Today, in the ER...

Went over to Mom's for chicken salad lunch and tutorial on using a Palm Tungsten T. Left with Fred, the life-sized Stormtrooper cutout that I bought for Angel as a graduation present. Yay for Fred. Then headed over to the ER. Walked in and it was swamped. Dr. K sent me to see a few patients, but I came in at 2 and he was off at 3:30, and Dr. S came on. I take back all the bad things I was thinking about him not letting me do anything. He made a point of explaining: When the ER is full and rushed, he lets his dictations back up; he can't handle keeping track of my patients and dictating on them too. I can accept that. Especially when he sent me in at 21:15 to stitch up a laceration, took time out to show me radiographs and explain the findings, and let me know exactly what orders to write when I asked what he meant by "Give him five of morphine". And he sent me in to see patients as soon as he was caught up, and asked for my differentials, and listened to my suggestions for treatment. Dr. W. made me go listen to a woman in a-fib with a murmur today, discussed the difference between her murmur and the crescendo-decrescendo I heard the other day. Saw a guy - I love this story - who'd backhanded someone for touching 'my ol' lady' two weeks ago, damaging his hand. Then he got bit by his cat. So he got antibiotics. Presents today with a swollen, immovable finger, a lot of pain, a 2-mm foreign body on X-ray, and red streaks up past his elbow. Oh, and tender lymph nodes in his armpit. Guess who's staying for IV antibiotics and having his finger cut open by the orthopods? Nothing else too interesting today. Bruises and lacerations, pelvic pain and a little boy who was throwing up. The usual. Tomorrow is my pap smear, then back in for evening shift. Working morning on Wednesday, and finally got in touch with the IAFP people, and I am going to the conference, and they're paying for my room and lunches and fees and all. So I'm staying at the French Lick Resort Thursday through Sunday, so keep amused for me, in case I can't swing online access. Notes from Saturday: Saw a little girl, two years old, who'd put a rock in her nose. Whoops. Fortunately, it came out with little effort. It was a purple aquarium rock, and when it came out, she squealed "I so HAPPY!" and hurled herself at her mother. The next ten minutes were a montage of "I so happy" and "You proud of me", in the cutest voice I've ever heard. Chii! Saw a 19-year-old who'd taken his bike up for a wheelie on the motocross track and gone off the back, six feet in the air. V. cute little brother, about 8 or 10, reenacted the whole accident for me, with hand gestures. Verdict: Beautifully broken collarbone, no more biking until it heals. There goes his season. Saw a 14-year-old girl who'd gone up for a kick in her Taekwando tournament and lost her footing. Bounced her headgeared-head off of the floor and came back up dizzy, so the paramedics backboarded her and shipped her over. Extraverted, alert, perfectly fine. She was really cute about it, thrilled to be out of the ER in time to eat with her team. C. comes in complaining of agonizing pain around her right kidney, nausea and vomiting. For two weeks. She's now running a 101.4º fever, has foul-smelling urine, and boy, big surprise has a rampaging kidney infection (pyelo, , they always freakin' call it pyelo). Plus, her vaginal wet prep comes back with a whole bacterial party of PID. Dr. W, to me: Maybe I should swab her throat, see if she's got something growing there too... Those are the ones that stick in my mind. Everyone wish well, she's starting her third-year orientation and will begin with paediatrics. Chili from the crockpot was marvellous, I had a whole yummy bowl. And now I'm going to go sleep tonight, yay for sleeping.

A little bit of everything...

It's thundering out, and silent in here, no sound of rainfall, no hiss and patter, just a soft flash and rumble, far away. Heat lightning, God blinking, the sky expressing, like I, its discontent with the heat and still of summer. Cover me in thistle clouds, Lay me down and lay me down. Wish the winter all around, Hide our love in thistle clouds Feel the lightning strike us still What you will is what you will Can you feel the coming chill After lightning lays us still Wait, the rain comes fast and cold Love is old - yes, love is old Hands that touch are far too bold Wash away our love with cold Hidden here in thistle down Love me now, please love me now Lest the summer find us out Hidden here in thistle down. ~21-July-03, "thistle down"~ I'm sorry this isn't any better; it feels forced and contrived to me, sort of a linguistic enema to rid me of a part of the lines that have been stuck in my mind for days now, the opening lines of the poem. I worry sometimes that I'm losing my touch completely, but I think it's more that I lack the time to sit and stare into space, and wonder any more. It's raining now, and I can hear the soft touch of raindrops on the glass of the patio doors as the wind blows them to and fro. And as quickly as they came, as quickly as I went to look out and see to the wellbeing of my plants on the patio, they're gone, leaving behind a warm and humid night, overcast, with lightning dancing in the air. I had tales to tell, O Best Beloved, but they fade in the wake of the storm, nestled into the recesses of my memory, where one day blurs into another. I haven't heard back from the IAFP yet; that worries me. I'm supposed to go - if I'm going - on Thursday this week. If I don't hear from him by noon-ish, I guess I'll call his office and see. I've e-mailed twice. I hate not knowing what's going on, and I really want to go to this conference. Dangit, Carolyn, why couldn't you be more comprehensibly forthcoming about this whole bloody thing?

