The big, the sad and the promising
First - some ruminations from the airport (1/31/08):
7:30 AM – check bags and go through security
Ever since they hired a special group to do security I have found the security personnel have been so much nicer. TSA employees, in my experience, have been generally very sweet people. Except today. Today they seem grouchy.
8:00 AM – buy WIRED magazine
I love this magazine. If I didn’t already get NEJM, JAMA, AAFP, EW, The Week, Environmental mags and ten million email listserv messages I would totally subscribe.
8:20 – read some of WIRED
Totally sweet. Way more fun than JAMA. Pictures are cooler too. A columnist vocalized something I have been trying to figure out for ages: “If you want to read books that tackle profound philosophical questions, then the best – and perhaps only – place to turn these days is sci-fi. Science fiction is the last great literature of ideas.” This comment was made in context of a novella about the ramifications of duplicating physical property like we can MP3’s. This would include (I presume from the tone of the column) medications, electronics, and vehicles. The result in the novella is the demanding of royalties from developers to the point of warfare and invasion. Hmm… much less passive aggressive than letting HIV+ third world citizens go untreated and transmit and die from AIDS. Interesting theory. I may have to find this novella and read it myself. It’s called After the Siege.
8:45-9:00 – walk around airport
Random thoughts in the airport: That man totally looks pregnant. He’s not fat anywhere else. In fact, I wonder, maybe it’s not a man. Maybe that is a pregnant woman. No. No… that’s a man. Amazing - he's totally skinny everywhere except his belly. I bet its ascites.
After wandering around and trying every hand lotion I come across I probably smell nasty. Like a cocoa butter-tangerine-lavender-coconut-cherry-olive oil smorgasbord. And you know what? My hands don’t even feel the slightest bit moist! Imagine that. Maybe I should go back and try the hemp hand lotion.
9:15 AM – finally find an outlet. Plug in and type.
Wow, I have an hour before we are even going to think about boarding. It’s nice not having anything for the overhead compartment. Then I don’t have to worry about gunning for the space. Maybe I’ll board late. DVT’s suck anyway.
Debating signing up for some wifi. When will they just make it free? Like drinking fountains? Seriously folks, wireless is becoming a bit of a racket. It’s everywhere, there are probably more than a million (surely) possible connections in just one city. Each person shelling out, say, $40/month on average? That doesn’t even include the cost of a router. Yeah, mine is $33/month for now, but after my deal is up the price will soar. I understand they have lots of cost in managing the main routers, connecty thingies, etc, but when all is said and done, in this high tech world, how much will it ultimately save everyone if we just install routers on every street corner? And get businesses to buy in with a one-time yearly fee? Sure, I don’t know everything about wireless web connections – obviously, since I used the term “connecty thingie” – but don’t you think there is a better future than $10/hour service in an airport and $50/month at home?
My tummy hurts from my skim hot cocoa. Drank it way too fast.
9:40 AM
Why, for the love of god, does time have to pass so slowly? Off for more hand lotion.
* * * 2/1/08 * * *
Flight was uneventful. I read a little, watched a little movie on my computer, dozed a little...
Arrival was smooth. Aunt Jeanne picked me up and I ate a MOUNTAIN of steamers on the bay before heading back to the house and settling in. It was a good thing, too, because I needed the fuel to figure out that I was charged my deductible twice by my insurance company. This is not the insurance company's fault but still incredibly aggravating (long boring story).
I slept ok but realized sometime in the night, that I now, officially, have a URI. Gr.
Today in clinic was overall pretty nice. I would say excellent but the first part of the day was spent learning the system which is never fun. As I told Liza and Suhani my morning went like this: 2 hours orientation and paperwork. Get my first patient, see him, staff him (time for that, 30 minutes). Then spend another 2 hours writing his prescriptions, entering his orders, his referrals, documenting his visit, sending the proper messages through the proper channels and then realizing I did some of it on the wrong patient and having to undo and do it again.
The afternoon was much smoother and I saw a decent flow of patients. Most with mundane complaints. However, some of these folks have heartbreaking stories of how they ended up homeless - today it seemed to be mostly due to alcohol problems. The clinic I worked at today is situated in the middle of a place called Father Joe's Village. Click on this to find out more about it in general, and click here to read about where I am working. Pretty neat. Most, if not all, of my patients are sheltered there or living on the street.
Monday I am working with a traveling clinic. The Mobile Medical Unit. Click here for more info on that. It looks really awesome and I can't wait to see what they have in there.
I have a feeling this rotation is going to be very rewarding. I'll keep everyone posted. And don't forget to check out those links!
