Friday's Feast!

Appetizer: Using only one word, how does grocery shopping make you feel?

Serendipitous. How's that?


Soup: What is your favorite part about the season of Autumn?

That I live in South Texas, where it doesn't get cold. Seasonal Change is highly overrated.

Salad: Have you ever had any bad experiences online?

Oh yes. For some reason I tend to attract trolls and inflame them. I've had to rename myself to stay on a few boards I like. It's almost funny.

Main Course: Name three things that make you happy daily.

God; my Wife (the lovely and gracious Miss Mommy, whom I don't deserve), and my son, the Wonder Boy. What else do I need?

Dessert: What one household cleansing or organizing item would you not want to be without?

Febreze. If you have animals, you can't live without this stuff. Actually removes the smells, doesn't just mask them. Incredible stuff.

Eeewwwww! I'm having Febreze for Dessert! Eeeewwww! just, Eeeww!

~~JD~~
(rinses mouth out with Listerine . . . )

On The Road Again

I’m sitting in the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport as I write this. I’m on the road to liveblog my father’s funeral.

Well, maybe not the best idea in the world; but some things you just get one chance for, right?

We got on the highway to the San Antonio airport at 5:45 am. Wonder of wonders, Julian the Wonder Boy was up early and ready to dump Dad off at the airport and be free of his tantrums for three days. We made a quick stop-off for souvenirs for Aunt Joanne at Wal-Mart (continuing our tradition of traveling the finer Wal-Marts of the world), then drove down U.S. 281 to the airport.

As we passed the end of the runway just south of Bitters Road I feigned slamming the car through the barriers towards the runway lights to my right. “Oh Look – there’s the Airport!!!!,” I screamed malevolently.

Julian rolled his eyes in that teen-aged way that all teenagers seem to have instinctively – knowing full well that their parents are complete and total idiots, and that they know everything in the world. “There no exit there, Dad.”

“Well, there is NOW!,” I cackled.

Julian sighed, deeply. ™.

************************************************

Got into the airport a little after 6:30 am for my 10:10 am flight and checked in. Someday I want to meet Richard Reid, the idiot jihadist who tried (unsuccessfully) to light his explosive-laden shoes on fire and blow up a plane. I want to thank him – personally – for making me and millions of other air travelers have to partially disrobe to get through the metal detectors. Oh, and the knucklehead jihadis who made it impossible for me to bring my shaving cream, body wash, and/or antiperspirant onboard the flight.

Fortunately, I had brought half-empty cans of the above for the flight. Usually I buy brand new stuff to take – had I had to throw away $15.00 of brand-new supplies, I’d be really pissed right now instead of mildly annoyed.


So there I was at 7:30 am, waiting for my 10:10 am flight when I heard the melodious tones of the American Airlines announcer impart her wonderful wisdom that the flight for Dallas leaving in 10 minutes had seats available, and anyone wishing to go now from a later flight could board now.

Fancy that!

So I did, which is why I’m in the airport in Dallas at 9:20am – almost an hour before my regularly scheduled flight departs from San Antonio. I might even be able to get back to San Antone early and pick up a shift at the Ortho Hospital Saturday. That’s a GOOD thing when you have unexpected expenses suddenly, like flights for funerals and falderal.

And, as you can see from the photo, the bathrooms in Dallas are not only bilingual; they are also designated tornado shelters. Weird.

I think if the tornado comes, I do NOT want to die in the DFW men's bathroom. I'd probably die under the pile of U.S.Senators hanging out there.

***************************************

The shortest flight on record -- 52 minutes flat. The plane (an MD-80 for those of you who understand this lingo) went straight up, straight down, and BAM!, there we are.

Cool!

****************************************

We got in and I immediately asked the ticket agent when the next flight to Des Moines was -- "It's in twenty minutes. You'll have to Hurry -- it's in terminal B-9."

Two terminals away!

Fortunately they have this nifty people-mover monorail that got me over to Terminal B-9 about 1 minute before the 9:40 am flight left -- and it was delayed until 10:00 am.

Perfect!

Off we go again!

Epitaph for my Father

Whenever someone in my family passes on, I sit down and do a sort of stream-of-consciousness thing that allows me to vent a little, remember a lot, and sort of prioritize what I remember about them. Puts it in context; allows me to work through some stuff, and gives me an incredible sense of peace. I've printed some of those here; I may print some of those again later.

