"Old-School" Nursing

I've been giving a lot of thought to the subject of Nursing and nurses in general this weekend. I dunno; something about working in three different facilities in three days (and having been canceled by almost as many in just as many days) gives you a nice broad perspective and ample opportunity to consider the differences in facilities.

Plus, I think I might be coming off as "Too Negative" to anyone who doesn't understand the standards I'm evaluating my experiences by. I don't want to sound like some kind of "Nursing curmudgeon" that complains about everything, either. I have some specific gripes about specific standards that are routinely ignored, compromised, or violated.

I've been a nurse since 1981 -- that's 26 years of experience last May. So by definition I'm an "old school"nurse -- been nursing since before Political Correctness and newspeak infiltrated the profession and made it murky.

Like everyone, old-school nurses have good traits as well as bad ones. First, the Bad Ones:

** Intolerant. Old-School Nurses are less caregivers and more the Authority Figures of their domains. Like Old-School Doctors, they are not used to lots of question, and jealously guard "The Way Things Have ALWAYS BEEN" and do not like or tolerate change in any form.

** Sexist. Nurses are Female. Nursing, as the name implies, began by women who wet-nursed infants and evolved into assisting doctors in their rounds. Men have no place in nursing, except as token expressions of our benevolence. As one of the RNs (and in Old-School nurse-speak, "RN" stands for Real Nurse), "I thought you were the Respiratory Therapist or the Radiologist." (Oh, well, THAT explains why she has been ignoring me all night . . . . )

** Rude. Nurses are Busy, and Nurses don't have time to be polite. Lives are at stake, so please get the hell out of my way.

** Authoritarian. Nurses are Authority Figures second only to Doctors themselves, and Doctors are second only to God Himself.

The Good traits of Nurses? Glad you asked . . . .

** Care Givers. Nurses care for the sick and dying when families are overburdened and overwhelmed. Nurses are there literally 24/7 to care for those too ill to do it themselves.

** Dedicated. This morning when it was time for me to leave, we found out the Unit Secretary had called in sick. One of our patients was going to be evac'ed out in an ambulance in a few minutes, so another nurse and I stayed to do the transfer paperwork -- off the clock. It was work that had to be done before the ambulance arrived, and Old School Nurses don't leave work for the next shift.

The newer nurses -- they ran off like bunnies.

** Providers of Information. The old "Health Teaching" of the 1980's has evolved into the "Teach - as - you - Go" of today. Nurses are no longer automaton pill pushers; they have to be able to tell you what each medication is; why you're taking it, and what possible side effects are to watch for.

** Accountability. Nurses, as I've frequently pointed out, are held to a literal Life-and-Death accountability of our actions. More, we have to document every single thing we do for every single patient, in detail, frequently in multiple places. And if the least, tiny little thing is incorrect, it's all my damned fault, and a sympathetic jury will probably award the aggrieved hangnail sufferer $12.8 Million.

~~JD~~

Texas Declares Drought Over; Texans respond with "Duuuuuh!!!

Well, it's official -- after record-setting rains this summer, The Texas drought is Officially Over:

For more than a decade Texas has been in a drought, but recent rains have dumped a surplus of water across the state. That led state Climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon, who is also a professor at Texas A&M University to conclude Texas is officially out of the drought. According to Dr. Nielsen-Gammon, steady rainfall since last August has done away with drought conditions for much of the state.

Central Texas has had so much rain this summer, numerous rivers and lakes are still at or above flood level. Already this year, Waco’s had almost 41 inches of rain, the usual is just over 33.

Dr. Nielsen-Gammon said of the 22 key weather stations in Texas, five have already reached their annual average rainfall amounts, and 2007 is only halfway over. "It's unusual that we've had so much for so long. Often we'll have one or two weeks of the summer that are like this, but it's been week after week," Nielsen-Gammon said. However, he said if there's enough rain to say we're drought free that means there's enough water to cause problems.

