Poop

Today I stepped in POOP. Not dog poop, not bird poop. I'm not that lucky. Today, I stepped in HUMAN POOP. I stepped in MY PATIENT'S POOP.

ICKY!!!!!!

The man was NUTSO, he was disoriented and confused, he has a loooong history of alcoholism, therefore his balance was bad. But he was walking with the walker and doing pretty well. I was impressed, considering the last time I saw him he was still detoxing and doing pretty badly. But today wasn't so bad.

UNFORTUNATELY... he was also incontinent. VEEEEEERY incontinent. He didn't even know he was pooping, he didn't know he had pooped. And I stepped in it. ICKY!!!!

And then I had to get him into the bathroom so he could finish pooping, and THEN I had to disinfect my shoes. Which means I had to walk around in my socks for awhile. NOT a fun thing to do in the hospital.

I felt PRETTY ICKY for awhile. Though I suppose I'm lucky I didn't get it on my pants.

So tell me, why is it that I love my job???

Alaska License Plates

I Saw Alaska License Plates Today!!!

Here's what Bill Bryson has to say on the subject in his book
The Lost Continent

"...Just inside the PA state line, the highway merged with Interstate 90. This is the main northernmost route across America, stretching 3,016 miles from Boston to Seattle, and there were lots of long distance travelers on it. You can always tell long distance travelers because they look as if they haven't been out of the car for weeks. You only glimpse them when they pass, but you can see that they have already started to set up home inside- there are pieces of washing hanging in the back, remnants of takeout meals on the windowsill and books, magazines, and pillows scattered around. There's always a fat woman asleep in the front passenger seat, her mouth hugely agape, and a quantity of children going crazy in the back. You and the father exchange dull but not unsympathetic looks as the two cars slide past. You glance at each other's license plates and feel envy or sympathy in proportion to your comparative distances from home. One car I saw had Alaska plates on it. This was unbelievable. I had never seen Alaska license plates before. The man must have driven over 4,500 miles, the equivalent of going from London to Zambia. He was the most forlorn-looking character I had ever seen. There was no sign of a wife and children. I expect by now he had killed them and put their bodies in the trunk..."

I was driving to work this morning, thinking hmmm I've never seen that license plate before, where is it from? And then I saw it, and well, I just started to laugh.

On another note, Bill Bryson is the author of many travel based books, Rob and I are reading this one together. One we have previously read,
A Walk in the Woods, I HIGHLY recommend. It is HYSTERICALLY FUNNY!

WHOO HOO for Bill Bryson!

How to Maximize Space????

Does anyone have any tips on how Rob and I can fit our lives in a 620 square foot apartment, with tons of books, a place to relax, the dining room table free, and a place for me to watercolor?

IT'S SO FRUSTRATING!!!!

For that matter, can someone help me figure out why I can't live on the salary I make? I make a decent salary why am I so broke? Oh yeah, SCHOOL LOANS!!! Anyone have any ideas about how to make a quickie $125 Grand so I can pay them off quick and have $850 more a month to devote to necessities like food, rent, relaxation (i.e. watercolors class), continuing education so I can keep my PT license, decent and not ratty clothing to wear to work, professional membership to the APTA, expenses for my car, etc., etc., etc.????????

OY!!! Life shouldn't be so frustrating. I have PLENTY MORE than billions of other people in this world, so I should be thankful, and I am, but I'm also frustrated. I worked long and hard in school to be a PT, and my rewards are school loans for the next 25 years, and a lot of financial frustration. Someone tell me, why is that??? And do you have any ideas (other than play lotto) on how to fix it all????

What Walks on 6 Legs, and 2 Wheels??

Huh??? Well, before I answer the riddle for you, lemme tell you why I'm asking in the first place.

There's a contest at work. The Bridgeport Hospital Employee Wellness Department has this contest going called Climb Like an Egyptian.

The goal? For teams of 4 people to climb as many flights of stairs as they can in 3 months. I'm on a team with 3 other therapists, and that riddle up there is our team name. And I have been getting pretty good at taking the stairs all the time, whether it's one floor or 10. GO TEAM!!!

ANYWAY...
We needed a team name, and since the contest had an Egyptian flair, Ed the OT thought we should do something with the riddle of the sphinx.

What walks on 4 legs in the morning, 2 legs in the afternoon and 3 legs at night?

The answer? A person! Crawling as a baby, walking as an adult, and with a cane as a senior.

So the natural progression went like this... What if they need a walker, then they're walking on 6 legs. Or, what if they need a rolling walker? Then it's 4 legs and 2 wheels.

So then I (being SO smart) tied the contest and us as therapists together and said, What walks on 6 legs and 2 wheels!?!

A Therapist, A Patient, and A Rolling Walker Of Course!!!

Bored.com

Two years ago, I had ankle surgery. And I was on crutches and bound to boredom for a summer. And one day I was REALLY cranky bored, there's only so much tv and reading and computer you can do....

So I went to the internet and I typed www.bored.com. AND IT WAS A REAL SITE!!! I was mostly shocked. And let me tell ya, it kept me busy for awhile! Sotries, games, jokes, dancing bush, virtual bubble wrap, tests, quizzes, it was AWESOME! WHOO HOO for bored.com!

So I invite you, if you're bored, or not, check out bored.com. :)

I LOVE Star Trek Voyager!!!

I was SO upset when it was over. But have no fear, I have 2/3 of the episodes on tape. And if anyone ever wants to get me an awesome present, go to my Amazon Wish list and get me the Voyager DVD's. TEE HEE!

