I havent had a whole lot to blog about lately. Definitely would have a hard time were this a vocation and not just a place to post random thoughts. How do people come up with something daily?
Work has been, well, work. We are finally starting to train the new RN, which means we will finally be at full staff for the very first time since I started working there. What will it mean? Well, no more spending all of Tuesday afternoon on my own. As a funny aside, the on call doc of the day this past Tuesday came over to let me know he was leaving for the day and asked where the other RN was. When I said she was gone for the afternoon and that was what she always did he looked at me rather incredulously and said 'Really? So you take the calls for all the doctors in the entire clinic?" When I answered in the affirmative he responded 'good luck with that!' Not to say I am the only one, the other RN has to do the same for me on my half day as well. My point is that it is freaking bananas! Thank goodness we will finally have a full staff. I hope she ends up staying............at least until I can figure something else out for myself :) In the interim, maybe things will be far less shitty.
I am beyond thrilled that the elections are officially over. I consider myself a dem, but I honestly am developing (have developed) an aversion to all politicians. According to what I read, estimates are that expenditures for the midterm elections were between $3-4 Billion dollars. I know in Oregon, the governor's race accounted for more than $6 million for the incumbent and more than double that for the challenger. Though the data is a couple years old (2007) at that time the Governor of Oregon was paid less than $94K. Lets just guess it is closer to $100K now. Throw in free housing, etc lets generously add another $100K to the total. So, at BEST, we are talking about someone spending 30 times their annual salary (and I realize it isn't their money) to keep a job and someone spending 60-80x the possible salary to unseat that person. Oh yeah, and that is EVERY 4 years, not just a one time deal. How can that NOT lead to corruption and elected officials beholden to the special interests that support them? If Kitzhaber wins (the incumbent) he will owe the unions that kept him there. If Dudley wins, he will owe the wealthy contributors like Phil Knight. The whole thing is just horrible. We all just continue to lose when our leaders don't do whats best for the majority, but do rather whats best for themselves and the people who paid to get them there.
But, as an aside, yeah for no more political ads on the TV and my mailbox stuffed full of the same.
A couple more days to go until the weekend.........almost there. Then Foster Burger with some old friends. Looking forward to it!
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
frame of mind
I know I use the blog as a place to complain about my job...........and for good reason, as it is a large part of what I do and is depersonalized enough to be relate-able without stepping on anyone's feet. The funny thing about blogs is that, the more people you know who read them, the less you can really say. But, I digress.
I am not a great worker. I mean, I do work hard when I am there, work well with anyone I work alongside, cause little trouble, learn quickly, and generally do a good job. However, I also don't like the tedium of working, lose interest once I have learned my position, and generally fidget like a sugared up toddler at an all day insurance seminar once I realize that movement is only lateral not vertical. This has been a Brobignagian problem in nursing. Because, though there is much to learn, once it is learned, you are pretty much at a plateau until a series of unfortunate events claim those with more seniority. Unlike at my first clinical job where downtime allowed for additional education and there was a focus on a disease process (in that case asthma/allergy), now I kind of learn little bits here and there when there is time, but there is very seldom opportunity to work one-on-one with a doctor to pick their brain or even get to work alongside peers (the only other RN does the same job as I do and we spend, maybe, 5 minutes a day conversing about patient issues or socializing in the least). So, while I am certainly not working on an assembly line at a chicken processing factory, I am not content either. And I don't know how to get there, so I keep looking elsewhere without much success.
I have postulated this before, and I think it may be true, but my general ancy nature related to work may, by and large, be the reason why I revel in the opportunities to move to different cities/countries. Maybe the sense of exploration and wonder I don't get at work, I get by learning the nooks and crannies of new places.
The person I feel the worst for in this is Tia..........because I know she does not share my general ennui with all things Portland and has a job that, while often frustrating, seems to generally offer her variety, challenge, and opportunities. And Tia is a good worker. She really values it in a way that I don't, which is generally as a necessary evil. I can appreciate that and understand why she doesn't necessarily share my flights of fantasy about uprooting and going somewhere else. Instead she gets to listen to my general dissatisfaction, nod in the right places, and hope like hell that I don't bring it up again tomorrow. For my part, I do genuinely try not to.
Until something new happens, I will try to focus and try not to chew my nails to nubs and start habitually popping Xanax to soothe my psyche, even if I am all atwitter on the inside.
I am not a great worker. I mean, I do work hard when I am there, work well with anyone I work alongside, cause little trouble, learn quickly, and generally do a good job. However, I also don't like the tedium of working, lose interest once I have learned my position, and generally fidget like a sugared up toddler at an all day insurance seminar once I realize that movement is only lateral not vertical. This has been a Brobignagian problem in nursing. Because, though there is much to learn, once it is learned, you are pretty much at a plateau until a series of unfortunate events claim those with more seniority. Unlike at my first clinical job where downtime allowed for additional education and there was a focus on a disease process (in that case asthma/allergy), now I kind of learn little bits here and there when there is time, but there is very seldom opportunity to work one-on-one with a doctor to pick their brain or even get to work alongside peers (the only other RN does the same job as I do and we spend, maybe, 5 minutes a day conversing about patient issues or socializing in the least). So, while I am certainly not working on an assembly line at a chicken processing factory, I am not content either. And I don't know how to get there, so I keep looking elsewhere without much success.
I have postulated this before, and I think it may be true, but my general ancy nature related to work may, by and large, be the reason why I revel in the opportunities to move to different cities/countries. Maybe the sense of exploration and wonder I don't get at work, I get by learning the nooks and crannies of new places.
The person I feel the worst for in this is Tia..........because I know she does not share my general ennui with all things Portland and has a job that, while often frustrating, seems to generally offer her variety, challenge, and opportunities. And Tia is a good worker. She really values it in a way that I don't, which is generally as a necessary evil. I can appreciate that and understand why she doesn't necessarily share my flights of fantasy about uprooting and going somewhere else. Instead she gets to listen to my general dissatisfaction, nod in the right places, and hope like hell that I don't bring it up again tomorrow. For my part, I do genuinely try not to.
Until something new happens, I will try to focus and try not to chew my nails to nubs and start habitually popping Xanax to soothe my psyche, even if I am all atwitter on the inside.
Friday, October 22, 2010
"leave me the fuck alone"
When I was walking to work today, I came across a vagrant as I frequently do (Portland is rife with them) and, without provocation she muttered aloud 'leave me the fuck alone.' I have to say, I wasn't even taken aback (crazy people say crazy things), but I did think it relatively apropos. Tia says I have been crabby lately.........but I think my feelings of late can best be summed up by the 5 words the crazy lady spewed forth this morning.
I realize more and more that, while I feel I am doing a good job, I just don't like my actual job. I have been trying to keep more positive about it. I only offer 'advice' so I try not to stress about it when I don't have an answer. However, the sheer unadulterated neediness gets to you after awhile. Call after call after call. Especially on days like today where they flood in like water from a ruptured dam. The only thing I enjoy are the people I work with..........and some days I interact with them so little, I might as well be cloistered off in a closet somewhere. So, I continue to try to find alternatives........and may need to expand that search. I don't like feeling this way and it bleeds to far into other areas of my life (much to Tia's chagrin I am sure). Unfortunately little else in life affords me any real relief from the anxiety I have at the start of each and every day........not because I am concerned about the mystery of what lies ahead, but rather because I know EXACTLY what lies ahead.
I need to eat.........and then go back again. only half a day left before 2 days off.........which I will spend looking for something else to do with my weekday time.
I realize more and more that, while I feel I am doing a good job, I just don't like my actual job. I have been trying to keep more positive about it. I only offer 'advice' so I try not to stress about it when I don't have an answer. However, the sheer unadulterated neediness gets to you after awhile. Call after call after call. Especially on days like today where they flood in like water from a ruptured dam. The only thing I enjoy are the people I work with..........and some days I interact with them so little, I might as well be cloistered off in a closet somewhere. So, I continue to try to find alternatives........and may need to expand that search. I don't like feeling this way and it bleeds to far into other areas of my life (much to Tia's chagrin I am sure). Unfortunately little else in life affords me any real relief from the anxiety I have at the start of each and every day........not because I am concerned about the mystery of what lies ahead, but rather because I know EXACTLY what lies ahead.
I need to eat.........and then go back again. only half a day left before 2 days off.........which I will spend looking for something else to do with my weekday time.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Taco Hell
I cannot say that the most affluent, cultured, or savvy customers regularly partake in dining experiences at Taco Bell, but there is a singular sort of bizarreness that transcends even your average greyhound terminal at the location on Burnside. Dear god in heaven is there ever!