In the Central Texas area, many farmers are struggling to salvage crops, like wheat and corn because the ground is too wet. Nielsen-Gammon said the only areas still below normal are in the northern Panhandle, far West Texas and along the eastern part of the state. However, most areas have had enough rain to tide them over until next year, and he said this wet trend is not over.

Meanwhile back in San Antone, The San Antonio Water System (SAWS) continues the Year-Round Drought restrictions we've had for years, even though the Edwards Aquifer is at record levels. Once agin the neo-conservationists get hold of a good thing and run it into the ground, refusing to see the reality around them.

Yeesh!

~~JD~~

Burning Fire in The Sky & Thousands of Pissed Off Mexicans

I worked a 12-hour at my art-deco skyscraper hospital today; and I'll probably do it again tomorrow. Sunday I have a double (16 hours) at another hospital; so posting may be light this weekend.

Two little vignettes to tide you over: The first is that the Burning Orb of Doom y'all call "the Sun" returned to the South Texas skies today, marking a five-week absence. I actually had to wear my sunglasses today -- first time since April. In related news, the drought is officially over in Texas. The state announced today that every single part of Texas has now received enough rain to last until (at least) late 2008, ending the 10-year drought in Texas. (In fact, parts of north Texas from Dallas to Sherman on the border officially have enough rain to last them until the early 31st Century.)

Secondly, San Antonio is full of thousands of pissed-off Mexicans this week. The last week of July is traditionally "Tax-Free Weekend", when taxes are removed from school items (including office furniture, backpacks, computers, and anything remotely related to schools or studying). Thousands of Mexican nationals flood San Antone to buy tax-free, even planning their vacations around Tax-Free Weekend.

Last year the Texas legislature passed a law to start school only after Labor Day (it had been steadily creeping nearer the 1st week of August for years.) As a result, they moved Tax-Free Weekend to two weeks before the start of school -- this being the middle of August.

Nobody told the Mexicans. So they're all in town, and all pissed-off that they have to pay taxes.

And why the heck should the Texas taxpayers spend money to let Mexicans know to plan their vacations two weeks later?

Lots of tempers flaring in San Antone this weekend. The Mexicans are mad; the shopkeepers are mad about lost sales; the Texans are mad that the Mexicans are so poorly mannered . . . I'm just keeping my head down and trying not to giggle too much. Como se siente?

~~JD~~

Friday's Feast!

Appetizer: Describe a toy you remember from your childhood.

Teddy Bar; a hand-me-down from my cousin Nancy. Still hav it 50 years later.

Soup: On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being highest) how observant are you?

SCARY observant -- like a graduate of the 'Batman School of Technology." I know when papers are disturbed on my desk.

Salad: Where would you rather be at this very moment?

St. Thomas, the U.S. Virgin Islands. I'd love to live there. They actually have two hospitals and three dialysis clinics there, so I could find work. Maybe someday.

Main Course: When was the last time you learned something new?

I use a PC. I learn something new every day. Plus I'm finishing my RN at school, so it's pretty much a daily thing.

Dessert: Fill in the blank: I have ____________ but I haven’t ____________.

I have saved a life, but I haven't flown on the Space Shuttle (yet.)

~~JD~~

Crisis on Infinite Earths; The Untold Chapters

The date was 1985; the place was DC Comics. DC had the largest comics library ever through the acquisition of several competitors (the Marvel Family, Charlton Comics, etc.) and for convenience's sake had constructed this elaborate series of "parallel Earths" where each set of heroes resided. Even the original versions of Superman, Batman, et al had their own "Earth-2" where they were grown, had children of their own, and had (mostly) retired.

Unfortunately, it was awkward as hell. It took me five minutes just to write the paragraph above on general sweep of the concept. Try explaining how Black Canary was actually originally from Earth-2 but had "emigrated" to Earth-1 while possessed by the spirit of her dead mother.

Just-too-Freaky!

