This weekend was basically a waste for me, as Saturday I was stuck covering an ICU call shift for a fellow resident who had to leave town. The upside is that he owes me a favor sometime in the future.
It was pretty slow most of the night (especially late afternoon to early evening) and I was thankful for that. At 2 am though, my slumber was interrupted because some 22 year old kid got way too drunk. He passed out and smacked his face on a curb. His buddies called an ambulance and when they brought him in his alcohol level was 411. (This translates to a BAL of 0.411 – remember you can’t drive after 0.08 per California law, so basically more than 5 times that drunk. AND THAT was when we measured the level, which certainly wasn’t his likely maximal level for the evening. Also, it’s been shown that people who get higher than 500 (aka 0.5) basically have a 50% chance of dying - you can do the roughly do the math on this guys 0.411 level and the likely number of drinks he had with this chart - he wayed about 185 pounds). So this guy was sauced. Anyway, in the ER he was minimally responsive and started vomiting all over himself. He couldn’t clear his secretions, started choking on his own vomit, and hence required intubation (basically a tube into his trachea to maintain his airway while a ventilator breathes for him). Nice work buddy. Furthermore, he had passed out and hit his face, so we had to CT his head to make sure he wasn’t bleeding into his head (he wasn’t); we also had to clear his cervical spine for possible fractures (requiring an X-ray and CT of his neck).
Anyway, anyone who is intubated has immediately bought himself an ICU bed, so in the middle of the night this became my problem. So essentially I was woken up because of some drinking night gone horribly wrong. I didn’t get much sleep after that.
The kid turned out to be all right – we got the tube out early that morning (like 7am Sunday) and he was doing OK, still pretty effin drunk.
When we had the tube out I asked him the last thing he remembered.
“I just remember drinking a lot….”
No shit. So, a night out with the boys turned into a overnight stay in the intensive care unit after a few head CT’s and being put on a ventilator. Again, nice work.
“Look Marge, this guy’s got a machine to breath FOR him – and here I am using my own lungs like a sucker…”
(This is a common ICU quote – sadly, it’s rarely appropriate).
Before all that craziness, one of the other residents (named Jimmy, which is funny in itself) and I started talking all sorts of shit about Axis and Allies. He was a West Point guy, and we both touted our skills. Well, before long, he was on the phone to his wife and he had her bring the damn game into the hospital so we could pass the time on call.
With a lot more shit talk, (I basically claimed I was “unbeatable” if playing the allies), we set up the game and went to work.
Sadly, we only got 2 turns in (Russia and Germany) before Jimmy got busy with work and we had to stop. We didn’t do any more that night, but we left the board set up in the corner of a call room and today at lunch we did a couple more turns. (UK and Japan).
What a fun game. I haven’t played in years, but we already have a good battle brewing. Jimmy is a solid player. (Warning – the rest of this paragraph is nerdy Axis and Allies talk). My opening Russia turn went very well and prevented him from attacking too effectively. On his Germany turn, he didn’t try and destroy my UK navy (mistake!) and with the UK I actually successfully invaded Western Europe. I won’t keep it for long, but it’s going to be a real pain in Germany’s ass and it got me 6 bucks. (or “6 space bucks, for food, gas, and tolls…” ß an old quote I used to say religiously when getting money in this game). Jimmy then countered with a very strong Japan move, basically getting great rolls (and planning well, I’ll admit grudgingly) – he’s hammering into Russia and took eastern China and also has an industrial complex directly east of china which will be huge trouble. So now I’m up with the US and I have some serious strategizing to do… What a fun game.
What’s even better is we had a bunch of other residents watching us play at lunch. Lots of trash talk and lots of people interested in learning the game.
In some small way, this is my attempt to make my job more like Eryn’s, I think…. Regardless, it’s a good game and should give us some entertainment this week.
Anyway, the rest of my weekend consisted of watching Citizen Kane on Friday night (for the first time ever!!) – what a great film. Then I spent Sunday (after getting home and napping for 5 hours) watching the 2 additional commentaries that came with the DVD. They were also excellent. I can’t believe I’d stayed away from “Kane” for so long. I love Netflix – it’s the perfect solution to all the holes in my movie vocabulary. I also finished Das Boot earlier tonight – also a solid film (but nowhere near as good as “Kane”). Check Mick Flicks in coming days for more.
Also, see every other blog for the NFL draft report. I’m pumped my Giants have a potential franchise QB, but I’m not fired up on his whining to be on this team or that team. I’m also not fired up on Archie “Puppet Master” Manning. I guess playing for a shitty Saints team for your whole career will do that to a man. I also think the Giants gave up too much to get Eli – if he’s a bust it could be the end of the Giants GM. (Which would be fine, according to Papa Stup). In fact, I talked to Papa Stup from the hospital on the day of the draft and he was already pissed that the Giants didn’t trade down to the Browns to get more picks and THEN trade for Manning. Ah, I wish my dad had some role in the Giants organization. It would make him (and me) so happy.
I’m super pumped on my new book, “A Prayer for Owen Meaney.” I’ve never read any John Irving before, and dammit that guy is really good. More later. More on good old Catch 22 as well.
In other news, the weather is getting nicer, the days are getting longer, and my mountain bike is getting tuned. I’m officially pumped for summer. Also, I got my schedule for next year last week (from July 1st on – or my third year of residency). My entire summer is clinic months which means I can take leave whenever I need to. So hello Montana officially and hello MLOM “LIVE” draft with the commish in San Diego. We simply have to get Fwats down this year. I’m willing to pitch in for his ticket…
And with that, I’m off to bed.