Quick quizcut....

You're A Bishounen (Attractive Young Male)! You hunk, you. All the girls want your body! You
have a cool car, and a way with words. You
know exactly how to get what you want.

What Type Of Anime Character Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla ...What does that mean?
You are Vanilla Coke! You like to take a good thing
and make it better. As if you werent already
sweet enough, you enjoy being extremely indulgant and enjoy the richer
things in life. You do it while remaining
smooth and tasty without being too overbearing.

What brand of soda are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Compatibility, take 2 :)

	

	

	

				
alleycatstrike
				

		
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nessers
				

		
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How compatible with me are YOU?

Horse Update

Asked about the horse from today's post re: the girl who ran into it. : I was wrong. Apparently at the scene it had some lacerations but was up and walking around, apparently survived the collision in good shape. More updates later, I think, once I've slept and worked in the morning. Ask me about: The girl with pneumonia that I successfully diagnosed. And freakin' dictated. Seeing fracture patients on my own. The lady who thought she had West Nile Virus. The patient who liked to fish, and was speaking to me coherently with a blood sugar of 25. The woman who had a swollen, tender joint plus a fever, and we can't figure out why. (Endocarditis, maybe?) "Go see this lady with chest pain and tell me what you think." And I got costochondritis on the first try, and he said I was probably right. Today was a day of triumphs. And I'm going to take them and go to sleep, so I can be up and about for an 8 to 4 shift and RP after. And then 10 to 6 on Saturday. *wanders to bed*

Scheduling Note:

RP Crowd: We will be playing on Friday. Plan on dinner here (possibly sketti, possibly something else) and arrival times around 6ish. I will be home by then. I'd love to get in a good long session with lots of horrible things done to you. And , this includes you in the invite :) NEXT weekend (the 25th) I will be in French Lick if all goes according to plan, and unable to RP. The weekend after that is on. Sound good?

The computer room needs an air conditioner.

No post last night; got home at 4:30 AM after doing my overnight shift. Things slow down around 3 AM, but before that we were wicked busy. It was a warm, clear summer night, just right for running into things, falling off of Go-Karts, and generally causing mayhem. Highlight: 21-year-old K. hit a horse, which then came down on top of her car. Got to help pick glass off, get her off a backboard, and watch the show. Her face is fucked up but will recover. She's going to be fine. Highlight: Dr. H, at the end of his shift, turns to me and says: "I want to thank you. For a third-year student, you've been really quite useful. A lot of them are worthless." Highlight: Felt I performed adequately on my late-night pimping regarding the most cost-effective way to screen someone who comes into the ED with vague abdominal discomfort. No dirty looks, only a fair amount of prompting. It's hard to get into the mindset where one says "If we make an incidental diagnosis of a problem, fine. But what we're really worried about is the stuff that can kill people, so rule that out first." So, our cost-effective workup is the following: An EKG, a CBC, a chest X-ray, an upright abdominal X-ray, a urinalysis (with pregnancy test when the patient is female), and a lipase measurement. That should rule out all the things that can kill you. And I needed relatively decent prompting to think through it. He didn't seem displeased, at least. Highlight: Stopped to chat with a cop who was in for a twisted ankle (make sure it's not broken) and got to hear the story of the old lady who fell, and after two days was still conscious enough to yell "get me off this damn floor" at the police who broke in to rescue her. He said if he saw me on the street with a cigarette, he'd stop me for underage smoking. I laughed. That made at least twice last night I was told I didn't look older than 17 or 18. Then there was the OD, I jotted a few notes down on the spot: Let's call her V. She came in today having taken an OD of something because of her pain. She's nearly 60. Her husband was cheating on her and she kicked him out today. I talked to her , stayed after the nurse left because I felt called to. And for once I knew what to say, listened to her tell me all the things that were going on. And I quoted Hebrews to her and told her I would pray for her. She needs it. She needs that and a good psychiatrist and dear God when I crossed her forehead, let the right I felt be the right of that brief momentary click of the divine. I felt it again, finally. I hesitate to call it a highlight, but it was.something to carry deep in my heart. Highlight (, share the joy): I saw a man today with primary sclerosing cholangitis. This is something we learned in Pathology and figured we'd never see. His wife explained his whole history to me, and let me put on the collection bags to drain his stents. Yay for rare diseases! Driving home at 4 AM I heard a bird chirping. Just one, but it was insistent about it. Window wide open, defrost on high heat (did I reset that, Angel?), and the night just spanning out around me. Ah, beautiful. Oh, and : I know cryptic just drives you nuts, but that would be telling. You'll see at least one of them in toto, soon enough. And now to wrestle up enough will to get lunch before I go out (seems like fast food, even Arby's, makes my stomach all twisty any more), go downtown, and hit the library and the traffic violations court. And if I'm lucky, muster up the energy to hit Curves. Unlikely. Tonight is 4-midnight, tomorrow I do 8-4. I'll definitely go then. I might even go Saturday, to wake myself up. ED is going to do wonders to my appetite. I'm living on ice water and apple juice half the time.

