computer

Well, all that I have left to do is receive a credit card with cash back rewards (I went with capital one because the american express card only gives the max cash back after you've already spent more than $6000). Then I can buy my new computer. In the meantime, I found a solution to being unable to close my powerbook. I went to the hardware store and after going down nearly every aisle, I found these cable clips for outside that works as a perfect clamp for the separating edge! I can easily open and close the computer now. Made me very happy. Of course, now I have to decide if I want to wait until august when the merom intel chip is expected. Yes, I realize I've been saying I'm going to buy the computer since january and then the fact that my computer wasn't opening and closing correctly pushed the urge to buy but now I wonder if I should wait longer even though I really, really, really want to buy a new one now. True that since I'm upgrading from a 4 year computer I'll have a much better machine but now I'm just not sure. I read some message boards about the computer and suspected future upgrades and all I feel is jealous that I don't have one yet. And if I buy now, I can work on moving all my files over to the new computer when I have my vacation in june. So many decisions. I need money. Hey, where the hell is my state income tax refund anyway?!?

Costco Funeral

Apparently you can buy caskets from costco now. I don't think you can buy them in bulk though I wouldn't put it past them.

cruel fun

As I was reading more reviews about mac products in the apple store online site, a window for live chat with an apple rep popped up. So i thought, why not, I'll ask a few questions about my poor powerbook's screen issues. So I started off with, "my powerbook's screen is separating. How much electricity will I potentially get zapped with if it shorted while I touched it." Don't worry, Dad, it's not shooting sparks or anything crazy like that.
Anyway, her response was to contact my apple rep or take it into an apple store for repair. yeah, like that's going to be cheap! I priced it when it first happened - I was quoted $1000 for a new screen part or $500 for the hinge area.
So then i followed up with, "But seriously, if I got zapped, would it be enough to cause a fatal arrhythmia?"
She responded that she didn't know but if it was that bad, then I better get it in for repair quickly. Okay, so it doesn't sound funny to you but I thought it was pretty funny. But not funny in the sense that my computer is broken and that I could actually get injured from it. Okay, so perhaps I'm using misplaced humor to deal with the loss of my beloved powerbook and trying to hide the fact that even though I desperately want a new macbook pro, I'm still emotionally invested in this computer.

I wonder if I send this to apple for their recycling program if I can call it a tax deductible donation. Or I can try to sell it on ebay as a crippled yet fully functional computer. I mean, even if I can only get $500 for it, that would be cool. Although you never know how much one would pay for crap on ebay...

poor powerbook

My poor powerbook that suffered initially under my anger over my stupid wireless connection issues in new orleans is now suffering again. The screen is separating further and making it harder to open. I fear that one day it won't open without damaging the screen and perhaps giving me a little (or big) jolt of electricity. Ok, so I've wanted a new laptop since they debuted a while ago but I'd rather get it before it was an emergency. Yes, in my world, lack of a computer is a life threatening emergency.

Oh, so I was look at reviews of the Mighty Mouse that apple makes and this one person who was complaining about the pain in his hand it caused decided to self-diagnose himself. He says he has "tendovaginitis." So let's break this word down. I'm sure he meant "teno" which can refer to tendon. "vaginitis" means inflammation of the vagina. So somehow a man has inflammation of the vaginal tendon. No such tendon exists of course and I'm really just laughing my ass off at the pathetic attempt of someone to diagnose themselves. I'm still laughing my ass off and it's been well over 5 minutes.

