The trip up from New Orleans to Tennessee was relatively quick and uneventful. Normally I wouldnt have been looking forward to a 7 hour drive, but now its like "only 7 hours, thats nothing." I got out of the hotel early and was on the highway within minutes. I10 took me across Lake Pontchartrain and I was impressed with the size of the lake. One of the most interesting part for me was driving across the bridge that linked the two sides. I bridge was several miles long and impecably maintained, and there was another similar bridge close by. Not to toot the horn for the people who maintain the bridges and levees especially if they are closing the barn door after the horse got out. Its just that the combined efforts of the NY and VT DOTs cannot maintain both of the bridges over Lake Champlain which resulted in one getting closed and peoples jobs getting screwed up.
I stopped in Hattiesburg, Mississippi to get a burrito in Brett Farve's home town. I also stopped just outside of Birmingham to grab a burrito so I never have to go back to Alabama. I booked into a days inn for my last night in a hotel for the trip. For the next 4 or 5 nights ill be staying with friends and family which should be fun. I should have knocked off the Tennessee burrito when I was here almost 2 years ago for a ski weekend. I was staying in the alumni cabin and there were people cooking every day so that I didnt have a chance to go out and find a mexican place. On the way out of I opted against getting a breakfast burrito at Sonic, and ironically I will be going to Sonic tomorrow morning to get the burrito.
I will be heading into Atlanta tomorrow afternoon and will be getting a chance to see several friends in the area and explore. I should be a good time and im looking forward to it. Im excited to be heading home, only 5 or so more days and I can relax for a bit and not have to worry about driving several hours at a stretch.
-O
Friday, November 27, 2009
Giving Thanks
Thanksgiving in New Orleans was quite an experience. I was suffering pretty badly during the morning because of my time on Bourbon Street the night before. It was a pretty interesting time, but next time I am definitely going to need somebody with me so that I have a better time. I did get a chance to see a few really good bands, including a zydeco band which I watched for almost an hour. They had a guy playing the washboards, and another who played the accordion extremely fast while singing. It was a good snapshot of New Orleans, especially since I was drinking a Hurricane that I got from Pat O'Briens which is the place which invented the Hurricane.
After I got up and ready I rode the Rue St Charles Streetcar around the city. This is one of the oldest street car lines in the world and they cars were pretty historic. I got to see the entire city. The houses were a hodgepodge of Victorians, brownstones, french colonials, low rise apartments, neuveau architecture and others that I cant name. This shows how old the city is and how many cultural and historic forces made their way through the area. I spent a few hours wandering around the french quarter and checking out music. I grabbed a cajun thanksgiving dinner at a little place near the cathedral. While it wasnt turkey and stuffing the Gumbo, Jambalaya, and red beans and rice were good enough. I eventually headed back to the hotel to watch some Football and relax a bit. I enjoyed these few days and definitely want to go back, but next time im going to bring some friends.
I took some time to really think about what I am thankful for at this time. I am definitely thankful for the opportunity to go on this trip. Not only have I seen a lot of places and done a lot of things I never had a chance to, but I have had the opportunity to step outside my comfort zone and both grow and learn a lot about myself. I am thankful that I am almost done with school and that things are finally falling into place for my future. I am glad that everyone is doing ok and that people are healing up nicely after surgery.
-O
After I got up and ready I rode the Rue St Charles Streetcar around the city. This is one of the oldest street car lines in the world and they cars were pretty historic. I got to see the entire city. The houses were a hodgepodge of Victorians, brownstones, french colonials, low rise apartments, neuveau architecture and others that I cant name. This shows how old the city is and how many cultural and historic forces made their way through the area. I spent a few hours wandering around the french quarter and checking out music. I grabbed a cajun thanksgiving dinner at a little place near the cathedral. While it wasnt turkey and stuffing the Gumbo, Jambalaya, and red beans and rice were good enough. I eventually headed back to the hotel to watch some Football and relax a bit. I enjoyed these few days and definitely want to go back, but next time im going to bring some friends.
I took some time to really think about what I am thankful for at this time. I am definitely thankful for the opportunity to go on this trip. Not only have I seen a lot of places and done a lot of things I never had a chance to, but I have had the opportunity to step outside my comfort zone and both grow and learn a lot about myself. I am thankful that I am almost done with school and that things are finally falling into place for my future. I am glad that everyone is doing ok and that people are healing up nicely after surgery.
-O
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Nawlins
After a frustrating hour and a half trying to find Oak Alley plantation on the Mississippi river between Baton Rouge and New Orleans I was able to find the place. The oak trees are like 400 years old and the place looked like something out of a movie. The antebellum plantation was a pretty cool find, even though getting there was a challenge I am glad I went. I eventually made it into New Orleans and wandered around until I could check into the hotel. Driving over the bridge and seeing the superdome was pretty amazing. After seeing all the footage of the post katrina new orleans it was awesome to see the rebuilt dome after everything the city has been through.
I wandered through the French Quarter for a few hours. I made it to the Aquarium of the Americas which was pretty mundane compared to Mystic Seaport. The one thing they did have was a white alligator which was awesome. I went to a nice cafe on rue charles and got a chance to eat an alligator po'boy and have a local beer. I then made it down to the cathedral and wandered around the square. There were two jazz bands playing in the street, real bands with several members and even a sousaphone. I stopped into a microbrewery and then checked into the hotel.
I have a real room. It isnt right on the parking lot, and I have to use a real elevator to get there. It has a view that isnt of a strip mall, parking lot, highway, or a fast food restaurant. Its a nice room and surprisingly was significantly cheaper than a lot of my other hotels. Im heading over to Bourbon street now then wandering around the french quarter for a bit.
-O
I wandered through the French Quarter for a few hours. I made it to the Aquarium of the Americas which was pretty mundane compared to Mystic Seaport. The one thing they did have was a white alligator which was awesome. I went to a nice cafe on rue charles and got a chance to eat an alligator po'boy and have a local beer. I then made it down to the cathedral and wandered around the square. There were two jazz bands playing in the street, real bands with several members and even a sousaphone. I stopped into a microbrewery and then checked into the hotel.
I have a real room. It isnt right on the parking lot, and I have to use a real elevator to get there. It has a view that isnt of a strip mall, parking lot, highway, or a fast food restaurant. Its a nice room and surprisingly was significantly cheaper than a lot of my other hotels. Im heading over to Bourbon street now then wandering around the french quarter for a bit.
-O
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Deep South
Today I made it all the way to Baton Rouge, LA. This put me over 9000 miles for the trip and more than 2 thousand since Friday. Yesterday I made it from San Antonio up to Texarkana. The drive was relatively short and pretty easy. I was surprised that the cities of Austin, Waco, Dallas, and Texarkana popped up spaced an hour and a half to 2 hours apart. It kind of felt like driving from Buffalo back toward NYC where you hit Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, and Albany on the way spaced pretty close together. The drive was pretty short and there wasnt much traffic. The traffic that was on the road apparently had an aversion to driving at a decent speed, so most of the time was spent either avoiding cars at 40mph or getting out of the way of cars going 90. Texarkana was a pretty strange experience. I stayed in the Texas part only about 100 yards from the state line. I went to a gas station in the texas part to buy some beer and found that it was a dry county and I would have to go to Arkansas to get beer. I had to deal and travel all 50 feet across the road to the other gas station, only to find out that apparently they dont sell Lotto tickets so people have to go over to Texas to buy lotto. It was a pretty strange experience. After one of the worst nights in a hotel I have ever had where the bathroom was dirty, the TV color was off, and the maid barged into my room at 9am even though checkout time wasnt until noon. I normally dont complain, and if it had only been one or 2 problems I wouldnt have said anything, but I complained at the front desk and they wound up taking the charges off my account so I got to sleep for free. To celebrate I went to breakfast at a Waffle House just down the street. I didnt have lofty expectations for the Waffle House, but they did ok and the breakfast was decent. The one thing I didnt like was how harsh the accents were of the people of Texarkana (Texarkans?). I am used to the mellower accents of Georgia and Virginia, but these people had voices that sounded like nails on the chalkboard. All in all I would have to rate the Texarkana experience as strange. Im glad I went (not just for the burrito), but im in no rush to go back.
Fueled by a Waffle House breakfast I headed through some back roads to Shreveport, LA and down to Baton Rouge. The first part took me on roads that reminded me of taking route 30 or route 9 up through the Southern Adirondacks. IT was pretty empty, with a lot of green grass and lakes/bayous, plus a decent smattering of trailers and run down houses. Along the highway I got to see more of the same open areas. Over the past week I have had a chance to see the extreme amount of agricultural production that can be done in America. From the Artichoke fields of the California Coast to the Sugar Cane plantations of Louisiana it is pretty awesome to think of the amount of food that we can grow.
I made it into Baton Rouge safely and was able to grab a Burrito at this place called Izzos Illegal Burrito. The place had 3 sizes of burrito, regular, Super Felony (about the size of a Bombers Burrito), and Illegal which was giant. I opted out of the Illegal burrito so that I can enjoy the culinary delights of New Orleans over the next few days. I plan on heading into the city tomorrow and exploring over the course of a few days, it should be a pretty cool experience and I am looking forward to it.
-O
Fueled by a Waffle House breakfast I headed through some back roads to Shreveport, LA and down to Baton Rouge. The first part took me on roads that reminded me of taking route 30 or route 9 up through the Southern Adirondacks. IT was pretty empty, with a lot of green grass and lakes/bayous, plus a decent smattering of trailers and run down houses. Along the highway I got to see more of the same open areas. Over the past week I have had a chance to see the extreme amount of agricultural production that can be done in America. From the Artichoke fields of the California Coast to the Sugar Cane plantations of Louisiana it is pretty awesome to think of the amount of food that we can grow.
I made it into Baton Rouge safely and was able to grab a Burrito at this place called Izzos Illegal Burrito. The place had 3 sizes of burrito, regular, Super Felony (about the size of a Bombers Burrito), and Illegal which was giant. I opted out of the Illegal burrito so that I can enjoy the culinary delights of New Orleans over the next few days. I plan on heading into the city tomorrow and exploring over the course of a few days, it should be a pretty cool experience and I am looking forward to it.
-O
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Everythings Bigger in Texas (Thats what she said)
Early this morning I headed into San Antonio from Fort Stockton. The first place I made it to was the Alamo. I have heard about the Alamo and the fight and everything for all these years, suffered through the Disney Davey Crockett movie dozens if not hundreds of times, and watched enough King of the Hill to have respect for what happened there. The thing I didnt realize was how small the space was, its hard to imagine how many people died in such a small space. I dont know if I was desensitized to the historical significance by all those trips to Fort Ticonderoga as a child, but I wasnt as impressed as I planned to be.
After I remembered the Alamo I headed over to the riverwalk. The riverwalk was the location for most of the stories I heard when my friends went to a conference here in 2005. I wandered the path along the river and stopped at a few shops. I didnt spend any time in the bars because I wasnt feeling much like drinking. I did head to a supermarket later and pick up a case of Lone Star Beer and Lone Star Light. I also picked up a 12 pack of Sessions Black Lager for my black friend who happens to be named Aaron Session, the coincidence was well worth the 10 bucks.
I headed over to OD's house and hung out with him for a bit before he headed to work. We went out to this BBQ place called Rudys which was out of this world. It was easily the best BBQ I have ever had. The meat was cooked with a dry rub and then you could slather it with their amazing sauce. I picked up a bottle of their rub to try out at home, and I will be ordering the sauce online so I dont have to drive it home. I also picked up some of the rub to bring to Veres in Atlanta because he apparently loves Rudys.
I decided that I have seen enough of San Antonio for this trip and will be heading out a day early. I had planned 2 days in San Antonio to rest and relax a bit, but I feel pretty fresh and both of my friends here are working tomorrow. Im going to head up through Dallas and possibly up to Texarkana. This splits my trip up a little more and allows me some more time along the way. Who knows but by this time tomorrow I may have eaten a burrito in my 27th state plus New Jersey.
-O
After I remembered the Alamo I headed over to the riverwalk. The riverwalk was the location for most of the stories I heard when my friends went to a conference here in 2005. I wandered the path along the river and stopped at a few shops. I didnt spend any time in the bars because I wasnt feeling much like drinking. I did head to a supermarket later and pick up a case of Lone Star Beer and Lone Star Light. I also picked up a 12 pack of Sessions Black Lager for my black friend who happens to be named Aaron Session, the coincidence was well worth the 10 bucks.
I headed over to OD's house and hung out with him for a bit before he headed to work. We went out to this BBQ place called Rudys which was out of this world. It was easily the best BBQ I have ever had. The meat was cooked with a dry rub and then you could slather it with their amazing sauce. I picked up a bottle of their rub to try out at home, and I will be ordering the sauce online so I dont have to drive it home. I also picked up some of the rub to bring to Veres in Atlanta because he apparently loves Rudys.
I decided that I have seen enough of San Antonio for this trip and will be heading out a day early. I had planned 2 days in San Antonio to rest and relax a bit, but I feel pretty fresh and both of my friends here are working tomorrow. Im going to head up through Dallas and possibly up to Texarkana. This splits my trip up a little more and allows me some more time along the way. Who knows but by this time tomorrow I may have eaten a burrito in my 27th state plus New Jersey.
-O
Saturday, November 21, 2009
What do you want on your Tombstone?
This morning I got up early and headed about half an hour from Benson to Tombstone, AZ. I was able to walk the main street of the historic western town and even get inside the OK Corral. I was shocked at how small the area where the gunfight took place was. The area of the corral where the fighting took place was literally about 15 feet by fifteen feet. The town was pretty cool, I got to check out the Tombstone Epitaph newspaper where you could "read your own Epitaph before breakfast". The people who work there must really love their jobs, they were all in period wear with a whole lot of handlebar mustaches. I got breakfast in the "OK Cafe" and as the name suggests it was just OK, but several of the guys dressed up as cowboys were there telling stories about Tombstone's history which was pretty cool.
When I was in Tombstone I noticed that one of my hubcaps was gone, odds are it is somewhere along the roadside in Death Valley. I would be mad, but the irony of the mexican guys joking about stealing my hubcaps was too much. All in all the car is holding up well, today took me over the 8000 mile mark for this trip, and nearly to 22,000 miles since I bough the car at the end of April. It has been through a lot, and is covered with road grime and dust. The first thing I am going to do when I get back to broadalbin is take it to the car wash and scrub this trip off it. I will also empty everything out and possibly take it in to get detailed.
