carols while working that day). Good old Pete’s Taint was the ICU resident for the day.
At about noon, things started heating up. I was consulted on a couple of patients and then the ER started calling. By 3 pm I wasn’t able to stop moving and it turned out to be a very busy day. At about 9 pm, I had missed dinner and kept circling between the ward, the resident area, and the emergency room. As expected, most of the patients who came in were either really sick (I admitted 3 people to the ICU) or mildly ill with some depression (the so-called “social admits”). There were plenty of those. By 2 am, the ER had calmed down and I began catching up on paper work. At about 4 am, I was too exhausted to keep typing and I went and laid down. Up at 6 am, worked until 1 pm, then drove home and took a nap.
Gwen was waiting at home when I got back. I took a nap, and then we got up, exchanged gifts, and went to Cynthia’s again and had a nice dinner with the gang and some red wine. We stayed probably later than we should – I had to work at 8 am on Sunday morning as well. I was tired, and despite the workload, this was the best Christmas of my residency. And that’s basically because of Gwen. It was a good feeling – to come home to her now familiarity after a long night at the hospital. A very good feeling. Like coming home.
But not all was rosy. My ward team was kind of a mess this weekend. We see a lot of tragic things in the hospital setting, but they can carry a special weight around the holidays.
There is a 21-year-old kid on my team. He is in the hospital for his second recurrence of leukemia. This new onset was accompanied by a brain tumor, which he had excised surgically. The neurosurgeon also left a CSF reservoir in his head, so that he could receive intrathecal chemotherapy (intrathecal = directly into the cerebrospinal fluid). So he has a small bump on his skull – under the skin there is a reservoir for CSF that taps into his “brain case” and therefore the spinal cord. He has received several treatments of powerful and toxic chemotherapy. As a result, his blood cell counts are garbage. He is anemic, unable to fight off infections, unable to taste anything, unable to clot his blood effectively, and more. He’s a mess, but he keeps in decent spirits. Being 21 years old is a bonus when trying to fight cancer (and when trying to fight cancer therapy, for that matter).
He has a playstation 2 in his room. I went and saw him on Christmas eve. We talked about his fever curve, his latest antibiotic issues, and some other medical things. Then we talked about video games for a while. He likes RPG’s and first person shooters. When I walked out of the room, I thought about how crazy it was – this kid was like anyone else. He liked video games and DVD’s and sports. Only, he has this horrible cancer and has undergone neurosurgery for a brain tumor and now has this what can only be described as sci-fi device essentially in his brain. And oh yeah, it was Christmas. And by next Christmas he may not be alive. Sad.
Another patient I have is worse. She is 35 years old. Back in June she found a lump in her breast. She had a surgeon look at it and had an Ultrasound. Apparently, it looked like an “inflamed lymph node”, so they decided to watch it for a while. In the late summer, she began having back pain. While shoveling snow in Alaska (where she and her family lived), she fell backward and fractured one of her vertebrae. The reason? That bone was full of metastatic tumor – it had crumbled like paper. It turns out the breast lump was cancer, and it had metastasized to her bone. She was flown to our medical center from Alaska for emergency spine stabilization surgery (again with our neurosurgeon friends). Afterward, we biopsied her breast mass and did a full body CT scan. She has breast cancer, and it has spread to her spine, liver, jaw, ribs, and skull. The prognosis is terrible. Now she is on my service undergoing daily radiation therapy to shrink some of the tumors and help reduce the pain. The treatment is palliative.
On Christmas eve, I walked in the room and she was there with her husband and her three kids. The oldest child is 5. The tone was hard to describe – like a subdued somberness. The patient and her husband were trying to feign joy for the sake of their children on Christmas while suppressing a near overwhelming sadness because of the inevitable. Man, was that a tough scene. Her kids are adorable. And this is very likely the last Christmas they will even spend with their mother. Fucking brutal.
I suppose that’s how crazy my job can be sometimes. Very satisfying and rewarding at its best. Emotionally crippling and incredibly stressful at its worst. And occasionally with that extra sense of being unreal. Like in that room on Christmas eve. Hard to believe. And harder to prepare for.
And despite that, and despite the crazy near-sleepless night that ensued that Christmas eve, and despite the depressed people that rolled through the ER that night, there was some joy there.
There is an energy to Christmas for me which is palpable. Similar to one’s birthday, there’s just an under the surface feeling of something reassuring and powerful. I suppose I can trace it back to elated memories of childhood – running downstairs at dawn or earlier on Christmas day, tearing into presents and then spending the day just happy as a clam with my family. I was euphoric. They were happy to see it. Good times. There is a residual power to the holiday that I hope never goes away. And despite the craziness I had witnessed in the hospital that day and night and following day, that power was still there on this Christmas. I still felt good driving home – even though I was tired as hell.
Happy Holidays.
Another Weekend in the Books
Gwen was out of town this weekend, leaving me a full 48+ hours of time to myself. Without beating around the bush, I'll go ahead and say that I colossally wasted nearly every hour of it.
Here's my Friday Night.
Got home from work. I stopped off at Best Buy on the way home at about 5 pm to let the traffic could die down. I walked around the store, fought the urge to buy everything in site (and yet did NO X-mas shopping), and wasted some time playing with Mike Vick and the Falcons on the display Madden 2005 game.
Got home about 7 pm. I heated up some leftovers, then went to town, playing 4 online Madden games (2 wins, 1 loss, 1 internet cut-out), a game of online chess (I didn't realize it was a 3-minute per side timed game and hence I lost rather quickly) and then 2 hours of Counter Strike. Not a bad waste of a Friday night by ANY stretch.
Saturday
I got up and drove out to suburban Redmond (15 minutes NE of Seattle) and met some of John boy's work boys out for some pick up touch football for the second weekend in a row. Despite John boy actually NOT being there this weekend (he had a playoff soccer game), it was the highlight of my weekend. A crisp beautiful clear day, some muddy football, and all was well. Pick up football may be the most fun thing ever.
There's kind of a funny dynamic at this particular game. A couple of peeps come together for 3 on 3 or 4 on 4 and there is definitely some competitiveness there that I think arises in the office. Two guys in particular, were going at it all day long. When the guy on MY team got beat by his rival for a sweet TD catch, he came running back to the huddle saying things like "Man what a PERFECT throw - I was SO on him!" He couldn't accept he had been bested (even on a SINGLE play in a pick-up football game) and sort of demanded validation from everyone else with his remarks. This sort of thing went on all day - totally blaming everything besides himself in a classic, Hurtado-esque sort of way. Fun stuff.
Saturday night, I played another Madden game online and won. After that, I foolishly started toiling with the "Create a player" mode where I wound up spending most of my weekend. Needless to say, the WCD will be back in semi-short order. There is so much intricacy to designing a team and players - it took me hours. In fact, I wasted many hours on that exact task Saturday night.
At 10:30 pm, (feeling guilty about wasting 4 straight hours on create-a-player in Madden - most of is spent giggling while I adjusted everyone's stats and laughed about it) I walked downtown solo-style and caught a showing of "Oceans 12" at the local AMC 12. The movie was visually appealing (look, movies stars!) and intellectually annoying. More on Mick Flicks soon - maybe. I got back and then tweaked with more Madden stuff until 3 am. Essentially another sweet use of a weekend night.
Sunday
I woke up, got breakfast, and then wasted the ENTIRE day doing nothing except watching football, checking stat tracker, and tweaking with the WCD Madden team. I did absolutely nothing else (except for a portion of the Seattle Times Sunday crossword). At 7 pm I walked a block and got some pizza. A total waste of day. And here I am.
Things I wanted to do this weekend but didn't get done:
-Buy Gwen's birthday presents (Dec 19)
-Buy everyone's X-mas presents online (Dec 25)
-Pay bills
-Buy my new snowboard with that sweet Proform
-Do at least 2-3 hours of medicine reading
-More exercise
Oh well, at least I played football. All in all, not a bad weekend, but I'm definitely feeling some guilt over wasting so much time on seemingly menial tasks.
I will also say that now that Gwen and I are together, I feel no pressure to be super social. When I stop and think about that, that thought actually seems a little odd and even a little sad. I'm pretty sure that the only reason I'd want to go to a bar NOW would be to meet up with someone I hadn't seen in a while and get a few drinks and talk. But the good old "getting a few drinks with the guys from work" routine is sort of over - at least while I'm seeing somebody. There's just no point to it, for some reason. I'd rather stay home and read a book, catch up on my Netflix rentals ("Barry Lyndon" has been in my house for months - it came with me from the old apartment for Pete's (taint's) sake), or simply completely waste time on video games. I'll have to think about this some more. It all seems a little wrong to me...to be continued I guess.
Anyway, bedtime - Monday approaches.
Gwen was out of town this weekend, leaving me a full 48+ hours of time to myself. Without beating around the bush, I'll go ahead and say that I colossally wasted nearly every hour of it.
Here's my Friday Night.
Got home from work. I stopped off at Best Buy on the way home at about 5 pm to let the traffic could die down. I walked around the store, fought the urge to buy everything in site (and yet did NO X-mas shopping), and wasted some time playing with Mike Vick and the Falcons on the display Madden 2005 game.
Got home about 7 pm. I heated up some leftovers, then went to town, playing 4 online Madden games (2 wins, 1 loss, 1 internet cut-out), a game of online chess (I didn't realize it was a 3-minute per side timed game and hence I lost rather quickly) and then 2 hours of Counter Strike. Not a bad waste of a Friday night by ANY stretch.
Saturday
I got up and drove out to suburban Redmond (15 minutes NE of Seattle) and met some of John boy's work boys out for some pick up touch football for the second weekend in a row. Despite John boy actually NOT being there this weekend (he had a playoff soccer game), it was the highlight of my weekend. A crisp beautiful clear day, some muddy football, and all was well. Pick up football may be the most fun thing ever.
There's kind of a funny dynamic at this particular game. A couple of peeps come together for 3 on 3 or 4 on 4 and there is definitely some competitiveness there that I think arises in the office. Two guys in particular, were going at it all day long. When the guy on MY team got beat by his rival for a sweet TD catch, he came running back to the huddle saying things like "Man what a PERFECT throw - I was SO on him!" He couldn't accept he had been bested (even on a SINGLE play in a pick-up football game) and sort of demanded validation from everyone else with his remarks. This sort of thing went on all day - totally blaming everything besides himself in a classic, Hurtado-esque sort of way. Fun stuff.
Saturday night, I played another Madden game online and won. After that, I foolishly started toiling with the "Create a player" mode where I wound up spending most of my weekend. Needless to say, the WCD will be back in semi-short order. There is so much intricacy to designing a team and players - it took me hours. In fact, I wasted many hours on that exact task Saturday night.
At 10:30 pm, (feeling guilty about wasting 4 straight hours on create-a-player in Madden - most of is spent giggling while I adjusted everyone's stats and laughed about it) I walked downtown solo-style and caught a showing of "Oceans 12" at the local AMC 12. The movie was visually appealing (look, movies stars!) and intellectually annoying. More on Mick Flicks soon - maybe. I got back and then tweaked with more Madden stuff until 3 am. Essentially another sweet use of a weekend night.
Sunday
I woke up, got breakfast, and then wasted the ENTIRE day doing nothing except watching football, checking stat tracker, and tweaking with the WCD Madden team. I did absolutely nothing else (except for a portion of the Seattle Times Sunday crossword). At 7 pm I walked a block and got some pizza. A total waste of day. And here I am.
Things I wanted to do this weekend but didn't get done:
-Buy Gwen's birthday presents (Dec 19)
-Buy everyone's X-mas presents online (Dec 25)
-Pay bills
-Buy my new snowboard with that sweet Proform
-Do at least 2-3 hours of medicine reading
-More exercise
Oh well, at least I played football. All in all, not a bad weekend, but I'm definitely feeling some guilt over wasting so much time on seemingly menial tasks.
I will also say that now that Gwen and I are together, I feel no pressure to be super social. When I stop and think about that, that thought actually seems a little odd and even a little sad. I'm pretty sure that the only reason I'd want to go to a bar NOW would be to meet up with someone I hadn't seen in a while and get a few drinks and talk. But the good old "getting a few drinks with the guys from work" routine is sort of over - at least while I'm seeing somebody. There's just no point to it, for some reason. I'd rather stay home and read a book, catch up on my Netflix rentals ("Barry Lyndon" has been in my house for months - it came with me from the old apartment for Pete's (taint's) sake), or simply completely waste time on video games. I'll have to think about this some more. It all seems a little wrong to me...to be continued I guess.
Anyway, bedtime - Monday approaches.
QUICK HIT
New post on Mick Flicks, from Tuesday evening. Not too much else is new. Rare blogging from work. Went to a "tumor board" this morning. It was of the "cardiothoracic variety", meaning it was mostly lung cancers. It's where the pulmonologist, the CT surgeon, the radiologist, the pathologist, the medical oncologist and the radiation oncologist get together, discuss every aspect of a patient's particular case (i.e. there lung mass on a chest CT, the likely extent of disease, etc) and decide that patient's best treatment and hence their fate. Kind of crazy.
But unlike House MD, it's not all that dramatic. (Man it would be fun if just one day at work played out like a House MD episode. Turn down the lights. Overdramatacize everything in site. Physicians disagreeing left and right while voices get raised.) Good stuff.
More later.
New post on Mick Flicks, from Tuesday evening. Not too much else is new. Rare blogging from work. Went to a "tumor board" this morning. It was of the "cardiothoracic variety", meaning it was mostly lung cancers. It's where the pulmonologist, the CT surgeon, the radiologist, the pathologist, the medical oncologist and the radiation oncologist get together, discuss every aspect of a patient's particular case (i.e. there lung mass on a chest CT, the likely extent of disease, etc) and decide that patient's best treatment and hence their fate. Kind of crazy.
But unlike House MD, it's not all that dramatic. (Man it would be fun if just one day at work played out like a House MD episode. Turn down the lights. Overdramatacize everything in site. Physicians disagreeing left and right while voices get raised.) Good stuff.
More later.
LOST TIME
So it's been a couple of weeks. I was hoping to put out some sort of mammoth post to encompass the time. Sadly, I haven't gotten around to it.
Since the last time, Adam and Diana have come and gone, Thanksgiving has come and gone, and so has a full week of work. Some of the highlights:
Wednesday, November 24th - Friday, November 26th
These dates are highlighted by Adam and Diana's visit. Overall, it was a great time (see his blog to the right for details). I enjoyed seeing the team up in my neck of the woods. More importantly, I'm glad they got a chance to meet and hang out with Gwen. All went well. One of the things that has been really nice about being with Gwen is how well she's "fit" with all my old friends when they have come to visit. (Cameron, Adam, Diana, Eryn, Jon, etc). This was certainly reinforced by Adam and Diana's visit.
Thanskgiving was spent at cousin Cynthia's in company of my merry band of somewhat distant relatives up here. Again, see Adam's blog for ze-tails.
Friday, November 27th
Hung out with Gwen and saw "Garden State". Review at Mick Flicks forthcoming.
Saturday, November 28th
Didn't do too much. Breakfast at Rosebud. Played some Half-Life 2. Eventually I went out and got drunk and hung out with my cousin Heath at Club Medusa in Seattle. I was out until about three in the morning. Moderate hangover the next day. I've realized that having a "girlfriend" means that going out to clubs simply isn't as fun. It's not like I've ever been a lady killer or the like at clubs in the past or anything, but the mere possibility that I could meet (and hook up with) some nice young lass while I stood there people watching and enjoying a vodka tonic made the whole club outing thing a lot more interesting. Without that, it's just another place with too much smoke that's too loud. And I could be home playing Madden online... I'll have to come back to this notion and some thoughts in a future post.
Sunday, November 29th
A dark day. The Giants lost to the Eagles, and badly. Both my fantasy teams lost and my playoff races (especially in Mick's League O' Micks) became VERY jeopardized. Furthermore, the Giant's loss ensured I would have to spend a night out in the future at a bar wearing overalls and a wife beater. (That's right - I made that bet. And the Giants lost. And I'm paying for it.) I was in SUCH a pissy mood that afternoon. It was the first time Gwen experienced the "Giants aren't doing well and they lost to the Eagles, who should really all DIE" Mike - this can be a very disconcerting Mike to be around. Sometimes I hate the Eagles so much I can't stand it. As the Giants seasons wanes here in the coming weeks, I will be focusing all my energies into rooting against the Eagles at all costs. I hate that effing team. I don't know how else to say it - I just hate them and never want them to succeed at anything.
And furthermore, that Sunday, by being depressed and hungover I flaked on meeting up with my high school ex Nicole. She was in town and had finished the Seattle marathon that morning while my boys were getting beat upon. I feel bad about it. But I really blame the Eagles.
Monday-Friday, November 30th - December 3rd
A full week of work. It was a week back after a week off. It was depressing and tiring. I'm not exercising as much as I should be. Which leads to increased stress, which leads to exacerbations of my body dysmorphic disorder, which leads to me getting bummed out. I have to remember to sleep enough and get enough exercise. And eat right. I swear those three things should be the cornerstones of everyone's life (before children, and even after children keep 2 of the 3). If everyone did these things, the world would be a happier place. I'm basing this on personal experience here.
Saturday, December 4th
Not a bad day off. Woke up and got some Rosebud (favorite breakfast place). Then met one John-boy Clemmens and some of his work boys and played some touch football for about 3 hours in 41 degree rainy weather. It was a blast - and I'm feeling it today. Got home, showered, and took a nap. Got up, got a burrito for dinner, and the I played 5 straight hours of Counter-Strike. Eryn played with me for the first hour and then the last hour. By the end I was seeing double. But I was starting to get some of the old skills back. A big waste of time. But I can't complain too much - the game is fun.
Sunday, December 5th
Here we are. Watched football. Ate dinner. Typed this. Yada yada.
And there it is. This is a quick and terribly written, vastly unedited post because I need to get to bed. (See my rules above). There are a lot more things I'd like to discuss and maybe I'll do that this week in more meaningful, more superiorly crafted posts. I hate the quick and dirty type narratives I've been putting up here.
God damn this blog has become a source of guilt. Ugh. Like I need more of that.
Anyway, till next time.
So it's been a couple of weeks. I was hoping to put out some sort of mammoth post to encompass the time. Sadly, I haven't gotten around to it.