Disturbing mental images

Just to update you, I did stop watching the spelling bee shortly after posting the last entry. It was getting incredibly annoying. Anyway, today I was with my surgeon, who yet again didn't have any surgeries today (actually we had 2 yesterday that I got to do some suturing in). So she sent me up to the hospital to hang out with another surgeon. He only had 1 case left - a hemorrhoid case. Yep, he lopped off some external hemorrhoids. I think I'll have nightmares about that one. The case itself wasn't technically difficult or gross but the tool involved - an anal speculum - and the thought of the pain she would have with pooping in the next few days, as well as the cause (pregnancies) was more than I wanted to think about or see at one moment in time. I wonder if teens would be better at contraception if they saw enough deliveries with bad tears or knowing that hemorrhoids could result from their irresponsibility. Or maybe I'm too much of a nerd and it wouldn't work on those more prone to teen pregnancy. I don't even like to think about my own female exam when I'm holding the speculum to do the exact same exam on my patients. And so you can imagine the horrible images that floated through my brain when I saw this anal speculum. I suppose it's no better than when I have to do digital rectal exams but a finger seems so harmless in comparison (sorry for the details dad). And to make things even more horrific, this woman having her hemorrhoids chopped off was awake! Ok, so it was conscious sedation with local anesthesia and she may not remember the details of the surgery but if I should ever need this done to myself, I'm making them put me out. In fact, that goes for any operation, minor or major, I may need in the future. I don't have a problem doing procedures on others but I'm a wimp when it comes to my own body. My assigned surgeon cuts stuff off herself all the time because it's simple enough. Not me. I wouldn't be able to stick the needle in to just anesthesize the area. Hopefully I won't become an insulin dependent diabetic because I'd be screwed.

The moral of the story - pregnancy can really mess your body up and men have no right to complain about a little rectal exam.

And now time to water my flowers.

spelling bee

I don't know why I'm watching the portland spelling bee but I find it incredibly annoying. Some of the words are so freakin easy and then the next word is way harder. And these kids are spelling the easiest words wrong! Ok, so I probably can't talk because I didn't spell very well when I was in the 7th grade. But seriously, these are the words that have been spelled wrong: stupor, census, rosary. And the announcer is a freakin idiot as well with crappy pronunciation. Ok, back to clinic notes

yard work

Well, the yard work fun continued today after a postcall nap. I planted these little plants by the mailbox - you're supposed to be able to walk on them eventually. I'm guessing I should avoid the temptation to step on them only 1 hour after planting them. I also decided to see if I could get the little blue flowers to grow in by the little tree by the stairs to my front door. That only makes sense to the few who have been here. So I pulled out the half dead alysium. Then I planted more alysium in the spots that were dead. yep, pulled out the mostly dead alysium that was previously there. Then I noticed that the type I bought looks different from the one that's already planted. Oh well, they're both white. I also pulled out the moss and other weeds in the rest of the front yard. Then I spread more moss killer and grass seeds stuff and watered the grass a bit. I still have to rake up all the dead leaves and branches that fell on the ground from the fall of 2005. Hey, I've been busy saving lives so back off. Still have to clean out the gutters...they were kind of gross so I left them alone. I'm not quite sure how to get to the ones on the front of the house...perhaps I'll let those leaves decay naturally rather than risk falling off the roof. Then clean off the decks. I think I need to refinish them or at least hire someone to do it. I want to put little grippies on the stairs since they get slippery when wet. And i still have to start the herb garden and other seeds I bought a few months ago. Maybe I'll do that after dinner since they will be started in this cute little greenhouse tray I bought.

And yes, I'm actually going to work too. Last night was busy. First I was 1st assist on an emergency C-section for a baby that was having non-reassuring heart tones on the external monitor. That took a while because the woman kept bleeding. Usually the senior resident does all the OB but he was driving from the SE clinic and they wanted to start right away so I got to do it. I don't mind C-sections since they're usually fast. Then I admitted a patient to the ICU while my senior resident delivered a baby. It took a long time to do it so I need to be faster. But the attending said I did a great job. She actually called back after she had left to tell me that. That was nice of her. Then just as I was getting comfy, we got another admission. The service was completely empty when we started off the night. This second admission closed our service but the attending forgot to tell the ER so just as I was getting settled and comfy again, we had a 3rd unassigned admission (their regular doctors either can't work or choose not to work in the hospital or they don't have a regular doctor). And since she had already accepted the patient, the ER made sure that we wouldn't be up for at least 6 unassigned admissions later. A lot of good that did for me. Anyway, it was an easy admission so it wasn't too bad. Then I presented the case of the postpartum cardiomyopathy (heart failure after delivering a baby). Then I watched tv for an hour in the call room while I hoped my headache would get better (it started after the 3rd admission from lack of sleep). I also ate some breakfast hoping that would help. It didn't. I had already taken excedrin when I woke up from the last 45 minute nap before morning report. So then I rounded with the surgeon and started feeling nauseated, like a hangover or somthing. It continued during surgery clinic. I swear I wanted to barf so bad. It eventually went away as I was walking to my car to go home. Tomorrow we start at 10 am. Yippee! I think I'll get up at 8 and practice some spanish. I still need to work on my stepping stones too. Oh and my presentation on pneumonia needs to be fixed. blah.