Today's driving went pretty smoothly. I made it almost 600 miles in around 8 hours in part thanks to the 80mph Texas daytime speed limit. The trip took me through part of Arizona, all of New Mexico, through El Paso, and about halfway from El Paso to San Antonio. I am currently in Fort Stockton, TX in a nice Best Western that I found a coupon for. Before checking in I went to a steakhouse and ordered my steak with a side of broccoli and a baked potato. The waitress looked at me like nobody has ever ordered the broccoli before. I wonder if she went back and told the kitchen "somebody finally ordered the broccoli, please tell me we have some in stock. I picked up a 6 pack of Lone Star beer and found it to taste pleasantly like Utica Club. Tomorrow I am heading over to San Antonio to spend 2 days hanging out with OD. I will be visiting the Alamo and checking out the Riverwalk and everything else that I missed when I couldnt go with my friends a few years ago.
When I was in Tombstone I noticed that one of my hubcaps was gone, odds are it is somewhere along the roadside in Death Valley. I would be mad, but the irony of the mexican guys joking about stealing my hubcaps was too much. All in all the car is holding up well, today took me over the 8000 mile mark for this trip, and nearly to 22,000 miles since I bough the car at the end of April. It has been through a lot, and is covered with road grime and dust. The first thing I am going to do when I get back to broadalbin is take it to the car wash and scrub this trip off it. I will also empty everything out and possibly take it in to get detailed.
Today's driving went pretty smoothly. I made it almost 600 miles in around 8 hours in part thanks to the 80mph Texas daytime speed limit. The trip took me through part of Arizona, all of New Mexico, through El Paso, and about halfway from El Paso to San Antonio. I am currently in Fort Stockton, TX in a nice Best Western that I found a coupon for. Before checking in I went to a steakhouse and ordered my steak with a side of broccoli and a baked potato. The waitress looked at me like nobody has ever ordered the broccoli before. I wonder if she went back and told the kitchen "somebody finally ordered the broccoli, please tell me we have some in stock. I picked up a 6 pack of Lone Star beer and found it to taste pleasantly like Utica Club. Tomorrow I am heading over to San Antonio to spend 2 days hanging out with OD. I will be visiting the Alamo and checking out the Riverwalk and everything else that I missed when I couldnt go with my friends a few years ago.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Back in Arizona
Today I got a bit of a late start because I took my car in to get serviced. After getting the oil changed, the tires rotated and a new air filter I was ready to hit the road. The guys working on the car were joking that my hubcaps didnt match and they didnt want me going home and telling everyone that mexicans at jiffy lube stole them. After this I made the decision that I really like Mexican Americans. I only know 1 mexican guy and that wasnt a big enough sample size, but after this trip I have decided that mexicans are OK. I figure that they are a hard working, family oriented people with great food, they are like the Italians of the early 20th century (minus the hand motions), plus you really dont want to get on their bad side. I was able to head out by 10 and had a full day of driving in front of me. I am glad that I got everything running smoothly because shortly after I left LA i headed through the Palm Desert and into the valley of death (death valley). There were signs saying not to run the AC because of overheating (which is find because mine doesnt work), and that there were no services for up to 60 miles ahead. The desert was actually more green that what I expected with a lot of sage brush along the roadside. I saw my first Cactus of the trip just after I crossed into Arizona. I had seen a few planted and manicured ones outside the Airport in Phoenix when I flew in this summer, but those werent real cacti.
I hit a little bit of traffic when I crossed through Phoenix at rush hour, but after what I dealt with yesterday in Cali this is nothing. I made it down to Tucson and stopped for dinner at Cracker Barrel. About 2 years ago I was listening to a comedy CD on a road trip with a few friends and the guy was talking about swearing at Cracker Barrel billboards. Since then I have yelled profanities at every cracker barrel billboard that I have ever seen, even though I have never previously eaten there. In the words of Stephen on the drive back from Baltimore "I didnt realize how many cracker barrel signs there were until you started all that swearing". So I finally broke down and got me some good homestyle country food. I was decent and extremely cheap. I will continue to yell at the signs simply because its a tradition. I wound up in Benson, AZ where I got into a hotel and did some laundry. My last load is in the dryer and I will be going to bed soon. I did have an opportunity to book my hotel for New Orleans and will be staying downtown about 4 blocks from bourbon street in a clarion hotel. It was pretty cheap and looks like a nice place. Tomorrow I am going to head down to Tombstone and then over into Texas. It should be a pretty straightforward drive and in 2 days ill be in San Antonio hanging out with OD.
-O
I hit a little bit of traffic when I crossed through Phoenix at rush hour, but after what I dealt with yesterday in Cali this is nothing. I made it down to Tucson and stopped for dinner at Cracker Barrel. About 2 years ago I was listening to a comedy CD on a road trip with a few friends and the guy was talking about swearing at Cracker Barrel billboards. Since then I have yelled profanities at every cracker barrel billboard that I have ever seen, even though I have never previously eaten there. In the words of Stephen on the drive back from Baltimore "I didnt realize how many cracker barrel signs there were until you started all that swearing". So I finally broke down and got me some good homestyle country food. I was decent and extremely cheap. I will continue to yell at the signs simply because its a tradition. I wound up in Benson, AZ where I got into a hotel and did some laundry. My last load is in the dryer and I will be going to bed soon. I did have an opportunity to book my hotel for New Orleans and will be staying downtown about 4 blocks from bourbon street in a clarion hotel. It was pretty cheap and looks like a nice place. Tomorrow I am going to head down to Tombstone and then over into Texas. It should be a pretty straightforward drive and in 2 days ill be in San Antonio hanging out with OD.
-O
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Manifest Destiny
Today I fulfilled one of my dreams. I got a chance to to drive Pacific Coast Highway out of San Francisco. The ride was amazing. The Pacific was extremely blue and the cliffs provided great contrast and awesome views. The road was very hilly and winding and a challenge to drive, but well worth it. I only rode highway 1 (PCH) for about 4 hours and then I hit the freeways because I needed a change. Just 2 years ago the farthest west I had ever been was Buffalo, NY. It is strange to think that just a little bit later I have made it this far west. I guess that is manifest destiny. I set out to conquer the country, and I have made pretty good progress so far. Im glad I had this experience, no matter what that Reno Cop thinks about what a waste of time my trip is.
I took US 101 for a while and then cut over on back roads to Santa Barbera and got back on 101. This is when I hit the traffic that took me 4 hours to drive 90 miles. The traffic was horrible, apparently california drivers dont know how to use turn signals or to drive correctly. It doesnt help that on the freeways the car speed limit is 65 and the truck speed limit is 55 so there is confusion on the road. It could be because there are a lot of women drivers, or because there are a lot of asian drivers, but definitely because there are a lot of asian women drivers. I will be glad to get out of Cali tomorrow because it will be nice to get some normal driving in. I have 3 days to make it 20 hours out to San Antonio so I will be heading to Tucson, or to as far as I can get. I dont like driving through the desert, but Ive only got a few days of desert driving left. I am thoroughly exhausted right now so I am going to crash as soon as possible. I am sorry that this post isnt up to normal standards, but im beat from all the stress of dealing with the bad traffic.
I took US 101 for a while and then cut over on back roads to Santa Barbera and got back on 101. This is when I hit the traffic that took me 4 hours to drive 90 miles. The traffic was horrible, apparently california drivers dont know how to use turn signals or to drive correctly. It doesnt help that on the freeways the car speed limit is 65 and the truck speed limit is 55 so there is confusion on the road. It could be because there are a lot of women drivers, or because there are a lot of asian drivers, but definitely because there are a lot of asian women drivers. I will be glad to get out of Cali tomorrow because it will be nice to get some normal driving in. I have 3 days to make it 20 hours out to San Antonio so I will be heading to Tucson, or to as far as I can get. I dont like driving through the desert, but Ive only got a few days of desert driving left. I am thoroughly exhausted right now so I am going to crash as soon as possible. I am sorry that this post isnt up to normal standards, but im beat from all the stress of dealing with the bad traffic.
San Francisco
Today I headed out from Tahoe over to San Francisco. The drive took me over the Sierra mountains which were covered with ice and a little bit of snow. It was an epic drive which I really enjoyed. I made it into San Fran during the early afternoon and spent the day hanging out by the water. I walked along a couple of piers and was able to check out the port building. This was converted into a type of high class market which had a few places that I have seen on the travel channel or food network. It was a pretty cool place to go. I ate a burrito at some place that Neil found on the internet and spent a few hours driving around the city. It is wierd to actually make it out here and see all these places you have seen on TV or in pictures for years. I was able to drive past Gilman street where Green Day played their first shows, and see a lot of streets that I have heard or read about. Because of all the play that San Francisco has gotten from TV, Music, and Books it has gotten to the point that I feel I already know the city. When I was about to drive across the Golden Gate Bridge I had an "Oh Shit" moment where I couldnt believe that I was actually about the experience this. I will never forget that short drive, it was a milestone moment for me. After crossing the bridge I got to Marin County and was able to search out Aunt Pam's house and spent the evening with her. We went out to a nice dinner at Marin Joe's and got some great Italian food. Im beat and will need a lot of rest for tomorrow so I am going to crash.
-O
-O
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Reno 911
Today was interesting to say the least. Last night I drove from Salt Lake City to Elko, NV and crashed for the night. Today I woke up early (thanks pacific time zone) and started my trip pretty early. I was surprised by the amount of mountains in northern Nevada. It was pretty, but almost absolutely empty. The mountains rose out of the flat plains and were more like steep peaked hills than actual mountains. It was smooth sailing until I got outside of Reno. Here I drove past a state trooper who pulled me over for suspicion of being a New Yorker. State profiling is like racial profiling, but even more time consuming. The cop had absolutely no reason to pull me over but none the less he hit the lights. He gave me a little bit of crap, but mostly he couldnt wrap his mind around the fact that I wasnt trafficking drug or guns or money (please note have none of any of theses). He searched my car and gave me a bunch of crap to verify that I am a pharmacy student, beyond student ID, intern permit, and rotation schedule. He kept saying that my whole trip made no sense and that something was up with me, and that he couldnt believe that I was on an unpaid internship. I dont know what his deal was, but at least I didnt get handcuffed. I had nothing to hide, and tried to get it through his head as best I could, but he was either unwilling or unable to comprehend. Even with this detour I made it down to get a burrito and make it down to Lake Tahoe early this afternoon. The views are pretty spectacular, but basically it is just a smaller version of lake champlain with bigger mountains. I went to Harrahs and played a few table games (im down $37) and ate at the buffet on the top floor right next to the window. I also got good news that my dad's surgery went well, even though hes in a lot of pain. Tonight Im staying at a 31 dollar hotel that is actually really nice, about a block from the lake shore. I will be heading over to San Francisco tomorrow. There is supposed to be some snow tonight but hopefully there wont be much as I hdead over these mountains tomorrow morning. Its been a pretty exhausting day, but im just glad it was a state trooper instead of one of the cops from Reno 911.
-O
-O
Busy Weekend
This weekend was crazy, busy, and at times crazybusy. I flew in on Thursday night and was able to catch a ride back to Morris where I resumed my position sleeping on the fouton mattress on the floor of the storeroom. I was glad to have a place to stay and got to spend some quality time with Tim, Tom, and Aaron. On Friday I borrowed Lou's car while he slept after working the night shift. This gave me the opportunity to go out and get some errands done before the weekend kicked off. I got my resumes printed and was able to get in to Career Fair to speak with a few companies. I was frustrated because most of these companies werent willing to tell us if they were hiring so it was kind of a waste of time. I was able to get in to the bookstore and get my diploma frame ordered and looked into getting the class ring. Because of the price of gold the rings are going to cost almost $1000 but ill eventually raise the money. When I got back to Morris I was surprised to find that there was going to be a party held there rather than the peaceful and relaxing night that I imagined. Luckily it broke up relatively early so I was able to get a few hours of sleep before my 9AM interviews.
On Saturday I woke up to pouring rain and had to walk about 20 minutes to school in a downpour. Luckily the first person I interviewed with was jsut as soaked as I was. I interviewed with Kinneys, Walgreens, Price Chopper, and Rite Aid. I think that Kinneys was impressed but there arent any or many openings so I dont know if they will be extending an offer. Walgreens probably has openings and is impressed with my history and previous flexibility for the company, Price chopper was hard to read, and the Rite Aid guy was very impressed. Hopefully I will get at lease 2 offers back so I have options, but as long as one of them extends an offer then I will be all set. If not I am going to contact Hannaford and a few hospitals in the area. After Interviews I went to wingding and hung out with everybody for a few hours. I made it back to Graneys and then crashed for the night. Sunday I went out to breakfast with the guys, then went to Graneys to watch football and eventually back to Morris.
I am currently on a 2 hour layover in Detroit and then going to Salt Lake City, then driving into Nevada tonight. Ill be in Reno tomorrow afternoon and then in San Francisco on Wednesday night.
-O
On Saturday I woke up to pouring rain and had to walk about 20 minutes to school in a downpour. Luckily the first person I interviewed with was jsut as soaked as I was. I interviewed with Kinneys, Walgreens, Price Chopper, and Rite Aid. I think that Kinneys was impressed but there arent any or many openings so I dont know if they will be extending an offer. Walgreens probably has openings and is impressed with my history and previous flexibility for the company, Price chopper was hard to read, and the Rite Aid guy was very impressed. Hopefully I will get at lease 2 offers back so I have options, but as long as one of them extends an offer then I will be all set. If not I am going to contact Hannaford and a few hospitals in the area. After Interviews I went to wingding and hung out with everybody for a few hours. I made it back to Graneys and then crashed for the night. Sunday I went out to breakfast with the guys, then went to Graneys to watch football and eventually back to Morris.
I am currently on a 2 hour layover in Detroit and then going to Salt Lake City, then driving into Nevada tonight. Ill be in Reno tomorrow afternoon and then in San Francisco on Wednesday night.
-O
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
SLC, Punk
I made it safely up to Salt Lake City yesterday and spent some time with Pete, Marcie, and Smollin. We went out to dinner and to a few bars and were overall have a good time. Today I was able to spend some quality time driving around and exploring. I headed up to Evanston Wyoming and was able to hit the halfway mark of Burritos across the US. I have been able to officially eat a burrito in 24 states and the province of New Jersey. This is a pretty significant milestone, but ive still got pretty far to go.