7:30 AM – check bags and go through security
Ever since they hired a special group to do security I have found the security personnel have been so much nicer. TSA employees, in my experience, have been generally very sweet people. Except today. Today they seem grouchy.
8:00 AM – buy WIRED magazine
I love this magazine. If I didn’t already get NEJM, JAMA, AAFP, EW, The Week, Environmental mags and ten million email listserv messages I would totally subscribe.
8:20 – read some of WIRED
Totally sweet. Way more fun than JAMA. Pictures are cooler too. A columnist vocalized something I have been trying to figure out for ages: “If you want to read books that tackle profound philosophical questions, then the best – and perhaps only – place to turn these days is sci-fi. Science fiction is the last great literature of ideas.” This comment was made in context of a novella about the ramifications of duplicating physical property like we can MP3’s. This would include (I presume from the tone of the column) medications, electronics, and vehicles. The result in the novella is the demanding of royalties from developers to the point of warfare and invasion. Hmm… much less passive aggressive than letting HIV+ third world citizens go untreated and transmit and die from AIDS. Interesting theory. I may have to find this novella and read it myself. It’s called After the Siege.
8:45-9:00 – walk around airport
Random thoughts in the airport: That man totally looks pregnant. He’s not fat anywhere else. In fact, I wonder, maybe it’s not a man. Maybe that is a pregnant woman. No. No… that’s a man. Amazing - he's totally skinny everywhere except his belly. I bet its ascites.
After wandering around and trying every hand lotion I come across I probably smell nasty. Like a cocoa butter-tangerine-lavender-coconut-cherry-olive oil smorgasbord. And you know what? My hands don’t even feel the slightest bit moist! Imagine that. Maybe I should go back and try the hemp hand lotion.
9:15 AM – finally find an outlet. Plug in and type.
Wow, I have an hour before we are even going to think about boarding. It’s nice not having anything for the overhead compartment. Then I don’t have to worry about gunning for the space. Maybe I’ll board late. DVT’s suck anyway.
Debating signing up for some wifi. When will they just make it free? Like drinking fountains? Seriously folks, wireless is becoming a bit of a racket. It’s everywhere, there are probably more than a million (surely) possible connections in just one city. Each person shelling out, say, $40/month on average? That doesn’t even include the cost of a router. Yeah, mine is $33/month for now, but after my deal is up the price will soar. I understand they have lots of cost in managing the main routers, connecty thingies, etc, but when all is said and done, in this high tech world, how much will it ultimately save everyone if we just install routers on every street corner? And get businesses to buy in with a one-time yearly fee? Sure, I don’t know everything about wireless web connections – obviously, since I used the term “connecty thingie” – but don’t you think there is a better future than $10/hour service in an airport and $50/month at home?
My tummy hurts from my skim hot cocoa. Drank it way too fast.
9:40 AM
Why, for the love of god, does time have to pass so slowly? Off for more hand lotion.
* * * 2/1/08 * * *
Flight was uneventful. I read a little, watched a little movie on my computer, dozed a little...
Arrival was smooth. Aunt Jeanne picked me up and I ate a MOUNTAIN of steamers on the bay before heading back to the house and settling in. It was a good thing, too, because I needed the fuel to figure out that I was charged my deductible twice by my insurance company. This is not the insurance company's fault but still incredibly aggravating (long boring story).
I slept ok but realized sometime in the night, that I now, officially, have a URI. Gr.
Today in clinic was overall pretty nice. I would say excellent but the first part of the day was spent learning the system which is never fun. As I told Liza and Suhani my morning went like this: 2 hours orientation and paperwork. Get my first patient, see him, staff him (time for that, 30 minutes). Then spend another 2 hours writing his prescriptions, entering his orders, his referrals, documenting his visit, sending the proper messages through the proper channels and then realizing I did some of it on the wrong patient and having to undo and do it again.
The afternoon was much smoother and I saw a decent flow of patients. Most with mundane complaints. However, some of these folks have heartbreaking stories of how they ended up homeless - today it seemed to be mostly due to alcohol problems. The clinic I worked at today is situated in the middle of a place called Father Joe's Village. Click on this to find out more about it in general, and click here to read about where I am working. Pretty neat. Most, if not all, of my patients are sheltered there or living on the street.
Monday I am working with a traveling clinic. The Mobile Medical Unit. Click here for more info on that. It looks really awesome and I can't wait to see what they have in there.
I have a feeling this rotation is going to be very rewarding. I'll keep everyone posted. And don't forget to check out those links!
posted by Beta at 8:16 AM
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