The less I have to do, the less gets done.

Blerg... Since I finished school I have been so lazy.

There are several things I want to do in my life. I've done none of them since I finished school three weeks ago.

Our speaker for the pinning ceremony (which really deserves a blog of it's own it was so great) was our amazing classmate Joe. He did a truly amazing job. I really will remember it my entire career.
Joe (among other things) challenged us a lot. While most people could, would and sometimes should be cynical of a graduation speech, because this was Joe, I listened and took it to heart.
Everyday do something that scares you
Every week ask someone for help
Every month well, crap, that one I did forget...
Every year do something that changes the world.

I think I could remember most of them, because I already had plans for what I was going to do to help me achieve those goals.

Sadly, I've been ridiculously lazy since graduation. I mean, I've had all the time in the world and I've listened to meager podcasts, read almost no journals, barely even glanced at my magazine subscriptions, and well. You can see my blogs for yourself. *Bare*

It hasn't been bad at all though. I've got to spend time with my kitten, Spock, and my husband, Ewiggen. Plus, my brother got married.
I've just been lazy professionally.

Now, if you'll excuse me I'm going to go shoot some Zombies with my husband now.
*Left 4 Dead!*
w00t

Dr. Dasovich Arrested at DC protest

Dr. Judy is the assistant Medical Director of the Kitchen Medical Clinic. I spent the past year or so working at Bill's Place in a free clinic run by Missouri State Nursing students. I haven't had too many run-ins with Dr. Judy but I can tell you one thing, she's passionate. So her arrest doesn't surprise me.

The Kitchen Medical Clinic has been on the verge of closing for the past 6 months or so. Friends of mine did their clinicals there. They've been working to keep it open/relocate the patients. These patients are not Medicare/Medicaid approved and have no insurance. This clinic is free and the medications are cheap or free. It's an amazing service to these people who would otherwise die or clog up ERs all the time. As of a few days ago the Clinic decided to stay open. They were due to close in July. So even though I don't have all the details about what exactly was going on, on first impulse I am not too shocked by Dr. Judy's reaction. I just wish it had not occurred.

Here's the CSPAN on youtube.

I love the part when the protesters demand equal representation an Baucus laughs and requests more police.

Here's kind of an interesting video.

They're arguing single payer (like Canada, New Zealand, Japan and Australia have)

Weird stuff. Kinda scary. So health care for all would be great, but the worst part of this is the complete lack of democracy. Fair treatment has to start with fair representation.

And the Moral of the Story is...
It doesn't matter if I agree with someone's statement, they should still be able to state it. If I can't refute someone's argument are my beliefs/facts/opinions correct? If I can refute they're argument then why am I afraid to let them speak?

That's all for now...

Uniforms

National uniforms for nurses were voted in favor (76%) in England.

I think this is a good idea.
So I'm not advocating for all white dresses or little hats. That stereotype has gone the way of the... well... look at the picture.

However, the hospital is a confusing place. Very confusing. You've got all kinds of people running around and in an emergency a family member, (or newbie) can't tell a nurse from a housekeeper (a mistake that was made very often on my floor.)

Color-coding people I think is the best way to go.
I'm not just saying this to make it easier on me when I get dressed in the morning. But, I'm all for uniforms, I like knowing what to wear and what to look like. I have nothing against it.

Of course, my personality is strong enough it doesn't have to be shown through my clothing....

I say this while websurfing for good deals on all black scrubs. That's what I was told the ER nurses wear at my facility. Woo hoo!

So it's Nurses' Week, eh?

Don't mind my cynicism but Nurses' Week sucks.

Doesn't this degrade us from Professionals if we have to have our own special week?
I feel I repeat the movie the Incredibles when I say, if everybody is special then no one is.

I can't get really hyped up over Nurses' Week. It feels like a cop out.

I'd never actually seen this...

Wow, there are some things you can find on the internet that you never think you'll see in real life.
Like most Reddit articles.
Pictures of crazy train wrecks. Really bad women drivers. Etc.


Well, I had never seen one of these instances in really life until I left Wal-Mart yesterday.This van was PACKED with trash! I could hardly believe it. Ewiggen and I had to drive around it about three times to take it all in. Every inch of this van was filled. McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King. It was all there. Sam's Club sized boxes of M&Ms, Vanilla Wafers, Recepts, newspapers... Wow. It was... impressive.
As we drove off Ewiggen said that HAD to be a mental disorder.