We occasionally (quarterly) get a Taco Bell yen. The last time we did, we lived decidedly in the burbs. This time, the nearest locale was 21st and Burnside.........I am pretty sure it will be our last visit there. I struggle with how to even describe the patrons that accompanied us in this, one of Dante's levels of hell. There was a gentleman who clearly just left a gym........in 1984. Despite the temps in the low 50s, he could not be bothered to hide any of his not undistinguished beer gut behind the paper thin veneer of a white sleeveless muscle tee and some shorts that embodied the word 'short' and would not have looked appropriate on an Olympic runner, which this gentleman was assuredly not. But he, my dear readers, was not the most distinguishable character in this play. In and amongst the assorted white trash, homeless (or nearly so) and crazies (there was a women who appeared to not be having so much a conversation as an argument with herself. It remains unclear who won the argument for those curious enough to wonder about such things), the was a man so transfixing we could not avert our gazes throughout our brief meal.
This man was dressed in garb familiar with most of your urban street people here.......kind of a hodgepodge of reasonably fashionable attire. He entered the eatery, promptly fished a drinking vessel from the trash and filled it with soda. He then got in line and ordered something (unclear) and then proceeded to spend the next 10 minutes at the counter that held the various condiments and plastic ware and unloaded a litany of refuse and assorted hodgepodgery from his pockets and reloaded them with paper towels and what appeared to be every packet of sauce that they had. This was all done in front of the vacuous stare of the cashier whom, I am fairly certain, sees this kind of behavior far too regularly to note it any longer. As an interesting sidebar to this story, the gentleman in question placed his beverage on a table while he proceeded to restock his every nook and cranny and another young indigent (I am supposing) picked up the drink and drank heartily from it. This continued until the first guy came to claim it back, at which point it was handed over as if nothing at all was strange about this. It was, to someone averse to catching and spreading germs, rather repulsive.
I have to say that I think it was a healthy overall decision to go to Taco Bell this evening.......because I think my urge to go again, ever again, may well have been sated.
We occasionally (quarterly) get a Taco Bell yen. The last time we did, we lived decidedly in the burbs. This time, the nearest locale was 21st and Burnside.........I am pretty sure it will be our last visit there. I struggle with how to even describe the patrons that accompanied us in this, one of Dante's levels of hell. There was a gentleman who clearly just left a gym........in 1984. Despite the temps in the low 50s, he could not be bothered to hide any of his not undistinguished beer gut behind the paper thin veneer of a white sleeveless muscle tee and some shorts that embodied the word 'short' and would not have looked appropriate on an Olympic runner, which this gentleman was assuredly not. But he, my dear readers, was not the most distinguishable character in this play. In and amongst the assorted white trash, homeless (or nearly so) and crazies (there was a women who appeared to not be having so much a conversation as an argument with herself. It remains unclear who won the argument for those curious enough to wonder about such things), the was a man so transfixing we could not avert our gazes throughout our brief meal.
This man was dressed in garb familiar with most of your urban street people here.......kind of a hodgepodge of reasonably fashionable attire. He entered the eatery, promptly fished a drinking vessel from the trash and filled it with soda. He then got in line and ordered something (unclear) and then proceeded to spend the next 10 minutes at the counter that held the various condiments and plastic ware and unloaded a litany of refuse and assorted hodgepodgery from his pockets and reloaded them with paper towels and what appeared to be every packet of sauce that they had. This was all done in front of the vacuous stare of the cashier whom, I am fairly certain, sees this kind of behavior far too regularly to note it any longer. As an interesting sidebar to this story, the gentleman in question placed his beverage on a table while he proceeded to restock his every nook and cranny and another young indigent (I am supposing) picked up the drink and drank heartily from it. This continued until the first guy came to claim it back, at which point it was handed over as if nothing at all was strange about this. It was, to someone averse to catching and spreading germs, rather repulsive.
I have to say that I think it was a healthy overall decision to go to Taco Bell this evening.......because I think my urge to go again, ever again, may well have been sated.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
NoHo and assholes and assholes and lawsuits oh my
Tia and I decided to head out to NoHo's cafe last nite after neither one of us felt like doing much cooking. This was of course a Groupon outing (as are most of our outings of late). NoHos is a Hawaiian food eatery and, if you are unfamiliar with plate food, it is all pretty similar: pork/beef/chicken/fish (or a combination thereof) marinated in Korean or Japanese flavoring alongside 2 scoops of white sticky rice and 1 scoop of macaroni salad. Vegetables are decorative if they exist at all. Oh yeah, and the meat is usually served by the metric ton. NoHos does this as well as anyone I suppose, but no better. And, since they charge about 50% more than the place right up the street from us, it is unlikely we will be back. The only difference is the place by us is outdoor eating predominantly and looks like a converted gas station......only marginally less visually appealing than the interior of Nohos though, which has not taken any great pains. Overall, we left full, the flavors were good, and the meat was plentiful.......but it is no less or no more than I would have felt at any number of eateries serving the exact same fare.
As for assholes, that goes out to whoever in our building had the party that evidently necessitated an angry letter to all of us from ownership. Now, I can't say I even heard this party or had any experience dealing with the obnoxious behaviors listed in it, but really? I mean, I expect the kind of drunk dorm room behavior in the low rent places where 3 college guys are splitting an $800 rent payment between them, but it is weird to think the douchebags live among us (though I have seen them in the halls........they all wear the same clothes so they are easy to spot in the wild with backwards baseball caps, at least one if not both ears pierced, a silver chain, and cars with some kind of homemade looking aftermarket spoiler). Ah well, the good news is they did come down hard on them.........I suspect it won't be happening again anytime soon.
As for lawsuits.........well, none really. But, since Tia did break her ankle on the cruise ship, I can dream of a large lump cash settlement from the cruise line can't I? Ah, if only I was a sleazebag.
Work has been ramping up of late...........cold season is upon us. If I am not fielding calls about colds, it is reactions from the flu shots themselves (which I am 90% certain are psychosomatic). Had security in to escort another patient out yesterday. Will be a few crazies when you have 19K patients. Keeps it exciting!
Speaking of work, I probably should eat something and clean up a bit before I have to go there. Thank god for one short day a week. It is the tendril that helps loosely bind my sanity at this point.
As for assholes, that goes out to whoever in our building had the party that evidently necessitated an angry letter to all of us from ownership. Now, I can't say I even heard this party or had any experience dealing with the obnoxious behaviors listed in it, but really? I mean, I expect the kind of drunk dorm room behavior in the low rent places where 3 college guys are splitting an $800 rent payment between them, but it is weird to think the douchebags live among us (though I have seen them in the halls........they all wear the same clothes so they are easy to spot in the wild with backwards baseball caps, at least one if not both ears pierced, a silver chain, and cars with some kind of homemade looking aftermarket spoiler). Ah well, the good news is they did come down hard on them.........I suspect it won't be happening again anytime soon.
As for lawsuits.........well, none really. But, since Tia did break her ankle on the cruise ship, I can dream of a large lump cash settlement from the cruise line can't I? Ah, if only I was a sleazebag.
Work has been ramping up of late...........cold season is upon us. If I am not fielding calls about colds, it is reactions from the flu shots themselves (which I am 90% certain are psychosomatic). Had security in to escort another patient out yesterday. Will be a few crazies when you have 19K patients. Keeps it exciting!
Speaking of work, I probably should eat something and clean up a bit before I have to go there. Thank god for one short day a week. It is the tendril that helps loosely bind my sanity at this point.
Monday, October 04, 2010
Violetta
We love burgers in this country. Adore them. they have a prominent place on menus throughout the Portland area, from the pedestrian to the gourmet. It is the quintessential American food.....meat, dairy, lettuce, bread. Portable. Customizable. Delicious!
Saying you don't like hamburgers is like saying you don't like movies, or puppies or sunrises......unfathomable. They come is such a spectrum, from the mass marketed mealy but satisfying in a pinch burger chains to insanely wallet busting epicurean fantasies. So, with burgers in our hearts, we trekked to Violetta, one of the newer Portland burger spots.
The concept is pretty straightforward and similar to places like Burgerville and Five Guys, order at the counter off the big board and take a number to your table. The difference is supposed to be in the quality of the food..........and that was frankly hit and miss. The burgers are locally raised as are all the toppings and even the bun is baked here. Of course, that doesn't come cheaply. Even without table service, you can still rack up $25 for 2 burgers, an order of fries, and a couple of beverages (even of the non-adult variety). With price comes expectation. When I plop down $7-$8 for the same at Burgerville or $12 at Five guys for the same basic fare, I expect Violetta to be 2-3x as good.........but they are alas not. The burgers, though well cooked with intriguing toppings like sun dried tomatoes, extended little more than salt to the palate. Texturally it was satisfying, but someone in the back was far too free with the shaker. The sweet potato fires however, were worth every penny. Crunchy, sweet, and salty at once paired beautifully with their house made aoili. Truly decadent and all that I hoped they could be and more.
So, overall, I would take a pass on Violetta. For the same dollars, you can do much better heading down to five guys or hitting up a local happy hour and throwing a few beers on the tab to boot. But..........if you happen to be nearby seeing a movie and fries are your thing, don't hesitate, you won't regret it!
Otherwise, still nursing a cold/sore throat/generally mucky muck that won't go and won't settle in and run its course either. Its a bad houseguest all together. A true bummer when you deal in voice for a living.