The rest of today was spent exploring in Park City and in SLC. Park City is a pretty nice place, but seemed overly commercialized. I see why they hosted the olympic skiing events there as well as Sundance. It is an extremely beautiful place and I would definitely recommend checking it out. I headed back to SLC and spent some time running errands and getting everything ready for this weekend. I got a haircut and got all sorts of professional. I have 4 interviews scheduled and am ready to go. I have a little bit of research to to and then I should be all set. My flight leaves tomorrow at 1pm so until then I am just going to crash at Smollin's place tonight and then kill some time before heading to the airport tomorrow morning.
-O
The rest of today was spent exploring in Park City and in SLC. Park City is a pretty nice place, but seemed overly commercialized. I see why they hosted the olympic skiing events there as well as Sundance. It is an extremely beautiful place and I would definitely recommend checking it out. I headed back to SLC and spent some time running errands and getting everything ready for this weekend. I got a haircut and got all sorts of professional. I have 4 interviews scheduled and am ready to go. I have a little bit of research to to and then I should be all set. My flight leaves tomorrow at 1pm so until then I am just going to crash at Smollin's place tonight and then kill some time before heading to the airport tomorrow morning.
-O
Monday, November 9, 2009
Last Night
So tonight is my last night in Chinle and im excited to get out of here. I had everything pretty much packed after yesterday but I cleaned and vacuumed the house and only have one bag to bring out tomorrow morning. Today I kicked in super time crunch pressure speed and was able to get everything done. In fact I was so efficient that I had pretty much everything all set before lunch. I was able to kill the afternoon by doing busy work and tweaking the projects and reports that I finished over the morning. I would up with a decent 5 page report on parenteral anticoagulants, a 2 page handout on crystal meth, and a 25 page powerpoint on meth use and abuse. I am excited to get out here. I know that it has been a great experience and this rotation was the catalyst for me getting out here, but I am about ready to get back to civilization. Over the course of the next 23 to 24 days I will be driving almost 6000 miles, heading to dozens of states, and hopefully having the adventure of a lifetime.
I am excited to get up to Salt Lake City tomorrow. I get a chance to see several friends who I dont see or talk to as much as I would like. Ever since I first saw the movie SLC Punk almost 8 years ago I have had a pretty cool obsession with the city. I was out there in 2008 for a conference which was one of the best experiences that I have ever had and I am psyched to get out there. On Wednesday I may head up to Idaho and Wyoming and spend some time wandering around SLC. My flight leaves on Thursday around noon. I dont like to fly so ive got to deal with a few extra nerves over the next couple of days, but ill deal.
Ill try to update from SLC or when I get back in Albany.
-O
I am excited to get up to Salt Lake City tomorrow. I get a chance to see several friends who I dont see or talk to as much as I would like. Ever since I first saw the movie SLC Punk almost 8 years ago I have had a pretty cool obsession with the city. I was out there in 2008 for a conference which was one of the best experiences that I have ever had and I am psyched to get out there. On Wednesday I may head up to Idaho and Wyoming and spend some time wandering around SLC. My flight leaves on Thursday around noon. I dont like to fly so ive got to deal with a few extra nerves over the next couple of days, but ill deal.
Ill try to update from SLC or when I get back in Albany.
-O
Sunday, November 8, 2009
6 Months
Well im back in the parking lot of Church's Chicken mooching Internet. This will probably be the second to last time I have to resort to living dependent on the good will of the chicken shack. I wanted to catch some of the Bears/Cardinals game on NFL.com, but apparently the bears are playing so badly that its not even worth it. Im actually starting to be glad that I cant watch the game on TV because this is turning into a pretty unwatchable season, but once I get back home I will gratefully suffer through the humiliation of being a bears fan as long as I am in my comfort zone in Graneys.
This weekend I have been hanging around the house getting things picked up and packed. I have a little more work to do tonight and tomorrow I will have to sign out the vacuum from the housing office to make sure I leave the place nice and clean. Yesterday I went to the flea market in town and picked up a few counterfeit dvds for only a few bucks, then went to the overlooks at the north rim of canyon de chelly. I was going to hike the white house trail, but ive been pretty exhausted so I put my energies into other outlets. Tonight I am going to finish up the house so that I can get out of here asap on tuesday.
The big significance of today is that I will be graduating in exactly 6 months. Its hard to believe that I only have 11 more weeks of rotations left and I will be done with rotations in March. I know that I have interviews next weekend and that I have spent the past few weeks ordering business cards, gathering salary data, and getting my CV in order but I dont really think that it has set in yet. All I know is that after nearly 7 years of school it is hard to believe that it is coming to an end. The prospect of having to be a grownup is kind of scary, but Im sure that I can handle it. Its just a good feeling to see the light at the end of the tunnel, or as Dr. d'Oney once put it "you spent the past few years shoveling horse shit and you finally found your pony"
Im so disgusted of this game right now im going to skip the 4th quarter and head home. I will probably post something tomorrow to sum up my experience in Chinle, then I will be in Salt Lake City with some friends for a few days before heading back to Albany for interviews.
This weekend I have been hanging around the house getting things picked up and packed. I have a little more work to do tonight and tomorrow I will have to sign out the vacuum from the housing office to make sure I leave the place nice and clean. Yesterday I went to the flea market in town and picked up a few counterfeit dvds for only a few bucks, then went to the overlooks at the north rim of canyon de chelly. I was going to hike the white house trail, but ive been pretty exhausted so I put my energies into other outlets. Tonight I am going to finish up the house so that I can get out of here asap on tuesday.
The big significance of today is that I will be graduating in exactly 6 months. Its hard to believe that I only have 11 more weeks of rotations left and I will be done with rotations in March. I know that I have interviews next weekend and that I have spent the past few weeks ordering business cards, gathering salary data, and getting my CV in order but I dont really think that it has set in yet. All I know is that after nearly 7 years of school it is hard to believe that it is coming to an end. The prospect of having to be a grownup is kind of scary, but Im sure that I can handle it. Its just a good feeling to see the light at the end of the tunnel, or as Dr. d'Oney once put it "you spent the past few years shoveling horse shit and you finally found your pony"
Im so disgusted of this game right now im going to skip the 4th quarter and head home. I will probably post something tomorrow to sum up my experience in Chinle, then I will be in Salt Lake City with some friends for a few days before heading back to Albany for interviews.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
The last steps are sometimes the hardest
Its almost done, just 3 more days of rotation, one of which is a half day. It always seems that the last few days of the rotations are the hardest, partly because of the frustration of working for so long for nothing, partly because of excitement about the next step of the journey, and partly because you are one foot out the door. This week was relatively sedate. I spent monday just going through the motions, tuesday and wednesday I was at Tsaile filling in for a contract pharmacist who called in sick. I got to do all the counseling and actually enjoyed myself. I worked with Terry the Navajo pharmacist and had a pretty good time, and was even able to pick up on a few Navajo words. Today was spent working on a few projects only to have a big one dropped in my lap. I have to write a therapeutic review for the hospital's PandT committee by the end of business on monday. I need to do the therapy and cost analysis for anticoagulants on formulary and make my recommendations. It should only be a 7 or 10 page paper, but I need to read through dozens of studies and guidelines to get it done. I wish I had more heads up, but it shouldnt be too bad.
This week I have really gotten frustrated by the waste of the Federal system. I wasnt expecting the federal government to run smoothly, be cost effective, or motivate its workers, but this is just ridiculous. Every day I am shocked at the amount of free drugs just walking out the door. Because there are no costs associated with the treatment there are a lot of patients who dont take a proactive role in their health care, they dont have to worry about the ramifications of their conditions because uncle sam will always be there to step in and pick up the tab. The ineffectiveness of the system would never fly anywhere outside of the federal system. If this hospital was a business venture then it would have gone broke years ago. Patients some times have to wait for hours to get their charts sent over then reviewed, then sent back to get edited by the doctor, then sent back to the pharmacy to be filled, people will seriously wait for 3 hours to get a bottle of baby aspirin. Its pretty embarrassing for me to tell someone this wait when I know that the script could be filled at walgreens in a matter of minutes. The staff isnt very motivated, there are a ton of people in the pharmacy and some of them just seem to be treading water. One staff member actually said to me "I need to slow down before I run out of work for the day". I realize that I am not highly motivated, but this is an unpaid internship, and this is her full time job. I dont want to swear off the federal system for good, because who knows maybe ill be a mercenary contract pharmacist in a few years, but right now it is way to frustrating for me.
Tonight I went out to the chinese place in Chinle with my medstudent roommate Ravi and the med students from next door. It turns out that one guy's parents actually live in Saratoga so it turns out to be a pretty small world after all. The best part of all is that the chinese was actually pretty tasty, I was surpised. I am going to the Chinle flea market (navajo selling stuff place) tomorrow and then I will be relaxing all weekend, getting packed and then getting ready to start the drive home.
-O
This week I have really gotten frustrated by the waste of the Federal system. I wasnt expecting the federal government to run smoothly, be cost effective, or motivate its workers, but this is just ridiculous. Every day I am shocked at the amount of free drugs just walking out the door. Because there are no costs associated with the treatment there are a lot of patients who dont take a proactive role in their health care, they dont have to worry about the ramifications of their conditions because uncle sam will always be there to step in and pick up the tab. The ineffectiveness of the system would never fly anywhere outside of the federal system. If this hospital was a business venture then it would have gone broke years ago. Patients some times have to wait for hours to get their charts sent over then reviewed, then sent back to get edited by the doctor, then sent back to the pharmacy to be filled, people will seriously wait for 3 hours to get a bottle of baby aspirin. Its pretty embarrassing for me to tell someone this wait when I know that the script could be filled at walgreens in a matter of minutes. The staff isnt very motivated, there are a ton of people in the pharmacy and some of them just seem to be treading water. One staff member actually said to me "I need to slow down before I run out of work for the day". I realize that I am not highly motivated, but this is an unpaid internship, and this is her full time job. I dont want to swear off the federal system for good, because who knows maybe ill be a mercenary contract pharmacist in a few years, but right now it is way to frustrating for me.
Tonight I went out to the chinese place in Chinle with my medstudent roommate Ravi and the med students from next door. It turns out that one guy's parents actually live in Saratoga so it turns out to be a pretty small world after all. The best part of all is that the chinese was actually pretty tasty, I was surpised. I am going to the Chinle flea market (navajo selling stuff place) tomorrow and then I will be relaxing all weekend, getting packed and then getting ready to start the drive home.
-O
Monday, November 2, 2009
Not alone anymore
Yesterday I returned from the 4 corners to find that I had a roommate. A med student named Ravi moved in over the weekend. The people in the housing office told me that they would warn me if someone was moving in and since I didnt hear anything I assumed nobody was coming. I left the house in a hurry on Friday trying to beat darkness when heading up to Moab, so the place was a mess. I feel embarrassed and ashamed that he had to show up and see crap all over since im a slob. I know that wasnt the best foot I could have put forward or the most welcoming thing I could do. He was out hiking when I showed up so I did my best to clean everything up before he showed up so I hopefully redeemed myself in his eyes. He is a really cool guy, who is originally from Long Island. He had just spend 10 weeks in Argentina working at a hospital there so he has some petty cool stories. I have read several books set in Argentina and have always thought it was a neat place, so these stories fascinate me. Im only going to be in this house for 7 more nights but it will be cool to have some company while im still here. I will be sticking around this weekend to pack and get ready for the drive home. I will probably hike the White House trail in Canyon de Chelly again too. Its kind of scary how much I like hiking now. I dont go on the super hard trails, but I have kind of fallen in love with the idea of going out to the woods and just hiking and being left to my own thoughts. I will have to spend some time on the east coast doing some hiking in the Adirondacks or the Green Mountains.
On the home front I have been able to get all my ducks in a row. I have my interviews set up, Im staying at Morris that weekend, Grassi is taking my CV and References list to Staples to get them printed, and my business cards came in today. I will be flying out of SLC on the afternoon of thurs the 11th and leaving albany around noon on monday the 16th so if you want to catch up you can find me then. Im pretty psyched to be able to finally interview, while its been a few nerveracking months and I will be glad when I finally get an offer it is still pretty cool to see how my entire future can be determined over the course of a weekend.
I watched Hi Fidelity last night and was reminded of two things, how much I hate John Kusack, and how many adventures you can have just in normal life. It took me really being on a big time adventure to realize all the little adventures that I went on in the past few years when I thought I was just going through the motions. After having several people throw around the term bucket list in the past few weeks I have also decided to set one up. I used to have one when I was about 14, but I have changed so much that I really need to set up a new one. I think that most of it will include travel, but im sure that there are a lot of really cool things that I can toss on there.
Thats if for today
On the home front I have been able to get all my ducks in a row. I have my interviews set up, Im staying at Morris that weekend, Grassi is taking my CV and References list to Staples to get them printed, and my business cards came in today. I will be flying out of SLC on the afternoon of thurs the 11th and leaving albany around noon on monday the 16th so if you want to catch up you can find me then. Im pretty psyched to be able to finally interview, while its been a few nerveracking months and I will be glad when I finally get an offer it is still pretty cool to see how my entire future can be determined over the course of a weekend.
I watched Hi Fidelity last night and was reminded of two things, how much I hate John Kusack, and how many adventures you can have just in normal life. It took me really being on a big time adventure to realize all the little adventures that I went on in the past few years when I thought I was just going through the motions. After having several people throw around the term bucket list in the past few weeks I have also decided to set one up. I used to have one when I was about 14, but I have changed so much that I really need to set up a new one. I think that most of it will include travel, but im sure that there are a lot of really cool things that I can toss on there.
Thats if for today
Rock out with your clock out
11/1/09
Why did nobody warn me it was daylight savings time. That would have been the perfect Halloween costume, just write "Daylight Savings Time" on a tshirt and show up an hour late. Why do I always have these epiphanies the day after an event?
Last night in Durango was fun. I went out to a few bars and even got to go to the Ska Brewery. Since Ska is my favorite genre of music and I love breweries it was just about perfect, unfortunately they didnt have any growlers in stock so I wont be able to add that one to my collection, I may call them and have them ship one once I get home. Since it was Halloween all the crazies were out, I typically dont care about holidays, especially ones that dont make much sense like Halloween, but it looked like everyone in their costumes was having fun. The best costume that I saw was a guy dressed up like bacon, it was an awesome idea and would have only been made better if I would have followed through with my idea for a bacon scented cologne.