One of the reasons I love Voyager so much is Captain Janeway! SHE'S SO COOL!!! YAY FOR A FEMALE STRASHIP CAPTAIN!!! I found this, thought it was kinda funny and thought I'd share. WHOO HOO FOR CAPTAIN JANEWAY!!! :)

REASONS WHY CAPTAIN JANEWAY IS BETTER THAN CAPTAIN PICARD

1. One word: hair
2. More hair than all previous Star Trek commanding officers combined.
3. Drinks coffee, not that sissy "Earl Grey" stuff.
4. Beams down to the planet like real Captains should.
5. Mutes the doctor when the doctor gets out of line.
6. Keeps her First Officer properly in the dark.
7. Can speak "technobabble" with the best of them.
8. Hasn't let an adolescent pilot the Federation flagship -- yet.
9. Picard could never act like a prostitute to gain a tactical advantage.
10. Commanded ships blown up: Picard: 2 Janeway: 1/2
11. Voyager needs a female Captain. Its Captain must be willing to admit they're lost and pull over for directions.
12. Hasn't quoted Shakespeare -- yet.
13. Looks better in sleepwear.
14. Gives guilt trips that would make a Jewish mother proud.
15. Isn't French with an English accent.
16. Will give you two days off to ponder your lifeshattering experience.
17. When Janeway lands her ship, it can take off again.
18. Janeway says "I don't like you!" to her enemies instead of trying to convince them to behave better.
19. To comfort children, Janeway cares for them in a loving motherly way. 20. Picard sings a song...in French...about a monk...who can't wake up for morning bells.
21. The only child on Voyager is a cute little thing with horns.
22. Janeway has a First Officer with a tattoo.
23. Picard likes to talk his way through. Janeway likes to punch her way through.
24. She doesn't have any pesky Federation Admirals to get in her way.
25. Three words: Compression Phaser Rifles.
26. Acknowledges freely when she breaks the Prime Directive instead of trying to weasle her way out of it with philosophical ramblings.
27. 40 episodes without surrendering the ship.
28. 40 episodes and Wesley has yet to save the ship.
29. Janeway's holo programs create useful things like doctors and lungs. Picard's holodecks create maniacal evil geniouses who yet again take over the ship.
30. She doesn't need to straighten her uniform every time she stands.
31. Janeway has never worn green tights and frolicked about in Sherwood Forest. However, if she did, she would look fantastic!
32. Same level of sexual tension between Doctor and Captain.
33. Has kids and they're cute little things.
34. Never worries about meeting a son she never knew she had.
35. Kirk looked good in ripped shirts; Picard looked good without a shirt; Janeway would look... no, they can't do that on network television.
36. Doesn't force her crew to wear awful outfits, unless it is to blend in with a primitive planet.
37. She doesn't waste time learning foreign languages. All lifeforms in the Delta Quadrant speak perfect English.
38. Her engineer does not wear a bananna clip over her eyes.
39. Slouches in her chair even in critical life-threatening moments.
40. Doesn't have a Counselor on board (thank God!).
41. Her telepath only lives nine years.
42. Janeway heard the words "boldly go where no man (er, woman) has gone before" and took them to the extreme.
43. 45,000 light-years is one thing. Every point in the universe instantaneously? That's excessive!
44. Picard tells alien cultures, "I hope our two cultures will one day come to a greater understanding." Janeway threatens them with "the deadliest of force."
45. Janeway's holo-characters fall in love with her. Picard's holo-characters want to kill him.
46. Janeway's Security Chief would never grow a ponytail.
47. The high point of Enterprise cuisine were scrambled eggs that only Worf could stomach.
48. Janeway doesn't have to point which way to go when they set off.
49. Maintains an elaborate hairdo that would baffle even Princess Leia.
50. Has mastered facial expression understood by all to mean, "Boy, Paris, are YOU ever stupid."
51. Doesn't need her first officer's permission to blow up her ship.
52. The highest field commision Picard ever gave out was "Acting Ensign."
53. Hugs her Vulcan from time to time.
54. Has a more manly voice.
55. Doesn't have a starship that splits in half when it's in a tight spot.
56. Has a dog and a significant other, not some damn fish!
57. Had sex with a crewmember and "might have initiated it."
58. Kes. Troi. No contest.
59. Neelix. Replicator. Ok, this one's debatable.
60. At least she doesn't have to yell "Hot!" at her cook every time she wants something to drink.
61. Her ship has neat-looking folding warp nacelles.
62. Her CONN officer actually went through the Academy.
63. Her CONN officer can use contractions.
64. Her first officer has a halucinogenic device.
65. Her Security Officer draws his phaser at the first hint of trouble. Picard's Security Officer gets beat up by half the aliens that come aboard.
66. Hostile aliens surrounding her, half the crew are spies, the nearest help is 75 years away, and she's still kept the ship together.
67. None of the crew members' relatives have ever tried to take over the ship, invade the Federation, steal a starship, or enslave all humankind.
68. To help her relax, Janeway's first officer helps her contact her spirit guide. Picard's first officer helps him get . . . to Risa.
69. Riker never smiled at Picard that way.
70. Q asked Janeway to run away with him and she refused. Q asked Picard's girlfriend to run away with him and she accepted.

Footnote

Just a footnote to my sister's comment on my BLOG about her, there's one thing that I forgot to add. My sister is an endless ball of energy, she's always bouncing around and she's always saying how wonderful she is. She's vain, but in a funny kinda way. The fact that she came into my apartment looking for pictures of herself... well that's just Stoofie. :) She always turns the conversation around with random statements about herself. It's rather funny. And maybe I shouldn't have, but to appease her endless questioning of where the pictures of her were, I took one out of the two of us and propped it up against the shelf. So Stoofie, I hope that you feel better now. :)

My Sister

My sister is coming for a visit! YAY! Stefanie and I haven't always had the best relationship. I guess sharing a room and having two completely different personalities does that to you. But it's betterer now that we're not living together and we're going to have a sleepover tonight and go to see the Princess Diaries II tomorrow. :) We see all the teeniebopper chick flick movies together.


Me and my Sis! 

Stefanie calls me Care Bear. Pretty simple, yet clever derivation of Carie. :) Sometimes she calls me Carila. Once, she got all excited and called me Cari-Lou-Bell-Head. That had me in Hysterics for ages!

I call her Stoofie. Basically when I was younger, I wanted to call her Stupid without getting in trouble. I called her Stoopie. And I swore up and down that I WASN'T calling her stupid, it was just a nickname. But my mom made me switch to Stoofie, so it was less sounding like stupid. And boy did that nickname stick! Her friends called her that, its her screen name, etc.

