"omigosh! Matt! You're working a Day shift?!?!?"
"yeah. I do them occasionally."
"how's it been?"
"well, it's brighter than night shift."
"...... And?"
"There are more people. It's much much louder."
"Yeah. Days are like that."
"And everybody seems in a better mood."
"Here. Try some."
"Oooh, what are they?"
"Blueberry raisins. Dehydrated blueberries."
"Neat! Did you make these yourself?"
"Well, no. I put them in the oven."
Man wakes up after spending 2 weeks sedated while we keep him alive. A day later we take out the breathing tube. Honest to Gods, the first words out of his mouth were "Did the Canucks win the playoffs?".
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Sunday, September 18, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
PotentialTremors
So at work tonight, every time the floor would rumble I'd think it was an earthquake.
*rumble rumble*
Yay! Earthquake!
Aww, pneumatic tube system.
*rumble rumble*
Yippee! Earth shaking chaos!
Awww, medical evac Helicopter.
*rumble rumble*
Squeee! End of the world!
Awwww, diesel generator test starting.
By the end, my hopes were totally crushed that I'd actually be awake for an Earthquake. Oh well. It Is kinda interesting when you realize how often the hospital building shakes and rumbles overnight though.
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*rumble rumble*
Yay! Earthquake!
Aww, pneumatic tube system.
*rumble rumble*
Yippee! Earth shaking chaos!
Awww, medical evac Helicopter.
*rumble rumble*
Squeee! End of the world!
Awwww, diesel generator test starting.
By the end, my hopes were totally crushed that I'd actually be awake for an Earthquake. Oh well. It Is kinda interesting when you realize how often the hospital building shakes and rumbles overnight though.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Respect
So despite my telling of stories, physiological explanations and 6 months of chatter to Toshi about my job, apparently he never really got it. It being the seriousness of my new position. It being the level of acuity that I deal with on a daily basis. It being the never ending battle, life and death.
My roommate works with a nursing student. He was talking about me and where I work to his co-workers at which point she cut in with "He works there!? That's like THE ICU."
He came home and told me he finally realized what it was that I was doing. 6 months of talking about my job and all it took was two lines from someone else. :P
On the other hand, it's nice to know my Unit is held in such high esteem. Prestigious even. No pressure. :P
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
My roommate works with a nursing student. He was talking about me and where I work to his co-workers at which point she cut in with "He works there!? That's like THE ICU."
He came home and told me he finally realized what it was that I was doing. 6 months of talking about my job and all it took was two lines from someone else. :P
On the other hand, it's nice to know my Unit is held in such high esteem. Prestigious even. No pressure. :P
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Base of Operations
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Homebodies
In an effort to cut down on our expenses, Toshi and I have decided to rent out the spare bedroom. Karma as usual, quickly provided an applicant. After a rigorous screening process we opened our doors to him.
He's a barrista. For Starbucks. Once a week he gets a bag of coffee or tea, and the left over sandwiches which aren't fit to be sold to the public anymore.
Since I've started my July run of nights and constant work(literally, I have more on days than off days this month) I haven't seen him. When he moved in we didn't need to rearrange the house either since he had no furniture. So, I haven't seen him since moving day. A different pair of shoes appears at my front door and change position slightly every morning. There is now a bag of coffee sitting in my fridge and a couple of prepackaged Starbucks sandwiches.
That's it. So far, he has to be the lowest impact/footprint roommate I've ever had. I had to send him a text to see if he's been okay living with us.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
He's a barrista. For Starbucks. Once a week he gets a bag of coffee or tea, and the left over sandwiches which aren't fit to be sold to the public anymore.
Since I've started my July run of nights and constant work(literally, I have more on days than off days this month) I haven't seen him. When he moved in we didn't need to rearrange the house either since he had no furniture. So, I haven't seen him since moving day. A different pair of shoes appears at my front door and change position slightly every morning. There is now a bag of coffee sitting in my fridge and a couple of prepackaged Starbucks sandwiches.
That's it. So far, he has to be the lowest impact/footprint roommate I've ever had. I had to send him a text to see if he's been okay living with us.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Base of Operations
A Dream Too Far
One of the tints I've noticed about my vampiric lifestyle of sleeping the dead sleep of the undead during the day is that I don't dream. Or if I do dream, I don't remember them at all. I lay my head down on my pillow, close my eyes and then my alarm goes off 9 hours later and I wake fully refreshed and ready to go.
When I attempt to sleep at night like the rest of the world however, I have horrific horrific nightmares. Things that happen during the night that I find interesting all get jumbled up and processed during my brain defragmentation.
For instance, for the two day shifts I did this week, the first night I had dreams about a patient dying of leukemia, with Cordelia from the series Angel chatting away and my boss constantly asking if I was okay and able to deal with the emotional impact of what I was going through (someone else's friend in real life, the tv show that i've spent my time off watching, and a moment of work related chaos that occurred last week).