This morning I spent in Durango walking around downtown. Because of daylight savings time and all the time zone changes I have been going through I wake up at random times. I am either exhausted or I am wide awake at 6am. Today I was awake 2 hours before my wake up call and spent some time writing post cards and catching up on sports news. I have taken to marking down what time the wakeup call goes off and telling the staff when I check out, todays was 4 minutes late, yesterdays was 16. This might seem petty, but what if I had an important meeting, 16 minutes is a lot of get ready time. I went to lunch at this place John the pharmacist recommended called Steamworks, apparently they had one of the top rated beers at the American brewers festival last year, so I had to try it. It was pretty damn good Durango has a lot of breweries and I only got to go to a few, the extra breweries may entice me to come back. I skipped Mesa Verde because I am starting to get sick of all these national parks, so I just headed back to Cortez and then off to the 4 corners.
The 4 corners park was basically a flat piece of concrete surrounded with flags. It was cool to stand in 4 states at once and to walk around the monument, but it wasnt too big of a deal. I was also pretty pissed off at the family in front of me where the kids were acting like brats and the parents were yelling and threatening. That kind of takes the fun out of going anywhere.
Tomorrow starts my last full week at the rotation site, and I get 2 days in the off site clinics and possibly another day in the anticoag clinic.
-O
Why did nobody warn me it was daylight savings time. That would have been the perfect Halloween costume, just write "Daylight Savings Time" on a tshirt and show up an hour late. Why do I always have these epiphanies the day after an event?
Last night in Durango was fun. I went out to a few bars and even got to go to the Ska Brewery. Since Ska is my favorite genre of music and I love breweries it was just about perfect, unfortunately they didnt have any growlers in stock so I wont be able to add that one to my collection, I may call them and have them ship one once I get home. Since it was Halloween all the crazies were out, I typically dont care about holidays, especially ones that dont make much sense like Halloween, but it looked like everyone in their costumes was having fun. The best costume that I saw was a guy dressed up like bacon, it was an awesome idea and would have only been made better if I would have followed through with my idea for a bacon scented cologne.
This morning I spent in Durango walking around downtown. Because of daylight savings time and all the time zone changes I have been going through I wake up at random times. I am either exhausted or I am wide awake at 6am. Today I was awake 2 hours before my wake up call and spent some time writing post cards and catching up on sports news. I have taken to marking down what time the wakeup call goes off and telling the staff when I check out, todays was 4 minutes late, yesterdays was 16. This might seem petty, but what if I had an important meeting, 16 minutes is a lot of get ready time. I went to lunch at this place John the pharmacist recommended called Steamworks, apparently they had one of the top rated beers at the American brewers festival last year, so I had to try it. It was pretty damn good Durango has a lot of breweries and I only got to go to a few, the extra breweries may entice me to come back. I skipped Mesa Verde because I am starting to get sick of all these national parks, so I just headed back to Cortez and then off to the 4 corners.
The 4 corners park was basically a flat piece of concrete surrounded with flags. It was cool to stand in 4 states at once and to walk around the monument, but it wasnt too big of a deal. I was also pretty pissed off at the family in front of me where the kids were acting like brats and the parents were yelling and threatening. That kind of takes the fun out of going anywhere.
Tomorrow starts my last full week at the rotation site, and I get 2 days in the off site clinics and possibly another day in the anticoag clinic.
-O
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Mile High
Its sad that the first time I set foot in Colorado, a place that always seemed about as high as Everest it is actually lower in elevation than the place I have been living. At less than 6000 feet above sea level it is much lower than Chinle. Colorado seems almost as awesome as Utah, with a lot of cool people and nice breweries, as well as amazing scenery. This morning I hiked a little in Arches and got to see some pretty surreal rock formations. I decided to err on the side of caution and avoid the long strenious trail to get underneath delacate arch (the most famous of the arches) instead I went up the viewpoint trail and was kind of disappointed. I guess that just makes a reason to go back. Afterward I headed down through the beautiful Utah countryside and into Colorado. I stopped at an Irish pub in Cortez, CO and got a bratwurst burrito made with cajun sausage, is that confusing enough for you? I figure that now is an appropriate time to fill everyone in with the rules for Burritos across the US.
1. Its a Burrito, not a wrap, a taco, a taquita, a chalupa, a gordita, a chinchilla, or anything else, Burrito.
2. No drive throughs, I dont eat fast food so that rules out Taco Bell
3. Your feet must be on the ground when you eat it, no just sitting in the car and eating it
4. New Jersey doesnt count, NJ is not a state so it doesnt count
Today makes 23 states and the principality of NJ. I will hopefully get 10 or so more on the trip home, I hope to complete the tour within a few years.
Tomorrow I will be going heading to the 4 corners and possibly Mesa Verde national park then back to Chinle. I would like to thank everyone who has been giving me feedback on the blog and following the trip. I really appreciate it.
-O
1. Its a Burrito, not a wrap, a taco, a taquita, a chalupa, a gordita, a chinchilla, or anything else, Burrito.
2. No drive throughs, I dont eat fast food so that rules out Taco Bell
3. Your feet must be on the ground when you eat it, no just sitting in the car and eating it
4. New Jersey doesnt count, NJ is not a state so it doesnt count
Today makes 23 states and the principality of NJ. I will hopefully get 10 or so more on the trip home, I hope to complete the tour within a few years.
Tomorrow I will be going heading to the 4 corners and possibly Mesa Verde national park then back to Chinle. I would like to thank everyone who has been giving me feedback on the blog and following the trip. I really appreciate it.
-O
Friday, October 30, 2009
Utah, not just for Polygamists anymore
I am currently in beautiful Moab Utah, in a Roadway Inn that is extremely classy in a 1970s shag carpet and olive green tub type of way. I was originally going to skip Moab and spend the weekend in Monument Valley and Durang. Instead I am just about sick of seeing bluffs and buttes so I decided to head up to Moab and then head over to Durango. I decided that I need to see Arches while im here, plus I love Utah.
The remainder of this week when ok, I had a few rough patches at rotation but other than that I was able to deal. There was a run in with a technician who wanted to yell at me about not putting proper paperwork in a patient's bag so she busted into the consultation room while I was speaking with a patient and started yelling at me while i was talking to the patient. I told her to leave and shut the door in her face. I wasnt trained in the proper paperwork, I was just kind of thrown to the wolves and she should have been professional enough to see I was with a patient and waited until I was done. I realize that I was in the wrong for not doing what I apparently was supposed to, but her lack of professionalism almost set me off. I am starting to get frustrated with the site, but I only have 5 days left in the Chinle Pharmacy. I finished my final project on Crystal Meth and will try to find other distractions on top of the 2 days I have in the outpatient clinics. John has really been pushing me about spouting off facts about infections disease and the heart which are 2 of my weakest areas so I appreciate the challenge. Other than these communications my favorite part of the day is the 8AM rounds when the MD who was on all night passes out information to the rest of the Medical/Dietary/Psych/Pharmacy staff. I never realized how interesting rounds could be, but that definitely has been the highpoint of this rotation to date.
On the home front I finished 3 books this week. Last weekend I picked up 2 that I was done with by thursday night. One was Anthony Bordain's book "Kitchen Confidential" which was what sparked his travel channel and celebrity chef career. It was pretty good and I recommend it for a cool insight into the restaurant industry and one of the coolest guys on the planet. Ill pick up a few more books this weekend that will hopefully last me a while.
I also planned the route home. I had given up on heading out to the coast and then cutting back, but I rethought it. While coming from SLC down to San Antonio would save me 16 hours of driving and about 900 miles a large portion of the route I had already driven through. Going out to San Fran and down to LA gives me a chance to see Lake Tahoe and drive the pacific coast highway which were 2 of the things that I had to go and see. For 2 or 3 extra day of driving I get to hit a few places that are new and different. This new schedule also allows me to spend a 2 days in San Antonio, New Orleans, and Hotlanta. It also allows me to spend all day on Thanksgiving in New Orleans rather than grabbing thanksgiving dinner at a truck stop somewhere in the south. I figure that there are enough transient people living away from their families in New Orleans that I wont be the only tourist. I posted something about my itinerary on facebook and got a lot of responses from friends in Atlanta, Birmingham, and Holly Springs NC so hopefully I will be able to stay with them along the way.
For now I am in beautiful Moab Utah. Utah is one of my favorite places, the people are friendly, the weather is beautiful, the air is clear and the stars are always out, and the microbreweries are delicious. I went to one for dinner and another one for a drink after I settled into the motel. While the beer was the weak sort favored by Utah state law it was still better than the nothing that I have been able to drink for the past 3 weeks. Im looking forward to going to Arches tomorrow, ever since Dave the Pharmacist from Delmar told me about his trip a few years ago I have really wanted to go. I may go to canyonlands national park on the drive to Durango, but im not sure how much time I am going to spend in Arches. Its about a 3 hour trip to Durango and then on Sunday I am planning on heading to Mesa Verde and the 4 corners
-O
The remainder of this week when ok, I had a few rough patches at rotation but other than that I was able to deal. There was a run in with a technician who wanted to yell at me about not putting proper paperwork in a patient's bag so she busted into the consultation room while I was speaking with a patient and started yelling at me while i was talking to the patient. I told her to leave and shut the door in her face. I wasnt trained in the proper paperwork, I was just kind of thrown to the wolves and she should have been professional enough to see I was with a patient and waited until I was done. I realize that I was in the wrong for not doing what I apparently was supposed to, but her lack of professionalism almost set me off. I am starting to get frustrated with the site, but I only have 5 days left in the Chinle Pharmacy. I finished my final project on Crystal Meth and will try to find other distractions on top of the 2 days I have in the outpatient clinics. John has really been pushing me about spouting off facts about infections disease and the heart which are 2 of my weakest areas so I appreciate the challenge. Other than these communications my favorite part of the day is the 8AM rounds when the MD who was on all night passes out information to the rest of the Medical/Dietary/Psych/Pharmacy staff. I never realized how interesting rounds could be, but that definitely has been the highpoint of this rotation to date.
On the home front I finished 3 books this week. Last weekend I picked up 2 that I was done with by thursday night. One was Anthony Bordain's book "Kitchen Confidential" which was what sparked his travel channel and celebrity chef career. It was pretty good and I recommend it for a cool insight into the restaurant industry and one of the coolest guys on the planet. Ill pick up a few more books this weekend that will hopefully last me a while.
I also planned the route home. I had given up on heading out to the coast and then cutting back, but I rethought it. While coming from SLC down to San Antonio would save me 16 hours of driving and about 900 miles a large portion of the route I had already driven through. Going out to San Fran and down to LA gives me a chance to see Lake Tahoe and drive the pacific coast highway which were 2 of the things that I had to go and see. For 2 or 3 extra day of driving I get to hit a few places that are new and different. This new schedule also allows me to spend a 2 days in San Antonio, New Orleans, and Hotlanta. It also allows me to spend all day on Thanksgiving in New Orleans rather than grabbing thanksgiving dinner at a truck stop somewhere in the south. I figure that there are enough transient people living away from their families in New Orleans that I wont be the only tourist. I posted something about my itinerary on facebook and got a lot of responses from friends in Atlanta, Birmingham, and Holly Springs NC so hopefully I will be able to stay with them along the way.
For now I am in beautiful Moab Utah. Utah is one of my favorite places, the people are friendly, the weather is beautiful, the air is clear and the stars are always out, and the microbreweries are delicious. I went to one for dinner and another one for a drink after I settled into the motel. While the beer was the weak sort favored by Utah state law it was still better than the nothing that I have been able to drink for the past 3 weeks. Im looking forward to going to Arches tomorrow, ever since Dave the Pharmacist from Delmar told me about his trip a few years ago I have really wanted to go. I may go to canyonlands national park on the drive to Durango, but im not sure how much time I am going to spend in Arches. Its about a 3 hour trip to Durango and then on Sunday I am planning on heading to Mesa Verde and the 4 corners
-O
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Most people come to Arizona to avoid snow
Today was my kind of day, I woke up to it being 30 degrees outside with a thin layer of snow covering my car and the front "Lawn". The wind was whipping and it continued to snow throughout the day. The hills to the south of the hospital were covered in snow and looked pretty awesome. When I went out to my car for lunch I had to run the heat instead of just the radio because it was pretty cold out. This only makes this desert wasteland feel more like home. I have just about had it with this place, the isolation and lack of resources or distance from home doesnt bother me as much as waking up every day to red dirt and wind. I only have a few days left at the rotation but I really cant wait to head up to SLC on the 10th. Its not that this rotation is bad, its just that I could be learning more at a directed clinic or at a busier hospital that was closer to home. It seems that this rotation is just about the weekend excursions and the drive out here rather than from the hospital. While I like everyone at the site im frustrated by not really learning much and doing the same thing that I could do at Albany med. I am also a bit burned out by working full time for free for almost 6 months now. Whatever the reason I am just a few days away from completion and then I can get on with my life, until then I will just have to keep working for the weekend.
I have been pretty sick over the past few days with GI disturbances and Migraines, but I will overcome and make it through that too. Yesterday I was in the clinic in Pinon (Pin-yON) and had more small town experience. Later tonight I am heading to journal club to discuss the use of incretins in the management of diabetes. This weekend I am heading to Monument Valley, 4 corners, and probably Mesa Verde. I have also started planning the trip home, I am trashing the idea to go to california and will instead be heading from SLC to San Antonio, around the south, then back up the east coast. If you can provide shelter or would like to meet up then please feel free to let me know.
Only 2 days until the weekend
-O
I have been pretty sick over the past few days with GI disturbances and Migraines, but I will overcome and make it through that too. Yesterday I was in the clinic in Pinon (Pin-yON) and had more small town experience. Later tonight I am heading to journal club to discuss the use of incretins in the management of diabetes. This weekend I am heading to Monument Valley, 4 corners, and probably Mesa Verde. I have also started planning the trip home, I am trashing the idea to go to california and will instead be heading from SLC to San Antonio, around the south, then back up the east coast. If you can provide shelter or would like to meet up then please feel free to let me know.
