suck-my-big.org

later on 2/28/05
Well. Those screws in the "fix the glasses" kit are awfully small. Two of them are now embedded in my rug. The other one is too small. I think I'll have to resort to my all-purpose fix - Krazy Glue.

2/28/05
Thanks to classmate Paul, I've now got an NCLEX review book for the Palm Pilot. 5000 questions. That oughta keep my busy until the state boards.

And today I am geekgirl deluxe. The screw holding the left lens of my glasses dropped out of the frame, and the lens fell in the snow. I went down to the boiler room and the guys there found some sort of stretchy, non-sticky, narrow pipe tape and fixed it for me. Now I have to see if the "fix the glasses" kit I have here at home has a screw that'll fit. I kind of like the tape tho. Very geekgirl.

later on 2/27/05
Everybody else is doing it, so why don't I? I can't sleep, anyway...

Ten things I've done that you probably haven't:

I...

have my SSN tattooed (in binary code!) on my hip.
ate shrimp and pork dumplings immediately after Yom Kippur services.
dated several men who went on to get married within months of our breakup(s).
have been asked out on dates in a gay bar. By - yes - straight men.
dropped out of school to cries of, "you'll never go back!" and did just that.
drove across the country in a 1970 Dodge Dart. Met many mechanics.
won the NJ State Young Playwrights Competition in 1991.
collect first editions of Dorothy Parker books.
had a book proposal rejected by twenty NYC publishers.
have been keeping an online journal/website since 1994.

And hey! I didn't know that the James Kirkwood who wrote P.S. Your Cat is Dead is the same James Kirkwood who wrote A Chorus Line. The things you learn on amazon.com!

2/27/05
More snow tomorrow. Oh boy.

And you know? I didn't see any of the Oscar-nominated movies. Mom and I did see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but while I liked the idea, I was just confused by the entire movie. Nice to see Sonya's cousin Mark Ruffalo in it tho. He's geeky cute, just how I like them. Anyway, didn't see any of the others. I just bought Ray on DVD tho, since I caught a few minutes of the beginning at "Movie Night" at Marie's last weekend. Looked good.

2/25/05
Damn, no debauchery or lust. But lots of free pens!

The suite at Caesar's where I stayed was amazing. The bathroom rivaled the one at Paris Las Vegas (not too surprising, they're owned by the same folks), with a shower AND a tub big enough to do laps in. I splurged and ordered room service, and lounged around. Watched the second Bridget Jones movie, too, because I hadn't seen it in the movies. Colin Firth, mrowr. Hugh Grant AND Colin Firth, too much to handle.

2/23/05
Well, I'm off for a few days of debauchery and lust. That's right, the annual NJNS Convention. Which - thankfully - this year I have nothing to do with. No planning, no state board, no racing around wishing I had roller skates to go from one of the casino to the other.

And I'm staying in a swanky suite this year too - free. Can't wait. Maybe it comes with a masseuse included. I'll be back Friday night.

later on 2/21/05
Stupid facts about NJ.

And - You know you're from NJ when...

2/21/05
Coworker V and I had a blast last night. We drove into the city in the blinding snow (oh, look - more snow). He just moved here five months ago, and hadn't been to NY yet. I told him we'll have to go again when the sky isn't foggy and the roads aren't a mess, so he can see the skyline and the Statue of Liberty. We had such a good time - went to Marie's and the Duplex, played pool and talked all night (nearly - we got back to the hospital at 5am, thanks to staying til closing and the crappy roads). He met a cute, very funny boy, which made his night, and I ran into a slew of people at the Duplex who I hadn't seen in a long time. It was really cool to take someone to the city and see it as if for the first time. The West Village is really my favorite neighborhood, with the brownstones and little cafes, and it was a thrill to see someone fall in love with it so quickly. We agreed that we have to go out again, and soon. And I have to teach him to drive in himself, but again, that's something for a clear day.

Oh and we had a "proud to be a nursing student" moment at work. Dr. K, one of my favorite neurologists, came in last night to see a few patients. She asked if our patient who is a quadriplegic (with a cervical spine injury) had still complained of being diaphoretic (or sweaty). I turned to M, a new grad, and said, "Hey, CSI, sweating, I wonder if his bladder is full." She said, "Huh, and if his BP is up and his heart rate is down - he must have - " and we both said, "autonomic dysreflexia!"