The second night, was the robot apocalypse from Robopocalyse, a book I have just finished reading and particularly enjoyed, with elements of mine craft and terraria, two sandbox building games that I've been playing a lot of lately.
There is no deep obscured Freudian meanings to these nightmares. I can see the elements of my waking life being incorporated into them as my brain sorts and files away the knowledge and experiences that I have gone through in the past two weeks. It really is just a defragmentation program for my psyche. Unfortunately, the defragmentation process itself triggers the night terror physical adrenal reaction that turns them into nightmare experiences. The first nightmare wasn't even scary but I constantly had the feeling of panic and woke up bathed in sweat and shaking anyways.
Quite frankly, if every time I sleep at night I feel worse after I wake up, I'm perfectly happy with my dark and dreamless day coma.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
When I attempt to sleep at night like the rest of the world however, I have horrific horrific nightmares. Things that happen during the night that I find interesting all get jumbled up and processed during my brain defragmentation.
For instance, for the two day shifts I did this week, the first night I had dreams about a patient dying of leukemia, with Cordelia from the series Angel chatting away and my boss constantly asking if I was okay and able to deal with the emotional impact of what I was going through (someone else's friend in real life, the tv show that i've spent my time off watching, and a moment of work related chaos that occurred last week).
The second night, was the robot apocalypse from Robopocalyse, a book I have just finished reading and particularly enjoyed, with elements of mine craft and terraria, two sandbox building games that I've been playing a lot of lately.
There is no deep obscured Freudian meanings to these nightmares. I can see the elements of my waking life being incorporated into them as my brain sorts and files away the knowledge and experiences that I have gone through in the past two weeks. It really is just a defragmentation program for my psyche. Unfortunately, the defragmentation process itself triggers the night terror physical adrenal reaction that turns them into nightmare experiences. The first nightmare wasn't even scary but I constantly had the feeling of panic and woke up bathed in sweat and shaking anyways.
Quite frankly, if every time I sleep at night I feel worse after I wake up, I'm perfectly happy with my dark and dreamless day coma.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Base of Operations
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Long Walks in the Night
So on my breaks at night, since I don't sleep like most of my co-workers, I go for walks to the nearby 7-11, since it's open, and has a hot beverage dispenser.
Tonight on my 3am stroll though the newly renovated nasty part of New Westminster (the hospital is in an area that previous had a lot of bars and crime, it's gone down since they installed giant floodlights all down the street.) I came across a coyote. It marched nonchalantly from the front yard of the hospital, across the road and vanished into a dimly lit park across the street.
It was too dark, and it happened too quickly for me to get a picture. Would have been nice though, my little taste of the feral wild deep in the heart of urban Vancouver.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Tonight on my 3am stroll though the newly renovated nasty part of New Westminster (the hospital is in an area that previous had a lot of bars and crime, it's gone down since they installed giant floodlights all down the street.) I came across a coyote. It marched nonchalantly from the front yard of the hospital, across the road and vanished into a dimly lit park across the street.
It was too dark, and it happened too quickly for me to get a picture. Would have been nice though, my little taste of the feral wild deep in the heart of urban Vancouver.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:New Westminster
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Loot and Pillage
Since everyone is talking about the riot last week, I figure I'd share my riot story.
I was working. We were streaming the news broadcasts on the computers. I walked by one, took a look at the hooligan jumping up and down on the policy car, without a mask on, and grumped "Amateurs" and stalked off with my bewildered colleagues staring at me.
That was about it.
Have I mentioned I love a good emergency situation and yet always miss them? Giant Ontario blackout, I spent most of it at work, guarding one of the few working data hubs. Riot? At work. The Gatineau funnel cloud? Didn't even notice it. Ice Storm? I had to convince my mother our functional electricity and running the Christmas lights wasn't helping to cheer up the neighborhood and I've slept through earthquakes.
I'd love to heroically rise to the occasion, but the occasion always seems to pass me by. The last good Samaritan act I managed to pull off was snatching a little old lady out of the air on the sky train as she toppling over. Less right place at the right time, and more enjoyably quick reflexes.
2012, I suspect I'll be working. It IS a Stat day after all.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
I was working. We were streaming the news broadcasts on the computers. I walked by one, took a look at the hooligan jumping up and down on the policy car, without a mask on, and grumped "Amateurs" and stalked off with my bewildered colleagues staring at me.
That was about it.
Have I mentioned I love a good emergency situation and yet always miss them? Giant Ontario blackout, I spent most of it at work, guarding one of the few working data hubs. Riot? At work. The Gatineau funnel cloud? Didn't even notice it. Ice Storm? I had to convince my mother our functional electricity and running the Christmas lights wasn't helping to cheer up the neighborhood and I've slept through earthquakes.
I'd love to heroically rise to the occasion, but the occasion always seems to pass me by. The last good Samaritan act I managed to pull off was snatching a little old lady out of the air on the sky train as she toppling over. Less right place at the right time, and more enjoyably quick reflexes.
2012, I suspect I'll be working. It IS a Stat day after all.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Base of Operations
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