Only 2 days until the weekend
-O
Get your Kicks
10/25/09
After a really restful night (sarcasm) in a Motel 6 in Holbrook AZ I had a pretty enjoyable day. I started off by heading over to Petrified Forest national park where I was able to check out the Painted Desert as well as the Petrified Forest. The thing that blew me away is the fines for removing any rocks or petrified wood from the park. This junk is available for like two dollars in the gift shop or at a number of roadside stands but could result in a three hundred dollar fine. They basically pat you down on your way in and out of the park to prevent the theft of these stones because apparently visitors remove tons of them each year. The park itself was pretty cool, with a lot of views which showed the different striations and layers of rock. The tall buttes with different layers of white, red, gray, orange and yellow were very impressive. I took some pictures in both black and white and color which showed the extreme contrast. While this place may look barren and bleak looking at the same pictures in black and white shows how much color there really is out there. I did the hike around Blue Mesa on the self guided trail. The hike was listed as moderately strenuous but was only about a mile long. Going down this trail through mountains of gray bentonite (the stabilizing component of calamine lotion) was a pretty amazing experience. The most profound aspect of these badlands was the silence. For most of the walk the only sounds were the wind and my boots on the gravel. It was extremely peaceful and beautiful. I did see a few other hikers on the way back up the hill, but for the entire loop trail was just me and the silence. I am very glad that I made this trip, being there on that trail was one of the most peaceful times that I have ever had. I am really glad I made the trip partially because the silence made Chinle sound busy. I would definitely recommend this hike for anyone taking Interstate 40 through eastern Arizona.
After the hike I headed up to Ganado and then on to Chinle. This weekend was pretty awesome, but probably the best part of this weekend is that I am basically done driving on route 66. The first few horus being on route 66 a few weeks ago I was pretty impressed. To be driving on "The Mother Road" or heading down "America's Main Street" was something that felt like it would matter. Maybe it lost its mystique after its 3rd state, or maybe I just got bored of driving. First of all Route 66 isnt a real road anymore, after 1985 it was decertified as a highway and now exists only as state routes and "Business route 40". The tourist trap culture of route 66 remains and I have just about had it with "Amazing" attractions and "Authentic" Indian trading posts (where everything is made in India). I have found better quality products made by authentic Native Americans for significantly cheaper when patients try to sell goods in the Hospital or at the overlooks in Canyon de Chelly. The towns and exits where you can visit "Route 66 Landmarks" are run down little backwaters which are not even a blip on the map. It feels like a whole culture has been developed in order to pedal nostalgic crap from when route 66 actually mattered. Maybe it is just that I am not very sentimental, or that I never had much route 66 culture, or that I simply prefer to look toward the future rather than focusing on the past, but I am glad that I dont have to get my kicks on route 66 anymore.
My goals for this week are simple, survive. Pinon clinic on Tuesday, Grand Rounds and Journal club on Wednesday, 4 corners and Mesa Verde this weekend.
-O
After a really restful night (sarcasm) in a Motel 6 in Holbrook AZ I had a pretty enjoyable day. I started off by heading over to Petrified Forest national park where I was able to check out the Painted Desert as well as the Petrified Forest. The thing that blew me away is the fines for removing any rocks or petrified wood from the park. This junk is available for like two dollars in the gift shop or at a number of roadside stands but could result in a three hundred dollar fine. They basically pat you down on your way in and out of the park to prevent the theft of these stones because apparently visitors remove tons of them each year. The park itself was pretty cool, with a lot of views which showed the different striations and layers of rock. The tall buttes with different layers of white, red, gray, orange and yellow were very impressive. I took some pictures in both black and white and color which showed the extreme contrast. While this place may look barren and bleak looking at the same pictures in black and white shows how much color there really is out there. I did the hike around Blue Mesa on the self guided trail. The hike was listed as moderately strenuous but was only about a mile long. Going down this trail through mountains of gray bentonite (the stabilizing component of calamine lotion) was a pretty amazing experience. The most profound aspect of these badlands was the silence. For most of the walk the only sounds were the wind and my boots on the gravel. It was extremely peaceful and beautiful. I did see a few other hikers on the way back up the hill, but for the entire loop trail was just me and the silence. I am very glad that I made this trip, being there on that trail was one of the most peaceful times that I have ever had. I am really glad I made the trip partially because the silence made Chinle sound busy. I would definitely recommend this hike for anyone taking Interstate 40 through eastern Arizona.
After the hike I headed up to Ganado and then on to Chinle. This weekend was pretty awesome, but probably the best part of this weekend is that I am basically done driving on route 66. The first few horus being on route 66 a few weeks ago I was pretty impressed. To be driving on "The Mother Road" or heading down "America's Main Street" was something that felt like it would matter. Maybe it lost its mystique after its 3rd state, or maybe I just got bored of driving. First of all Route 66 isnt a real road anymore, after 1985 it was decertified as a highway and now exists only as state routes and "Business route 40". The tourist trap culture of route 66 remains and I have just about had it with "Amazing" attractions and "Authentic" Indian trading posts (where everything is made in India). I have found better quality products made by authentic Native Americans for significantly cheaper when patients try to sell goods in the Hospital or at the overlooks in Canyon de Chelly. The towns and exits where you can visit "Route 66 Landmarks" are run down little backwaters which are not even a blip on the map. It feels like a whole culture has been developed in order to pedal nostalgic crap from when route 66 actually mattered. Maybe it is just that I am not very sentimental, or that I never had much route 66 culture, or that I simply prefer to look toward the future rather than focusing on the past, but I am glad that I dont have to get my kicks on route 66 anymore.
My goals for this week are simple, survive. Pinon clinic on Tuesday, Grand Rounds and Journal club on Wednesday, 4 corners and Mesa Verde this weekend.
-O
Saturday, October 24, 2009
The Canyon of Grandeur
Today was one of the best days I have had out west. I took route 180 west around the San Francisco peaks (an outcropping of tall volcanic mountains just North of Flagstaff). This road was one of the most scenic drives I have ever taken through miles of tall pine trees fading into small scrub forest before route 180 meets route 64 which takes you north to the Grand Canyon. The park itself was breathtaking, one minute you are searching for parking spots and the next you are looking over the edge of a 7000 foot drop. I have seen pictures and tv shows on the Grand Canyon for years, but none of them do any justice. I walked about 2 miles of the rim, but I wish I would of had more time to walk the edge or maybe even hike a little way down the canyon. Some day I may try to hike the entire thing, but that is years away. I grabbed lunch at one of the lodges and was able to eat a burrito and drink a beer right on the edge. Afterward I headed toward the desert view overlook and got a bunch of great pictures at overlooks along the way. At desert view there was an ancient 4 story watchtower which I was able to check out up top.
After I left the canyon I drove route 64 east. This road was perfect, mountains on the right and the grand canyon on the left. It was quite a ride. I then headed back to Flagstaff and went to the museum of Northern Arizona where they were holding a day of the dead celebration. It was a pretty cool stop, and I see why Dr. d'Oney recommended stopping there.
Tonight I am staying in a motel in Hollbrook, AZ. I decided to leave Flag early to head back towards the Petrified Forest National Park which I will hopefully be able to hike tomorrow. I really enjoyed Flagstaff and I will definitely be returning. The beautiful scenery and laid back atmosphere really made it a great place to visit. Tomorrow I am going to hike a bit then head back to Chinle and do my best to recover from this weekend. Next week I am in the off site clinic in Pinon one day and have journal club and grand rounds one day, but other than that its business as usual
-O
After I left the canyon I drove route 64 east. This road was perfect, mountains on the right and the grand canyon on the left. It was quite a ride. I then headed back to Flagstaff and went to the museum of Northern Arizona where they were holding a day of the dead celebration. It was a pretty cool stop, and I see why Dr. d'Oney recommended stopping there.
Tonight I am staying in a motel in Hollbrook, AZ. I decided to leave Flag early to head back towards the Petrified Forest National Park which I will hopefully be able to hike tomorrow. I really enjoyed Flagstaff and I will definitely be returning. The beautiful scenery and laid back atmosphere really made it a great place to visit. Tomorrow I am going to hike a bit then head back to Chinle and do my best to recover from this weekend. Next week I am in the off site clinic in Pinon one day and have journal club and grand rounds one day, but other than that its business as usual
-O
Friday, October 23, 2009
Flagstaff
This morning I got a chance to go into the OR at the hospital and shaddow on 4 procedures. I have never been in an OR before and was pretty nervous about how I would handle it. Im not the best with blood or bodily fluids so I was kind of worried about puking or passing out. The rest of the pharmacy staff was joking with me about hearing a Code Blue (collapsed patient) call coming from the OR today. I got to sit in on an endoscopy, colonoscopy, lap coly (laproscopic gall bladder removal) and a wound debridement on a severe abscess. Except for a few bouts of light headedness and almost puking watching them irrigate the abscess and having blood and gunk fly everywhere I did ok.
Since I went in early I was able to get out early and head down to Flagstaff. The time shift from the Reservation(follows daylight savings time) and Arizona (doesnt follow daylight savings time, currently on the equivalent of Pacific time until next weekend) gave me an extra hour to spend along the way. I stopped at this Meteor Crater about an hour outside of Flagstaff. This is the place is huge (about 2.5 miles around and 500 feet deep) and was pretty cool to see. The Apollo astronauts used to train in the bottom because it was the closest place to the moon on earth. It was only fitting that there was a meteor crater in a place that looks like a scene from a si-fi move, this place was really out of this world.
Tonight I am spending the night in Flagstaff before heading to the Grand Canyon tomorrow morning. Flag seems like a pretty cool city, almost like a Burlington at 7000 feet above sea level. It is a pretty nice college town whit a lot of crunchy hippies and outdoors lovers. I went to a pub in the old town and it was just like being on church street in Burlington. There was a blend of college kids, visiting parents, and people who clearly had been out hiking all day. The one thing was that different was the climate. When I showed up around 5 (Arizona time) the weather was around 70 degrees under blue skies. Even around 9 the temperature is in the 50s but not too cold. Im really looking forward to tomorrow, and am planning to come back to Flag after I am done rather than heading to Lake Powell like I originally planned. I am suffering from some travel fatigue and am even considering cutting my trip home a little short.
Thats all for now
-O
Since I went in early I was able to get out early and head down to Flagstaff. The time shift from the Reservation(follows daylight savings time) and Arizona (doesnt follow daylight savings time, currently on the equivalent of Pacific time until next weekend) gave me an extra hour to spend along the way. I stopped at this Meteor Crater about an hour outside of Flagstaff. This is the place is huge (about 2.5 miles around and 500 feet deep) and was pretty cool to see. The Apollo astronauts used to train in the bottom because it was the closest place to the moon on earth. It was only fitting that there was a meteor crater in a place that looks like a scene from a si-fi move, this place was really out of this world.
Tonight I am spending the night in Flagstaff before heading to the Grand Canyon tomorrow morning. Flag seems like a pretty cool city, almost like a Burlington at 7000 feet above sea level. It is a pretty nice college town whit a lot of crunchy hippies and outdoors lovers. I went to a pub in the old town and it was just like being on church street in Burlington. There was a blend of college kids, visiting parents, and people who clearly had been out hiking all day. The one thing was that different was the climate. When I showed up around 5 (Arizona time) the weather was around 70 degrees under blue skies. Even around 9 the temperature is in the 50s but not too cold. Im really looking forward to tomorrow, and am planning to come back to Flag after I am done rather than heading to Lake Powell like I originally planned. I am suffering from some travel fatigue and am even considering cutting my trip home a little short.
Thats all for now
-O
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Middle of the week
10/20/09
Nothing much has been going on at the rotation site lately. Yesterday I was supposed to be in the anticoag clinic for 8 hours, but all the patients either didnt show up or were admitted to the hospital for other problems and were not going to visit, either that or they just didnt like me. Instead I did a lot of research on Crystal Meth for my final project, I have another 3 weeks until I present and the powerpoint is just about done, so im in pretty good shape for that. Today I made up for yesterday by seeing several patients in the clinic rather than just sitting around waiting for things to do. The anticoag clinic is pretty cool because we have a lot of leeway for adjusting coumadin doses based on INR. I even got my INR done and it is a healthy 1.2 (must be all the green veggies). There are 5 students from Creighton university (where the hell is creighton) shadowing in the pharmacy so things are pretty crowded.
Apparently this has been Halloween dress up week, monday was sports themed, yesterday was cross dresser themed, and today was 80s so things are pretty strange around here. I was surprised to find out that Halloween is the biggest holiday on the reservation. I was checking a patient's chart and found they had a Hemoglobin A1C (indicator of chronic uncontrolled diabetes) of 12.7 (goal is <7 or <6 if possible) and the pharmacist was not surprised. She said that they get people with A1Cs this high two or three times a week and it will only get worse once Halloween hits. I understand the rejection of some anglicized holidays like Christmas and Easter, and the rejection of some holidays (Columbus day), but Halloween doesnt seem like a huge holiday to me. I guess since it is a ritualistic representation of a pagan holiday it might have some draw, plus there is candy.
This weekend should be good. Im heading to Flagstaff on Friday night, possibly visiting the museum of northern arizona and then heading up to the Grand Canyon on Saturday. I am going to only be able to hit the south rim, but I hear that has the best views. On sunday I am going to try to check out Antelope Canyon and Lake Powell in Page, AZ. I also opened a webshots album at http://community.webshots.com/user/owenfoley where I have posted some of my pictures with more to come. I really appreciate all the calls and emails that I have gotten this week, Ill try to get back to you as soon as I can.
-O
Nothing much has been going on at the rotation site lately. Yesterday I was supposed to be in the anticoag clinic for 8 hours, but all the patients either didnt show up or were admitted to the hospital for other problems and were not going to visit, either that or they just didnt like me. Instead I did a lot of research on Crystal Meth for my final project, I have another 3 weeks until I present and the powerpoint is just about done, so im in pretty good shape for that. Today I made up for yesterday by seeing several patients in the clinic rather than just sitting around waiting for things to do. The anticoag clinic is pretty cool because we have a lot of leeway for adjusting coumadin doses based on INR. I even got my INR done and it is a healthy 1.2 (must be all the green veggies). There are 5 students from Creighton university (where the hell is creighton) shadowing in the pharmacy so things are pretty crowded.
Apparently this has been Halloween dress up week, monday was sports themed, yesterday was cross dresser themed, and today was 80s so things are pretty strange around here. I was surprised to find out that Halloween is the biggest holiday on the reservation. I was checking a patient's chart and found they had a Hemoglobin A1C (indicator of chronic uncontrolled diabetes) of 12.7 (goal is <7 or <6 if possible) and the pharmacist was not surprised. She said that they get people with A1Cs this high two or three times a week and it will only get worse once Halloween hits. I understand the rejection of some anglicized holidays like Christmas and Easter, and the rejection of some holidays (Columbus day), but Halloween doesnt seem like a huge holiday to me. I guess since it is a ritualistic representation of a pagan holiday it might have some draw, plus there is candy.