The most-remembered (and most-parodied as well) cover of the CRISIS is #7's "Death of Supergirl".

However, most people don't recall that the CRISIS was industry wide, and many more comics were affected than just DC comics properties. The Comic Buyer's Guide did a series of cartoons by Johnny Lowe in the fall of 1985 that aptly illustrated the fring-effects of the CRISIS. Oft remembered (but rarely collected), these comics are cute, even priceless -- but worth the effort to scan them in for posterity.

So, without further ado . . . . (Click the comics for an enlarged view)





With Ziggy here, I think Lowe has completely captured the spirit of the character.



And The Far Side, as well (man, how I miss The Far Side!)





This Bloom County strip always cracks me up. Note the picture over the boy's bed of Christopher Reeve as Superman (whom I originally mistook for Jim Shooter, whom many blame for the "parallel worlds" concept):



This final comic shows the aforementioned Peanuts, Bloom County, Cathy, & Hagar the Horrible casts assembled together, along with Garfield, Shoe, (possibly) Krazy Kat, and the snake from B.C. in the penultimate scene -- which is itself a riff from a controversy of the day; how editors in newspapers were shrinking the size of comic strips. )Doonesbury was particularly loud on the subject -- even negotiating for his strips to stay the original size -- which is why Doonesbury to this day is 50% bigger than most comic strips in newspapers.)

And I don't know about you -- but that potential hook-up between Cathy and Steve Dallas just has "Rape Charges" written all over it . . . .



These next two appeared during CRISIS in Calvin and Hobbes by comics fan Bill Watterson. While they do not tie into the previous "Cross-Over" exactly, they do reflect nicely the zeitgeist of the times . . . .



Or, this:



And this actual "Far Side" appeared during the cross-over as well; showing an "alternate version" of Marvel Comics Thor:



Finally, these last two show some possible variants of DC's Legion of Super-Heroes in the 30th Century. First, how Doctor Who REALLY got his start:



And finally, this one, where apparently one too many Earths got merged . . .



~~JD~~

Animals Begin Pairing Up; Underwater Film at Eleven

Why, Yes, it's been raining quite a bit lately. Why do you ask?

~~JD~~

"M.B.A." = Moronic Bastards Arguing

I wish there was a "Dilbert" for Nursing.

I don't think it's a problem confined specifically to Nursing, although being a Nurse, I see it almost every day in a Nursing context. For years I've thought that it's because Nurses are not given any kind of training in management of employees or business practices. While this is true, I don't think it's exclusive to Nursing, either. This from a recent column on the Website Save WRKO:

By contrast, in talk radio, executives who have never programmed a radio station, much less been behind the mic, are increasingly in charge of hiring and firing talk show hosts. These "suits" come from sales, FM music stations, television news, public radio outlets and even outside of broadcasting altogether.

Even worse, these managers won't even admit to the problem, which is why so many in the media are now bearish on radio broadcasting's future.

One of the commenters ("LOL") puts it even more succinctly:

Yup, the trend for a long time was to move from operations to management. The idea being you knew the core business. Now the trend is just be a manager, a la MBA schools. No specific skills needed; except how lie, cheat and blame others.


One of the places I've been working recently is a prime example. They hired a new CEO last year from a nursing background and put her in charge of this Orthopedic hospital. She has a Master's in nursing, but no administrative or management training. Since her hiring she has fired (or had quit) almost every single management person in the hospital. Most of those who have quit have cited her unreasonable demands and refusal to consider input from the floor nurses.

Power Trip. Head Rush. Megalomania.

The second case from another place I've recently worked is somewhat similar. (In fact, this was pretty much the case when I worked at Porter Memorial in Valparaiso.) This second place is what we call a Skilled Nursing Facility -- essentially a Nursing Home with Hospital Trappings. Created when the Medicare Reform Act began capping the amounts they would pay to hospitals for care of Medicare Patients, these turbocharged Nursing Homes were created to provide the same care for less money.