Time for dinner.

hard work

Well, since it has finally stopped raining long enough for the ground to harden, I mowed the lawn today. This was after a 3 hour surgery today. At first I thought it would be an easy day. Sure I had to get up early to go to morning report at 7 am but then I studied until noon when I thought I had an ethics consult team meeting. They sent an email at 11 am saying it was cancelled only I didn't get that message. Oh well, I studied more until 2 pm when I was told my surgeon's clinic would start. Turns out she was on ER call and did an emergency appendectomy without me. Oh well...The laparoscopic cases are kind of boring since all I do is hold the trocars and since my depth perception is sucky with laparoscopy, I'm not too bummed I missed it. Anyway, we saw 2 patients in clinic then got a call from the ER about an elderly woman who had a bowel perforation during a barium enema. When we opened her up, there was milky white barium everywhere. It had coated the bowel. In addition to having to find the hole in the bowel, it took forever just to get the adhesions taken down and then try to clean off the entire abdominal cavity of the barium. That stuff was everywhere.

So anyway, I came home and since the sun was still out (it was 7:30 pm but really 6:30 pm because of daylight saving time), I mowed the lawn. The grass was super high so it took forever to get it cut well. Then I sprayed this moss killer and turf booster thing that my mom bought. Since I still have to pull weeds in 2 parts of my yard, I may have to redo the lawn stuff but I'm tired. The rhodedendrons are blooming so that's pretty as well as the alyssium. I bought some plants to plant next to my mailbox. And I think one of the bigger bushes is truely dead, a victim of last september, so I'll try to dig that up this weekend and plant a new bush that does well with drought so I can opt not to water.

I also bought this really cool slipper-shaped stepping stone making kit...it takes a week to make 2 stones (2 moulds in the kit). I'm tempted to buy a second kit just so I can speed up the process of making stepping stones from the front area to the back deck. Apparently you can't even use them until they're completely cured for 28 days! Geez! I also bought a slipper shaped thermometer but I don't think it's correct because it always says it's 80 degrees in my home when it's clearly not that warm at all. Maybe I'll return it.

Oh and then I also installed a new thermostat that allows me to control the temperature at different times every day of the week. For example, i can program my furnace to heat my home to 80 degrees from 4 pm to 5 pm if I so choose. It's nicer looking than the old control and it has a digital readout. It blends into the wall better too.

Yep, I've been busy!

OB fun

Well, today when I was post call, I got home at 8:30 am and had started to relax and nearly fell asleep when I got a page that my first continuity OB pt was in labor. Now, the page came in at 10 am and we thought, the R2 and myself, that surely a person delivering her 4th child would easily pop #4 out in no time so at the most, I would be there for 3 hours. So I went back to the hospital. 3 hours later she was still pregnant and the stubborn kid was refusing to come down into her pelvis. Meanwhile I was now really tired having only slept 2.5 hours on call. I felt bad leaving and also wanted to deliver this baby but I just couldn't stay awake. So I left, had a little nap, then cleaned the house. So I missed my first opportunity to have a continuity delivery. Argh. I wonder when she delivered...well, tomorrow I'm going in to round on mom and baby so I guess I find out then as well as the sex of the baby.

Vacation!

Well, I'm finally on my vacation. I survived the ICU. My last night on was rough. 1 person trying to die, another who decided to try to die, then a third who went psycho. At the end I was so tired all I wanted to do was cry everytime someone came up to me to tell me I did great. It's like boot camp for interns I guess. It either breaks you or you make it through. I think I barely made it. I hated presenting on rounds the most though. Admits didn't bother me so much compared to rounds every morning. But it's over.