[modified]
SUNDAY
On Sunday we headed down to my mom’s best friend’s house and met up with their family down at the Jersey Shore. I hadn’t seen them in awhile, and it was nice. The nicest thing was going back to their house, which I had remembered from childhood. It was one of the few homes from my boyhood where the people still actually live there. At one point, I went to the bathroom, and while washing my hands I thought it was so cool to think about how I’d done the same thing, at the same faucet, 22 years ago. I rarely get to have that feeling since no one I know from childhood lives in the same place anymore.
That’s about it. It was a good weekend. On Monday I flew home. It was good to see the fam. I’m now tired of typing. Time to post and get out of here. I’ll post pictures later if I get any back.
SUNDAY
On Sunday we headed down to my mom’s best friend’s house and met up with their family down at the Jersey Shore. I hadn’t seen them in awhile, and it was nice. The nicest thing was going back to their house, which I had remembered from childhood. It was one of the few homes from my boyhood where the people still actually live there. At one point, I went to the bathroom, and while washing my hands I thought it was so cool to think about how I’d done the same thing, at the same faucet, 22 years ago. I rarely get to have that feeling since no one I know from childhood lives in the same place anymore.
That’s about it. It was a good weekend. On Monday I flew home. It was good to see the fam. I’m now tired of typing. Time to post and get out of here. I’ll post pictures later if I get any back.
Still working on "Weekend Back East". Spent an hour or two updating Mick Flicks, however. Enjoy. (For some reason, the Punisher review is posted twice. I've attempted to delete the additional post several times - it tells me it's deleted in "Blogger", and I can only see one post in the "manage posts" section, however both posts remain when I simply go to the site and view it. So ignore that. Apologies....
Ugh, Sorry folks - I'm still working on the "Weekend back East" post, which is taking more time than I thought. Since I got back I have been busy with household tasks and the like. On Monday I wasted several hours on the computer (2 or 3 hours playing battlefield vietnam - a game which is slowly inching its way into the "makes me feel too guilty about wasting time" category; from here on out I've decided i'm ONLY playing when either Adam or Eryn is playing. That way, I can at least write it off as a "social" activity.)
On Monday night, Gwen cruised over and we watched Python's "Meaning of Life", which I had sadly never seen. (The Mick Flicks updates are still pending). Today (Tuesday, even though the post will say Wednesday), I made Gwen my "Life Coach" for the day and she helped me clean up my house and do a bunch of errands. (You see, Gwen is a very organized person who's on top of things like clutter control and bills and such; she definitely has a sprinkle of OCD which is nice - it certainly compliments my complete lack of ability to motivate and clean my house at times). Perhaps the biggest accomplishment of the day was taking down my Christmas Tree (yes, you read that right), which had been up for about 18 months (yes, you read that right too). Goodbye Star Wars and Spiderman ornaments, hello large empty space in my family room. Then Gwen alphabetized my book shelf (something I wouldn't have done on my own) and then dusted the two big rooms in my apartment. Meanwhile, I cleaned the kitchen hardily, organized my closet, and did laundry and some bills.
On top of that, we went grocery shopping and took the dry cleaning in. Sounds like an awfully mundane day for most, but for me all the above is a huge accomplishment.
To thank Gwen for helping me out, I took her out to dinner (sadly, we decided on the lowly Cheesecake factory up in Seattle, a mediocre establishment at best - everything Eryn ever said about the place is dead on). After that, for a variety of reasons we ended up seeing a little piece of tripe called the "Punisher". (Again, Mick Flicks review pending). Overall impression = pile of shit, which we pretty much expected going in. And I liked the old comic book character dammit.
So with that, I'm home - way too late. It's back to work tomorrow for the first time since last Thursday. I'm not particularly looking forward to it. I still have a lot of blogging to do. I hope it doesn't get pushed to the back burner like these things sometimes do. My east coast weekend was pretty cool.
(Eryn claims I ripped him off by ending most of my posts with song quotes - so I won't do it this time. Let the baby have his bottle, I always say.)
On Monday night, Gwen cruised over and we watched Python's "Meaning of Life", which I had sadly never seen. (The Mick Flicks updates are still pending). Today (Tuesday, even though the post will say Wednesday), I made Gwen my "Life Coach" for the day and she helped me clean up my house and do a bunch of errands. (You see, Gwen is a very organized person who's on top of things like clutter control and bills and such; she definitely has a sprinkle of OCD which is nice - it certainly compliments my complete lack of ability to motivate and clean my house at times). Perhaps the biggest accomplishment of the day was taking down my Christmas Tree (yes, you read that right), which had been up for about 18 months (yes, you read that right too). Goodbye Star Wars and Spiderman ornaments, hello large empty space in my family room. Then Gwen alphabetized my book shelf (something I wouldn't have done on my own) and then dusted the two big rooms in my apartment. Meanwhile, I cleaned the kitchen hardily, organized my closet, and did laundry and some bills.
On top of that, we went grocery shopping and took the dry cleaning in. Sounds like an awfully mundane day for most, but for me all the above is a huge accomplishment.
To thank Gwen for helping me out, I took her out to dinner (sadly, we decided on the lowly Cheesecake factory up in Seattle, a mediocre establishment at best - everything Eryn ever said about the place is dead on). After that, for a variety of reasons we ended up seeing a little piece of tripe called the "Punisher". (Again, Mick Flicks review pending). Overall impression = pile of shit, which we pretty much expected going in. And I liked the old comic book character dammit.
