I am alive.

Just stopping in to let everyone know that contrary to popular belief, I am in fact alive. Im working 8hrs 3 days a week now, and going to school/clinical the other 4days of the week, so I rarely get a chance to leave San Diego. Im in pediatrics and OB now and nothing could be more terrifying. I am counting the days till this semester is over. I can't wait. All the physiological changes that occur throughout the 40ish weeks of pregnancy really makes me nauseated for some reason. Blood, diarrhea, poo, pee, sputum,broken bones... all do not bother me one bit, even when I have to clean it off patients... but just listening t0 one lecture about any part of the pregnancy cycle makes my stomach churn. It's a complete miracle, and it completely freaks me out haha.

See everyone thanksgiving if not sooner, I have the day off.

*I was thinking maybe we could all watch the movie "Closer" again together as a family. Haha jk.

Sister Santos

I was watching the track and field finals womens 4x400m relay. Sister looks like Allyson Felix. She doesn't see it, i don't see how she can't tho.

Physics

So I am taking physics 4-days a week for the entire summer.  

I hate math.

Activate the Emergency Response system

I had my Emergency Room rotation today at the same hospital where I work at today.  It is always nice to get a break from the repetative Med-Surg routine I have been doing for two semesters now.  I was in the ER for about 8 hours today and it was INSANE.  Couple of main events of the day I gave...

3 Intramuscular Injections - Deltoid and Ventro-Gluteal(huge needle)

1 IV line started

1 NasoGastric tube inserted

1 viewing of an inctubation 

1 viewing of defibrilation ( one of my life long dreams is to defibrilate someone.  I know it's twisted)

1 suppositorial medication insertion... haha.

After today I'm thinking ER nursing may be enough excitement to hold my interest.  I get to watch a surgery tomorrow though... so we shall see.

couples survey

Couples Survey

♥ Fill it out and let's learn about you and your better half!

♥ What are your middle names?
Mine: Michael
Hers: Marie

♥ How long have you been together?
4 years in june.

♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating?
about 4 months

♥ Who asked who out?
Our good friend Justin bluntly brought to our attention that we were both pretty much going out in front of both of us at the same time.  So Justin.

♥Who said I love you first?
You know I do not really remember.

♥ How old are each of you?
Me: 21
Her: 21

♥ Do you have any children together?
Nay

♥ What about pets?
No, but I strongly believe that my three dogs at home are better dogs than her three at home.  

♥ Did you go to the same schools?
When we met in highschool no, but now yes.

♥ Are you from the same hometown?
Yes

♥ Who is the smartest?
Yeah, definitely not answering that one.

♥ Who is the most sensitive?
Id say we are the same.

♥ Where do you eat out most as a couple?
We don't really stick to one place, but we definitely eat out most from the hours of 4pm-6pm when appitizers and beer are usually half off.

♥ Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
Puertta Vallarta, or San Francisco.  Pretty sure geographically it is the first, but come to think of it, I have no idea where Puertta Vallarta is in Mexico.

♥ Who has the craziest ex?
I have never asked Jess about who she has dated previously.  I think its better not knowing because it doesn't really matter because she is with me now.  There is nothing I can gain I believe from me asking her who she has previously dated. Infact if anything my mind might start playing tricks on me if I did know.  this way I keep my sanity.

♥ Who has the worst temper?
We are both very calm people.  We both curse at people while driving though when they drive really slow, or are doing stupid things.  We don't mean it though.

♥ Who does the cooking?
She.  The only thing I do nowadays is boil pasta and pour olive oil on it.  

♥Who is the most social?
She is.  Schools moving at 100mph for me, so when I have free time I like to sit in my apartment and do nothing.  Jessica has to struggle sometimes to get me to go out and have fun.

♥ Who is the neat-freak?
Yah, were both slobs. 

♥ Who is the most stubborn?
I dont think one of us is more stubborn than the other.

♥ Who wakes up earlier?

My classes start earlier.

♥ Where was your first date?
Wow you know I really do not know.  We were 16&17 years old.  I don't know if we ever really had a "first date"... but we did meet at a highschool hotel party where we both kissed different people that night before kissing each other.  hahahaha, ohhh to be young.

♥Who has the bigger family?
You know I actually think she might.  Her aunt had 7 children and all those children now have children, so yah.

♥Do you get flowers often?
Me no.  