So this is what I've been doing this week:
Saturday: I thought my flight home was this day but since I realized it on friday, I slept in. Or rather I tried to sleep in. I cleaned up the house a bit, went to lunch with Christina, then finished cleaning. I was going to work in the yard but decided against it. Oh and I did laundry and packed.
Sunday: Flew home and hung out at home with mom and Jan. It rained really hard and it was hot and humid.
Monday: Went to mom's old school (and mine too) so she could pick up stuff for the school's 50th anniversary. Then we went shopping. I got the microphone to use with my spanish software. I think it must need USB 2 to use the headphones though since the microphone works fine. We also went to the furniture store so mom can look for couches for the playroom and living room. Expensive stuff. I was going to paddling with Melissa and Trisha but Trisha bailed and since Melis only went cause Trisha was going, we decided to not go afterall. Then I worked on my list of tax deductions so dad could do the taxes. That took longer than I expected.
Tuesday: slept in, read my book, read about the new computer I was getting. Dad called to tell me that I didn't spend enough on medical things to get a deduction. Lame. But I'm supposed to get a nice refund this year. It should cover my property taxes this year and house insurance and a new computer. Janine and Sherry came over for dinner. I passed out watching a dvd. I guess I was tired.
Today: Went to lunch with grandma. Got yelled at by Aunty Putt for being pasty white. So i guess I'll go outside and read. Tonight I'm going out with melissa.
Tomorrow: Not sure
The next day: Payton and Jodi get back from florida sometime
Saturday: Play with Payton
Sunday: Go home. Blah. Vacation will be over. double blah.
Monday: work...blah to the infinite power.

ICU

It's day 10 in the ICU...21 to go. Actually a little less since I do get a few days off. At any rate, it's been hectic but good. Today I was a little annoyed because the patients were divided between myself and the intern who had been on call that day at 4 each (no admits overnight, how lucky!). On friday-sunday there's a 3rd year resident who's the ICU float resident who comes in so the interns can have a day off on the weekend. And for some reason, the 3rd year who's always there said that we would divide the 4 patients that the post call intern presented between myself and the float resident. What BS!!! When I was post call, the float did all my patient notes and I had way more than 4 patients! And I actually stood up for myself and made that point. They made me feel somewhat guilty for doing so but that's her flippin job as the float resident on friday! And what annoyed me too was that the plan seemed to be for me to write my 4 notes, possibly 2 of the other intern's notes (we don't write notes post call), and then do all the admits with the senior in the morning! And this is my short call day. I don't know why this friday was being run differently than last week when I was post call because that float person told me his job that day was to write my notes and the other intern told me that's how things happened without controversy. The only thought I had was that this float person is good friends with the senior who's on. It's odd too because the senior had been so good about keeping things fair and equal so far. Yep, I was a bit pissed and you know how that makes me. And it takes me even longer because I have a 4th year med student interrupting my note writing to ask questions. She's really smart but I suppose now i know what I was like to residents as a med student. Sometimes I just want to say, stop bothering me now and we'll discuss later. The nice thing about have the subintern (as 4th year students are called) is that it's one less presentation I have to make on rounds but I still have to write a good note so it doesn't save me any time cause then I have to read her note and cosign it. Blah...

Only 21 more days...

I want to sleep

New Car

Well, today, on a whim, my mom and I went to the Toyota dealership to look at the car I would buy, if I had the funds. Mostly I wanted to look at the 2 colors I was interested in to determine which one I preferred. The cactus mica is my choice. The dealer made me drive the car around the block but first I had to drive through the gauntlet of new cars. I'm sure I had lots of space, as he kept telling me but the last thing I needed to do was ding up a bunch of new expensive cars on a day I had no plans on buying anyway. The car, by the way, is the toyota corolla LE. I'm basically going for the exact same car I have now but newer with fancier things like side and front airbags with ABS, and other stuff I'm sure I would want if I cared that much. I just wanted to see which color I liked best since I had already done my important research online. The car is about $18,500. Or almost half my yearly salary before taxes. So now I must decide which I want first, a new car or a new computer. I really want a new computer (to salivate with me go to apple.com and look at the macbook pro) but this is also probably the best time to put money down on a new car. So my plan is to see what sort of tax refund I get back this year. And if after setting aside money for property taxes and house insurance I have enough money, I may consider a new car or a new computer...or both. Or maybe I need to marry a rich guy so I can easily get both...and yes, even if I were to marry a rich guy, I would still go for the corolla cause then I could get the really fancy accessories for it. I listen to all the specialists at work complain about having to take in their fancy cars for servicing all the time. Just cause I would be rich doesn't mean I'd want to spend my money on car parts and mechanic labor times. Gotta save the imaginary richness for other more important things, like a new ipod, clothes, someone to do the ironing, cooking, and cleaning...oh wait, mom is doing those last 3 things for free. You get the idea. Time to update my pda