Since the last time, Adam and Diana have come and gone, Thanksgiving has come and gone, and so has a full week of work. Some of the highlights:
Wednesday, November 24th - Friday, November 26th
These dates are highlighted by Adam and Diana's visit. Overall, it was a great time (see his blog to the right for details). I enjoyed seeing the team up in my neck of the woods. More importantly, I'm glad they got a chance to meet and hang out with Gwen. All went well. One of the things that has been really nice about being with Gwen is how well she's "fit" with all my old friends when they have come to visit. (Cameron, Adam, Diana, Eryn, Jon, etc). This was certainly reinforced by Adam and Diana's visit.
Thanskgiving was spent at cousin Cynthia's in company of my merry band of somewhat distant relatives up here. Again, see Adam's blog for ze-tails.
Friday, November 27th
Hung out with Gwen and saw "Garden State". Review at Mick Flicks forthcoming.
Saturday, November 28th
Didn't do too much. Breakfast at Rosebud. Played some Half-Life 2. Eventually I went out and got drunk and hung out with my cousin Heath at Club Medusa in Seattle. I was out until about three in the morning. Moderate hangover the next day. I've realized that having a "girlfriend" means that going out to clubs simply isn't as fun. It's not like I've ever been a lady killer or the like at clubs in the past or anything, but the mere possibility that I could meet (and hook up with) some nice young lass while I stood there people watching and enjoying a vodka tonic made the whole club outing thing a lot more interesting. Without that, it's just another place with too much smoke that's too loud. And I could be home playing Madden online... I'll have to come back to this notion and some thoughts in a future post.
Sunday, November 29th
A dark day. The Giants lost to the Eagles, and badly. Both my fantasy teams lost and my playoff races (especially in Mick's League O' Micks) became VERY jeopardized. Furthermore, the Giant's loss ensured I would have to spend a night out in the future at a bar wearing overalls and a wife beater. (That's right - I made that bet. And the Giants lost. And I'm paying for it.) I was in SUCH a pissy mood that afternoon. It was the first time Gwen experienced the "Giants aren't doing well and they lost to the Eagles, who should really all DIE" Mike - this can be a very disconcerting Mike to be around. Sometimes I hate the Eagles so much I can't stand it. As the Giants seasons wanes here in the coming weeks, I will be focusing all my energies into rooting against the Eagles at all costs. I hate that effing team. I don't know how else to say it - I just hate them and never want them to succeed at anything.
And furthermore, that Sunday, by being depressed and hungover I flaked on meeting up with my high school ex Nicole. She was in town and had finished the Seattle marathon that morning while my boys were getting beat upon. I feel bad about it. But I really blame the Eagles.
Monday-Friday, November 30th - December 3rd
A full week of work. It was a week back after a week off. It was depressing and tiring. I'm not exercising as much as I should be. Which leads to increased stress, which leads to exacerbations of my body dysmorphic disorder, which leads to me getting bummed out. I have to remember to sleep enough and get enough exercise. And eat right. I swear those three things should be the cornerstones of everyone's life (before children, and even after children keep 2 of the 3). If everyone did these things, the world would be a happier place. I'm basing this on personal experience here.
Saturday, December 4th
Not a bad day off. Woke up and got some Rosebud (favorite breakfast place). Then met one John-boy Clemmens and some of his work boys and played some touch football for about 3 hours in 41 degree rainy weather. It was a blast - and I'm feeling it today. Got home, showered, and took a nap. Got up, got a burrito for dinner, and the I played 5 straight hours of Counter-Strike. Eryn played with me for the first hour and then the last hour. By the end I was seeing double. But I was starting to get some of the old skills back. A big waste of time. But I can't complain too much - the game is fun.
Sunday, December 5th
Here we are. Watched football. Ate dinner. Typed this. Yada yada.
And there it is. This is a quick and terribly written, vastly unedited post because I need to get to bed. (See my rules above). There are a lot more things I'd like to discuss and maybe I'll do that this week in more meaningful, more superiorly crafted posts. I hate the quick and dirty type narratives I've been putting up here.
God damn this blog has become a source of guilt. Ugh. Like I need more of that.
Anyway, till next time.
“I’m a Doctor: When I make mistakes – people DIE.”
I’ve been saying it for a full week now, and it simply hasn’t gotten old. Suffice to say (and given the abdominal work out provided by last week’s House (MD!)), I’m fairly to moderately pumped for this week’s episode. I’ve seen the preview. It looks even sassier than last week’s treasure. Check it out tonight at 9 PM if you’re so inclined.
Well, there’s a lot to blog about today. (Translation: This will likely be another marathon post that no one wants to read in its entirety – too bad suckers!)
Chronologically:
Thusday, November 18th, 2004
I mention this day because it is the day my “drama dream” was realized. The Seattle “25 for 25” (previously mentioned) is going on and Cristin set up a dinner at one of the restaurants. (We ended up going to the Market Street Grill – which was excellent and makes for me hitting 13 of the 25 involved restaurants to date). Anyway, the guest list at this dinner included myself, Gwendolyn, Cristin, George, Michele, Dave O (Michele’s new man – a resident in Cristin’s class), and two other residents not so involved in the drama circle. The whole event felt very “couply”, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Anyway, the whole thing went down well and I was glad. And despite the lack of good story potential, I feel a hell of a lot better about things.
Friday, November 19th, 2004
My birthday. I didn’t have to go to work because I took the last day of my research month off. I slept in. Then I got up, went out and did some shopping. Eventually I found myself in a Best Buy where I bought the Simpson’s season 4 DVD and Half-Life 2. Gwen got me a Transformers soundrack (which I had been missing since my SECOND copy was stolen back during 4th year of med school in New Orleans). I’ve always had a special relationship with said soundtrack. It’s got some sweet stuff from seriously bad (so bad it’s good) hard rock songs to cool techno fight songs to the ultimate pick-me-up songs “The Touch” and “Dare”. Needless to say, I put that disc right in the player and rocked out while Gwen and I got ready for dinner. Gwen also got me this really cool “Bone” collection. (Bone is a graphic novel (Joel!) which Eryn could describe better than I – a really great gift, regardless).
For dinner, we went to a ritzy sushi place called “Nishino’s”. My boy Pete (and his taint) and I had the chef’s special dinner, which costs 65 bucks and needs to be pre-ordered. It was elaborate and fantastic, and featured some things I’ve never eaten before, and certainly don’t remember the names of now. It was all quite succulent.
After dinner, those who were able to go (i.e. not working Saturday) went out to a local bar. Eventually, the crowd included myself, Gwen, George, Cristin, my med school friend John, and his date Jackie. Additionally, my wicked-cool-goth cousin Heath showed up for some drinks and dazzled us with stories. Lastly, one John-boy Clemmens showed up. We had a good time. People started leaving one by one, until it was just Gwen, Heath, John boy and I. Finally, Heath left and Gwen, John and I cruised back to my pad. Gwen was pretty sauced, and passed out unceremoniously when we arrived home. This, of course, freed up John boy and I to play Twisted Metal: Black, which we did until about 4:30 in the morning. Just like the old days. Overall, it was a great night.
I’m now 29 years old.
Saturday, November 20th, 2004
I woke up with a mild hangover, but nothing that a tomato juice, coffee, water, and a little Rosebud brunch couldn’t fix. The rest of the day was spent lounging, napping, and relaxing. Gwen got a craving for sushi (tuna, particularly), and thus I indulged her and we got more sushi on Saturday night. Gwen is definitely developing a taste for the stuff (which I strongly encourage, of course). We went to Shiro’s (and old favorite of mine). From there, we cruised to a cool bar/movie theatre place in downtown Seattle and caught a show of “Garden State”. I enjoyed the film – review at Mick Flick’s soon.
Sunday, Novemeber 21st, 2004
Slept in again and then cruised down to the old sports bar to catch some NFL. I would have taken the day off of football viewing, only the Giants were starting Eli Manning this week and I thought I’d better see how the future of the franchise played. Surprisingly, he did OK. His receivers KILLED him, especially in the first half, amassing at least 6 dropped passes. But the kid only got sacked once, and only made a couple of total rookie looking plays. On the other hand, he put some nice throws up and looks like he might have some potential. So there it is. The old Giants are starting to slide backward, which is well what I expected. I would give a lot to see them beat Philly next week, but I’m certainly not counting on it. We’ll see, I suppose.
Monday, November 22nd, 2004
A day off. I have the whole week off, which feels great. I ran around doing errands most of the day and arranging to have my car get new tires (which happened today). I also had my house cleaned. The service I hired sent a flamingly gay guy (aptly named “Peter”) who has hilarious. I think he was trying to feel out whether or not I was gay in the beginning with questions like “Do you have a favorite bar over here?” and such. It was pretty funny, and for half a second I was tempted to say “So you’re finished, huh? You know, there is just ONE more thing…” (Cue the music). Damn it’s got to be easy for gay men to hook up. They’re both GUYS, after all. Nothing happened, unfortunately, but on the upside my place looks great.
Which brings me to today. Got new tires on the car. Slept in again. I’m awaiting the arrival of Adam and Diana into town tomorrow, which should be a blast. Hope those guys are ready for some metro-sexual city livin’! (I wonder if Adam packed his rubber shirt…)
Anyways, I best be off. That’s the recent haps.
I’ve been saying it for a full week now, and it simply hasn’t gotten old. Suffice to say (and given the abdominal work out provided by last week’s House (MD!)), I’m fairly to moderately pumped for this week’s episode. I’ve seen the preview. It looks even sassier than last week’s treasure. Check it out tonight at 9 PM if you’re so inclined.
Well, there’s a lot to blog about today. (Translation: This will likely be another marathon post that no one wants to read in its entirety – too bad suckers!)
Chronologically:
Thusday, November 18th, 2004
I mention this day because it is the day my “drama dream” was realized. The Seattle “25 for 25” (previously mentioned) is going on and Cristin set up a dinner at one of the restaurants. (We ended up going to the Market Street Grill – which was excellent and makes for me hitting 13 of the 25 involved restaurants to date). Anyway, the guest list at this dinner included myself, Gwendolyn, Cristin, George, Michele, Dave O (Michele’s new man – a resident in Cristin’s class), and two other residents not so involved in the drama circle. The whole event felt very “couply”, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Anyway, the whole thing went down well and I was glad. And despite the lack of good story potential, I feel a hell of a lot better about things.
Friday, November 19th, 2004
My birthday. I didn’t have to go to work because I took the last day of my research month off. I slept in. Then I got up, went out and did some shopping. Eventually I found myself in a Best Buy where I bought the Simpson’s season 4 DVD and Half-Life 2. Gwen got me a Transformers soundrack (which I had been missing since my SECOND copy was stolen back during 4th year of med school in New Orleans). I’ve always had a special relationship with said soundtrack. It’s got some sweet stuff from seriously bad (so bad it’s good) hard rock songs to cool techno fight songs to the ultimate pick-me-up songs “The Touch” and “Dare”. Needless to say, I put that disc right in the player and rocked out while Gwen and I got ready for dinner. Gwen also got me this really cool “Bone” collection. (Bone is a graphic novel (Joel!) which Eryn could describe better than I – a really great gift, regardless).
For dinner, we went to a ritzy sushi place called “Nishino’s”. My boy Pete (and his taint) and I had the chef’s special dinner, which costs 65 bucks and needs to be pre-ordered. It was elaborate and fantastic, and featured some things I’ve never eaten before, and certainly don’t remember the names of now. It was all quite succulent.
After dinner, those who were able to go (i.e. not working Saturday) went out to a local bar. Eventually, the crowd included myself, Gwen, George, Cristin, my med school friend John, and his date Jackie. Additionally, my wicked-cool-goth cousin Heath showed up for some drinks and dazzled us with stories. Lastly, one John-boy Clemmens showed up. We had a good time. People started leaving one by one, until it was just Gwen, Heath, John boy and I. Finally, Heath left and Gwen, John and I cruised back to my pad. Gwen was pretty sauced, and passed out unceremoniously when we arrived home. This, of course, freed up John boy and I to play Twisted Metal: Black, which we did until about 4:30 in the morning. Just like the old days. Overall, it was a great night.
I’m now 29 years old.
Saturday, November 20th, 2004
I woke up with a mild hangover, but nothing that a tomato juice, coffee, water, and a little Rosebud brunch couldn’t fix. The rest of the day was spent lounging, napping, and relaxing. Gwen got a craving for sushi (tuna, particularly), and thus I indulged her and we got more sushi on Saturday night. Gwen is definitely developing a taste for the stuff (which I strongly encourage, of course). We went to Shiro’s (and old favorite of mine). From there, we cruised to a cool bar/movie theatre place in downtown Seattle and caught a show of “Garden State”. I enjoyed the film – review at Mick Flick’s soon.
Sunday, Novemeber 21st, 2004
Slept in again and then cruised down to the old sports bar to catch some NFL. I would have taken the day off of football viewing, only the Giants were starting Eli Manning this week and I thought I’d better see how the future of the franchise played. Surprisingly, he did OK. His receivers KILLED him, especially in the first half, amassing at least 6 dropped passes. But the kid only got sacked once, and only made a couple of total rookie looking plays. On the other hand, he put some nice throws up and looks like he might have some potential. So there it is. The old Giants are starting to slide backward, which is well what I expected. I would give a lot to see them beat Philly next week, but I’m certainly not counting on it. We’ll see, I suppose.
Monday, November 22nd, 2004
A day off. I have the whole week off, which feels great. I ran around doing errands most of the day and arranging to have my car get new tires (which happened today). I also had my house cleaned. The service I hired sent a flamingly gay guy (aptly named “Peter”) who has hilarious. I think he was trying to feel out whether or not I was gay in the beginning with questions like “Do you have a favorite bar over here?” and such. It was pretty funny, and for half a second I was tempted to say “So you’re finished, huh? You know, there is just ONE more thing…” (Cue the music). Damn it’s got to be easy for gay men to hook up. They’re both GUYS, after all. Nothing happened, unfortunately, but on the upside my place looks great.
Which brings me to today. Got new tires on the car. Slept in again. I’m awaiting the arrival of Adam and Diana into town tomorrow, which should be a blast. Hope those guys are ready for some metro-sexual city livin’! (I wonder if Adam packed his rubber shirt…)
Anyways, I best be off. That’s the recent haps.
HOUSE M.D.
So, while folding laundry last night I flipped on the television. This is strange in of itself. And that is because normally, my television use is reserved STRICTLY for intentional NFL football viewing, Playstation 2 use, DVD watching, and an assortment of other rare special occasions (such as election night coverage, other sporting events, etc). Hence, I'm honestly not sure what propelled me to merely "flip on the TV" last night. (Normally, performing a mundane activity such as folding laundry would be accompanied by me either putting on music or being on the phone.) But, for whatever reason, I flipped on the TV, and it must have been fate.
I flipped around a minute at first and ended up catching the end of "Rebel Billionaire" (or whatever it's called) and I watched Richard Branton (name of Virgin guy?) throw his well spoken british rich boy tude around in yet another ridiculous reality show. There was some bungy jumping, a mock barrel over Victoria Falls, a bunch of strung out professionals competing, and finally a lot of ridiculous cliff hanger type cutaways with dramatic music, but nothing all too exciting that made me want to put down that sweater and pay more attention.
After that, however, the TV rambled on and on rolled out a little piece of magic called "House M.D.". Billed as the new brainchild of Bryan Singer (The Usual Supects and X-men guy), I had seen about 42,312 ads for the show through my hours and hours of NFL football watching. (The show is on FOX). I remembered thinking the ads were hilarious - it looked like it was going to be one of those ridiculous overly dramatic Doctor Shows (Tm) where indignant people scream things like "You're putting my patient's LIFE in danger!!!" and the like.
Lucikly, it didn't disappoint.
This thing wasn't just good, it was gold. Pure gold. I could never come close to writing unintentional comedy this staggeringly brilliant in its scope. After about 10 minutes of watching, I was sitting energetically forward on my couch, eyes wide, mouth open, big smile, and stomach hurting from repeated belly laughs at the sheer inanity of the entire show. (It was one of those times when you would try and keep yourself from laughing more just so you wouldn't miss other things going on as you laughed outrageously about the last thing.)
I don't even know where to begin in describing this gem. From the "edgy" doctor tude displayed by House, to the horrific yet hilarious continuity errors regarding the field of medicine, this show is a veritable gold mine of entertainment. Now, admittedly a lot of this may not be quite as funny to someone not in the medical field. And that fact is exactly why I called George about 20 minutes into the show. By the grace of God, he had ALSO been randomly watching and we both agreed it was the funniest shit ever. Ever.
Its really hard to describe why it's so funny, but a lot of it has to do with how ridiculously over-dramatic everything is. No one that is writing this show has ever been in a hospital. I'm convinced of it. For one thing, hospitals have light - LOTS of light. Not devious mood lighting. And that's just the beginning.
For those who don't know, the show is about some crazy-renegade-doesn't-play-by-the-rules-but-is-tolerated-because-he's-supposedly-brilliant DOCTOR guy. That's House. (House...MD, that is). From what we could gather, he's some sort of infectious disease doctor; but he's really more of a super doctor in that he has three fully trained, cutting-edge physicians who work directly beneath him. (If this sort of set up exists anywhere in the US, it would be complete news to George and I, btw). And you better believe that House and his peeps are masters of thinking outside the box. They sit around in the radiology reading room looking at various scans and the young docs toss out medical dogma while that Crazy House (MD!) brushes them off and rebuts insight with witticisms. Boy, is he crazy! Then he pulls some ridiculous diagnosis out of his ass (for no real reasons and based on no clear evidence whatsoever) and all the young pups in his presence are wowed.
(ASIDE: Medical shows are hilarious for the "big words" they throw around. They're definitely using real terms, but the linkages and associations often make no sense or are downright funny. Always a hoot; sadly (and fortunately for FOX ratings), most of the non-medically trained folks miss out on this brilliant unintentional comedy. Which begs the question - aren't doctors helping write these shows? (a la the technical advisors on Star Trek). My guess would be yes - but I suspect that they probably merely show up, make sure things don't sound totally assanine, then take their paycheck and get the hell out of there. Good times. I'd love to help out with dramatic "doctor writing".)
