Wednesday

My mom called me today to tell me that I have to sign this paper for my car's emission testing I need. It is verify that I am out of state or something. I have to get it notarized as well. This got me (and kinda Matt) thinking, what does it take to become a notary public? I mean, they really are just a person licensed by the state (?) to pretty much be a witness on official documents...right? So do you have to take honesty tests or something? Lots of background checks? Write a morality/ethics paper? Just kind of curious. Anyone know?

Matt and I adventured out on the bus system of Omaha today. That was...interesting. It is about a D+ compared to Seattle's buses. The bus stop signs aren't really marked very well at all. You just kind of have to know where your bus runs. Also, if you pull the cord, the bus just kind of stops. It doesn't wait for a marked bus stop or anything, it just stops. The one we took runs just past school, so it will work when I want to take it. They don't really have any sort of bus pass either. You can buy a 10 punch card, but it is the same price as 10 tickets. I think (w/ lots of input from Matt) that they really could improve their ridership if they did a few small things. Maybe make your bus stop signs actually readable? Have uniform buses so they don't look quite as sketchy? I dunno, that's just me.

MOVIE REVIEW!!!!!!!! A History of Violence
This was Matt's choice. He's seen it before but he wanted me to see it. Upon deep consideration, I give it a 5 out of 10 (10 being awesome). I wouldn't outright recommend it, but I wouldn't advise anyone against getting it (unless they don't like violent movies). That being said, it is a violent movie (hence the name). I like the actress who plays the mom mostly because she was in Coyote Ugly and ER. Back to the movie....the plot as well as the writing left a lot to be desired. I won't condemn the acting because I don't think it was as bad as a friend said. I feel that the sort of "side stories" left you wanting more. They left a lot of questions unanswered in terms of the side notes as well as the movie as a whole. Some movies can pull off the whole "no closure" thing. This one really couldn't. But as Matt said, did we actually want the movie to go on longer? I'm not painting a good picture, am I? Well, it really wasn't that bad. The pluses: entertained me, good for an afternoon with nothing to do, everyone likes a little organized crime. The minuses: violent, relatively shallow, no closure. There you go.

My Life

I really do hate thinking of titles. What have I been up to? Still not much. I need to organize my desk. This means I need more storage for stuff. With a computer, printer, and speakers on your desk, you kind of run out of room. I am getting my oil changed on Monday. I am also going to do my annual PPD screening on Monday. I'm trying to figure out the bus system of Omaha. Their website totally sucks. No offense bus people, it just isn't really very helpful.

Matt and I have signed up for Netflix, so I am going to take it upon myself to review the movies we rent. Last night (on HBO, not rented) we watched Blood Diamond. It was violent but not over the top violent. I thought Leonardo DiCaprio did a really good job. He's come a long way from Growing Pains. I liked the story of the movie except for the little romance going on. I could have done without that. Don't worry, I won't ruin the ending for you. I liked it but thought it a slight bit unrealistic. Even if parts of the situation in these parts of Africa were exaggerated (which I don't think they really were), it definitely opened my eyes to just one of the many struggles many Africans must endure just to make it to adulthood. Done. I know that wasn't eloquent, but that isn't what I was going for. Adios.

Keeping it brief

Keeping it brief here. I got our wireless internet working! Yay me! We had to buy a new router though because the one we had kind of pooped out on us. Or at least I think I got ours working. It is sort of freaking out right now. Hopefully this one lasts. Of course we went w/ a cheaper router. Moving is expensive. Have to buy all sorts of little crap that really adds up. Also, had some car problems. Brakes + rust = trouble. That was a fun little adventure. In the end, we got everything moved. I do miss Spokane though. Omaha is humid. I hate that. Sigh....back to stuff.

2 Whoops in 2 Days

We'll do the less exciting of the 2 whoops first. For the past 5 summers, I have worn the same polo shirt every Friday. It looked good that first summer. It was eager to be there. Slowly but surely, the color faded. It became less and less excited to be there, even if it was a Friday. Today was my last day working at PAML. Ever. I know I said that last summer as well, but I mean it this time. I will have maybe 3 weeks off (w/ no studying) next summer; I am not going to spend it working at PAML. Every year I have worked fewer and fewer weeks. The first summer I think I worked something like 14 weeks. The next summer about 12. Then 10. Last summer it was about 10 as well. This week...maybe 8. Whatever. I am very grateful for the job though. While it bored me to death, it paid me well and gave me something to do other than workout...and eat. Also, it made the next WHOOP possible.