So with that, I'm home - way too late. It's back to work tomorrow for the first time since last Thursday. I'm not particularly looking forward to it. I still have a lot of blogging to do. I hope it doesn't get pushed to the back burner like these things sometimes do. My east coast weekend was pretty cool.
(Eryn claims I ripped him off by ending most of my posts with song quotes - so I won't do it this time. Let the baby have his bottle, I always say.)
Greetings Blog from the East Siiiiiide! (*throws up PHAT East side gang sign in your fiz'nace*)
Well, here I am, back near my roots - here on the East Coast. I'm typing away from my cousin's house here in Northern New Jersey, caught somewhere between the moon and New York City. Thirty minutes away from said city, to be exact.
It's Saturday night/Sunday morning and jet lag prevents me from sleeping, so I'd thought I'd throw up a little teaser entry regarding the weekend while smack dab in the middle of it. It's been fun so far and good to see the fam. Today was my cousin Tara's wedding - a good hearty italian affair - more later.
So far the weekend has given me a lot of time with the immediate fam as well as the extended fam. There's been a lot of East coast 'tude all over the place, but I wouldn't haven't any other way out here.
Anyway, before I launch into some sort of full bore post, I'll cut this off. Basically, anyone who reads this blog can look forward to some zerious postin' about a number of things including:
[modified]
"...if you get caught between the moon and New York Citt-eee, there's nothing...you..can..do, 'cept FALL IN LOVE..."
Well, here I am, back near my roots - here on the East Coast. I'm typing away from my cousin's house here in Northern New Jersey, caught somewhere between the moon and New York City. Thirty minutes away from said city, to be exact.
It's Saturday night/Sunday morning and jet lag prevents me from sleeping, so I'd thought I'd throw up a little teaser entry regarding the weekend while smack dab in the middle of it. It's been fun so far and good to see the fam. Today was my cousin Tara's wedding - a good hearty italian affair - more later.
So far the weekend has given me a lot of time with the immediate fam as well as the extended fam. There's been a lot of East coast 'tude all over the place, but I wouldn't haven't any other way out here.
Anyway, before I launch into some sort of full bore post, I'll cut this off. Basically, anyone who reads this blog can look forward to some zerious postin' about a number of things including:
[modified]
"...if you get caught between the moon and New York Citt-eee, there's nothing...you..can..do, 'cept FALL IN LOVE..."
All of my attempts to do some serious bloggin’ this week have failed. And failed miserably. Things just keep popping up and preventing me from doing some serious updating. Oh well. Now it’s midnight on Wednesday and I should be nestled in bed but rather I’m typing faithfully to keep this sassy blog jamming along.
Much has happened since the last post, and no I don’t mean that rinky dink post that Iwan taunted. Here’s the scoop:
EASTER SUNDAY
After the ordeal with the ladies came Sunday. On Sunday I slept late, and then headed over to my mom’s cousin’s house to see that family and have some good old Easter dinner. This family, who I hadn’t met until I moved here, lives about 20 minutes away. They have a cool house with a nice view of the Seattle skyline. It’s an interesting dynamic, and the whole family (Husband, wife, 3 kids) are definitely an anomaly - the west coast version of the rest of my extended family. I always have a good time when I go over there.
There’s my mom’s cousin Cynthia (does that make me a second cousin? I’m not sure on the genealogy here). A very sweet lady.
Her husband Mike is also a nice guy - liberal and talkative. He's quite the woodworker complete with his own shop in the basement of the house.
The 3 kids are quite interesting. The oldest is Heath. Heath is gothish, preferring to dress in tailored black suits and the like and with a flair for the dramatic. He wakes up at 4 pm daily and goes to bed at 8 am. He’s linked heavily to this rave club in Seattle (I’ve been twice – the description of this place seriously warrants an entire blog entry on it’s own). The club isn’t even listed anywhere – you just have to know about it. Heath has perfect etiquette. He’s a really nice guy, too. Always smiling, always laughing. And he talks a ton of jovial shit while playing croquet.
Next there’s Heidi. She’s 30 years old. She and I have the same birthday. Heidi is an attractive and sweet sort of an all American girl type who likes shopping yada yada. Her boyfriend (now fiancée) is this humoungous (like 6’6”, 270 lb monster) yoked guy who looks like he could seriously be in the NFL. He’s really easy going, funny, and generally pleasant to be around.
Finally, there’s Justin. Justin is about 23 or 24 and has a bald shaved head. Seems to drinks a lot but is also quite honest about it. Also actually quite pleasant to be around.
The contrast in the three siblings is striking, but they are fun to hang out with. In the summer months when I visit there the game of choice is always croquet. Croquet is a fun game and I’m not very good at it. Certainly not as good as Heath or Justin who are pretty serious about it. It’s a blast there. I go over there, we all start drinking and playing. Then we go eat dinner and then play some more. It’s that simple and Easter Sunday was no different. But it’s very relaxing and tons of fun.
Also adding to the generic confusion of that house is that they have 2 dogs. A humongous german Shepard and a humongous Siberian Husky. Both are males, and they have to be separated because they actually brawl every time if they’re not. (I was told that this started happening about 2 years ago as the Shephard got older and bigger – apparently blood was being drawn on routine occasions). Anyway, they’re both fun dogs though I suspect the husky is partly psychotic (for example every once in awhile someone will be petting him and then his tale will simply stop wagging and he’ll look right at them and get completely stiff – it’s actually a bit unsettling).