Look at me, I'm Sandra Dee...

Ayradyss's LiveJournal Slut Stats The below percentages indicate what Ayradyss has done with the 104 people on her friends list!

met 26.0% hugged 25.0% dated 1.0% kissed 6.7% seen topless 12.5% seen naked 3.8% phone sexed 1.0% made out 3.8% oral sex 1.9% fucked 1.0%

What are your LiveJournal Slut Stats? Sponsored via Adult Friend Finder. Keep this meme and others like it checking it out or getting free account! You may meet the match of your dreams!

This would work a lot better if I had removed all of the communities from my friends list before doing the meme. I have a fair number of them :)

More fluff...

Don't go in until 8 PM tonight, so I slept until 11:30. Pondering whether to go to Curves today or just go do all my other errands, like going to the City-County building and waving my Defensive Driving certificate in their faces, returning my library belongings, and...oh, wait, that's about it. Pondering playing Morrowind if the game will run on the TV-out. Pondering calling my dad to see what he says about the backed-up drains in the kitchen (should we call a plumber or the warranty people?). Speaking of Curves...yesterday was weigh-in day. I weighed and measured when I joined in March. I then broke my arm, got lazy, and didn't do it again for several reasons until June. Because I moved my membership, I don't have access to the June measurements, but I know I gained 8.5-9.5 pounds in those two months, and an inch everywhere except my chest, where I gained two. That should compute to a fairly substantial net inch gain. Yesterday's measurements, compared (like the June ones) to my original March ones, came out 8.5 lbs heavier, down an inch on my bust and half an inch on my abdomen, and up half an inch to an inch everywhere else. In other words: Between June and July I didn't gain anything, even accounting for different measuring styles. In fact, I may have lost a pound or so. What that represents is - if not a reversal, at least a cessation of my previous trend. This is a Good Thing. I'll go today if I'm still out and about at 3 when they reopen from lunch. Right now, I need food, though, and some good old-fashioned video game fun. : I can e-mail you, or I can put it in a TMI-locked journal entry, because I think at least one other person would be interested in knowing. Your choice.

More information than you wanted...

What is your sexual preference? Bisexual, but happily married to a boy who holds the other half of my soul, so you tell me where I land in that regard. What is your status? Married. See above. How many sexual partners have you had in your lifetime? If by sexual partners we mean people I've had penetrative sex with, just one. If we expand the definition it gets complicated. At what age did you lose your virginity? 22. Where did you lose your virginity? In the hotel room, downtown Fort Wayne. How would you best describe your first sexual experience? As far as intercourse? Well...two virgins, two bottles of champagne, and performance anxiety makes for a pretty rough night. It was something to giggle about, once we got things figured out the next night. Any sexual experience? I remember being given explicit instructions on how to kiss, and taunted about my inexperience. The rest of it's kind of a blur. A six-month blur. Have you ever masturbated? Yes. At what age did you first masturbate? Ten or twelve? I don't know, exactly, I don't really ever remember not masturbating. How often do you masturbate? Depends on a lot of factors, including how much stress I'm under, whether I'm studying, and how much I'm getting laid. Somewhere between once a month and five times a day. Have you had an orgasm? Yis. At what age did you have your first orgasm? As in real, genuine, non-faked, completely-natural orgasm? Oh, hell. Seventeen or eighteen? Do you always masturbate to orgasm? No. Sometimes I just do it for the hell of it. Have you experienced multiple orgasms? Yes. Would rather go for separate singles, actually. What's your favorite way to orgasm? That's a toss-up between Angel's tongue and a good pulsating-stream handheld shower head. I'll go for the tongue, nine times out of ten. Do you prefer to be dominant or submissive? Depends on my mood. Usually somewhere in between. Do you prefer circumcised or un-circumcised? I've only ever had one kind, so no opinion besides the aesthetic here. Do you use porn to get aroused? Sometimes. Usually I'm already horny when I watch it. How do you get someone else aroused? Ears and throats and backrubs with a purpose. Where are you most erogenous? Skin. Definitely skin. Failing that, the back of my neck, and a few other spots I'm not telling on. What is the kinkiest thing you have done? Gah. Uhm. Gave a blowjob on the steps of a mausoleum in broad daylight, once. I think it might've been the same one I made out with a different boy on top of at night, but I can't be sure. They all start to look the same (mausoleums, not boys). For a while I was giving blowjobs just about anywhere I could get away with it. Still am. Anything girl-on-girl I've done has been rather boringly straightforward, so I suppose that doesn't count. I used to play with whips, but have since lost both my touch and my whips. What is your favorite sexual position? Me on top. Or doggy-style, depends on my mood. Where do you usually have sex? Bed. Although the couch is nice. When do you usually have sex now? Evenings. Hell, it's the only time we see eachother conscious, although I've been known to send Angel off to work with a blowjob. How often do you have sex now? Varies. 2-5 times a week, I'd guess. Do you usually orgasm during sex? Yep. Somewhere in the process. Does your partner usually orgasm during sex? Yep. How do you usually keep your pubic hair? Missing. How do you like your partner to keep their pubic hair? Male: Natural. Female: Shaved. Do you usually have music on during sex? Not unless we have company. Have you had anal sex? Nope. Still considering the prospect. Do you like to get tied up? Yis. What is one fantasy you would play out? Okay, that's my little secret. You'll have to ask personally for me to think of one. :P What is your preferred method of birth control? Pill. Do you use lubricant? Nyet. Never had to. Do you use sex toys? When the mood strikes. What are your biggest turn-ons? Um...depends on my mood, really. Women: Probably schoolgirl outfits or anything that's short and screams "I'm pretending to be jailbait". Men: Angel's patented "on the floor now" look. Absolutely. Oh, and being taken advantage of. Oh, and giving blowjobs. :P What are your biggest turn-offs? Breathing someone else's air (I know it sounds weird). Bypassing foreplay. Funny smells.