And man how that House MD is quirky! He's got a great comeback for any line anyone can throw at him. He quotes the Rolling Stones. He doesn't even LIKE seeing patients, claiming that they lie! He doesn't wear a white coat. He limps and uses a cane because of a "thigh muscle infarction" (the scene in the first episode where he describes this is particularly over-dramatic and satisfyingly funny). He tells one chick he hired her because she was hot. He sends Omar Epps to some patient's house to "search for clues" like some sort of medical CSI. (we knew this was coming). And the list goes on and on.
"He's uncontrollable. He's a 'wild man'. His methods are completely unpredictable!"
"But he'll get the job done!"
And of course, by the end of show, House is on the money, winging diagnoses around and nailing them. Even his arch-rival (the overly hot 31 year old hospital administrator lady - yeah, that exists) has to admit "He's the best damn doctor we have!" Everyone sings his praises, especially the 29 year old patient whose life is saved when House (MD!) correctly nails the parasytic neurocystosarcosis diagnosis and prescribes the proper medication. In the process, of course, everyone learns a little something about themselves, and yes, maybe even a little bit about life.
There is a HUGE list of hilarious stuff from this show. But I won't list it here. Some of my favorite quotes:
"Worms LOVE thigh muscle."
This exchange:
"What's wrong with making a mistake?"
"I'm a doctor - when I make a mistake, people DIE."
(Yeah, that was the best exchange ever. Today at work George and I have been tossing that around as often as we can. It really never does get old. [and it helps if you slam your fist on a table or desk when you say it])
"Dr. House cured you. You didn't cure him." (LOL)
And more. Oh so much more.
And that leads me to the problem with TV. I may have to start watching this show. I thought I would never go back to routinely "watching shows", but thinking about how entertaining this is, I don't know if I could sleep at night knowing what I would be missing. Good old TV. I would strongly encourage one to check out House (MD!) if you are around Tuesday nights at 9 pm. It's funny shit.
-Discostup
PS - Haven't read enough today? - try this old "Sport's Guy" column out about he and his buddy going to a real UFC match. One of his best. And reminds me of the time that Rich, Gabe, his boys and I went to "Bash at the Beach" back in San Diego.
So, while folding laundry last night I flipped on the television. This is strange in of itself. And that is because normally, my television use is reserved STRICTLY for intentional NFL football viewing, Playstation 2 use, DVD watching, and an assortment of other rare special occasions (such as election night coverage, other sporting events, etc). Hence, I'm honestly not sure what propelled me to merely "flip on the TV" last night. (Normally, performing a mundane activity such as folding laundry would be accompanied by me either putting on music or being on the phone.) But, for whatever reason, I flipped on the TV, and it must have been fate.
I flipped around a minute at first and ended up catching the end of "Rebel Billionaire" (or whatever it's called) and I watched Richard Branton (name of Virgin guy?) throw his well spoken british rich boy tude around in yet another ridiculous reality show. There was some bungy jumping, a mock barrel over Victoria Falls, a bunch of strung out professionals competing, and finally a lot of ridiculous cliff hanger type cutaways with dramatic music, but nothing all too exciting that made me want to put down that sweater and pay more attention.
After that, however, the TV rambled on and on rolled out a little piece of magic called "House M.D.". Billed as the new brainchild of Bryan Singer (The Usual Supects and X-men guy), I had seen about 42,312 ads for the show through my hours and hours of NFL football watching. (The show is on FOX). I remembered thinking the ads were hilarious - it looked like it was going to be one of those ridiculous overly dramatic Doctor Shows (Tm) where indignant people scream things like "You're putting my patient's LIFE in danger!!!" and the like.
Lucikly, it didn't disappoint.
This thing wasn't just good, it was gold. Pure gold. I could never come close to writing unintentional comedy this staggeringly brilliant in its scope. After about 10 minutes of watching, I was sitting energetically forward on my couch, eyes wide, mouth open, big smile, and stomach hurting from repeated belly laughs at the sheer inanity of the entire show. (It was one of those times when you would try and keep yourself from laughing more just so you wouldn't miss other things going on as you laughed outrageously about the last thing.)
I don't even know where to begin in describing this gem. From the "edgy" doctor tude displayed by House, to the horrific yet hilarious continuity errors regarding the field of medicine, this show is a veritable gold mine of entertainment. Now, admittedly a lot of this may not be quite as funny to someone not in the medical field. And that fact is exactly why I called George about 20 minutes into the show. By the grace of God, he had ALSO been randomly watching and we both agreed it was the funniest shit ever. Ever.
Its really hard to describe why it's so funny, but a lot of it has to do with how ridiculously over-dramatic everything is. No one that is writing this show has ever been in a hospital. I'm convinced of it. For one thing, hospitals have light - LOTS of light. Not devious mood lighting. And that's just the beginning.
For those who don't know, the show is about some crazy-renegade-doesn't-play-by-the-rules-but-is-tolerated-because-he's-supposedly-brilliant DOCTOR guy. That's House. (House...MD, that is). From what we could gather, he's some sort of infectious disease doctor; but he's really more of a super doctor in that he has three fully trained, cutting-edge physicians who work directly beneath him. (If this sort of set up exists anywhere in the US, it would be complete news to George and I, btw). And you better believe that House and his peeps are masters of thinking outside the box. They sit around in the radiology reading room looking at various scans and the young docs toss out medical dogma while that Crazy House (MD!) brushes them off and rebuts insight with witticisms. Boy, is he crazy! Then he pulls some ridiculous diagnosis out of his ass (for no real reasons and based on no clear evidence whatsoever) and all the young pups in his presence are wowed.
(ASIDE: Medical shows are hilarious for the "big words" they throw around. They're definitely using real terms, but the linkages and associations often make no sense or are downright funny. Always a hoot; sadly (and fortunately for FOX ratings), most of the non-medically trained folks miss out on this brilliant unintentional comedy. Which begs the question - aren't doctors helping write these shows? (a la the technical advisors on Star Trek). My guess would be yes - but I suspect that they probably merely show up, make sure things don't sound totally assanine, then take their paycheck and get the hell out of there. Good times. I'd love to help out with dramatic "doctor writing".)
And man how that House MD is quirky! He's got a great comeback for any line anyone can throw at him. He quotes the Rolling Stones. He doesn't even LIKE seeing patients, claiming that they lie! He doesn't wear a white coat. He limps and uses a cane because of a "thigh muscle infarction" (the scene in the first episode where he describes this is particularly over-dramatic and satisfyingly funny). He tells one chick he hired her because she was hot. He sends Omar Epps to some patient's house to "search for clues" like some sort of medical CSI. (we knew this was coming). And the list goes on and on.
"He's uncontrollable. He's a 'wild man'. His methods are completely unpredictable!"
"But he'll get the job done!"
And of course, by the end of show, House is on the money, winging diagnoses around and nailing them. Even his arch-rival (the overly hot 31 year old hospital administrator lady - yeah, that exists) has to admit "He's the best damn doctor we have!" Everyone sings his praises, especially the 29 year old patient whose life is saved when House (MD!) correctly nails the parasytic neurocystosarcosis diagnosis and prescribes the proper medication. In the process, of course, everyone learns a little something about themselves, and yes, maybe even a little bit about life.
There is a HUGE list of hilarious stuff from this show. But I won't list it here. Some of my favorite quotes:
"Worms LOVE thigh muscle."
This exchange:
"What's wrong with making a mistake?"
"I'm a doctor - when I make a mistake, people DIE."
(Yeah, that was the best exchange ever. Today at work George and I have been tossing that around as often as we can. It really never does get old. [and it helps if you slam your fist on a table or desk when you say it])
"Dr. House cured you. You didn't cure him." (LOL)
And more. Oh so much more.
And that leads me to the problem with TV. I may have to start watching this show. I thought I would never go back to routinely "watching shows", but thinking about how entertaining this is, I don't know if I could sleep at night knowing what I would be missing. Good old TV. I would strongly encourage one to check out House (MD!) if you are around Tuesday nights at 9 pm. It's funny shit.
-Discostup
PS - Haven't read enough today? - try this old "Sport's Guy" column out about he and his buddy going to a real UFC match. One of his best. And reminds me of the time that Rich, Gabe, his boys and I went to "Bash at the Beach" back in San Diego.
MICK FLICKS REBORN
Poor Mick Flicks. I have posted there again today for the first time in nearly half a year. Hopefully I can keep that site more up to date. Enjoy.
In other news, a slow day. Worked some clinic this morning. This afteroon I should get out of here relatively early. I watched most of Monday Night Football last night. When the Cowboys play the Eagles, its the game I love to hate. And will somebody please destroy the Eagles before they win a super bowl? (This really has to happen).
Terrell Owens. Love him or hate him, I think he is good for the NFL. That guy would crack me up if he were on any other team. He's a hell of a player, at any rate.
Poor Mick Flicks. I have posted there again today for the first time in nearly half a year. Hopefully I can keep that site more up to date. Enjoy.
In other news, a slow day. Worked some clinic this morning. This afteroon I should get out of here relatively early. I watched most of Monday Night Football last night. When the Cowboys play the Eagles, its the game I love to hate. And will somebody please destroy the Eagles before they win a super bowl? (This really has to happen).
Terrell Owens. Love him or hate him, I think he is good for the NFL. That guy would crack me up if he were on any other team. He's a hell of a player, at any rate.
DC, DRUNKEN MADNESS, AND MY FUTURE
Well I’m back from DC and there is a lot to tell. The trip was pretty fun, overall. It’s always fun to travel with a bunch of people who realize that they are all of a sudden away from a stressful job, away from their home lives (spouses and kids, etc), and can celebrate by going somewhere fun in a cool city and get drunk. And Washington DC is a cool city. And we did get drunk.
I flew out last Wednesday – a nice direct flight from SeaTac to Reagan National Airport. Landed, went to the hotel, and then met everybody at some Irish bar where we proceeded to get tossed. Ridiculous. About 20 of us from work were there, including nearly all second and third year residents, multiple staff docs, my program director, and a few others. Next thing I know it’s 2 in the morning and about 7 of us are back in a hotel room. Two people turned over a mattress where Pete was lying and then massive wrestling broke out. There was a lot of laughter. There also now exists a picture of me riding Pete like a horse complete with that “giddy-up spank” move. It’s hilarious. I’ll post it up if I can. Good times.
Thursday the conference started. Everyone was a little sluggish, but not too bad. After waking up late we went to breakfast. Some of us talked about skipping out on parts of the conference to cruise over to the Vietnam War Memorial on Veteran’s day (last Thursday), but it didn’t work out. I hear it’s a sight to see, however. Come to think of it, my uncle was probably there. Instead we cruised down and “participated” for awhile. A lot of residents were giving presentations in the various subspecialty rooms set up and so groups of us with nothing to do at particular times would go watch their talks and hence support our peeps.
Thursday afternoon I went and talked with the internal medicine consultant (discussed below). Thursday evening we had a nice dinner in Georgetown, had a few drinks. Then four of us stayed up until about 2 am playing Euchre, a fun card game. It was a more mellow night, but we knew we had Friday night to go nuts.
On Friday Pete and I got up and skipped the morning talks to check out the Holocaust Museum. Of the Smithsonian’s, it’s the one I hadn’t been to, and I’m glad I went. Not the most uplifting experience in the world, but its is REALLY well done. It’s incredibly informative (as well as horrifying) and I enjoyed reading about the millions of little aspects surrounding world war II Germany, including Hitler’s rise, the ideology behind the racism, the indoctrination, etc. Sadly, Pete and I could only spend about 2 hours there the first day (before we had to get back to the conference) and thus we only got about half way through and then had to leave.
Friday afternoon was full of more presentations and poster viewings. It was also nice to see former residents from my program (now stationed in or doing fellowship in DC) wandering around and to catch up. Friday evening there was the medicine resident Jeopardy team competition and my program’s team (which includes my boy George) did very well, advancing to the final and providing the main competition to the eventual winning team (the Walter Reed team from DC).
After Jeopardy there was a reception for the medical students and in between attempts to hook Pete up with some chicks we kept hitting the open bar. Whoa – talk about starting a night up. I must have had 5 drinks in an hour before 8 pm. Trouble.
Friday night turned into madness. Everyone from my program (probably 30-40 of us in all including staff) went down to “Adam’s Morgan”, which is apparently a popular hang-out district in DC. We had some good east coast pizza (so good, I mean really, the difference between east and west in this regard is ridiculous), and then launched ourselves over to this bar called “Madame’s Organ”. (Of course, this place is a play on words for the district itself, you see…)
At the bar it got ridiculous. Madigan personnel, old and new, gathered and went nuts. Drinks were flying. Shots were flying. It got nutty. It was good to see everybody and there was a whole lot of “I love you man” stuff coming out between all the residents.
The rest of the night I spent drunk, very drunk, and talking to old residents. We reminisced and told stories and played pool and joked around. There are some hilarious stories from the night but to truly enjoy them you really have to know the people. One resident fell drunk down some stairs at the bar and is still limping. Another kept commenting on some married resident’s breasts – it was so out of character for this guy that it was hilarious. Again, the “I love you man” stuff was flowing. Eventually we ended up in the street, eating more pizza, dancing in a pizza place, hoisting various people in the air over our heads while yelling, and doing a lot of other nonsense. Eventually we ended up back at the hotel where we pissed off security royally and had one if not multiple formal complaints before going to bed. Beware a group of drunken, pent up physicians. But all in all, no one was hurt (minus hangovers and the guy who took the spill on the stairs) and all had fun.
Saturday morning was painful. I had forced myself to drink water to the point of vomiting before going to bed Friday night, which I’m thankful for. It helped prevent full pain, but I was still hurting the next day. I went to bed at 4:30 am and was up at 9 am. I showered and packed and we went to breakfast. There my program director taught me the secret of tomato juice and I’m never going back. That stuff is a golden compliment to the essential water one needs. (My new hangover trifecta is water, tomato juice, and coffee; the water is the mainstay, the coffee prevents further headache (from caffeine withdrawal), and the tomato juice it the vitamin punch that seals the deal).
Following breakfast Pete and I stared earnestly at each other and decided we had better go finish the Holocaust museum. This may have not been the world’s best decision. Picture me, bleary-eyed and tired as hell and with a slight headache, standing in a crowded somewhat stuffy museum and checking out videos of bulldozers and dead, emaciated bodies depicting the full depths of the depravity of humanity. Whoa. Again, the museum exhibit is fantastic but incredibly sobering. I was surprised at how much footage there was from the time period. Tons of photos and film. The US response to everything was interesting, as well. I can’t believe some people still deny that it happened with that overwhelming evidence. At least that’s a small percentage.
The museum has lots of stuff. Actual train cars used to transport people to Auschwitz which you walk through. A replica of the gate over the camp which reads (In German) “Work and be free”. This is the ultimate insult. Full models of gas chambers and creamatoriums. Actual poison gas canisters. And ALL sorts of other stuff. The most horrific stuff involves pictures and videos of prisoners and the medical experiments (such as seeing how long it takes someone to die in freezing cold water or air pressure expirments). Also, there are shots and films of empty-eyed, staring, emaciated children which are nearly unbearable. And they have actual art work from the children, done mostly in the “ghettos” where they were forced prior to transfer to the actual camps. I was pretty much holding back tears at that point. Ah well, everyone should see it. I would just recommend avoiding it with a hangover.
Pete and I walked out and sort of nodded. Yeah. The Holocaust. Go humanity.
After that we headed back to the hotel and headed for the airport. The flight back involved a lot of sleeping at first. Then, a friend and I played a marathon game of chess (lasting 3.5 hours). We didn’t even finish because we had to land. One of the best games I’ve ever played. A total grudge match. It was dead even for the longest time and then a mistake by me gave him the edge. Then he made a mistake and we evened up again. Then I went up. Then even again. I’m kind of bummed we couldn’t finish the game. We vowed to play more at work, though with timers and time limits.
We arrived and Gwen picked me up. It was great to see her. We hung out and a had a quite Saturday night (I was exhausted). Yesterday I watched football again. I think I’m taking next weekend off of football. I can’t handle the Giants anymore. More stress than fun. It’s time for a break, methinks.
Last night Gwen and I watched “The Last Detail”. It’s a 1973 film starring Jack Nicholson and a very young Randy Quaid. The film was solid, if not fantastic. Sort of a character driven piece about some guys in the Navy. Good old Jack delivers as always.
And that’s my weekend.
THE CONSULTANT AND MY FUTURE
“The Consultant” is a high ranking internal medicine physician with the final say on where every graduating internist goes after this year. It’s kind of funny, because at this meeting he literally sits on a couch while a bunch of residents line up and wait their turn to speak with him. You walk up, introduce yourself, kiss his hand (well, not really) and start telling him what you would like. You suggest a region, he tells you the odds, you make an informal list. You ask some questions, he answers them. He was a nice guy.
And so here’s the deal. Right now it looks like I’ll most likely be headed to Germany after graduation. Nothing is set in stone, yet, but I was told there are several openings over there and I have always wanted to see Europe more extensively. I would most likely (and this could be changed) be stationed near Lahndstuhl medical center, which is in the western central part of Germany. (This is the hospital where all the casualties from Iraq are currently being flown to.) Here’s a map (the red star - you will need to zoom in and out).
The bad side is this: Its most likely a THREE year commitment, meaning I’m out of the US for a full three years. I would prefer a two year deal, but there it is. (This doesn’t count leave of course, so I could come back to the US once or twice a year on vacation during those years). The other problem is that Germany is an Iraq funnel. Everyone stationed in Germany is on cycle for Iraq. However, this latter notion is now tempered by the fact that nearly everyone, at EVERY station (including the continental US) is more or less on cycle for Iraq as well. Since there’s no getting out of it, it’s actually best to just ignore it and accept that I’m going to go and pick a location based on where and what IT is, rather than worrying about potential deployment. That’s it.
The good side: Germany and the Army locations there are a HELL of a lot better than the areas I would be looking at if I stayed stateside. Compare beautiful Europe to rural Georgia, rural Kansas, north Louisiana, rural texas, and the like. Those places SUCK with a capital “S” and the highlight of many areas where the army has Podunk bases is the local wal-mart. Damn. Unfortunately, it’s nearly impossible for me to get to a major US Army medical center right out of residency because these spots are most sought after and I am lowest on the totem pole (right out of residency). The other good side is this. When not in Iraq, I will have a mostly mild lifestyle. Most weekends off. A month of leave per year. Many long weekends. And I will be able to see all of Europe and go anywhere and everywhere on weekend trips.