New Car

Well, today, on a whim, my mom and I went to the Toyota dealership to look at the car I would buy, if I had the funds. Mostly I wanted to look at the 2 colors I was interested in to determine which one I preferred. The cactus mica is my choice. The dealer made me drive the car around the block but first I had to drive through the gauntlet of new cars. I'm sure I had lots of space, as he kept telling me but the last thing I needed to do was ding up a bunch of new expensive cars on a day I had no plans on buying anyway. The car, by the way, is the toyota corolla LE. I'm basically going for the exact same car I have now but newer with fancier things like side and front airbags with ABS, and other stuff I'm sure I would want if I cared that much. I just wanted to see which color I liked best since I had already done my important research online. The car is about $18,500. Or almost half my yearly salary before taxes. So now I must decide which I want first, a new car or a new computer. I really want a new computer (to salivate with me go to apple.com and look at the macbook pro) but this is also probably the best time to put money down on a new car. So my plan is to see what sort of tax refund I get back this year. And if after setting aside money for property taxes and house insurance I have enough money, I may consider a new car or a new computer...or both. Or maybe I need to marry a rich guy so I can easily get both...and yes, even if I were to marry a rich guy, I would still go for the corolla cause then I could get the really fancy accessories for it. I listen to all the specialists at work complain about having to take in their fancy cars for servicing all the time. Just cause I would be rich doesn't mean I'd want to spend my money on car parts and mechanic labor times. Gotta save the imaginary richness for other more important things, like a new ipod, clothes, someone to do the ironing, cooking, and cleaning...oh wait, mom is doing those last 3 things for free. You get the idea. Time to update my pda

the dream

So I decided to check out the apple rumor site to see what new things have been released and are predicted in the future...the new macbook pro (still hate the name) is now available in even faster speeds! 2.16 ghz! And so now I must be patient to see how good or bad these new computers may be although it's pretty hard to be this patient. My computer still works fine but it's nice to dream...we'll have to see how much of a tax refund I get since my plans for that money are to use it to pay property taxes in november, pay off some of my credit card debt (not too much left), maybe put it in some long term savings thing that earns lots of credit, and lastly, help pay for this new computer. With the Tulane education discount, it's $2929 and without it the computer costs $3199. I suppose at those prices, getting the education discount is somewhat helpful because I can spend the extra money on product extended warranty. Not sure if it's better to get the apple warranty or compusa. The compusa plan is somewhat better since apple sometimes takes forever but still not sure.

Payton Turns 1

Tomorrow my niece will be 1 year old. I'm a little sad about not getting to be there but I sent her present on time (which is a major accomplishment for me). I went to the Build-a-Bear store and made her a monkey, dressed it in the scrubs outfit they sell, put a little pink bow on it's tail (to mark her as a girl monkey doctor), and called her "Bananas, MD." Dorky, I know, but she's a cute little monkey. And when Payton figures out how to press the left arm, Bananas will make her monkey sounds. My mom still hasn't sent me any pictures of my niece since she was about 8 or 9 months old. She told me she'll send me some but I think I'll end up waiting until she comes next month. My brother and sister-in-law aren't too great about sending photos either. Geez! What does a doting aunt have to do to get some pictures of her one and only niece!?! I'll be going home in april for my next vacation so I'll get to spend time with her then. She'll be walking by then, if she hasn't already done that (isn't it sad that I don't get ANY news of my niece? And since only dad reads this, maybe he'll send pictures.

wow

I want to cry...that's how much I'm in love with the new powerbooks...okay, it's called a macbook pro which is the most retarded name for an apple computer to date. So when I finally get the money and the 2nd rev is out, I'll still call it a powerbook. Macbook...I still can't believe that a company known for style would call their newest innovation a "MacBook Pro" Bleh. It's so hard to decide if I should work on my clinic notes or watch the replay of the presentation...choices choices choices.

