Bastions of Sanity

I have been on OB/GYN all month long. The idea of delivering babies all day sounds good on paper, but the reality has been quite different. In three weeks of being on service, I have delivered only 11 babies (counting weekdays only, that is less than 1 per day). Sad sad. Know what I do the rest of the day? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I get to sit there and pretend to be busy, which usually involves reading some journal article or another, or screwing around online. Normally this would be pure torture (it still is), but I have been maintaining my sanity by doing a few things here and there. These have been unconscious acts, really; but now that I think about it, such seemingly trivial activities have got me through this month with a stitch of sanity intact.

Coming and going through the trauma bay doors - There are many ways into the hospital, but I have been religiously using only the doors through the ambulance bay, which leads right in to the ER. Everyday I get to experience a little piece of my home turf, to remind me why I am here in the first place. This allows me to B.S. with some fellow residents, talk up my attendings, and say hey to the nurses and other staff I know. Today I ran into one of the medics I know, and was refreshed by his simple, "Have a good one, Doc." To some, the ER is a crazy place to be avoided at all costs; nowadays, it is a sweet little piece of home for me.

Reading about fun things at work - In order to pretend to be busy on the OB floor, I have been printing out journal articles about stuff that interests me (but is definitely not core material in the ER). Mostly I have been pouring through every possible article on Tactical Medicine (basically medical support of SWAT teams and Secret Service and FBI, etcetera). You will hear more of this, as I will be taking a week-long course next month. It is a serious topic, and a reasonably dangerous job, but an exciting distraction for me. I have also been reaidng about blast injuries and explosions, as I am planning to give such a lecture to my EMS pals soon.

Hometown radio - I love the internet for streaming audio. Almost daily I listen to my fave home-hometown country radio station as well as Portland's best-ever alternative music on my very own computer, which makes me happier than most anything. Rarely do I get to turn up the tunes on the labor and delivery floor, but when I am home, one or the other of those stations is always on. Sometimes I forget I am across the country far far away when I hear those familiar sounds and traffic reports and DJs.

Fun Fun Reading - I devoted a previous post to this, but yes, I am still reading for fun almost every night. Though this thick Paul Theroux book is taking quite a while at fifteen minutes per day. I have stopped short of reading my fun book at work though (probably frowned upon).

My puppies and my girl and my friends and family - These go without saying of course, and certainly require little detail to understand. I am bad about keeping in touch (busy, duh), but appreciate and revel in every chance I get to be reconnected.

"You can do anything for a month" - This is the mantra of residency, and pretty soon, enough months have passed that you get to graduate. So we push on.

Guten Tag Heidi

So here are some quick and random pictures of my new (used) Audi A4, Heidi. They are just shots I took real fast in m y driveway in bad light and played with effects on. I will take more quality pictures as opportunities present. There will certainly be more words and photos of the Continuing Adventures of Heidi. Stay Tuned.

Ode to the Green Goose

Last week, I traded in my old faithful good-on-gas Jetta (The Green Goose) for a new used car - a rather pretty Audi A4 (named Heidi). Being that I have personally owned the Goose for about 7 or 8 years now, and known her for a decade, I thought it fitting to take some time and space out here on the ol' blog here to commemorate her. Eventually I will introduce you to Heidi as well, but do not want to take attention away from the Green Goose right now. This is all about her. Here is a montage of the (sadly) few pictures I could find of my old car that were taken during her 187,000 miles of service. From the roads of California to the hills of PA... thanks Goose.