Unfortunately, this put what were colloquially termed "Nursing-Home Nurses" (i.e., Nurses with Nursing experience limited to Long-Term Care) making Nursing decisions for patients far outside their experience bases and scopes of practice. When they are constantly challenged and even reprimanded for their incompetence, they turn bitter, nasty, grossly unprofessional, and start to become a major reason these facilities lose "good nurses" with the skill sets necessary to work with these challenging patients. The image provided here is from a t-shirt company, which just goes to show how widespread these negative feelings have become in Nursing.

Nor is it a recent phenomenon. When I was a young student the phrase was "Nurses eat their young." There is one of these Skilled nursing Facilities where I've worked is infamous for the terrible treatment this supervisor heaps on them day after day. In fact, the last I heard a majority of the available LVNs and RNs have refused to work with this Supervisor. (I personally have had the wonderful experience of having her call me a "Dumb-Ass Agency Nurse," which she and another staff nurse found uproariously funny and alughed in my face about all night.)

Abusive. Insulting. Cruel.

These are the reasons, in my honest opinion, why we have a nursing shortage today. Between the incompetence of the management and the abusiveness of the supervisors, Nursing in many cases becomes a matter of "Survival of the Fittest," with those developing the thickest skin being able to stay on to slog through another day in Hell.

And they then become as abusive, insulting, cruel, and incompetent as their mentors -- and perpetuate the "Nurse Rachet" archetype.

Is there a solution? God, I hope so. I'll be damned if I know what it is.

~~JD~~

Friday's Feast

Appetizer: On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being highest) how much do enjoy watching sports on television?

It depends a LOT on the sport and the specific event. I have fond memories of watching the Chicago Cubs on WGN-TV (8), so that's something I can do anytime they're on and enjoy. Football, I like the playoffs (7) (or the Super Bowl - 6), and I like college ball (8) more than the Pros. Basketball -- I love those San Antonio Spurs anytime (8).

Soup: If you could completely memorize any one work of fiction, which one would you pick?

Fiction? Shakespeare's Hamlet. I memorized the soliloquy in high School. It's so beautiful and deep and depressing. I'm currently actually trying to memorize the books of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John from the Bible. It has more practical application for my life.

Salad: What is your favorite breakfast food?

Certainly not Salad; that's for sure. Does day-old cold pizza with ketchup count? No? Then probably cold Coco Crispies cereal with milk; with Toast and Jelly coming in a close second.

Main Course: Name something fun you can do for less than $10.00.

Buy a beer and watch the tourists go by on the Riverwalk. Ride the mini-locomotive at the San Antonio Zoo. Re-read a book I've already read. Watch a movie matinee. Memorize some Bible passages. Take a walk and watch the sunset. Pray.

Dessert: How long does it usually take you to fall asleep?

The one skill I learned in the Army and still use. If I'm not asleep in ten minutes, that's a LONG time for me. Once my head hits that pillow, I imagine I can feel the gentle roll of the earth beneath me towards the west and that's pretty much it -- out we go.

~~JD~~

Nursing Myths (Part I)

Nursing Myths. You've heard them; when some big-mouthed nurse spouts out something that everyone in the Nursing Station knows is false, but everyone's afraid to say anything about it for fear of losing their job?

It drives me nuts. It's the one thing about Nursing that makes me want to take up that fascinating new career in truck driving. Here's a few I've run across in the last month:

Black Ink is ONLY to be used on official documents.

Uhhmmm -- no, it's not. Here's why: the only official government standard for ink colors is defined by Medicare, which specifies "blue, black, or blue-black ink." Some hospitals have defined this down further to "black or blue-black ink," but Black Ink has never been defined as the ONLY ink acceptable for charting or documentation. Don't believe me? Go look at your own SOPs -- they probably say the exactly same thing.

Insulin must be refrigerated.

