Helen Come Home

TURFED

2008-03-10T17:26:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure exactly what the irony was, but it was definitely palpable while I'm reading HOG on my last vacation week and I get a phone call and its one of my chief residents. The one who called me in to work a shift the last time I was on a vacation. Can they do that? No. I answered the phone with "I'm on vacation." He apologized and called the correct person.

There's 4 months left in my intern year. It hasn't been as bad as it could have... but then again I have my general medicine month staring me in the face. May will be interesting to say the least. Hopefully I'll have finished the book by then and will have some insight into dealing with the Gomersteins of Maimonides.

road trippin

2008-03-08T10:57:00.000-08:00

Driving to Atlanta. Not the most welcoming site at the beginning of a drive... but I've never been one to shy away from an adventure!

Brooklyn... Museum?

2008-02-06T05:35:00.001-08:00

The other night I had one of those moments where I was plesantly surprised by Brooklyn. I got to go to the Brooklyn Museum on the northern end of Prospect Park for "First Saturday." The museum had sevral free events and stayed open until 11p. I tend to hate on Brooklyn, but after this night and the subsequent outing in nearby Park Slope... my opinion could be swayed!

my happy place

2008-01-25T06:44:00.001-08:00

I've been going to this diner for as long as I can remember. Now that I actually live here it means more to me than ever before. After a particularly average night out in BR, I feel like this part of Brooklyn just isn't doing it for me. What will I miss about the Ridge? Basically this diner is it!

postshift thoughts

2008-01-25T06:40:00.001-08:00

quotable me tonight: "everytime you get really confident as an intern something or someone comes along to knock your ass back down off that pedestal."

interesting I should come up with a pedestal reference. isn't that was separates me from a lot of the other people I know? If I'm not up on that pedestal I'm sure as hell climbing on it. or back on it. or to the next one. that kind of thing breeds a shit-ton of jealousy. and all I'm doing is being the only way I know how to be. call it whatever you want. I don't do it for anyone else but myself.

I saw some crazy hit last night. admitted a sbo, first MICU admit... fulmanant liver failure. intubated. again. central line. again. seriously. I love my job.

Seven Months Later

2007-11-23T13:02:00.000-08:00

Some things have changed: working to save lives in the big apple. Some things haven't: I'm still easily distracted, pondering the meaning of life, and struggling to loose weight, find comfort in my own shoes, and wondering if people exist who are anything remotely like me.

A few things I've noticed. This site needs an overhaul. The colors suck. I need to blog a little more consistently. For my family/friends who actually expressed interest, and also for my own sake. I'm not fleshing out my experience as a resident physician, nor am I doing that for my residence in New York City.

The verdict is out on: personal details. I was put in a position when I had this linked to facebook where someone used my bloggings in a personal attack via email. That dude sucked at life, but made a valid point that certain things are not for the domain of the world wide web. Truly, the biggest complication of this will be patient confidentiality if I choose to talk about stuff that happened at work, which I will invariably do. No names, and not mentioning which hospital I work at will have to be good enough for now.

Looks like I will have to put the final block in the family-time portion of the Thanksgiving puzzle. After that, Atlanta awaits!

Arches & Canyonlands National Parks

2007-04-02T09:47:00.000-07:00

On my final day in Moab I got to visit both National Parks nearby. The pictures aren't fantastic, but the nice digital camera I own was "out of commission" this day. Hopefully that's not permanent. So lets see what the camera phone produced!

The arches of Arches NP were formed by differential erosion of the weaker sedimentary rock underneath the arch. As an exposed weaker area crumbles, what is left above it can be fortified by the added pressure now of hold the rock above it. This is the beginning of an arch, which we got to walk over on our way to our destination.

The hike ended on the far right of this picture. That is Corona Arch. On the left of this picture is Bowtie Arch. Difficult to see in this picture, there is actually a second arch forming behind the one you see here. That's where the name comes from.