My super smart wifey figured out some kind of tax thingy (something to do with points on our former abode) that will net us 800 bones in amended tax return........or more accurately help us take back some of what we paid. Yeah for unexpected money!
Tomorrow is my 1/4 turn at the new gig. Weird. Has it really been that long (or only that long). One day at a time.
Speaking of which, time to let the cold pills do their work. Sleepy time starts now.
Saying you don't like hamburgers is like saying you don't like movies, or puppies or sunrises......unfathomable. They come is such a spectrum, from the mass marketed mealy but satisfying in a pinch burger chains to insanely wallet busting epicurean fantasies. So, with burgers in our hearts, we trekked to Violetta, one of the newer Portland burger spots.
The concept is pretty straightforward and similar to places like Burgerville and Five Guys, order at the counter off the big board and take a number to your table. The difference is supposed to be in the quality of the food..........and that was frankly hit and miss. The burgers are locally raised as are all the toppings and even the bun is baked here. Of course, that doesn't come cheaply. Even without table service, you can still rack up $25 for 2 burgers, an order of fries, and a couple of beverages (even of the non-adult variety). With price comes expectation. When I plop down $7-$8 for the same at Burgerville or $12 at Five guys for the same basic fare, I expect Violetta to be 2-3x as good.........but they are alas not. The burgers, though well cooked with intriguing toppings like sun dried tomatoes, extended little more than salt to the palate. Texturally it was satisfying, but someone in the back was far too free with the shaker. The sweet potato fires however, were worth every penny. Crunchy, sweet, and salty at once paired beautifully with their house made aoili. Truly decadent and all that I hoped they could be and more.
So, overall, I would take a pass on Violetta. For the same dollars, you can do much better heading down to five guys or hitting up a local happy hour and throwing a few beers on the tab to boot. But..........if you happen to be nearby seeing a movie and fries are your thing, don't hesitate, you won't regret it!
Otherwise, still nursing a cold/sore throat/generally mucky muck that won't go and won't settle in and run its course either. Its a bad houseguest all together. A true bummer when you deal in voice for a living.
My super smart wifey figured out some kind of tax thingy (something to do with points on our former abode) that will net us 800 bones in amended tax return........or more accurately help us take back some of what we paid. Yeah for unexpected money!
Tomorrow is my 1/4 turn at the new gig. Weird. Has it really been that long (or only that long). One day at a time.
Speaking of which, time to let the cold pills do their work. Sleepy time starts now.
Saturday, October 02, 2010
On a boat
Well, the week of vacation, which seemed to take it's own sweet time getting here, evaporated far more rapidly than expected. Overall, any vacation is wonderful by comparison to the alternative, but there are of course the roses and thorns of even the most sublime experiences. So, without further ado:
Roses:
- The sheer size and sense of wonder that glaciers evoke. We had an excellent view of one and it was truly magnificent. Even got to see and hear the glacier calving (large chunks falling off into the water). Truly the highlight of the trip.
- The tour of the lesser traveled parts of Juneau was really pleasant and unexpected. It is nice being able to experience things via cruise ship because it is, relatively, inexpensive. However, ports all look pretty much the same no matter where you are. The same shops full of kitchy tourist crap, high end jewelry, and a smattering of 'local' goods packaged in a way that scarcely suggest regionality.......so it is a rare pleasantry to see more of where the locals live, eat, and what there is that draws them there. I can't say I hope to move there, but it was interesting.
- The food as always, was very good and occasionally excellent in the dining room. The experience in the Pinnacle Grill (the upscale restaurant on board), was uneven but reached higher apexes when it hit them. Best steak I have had in a long time.
Thorns:
- The entertainment on the boat (save the comedian who was the best I have ever seen on a cruise ship......not necessarily a high bar) was spartan and generally uninspired. It was almost like they weren't even trying. Frequently what things they did plan were at the exact same time leaving you to pick one of three activities and then having nothing else to do.
- Food in the Lido (the serve yourself buffet which is the only real alternative to the sit down meals) was inconsistent in quality and rarely achieved more than mediocrity.
- The weather while not expected to be spectacular, was ruinous on day 1. The swells were about 30 ft and forced us to the inside passage. This caused us to lose a day in Sitka and not actually disembark the boat until Tuesday morning. One day did include an hour plus at a glacier, but it did not include any time off the ship. When you are choosing to not entertain people, 3.5 days on a ship is a long time. It was, however, exceedingly pleasant in Victoria.
- The itinerary could not have been worse and then did so after the weather shifted our schedule around. They shortened our day in Juneau (8-3:30), we had barely 5 hours in Ketchikan (itself not really much of a town), and didn't get into Victoria until nearly 8 at night, leaving four hours later (and the ship parked 1.5 miles outside of town and required a long walk or a $7 each way trip by bus into town). All told, only about 16hrs ashore in the week. Weak!
Overall, the trip was worthwhile without a doubt. It has, however, sated my desire to ever visit Alaska again.....at least by ship. It also probably sated my need to ever sail with Holland America ever again. They can't control the weather, but they can control the entertainment, the food, and the amenities on the ship and they did so poorly. The redeeming qualities were the pleasantness of the staff, the spectacular library, and the covered pool. But they made little use of every other amenity on the ship.
Well, as with every vacation, it ends with laundry.......and lots of it. Best to get to it then.
Roses:
- The sheer size and sense of wonder that glaciers evoke. We had an excellent view of one and it was truly magnificent. Even got to see and hear the glacier calving (large chunks falling off into the water). Truly the highlight of the trip.
- The tour of the lesser traveled parts of Juneau was really pleasant and unexpected. It is nice being able to experience things via cruise ship because it is, relatively, inexpensive. However, ports all look pretty much the same no matter where you are. The same shops full of kitchy tourist crap, high end jewelry, and a smattering of 'local' goods packaged in a way that scarcely suggest regionality.......so it is a rare pleasantry to see more of where the locals live, eat, and what there is that draws them there. I can't say I hope to move there, but it was interesting.
- The food as always, was very good and occasionally excellent in the dining room. The experience in the Pinnacle Grill (the upscale restaurant on board), was uneven but reached higher apexes when it hit them. Best steak I have had in a long time.
Thorns:
- The entertainment on the boat (save the comedian who was the best I have ever seen on a cruise ship......not necessarily a high bar) was spartan and generally uninspired. It was almost like they weren't even trying. Frequently what things they did plan were at the exact same time leaving you to pick one of three activities and then having nothing else to do.
- Food in the Lido (the serve yourself buffet which is the only real alternative to the sit down meals) was inconsistent in quality and rarely achieved more than mediocrity.
- The weather while not expected to be spectacular, was ruinous on day 1. The swells were about 30 ft and forced us to the inside passage. This caused us to lose a day in Sitka and not actually disembark the boat until Tuesday morning. One day did include an hour plus at a glacier, but it did not include any time off the ship. When you are choosing to not entertain people, 3.5 days on a ship is a long time. It was, however, exceedingly pleasant in Victoria.
- The itinerary could not have been worse and then did so after the weather shifted our schedule around. They shortened our day in Juneau (8-3:30), we had barely 5 hours in Ketchikan (itself not really much of a town), and didn't get into Victoria until nearly 8 at night, leaving four hours later (and the ship parked 1.5 miles outside of town and required a long walk or a $7 each way trip by bus into town). All told, only about 16hrs ashore in the week. Weak!
Overall, the trip was worthwhile without a doubt. It has, however, sated my desire to ever visit Alaska again.....at least by ship. It also probably sated my need to ever sail with Holland America ever again. They can't control the weather, but they can control the entertainment, the food, and the amenities on the ship and they did so poorly. The redeeming qualities were the pleasantness of the staff, the spectacular library, and the covered pool. But they made little use of every other amenity on the ship.
Well, as with every vacation, it ends with laundry.......and lots of it. Best to get to it then.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
34 cents
I have wanted to blog one last time before vaca, so here goes what will likely be a half-assed effort.
My co-worker who was on the fence about leaving finally decided to stay which is excellent news. the sad part was what a struggle that was. With the support of both the head of the clinic and the lead MD, they went to whomever it was who decides on such monetary things with the sole goal of getting him $1/hr more. $40 a week. After some calculations and what have you the financial person offered him..........34 cents. $13.60/week. But, they assured him, he could expect a similar bump in another year. I don't know enough expletives to serve this situation effectively. Anyway, the lead PCP made an impassioned plea which stated, among other things, that a doctor might leave due to the continued staff upheaval, and finally the dollar was granted. Does not exactly make me hopeful about my own raise, but I am thoroughly proud of all involved who fought to keep a solid employee around for what really cannot mean much in the operating costs of an entire clinic.
The only other thing of note was our attempt to broaden our horizons tonite by watching a documentary about a school built in Afghanistan and run by a doctor who works at KP. Well, after he was up on stage for about 30 minutes prior to said feature starting ranting and carrying on about everything from education to poppy production, we decided it wasn't worth our time to even bother sticking around any further. So the only expansion I felt was of the throbbing in my skull from a killer headache. Lovely. Note to guy trying to get donations to support what appeared to be a good cause: shut the hell up and let your movie do the talking!
