Day 1

Well, I made it through day 1 unscathed. Actually, it wasn't too bad but then again, I was in a computer class and then getting my id for part of the day. But my chief resident is a graduate of Tulane so that was a fun conversation we had about our similar experiences with certain attendings and residents. One of her friends was my resident on OB. I think my brain was stolen or scrambled when passing through the SW of the U.S. I felt so sluggish mentally I was embarassed. But then again, it gets forgiven as an intern thing. My fellow interns of the OHSU peds program started on monday so they had time to get used to the stuff. I had today and then tomorrow is a day off and then sunday I'm on call. So I'll go from taking care of 3 patient notes in the morning to about 20 or so...depending on what happens between today and sunday morning. Hopefully the holiday will scare people into being healthy to enjoy the day outside. At any rate, the kids were all cute and talked to me.

Time to get ready for tonight - hanging out with Carrie. Hopefully Erin will meet us too.

argh!

So because the stupid bed store uses a computer to verify checks, I couldn't buy my bed today because I used my hawaii credit union check and my oregon license. Apparently the addresses have to match. Of course, if it weren't for the shitheads (see below) who stole my credit card info, i wouldn't have this problem at all. I hope by now they bought an expensive car and crashed and are now paraplegic. Okay, that's mean, but they deserve pain for the pain they've caused me.

On to other annoyances. So I called the OHSU peds coordinator this morning and left a message at 7 am and they don't call back until 5 pm and really don't provide very useful info. To top it off, the person decides not to go away from people screaming at a graduation party while talking to me so I can barely hear her over what really sounds like one or two people yelling. And then she tells me that despite the parking confusion between the 2 programs, she's only authorizing me to park for tomorrow in the special lot. For shit's sake, can't she tell the parking folks to give me a temp pass for a few days?!? So I'll try to charm my way tomorrow into getting the security folks to let me park somewhere until wednesday when i get to return to home base. Plus I'm extra moody due to the usual pms stuff and anxiety over starting this crazy game called residency. Hopefully I'll have a great team to work with up there.

Dragon Boat

Today our residency had an adventure on the Willamette River - Dragon Boats! It was lots of fun. I wish we could have stayed out longer on the boats. We split into 2 teams on different boats and practiced different techniques and then raced each other - my team won. Then we were done. I wish we could have just hung out on the river and went up and down slowly. The race was pretty fast and by the time we won, my arms were dead. They still sort of hurt and will probably hurt in the morning because I have no upper body strength and my legs were too short in that boat to use that strength. I kept getting out of sync with the stroke when my arms would get tired. I guess Providence has 2 teams that any employee can join. If I had way more time, perhaps I would consider it. Anyway, one last day of easy orientation and then I start my first rotation - Pediatrics up at Doernbecker Children's Hospital on the Hill. Time to eat.

Shitheads

The Jackasses who stole all that credit card info stole mine too. Thankfully the visa folks decided, after trying to call or mail letters for awhile (retards), that they would just inactivate all accounts...well, I wasn't called and was told by the office max folks that my card, the one in my hand that matched my id, was reported lost or stolen. I guess I stole it from myself. Anyway, I called in and the lady there filled me in. I personally would have preferred it if they cut off the card immediately but then I wouldn't have been able to buy my desk or picture frames so that would have sucked. So now I have to wait a week or so before I get a new card. The shitheads who did this now have one of my very mean death wishes...you know, the ones where I wish horrible pain and suffering with the preservation of mental function so they're with it to know what horrible things are happening to them. I haven't chosen a specific illness yet but I'll find some good ones on uptodate once I start on friday at the hospital.

So that means I have to wait to buy the new bed. Or I could just write a check using the sallie mae money that I was saving to pay property taxes this year. Beds are on sale now and I have to choose between 2 different beds that are $4 different in price. But this is better than massive credit card issues I could have had. I'm only mad at the jerks who ruin life for the rest of us. People that like don't deserve to live. Okay I think I've vented enough for now. And I knew my credit card number by heart! Time to put together my chair...gotta write a check to mom since she had to pay for it since my credit card was cancelled.

bastards.

payton

Here's a picture of my cute little niece. She's now back in hawaii so when I go home in august I'll get to play with her a bit. Okay, I really just wanted to test out the new pictures feature of blogger that my friend pointed out to me.

pictures

Well, I got some frames for my pictures and other decorations and tomorrow maybe I'll go order a new bed for myself so mom can have a bed of her own to sleep in before my crazy schedule starts. I'm STILL waiting for the claims process to be finished. I gave up waiting for the desk and just bought the desk I wanted since it was on sale. Even if they don't give me the money for the busted desk, it was worth it. Today I had the tiring process of trying to find a chair for the desk. I thought I found a good one at office max since they have their brown bag sale. The little slip to pick up the damn chair fit in the bag but it wasn't included in the sale since the box for the chair itself won't fit in the bag. Then we went to a whole bunch of other stores and found nothing great. They're all overpriced or crappy. Ugh.

