The trip up from New Orleans to Tennessee was relatively quick and uneventful. Normally I wouldnt have been looking forward to a 7 hour drive, but now its like "only 7 hours, thats nothing." I got out of the hotel early and was on the highway within minutes. I10 took me across Lake Pontchartrain and I was impressed with the size of the lake. One of the most interesting part for me was driving across the bridge that linked the two sides. I bridge was several miles long and impecably maintained, and there was another similar bridge close by. Not to toot the horn for the people who maintain the bridges and levees especially if they are closing the barn door after the horse got out. Its just that the combined efforts of the NY and VT DOTs cannot maintain both of the bridges over Lake Champlain which resulted in one getting closed and peoples jobs getting screwed up.
I stopped in Hattiesburg, Mississippi to get a burrito in Brett Farve's home town. I also stopped just outside of Birmingham to grab a burrito so I never have to go back to Alabama. I booked into a days inn for my last night in a hotel for the trip. For the next 4 or 5 nights ill be staying with friends and family which should be fun. I should have knocked off the Tennessee burrito when I was here almost 2 years ago for a ski weekend. I was staying in the alumni cabin and there were people cooking every day so that I didnt have a chance to go out and find a mexican place. On the way out of I opted against getting a breakfast burrito at Sonic, and ironically I will be going to Sonic tomorrow morning to get the burrito.
I will be heading into Atlanta tomorrow afternoon and will be getting a chance to see several friends in the area and explore. I should be a good time and im looking forward to it. Im excited to be heading home, only 5 or so more days and I can relax for a bit and not have to worry about driving several hours at a stretch.
-O
Friday, November 27, 2009
Giving Thanks
Thanksgiving in New Orleans was quite an experience. I was suffering pretty badly during the morning because of my time on Bourbon Street the night before. It was a pretty interesting time, but next time I am definitely going to need somebody with me so that I have a better time. I did get a chance to see a few really good bands, including a zydeco band which I watched for almost an hour. They had a guy playing the washboards, and another who played the accordion extremely fast while singing. It was a good snapshot of New Orleans, especially since I was drinking a Hurricane that I got from Pat O'Briens which is the place which invented the Hurricane.
After I got up and ready I rode the Rue St Charles Streetcar around the city. This is one of the oldest street car lines in the world and they cars were pretty historic. I got to see the entire city. The houses were a hodgepodge of Victorians, brownstones, french colonials, low rise apartments, neuveau architecture and others that I cant name. This shows how old the city is and how many cultural and historic forces made their way through the area. I spent a few hours wandering around the french quarter and checking out music. I grabbed a cajun thanksgiving dinner at a little place near the cathedral. While it wasnt turkey and stuffing the Gumbo, Jambalaya, and red beans and rice were good enough. I eventually headed back to the hotel to watch some Football and relax a bit. I enjoyed these few days and definitely want to go back, but next time im going to bring some friends.
I took some time to really think about what I am thankful for at this time. I am definitely thankful for the opportunity to go on this trip. Not only have I seen a lot of places and done a lot of things I never had a chance to, but I have had the opportunity to step outside my comfort zone and both grow and learn a lot about myself. I am thankful that I am almost done with school and that things are finally falling into place for my future. I am glad that everyone is doing ok and that people are healing up nicely after surgery.
-O
After I got up and ready I rode the Rue St Charles Streetcar around the city. This is one of the oldest street car lines in the world and they cars were pretty historic. I got to see the entire city. The houses were a hodgepodge of Victorians, brownstones, french colonials, low rise apartments, neuveau architecture and others that I cant name. This shows how old the city is and how many cultural and historic forces made their way through the area. I spent a few hours wandering around the french quarter and checking out music. I grabbed a cajun thanksgiving dinner at a little place near the cathedral. While it wasnt turkey and stuffing the Gumbo, Jambalaya, and red beans and rice were good enough. I eventually headed back to the hotel to watch some Football and relax a bit. I enjoyed these few days and definitely want to go back, but next time im going to bring some friends.
I took some time to really think about what I am thankful for at this time. I am definitely thankful for the opportunity to go on this trip. Not only have I seen a lot of places and done a lot of things I never had a chance to, but I have had the opportunity to step outside my comfort zone and both grow and learn a lot about myself. I am thankful that I am almost done with school and that things are finally falling into place for my future. I am glad that everyone is doing ok and that people are healing up nicely after surgery.
-O
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Nawlins
After a frustrating hour and a half trying to find Oak Alley plantation on the Mississippi river between Baton Rouge and New Orleans I was able to find the place. The oak trees are like 400 years old and the place looked like something out of a movie. The antebellum plantation was a pretty cool find, even though getting there was a challenge I am glad I went. I eventually made it into New Orleans and wandered around until I could check into the hotel. Driving over the bridge and seeing the superdome was pretty amazing. After seeing all the footage of the post katrina new orleans it was awesome to see the rebuilt dome after everything the city has been through.
I wandered through the French Quarter for a few hours. I made it to the Aquarium of the Americas which was pretty mundane compared to Mystic Seaport. The one thing they did have was a white alligator which was awesome. I went to a nice cafe on rue charles and got a chance to eat an alligator po'boy and have a local beer. I then made it down to the cathedral and wandered around the square. There were two jazz bands playing in the street, real bands with several members and even a sousaphone. I stopped into a microbrewery and then checked into the hotel.
I have a real room. It isnt right on the parking lot, and I have to use a real elevator to get there. It has a view that isnt of a strip mall, parking lot, highway, or a fast food restaurant. Its a nice room and surprisingly was significantly cheaper than a lot of my other hotels. Im heading over to Bourbon street now then wandering around the french quarter for a bit.
-O
I wandered through the French Quarter for a few hours. I made it to the Aquarium of the Americas which was pretty mundane compared to Mystic Seaport. The one thing they did have was a white alligator which was awesome. I went to a nice cafe on rue charles and got a chance to eat an alligator po'boy and have a local beer. I then made it down to the cathedral and wandered around the square. There were two jazz bands playing in the street, real bands with several members and even a sousaphone. I stopped into a microbrewery and then checked into the hotel.
