pikamookie’s Neighborhood

What's on your holiday wishlist?

Ok, so I was looking at my holiday wishlist last year and not much has changed.  I actually didn't get most things on it except for the thermarest.  Well, I thik I probably bought some more perfume and some socks, but that's about it.  Oh wait!  Last week I finally bought a snowboard.  I still need to get the boots and bindings, but I made the first step.  I also didn't take any of those trips I talked about, but I think I'll be ok. 

Next year, I am going to South America for 3 weeks.  I'm also thinking about going to China and Nepal to do some trekking, but those plans are not set.  That should hopefully satiate my wanderlust for a year or so.  I also have to figure out what to do next summer.  Maybe work in a nat'l park or something like that.  I always wanted to do that, and next year seems like the best time to do that.

Well, getting back to the point....here's my wishlist.  Some of the things are still the same.

1.  Personal trainer.  I still want that hot body, but unfortunately I have little motivation and self-restraint when it comes to food.  I need some help!

2.  Bindings and boots for my snowboard.  I should go shopping for that soon, but these ice-storms just make me want to stay in all day.

3.  A boyfriend.  I'm tired of being single, and I just want some companionship.  I do stuff by myself all the time, and it's getting old.  Though, I don't just want any boyfriend, I want someone that I could actually take home to meet my parents.  Someone with potential...not just a fling.

4.  I can't think of anything else.  That's strange.  My wishlist should be waaay longer but I can't come up with anything else.

Oh, I thought of something.

5.  Professional teeth whitening.  I don't like those little strips and whatnot.  I want to go to the dentist to get it done.

That's it for now. 

Ok, I secretly really like that new Britney Spears song.  It's super catchy, and I like hearing it when I'm driving in my car.  I feel like I shouldn't like anything Britney especially 'cause of all her crazy antics lately, but sometimes I am just a sucker for pop music. 

In other news, nothing has changed.  My life is still just work and applications.  Yesterday, I had this patient who is an adorable cute, little, old lady.  She's 81 years old and she was beaten up by a bunch of muggers.  I can't stand seeing that.  The poor thing can barely get around as it is.  If someone were going to rob her why couldn't they have just taken her things and leave her be?  She's got bruises all over her face, a black eye, 10+ stitches in her head.

I think I've really taken to geriatrics.  Well, except for senile old patients...I do not enjoy working with them.

This is for all you girls who complain about my outdated blog.

Well, my life is work.  That's all I do nowadays.  I really don't do much else besides work that even now I dream about it.  I don't know why.  Everyone else who's part of the normal full time working world probably has things to do outside of work, but not me.  Maybe it's my weird hours.  I wake up a few hours before work, and am usually not in the mood to get out of the house.  After work, I do have more energy to run errands, meet up with people and whatnot but most everything in the suburbs is closed.  I need to change something about my schedule.

So, yesterday I had a bad day at work.  I'm a patient care tech at a hospital, so I pretty much am at the bottom of the totem pole.  However, I do not think that gives the right for doctors to talk down to me.  I have had it with doctors, med students, interns and the whole bunch.  I just want to scream at them that I have a college degree (two actually) so there's no reason to treat me like an idiot.  I probably did better on the MCAT than most of them and part of me just wants to rub that in their faces....but I can't.  [OK, I don't know if that last part is true, but I like to think so.]

Ok, well, last night these neurosurgeons asked me to translate for a spanish speaking patient.  I told them that I do not know that many medical terms, so I wanted to grab my little dictionary.  The damn doctor told me that he'd talk in basic terms and wouldn't let me grab my book.  Anyways, so I went in the room and the doctor asked me to tell the woman that she has a build up of fluid in her brain and part of her brain was slipping down into her spine.  I didn't know how to say spine (and I told them I didn't know internal body parts) and they made me feel like I was useless.  So, one of the interns who speaks much worse spanish than I do took over.  And, one of the damn residents started talking about me saying stuff like I don't know spanish while I was still in the room!!!  Ok, I may not be fluent in spanish, but I sure as hell am not deaf.  He could at least have some respect and not talk about me behind my back while I'm still in hearing range.  My translating days are over, at least for the neurosurgeons.

One of the housekeepers who is Mexican and speaks fluent spanish didn't know how to say spine either.  She told me not to feel bad 'cause it's not our job to translate, especially for the doctors.  I would not want to be responsible for a patient misunderstanding her treatment, diagnosis, etc.

Ugh!

So, hopefully I'll be a doctor one day, but I sure as hell hope that I do not turn into one of those cocky bastards that I deal with everyday.  They act like they're god's gift and they're the only people who know what they're talking about.  Oh...and I cannot stand it when med students act like that too.  F*** you...I'm probably just as smart as you guys. 

So, for all my future doctors who might read this: please be nice and respectful to everyone involved in patient care, do not put new lab orders in every 15 minutes because patients hate being stuck several times in a row, be prompt with your diet and activity orders 'cause patients also get frustrated when they can't get up or have anything to eat or drink, be clear about your discharge orders, and do not talk down to patients either.

