Monday, April 28, 2008

Chucks Thought

This is Chuck, the guy I am married to and have been since 1972.   He was reading my journal and asked why I never mention him?????   He said I always mention the daughter, people must think I am a widow, divorced or a lesbian.    Way to go Chuck.    I told him I would write about him.  But what can I say except I sense some rivalry between him and the daughter, mostly on his part.  

I told him he could write his own journal and he said he was too lazy........

His sleeping buddies are Lucy and Henry.  I had just arrived home from work and caught them all napping on the couch.  The cats look more awake than Chuck.   I am going to go thru the entries and send him the ones where he is mentioned.  But not today.   I am too lazy.

So there ya go.

Chuck works too.  He works in a major trauma center ER.  This was his day off, during that time he will take a nap since the work is exhausting.

 

 

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Saturday

This picture was from long ago and the rocky shores of Acadia National Park.  

Today was nice and sunny, the forecaster called for a rainy day but except for the rumble of thunder and the sighting of dark clouds, it did not rain on me.    I guess those scattered showers were scattered somewhere else.

To day was a sort of do nothing important day.  Went to the library and the grocery store.   I have another day of like kind lined up for tomorrow.

I am still researching the genealogy and still not finding a whole hell of a lot.   I need time, which I just don't have while working full time.

"When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other."
Eric Hoffer


 

Friday, April 25, 2008

Going to Philadelphia.   I have researched and made the decision.  It has two double beds, shower, breakfast, cable TV  and WIFI.   We are set, for sure.    There is also a certificate for the nearby garage for $10/ night.   Life is good.

Things on my agenda to be seen:   The Historic District, Betsy Ross House, Philadelphia Mint, Mutters Museum, Philadelphia Art Museum, Reading Terminal Market, Jewelry Row, Antique Row,  and maybe I will add more later.   Click on the link and see the choices.  Considering the prices of the hotels and their parking I got a rate that is at least 50% off the hotel  costs.   Hurray

 

Center City Philadelphia Bed and Breakfasts, Pennsylvania

 

 

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Thoughts

"If Columbus had an advisory committee he would probably still be at the dock."
Arthur Goldberg

If they tried to build Venice today, the engineers would tell them it couldn't be done.

Claudia

 

Planning a Trip

 

My daughter and I  are planning a trip to Philadelphia.   She wants to see the Mutters Museum.

:: The College of Physicians of Philadelphia::

It is a museum of oddities.   (There it goes again.  Dropping the color and going to black.  Makes me crazy. )  For several years she has expressed interest in this museum.   There are several other things I would like to see in Philadelphia.   The Philadelphia Art Museum, Rodin Museum, the Independence Mall.  There is a lot to keep a person busy.

Well, I have started to research and plan the trip.   The hotels in Phila.  are out of site.   They range from $250 and up for the most part.  I REALLY do not want to spend that for a place to shower and sleep.    Parking is a problem too.   It is also expensive.  The hotels are charging about $25 per day just to park your darn car in their lot. 

So, I am perusing a lot of B & B's.  They are more reasonable priced and parking is in the city lot and a lot of them are near by.  All I will have to worry about is having the car stolen.  But, I have the best anti theft device ever.   A manual transmission.   Only about 5% of the cars made have them.  If I get carjacked I have to run away fast so the fool who does it doesn't try to get me to drive the getaway.

I have found a few places and they are near the high speed train line.   Philadelphia is about one mile from the Delaware Rive to the Schuylkill River and the city sits in between there.    I have to call a lady back and see about the reservation for my #1 and if it is not good go on to #2.

I would like to get there on Sunday afternoon.  Visit the Independance Mall on that evening.   Do the museums on Monday.  Shopping other assorted sites on Tuesday and leave to go back home on Wednesday. I am excited about the trip and (you knew it) taking pictures.  

I hope to have the plans finalized by tomorrow.  Philadelphia is about a five hour drive from my home.  I checked with Amtrack and it was $90 per person one way.   I could buy a lot of gas with that and hav to walk and drag the suitcase from 30th street to 9th street.  I guess I could hail a cab.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Surprise of the week

I had decided a few years ago that I was getting too old to get up on a ladder and clean the outside windows.  I didn't want to end up with any fractures.