The bottom line is that I always wanted to travel more. I always wished I had gone abroad in college and here is my chance to do Europe while making good money. (They give some ridiculous bonuses for living outside of the US). I’m still single and can do all this. And even if things with Gwen and I escalate, she can be stationed in the same area too.
So there it is. By this time next year, I will most likely be in Germany (or Iraq FROM Germany). I’ll keep everyone posted with more details as they arise.
OK, that’s enough for now. I will add that I had to take my car in earlier today for some repair work to a local mechanic. What ensued was a series of hilarious encounters with my dad eventually being involved by phone. Good stories. But I’m tired of typing. More to come.
Well I’m back from DC and there is a lot to tell. The trip was pretty fun, overall. It’s always fun to travel with a bunch of people who realize that they are all of a sudden away from a stressful job, away from their home lives (spouses and kids, etc), and can celebrate by going somewhere fun in a cool city and get drunk. And Washington DC is a cool city. And we did get drunk.
I flew out last Wednesday – a nice direct flight from SeaTac to Reagan National Airport. Landed, went to the hotel, and then met everybody at some Irish bar where we proceeded to get tossed. Ridiculous. About 20 of us from work were there, including nearly all second and third year residents, multiple staff docs, my program director, and a few others. Next thing I know it’s 2 in the morning and about 7 of us are back in a hotel room. Two people turned over a mattress where Pete was lying and then massive wrestling broke out. There was a lot of laughter. There also now exists a picture of me riding Pete like a horse complete with that “giddy-up spank” move. It’s hilarious. I’ll post it up if I can. Good times.
Thursday the conference started. Everyone was a little sluggish, but not too bad. After waking up late we went to breakfast. Some of us talked about skipping out on parts of the conference to cruise over to the Vietnam War Memorial on Veteran’s day (last Thursday), but it didn’t work out. I hear it’s a sight to see, however. Come to think of it, my uncle was probably there. Instead we cruised down and “participated” for awhile. A lot of residents were giving presentations in the various subspecialty rooms set up and so groups of us with nothing to do at particular times would go watch their talks and hence support our peeps.
Thursday afternoon I went and talked with the internal medicine consultant (discussed below). Thursday evening we had a nice dinner in Georgetown, had a few drinks. Then four of us stayed up until about 2 am playing Euchre, a fun card game. It was a more mellow night, but we knew we had Friday night to go nuts.
On Friday Pete and I got up and skipped the morning talks to check out the Holocaust Museum. Of the Smithsonian’s, it’s the one I hadn’t been to, and I’m glad I went. Not the most uplifting experience in the world, but its is REALLY well done. It’s incredibly informative (as well as horrifying) and I enjoyed reading about the millions of little aspects surrounding world war II Germany, including Hitler’s rise, the ideology behind the racism, the indoctrination, etc. Sadly, Pete and I could only spend about 2 hours there the first day (before we had to get back to the conference) and thus we only got about half way through and then had to leave.
Friday afternoon was full of more presentations and poster viewings. It was also nice to see former residents from my program (now stationed in or doing fellowship in DC) wandering around and to catch up. Friday evening there was the medicine resident Jeopardy team competition and my program’s team (which includes my boy George) did very well, advancing to the final and providing the main competition to the eventual winning team (the Walter Reed team from DC).
After Jeopardy there was a reception for the medical students and in between attempts to hook Pete up with some chicks we kept hitting the open bar. Whoa – talk about starting a night up. I must have had 5 drinks in an hour before 8 pm. Trouble.
Friday night turned into madness. Everyone from my program (probably 30-40 of us in all including staff) went down to “Adam’s Morgan”, which is apparently a popular hang-out district in DC. We had some good east coast pizza (so good, I mean really, the difference between east and west in this regard is ridiculous), and then launched ourselves over to this bar called “Madame’s Organ”. (Of course, this place is a play on words for the district itself, you see…)
At the bar it got ridiculous. Madigan personnel, old and new, gathered and went nuts. Drinks were flying. Shots were flying. It got nutty. It was good to see everybody and there was a whole lot of “I love you man” stuff coming out between all the residents.
The rest of the night I spent drunk, very drunk, and talking to old residents. We reminisced and told stories and played pool and joked around. There are some hilarious stories from the night but to truly enjoy them you really have to know the people. One resident fell drunk down some stairs at the bar and is still limping. Another kept commenting on some married resident’s breasts – it was so out of character for this guy that it was hilarious. Again, the “I love you man” stuff was flowing. Eventually we ended up in the street, eating more pizza, dancing in a pizza place, hoisting various people in the air over our heads while yelling, and doing a lot of other nonsense. Eventually we ended up back at the hotel where we pissed off security royally and had one if not multiple formal complaints before going to bed. Beware a group of drunken, pent up physicians. But all in all, no one was hurt (minus hangovers and the guy who took the spill on the stairs) and all had fun.
Saturday morning was painful. I had forced myself to drink water to the point of vomiting before going to bed Friday night, which I’m thankful for. It helped prevent full pain, but I was still hurting the next day. I went to bed at 4:30 am and was up at 9 am. I showered and packed and we went to breakfast. There my program director taught me the secret of tomato juice and I’m never going back. That stuff is a golden compliment to the essential water one needs. (My new hangover trifecta is water, tomato juice, and coffee; the water is the mainstay, the coffee prevents further headache (from caffeine withdrawal), and the tomato juice it the vitamin punch that seals the deal).
Following breakfast Pete and I stared earnestly at each other and decided we had better go finish the Holocaust museum. This may have not been the world’s best decision. Picture me, bleary-eyed and tired as hell and with a slight headache, standing in a crowded somewhat stuffy museum and checking out videos of bulldozers and dead, emaciated bodies depicting the full depths of the depravity of humanity. Whoa. Again, the museum exhibit is fantastic but incredibly sobering. I was surprised at how much footage there was from the time period. Tons of photos and film. The US response to everything was interesting, as well. I can’t believe some people still deny that it happened with that overwhelming evidence. At least that’s a small percentage.
The museum has lots of stuff. Actual train cars used to transport people to Auschwitz which you walk through. A replica of the gate over the camp which reads (In German) “Work and be free”. This is the ultimate insult. Full models of gas chambers and creamatoriums. Actual poison gas canisters. And ALL sorts of other stuff. The most horrific stuff involves pictures and videos of prisoners and the medical experiments (such as seeing how long it takes someone to die in freezing cold water or air pressure expirments). Also, there are shots and films of empty-eyed, staring, emaciated children which are nearly unbearable. And they have actual art work from the children, done mostly in the “ghettos” where they were forced prior to transfer to the actual camps. I was pretty much holding back tears at that point. Ah well, everyone should see it. I would just recommend avoiding it with a hangover.
Pete and I walked out and sort of nodded. Yeah. The Holocaust. Go humanity.
After that we headed back to the hotel and headed for the airport. The flight back involved a lot of sleeping at first. Then, a friend and I played a marathon game of chess (lasting 3.5 hours). We didn’t even finish because we had to land. One of the best games I’ve ever played. A total grudge match. It was dead even for the longest time and then a mistake by me gave him the edge. Then he made a mistake and we evened up again. Then I went up. Then even again. I’m kind of bummed we couldn’t finish the game. We vowed to play more at work, though with timers and time limits.
We arrived and Gwen picked me up. It was great to see her. We hung out and a had a quite Saturday night (I was exhausted). Yesterday I watched football again. I think I’m taking next weekend off of football. I can’t handle the Giants anymore. More stress than fun. It’s time for a break, methinks.
Last night Gwen and I watched “The Last Detail”. It’s a 1973 film starring Jack Nicholson and a very young Randy Quaid. The film was solid, if not fantastic. Sort of a character driven piece about some guys in the Navy. Good old Jack delivers as always.
And that’s my weekend.
THE CONSULTANT AND MY FUTURE
“The Consultant” is a high ranking internal medicine physician with the final say on where every graduating internist goes after this year. It’s kind of funny, because at this meeting he literally sits on a couch while a bunch of residents line up and wait their turn to speak with him. You walk up, introduce yourself, kiss his hand (well, not really) and start telling him what you would like. You suggest a region, he tells you the odds, you make an informal list. You ask some questions, he answers them. He was a nice guy.
And so here’s the deal. Right now it looks like I’ll most likely be headed to Germany after graduation. Nothing is set in stone, yet, but I was told there are several openings over there and I have always wanted to see Europe more extensively. I would most likely (and this could be changed) be stationed near Lahndstuhl medical center, which is in the western central part of Germany. (This is the hospital where all the casualties from Iraq are currently being flown to.) Here’s a map (the red star - you will need to zoom in and out).
The bad side is this: Its most likely a THREE year commitment, meaning I’m out of the US for a full three years. I would prefer a two year deal, but there it is. (This doesn’t count leave of course, so I could come back to the US once or twice a year on vacation during those years). The other problem is that Germany is an Iraq funnel. Everyone stationed in Germany is on cycle for Iraq. However, this latter notion is now tempered by the fact that nearly everyone, at EVERY station (including the continental US) is more or less on cycle for Iraq as well. Since there’s no getting out of it, it’s actually best to just ignore it and accept that I’m going to go and pick a location based on where and what IT is, rather than worrying about potential deployment. That’s it.
The good side: Germany and the Army locations there are a HELL of a lot better than the areas I would be looking at if I stayed stateside. Compare beautiful Europe to rural Georgia, rural Kansas, north Louisiana, rural texas, and the like. Those places SUCK with a capital “S” and the highlight of many areas where the army has Podunk bases is the local wal-mart. Damn. Unfortunately, it’s nearly impossible for me to get to a major US Army medical center right out of residency because these spots are most sought after and I am lowest on the totem pole (right out of residency). The other good side is this. When not in Iraq, I will have a mostly mild lifestyle. Most weekends off. A month of leave per year. Many long weekends. And I will be able to see all of Europe and go anywhere and everywhere on weekend trips.
The bottom line is that I always wanted to travel more. I always wished I had gone abroad in college and here is my chance to do Europe while making good money. (They give some ridiculous bonuses for living outside of the US). I’m still single and can do all this. And even if things with Gwen and I escalate, she can be stationed in the same area too.
So there it is. By this time next year, I will most likely be in Germany (or Iraq FROM Germany). I’ll keep everyone posted with more details as they arise.
OK, that’s enough for now. I will add that I had to take my car in earlier today for some repair work to a local mechanic. What ensued was a series of hilarious encounters with my dad eventually being involved by phone. Good stories. But I’m tired of typing. More to come.
BACK FROM DC
Well, I returned home Saturday night from the East Coast. But now it's late and I'm too tired to type what I had intended to type, so I'll have to weigh in tomorrow instead. A good weekend overall, and things regarding my future are a little more clear. The trip was mostly about talking with the "consultant" (aka The Godfather) and about hanging with my peeps on the East Coast. Again, more later.
For now, I will say that I learned two things about hangovers on Saturday morning.
1) Tomato juice is one of my new cures. My program director told me to try it - it's nasty at first but then goes down real nice. And dog gone it, with that and lots of water, I felt better faster than most wicked hangover days.
2)On the flip side, something to avoid when having a massive hangover is going to the Smithsonian's Holocaust Museum. Yes, it's a great exhibit, but DUDE... no one needs to see that shit with a headache, fatigue, and the mild post-drinking depression. Whoa. Great museum. Not the best day to go, though.
*Shudders*
Well, I returned home Saturday night from the East Coast. But now it's late and I'm too tired to type what I had intended to type, so I'll have to weigh in tomorrow instead. A good weekend overall, and things regarding my future are a little more clear. The trip was mostly about talking with the "consultant" (aka The Godfather) and about hanging with my peeps on the East Coast. Again, more later.
For now, I will say that I learned two things about hangovers on Saturday morning.
1) Tomato juice is one of my new cures. My program director told me to try it - it's nasty at first but then goes down real nice. And dog gone it, with that and lots of water, I felt better faster than most wicked hangover days.
2)On the flip side, something to avoid when having a massive hangover is going to the Smithsonian's Holocaust Museum. Yes, it's a great exhibit, but DUDE... no one needs to see that shit with a headache, fatigue, and the mild post-drinking depression. Whoa. Great museum. Not the best day to go, though.
*Shudders*
QUICK HIT
Well, I'm off to the nation's capitol today. All of the internal medicine residents are headed to the Army ACP Meeting (ACP = American College of Physicians). This is the army chapter's meeting. There, I hope to learn more about my future next year. I will be having a meeting with the internal medicine consultant. It is he who eventually decides where every graduating internist gets sent. Right now I'm leaning towards going to Europe. We shall see, however. This trip will give me information. I'll likely know for sure circa February. Regardless of where I go, however, there will be a year in Iraq (deployed from any location). I've already started having nightmares about it. Anyway, that's still a way's off. This weekend I'm just going to talk to the guy and get drunk with my boys in DC. Back Saturday night.
Well, I'm off to the nation's capitol today. All of the internal medicine residents are headed to the Army ACP Meeting (ACP = American College of Physicians). This is the army chapter's meeting. There, I hope to learn more about my future next year. I will be having a meeting with the internal medicine consultant. It is he who eventually decides where every graduating internist gets sent. Right now I'm leaning towards going to Europe. We shall see, however. This trip will give me information. I'll likely know for sure circa February. Regardless of where I go, however, there will be a year in Iraq (deployed from any location). I've already started having nightmares about it. Anyway, that's still a way's off. This weekend I'm just going to talk to the guy and get drunk with my boys in DC. Back Saturday night.
DARK DAYS AHEAD
I’m at an interesting point right now. I’ve done some good things over the past week (see below). I’m also afraid, frankly, for what the not-too-far future holds in store for me and others.
I’m bummed about the election results. I can’t lie. My part of Seattle is bummed too. There is a palpable sadness hanging around the district – my coffee shop is running at half steam. Faces are sagging. Gay men are frightened. And hell, why shouldn’t they be? I hate George Bush more than any other politician. It’s his ignorant arrogance that gets me more than anything. Now that bastard thinks he has a “mandate” (most overused word of the week, btw). Good luck world. Hello Canada.
On a personal level, I’m now 100% sure I will be in either Iraq or Afghanistan for a year of my life at some point in the next 4 years. No, I’m not thrilled about it. I don’t look forward to the moral dilemmas that face me there. The medicine part will be easy, and most likely noble. But what happens when I stumble on Abu Gharib part 2 and I need to report it ? It’s this sort of thing that worries me. Oh, that and landmines, random mortar fire, packs of feral dogs, and RPG’s. Should be good other than that, though. Hello post-tramautic stress disorder. I hear you are a harsh mistress. Bring it. (And with any luck, maybe I’ll star in my own internet beheading video!!!)
Sorry, I had to say my piece. See my post on the WCD for true, unmasked bitterness, devoid of all hope.
On the good side (and yes, there is a bright side), I’ve spent the past week cleaning up a few personal messes.
My friend Pete always refers to my tendency to date people from work and in the same circles as my “being a master of shitting in my own backyard.” Well finally, I’m re-sodding the yard, so to speak. Should have done it long ago.
So not all is bad. This weekend I don’t have too much planned. Just relax, drink away my election sorrows, and watch some football.
Could be worse. And in a year or two I suspect it will be.
Have a good weekend.
I’m at an interesting point right now. I’ve done some good things over the past week (see below). I’m also afraid, frankly, for what the not-too-far future holds in store for me and others.
I’m bummed about the election results. I can’t lie. My part of Seattle is bummed too. There is a palpable sadness hanging around the district – my coffee shop is running at half steam. Faces are sagging. Gay men are frightened. And hell, why shouldn’t they be? I hate George Bush more than any other politician. It’s his ignorant arrogance that gets me more than anything. Now that bastard thinks he has a “mandate” (most overused word of the week, btw). Good luck world. Hello Canada.
On a personal level, I’m now 100% sure I will be in either Iraq or Afghanistan for a year of my life at some point in the next 4 years. No, I’m not thrilled about it. I don’t look forward to the moral dilemmas that face me there. The medicine part will be easy, and most likely noble. But what happens when I stumble on Abu Gharib part 2 and I need to report it ? It’s this sort of thing that worries me. Oh, that and landmines, random mortar fire, packs of feral dogs, and RPG’s. Should be good other than that, though. Hello post-tramautic stress disorder. I hear you are a harsh mistress. Bring it. (And with any luck, maybe I’ll star in my own internet beheading video!!!)
Sorry, I had to say my piece. See my post on the WCD for true, unmasked bitterness, devoid of all hope.
On the good side (and yes, there is a bright side), I’ve spent the past week cleaning up a few personal messes.
My friend Pete always refers to my tendency to date people from work and in the same circles as my “being a master of shitting in my own backyard.” Well finally, I’m re-sodding the yard, so to speak. Should have done it long ago.
So not all is bad. This weekend I don’t have too much planned. Just relax, drink away my election sorrows, and watch some football.
Could be worse. And in a year or two I suspect it will be.
Have a good weekend.
ELECTION DAY
This blog officially supports John Kerry for President. Sadly, I can’t do this in “real life”, mostly because I’m not registered. Why, you ask? Simple, really. Because I never got around to it. On one hand, it’s a difficult thing to understand. On the other, and for those who know me, it’s pretty simple.
Given the amount of painstaking time I spend at work making sure a lot of administrative tasks happen (and happen in a timely manner), it’s no shock that I tend to let these things lapse at home. (The last thing I want to do when I get home at night is do paperwork, especially after my long days at work, which are essentially filled with it). I routinely pay my bills late (before autopay, that is). Hell, I paid my taxes in AUGUST this year. That’s right – August. I just got my refund 3 weeks ago. So, when the voter registration deadline rolled around a few weeks back, it caught me off guard and I wound up unregistered. Sadly unregistered. I kept telling myself I’d get to it eventually. I’ve never missed a presidential election I was eligible for before. This is the first. Tough one to miss, too. I certainly support voting at all costs. If there is a bright side, though, it’s that Washington should go to Kerry so my vote likely won’t cost anything. (Though I generally don't subscribe to that non-voting philosophy).
Anyway, it bums me out. I kind of like voting.
For the good of the world…go Kerry.
This blog officially supports John Kerry for President. Sadly, I can’t do this in “real life”, mostly because I’m not registered. Why, you ask? Simple, really. Because I never got around to it. On one hand, it’s a difficult thing to understand. On the other, and for those who know me, it’s pretty simple.