[Ok, this post is not meant to offend any of my med student friends.  I know you guys are all very nice and are not like any of those neurosurgeons that I have to deal with.  I just needed to vent.]

So I finally started rotations, and cross my fingers I won't have to go back to studying for that awful exam ever again. I have been on pediatrics outpatient and I love it. Not only because it is probably the lightest rotation I will have all third year in terms of how many hours I have to work, but children are amazing!  I forgot how much joy they can bring you. They are like little cute cuddly puppies that you just want to ooh and awe at because they are so excited to get your attention and make you smile.

But today I also got to do what I had always dreamed that the field of medicine would allow me to do...have people open up to me about their life experiences beyond their illness and be able to offer advice.  The girl was 14 - a vital age in which independent choices start being made that can have significant effects on one future.  Yet from the moment you spoke to this girl you knew she would chose the path less trodden by.  And ever since the hour I spent with her this afternoon tears have come to my eyes each time I think of her.  Maybe it was her voiced dedication to God. Or perhaps it was her undeniable intelligence and passionate interest in poetry, music, and any knew information she could attain. Or maybe it was seeing her mom's love and devotion as she told her daughter You know I trust you. I knew it wasn't an STD if you told me you haven't had sex.  Or maybe it was seeing her mom doing her "homework" from the 12 steps to recovery book.  Or maybe it was hearing that this bright young girl was accepted into a combined high school college program by the University of Illinois but that she would not be able to attend because their family could not afford the 3000 dollars.

I think most of all what gets to me is the image of her mom's arms wrapped around her as she told that me that her daughter was born premature at 7 months and only weighed 2 pounds 2 ounces.  How 2 pounds can turn into this talented young girl with so much potential to positively impact this world amazes me.

I hope that my encouraging words meant something to her. But somehow I feel that in my one hour with her she influenced me more than I had an affect on her.  Her faith in God was quiet but strong and reminded me of the belief that I once had at her age, but lost in recent years.  The love she and her mom shared and her ability to form a connection that crosses physical limits. 

Her soft spoken words as I left the room perhaps never to see her again echo through my head "God bless you"

It's been awhile since I updated here on Vox.  This is due to a lot of the nothingness that I've been up to lately.  It's tough; lots of empty voids fill up your day quickly and before you know it, the day is gone and you're still in your PJs!  No, actually I've been getting up early and trying to get a lot done each day.  I've also gone back to eating oatmeal every morning!  Yum, I love oatmeal.  Since I'm a lactose intolerant though, I just pour in water (2:1 oats) and pop it in the microwave.  No milk for me.  Then I sprinkle brown sugar.  Deelicious. 

What else, what else.  I finally got around to passing my reading and writing tests for the EMT course that I'll be taking at COD in the fall.  Why do I need to write properly structured essays with an appropriate use of grammar and vocabulary as an EMT?  Was that correct grammar?  At any rate, I passed!  UH YES.  Haven't taken a humanities course in...huh.  Not counting Anthropology right now because it's a joke and I don't do anything...Last humanities course with papers...God.  I can't even remember!  Junior year?  So, what- 3 years ago?  at least?  Ha ha ah aahahaaa that's so sad.  Now I regret not taking more courses at Trinity. 

Hector has taken to sitting at the kitchen table with us while we eat.  Sunday brunch, weekly dinner...he's there.  Check it out:

This dog is just so sneaky.  When I was younger, I couldn't eat with my elbows on the table.  I couldn't sit cross legged or chew with my mouth open or stink like kibble!  Now Hector can eat at the table??  Tragic.

offf_09_lightbox

www.joshuadavis.com - sketches - www.once-upon-a-forest.com

May 10, 2007 I'll be creating work at the OFFF Festival (http://www.offf.ws) over the course of the 3 days and printing the results on the HP Designjet Z3100 Photo printer filling the exhibition space. As you enter the space, I've created nine -- 4.5 foot x 6.5 foot (1.3716 meters x 1.9812 meters) lightboxes that will line the hallway as you move down into my exhibition space. If you're going to the OFFF festival this year be sure to stop by and say HOLA !

Uploaded by Joshua Davis on 3 May 07, 2.04PM CDT.

aqui-ali used a 95 second exposure and it looks awesome.

Lola's toe is infected.  She cracked her toenail sometime ago and we took her to the vet.  At the time, the doctor just trimmed her toenails and said it should be ok.  But she also said that if Lola continues to favor the toe then we should call her.  So, a week goes by and I notice that Lola keeps licking/favoring her toe and I tell my mom.  My mom said it was ok, and didn't want to call the vet. 

So, another week goes by and now her toe is pink, and the nail is black with dried blood.  I just noticed this two days ago so I called the vet, without consulting my mom.  My appointment was for today, and when I picked up Lola her nail wasn't even there!  Poor thing.  She doesn't seem like she's in pain, but I'm sure it's uncomfortable, to say the least.