So there it is. Easter dinner. Drinking croquet. Odd but fun family. Dog rivalry. Good times.
OTHER STUFF
I’m a little tired of typing at this point. But before I go, here’s a few more things:
-I’m leaving on a Thursday night red eye for the east coast and New Jersey to go to my cousin Tara’s wedding this weekend. I return on Monday. Should be fun. It will be the first time I’ve seen the fam since my sister’s high school graduation. My sister is bringing her boyfriend. (He’s dead.) I’m hoping to take lots of pics and post em up. I’m pumped because Saturday night we are going to cruise into Manhattan and get a nice dinner. I love a little NY, NY. Time to stock up on Giants gear. I wonder if they’ll have preprinted Eli Manning jerseys… :)
-Speaking of the Giants – besides possibly getting the first pick (I’ll be sure to record Papa Stup’s thoughts on the subject) they are also scheduled to play Philthy the first game of the season next year. Giants/Birds in the Linc. T.O vs. Shockey in the league’s biggest ‘tude battle ever. Oh man, bring on the football season.
-Taxes are due tomorrow (today) and I haven’t done them. This will be my third late year in a row. Luckily I’m still getting a refund so the government probably won’t care too much. I really do need a personal assistant to help me do this shit on time. (Or to delete all video games from this computer – ERYN!).
-Played hoops tonight in a (very) special Wednesday night session. I was feeling kind of springy for the first time in a while. And low and behold, I can still dunk a basketball. I hadn’t tried in a long time. My goal is to be still be dunking at age 40. Doubtful, but possible if I stay in decent shape and bike a lot.
-By the next entry, I will be officially be done with Catch 22. Stay tuned to the current read section.
-Similarly, I’m about 4 movies behind on Mick Flicks. Look for a recap in the coming week. Zombie Movies. Seventies movies. Seven Samurai. Rear Window. Stay tuned.
And there it is.
“Ooh this blog so scandalous. You know another blogger couldn’t handle this…”
Much has happened since the last post, and no I don’t mean that rinky dink post that Iwan taunted. Here’s the scoop:
EASTER SUNDAY
After the ordeal with the ladies came Sunday. On Sunday I slept late, and then headed over to my mom’s cousin’s house to see that family and have some good old Easter dinner. This family, who I hadn’t met until I moved here, lives about 20 minutes away. They have a cool house with a nice view of the Seattle skyline. It’s an interesting dynamic, and the whole family (Husband, wife, 3 kids) are definitely an anomaly - the west coast version of the rest of my extended family. I always have a good time when I go over there.
There’s my mom’s cousin Cynthia (does that make me a second cousin? I’m not sure on the genealogy here). A very sweet lady.
Her husband Mike is also a nice guy - liberal and talkative. He's quite the woodworker complete with his own shop in the basement of the house.
The 3 kids are quite interesting. The oldest is Heath. Heath is gothish, preferring to dress in tailored black suits and the like and with a flair for the dramatic. He wakes up at 4 pm daily and goes to bed at 8 am. He’s linked heavily to this rave club in Seattle (I’ve been twice – the description of this place seriously warrants an entire blog entry on it’s own). The club isn’t even listed anywhere – you just have to know about it. Heath has perfect etiquette. He’s a really nice guy, too. Always smiling, always laughing. And he talks a ton of jovial shit while playing croquet.
Next there’s Heidi. She’s 30 years old. She and I have the same birthday. Heidi is an attractive and sweet sort of an all American girl type who likes shopping yada yada. Her boyfriend (now fiancée) is this humoungous (like 6’6”, 270 lb monster) yoked guy who looks like he could seriously be in the NFL. He’s really easy going, funny, and generally pleasant to be around.
Finally, there’s Justin. Justin is about 23 or 24 and has a bald shaved head. Seems to drinks a lot but is also quite honest about it. Also actually quite pleasant to be around.
The contrast in the three siblings is striking, but they are fun to hang out with. In the summer months when I visit there the game of choice is always croquet. Croquet is a fun game and I’m not very good at it. Certainly not as good as Heath or Justin who are pretty serious about it. It’s a blast there. I go over there, we all start drinking and playing. Then we go eat dinner and then play some more. It’s that simple and Easter Sunday was no different. But it’s very relaxing and tons of fun.
Also adding to the generic confusion of that house is that they have 2 dogs. A humongous german Shepard and a humongous Siberian Husky. Both are males, and they have to be separated because they actually brawl every time if they’re not. (I was told that this started happening about 2 years ago as the Shephard got older and bigger – apparently blood was being drawn on routine occasions). Anyway, they’re both fun dogs though I suspect the husky is partly psychotic (for example every once in awhile someone will be petting him and then his tale will simply stop wagging and he’ll look right at them and get completely stiff – it’s actually a bit unsettling).
So there it is. Easter dinner. Drinking croquet. Odd but fun family. Dog rivalry. Good times.
