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
Saturday, October 31, 2009
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
Friday, October 9, 2009
More details to follow
About 10 minutes out of my final destination today (Weatherfield, OK) a car came tearing up behind me, riding in the middle of the road while I was in the left lane. I was going 70 (the speed limit) and he must have been going at least 90. I swerved and hit the breaks and he jammed on the breaks, spun out and rolled down the 30 foot embankment, flipping twice. I immediately stopped and ran down there, I though that I was coming up on a fatality, but no it was just 2 good old boys climbing of a truck on its side. Everyone was ok, and my car wasnt damaged at all. We were able to get the cops out there and the 2 guys from the truck (highschool juniors) called their parents. I pulled into the closest hotel I could find and am now going to sleep off this stress. 1800 miles of smooth driving and then this happens. Ill try to update before I leave tomorrow.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
In the land of Lincoln, the birthplace of Walgreens, and the home of the Bears
So today was a long one, not time wise compared to yesterday but yet even more mentally and physically draining.
Apparently the Super 8 that I stayed at last night provides a complementary breakfast, which I was going to take advantage of this morning. I get downstairs and check out and head for the breakfast table, only to find nothing but white bread and individual packets of jam. Now I wasnt expecting anything gourmet, or even bacon and eggs, but I was expecting some bagels or doughnuts or something. Nope just white bread, no toaster, and not even peanut butter to make a PB&J. Needless to say I was pissed. My mood was soon lightened by the bright sunny weather and the knowledge that I would soon be visiting the football hall of fame. I made it to the hall and spent almost 2 hours exploring and checking out all the exhibits. The amount of history and just seeing everything there was a bit overwhelming. I really need to visit that place again when im not on such a time crunch so I can take full advantage. My only possible gripe is that they didnt have any Bears hats in my size. I figure that wearing a hat from the hall of fame will get some of my favorite players in there some day, but apparently I have to wait for next time.
Heading through northern Ohio the weather was clear and bright and I had a nice ride through rolling hills decked out in fall foliage. Grassi does a similar thing that I do with burritos, he likes to Jwalk in every state capital, so when I got to Columbus I purposely jwalked to rub it in his face (Owen 1, Grassi 0). I then headed from Columbus to Cincinatti. The weather was fine until about 10 miles outside of Cincy when it started to rain (note this is where my day started to go downhill). I drove through Cincy and passed about 100 yards from Paul Brown stadium (where the Cincy Bungles play) and whatever the stadium is called that houses the Reds. In the rain I passed into Kentucky where I grabbed a Steak and Egg Burrito at Margaritas in Erlinger, KY. I then made my way down to Louisville through patchy rain. Once I got to Louisville it started pouring, I mean POURING. I made it over the Ohio river and into New Albany Indiana. The rain was coming down like crazy and the other drivers were all over the place so I decided to swing into a Mexican restaurant (forgot the name) and have a relatively forgettable pork burrito. Its funny, I drove through a similar rain storm outside of Rochester yesterday and people were going 80, and in Indiana they were going 40 and apparently freaking out, what does this say about the crazy bastards from western new york. Riding through Indiana was relatively sedate and easy, I did take a detour to visit Santa Clause, IN which is the hometown of new Bears quarterback Jay Cutler. This place is set up along the similar premise as North Pole, NY, a place that turns a Christmas theme into a tourist trap/summertime adventure. The one thing different is that they have an actual amusement park in Santa Clause (HollidayLand). I didnt get to see a lot Indiana or Illinois because it was raining and night came. I hate driving in the rain for long periods of time because it is so mentally exhausting, but im sure rain wont be much of a problem out in Chinle. I know that tonight I am going to have another nightmare about falling asleep at the wheel, but that always happens to me during/after road trips. Illinois was a relatively sedate drive, but I was messed up by the change in time zones. My GPS said that I would arrive at 10:20, but that was adjusted for the time zone, my car's clock is not so around 10:25 EST there was some confusion. This is the first time I have made it to the Central time zone, im kind of curious to see what it is like watching prime time TV an hour early. I did see more police in Illinois (4) than in Ohio (2), Kentucky (1) and Indiana (0) combined. This led along with a less generous speed limit (65 rather than 70) led me to keeping my foot off the gas, which cost me some time.