Firstly, fluff.

I am in 80% control of my life.Who controls yours?quiz by midgetfarm.com


I am the Which smiley are you?
And my journal, interpreted (see here): I couldn't empathy and he was pregnant and strength, the uncountable reasons why take all the way when you are well he was sniffling, said? And a couple of sulking and that would like anyone who's is enough, to congratulate you. When I achieved it sounded so a lot: of comfort that it all I've got to fifteen one I thick you I weren't the air uvular angioedema, the whole new roller coasters to talk to get my Angel over her MRI up a wrestler and I'll it's the girl was a week: and a giant soft touch of a BAC camera that she was going to use the desk I deny will then she told them all of approval. Got to be around to me the Power Tower which put her story to; using all things and bought water And Sunday I felt a doctor: easier. But first, of my supervisor own heart to I choose to do the empathy right. And a link from Piccy: The Best Blonde joke ever! Today is a red-letter day: Not only did I learn how to do (and successfully perform) a Foley catheter insertion, but I also was put in charge of stitching up a human being for the Very First Time. I put eight stitches in his head and got the wound tightened up quite nicely, even if I did make the PA do the internal stitches for me. More about today later (including my report from Curves), Angel got me flowers so I want to shower and be nice to him. : Not yet. Have some anatomical reservations.

Answers, for those who asked questions:

Question-asking is not closed by any means. : Best? The spiritual and emotional commitment gives me something to anchor my dreams on. I don't have to wonder whether things will end. Worst? Always having someone around means that you notice all the tiny things, and it's not always easy to grit your teeth and learn to deal with the fact that nobody's perfect. : Yes :) : The longer things go on, the less inclined I am to say yes. As of now...probably not. But it's hard to give an absolute answer; I don't know where the boundaries lie, so I don't know what counts, per se. Follow me?

A whole freakin' patient!

I had a patient all to myself today. When people asked who was the doctor responsible for the patient in Room X, I got to say "She's mine." I got to call the neurologist, Dr. S, and consult with her on what to do with P. I got to write an order for an MRI and bloodwork. And I got to bitch and moan because she was a total nutcase with a touch of postpartum depression who thinks she's dying. But she was my fucking patient! Dr. E pulled her chart out, handed it to me. "Go take a look, see what you think." I came back and reported on reflexes and strength, and he quirked a brow. Said it didn't make sense. He went along, did the Rhomberg test on her and a few other things, and then handed me the chart. "She's all yours. We'll move her MRI up and when it's scheduled, call her neurologist and see what she wants us to do." And there I am with a chart. Write me an order, please, says D on the desk. It dawns on me that I don't know what we're MRI'ing. So I grabbed the PA on duty, asked him. Just the head? Sure, sounds right. So I wrote MRI head in the blank and put it in the queue. Told the girl on the desk I needed Dr. S on the line. She got her for me, a couple hours later. "I'm Nykki, a third-year medical student on rotation here in the ER, and I've got a patient of yours here, P. We're going to move her MRI up and wondered what else you wanted done." Well, let's do the standard bloodwork...and then she went through it, just in case, I think. So I marked up the order again and handed it over. And I stuck my head in to give her the reports and let her know what was going on, and after Dr. E saw her briefly, I was the only person to talk to her. Went over her chart with the docs and was given the go-ahead. Finally discharged her with a completely normal workup ten minutes before I left. Go follow up with your family doctor. Was just...very empowering. Mitigated by failing to diagnose ringworm + impetigo on a wrestler and not realising that a little kid with an elevated alk-phos is normal. Can't win them all. I did get pyloric stenosis in my differential of the kid who had it. Paediatric surgeon came in and needed stitching up. He'd dropped a rock on his finger working on his rock garden. "I've got surgery at 6, can we expedite X-rays?" Two drunks today, one with a BAC of 0.359 at first measurement, the other refusing all treatment. And a diabetic who got happy with the insulin or something, blood sugar of 28. It was a bit of a looney bin today. Met Dr. U, who's neatospiff, and followed Dr. B around. I'm beginning to get a feel for things, although forgetting my stethoscope is a Bad Thing. I had a suck-ass loaner. Saw J today, the EMT who took me on my ridealong. He's still working the same shift, we chatted a bit, he said I should come back again. He was fun. Feeling much better than I was this morning. Thinking I should go to bed relatively early, as I'm due back into the ED at 8 AM.