Off to bury my head under a pillow and pray that tomorrow at work is quick and painless and that there is enough time in the day to get the dozens of things on my to-do list accomplished.
My co-worker who was on the fence about leaving finally decided to stay which is excellent news. the sad part was what a struggle that was. With the support of both the head of the clinic and the lead MD, they went to whomever it was who decides on such monetary things with the sole goal of getting him $1/hr more. $40 a week. After some calculations and what have you the financial person offered him..........34 cents. $13.60/week. But, they assured him, he could expect a similar bump in another year. I don't know enough expletives to serve this situation effectively. Anyway, the lead PCP made an impassioned plea which stated, among other things, that a doctor might leave due to the continued staff upheaval, and finally the dollar was granted. Does not exactly make me hopeful about my own raise, but I am thoroughly proud of all involved who fought to keep a solid employee around for what really cannot mean much in the operating costs of an entire clinic.
The only other thing of note was our attempt to broaden our horizons tonite by watching a documentary about a school built in Afghanistan and run by a doctor who works at KP. Well, after he was up on stage for about 30 minutes prior to said feature starting ranting and carrying on about everything from education to poppy production, we decided it wasn't worth our time to even bother sticking around any further. So the only expansion I felt was of the throbbing in my skull from a killer headache. Lovely. Note to guy trying to get donations to support what appeared to be a good cause: shut the hell up and let your movie do the talking!
Off to bury my head under a pillow and pray that tomorrow at work is quick and painless and that there is enough time in the day to get the dozens of things on my to-do list accomplished.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
another week comes to pass
This past week has been remarkable only in its rather unremarkableness (I am fairly certain I just made that word up). It has been, by and large, like any other week. Work was stressful, especially Monday and Friday, the MA in my pod is still contemplating leaving (and leaning further that way as the days, and the bullshit he deals with from patients, pass). I will be very unhappy if that happens, but I certainly can't blame him. More money and the promise of a more tolerable position is pretty tempting, even at the cost of a further commute. Will be interested to see how it plays out obviously.
The weekend was spent in the hunt for my first IPOD touch. I have kind of wanted one for awhile, but have an Ipod already (though now a few years old) and couldn't justify it in my head. But, sometimes you just have to treat yourself :) Anyway, compared the newest model to the older ones and also briefly considered the Microsoft Zune (and discarded it after finding their apps.......well, spartan is a generous term) and ultimately ended up buying a used model (with warranty) from someone on Craigslist. Tia and I both are having a blast playing with all the free and cheap apps. It is much much more than a glorified ipod like I had originally thought. More like a do it all handheld tech toy. So much fun and time wasting potential. Now I just need to figure out how to sneak it to work :)
Spent most of the rainy weekend in relative slow motion. Met the in-laws for happy hour (and were pleasantly surprised with a wonderful room upgrade for the cruise, which is awesome!) on Friday, went to a local thai place on Saturday with a groupon, and wandered around downtown today after popping over to the library. Nice if only because it was relaxing......and I think we both felt like thats what this weekend called for.
4 more work days to go! Cannot wait for vacation.
The weekend was spent in the hunt for my first IPOD touch. I have kind of wanted one for awhile, but have an Ipod already (though now a few years old) and couldn't justify it in my head. But, sometimes you just have to treat yourself :) Anyway, compared the newest model to the older ones and also briefly considered the Microsoft Zune (and discarded it after finding their apps.......well, spartan is a generous term) and ultimately ended up buying a used model (with warranty) from someone on Craigslist. Tia and I both are having a blast playing with all the free and cheap apps. It is much much more than a glorified ipod like I had originally thought. More like a do it all handheld tech toy. So much fun and time wasting potential. Now I just need to figure out how to sneak it to work :)
Spent most of the rainy weekend in relative slow motion. Met the in-laws for happy hour (and were pleasantly surprised with a wonderful room upgrade for the cruise, which is awesome!) on Friday, went to a local thai place on Saturday with a groupon, and wandered around downtown today after popping over to the library. Nice if only because it was relaxing......and I think we both felt like thats what this weekend called for.
4 more work days to go! Cannot wait for vacation.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
6 guys
This was another hellacious week at work. Almost felt punished for having a 3-day weekend. The calls were brisk and the crazy quotient was extremely high. I don't know what the statistics are, but I would venture to guess that 10% of the patients probably take up 90% of my time (and that of everyone at the clinic). The mental illnesses often usurp any physical ailments. Then, on the other side, the MDs bitch if they aren't seeing enough patients and bitch if they have to see certain patients without enough time. It is a fine line that you end up crossing on occasion because you cannot help but do so. The high point of the week was one of our special patients (who, I am not being factitious, was told not to come to her phys therapy appts because she reeked of urine) came to the lobby and began a profanity laced tirade in front of staff and patients alike because they would not refill her narcotic. Lovely.
As to what to do about the whole job situation, the answer remains unclear. I am still planning on doing nothing until I return from vacation, but unlike before the vacation is actually nearing (finally). I am still welcome at my old position, but that position seems to be changing rapidly. They are 'rethinking' it due to budget.....which as you can imagine does not mean anything positive for the employee. On the table are 12hour shifts at the Park, eliminating weekend patients so they can keep no more than 1 staff there, and combining the two big location (GS and Eman) into one large IV team that will travel btwn them. Will be interesting to see how it all shakes out. Also, another former co-worker left as she had planned which means that the entirety of their under-40 staff for the Park is gone. So, going back (if a position even existed) might not mean even remotely the same job anymore.
The weekend has been pretty mellow. Spent Friday nite with the guy living off of Groupon, which is a fascinating concept. According to his site: The premise is simple: No cash. The Groupawn (customer chosen to Live Off Groupon) has nothing but a year’s supply of Groupons good for the best things to eat, do, see and buy across the country. From skydiving and upscale cuisine to body waxing and foreign language classes, Groupon deals will shape the Groupawn’s daily life. He will need to rely on the kindness of strangers for social niceties (like tax and tip) and basic human needs (like somewhere to sleep and a ride to any of Groupon’s 60 cities.)
So, it sounds like an intriguing concept and one that most of us would be hard pressed to actually do..........but he was jovial, garrulous, and massive (6'6") so I am sure he will fare better than most. Plus, with $100,000 at the end of the year, it is a worthy venture. We met our friend/former Realtor Joleen, the groupon guy, and about a half dozen other people at Miss Delta for dinner and to discuss his adventures. It was a fun gathering, though I was far less impressed with the service/food. Were everyone not hanging out, it would have been unbearable and I would have left. As it was, it took more than an hour from seating until our dinner came. The restaurant was full, but not huge. The food itself was not terrible, but neither would I highly recommend it. The flavor was lacking in most everything I ate (save for the sweet tea, which was quite delicious). Overall, there are better options for your dining dollar.
Made it out to 5 Guys on Saturday early evening for dinner (we were in the area). They win time after time in the 'best fast food burger' comparisons. Though, after eating there, it is a rather unfair comparison. A cheeseburger at McDonalds might run about a buck, same with Wendys, BK, etc. A cheeseburger here cost closer to $4 (single) and $5 (there normal double patty) and these are built to order. Overall, it was MUCH more like eating a restaurant quality burger. The hand cut fries were a particular high point. Definitely heavy food though. This isn't the kind of place you will want to go for a jog after (though you might wish to). Quite good, but something to put into the 'eat rarely' column.
Yeah for football being back! Going to go enjoy it (while secretly lamenting that it is Sunday). Hopefully this week will be better.
Monday, September 06, 2010
DINK(y)
I had heard the term dink before, but it is still funny to me and I was surprised when one of my coworkers mentioned it when he was asking where I was going on vacation he said, "of course you two can live in the Pearl and go on a cruise, you're a couple of dinks." Dink stands for dual income no kids (and if you add the 'y' it stands for yet). Not sure if kids are in the future or not, and despite where my opinions often lean, I realize there are benefits to having them, but for right now it is great not having a little bundle of responsibility.
Friday nite after work I was invited to a Happy Hour with coworkers (I did not make it there due to a rather involved story that centers largely around my own directional challenges), spent Saturday out trying the Pope House Bourbon Lounge (the mixed drinks and the bourbon ice cream were amazing) with some new acquaintances, Sunday volunteering at CAT giving away over 3 tons of food (my biannual 'do something nice for others' day :) and then going to a friends party, grilling and playing Rock Band with a wall projector (and in an incredible sound system........they clearly LOVE that game), and then today took a trip out to the Casino before holing up for the night. Stuff we couldn't do with a kid (hell, not with a dog really).
Back to it tomorrow. More food reviews soon. Have to write more about the Pope House (kick ass happy hour). Can't wait to see what kind of calamities the patients of the clinic got into over a 3 day weekend that they didn't think needed immediate attention at an urgent care center or a hospital. It is shocking.
Saturday, September 04, 2010
Changes
Work drama, it is just inherent in any business I guess. Tia deals with it in spades (mostly related to her contact with outside vendors or different sites) and I deal with it in more of an immediate sense. Though I try not to be involved in it, it certainly affects me as it affects those around me. The biggest thing of the moment is the relative instability of staffing.