Maybe you had to be there. But it was really cool to have a patient who so perfectly fit the clinical picture they taught us in school. In brief, AD is a condition that develops in people with spinal cord injuries because of a full bladder. The bladder distends and presses against the spinal cord, causing a sympathetic nervous system response. How to resolve? Have the patient void (urinate) or straight-cath them. Dr. K said, "You know, it's never too late to become a neurologist." Hah.

2/20/05
Oh, look. More snow.

2/19/05
Well, I didn't get my leave of absence from work. They don't offer "personal" leaves, just medical ones, and I don't feel like inflicting any major disease on any member of my immediate family. And since per-diem doesn't pay any more, I'm going to stay with my part-time hours. Mainly because I need the insurance, but I really do like the job. I'll just refrain from picking up extra shifts, and keep to the minimum.

Found a fellow showtunes-loving coworker, I'm going to take him to Marie's with me tomorrow.

I've been having all kind of weird dreams lately - the kind that stick with me all day. I should write them down, then I could be officially classified as crazy.

Speaking of crazy, I decided I need to see a psychiatrist about my meds. I love my primary doctor, but I think I need someone who's well-versed in the psych world to take a look at me. Since I had my Paxil dose upped in the fall, I've just been feeling off-kilter, and I think that's what's doing it. Well, that and the stress of school, work and the like.

2/15/05
Yay, pitchers and catchers reported yesterday to Tampa to start spring training. Even tho I can't stand the idea of Randy Johnson on the Yankees.

2/12/05
Ahh, found a new community on LiveJournal to enjoy - Nursing TMI - or "Too Much Information". Read at your own risk. And don't say I didn't warn you.

2/11/05
Wow, Arthur Miller died. Attention must be paid.

2/10/05
OK, except for the bit about getting up at 5.45am, the first day back in clinical was pretty good. This semester we're working pretty autonomously, with the instructors just popping in to see how we're doing. Had two patients (we'll work up to four or more by the end of the semester) but we didn't do meds today. We start with those next week.

And let me tell you how disconcerting it was to hear overhead, in succession:
"Code Blue - Unit X!"
"Any available surgeon - Unit X stat!"
"Any available pulmonologist - Unit X stat!"

Pretty freaky, wonder what happened.

And I can see why people prefer the day shift. The time flew by, and I was home before 4pm.

2/9/05
Go see Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (the musical) right now. MissyMink, Tesse, Duncan and I went on Monday and loved it. MM and I were up in the mezz and were in tears of laughter for the entire show. Stopped backstage to say hi to my friend Norbert, who I hadn't seen in over a year I'd guess. He really steals the show and I just hope he has enough shelf space for all of the awards he's likely to get.

Tomorrow is the first day of clincal. 7am in Perth Amboy. Oh joy.

And I put in a request for a leave of absence at work until the end of the semester, I am just way too exhausted and need to concentrate on school. Fingers crossed that it's approved.

Aww, ain't this the perfect Valentine's Day gift?

2/7/05
I didn't know that they didn't have American-style Football in the Phillipines. One of my coworkers asked me to explain the rules. So I did, and I found a website with the basic rules on it - and of course then told him that he wouldn't have to worry about it until next November or so, since the season is now over.

April, we start on baseball, I told him.

2/5/05
Happy birthday to my brother, Peter!

2/4/05
Did I mention I got a flat tire yesterday? I got a flat tire yesterday - took the turn out of the school parking lot too sharply to avoid the snow, and went up on the curb.

And today found out that a friend checked himself into a psych hospital for depression. And to think, I figured that once I finished Nursing V, I'd never have to set foot inside one again. Plus, Tesse's grandfather suffered a series of small strokes, so she's all hospital'd out. Not a fun week for her either. And speaking of hospitals, our floor seems to have turned into a psych ward, too. And I aced the psych part of the first predictor test we had. Yet - oddly - I have NO INTEREST in working in psych. Did I mention that enough?

Other than that, things are fine.

Oh, and I woke up this morning to snow falling, and it's going to be in the 40's all weekend. Spring-like. Must be el Nino.

2/3/05
Good lord, I've slept through the start of February.

Back in school, my mind is swamped with pharmacology. The Health Fair is coming along nicely. State convention in three weeks, I need to get registered to go. Graduation in four and a half months.

Now if only I weren't so tired.

I bought a book on "Sites of the Holy Land" - because I had this dream a few weeks ago that I was in Israel, and was walking towards some historic site up on a hill, and was so moved that I started to cry. And I want to see if I can recognize it in the book. I will probably not recognize the ATM machine that I was unable to use because I couldn't use the Hebrew, but that bit didn't make me all ferklempt, as they say.

-catherine