A week ago I noted an add on the local Shop and Save window about window cleaning.  I gave the guy a call and he told me he could be there in  15 minutes.   Guess  he was just starting the business.  He was there and cleaned the windows just like he promised.  Now I have to go and do the insides.  I have one room done and cleaned the curtains.  What a joy.   Clean windows.....

Tuesday Off and Improved the American Economy.

I have added so many pictures I have forgotten which ones I have used before.    Yesterday I worked 16 hours.   It was OK.  I finished up an ENT case about 8 PM and then sat around waiting to go home about 10:30 or so.

I was unable to sleep in, I guess it was the appointment to go and buy the new Subaru.    The Forester was a '04 model and had about 48K.   We never had a problem with it but the gas mileage was really bad.   I don't understand how three cars could have the same engine and one get REALLY BAD MPG.   So while it was still worth something we traded it in for an Impreza.  This is smaller and it will be Emilys car.   She said it handles much better than the Forester and it takes regular gas, as opposed to the Turbo charged Forester that took Premium.   What really happens if you would put regular in a car that says Premium????   I never got a real answer they just say it will run bad.   This is the first "new' car that she has had.  When she finishes school in 2010 it will still be covered by warranty.  

I think I have made somewhat of a decision.  Tentatively, I will cut down my hours in March of 09. And then work 0.5 and see how that goes.  At this point in time I will do that for another year and then go casual.   I hope that works out.  I still want to be productive, just sitting around waiting to die is really depressing.

 

 

 

 

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Election Day

"The only people who grow old were born old to begin with."
Robert E. Sherwood

People who are miserable when they are old were miserable when they were young.

Claudia

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Go find yourself

"People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But the self is not something one finds, it is something one creates."
Thomas Szasz

Thinking again............

I really love flowers.  Soon it will be time to go and buy them to plant in my pots.

I am thinking that I really should get up of my derriere and go to the grocery store.   After a long stretch of beautiful warm, sunny days it is now raining.   Another rainy dismal Sunday.   I woke up at 5 am.  When I retire will I still wake up early?????

But, on my day off, I refuse to get out of bed.   I would wake up the rest of the household and they will be mad.   So, I sat around and read Time and Newsweek.  Then it was 7 am or so and I made a cup of tea and had to find the umbrella to walk to the end of the driveway and get the paper.  We get two Sunday papers and only one of them was there.  

 I will be glad when the election is over.    Hillary and Obama are still causing havoc in PA with the bitterness  agenda.   It doesn't really matter, the politicians will tell you what you want to hear and then after the election it will be back to business as usual.   

Actually, WHAT POWER DOES THE PRESIDENT HAVE???  The president has only the power of VETO.....   The power is in the legislature.  We know what a bunch of procrastinators they are unless it is money for one of their pet projects or some pork agenda of theirs.   I will be glad to see November and the end of all the expensive, campaign cost and pandering.

Friday, April 18, 2008

Even More Tired

Did you ever spend hours on the computer or phone connected to tech support.      GGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRR.   My printer was not working.   It is relatively new.  The message told me that the computer was not connecting with the printer.........It had communicated before.................

So, I got online and talked to "Samuel"  he had me do all sorts of gyrations with that freaking computer and printer...............After about 30 minutes and all sort of alterations he told me to restart the computer.   My take on it.  HE COULDN'T FIX THE DAMN THING SO IT WAS ADIOS TO CLAUDIA.    To make matters worse things were not working so I had to do a system restore.  And I had it working very fine now, all but the printer.  

Low and behold there was a PHONE NUMBER  in the little manual that came with the printer.   Well I got to talk to a human, even if he was 9,000 miles away.   Nash was his name.   We did some of the same things over again and he decided (CORRECTLY I MIGHT ADD)  that this was a soft ware issue not hardware.   So uninstall the program and download and reinstall the Lexmark program.  THE SUCKER IS WORKING.    He was a little hard to understand but we managed to get the thing going.  It wasn't communicating because the software wasn't working.   Kudos to NASH.

 

 

 

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Tired

Last night I had a hard time falling asleep.  Then at some undetermined time I awakened.    The traffic on the closest road was very light, so I knew it was still the wee hours of the morning.  Sometimes I just refuse to look at the clock.