This weekend should be good. Im heading to Flagstaff on Friday night, possibly visiting the museum of northern arizona and then heading up to the Grand Canyon on Saturday. I am going to only be able to hit the south rim, but I hear that has the best views. On sunday I am going to try to check out Antelope Canyon and Lake Powell in Page, AZ. I also opened a webshots album at http://community.webshots.com/user/owenfoley where I have posted some of my pictures with more to come. I really appreciate all the calls and emails that I have gotten this week, Ill try to get back to you as soon as I can.
-O
First Impressions
Written 10/19/09
Today I got to meet my preceptor (Julie) who seems very nice and really into having me there. We only talked for about 15 minutes but she had a pretty good plan for the next few weeks. I will be in the outpatient clinics in Pinon and Tsaile for 2 days each, im going to be in the OR on Friday, and potentially working with a nurse practitioner who does home visits. The best news was that my last day got canceled, I was supposed to be done on Wednesday the 11th before heading to SLC and then flying home for interview day. Since November 11th is veterans day the hospital is closed so I can leave even early and get to spend more time in Salt Lake City which is one of my favorite places in the world. Apparently I was supposed to be at the Tsaile (Pronounced Say-Le) today, but since I didnt have the schedule I didnt know. I went up to Tsaile as soon as I found out and had a nice relaxing day in the outpatient clinic. They are about 30 minutes from Chinle and serve a smaller population. The people out there were nice and I was able to work with a Navajo pharmacist for the first time. It was pretty cool to see him interact with the people and speak the same language while having the knowledge about pharmacy. Having a pharmacist who looks, speaks, and acts like you do as well as who understands where you are coming from really helps build the pharmacist/patient relationship. I saw similar things in Amsterdam where the Hispanic population didnt really react well to having a large white man giving them pharmacy advice. At one point I actually heard an old Puerto Rican woman call me El Diablo Grande (The Big White Devil). Being in such a small isolated community like Chinle or Tsaile they will better react to a pharmacist who is just like them than to a large white man like myself. I was actually surprised that IHS doesnt have more Native American pharmacists, but I dont know if there are many out there, or if they are willing to go to a place like Chinle. I know that I wouldnt be up for returning to Broadalbin long term just because they need a large white man as a pharmacist.
-O
Today I got to meet my preceptor (Julie) who seems very nice and really into having me there. We only talked for about 15 minutes but she had a pretty good plan for the next few weeks. I will be in the outpatient clinics in Pinon and Tsaile for 2 days each, im going to be in the OR on Friday, and potentially working with a nurse practitioner who does home visits. The best news was that my last day got canceled, I was supposed to be done on Wednesday the 11th before heading to SLC and then flying home for interview day. Since November 11th is veterans day the hospital is closed so I can leave even early and get to spend more time in Salt Lake City which is one of my favorite places in the world. Apparently I was supposed to be at the Tsaile (Pronounced Say-Le) today, but since I didnt have the schedule I didnt know. I went up to Tsaile as soon as I found out and had a nice relaxing day in the outpatient clinic. They are about 30 minutes from Chinle and serve a smaller population. The people out there were nice and I was able to work with a Navajo pharmacist for the first time. It was pretty cool to see him interact with the people and speak the same language while having the knowledge about pharmacy. Having a pharmacist who looks, speaks, and acts like you do as well as who understands where you are coming from really helps build the pharmacist/patient relationship. I saw similar things in Amsterdam where the Hispanic population didnt really react well to having a large white man giving them pharmacy advice. At one point I actually heard an old Puerto Rican woman call me El Diablo Grande (The Big White Devil). Being in such a small isolated community like Chinle or Tsaile they will better react to a pharmacist who is just like them than to a large white man like myself. I was actually surprised that IHS doesnt have more Native American pharmacists, but I dont know if there are many out there, or if they are willing to go to a place like Chinle. I know that I wouldnt be up for returning to Broadalbin long term just because they need a large white man as a pharmacist.
-O
These boots are made for hiking
10/18/09
Today I was able to hike Canyon de Chelly. I know what you are thinking, "but hiking is like walking and you hate to walk", while true about walking I do enjoy hiking, its good to get away and kind of clear your head. I realize that I have spent the past 2 weeks by myeself and should have a clear head by now becuase there is nothing going on in my life and few contacts from the outside world, but I really needed to get out of the house and out of the car and just spend some time accomplishing something tangible. I went on the only trail which doesnt require a Navajo guide, the White House Trail. The trail is about 1.5 miles each way and descends 600 feet into the canyon through various switchbacks. The walk down was very uneventful and pretty easy. I was able to get a few looks out over the amazing view of the canyon and the bluffs and buttes and mesas which make up this area. On the bottom it is about a half mile walk over really sandy ground (seriously like a beach) to the ruins, which were built around 1000AD. Canyon de Chelly is the oldest continually inhabited areas in the US where people have lived for 4000 years (for reference Jesus died around 2000 years ago, Columbus discovered America just over 500 years ago, and I was born just over 24 years ago). The ruins were fenced off but I was able to get a few good pictures from just outside, im sure that they arent as good as the famous Ansel Adams photo shot in the same place, but they were pretty good none the less. There were also a lot of Navajo craftsmen at the bottom selling jewelry and trinkets. I did buy some things here, as well as around the rim road. Groups of tourists can take Navajo guided horse/jeep/truck tours through here to avoid the climb. After spending about half an hour at the bottom I decided to tackle the tough part, the climb up. When climbing mountains the sumit is the midpoint, you climb all fresh and then come down when you are tired, if you get too tired on the walk up then you just turn around and head back down. With canyons it is the complete opposite, the easy part happens first and then you have to do the hard part. The climb up wasnt all that bad, there were a few benches at the trailside and plenty of places to stop and catch your breath. It did take me a while because im out of shape and not fully acclimated yet, but I made it up all right. About 3 switchbacks from the top (about 70 vertical feet) it started to rain so that kind of gave me a boost to make it up there. It is funny how the weather can shift around here so fast, it went from clear blue skies to rainy in just a short time. All in all I made it through the hike in 2 hours 15 minutes including a 30 minute break at the bottom. The guy at the visitor center said it would take and hour and a half to 2 hours so I made pretty good time. After reaching the top I went around the rim road to check out the other overlooks. Spider rock was pretty amazing, its an 800 foot spire rising from the canyon floor. At spider rock I picked up these really cool stones from the canyon floor that he had carved the pictographs from the walls into. He said that each design took him about 3 hours of work with a nail, and showed the pictographs of kokopelli and several other Native American symbols. I was also talking to a photographer about the views and eventually found out that he was originally from East Greenbush, just across the river from Albany. It is pretty cool to see what a small world it is. The rest of the overlooks were cool, but after spending all day there I was just about exhausted of red rocks. I did stop at a Hogan (Ho-Gon, Navajo living place) that was selling frybread and crafts, turns out that fresh frybread is even better than what I got at the hospital. Im really glad I went on this hike, it gave me some time to think and get out there, except for being exhausted and having a few blisters from the new boots I am none the worse for the wear.
Tonight I spent some time in the parking lot of Churchs Chicken uploading photos onto facebook, I am probably going to set up a webshots account so everyone can see my pics. Now im going to go crash and get geared up for the week ahead of me, hopefully this one will be better than last week.
-O
Today I was able to hike Canyon de Chelly. I know what you are thinking, "but hiking is like walking and you hate to walk", while true about walking I do enjoy hiking, its good to get away and kind of clear your head. I realize that I have spent the past 2 weeks by myeself and should have a clear head by now becuase there is nothing going on in my life and few contacts from the outside world, but I really needed to get out of the house and out of the car and just spend some time accomplishing something tangible. I went on the only trail which doesnt require a Navajo guide, the White House Trail. The trail is about 1.5 miles each way and descends 600 feet into the canyon through various switchbacks. The walk down was very uneventful and pretty easy. I was able to get a few looks out over the amazing view of the canyon and the bluffs and buttes and mesas which make up this area. On the bottom it is about a half mile walk over really sandy ground (seriously like a beach) to the ruins, which were built around 1000AD. Canyon de Chelly is the oldest continually inhabited areas in the US where people have lived for 4000 years (for reference Jesus died around 2000 years ago, Columbus discovered America just over 500 years ago, and I was born just over 24 years ago). The ruins were fenced off but I was able to get a few good pictures from just outside, im sure that they arent as good as the famous Ansel Adams photo shot in the same place, but they were pretty good none the less. There were also a lot of Navajo craftsmen at the bottom selling jewelry and trinkets. I did buy some things here, as well as around the rim road. Groups of tourists can take Navajo guided horse/jeep/truck tours through here to avoid the climb. After spending about half an hour at the bottom I decided to tackle the tough part, the climb up. When climbing mountains the sumit is the midpoint, you climb all fresh and then come down when you are tired, if you get too tired on the walk up then you just turn around and head back down. With canyons it is the complete opposite, the easy part happens first and then you have to do the hard part. The climb up wasnt all that bad, there were a few benches at the trailside and plenty of places to stop and catch your breath. It did take me a while because im out of shape and not fully acclimated yet, but I made it up all right. About 3 switchbacks from the top (about 70 vertical feet) it started to rain so that kind of gave me a boost to make it up there. It is funny how the weather can shift around here so fast, it went from clear blue skies to rainy in just a short time. All in all I made it through the hike in 2 hours 15 minutes including a 30 minute break at the bottom. The guy at the visitor center said it would take and hour and a half to 2 hours so I made pretty good time. After reaching the top I went around the rim road to check out the other overlooks. Spider rock was pretty amazing, its an 800 foot spire rising from the canyon floor. At spider rock I picked up these really cool stones from the canyon floor that he had carved the pictographs from the walls into. He said that each design took him about 3 hours of work with a nail, and showed the pictographs of kokopelli and several other Native American symbols. I was also talking to a photographer about the views and eventually found out that he was originally from East Greenbush, just across the river from Albany. It is pretty cool to see what a small world it is. The rest of the overlooks were cool, but after spending all day there I was just about exhausted of red rocks. I did stop at a Hogan (Ho-Gon, Navajo living place) that was selling frybread and crafts, turns out that fresh frybread is even better than what I got at the hospital. Im really glad I went on this hike, it gave me some time to think and get out there, except for being exhausted and having a few blisters from the new boots I am none the worse for the wear.
Tonight I spent some time in the parking lot of Churchs Chicken uploading photos onto facebook, I am probably going to set up a webshots account so everyone can see my pics. Now im going to go crash and get geared up for the week ahead of me, hopefully this one will be better than last week.
-O
Sunday, October 18, 2009
10/17/09
Today has been a bad one. It started with the motel in Gallup being one of the worst ones I have stayed inn ever. The curtains didnt shut out light, the walls were paper thin, and the whole room shook whenever someone walked past in the hall. Once I got up I decided to get my oil changed before heading to the petrified forest. After the visiting jiffy lube my cruise control wouldn't work. It worked fine the night before, but apparently getting the oil changed and having a tail light bulb replaced shorted the cruise control out. After driving back to Gallup to have it checked at the Jiffy lube they told me to go to Pep boys to get it checked out further. After a $100 diagnostic check a pep boys apparently the cruise control needs to be replaced, to the tune of 600 or 700 bucks, and it can only be fixed at a dealership. Since the dealership in Gallup was closed, and there is no dealership in Chinle I have to shop around and find a place to get it replaced in Flagstaff next weekend or in SLC when I fly home for interview day. Hopefully this will be a short and painless process. I was pretty messed up by this because I am so far from civilization. The closest real town is Flagstaff which is 3 hours away and I am never going back to Gallup. Both times I have left there feeling like shit. This whole experience was just the straw that broke the camel's back. I have had a very bad week getting used to the altitude, the dryness, the time, and this new hospital. The prospect of having to drive 3000 miles to home by myself without cruise control really put me over the edge. On the ride back to Chinle I was able go get control of myself. I stopped in window rock at the code talkers memorial and the actual window rock. It was a pretty surreal sight that kind of put things back in perspective. On the way home I also stopped at Hubbells trading post, which was not as impressive as I thought it would be. I didnt realize that this place was a functional trading post with most of the space taken up by groceries and camping supplies. Some of the rugs and jewlery that they had were nice, but were way out of my price range.
While I regret missing the petrified forest I am looking forward to hiking Canyon de Chelly tomorrow. I also found that Church's Chicken in town has WiFi and hopefully I will be able to mooch it for the bears game tomorrow and other times throughout the week.
-O
Today has been a bad one. It started with the motel in Gallup being one of the worst ones I have stayed inn ever. The curtains didnt shut out light, the walls were paper thin, and the whole room shook whenever someone walked past in the hall. Once I got up I decided to get my oil changed before heading to the petrified forest. After the visiting jiffy lube my cruise control wouldn't work. It worked fine the night before, but apparently getting the oil changed and having a tail light bulb replaced shorted the cruise control out. After driving back to Gallup to have it checked at the Jiffy lube they told me to go to Pep boys to get it checked out further. After a $100 diagnostic check a pep boys apparently the cruise control needs to be replaced, to the tune of 600 or 700 bucks, and it can only be fixed at a dealership. Since the dealership in Gallup was closed, and there is no dealership in Chinle I have to shop around and find a place to get it replaced in Flagstaff next weekend or in SLC when I fly home for interview day. Hopefully this will be a short and painless process. I was pretty messed up by this because I am so far from civilization. The closest real town is Flagstaff which is 3 hours away and I am never going back to Gallup. Both times I have left there feeling like shit. This whole experience was just the straw that broke the camel's back. I have had a very bad week getting used to the altitude, the dryness, the time, and this new hospital. The prospect of having to drive 3000 miles to home by myself without cruise control really put me over the edge. On the ride back to Chinle I was able go get control of myself. I stopped in window rock at the code talkers memorial and the actual window rock. It was a pretty surreal sight that kind of put things back in perspective. On the way home I also stopped at Hubbells trading post, which was not as impressive as I thought it would be. I didnt realize that this place was a functional trading post with most of the space taken up by groceries and camping supplies. Some of the rugs and jewlery that they had were nice, but were way out of my price range.
While I regret missing the petrified forest I am looking forward to hiking Canyon de Chelly tomorrow. I also found that Church's Chicken in town has WiFi and hopefully I will be able to mooch it for the bears game tomorrow and other times throughout the week.