OTHER STUFF
I’m a little tired of typing at this point. But before I go, here’s a few more things:
-I’m leaving on a Thursday night red eye for the east coast and New Jersey to go to my cousin Tara’s wedding this weekend. I return on Monday. Should be fun. It will be the first time I’ve seen the fam since my sister’s high school graduation. My sister is bringing her boyfriend. (He’s dead.) I’m hoping to take lots of pics and post em up. I’m pumped because Saturday night we are going to cruise into Manhattan and get a nice dinner. I love a little NY, NY. Time to stock up on Giants gear. I wonder if they’ll have preprinted Eli Manning jerseys… :)
-Speaking of the Giants – besides possibly getting the first pick (I’ll be sure to record Papa Stup’s thoughts on the subject) they are also scheduled to play Philthy the first game of the season next year. Giants/Birds in the Linc. T.O vs. Shockey in the league’s biggest ‘tude battle ever. Oh man, bring on the football season.
-Taxes are due tomorrow (today) and I haven’t done them. This will be my third late year in a row. Luckily I’m still getting a refund so the government probably won’t care too much. I really do need a personal assistant to help me do this shit on time. (Or to delete all video games from this computer – ERYN!).
-Played hoops tonight in a (very) special Wednesday night session. I was feeling kind of springy for the first time in a while. And low and behold, I can still dunk a basketball. I hadn’t tried in a long time. My goal is to be still be dunking at age 40. Doubtful, but possible if I stay in decent shape and bike a lot.
-By the next entry, I will be officially be done with Catch 22. Stay tuned to the current read section.
-Similarly, I’m about 4 movies behind on Mick Flicks. Look for a recap in the coming week. Zombie Movies. Seventies movies. Seven Samurai. Rear Window. Stay tuned.
And there it is.
“Ooh this blog so scandalous. You know another blogger couldn’t handle this…”
This morning I took one of my bi-annual Army Physical Fitness Tests (or APFT or PT Test). This thing has the military written all over it. First, there is stringent policy to take one every 6 months. Second, it’s usually given at some horrifically early time (like 6 am this morning for example). Third, it has a nice flawed design.
So you start with push-ups. As many as you can do in 2 minutes without stopping (you can rest, sort of, during the test, if you remain in the “front leaning rest” position). The army has strict rules as to the proper angles that you need to have your arms, chest, and plane of your body during each portion of the exercise and these are all religiously read aloud verbatim prior to each administration of the test, no matter how many times you’ve heard it before. And the instructions for each exercise (even running!) go on for about no less than 5-10 minutes. I’m not joking. It’s absolutely ludicrous.
Next are traditional sit-ups. Awful, awful sit ups. I think it’s been at least 20 years since old-fashioned “sit-ups” were deemed a foolish exercise. They are extremely hard on your lower back. Furthermore, people tend to wrench their necks all over the place as they thrust up toward their knees. Sit ups are just plain bad for you. Furthermore, they destroy your hip flexor muscles endurance for the run, which you do immediately following. So you run with this weird soreness in, well, in your hip flexors. The army doesn’t care about this however. They’ve always done sit-ups, they always will. You have to do as many sit ups as you can in 2 minutes as well. You can rest, but only at the top of the sit up. There are all sorts of rules for this exercise too. (yes, there actually are many, many rules for a proper sit up, army style).
(What always gets me on the sit-ups and push-ups are the NCO’s (Non-commisioned Officers) who administer the test and who are basically in your face during the test counting every rep they see. Think of some old crusty movie sergeant, all fired up and studying your “angles” to make sure each rep is legal while barking out the number of reps you perform, in your face, AS you do them. Worse, they often miscount or miss a rep. Unbelievable. The whole process is so Kids in the Hall. “LONG MUS-CLES!” HARD MUS-CLES!”)
Also odd is that when you hold your buddy’s feet, there is about a 75% chance that he will fart while he does sit ups. I mean, there you are, all your weight on someone’s feet, about a foot from their ass, and they start doing sit ups – each rep is essentially a huge intra-abdominal pressure generator, so if there is anything in that colon, it will shortly be in the holder’s face once the exercise starts. Always a slightly awkward and slightly comical experience.
After the sit ups comes the 2-mile run. This morning it happened to be about 42 degrees out and in more classic army method you have to be in a proper uniform or you can’t do the the test. Since I don’t own any Army certified sweat pants, I did my 40-degree run in shorts and a long sleeve T-shirt. Oh, and I can’t forget the required reflective belt I had to wear.
So, this morning was the test. I did so-so. Better than last test but in general my performance on this sort of thing is trending downward as residency progresses. You get a score in each category (need a least 60 points in each exercise, rated per age group) to pass. The max score is 300. I’ve never maxed the test. Mostly because I can’t do lame sit-ups to save my life.
Every time I do the thing though it reminds me that I really am in the army, and that the army and I aren’t so much peas in a pod.
“PRIVATE PILE, HOW TALL ARE YOU!?!”
So you start with push-ups. As many as you can do in 2 minutes without stopping (you can rest, sort of, during the test, if you remain in the “front leaning rest” position). The army has strict rules as to the proper angles that you need to have your arms, chest, and plane of your body during each portion of the exercise and these are all religiously read aloud verbatim prior to each administration of the test, no matter how many times you’ve heard it before. And the instructions for each exercise (even running!) go on for about no less than 5-10 minutes. I’m not joking. It’s absolutely ludicrous.
Next are traditional sit-ups. Awful, awful sit ups. I think it’s been at least 20 years since old-fashioned “sit-ups” were deemed a foolish exercise. They are extremely hard on your lower back. Furthermore, people tend to wrench their necks all over the place as they thrust up toward their knees. Sit ups are just plain bad for you. Furthermore, they destroy your hip flexor muscles endurance for the run, which you do immediately following. So you run with this weird soreness in, well, in your hip flexors. The army doesn’t care about this however. They’ve always done sit-ups, they always will. You have to do as many sit ups as you can in 2 minutes as well. You can rest, but only at the top of the sit up. There are all sorts of rules for this exercise too. (yes, there actually are many, many rules for a proper sit up, army style).