The way our clinic is set up, each doctor has one medical assistant. They really work in teams of 2......one doing rooming functions like setting up the rooms, getting vitals, taking patients back and doing any in-clinic tests required along with refill requests, and the other on the phone with call ins, doing prior authorizations, and arranging the various scans, blood tests, etc that the doctors order. The team has to be fairly symbiotic, as they both tackle issues relating to the same doctors, so it is hard when there is a weak link or, in this case, someone new who is learning on the job.
When I accepted the position, the pod I work in (there are 4 total pods, each with ostensibly 4 doctors/4 MAs/and 1 nurse) had 4 MAs with experience ranging from 17yrs to 7 months. No one, however, was remotely new. Overall it was evidently quite cohesive. I say 'was' because the day I started was evidently 1 day past one of the other MAs leaving. She was replaced by a float. Then, just a few short weeks later, another MA (who had been there for a few years), also left. They replaced her with a new hire and jettisoned the float. So, within the first month, we had lost 2 veteran staff. Now, the formerly newest MA got offered another position (almost all offers have gone thru Providence which is apparently renowned for paying more and providing better benefits) and is strongly considering it. So, in less than 2 months, I may go from the least experienced to the second most experienced in our pod of 5. Not very comforting I have to admit because, though I do not perform the same duties, I lean heavily on the MAs. Suffice to say I am not happy and my podmates are downright distressed. In addition to this, another new MA who was hired for our pod, was instead kept in another pod.
In news directed related to me, there were another 4 interviewees for the triage position and at least one of them will be offered a position. Now it is an issue of them accepting, making it through all the hoops associated with getting hired in (background checks, drug screens, etc) and then getting set up and trained. So, best case, probably a ready to go product by mid to late October. I hope hope hope by flu season. Somehow I imagine that is going to totally suck.
I still waffle frequently about my job, but I am not sure what else to really do at the moment. I still waffle in much the same way about school. A constant dance of should I or shouldn't I. Here is hoping for the clarity or at least some rest on the long weekend. Then back to god knows what.
The way our clinic is set up, each doctor has one medical assistant. They really work in teams of 2......one doing rooming functions like setting up the rooms, getting vitals, taking patients back and doing any in-clinic tests required along with refill requests, and the other on the phone with call ins, doing prior authorizations, and arranging the various scans, blood tests, etc that the doctors order. The team has to be fairly symbiotic, as they both tackle issues relating to the same doctors, so it is hard when there is a weak link or, in this case, someone new who is learning on the job.
When I accepted the position, the pod I work in (there are 4 total pods, each with ostensibly 4 doctors/4 MAs/and 1 nurse) had 4 MAs with experience ranging from 17yrs to 7 months. No one, however, was remotely new. Overall it was evidently quite cohesive. I say 'was' because the day I started was evidently 1 day past one of the other MAs leaving. She was replaced by a float. Then, just a few short weeks later, another MA (who had been there for a few years), also left. They replaced her with a new hire and jettisoned the float. So, within the first month, we had lost 2 veteran staff. Now, the formerly newest MA got offered another position (almost all offers have gone thru Providence which is apparently renowned for paying more and providing better benefits) and is strongly considering it. So, in less than 2 months, I may go from the least experienced to the second most experienced in our pod of 5. Not very comforting I have to admit because, though I do not perform the same duties, I lean heavily on the MAs. Suffice to say I am not happy and my podmates are downright distressed. In addition to this, another new MA who was hired for our pod, was instead kept in another pod.
In news directed related to me, there were another 4 interviewees for the triage position and at least one of them will be offered a position. Now it is an issue of them accepting, making it through all the hoops associated with getting hired in (background checks, drug screens, etc) and then getting set up and trained. So, best case, probably a ready to go product by mid to late October. I hope hope hope by flu season. Somehow I imagine that is going to totally suck.
I still waffle frequently about my job, but I am not sure what else to really do at the moment. I still waffle in much the same way about school. A constant dance of should I or shouldn't I. Here is hoping for the clarity or at least some rest on the long weekend. Then back to god knows what.
Thursday, September 02, 2010
Pearl
Finally we have dragged our way into September. Not that the months earmark any dramatic shift, except that tomorrow is a Friday before an honest-to-god three day weekend and that this month also means a real vacation......so for those reasons alone I am happy to see September arrive. Although it seems longer ago, it has been less than a month since we pulled up stakes and moved downtown, and I am still feeling burned out by it. Or perhaps it is work. Tia and I have both had our bouts of frustration and our responses have vacillated between ennui and 'hey, I hear there are teaching opportunities in Dubai!' Mostly, I think we are both just trying to hold on until our vacation at the end of the month and hoping that it will provide the time away we need to recuperate and deal. We shall see.
In other news, living here is still quite good. The downsides of not being able to open your windows because of loud noises, a rather penetrating odor that frequently bespoils our senses from the brewery (it smells of fermentation, but it is blocked out by not opening windows), and sharing confines and common spaces with many others is more than made up for by the bevy of conveniences that this location affords. Just tonite we wondered out our doors to enjoy the art, food, and spirits of first Thursday........all just a few blocks away. We have wondered a number of times into one thing or another going on that we did not even know about. There is a vibrancy to this area that I completely missed out upon living in the burbs. I can say I lived in Portland at that time, but only now do I truly feel like I live here.
Computer system was down all day at work. I have to laugh at how much we truly rely on it to do our jobs. Since I did not work in this field before, I can scarcely imagine how the system functioned at all. With all the docs seeing pts all day, how do you let them know about issues going on without interrupting them constantly and what things are really worthy of that? It is fingers crossed that the system works tomorrow since the best hope was that it would automatically reset at midnight. Not looking forward to tomorrow if it has not.
In other news, living here is still quite good. The downsides of not being able to open your windows because of loud noises, a rather penetrating odor that frequently bespoils our senses from the brewery (it smells of fermentation, but it is blocked out by not opening windows), and sharing confines and common spaces with many others is more than made up for by the bevy of conveniences that this location affords. Just tonite we wondered out our doors to enjoy the art, food, and spirits of first Thursday........all just a few blocks away. We have wondered a number of times into one thing or another going on that we did not even know about. There is a vibrancy to this area that I completely missed out upon living in the burbs. I can say I lived in Portland at that time, but only now do I truly feel like I live here.
Computer system was down all day at work. I have to laugh at how much we truly rely on it to do our jobs. Since I did not work in this field before, I can scarcely imagine how the system functioned at all. With all the docs seeing pts all day, how do you let them know about issues going on without interrupting them constantly and what things are really worthy of that? It is fingers crossed that the system works tomorrow since the best hope was that it would automatically reset at midnight. Not looking forward to tomorrow if it has not.
Monday, August 30, 2010
work is for jerks
There are some days when I think I made a good decision leaving my old job for this new one. The hours are regular and consistent. My commute is an 8 block stroll. I am learning a lot.
Then, there are other days like today when I long for poking sharp things into veins. As often as it was frustrating (and it was often enough) it wasn't literally crazy as some of my callers are. I have answers when asked about GI upset or knee pain. I can gather information that is somewhat useful even when I don't have answers frequently. But, occasionally, I don't even know what to ask. A mother (who I truly do feel badly for) called for her son (who is 37) who was having GI upset of a sort (I will save the detail as they matter little). She could not wake said son because he was 'sleeping.' Normal if we are talking of an infant, less so when we are speaking of a man nearing middle age. I offered an office visit today with a provider, but she couldn't get him in because of his 'emotional problems' that would necessitate hours of prep time, so she scheduled for tomorrow. When I talked to the doc in question, he was not willing to see the patient and wanted the pt to see his former doctor. I called the woman back and informed her of this (a shitty job since the doc put me in an awkward position), she admitted that it was her other son, also severely emotionally disturbed, who the apt was actually for. Her 39 yr old son whose emotional problems were so severe he didn't even want his mom to mention his name for the apt. The thought was that they would 'reveal' this swap at intake during the apt. What the (insert expletive here)!?!?!? I then had to relay this to the doctor as well. Suffice to say, it was not the most lovely way to spend an hour. The rest of the day was just heavy call volumes and finished with me trying to find out why an elderly dementia pt was 'afraid to stay in her apt' by herself (I was unable to discern this of course). I spend better than a 1/4 of my call volume dealing with a handful of nutters, drug seeker, and the demented.
So, what life lesson can we pull from this? Well, in essence, primary care will likely not be where you find me embarking on further matriculation. I definitely see my focus moving more into research or education instead. If I am going to spend the time, effort, and capital, I shouldn't do it to be miserable.
Off to bed so I can try to forget today and hope that tomorrow is more sane. Or at least that I am.