I may have fallen back asleep, but the next time the traffic was heavier and I made the mistake of looking at the clock.  04:46.   In fourteen minutes the radio would click on and I would hear the news and have to get up and on with my day.   As I sit here typing I am yawning.  I have a suspicion that I will sleep well tonight.  TGIF for tomorrow

Today I was working in the GI lab.  I would think by now that everyone would have had their colon examined.  But, there seems to be an inexhaustible supply of colons to be examined.   My own personal colon is due for a recheck.  LOL   I hate to do this. But, honestly the prep is worse that the test.   What I really wanted to know was how do these old and frail and seniors do the prep.   I was trotting like a racehorse to the bathroom every 10 minutes there for a few hours.  Maybe they take their pillows and blankies into the bathroom so they can be near.

My mother had a bout of colon cancer and then eight years later she had an inoperable cancer of the bile duct. (cholangiocarcinoma)  She lived for four years with it.  Usually they would be good if they last one year.    For the most part her quality of life was good.  She was virtually pain free until the last month or two and at that time all she had to take was Tylenol with Codeine.    She has been gone for thirteen years and I still miss her.  Mothers days are just another day for me.  

Yawn, yawn, yawn.   Just hit the save button Claudia and go to bed. Yawn

 

 

Good thought

"There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval."
George Santayana

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Quote

"To fall into a habit is to begin to cease to be."
Miguel de Unamuno

My thought is you could begin to cease to be only if it was a bad habit.   Most good habits tend to be on the healthy side of life.

Claudia

Tuesday

Worked like a dog for 16 hours yesterday.  Is it all worth it?   To have a 16 hour shift to get another day off during the week??  All I am doing is sitting here and doing the work around the house that needs to be done.   I don't have the energy to go out and do something else.

I spent the day doing cataract removals.   They have a PHACO machine that emulsifies the cataract and then the surgeon inserts the Intra Ocular Lens.

The patch is to be kept on for 24 hours and the vision should be clear in one week.   The most they have to take for pain is Tylenol.    It is really gratifying that people who could not see very clearly (it is like a dark shadow and no brightness from the clouding of the lens.)  are so ecstatic that they can now read, do crossword puzzles and drive.

It is so good for the patients that they usually comeback and have the second one done.  The gift of sight is so precious.  They are so happy to have their vision returned.

 

 

 

 

 

Monday, April 14, 2008

Third and possibly final thought of the day.

I am thinking that maybe, quite possibly, this may be the final entry for today.   When the daughter got her letter of acceptance for Nursing School the Director, added a card and told her to call the woman listed on the card.  It was rather cryptic to me.   So, she called her and the woman set up a meeting for her this upcoming Friday???  What could this possibly be????   The only thing I can possible imagine is some sort of scholarship???  Which would be welcome.   She told her she had never had a musician apply before..    I hope it is, but, what ever else would there be?    It is a mystery to me, for damn sure.

 

Second Thought of the Day

I wonder!!!! Is there a way to make the chosen items on the entry to be permanent???  

Today is the last of my four days off.....BOO HOO.  Made a mad dash about town getting the income tax in under the wire.  Well, actually, I had eighteen hours to spare   I have never been in line, aproaching midnight, trying to hand in the envelope just to have it postmarked on time.   There are a lot of procrastinators who do that.......

I suppose on my last day off I will just do the mundane task of washing clothes.   Maybe even cook....I also have been toying with the idea of running the vacuum cleaner but maybe I will sit down and wait for that urge to go away.

I have been thinking of some where warm and sunny.

More on my sidebar picture....

If you should be so inclined to click on  the sibling picture on the sidebar to the left you will be able to ascertain  that all of them are a bunch of comedians.

Who is the biggest is still a mystery.   I am just waiting for the serious and potential suitor of all the nieces and even the nephews that  come to be observed by this motley crew.

If they can survive the critique of the six they can survie anything life has to offer.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

How do I????

How do I make my picture smaller?    It is too large and crowds out the written words.   I guess I will, somehow, figure it out.    It is evening now.  The daughter came home from work and had $600 in sales.  A good day for her.

