I'm Not Dead Yet

I have been having some trouble posting to blogspot the last couple of attempts. I think that it is due to an update that is requiring pictures be uploaded from the picasa website, but I am not sure. I haven't wanted to take the time to sit down and figure it out, and that is why it has been so long since my last post.

Work is going very well. I am really enjoying the freedom and autonomy here in Yakima. We have only been here for 2 months, but I can say that I am quite pleased with the choice to come work here. That having been said... several of my co-workers are quite unhappy with their income, and how the changes in the call schedule have decreased their take-home pay. I have not worked here long enough to have seen the difference, but I am told that it is and will be a substantial decrease in income. 3 of the guys have been actively exploring other opportunities for work. Never in my life did I think that some day I would make a 6 figure income, and think that I wasn't making enough money! It is a weird position to be in.

Susan has been talking to several pharmacies in the area, and has 5 offers at this time. The process of license transfer is cumbersome, but she has finally submitted all of the paperwork required to receive an ATT (authorization to test) for the law exam for the state. When that comes she can select a test date and sit for the law exam. She has been studying for it off and on since we moved here.

My brother-in-law came to Yakima a week and a half ago to pick up the truck. I had promised him that when I graduated he could have it, and so he came down and drove it home two weekends ago. By all accounts it is running well, and he is enjoying the new addition to his family. I miss the truck, and will miss it much more come hunting season, but right now I am enjoying my new little Nissan Sentra. We had narrowed down our list to the Sentra and the Civic, and chose the Sentra due to the standard items that were options on the Civic, and the salesman. The Civic salesman gave me the "chick" line. "If you don't want to buy the car from me it means you don't like me". That was reason enough to walk out. I liked the Civic just fine, but that really put me off.

I will figure out how to post pictures again soon, and once again be boring you with my photos.

Working for a Living

Last week I started my new "job" in Yakima, WA. School seems to have gone by really fast now that I am no longer in it.

First though a little about the move.
I drove cross country twice in less than 10 days. Not very impressive if you do that sort of thing for a living, but for us civilians it is a long time on the road. Each trip was 2500 miles and 40 hours of driving. My first trip was uneventful but for running out of gas in the middle of the night in La Crosse, WI. at 0100 and -16 degrees outside. It really sucked, but I was saved by a timely phonecall with some great advise from my friend Gene in North Carolina. Back on the the road with only a short delay I made my way to Buffalo, WY. where I spent the night at the Edstroms. The following week we made a detour and went through Rawlins, WY. where we were stopped by road closures due to blizzard conditions. 3 Interstate highway closings later we arrived in Boise, ID. to spend a night with the Buchanan's, arriving in Yakima on Wednesday the 30th of January. We spent the first night on the floor, and unloaded the truck the following day. Adam really pitched in and helped with the work and we were done by 1700 hrs.

Work is everything I had hoped. Some days I feel very stupid and suffering from a case of the "all thumbs", and others go very well. The practice here is very independent, and I am treated like a professional. I am very happy and excited to be working in this type of environment. Much different than what I experienced at Shadyside. I really disliked that place.

I am very satisfied with the education and training I received at the University of Pittsburgh. I have always prided myself as one who is able to "hit the ground running", and I really think that I have been able to do that here. My orientation was brief, but I think that its because I was able to show I know what I am doing. There are a couple of older guys, but for the most part the group is young and relaxed. Very happy so far.

Greg stopped in last evening and had dinner "with" us. We had actually already eaten, and he finished up the left overs.

I have 5.5 weeks of vacation to use this year. Does anyone have any suggestions??

PITT Anesthesia Class of 2007

Graduation Day, The day that seemed once so far into the future it was hard to imagine, has somehow come and gone.
Friday evening the class of 2007, of the University of Pittsburgh, Nurse Anesthesia Program celebrated our graduation from the program. It was kind of surreal in that there are many of my classmates that I may never see again. I have made a lot of really good friends, and will truly miss them .