Then, there are other days like today when I long for poking sharp things into veins. As often as it was frustrating (and it was often enough) it wasn't literally crazy as some of my callers are. I have answers when asked about GI upset or knee pain. I can gather information that is somewhat useful even when I don't have answers frequently. But, occasionally, I don't even know what to ask. A mother (who I truly do feel badly for) called for her son (who is 37) who was having GI upset of a sort (I will save the detail as they matter little). She could not wake said son because he was 'sleeping.' Normal if we are talking of an infant, less so when we are speaking of a man nearing middle age. I offered an office visit today with a provider, but she couldn't get him in because of his 'emotional problems' that would necessitate hours of prep time, so she scheduled for tomorrow. When I talked to the doc in question, he was not willing to see the patient and wanted the pt to see his former doctor. I called the woman back and informed her of this (a shitty job since the doc put me in an awkward position), she admitted that it was her other son, also severely emotionally disturbed, who the apt was actually for. Her 39 yr old son whose emotional problems were so severe he didn't even want his mom to mention his name for the apt. The thought was that they would 'reveal' this swap at intake during the apt. What the (insert expletive here)!?!?!? I then had to relay this to the doctor as well. Suffice to say, it was not the most lovely way to spend an hour. The rest of the day was just heavy call volumes and finished with me trying to find out why an elderly dementia pt was 'afraid to stay in her apt' by herself (I was unable to discern this of course). I spend better than a 1/4 of my call volume dealing with a handful of nutters, drug seeker, and the demented.
So, what life lesson can we pull from this? Well, in essence, primary care will likely not be where you find me embarking on further matriculation. I definitely see my focus moving more into research or education instead. If I am going to spend the time, effort, and capital, I shouldn't do it to be miserable.
Off to bed so I can try to forget today and hope that tomorrow is more sane. Or at least that I am.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Head full of sand
This has been one of the rougher weekends for my allergies unfortunately, and am currently failing miserably on a few types. Kind of ambling about the apartment with eyes varying between crimson and an iritated pink. I feel slow and sleepy. Actually just awoke from an extended and unanticpated nap. Debating prednisone............but having a hard time pulling the trigger this late in the day when I KNOW that it will mean twitching like a tweaker and pacing the apartment until the early AM hours. Sucks, because I cannot stand it when my allergies control what I can and cannot do.
Thankfully, the prednisone performed its magical steroidy magic and my allergies are much more under wraps today (Sunday), though I still have little energy. I guess its good that it happens on a weekend because I dont miss work.........on the other hand, way to ruin my weekend!
Work was exceedingly rough this week. I am ever reminded that I have so much to learn. For every GI issue that I understand, there are alcohol rehabs, pinworms, and psych issues that I do not. I don't expect that it will get easier for some time..........but it is a learning process so I don't expect having the triage title necessarily imbues me with some heretofore unknown medical knowledge. Trial and error and learning as I go is the name of the game. Some weeks the game is just easier to play than others.
Not a whole lot else to say. No new restaurants tried or fun drinks to be had. Pulling for Tom to get better after his surgery and trying to eat away time until vacation..........coming soon, but seemingly not soon enough.
Thankfully, the prednisone performed its magical steroidy magic and my allergies are much more under wraps today (Sunday), though I still have little energy. I guess its good that it happens on a weekend because I dont miss work.........on the other hand, way to ruin my weekend!
Work was exceedingly rough this week. I am ever reminded that I have so much to learn. For every GI issue that I understand, there are alcohol rehabs, pinworms, and psych issues that I do not. I don't expect that it will get easier for some time..........but it is a learning process so I don't expect having the triage title necessarily imbues me with some heretofore unknown medical knowledge. Trial and error and learning as I go is the name of the game. Some weeks the game is just easier to play than others.
Not a whole lot else to say. No new restaurants tried or fun drinks to be had. Pulling for Tom to get better after his surgery and trying to eat away time until vacation..........coming soon, but seemingly not soon enough.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
New car!
What happens when 2 people decide to go Sake tasting on a weekend and test drive a few cars along the way? Well, a new car of course!
We had been discussing, living in the Pearl, reducing our car ownership by half. Both to save money and because owning 2 cars when you walk most places is kind of silly. Tia's car is paid off, mine not so much (about 3 years left of payments). I liked the utility of Tia's car (a 2006 Subaru outback), but not the way it drives (kind of sluggish and soft) and conversely Tia hated the way my little Rabbit handled (much more 'rough' for lack of a better term). So, the wise move would have been to sell my car and to keep her car. What we wanted to do, however, was to find a car we would both be satisfied with. So, the big key was getting rid of my car and her car for fair market value and finding something that met both our wants (needs?) while dropping our monthly payment below what we are paying on my car now. In that regard, we were successful.
We initially test drove a Volvo c30, an Audi A3, and a VW GTI. We both disliked the GTI (far too rough riding), found the Audi a bit too refined (read: adult), and adored the quirkly styling and supple yet sporty ride of the Volvo. The downside was that the Volvo is, while somewhat polarizing stylistically, quite high in demand. They are not willing to bend much on the price and, once you add the niceties to it, you are darn near $30K. We decided to seek out a slightly used one. What we found is that they are indeed quite rare. We did locate a nice 2008 with less than 4K miles, but they were offering us almost nothing in trade for my car or Tia's. Basically we would have had to finance our way out of it. Being the researchy type that I am, I knew that was patently ridiculous. Dealer trade-in should have netted us about $7-800 dollars. Not much, but not upside down. Private sale, we would have netted another $12-$1500. Long story short, the numbers weren't adding up.
We then decided to test drive the Ford Fusion Sport and SEL, which we both disliked both in styling and in ride. We looked at some Subies, but none really thrilled us. We debated the Nissan Altima coupe as well, but we scared off by the price (also near $30K) and weren't sure about a 2 door car. So, we ambled over to the Mazda dealership to look at the Mazda 6 and ended up not liking the look enough to drive it, but really liked the Mazda 3 hatchback. Ended up driving it, and really finding it a nice happy medium. It was sporty, but not overly rough. Spacious, but not overly large. Functional hatchback, but all sorts of fun bells and whistles like dual climate control, IPOD interface, Bluetooth and heated leather...........all for much less than we were going to spend on the C30 without any of those things.
Tia is a tough TOUGH negotiator (and it helped that the Mazda 3 is more plentiful and near the end of the model year), so we even got the price we wanted both for the car we bought and for the two cars we traded in........always ready to walk if the numbers didn't match up to our expectations. Plus, Mazda is running a 0% financing deal. So, ultimately, we didn't save any money per se over our original plan of keeping the paid off car, but we did end up dropping our monthly payment under $180/mo, getting down to the one car, and saving money on our car insurance. All told we will 'save' about $200 a month, which is pretty nice considering the new car is nicer than either of our old ones.
Can't wait to Zoom Zoom around. But, of course, I still prefer my commute to be on foot.
We had been discussing, living in the Pearl, reducing our car ownership by half. Both to save money and because owning 2 cars when you walk most places is kind of silly. Tia's car is paid off, mine not so much (about 3 years left of payments). I liked the utility of Tia's car (a 2006 Subaru outback), but not the way it drives (kind of sluggish and soft) and conversely Tia hated the way my little Rabbit handled (much more 'rough' for lack of a better term). So, the wise move would have been to sell my car and to keep her car. What we wanted to do, however, was to find a car we would both be satisfied with. So, the big key was getting rid of my car and her car for fair market value and finding something that met both our wants (needs?) while dropping our monthly payment below what we are paying on my car now. In that regard, we were successful.
We initially test drove a Volvo c30, an Audi A3, and a VW GTI. We both disliked the GTI (far too rough riding), found the Audi a bit too refined (read: adult), and adored the quirkly styling and supple yet sporty ride of the Volvo. The downside was that the Volvo is, while somewhat polarizing stylistically, quite high in demand. They are not willing to bend much on the price and, once you add the niceties to it, you are darn near $30K. We decided to seek out a slightly used one. What we found is that they are indeed quite rare. We did locate a nice 2008 with less than 4K miles, but they were offering us almost nothing in trade for my car or Tia's. Basically we would have had to finance our way out of it. Being the researchy type that I am, I knew that was patently ridiculous. Dealer trade-in should have netted us about $7-800 dollars. Not much, but not upside down. Private sale, we would have netted another $12-$1500. Long story short, the numbers weren't adding up.
We then decided to test drive the Ford Fusion Sport and SEL, which we both disliked both in styling and in ride. We looked at some Subies, but none really thrilled us. We debated the Nissan Altima coupe as well, but we scared off by the price (also near $30K) and weren't sure about a 2 door car. So, we ambled over to the Mazda dealership to look at the Mazda 6 and ended up not liking the look enough to drive it, but really liked the Mazda 3 hatchback. Ended up driving it, and really finding it a nice happy medium. It was sporty, but not overly rough. Spacious, but not overly large. Functional hatchback, but all sorts of fun bells and whistles like dual climate control, IPOD interface, Bluetooth and heated leather...........all for much less than we were going to spend on the C30 without any of those things.