After about 10 hours of driving and over 650 miles I finally made it to Belleville, IL just about 15 minutes outside St Louis. I grabbed a vegetarian burrito at a Qdoba (kind of like Chipolte or Moes) which I am currently enjoying. Once again I am at Super 8 because they are cheap and easy to find, but hopefully this one has a better breakfast. I plan to go see the Gateway Arch and the Budweiser brewery tomorrow. But wait Owen dont you hate Budweiser (answer: yes), so why are you going? This is the biggest brewery in the US if not the world, I would be remiss if I skipped it simply because of my anti shitty beer stance. After that I plan on getting some St Louis style BBQ and heading on to Oklahoma. I will do my best to grab a burrito, but there is only so much that I can handle during such a short time.
Ill update tomorrow after I get as far as I can. I really dont want to go to Oklahoma City, so I will probably just drive until I cant take it any more then crash for the night. I am really excited about catching the last days of the Albuquerque Hot Air Balloon festival on Saturday and Sunday.
-O
The Rundown
Miles: ~650
Money spent on Gas: $105
Hours spent driving: ~10
Burritos: KY, IN, IL
Overreaching though: I hate driving in the rain for 7 hours
Plan for tomorrow: Brews, BBQ, Arches, and singing songs that spell out the name of the state that I am traveling to
Apparently the Super 8 that I stayed at last night provides a complementary breakfast, which I was going to take advantage of this morning. I get downstairs and check out and head for the breakfast table, only to find nothing but white bread and individual packets of jam. Now I wasnt expecting anything gourmet, or even bacon and eggs, but I was expecting some bagels or doughnuts or something. Nope just white bread, no toaster, and not even peanut butter to make a PB&J. Needless to say I was pissed. My mood was soon lightened by the bright sunny weather and the knowledge that I would soon be visiting the football hall of fame. I made it to the hall and spent almost 2 hours exploring and checking out all the exhibits. The amount of history and just seeing everything there was a bit overwhelming. I really need to visit that place again when im not on such a time crunch so I can take full advantage. My only possible gripe is that they didnt have any Bears hats in my size. I figure that wearing a hat from the hall of fame will get some of my favorite players in there some day, but apparently I have to wait for next time.
Heading through northern Ohio the weather was clear and bright and I had a nice ride through rolling hills decked out in fall foliage. Grassi does a similar thing that I do with burritos, he likes to Jwalk in every state capital, so when I got to Columbus I purposely jwalked to rub it in his face (Owen 1, Grassi 0). I then headed from Columbus to Cincinatti. The weather was fine until about 10 miles outside of Cincy when it started to rain (note this is where my day started to go downhill). I drove through Cincy and passed about 100 yards from Paul Brown stadium (where the Cincy Bungles play) and whatever the stadium is called that houses the Reds. In the rain I passed into Kentucky where I grabbed a Steak and Egg Burrito at Margaritas in Erlinger, KY. I then made my way down to Louisville through patchy rain. Once I got to Louisville it started pouring, I mean POURING. I made it over the Ohio river and into New Albany Indiana. The rain was coming down like crazy and the other drivers were all over the place so I decided to swing into a Mexican restaurant (forgot the name) and have a relatively forgettable pork burrito. Its funny, I drove through a similar rain storm outside of Rochester yesterday and people were going 80, and in Indiana they were going 40 and apparently freaking out, what does this say about the crazy bastards from western new york. Riding through Indiana was relatively sedate and easy, I did take a detour to visit Santa Clause, IN which is the hometown of new Bears quarterback Jay Cutler. This place is set up along the similar premise as North Pole, NY, a place that turns a Christmas theme into a tourist trap/summertime adventure. The one thing different is that they have an actual amusement park in Santa Clause (HollidayLand). I didnt get to see a lot Indiana or Illinois because it was raining and night came. I hate driving in the rain for long periods of time because it is so mentally exhausting, but im sure rain wont be much of a problem out in Chinle. I know that tonight I am going to have another nightmare about falling asleep at the wheel, but that always happens to me during/after road trips. Illinois was a relatively sedate drive, but I was messed up by the change in time zones. My GPS said that I would arrive at 10:20, but that was adjusted for the time zone, my car's clock is not so around 10:25 EST there was some confusion. This is the first time I have made it to the Central time zone, im kind of curious to see what it is like watching prime time TV an hour early. I did see more police in Illinois (4) than in Ohio (2), Kentucky (1) and Indiana (0) combined. This led along with a less generous speed limit (65 rather than 70) led me to keeping my foot off the gas, which cost me some time.
