Sunday, January 16, 2011

Big changes for 2011

Wow, 2011 is already proving to be a year of change! Here are some of the new things going on in the Melikagirl Universe since my last update.

The New Horse
I know I have already hinted at this, but allow me to officially state: I have acquired a horse! He was a gift, arrived January 8th from Kentucky, and he is all mine. Mine, mine, mine! He is 17 hands high (that's rather big, for those who don't know what that means), a bay (which means brown horse with black mane and tail), a Thoroughbred (America's most versatile breed, in my opinion) and only 4 years old (that's just a baby, he still may even have some growing to do). I've named him Augustus, or Gus for short. He's lovable, sweet, amazingly good natured (no one can believe he's just 4 years old), and he is still figuring things out under saddle. Here is a photo of him getting nose scratches from me on our second ride together.

You may not be surprised, but I'm totally in love.

We have a lot of work to do. Optimistically, he may start jumping in the next 6 months or so at the jumper facility across the street, but in the meantime, he needs to get his basics down a bit better. I'm boarding at a really nice dressage barn complete with very good trainers who can help me train Gus to reach his awesome potential. He is flexible, athletic, willing, mostly brave, and wants to please. I just need to be patient with him and he can go far. Next week we have our first professional training session and I can't wait to see how it goes!


The New Car
My little '95 Civic, with stick shift, sunroof, and oodles of pep, has officially been retired. I worked hard to keep her after she'd been stolen and violated my memorable intern year. My personal goal was to have her last through residency. And that she did. While most Civics are reliable and last forever, this one succumbed years ago to the salt and snow of Michigan. I used to joke with one of my mechanics that she was an Escort trapped in a Civic's body. Her poor rust-addled frame has been held together with spit, love and bailing twine for the last decade or more (I drew the line at duct tape). The amount of cash I've put into repairs in the last 2 years has added up to more than she's worth. The last time she was in the shop (after my calipers seized for, say, perhaps the 5th time) the mechanics recommended about $1800 in repairs right away. I paid them $600 to keep her drivable. Thus, as peppy and fun as that little maroon car was, it was time to let her go. Between the horse and work, I expect to spend about 10 hours (plus or minus) driving each week. And now that I will be dealing with rush hour traffic, I'm not going to lie, an automatic will be a nice break on my poor gimpy clutch leg.

So what am I going to be driving now, you ask? Karin wanted to upgrade to a larger vehicle so she can fit her piano and associated equipment without shuffling too many seats. We were also thinking about having the option to haul the new beast. So Karin settled on a Certified Used 2007 Nissan Pathfinder SE. Not the kind of vehicle I ever thought I would have (admittedly, I still lust after a 5-speed manual transmission V-tec Honda Fit...) but she's from the wilds of Minnesota and can handle a truck like a pro. But I don't plan on driving that behemoth! I'll be driving Karin's previous chariot, which is now officially mine, a 2005 Honda Civic LX. I will take over the remainder of Karin's payments and we traded in my '95 to go toward her new beast. I think she may call her new car Bo Jangles. I think I'll just keep calling it The Beast. The '05 Civic still remains nameless. (Grainy picture above was taken by my phone: my new car, Silver, is at left, and the old carl, maroon, is at right - the angle makes the sizes funny be trust me that the new one is a tad bigger than the old one. The stock photo at right is The Beast, Bo Jangles).

The New Job
My planned 6 month sabbatical was extended just one month longer than anticipated as I will be starting work this February.

I have accepted an offer of a locum tenens job with HealthPoint here in King County. Of course it's the the furthest point of the County, in the city of Federal Way, just about to Tacoma (about 40 minutes with no traffic), but it's the opposite direction of rush hour (mostly) and just 3 days a week. I was commuting from Seattle to Tacoma and visa versa about 2-3 times a week all last year anyway, so I think I can handle the drive again for another 8 months.

Admittedly, I have been worried about launching my fresh-out-of-residency career in a similar environment to my old clinic. I was a bit burned by my patients taking advantage of me and the fact we were a residency clinic. We were often the last place a patient could be seen after they had been "fired" by numerous other health providers (for prescription drug abuse, fraud, inappropriate behavior, and other various issues) and had to deal with some very difficult patients. Residency clinic and "real life" clinic are two very different animals, and while HealthPoint is a federally recognized community health center, and their patient population is largely uninsured and underserved, I feel I might be in a better position to set some boundaries right off the bat.

I am excited to see what clinic life is like in a new work environment. I am appropriately skittish to be practicing on my own (will certainly double check my own advice before doling it out to my patients for a while) and understandably ecstatic to start getting a pay check! I have no benefits or paid vacations but I also don't have a long term commitment and am only working part time.

So, new horse, new car, new job, a wedding to plan... this next few months will fly by. I am going to try and slow down and savor every morsel of the good stuff.

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