I have a real room. It isnt right on the parking lot, and I have to use a real elevator to get there. It has a view that isnt of a strip mall, parking lot, highway, or a fast food restaurant. Its a nice room and surprisingly was significantly cheaper than a lot of my other hotels. Im heading over to Bourbon street now then wandering around the french quarter for a bit.
-O
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Deep South
Today I made it all the way to Baton Rouge, LA. This put me over 9000 miles for the trip and more than 2 thousand since Friday. Yesterday I made it from San Antonio up to Texarkana. The drive was relatively short and pretty easy. I was surprised that the cities of Austin, Waco, Dallas, and Texarkana popped up spaced an hour and a half to 2 hours apart. It kind of felt like driving from Buffalo back toward NYC where you hit Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, and Albany on the way spaced pretty close together. The drive was pretty short and there wasnt much traffic. The traffic that was on the road apparently had an aversion to driving at a decent speed, so most of the time was spent either avoiding cars at 40mph or getting out of the way of cars going 90. Texarkana was a pretty strange experience. I stayed in the Texas part only about 100 yards from the state line. I went to a gas station in the texas part to buy some beer and found that it was a dry county and I would have to go to Arkansas to get beer. I had to deal and travel all 50 feet across the road to the other gas station, only to find out that apparently they dont sell Lotto tickets so people have to go over to Texas to buy lotto. It was a pretty strange experience. After one of the worst nights in a hotel I have ever had where the bathroom was dirty, the TV color was off, and the maid barged into my room at 9am even though checkout time wasnt until noon. I normally dont complain, and if it had only been one or 2 problems I wouldnt have said anything, but I complained at the front desk and they wound up taking the charges off my account so I got to sleep for free. To celebrate I went to breakfast at a Waffle House just down the street. I didnt have lofty expectations for the Waffle House, but they did ok and the breakfast was decent. The one thing I didnt like was how harsh the accents were of the people of Texarkana (Texarkans?). I am used to the mellower accents of Georgia and Virginia, but these people had voices that sounded like nails on the chalkboard. All in all I would have to rate the Texarkana experience as strange. Im glad I went (not just for the burrito), but im in no rush to go back.
Fueled by a Waffle House breakfast I headed through some back roads to Shreveport, LA and down to Baton Rouge. The first part took me on roads that reminded me of taking route 30 or route 9 up through the Southern Adirondacks. IT was pretty empty, with a lot of green grass and lakes/bayous, plus a decent smattering of trailers and run down houses. Along the highway I got to see more of the same open areas. Over the past week I have had a chance to see the extreme amount of agricultural production that can be done in America. From the Artichoke fields of the California Coast to the Sugar Cane plantations of Louisiana it is pretty awesome to think of the amount of food that we can grow.
I made it into Baton Rouge safely and was able to grab a Burrito at this place called Izzos Illegal Burrito. The place had 3 sizes of burrito, regular, Super Felony (about the size of a Bombers Burrito), and Illegal which was giant. I opted out of the Illegal burrito so that I can enjoy the culinary delights of New Orleans over the next few days. I plan on heading into the city tomorrow and exploring over the course of a few days, it should be a pretty cool experience and I am looking forward to it.
-O
Fueled by a Waffle House breakfast I headed through some back roads to Shreveport, LA and down to Baton Rouge. The first part took me on roads that reminded me of taking route 30 or route 9 up through the Southern Adirondacks. IT was pretty empty, with a lot of green grass and lakes/bayous, plus a decent smattering of trailers and run down houses. Along the highway I got to see more of the same open areas. Over the past week I have had a chance to see the extreme amount of agricultural production that can be done in America. From the Artichoke fields of the California Coast to the Sugar Cane plantations of Louisiana it is pretty awesome to think of the amount of food that we can grow.
I made it into Baton Rouge safely and was able to grab a Burrito at this place called Izzos Illegal Burrito. The place had 3 sizes of burrito, regular, Super Felony (about the size of a Bombers Burrito), and Illegal which was giant. I opted out of the Illegal burrito so that I can enjoy the culinary delights of New Orleans over the next few days. I plan on heading into the city tomorrow and exploring over the course of a few days, it should be a pretty cool experience and I am looking forward to it.
-O
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Everythings Bigger in Texas (Thats what she said)
Early this morning I headed into San Antonio from Fort Stockton. The first place I made it to was the Alamo. I have heard about the Alamo and the fight and everything for all these years, suffered through the Disney Davey Crockett movie dozens if not hundreds of times, and watched enough King of the Hill to have respect for what happened there. The thing I didnt realize was how small the space was, its hard to imagine how many people died in such a small space. I dont know if I was desensitized to the historical significance by all those trips to Fort Ticonderoga as a child, but I wasnt as impressed as I planned to be.
After I remembered the Alamo I headed over to the riverwalk. The riverwalk was the location for most of the stories I heard when my friends went to a conference here in 2005. I wandered the path along the river and stopped at a few shops. I didnt spend any time in the bars because I wasnt feeling much like drinking. I did head to a supermarket later and pick up a case of Lone Star Beer and Lone Star Light. I also picked up a 12 pack of Sessions Black Lager for my black friend who happens to be named Aaron Session, the coincidence was well worth the 10 bucks.
I headed over to OD's house and hung out with him for a bit before he headed to work. We went out to this BBQ place called Rudys which was out of this world. It was easily the best BBQ I have ever had. The meat was cooked with a dry rub and then you could slather it with their amazing sauce. I picked up a bottle of their rub to try out at home, and I will be ordering the sauce online so I dont have to drive it home. I also picked up some of the rub to bring to Veres in Atlanta because he apparently loves Rudys.