Tomorrow is my last of four days off.   Will I miss working when I retire??   I imagine that to some extent I will.   But, the work is getting mentally and physically exhausting for me.     I hear the younger people complain more than I do about how tiring it is.   A woman told me long ago not to quit outright but to decrease my days instead of quitting all at once.  I think that will be good advice.

Back to the picture........................

I have figure it out, you go to the edit,  right click, hit cut,  then go to AOL pictures, hit shoebox album, then add again and make the size small.   I really would like a picture between small and medium but that is not one of the choices.   Only took two minutes to figure and solve that particular dilemma.

I think I will have the daughter take a picture of me and add it to the ALL ABOUT ME  section.   But only if it is a good likeness.   lol

Anothert Eureka moment.   If you click on the sibling photo it will go to the AOL photo  site and be enlarged so a person can see it more clearly.  ta da

Rainy Day Sunday

 

Today was much colder than the past few days.  I was developing an affinity for the warm weather.  It was even drizzling a bit.  Today on my agenda was to mail the income taxes....I was two days early....Tomorrow I have to go to the local borough office and pay them too.    The reason people hate paying taxes is a universal belief that the government wastes most of the money.   

Things like studying the sex life of frogs and mosquitoes.   The pork that our legislatures spend.   Bridges to no where, and heaven know what else.   I am even willing to bet that there is a web site out there with Pork Barrel spending and unfinished projects that didn't need to have been done at all.

After the post office I went to the book store, the mall, visited with my  daughter at work,   I have a ring that was made with the diamonds of Chucks grandmothers.   One of the stones looked like it was sitting crooked, well, the daughter checked the stone and indeed it was loose.   Of the ring is going to be repaired.

There are really some ugly clothes out there.  The either have hoochie mamma clothes that has young women looking like trollops or clothes that look like your grandmother would wear.  Even though Gertrude has been dead for 40 some years.  I really hate elastic waistbands on  anything.  Excluding pajamas and sweat pants.   I have not found much I liked this spring.    Today was a little exception, I found two pair of Dockers.  There were a lot of dark colored pants, but I am in the mood for lighter colors not dark gray and black for summer.    Maybe I should check the Dockers web site.  Eureka, that is an idea.   Another thing I noticed is the tops look like maternity clothes and are those really, really ugly printed tops ala the 70's.    Reallly one time around with them was enough.   I didn't like them in the 70's to start with.

 

 

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Today wasn't bad either.

This was taken in Niagara on the Lake, Ontario, Canada.    My daughter and I went on a bus road trip to see Phantom of the Opera.    It was really good.   I don't think any other production could replace the original in Toronto.

Today I made the trip into Pittsburgh to go to the main Carnegie Library.   They have reels and reels of microfilmed newspapers and I was looking for obits.   They are hard to find.   Eighty years ago the town had three daily papers and a few others.   I even looked in the German language daily paper.   Of everything I looked for I came up with two obits.    Considering I had seven people I wasn't batting .500.     It gets tiring, and there are a lot of others who had the same reels that I wanted.......    So, my great grandmother viewing was at her home.   Chucks great grandmother had her viewing at a funeral home.    I thought it would yield some information but only one fact.   Katherine's two sons had died before her.   I had found them both in the WWI draft papers and I guess they had both died in their twenties.    Chuck had said that Charles was killed in a railroad accident, but I don't know about Joseph.      Chucks dad and his uncle were named after his grandfathers two brothers.  

This is a long and never ending quest.    I still have to order some more records and who knows what will surface??????    The weather this morning was cool and sunny.  When I left the library it was cloudy...Now it is cloudy and chilly.  To night it is to go down in the low 40s and tomorrow into the high 20s.   I think I might even see a flake or two, or so they say.

 

 

 

Friday, April 11, 2008

Quote

"Man is the only animal who causes pain to others with no other object than wanting to do so."
Arthur Schopenhauer

Today is a Joy

This is a farmers market which was taken in State College PA.   Went to an educational meeting in Penn State.  

Today is a joy; for some unexplained reason the OR schedule was very light.  When all the anesthetist who are scheduled most of them will opt for taking a vacation day.    This being a Friday makes it all the more attractive.   I also have my regularly scheduled day off on Monday, so that gives me a four day weekend.   Right now I am sitting on my butt just perusing the Internet.  