Given the amount of painstaking time I spend at work making sure a lot of administrative tasks happen (and happen in a timely manner), it’s no shock that I tend to let these things lapse at home. (The last thing I want to do when I get home at night is do paperwork, especially after my long days at work, which are essentially filled with it). I routinely pay my bills late (before autopay, that is). Hell, I paid my taxes in AUGUST this year. That’s right – August. I just got my refund 3 weeks ago. So, when the voter registration deadline rolled around a few weeks back, it caught me off guard and I wound up unregistered. Sadly unregistered. I kept telling myself I’d get to it eventually. I’ve never missed a presidential election I was eligible for before. This is the first. Tough one to miss, too. I certainly support voting at all costs. If there is a bright side, though, it’s that Washington should go to Kerry so my vote likely won’t cost anything. (Though I generally don't subscribe to that non-voting philosophy).
Anyway, it bums me out. I kind of like voting.
For the good of the world…go Kerry.
Tuesday Morning Hangover
So last night I left work and went climbing up in Tacoma. Following that, I headed back down south for "trivia night" at the Steilacom pub (aka Steli Deli). There's a group of residents who do a weekly trivia night there on Monday nights. I'd been there two or three times before, and its fun so I went back again last night.
And drank too much.
After the trivia "match" was over (we ended up only in fourth, sadly), we headed to Pete's taint's house and decided to play some beer pong. Normally I wouldn't be doing this on a weeknight (I only rarely drink on nights before working these days - it's really just too much to walk into a hospital with a hangover), but we just changed rotations. I'm off the hospitalist gig and into a research month (see sidebar). This is one of our sweetest months, and I can essentially make my own hours on most days, as long as I produce something substantial at the end of the month.
Today I worked zero hours.
That's because of the beer pong. We must have played until midnight, and then about four of us slept vs. passed out on Pete's various couches and chairs. I woke up this morning with a hangover and absolutely no desire to go to work. So I didn't. And that's kind of a nice feeling, because nearly every other day I simply have to go and there's nothing I can do about it.
Beer pong is a fun game, especially battleship beer pong. The rules are thus:
Each team (you play doubles) has nine cups of beer on their side per game. These nine cups are divided into "ships" of four cups, three cups, and two cups. The "ships" are then spread around the table anywhere on your side (a la the boardgame Battleship). Beer pong commences, and the goal is to hit the other team's cups and "sink" their ships. If a ball hits the rim of a cup and bounces off, then half that cup must be drunk (drank?). If the ball sinks in the cup, then the whole cup goes. Ships get smaller as the game goes on, and if you sink either cup of a two cup ship that has only one and half beers left in it, then the whole thing is sunk.
All shots must go UP off the paddle (i.e no slams). The exceptions to this are if the ball hits a cup, then you can do anything (including slams) to save the shot. It's a good game, and its sure to get you buzzing/drunk pretty fast. It's best played withl Lite (Tm) beer, for obvious reasons.
The game reminds me of medical school, as many of our "big nights out" after test blocks were started with some crazy beer pong games before pouring ourselves into the french quarter. Out of control.
My mission for today is to find a Halloween costume. There is an "80's themed" party I'm going to on Saturday night, and hence the costume must be fixed appropriately. George, Pete, and I are working on something. Perhaps we should rehash our smurf costumes from Cabo last year (great costumes), but we sort of feeling like doing something different. They want to do Ghostbusters, but my San Diego boys (*pats chest like Sammy Sosa*) have been doing that for years and I don't really want to copy. We've also toyed with the A-team (we'd need a fourth) and the Three Amigos, both of which could work. As a solo project, I've considered being Rambo, Hulk Hogan, and also Ivan Drago of Rocky 4 fame. (Sadly, you need some muscle for all those characters). I'll let you know how it turns out.
I'm reading the second book in the Riverworld Series (see sidebar). I'm really digging it, sort of fantasy/historical fiction stuff that's really getting good. For some reason, I really think Norm would like these books.
Out.
So last night I left work and went climbing up in Tacoma. Following that, I headed back down south for "trivia night" at the Steilacom pub (aka Steli Deli). There's a group of residents who do a weekly trivia night there on Monday nights. I'd been there two or three times before, and its fun so I went back again last night.
And drank too much.
After the trivia "match" was over (we ended up only in fourth, sadly), we headed to Pete's taint's house and decided to play some beer pong. Normally I wouldn't be doing this on a weeknight (I only rarely drink on nights before working these days - it's really just too much to walk into a hospital with a hangover), but we just changed rotations. I'm off the hospitalist gig and into a research month (see sidebar). This is one of our sweetest months, and I can essentially make my own hours on most days, as long as I produce something substantial at the end of the month.
Today I worked zero hours.
That's because of the beer pong. We must have played until midnight, and then about four of us slept vs. passed out on Pete's various couches and chairs. I woke up this morning with a hangover and absolutely no desire to go to work. So I didn't. And that's kind of a nice feeling, because nearly every other day I simply have to go and there's nothing I can do about it.
Beer pong is a fun game, especially battleship beer pong. The rules are thus:
Each team (you play doubles) has nine cups of beer on their side per game. These nine cups are divided into "ships" of four cups, three cups, and two cups. The "ships" are then spread around the table anywhere on your side (a la the boardgame Battleship). Beer pong commences, and the goal is to hit the other team's cups and "sink" their ships. If a ball hits the rim of a cup and bounces off, then half that cup must be drunk (drank?). If the ball sinks in the cup, then the whole cup goes. Ships get smaller as the game goes on, and if you sink either cup of a two cup ship that has only one and half beers left in it, then the whole thing is sunk.
All shots must go UP off the paddle (i.e no slams). The exceptions to this are if the ball hits a cup, then you can do anything (including slams) to save the shot. It's a good game, and its sure to get you buzzing/drunk pretty fast. It's best played withl Lite (Tm) beer, for obvious reasons.
The game reminds me of medical school, as many of our "big nights out" after test blocks were started with some crazy beer pong games before pouring ourselves into the french quarter. Out of control.
My mission for today is to find a Halloween costume. There is an "80's themed" party I'm going to on Saturday night, and hence the costume must be fixed appropriately. George, Pete, and I are working on something. Perhaps we should rehash our smurf costumes from Cabo last year (great costumes), but we sort of feeling like doing something different. They want to do Ghostbusters, but my San Diego boys (*pats chest like Sammy Sosa*) have been doing that for years and I don't really want to copy. We've also toyed with the A-team (we'd need a fourth) and the Three Amigos, both of which could work. As a solo project, I've considered being Rambo, Hulk Hogan, and also Ivan Drago of Rocky 4 fame. (Sadly, you need some muscle for all those characters). I'll let you know how it turns out.
I'm reading the second book in the Riverworld Series (see sidebar). I'm really digging it, sort of fantasy/historical fiction stuff that's really getting good. For some reason, I really think Norm would like these books.
Out.
YET ANOTHER SOURCE OF GUILT
....is what this blog has become. I come home, tired after work, numbed slightly by my 50 minute commute, and walk in to the apartment. I toss my bag on the table, slump down in the computer chair, and start my day's surfing. (Some days I can surf a little at work. Some days I can't.) And always, that "blogger link" beckons.
"When are you going to update me?" asks my blog.
"Soon," I promise, emptily and with a sigh...
So much has happened in the past three weeks. My friend Cameron and his girlfriend Chassidy (note the correct spelling - unlike in an earlier post) were here. We had a lot of fun going out and hanging around the city. I think I averaged like 40 dollars per night (minimum) on dinner while Cameron was here. One night he and I went to sushi and dropped 130 bones for the two of us. Not bad, eh? (I had some Uni that night - good Uni too. And yes, you read that right)
Cameron and I's "move" is to go ahead and break down philosophically two things. The first thing is the concept of being physicians. For hours we talk about the job, what we think of it, how it affects are lives, how different it really is vs. what we thought it would be, did we make the right choice, what did life used to be like, etc. We'll sit over beers and Cameron with his cigarettes (yes, many doctors smoke) and we get into a lot of "what is it REALLY all about?" type of conversations while some Zeppelin song (oh, let's say "Over the Hills and Far Away") blares on the local bar jukebox. Then, about 4 beers in, we have a revelation or two, and maybe, just maybe, share a moment regarding the whole thing. Sometimes Cameron is down on the job, and sometimes I am. Sometimes we're both up, or sometimes, of course, both in different directions. Regardless, I'm glad I have him to bounce stuff off in this regard. We used to do the same thing regarding "being a med student" back in the day in New Orleans as well. I find that I incredibly enjoy our conversations, and am prone to try and find succint meanings in the whole concept of being a doctor. Good stuff.
The second thing Cameron and I talk about is relationships. Oh, sweet, sweet relationships. We all have 'em. Cameron and I are very similar in our views on that stuff. We have similar committment issues as well. And, we're in pretty similar situations currently, all of which made his trip timely as well as fun. Cameron is 34 years old and has stories upon stories about relationships and about women he's dated and such. I suppose, that if I don't settle down, I may have the same sorts of stories at his age as well. But part of me definitely doesn't want to be "that guy" who dates and dates and is wise and such but also fundamentally unhappy and alone. I don't think Cameron is either of those things, but I do think he teeters close to that edge sometimes. Hell, I do it myself. And I'm only 28, dammit.
So during Cameron's trip, he and I found this bar called Shorty's in Belltown, Seattle. It's a smoky old bar whose schtick is that its full of 1980's stand up arcade games (plus a few modern ones). The line up includes Asteroids, Galaga, Ms. Pac Man, Robotron, Space Invaders, Qix, a few others, multiple pinball machines and best of all JOUST. Cameron was some sort of Joust legend back in his day, and during his time here he graciously apprenticed me to this classic gem. Much like Rude Dog did with the original Donkey Kong back at our laundromat in New Orleans, Cam showed me the ropes and then we went to town. We'd buy a pitchter, then a second, and we'd stand there, drink, and play Joust all the while talking about being doctors, having relationships, and deciding that in some crazy way life was like a winged warrior who was merely trying to be above the other guy when he collided. Or something like that. Anyway - good times with old Cam.
(And for the record, Joust is a great game. It's a two player team work game, but if you're not careful you can kill your buddy (and thereby destroy trust). Cameron is pretty effin' good at it, which I find hilarious. I remember when I was young, I was always enamored with the mystique of the "older kid" who rocked at this game or that game when I was but a wee lad cruising around the arcade at the mall, barely high enough to see the screen. Now I'm good friends with that "older kid", and somehow that means something. Somehow - it's important. Oh, and there's always Rude Dog and Donkey Kong, yet another master and his masterpiece - some day I'll have to tell that story as well.)
So it was good to see old Cam again. And I liked his girlfriend. Someday I hope I live near him again.
More this week.
....is what this blog has become. I come home, tired after work, numbed slightly by my 50 minute commute, and walk in to the apartment. I toss my bag on the table, slump down in the computer chair, and start my day's surfing. (Some days I can surf a little at work. Some days I can't.) And always, that "blogger link" beckons.
"When are you going to update me?" asks my blog.
"Soon," I promise, emptily and with a sigh...
So much has happened in the past three weeks. My friend Cameron and his girlfriend Chassidy (note the correct spelling - unlike in an earlier post) were here. We had a lot of fun going out and hanging around the city. I think I averaged like 40 dollars per night (minimum) on dinner while Cameron was here. One night he and I went to sushi and dropped 130 bones for the two of us. Not bad, eh? (I had some Uni that night - good Uni too. And yes, you read that right)
Cameron and I's "move" is to go ahead and break down philosophically two things. The first thing is the concept of being physicians. For hours we talk about the job, what we think of it, how it affects are lives, how different it really is vs. what we thought it would be, did we make the right choice, what did life used to be like, etc. We'll sit over beers and Cameron with his cigarettes (yes, many doctors smoke) and we get into a lot of "what is it REALLY all about?" type of conversations while some Zeppelin song (oh, let's say "Over the Hills and Far Away") blares on the local bar jukebox. Then, about 4 beers in, we have a revelation or two, and maybe, just maybe, share a moment regarding the whole thing. Sometimes Cameron is down on the job, and sometimes I am. Sometimes we're both up, or sometimes, of course, both in different directions. Regardless, I'm glad I have him to bounce stuff off in this regard. We used to do the same thing regarding "being a med student" back in the day in New Orleans as well. I find that I incredibly enjoy our conversations, and am prone to try and find succint meanings in the whole concept of being a doctor. Good stuff.
The second thing Cameron and I talk about is relationships. Oh, sweet, sweet relationships. We all have 'em. Cameron and I are very similar in our views on that stuff. We have similar committment issues as well. And, we're in pretty similar situations currently, all of which made his trip timely as well as fun. Cameron is 34 years old and has stories upon stories about relationships and about women he's dated and such. I suppose, that if I don't settle down, I may have the same sorts of stories at his age as well. But part of me definitely doesn't want to be "that guy" who dates and dates and is wise and such but also fundamentally unhappy and alone. I don't think Cameron is either of those things, but I do think he teeters close to that edge sometimes. Hell, I do it myself. And I'm only 28, dammit.
So during Cameron's trip, he and I found this bar called Shorty's in Belltown, Seattle. It's a smoky old bar whose schtick is that its full of 1980's stand up arcade games (plus a few modern ones). The line up includes Asteroids, Galaga, Ms. Pac Man, Robotron, Space Invaders, Qix, a few others, multiple pinball machines and best of all JOUST. Cameron was some sort of Joust legend back in his day, and during his time here he graciously apprenticed me to this classic gem. Much like Rude Dog did with the original Donkey Kong back at our laundromat in New Orleans, Cam showed me the ropes and then we went to town. We'd buy a pitchter, then a second, and we'd stand there, drink, and play Joust all the while talking about being doctors, having relationships, and deciding that in some crazy way life was like a winged warrior who was merely trying to be above the other guy when he collided. Or something like that. Anyway - good times with old Cam.
(And for the record, Joust is a great game. It's a two player team work game, but if you're not careful you can kill your buddy (and thereby destroy trust). Cameron is pretty effin' good at it, which I find hilarious. I remember when I was young, I was always enamored with the mystique of the "older kid" who rocked at this game or that game when I was but a wee lad cruising around the arcade at the mall, barely high enough to see the screen. Now I'm good friends with that "older kid", and somehow that means something. Somehow - it's important. Oh, and there's always Rude Dog and Donkey Kong, yet another master and his masterpiece - some day I'll have to tell that story as well.)
So it was good to see old Cam again. And I liked his girlfriend. Someday I hope I live near him again.
More this week.
I promised a lot of updates but dammit - I'm just not delivering. We'll see how tomorrow night goes. It's 11 pm and I need to get my ass to bed - I have to get up and be at the hospital by 6:45 in the morning. Chronic sleep deprivation is getting old.
On a lighter note I went climbing at a climbing gym in Tacoma night with some boys. It was the first time I'd been on a wall in about a year. My forearms have turned to mush but it was still a blast. Definitely something I love to do. I'm thinking about getting back into it. Great work out and problem solving all while feeling like Spider-man. What's not to love?
Till next time.
On a lighter note I went climbing at a climbing gym in Tacoma night with some boys. It was the first time I'd been on a wall in about a year. My forearms have turned to mush but it was still a blast. Definitely something I love to do. I'm thinking about getting back into it. Great work out and problem solving all while feeling like Spider-man. What's not to love?
Till next time.
Untitled
It’s been a while. Even so, I’d be a fool to try and catch up on the last week and a half worth of info in one post. (Plus, no one would read the whole thing given it’s probable length). So I’ll see if I can break it up a little over this week and get some things down here. A lot has happened and I’ve been busy.
(Aside: On the TV behind me the Red Sox just won game 4 of the ACLS with a home run in extra innings (the 12th?) Boo. I hate the Sox.)
It’s been a long and drudging football Sunday. I hit the sports bar this morning at 9:30 – it’s become harder to get a seat at the bar now that the Seahawks are actually a decent team. The Giants were off today, but I watched all the morning games regardless. I can’t believe how time much I dedicate to watching football. I watch nearly every game every week, give or take some of the afternoon games and the Sunday night game. It’s like a second job (especially this month given that Sunday is my only day off each week). But I find that watching football is only really fun when my teams (Giants and fantasy teams) are winning. At least the Giants are playing well…
My fantasy teams are in the toilet (combined record 3-9). I can’t remember having a year this bad. It’s frustrating – given how much I know about and like football you’d think I would be better at it. I think that the competition has grown over the years. I lost a Madden game online earlier tonight, which only made things worse. It was an overtime game. Boo.
My last week and a half has been filled with a lot of my friend Cameron and I hanging out. Another friend from med school came and stayed with me as well, though only briefly and because he was interviewing for a radiology residency at my hospital. What makes his visit interesting, however, is that he is currently stationed (in the Army) in Germany and actually spent 6 months in Baghdad. Given the ever increasing likelihood that I end up spending some time in Iraq over the next couple of years, I was very interested in what he had to say. So more on that in a later post.
Seriously, though, I would say my chances of going to Iraq in the next two years for at least some time (6 or greater months) is about 85% right now. I’m trying not think about it. Ugh.
Gwen and I saw “Team America – World Police” on Saturday. The film had me in absolute stitches. More on that later, as well. (And hopefully in Mick Flicks).
Oh, and there’s an election coming up. I think I missed the registration deadline. Bad citizen, I guess. Perhaps I’ll kidnap a Bush supporter and hold him at gunpoint until the election is over, thus canceling out both of our votes. More likely, I’ll just sit on the couch and scream at the TV as the results come in.
More to come as the week progresses.
It’s been a while. Even so, I’d be a fool to try and catch up on the last week and a half worth of info in one post. (Plus, no one would read the whole thing given it’s probable length). So I’ll see if I can break it up a little over this week and get some things down here. A lot has happened and I’ve been busy.
(Aside: On the TV behind me the Red Sox just won game 4 of the ACLS with a home run in extra innings (the 12th?) Boo. I hate the Sox.)
It’s been a long and drudging football Sunday. I hit the sports bar this morning at 9:30 – it’s become harder to get a seat at the bar now that the Seahawks are actually a decent team. The Giants were off today, but I watched all the morning games regardless. I can’t believe how time much I dedicate to watching football. I watch nearly every game every week, give or take some of the afternoon games and the Sunday night game. It’s like a second job (especially this month given that Sunday is my only day off each week). But I find that watching football is only really fun when my teams (Giants and fantasy teams) are winning. At least the Giants are playing well…
My fantasy teams are in the toilet (combined record 3-9). I can’t remember having a year this bad. It’s frustrating – given how much I know about and like football you’d think I would be better at it. I think that the competition has grown over the years. I lost a Madden game online earlier tonight, which only made things worse. It was an overtime game. Boo.