This one is for my Dad. It kept me up until 1:00 am this morning -- once these things get their hooks in me, it's hard to just put them down until they're done with me.

John Edward Long: February 13th 1928 to August 31st 2007. 79 years old.

Born to two parents who didn’t stay together long after his birth, he was taken by his mother, who promptly put him up in a Catholic orphanage. When he tried to get her permission to go through Catechism to please the nuns at the orphanage, she quickly yanked him out. He suffered from rickets due to being a small child in the Depression; an unwanted sidekick to a single mother trying to snag a husband. And after she married Ray Glynn, she had him shipped off to Mexico Military Academy in Mexico MO.

He responded by rebelling in his own semi-quiet way. A kid who just wanted a little attention; he stole, he got into fights, he excelled at sports. He edited the Mexico student paper, where he emphasized his own exploits. “LONG CARRIES THE MAIL” the headline read, even though another boy had scored all the winning touchdowns. He went home to Centerville for holidays, and got into fights with his father Roy. One of the fights was about a girl named Shirley, his first wife. He lied about his age and joined the Army Air Corps, where he was either thrown out for stealing cigarettes from the vending machines, or lied about his age to join and was thrown out for that.

He used his GI bill benefits to get a degree in accounting. He worked for the Austin Company and traveled to Albuquerque NM, White Bear Lake MN, King of Prussia PA, Los Angeles and San Francisco CA, Chicago IL, and Tehran Iran at various times. He was the financial Controller for the Sears Tower construction project in Chicago. There he met his second wife (also Shirley), who left him after six months. He blamed drinking. "If I'm sorry for anything, it's that. And the booze, of course, I just couldn't lay off the f***ing booze -- which was the real problem."

While building the Indiana General plant in Valparaiso Indiana he met a girl soda-jerking at Torbeson’s Drug Store. He told the story many times of how they met. He ordered an ice cream sundae from her:
“Whipped Cream?” she asked naively.
He made an anticipatory face, “Oh Yes, Please!”
She giggled and ladled the cream on top of the Sundae. “Crushed Nuts?” she asked.
He replied, “Oh no, it’s just my back hurting . . . “

Then he would laugh and laugh, amused at his own lascivious wit.

They married and had three children; my sisters and I. They divorced in 1967 after ten years of marriage, but she left him in 1963 after the birth of the youngest. Mom would never talk about it, but Dad had said one time after a drunken binge that he had made a pass at my Kindergarten teacher and accused my mother of being unfaithful. “Dumbest thing I ever did,” he’d said. "I just couldn't stop looking for that greener pasture. All those women I married, all those whores -- and the only one that was really worth a damn was your mother. I treated her like dirt, and she still was the best thing I ever found."

There were others after my Mom; Julie in Illinois; Judy from Illinois; Barbara from California. Then one day in 1976 he had re-appeared on our doorstep, knuckles bloodied and hiding out from someone. His few-day stay turned into fifteen years and his seventh marriage. “We were married over 25 years if you count them both together,” he said just two weeks ago. It was something he was actually proud of. After that, there was another woman in South Haven IN, then Lana in Centerville.

Nine marriages. That’s not counting Joan in California and the other assorted live-ins from time to time.

Was he a good father? No, but I think he tried to be. He paid $200 a month child support at a time when he was only court mandated to pay $15.00 a month. He tried to have us kids over to see us for holidays or vacations once a year. He drove us to Illinois in the winter; and flew us to Washington and California during the summer.

Did he love us? Who knows. I don’t think he even liked himself very much.

He could be maddening sometimes, but in fairness, all my memories of these problems seem to involve alcohol. He did a month for Public Intoxication in Valparaiso and made it sound like Summer Camp. He would scream and throw things, but was angry at himself and try to make it up to you when he sobered up.

Alternately, he could be the kindest, most generous man you ever met. He paid several thousand dollars to move us from Missouri just so he could see his grandson. He bough our Mom several cars when she had no transportation, and hired a truck to clean up the property (which was very dilapidated when we moved in.) There were other things too; buying annuities for his grandchildren, helping out neighbors who had been burned out; even paying for the college education of a secretary of his who couldn’t afford it.

Does it balance out? NO – not even close.