snowing

So it snowed last night while I was on call so I didn't get to play in it...at least it didn't keep me from leaving post call...that blame goes to the attending who decided to do things his way rather than the protocol. So instead of seeing the sick babies first and then the kids up on the peds floor, we saw the well babies because there was a nurse who kept harassing us to see one of her patient's baby so they could leave. I told the attending that they could wait since we needed to see those who were the sickest first and he said "we need to see the discharges first." BS. No other attending runs things that way. The other complicating factor was someone who felt that moving the weekend that she made 39 weeks from her previous home in utah without any of her prenatal records would be a smart thing. You do sense the sarcasm right? Anyway, she delivered this morning around 10:30 so that kept me there longer. I did 2 deliveries on my call shift so I suppose that's not too bad. Anyway, i missed playing in the snow but I did go out and stand in the falling snow for awhile. The nurses all laughed at me. I don't care. One of the nurses slipped on the ice and whacked her head hard and got rolled over to the ED. Oh and I got some excitement when the patient who delivered when I first started out on sunday decided to have a hemorrhage at 4 pm. I was told I handled the situation well but it was with assistance from the experienced nurses who asked me if I wanted certain drugs...in other words, I just needed to say yes. I did know about 2 of the meds they were pulling out when I got to the room and ordered those doses so I suppose I needed some brain function. And in my head I kept saying "please stay alive until my attending shows up." Anyway, I'm rambling...

Oh, one more thing, I bought a snow shovel so I could shovel my steep driveway. There is the possibility that my driveway will be one ice slide in the morning and I will need to call about being late (oh darn...sarcasm again) but oh well...
I have decided that snow is pretty when it's not on the road.

crazy

well, my cousin carly and her husband just found out they were having twins. Yep, this is the younger sister of my other cousin Erinn, who just had twins in april. Hmmm...this could make getting pregnant for any member of our extended family potentially dangerous... or fun. Crazy will be if laura gets pregnant with twins at some point, their mom (my aunt) told her to just adopt. Perhaps the proud grandparents are already burnt out on helping with twins? I now have to make 2 receiving blankets instead of the one I just started. anyway, I need to shower and eat some lunch then go meet chris. we're going to see the harry potter movie.

exhilaration

I don't know what it was about today's delivery but it felt so exciting and rejuvinating. Maybe it's because I hadn't done a delivery in the past week and had kind of gotten bored after doing a month of ob and having to stay one more month - a slump. This woman wasn't any different than anyone else I had delivered and I didn't exactly feel any more connected to her but it was just a great feeling after getting that baby out. It was kind of a big kid too: 9lb 10 oz and the placenta was huge too! Thankfully she didn't tear so no stitching required. Maybe it was happiness that although I stayed late to deliver her, I didn't have to stay later to repair any tears. I predicted her delivery around 5 pm and he was born at 5:01 pm. It was fun.

I also got a thank you note from a woman who I helped deliver a couple of weeks ago (she had a c-section because her baby was breech). I had taken a picture with her son so they gave me a copy of the picture. I also circumsized him. Very much the continuity and full service a family physician provides.

shopping and salivation

Good News! Today I went shopping at my new favorite place - Bridgeport Shopping Center in Tigard (that's the place we met your airline friends, Dad). It's So Amazing it's probably better that it takes a while to get there...relative to how close Clackamas Town Center is to my house. Anyway, there's J.Crew, Banana Republic, a fun Container Store...And the best thing - APPLE STORE!!!! Yippeee! I love the apple store! Today I spent an hour in there salivating over all the things I wish I could buy and can't afford...mostly the new powerbooks. There's supposed to be a new update in january or february possibly with the new Intel chips so I think I might buy a new computer after the first batch comes out with whatever problems may arise. I don't have time to be an early adopter and deal with any little bugs the first intel powerbooks might have. My computer now still works but the screen is messed up and for a brief time, one of the usb ports didn't work and in february, it will be 4 years old. And I can still get the education discount with my tulane id...I wonder where I put that thing. Actually, I would probably order it online since I'm going to customize it with a bigger and faster harddrive and more ram. I'm not sure I'm a fan of the silver colored keys but overall it looks like a great product. Oh and I also might buy a new PDA with my $500 of CME money. I'm waiting to see any updates next spring since I have the whole year to use that money plus the $100 from Compusa cause they initally ripped me off when I had my old ipod replaced with the one I have now. So far buy.com has the cheapest price and I also have a $15 off coupon to use but it expires on Dec 15th. I wish I were rich so I could buy these things sooner.

Anyway, I got a lot of christmas shopping done today so it was a big accomplishment for me considering I was post call today (i got a decent amount of sleep in last night)