This picture was taken during the hike out, and it was noted that there were several smooth rocks littering this part of the trail. The Geologist who was leading the hike told us that, at one time, the Colorado River was flowing through this area and left these rocks as it does today in a different part of the canyon.

Another arch "beginning" to be formed on the far side of the canyon.

More signs of differential erosion. These holes are gas pockets that allowed the sedimentary rock to form around it and then, when exposed, remained as small pockets.

Approaching Corona Arch.

Our group getting the final lecture at Corona.

After the morning Geology Lecture/Hike, I drove myself through Canyonlands NP. This was on the other side of the Moab valley. There were several hikes available but almost of the views were accessible by car. These shots were taken from various scenic overlooks.

On tap for this week: getting the camera fixed, maybe some more snowboarding, and golf!!

Moabulous

2007-03-31T22:56:00.000-07:00

Moab has just been spectacular. Aside from thinking I was going to have to take a break from the hike this morning, which I was mortified to do around all these uber-in-shape people in this class, the views were nothing short of breathtaking.

This picture is of early on as we went into "Negro Bill" Canyon. Recently the name was changed from... well, you get it. It wasn't politically correct to say the least.

More scenery from the canyon.

Approaching the arch named "Morning Glory." This arch was a short hike into the canyon. And short apparently means over an hour in Utah.
A view from under the arch.

Now looking straight up from underneath.

These last two were of us playing with the reflections from the water pooled under the arch.

The Drive to Moab

2007-03-30T18:17:00.000-07:00

First of all, Moab is a city in Utah. It's located just between Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. And it doesn't stand for "mother of all bombs." Its a biblical name, look it up if you care.

So I'm doing this drive and I realize that pictures just do not do this area justice. Its one thing to see some amazing close-ups of the place that are here but the thing that really makes the west spectacular is that you are surrounded by it. Even those panorama pictures just don't capture it. I was snowboarding yesterday at 8,000+ ft and today I'm in the "high desert" with vivid red rocks and typical cacti. So, yeah, I'm taking pictures, but they just don't to this place justice.

SLC Pics & Roadie Stragglers

2007-03-28T15:48:00.000-07:00

Forgot I switched to the big camera in the Rockies after leaving Denver. Enjoy!!

Driving into the mountains. Went from 5280ft to 11180ft!!

Haha! The Volvo at the top. It did pretty well on this trip, I was impressed.

More mountains and long strait-away's. Good thing I wasn't inclined to speed.

The not-so-mighty Colorado River. Well, to be fair I had just crossed the continental divide. Pretty cool to think that this river eventually forms the Grand Canyon several hundred miles away.

And this is the view from the medical school. Not too shabby.

More to come, its been snowing here the last two days but its supposed to be spectacular later this week. Plus we're doing the practical skills in Moab this weekend!

Road Tripping

2007-03-27T12:05:00.000-07:00

Its picture time!!

I like driving at night... cool shot of the trees at our house as I was leaving Friday night.

Not the best picture in the world but I was excited to pass the arch. I finally get to go west past the Mississippi!

Cool sunset as I chase the sun into the west.

The Rockies!!!

Dinosaur, Co. That's the name of the town. As my brother said, "that almost makes the whole trip worth it!"

Those were highlights from the drive, the SLC pics to come soon!

Cotter?

2007-03-27T12:03:00.000-07:00

Welcome back blogworld!

Since I've retired from this hobby a lot has changed. Both in the rest of the world and in my own. I can't/won't stop the person who ultimately gave me enough reason to shut down this blog from reinstating his nosy voyeuristic behaviors. I have, however, learned my lesson. The list of things I won't talk about on here is short, but unfortunately it does exist now. Its a tough compromise for someone who prides himself on speaking his mind, but what can you do?

Lets get back up to speed:

- I'm in my last two weeks of medical school
- I'm taking a class in beautiful Salt Lake City
- I'm going to start my internship in Emergency Medicine in New York City!!

So lets see where this takes us... should be fun!