When my sister was about 3 years old, she bit herself and told my mom that I bit her. I was in serious trouble, until my mom looked at the bite marks and saw that they were too small to be mine. (I was about 6 at the time)

I don't remember this, but I've been told that I told Stoofie one time that she could eat out of any hole in her body, not just her mouth, so she stuck a raisin up her nose.

When Stoofie was in Jr. High School, she was out with her friends and some guy came up to her and asked her if she was my sister. She said yeah, and then he proceeded to say what a B**ch I was. So in return, my sister (GO HER!!!) Slapped the guy across the face, and said, HEY! Nobody calls my sister a b**ch but ME!!!!

that's me and Stoofie!


Me and Stoofie reliving our childhood at the Bronx Zoo 

Knocked on my Butt

I hit a road block today at work. Well not a block I guess, maybe a speed bump, or a reality check. Not so sure what to call it except I feel like I've been knocked on my butt.

Today, a patient's family told another therapist that they didn't want me to work with the patient anymore because I was too aggressive, and basically, because I wasn't telling them what they wanted to hear, but not in so many words...

I didn't do anything wrong, this was a particularly difficult patient with a brain injury, made even more difficult by an extremely difficult and unrealistic family I'm not going to go into the details, but the family isn't being realistic about the patients needs and deficits. Physically he's doing fine but he's having a lot of cognitive issues, and they're only seeing the physical.

I spoke at length with the therapist who treated the patient today, and according to her, I didn't do anything wrong, I just didn't do it the way the family wanted and that upset them, and I sometimes with difficult patients and families need to take a step back and do things differently than normal to please the patient's and their families to get anything out of the patient. To be the coach, not the leader. To guide them through the therapy, not say do this my way all the time. And that's great advice. This therapist has been practicing longer than I've been alive, and she's awesome, which is why I scheduled her to see the patient and also why I sought her advice.

So ok, I didn't do anything wrong, but if I had done it right the first time I would have easily worked with he patient and not had this problem. And I'm usually not so bad with problem patients. And I'm fine with not treating him again, because I don't particularly WANT to deal with the family and the patient, especially because I haven't seen a lot of brain injury patients, and I don't feel like I have sufficient experience. So that part is ok. It's the part of being told that I'm bad and they don't want me, it's the being rejected, it makes me wonder if I'm doing anything wrong in other areas... I want to be a good therapist, I want to do things right!

I want to just plain learn from the experience. I'm a new therapist and I want to learn and grow from my road blocks. And I hope in 30 years from now I still hit them because they are healthy, and they help you to grow and to learn and to be a better therapist. But I still feel knocked on my butt. Maybe I'm being too hard on myself. I dunno.

Maybe the knocked on the butt feeling is just natural, but still, for now it doesn't make it any better.

Not so many recent entries...

Well, I've been glued to the Olympics, and if anyone has been following, well they're on practically 24/7, and tany time it's not on, I've been tapins stuff so I can watch what I wanted to see while at work or sleeping, so I've been totally glued. I told ya I'm an Olympic fanatic.....

I was DYING, well, not dying, but AMAZED, HYSTERICAL, SO AWESOME DYING when Paul Hamm won the mens gymnastic's gold. It was probably the best Olympic moment I've ever seen. WOW! To come back from a fall on the vault like that.... WHOO HOO for Paul Hamm!

It was awesome to see Carly Patterson win the women's all-around, but the men's all-around was just so much more of an exciting competition! :)

So that's where I've been, watching the Olympics, and working. Working this weekend....

So to make it up to my BLOG, I'm posting 2 entries tonight. THEN, I am gluing myself to the TV for a bit before bedtime.

Interesting Patients

I've had some interesting patients recently.

Today, there was the interesting diagnosis. "Loose Screw"
I found that rather funny. In fact, the woman really did have a loose screw. She had cervial surgery about five months ago and the hardware was coming loose and needed to be removed. She left before I could see her. But the diagnosis gave us all a little bit of entertainment.

I've had some pretty loopy patients lately. One woman on the psychiatric unit was talking with, and playing with a cat while I was treating her. Except there was no cat. I guess I shouldn't laugh, she did have some serious psychological issues. And one lady I'm treating on the burn unit is having some pretty serious and pretty violent hallucinations. Its been a challenge to treat her.

And morphine wacks people out too. I treated this man, he fell at home and broke his hip, needed a hip replacement. I treated him and he was LOOPY! He was completely disoriented and confused, didn't know where he was, he didn't know when it was, according to him, it was March of 1943. He didn't remember why he was in the hospital, when i asked him, he said I was a baaaad boy The doctor came in and saw how confused he was and said it was because of the drugs. My patient, when the doctor asked him how he was doing, happily responded, I took drugs! His balance was terrible, he kept falling oll over me. When he was trying to stand, he was grabbing onto my pants, onto my pager in my pocket. I didn't want him holding on to me, because it was an unstable place, especially onto my pager. I asked him what he was grabbing onto, he siad I'm holding the roll of fat I was half shocked half hysterical laughing, I asked him, Are you calling me fat? He said, I'm calling you beaituful! I was rolling the entire time I was treating this guy, he was hysterically funny because of the morphine. Pain meds are a wonderful thing. :)

And then there are the cute old men. I had one guy literally dancing on the burn unit this week. He had the whole floor hysterical, he was a bit confused and he was trying to teach us to dance, he was shaking his bootie, it was hysterical! The little old men are so cute, they're half deaf and can't hear you and are so funny! One guy was SO deaf, you had to shout so loud for him to hear you but if you asked him if he had a hearing problem he denied it profusely, He just plain had no clue. And then there's this one guy who looks like the six flags dancing man, and sounds like the grandfather on the Simpsons.

These are the things that make my job entertaining. The cute patients with funny lines, dances, voices, it all makes me laugh and keeps me going.

Everyone's Getting Married!!!!

What's wrong with me!?!?!?!