♥ Who do you spend the holidays with?
Sometimes we switch off, sometimes we just do our own family, it depends.

♥ Who is more jealous?
I don't think we get too jealous.

♥ Who sings better?
Me.  Heavy intoxication is needed though.

♥Who does/did the laundry?
We both do our own. She uses my machine though.

♥ Who’s better with the computer?
I am.

♥ Who drives when you are together?
I usually do, sometimes she does though.

♥ Who picks where you go to dinner?
I think I usually do. Jess is very easy going.

♥ Who is the first one to admit when they’re wrong?
I do, probably because I am wrong more haha.

♥ Who named your pet?
no pets.

♥ Who wears the pants in the relationship?
I do.

♥ Who has more tattoos?
None.  I have more back pain though.

♥ Who eats more sweets?
She does.  I don't like sweet things.

♥ Who cries more?
I dont cry.  I think something is off with my anatomy up there.

♥ Are you still together?
Yes

medical tape.

So jessica just got a Wii for her birthday.  This in turn means now I have a means of practicing for gaming that has taken place at my family's family gatherings ever since... (yeah, I was planning on finishing that sentence but i do not remember a time that videogames were not a part of my familiys celebratory events).  There was a time when each family had an N64 in it's household, so when we got to competing, everyone was pretty fimiliar with the games/controls. I am now however more of a Xbox360 "gamer" putting me at a slight disadvantage to the already "gamer gamers" that is my family. Because the Wii has the huge perk of having many games with the option of 4 players, the Wii is obviously the go to system at all parties.  That being said...

... Me and Jessica rented Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles.  This game has an option to be used with a Wii gun.  I got one of the Wii guns for free with a wii remote battery charger purchase via ebay.  So in order for me and jessica to play at the same time I either had to buy another Wii gun... or make one.  Pictures shown below.  

I ended up finally using this wooden sake set i bought in SanFran last year as the base and some medical tape.  I think it works/feels ten times better than the wii gun.

I have another disease

I have recently self-diagnosed myself with pre-hypertension. 

According to my notes, pre-hypertension is characterized by having a systolic blood pressure between 120-139, and/or a diastolic of 80-89, on two different occasions.  So, because I sit on a closed floor of the hospital when I work graveyard, and have nothing to do, I just out of curiosity took my blood pressure.  Im running at about 139/85.  I took my blood pressure again after two hours passed, and it was around that same value again.  I then took my BP again two days later and it was still there. 

I am now attempting a low sodium/fat/cholesterol diet.  I should probably start exercising again too, but that is honestly probably not going to happen until schools out.

In other news, we are starting to learn how to start IV's really soon.  INTENSE.

I have a disease.

I have self-diagnosed myself with Irritable Bowel Syndrome also known as IBS.  

*I previously self-daignosed myself with Rectal cancer, but was proven wrong when the signs and symptoms went away when the stress went away.

In a nutshell, when I get stressed out (usually a week before an exam up until the actual day of the exam) I get this combination throughout the weak of either diarrhea, constipation, painful gas, small frequent stools, constantly feeling like I need to go to the bathroom, but nothings there... basically a bunch of weird GI stuff caused by stress.  Disturbing this is, yes.    I think this is what I do not look forward to the most about going back to school.  I really got used to having normal bowel movements this past christmas break.  The brain is one crazy machine.

You particularly are able to empathise with me if you are familiar with the filth that haunts all male public restrooms.

Elementary School

So I was thinking earlier about Elementary School and some of the interesting things they had made us do sometimes...

 

Anti-Cheating Devices

    Thinking about these is what sparked this new blog.  Throughout elementary school, whenever there was a test, my teachers passed out these three sided folder-type things each student would put up at their desk.  They were similar to the tri-fold huge cardboard presentation boards, with slightly different dimensions.  Thinking back I think at my school they were made of laminated construction paper and electrical tape.  They kind of make it so you have your individual room on your desk.  I am blanking on the name right now, but we did call them something.  If you are having trouble visualizing exactly what I am talking about, I have included a diagram below.    Click it to view the full diagram.

     Jessica has informed me that at her school, they put up binders instead.  I would imagine that would take two binders, which got me to thinking, what about the content in the binders?  Would teachers go around and check to make sure the material was not related to the test?  Also with these test dividers, they did not take into account someone with an extremely taller than normal torso.  At my school, the dividers were about as high as your average textbook.  Those that started their growth spurts a little earlier were somewhat not affected by this attempt to stop cheating at a young age.