I decided that I have seen enough of San Antonio for this trip and will be heading out a day early. I had planned 2 days in San Antonio to rest and relax a bit, but I feel pretty fresh and both of my friends here are working tomorrow. Im going to head up through Dallas and possibly up to Texarkana. This splits my trip up a little more and allows me some more time along the way. Who knows but by this time tomorrow I may have eaten a burrito in my 27th state plus New Jersey.
-O
After I remembered the Alamo I headed over to the riverwalk. The riverwalk was the location for most of the stories I heard when my friends went to a conference here in 2005. I wandered the path along the river and stopped at a few shops. I didnt spend any time in the bars because I wasnt feeling much like drinking. I did head to a supermarket later and pick up a case of Lone Star Beer and Lone Star Light. I also picked up a 12 pack of Sessions Black Lager for my black friend who happens to be named Aaron Session, the coincidence was well worth the 10 bucks.
I headed over to OD's house and hung out with him for a bit before he headed to work. We went out to this BBQ place called Rudys which was out of this world. It was easily the best BBQ I have ever had. The meat was cooked with a dry rub and then you could slather it with their amazing sauce. I picked up a bottle of their rub to try out at home, and I will be ordering the sauce online so I dont have to drive it home. I also picked up some of the rub to bring to Veres in Atlanta because he apparently loves Rudys.
I decided that I have seen enough of San Antonio for this trip and will be heading out a day early. I had planned 2 days in San Antonio to rest and relax a bit, but I feel pretty fresh and both of my friends here are working tomorrow. Im going to head up through Dallas and possibly up to Texarkana. This splits my trip up a little more and allows me some more time along the way. Who knows but by this time tomorrow I may have eaten a burrito in my 27th state plus New Jersey.
-O
Saturday, November 21, 2009
What do you want on your Tombstone?
This morning I got up early and headed about half an hour from Benson to Tombstone, AZ. I was able to walk the main street of the historic western town and even get inside the OK Corral. I was shocked at how small the area where the gunfight took place was. The area of the corral where the fighting took place was literally about 15 feet by fifteen feet. The town was pretty cool, I got to check out the Tombstone Epitaph newspaper where you could "read your own Epitaph before breakfast". The people who work there must really love their jobs, they were all in period wear with a whole lot of handlebar mustaches. I got breakfast in the "OK Cafe" and as the name suggests it was just OK, but several of the guys dressed up as cowboys were there telling stories about Tombstone's history which was pretty cool.
When I was in Tombstone I noticed that one of my hubcaps was gone, odds are it is somewhere along the roadside in Death Valley. I would be mad, but the irony of the mexican guys joking about stealing my hubcaps was too much. All in all the car is holding up well, today took me over the 8000 mile mark for this trip, and nearly to 22,000 miles since I bough the car at the end of April. It has been through a lot, and is covered with road grime and dust. The first thing I am going to do when I get back to broadalbin is take it to the car wash and scrub this trip off it. I will also empty everything out and possibly take it in to get detailed.
Today's driving went pretty smoothly. I made it almost 600 miles in around 8 hours in part thanks to the 80mph Texas daytime speed limit. The trip took me through part of Arizona, all of New Mexico, through El Paso, and about halfway from El Paso to San Antonio. I am currently in Fort Stockton, TX in a nice Best Western that I found a coupon for. Before checking in I went to a steakhouse and ordered my steak with a side of broccoli and a baked potato. The waitress looked at me like nobody has ever ordered the broccoli before. I wonder if she went back and told the kitchen "somebody finally ordered the broccoli, please tell me we have some in stock. I picked up a 6 pack of Lone Star beer and found it to taste pleasantly like Utica Club. Tomorrow I am heading over to San Antonio to spend 2 days hanging out with OD. I will be visiting the Alamo and checking out the Riverwalk and everything else that I missed when I couldnt go with my friends a few years ago.
When I was in Tombstone I noticed that one of my hubcaps was gone, odds are it is somewhere along the roadside in Death Valley. I would be mad, but the irony of the mexican guys joking about stealing my hubcaps was too much. All in all the car is holding up well, today took me over the 8000 mile mark for this trip, and nearly to 22,000 miles since I bough the car at the end of April. It has been through a lot, and is covered with road grime and dust. The first thing I am going to do when I get back to broadalbin is take it to the car wash and scrub this trip off it. I will also empty everything out and possibly take it in to get detailed.
Today's driving went pretty smoothly. I made it almost 600 miles in around 8 hours in part thanks to the 80mph Texas daytime speed limit. The trip took me through part of Arizona, all of New Mexico, through El Paso, and about halfway from El Paso to San Antonio. I am currently in Fort Stockton, TX in a nice Best Western that I found a coupon for. Before checking in I went to a steakhouse and ordered my steak with a side of broccoli and a baked potato. The waitress looked at me like nobody has ever ordered the broccoli before. I wonder if she went back and told the kitchen "somebody finally ordered the broccoli, please tell me we have some in stock. I picked up a 6 pack of Lone Star beer and found it to taste pleasantly like Utica Club. Tomorrow I am heading over to San Antonio to spend 2 days hanging out with OD. I will be visiting the Alamo and checking out the Riverwalk and everything else that I missed when I couldnt go with my friends a few years ago.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Back in Arizona
Today I got a bit of a late start because I took my car in to get serviced. After getting the oil changed, the tires rotated and a new air filter I was ready to hit the road. The guys working on the car were joking that my hubcaps didnt match and they didnt want me going home and telling everyone that mexicans at jiffy lube stole them. After this I made the decision that I really like Mexican Americans. I only know 1 mexican guy and that wasnt a big enough sample size, but after this trip I have decided that mexicans are OK. I figure that they are a hard working, family oriented people with great food, they are like the Italians of the early 20th century (minus the hand motions), plus you really dont want to get on their bad side. I was able to head out by 10 and had a full day of driving in front of me. I am glad that I got everything running smoothly because shortly after I left LA i headed through the Palm Desert and into the valley of death (death valley). There were signs saying not to run the AC because of overheating (which is find because mine doesnt work), and that there were no services for up to 60 miles ahead. The desert was actually more green that what I expected with a lot of sage brush along the roadside. I saw my first Cactus of the trip just after I crossed into Arizona. I had seen a few planted and manicured ones outside the Airport in Phoenix when I flew in this summer, but those werent real cacti.
