I Have No TV

Yes, it’s true.  I live in the age of flat screens and plasmas yet I lack these electronic luxuries.  I am even without my 13 inch TV complete with VCR that I had since freshman year of college.  I had hoped to bring it to Texas, but unfortunately it took up too much space in my Honda and had to be left in Seattle.  A TV (the non-flat screen type), equals valuable box, shoe, and clothes space).  I do have my priorities after all.

What is truly odd is that I brought all my old VHS tapes with me.  Titanic, Two Weeks Notice, Dirty Dancing, just to name a few.  I got rid of Anne of Avonlea and Anne of Green Gables though.  Sure they are classics, but can you really see me sitting down with a glass of wine and watching Anne seduce Gilbert Blythe?  Probably not.

Most likely I will part with my VHS collection when I leave Fort Worth.  I just couldn’t bring myself to do it while in Seattle.  (Too painful).  But I do still have a DVD/VHS player so if I ever decided to buy a TV I could potentially still watch them.  Hmm…options.

I miss the morning shows and surprisingly I miss the news (which when I actually owned what formerly resembled a black box, I tried not to watch too much of due to all the depressing current events).  But to remedy the present situation I’ve made BBC News my homepage so that every time I check my email I am forced to view the world’s top stories first.  Smart, huh? 

Now I watch DVDs on my laptop while sitting no more than 2 feet away and with the volume turned full blast.  It’s also important to not have the air conditioning on because it makes it harder to hear the computer.  (At this point I probably appear to be some odd form of human to those of you who are flat screen fanatics).  The fact that I lack a TV and have not had cable for the past, well, 5 years is not apparent when you first meet me, but know that if you mention shows other than the Real World on MTV or What Not To Wear on TLC I am going to have a blank stare on my face.

The rough part of this whole situation is that I am probably missing out on some of the most hilarious political debacle of my time.  I just recently viewed the Sarah Palin SNL skit on YouTube.  I had no idea that she had shot a moose and that Russia was literally so near and dear to her heart.  And if I want to see (which I don’t) a picture of her head plastered on a swimsuit model’s body, then I actually have to do a Google search rather than have it shoved in my face.  Curse the work that is involved now….

My friend here bought a 19 inch flat screen.  Yesterday we had movie night and watched the second Bridget Jone’s Diary.  It was exciting for me.  Nineteen inches excites me…however I just don’t know if I am ready to invest.  I think I’ll have to wait and see who wins the presidential race.  I’m not a fan of McCain, but if he succeeds that means many more Sarah Palin skits, and who would want to miss out on that?

Nights

I’ve never considered myself to be a night owl.  I’m more of a morning person, however I just completed my first round of night shift and I have to say, I am pleasantly surprised/proud of myself.  I don’t like hospital politics (actually I’m not a very political person to begin with), so I find it refreshing to not be drawn into all the co-worker gossip/unit tension.  The floor I’m working on is big-38 beds and there are a ton of nurses.  I can literally go a full 12 hours without seeing some of the people who are working the same shift. 

I have to admit the first few nights took some adjustement and not soley due to sleep deprivation.  It’s not that I forgot how to be a nurse, but given that I went nearly a month doing no patient care (which I loved!), going back hit me hard.  I had to remind myself that when there are confused and unsteady people trying to get out of bed it does not paint a pretty scene.  Having my patient fall on the floor during my first shift would be all around BAD (and not just for the patient, but for me as well).  Ick…documentation, MDs…embarassment.  Luckily this did not happen.  Everyone stayed safe, and I got to hold onto my pride.

Last night I sought the aid of an organic “energy” drink which lacked true caffiene.  Hmm…didn’t really do the trick, but at least it was tasty.  I’ve found that nightime tired is different than daytime tired.  Basically I can walk around on night shift having what appears to be a glazed over look on my face and no one questions me about it since everyone pretty much looks the same.  (Either that or people are just too tired to care).  I think being successful at working nights is all about taking care of yourself and knowing when you are feeling run down and starting to loose focus.  I would hate to make a mistake and really hurt someone.  Gosh, what a horrible thought, but I know it happens and no one is immune.

Nights are calmer, lacking the hustle and bustle of day shift, which makes for a less stressful environment.  I like that.  There are still moments (many of them actually) when I think “why am I doing this?” but taking care of truly sick people continues to be rewarding.  And it’s nice to feel appreciated…like when your 80 year old patient says “God bless” every time you leave the room or when the 90 year old grandma, great-grandma (whatever), offers you a bite of her ice cream at 2:30 in the morning while fully dressed and sitting on her potty chair.  Those are the precious moments.