But as you get older, you may not agree with your parents’ choices; you may not like your parents’ choices; you may not even like your parents themselves very much.

But you understand. As you gain more experience and context, you understand a little more.

Dad, I understand. I don’t agree with all your choices, and I don’t like some of what you did. But I understand.

And some of it was . . . even a little bit fun.

Thanks, Dad.

More Pictures of My Dad

One of my favorite photos, because it has my sister Rose in it too (very few photos of my sisters as babies have survived the years.) Dad's kicked back in the grass, and I'm kicked back laying on top of him. I actually remember when this was taken -- I must have been 4 years old or so.








I'd forgotten I'd had this one until I started looking through the old albums. Here's Dad, the uncomfortable new father with his (I'd guess) 1-month-old son uncomfortably on his lap. You can almost read his mind -- he's thinking, "oh CRAP!!! -- goodbye bachelorhood!!! I think he looks a lot like Dean Martin in this picture. (Well, this was right around the heyday of the Rat Pack, just post-"Martin & Lewis", so that's probably right.























My Dad told me once this was a staged picture -- him making a face while I cried about something. Again with the Dean Martin look here. Another of my favorite pictures of him -- but they all seem to be my favorite picture right now . . .





















The family standing around at my sister Rose's wedding rehearsal in May 1986. My Dad is at far left standing uncomfortably in the brown sports coat jacket.











Again the Wedding Rehearsal, with Dad at left avoiding the camera. He never got along well with Mom's side of the family, which is why I was astonished he showed up for this.








I'm less than a year old here; so sometime in late 1958. Those pajamas are a stitch! I love the little cap.





















I'm about 2 years old here; so this had to be about 1960. For some reason my cousin Nancy shows up in every picture taken that Christmas with that ukulele. My mother in this pictures look almost exactly like my sister Rose looks today.




~~JD~~

Hurricane Felix Update

Yup, turning North -- just like I thought. here we go . . .



UPDATE (4:30 pm): I gotta go buy some bottled water.



UPDATE (5:45 pm): The sun has clouded over, the wind has picked up from the Southeast, and big fat drops of rain are falling. The rain bands being thrown off by this thing are enormous!

~~JD~~

Hurricane Alert: Felix 2007

Stay tuned. South Texas could see something later this coming week.

~~JD~~

John E. Long; 1928 - 2007

John Edward Long, of Centerville Iowa, passed away Friday, August 31, 2007 in Centerville. He was born February 13, 1928 to Roy E. and Rose (Espy) in Centerville and had been a resident of Centerville for 12 years, after retiring from Valparaiso, IN.










He was employed as an Accountant most of his life and a house painter after retirement and was a Chicago Cubs fan with an encyclopedic memory of the team. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army Air Corps in WWII, and traveled extensively in his work, listing addresses in Centerville IA, Valparaiso IN, Albuquerque NM, White Bear Lake MN, King of Prussia PA, Los Angeles and San Francisco CA, Chicago IL, and Tehran Iran at various times. He was the financial Controller for the Sears Tower construction project in Chicago.






He is survived by his ex-wife of 25 years, Sarah A. Long of Valparaiso; his sister Mrs. Joanne Terrones of Centerville; his brother Richard “Butch” Long of Centerville; sons: John D. Long of San Antonio TX; daughters Rose E. Long of Valparaiso and Kathleen Long of Norfolk VA; and four grandchildren.















He was preceded in death by his parents. In accordance with his wishes no memorial service will be held. Memorials may be sent to the American Cancer Society. Cremation arrangements have been entrusted to Schmidt Family Funeral Home. 641-856-8661








I last saw my Dad two weeks ago at his apartment in Iowa. One of the last things we talked about was when he said, "I just couldn't stop looking for that greener pasture. All those women I married, all those whores -- and the only one that was really worth a damn was your mother. I treated her like dirt, and she still was the best thing I ever found."

"If I'm sorry for anything, it's that. And the booze, of course, I just couldn't lay off the f***ing booze -- which was the real problem.""








Good-Bye, Dad.


~~JD~~

God have mercy upon his soul.

My father died today at 5:45 pm in Centerville, Iowa.

God have mercy upon his soul.

~~JD~~

Ariane's Doing Fine, Thank You . . .

Ariane had her biopsy today, and was a real trooper about it. I stayed with her the whole time (except surgery, or course).