Adam and Laurie and Brad and Jackie and Allison and Tozar, and Anley and Jube all got married this summer.

My cousin Willie proposed to his girlfriend Allison and is getting married next July. Daryl proposed to my cousin Marin and they're getting married the week before Willie and Allison.

Today I get an email from my friend Eric from college, whom I really have lost touch with these past couple of years, he just proposed to Melissa, another friend from college, and they're getting married in November!

I am so excited and happy for all of my friends and cousins! I'm ecstatic for them to be taking this happy new step in their lives!

Everyone's getting married!!!!
So what's wrong with me?!!?!?!
Maybe everything, maybe nothing.

I have a boyfriend, and I love him. I want to marry him, but I am SO NOT READY to be married. As a matter of fact I'm TERRIFIED of marriage. I love Rob, I live with him, day to day life probably won't be that much different. So why not just get married? That's what people keep telling me. For some reason it just seems so HUGE and pretty scary. Like a step in life I'm not ready to take.

I've just taken so many new steps in life, graduated school, new job, "adult" independence. I don't want to add marriage to that just yet. But what's wrong with me that everyone else my age seems to be getting it all, and I'm scared? Why is EVERYONE asking me, So, when are you and Rob getting married? Why are people expectantly expecting me to tell them I'm engaged when I say I want to tell them something. Why did Rob's family tell him they needed to talk to him because he needed a kick in the pants. Why did he have to tell them that it's me who needs the kick in the pants. We've been dating for almost 2 and a half years, we live together, we love each other. Why can't I just be ready?

I WANT to get married, I want to have the wedding and celebrate and spend the rest of my life with Rob. I love him very much. But the concept of marriage is just scary right now. I just don't get it.

Everyone's getting married! So what's wrong with me?

Morning...

Monday morning.... OY! My 3 weekwnds in a row are over and I have to work this coming weekend. Ah well, it was nice while it lasted... But for now it's a rainy Monday morning, and I'm sleeeeeepy. I went to bed reasonably early, but I woke up in the middle of the night, wide awake for over an hour, and now I'm sleepy when it's time to be up. I hate it when that happens.
Watched the women's gymnastics last night. Whoo Hoo for gymnastics! :) Still enjoying the Olympics. Tee Hee!!! :)

Okey, off to work! Time to make patients get out of bed! Have a good day all!

Carie :)

Disturbing News

An Iranian Olympic athlete, a favorite to win the gold in Judo, withdrew from the competition because he refused to fight an Israeli. He refused the honor of being an Olympian and a gold medal because he doesn't like Israel.

He reports "Although I have trained for months and was in good shape I refused to fight my Israeli opponent to sympathize with the suffering of the people of Palestine and I do not feel upset at all."

But shouldn't the spirit of the Olympics supercede political views? Shouldn't we learn from the warm reception that the American's and Iraqi's got during the ceremony, or from North and South Korea marching together, and planning to compete as one team in the next games? With all their problems, they can come together for 2 weeks to compete as one Korea. Thats pretty darn awesome.

I mean I KNOW the Middle East is rippled with antisemitism and hate and problems, and has been for generations and generations, and I KNOW that it won't all be fixed overnight or even in my lifetime, and I'm not in 100% support of the Israeli government's treatment of the Palestinians, but I also feel that it's not ALL Israel's fault. The Palestinian's and their leaders show fault also. And NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, it is NOT COOL to blow up civilians on busses, or malls, etc.

Aren't the Olympics supposed to foster International Unity and Peace. If this Iranian athlete couldn't push it all aside and in the spirit of the Olympics compete with the Israeli athlete, maybe it's a good thing he withdrew, he doesn't deserve to be an Olympian. Besides the fact that it's attitudes like that which will keep the Middle East a continued "problem" area of the world.

And I say it again, maybe I just expect too much from people. But it's still pretty sad to see the hate in the world, and the things it drives people to do.

Olympics!!!

The Olympics have started!! YAY!!! I am an Olympics junkie. I love watching, and following everything, even sports that I don't usually follow. But I always think that it's amazing to see any sport played at that level. My favorites are swimming (Including synchronized and diving), and gymnastics, But I'll watch everything, volleyball, track stuff, soccer, fencing, everything, I just love the Olympics. :) Today i was watching the swimming, Michael Phelps won the 400 meter Individual Medley. I love the IM, it's a difficult, but great race to swim, and it's fun to watch. :) And YAY for Michael Phelps! :) And the Other USA competetor, I forgot his name won the silver! I'm not feeling so amazingly patriotic right now as I can't stand my president, and how he's running/ruining the country, but that's another story for another day, and I feel that the Olympics supercedes all that. GO USA!! :)

Rob and I watched the Opening Ceremonies last night. It was pretty cool. I love watching the parade of nations, to see all the athletes walk into the stadium, calebrating their accomplishments. There were some countries that I've never heard of, but thats ok. I love watching the parade of nations because I feel like for so many of the athletes there, THIS is their Olympic moment. So many aren't there to win, most live in small countries, sending small delegations, without huge and well funded Olympic programs. So to march into the stadium, wave their nations flag, and be proud of their accomplishments and that they get to represent their country is such an amazing honor and great moment. THAT'S what the Olympics are all about. I love to watch the joy on their faces, watch them celebrate and wave and enjoy and even have their own cameras to record their moment of joy.

Rob disagrees with me, he BLOGged, today that he thinks people should walk in orderly, with dignity and concentration and solemnity. I disagree. There are other times for order and steely faces. The opening ceremonies isn't it. I love the Olympics and I love the celebration of International sport. Lots of nations don't like the USA now, hell, I PERSONALLY don't like the USA now. But the crowd gave the athletes a warm welcome. They gave the Iraqi's a warmer welcome. People recognize the difference between a country and its leaders stupidity, and it's citizens and athletes. The Olympics is a time for fun and games and competition, so that the world may foster a friendly international community. I love that. And I love watching it all. :)

YAY for the Olympics! I will be glued to my TV as much as possible to watch the games. After all, it only happens every 4 years. WHOO HOO for the Olympics!!! :) :) :) :) :)

.