Quiz, and fluff.

Your score is: 25/50 What does that mean? Others see you as sensible, cautious, careful & practical. They see you as clever, gifted, or talented, but modest...Not a person who makes friends too quickly or easily, but someone who's extremely loyal to friends you do make and who expect the same loyalty in return. Those who really get to know you realize it takes a lot to shake your trust in your friends, but equally that it takes you a long time to get over it if that trust is ever broken. What is yours? Mmm. To borrow from someone else: When life gets you down, just think: I'm glad I'm not a Russian Amputee Bride. Think I'll save this survey from until I'm feeling a little better. Plus, it's going under a TMI-cut. So, if you're a new reader, O Best Beloved, and missed my previous poll regarding opting in on the TMI list, now's a second chance. Just put your username in the box and submit it, and I'll add you to the list. And while I'm making polls, I'll borrow another idea: the 'ask me anything' poll. Ask me a question, any question, and I'll answer it. I don't have any secrets from most of you anyway.

"Is that your happy face or your horny face?"

...I'll tell you later. Firefest was good. V. good. Will have pictures and movies posted soon. Jorath ripped part of my thumbnail off with a kendo stick shortly into the afternoon, which put an end to me sparring, but I wiped the blood off, put it back together, and cut my nail short to avoid snagging it, so now I'm more or less healed. They let me set off a couple of fireworks, big ones. Was exciting to do it, much enjoyment was had. But mostly, it was just the show and getting to see people I didn't know without my introvert kicking in...which it did about 2 or 3 AM, when I didn't want to be around people any more. So I made everyone go home. I'd warned them in advance. Pictures (I've resized them down to a more reasonable resolution, y'all) can be found here. Bri and Jefe went back on Sunday to help clean up and hang out. Angel and I went to see LXG (really not bad, and a lot of literary fun, not to mention the trailer for Haunted Mansion at the front) and have dinner, as he works 9-6 today and I work 2-10, and it's our anniversary. So we had a good time yesterday instead. Close enough. And I have plans to make later on this week, too. Got up this morning and scanned through my scrollback. Dash'd logged Nicholai and Andrique on. Felt a quiet twisting of frustration and jealousy that he only ever seems to want to RP with Lily any more, and that he has all of her characters tied up and unavailable, so I can't play. Hell, who am I kidding, I'm frustrated and annoyed as hell that the only people who seem to be around and want to roleplay there are Ryken and Angel. I'm tired of the same thing over and over, without variation. Boy meets girl. Boy and girl cocoon their characters - half the time all of them that exist - into a series of private little tete-a-tetes that tie up and eliminate any chance of involving anyone else. And then they stay there forever, and nothing ever happens. I'm exhausted by it, and if Arcana weren't the main means of communication for our group around here, I might just quit playing completely. It's not like anyone would actually miss me. I feel like a secondhand book today; something everyone just passes around to get it off their hands. Everyone's better for everyone else than me; all I do is get in the way, bitch and fight and feel sorry for myself. Nobody talks to me or looks for me for help - I've lost the empathy and the ability to say the right things somewhere along the way; when I lost my mysticism and my tangible, anchoring connection to the divine. I don't know where they went, somewhere along the way when I stopped writing and stopped reading and started studying all the fucking time. Somewhere along the way when I forgot to walk the shadow path that used to maintain me and stepped off into the daylight and the brightside. On either side the darkness flies One side is day, the other night And young I am In these Shadowlands The dawn and dusk at brilliance full Here life and death have even pulls When down I go Where Shadows know This twilight world is but a line The road I seek is faint and fine I walk at last The Shadowpath The nightside on my right is full Of haunting creatures, hunting ghouls I shy away From Shadows’ play The dayside on my left is rife With birdsong and the call of life I look to right Curse Shadowlight And tread the path the Shadows do ‘Tween dark and night where all is true And lonely stand In the Shadowlands. NsK 5-9-95 "Walking in the Shadowlands" I don't feel as real, as connected. I don't feel like I know anyone at all. It's funny, as I hear each one of my friends saying that they just feel tolerated...and I respond, and I deny it, and I know it's true because I need them so...and now I'm saying the same thing, and I'll get the same responses, and I won't believe them because I can't feel the connections, the philotic web, if you will, like I used to. And I don't like it. I want it back. I want to meet people and know them, because of the images that spring into my mind, patterns and colours and shapes that modulate with their voice and their actions but have never led me wrong and have always proved me true. I want to feel the soft touch of the divine taking over my voice and my hands, moving me - moving me - and never failing to give me reason to believe that I do not have to know what to say; it will be given to me. I used to. Where did it go? If this is growing up, I don't want to. I feel like Peter, not just losing the brilliance and the wonder, but forgetting it, forgetting how I achieved it and not knowing how to get back. And yet I know there is a way, as long as I know the Shadowlands, as long as I remember the feeling of that knife's edge between oblivion and despair. I know it. I know I was there, not so long ago, and I will find it again. But what do I do? Where do I go?