Final Tally---941 Anesthetics Administered
My parents made the trip out to Pittsburgh, from Alberta, Canada. They spent 2 days traveling on Amtrak, but say that they really enjoyed the experience. This was their first time in Pennsylvania since my brother Bob finished his mission in Philadelphia back in '91? Mom and Susan did a bunch of shopping, while me and dad caught a Penguins game, and made a quick trip up to Kirtland, OH. to visit some church historic sites. The drive back from Kirtland was through a snow storm. I think my dad was nervous. I drive consistently regardless of the weather. I think that if you are too scared to drive the speed limit (snowing or not) you should get off the road. there were several accidents that we passed along the way, but our trip home was uneventful.

I'm A Sick Twisted Freak!

Today I was really excited to travel in to Pittsburgh for my first ever book signing.

Conservative radio talk show host, TV personality, and best selling author Glenn Beck, was in Pittsburgh to sign copies of his new book "An Incovenient Book". I would like to give you some quips and quotes, but there is probably some question and concern over copy right infringement if I were to do that. Just let me say that my son Adam (15 years old), was reading the book while we were waiting in line at the signing, and he was laughing out loud.

I am looking forward to settling down in Yakima, so I can order his monthly magazine Fusion, which sounds hilarious.

His radio show does a fake gameshow on Fridays during football season called "More-on Trivia", but pronounced as Moron Trivia. What happens is that they call up 7-11 type stores in cities with teams competing that weekend in the NFL. The premise is that the people working in these stores are not the brightest bulbs in the package. Each "contestant" is asked a series of current events questions, and the person with the most correct answers predicts the winner of their game that weekend. It is hilarious.

Glenn is also a convert and has a great story of the change in his life following his baptism.

Black Friday

924 cases completed.

It's beginning to look a lot like winter. The dark skies have rolled in over Pittsburgh, and the snow is falling. Lucky for me I got the Harley put into winter storage yesterday.

Today is the day that is traditionally known as Black Friday, the traditional start of the holiday ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_(shopping) shopping season. A few years ago a friend of mine talked me into going shopping the morning of Black Friday. In an attempt to lure in shoppers, many stores open early in the morning. Usually around 0500, but some even open at midnight. They tempt shoppers with big sales promotions of items which are usually in limited quantity. The one trip into the hell which is Black Friday that I attempted, was to purchase a paper shredder. Should have been simple enough. I lined up against the side of a Circuit City with about 100 other people. When the doors finally opened people from the parking lot flooded straight into the store, and left those of us who were stupid enough to stand in line right where we were. I have never been out shopping on Black Friday again.

I have 4 clinical days left in my "traditional" anesthesia education. With luck I might make 950 cases. I was hoping to have 1000 by graduation, but that won't be possible as we are making a trip out to Washington next week to look for a place to live. There is a lot to do between now and January. We still have to decide on a move date, and I have to pick a date to take my certifying exam.

Class of 2007, Pitt Anesthesia

919 Cases Completed

Graduation is just 34 days away. It is hard to believe that this journey that started 27 months is almost at an end. We all (my classmates and myself) think that it is some kind weird paradox that school seems to have gone by so quickly, but at the same time, life before school seems so long ago. Just weird! Here is a link to the pictures of my graduating classmates. http://www.pitt.edu/~srna100/Documents/Class%20of%202007%20-page1and2%20Updated8-06.pdf

I am back at Magee Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh for the last 6 weeks of school. My goal was to try and get 100 spinals, and 100 epidurals before graduation. I think that I will make it with my spinals, but will probably fall short on epidurals by 10 or so. For the most part though, I have had a very good regional experience while in school. I have spoken to students from my program and others (ran into a bunch of people in Cleveland last weekend), who will be graduating with less than 10 of each.

Adam (the man child) has been off school for 4 weeks now due to a teachers strike. He will be off next week as well, and will return to school Friday?? by court order. The teachers were only allowed to be off for a total of 5 weeks. The school has announced that the Thanks Giving, Christmas, and New Year's break has been cancelled. The kids will have one day off for each (on the actual day) holiday. The rumor is that the teachers are going to walk out after the first of the year for another 5 weeks.
We are going to be out of town to look for a house in Washington, and Adam is going to miss 8 days of school during the end of November and the first part of December. I am sure that the teachers will want him to make up all of the work that he will miss during that time. Teachers Unions Suck. All Unions Suck, but especially teachers unions.