Ariane is mildly mollified by my taking pictures for the blog. (Don't tell her I posted them!) We arrived at 10 am after I worked a midnight shift the night before, so pardon me if I'm punchy -- I haven't slept yet.














Ariane came back after an hour and was pretty tired from the ordeal, but was out walking and ready to go home within an hour. We should have the results of the biopsy later next week (Labor Day Weekend, don't cha know?), but the two medical assistants who watched were strongly optimistic to us.
















Happy Ending!

~~JD~~

Friday's Feast!!!

Appetizer: Who is the easiest person for you to talk to?

God, no question. It didn't used to be that way at first, but I've found He's a really good listener.

Soup: If you could live in any ancient city during the height of the quality of its society and culture, which one would you choose?

Why in the world would you want to live in any ancient city? Poor hygiene, no air conditioning, terrible health care? These truly are the best of times.

Salad: What is the most exciting event you’ve ever witnessed?

The baptism of the first person I brought to Christ. I couldn't speak for half a day. After that, it was the movie "Somewhere in Time" with Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour. So terribly sad.

Main Course: If you were a celebrity, what would you do for a publicity stunt?

My own funereal. I have it all planned out -- a traditional Irish Wake with plenty of food, beer, and cocktails, and my cremated body in an urn they could pass around and reminisce with. (I'm actually planning on doing this too -- I think the traditional Irish Wake is very cathartic and healing.)

Dessert: What do you consider the ideal age to have a first child?

For the child, or for me? We had our son when I was 30, but my wife was 24 and suffered for it. My son, however, was an infant and that seemed just right for him. Generally I see less problems with couples in their late 20's / early 30's have happier families and better relationships. It makes me wonder how these teenaged pioneer families managed it!)

The International Nursing Shortage; or "Headhunting" Nurses from the Philippines

Here's an article from August 10th in the Asian Pacific Post details how apparently one of the greatest exports of the Phillipines is not just pineapples, electronics, textiles, and baskets, but . . . nurses!

In a Nursing Shortage! Imagine that!

Canadian hospitals are headhunting Filipino nurses working in Ireland, with offers of fast-track work visas, better wages and even low-interest-rate car loans. There are more than 10,000 foreign-born nurses working in Irish hospitals — a huge proportion of whom are Filipino nationals, Dublin media reported.

Yet the "headhunting" doesn't stop from Irish hospitals poaching Filippino nurses; Canadian hospitals poach from Ireland:

Filipino Overseas Ireland Ltd, which was on a recent recruitment drive, is hoping to attract 250 staff nurses for a hospital in Alberta. Quoting sources in the Irish-Filipino community, a hundred nurses based in Irish hospitals signed up to work in Canada at a recent recruitment fair. The steady exodus has led to the magazine Filipino Forum running a lead feature titled “Goodbye Ireland.”

To date, very few Filipino nurses have been awarded citizenship in Ireland, even though many came here almost seven years ago. “Very few have long-term residency, which is also only temporary. Even the first batch [of nurses] still haven’t got citizenship,” points out Michael Ancheta of Filipino Forum.

In stark contrast, the Canadian government allows brothers, sisters and parents to emigrate to Canada after four years. Other incentives include affordable subsidised housing grants as well as cheap car loans, local media said.

It also appears the Nursing Shortage is not solely an American phenomena:

In Alberta hospitals right now, roughly 20 per cent of Alberta’s 26,000 registered nurses are in a position to retire, creating a scenario for a serious shortage of nurses. There’s also a new provision that allows nurses considering retirement to work part time and still get full contributions to their pensions.

The nurse crunch is also being faced elsewhere in Canada. According to a 2004-05 government health report, there are 1,260 nurses per 100,000 people in Manitoba, 1,172 nurses per 100,000 in Saskatchewan, 1,020 nurses per 100,000 in Alberta and 823 per 100,000 in B.C. All across Canada, there’s 1,004 nurses per 100,000.

The article goes on to note that while Canadian employers benefit from the training and excellent english skills of Philippino nurses they recruit, such things as the Irish Green Card system and their children being treated as foreign students has made Ireland a nice place to visit, but they wouldn't want to live there.

“But it’s not just Filipino nurses who are leaving. In the past eight years, about 12,000 Irish nurses have left for places like Canada.”