Oh, and.

My baby sister (Not my Chelly, the other one, who's 19) is pregnant. I discussed this at some length with a clerk who was stocking shelves in Walgreen's, where I bought water and notepads because they were on sale cheap. She was glad to have someone to talk to for a bit, I think. She sounded glad. I was glad to have a bit of time to let my muscles unclench from Curves (I had to force myself to go, but I went). Discovered that Curves Georgetown opens at 6 M-R, so I can go early in the mornings before my shifts at the ED.
Threat rating: High. The Bush administration is
concerned that it may not get a second term.
Therefore, we are going to change the rules so
that each Democrat vote only counts as 0.2
votes because Democrat is a shorter word than
Republican

What threat to the Bush administration are you?
brought to you by Quizilla Duh.
What rating is your journal?
brought to you by Quizilla Well, depending on whether I posted pictures of the dead pet, told the details of the story, or apologised to my neighbours and didn't tell anything, the journal went from NC-17 to R to PG-13. Whatever :P This quiz sucked :)

Whump.

...being the sound, of course, of me flopping into my chair. Tomorrow morning: Defensive driving class. At least I know where I'm going. And I have my money order. Tomorrow evening: Out to Beaker's for Firefest. Must enjoy self, as Sunday I will then sleep all day and show up for a week and a half straight of working 8-hour shifts in the ED. Next weekend: Roleplay. Work 8-4 Friday and 10-6 Saturday. And 2-10 Sunday. Weekend after: Go to French Lick for the IAFP conference. Be lonely, unless the hotel room has Internet. Come back and wrap up my ED shifts. Next Month: Paediatrics. Today in the ED: Child with a giant soft spot on her head. It's a collection of fluid. We almost had to sedate her to put her in the CAT scan, but decided to consult radiology instead. Several plain films later, no fracture was detected. Saw some chest pain and a Real Heart Attack or two, as well as some gall bladders, two lacerations, a little boy with stomach pain and a kid with a dog bite. Also learned an important lesson: A pulmonary embolus can mimic anything. Today, it mimicked a pleural effusion under fractured ribs. It was only because Dr. B smelled something fishy that he sent her to get a spiral CT. Big 'un, too. Saw two kids (one fifteen, one eighteen) ambulate themselves in after an accident last night. Car hit some water at 60 MPH and then met up with two signs and a tree. Not much left of the car, apparently. Didn't see the driver, just the passengers. Boy was wearing a seatbelt, came out with a nasty bruise and a broken toe. Girl was lying down without a seatbelt in the back seat. She's going to have a nasty bruise over her eye, and possibly an occult fracture of her fibula. They're lucky to be alive. Became acquainted with one more detail of the case: boy has an outstanding warrant for parold violation. Mother knows it, knows he's been running for three weeks. She was at the ED. She called the sheriff's office, told them to come get him because he was going to run again as soon as he got home with her. He knew she called - she must've told him. Sheriff's office gave her the runaround - she told her story to at least four people on the phone before finding someone who told her they'd come pick him up. She was sniffling, said to us (we were right there, she knew we had to have heard): "You try to do the right thing, and they make it so hard to do. No wonder people don't..." and went back to his room. He didn't run; he stayed where he was and waited for us to treat him. Sheriff's office showed up (just one guy in a brown uniform) shortly after we'd taped his toe. He left the hospital in handcuffs, headed for the youth facility. I felt so bad for his mom... Made friends with a paramedic. They know who I am now, and they let me come in when they're putting people into rooms. I like paramedics - they're neat people. I also like nurses. In fact, I like anyone who makes being a doctor easier. Maybe I'm just a people-liking person. Made friends with the boy with a stomachache. Five years old, took as many nurses to hold him down and draw blood. Half a minute later he was friendly and cheerful with the nurse who'd done it. So sweet. I let him use my stethoscope to listen to his own heart, and we talked about Carl Ripkin, Jr. Well, he talked. I said "wow" a lot. He's fine, probably just a little cramp or something. The ED was much less busy today, probably because we only had four holds. We didn't have to use any of the overflow rooms. Got a schedule worked out with Iwona at about 4 and then left, before the murmurs of an unconscious, pain-responsive-only four-year-old due to arrive became reality. I didn't want my heart to break at the end of the day. Tonight: We're going to go see Pirates of the Caribbean at 10:15, so no roleplaying :( And now it's dinnertime.