My last week and a half has been filled with a lot of my friend Cameron and I hanging out. Another friend from med school came and stayed with me as well, though only briefly and because he was interviewing for a radiology residency at my hospital. What makes his visit interesting, however, is that he is currently stationed (in the Army) in Germany and actually spent 6 months in Baghdad. Given the ever increasing likelihood that I end up spending some time in Iraq over the next couple of years, I was very interested in what he had to say. So more on that in a later post.
Seriously, though, I would say my chances of going to Iraq in the next two years for at least some time (6 or greater months) is about 85% right now. I’m trying not think about it. Ugh.
Gwen and I saw “Team America – World Police” on Saturday. The film had me in absolute stitches. More on that later, as well. (And hopefully in Mick Flicks).
Oh, and there’s an election coming up. I think I missed the registration deadline. Bad citizen, I guess. Perhaps I’ll kidnap a Bush supporter and hold him at gunpoint until the election is over, thus canceling out both of our votes. More likely, I’ll just sit on the couch and scream at the TV as the results come in.
More to come as the week progresses.
MORE WORK DAY BLOGGIN’
It’s Tuesday afternoon and I’m stuck at work. I’m actually finding it peaceful to slip into the library and do a little work-day blogging each day (as long as work remains relatively slow, like yesterday and today). Not much to report today. I watched some Monday night football last night. Decent game. Both my fantasy teams lost this week, however, and that bums me out. I’m still waiting for the "trifecta" to occur, meaning that the Giants and both fantasy teams pull out a win all in the same week. So far no luck.
On Sunday I finished “Bringing Down the House”, which was a great read. Not exceptionally well written, mind you, but it was hard to put down and the fact that it was more or less true made it completely enthralling. Given the number of times that I and my crew (*flashes gang sign*) have been to Vegas, and have played blackjack, and have discussed counting, I found it to be pretty damn entertaining. I wonder if we were there during some of those weekends when the MIT team was in action. We must have been .
That said, I wonder how much of the story was true. If you read the beginning disclaimer of the book (which I did), the author states that the character’s names and descriptions have been changed. He also states that some of the events have been “combined” or something like that. The gist of the story is obviously true, and a counting team from MIT certainly existed, but I wonder if the “key moments” as described by the author (like the chip on the kitchen table, and others) are actually real, or exaggerated just a tad for effect. Regardless, a great read. Check it out.
Back to work.
It’s Tuesday afternoon and I’m stuck at work. I’m actually finding it peaceful to slip into the library and do a little work-day blogging each day (as long as work remains relatively slow, like yesterday and today). Not much to report today. I watched some Monday night football last night. Decent game. Both my fantasy teams lost this week, however, and that bums me out. I’m still waiting for the "trifecta" to occur, meaning that the Giants and both fantasy teams pull out a win all in the same week. So far no luck.
On Sunday I finished “Bringing Down the House”, which was a great read. Not exceptionally well written, mind you, but it was hard to put down and the fact that it was more or less true made it completely enthralling. Given the number of times that I and my crew (*flashes gang sign*) have been to Vegas, and have played blackjack, and have discussed counting, I found it to be pretty damn entertaining. I wonder if we were there during some of those weekends when the MIT team was in action. We must have been .
That said, I wonder how much of the story was true. If you read the beginning disclaimer of the book (which I did), the author states that the character’s names and descriptions have been changed. He also states that some of the events have been “combined” or something like that. The gist of the story is obviously true, and a counting team from MIT certainly existed, but I wonder if the “key moments” as described by the author (like the chip on the kitchen table, and others) are actually real, or exaggerated just a tad for effect. Regardless, a great read. Check it out.
Back to work.
MAN-TASTIC
Another weekend here and gone. This weekend was a little different, however, because my old boy Cameron rolled into town. On his heels was his girlfriend Chastity, whom I had never met before. It was good to see old Cam, whom I hadn't seen since June of 2003, when he visited me for a week back when I still lived in Tacoma.
Cameron and I were coincidental roommates during our first year of med school. He and I both applied for housing long distance (he from San Francisco, I from San Diego). The third guy in that apartment, who had lived there the year prior, was a student who was a year ahead of us. He had two rooms to rent in the place. Cam got one, I got the other. Cam and I hit off immediately. I think he’s one of the easiest people to get along with that I’ve ever met in my life.
The other guy in that house (Rob) was kind of a train wreck. (We both should have figured that given his other roommates moved out after their first year with him). But overall, first year of med school was a good, if grueling year, and I enjoyed getting to know Cameron. He quickly became my best friend in New Orleans. (With rude dog a close second of course... :)
After that year, Cam and I both realized we had to get out of that duplex and Cam found a place by himself and I moved in with my super obsessive compulsive roommates (to include one mini Hurt) where I remained for the last three years at Tulane.
Cam and I remained good friends. I suppose one could expect to possibly see him in my wedding party one day. We have a lot of good memories going back, from our repeated outings on the New Orleans nightlife to long talks about female problems. I miss the days when we used to meet up at one of our various greasy spoon breakfast places (Bluebird Café, Riccobonos) on weekend mornings (er, early afternoons) back in New Orleans.
So it was good to see him. Friday night he rolled in with his girlfriend and the three of us, along with my friend John, had some drinks at a local bar near my house and caught up. Following that we rolled to this Irish bar on the corner by my house called “Kincora’s” It’s a cool bar, but WAY too damn smoky. I mean it was seriously like having a drink in a chimney – we all smelled horrible afterwards. The bar had this “heavy metal DJ” who was spinning discs of old Aerosmith, Metallica, Megadeth, Judas Priest (rocks!), and the like. He put on the Scorpions at one point. I asked him if he had heard of the Hurricane 2000 supermix. He said he hadn’t. After that, I rolled my eyes and we quickly left. “Heavy Metal DJ” - my ass.
Saturday I had to come into the hospital for a few hours – after that I drove back home and we had a nice breakfast at a place called Rosebud, also right near my house.
(TANGENT: I’ve realized that one of the elements to my personal happiness is having a good breakfast place near where I live. I suppose I can trace this concept back to my Camelot days with “JR’s”. Though not a great place (besides the infamous Hobo Scramble), I think I realized how cool it is to have a good place close to go eat breakfast, get some coffee, nurse hangovers, etc. In New Orleans I fell in love with Bluebird Café and the Riccobono’s, the latter of which was within walking distance (4 blocks) of my apartment. I settled many a hangover, had many a “next-day-conversation”, and read many a book over those sweet fried egg sandwhiches, omelets, and other assorted breakfast foods.
The first two years here in Washington, I was missing that. There was a good place in Tacoma I would go occasionally after work on weekends, post-call, or in the morning if I was so lucky as to have the day off. It was called “The Harvester”, but it was a good 15 minute drive from my apartment, making it less than convenient. Then, when I moved up into the city, I discovered Rosebud, which is possibly the best place of them all. Good coffee, great menu, and only 3 blocks away – I really feel at peace when I roll down there on Saturday mornings with a paper, book, or friend and start the day at a leisurely pace.)
On Saturday afternoon Cam, girlfriend, and I rolled out to Pike’s Market and had ourselves a day in Seattle. We cruised around the market and some other downtown sites (the second time in successive weekends that I have acted like a tourist). On the way back we bought a dungeness crab at the market. We had it pre-cracked, then took it up to my roof and ate the thing as an appetizer, dipping it in butter between bites while taking in the sunset. It was pretty cool. The weather had been absolutely gorgeous and sunny all day – a good time.
A little later we headed out to the old Wasabi Bistro in Belltown (one of downtown Seattle’s districts) for some sushi and drinks. Good sushi. But not cheap. Afterward we discovered this really cool bar on second street that had a bunch of 1980’s video arcades and pinball machines in it. Cam and I bought a pitcher and then went to town on Joust. Shortly following that, I set a new high score record (for the night) on an Asteroids machine, circa 1978. Then we headed in the back and played some pinball and Galaga. I
We cabbed back to my neighborhood at about 1:00 am and on a lark we decided to check out the Manray. That’s right. Cam, HIS GIRLFRIEND, and I all cruised into the gay bar – mostly because we were drunk and Cam’s girlfriend talked us into it. We were fairly giggily, but there wasn’t actually much to see. Basically a lot of gay dudes standing around chatting it up. Some looked flaming, some didn’t. Cam, his girl, and I basically stood around, chatted, had a drink, and then left. And that was that. First experience at a gay bar – done. (On the next one I plan to hook up.) I was a little miffed I didn’t get hit on, but I certainly wasn’t presenting myself in any inviting fashion. Oh well, back to the Banana Republic dressing rooms for me. (That’s where the flaming gay staff watch me try on jeans and tell me how sweet I look. What an ego boost!)
That night we got to bed late. I woke up early, only mildly hungover (YAY!) and headed out to the Fox Sports Grill to watch some football. The old Fox Sports Grill is right in the heart of downtown Seattle – it’s a pretty sweet place with multiple plasma screens. It’s become my new regular sports bar. Warren Moon actually runs a show on Fox Sports West out of it on Monday nights after the game. (We saw him after the Eagles/Vikings game a few weeks back).
So I spent Sunday watching football (very new and exciting, I know). Cam and Chastity met me down there later but they were in worse shape (hangover wise) by far than I was (oh shit, am I building a tolerance?!?) and they chose to walk around the city and get some fresh air while I dutifully remained and continued to watch every NFL game.
Last night we went out to have some Thai food. The afternoon was filled with naps. Today, I got up early and came to work, which is thankfully pretty slow. Cam and Chastity are heading out today to Olympic National park for a half week or so of camping. I’ll see them when they get back some time later in the week.
Gwen flies back in tonight from a conference in Toronto, where she was all weekend. She claims it was a neurology conference, but I suspect she’s scoping out places to flea to if Bush gets re-elected. So tonight Gwen and I will have and some dinner and chill out. I’m still tired from Saturday.
And there’s always Monday night football. Out.
Another weekend here and gone. This weekend was a little different, however, because my old boy Cameron rolled into town. On his heels was his girlfriend Chastity, whom I had never met before. It was good to see old Cam, whom I hadn't seen since June of 2003, when he visited me for a week back when I still lived in Tacoma.
Cameron and I were coincidental roommates during our first year of med school. He and I both applied for housing long distance (he from San Francisco, I from San Diego). The third guy in that apartment, who had lived there the year prior, was a student who was a year ahead of us. He had two rooms to rent in the place. Cam got one, I got the other. Cam and I hit off immediately. I think he’s one of the easiest people to get along with that I’ve ever met in my life.
The other guy in that house (Rob) was kind of a train wreck. (We both should have figured that given his other roommates moved out after their first year with him). But overall, first year of med school was a good, if grueling year, and I enjoyed getting to know Cameron. He quickly became my best friend in New Orleans. (With rude dog a close second of course... :)
After that year, Cam and I both realized we had to get out of that duplex and Cam found a place by himself and I moved in with my super obsessive compulsive roommates (to include one mini Hurt) where I remained for the last three years at Tulane.
Cam and I remained good friends. I suppose one could expect to possibly see him in my wedding party one day. We have a lot of good memories going back, from our repeated outings on the New Orleans nightlife to long talks about female problems. I miss the days when we used to meet up at one of our various greasy spoon breakfast places (Bluebird Café, Riccobonos) on weekend mornings (er, early afternoons) back in New Orleans.
So it was good to see him. Friday night he rolled in with his girlfriend and the three of us, along with my friend John, had some drinks at a local bar near my house and caught up. Following that we rolled to this Irish bar on the corner by my house called “Kincora’s” It’s a cool bar, but WAY too damn smoky. I mean it was seriously like having a drink in a chimney – we all smelled horrible afterwards. The bar had this “heavy metal DJ” who was spinning discs of old Aerosmith, Metallica, Megadeth, Judas Priest (rocks!), and the like. He put on the Scorpions at one point. I asked him if he had heard of the Hurricane 2000 supermix. He said he hadn’t. After that, I rolled my eyes and we quickly left. “Heavy Metal DJ” - my ass.
Saturday I had to come into the hospital for a few hours – after that I drove back home and we had a nice breakfast at a place called Rosebud, also right near my house.
(TANGENT: I’ve realized that one of the elements to my personal happiness is having a good breakfast place near where I live. I suppose I can trace this concept back to my Camelot days with “JR’s”. Though not a great place (besides the infamous Hobo Scramble), I think I realized how cool it is to have a good place close to go eat breakfast, get some coffee, nurse hangovers, etc. In New Orleans I fell in love with Bluebird Café and the Riccobono’s, the latter of which was within walking distance (4 blocks) of my apartment. I settled many a hangover, had many a “next-day-conversation”, and read many a book over those sweet fried egg sandwhiches, omelets, and other assorted breakfast foods.
The first two years here in Washington, I was missing that. There was a good place in Tacoma I would go occasionally after work on weekends, post-call, or in the morning if I was so lucky as to have the day off. It was called “The Harvester”, but it was a good 15 minute drive from my apartment, making it less than convenient. Then, when I moved up into the city, I discovered Rosebud, which is possibly the best place of them all. Good coffee, great menu, and only 3 blocks away – I really feel at peace when I roll down there on Saturday mornings with a paper, book, or friend and start the day at a leisurely pace.)
On Saturday afternoon Cam, girlfriend, and I rolled out to Pike’s Market and had ourselves a day in Seattle. We cruised around the market and some other downtown sites (the second time in successive weekends that I have acted like a tourist). On the way back we bought a dungeness crab at the market. We had it pre-cracked, then took it up to my roof and ate the thing as an appetizer, dipping it in butter between bites while taking in the sunset. It was pretty cool. The weather had been absolutely gorgeous and sunny all day – a good time.
A little later we headed out to the old Wasabi Bistro in Belltown (one of downtown Seattle’s districts) for some sushi and drinks. Good sushi. But not cheap. Afterward we discovered this really cool bar on second street that had a bunch of 1980’s video arcades and pinball machines in it. Cam and I bought a pitcher and then went to town on Joust. Shortly following that, I set a new high score record (for the night) on an Asteroids machine, circa 1978. Then we headed in the back and played some pinball and Galaga. I
We cabbed back to my neighborhood at about 1:00 am and on a lark we decided to check out the Manray. That’s right. Cam, HIS GIRLFRIEND, and I all cruised into the gay bar – mostly because we were drunk and Cam’s girlfriend talked us into it. We were fairly giggily, but there wasn’t actually much to see. Basically a lot of gay dudes standing around chatting it up. Some looked flaming, some didn’t. Cam, his girl, and I basically stood around, chatted, had a drink, and then left. And that was that. First experience at a gay bar – done. (On the next one I plan to hook up.) I was a little miffed I didn’t get hit on, but I certainly wasn’t presenting myself in any inviting fashion. Oh well, back to the Banana Republic dressing rooms for me. (That’s where the flaming gay staff watch me try on jeans and tell me how sweet I look. What an ego boost!)
That night we got to bed late. I woke up early, only mildly hungover (YAY!) and headed out to the Fox Sports Grill to watch some football. The old Fox Sports Grill is right in the heart of downtown Seattle – it’s a pretty sweet place with multiple plasma screens. It’s become my new regular sports bar. Warren Moon actually runs a show on Fox Sports West out of it on Monday nights after the game. (We saw him after the Eagles/Vikings game a few weeks back).
So I spent Sunday watching football (very new and exciting, I know). Cam and Chastity met me down there later but they were in worse shape (hangover wise) by far than I was (oh shit, am I building a tolerance?!?) and they chose to walk around the city and get some fresh air while I dutifully remained and continued to watch every NFL game.
Last night we went out to have some Thai food. The afternoon was filled with naps. Today, I got up early and came to work, which is thankfully pretty slow. Cam and Chastity are heading out today to Olympic National park for a half week or so of camping. I’ll see them when they get back some time later in the week.
Gwen flies back in tonight from a conference in Toronto, where she was all weekend. She claims it was a neurology conference, but I suspect she’s scoping out places to flea to if Bush gets re-elected. So tonight Gwen and I will have and some dinner and chill out. I’m still tired from Saturday.
And there’s always Monday night football. Out.
Untitled
This past weekend was my last “golden” weekend for the next 4 weeks. For non-medicine types, a golden weekend is a FULL weekend off – the kind that people with “normal” jobs get. Yes, its tough but true; I’m back in the hospital life this month with a HOSPITALIST month. The hospitalist month is sort of like a watered down ward month. I run one of the four teams on the wards, but my team only has myself, a nurse practitioner and a staff. There are no interns. The upside is that I take no overnight call. I do take ER call once a week (Wednesdays from 7 am to 6 pm). I also take every other patient that comes in overnight from the night float team (night float = team that is on at night for the month during the week and “hands off” (gives) their patients to one of the ward teams each morning). So I take patients Monday through Thursday and on Wednesday I take a full day’s worth of call but no overnight. Confusing enough? Good. Let’s review: Downside: It’s essentially a watered-down ward month, I take patient’s 4 days a week (mostly from night float but ALL day on Wednesday), and I have no interns to help me do all the ward CRAP. The upside: No overnight call, and I only have to deal with the ER once a week for 12 hours.
In essence, the hospitalist month is not quite as bad as the wards – but its close. Ugh – not fun, regardless. I only get one day off a week. For this month I will take Sundays pretty much off. Any guesses why?
So, this WAS my last golden weekend, and I spent it with one good old Jonny P “Y” and the Yarris clan. It was good fun. Jon and the team (to include Lainie, 3-year-old Jake and 7-week-old Ella) drove up on Friday afternoon.
Gwen and I met Jon et al for dinner in downtown Seattle and caught up. I’ve sort of known this for a while, but it still amazes me to see how much having kids changes everything. A simple dinner out turns into a full-bore chess match involving the parents and the kids. Keeping Jake, who is honestly a pretty damn well behaved boy, occupied for an hour or so at a single table was a significant task for team Yarris. Put lil’ Ella in tow and you’ve got a parental team that needs to be in mid-season form to keep a mere dinner from spiraling out of pasta-flinging control. Luckily, team Yarris was up to the task.