The weather this week has been fabulous.  The highs were in the high 60's and low 70's.   Also thing weekend a cold front is arriving and it will be colder.   I think the colder will just be a little lower than seasonal.   We were spoiled by a week of June like temperatures.   The grass is starting to grow and I can see the yellow of the Forsythias on the neighbors shrubs.   I have also spied those little heads of yellow known as Dandylions.  Chuck has a search and destroy mission on them.   It is reallly fruitless because the people next door grow them like a crop, and the wind blows their seeds in our direction.

I went to the LDS Church and requested a file with the names of possibly my great grandmother Bridget.   I found on their web site her name and her exact birthday.   So chances are about 99.9% that this is her.   They have photographed the records all over Europe and a person can request the microfilm and view it in their history center.   I told my daughter when I was done I would submit my Family Tree to their Church so if any distant descendant of mine wanted to travel along the same path as me, their work would have been started and documented by me.

I have only been working on this one and a half years.  I think I have acccomplished a lot in this small amount of time.    I talked to some people who have been doing this for years.   All my research is now going to Europe and different family lines of the descendants here in the USA.

 

 

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Exorcism for a PDA

I hate being stymied by electronic equipment.  This is the second time I have started this entry.  I am still complaining about Vista.    I read a blurb that MS is considering coming out with a new system in about a years time.   Windows 7 is what they are calling it.   I think the soft wear developers should be tarred and feathered for the VISTA fiasco.   I REALLY HATE VISTA.      If that edition of Windows was so damn good, why is its replacement waiting in the wings.     One of the few  good things I can find it the color and graphics are vibrant.   I am waiting with anticipatory joy to see this next offering.

I have gone to work a few times and wondered why my PALM TX PDA was dead.   When it had been fully charged the day before.  I brought it home today because it indeed did need to be charged.   I hear this electronic beeping where there should be none.   The stupid thing is possessed by some electronic demon.    It is sitting right next to me going beep at some random pattern known only to itself.     I have this little device chock full of medical programs that I use every day.   I wanted this thing to last for a few years.   I don't want to spend money on a new one.     The PDA's have almost gone the way of the Tyrannosauruses  Rex.  Everyone thinks they should have all their things batched together in a phone unit.    But, my philosophy is if it has to many features it will break.   I would rather have them separate and not bundled together.      Could you I get an exorcism for the PDA.   Who you gonna call????

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Why in the world.....

 

These are some sort of traps...lobster maybe and I can't remember where I took them, but, I suspect, it was at some shore.

The picture is somewhat askew because this is before I had an eureka moment and figured out that I should line things up at the edge of the scanner instead of lining it up with my eyeballs.

There are many more I have to line up and scan.   That is on my to do list.

I found the aol directory of journals   AOL Journal Directory  and it was intereresting that there were so many.   My question is, after trying to peruse quite a few,    Why would a person post the link to their journal and then make it private.   If it is sooooo secret why is it listed in the directory????

If I had a private journal, you could be sure it would not be listed........  I guess that is one of the imponderables of the journal  genre.

Nothing going on in my world today.  Went to work, did five cases and at 5 went home.   Oh boy, I get to do it all over again tomorrow.

 

 

 

TS Eliot

"Where is the Life we have lost in living?

Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?

Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?"
T. S. Eliot

Where in the hell did I park the car?    Claudia

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Today

This was taken (I think) in Athens, Georgia.   This was near the University and my friend and I were spending the day.   Perusing the botanical gardens, lunch, shopping and just strolling about.     I sort of like the  pigs.

Today was a do nothing day.   It was my day off.  Got up early, did a little cleaning and then went to my genealogy study group.   I am sort of at a impasse.  I have gone back as far as I could go, I need to get information from the old countries, but I need to know what town they came from.  

I don't have that information.    I need to find that information and therein lies the problem.   I am envious of those who can trace their ancestors back to the Mayflower, because I can only trace mine back to  about 1870 or 1880 when the came over.    

Back to work tomorrow.   Then three days to go.   Wednesday is a late start day.   That means we have a ed meeting in the morning and the schedule is held up and somehow the whole day gets helld up.  I hate them.   But, there is nothing I can do about it.