Tia is a tough TOUGH negotiator (and it helped that the Mazda 3 is more plentiful and near the end of the model year), so we even got the price we wanted both for the car we bought and for the two cars we traded in........always ready to walk if the numbers didn't match up to our expectations. Plus, Mazda is running a 0% financing deal. So, ultimately, we didn't save any money per se over our original plan of keeping the paid off car, but we did end up dropping our monthly payment under $180/mo, getting down to the one car, and saving money on our car insurance. All told we will 'save' about $200 a month, which is pretty nice considering the new car is nicer than either of our old ones.
Can't wait to Zoom Zoom around. But, of course, I still prefer my commute to be on foot.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
reviews
So, trying to determine if I want to take this blog in another direction or just start a new one, but I am interested in more or less documenting the time spent here in the Pearl and the many many yummy meals we shall eat. Give it a try here anyway.
In our scant 2 weeks here (has it been that long already?) we have eaten at 4 local establishments. There are many more to try of course, but that is limited by my (and Tia's) general food frugality. It is hard to want to drop $60+ on a meal out for two very frequently, so a lot of restaurants are kind of out to begin with.
Lets start with our very local neighborhood brew pub: Bridgeport. Happy hours x 2. For $20 (including tip) we had a brick oven cheese pizza, a spinach artichoke dip, and two drinks. Not too shabby and, most notably, the food is quite good.....especially for bar eats. The pizza has a nice char on it and the spinach dip is plentiful, gooey, cheesy and the chips are warm and crunchy with just enough salt. Have had both items twice and the quality seems consistent. Of lesser success were the nachos, which like many nachos fails to deliver the heat and ALWAYS look and smell better than they taste. Still, it is a screaming deal at $6 for a mountain of calories. The catfish bites were also just mediocre. A nice crisp on the outside and a little bite to the dipping sauce, but lacking in overall flavor. Great beer btw.........and at $2.75 a pint during HH, worth every penny!
Last week we were wondering around hungry with no real direction other than we didn't want to drop a lot of coin (no easy feat in the Pearl) and we happened on the local Hawaiian place: Hawaiian Time. Certainly nothing to look at, and the location gets a lot of car traffic, but it isnt exactly a pretty place to sit outside of to eat. But, for what it is, it isn't bad. I would eat there again, which says something. I thought the food was plentiful (copious actually) and reasonably priced ($8 for a regular sized plate........I am fearful of seeing what the large plate looks like). But, you have to kind of be in the mood for that kind of food since it is SO carb heavy (2 scoops white rice and macaroni salad) and meat heavy. Not for the slim of waistline. Was a bit disappointed that they offered no fish option (I prefer the mix plates when I eat Hawaiian food), but the meat offers were solid and well seasoned if a little on the tame side (they do have Siracha though, bonus for that).
Stopped at Silk, the upscale Vietnamese restaurant by the owners of Pho Van last night. It was a very trendy, somewhat loud place that was full, but able to accommodate a table of three at 7:30 on a Friday. It is more expensive than eating at Pho Van but, depending on what you order, not that much more. 3 people with a non-alcoholic drink each, one shared appetizer, and 3 main courses for about $46 is, I think, not unreasonable. The salad roll appetizer was good, if a bit small. Was very fresh and cool, but the sauce was a little strong on peanut flavor and was all sweet with no counterbalance (would have worked better if the rolls were spicy). The vermicelli bowls were both ample in size and proffered up a fair amount of meat and fresh veggies. The vegetarian curry was a bit less successful and a bit one-note in flavor. Had to ask for Siracha which improved my meal significantly. Overall, I would have to say that I have had better, but it wasn't by any stretch bad.
Finished up the evening with a trip to a local ice cream establishment, Cool Moon, with a myriad of pretty incredible flavors. Sampled a lemon hefeweizen, ginger cookies and cream (Tia's choice), lavender lemon, and thai chili spice with cashews (my choice). I have to say that I have NEVER had anything like it. It was cool and sweet initially, with a significant background heat, but not excessive. It lingered, but didn't send you running for water. The cashews added a nice textural and flavor component as well. Overall quite excellent. Tia's was more or less standard sweet, but with a mild, not overpowering, ginger kick. Very refreshing. Big thumbs up.
In our scant 2 weeks here (has it been that long already?) we have eaten at 4 local establishments. There are many more to try of course, but that is limited by my (and Tia's) general food frugality. It is hard to want to drop $60+ on a meal out for two very frequently, so a lot of restaurants are kind of out to begin with.
Lets start with our very local neighborhood brew pub: Bridgeport. Happy hours x 2. For $20 (including tip) we had a brick oven cheese pizza, a spinach artichoke dip, and two drinks. Not too shabby and, most notably, the food is quite good.....especially for bar eats. The pizza has a nice char on it and the spinach dip is plentiful, gooey, cheesy and the chips are warm and crunchy with just enough salt. Have had both items twice and the quality seems consistent. Of lesser success were the nachos, which like many nachos fails to deliver the heat and ALWAYS look and smell better than they taste. Still, it is a screaming deal at $6 for a mountain of calories. The catfish bites were also just mediocre. A nice crisp on the outside and a little bite to the dipping sauce, but lacking in overall flavor. Great beer btw.........and at $2.75 a pint during HH, worth every penny!
Last week we were wondering around hungry with no real direction other than we didn't want to drop a lot of coin (no easy feat in the Pearl) and we happened on the local Hawaiian place: Hawaiian Time. Certainly nothing to look at, and the location gets a lot of car traffic, but it isnt exactly a pretty place to sit outside of to eat. But, for what it is, it isn't bad. I would eat there again, which says something. I thought the food was plentiful (copious actually) and reasonably priced ($8 for a regular sized plate........I am fearful of seeing what the large plate looks like). But, you have to kind of be in the mood for that kind of food since it is SO carb heavy (2 scoops white rice and macaroni salad) and meat heavy. Not for the slim of waistline. Was a bit disappointed that they offered no fish option (I prefer the mix plates when I eat Hawaiian food), but the meat offers were solid and well seasoned if a little on the tame side (they do have Siracha though, bonus for that).
Stopped at Silk, the upscale Vietnamese restaurant by the owners of Pho Van last night. It was a very trendy, somewhat loud place that was full, but able to accommodate a table of three at 7:30 on a Friday. It is more expensive than eating at Pho Van but, depending on what you order, not that much more. 3 people with a non-alcoholic drink each, one shared appetizer, and 3 main courses for about $46 is, I think, not unreasonable. The salad roll appetizer was good, if a bit small. Was very fresh and cool, but the sauce was a little strong on peanut flavor and was all sweet with no counterbalance (would have worked better if the rolls were spicy). The vermicelli bowls were both ample in size and proffered up a fair amount of meat and fresh veggies. The vegetarian curry was a bit less successful and a bit one-note in flavor. Had to ask for Siracha which improved my meal significantly. Overall, I would have to say that I have had better, but it wasn't by any stretch bad.
Finished up the evening with a trip to a local ice cream establishment, Cool Moon, with a myriad of pretty incredible flavors. Sampled a lemon hefeweizen, ginger cookies and cream (Tia's choice), lavender lemon, and thai chili spice with cashews (my choice). I have to say that I have NEVER had anything like it. It was cool and sweet initially, with a significant background heat, but not excessive. It lingered, but didn't send you running for water. The cashews added a nice textural and flavor component as well. Overall quite excellent. Tia's was more or less standard sweet, but with a mild, not overpowering, ginger kick. Very refreshing. Big thumbs up.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
pros and cons
Week 1 is in the books. We are now hip urbanites replete with skinny jeans, throwback kicks, and tiny dogs that fit inside a handbag. Or, pretty much the same. I think perhaps the latter.
So far I have to say there are distinct pros and cons to living down here and relying on one car. On the upside, I have not really needed a car. I walk to work. I walk to the grocery store. I walk to go out to eat. I walk to the farmer's market. I can pretty much get anywhere I need to get to regularly on foot. That is super exciting. I would give myself an environmental pat on the back were I doing it for that reason (I will give myself a small pat anyway). Honestly, the bigger impact may be from moving to a smaller place that includes far less need to air condition, heat, or maintain in general. The con is that it is hard when you just want to hop in the car and go somewhere...but the other person is using it. You end up tag-teaming a lot of errands. By and large it is not a problem.
Space: On the pro side, we cleaned it today in less than a few hours (which included putting the rest of our things away). The place has all the necessities (w/d, dishwasher, disposal, semi-large tub) as well as a few perks like the gym, outdoor common space and private wine cellar. The con is that it is pretty tight quarters and it has taken some finesse to get our diminished belongings in here. Perhaps it might be a sign that we may be able to reduce even further if we don't find ourselves in need of our stored belongings throughout our tenure here.
Overall, I am feeling far more pro than con thus far because it is far less to deal with, no commute, and less expensive to boot. Updates pending of course.
I want to write more (honestly) but I am already petering out. More to come.
So far I have to say there are distinct pros and cons to living down here and relying on one car. On the upside, I have not really needed a car. I walk to work. I walk to the grocery store. I walk to go out to eat. I walk to the farmer's market. I can pretty much get anywhere I need to get to regularly on foot. That is super exciting. I would give myself an environmental pat on the back were I doing it for that reason (I will give myself a small pat anyway). Honestly, the bigger impact may be from moving to a smaller place that includes far less need to air condition, heat, or maintain in general. The con is that it is hard when you just want to hop in the car and go somewhere...but the other person is using it. You end up tag-teaming a lot of errands. By and large it is not a problem.