I'm going to bed since I actually have to be somewhere further away tomorrow - computer training in tigard for the EMR. Actually, that should be fun since after that class I can go and create my own templates and create files with the handouts I like the best. It should be fun. Nighty night

furniture

Well, since I got some money from sallie mae, I was able to go out and continue to furnish my home. Next up is a bed for the guest room. Still waiting on the repair guy who is supposed to come check out the furniture that was messed up from the move. I decided to just buy the desk I wanted since I'm tired of waiting (it's been a week). Hopefully they'll come by this week and decide that my futon can't be fixed and give me the $250 so I can get the new one. As soon as I get a large vehicle (carly may be able to help) I can pick up the bookshelf from home depot and the tv from costco. I'm tired of putting together furniture but I want it all done before I start on the 1st. I hate all the clutter.

Yesterday was fun. We had a get together at Oaks Park so staff of the clinics and residency could meet us newbies. Then we rode the rides. Okay, so I went down the super slide and rode the spider ride once and was done but there really wasn't anything else I was willing to ride. They had a version of the viking ship ride that also spun around while up in the air and well, there's no way I'm ever stepping foot on that ride. The spider ride was bad enough. I had to ride it with my eyes closed otherwise it would have freaked me out too much. Every time I opened my eyes, Julius had his camera aimed at me. Great.

Today went by quickly and tomorrow we're taking grampa to a birthday party for a friend from the old neighborhood. I hope we don't have to stay too long. There's still stuff to get done.

Guest Book

Hey! Sign my guestbook! Time for work.

I passed!

I passed my ACLS training today. It was a bit overwhelming but once we did pretend codes over and over and over again, it became manageable...so now if I encounter unstable tachycardia I'm set...otherwise, take your attempt to die elsewhere.

I'm still waiting to find out if I passed the clinical skills exam. It's not even posted as reported at the nbme site and I can't take step 3 until I pass that test. I'm not sure if I can register for step 3 without it either.

Time to go online shopping at compusa to see what my gift card will buy. Maybe they have tv's and then it will be the delivery man's job to get my tv up the stairs. The thought of carrying that thing up the stairs is scary. Mom and I can lift it together but going upstairs is a whole other issue.

I guess I'll get ready to hang out with Carrie. I haven't seen her since we graduated from U of O 5 years ago.

ACLS

Well, today is ACLS and I sure hope that they teach us all those things in the book that I read last night since I forgot all those algorithms in my sleep. I also got my refund check from the loan company so that will help. And I'm still waiting for the moving company to send someone out to check out the damages. They called and said a local repair company is supposed to take a look but that person has yet to contact me. I sure hope that they deem my futon and desk irreparable so I can get new ones. Well, time to eat breakfast then head off to training...again.

BBB complaint

So a few months back, I took in my old ipod and got a new iphoto ipod because the battery life on the old one sucked and some songs would occasionally be messed up. Well, the management there, when I bought the plan, misinformed me and did not give me a copy of the plan agreement and so I was met with the unfortunate case of paying $200 instead of only $100 to do the upgrade (had to pay the difference for the better model). So in a fit of rage, I did the passive aggressive move of filing a complaint at the BBB website. I had done this with Dell in the past and the problem was resolved before the BBB contacted them so that resulted in nothing. I had pretty much forgotten about the compusa complaint in the midst of all the chaos of graduation and moving but today I got a gift card for $100 from compusa since there was a "misunderstanding." Basically, i was still wrong and they were right but I'm getting rewarded for filing a complaint. I would have preferred a credit to my charge card but beggars can't be choosers. I really didn't expect anything to come out of it. I never do but in a twisted sort of way, it makes me feel better after a perceived wrong against me.

In other news, I got a copy of my business card for residency. It says my name and title on it. It's awesome. Time to eat then read up for a fun filled day of ACLS tomorrow. At least I get to have fun tomorrow night with Carrie and Erin... I think. Carrie is supposed to call me about the details and whether or not we're still going out.

first day over

Well, today was fun because I got to meet my fellow interns and boring because I had to sit through all these presentations. However, the very first presentation was about preparing for retirement. And we get paid for orientation too! Not that it matters since it's a set amount I get paid for the year and once I realized that, it wasn't so exciting.

I also was able to just take the one broken piece of my dresser back to get a replacement so tonight after dinner I'm building a dresser. Speaking of dinner, it's time to eat!