Sorry all...

I know I haven't posted in a couple of days, I wanted to apologize to you, the internet world, things have been busy busy busy, yet boring boring boring.
More this evening when I get home from work.
The Olympics Start Tonight! YAY! I LOVE THE OLYMPICS!

More laterer.
Keep SMILING!!!

Annoying Drivers

Why are the people out there such bad drivers? I thought New York drivers were bad, but it's pretty bad in CT too, hmmm, maybe people are just bad everywhere.

On I95 on my commute people are CRAZY! They fly by me at like 90 mph. I think 70ish is fast.... Or they rush to pass me only to get caught between me and the person in front of me, of whom I CAN'T go faster then... So it becomes a whole rush and pass and waste of gas and potential accident with tight merges and speed, all to be 50 feet ahead of where you were.

One time I was in the left lane trying to pass someone in the middle lane who was not just too slow, but too variant, and I felt more comfortable being in from of him. So when I tried to pass him, he wouldn't let me, I was going 72ish, and having trouble passing the guy, because he sped up not to let me. THEN, this guy comes up behind me at breakneck speed, flashing his brights, riding my tail, throwing his hands up in the air, FLIPPING out because 72ish wasn't fast enough for him. Normally, I would have just gotten over and let him pass, but I was neck and neck with the guy in the middle lane who wouldn't let me pass him, so I had nowhere to go.

So the Royal Jerk behind me pulls over all the way to the right lane, passes the middle guy on the right, comes all the way back to the left lane, gets in front of me, and then slams on his brakes to 55. If my reaction wasn't so quick, I would have hit him. And then he stuck his hand out the sunroof, gave me the finger and sped away. Now let me ask you, what did all that accomplish? He got ONE car length in front of me. And in his anger to "get back at me" he almost caused an accident.

Monday, I was on Northern Blvd. On the Queens/Nassau border on the way home from my ENT appointment. It was rush hour and CROWDED! I was at this light, and it had recently turned green, and all the cars had sped forward and ended up blocking the intersection because they couldn't go any further because of the traffic. I refuse to do that. I HATE getting caught in the intersection when the light turns red again. One, it's dangerous, two it just causes more traffic. So I wait. And the lady behind me is PISSED. She's BLOWING her horn and BLOWING her horn and BLOWING her horn, practically sitting on it, waving her arms, screaming at me, practically having a HEART ATTACK because I wasn't going to get caught in the middle on a red light. She didn't want to miss the green, and she was too impatient to wait for another red. Meanwhile, I went when there was space for me to make it through the intersection, she rode my tail the whole way, and we both made that green light. Now she FLIPPED out, all to maybe be up a few hundred feet from where she was if she missed the light, and she ended up in the exact same place she would have ended up if I had gone forwards when she wanted me to. But I wasn't going to take that chance of getting caught...

I think people like her piss me off more than the speed demon above. It's those people who are in such a stupid rush in traffic that they weave and cause accidents and make traffic worse, or they move into entrance ramps because they see "another lane" and then create more of a merge, and more traffic, all to get MAYBE one car length ahead. Now someone please tell me; what's the point of the rush?????? And is it possible to eradicate these speed demons and heart attack rushers from the roads so we can all just have pleasant rides to where we are going?? Somehow thought, I doubt there's an answer, or a solution to either question...

Tonsils Update

I went for my second opinion today with my Mom's ENT. Well, not her personal ENT because he's on vacation, but one of his partners. He basically told me what the other guy told me only muuuuuch betterer.

I have those tonsil stone things, they're called tonsoliths. And my tonsils aren't cleaning themselves out well, and theta why they have white bumpies. So all that's the same. But he did a strep culture which is negative, AND he said I don't need my tonsils out. THANK GOODNESS!!!

He said he RARELY takes adult tonsils out unless its absolutely necessary, because it's REALLY painful for an adult, they don't bounce back as easy as kids. So he said it IS an option, but one not worth doing at all. Not unless I'm in tons of pain all the time and I can't swallow, and I can't breathe etc. He told me to rinse and gargle with half water half hydrogen peroxide, and gargle with just water after eating. And he said that should clean them out. And he told me not to take the antibiotics, because I don't have an infection, so why take antibiotics, ESPECIALLY, so much antibiotics. AND he recommended an ENT in CT, a competent one.

I mean, the other guy was practically ready to schedule me for surgery, he gave me unnecessary antibiotics (this is how we get bacterial resistance...) and he barely even looked at me. This guy was really nice, really explanatory, he looked at my nose, my ears, my throat, he took a strep culture, he even looked down my throat through my nose with this light thing.. That was SO UNCOMFORTABLE!!!! Now I know partly how my patients with nasogastric tubes feel. But he was thorough and have me a competent answer instead of telling me to live with it or have my tonsils out.

So I feel betterer.

Ok, off to bed, Sleepy for me, and my 3 day weekend is over, time to go back to work tomorrow, it seems like FOREVER!!!
WHOO HOO for good ENT's!! WHOO HOO for not needing my tonsils out!!!!!

Nite nite everyone!

Rude People Surprise Me

People can surprise you. Not necessarily in their beliefs, but in their actions. I am always surprised at rudeness and racism. I just don't understand it. Maybe I'm just wired differently from so many others, but I don't understand why some people have such a hatred for other people. And how they can be so rude. I just don't get it.

As you may have read in a previous entry, I attended my friend Anley's wedding this weekend. And as you may have read, Anley's family is from India, and she had a very large wedding, over 700 people were there. And it was a very culturally different experience for me.

Anley had her wedding at Villa Lombardi's in Ronkonkama on Long Island. And it was a BEAUTIFUL facility, the hall was beautiful, the food was excellent, the grounds were beautiful, and most of the service was pleasant, and wonderful. The reason I say most of the service is because there was one member of the staff who did not fit into that beautiful, wonderful setting. She was the lady who worked in the bathroom.