Whorage :)

A really freakin' amusing police log. Also, true tales of a porn store clerk. And: You're Hobbes. First of all, the makers of this quiz would like to congratulate you. You have our seal of approval. You are kind, intelligent, loving, and good-humoredly practical. You're proud of who you are. At the same time, you're tolerant of those who lack your clearsightedness. You're always playful, but never annoying. For these traits, you are well-loved, and with good cause. Which famous feline are you? brought to you by Quizilla Yay for me.

It's all becoming a blur.

Yesterday:

Cedar Point trip went off almost perfectly. Could hardly have been better. We went on a Wednesday, when there were thunderstorms predicted all morning. It rained most of the trip there. By noon, it was sunny and cloudless; not a drop of rain fell on the park the entire time we were there. The threat of rain scared everyone away, though, and we had short lines. Short lines meant that I got to ride three brand-new roller coasters to me, a real triumph. It means that with the exception of the new (and buggy) Top Thrill Dragster and the Power Tower, which doesn't interest me at all, I've ridden every coaster at the Point. Got to the park at 10 AM our time, leaving us two hours before we had to come back and get the coolers ready for feeding the kids. Stayed near the front of the park for time's sake. Three rides: The Raptor: still my favourite ride in the park. I have a real thing for inverted rollercoasters, I think, and the Raptor is my favourite of them all. Wish I'd had time to ride it about ten more times. The Wicked Twister (new for me this year): Too short. Way too short. I was really starting to get into being flung up a curvy spike backwards. Disaster Transport: When I was first going to the Point, this was a set of bobsleds on an outdoor bobsled run. Every time it looked like raining, the ride had to be closed because the sleds would go out of control on a wet track. So they built a giant box over it and called it Disaster Transport. First it had this Alaskan Transport theme, but this year everything was blacklit and alien-themed, and they did this neat starfield effect. Notably, the line is almost all inside in the blacklights and the neon paint, and it's like 50 degrees in the building - except for the ride, which is nice and warm. You could get pneumonia. Still runs on the bobsled track, though, and that's cool. Lunch went over well. Angel was afraid the kids wouldn't want to eat ham/turkey and cheese. He forgot a knife for the peanut butter and jelly, too, but I provided with my light fingers and a nearby food stand's plasticware tray. Then they took off, because they had Fastlane stamps for getting into the Raptor. We headed to the back of the park, passed over the Iron Dragon on our way to Frontier Town the long way, examined the line for the Mantis and declared it too long for a stand-up coaster that I probably wouldn' t like. Crossed the tracks toward the line for the Millennium Force, which stands where the Ferris Wheel used to be. Said to Angel: There'll be no way, the line'll be two or three hours. I hate waiting more than 1.5 hours for a ride. The line was an hour. Forty minutes or so, really. So we got in line and were not disappointed. Was it worth the wait? Was it ever. This nearly ties with the Raptor as my favourite ride. The 310-foot first hill had me staring out over the lake, eyes getting wider and wider and wider as we kept going up and up and up and up...and then came the 300-foot drop at 80º. Angel: I had three whole thoughts going down that hill. With complete syntax. It was the greatest first hill I've ever been on. Mind: I rode the Magnum XL-2000 once, and vowed I'd never bother waiting in line for it again because it's just one big hill and a lot of suck. I was expecting the same. We came around the corner off the hill so fast and hard I started getting tunnel vision from the G's. And it just kept kicking ass. Not the spinning, sky-kicking kick-ass of the Raptor, but the high-speed hard-turning kick-ass that marks the other best kind of coaster. And we got to the end, to hear the guy behind us say That was like sex on wheels. I could've used a cigarette. We walked around the park for 15-20 minutes after that, letting the thrill linger, and then got on the Cedar Creek Mine Ride. I make a point of going on this little beast every time I go to the Point, because something about it just amuses the hell out of me. Maybe it's the people I meet in line. This time it was The Goth Girl. She was somewhere in her high-school years, probably sixteen or seventeen, in black long-shorts, black hose, black Vans, black tank, heavy blue-and-black eye makeup. And one of those incredibly cute snub-nosed faces, shoulder-length dark brown straight hair, and I felt an instant kinship with her somehow. So we talked, about the water ride she'd just (obviously) come off of, and the roller coasters, and little things like that. The park. And when we got in our car for the Mine Ride, she waved to me. She's a story, if I can find it, something about her that still clings to me. Got off the Mine Ride and followed the park around. Hopped on the Gemini with its 25-minute line. Another favourite, celebrating its 25th year, it has a vortex finish that always thrills me, and a dip with a bar that I can never keep my hands up going under. I know it's high enough, but I've never been able to control the reflex to duck them. I rode it seven times in a row once, when there was no line at all. Got yummy lemony smoothie-type-ice cream and ate it as we walked. Skipped the Witches' Wheel, which is a real shame, because there's nothing like tucking myself into someone's lap and being spun around in circles upside down. But we had to make our way back to the checkpoint to check all the youth in for the 4:00 