Taking Out the Trash

When I moved in I noticed someone had put their garbage on the lawn outside my building.  I remember thinking to myself, “How rude…and lazy…just go find the dumpster.  No one wants to look at your trash!”  Well, a few days later it was my turn to locate the dumpster and guess what…I couldn’t.  I began to notice that other people had also set their garbage on the tiny patches of grass outside their residences.  I was tempted to leave mine as well, but was afraid that perhaps I just lived in a complex of rude and dirty people.  (And being new, I did not want to be too quick in becoming one).  Fortunately, while driving home I noticed a golf cart that was loaded up with white trash bags.  I put my thinking cap on and figured out that each morning the golf cart winds around the property and collects people’s garbage.  Wow!  What a great (but also unsightly) idea.  I’ve always had a strong dislike for taking out the trash so I was very excited to make this discovery.  (Plus my 13 gallon-er was about to burst at the seams).  So now, instead of having to walk my garbage to a dumpster I can simply set it outside on my way to the car.  Brilliant!  I’ve even thought about how easy it would be to stand on my third story balcony and toss it down to the ground.  Someday I might double bag and give it a go, but for now, given my history of bad aim, I’ll be happy with the current situation.

Week One Completed

My first week in Fort Worth, for lack of a better word, was splendid.  (Actually splendid is a pretty nice descriptor).  I started hospital orientation for Harris Methodist Memorial on Monday.  Six forty five am!  That’s early to have to sit in a classroom.  General hospital orientation is usually pretty boring, but they cut it short and only gave the travelers the info we really needed to know (or are legally obligated to listen to).  This included probably the best HIPPA video I’ve ever seen.  It was on VHS, which totally malfunctioned, forcing our speaker to call engineering to get the tape removed and started again.  Basically this video reminded me of daytime TV…only much more overacted.  The possibility is hard to believe, but trust me, it can be done.  Example:  Neighbor walks by doctor having conversation with patient’s wife.  Neighbor raises eyebrows and eavesdrops on conversation.  Neighbor goes to nurses’ station and asks nurse about patient’s status.  “I heard (insert name here) is dying, is that true?”  Nurse states “yes.”  Patient lives another year, but because of rumors looses his job and is seen sitting on his porch in a wheelchair very depressed.  If they give out awards for HIPPA media, this one should take the cake!

In addition to a lot of listening (or pretending to listen) we had to take a few “tests” in order to prove our competence and safety.  Some were easier than others.  Mostly they involved prioritizing patient situations and giving our rationale for our interventions, i.e. Why are we calling the MD and what information will we give him/her?  What do we do if a patient has a blood transfusion reaction?  Etc.  If we don’t pass the “training” (they prefered it not to be called a test) then we can’t work there, which makes sense because no one wants a nurse who is going to stand around in an emergency without a clue as to what should be done.

We also had to complete about 10 plus hours of computer training.  I am with a really large group of travelers, (apparently the largest group Harris has had) because starting in October they are switching from paper to electronic charting.  The computer modules were overall pointless.  I clicked through as many of the lessons that I could to get to the post-tests, but for a good majority I had to actually wait and watch the mouse move ever so slowly towards the button that would complete the task.  Towards the end my brain was fried so I just let the computer do its thing while I went to the bathroom, took a walk, checked my email, etc. and then came back and took the test.  If you failed you could take them again.  A couple tests allowed you to take them 101 times.  Weird.  You shouldn’t need 101 tries to pass a test on logging into the system (especially when they give you the correct answers), but whatever. 

I anticipate problems with their new charting due to the fact that it is super colorful and complex.  I consider myself very proficient when it comes to electronic charting, but this thing is ridiculous.  Charting should be simple and quick.  With this program there are about 10 tabs on the top of the screen, 10 on the side, and 10-20 more scattered throughout.  The multiple colors and buttons made me feel like I had taken a drug, and unfortunately not a very good one.  Next week I get to sit through 18 more hours of instructor led training on this system.  I like to think positive, so should be fun….

I carpooled with Jonah, one of the nurses who lives here in the complex and whom I will be working with.  Basically our humor is much the same.  Some of the modules were so utterly pointless that we just looked at each other and started to laugh.  It was the kind of laugh you have when you are exhausted and think everything is funny.  I was afraid I was turning into that girl who can’t shut up and distracts everyone else.  However the people sitting behind us were watching old videos of Micheal Jackson dubbed into Indian on YouTube, so I don’t think my laughter was really that out of line, but still I had that fear.  Jonah was also my navigator since every time we walked out of a building it took me a while to get my bearings.  It got so bad that I asked if my lack of direction was annoying.  Of course it wasn’t, he just couldn’t believe that I could get turned around so easily.  Usually my sense of direction is not so poor, but all the buildings are brick and from the outside, at least to me, they look the same.  Plus we were taking elevators and walking underground so my confusion was well warranted, per my opinion.

With work out of the way I accompanied Jonah to a gay bar on Friday.  It was fun.  They had a drag show, and I love a good drag show!  There were 4 girls.  They lip sang to Mariah, Shania, Celine, and Madonna.  Three were good.  The last one was creepy.  I didn’t like looking at her, but she kept trying to make eye contact with me.  Made me uncomfortable.  We left during her last song, but not before I requested Madonna’s Express Yourself.  (Jonah said he would dance with me, but only if that particular song came on).