(What always gets me on the sit-ups and push-ups are the NCO’s (Non-commisioned Officers) who administer the test and who are basically in your face during the test counting every rep they see. Think of some old crusty movie sergeant, all fired up and studying your “angles” to make sure each rep is legal while barking out the number of reps you perform, in your face, AS you do them. Worse, they often miscount or miss a rep. Unbelievable. The whole process is so Kids in the Hall. “LONG MUS-CLES!” HARD MUS-CLES!”)
Also odd is that when you hold your buddy’s feet, there is about a 75% chance that he will fart while he does sit ups. I mean, there you are, all your weight on someone’s feet, about a foot from their ass, and they start doing sit ups – each rep is essentially a huge intra-abdominal pressure generator, so if there is anything in that colon, it will shortly be in the holder’s face once the exercise starts. Always a slightly awkward and slightly comical experience.
After the sit ups comes the 2-mile run. This morning it happened to be about 42 degrees out and in more classic army method you have to be in a proper uniform or you can’t do the the test. Since I don’t own any Army certified sweat pants, I did my 40-degree run in shorts and a long sleeve T-shirt. Oh, and I can’t forget the required reflective belt I had to wear.
So, this morning was the test. I did so-so. Better than last test but in general my performance on this sort of thing is trending downward as residency progresses. You get a score in each category (need a least 60 points in each exercise, rated per age group) to pass. The max score is 300. I’ve never maxed the test. Mostly because I can’t do lame sit-ups to save my life.
Every time I do the thing though it reminds me that I really am in the army, and that the army and I aren’t so much peas in a pod.
“PRIVATE PILE, HOW TALL ARE YOU!?!”
Insomnia. (3:45 am)
I have never been a person to have difficulty sleeping. But for the second time in a week, I am wracked with an early morning awakening and a complete inability to fall back asleep. I can count the number of times this sort of thing has happened to me prior to this week on one hand, and most of the occasions occurred on various Christmas Eves of childhood when I was awaiting the triumphant arrival of Santa Claus.
I woke up at 2:30 this morning. (Went to bed at 10:45). I simply could not fall back asleep. The other morning, prior to the ‘computer incident’, the same thing happened, albeit a little later (5 am). So that morning, I got up, watched the sunrise, took some pictures of it, made some coffee, and began the day. This morning, I rolled around for an hour and tried unsuccessfully to go back to sleep. Then I got up. I don’t really know what to do, at this point. My alarm is set for 5:30 am. I have to be at work at 7 am this morning. I would really like to do a full ER shift on more than 3-4 hours of sleep.
So now, with me out of bed, and sleep out of the question, I’m left wrestling with why this sort of thing is happening. After giving it some thought, I think I’ve discovered 3 contributing reasons.
1) Stress – Any time someone has insomnia, stress is likely to be a partial cause. At least that’s what I hear myself saying on a routine basis in my clinic. (Oh Jesus – I’m turning into one of my patients). I’m sure it’s helping in my case. But why now? Work is going pretty well. Over the past 2 months I’ve generally been feeling better overall about my life and my place in the world. What gives now? I guess I’m not sure. I think most of any stress I’m having now revolves around the current lady situation (see last entry below), which remains unresolved, and a larger potpourri type of category to include my ever present financial issues, military type stuff, and an almost endless list of small tasks at work from administrative bullshit to follow up tasks on patient visits and office documentation. (Believe me, that list is long and always, always nagging and I will never, ever be completely caught up).
2) Allergies – The allergy season has arrived en masse in the Pacific Northwest, as evidenced by the thin yellow film on my truck that greets me on a daily basis. I’m a sucker for allergies, and being completely out of Zyrtec, I can feel my throat a little more closed and swollen than usual and I’m saying “AHEM” a lot in an involuntary way. So with too much post nasal drip and not enough airway, plus a massive amount of histamine release (which tends to keep one alert, hence the drowsiness of typical ANTI-histamines), I can buy off on allergies being a part of the problem. Time for more Zyrtec, sweet Zyrtec.
3) Body Clock – No month in residency has jacked up my clock like the ER month, which has me working and sleeping at all hours and times of the day and night, and I’m sure that this is a huge contributor. I think I slept for like 12 hours 3 days ago, and about 10 hours last night. Then tonight and 2 nights ago I can’t sleep. Hmm, not too tough to figure out, I suppose.
So there it is. Still, it’s really fucking weird to wake up, be completely tired, and not be able to fall back asleep. I’ve known people who deal with this. Monica was a terrible sleeper. Gwen is too. But in my 28 years, I definitely tend to fall on the flip side of that coin, with me being highly difficult to rouse rather than rest. And this is certainly true in sleep-depriving residency, of all time periods. But, having access to all manner of medications, if this keeps up, I’ll go ahead and pop some Ambien, a popular and effective sleep-inducing agent.
Huzzah. Insomnia. Lame.