I hit a little bit of traffic when I crossed through Phoenix at rush hour, but after what I dealt with yesterday in Cali this is nothing. I made it down to Tucson and stopped for dinner at Cracker Barrel. About 2 years ago I was listening to a comedy CD on a road trip with a few friends and the guy was talking about swearing at Cracker Barrel billboards. Since then I have yelled profanities at every cracker barrel billboard that I have ever seen, even though I have never previously eaten there. In the words of Stephen on the drive back from Baltimore "I didnt realize how many cracker barrel signs there were until you started all that swearing". So I finally broke down and got me some good homestyle country food. I was decent and extremely cheap. I will continue to yell at the signs simply because its a tradition. I wound up in Benson, AZ where I got into a hotel and did some laundry. My last load is in the dryer and I will be going to bed soon. I did have an opportunity to book my hotel for New Orleans and will be staying downtown about 4 blocks from bourbon street in a clarion hotel. It was pretty cheap and looks like a nice place. Tomorrow I am going to head down to Tombstone and then over into Texas. It should be a pretty straightforward drive and in 2 days ill be in San Antonio hanging out with OD.
-O
I hit a little bit of traffic when I crossed through Phoenix at rush hour, but after what I dealt with yesterday in Cali this is nothing. I made it down to Tucson and stopped for dinner at Cracker Barrel. About 2 years ago I was listening to a comedy CD on a road trip with a few friends and the guy was talking about swearing at Cracker Barrel billboards. Since then I have yelled profanities at every cracker barrel billboard that I have ever seen, even though I have never previously eaten there. In the words of Stephen on the drive back from Baltimore "I didnt realize how many cracker barrel signs there were until you started all that swearing". So I finally broke down and got me some good homestyle country food. I was decent and extremely cheap. I will continue to yell at the signs simply because its a tradition. I wound up in Benson, AZ where I got into a hotel and did some laundry. My last load is in the dryer and I will be going to bed soon. I did have an opportunity to book my hotel for New Orleans and will be staying downtown about 4 blocks from bourbon street in a clarion hotel. It was pretty cheap and looks like a nice place. Tomorrow I am going to head down to Tombstone and then over into Texas. It should be a pretty straightforward drive and in 2 days ill be in San Antonio hanging out with OD.
-O
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Manifest Destiny
Today I fulfilled one of my dreams. I got a chance to to drive Pacific Coast Highway out of San Francisco. The ride was amazing. The Pacific was extremely blue and the cliffs provided great contrast and awesome views. The road was very hilly and winding and a challenge to drive, but well worth it. I only rode highway 1 (PCH) for about 4 hours and then I hit the freeways because I needed a change. Just 2 years ago the farthest west I had ever been was Buffalo, NY. It is strange to think that just a little bit later I have made it this far west. I guess that is manifest destiny. I set out to conquer the country, and I have made pretty good progress so far. Im glad I had this experience, no matter what that Reno Cop thinks about what a waste of time my trip is.
I took US 101 for a while and then cut over on back roads to Santa Barbera and got back on 101. This is when I hit the traffic that took me 4 hours to drive 90 miles. The traffic was horrible, apparently california drivers dont know how to use turn signals or to drive correctly. It doesnt help that on the freeways the car speed limit is 65 and the truck speed limit is 55 so there is confusion on the road. It could be because there are a lot of women drivers, or because there are a lot of asian drivers, but definitely because there are a lot of asian women drivers. I will be glad to get out of Cali tomorrow because it will be nice to get some normal driving in. I have 3 days to make it 20 hours out to San Antonio so I will be heading to Tucson, or to as far as I can get. I dont like driving through the desert, but Ive only got a few days of desert driving left. I am thoroughly exhausted right now so I am going to crash as soon as possible. I am sorry that this post isnt up to normal standards, but im beat from all the stress of dealing with the bad traffic.
I took US 101 for a while and then cut over on back roads to Santa Barbera and got back on 101. This is when I hit the traffic that took me 4 hours to drive 90 miles. The traffic was horrible, apparently california drivers dont know how to use turn signals or to drive correctly. It doesnt help that on the freeways the car speed limit is 65 and the truck speed limit is 55 so there is confusion on the road. It could be because there are a lot of women drivers, or because there are a lot of asian drivers, but definitely because there are a lot of asian women drivers. I will be glad to get out of Cali tomorrow because it will be nice to get some normal driving in. I have 3 days to make it 20 hours out to San Antonio so I will be heading to Tucson, or to as far as I can get. I dont like driving through the desert, but Ive only got a few days of desert driving left. I am thoroughly exhausted right now so I am going to crash as soon as possible. I am sorry that this post isnt up to normal standards, but im beat from all the stress of dealing with the bad traffic.
San Francisco
Today I headed out from Tahoe over to San Francisco. The drive took me over the Sierra mountains which were covered with ice and a little bit of snow. It was an epic drive which I really enjoyed. I made it into San Fran during the early afternoon and spent the day hanging out by the water. I walked along a couple of piers and was able to check out the port building. This was converted into a type of high class market which had a few places that I have seen on the travel channel or food network. It was a pretty cool place to go. I ate a burrito at some place that Neil found on the internet and spent a few hours driving around the city. It is wierd to actually make it out here and see all these places you have seen on TV or in pictures for years. I was able to drive past Gilman street where Green Day played their first shows, and see a lot of streets that I have heard or read about. Because of all the play that San Francisco has gotten from TV, Music, and Books it has gotten to the point that I feel I already know the city. When I was about to drive across the Golden Gate Bridge I had an "Oh Shit" moment where I couldnt believe that I was actually about the experience this. I will never forget that short drive, it was a milestone moment for me. After crossing the bridge I got to Marin County and was able to search out Aunt Pam's house and spent the evening with her. We went out to a nice dinner at Marin Joe's and got some great Italian food. Im beat and will need a lot of rest for tomorrow so I am going to crash.