Monday, April 7, 2008

More goats

My daughter thinks goats look scary.  She said it was their rectangular shaped pupil.    That is sort of scary.  

The weather in western PA has been NICE.  That is a mistake.   We still have almost a month and a half till the last frost day.     I never plant my flowers outside until Memorial Day.   You just never know when the weather will snap.

Today was a mundane day at work.  Nothing exciting or newsworthy happened.   I worked with an anesthesia student who graduated from the Nursing School where my daughter will attend.  She said she really loved the school.  She thought the most important thing was the amount of clinical experience they got as students.     This is a very good thing to hear.   She then went to Waynesburg College because it only took her 18 months after that to get her BSN. And a satellite campus in near our home.  She said to do the same thing at Penn State would have taken 6 years because of the class arrangement and delays in taking the classes she needed.

 

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Here are one of the baby goats.   They live in NC.   This was taken by my good friend Ruth; as mentioned in the previous entry.

Went to use my printer and somehow (?????) I couldn't get it to print.   I hate when electronic devices that were working at a previous time, somehow and mysteriously, refuse to work when you click on them the next you need to use that program.

What even irks me more when you get a message to contact the administrator.   I am (I suppose) the freakin  administrator and I know nothing about it, or at least not very much.   Like how many out there have tech support for their blogs????  Not many I would imagine.     So, I had to erase the download and reinstall it.   It is sending me messages that it has been installed and it is ready to go.    I am a bit skeptical on that for sure.

In a few minutes we will go out to celebrate my daughters acceptance into Nursing School.    She chose the Shogun.   This is one of those pseudo Japanese steakhouses.   One of those that the flip 2 foot cleavers into the air while they send the shrimp tails into their hats.     It is sensory overload for first time diners.   I hope they have a bottle of Riesling.   I try to look but I have not seen to many of the chefs missing digits....................

 

SHOGUN JAPANESE STEAK HOUSE

My friend  Ruth sent me a few goat pictures.  Her daughter works with them and they (the goats) delivered their kids this spring.   I had downloaded a few pics but I seem to have lost them in the bowels of this computer.      I also tried to use my printer but that program has also disappeared, now, where in the hell did it go.     I had to go out to the web site and download the program again.   It is currently percolating masses of information.    Download is complete guess I will finish this entry later.

Saturday, April 5, 2008

Quotes

"Anger, if not restrained, is frequently more hurtful to us than the injury that provokes it."
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

"Oh, what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practise to deceive!"
Sir Walter Scott

Friday, April 4, 2008

TGIF

Ohiopyle State Park in Western PA.  I wonder what it would look like in the winter.    I guess some day I will have to make that trek and go to see.

Today I was really bummed.  Somehow it was my third 10 day.   I wanted to go home in the worst way   And then I noticed my name was not on the late list..    I went and checked the master schedule....my name was not on that either,  I was 8 hours.   I was so elated and happy that I was going home at 3.  I wanted to sing "Ode ot Joy".........

Today was sort of slow but hectic.   I am ready for two days off.   Tonight is my daughters dress rehearsal.   The concert is tomorrow.  She does love to play in the orchestra.

Sunday we will go out to eat.  Her little treat for acceptance into the Nursing School Program.  Just 21 months and hopefully she will be out of the nest and off the payroll...........She said she should pick where we want to go.   I don't know where this place will be......  Actually when I get down to it I won't be cooking at all this weekend.   That is not such a bad thing.   Do I need to take a poll on that thought???

Ohio Pyle is not too far from FallingWater, pictured below.   I could make it a twofur visit.

 

 

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Idea??

"There are people who, instead of listening to what is being said to them, are already listening to what they are going to say themselves."
Albert Guinon

Is this a flight of ideas???   I guess they are the same people who think what they say is more important that what you say.


 

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

This is a picture of Falling Water.  Designed and built by Frank LLoyd Wright.    It is located in the Laurel Highlands in Western PA.   It is one of my favorite designed houses. 