checkin. Along the way we stopped at the Corkscrew, an old favourite which has long since fallen out of favour and into the "well, it goes upside-down, sounds fun" category. Plus, it goes screaming down across the Midway. This is a Good Thing. Got water from a nacho stand. Now, if you ask, they have to give you ice water for free. I got in line. I got up to the counter. As I'm waiting for him to finish getting the order together from the last person, a man comes up to the counter, bypassing the line. "Do you have waters?" --Yes. "Give me a big one." --We give 16-ounce cups of water, is that all right? "I want a 20-ounce." Note that they don't even have 20-ounce cups. --Just a moment, sir. He turns to me, asks if he can help me. Two waters, please, I say. He gets them. Asshole stalks off as soon as the guy behind the counter stops giving him his full attention. Is it just me, or was that a rude thing to do? Checked in the kids. Bought sunscreen, as I was turning red. $14 a bottle. Highway robbery, but we'd left ours in the car, whoops. Headed back out toward the train (time to ride the train and take a break, oh yes.) Well, the line for the Iron Dragon was only 15 minutes, so we did it. It used to be super-cool, but suspended coasters have to be more than just suspended any more to get a real thrill. The best part of it was flying through the mists over the lagoon. And then we got off, pondered the WildCat (newly painted in purple and yellow, a change from its old white tracking) but decided the line was too long for something we'd ridden before. The line moves incredibly slowly, too. Started for the train and decided to check the line for the Mantis again. Less than 45 minutes. We headed for it. I don't like standing roller coasters, and the Mantis was no exception. Between my feet and the uncomfortable bicycle seats, physical discomfort takes precedence over cool rides. That's why I won't ever go on the Mean Streak again. It just rattles you around too much. But the coolness of the Mantis's ride did make up for the uncomfortable seats, and I think I might do it again. Unlike Kings' Island's King Cobra, which I couldn't be forced onto. Saw the Goth Girl in line for the ride as we were getting off, yelled and waved. She waved back, asked how it was. Told her it was great. Moved on, thought about doing the Millennium Force again and I vetoed standing in line for an hour and a half in favour of going for some food and a sit-down show. Sit-down show was all done showing, except for bad country-western karaoke. Damn. Bought homestyle cheese fries somewhere in there, and hand-dipped fried cheese on a stick. That was an experience. It was a log of white processed cheese food wrapped in cornbread and deep-fried. It was good, as long as I didn't think about what I was eating. Shopped some, overhearing the conversation between the counter-boy and the girl: We also have mood toe rings. Mood toe rings? Yes. I need a mood toe ring. Chatted with the hat-shop clerk about wages (shit when you start) and with the girl on the Iron Dragon about whether they work one ride all season (yes, and the crew who work the Raptor are all bitchy). Passed up the Magnum (for reasons previously stated), didn't get to the Demon Drop (damn), skipped the Power Tower (bleah) and the Top Thrill Dragster (looks like another Magnum - too much wait for one hill and a lot of suck, plus it was broken most of the day. Took the train back through all the fun little skeletons doing silly little animatronic things, then took the skyride back to Johnny Rocket's. One hour left, half an hour wait. Saw the youth inside, said hi. They told us not to wait, it wasn't that good. We started back toward Coasters, but got distracted by a hamburger joint and just got food there. I spent quite some time feeding fries to birds to see how close they'd come in the shadow of the Raptor, until a herd of small elephants scared them away. Passed a little time watching some guys play DDR in the arcade, challenge mode. Must buy DDR to use with the pad I already have. We had time for one more ride, and we made it the Blue Streak. This little beast is almost 40 years old, and it doesn't go all that fast (40 mph), but it makes the very best of its speed and I spent half the ride clinging to my safety bar to keep from flying away. Yay for the Blue Streak. Polished off the day with Classic Cars for the hell of it, met up with the adults, and were home by midnight. The kids were great, the park was great, and I managed to get up and going this morning in time to see Dr. H at 9 AM.

Today:

Got to the hospital, signed papers and got my badge, and then we got slammed. I mostly just ran around in the wake of doctors, fetched things and checked to see if labs were back, but we had a few Teachable Moments, including subcutaneous air, uvular angioedema, the value of doing a CBC on an 86-year-old patient with dizziness, and why it's a Bad Idea to put your excess hospital inpatients in the ED. We had 12 of 18 exam rooms full of hospital patients, were using all 6 extra rooms plus six hallway stations where patients got to sit on carts and watch the world go by. But it was fun. Must work out scheduling with Iwona so we know when and how to come in. Was told fourteen to fifteen shifts makes up a 35-40 hour work week. Am confused. Too sore today to go to Curves. Must go tomorrow, and again on Saturday, and every day after that. I could go in the mornings, before the hospital. That would be good. And now it's time to go adore on my Angel for a bit. *vanishes*

Digital Camera

Verdict: I like it :) Also verdict: I like my hair. Showing here and here. Also also verdict: We have to be at church at 5 AM. It's bedtime. Remind me, O Best Beloved, to tell you about the cute boys at Best Buy and the run-in with Mr. Mettert. And for anyone who's never seen my Angel: Look here.