Space: On the pro side, we cleaned it today in less than a few hours (which included putting the rest of our things away). The place has all the necessities (w/d, dishwasher, disposal, semi-large tub) as well as a few perks like the gym, outdoor common space and private wine cellar. The con is that it is pretty tight quarters and it has taken some finesse to get our diminished belongings in here. Perhaps it might be a sign that we may be able to reduce even further if we don't find ourselves in need of our stored belongings throughout our tenure here.
Overall, I am feeling far more pro than con thus far because it is far less to deal with, no commute, and less expensive to boot. Updates pending of course.
I want to write more (honestly) but I am already petering out. More to come.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
a few days later
Well, things are finally settling. We are here.......officially unpacked and all but the littlest ticky-tack things to put away and art that needs to be unwrapped and hung. I suspect that will be complete by the end of the week. Honestly, I didn't know if we could do it. Even with all our paring down, we still had a room full of boxes and seemingly nowhere to put them. Thankfully a little creative storage does wonders and you wouldnt know we just crammed 2300 sq feet into 1100. It still feels odd, like we are spending a week in a hotel downtown on holiday. Or, it would if it weren't for all the unpacking and still having to show up at work anyway. I am sure we will get used to it and hopefully start enjoying the benefits of our new locale soon. So far, we are both much more happy with our respective commutes (they are about the same time wise as well, though my commute is now on foot). It is weird to be able to walk to the grocery and we just had a great happy hour with some friends less than a block away at a brew pub. Honestly, that is mind blowingly awesome! Plus, I literally roll out the door and stroll 8 blocks to my job. It is all so strange.
Work continues to be off kilter. They are looking to hire a new temp full time RN (which will be a huge help), but in the meantime it can still be quite tedious (though occasionally you can't help but be astounded by either peoples general lack of even the most rudimentary medical knowledge or the absurdity of the calls......one woman's caregiver called thinking maybe the patient ate her own wristwatch........what do you say to that?). Still tossing around looking for other jobs.....though the commute is finally tempting. So tempting.
Back to it then. This is day 1 of having the internet back after having to eat MAJOR crow with Comcast (who I now loathe after defending them for so long). We had to cancel our service and pay a penalty for doing so even though we only wanted to downgrade our service (and drop the phone). Because of where we live, we can't use satellite and other internet options require contracts (Clear wants 2 years). So, back to Comcast......after paying to cancel our bundle (though in our defense, that cost will be recouped in 3 months at the new service rate) and paying $60 for them to come install at the new place. They get our business by default. Seems like not the best model with which to rest your hat upon.
Time for bed. I hope to catch up on sleep this weekend. It seems like I never get enough and just generally ache all over. I will never move again! (uh, until next year anyway).
Work continues to be off kilter. They are looking to hire a new temp full time RN (which will be a huge help), but in the meantime it can still be quite tedious (though occasionally you can't help but be astounded by either peoples general lack of even the most rudimentary medical knowledge or the absurdity of the calls......one woman's caregiver called thinking maybe the patient ate her own wristwatch........what do you say to that?). Still tossing around looking for other jobs.....though the commute is finally tempting. So tempting.
Back to it then. This is day 1 of having the internet back after having to eat MAJOR crow with Comcast (who I now loathe after defending them for so long). We had to cancel our service and pay a penalty for doing so even though we only wanted to downgrade our service (and drop the phone). Because of where we live, we can't use satellite and other internet options require contracts (Clear wants 2 years). So, back to Comcast......after paying to cancel our bundle (though in our defense, that cost will be recouped in 3 months at the new service rate) and paying $60 for them to come install at the new place. They get our business by default. Seems like not the best model with which to rest your hat upon.
Time for bed. I hope to catch up on sleep this weekend. It seems like I never get enough and just generally ache all over. I will never move again! (uh, until next year anyway).
moving on up
At this point, it remains uncertain when we will get internet, but as I cannot sleep (and don’t wish to wake Tia) I will compile my thoughts in Word and transcribe them later.
What an intriguing (read: trying) last few weeks it has been. For as much as I like change, I can’t say I am thrilled with the process of getting there. The older I get (I would say more mature, but I am afraid I might get laughed off my own blog), the more stuff that peoples my existence. I have to say, most of it isn’t very nice stuff (a fact I noted more acutely when we were paying nearly $100/hr to have it hauled around). A $20 desk , a free to us TV stand (that was probably a hand me down), a few nicer pieces gotten from CL (which are becoming more and more battered with each move and hence less and less nice), and some Target furniture. I think, honestly, if our place were to burn down tomorrow (presuming all living things were safe), the only things that would sadden me would be losing our mattresses, laptops, and TV. That isn’t to say I would change anything about that presently. It is, after all, just stuff. It serves its purpose. However, I like to think that when we make our next big move, we will just start over. It is a might bit embarrassing to pay to move it after all J
In regards to moving, dear god in heaven what an effing mess! The movers (Thunder Movers…..you have been warned), evidently neglacted to place us on their moving docket for the day. So, when Tia called and asked whether they were coming (at 9:15……..just 15 minutes past when they were scheduled), the woman she spoke with, following a hasty ‘They’re on there way’ prior to even being told who was calling, finally admitted that she never did write us down on the schedule. She then told us she would call in some people and assured us that they would be to us by 11. At 11:30 we called and then were told that one person who said they would come in did not, but that another person would be coming in and they would be on their way, Skip ahead to 2:15 when they actually arrived…….5 hours and 15 minutes AFTER they were supposed to. Suffice to say a move that we had calculated would be over before the time it actually did, did not finish until nearly 8 at night. Thankfully (mercifully) no one else was scheduled to move in that day (you have to reserve the service elevator and loading area), Tia’s mom was off of work and graciously agreed to help out (which freed us up to do our house signing), and as a rare glass half full view presented here, they were able to get some movers to come in on their day off at all. The movers themselves were really pleasant and worked hard but what a damn shame about the company. Our third time using them and most assuredly our last.
House: well, that hasn’t been bumpy aside from our Realtor being less than stellar, but it was quite shocking to find out from our title company that we owed nearly $800 to close. It was shocking because the estimate (the one THEY provided) suggested we would get back nearly $1800. So, as far as the skill of estimating goes, I would say they have a pretty broad margin for error. Eventually we will get back about $1300 (or about $500 once you deduct our $800 outlay……which ought to just cover our moving expenses conveniently enough), but still you have to wonder why they bother with an estimate at all. They clearly haven’t learned the cardinal rule of business…..always ALWAYS underestimate. Had they told us we would have owed $1200 at close and then ONLY had to pay $800, we would have been relatively pleased (as pleased as one can be paying money for selling a house can be). Bah!
The job: so much to say both good and bad as it does undulate between the two so frequently.
Good: Learning a lot. Cannot explain how varied the maladies are, but they cast a wide net. It is almost like going back to nursing school and learning how to be an NP wrapped in one.
Staff is generally quite pleasant as are the doctors. A good mix also between male and female which is rare in health care.
Location is spectacular for wandering during lunch (and I get a real honest to god lunch).
Bad: The job itself can get quite tedious. It isn’t easy sitting on the phone all day staring at a monitor instead of real people. On the upside, most people are quite gracious and pleasant considering what they are going through. On the other hand, there are a handful who clearly just want meds of some kind and to NOT come in to be evaluated no matter what. And, dear god, there are a lot of UTIs in this town!
Five days a week is still an adjustment. The commute (thankfully a thing of the past) made it even harder. Leaving at 7:20 and getting home nearly 6 (with 45 minutes of bumper to bumper bookending the work day) did not make for a pleasant beginning or ending. Hopefully it will be better now.
Overall, I am trying to think of this coming week as a new slate and trying to start fresh. Give it a real eval now that I am nearby, done with the biggest outside work stress of selling the house and moving, and hopefully it will settle out. I am over my first hurdle (the training) and into the continiung process of learning all the details of how to do all the components of how I do the things I need to. The largest hurdle was that my trainer worked very differently than I do. That is hard to reconcile when they are staring over your shoulder while you work. I ALMOST walked out on Tuesday when, instead of doing what I prefer to do (finish each call out before moving to the next) she had me picking up one call after another only to try to notate them all later in the day. Not good. I was not a happy camper to say the least. I felt like I was doing a half-assed job and leaving out way to much info in my notes later on. Thankfully I talked to my supervisor and we all had a pow-wow the next day and things improved markedly (basically she stopped sitting over top of me). Come to find out she is not the most well liked individual because of her rather bruque manner and her my-way-is-the-only-way model. Of course, that isn’t to say she isn’t pleasant enough and a wonderful resource…she is both. I am just glad she isn’t sitting within spitting distance of me every afternoon.
As with any move, the move takes hours, and the packing and unpacking takes weeks. Best to get back to it. More to come.
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