After about 10 hours of driving and over 650 miles I finally made it to Belleville, IL just about 15 minutes outside St Louis. I grabbed a vegetarian burrito at a Qdoba (kind of like Chipolte or Moes) which I am currently enjoying. Once again I am at Super 8 because they are cheap and easy to find, but hopefully this one has a better breakfast. I plan to go see the Gateway Arch and the Budweiser brewery tomorrow. But wait Owen dont you hate Budweiser (answer: yes), so why are you going? This is the biggest brewery in the US if not the world, I would be remiss if I skipped it simply because of my anti shitty beer stance. After that I plan on getting some St Louis style BBQ and heading on to Oklahoma. I will do my best to grab a burrito, but there is only so much that I can handle during such a short time.
Ill update tomorrow after I get as far as I can. I really dont want to go to Oklahoma City, so I will probably just drive until I cant take it any more then crash for the night. I am really excited about catching the last days of the Albuquerque Hot Air Balloon festival on Saturday and Sunday.
-O
The Rundown
Miles: ~650
Money spent on Gas: $105
Hours spent driving: ~10
Burritos: KY, IN, IL
Overreaching though: I hate driving in the rain for 7 hours
Plan for tomorrow: Brews, BBQ, Arches, and singing songs that spell out the name of the state that I am traveling to
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
On the first day God made pepsi max
Ok its been a long day so this will hopefully be a short one.
I am currently sitting at a Super 8 motel in Kent, OH a little more than 500 miles into the 2400 mile road trip.
Today started with my typical rush hour empire state plaza commute followed by 6 hours at Lindsay Drug in Troy where I accomplished approximately 45 minutes of work. This rotation was trying for me because it was my 2nd community rotation in a row and I was bored out of my mind. I did get to learn a lot of DME and wound care, as well as some pharmacy type business so it wasnt a complete waste. Once I got out of rotation I hit the Thruway all they way to Buffalo and down to Erie, PA. That drive was relatively uneventful except for an EZpass that only works when it wants to, helping a guy find his tire iron, and seeing people drive 80 miles an hour through an epic downpour. Once in PA I was looking for a truck stop to gas. I pulled into what looked liek a truck stop, only to find out that the place with all the glowing lights and trucks in the parking lot was not a truck stop but an Adult novelties store. After driving around the building looking for gas pumps I realized my mistake and headed on down the road, but I thought it was a pretty funny mixup. From there it was smooth driving through relatively empty roads through Ohio. I had to make a small detour to get my Ohio burrito only to find out that the place the GPS wanted me to go was closed, I would up only being able to get a premade burrito from a Circle K, but it was a burrito none the less. For those who dont know my quest to eat a burrito in each state (Burritos across the US), its pretty self explanatory. Today makes 15 states plus New Jersey (not a state), and I plan on getting 2 or 3 states cleared out tomorrow.