-O
-O
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Reno 911
Today was interesting to say the least. Last night I drove from Salt Lake City to Elko, NV and crashed for the night. Today I woke up early (thanks pacific time zone) and started my trip pretty early. I was surprised by the amount of mountains in northern Nevada. It was pretty, but almost absolutely empty. The mountains rose out of the flat plains and were more like steep peaked hills than actual mountains. It was smooth sailing until I got outside of Reno. Here I drove past a state trooper who pulled me over for suspicion of being a New Yorker. State profiling is like racial profiling, but even more time consuming. The cop had absolutely no reason to pull me over but none the less he hit the lights. He gave me a little bit of crap, but mostly he couldnt wrap his mind around the fact that I wasnt trafficking drug or guns or money (please note have none of any of theses). He searched my car and gave me a bunch of crap to verify that I am a pharmacy student, beyond student ID, intern permit, and rotation schedule. He kept saying that my whole trip made no sense and that something was up with me, and that he couldnt believe that I was on an unpaid internship. I dont know what his deal was, but at least I didnt get handcuffed. I had nothing to hide, and tried to get it through his head as best I could, but he was either unwilling or unable to comprehend. Even with this detour I made it down to get a burrito and make it down to Lake Tahoe early this afternoon. The views are pretty spectacular, but basically it is just a smaller version of lake champlain with bigger mountains. I went to Harrahs and played a few table games (im down $37) and ate at the buffet on the top floor right next to the window. I also got good news that my dad's surgery went well, even though hes in a lot of pain. Tonight Im staying at a 31 dollar hotel that is actually really nice, about a block from the lake shore. I will be heading over to San Francisco tomorrow. There is supposed to be some snow tonight but hopefully there wont be much as I hdead over these mountains tomorrow morning. Its been a pretty exhausting day, but im just glad it was a state trooper instead of one of the cops from Reno 911.
-O
-O
Busy Weekend
This weekend was crazy, busy, and at times crazybusy. I flew in on Thursday night and was able to catch a ride back to Morris where I resumed my position sleeping on the fouton mattress on the floor of the storeroom. I was glad to have a place to stay and got to spend some quality time with Tim, Tom, and Aaron. On Friday I borrowed Lou's car while he slept after working the night shift. This gave me the opportunity to go out and get some errands done before the weekend kicked off. I got my resumes printed and was able to get in to Career Fair to speak with a few companies. I was frustrated because most of these companies werent willing to tell us if they were hiring so it was kind of a waste of time. I was able to get in to the bookstore and get my diploma frame ordered and looked into getting the class ring. Because of the price of gold the rings are going to cost almost $1000 but ill eventually raise the money. When I got back to Morris I was surprised to find that there was going to be a party held there rather than the peaceful and relaxing night that I imagined. Luckily it broke up relatively early so I was able to get a few hours of sleep before my 9AM interviews.
On Saturday I woke up to pouring rain and had to walk about 20 minutes to school in a downpour. Luckily the first person I interviewed with was jsut as soaked as I was. I interviewed with Kinneys, Walgreens, Price Chopper, and Rite Aid. I think that Kinneys was impressed but there arent any or many openings so I dont know if they will be extending an offer. Walgreens probably has openings and is impressed with my history and previous flexibility for the company, Price chopper was hard to read, and the Rite Aid guy was very impressed. Hopefully I will get at lease 2 offers back so I have options, but as long as one of them extends an offer then I will be all set. If not I am going to contact Hannaford and a few hospitals in the area. After Interviews I went to wingding and hung out with everybody for a few hours. I made it back to Graneys and then crashed for the night. Sunday I went out to breakfast with the guys, then went to Graneys to watch football and eventually back to Morris.
I am currently on a 2 hour layover in Detroit and then going to Salt Lake City, then driving into Nevada tonight. Ill be in Reno tomorrow afternoon and then in San Francisco on Wednesday night.
-O
On Saturday I woke up to pouring rain and had to walk about 20 minutes to school in a downpour. Luckily the first person I interviewed with was jsut as soaked as I was. I interviewed with Kinneys, Walgreens, Price Chopper, and Rite Aid. I think that Kinneys was impressed but there arent any or many openings so I dont know if they will be extending an offer. Walgreens probably has openings and is impressed with my history and previous flexibility for the company, Price chopper was hard to read, and the Rite Aid guy was very impressed. Hopefully I will get at lease 2 offers back so I have options, but as long as one of them extends an offer then I will be all set. If not I am going to contact Hannaford and a few hospitals in the area. After Interviews I went to wingding and hung out with everybody for a few hours. I made it back to Graneys and then crashed for the night. Sunday I went out to breakfast with the guys, then went to Graneys to watch football and eventually back to Morris.
I am currently on a 2 hour layover in Detroit and then going to Salt Lake City, then driving into Nevada tonight. Ill be in Reno tomorrow afternoon and then in San Francisco on Wednesday night.
-O
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
SLC, Punk
I made it safely up to Salt Lake City yesterday and spent some time with Pete, Marcie, and Smollin. We went out to dinner and to a few bars and were overall have a good time. Today I was able to spend some quality time driving around and exploring. I headed up to Evanston Wyoming and was able to hit the halfway mark of Burritos across the US. I have been able to officially eat a burrito in 24 states and the province of New Jersey. This is a pretty significant milestone, but ive still got pretty far to go.