Now she's on antibiotics for the next two weeks, and she can't go outside because of the open wound.  I felt so bad today when I let the other dogs out and I had to shut the door on Lola.  She just stood at the glass door, watching us, and barking. 

Poor girl.

Hopefully she'll be back to normal in two weeks.

I'm also tired of my mom not taking things seriously with the dogs.  This is not the first time this has happened.  Last year when I took the dogs to get their vaccinations, Zoe's face started to swell.  My mom said it was ok, and did not want to take her back to the vet.  BUT Zoe's face was getting bigger and it was obvious she was having an allergic reaction.  I took her back to the vet myself and they had to give her shots of steroids and benadryll.

Just recently, we went out to dinner and my parents had some lamb bones left over.  My brother said that we had to roast the bones before giving them to Penny 'cause they would crumble otherwise.  Of course, my mom was not paying attention to him. So, when I came home from a long day of class and studying there were several piles of vomit left for me to clean up.  Oh, and they were full of pieces of bone.  My mom had given her the bones without roasting them, and she obviously choked on the fragments.  I called my mom up immediately and yelled/scolded her. 

I shouldn't yell at my mom.  I do not normally yell at her, but this time I was just very frustrated. 

Even though my mom's a doctor, I don't think I should take her medical advice anymore when it comes to the dogs.

I started out this summer semester with a lot of optimism.  I thought that my 200 level Cultural Anthropology class was going to rock.  No, seriously, I did.  I was really excited!  I was going to learn about tribes and environments and hunting methods and pottery and all sorts of neat stuff from neat places that I had never heard of and the very root of human desire and human nature would be revealed and I could die a happy (wo)man.  Instead, I'm now stuck in a class that feels like junior high with a professor who means well but is a little bit insane/stupid. 

For one, all we're doing is learning terms!  Instead of learning about other cultures and then in the process becoming familiar with terms, we're going through the terms one by one.  Then we get these little bite sized chunks of other cultures in order to demonstrate our newly learned term.  I mean, what the hell!  Aren't we in college?!  We aren't children and if I  had wanted to learn a bunch of terms I would've started memorizing the dictionary a long time ago and saved my parents a bunch of cash.   I mean, honestly!  This is so SESS (spanish word, english word, spanish word, spanish word) that I am pretty disgusted.  This is a 200 level college course.  Good F-ing lord. 

Secondly, in explaining these terms he treats us like a bunch of 'tards.  Although some of the things that the people say in the class are making me begin to think that I may have overestimated my peers.  For instance, we were talking about farmers and how they farm and live in a village but they rotate their crops on different plots so as to not exhaust the nitrogen in the soil.  He even drew a diagram with the village in the center as a circle that never moved and he drew rotating plots around it.  Then he asks us what are some characteristics of this type of living scenario.  A girl says, "semi nomadic."  !?!?!R#L:$J!@P$(&*!@)$(@#)$*(!@)#*(!@)#!#?!??!?#~??

OH.  And THEN!  And then he started talking about how stupid it was that Computer Scientists are developing AI because what's the point of computers with human intelligence when he can think just fine, thank you very much. 

My favorite is when he told us that culture is like software installed in our brain.  When we came into class today, we knew not to sit in our seats with our backs facing the front or to come in half naked.  How?  Well, you see, we just found our "acceptable classroom behavior" folder in our brains and pulled out some data to see what was custom in this society.

I'm sorry, I'm at a loss of words.  I just, ...it's beyond me.  I'm just realizing now how good I had it at Trinity and Exeter. 

OK, so today Rach and I took Hector out to run some errands.  I had to go to Fry's to drool over the Macbooks and Rach just wanted to get out of the house.  The last time we brought Hector into Fry's, everyone loved him!  One of the girls that worked there actually got us a cart to let him ride in.  Customers stopped us to pet him and it was a fun time had by all. 

It did not go so smoothly this time.  We got in and no one Ooo-ed or Aaww-ed!  People for the most part ignored him.  Which is fine.  But then we walked over to the video section and this horrible lady started yelling about "Is she allowed to bring that in here!  Someone go find out if that's allowed!"  OK, someone had too much haterade this morning.  So we skedaddled.  But poor hector was so upset that we decided to head to REI, where we were sure people would enjoy his presence. 

After walking around in REI for about a minute, this very nice guy came up and told us there was a policy against dogs in stores unless they're service dogs.  Uuuumm....when did dogs become second class citizens!  They're my best friends!  I'm so depressed.

In all seriousness, I understand why they don't allow them but it's sad they can't discriminate against lamb dogs and eat-your-baby dogs.  Actually, true story, we were in Fullersberg the other day and someone asked us if Hector was a lamb.  I think he was joking, but c'mon now...certainly it demonstrates his Awww qualities.

Sidenote: I did a google search for REI images and yeah...there an asian porn star named Rei.  Definitely not what I was expecting.