This lady was older, I'm not sure how old, but definitely a senior citizen, Probably in her 60's. She was mean, rude, crotchety, racist, bitter, and disgusting. All throughout the reception, if you went to the bathroom, she made rude, snide, racist comments. "By the time they lift up their outfits, the party will be over" "If you take that shawl thing off your outfit might be beautiful" "These people have been giving me such trouble, messy and disgusting they are" "I'm slaving to keep this bathroom clean for them and they don't even say thank you, they just make a bigger mess" Some of the toilets were difficult to flush, because the push button was hard to press. I had difficulty with it. One older lady asked me as she came out of the stall how to flush the toilet, she couldn't do it. I told her the button was hard to press you just need to press it hard. So the rude lady, came over and nastily said to the woman "I'll just do it, I've been flushing toilets for you people all day, once more won't hurt" Then she turned to me and said "I can't believe these people can't even flush a toilet, they've been so rude all day, and such mess, without even a thank you." Well ya know what, if I had been treated like that I wouldn't have offered her a thank you either. Although, I saw no reason for this woman to be so resentful, no one was rude to her.

For me, as one of the very few Caucasian persons at this affair, she was perfectly nice to me, but rude to Madhavi, when we, as women do, go to the bathroom together. She was rude as I saw it to almost all of the wedding guests.

Now, I know that this was a large reception, and it may have been overwhelming for this one bathroom worker, but as far as I could see, no guest was overly rude, no guest made a huge mess, there was no more mess than at any other reception I'd ever been to. No paper towels were left around, nothing was thrown on the floor, the sinks weren't even very wet and splashed. Everyone was polite, yet appalled at this lady's behavior. This is her job, to clean the bathroom at events like these. If she doesn't like it then she shouldn't do it. The facility is able to handle parties of this scale, if not they would not accept the reception, so you would figure that she must on some level be used to large parties.

I did not see any reason for her to be rude to the guests, this was someone's wedding and her family should be able to enjoy the reception and go to the bathroom without any negativity. If this lady wants to be a racist, as much as I disagree with that, I guess she has the right to believe what she wants. But if she is going to be working at a banquet facility, she should learn to leave her personal feelings at the door and just do her job.

As far as I'm concerned, there was absolutely zero excuse for her rudeness, comments and bad attitude. Like I said before, maybe I'm wired differently, but I just don't understand rudeness for the sole reason of difference. But maybe I just expect too much from people.

My BLOGS

Ya know what I realized as I was just posting my wedding BLOG... I write REALLY LONG BLOGS. Oh well, I guess I just have a lot to say...

WHOO HOO for BLOGGING!!!

Somebody's Getting Maaaaaaried!!!!

Somebody get the flowers, somebody get a ring.
Somebody get the preacher and the choir to sing.
Somebody get an organ to play.
'Cause somebody's getting married today!
......Because you share a love so Biiiiig, I now pronounce you Frog and Piiiiiig!!!

Hmmmm, can you guess that my weekend was full of wedding stuff?Not mine though, I am NOT ready yet for getting married. But I am perfectly happy to be super excited about others... This weekend it was Anley's wedding and Marin's engagement party.

Saturday I went to Anley's wedding. Anley was one of my close friends from PT school. And I got to go to her wedding! YAY! And I got to see Madhavi and Po! YAY! And the wedding was BEAUTIFUL, and Anley was a RADIANT Bride. She just looked so amazing and happy and well, just radiant! And I was SO HAPPY for her to be married, she just deserves all the happiness in the world, and it was a truly wonderful day to share with her. I was pretty giddy the whole day in my excitement and joy.

The wedding was an interesting cultural experience. For a multitude of reasons. Anley's family is from India, so there were many Indian cultural aspects that were really interesting and wonderful to see. My favorite, though it may seem superficial, was the dress. At most weddings you go to you see men in suits, and women in formal (usually black) dresses. At this wedding there were still men in suits, but there were also men in traditional Indian garb, and almost all of the women were wearing Sari's and other Indian formal dress. And it was SO COLORFUL! And SO BEAUTIFUL!!! Anley had her white dress for the ceremony, but halfway through the reception she changed into a BEAUTIFUL Sari, and she just looked more radiant than ever.

It was such a wonderful occasion, over 700 people were there. Which I couldn't fathom. It was so huge. I couldn't even begin to think how far I would have to stretch to think of even HALF that many people that I would invite to my wedding.

The other cultural shocking thing to me was the style of the wedding, not because of Indian tradition, but because of Christian tradition. And I'm a little embarrassed to say so, that it was shocking, and amazing, and kinda out of my comfort zone. Because I am a very spiritual person, and while I have my issues with keeping up with my day to day practice, mostly I have great faith in Judaism, and cherish it greatly in my life. Anley, and Jube, her new husband, and family, have similar faith, if not moreso, in Christianity. And that's wonderful. I may not agree with some of the beliefs, as I have my own, but always I respect and honor someone's faith, as I believe that faith can be a very individual and personal thing and no one has the right to infringe on someone's faith. I guess I just had a bit of culture shock at this wedding. There was a lot of prayer and blessings, and praises to Jesus, and readings from scripture, along with the stories, and praises, and toasts to the bride and groom.

Plus, while I always knew that Anley was very religious and very involved with her church and her faith, she never talked about it at length with me, and she never was one to speak of Christianity and her faith and belief and practice on a regular basis at school... During all those long hours we spent together every day for 3 years, she didn't mention many of these specifics ever. So to see this side of her, and to hear from her family members, and community members of how she is a pillar of faith, and how she has so much belief and faith, and that she is envied by her community as a Christian role model, it was very new for me. I knew this about Anley, but I had never seen it. And I guess often you think of things, and know they are there, but it's still somewhat amazing for you to actually see them. And while this by far is not a bad think to know and see about my friend, it was again, just a new experience.

There was no dancing at the wedding, not because there wasn't joy, but I am assuming because of the conservative faithfulness of Anley and her family and their devotion to their religion. That to me is kinda odd. It seemed weird to go to a wedding and not do a Hora, let alone no dancing the entire wedding. It was just a really nice dinner with stories and presentations and prayer for the bride and groom. And it was beautiful and nice, I guess I just had a culture shock and while I had a wonderful and fun time, some of the foreignness of the religious practice was somewhat uncomfortable for me to be surrounded with for a whole day.