The rest of today was spent exploring in Park City and in SLC. Park City is a pretty nice place, but seemed overly commercialized. I see why they hosted the olympic skiing events there as well as Sundance. It is an extremely beautiful place and I would definitely recommend checking it out. I headed back to SLC and spent some time running errands and getting everything ready for this weekend. I got a haircut and got all sorts of professional. I have 4 interviews scheduled and am ready to go. I have a little bit of research to to and then I should be all set. My flight leaves tomorrow at 1pm so until then I am just going to crash at Smollin's place tonight and then kill some time before heading to the airport tomorrow morning.
-O
The rest of today was spent exploring in Park City and in SLC. Park City is a pretty nice place, but seemed overly commercialized. I see why they hosted the olympic skiing events there as well as Sundance. It is an extremely beautiful place and I would definitely recommend checking it out. I headed back to SLC and spent some time running errands and getting everything ready for this weekend. I got a haircut and got all sorts of professional. I have 4 interviews scheduled and am ready to go. I have a little bit of research to to and then I should be all set. My flight leaves tomorrow at 1pm so until then I am just going to crash at Smollin's place tonight and then kill some time before heading to the airport tomorrow morning.
-O
Monday, November 9, 2009
Last Night
So tonight is my last night in Chinle and im excited to get out of here. I had everything pretty much packed after yesterday but I cleaned and vacuumed the house and only have one bag to bring out tomorrow morning. Today I kicked in super time crunch pressure speed and was able to get everything done. In fact I was so efficient that I had pretty much everything all set before lunch. I was able to kill the afternoon by doing busy work and tweaking the projects and reports that I finished over the morning. I would up with a decent 5 page report on parenteral anticoagulants, a 2 page handout on crystal meth, and a 25 page powerpoint on meth use and abuse. I am excited to get out here. I know that it has been a great experience and this rotation was the catalyst for me getting out here, but I am about ready to get back to civilization. Over the course of the next 23 to 24 days I will be driving almost 6000 miles, heading to dozens of states, and hopefully having the adventure of a lifetime.
I am excited to get up to Salt Lake City tomorrow. I get a chance to see several friends who I dont see or talk to as much as I would like. Ever since I first saw the movie SLC Punk almost 8 years ago I have had a pretty cool obsession with the city. I was out there in 2008 for a conference which was one of the best experiences that I have ever had and I am psyched to get out there. On Wednesday I may head up to Idaho and Wyoming and spend some time wandering around SLC. My flight leaves on Thursday around noon. I dont like to fly so ive got to deal with a few extra nerves over the next couple of days, but ill deal.
Ill try to update from SLC or when I get back in Albany.
-O
I am excited to get up to Salt Lake City tomorrow. I get a chance to see several friends who I dont see or talk to as much as I would like. Ever since I first saw the movie SLC Punk almost 8 years ago I have had a pretty cool obsession with the city. I was out there in 2008 for a conference which was one of the best experiences that I have ever had and I am psyched to get out there. On Wednesday I may head up to Idaho and Wyoming and spend some time wandering around SLC. My flight leaves on Thursday around noon. I dont like to fly so ive got to deal with a few extra nerves over the next couple of days, but ill deal.
Ill try to update from SLC or when I get back in Albany.
-O
Sunday, November 8, 2009
6 Months
Well im back in the parking lot of Church's Chicken mooching Internet. This will probably be the second to last time I have to resort to living dependent on the good will of the chicken shack. I wanted to catch some of the Bears/Cardinals game on NFL.com, but apparently the bears are playing so badly that its not even worth it. Im actually starting to be glad that I cant watch the game on TV because this is turning into a pretty unwatchable season, but once I get back home I will gratefully suffer through the humiliation of being a bears fan as long as I am in my comfort zone in Graneys.
This weekend I have been hanging around the house getting things picked up and packed. I have a little more work to do tonight and tomorrow I will have to sign out the vacuum from the housing office to make sure I leave the place nice and clean. Yesterday I went to the flea market in town and picked up a few counterfeit dvds for only a few bucks, then went to the overlooks at the north rim of canyon de chelly. I was going to hike the white house trail, but ive been pretty exhausted so I put my energies into other outlets. Tonight I am going to finish up the house so that I can get out of here asap on tuesday.
The big significance of today is that I will be graduating in exactly 6 months. Its hard to believe that I only have 11 more weeks of rotations left and I will be done with rotations in March. I know that I have interviews next weekend and that I have spent the past few weeks ordering business cards, gathering salary data, and getting my CV in order but I dont really think that it has set in yet. All I know is that after nearly 7 years of school it is hard to believe that it is coming to an end. The prospect of having to be a grownup is kind of scary, but Im sure that I can handle it. Its just a good feeling to see the light at the end of the tunnel, or as Dr. d'Oney once put it "you spent the past few years shoveling horse shit and you finally found your pony"
Im so disgusted of this game right now im going to skip the 4th quarter and head home. I will probably post something tomorrow to sum up my experience in Chinle, then I will be in Salt Lake City with some friends for a few days before heading back to Albany for interviews.
This weekend I have been hanging around the house getting things picked up and packed. I have a little more work to do tonight and tomorrow I will have to sign out the vacuum from the housing office to make sure I leave the place nice and clean. Yesterday I went to the flea market in town and picked up a few counterfeit dvds for only a few bucks, then went to the overlooks at the north rim of canyon de chelly. I was going to hike the white house trail, but ive been pretty exhausted so I put my energies into other outlets. Tonight I am going to finish up the house so that I can get out of here asap on tuesday.