Other stuff:
Computer
I’ve settled down a little after my computer fall out from last entry. In the end, of course, this kind of thing is no big deal. I think what I hated most is the concept of not just completely wasting time, but of destructively wasting time (and worse, it not being my fault). If I choose to waste time, on my own, as a way to relax, that’s fine. But to have shit go wrong (especially while being on the phone with an “expert”) and to have it take time to make things work WORSE was suffice it to say on the order of maddening that morning. I almost developed a migraine that day (I don’t get migraines, but I felt the odd incredible pressure behind my right eye and I knew I best lay down for a while; thankfully it worked). The end result is that my computer and I will take a trip to Best Buy at some point in the near future and I’ll make good use of that 200+ dollar insurance policy I bought on this baby. Not only do my front USB ports not work, but nor does my built in flash card reader (also on the front). Even I refuse to pay extra money for an identical device (flash card reader) to that which is already built on right on the front. (Sigh, I’m becoming more reasonable like my father every day…) Still, the thought of being away from my home computer for few days while it’s being worked on seems difficult, somehow. There has to be some social commentary in that statement.
Dating and politics
On Tuesday, I went on another date with Girl Number 2. It was a lot of fun. We ate dinner here, taking advantage of the last week of “25 for 25”, Seattle-style. This girl and I get along well enough and our dates have been really run. [modified]
Dreams
Two nights ago, I had one of those out-of-this-world euphoric type dreams that I get roughly twice a year on average and absolutely live for. That’s not to say that I don’t get lots of cool and interesting dreams all the time (in fact, I seem to get weird ass dreams just about nightly). What I don’t get every night, however, is one of those action sorts of dreams that is directly tied in to a physiologic catecholamine (i.e adrenaline) inducing state, with an overall effect of essentially delivering feelings and emotions along the lines of sheer euphoria. (Oh, to get those dreams every night – I would never want to be awake).
The details of the beginning of this particular dream are hazy, but basically I was being chased by someone, or something. I believe I was holding something, something that this other being wanted. At some point, I was running away and realized that I could jump. I mean, really, really jump. At first, on my escape, I was making leaps of about 20-30 feet in the air, bounding up entire flights of stairs at a time and such. As the dream evolved, my running speed and leaping ability increased, and I began to realize that I was some sort of superhero, and I was being chased by some random supervillain. (The dawning of this fact during the dream was cerebrally powerful in a way that I can’t describe). And, as the dream went on, my powers continued to increase. The part I remember clear as day is being in a random downtown of some city, and I was literally leaping tall buildings with a single bound. Upon landing, I could immediately take off again, at equal height, and without losing speed. I could hit walls and go sideways. There was near perfect transfer of kinetic energy. I busted through windows. I felt no pain or fatigue at any time – only the rush of the wind, the vertiginous visuals of the heights, the stomach dropping gravity, and the thrilling sensation of acceleration while launching about at insane velocity. The overall effect was pure ecstasy. Also, at some point, the tables turned, and I chased the supervillain. His powers were near equal to mine, though, and neither of us could catch each other. Still, the sheer elation and euphoria of the journey was dizzying and overpowering. I don’t remember the details of the dream ending. I don’t remember what I was initially holding, or even if I still had it by the end of the dream, or if it even mattered. Some of the dream’s other characteristics are hazy, but the sensation of it’s realness (or it’s seeming reality, at the time) was exquisite.
When I finally woke up, my heart was racing. Absolutely racing. I lied in bed for several minutes, simply savoring the memory and power of that dream. It was unreal, and yet it had felt SO real. It was awesome. Then, unfortunately, there was the sad realization that I’m not some building-hopping superhero. I love those dreams, though. Normally my euphoric type dreams involve me in motion somehow, and usually it’s flying. This one was a little different, but equally convincing and insane. Man, what a feeling.
Wow, looking back over this entry, I’ve been at it for a while. I still feel tired, but now it’s almost time to get up anyway. Sigh.
Enough for now.
“Insomnia, please release me…”
I have never been a person to have difficulty sleeping. But for the second time in a week, I am wracked with an early morning awakening and a complete inability to fall back asleep. I can count the number of times this sort of thing has happened to me prior to this week on one hand, and most of the occasions occurred on various Christmas Eves of childhood when I was awaiting the triumphant arrival of Santa Claus.
I woke up at 2:30 this morning. (Went to bed at 10:45). I simply could not fall back asleep. The other morning, prior to the ‘computer incident’, the same thing happened, albeit a little later (5 am). So that morning, I got up, watched the sunrise, took some pictures of it, made some coffee, and began the day. This morning, I rolled around for an hour and tried unsuccessfully to go back to sleep. Then I got up. I don’t really know what to do, at this point. My alarm is set for 5:30 am. I have to be at work at 7 am this morning. I would really like to do a full ER shift on more than 3-4 hours of sleep.
So now, with me out of bed, and sleep out of the question, I’m left wrestling with why this sort of thing is happening. After giving it some thought, I think I’ve discovered 3 contributing reasons.
1) Stress – Any time someone has insomnia, stress is likely to be a partial cause. At least that’s what I hear myself saying on a routine basis in my clinic. (Oh Jesus – I’m turning into one of my patients). I’m sure it’s helping in my case. But why now? Work is going pretty well. Over the past 2 months I’ve generally been feeling better overall about my life and my place in the world. What gives now? I guess I’m not sure. I think most of any stress I’m having now revolves around the current lady situation (see last entry below), which remains unresolved, and a larger potpourri type of category to include my ever present financial issues, military type stuff, and an almost endless list of small tasks at work from administrative bullshit to follow up tasks on patient visits and office documentation. (Believe me, that list is long and always, always nagging and I will never, ever be completely caught up).