So while I had an amazing, fun, beautiful time, and while I was and am overjoyed for Anley and her marriage, and I wish her all the mazel and happiness there is in the world for the rest of forever, there was a lot of new stuff, and learning for me which well, I guess was a bit overwhelming.

SO if Saturday was a wedding, Today was an engagement party. YAY! For my Cousin Marin, YAY!! So I got to see all my family from my Dad's side, and we celebrated Marin and Daryl's engagement.WHOO HOO!!!! :)

We went to this restaurant in Rockland, and it was a bit crowded with so many people in a small room, but it was fun to see family and friends, some of whom I haven't seen in awhile. And we talked, and were happy and merry and celebratory in anticipation of a wedding, where I guarantee, there WILL be a Hora. :)

On a side note, Hora's are fun. I like Hora's, and Israeli dancing, and all the craziness, and breathlessness, and funness that goes into a Hora. There was a HUGE long Hora at Adam and Laurie's wedding, it was fun, even though I had a stomachache. (DARN IBS!!!) When I get married, I want the Hora to last at LEAST an hour... and then start up again later on in the reception. To me a Hora just brings out the happiness and spirit and is so celebratory, EVERYONE dances the Hora. Those who dance, those who don't dance, young, old, everyone. Old ladies throw away their walkers and canes, men with aching joints jump out of their chairs, and its like Jewish medicine better than chicken soup. Everyone circles, and swirls, and its just fin and happy and awesome. I could write a whole BLOG on the joys of the Hora. But, another time... This BLOG is long enough.

Anyways, so that rounds up my wedding weekend. I've been singing the wedding song from The Muppets Take Manhattan all weekend. Somebody, Somebody, Somebody, Soooomebodyyyy....
Somebody's Getting Marieeeeeeeeed, Todaaaaaaaay!!!!

Thank You For Your Comments

It about 9PM and I'm going to sleep soon, (I have to be up at 5:30, I do scheduling manana) but I wanted to say something before I went to sleep. I wanted to acknowledge, and thank those who have commented on my BLOG.

Rob, of course, whose comments I get in person as well, thank you for the smiles, thoughts, and encouragement.

Rich, Thank you for your sentiments, I'm glad that we've come through everything as friends, thank you for your thoughts and for believing in me.

Rachel, OF COURSE I REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE!!! How could I forget the gal I hung around Israel with for 2 weeks.... I know we haven't spoken much recently, but I do think of you as well, and I hope things are going well for you, and I'm glad that I gave new meaning to old phrases for you and opened your heart.


For the rest of you who haven't commented, well I still hope that you are enjoying my BLOG, I am enjoying writing it. I do appreciate any comments, thoughts, reactions, suggestions, etc.

And on that note, Early to bed, Early to rise!

Nite Nite everyone!!!

Peanuts

Charles Schultz explained things so well... 

I was looking through my computer and I found this. I thought it explained things so well....
BUT.. I work tomorrow, and then I GET THE WEEKEND OFF!!!!
WHOOO HOOO!!!!!

ARRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

Why can't my body be normal? If it isn't my stomach, it's something else, my feet, fatigue, and now my tonsils.... My allergies have been bad this season, and my throat has been REALLY itchy. And my tonsils are the size of China. I thought it was from my allergies, and so did my doctor, so we switched my allergy medication. But my insurance company will only pay for 2 allergy medications. Allegra, and Clarinex. Allegra wasn't working, and they wouldn't pay for the Zyrtec, which is what the MD wanted me to take. So we tried the Clarinex. Never mind that my co-pay of the stinking medicine which I'm only on because its the only one that they'll pay for is $30. (and I thought I had GOOD insurance!) But my tonsils haven't gone down, and now one of them is looking kinda funny.

For those of you with weak stomachs, please skip the next 2 sentences with the description of my tonsil. Oh yeah and don't click on the link either.

Large, and kinda bumpy shaped, with white areas, kind of like whiteheads on my tonsil. Here's a link to a picture of what my left tonsil looks like, though only about half as bad

And it's been that way for awhile, a month or more at least. And now my throat feels swollen when I swallow, and not sore throat pain, but swollen when I swallow pain.

So, I figured I should finally get it checked out right? See an ENT. So I tried to make an appointment with the ENT recommended by some of my co-workers, and they can't give me an appointment for 3 weeks. I don't really want to wait that long. So I call another ENT on my plan and get an appointment for the next day. (This was all yesterday) So I go to see him today, and he tells me that my tonsils, as all do, have crypts in them, which catch particles etc. to protect the body. That's what tonsils do. Well, my tonsils aren't cleaning those crypts out very well, and its all staying there creating those white bumpy areas, and creating my sore throat. And, of course, with my recent luck... the only choice is to have my tonsils out.

Kinda drastic don't you think??? He said the size of the crypts, suggest that I've had tonsil problems in the past without even knowing it... I don't like the idea of rushing to have my tonsils taken out. First of all who wants to rush into surgery, no matter how minor and common. Second, your tonsils are there for a reason, they play a part in your immune system, keeping the bad junk from getting into your body through your mouth, like armed guards at the palace gates. :)

Besides that, if I had the surgery, I'd need to take at least two weeks off from work, and that's a LONG time. Normal time is a week with a total of 2-3 weeks with no strenuous activity. But I'm all over the hospital lifting patients etc all day, so I'd need to be off all that time.

The ENT guy said he can give me an antibiotic, but usually this kind of thing is recurrent, and it'll come back. So he gave me a large dosage of amoxycillin (875mg twice a day) for 3 weeks, and told me to come back in 6 weeks. But that's A LOT of antibiotics, I HATE taking antibiotics, even when I really need to, and ESPECIALLY when it may not even help. And with all the tummy ploblems I've been having, that can be irritating.