Today the daughter went to the School of Nursing to see what was up.   She was acccepted and the woman helped her sign up for a Microbiology Class this summer.    This is where she will learn all about microbes and infectious diseases and treatments.   I am glad that haul is over.   They still say the letters will be out next week.  The good thing about this school is that it is 15 minutes from my house and with the cost of gas that is a good thing.   She will not have to travel in rush hour traffic and drive into the city, which is a royal PITA.  

I changed the color because I didn't like the above, to olive and sort of hard to read.    She only has to take 3 more college classes.   The other being Nutrition and Anatomy and Physiology.  With the Micro out of the way it will leave time to concentrate on A & P which will be the most intense in studying.

Today was a rather busy day.   I spent four hours doing a lumbar laminectomy with a fusion.     The biggest problem in surgery is to keep the patients warm.   When the temperature drops the chance of infections increase, and the patients ability to regulate their own temperature is lost under anesthesia.   So, what I have to do is use a blanket warmer, and warm their fluids.   This will, in most cases increase the body temperature to what is normal.    Mission accomplished.

Tomorrow I am working in the GI Lab.   About 6 months ago there was a push from Aetna to eliminate the payment to Anesthesia for Propofol in the GI Lab.   They were looking at the bottom line and not the patient safety and comfort.   I am happy to say, this has been rescended by Aetna.  Good Choice.    The are so damn busy looking for ways to save money and not as concerned about the patients care.   Or so, it seems to me.

Welcome to Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater    Click here and check out Falling Water.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Warm outside and raining

Maine, many moons ago.  It probably still looks the same, but I would be willing to bet the boats have moved a bit.

Today was my day off and I had it jammed packed with fun and excitement.   First was the biannual visit to the dentist.   I really hate the dentist.  Going there not him personally.    The hygienist has an ultra sonic high pressure washer for getting plaque off your teeth.   You could torture someone with that device.   It hits area that need not have been hit, with twinges of pain I might add.    Then she get out another torture instrument that looks like a miniaturized version of a sickle and picks under the gums to get what the high power washer left behind; all the while telling me how bad tea is for your teeth even though it is loaded with antioxidants.    Then they get polished with a cinnamon flavored gritty paste cleanser, your mouth gets rinsed out and I told her I couldn't wait to get out the door.   The pain only lasted 30 minutes and then the dentist said I was good to go.      Did you know you should change your tooth brush every three months and after each time you have had a cold or the flu.  I would be willing to bet they have stock in Crest and OralB.

Next stop.  I was in the market for a new summer type purse.  So I stopped at Morninglory, which is sort of an accessories shop in the next town.   I found a nice red one.  It is big enough to hold my Franklin Covery planner, and all my other special stuff I just can't do without.  I can also put a book in there.

Next on to Wally World  (AKA Wall Mart) to search for a new tooth brush.  One that is battery operated.  Seems this is better for cleaning under the gums.   Those tooth brushes range from about $10 to over $100 for one that cleans ultrasonically (I had already had that today, and did not feel the need to torture myself with a toothbrush.)  Once I got there I found hangers, a new dish drainer, some food (apples, salad fixins, etc.)  I was out of there and on to Rite AID and then home.   I think I need another day off to rest up from my day off.

No web site for Morning Glory Shop,  but, it does have lots of nice things.

Jennys Thoughts...thanks Jenny

Subject:
Magic Fairy!

A married couple, in their early 60s, was celebrating their 32nd wedding anniversary at a quiet, romantic little restaurant.

Suddenly, a tiny beautiful Fairy appeared on their table.
She said: "For being such an exemplary married couple and especially this time, I will grant you each a wish."

"Oh, said the wife, I want to travel around the World with my darling husband.
The fairy waved her magic wand; and - poof! - two tickets for the Queen Mary II luxury liner and Ten Thousand Dollars appeared in her hands.
Then it was the husband's turn.
He thought for a minute and said: "Well, this is all very romantic, but an opportunity like this will never come again.

So I'm going with my mind and not my Heart.   I 'm sorry my love, but my wish is to have a wife 30 years younger than me."

The wife and the Fairy were shocked and disappointed.
But a wish is a wish.

So, the Fairy waved her magic wand, and -Poof! - the husband became 92 Years old.

The Moral of the story:
Men who are ungrateful bastards should remember:
Fairies are Female.