Bonus!!!

Hat Tip to Interested Participant, who also notes:

So, nurses leave the Philippines for a better deal in Ireland. Then, nurses start leaving Ireland for a better deal in Canada. What's next? I don't know but it's worth mentioning that nurses get permanent residency visas upon arrival in the U.S.

That's true because after the Spanish-American war in 1898 the Philippines became an American possession (along with Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Guam.) Anyone who can prove their parents (or grandparents) were American citizens can almost automatically receive permanent residency in America pending citizenship application; which means practically the entire archipelago of the Philippines is eligible.

One of my wife's best friends is a staff nurse in Indiana -- and a Philippino. Almost all the charge and half the staff nurses I worked with at one hospital here are Philippino. They are especially in demand in South Texas for their bilingual abilities with the Hispanic population here.

The thing I'm seeing a lot more of lately? Nurses from Kenya. What's that about, other than there aren't enough nurses to go around in the USA?

~~JD~~

Nursing's "Dirty" Little Secret

I read with a great deal of amusement that Medicare is going to start refusing to pay for hospital acquired infections, which has sent shock waves through the medical community. as many as 10 to 25% (and some surveys say even more -- up to 40%) of everyone that enters a hospital will leave with an "Nosocomial" infection-- an infection they contracted in the hospital that they did not have before entering.

And it happens a lot. A LOT.

The reason I mention this at all is I got waylaid yesterday by that Performance Improvement guy. He seemed shocked that I was so "vociferous" about washing -my -damned -hands!

Well, frankly, I'm astonished that more people don't get sick, considering as little as most nurses wash their hands. Nurses know the Acronyms MRSA (Methcillin Resistant Staph Aureus), C-Diff (Clostridium Difficile), and VRE (Vancomycin Resistant E-coli) -- as well as that they were created by the overuse of antibiotics (MRSA and VRE in the hsopital setting, and C-Diff in Livestock.) Yet few realize (or WANT to realize) that every one of these organisms is vulnerable to two simple items readily available to every nurse every day:

Soap - and - Water.

I shower every night when I get home. I shower every morning before going to work. I wash my hands after any patient contact, before eating, and after the restroom. I've even been contaminated by MRSA before -- and got rid of the bug very simply.

Soap - and - Water.

I watched one nurse this afternoon wash her hands a total of three times the entire day. The sad part is, she was the only one I saw (besides myself) that washed her hands more than once the entire day! The main sink in the Nursing Station was DRY every time I came to wash my hands -- which means I was the only one using it all day.

So Medicare won't pay for hospital-acquired infections anymore?

Good for them. Maybe hospitals will finally get serious about employees washing their hands.

Eeeeewwwwwwwwww~

~~JD~~

Friday's Feast!

Appetizer: Say there’s a book written about your life. Who would you want to narrate the audio version?

Marcel Marceau? I think if there's ever a book wsritten about MY life, it'll be an abnormalpsychology textbook -- no audiobook necessary.

Soup: Take the letters from your favorite kind of nut and write a sentence. (Example: Perhaps every avenue needs understanding today.)

People have favorite kinds of NUTS? Really? That just seems rather silly to me.

Salad: If you could go back in time and spend one week in another decade, which decade would you choose?

I wouldn't need a whole week. I'd go back to the 1950's and buy 100 shares of Xerox. or the 1970'a and buy 100 shares of Microsoft.

Main Course: Name a song that brings back memories for you.

Anything by Boston, from any album. I've just loved their harmonies mixed with the heavy-metal sounds of the steel guitars.

Dessert: Do you prefer to wash your hands in cold water or warm water?

Ah, finally a NURSING question! You should always wash hands in cold water -- not necessarily freezing, but tepid to cool. Warm or hot water removes the essential skin oils and causes micro-fissures to form on the skin, which forces any micro-organisms you were trying to remove into the skin and can cause infection. So washing with hot water actually doesn't kill the germs -- it gives them a place to live and reproduce!

As You Can See, I've Been Playing With the Layout . . . .

Deleted a few things, rearranged a few others; and changed the layout entirely. That's the beauty of Blogspot; you can just change the entire layout with a click of the button.