Yesterday I drove 25 minutes for Wi-fi.  I forgot that although Fort Worth is similar to Seattle in population, the city limits are much larger.  The coffee shop I found myself at may not have even been in Fort Worth, I can’t remember.  All I know is that it was a little too far to drive for an Internet connection.  Once I plugged the address into my GPS and had driven 15 minutes I figured I should just complete the journey and keep going.  So I experienced the effects of Ike in my car amongst the rain and wind.

That’s the update for now.  More adventures and stories to come!

Hangers For A Buck

Never underestimate the importance of the Dollar Tree!  In the past 10 years I have probably entered the Dollar Store no more than a few times.  Today I visited two!  Yes, two.  It had been so long since I had been to one that I almost forgot why there are no price tags.  If there had been a salesclerk nearby I probably would have wondered this aloud.  Thankfully there wasn’t one.  Basically the Dollar Tree is excellent for all those items that I know I will be tossing in 13 weeks, such as hangers, a laundry basket, jumbo sized shaving cream, a shower caddy, etc.  I spent 10 dollars and some change so you can surmise the number of items that I purchased.

So far I’ve only explored the area around my complex.  I haven’t gotten lost either.  Thank you GPS!  I was even able to find my way back from the mega shopping district without any help.  Within 5 miles of my residence there is practically every store that you could ever need to visit.  (With the exception of Nordstrom.  I haven’t found one of those yet, but you know I’ll soon be looking).  First you’ve got your standard mall, then there’s a Super Wal-Mart, Super Target, Barnes and Noble, Kohl’s, Bed Bath and Beyond…you get the picture.  I even found a store devoted to batteries.  Odd….  I might need to check it out to make sure I’m not missing out on something truly spectacular.  The Super Target was very exciting for me.  I am no longer a virgin to Target in all its glory.  There are 30+ check-out lanes, but only 6 were open.  I’d like to see all 30 of the lanes lit up and manned with clerks.  Boy would that be a sight!

Although I grew up in the suburbs I really consider myself more of a city person.  Change is good though and right now it would be an understatement to say that being in such close proximity to all these stores is convenient. 

Tomorrow my goal is to see something besides the mall.

Finally In Fort Worth

After 6 days of travel I am finally in Fort Worth.  I have to admit that the last week has actually been a lot of fun, and it feels really good to finally be here.  Over the last 6 days I’ve found myself in 6 different states.  Thank you Honda for not breaking down!  Gotta love those Japanese automakers.  During most hours the drive was relaxing and allowed me to see a variety of new sites.  My favorite leg of the journey was across Arizona, New Mexico, and into Texas.  The highway runs through a lot of “nothing,” but the sites of nothing are new to me so I enjoyed taking in the rocks, open landscape, cactus, and red-colored mountains.  (Reminded me of the Grand Canyon on a MUCH smaller scale).  Cruise control as well as old CDs that I haven’t listened to in about 10 years immediately became my best friends.  Bluetooth is NOT my new best friend due to the fact that the thing kept falling off my ear and did not get great reception, so sorry if I didn’t call to chat. 

In Cali I visited friends in SF/San Carlos and LA.  Then I headed down to San Diego for some exploring at La Jolla and downtown in the Gaslamp District.  At my hotel I got to ride in an old school elevator complete with a metal gate.  Very cool, very slow (per 21st century standards), and with a very heavy door.  You practically need both hands to pull the thing open and keep it open so that you can enter/exit.  It closed on me a few times so I resorted to taking the stairs (quicker and painless). 

I visited a lot of gas stations, washed my windshield with cockroach infested water, and talked to a few friendly, but not creepy truck drivers.

I arrived yesterday and my company allowed me to check into my apartment a day early.  While at the leasing office I ran across another traveler from American Mobile.  Turns out we are both going to be working nights on the same unit at Harris Methodist.  What are the odds?

I moved all my belongings up to my 3rd floor apartment.  My neighbor told me good luck walking up and down the stairs.  It’s not cool here, and I know I looked like I was putting in a good workout.  I’m proud of myself for doing it though.  No guys around to help. 

I made a late night run to Wal-Mart right before closing to buy all the necessities that I hastily threw away in my rush to stuff my life’s belongings into my car.  (TP, cleaning supplies, shower curtain, laundry detergent, etc).  Then off to the grocery store so that I had something besides trailmix to eat this am.  Oh, and I needed wine to celebrate my arrival.

It’s hard to believe that I came here to work and will soon have to face that reality.  Hospital orientation next week and then 12 hour nights.  My body gets to enjoy it’s normal sleep/wake cycle for a bit longer.  And with any luck my patients will be as well-behaved (i.e. not jumping/falling out of bed or combative) and friendly as the Texans I’ve met so far.