The big significance of today is that I will be graduating in exactly 6 months. Its hard to believe that I only have 11 more weeks of rotations left and I will be done with rotations in March. I know that I have interviews next weekend and that I have spent the past few weeks ordering business cards, gathering salary data, and getting my CV in order but I dont really think that it has set in yet. All I know is that after nearly 7 years of school it is hard to believe that it is coming to an end. The prospect of having to be a grownup is kind of scary, but Im sure that I can handle it. Its just a good feeling to see the light at the end of the tunnel, or as Dr. d'Oney once put it "you spent the past few years shoveling horse shit and you finally found your pony"
Im so disgusted of this game right now im going to skip the 4th quarter and head home. I will probably post something tomorrow to sum up my experience in Chinle, then I will be in Salt Lake City with some friends for a few days before heading back to Albany for interviews.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
The last steps are sometimes the hardest
Its almost done, just 3 more days of rotation, one of which is a half day. It always seems that the last few days of the rotations are the hardest, partly because of the frustration of working for so long for nothing, partly because of excitement about the next step of the journey, and partly because you are one foot out the door. This week was relatively sedate. I spent monday just going through the motions, tuesday and wednesday I was at Tsaile filling in for a contract pharmacist who called in sick. I got to do all the counseling and actually enjoyed myself. I worked with Terry the Navajo pharmacist and had a pretty good time, and was even able to pick up on a few Navajo words. Today was spent working on a few projects only to have a big one dropped in my lap. I have to write a therapeutic review for the hospital's PandT committee by the end of business on monday. I need to do the therapy and cost analysis for anticoagulants on formulary and make my recommendations. It should only be a 7 or 10 page paper, but I need to read through dozens of studies and guidelines to get it done. I wish I had more heads up, but it shouldnt be too bad.
This week I have really gotten frustrated by the waste of the Federal system. I wasnt expecting the federal government to run smoothly, be cost effective, or motivate its workers, but this is just ridiculous. Every day I am shocked at the amount of free drugs just walking out the door. Because there are no costs associated with the treatment there are a lot of patients who dont take a proactive role in their health care, they dont have to worry about the ramifications of their conditions because uncle sam will always be there to step in and pick up the tab. The ineffectiveness of the system would never fly anywhere outside of the federal system. If this hospital was a business venture then it would have gone broke years ago. Patients some times have to wait for hours to get their charts sent over then reviewed, then sent back to get edited by the doctor, then sent back to the pharmacy to be filled, people will seriously wait for 3 hours to get a bottle of baby aspirin. Its pretty embarrassing for me to tell someone this wait when I know that the script could be filled at walgreens in a matter of minutes. The staff isnt very motivated, there are a ton of people in the pharmacy and some of them just seem to be treading water. One staff member actually said to me "I need to slow down before I run out of work for the day". I realize that I am not highly motivated, but this is an unpaid internship, and this is her full time job. I dont want to swear off the federal system for good, because who knows maybe ill be a mercenary contract pharmacist in a few years, but right now it is way to frustrating for me.
Tonight I went out to the chinese place in Chinle with my medstudent roommate Ravi and the med students from next door. It turns out that one guy's parents actually live in Saratoga so it turns out to be a pretty small world after all. The best part of all is that the chinese was actually pretty tasty, I was surpised. I am going to the Chinle flea market (navajo selling stuff place) tomorrow and then I will be relaxing all weekend, getting packed and then getting ready to start the drive home.
-O
This week I have really gotten frustrated by the waste of the Federal system. I wasnt expecting the federal government to run smoothly, be cost effective, or motivate its workers, but this is just ridiculous. Every day I am shocked at the amount of free drugs just walking out the door. Because there are no costs associated with the treatment there are a lot of patients who dont take a proactive role in their health care, they dont have to worry about the ramifications of their conditions because uncle sam will always be there to step in and pick up the tab. The ineffectiveness of the system would never fly anywhere outside of the federal system. If this hospital was a business venture then it would have gone broke years ago. Patients some times have to wait for hours to get their charts sent over then reviewed, then sent back to get edited by the doctor, then sent back to the pharmacy to be filled, people will seriously wait for 3 hours to get a bottle of baby aspirin. Its pretty embarrassing for me to tell someone this wait when I know that the script could be filled at walgreens in a matter of minutes. The staff isnt very motivated, there are a ton of people in the pharmacy and some of them just seem to be treading water. One staff member actually said to me "I need to slow down before I run out of work for the day". I realize that I am not highly motivated, but this is an unpaid internship, and this is her full time job. I dont want to swear off the federal system for good, because who knows maybe ill be a mercenary contract pharmacist in a few years, but right now it is way to frustrating for me.
Tonight I went out to the chinese place in Chinle with my medstudent roommate Ravi and the med students from next door. It turns out that one guy's parents actually live in Saratoga so it turns out to be a pretty small world after all. The best part of all is that the chinese was actually pretty tasty, I was surpised. I am going to the Chinle flea market (navajo selling stuff place) tomorrow and then I will be relaxing all weekend, getting packed and then getting ready to start the drive home.
-O
Monday, November 2, 2009
Not alone anymore
Yesterday I returned from the 4 corners to find that I had a roommate. A med student named Ravi moved in over the weekend. The people in the housing office told me that they would warn me if someone was moving in and since I didnt hear anything I assumed nobody was coming. I left the house in a hurry on Friday trying to beat darkness when heading up to Moab, so the place was a mess. I feel embarrassed and ashamed that he had to show up and see crap all over since im a slob. I know that wasnt the best foot I could have put forward or the most welcoming thing I could do. He was out hiking when I showed up so I did my best to clean everything up before he showed up so I hopefully redeemed myself in his eyes. He is a really cool guy, who is originally from Long Island. He had just spend 10 weeks in Argentina working at a hospital there so he has some petty cool stories. I have read several books set in Argentina and have always thought it was a neat place, so these stories fascinate me. Im only going to be in this house for 7 more nights but it will be cool to have some company while im still here. I will be sticking around this weekend to pack and get ready for the drive home. I will probably hike the White House trail in Canyon de Chelly again too. Its kind of scary how much I like hiking now. I dont go on the super hard trails, but I have kind of fallen in love with the idea of going out to the woods and just hiking and being left to my own thoughts. I will have to spend some time on the east coast doing some hiking in the Adirondacks or the Green Mountains.