The previous layout was a bit confining and limited my ability to post pictures -- you could put one picture in a column, and that was about it -- followed by another picture, and another; etc. This new layout lets me put two side-by-side. And it allows me to showcase the wonderful Day by Day comic strip in it's full glory.

I'm still working on the colors, though. You might see a few more tweaks over the next few weeks or so. As Douglas Adams liked to say, "Don't Panic."

~~JD~~

Living In The Cone

It's getting interesting around these parts -- like it usually does this time of year. This is the projected storm track currently for Hurricane Dean. The "cone" -- the yellow part where Dean is projected to go -- that's the part you pay attention to this time of year. Right now a High pressure area is parked over the southeastern U.S., which is sheltering south Texas from Dean's wrath. That's a good thing -- but still we prepare. If that High decides to slide off the Atlantic coast in the next 12 hours, everything changes.

** As I blogged last week HERE, The State has begun seeking volunteers for Nursing Home Evacuees.

** Just heard on Fox News the Alamodome has been set up for 13,000 refugees with enough food and water for 30 days.

** Evacuation Officials at the Alamodome have devised a method of color-coded wristbands to keep evacuee families together -- another lesson learned from Katrina.

** 30,000 barrels of gasoline have been shipped to the Rio Grande valley in case a massive evacuation is needed -- no stations will run out of gas like happened with the Katrina and Rita evacuations two years ago.

** As of last night both Ariane and I have 60 bottles of water in the backs of our cars.

** Today we pack our emergency kits -- just in case.


Because the truth of the matter is this -- if it's not Dean, it'll be Felix -- of whatever names of Hurricanes come after that. Hurricane season officially ends November 1st, and strong storms can and have occurred after that (remember the move The Perfect Storm -- that happened in November.)

That's life in the "cone".

~~JD~~

Another Great Moment In (Temp) Nursing

So I got a call last night -- the Skyscraper Hospital I like to work at is looking for someone tomorrow morning. Now, despite the fact this call comes at 7pm, I said "Sure -- sign me up." I go home, cancel my plans to re-arrange the living room and do our "Hurricane Packing" tomorrow (load the cars with water, pack emergency bags, etc.) and leave Julian home with an earache to pick up this shift.

So, there was some sacrifice involved is what I'm trying to say.

5am the call comes -- I'm canceled -- they have enough staff.

. . . . . . . Dammit.

Okay, well, no biggie -- I had plans, and didn't feel to good about leaving my sone home alone sick, but he's 16, right? We'll just follow plan "B" here.

Then at 6:45am, another call comes -- they do need you after all. Can you copme in Immediately? They'll even pay you a premium ($4.00/hour more) and pay for the 12 hours after all.


. . . . well, . . . . No.

See, this is the thing I hate most about Temp Nursing. You never know where or when you'll be working. You can get canceled at the last minute, and if you let them, they can jerk your strings back-and-forth all day.

Well, i decided not to let them do that today. Sick kid, Hurricane preparations to make -- and the last time this hospital did this, I was literally at the front door of the building when they called to cancel me -- got paid nothing.

Today they'll be short -- and I hope the stupid Night Supervisor that canceled me at 5am gets asked why they're short today. (With any luck at all, they'll hold her over to work my shift. Heh.)

Another Great Moment in Nursing

Si, I worked at another mis-managed facility in San Antone over the weekend. They begged for someone for three days, then only used me for two. Typical.

So the second night I was there I was having a lot of trouble closing the refrigerator door. I checked the temperature of the 'fridge and it was 54 degrees -- Way too warm for the medications in there. And amongst the meds in that fridge were four doses of Aranesp (R) -- what we call a "hematopoetic" medication; meaning it makes more blood for anemic patients. Cost? Between $5000.00 and $10,000 per dose -- all ruined.

No, I am not kidding.

So I started looking at why the door wouldn't shut. The freezer section was so completely frosted over from the door being ajar for so long it was impossible to close the fridge door. So, this happened over time -- a long time. I found the refrigerator temperature log, which is supposed to be done on a daily basis.

The last entry was August 19th -- 2006!!

So I defrosted the med refrigerator, as well as the Staff Refrigerator. Took me about three hours using the "Towel and Fan" method. (Unplug refrigerator, empty refrigerator, line bottom of fridge with towels, turn on fan full blast at freezer, watch those suckers melt like butter in an Iowa summer.)