The only "clear" spot in the car was the driver's seat. I almost wanted to wait and see who came out to the van!

Free Chicken?

It seems that Oprah really liked KFC's chicken sandwich or whatever. (Chicken Fiasco?)
Well, she offered a free downloadable coupon. Free stuff is always good.

Ewiggen (my husbandman) works at a library. People at libraries really like free stuff. That's why they go to libraries instead of bookstores. So many people were downloading this coupon the computers were freezing. Plus those computers really are not the best at Java heavy pages.

So, his solution? Print off a lot of the coupons that could be picked up at the Reference desk.
For $0.10 that is.
Nothing is ever really free.

Turn for the awesome

So my life has definitely taken a turn for the awesome.
I'm on break now. No work for a month, very little school. Just basically I get to sit around and do wth I want. All the time.

So what I'm I doing? Running. Lots of running. This is actually a great treat for me. I love to run, but never get the chance to. I'm a pretty good wuss. I don't like treadmills because I have very high arches that can't handle the flat board. I can't run outside because of my allergies or asthma. I change my mind quite frequently in the middle of things so I don't want to be in the middle of nowhere and suddenly remember I have something else to do. So I've been having a lot of fun with my Wii fit. I've already run for an hour today. Something I have to say I actually feel blessed to get the opportunity to do. On a totally girly side note, as of Monday I lost the 20lbs I gained in nursing school.

Anyway. Not a vast amount of nursing updates. I am however looking for more ways to get involved with Sigma Theta Tau and have started examining Masters and Ph.D programs. Determining what I need to do what I want to do. So many options, so little time... sigh.

I have a cat now. Mr. Spock, he's cute and sweet and already trained. I love cats. He peed in the floor once, got swatted, shown the litter box and has nailed it every time. Last night I thought I had squished him in my sleep, but when I started petting him he purred for the first time. Sounded more like ice in a blender next door than a purr but he's only 7 weeks old.

Geek updates out the wazoo. (Yes, that's medical) Star Trek movie tomorrow. I have tickets for an early showing. I'm going with a gang of people and yes, we all have uniforms. I'm very stoked. My Dad, (where my Trekkie genes come from) is probably more excited than I am. He's getting to go see this movie with a bunch of college students all dressed up and geeking out. It probably takes him back to his college days.

I like podcasts.
Normally I have a pretty set standard of what I listen to when. Nature Podcast is for cleaning the house, Steve Eley's Escape Pod for running, 20 minute yoga for stress, Infectious Disease in the car or surfing the web. Now I've started listening to Cory Doctorow's Craphound. I backed up to the beginning of his short story "Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town." I'm on section 003 and it's darn good. Oh yea, sorry Steve, but it replaced your running today. Don't worry I'll probably catch up with you later when I run this afternoon.

I think I'll turn my next rambling into it's own post. Otherwise this will be too hefty to enjoy.

Late Entries (Sheesh, I'm Lazy)

Wow, I feel kind of bad that I haven't updated in a long while...
Lets think of what's happened in that time frame.
Oh yea, a LOT. This will probably be best spread out over a few posts.

Late Entry April 24

Relay for Life! What a fun time. We camped out and sold a few baked goodies. I was the silly one and brought health food. Pita bread with honey and butter. I actually sold a few, next to the rice crispy treats and sugar cookies. It was a good time. We (the senior nursing class) camped next to the juniors and we all got together and played Catch Phrase. It really was a blast. Some of the things we all came up with... "Five fingered win?"
Probably the best moment of the night was when we played the NCLEX review board game.
That was pretty sweet.


April 25th
I had the chance to hang out with one of my favorite professors and help with a textbook. A few of us in the class had the "honor" to write test bank questions for a book she's writing. Lots of fun. I found out that Mandy is a lot more (Mandy, up there) like me than I thought she was. Scary almost. I knew she was awesome but when I got to her house met her four cats (all with Irish names) and saw her Star Wars bobble head collection, that settled it. She's very awesome. (Me >)
I remember my second semester one of the nurses made the comment it was so nice I could learn nursing from my older sister.

Blech, I need to take a break. EWiggen just woke up. I'll write some more catch-ups later