On the home front I have been able to get all my ducks in a row. I have my interviews set up, Im staying at Morris that weekend, Grassi is taking my CV and References list to Staples to get them printed, and my business cards came in today. I will be flying out of SLC on the afternoon of thurs the 11th and leaving albany around noon on monday the 16th so if you want to catch up you can find me then. Im pretty psyched to be able to finally interview, while its been a few nerveracking months and I will be glad when I finally get an offer it is still pretty cool to see how my entire future can be determined over the course of a weekend.
I watched Hi Fidelity last night and was reminded of two things, how much I hate John Kusack, and how many adventures you can have just in normal life. It took me really being on a big time adventure to realize all the little adventures that I went on in the past few years when I thought I was just going through the motions. After having several people throw around the term bucket list in the past few weeks I have also decided to set one up. I used to have one when I was about 14, but I have changed so much that I really need to set up a new one. I think that most of it will include travel, but im sure that there are a lot of really cool things that I can toss on there.
Thats if for today
On the home front I have been able to get all my ducks in a row. I have my interviews set up, Im staying at Morris that weekend, Grassi is taking my CV and References list to Staples to get them printed, and my business cards came in today. I will be flying out of SLC on the afternoon of thurs the 11th and leaving albany around noon on monday the 16th so if you want to catch up you can find me then. Im pretty psyched to be able to finally interview, while its been a few nerveracking months and I will be glad when I finally get an offer it is still pretty cool to see how my entire future can be determined over the course of a weekend.
I watched Hi Fidelity last night and was reminded of two things, how much I hate John Kusack, and how many adventures you can have just in normal life. It took me really being on a big time adventure to realize all the little adventures that I went on in the past few years when I thought I was just going through the motions. After having several people throw around the term bucket list in the past few weeks I have also decided to set one up. I used to have one when I was about 14, but I have changed so much that I really need to set up a new one. I think that most of it will include travel, but im sure that there are a lot of really cool things that I can toss on there.
Thats if for today
Rock out with your clock out
11/1/09
Why did nobody warn me it was daylight savings time. That would have been the perfect Halloween costume, just write "Daylight Savings Time" on a tshirt and show up an hour late. Why do I always have these epiphanies the day after an event?
Last night in Durango was fun. I went out to a few bars and even got to go to the Ska Brewery. Since Ska is my favorite genre of music and I love breweries it was just about perfect, unfortunately they didnt have any growlers in stock so I wont be able to add that one to my collection, I may call them and have them ship one once I get home. Since it was Halloween all the crazies were out, I typically dont care about holidays, especially ones that dont make much sense like Halloween, but it looked like everyone in their costumes was having fun. The best costume that I saw was a guy dressed up like bacon, it was an awesome idea and would have only been made better if I would have followed through with my idea for a bacon scented cologne.
This morning I spent in Durango walking around downtown. Because of daylight savings time and all the time zone changes I have been going through I wake up at random times. I am either exhausted or I am wide awake at 6am. Today I was awake 2 hours before my wake up call and spent some time writing post cards and catching up on sports news. I have taken to marking down what time the wakeup call goes off and telling the staff when I check out, todays was 4 minutes late, yesterdays was 16. This might seem petty, but what if I had an important meeting, 16 minutes is a lot of get ready time. I went to lunch at this place John the pharmacist recommended called Steamworks, apparently they had one of the top rated beers at the American brewers festival last year, so I had to try it. It was pretty damn good Durango has a lot of breweries and I only got to go to a few, the extra breweries may entice me to come back. I skipped Mesa Verde because I am starting to get sick of all these national parks, so I just headed back to Cortez and then off to the 4 corners.
The 4 corners park was basically a flat piece of concrete surrounded with flags. It was cool to stand in 4 states at once and to walk around the monument, but it wasnt too big of a deal. I was also pretty pissed off at the family in front of me where the kids were acting like brats and the parents were yelling and threatening. That kind of takes the fun out of going anywhere.
Tomorrow starts my last full week at the rotation site, and I get 2 days in the off site clinics and possibly another day in the anticoag clinic.
-O
Why did nobody warn me it was daylight savings time. That would have been the perfect Halloween costume, just write "Daylight Savings Time" on a tshirt and show up an hour late. Why do I always have these epiphanies the day after an event?
Last night in Durango was fun. I went out to a few bars and even got to go to the Ska Brewery. Since Ska is my favorite genre of music and I love breweries it was just about perfect, unfortunately they didnt have any growlers in stock so I wont be able to add that one to my collection, I may call them and have them ship one once I get home. Since it was Halloween all the crazies were out, I typically dont care about holidays, especially ones that dont make much sense like Halloween, but it looked like everyone in their costumes was having fun. The best costume that I saw was a guy dressed up like bacon, it was an awesome idea and would have only been made better if I would have followed through with my idea for a bacon scented cologne.
This morning I spent in Durango walking around downtown. Because of daylight savings time and all the time zone changes I have been going through I wake up at random times. I am either exhausted or I am wide awake at 6am. Today I was awake 2 hours before my wake up call and spent some time writing post cards and catching up on sports news. I have taken to marking down what time the wakeup call goes off and telling the staff when I check out, todays was 4 minutes late, yesterdays was 16. This might seem petty, but what if I had an important meeting, 16 minutes is a lot of get ready time. I went to lunch at this place John the pharmacist recommended called Steamworks, apparently they had one of the top rated beers at the American brewers festival last year, so I had to try it. It was pretty damn good Durango has a lot of breweries and I only got to go to a few, the extra breweries may entice me to come back. I skipped Mesa Verde because I am starting to get sick of all these national parks, so I just headed back to Cortez and then off to the 4 corners.
The 4 corners park was basically a flat piece of concrete surrounded with flags. It was cool to stand in 4 states at once and to walk around the monument, but it wasnt too big of a deal. I was also pretty pissed off at the family in front of me where the kids were acting like brats and the parents were yelling and threatening. That kind of takes the fun out of going anywhere.
Tomorrow starts my last full week at the rotation site, and I get 2 days in the off site clinics and possibly another day in the anticoag clinic.
-O
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