And as soon as I started doing it -- it never fails -- there was one dumpy, obnoxious, frump of a nurse who had a snarky comment for me every time she saw me for the rest of the night.

"You know we have to get permission to clean the refrigerators, don't you?"

"I don't think you're using the correct solution to clean that."

"If those medications get to room temperature, they're no good."

"Make sure you get all that water up so nobody slips."

"You know it's too early to draw labs -- we don't usually draw labs this early."

Too lazy to do it herself, but just can't let it go by without whining about it. Surprisingly, there's more of these whiny, lazy nurses than you'd think. Every unit has one, but you get two or more and the place just gets unbearable. Nothing gets done, gossip abounds, and the innocent get blamed.

Unfortunately for me, the places with two or more of these whiners are the places bleeding staff -- and the places I work regularly.

Lucky me!

~~JD~~

Life Is What Happens on the way to the Flood

I received these two letters in the e-mail last week. The first is from Angel Staffing, who arranged the staff needs for the Hurricane Katrina evacuees two years ago, sent last Thursday:

The City of San Antonio and the State of Texas needs YOUR help!!!

Angel Staffing has been asked by the San Antonio Metro Health District and Baptist Child and Family Services to coordinate all medical staff San Antonio medical shelters around the clock for Tropical Storm Erin and Tropical Storm Dean evacuees.

ALL VOLUNTEERS WILL BE STAFFED IN SAN ANTONIO.

Primary evacuees will be from nursing homes, hospitals and assisted living facilities.

Here is an update about TS Dean:

TS Dean is strengthening and is expected to obtain hurricane status within the next 12 hour period. Based on information obtained during the 4:00 pm State Operations Center conference call with the National Weather Service, this storm is expected to become a major threat to Texas over the next week. Current modeling indicates this storm has the potential to grow to CAT 3 or CAT 4 status and is “likely” to impact the Texas gulf coast. Tasking from the State of Texas for Angel Staffing IS EXPECTED for what will become Hurricane Dean.

This will be challenging, but I know the medical staff of San Antonio are up to a challenge like this one! All volunteers are asked to commit to a minimum of 12 hours; 7am/pm-7pm/am.

It is not necessary to be affiliated with Angel's or to work for Angel's to volunteer. Angel Staffing is donating our time and efforts on behalf of the cause and we are simply helping out by coordinating volunteer's for this massive local effort. Please pass the word on to your friends and co-workers. If you plan to volunteer please call 616-9526 to let Angel's on call staff know you are planning on helping out. This coordination effort will be most sucessful with good communication, this way we utilize all medical staff in the most efficient manner.

Angel's will be waiting to hear from you, 210-616-9526!

Thanks to all of you,
Melanie Register
Executive Vice President
Angel Staffing, Inc.

The second is from the Texas Board of Nursing Examiners sent last Friday, sending broadcast e-mails to all south texas nurses who have e-mail accounts. (Apparently the State of Texas has learned well from Katrina's lessons):

Dear Texas Nurse:

The Texas Board of Nursing is sending you the following message because we have your email address. Your assistance may be needed in the event that Hurricane Dean makes landfall in Texas. If you are willing to volunteer, you are requested not to respond directly to this email but to the web address at the bottom of this message.

By responding, you are giving permission to Ready Texas Nurses/Texas Nurses Foundation to contact you.

Ready Texas Nurses Emergency Response Program, a project of the Texas Nurses Foundation, in its role as a private partner to the State Disaster Health Plan has been asked to identify nurses who may be willing to serve as volunteers in response to Hurricane Dean.

Hurricane Dean has picked up speed and no one knows exactly where Dean may make landfall. The State of Texas begins pre-staging and mobilizing assets 120 hours before hurricane force winds make landfall. With the increased speed of Dean the 120 hours alert could be as early as Saturday, August 18th.

Nurses are reminded that their first responsibility is to fulfill any obligations to their employer, either through their employer’s disaster plan or to carryout job assignments, especially if you are in a 100 mile radius of the disaster area. While the State of Texas has not totally completed its state plan, TNA believes the following are opportunities where nurses may be needed.