I've actually seen nurses go into a Tizzy when their refrigerators had to be cleaned because Insulin must be refrigerated. Check your Product Inserts that come with the medication: Insulin only needs to be refrigerated until opened. After it's open, it's good from between 28 and 30 days without refrigeration. And even if the insulin vial is unopened, it's still good as long as it doesn't get above room temperature until the expiration date on the label.


RNs are better than LVNs. This one is a particular favorite of mine. Case in point: one place I worked recently we had four LVNs, two RNs, and a physician on the floor when my patient started to complain of chest pain. The doctor ordered an EKG while everyone else stood around and looked at each other. Take a wild guess who (a) put o2 on the man, (b) gave him the Nitroglycerin under his tongue, elevated the head of his bed 45 degrees, and hooked him up to telemetry?

That would be me -- the LVN.

When the EKG was done I took it to the Charge nurse, who gave it to the doctor, who promptly said he didn't know what to make of it, and left the floor. The RNs put their heads together and hemmed and hawed about it but didn't see anything too bad about it. Guess who was the one who pointed out to the RNs that the man had (a) and inverted T wave, (b) prolonged QRS, and (c) a depressed ST segment -- all indicative of a current myocardial infarction (or "M.I." -- a Heart Attack) in progress?


That would be me -- the LVN.

So the Charge Nurse called the cardiologist, who promptly gave the order to transfer him to the ICU, give oxygen and Nitroglycerin, and start telemetry -- all of which I'd done a half-hour before. (Did I mention this was my first day at this facility -- everyone else there was either staff or had been there several times previous?)

So two days later when the Supervisor wanted to put me under contract with their facility, who was it that was signed up for long-term work at this facility? That would not be me -- the LVN with 26 years experience, a Bachelor's degree, and cardiac/ICU experience. No no, that would be fresh-out-of school Associate's Degree RN with less than a year's experience who stood around wondering what to do while my patient was having his M.I.

Why did they sign the brand-new RN instead of me? Because the Chief Nursing Officer of this facility is a moribund old-school nurse who "only wants RNs."

Which just goes to show that degrees don't give you brains, despite what the Wizard of Oz might say.

~~JD~~

Busy, Busy, Busy . . .

I'm in the middle of a hot gig this week -- working 13-hour days for a major hospital in downtown San Antonio. It's a unique kind of place -- the hospital occupies a skyscraper built in the 1930's -- so art deco decor is the rule.

Here's the view outside my window -- eighteen stories up on the Ortho ward. (ICU and Surgery are on top on the 23rd floor.)

And I'm making money hand over fist doing it -- but have very little time to post while I'm doing it. (I should be in bed right now!) In the meantime -- here's a picture of the bathroom -- with Italian marble walls and ceramic floors. Absolutely awesome. (You should see the Art Deco sprinklers!)


I'll give you a tour when I get a second.


~~JD~~

Milestones

** As of Last night, I crossed the milestone of my 300th post since I started this blog.

** We just passed visitor 5,266 this morning. (I know, the counter is malfunctioning -- I'm working on it.)

** This is my 109th post of the year so far. Our previous record was 92 in 2005. We're on track to hit 200+ this year. Blame youTube.

I have no idea what's gotten into me. Well, part of my intention when starting this blog was to increase my writing output so I could eventually start writing professionally. Seems to be succeeding.

~~JD~~

Friday's Feast

This si the Thanksgiving feast that my 15 year old son cooked by himself for us in 2005. (He's a scary kid sometimes!)

Appetizer: What is your favorite fruit?

Jim Carrey. Why are you laughing?

Soup: Who is someone you consider as a great role model?

Gee, that list is long and distinguished. Ronald Reagan. Martin Luther King. Mahatma Ghandi. David Robinson. Ordell Gertsmeier (my uncle.) Socrates. The Apostle John. Dale Ciciora, my high school basketball coach. Albert Einstein. Harry Truman. But if I had to choose one, it would be Jesus Bar-Joseph of Nazareth, a turn of the millennia humble carpenter.