2) Allergies – The allergy season has arrived en masse in the Pacific Northwest, as evidenced by the thin yellow film on my truck that greets me on a daily basis. I’m a sucker for allergies, and being completely out of Zyrtec, I can feel my throat a little more closed and swollen than usual and I’m saying “AHEM” a lot in an involuntary way. So with too much post nasal drip and not enough airway, plus a massive amount of histamine release (which tends to keep one alert, hence the drowsiness of typical ANTI-histamines), I can buy off on allergies being a part of the problem. Time for more Zyrtec, sweet Zyrtec.
3) Body Clock – No month in residency has jacked up my clock like the ER month, which has me working and sleeping at all hours and times of the day and night, and I’m sure that this is a huge contributor. I think I slept for like 12 hours 3 days ago, and about 10 hours last night. Then tonight and 2 nights ago I can’t sleep. Hmm, not too tough to figure out, I suppose.
So there it is. Still, it’s really fucking weird to wake up, be completely tired, and not be able to fall back asleep. I’ve known people who deal with this. Monica was a terrible sleeper. Gwen is too. But in my 28 years, I definitely tend to fall on the flip side of that coin, with me being highly difficult to rouse rather than rest. And this is certainly true in sleep-depriving residency, of all time periods. But, having access to all manner of medications, if this keeps up, I’ll go ahead and pop some Ambien, a popular and effective sleep-inducing agent.
Huzzah. Insomnia. Lame.
Other stuff:
Computer
I’ve settled down a little after my computer fall out from last entry. In the end, of course, this kind of thing is no big deal. I think what I hated most is the concept of not just completely wasting time, but of destructively wasting time (and worse, it not being my fault). If I choose to waste time, on my own, as a way to relax, that’s fine. But to have shit go wrong (especially while being on the phone with an “expert”) and to have it take time to make things work WORSE was suffice it to say on the order of maddening that morning. I almost developed a migraine that day (I don’t get migraines, but I felt the odd incredible pressure behind my right eye and I knew I best lay down for a while; thankfully it worked). The end result is that my computer and I will take a trip to Best Buy at some point in the near future and I’ll make good use of that 200+ dollar insurance policy I bought on this baby. Not only do my front USB ports not work, but nor does my built in flash card reader (also on the front). Even I refuse to pay extra money for an identical device (flash card reader) to that which is already built on right on the front. (Sigh, I’m becoming more reasonable like my father every day…) Still, the thought of being away from my home computer for few days while it’s being worked on seems difficult, somehow. There has to be some social commentary in that statement.
Dating and politics
On Tuesday, I went on another date with Girl Number 2. It was a lot of fun. We ate dinner here, taking advantage of the last week of “25 for 25”, Seattle-style. This girl and I get along well enough and our dates have been really run. [modified]
Dreams
Two nights ago, I had one of those out-of-this-world euphoric type dreams that I get roughly twice a year on average and absolutely live for. That’s not to say that I don’t get lots of cool and interesting dreams all the time (in fact, I seem to get weird ass dreams just about nightly). What I don’t get every night, however, is one of those action sorts of dreams that is directly tied in to a physiologic catecholamine (i.e adrenaline) inducing state, with an overall effect of essentially delivering feelings and emotions along the lines of sheer euphoria. (Oh, to get those dreams every night – I would never want to be awake).
The details of the beginning of this particular dream are hazy, but basically I was being chased by someone, or something. I believe I was holding something, something that this other being wanted. At some point, I was running away and realized that I could jump. I mean, really, really jump. At first, on my escape, I was making leaps of about 20-30 feet in the air, bounding up entire flights of stairs at a time and such. As the dream evolved, my running speed and leaping ability increased, and I began to realize that I was some sort of superhero, and I was being chased by some random supervillain. (The dawning of this fact during the dream was cerebrally powerful in a way that I can’t describe). And, as the dream went on, my powers continued to increase. The part I remember clear as day is being in a random downtown of some city, and I was literally leaping tall buildings with a single bound. Upon landing, I could immediately take off again, at equal height, and without losing speed. I could hit walls and go sideways. There was near perfect transfer of kinetic energy. I busted through windows. I felt no pain or fatigue at any time – only the rush of the wind, the vertiginous visuals of the heights, the stomach dropping gravity, and the thrilling sensation of acceleration while launching about at insane velocity. The overall effect was pure ecstasy. Also, at some point, the tables turned, and I chased the supervillain. His powers were near equal to mine, though, and neither of us could catch each other. Still, the sheer elation and euphoria of the journey was dizzying and overpowering. I don’t remember the details of the dream ending. I don’t remember what I was initially holding, or even if I still had it by the end of the dream, or if it even mattered. Some of the dream’s other characteristics are hazy, but the sensation of it’s realness (or it’s seeming reality, at the time) was exquisite.
When I finally woke up, my heart was racing. Absolutely racing. I lied in bed for several minutes, simply savoring the memory and power of that dream. It was unreal, and yet it had felt SO real. It was awesome. Then, unfortunately, there was the sad realization that I’m not some building-hopping superhero. I love those dreams, though. Normally my euphoric type dreams involve me in motion somehow, and usually it’s flying. This one was a little different, but equally convincing and insane. Man, what a feeling.
Wow, looking back over this entry, I’ve been at it for a while. I still feel tired, but now it’s almost time to get up anyway. Sigh.
Enough for now.
“Insomnia, please release me…”
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