Today is the day!

Well, true to form, my body decided not to let me sleep until the alarm was supposed to go off and woke me up at 4 am and then at 5 am and by 5:30, I felt ridiculous just lying there in bed so I got up. I just ate breakfast (eggs with turkey and cheese mixed in) and my tummy is still growling. I think I expanded my tummy with all the food my mom has been cooking these past few days. I hope I don't start passing out today during orientation...eh I've already been hired, I guess I can pass out occasionally. Then tonight I have to figure out how to retrieve a message on my dvr unit. Oh and then I'm going to try to convince the people at fred meyer to let me bring in my receipt, just the barcode from the dresser box and the defective piece to exchange for the good piece from a box at the store instead of lugging the whole thing down. I mean, really, I understand they need a box to send back to the distributer but can't they send back the box already at the store with the piece I bring back? It's a box isn't it?!? I really hate having my clothing in piles in my bedroom.

Maybe I better take a zone bar with me today and some fruit leather.

Yippee!

I have cable and high speed internet!!! Yippeee! And for some reason, one of my emails with the orientation schedule was lost. I think I have to be there by 8 am tomorrow...

I'm pretty much moved in. I still have to get my new tv and exchange my broken dresser for a new one. Oh and then there's the claims process for the broken furniture...hmmm. I guess there's still lots to do!

Only a few days...

Well, on monday I start orientation for my residency years. Tomorrow the cable and internet get activated. Free tv is really bad...although one episode of divorce court was entertaining. Still waiting to exchange my damaged dresser for a good one as well as the claims process to be finished for my damaged stuff from the move. And waiting to find out whether or not I passed the clinical skills exam. Taking quite a long time compared to the multiple choice portion of step 2. Okay, enough for now.

Moved in...almost

Well, these past few days have been hectic and tiring as my mom and I moved into my house. There's still boxes everywhere (folded up and sitting in the house) and since my futon and desk were broken by the movers, I really haven't done much in the office room. Hopefully the claim form will come today and I can fill it out and overnight it back tomorrow to try to speed the process up. What else...oh, of the 4 pieces of build it yourself furniture we bought from fred meyer, 2 were damaged, including my dresser so I still have clothes piled in my closet. Then the rice cooker and toaster oven from meyer and frank were both damaged and needed to be returned. We just have had some bad luck with this. Oh and now my squirter on my kitchen sink is messed up but my mom said it's an easy fix. But it's nice to be in my home. The first night I kept hearing all the new noises of my home and neighborhood and got freaked out by the sound of ice dropping in the ice maker- I was almost asleep and you know how loud sounds can do that to a person. Then at 4 am some ass in the area was pounding on something.

Today is outlet mall time.

Finally!

Well, after all the crap that has gone on this past week, I finally got the keys and can start moving in. Thursday my stuff gets delivered as well as the appliances and the couch. I guess I'll paint on friday and over the weekend. Or maybe next week. I'm tired so I'm going to watch some tv or read now.

Signed!

Well, we finally signed all the paperwork. Tomorrow afternoon we get the keys to the place after the money is wired over. Kind of weird that I have to wait for keys since last week monday when we went over to see the house with dad the seller was offering them to me. Oh well...Now time to get other things done. Bleh.

still waiting

I called him at 9:15 am since my cell phone has been dropping calls in Aunty Debby's basement. The only thing I got removed was the property taxes. He also has to remove the house insurance since they can't only collect house insurance. Apparently they can separate the two but they can only collect property taxes on their own. Weird. Anyway, he's also calling the title company to get the $50 funding fee waived since he had given them instructions initially to do so. And the overnight/express delivery has nothing to do with them sending the docs over to the title company but rather the fee for the title company to send them to the bank. And the same goes for the power of attorney. He said I have to file that with the title company. And apparently they let the credit union know long ago that they needed my transcripts and that it was the CU's responsibility to relay that to me. Seems a bit BS and scapegoating but what the hell, blaming others is always easier than admitting one's mistakes. They're still both on my blacklist.

Speaking of a blacklist, I have Cracker Barrel (cause they just have bad food) and the state of California (cause they have no welcoming signs or thanks for visiting signs). Actually, I was quite impressed with the State of Texas and their new rest stops. Very nice and clean. In fact, the nicest I've seen yet! Okay, gotta go.

waiting

Well, after waiting out the weekend to air my grievances with the loan company, I discovered that they don't even open until 9 am! So I left a message with the guy I want to complain to and so now I wait for him to return my call. I think I'll give him 10 or 15 minutes to call then I'm calling again. Meanwhile I'm really cold...It's only 50 degrees here.