Lil’ Jake is the coolest. He’s 3 years old and quite incapable of merely walking anywhere. He loves to run. Sprint, sprint, sprint. He’s a good kid, and I can’t believe how much he looks like a little Jon. His favorite move? The high-five. I must have given that kid about 50 high-fives over the course of the weekend. And he’s fired up EVERY time. Which made me fired up. It was basically a vicious cycle.
On Saturday I met Jon et al down at the Seattle aquarium. The aquarium is pretty neat. Watching Lil’ Jake run around the aquarium in wide-eyed wonder? The coolest. Following that we went on a 1 hour boat ride around the Puget Sound. Given the benevolent weather (nice and sunny during this famous Northwest transition period to gloom), it was a nice ride, full of gorgeous views and narrated facts. On Saturday night we went to dinner again, this time again accompanied by Gwen.
Saturday night after dinner we retired to the Yarris hotel room and we had some dessert. Lil’ Ella “activated” at this point (she had been so quiet the entire rest of the trip) and apparently the only soothing remedy is deep knee bends. More than you’re average rocking motion, deep knee bends are required to soothe her when she’s pissed.
Gwen pulled the whole “can I hold the baby?” routine which Lainie was happy to oblige. Funnily enough, Gwen was all sorts of into that kid, rocking her back and forth, looking into her eyes. Gwen, who likes to ignore the old mommy clock most of the time, was definitely schooled by mother nature that night.
Anyway, the whole weekend was a success. After leaving Jon and the team in the hotel, Gwen and I met up with George and a female “friend” of his in the city and had a few drinks. Sunday I watched my Giants light up the Cleveland clowns and all was right with the world. Today it was back to work and that isn’t so much fun.
This Friday my friend Cameron from med school and his girlfriend are rolling into town for a while. The key word is “while”. Cam is staying for nearly two weeks, and his girlfriend is with him for the first 8 or 9 days or so. What hotel did they book you ask? Why, it’s hotel “My apartment”. I have mixed feelings about it. It will be great to see Cam, for sure, and meet his woman, but I do like my space, I will be busy, and my apartment is tiny. Luckily, Cam is easy to live with (I have experience) and it should all be fine. They also promise to take multiple field trips for days here and there so I may yet retain some me time.
(I just hope Cam’s girlfriend understands my need for online Madden at certain critical times during the week (essentially nightly). It may also not be fun stepping over the two of them at 6 am (when I leave for work this month) on a daily basis.)
In other news, I’ve updated my blog to the right. That “To Your Scattered Bodies Go” book was a great sci-fi sort of novel, for anyone who’s interested. More on it later. I’ve just picked up the old “Bringing Down the House” of which everyone has raved about and so far am enjoying it well enough. I have trouble putting it down each night, to be quite honest.
That’s enough blogging for now, I suppose. Here’s the list of things still to write about (to keep me reminded):
-Full book and movie reviews from the past 4 months
-The DRAMA
-That damn story with Pete and I (I started writing that thing a week and a half ago. I started it so involved, really detailed, and am about a third of the way through. Now I don’t know quite how to finish it, I want to half ass out of it and just tell the story simply, but the “full treatment” would be way more entertaining. So now it’s essentially buried under a massive stack of other stuff to do. We’ll see if it ever sees the light of day. It essentially involves me, Pete, a LOT of alcohol, a free hot dog, a girl’s huffy bike, four street bums who potentially sell drugs, over 100 dollars, and….POT. More later. I’m honestly still shaking my head about it every time I think about it. Aw nuts.
Anyways, only 6 more days until the NFL resumes again.
This past weekend was my last “golden” weekend for the next 4 weeks. For non-medicine types, a golden weekend is a FULL weekend off – the kind that people with “normal” jobs get. Yes, its tough but true; I’m back in the hospital life this month with a HOSPITALIST month. The hospitalist month is sort of like a watered down ward month. I run one of the four teams on the wards, but my team only has myself, a nurse practitioner and a staff. There are no interns. The upside is that I take no overnight call. I do take ER call once a week (Wednesdays from 7 am to 6 pm). I also take every other patient that comes in overnight from the night float team (night float = team that is on at night for the month during the week and “hands off” (gives) their patients to one of the ward teams each morning). So I take patients Monday through Thursday and on Wednesday I take a full day’s worth of call but no overnight. Confusing enough? Good. Let’s review: Downside: It’s essentially a watered-down ward month, I take patient’s 4 days a week (mostly from night float but ALL day on Wednesday), and I have no interns to help me do all the ward CRAP. The upside: No overnight call, and I only have to deal with the ER once a week for 12 hours.
In essence, the hospitalist month is not quite as bad as the wards – but its close. Ugh – not fun, regardless. I only get one day off a week. For this month I will take Sundays pretty much off. Any guesses why?
So, this WAS my last golden weekend, and I spent it with one good old Jonny P “Y” and the Yarris clan. It was good fun. Jon and the team (to include Lainie, 3-year-old Jake and 7-week-old Ella) drove up on Friday afternoon.
Gwen and I met Jon et al for dinner in downtown Seattle and caught up. I’ve sort of known this for a while, but it still amazes me to see how much having kids changes everything. A simple dinner out turns into a full-bore chess match involving the parents and the kids. Keeping Jake, who is honestly a pretty damn well behaved boy, occupied for an hour or so at a single table was a significant task for team Yarris. Put lil’ Ella in tow and you’ve got a parental team that needs to be in mid-season form to keep a mere dinner from spiraling out of pasta-flinging control. Luckily, team Yarris was up to the task.
Lil’ Jake is the coolest. He’s 3 years old and quite incapable of merely walking anywhere. He loves to run. Sprint, sprint, sprint. He’s a good kid, and I can’t believe how much he looks like a little Jon. His favorite move? The high-five. I must have given that kid about 50 high-fives over the course of the weekend. And he’s fired up EVERY time. Which made me fired up. It was basically a vicious cycle.
On Saturday I met Jon et al down at the Seattle aquarium. The aquarium is pretty neat. Watching Lil’ Jake run around the aquarium in wide-eyed wonder? The coolest. Following that we went on a 1 hour boat ride around the Puget Sound. Given the benevolent weather (nice and sunny during this famous Northwest transition period to gloom), it was a nice ride, full of gorgeous views and narrated facts. On Saturday night we went to dinner again, this time again accompanied by Gwen.
Saturday night after dinner we retired to the Yarris hotel room and we had some dessert. Lil’ Ella “activated” at this point (she had been so quiet the entire rest of the trip) and apparently the only soothing remedy is deep knee bends. More than you’re average rocking motion, deep knee bends are required to soothe her when she’s pissed.
Gwen pulled the whole “can I hold the baby?” routine which Lainie was happy to oblige. Funnily enough, Gwen was all sorts of into that kid, rocking her back and forth, looking into her eyes. Gwen, who likes to ignore the old mommy clock most of the time, was definitely schooled by mother nature that night.
Anyway, the whole weekend was a success. After leaving Jon and the team in the hotel, Gwen and I met up with George and a female “friend” of his in the city and had a few drinks. Sunday I watched my Giants light up the Cleveland clowns and all was right with the world. Today it was back to work and that isn’t so much fun.
This Friday my friend Cameron from med school and his girlfriend are rolling into town for a while. The key word is “while”. Cam is staying for nearly two weeks, and his girlfriend is with him for the first 8 or 9 days or so. What hotel did they book you ask? Why, it’s hotel “My apartment”. I have mixed feelings about it. It will be great to see Cam, for sure, and meet his woman, but I do like my space, I will be busy, and my apartment is tiny. Luckily, Cam is easy to live with (I have experience) and it should all be fine. They also promise to take multiple field trips for days here and there so I may yet retain some me time.
(I just hope Cam’s girlfriend understands my need for online Madden at certain critical times during the week (essentially nightly). It may also not be fun stepping over the two of them at 6 am (when I leave for work this month) on a daily basis.)
In other news, I’ve updated my blog to the right. That “To Your Scattered Bodies Go” book was a great sci-fi sort of novel, for anyone who’s interested. More on it later. I’ve just picked up the old “Bringing Down the House” of which everyone has raved about and so far am enjoying it well enough. I have trouble putting it down each night, to be quite honest.
That’s enough blogging for now, I suppose. Here’s the list of things still to write about (to keep me reminded):
-Full book and movie reviews from the past 4 months
-The DRAMA
-That damn story with Pete and I (I started writing that thing a week and a half ago. I started it so involved, really detailed, and am about a third of the way through. Now I don’t know quite how to finish it, I want to half ass out of it and just tell the story simply, but the “full treatment” would be way more entertaining. So now it’s essentially buried under a massive stack of other stuff to do. We’ll see if it ever sees the light of day. It essentially involves me, Pete, a LOT of alcohol, a free hot dog, a girl’s huffy bike, four street bums who potentially sell drugs, over 100 dollars, and….POT. More later. I’m honestly still shaking my head about it every time I think about it. Aw nuts.
Anyways, only 6 more days until the NFL resumes again.
I WISH I WAS A LITTLE BETTER BLOGGER...
I wish I was a baller... Long time, no blog. Same old, same old. The reason this time? Well, its most likely tied to a time-sucking new pastime I’ve discovered. Online Madden. That game has me hooked. A week or so ago I went out and bought a network adaptor for my PS2, a router, and some cable. Now, I’m playing video game football against yahoos all over the country. It’s a total blast.
Kurt Warner and the rest of my Giants now face off against other teams all over the place. I’m matching wits head to head with other online Madden coaches with names like “Dahedbussa” (Say it phonetically), “Pugsplayas” and the like. Good stuff. My record is currently 3-3. The Giants are not a great team in this year’s Madden, and I have limited experience playing against other humans. One of my losses was an unlucky system disconnect (my internet went down). The other 2 were legit. I’ve had some nice wins as well. All in all it’s good fun. And man does it suck some time.
Other than that, life has been busy. Last weekend I went to Canada with George and Pete’s taint on Saturday. We stayed over in a hotel in Vancouver on Saturday night and went out on the town and got absolutely smashed. Sunday we woke up and headed to a Canadian sports bar (yes, it’s a funny phrase) and watched football hungover all day.
Vancouver is a fun city in a multitude of ways, but the best thing about it is the sushi. Some of the best and cheapest sushi I’ve ever had. All Nigiri come at 99 cents per piece. And that’s in Canadian money, which is essentially monopoly money. That translates to about 60 or 70 cents US for a piece of fish. It’s about 1.30 or so for 2 pieces. You do the math – that’s about 5 orders of Nigiri for under 10 bucks. And the fish is amazing.
I love me some Canada. CFL football is also the coolest. Why I haven’t started a CFL fantasy league yet I haven’t a clue.
Oh there’s so much more to tell about the past few weeks but I don’t even know where to begin. In order for this blog to work, I should really be posting stuff daily. I still owe the story of Pete and I from TWO weekends ago. I still owe the story of my life in terms of the female situation. (It has settled out quite a bit, thankfully). I still owe a lot of book discussion and some movie discussion. The whole of it feels so overwhelming that I don’t even know where to begin. So I think I won’t – it’s Friday after all. We’ll see what I get to actually explaining. Though this blog is starting to feel more like work than anything. Yet another series of unwritten documents (so much of my work life is mired in documentation). It’s hard to sit down and type anymore. Clinic notes, commish notes, blog entries, emails. I’m behind on all of them with the possible exception of clinic notes from work. Apparently I’m supposed to keep up on those at the least.
Hmm, what else. This weekend the one and only Jon Yarris is rolling in with his family. I haven’t seen old Jon and the team for awhile, so I’m pumped to do some hanging out. I can’t believe how much having kids changes everything. I’m psyched to re-meet Jake and see the new little girl and Lainie as well. Should be good stuff – a full report to come later.
More football on Sunday – this time I will watch another nerve wracking Giants game against the Cleveland Browns. Watching the Giants may lead me to start chain smoking. Did you see the Giants almost lose despite forcing SYXX turnovers last week? That kind of stuff is taking years off my life. Intolerable.
Oh, this post is all over the road. I’ve definitely lost a step in the entertaining writing portion of my life. Too many clinic notes.
This is a 28 yo male who comes in to clinic today concerned he can’t keep up with his blog responsibilities. Pt’s past medical history includes….
Yada yada. Friday afternoon. I’m out. I’ll try and keep up more.
I wish I was a baller... Long time, no blog. Same old, same old. The reason this time? Well, its most likely tied to a time-sucking new pastime I’ve discovered. Online Madden. That game has me hooked. A week or so ago I went out and bought a network adaptor for my PS2, a router, and some cable. Now, I’m playing video game football against yahoos all over the country. It’s a total blast.
Kurt Warner and the rest of my Giants now face off against other teams all over the place. I’m matching wits head to head with other online Madden coaches with names like “Dahedbussa” (Say it phonetically), “Pugsplayas” and the like. Good stuff. My record is currently 3-3. The Giants are not a great team in this year’s Madden, and I have limited experience playing against other humans. One of my losses was an unlucky system disconnect (my internet went down). The other 2 were legit. I’ve had some nice wins as well. All in all it’s good fun. And man does it suck some time.
Other than that, life has been busy. Last weekend I went to Canada with George and Pete’s taint on Saturday. We stayed over in a hotel in Vancouver on Saturday night and went out on the town and got absolutely smashed. Sunday we woke up and headed to a Canadian sports bar (yes, it’s a funny phrase) and watched football hungover all day.
Vancouver is a fun city in a multitude of ways, but the best thing about it is the sushi. Some of the best and cheapest sushi I’ve ever had. All Nigiri come at 99 cents per piece. And that’s in Canadian money, which is essentially monopoly money. That translates to about 60 or 70 cents US for a piece of fish. It’s about 1.30 or so for 2 pieces. You do the math – that’s about 5 orders of Nigiri for under 10 bucks. And the fish is amazing.
I love me some Canada. CFL football is also the coolest. Why I haven’t started a CFL fantasy league yet I haven’t a clue.
Oh there’s so much more to tell about the past few weeks but I don’t even know where to begin. In order for this blog to work, I should really be posting stuff daily. I still owe the story of Pete and I from TWO weekends ago. I still owe the story of my life in terms of the female situation. (It has settled out quite a bit, thankfully). I still owe a lot of book discussion and some movie discussion. The whole of it feels so overwhelming that I don’t even know where to begin. So I think I won’t – it’s Friday after all. We’ll see what I get to actually explaining. Though this blog is starting to feel more like work than anything. Yet another series of unwritten documents (so much of my work life is mired in documentation). It’s hard to sit down and type anymore. Clinic notes, commish notes, blog entries, emails. I’m behind on all of them with the possible exception of clinic notes from work. Apparently I’m supposed to keep up on those at the least.
Hmm, what else. This weekend the one and only Jon Yarris is rolling in with his family. I haven’t seen old Jon and the team for awhile, so I’m pumped to do some hanging out. I can’t believe how much having kids changes everything. I’m psyched to re-meet Jake and see the new little girl and Lainie as well. Should be good stuff – a full report to come later.
More football on Sunday – this time I will watch another nerve wracking Giants game against the Cleveland Browns. Watching the Giants may lead me to start chain smoking. Did you see the Giants almost lose despite forcing SYXX turnovers last week? That kind of stuff is taking years off my life. Intolerable.
Oh, this post is all over the road. I’ve definitely lost a step in the entertaining writing portion of my life. Too many clinic notes.
This is a 28 yo male who comes in to clinic today concerned he can’t keep up with his blog responsibilities. Pt’s past medical history includes….
Yada yada. Friday afternoon. I’m out. I’ll try and keep up more.
ROCK YOU LIKE A HURRICANE
It’s late Tuesday night and there are reports of Gulf Coast residents fleeing their homes and heading north as “Crazy Ivan” looms near. After living in New Orleans for four years it’s crazy to think back at some of those crazy storms I experienced while there. I think I went through about 5 hurricanes, 2 bad ones.
I think that the worst two such hurricanes were during my first year. I distinctly remember driving home once from school in about 2-3 feet of water while praying my car didn’t stall or flood – all this while driving through some horrific projects where I stuck out like a serious sore thumb. Why was I in the projects? Because the main roads were clogged with traffic and I decided to pull of and take my chances. Foolish move.
Every time I got the old Pathfinder over 5 mph, the waves of water would lap up into people’s homes and they were none too pleased about it. Undergoing intense death stares from behind dilapidated windows, I drove about 2 mph and slowly, ever so slowly got home. I’m not sure what would have happened if that car had stalled…
Another time I remember leaving the city on one of the last planes out as a hurricane hit. This was also during my first year of med school. The plane was headed for San Diego, and the airport actually closed mere hours after my flight took off. It was one of the (many) times where I ended up extending my trip – this time I did it actually because the New Orleans airport still wasn’t open on the day I was supposed to return.
I shall have to give old Cameron a call and see how he’s faring…
In other news I’m still working on a written piece about the wild Saturday night Pete and I had. I thought I would complete it tonight but other things here at home prevented me from doing so. I also need to mop up a story regarding THE DRAMA. Look for both of these things on the old WCD soon, hopefully tomorrow night or by the weekend.
I also owe this blog some serious book discussions. (And, I owe Mick Flicks the same for movies). I’m also way behind on my emails. So much to write, so little time.
I watched some Monday Night Football last night featuring the Green Bay Packers. It always astounds me how much John Madden wants to have sex with Brett Favre. It really is out of control. But it’s hilarious to listen to the commentary. There’s a new feature on MNF this year in which they ‘get personal’ with each the 2 starting quarterbacks at some time during the game. During last Thursday’s game we learned about Tom Brady. Last night, we learned that Panther QB Jake Delhomme was into “mucking stalls with the best of ‘em” and that he “hated celery”. Brett Favre, on the other hand, really enjoys Toby Keith and actually wanted to change his name to “Gator” when he was a kid. (The mention of the “gator” name, of course, set Madden into another verbal sexual frenzy regarding Brett).
“Nobody throws the ball…and nobody makes love…like a Brett Favre. Brett Favre can really do it all…”
He sure can.
It’s late Tuesday night and there are reports of Gulf Coast residents fleeing their homes and heading north as “Crazy Ivan” looms near. After living in New Orleans for four years it’s crazy to think back at some of those crazy storms I experienced while there. I think I went through about 5 hurricanes, 2 bad ones.