We Are Heading to Washington

814 Cases Completed.

After alot of searching and consideration we have decided to accept a position with PAA in Yakima, Washington. Following graduation on the 14th of December, We will move out shortly into the New Year. Now the fun begins! Looking for a house. Packing and unpacking. Sort of sounds like a WKRP in Cincinnati rif.

I just completed my rotation in Morgantown, WV. It was a lot of fun, but I am glad it is over. On Tuesday I move on (and back to) Danville, PA. and Geisinger Medical Center. I spent some time there over the winter. It is a good hospital, and one that if I were planning on staying in the area, I would really consider working at.

On another note my truck is starting to die. The latch on the driver side door broke last week. I have to roll down the window to open the door. Around about the same time my radiator started leaking. I am not exactly sure where from. The hoses look fine. I guess that all of my things are aware that school will be over soon, and feel they can start giving up the ghost.

It's July Already!

While Jeff's been too busy to post updates on this blog, I guess I will be the one to inform everyone what we have been up to. Adam participated in a Boy Scout Color Guard on Memorial Day at the Catholic Cemetary in North Pittsburgh. Our friend, Jim Larsen, has returned earlier this year after serving with the Marine Corps. in Iraq. He trained the Scout Troop to perform the ceremony which received rave reviews. People were very impressed by the great show of respect and dignity by our Boy Scout Color Guard.

Adam finished 9th grade on the first of June. Now he is a video and computer game addict all day, every day. He gets so carried away that he needs to be reminded to eat or go to bed. Adam stayed up past 3:30 am last Monday. The blinking lights from the computer room awakened me at that time, and I realized that he had not gotten to bed when told to do so at 10:30 pm the night before. What a doofus!

Jeff started his new clinical rotation at West Virginia University Medical Center in Morgantown, West Virginia. He has to be back Fridays for class at the U of Pittsburgh. We all had our birthdays within the last week of June. Mine was on the 1st of July and yes, Jeff did forget to wish me a happy birthday. Later that day I dropped Jeff off at the airport to fly to Temple, Texas for an interview. While at the Dallas airport to catch a connecting flight, he remembered and called me. Jeff is a doofus times two!

Our family celebrated the 4th of July by volunteering at the Cranberry Community Park booth during 9:30 am to 2:30 pm. Our LDS church was selected to oversee the Children's Tent for the day, where the kids can do crafts, meet the "Balloon Guy" and watch "The Magic Man". Jeff and Adam assisted the children on patriotic airplanes, necklaces, and stick-on tattoos. I was yelling out in a 'cheerleader voice', encouraging others walking by, to write support messages on the large banner to be sent to the miltary men and women in Iraq. Jeff kind of steer clear of me, possibly being embarrassed that I was doing my patriotic duty or maybe I was too loud. There were no signs set up indicating others to 'sign the banner' to show our support to the troops in Iraq. I was thinking how all the men and women during their service abroad would feel, wishing they are back home in the States to celebrate 4th of July with their families.We also collected money donations to purchase calling cards for the soldiers and ended up over $580.00! Lynn Arrington, overseeing the LDS volunteers, said that they never received so much support compared to 4th of July last year.

We are looking forward to see family in Alberta during mid-summer. Jeff's mom has a Judd family reunion going on in the town of Magrath. This will give an opportunity for us see his side of family that we haven't seen for a long time. Adam and I haven't seen Jeff's parents for 4 years.

Speaking of reunions, my old high school, Harry Ainlay Composite High School of Edmonton, Alberta will have a reunion for the 1981 graduates on Labor Day week-end 2007. It has been 26 years since my graduation from there, but sadly I will not be able to attend their reunion activities. I was able to register on the reunion website: http://www.hachs81.com/ allowing me to reconnect old friends that had registered. There were 736 graduates from 1981, but only 200 had responded to the website. This is a big challenge trying to inform all the 1981 Ainlay grads about the upcoming reunion after 26 years, especially to Mike Evans, our so called class president for life. So anybody who knows somebody is a 1981 Ainlay grad, please refer him or her to the reunion website.