A. The State is setting up a system for evacuation of special need patients located in areas impacted by the hurricane. Multiple methods will be used to transport patients/evacuees to San Antonio, where evacuees will be triaged and assigned to appropriate shelters. Nurses will be needed to travel to San Antonio, where they will be assigned to a specially prepared bus and travel on the bus. The nurses will receive triaged patients onto the bus and will oversee and provide care of these patients while traveling back to San Antonio. Nurses accepting these assignments need to be skilled in life support.

B. As with any potential disaster there will be numerous shelters and emergency clinics established around the perimeter of the storm areas. Nurses will be needed for these areas as well. Depending on Dean’s path and where the storm makes landfall, nurses also may be needed to provide shelter support.

DSHS will provide more specific information as that information becomes known, which again will depend on Dean’s path and the impacted areas. Nurses should be able to volunteer for at least three days.

If you are want to volunteer for either of the above opportunities please reply by email to tna@texasnurses.org and provide the following information:

Full Name
RN License #
Phone # (s) where you can be reached during the next 12 hours. Indicate, work or cell phone
Email Addresses – where you can be reached both day or night
Where you can help: (1) Travel to San Antonio to man the special needs buses; or (2) work in one of the Special Needs Shelters (information to follow).

For just-in-time information and a list of recommended items to take with you when you volunteer please visit the Texas Nurses Association’s web site at http://www.texasnurses.org/rtn/rtn.htm.

Obviously, a lot of thought has gone into plnning for "the next Katrina." I haven't volunteered yet, but I'm sure I will as Dean gets closer. Of course, I'll keep you posted.

And, of course, this is all the San Antonio Spurs fault.

Huh? What? Spurs???

Yeeeessssss, the San Antonio Spurs. Every time they win an NBA championship, South Texas suffers a direct hit from a hurricane. In 2005 we got Emily, Katrina, and Rita.

Go, Spurs, Go. First we have to suffer through Tim Duncan's free-throw shooting -- now this. (sigh).

~~JD~~

Friday's Feast!!!

Appetizer: Describe your laundry routine. Do you have a certain day when you do it all, or do you just wash whatever you need for the next day?

About every other 2nd or third day I grab the laundry basket and start washing. That way it doesn't take so long. It drives me nuts to wait too long. I wash everything in the house.

Soup: In your opinion, what age will you be when you’ll consider yourself to truly be old?

I was truly old when I was twelve -- or, at least, I've felt that way since then. "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 1:9)

Salad: What is one of your goals? Is it short-term, long-term, or both?

Long Term: I need to finish my RN degree. I really should have done it a long time ago. Short Term: I need to get to bed -- right now.

Main Course: Name something unbelievable you’ve seen or read lately.

I saw a UFO about three years ago. If I hadn't been with my niece when it happened, I might have thought I was crazy. I saw a ghost about ten years ago. I still think I might be crazy just from that.

Dessert: On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how happy are you today?

Happiness is overrated. Service to others is more important. I'm happy if I've been of service to others, which is why I'm a nurse. Somewhere around a 7 currently, I guess -- but I haven't worked in a week.

~~JD~~

Vignettes from the Road (Aftermath)

************Updated 11:20 pm**************


Just in case anyone wondered what the "lifted leg" pose is all about -- Think Captain Morgan. "Got a little Captain in Ye?"

We rolled into San Antonio at 1:20 am; about 5 hours later than I figured. After the stop in Kansas at the Pizza Hut we made only one more stop for gas (no, it wasn't a Murphy USA or a Wal-Mart.) and for ice cream at a Braum's Ice Cream when we started to get funky. I could tell Julian was starting to get tired when he almost sideswiped a truck, so i drove from Dallas until I started to get leg cramps so bad I wanted to literally scream. He then drove from San Marcos home again. All things considered, he did a pretty damned good job.

We knew we were back in South Texas when the remnants of Hurricane Erin met us at the doorstep of San Antonio last night, and it's raining again. Unlike the drenching, dark clouds of spring and early summer, these are high, light sprinkling rains interspersed with drenching downpours as the rain bands of the hurricane move inland.

Hey, more rain for the Edwards Aquifer. Bring it on, Baby!

Update: It;s just after 9:20 pm. It's STILL raining sideways at a rate of 1.44 inches an hour, and we've had 4.56 inches, with 32 mph of wind.

Bring- It- On!!!

Update 2: We ended up with a total of 10 inches. Fill up my aquifer!

Beats the hell out of Chicago Snowstorms!

~~JD~~