Salad: If you were to spend one night anywhere within an hour of your home, where would you choose?

Sorry, that's a trick question. There's no place like home.

Main Course: Name something you do too often.

Again, my life is too full. Eat ice cream; scratch my nose (and people think I'm picking it! -- eeewwwwww!!!); Make a fool of myself; wallow in self-pity; dance like a monkey.

Dessert: Fill in the blank: I really like ___________ because ____________.

I really like Nursing because you just don't get that feeling of being of service to people in other jobs.
I really like Driving because it's a challenge -- it's a lot harder than it looks!.
I really like Traveling because exposure to other cultures and peoples really makes you think.
I really like Scuba Diving because it's the closest thing to Flying outside of an airplane.
I really like Reading because it lets my mind soar.

~~JD~~

Dispatches From Deep Inside the Nursing Shortage

I've just finished writing a statement for my employer about the job I had last night. I think it's illustrative of what the Nursing Profession is facing today, so I thought I'd share:


When I received the call to work at this facility, I estimated to the scheduler that I could be at there by 8pm. (Normal call time is 7pm, but she called about 6:30pm for a “late call.”) With a lot of effort I was able to arrive at 7:10 pm and reported to the Nights Supervisor, who was in report with her Days counterpart. I told her, “I’m here! Where do you want me?” Her reply was to wave and say, “Bye-Bye.”

I realize that I was interrupting her report, but I needed to (a) let her know I was there, and (b) where she wanted me to work. I didn’t need to be greeted with a smart-ass remark, Thank You. This is very typical of this particular Supervisor’s remarks not only to me but to all the staff and temp workers. She tends to be curt, rude, angry, dismissive, and annoyed that we do not know every single procedure that even the regular nurses admit they don’t know either.

This is not limited to Agency Nurses. I have heard several other staff from this facility complain about her belittling tone and negative comments – one comment I heard was “I get so tired of hearing her say everything we do is wrong; everything we do is bad; that we can’t do anything right all the time.” For instance, this supervisor told me to complete an admission on a new patient, then became angry that (a) the Day Shift had not completed the admission in less than two hours, and (b) I had never done an admission at there before. (The paperwork varies greatly from facility to facility; and considering that their payments from the insurance companies depend on getting this stuff right, its something a regular staff member should be doing – not an Agency temp nurse.) Her responses for the rest of the night were curt and had a snappish tone to them.

The next challenge was to find the medications required. The Pharmacy at this facility is notorious for shorting medications available to the medications carts, and the other nurses frequently resort to raiding the other patients carts for medications for their own patients. I was fortunate in that I only needed two bags of IV fluids to complete my medications. However, I had to stand at the door of the Pharmacy almost ten minutes while the pharmacy tech worked in adjacent room, ignoring calls from both myself and a staff nurse. Both the ten minute wait as well as the ignoring staff members were completely unprofessional and unacceptable behavior, as well as very frustrating personally.

That night I had 6 patients – Categories IV (2 patients) and III (4 patients) Acuity. (“Patient Acuity” categorizes patients according to how much work they will require and how ill they are. Category I$ is the most intensive and usually requires one-to-one care; Category III is still difficult but requires a nurse to only have two of these patients, etc.) Because we were short-staffed everyone had six patients, except for the staff nurse from this facility who had five. Even their “loaner” nurse from their sister facility had six patients. (Staff nurses were reassigned to their lower-acuity unit.) The last time I worked at this facilty I had five patients; Categories IV (4 patients) and III (1 patient who we transferred in the middle of the shift to Hospice.) So, we were critically short staffed. (This happens daily in most facility since Congress started cutting Medicare and Medicaid patients, and will only increase as the baby-boomers get older.)