-O
Friday, October 16, 2009
I heard that there was some internet out west
So I broke down and left Chinle today. I was originally planning on staying in town and hiking Canyon de Chelly tomorrow and then relaxing on sunday, but then I realized that I wanted to get away. I am currently at the Red Roof Inn in Gallup, NM (about 90 miles from Chinle). To get here the GPS directed me to take the BIA tribal roads. Unfortunately those roads are not only unpaved and rocky as hell, but Garmin lists them at 55mph, rather than the 30mph that you really have to travel. While I got to see a lot of nice scenery, I am still pissed that Garmin wasted my time (again). Once I got to civilization I went to Walmart in order to pick up some supplies. I decided to get new hiking boots because I forgot to bring any with me and would probably be better off wearing boots than my sneakers. I also had to pick up food because of how much more expensive things are in the grocery store in Chinle. I kind of got carried away and spent a lot more money than I intended to, but I guess I was just happy to be back in civilization. Tomorrow I am going to head over to the petrified forest and check things out, then head up to the Hubbell trading post on my way back to Chinle. I am going to hike Canyon de Chelly on Sunday and then do my best to find some internet/tv so I can catch the Bears/Falcons game. I will be going to Flagstaff/Grand Canyon/Lake Powell next weekend so I will hopefully be able to update again. Until then I will continue writing updates and posting them when I get internet access (2 updates from this week posted below). Once again I am bored after I get out of work at 7EST, please feel free to text or call so I have something to do over the next few weeks.
-O
-O
...and on the 3rd day he rose again
Written
10/15/09
After 3 days I am starting to settle in to this rotation. All pharmacy rotations are basically the same, but there is still an adjustment period. For me the biggest problem is always getting to know the staff. At this site there are like 15 people in the pharmacy, so its going to take a while for me to even get their names down. Yesterday I was stuck on the front counter doing straight retail stuff. Since this site contains both an inpatient and a retail pharmacy they not only fill orders, but do refills and a lot of counseling. There is mandatory counseling on every refil which is totally unnecessary and a waste of manpower. What is even more unnecessary is that the federal regulations dont permit me to be in the room with a patient alone. That means that in order for me to counsel a pharmacist has to be in there with me. In order to avoid this the guys who I was working with yesterday kept me out of the counseling room and just put me on the bench checking scripts. I dont understand how they cant leave me alone to counsel (perfectly legal as long as there is a pharmacist present in the pharmacy), but I can check prescriptions without any doublecheck by a pharmacist (not fully legal). This was kind of discouraging because I do retail pharmacy stuff every day and just doing checking aspirin scripts all day doesnt teach me anything. I brought that up today and instead I was able to work on a project. I did a quick economic analysis of using Lovenox vs Arixtra. I didnt really comprehend how much money would be saved on the BID treatment doses. Today they had a navajo food sale in the hospital to raise money to buy tshirts. I was able to get some delicious beef stew and Navajo frybread instead of my typical peanut butter sandwich. Frybread is just what it sounds like, fried bread dough that is light and tasty. Apparently it is better when it is fresh, which I can apparently get at the Chinle flea market that happens every week. Im going to swing in there on friday to get some of the fresh stuff. Ill try to look at some nice Navajo goods too.
Im starting to settle into the apartment too. It is strange waking up before the dawn in order to go to work, this is not a representation of how early I wake up, but rather a representation of how late the sun rises (around 7:30AM). I really enjoy the pre dawn hour when it is light enough to see, but still not sunny. I typically dont wake up for this time, but am generally already awake before until the sun rises. I was surprised by how much free time I have in the morning without having to check my email or facebook or fighting for the bathroom or anything like that. I still cant get used to coming home and having absolutely nothing to do. I come back and watch a few episodes of Metalocalypse and read until I go to bed. This will pass in time, worst case scenario I get to spend a month reading and relaxing. Its hard to believe that I only have 19 more days of actually going to rotation left, but ill try to make the best of it.
-O
10/15/09
After 3 days I am starting to settle in to this rotation. All pharmacy rotations are basically the same, but there is still an adjustment period. For me the biggest problem is always getting to know the staff. At this site there are like 15 people in the pharmacy, so its going to take a while for me to even get their names down. Yesterday I was stuck on the front counter doing straight retail stuff. Since this site contains both an inpatient and a retail pharmacy they not only fill orders, but do refills and a lot of counseling. There is mandatory counseling on every refil which is totally unnecessary and a waste of manpower. What is even more unnecessary is that the federal regulations dont permit me to be in the room with a patient alone. That means that in order for me to counsel a pharmacist has to be in there with me. In order to avoid this the guys who I was working with yesterday kept me out of the counseling room and just put me on the bench checking scripts. I dont understand how they cant leave me alone to counsel (perfectly legal as long as there is a pharmacist present in the pharmacy), but I can check prescriptions without any doublecheck by a pharmacist (not fully legal). This was kind of discouraging because I do retail pharmacy stuff every day and just doing checking aspirin scripts all day doesnt teach me anything. I brought that up today and instead I was able to work on a project. I did a quick economic analysis of using Lovenox vs Arixtra. I didnt really comprehend how much money would be saved on the BID treatment doses. Today they had a navajo food sale in the hospital to raise money to buy tshirts. I was able to get some delicious beef stew and Navajo frybread instead of my typical peanut butter sandwich. Frybread is just what it sounds like, fried bread dough that is light and tasty. Apparently it is better when it is fresh, which I can apparently get at the Chinle flea market that happens every week. Im going to swing in there on friday to get some of the fresh stuff. Ill try to look at some nice Navajo goods too.
Im starting to settle into the apartment too. It is strange waking up before the dawn in order to go to work, this is not a representation of how early I wake up, but rather a representation of how late the sun rises (around 7:30AM). I really enjoy the pre dawn hour when it is light enough to see, but still not sunny. I typically dont wake up for this time, but am generally already awake before until the sun rises. I was surprised by how much free time I have in the morning without having to check my email or facebook or fighting for the bathroom or anything like that. I still cant get used to coming home and having absolutely nothing to do. I come back and watch a few episodes of Metalocalypse and read until I go to bed. This will pass in time, worst case scenario I get to spend a month reading and relaxing. Its hard to believe that I only have 19 more days of actually going to rotation left, but ill try to make the best of it.
-O
Upon Arival
Written 10/13/09
So after many days of travel and over 2800 miles I finally made it to Chinle yesterday around 2pm. After checking in at the hospital I got the keys to my trailer and spent the day getting things moved in and set up. Its called a trailer, but it is an actual building split in half width wise with a 2 bedroom apartment on each side. I have my side all to myself, but apparently there is a family living just across the living room. While not exactly the Ritz it will suit my purpose, there are the 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen, and a dining/living room. While there is a TV with a DVD play there is neither cable or anyplace in town to rent DVDs cheaply and easily (I miss you RedBox). There is an extensive collection of medical books, so after I breeze through the 5 books I brought with me I will dive into learning new medical info, or simply reviewing things which I had learned before. I wish that the APhA review book came sooner so I could start focusing on the NAPLEX. Its hard to believe that this is the first time I have ever had a place to myself. During college I always had between 2 and 5 roommates which was eventful, good, fun, aggravating, and horrible all at the same time. Even while staying at camp for that rotation last summer there were always people coming in for the weekend so I never really had the place to myself. It is a good feeling to see nothing in the fridge but my stuff, but at the same time it is kind of depressing to come home knowing that you wont speak to anyone until the next day at work. Hopefully the isolation wont get to me too much.
The scenery out my window is just empty desert. Its so foreign to me to look out and see that. During my 10 weeks in Middlebury I was secluded, but it wasnt empty. I also had a lot of support from Yonna and Ken, where here I am all alone. Beyond that the town is nice, but small with only a market, 2 gas stations, a pizza place, chinese place (yeah I was surprised about that one too) a couple hotels and a burger king. Apparently the burger king has wi-fi so I will hopefully upload this document from there sometime in the next few days. The town feels a lot like Willsboro does, where everybody knows everything about everybody else. While the landscapes are night and day there is still something comforting about having that particular feeling, even though nobody here knows anything about me. The people at the hospital all seem nice and friendly. My preceptor (Julie) is on vacation so I am subbing in working with another pharmacist (John). John is a pretty cool guy from Oklahoma who has only been here for a few months. He did a residency and is all about learning so he will hopefully be a good influence on me. The rest of the staff were either contractor pharmacists or mostly Navajo workers. The hospital itself is pretty big compared to Porter Hospital in Middlebury, its a whopping 60 beds. The biggest draw is that they have everything health related under one roof. People come in from hours away to see their docotor, dentist, optometrist, dietitian, obgyn, everything. It is pretty cool to see this one stop shopping healthmart. It may be something that can lay the groundwork for interdisciplinary communication and health care for the future. With so few doctors choosing family practice there has been a crisis in the medical field which has resulted in less time being spent with more patients which has really ruined the doctor patient connection. Having a setup like this relieves the doctor of some of the financial and time burden while increasing access to specialists when needed. Just think of all the productivity which would be gained by patients not having to take 3 days off from work to go to 3 different appointments, but instead knocking everything out in one day. With the current problems posed by our health care system and the piece of garbage health care bill being shoved down our throats having this health care setup could potentially help our nation both economically and get us back to where we belong health care wise. Its only been one day and I have 21 more to go at this rotation. Since my preceptor is gone until next week I am not 100% sure what I am going to be spending most of my time on, but im sure that I will keep busy for this week. I have to go to rounds every morning at 8 to hear about any interesting admits so I will hopefully see some interesting cases. I will also be spending a few days in the outside clinic in Pinon, about 30 miles away, so I should be able to see a little bit of Navajoland.
This weekend I am going to stay pretty close to Chinle because frankly I am sick and tired of driving. If you ever go cross country bring someone with you so you can have something to do besides think. Now I have nothing left to think about. I will probably go check out Canyon de Chelly (pronounced Canyon de Shay) just down the road. I dont know if I am going to hike it, but I at least want to check it out. On Sunday I may go down and check out the Hubbel Trading Post which is a national landmark and apparently a pretty cool place. I may swing down to Window Rock and actually check out the Window Rock that it is named after, I tried to find it when I was there on Monday, but after visiting the historical center I wound up just heading on to Chinle. Over the course of the next 2 weekends I plan on going to Monument Valley/Shiprock/the Four Corners, The Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, and probably Flagstaff. If you have any ideas of places I should go or things I should do (Besides drive route 666 to Fort Defiance) please let me know. I am out of work by 5pm Mountain (7pm Eastern) and am basically just sitting around reading so feel free to call me. I can get on the internet at work for email, but email/internet doesnt work on my phone. I still get pretty good service and can send/recieve texts so feel free to contact me at any time.
-O
So after many days of travel and over 2800 miles I finally made it to Chinle yesterday around 2pm. After checking in at the hospital I got the keys to my trailer and spent the day getting things moved in and set up. Its called a trailer, but it is an actual building split in half width wise with a 2 bedroom apartment on each side. I have my side all to myself, but apparently there is a family living just across the living room. While not exactly the Ritz it will suit my purpose, there are the 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen, and a dining/living room. While there is a TV with a DVD play there is neither cable or anyplace in town to rent DVDs cheaply and easily (I miss you RedBox). There is an extensive collection of medical books, so after I breeze through the 5 books I brought with me I will dive into learning new medical info, or simply reviewing things which I had learned before. I wish that the APhA review book came sooner so I could start focusing on the NAPLEX. Its hard to believe that this is the first time I have ever had a place to myself. During college I always had between 2 and 5 roommates which was eventful, good, fun, aggravating, and horrible all at the same time. Even while staying at camp for that rotation last summer there were always people coming in for the weekend so I never really had the place to myself. It is a good feeling to see nothing in the fridge but my stuff, but at the same time it is kind of depressing to come home knowing that you wont speak to anyone until the next day at work. Hopefully the isolation wont get to me too much.
The scenery out my window is just empty desert. Its so foreign to me to look out and see that. During my 10 weeks in Middlebury I was secluded, but it wasnt empty. I also had a lot of support from Yonna and Ken, where here I am all alone. Beyond that the town is nice, but small with only a market, 2 gas stations, a pizza place, chinese place (yeah I was surprised about that one too) a couple hotels and a burger king. Apparently the burger king has wi-fi so I will hopefully upload this document from there sometime in the next few days. The town feels a lot like Willsboro does, where everybody knows everything about everybody else. While the landscapes are night and day there is still something comforting about having that particular feeling, even though nobody here knows anything about me. The people at the hospital all seem nice and friendly. My preceptor (Julie) is on vacation so I am subbing in working with another pharmacist (John). John is a pretty cool guy from Oklahoma who has only been here for a few months. He did a residency and is all about learning so he will hopefully be a good influence on me. The rest of the staff were either contractor pharmacists or mostly Navajo workers. The hospital itself is pretty big compared to Porter Hospital in Middlebury, its a whopping 60 beds. The biggest draw is that they have everything health related under one roof. People come in from hours away to see their docotor, dentist, optometrist, dietitian, obgyn, everything. It is pretty cool to see this one stop shopping healthmart. It may be something that can lay the groundwork for interdisciplinary communication and health care for the future. With so few doctors choosing family practice there has been a crisis in the medical field which has resulted in less time being spent with more patients which has really ruined the doctor patient connection. Having a setup like this relieves the doctor of some of the financial and time burden while increasing access to specialists when needed. Just think of all the productivity which would be gained by patients not having to take 3 days off from work to go to 3 different appointments, but instead knocking everything out in one day. With the current problems posed by our health care system and the piece of garbage health care bill being shoved down our throats having this health care setup could potentially help our nation both economically and get us back to where we belong health care wise. Its only been one day and I have 21 more to go at this rotation. Since my preceptor is gone until next week I am not 100% sure what I am going to be spending most of my time on, but im sure that I will keep busy for this week. I have to go to rounds every morning at 8 to hear about any interesting admits so I will hopefully see some interesting cases. I will also be spending a few days in the outside clinic in Pinon, about 30 miles away, so I should be able to see a little bit of Navajoland.
This weekend I am going to stay pretty close to Chinle because frankly I am sick and tired of driving. If you ever go cross country bring someone with you so you can have something to do besides think. Now I have nothing left to think about. I will probably go check out Canyon de Chelly (pronounced Canyon de Shay) just down the road. I dont know if I am going to hike it, but I at least want to check it out. On Sunday I may go down and check out the Hubbel Trading Post which is a national landmark and apparently a pretty cool place. I may swing down to Window Rock and actually check out the Window Rock that it is named after, I tried to find it when I was there on Monday, but after visiting the historical center I wound up just heading on to Chinle. Over the course of the next 2 weekends I plan on going to Monument Valley/Shiprock/the Four Corners, The Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, and probably Flagstaff. If you have any ideas of places I should go or things I should do (Besides drive route 666 to Fort Defiance) please let me know. I am out of work by 5pm Mountain (7pm Eastern) and am basically just sitting around reading so feel free to call me. I can get on the internet at work for email, but email/internet doesnt work on my phone. I still get pretty good service and can send/recieve texts so feel free to contact me at any time.