On Monday, Dr. Anne Oakley called me (the anesthesiologist I met w/ a few weeks ago). She said that she looked in to me coming in to the OR w/ her. At our first meeting, she thought my being a med student was a sure in. Well she was wrong she told me. That holds no weight with these people. She did, however, mention to them that I work(ed) at PAML. Ding ding ding! We have a winner! Because I had a job in the "medical field" (if you count sitting at a desk medical), it made me eligible/legal to go into the OR. Thank goodness I accidentally left it on that first time we met or she may have never known I worked there. She said she would call me the evening before the surgery to let me know. On Tuesday she called letting me know that Thursday was the big day. Heart surgery. Be there at 620 (which wasn't as early as I thought it was going to be). I was there early of course. Wearing my PAML badge as requested. We walk around the oh so confusing Sacred Heart Medical Center. To the doctor's locker room as for to put on scrubs. Yeah me! We go to do the pre-op with the patient. She was a nervous wreck, but I don't blame her. People often make fun of anesthesiologists for not doing much at all, but from previous experience as well as from watching Dr. Oakley, it is easy to see that this is in no way true. You have to have great bed-side manner. You have to get the patient to trust you in less than 10 minutes. Dr. Oakley was great at it in my opinion. I got to watch her do some amazing things and some really awesome procedures. I didn't scrub in, but I got to be in the OR the whole time right next to her. And now for the cool part...the surgery.

This was an open heart surgery (so warning, this may be a *tiny* bit graphic). I have never seen a live person cut into, only a cadaver. I wasn't sure if I would get dizzy/light headed at all or not. I didn't. They were doing a coronary bypass as well as a mitral valve replacement. The cracking of the chest wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I got to see the lungs moving. I got to see the heart beating. I got to see them stop the heart. Oh my goodness. That was amazing. They just all stood there waiting for it to stop (when the time came of course). Watching that heart beat in the first place was just about the coolest thing I have ever seen. They did the coronary bypass (the surgery PA harvested the vein from the leg earlier) and then began the valve replacement. Because of the condition of her heart, however, the surgeon couldn't replace the it. He had to do an Alfieri stitch, something he had never done before. After it was all over, they successfully started the heart again, but I had to leave before she was sown up all together. Needless to say, this was a truly great experience. It kind of really makes me excited to start back up in the fall (slash a few weeks). It also reminds me that I have forgotten just about everything from first year. Boom chick...I'm out.

No fancy camera

I attempted to take some pics last night of the fire works. I don't have a fancy camera, so they aren't super awesome. Also, I was much more interested in not watching them through my camera. The one posted is pretty much my best one. On Tuesday I think it was, I asked mom what we were doing for the 4th. We never do anything. We decide we should go somewhere to watch the fireworks. We think ANTHONY'S, but we doubt they would still have anything open. To our luck, they still had a reservation at 930. When we got there last night, they had one outdoor table, and we took in. In a pure moment of "coincidence," Jeff, Auntie Marguerite, and Uncle Mike just happened to stumble by. It was fun. Food was good. View of the fireworks was totally awesome.

In talking about fireworks, they have never really been a huge part of my life. As a kid, we could buy the more novelty ones w/ tanks and parachute men. Maybe we could buy other stuff, but we never did. Then quite a few years back they limited where you could do them and how high they could go. Then they outlawed them in Spokane county. (that is a very rough timeline). I know a lot of counties are like this. The thing is, all these limits kind of hurt the quality of the downtown show. I swear you used to be able to see them from our roof overlooking the cliff. Now you are lucky if you can even see them from the bridge in front of our house. These things last night went only about 100-200 feet in the air before exploding. Personally, I think that is more of a fire danger than them going higher. Bo says it is because if the canaster falls over, it won't shoot into a building or something. How often does that happen anyway? Whatevs. This was my last 4th in Spokane for a while. Next year will be start of 3rd year, so I'll be in Omaha. Kind of sad face/excited face to think about.

In other news, Rachael comes in today!!!!!!!!! Going to extremes tomorrow w/o Amanda. Sad face.

I'm back

Yeah for hiatus!!!! The Beach, of course, was awesome. Weather was 89% grand and 11% not so grand. Berries were awesome. Fires were awesome. No sand castle was built, but I blame the bad tide times. Matt, Bo, and I left on Friday after breakfast. Matt wasn't talking very nicely about his car, and guess what........it broke down. Heading east going down the Vantage hill before crossing the river. Freaking out a little, I try to calm Matt down enough until we coast to the exit at the bottom of the hill. In the end, we had to use the E-brake, which was kind of scary. Bo was a few miles ahead of us, so he turned around. Thanks Bo. We had Matt's car towed to Ellensburg because Vantage doesn't have a mechanic. I now know why no one lives in Vantage...there is no shade. At all. It was soooooooo hot there. We got home 2 hours later than we hoped but still alive

Hoopfest was great. Our court was on the wrong side of the river, which sucked. It was hot. It was crowded. It was basketball saturation. We got 3rd in our bracket, which is frustrating because 1st and 2nd get shirts. Grrrrrrrrr. I also got a really really really hard knee in the quad. Man does that still hurt.

I only have a week and a half of work left. YAY!!!!!!! Other than that, not much going on.