So now I'm angry and frustrated, I'm going to my mom's ENT Monday for a second opinion. I'm going to wait on the antibiotics until I speak to him. I'm just angry that the options are so limited, surgery or just live with it. GGGGGGGGGRRRRRRR........ I don't know what to do.... Why can't there be another option?!?!?? Why can't my body be normal and healthy???

Anyway, in my internet search for information, I found this picture It's rather racy/gross depending on how you look at it, but I found it funny. I thought it may lighten the load of the post while still staying on topic.

Although I'm still frustrated.... I don't want surgery, but I don't want a chronic swollen, sore throat either....
AAARRRRGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!

dobedobeing

Just dobedobedobedoing. Wasting time waiting for a meeting to start.
Just thought I'd say hi to the internet world. I have this weekend off! YAY!!! it'll be a hectic weekend, but nice to be off when I'm supposed to be working. :)

Saturday I am going to the wedding of one of my classmates from PT school, Anley. YAY for Anley!!! And Sunday I am going to the engagement party of my cousin Marin. YAY for Marin! Oh yeah and YAY for Jube, Anley's fiance and YAY for Darrell, Marin's fiance!

Lot's of weddings going on! Fun!

DOBEDOBEDOBEDOBEDOBEDO.....

Ok, well my meeting is going to start soon, so I'll end this random saying not so much post.
More later!

Funny Joke I Found on my Computer ENJOY!!!

About two centuries ago, the Pope decided that all the Jews had to leave Italy. Naturally there was a big uproar from the Jewish community. So the Pope made a deal. He would have a religious debate with a member of the Jewish community. If the Jew won, the Jews could stay. If the Pope won, the Jews would leave.

The Jews realised that they had no choice. So they picked a middle-aged man named Moishe to represent them. Moishe asked for one addition to the debate. To make it more interesting, neither side would be allowed to talk. The pope agreed.

The day of the great debate came. Moishe and the Pope sat opposite each other for a full minute before the Pope raised his hand and showed three fingers. Moishe looked back at him and raised one finger. The Pope waved his fingers in a circle around his head. Moishe pointed to the ground where he sat. The Pope pulled out a wafer and a glass of wine. Moishe pulled out an apple. The Pope stood up and said, "I give up. This man is too good. The Jews can stay."

An hour later, the cardinals were all around the Pope asking him what happened. The Pope said: "First I held up three fingers to represent the Trinity. He responded by holding up one finger to remind me that there was still one Gd common to both our religions. Then I waved my finger around me to show him that Gd was all around us. He responded by pointing to the ground and showing that Gd was also right here with us. I pulled out the wine and the wafer to show that Gd absolves us from our sins. He pulled out an apple to remind me of original sin. He had an answer for everything. What could I do?"

Meanwhile, the Jewish community had crowded around Moishe. "What happened?" they asked. "Well," said Moishe, "First he said to me that the Jews had three days to get out of here. I told him that not one of us was leaving. Then he told me that this whole city would be cleared of Jews. I let him know that we were staying right here." "And then?" asked a woman."I don't know," said Moishe. "He took out his lunch and I took out mine."

I am a Stir-Fry Queen!

Why? Well, Hmmmmmm... The reason I can come up with isn't such a great one in my opinion. Because I am a vegetarian.

I like to cook, but I find it hard to cook tofu without putting it in a pan with veggies. It's not like I can really put a piece of tofu on a plate with a side of potatoes and a vegetable like a piece of chicken, or steak. Tofu is pretty bland on its own, not very appetizing. It takes on the flavor of that which you cook it with, and well, putting it in a pan with veggies and spices is the best way that I've found to infuse flavor into tofu. Plus, it's EASY to do, you can put ANYTHING random that you have in the pan, and you ALWAYS get something different. I rarely make the same thing twice unless it is super liked.

Not that tofu is the only thing I eat for protein. I eat a lot of beans, and I like those veggie crumbles. (Not because they taste like chop meat, but because they taste like veggie crumbles, and have their own pleasing flavor, and also because they are so versatile. Eggs, and dairy are fine with me, and I eat have those veggie slices things which I enjoy cut up in salads. Also, I will sometimes eat fish depending on the type of fish and my mood. My vegetarianism has little to do with animal rights, or feeling bad about eating animals or anything like that. It has to do partly with likes and dislikes, and mostly to do with sensation.

I don't eat meat because I don't like it, the same way I don't eat peas, or yams, or bananas because I don't like peas or yams or bananas. The sensation thing comes in because I find meat to be too tough, too heavy, too chewy, toooooo, meaty. It's just plain uncomfortable, the texture, the feel, it's not pleasing to me, and I never liked the way I felt it lay in my stomach. So with fish for example, I like salmon, or sole, or tuna salad, but I won't eat a tuna steak because it's too much like meat. Another example with sensation for me is I don't like it when textures don't match taste. I don't like sweet kugel because noodles are not supposed to be sweet. The taste and texture don't match in my head, so its undesirable for me. Yes, I know I'm strange. And once again, I digress from my initial conversation, stir-frys.

So when I cook, I make almost everything in a stir-fry. Tofu, crumbles, beans, veggies, starch, almost everything. It's quick and easy and always different. Today was no different. Roasted asparagus, tofu, pasta, garlic, onions, and spices with a little olive oil all went into my favorite dish, my stir-fry pan. YUMMY!!! A few days ago, it was peppers, tomatoes, onions, crumbles and tomato sauce served over whole wheat spaghetti. Before that it was black beans with rice, and onions and spices. Or how about tofu, rice, garlic, spinach, broccoli and teryiaki sauce. And I see you get the picture.

And while I love my stir-frys, I wonder if there's a vegetarian world out there that doesn't include the frying pan. If I can learn to make tofu, or beans, or anything really with a baking pan and an oven, or a pot of boiling water, or a stew, or a soup. (I do make a kick bootie veggie chili though!) I'm sure the recipe's are out there, I just don't know them.

Any suggestions? Any recipe's? I love my stir-frys, I love being a stir-fry queen, but I like variety, and I'm always looking for new stuff to try. Lemme know if you have a recipe. I'd love to try it out.