Plans for tomorrow are to go to the football hall of fame in Canton, OH then go to Cincy, Louisville, cut across Indiana and Illonois and hit St Louis by tomorrow night. Friday will hopefully include a trip to the Gateway arch and the Budweiser brewery. Ill try to update from the road as often as I can but the main goal is getting where I need to go safely and quickly. Now its time to rest and get ready for tomorrow.
-O
I am currently sitting at a Super 8 motel in Kent, OH a little more than 500 miles into the 2400 mile road trip.
Today started with my typical rush hour empire state plaza commute followed by 6 hours at Lindsay Drug in Troy where I accomplished approximately 45 minutes of work. This rotation was trying for me because it was my 2nd community rotation in a row and I was bored out of my mind. I did get to learn a lot of DME and wound care, as well as some pharmacy type business so it wasnt a complete waste. Once I got out of rotation I hit the Thruway all they way to Buffalo and down to Erie, PA. That drive was relatively uneventful except for an EZpass that only works when it wants to, helping a guy find his tire iron, and seeing people drive 80 miles an hour through an epic downpour. Once in PA I was looking for a truck stop to gas. I pulled into what looked liek a truck stop, only to find out that the place with all the glowing lights and trucks in the parking lot was not a truck stop but an Adult novelties store. After driving around the building looking for gas pumps I realized my mistake and headed on down the road, but I thought it was a pretty funny mixup. From there it was smooth driving through relatively empty roads through Ohio. I had to make a small detour to get my Ohio burrito only to find out that the place the GPS wanted me to go was closed, I would up only being able to get a premade burrito from a Circle K, but it was a burrito none the less. For those who dont know my quest to eat a burrito in each state (Burritos across the US), its pretty self explanatory. Today makes 15 states plus New Jersey (not a state), and I plan on getting 2 or 3 states cleared out tomorrow.
Plans for tomorrow are to go to the football hall of fame in Canton, OH then go to Cincy, Louisville, cut across Indiana and Illonois and hit St Louis by tomorrow night. Friday will hopefully include a trip to the Gateway arch and the Budweiser brewery. Ill try to update from the road as often as I can but the main goal is getting where I need to go safely and quickly. Now its time to rest and get ready for tomorrow.
-O
Monday, October 5, 2009
The Final Countdown
The title says it all, this is truly the final countdown. My car is packed, the atlas is purchased, the route is mapped, and the no doz is stocked up on. The only thing standing between me and the road is 12 hours of rotation. Ive got a few minor things to take care of, but for the most part im ready. Today I cashed in my savings bonds in order to free up some extra funds for the trip. The little asian girl at the bank said it best "this bond is older than I am," so thanks for everyone who gave baby Owen savings bonds. What bugs me is that one bond is from 2001, who gives a 16 year old a savings bond, apparently im so disappointed that I blocked that memory from my mind.
On another front I have found a job. While its not the big boy job that I have been looking for. My former preceptor, Sal, is the coordinator of the lab at ACPHS Vermont. He was able to set up a part time position as a lab instructor and offered it to me. We have talked about this in the past but now that it has been formally offered I feel pretty good about it. It is only a 8 to 10 hours a week but its a foot in the door. Who knows this could have the potential for a full time position in a few years. This may also be a selling point for companies, but we shall see.
That is about all for now, I probably wont have a chance to post tomorrow, but ill hopefully post while on the road.
-O
On another front I have found a job. While its not the big boy job that I have been looking for. My former preceptor, Sal, is the coordinator of the lab at ACPHS Vermont. He was able to set up a part time position as a lab instructor and offered it to me. We have talked about this in the past but now that it has been formally offered I feel pretty good about it. It is only a 8 to 10 hours a week but its a foot in the door. Who knows this could have the potential for a full time position in a few years. This may also be a selling point for companies, but we shall see.
That is about all for now, I probably wont have a chance to post tomorrow, but ill hopefully post while on the road.
-O
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