There was more than just “angry tones” to the other staff. An LVN who is regular staff at Compass glared at the other staff members and temps alike, making deep sighing noises and responding to requests with either eye-rolling, grunts, or smart remarks. When I entered the Nursing Station he glared at me, then took his charts into another room to work on them. As he brought them to the other room he slammed them onto the tabletops with loud banging noises several times; so much so that I had to look to see if he was either throwing these charts at someone or had thrown them to the floor. At one point later he and I were working on a patient at the bedside, and he was all smiles, very pleasant, professional, and reassuring. Once we returned to the nursing Station, he immediately resumed his unprofessional and rude behavior.

Towards the end of the night on of my disoriented patients tore off her chest dressing. I had the Supervisor find and open the dressing cart for me, but the only supply I could find that the physician had ordered was Kerlex; no Idosorb or Adaptic dressings were available, either in the dressing cart or the supply room. (In fact, the dressing I originally saw was not according to the physician’s orders, either.)


So my shift at this facility was marked by a high work load, angry responses, smart remarks, deep sights, curt responses, being ignored by staff, insufficient supplies and medications, and what sounded like a violent temper tantrum in the room behind me. Oddly enough, I saw the parent company of this facility (Psychiatric Solutions) recommended on one of the Fox Saturday financial Morning Shows as a “Best Buy” recommendation. Well, I can certainly attest that they’ve found a way to save money – they don’t provide sufficient materials, and they overwork their nurses.

Things I Don't Recall Reading in the Brochure About Becoming A Nurse

Disimpaction (The art form of manually -- i.e., using your own fingers -- to dig poo-poo out of the butt of an impacted patient.)

Whenever any patient REQUESTS Disimpaction!!!

Traumatic Amputation of a limb -- any limb.

Dying Children.

Projectile Vomit.

Explosive Diarrhea.

Angry Family Members.

Know-It-All Family Members.

Overprotective Family Members.

Family Members in Bed having Sex in the Hospital.

Gangrene in any form, on any body part.

Co-Workers Stealing Your Lunch.

Sexual Discrimination.

Office Politics.

Suppositories.

Enemas.

~~JD~~

Friday's Feast

This is me waiting for a Chow packet in Desert Storm -- I'm center in the picture, about 10th from the left with the mustache facing the camera. Handsome rascal!



Appetizer - What was the first job you ever had?

The Very First job I ever had was a lemonade stand on the corner. We just so happened to set it up the day Valparaiso University had Commencement -- we made over a hundred dollars in 1960's money. I was heartbroken when I had to divvy the money up with my cousins and sisters who trucked water and lemonade back and forth -- I thought I was gonna be rich right there!


Soup - (Taken from Bravo’s Inside the Actor’s Studio) - Name a profession you have always wanted to try.

I always wanted to be the Computer Guy that everyone's looking for when their PC breaks down. I may yet do that as a second career after I retire from nursing. There doesn't seem to be much of a market for nude skydivers.



Salad (also from the Actor’s Studio) - Name a profession you would NEVER want to try.

Sludge Pit Reclamation Worker. Office Drone. Professional Crab Fisherman. Exotic Dancer.


Entree - (also from the Actor’s Studio) - What is your favorite sound in the world?

Train Horns. Like George Bailey said, it's one of the greatest sounds in the world, along with Steam Ship whistles and Car horns -- it means we're going somewhere!


Dessert - (and from the Actor’s Studio) - If there is a Heaven, what would you like to hear from God when you arrive?

Well, there *IS* a heaven -- I've been there (long story.) I just don't want Him to be unhappy when I get there -- that's all. Something like, "You don't have to impress Me -- You've done plenty." Let is be said of us that our hearts belonged to Jesus; that we spoke the words of Life; that our lives were made a Blessing for Life.

~~JD~~

Happy Independence Day !

And God Bless them and Protect them while they do it.

And while I generally don't like or recommend rap, this group ("Stuck Mojo") has a truly awesome video that pretty much conveys how I feel about the Religion of Piss. (NOTE: Profanity Alert for those with tender ears.)



~~JD~~