I think that the worst two such hurricanes were during my first year. I distinctly remember driving home once from school in about 2-3 feet of water while praying my car didn’t stall or flood – all this while driving through some horrific projects where I stuck out like a serious sore thumb. Why was I in the projects? Because the main roads were clogged with traffic and I decided to pull of and take my chances. Foolish move.
Every time I got the old Pathfinder over 5 mph, the waves of water would lap up into people’s homes and they were none too pleased about it. Undergoing intense death stares from behind dilapidated windows, I drove about 2 mph and slowly, ever so slowly got home. I’m not sure what would have happened if that car had stalled…
Another time I remember leaving the city on one of the last planes out as a hurricane hit. This was also during my first year of med school. The plane was headed for San Diego, and the airport actually closed mere hours after my flight took off. It was one of the (many) times where I ended up extending my trip – this time I did it actually because the New Orleans airport still wasn’t open on the day I was supposed to return.
I shall have to give old Cameron a call and see how he’s faring…
In other news I’m still working on a written piece about the wild Saturday night Pete and I had. I thought I would complete it tonight but other things here at home prevented me from doing so. I also need to mop up a story regarding THE DRAMA. Look for both of these things on the old WCD soon, hopefully tomorrow night or by the weekend.
I also owe this blog some serious book discussions. (And, I owe Mick Flicks the same for movies). I’m also way behind on my emails. So much to write, so little time.
I watched some Monday Night Football last night featuring the Green Bay Packers. It always astounds me how much John Madden wants to have sex with Brett Favre. It really is out of control. But it’s hilarious to listen to the commentary. There’s a new feature on MNF this year in which they ‘get personal’ with each the 2 starting quarterbacks at some time during the game. During last Thursday’s game we learned about Tom Brady. Last night, we learned that Panther QB Jake Delhomme was into “mucking stalls with the best of ‘em” and that he “hated celery”. Brett Favre, on the other hand, really enjoys Toby Keith and actually wanted to change his name to “Gator” when he was a kid. (The mention of the “gator” name, of course, set Madden into another verbal sexual frenzy regarding Brett).
“Nobody throws the ball…and nobody makes love…like a Brett Favre. Brett Favre can really do it all…”
He sure can.
Unskinny Blog – Just Blows Me Away
Monday night. I’ve updated some things on the old sidebar. New rotation, new books. A whole new me. Sort of.
This weekend was both good and bad. Friday night I was post-call, took a nap, drank 4 beers, and played some Madden. Saturday was cool. I spent some much needed time in my apartment and in the city. MY time for ME. Saturday night Pete’s taint rolled up and we went and ate sushi. He had some good insights on the current drama deal – it helps that he knows all the parties involved. After sushi, we walked downtown and saw “HERO”, the newly imported Jet Li vehicle. I enjoyed it. I found it to be a good if not great film, though I could probably be talked into it. Visually stunning. (At this point, I glance sheepishly at the “Mick Flicks” link and think ‘Someday, oh someday, I’ll update that beast’.)
After the movie, Pete’s taint and I met my friend John from med school and had a few drinks at a local bar. Good city flavor for a good night.
Sunday was terrible. I had to go in to the hospital early. It was my last neurology call, and they made me pay. I was there all day and all night, missed lunch, missed dinner, and basically got bitter. The neurology department essentially uses internal medicine residents to pull call for them, because they don’t have enough residents to do it all on their own. The sad thing is I don’t really like neurology, so my interest level really isn’t there, and every admission is just a big piece of pain, as far as I’m concerned.
Here’s a word on strokes. If somebody gets a stroke, they take aspirin. If they get another stroke on aspirin, we switch to aggrenox or plavix. If they get another one, they’re screwed. In the meantime there are a lot of MRI’s and CT scans done. The classic harp on neurology is that it’s a lot of puzzle solving and very little treating. Basically, a neurologist uses their superior knowledge of brain anatomy to pinpoint EXACTLY where a person had their stroke. This is based on the physical exam (i.e. slurred speech vs right arm numbness vs left leg weakness, etc) and the various MRI’s and CT scans. After that, they proudly pronounce exactly where the lesion is and do nothing about it except give aspirin. It is the king of the “mental masturbation” specialties. So there.
My month in neurology was long and painful, for many reasons. Not only personal drama, but I just don’t like it all that much. The clinic is painful, the write ups (of which I still have a few) are really painful.
Now I move on to pulmonary clinic. Essentially a lot of emphysema (medically this is called ‘Chronic Pulmonary Obstructive Disease’, or COPD) and asthma. It will be good stuff to learn more of, since we see it a lot but I am essentially ambivalent about the rotation. A lot of it will revolve around old people in wheelchairs with oxygen tanks rolling through the halls as if straight out of the Golden Nugget slot section and into the clinic. Not being able to breath is dumb. With the exception of an infrequent joint or cigar, I encourage people not to smoke. Stay in school, kids.
OK, time for some work. I may post again shortly. I would still like to yammer about the Olympics and some old books I read. And update Mick Flicks. Man, it’s not fun to think of blogging as work, but there it is.
Five days until San Diego.
Monday night. I’ve updated some things on the old sidebar. New rotation, new books. A whole new me. Sort of.
This weekend was both good and bad. Friday night I was post-call, took a nap, drank 4 beers, and played some Madden. Saturday was cool. I spent some much needed time in my apartment and in the city. MY time for ME. Saturday night Pete’s taint rolled up and we went and ate sushi. He had some good insights on the current drama deal – it helps that he knows all the parties involved. After sushi, we walked downtown and saw “HERO”, the newly imported Jet Li vehicle. I enjoyed it. I found it to be a good if not great film, though I could probably be talked into it. Visually stunning. (At this point, I glance sheepishly at the “Mick Flicks” link and think ‘Someday, oh someday, I’ll update that beast’.)
After the movie, Pete’s taint and I met my friend John from med school and had a few drinks at a local bar. Good city flavor for a good night.
Sunday was terrible. I had to go in to the hospital early. It was my last neurology call, and they made me pay. I was there all day and all night, missed lunch, missed dinner, and basically got bitter. The neurology department essentially uses internal medicine residents to pull call for them, because they don’t have enough residents to do it all on their own. The sad thing is I don’t really like neurology, so my interest level really isn’t there, and every admission is just a big piece of pain, as far as I’m concerned.
Here’s a word on strokes. If somebody gets a stroke, they take aspirin. If they get another stroke on aspirin, we switch to aggrenox or plavix. If they get another one, they’re screwed. In the meantime there are a lot of MRI’s and CT scans done. The classic harp on neurology is that it’s a lot of puzzle solving and very little treating. Basically, a neurologist uses their superior knowledge of brain anatomy to pinpoint EXACTLY where a person had their stroke. This is based on the physical exam (i.e. slurred speech vs right arm numbness vs left leg weakness, etc) and the various MRI’s and CT scans. After that, they proudly pronounce exactly where the lesion is and do nothing about it except give aspirin. It is the king of the “mental masturbation” specialties. So there.
My month in neurology was long and painful, for many reasons. Not only personal drama, but I just don’t like it all that much. The clinic is painful, the write ups (of which I still have a few) are really painful.
Now I move on to pulmonary clinic. Essentially a lot of emphysema (medically this is called ‘Chronic Pulmonary Obstructive Disease’, or COPD) and asthma. It will be good stuff to learn more of, since we see it a lot but I am essentially ambivalent about the rotation. A lot of it will revolve around old people in wheelchairs with oxygen tanks rolling through the halls as if straight out of the Golden Nugget slot section and into the clinic. Not being able to breath is dumb. With the exception of an infrequent joint or cigar, I encourage people not to smoke. Stay in school, kids.
OK, time for some work. I may post again shortly. I would still like to yammer about the Olympics and some old books I read. And update Mick Flicks. Man, it’s not fun to think of blogging as work, but there it is.
Five days until San Diego.
I STILL WOULD HAVE LIKED TO HAVE SEEN MONTANA
Greetings. I’m back. Back again. It’s Sunday night, and shortly I’ll be off to bed to face another dreaded work-week. Vacation is officially over, but before I dwell on the drudgery of returning to the real world, I think it might be nice to hit the high points of my week in Whitefish, Montana.
Please see Adam’s blog for a nice description of most of our events, spread over three posts. (Given his efforts, I think I’ll steer away from a distinct time line of events. Rather – I have some comments).
I really can’t describe how nice it was to get away. I’ve been thinking about it all day, certainly in light of my return to drama here in Seattle, and I think I needed that vacation more than I realized. I was giddy to leave, and even more giddy upon arrival.
I always love how I revert to an older self around my old San Diego peeps (I would say boys, but wouldn’t want to offend Diana – who is clearly part of the group in every way). Within minutes of getting off the plane after touch down (did someone say touchdown? Is it football season already? *Grin*), I was laughing. It feels good to laugh as frequently as I do when I’m around the old crew. My life now tends to be more on the serious side, more of a dramatic nature, and it’s difficult to describe how NICE it was to not take myself so damn seriously for a week. No drama. No over-analysis of my place in the world, no break down of every relationship. Just good old fashioned goofy Mick – at your service.
By the time we were back to the house, I was already singing songs, taunting Iwan, and generally just feeling relaxed. It felt good. It felt really good. I really miss my old San Diego friends – a fact that is incredibly evident every time I see them and get to spend some time with them. I don’t know if I changed or if the type of people around me (currently) have changed, but over the years I’ve consistently felt the happiest in the presence of the old gang. This may be an important consideration down the line.
I’m not sure if I’ve lost a step from my more carefree days or not. It sure seems like that when I’m up here in Seattle. It sure doesn’t seem like it when I’m with the old crew.
Montana helped me realize that a bit. On day 1, it was good to sit outside with Iwan, Adam, and Diana, and just shoot the shit. We talked, we spit cherry seeds (I’m still not sure who was the most accurate), I had a few beers. There was a hammock involved. It was nice to have that vacation feeling – the one where the layers of stress seem to peel away as you sit on a porch and stare out at distant mountains. I was glad to have that feeling again.
I enjoyed my time with everybody. It was fun to walk around rivers and cast a fly rod. I even caught a couple of fish. (Gabe would be proud). I enjoyed sleeping in the car, battling at Euchre, lounging on a river raft, eating too much dessert, not dealing with clocks, singing Mr. Roboto and other songs (as well as my amalgams of songs) all week long. (Adman’s UP-IN-DA-CLUB…) It was nice to be goofy again. Giggily. Playing the game Alibi and watching Iwan stress over the proper “system”. I remember sitting on the porch a few times and staring off into space – my mind was pretty clear. It was like defragmenting the drama out of my brain. Most of all I enjoyed simply talking and joking with my friends. Drama-free. Judgement-free. That’s good stuff.
(Of note, I think my high “nature” point of the trip (given that we didn’t see bears – which is a HUGE minus) was standing up on the glacier overlook at glacier national park. It was a bear (OH!) of a hike to get there, but the view was spectacular, easily in my top 3 views of all time (the others likely in Switzerland and southern Utah).)
I think a valuable lesson from Montana is that I’m tired of dealing with all the drama I’ve created back here. I would like to be a little more care-free for a while. Take myself a little less seriously. Assume that the world is a little less against me. More like my OLD self. I’m hoping the tune of this blog will change a little toward the more positive. It was also nice to catch up on sleep. It’s funny how much sharper I feel when I’m well rested. I’ll have to remember that when I want to stay up late…
Montana is barely 24 hours over, and already I’m looking forward to Labor day, when I get to return to San Diego for 4.5 days. I’m already pumped. I want to feel that way again.
Greetings. I’m back. Back again. It’s Sunday night, and shortly I’ll be off to bed to face another dreaded work-week. Vacation is officially over, but before I dwell on the drudgery of returning to the real world, I think it might be nice to hit the high points of my week in Whitefish, Montana.
Please see Adam’s blog for a nice description of most of our events, spread over three posts. (Given his efforts, I think I’ll steer away from a distinct time line of events. Rather – I have some comments).
I really can’t describe how nice it was to get away. I’ve been thinking about it all day, certainly in light of my return to drama here in Seattle, and I think I needed that vacation more than I realized. I was giddy to leave, and even more giddy upon arrival.
I always love how I revert to an older self around my old San Diego peeps (I would say boys, but wouldn’t want to offend Diana – who is clearly part of the group in every way). Within minutes of getting off the plane after touch down (did someone say touchdown? Is it football season already? *Grin*), I was laughing. It feels good to laugh as frequently as I do when I’m around the old crew. My life now tends to be more on the serious side, more of a dramatic nature, and it’s difficult to describe how NICE it was to not take myself so damn seriously for a week. No drama. No over-analysis of my place in the world, no break down of every relationship. Just good old fashioned goofy Mick – at your service.
By the time we were back to the house, I was already singing songs, taunting Iwan, and generally just feeling relaxed. It felt good. It felt really good. I really miss my old San Diego friends – a fact that is incredibly evident every time I see them and get to spend some time with them. I don’t know if I changed or if the type of people around me (currently) have changed, but over the years I’ve consistently felt the happiest in the presence of the old gang. This may be an important consideration down the line.
I’m not sure if I’ve lost a step from my more carefree days or not. It sure seems like that when I’m up here in Seattle. It sure doesn’t seem like it when I’m with the old crew.
Montana helped me realize that a bit. On day 1, it was good to sit outside with Iwan, Adam, and Diana, and just shoot the shit. We talked, we spit cherry seeds (I’m still not sure who was the most accurate), I had a few beers. There was a hammock involved. It was nice to have that vacation feeling – the one where the layers of stress seem to peel away as you sit on a porch and stare out at distant mountains. I was glad to have that feeling again.
I enjoyed my time with everybody. It was fun to walk around rivers and cast a fly rod. I even caught a couple of fish. (Gabe would be proud). I enjoyed sleeping in the car, battling at Euchre, lounging on a river raft, eating too much dessert, not dealing with clocks, singing Mr. Roboto and other songs (as well as my amalgams of songs) all week long. (Adman’s UP-IN-DA-CLUB…) It was nice to be goofy again. Giggily. Playing the game Alibi and watching Iwan stress over the proper “system”. I remember sitting on the porch a few times and staring off into space – my mind was pretty clear. It was like defragmenting the drama out of my brain. Most of all I enjoyed simply talking and joking with my friends. Drama-free. Judgement-free. That’s good stuff.
(Of note, I think my high “nature” point of the trip (given that we didn’t see bears – which is a HUGE minus) was standing up on the glacier overlook at glacier national park. It was a bear (OH!) of a hike to get there, but the view was spectacular, easily in my top 3 views of all time (the others likely in Switzerland and southern Utah).)
I think a valuable lesson from Montana is that I’m tired of dealing with all the drama I’ve created back here. I would like to be a little more care-free for a while. Take myself a little less seriously. Assume that the world is a little less against me. More like my OLD self. I’m hoping the tune of this blog will change a little toward the more positive. It was also nice to catch up on sleep. It’s funny how much sharper I feel when I’m well rested. I’ll have to remember that when I want to stay up late…
Montana is barely 24 hours over, and already I’m looking forward to Labor day, when I get to return to San Diego for 4.5 days. I’m already pumped. I want to feel that way again.
Hot Times – Summer in the City
It’s Sunday night and nearly time for bed. Given some of the limitations I’ve put on myself for this blog in limiting female drama discussions, I will say that most of my weekend is off limits. And I’m sticking to my guns with it this time.
Tomorrow I start my neurology rotation (“I forgive you – I just hope my neurologist feels the same”). I’m not exactly giddy with anticipation. For internal medicine types, neurology tends to be a little on the dry side. Plus, the rotation is all clinic (and clinic = pain) and there is also some overnight call involved (boo!). It’s “home call” – but that won’t exactly apply to me because I live too far away now to go home and come back. (Neurology residents wouldn’t be allowed to live as far from the hospital as I do as a rule). Oh well, I’ll just spend my call nights at the hospital or at Pete’s house (who lives close), which is just another excuse for me to nestle with his taint. Done and done.
I saw “The Village” yesterday, the latest from M. Night Shyamalan. It certainly deserves a review. Let’s see if I ever get to it or not. (Probably not). For now I’ll only say that I was so amused with the notion that Adrien Brody plays the LITERAL “Village Idiot”. That concept, as is the concept of a “village idiot” in general, has been cracking me up all weekend. Village idiots = good stuff.
Today I got up, made some breakfast. Then I walked up to Volunteer Park (roughly a 15 minute walk from my pad) to check out an ultimate disc game I had found online. I didn’t go to play, but rather just watch and see. Looks like a good group, so maybe I’ll suit up and toss the old disc around when I get back from Montana. On the way back, I stopped off at a bagel shop and read some New York times. Headed back here, worked on the place, worked out, ran some errands, and now it’s time to go to sleep. I wish there were more hours in the day.
It’s Sunday night and nearly time for bed. Given some of the limitations I’ve put on myself for this blog in limiting female drama discussions, I will say that most of my weekend is off limits. And I’m sticking to my guns with it this time.
Tomorrow I start my neurology rotation (“I forgive you – I just hope my neurologist feels the same”). I’m not exactly giddy with anticipation. For internal medicine types, neurology tends to be a little on the dry side. Plus, the rotation is all clinic (and clinic = pain) and there is also some overnight call involved (boo!). It’s “home call” – but that won’t exactly apply to me because I live too far away now to go home and come back. (Neurology residents wouldn’t be allowed to live as far from the hospital as I do as a rule). Oh well, I’ll just spend my call nights at the hospital or at Pete’s house (who lives close), which is just another excuse for me to nestle with his taint. Done and done.
I saw “The Village” yesterday, the latest from M. Night Shyamalan. It certainly deserves a review. Let’s see if I ever get to it or not. (Probably not). For now I’ll only say that I was so amused with the notion that Adrien Brody plays the LITERAL “Village Idiot”. That concept, as is the concept of a “village idiot” in general, has been cracking me up all weekend. Village idiots = good stuff.
Today I got up, made some breakfast. Then I walked up to Volunteer Park (roughly a 15 minute walk from my pad) to check out an ultimate disc game I had found online. I didn’t go to play, but rather just watch and see. Looks like a good group, so maybe I’ll suit up and toss the old disc around when I get back from Montana. On the way back, I stopped off at a bagel shop and read some New York times. Headed back here, worked on the place, worked out, ran some errands, and now it’s time to go to sleep. I wish there were more hours in the day.
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