-O
Sunday, October 11, 2009
To the end, to the end, the journey to the end
So today may be the last chance I get to update for a while. I know that the place I am staying will not have internet at the place im staying, but I will probably be able to get online either at the hospital or mooching wire.ess someplace
Today started off pretty rough. I wanted to attend the world famous Albuquerque Hot Air Balloon Festa, so I dragged myself out of bed at 5 after just a few hours of sleep. After finally making it to the field, finding parking, paying, and then standing around in the cold for almost 2 hours they decided to call off the launch becuase of wind. I understand that they are only looking out for the safety off the pilots, but the way they did it seemed sketchy. Nobody was getting their money back and they were unwilling to even appologize for the inconvienience. Hotel rates and expenses went up through the entire city, and they were unwilling to give us anything back. At least I was able to get a breakfast burrito at the balloon park.
After the balloon failure I went out towards Gallup, NM and wound up taking a detour to hit some tourist attractions. I went to El Morro national forest where the conquistadores and settlers carved their names in the stone. I went beyond the normal walking path and actually did the 2 mile hike up to the top. I have been having problems getting acclimated to the altitude so the hike was rough, but im glad I did it.
After El Morro I headed out to the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary where I was able to walk around and check out wolves that had been rescued. It was pretty cool to get up close with the animals,plus I got a few good pictures.
I am totally exhausted and will be crashing shortly. Tomorrow I make it to the Reservation and will try to make the best out of everything there. Im not sure what im going to do next weekend, but ill try to go out and explore a bit this week while I get accustomed to the altitude, the time shift, and general reservation life.
Today started off pretty rough. I wanted to attend the world famous Albuquerque Hot Air Balloon Festa, so I dragged myself out of bed at 5 after just a few hours of sleep. After finally making it to the field, finding parking, paying, and then standing around in the cold for almost 2 hours they decided to call off the launch becuase of wind. I understand that they are only looking out for the safety off the pilots, but the way they did it seemed sketchy. Nobody was getting their money back and they were unwilling to even appologize for the inconvienience. Hotel rates and expenses went up through the entire city, and they were unwilling to give us anything back. At least I was able to get a breakfast burrito at the balloon park.
After the balloon failure I went out towards Gallup, NM and wound up taking a detour to hit some tourist attractions. I went to El Morro national forest where the conquistadores and settlers carved their names in the stone. I went beyond the normal walking path and actually did the 2 mile hike up to the top. I have been having problems getting acclimated to the altitude so the hike was rough, but im glad I did it.
After El Morro I headed out to the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary where I was able to walk around and check out wolves that had been rescued. It was pretty cool to get up close with the animals,plus I got a few good pictures.
I am totally exhausted and will be crashing shortly. Tomorrow I make it to the Reservation and will try to make the best out of everything there. Im not sure what im going to do next weekend, but ill try to go out and explore a bit this week while I get accustomed to the altitude, the time shift, and general reservation life.
To the end, to the end, the journey to the end
So today may be the last chance I get to update for a while. I know that the place I am staying will not have internet at the place im staying, but I will probably be able to get online either at the hospital or mooching wire.ess someplace
Today started off pretty rough. I wanted to attend the world famous Albuquerque Hot Air Balloon Festa, so I dragged myself out of bed at 5 after just a few hours of sleep. After finally making it to the field, finding parking, paying, and then standing around in the cold for almost 2 hours they decided to call off the launch becuase of wind. I understand that they are only looking out for the safety off the pilots, but the way they did it seemed sketchy. Nobody was getting their money back and they were unwilling to even appologize for the inconvienience. Hotel rates and expenses went up through the entire city, and they were unwilling to give us anything back. At least I was able to get a breakfast burrito at the balloon park.
After the balloon failure I went out towards Gallup, NM and wound up taking a detour to hit some tourist attractions. I went to El Morro national forest where the conquistadores and settlers carved their names in the stone. I went beyond the normal walking path and actually did the 2 mile hike up to the top. I have been having problems getting acclimated to the altitude so the hike was rough, but im glad I did it.
After El Morro I headed out to the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary where I was able to walk around and check out wolves that had been rescued. It was pretty cool to get up close with the animals,plus I got a few good pictures.
I am totally exhausted and will be crashing shortly. Tomorrow I make it to the Reservation and will try to make the best out of everything there. Im not sure what im going to do next weekend, but ill try to go out and explore a bit this week while I get accustomed to the altitude, the time shift, and general reservation life.
Today started off pretty rough. I wanted to attend the world famous Albuquerque Hot Air Balloon Festa, so I dragged myself out of bed at 5 after just a few hours of sleep. After finally making it to the field, finding parking, paying, and then standing around in the cold for almost 2 hours they decided to call off the launch becuase of wind. I understand that they are only looking out for the safety off the pilots, but the way they did it seemed sketchy. Nobody was getting their money back and they were unwilling to even appologize for the inconvienience. Hotel rates and expenses went up through the entire city, and they were unwilling to give us anything back. At least I was able to get a breakfast burrito at the balloon park.
After the balloon failure I went out towards Gallup, NM and wound up taking a detour to hit some tourist attractions. I went to El Morro national forest where the conquistadores and settlers carved their names in the stone. I went beyond the normal walking path and actually did the 2 mile hike up to the top. I have been having problems getting acclimated to the altitude so the hike was rough, but im glad I did it.
After El Morro I headed out to the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary where I was able to walk around and check out wolves that had been rescued. It was pretty cool to get up close with the animals,plus I got a few good pictures.
I am totally exhausted and will be crashing shortly. Tomorrow I make it to the Reservation and will try to make the best out of everything there. Im not sure what im going to do next weekend, but ill try to go out and explore a bit this week while I get accustomed to the altitude, the time shift, and general reservation life.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Farewell Central time zone, I hardly knew ye
So today was by far the worst day of driving. I don’t know if it was a hangover effect from last nights near accident, or if it was that there was nothing to see, or possibly it was the tragic incident which started off my day.
The tragedy unfolded when I decided that I needed a haircut this morning. There happened to be a Super Cuts just across the parking lot from my hotel. Based on their name one would assume that they are good at what they do, in fact better than good, you might even assume that they are super. Had I known what I know now I would have never chanced myself on their establishment. I walked in and the girl started cutting my hair, then the other hair dresser came in flaunting her beautiful bleached blond mullet. This is when I started to get weary. I respect the mullet as a hair style, how can you not when it truly is business in the front and party in the back, but it is not the type of hair style one expects from someone who styles hair for a living (apparently only in Oklahoma). So I was so distracted by the mullatude going on in the mirror behind me I stopped paying attention to my own haircut. It wasn’t a bad cut, but far from super. When the girl cutting my hair asked if she could style my beard I said no (it is my prized possession and I don’t trust it to just anyone). So she said ok she would just trim around the sideburns. I though she was going to just trim the edge, but no she decided to shave a line between where the sideburn ends and the beard begins, think 1980s flat top with the lines in the side. I was in shock, who would do such a thing. I just got up, paid her, and left without tipping. I firmly believe in tipping, even if they don’t do a good job, but this time I couldn’t even give her a cent, I cant ever remember not tipping for anything. I made it out to the parking lot and started screaming, if you heard a noise around 9AM Central that was me letting loose. Needless to say I will never go to a Super Cuts again, not even if they prohibit mullets on their stylists. There is more to this story continued below.
The drive through
I only ate one burrito today, at this little tortilla factory/restaurant in
Beard Story continued:
Once I got to Querquie I checked into the hotel and decided to try and fix this epic beard failure. I got my clippers and headed for the mirror. I checked the clippers to make sure that they were on the right level, but something still didn’t look right. I was tired and just decided to get it over with. The first pass of the clippers took off too much hair, and I started screaming again. Apparently though they displayed level 9 they were really set to level 1 so the trim took it down almost to the skin. I had to go with the flow and trim everything off. I know it will grow back probably soon, I also know that I have no need for the beard in the southwest because of the lack of winter. When I was out here for grand council the beard was only a hassle, but I still feel different without it. I have had the beard for over a year and I don’t even recognize my reflection anymore. Hopefully I will have my
Tomorrow im going to the dawn liftoff at the balloon festa and then taking a short drive up to Gallup, NM to spend the night before I head up to Chinle on Monday. Does anyone else think it ironic that I get a day off of my rotation on the Navajo reservation because of Columbus day… think about that one.
-O
The rest of yesterday
So I was eventually able to sleep after that near miss, but now it is time to reflect on everything else that went on yesterday.
I really enjoyed St Louis. The arch was cool and I was able to make it to the observation deck up top. There was also a gateway to the west museum in the basement that was pretty cool. I made it to the Anheuiser Busch brewery but didnt take the tour. It was an hour long and was a little too much time for me to spend on Budwieser. This place was enormous, seriously the entire magic hat brewery could have fit in the welcoming center, the security desk was the size of the long trail bottling line. It was pretty intense, next time I go to out there I have to go again. After that I made my way downtown and except for a run in with a guy having a psychotic break everything was enjoyable. I went to an irish pub which apparently is run by a non profit which helps give addicts and such on the job experience, it was a nice place with good food and I felt good about having gone there. St Louis was a really nice city, it reminded me of a western Hartford or Baltimore's inner harbor (the good parts of hartford or baltimore, not the murdery parts). It has been the only city that I have seen so far that I really have to go back to. I know what you are thinking "I though Cleveland rocks and Canton was awesome?" They were pretty cool but St Louis was the only place so far that I wished I could have stayed longer. Who knows maybe ill go back to watch the Rams loose a game.
Around 1 I left St Louis and spent about 4 hours driving through MO. Apparently there is nothing better to do on I 64 than advertise. There were billboards everywhere for tourist traps, outlet stores, truck stops, and places with names like "The Pleasure Zone." It was an uneventful ride at 70MPH with a stop in Springfield, MO for a burrito. Once I got back on the highway after Springfield I saw something rare, the sun, which I chased until I saw a great sunset just as I was passing into Kansas. I had apparently been driving through some of the worst rains that the midwest has seen in years. There was widespread flooding along the highway and during my stopover in Kansas most of the roads were washed out, the rivers were overflowing, and it looked like the school was flooded. I was only in Kansas for about half an hour, leaving the highway to get a breakfast burrito at Sonic (i love that place). I then headed towards Tulsa at the Oklahoma speed limit of 75. I didnt realize how big Tulsa was until I got there, that place is pretty expansive, plus I think it is lined up along the highway. I grabbed a burrito at Riocardos Mexican joint (which was clearly a former burgerking). It was good, but not Sonic good. I then headed down to Oklahoma City and passed through unharmed. I figured that I would drive for another hour so that today's drive would be less. I almost made it to Weatherford where I was going to stay before my near accident. Im just glad that it is over, nobody got hurt, and that my car is ok. The scene with the local sheriff was very funny, he was obviously a good old boy who didnt really care that these kids got in an accident. He lectured them on how getting hurt could impact their sports carreer. When I told him I was from NY he did the double take and like that old salsa commercial "New York City?". At that time I explained that there was more to NY than NYC, he promptly asked me if driving wasnt exciting enough in New York. I made it to the nearest hotel and crashed, now im going to go get a haircut then head out to Albuquerque and eventually on to Chinle. Hopefully my driving excitement is over and I can make the next few hundred miles uneventful.
-O
I really enjoyed St Louis. The arch was cool and I was able to make it to the observation deck up top. There was also a gateway to the west museum in the basement that was pretty cool. I made it to the Anheuiser Busch brewery but didnt take the tour. It was an hour long and was a little too much time for me to spend on Budwieser. This place was enormous, seriously the entire magic hat brewery could have fit in the welcoming center, the security desk was the size of the long trail bottling line. It was pretty intense, next time I go to out there I have to go again. After that I made my way downtown and except for a run in with a guy having a psychotic break everything was enjoyable. I went to an irish pub which apparently is run by a non profit which helps give addicts and such on the job experience, it was a nice place with good food and I felt good about having gone there. St Louis was a really nice city, it reminded me of a western Hartford or Baltimore's inner harbor (the good parts of hartford or baltimore, not the murdery parts). It has been the only city that I have seen so far that I really have to go back to. I know what you are thinking "I though Cleveland rocks and Canton was awesome?" They were pretty cool but St Louis was the only place so far that I wished I could have stayed longer. Who knows maybe ill go back to watch the Rams loose a game.
Around 1 I left St Louis and spent about 4 hours driving through MO. Apparently there is nothing better to do on I 64 than advertise. There were billboards everywhere for tourist traps, outlet stores, truck stops, and places with names like "The Pleasure Zone." It was an uneventful ride at 70MPH with a stop in Springfield, MO for a burrito. Once I got back on the highway after Springfield I saw something rare, the sun, which I chased until I saw a great sunset just as I was passing into Kansas. I had apparently been driving through some of the worst rains that the midwest has seen in years. There was widespread flooding along the highway and during my stopover in Kansas most of the roads were washed out, the rivers were overflowing, and it looked like the school was flooded. I was only in Kansas for about half an hour, leaving the highway to get a breakfast burrito at Sonic (i love that place). I then headed towards Tulsa at the Oklahoma speed limit of 75. I didnt realize how big Tulsa was until I got there, that place is pretty expansive, plus I think it is lined up along the highway. I grabbed a burrito at Riocardos Mexican joint (which was clearly a former burgerking). It was good, but not Sonic good. I then headed down to Oklahoma City and passed through unharmed. I figured that I would drive for another hour so that today's drive would be less. I almost made it to Weatherford where I was going to stay before my near accident. Im just glad that it is over, nobody got hurt, and that my car is ok. The scene with the local sheriff was very funny, he was obviously a good old boy who didnt really care that these kids got in an accident. He lectured them on how getting hurt could impact their sports carreer. When I told him I was from NY he did the double take and like that old salsa commercial "New York City?". At that time I explained that there was more to NY than NYC, he promptly asked me if driving wasnt exciting enough in New York. I made it to the nearest hotel and crashed, now im going to go get a haircut then head out to Albuquerque and eventually on to Chinle. Hopefully my driving excitement is over and I can make the next few hundred miles uneventful.
-O
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