Monday, March 31, 2008

That's the new thing?

I don't know where this came from, but I've got this new thing that I'm doing. I call it not-sneezing. Truthfully, it's a little annoying. I've spent 25 years getting very used to and comfortable with my standard double-sneeze. But now I can feel one coming on, then it just goes away... into nowhere! Not only do I miss the double, but I sometimes get cheated out of even the single!

Weird, huh?

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Old people swearing = instant comedy!

Last week might have had THE funniest patient encounter I've ever experienced anywhere. Mike and I were seriously fighting back the tears from laughing so hard. It revolves around one of our cardiac patients, whom I'll call JP. He's a pretty quiet, kinda bumbly old man. Even makes those weird old-man-gasps when getting up or exerting himself much. Always seems a little spacey, especially when he shows up on the wrong day. Anywho... he has become a whole new character to us lately.

So JP finished up his workout and was coming over to Mike and me to check out. As he's sitting down we both here a little mutter that ended in "bullshit!" We... were... floored. We look at him, both going, "What was that, JP?!" And he looked up kinda like, "Huh? Nothing..." Again, "C'mon JP, what did you say there?" And we get, "Umm... hellooooo!" His avoidance just makes it that much more hilarious. It's like he's 5 and getting busted for saying "damn!"

It got even better when he started explaining. He nodded towards another cardiac patient (Petey) and started venting about how he just starts talking and doesn't really stop, then does the flapping-mouth motion with his hand, going "blah blah blah!" Mike and I are pretty much dying at this point because of how true it is. That's why it's funny... because it's so true! Petey has (unasked) started telling us WWII stories, railroad histories and how he used the Heimlich on his step-mother at dinner. I actually had Mike page me to the front desk just to get away from a 20-min rambling.

The end? We doubt it. Because we love amusement like that, we told Petey to make sure he catches up with JP whenever he can. In Mike's own words, which he says a lot between us, "...straight to hell..." Yeah, probably. :P

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Part II: I Dunno...

I previously alluded to there being a second part to the story of my NY trip. I also asked Nikki earlier today, "What should I blog about?" Her response: "I dunno." So there you have it. Maybe that sums up my overall feeling better than any other clever phrasing. So what's the deal? A while back, my butt-twin expressed concern over a romantic couple in which the guy saw his girl's usually endearing traits as annoying. My problem seems to be the opposite: guy has several asshole-ish traits that should totally turn girl off, but they're still together.

So yeah, I felt like Renee and I both caught some dumbass behavior from her live-in boyfriend, OD. Let me count the things for which I hate thee:
1. You spent more time playing on my Wii than you did interacting with your real-life girlfriend.
2. You made gaming about "perfection", not fun.
3. You hogged games, then snapped at Renee for doing things wrong. Or you tried to console her over the littlest things. She's not a baby.
4. You went to work.... once. She went to at least 4 shifts while I was there.
5. When we walked home at 11 PM in the fuckin' cold, you didn't offer her your coat. I did.
6. I had to remind you the next day about going to change your tire.
7. I had to SHOW you how the crank and tire iron fit together, then you got snappy with me for not wanting to hold the cold metal while I had no gloves.
8. You thanked me for none of my help.
9. You did not help me navigated properly at all.
10. You changed my stereo without even asking. All control privileges are strictly those of the pilot UNLESS you are invited to take over. You were not.
11. You did not remember to get the meds Renee needed, even after I mentioned it a few times.
12. You nearly had us buy lots of shitty beer.

Before this trip, I liked OD. I thought he and Renee were good for each other. I didn't want to punch him. But things change. I realize that I don't like him anymore, and that I don't think he's good enough for her. He is merely hanging onto her coattails and providing a slight financial relief in the rent. He is more burden than reward and he can't even listen to her warnings about how serious the situation is. I guess there's been some fighting lately, and she's not sure they're gonna make it thru this as a couple. He's not the anchor that holds her steady, but the one that holds her back. I'm not wishing things to go bad between them, but.... I dunno.
I guess the right thing to do would be to pray.

Sunday, March 9, 2008

My Freshman Y- zzzzzz...

Wait - did you click on the right link? Maybe punch in the URL a little too hastily and got the wrong page? Weird... why is there a book review on here?! Because it's Sunday night and I'm mixing things the hell up! But pay attention to what follows - it might save you.

It's been a few weeks since I finished a book. It got to the point where I was juggling 3 at a time to keep myself entertained, but I just finished one of them up tonight. It's called My Freshman Year* with some extended subtitle I'm not looking up... by Rebekah Nathan. Let's cut to the chase: 2 out of 5 stars.

It's a true book written by an anthropologist at NAU after she spends a year enrolled there as a freshman. Her motivation for this was to understand students and the American college culture a little better, as she admittedly didn't lately. In reading the premise, I thought this had great potential, but it really fell flat for me. The real problem was that it really didn't tell me anything I didn't already know from firsthand experience. This feeling was conveyed by several of the Amazon reviews I read prior to finishing it up, and not all of them from people like me with not-so-distant memories of college.

Want some mind-benders? Behold:
-Lots of underage students still drink at college.
-Various degrees of cheating go on all the time.
-Having class on Friday is frowned upon.
-Some students are so rushed that they sleep in class.
-Despite university initiatives to encourage (ethnic/international) diversity, many students hang out with others just like them.
-Students learn to tailor their opinions so that it pleases the teacher even if it's not what they genuinely believe or assert.

No.... shit. Again, maybe it's obvious to me, but lots of other people think she could've found the same results way faster by conducting direct interviews instead of adopting this "undercover" method of immersion. I do credit her with designing a research experiment that allowed her to naturally experience the field in question, but it also brings on questions of ethics in hiding her identity as a faculty member.

What really made it hurt is that it just draaaaaagged in so many places. I honestly had to force myself to sit down and push thru even the last 4 pages of her concluding chapter. It shouldn't be that hard. It also got really annoying that all of her footnotes were pushed to a section in the back. That meant flipping back and forth, sometimes just to find the title of an old study referenced. Well, I said fuck that, and just quit reading them. And really... anyone that throws out "reciprocity" as much as her needs a firm elbow in the sternum.

Really, the only thing that saved this review from 1 star (and me from binge-drinking away the pain) was that this book illustrated how wide the average is in the "average college student." I never thought of myself as the average, but I was much closer than I thought (with regard to her sampling). Many of us learn the shortcuts (geographically, academically, etc.), lose the urge to party all the time, and turn to doing enough work to get by. But we don't look at teachers as the enemy as she hints. I had some great teachers, and this ignorant message of hers only makes me want to e-mail them, catch up, and thank them for being as great as they were.

Meh - could've been a great revelation to future students, current students, parents, anyone... but it just turned out kinda ignorant and sneaky. Approach with caution.