 

 Boxes

     I specifically remember the pencil box, and how I had bought a new one every year (how wasteful).  A new school year, meant a new colored "SpaceMaker" pencil box.  

     Now I never participated in this act, but there was a huge following of people that would fill the indentation of the spacemaker pencil box with glue, and let it dry overnight.  After it dried, people would pry the dried glue out revealing a solid glue mass with the imprint "SpaceMaker" on it, in my class commonly used as a bookmark.  If students wanted to switch it up/ add a different variety, they could use the blue elmers gel glue (my glue of choice back in the day) or outline/fill the "SpaceMaker" logo with pen/marker before putting the glue in, causing the "Spacmaker" to be imprinted in the glue in a different color.

 

Waiting/Walking in a Line

    Grades k-6 always lined up/ walked in lines.  Everywhere.  Didn't think much of it back then, but the concept is pretty ridiculous.  And there were crazy variations too!  There were boy/girl lines, lines where you had a specific order of people, "single-file" lines, and line leaders.  Think of a high school teacher or college professor requiring two lines formed before allowed entry into class. 

 

Supervisors"

     At my elementary school we had this group of people that would supervise all of the playground activity.  Making sure children played fair, didn't do anything too dangerous, stuff like that.  At my elementary school there were two things that bothered me about them.  

     I didn't like to eat a lot back in elementary school, and often, the fact that the sooner I was "done" with my lunch, meant the sooner I could get onto the basketball court.  I remember literally getting in trouble for throwing away food.  There was this table they would make all the trouble makers sit at, whether it was for one the entire lunch, or a couple minutes, now that I think of it it was quite humiliating.  The table was in front of all the other tables skewed horizontally so everyone could see you.  But anyway, yah, i remember vividly times when I got in trouble for throwing away my own food, made to sit at that table for an extended amount of time.  Can you believe that!  I remember even plotting to throw my food into the trash as soon as the supervisors peripheral vision left the area of my trashcan.  

 

Supervisors also carried huge megaphones.  Hahahaha.  If they needed your attention they would speak into it and what not.  At the end of lunch/recess, they would toot the loud siren sound on those megaphones and it was everyone was expected to "FREEZE."  Literally, stop what you were doing and not move... at all.  Until of course they blew the siren again, which meant go line up in your corresponding lines.

Red Bouncy Balls/ Ball Retaliation

     This is probably one of my favorites.  While I do not remember thinking twice about it when I was a kid,  I think the type of behavior I am about to describe would be absolutely hilarious to observe children doing.  

     Big red bouncy balls used for playing handball/dodgeball commonly associated with common elementary school recess equipment.  We had many long walls, so it wasn't uncommon to have multiple handball games spread out along a common area.  It was also common that a red ball here or there would go wildly into another groups game.  

     For some reason, a lot of the time that would happen, the other group would respond by kicking that other ball as hard as they could in another direction, maximizing distance between the ball retriever and ball.  This would in turn cause the ball retriever to grab the other groups ball, and in retaliation kick their ball as far as they could, leaving both parties angry and with no means of playing.  If you were really nasty, you would kick the other groups ball on the roof.

 

Basketball Court Rights

     There was not necessarily a shortage of basketball hoops at my school, but some courts were better than others.  Whether it was rims with nets vs. rims with no nets, rims with new nets vs. rims with old nets, gangster chain nets vs. regular thread nets, courts with volleyball net poles erected at the half court line.  Anyway, once the siren sounded saying everyone could go out and play there was a mad free-for-all for who would get the best court.  This was determined not by whoever set foot first on the court, but by whoever made the first basket on the court.  And supervisors would not necessarily enforce the rule, but it was understood all around the school.

 

Coys Rules

   A person left his legacy at my elementary school.  A set of handball rules entitled "Coys Rules" named after an asian guys last name.  The guy is real, i remember looking him up in a year book.  He graduated five years before me.  Before the start of every game, a court was designated as having "Coy's Rules" or not having them.  I have no doubt the term is still  being used today.

     Coys Rules:  One vs. One, No Americans (aka bullets), Ball hitting the awning meant the ball could bounce twice, slicies/cross-countries/babies allowed.

 

Child Labor

     Class jobs.  Every month or so you had a different job.  Some were as basic as passing out papers, filling papers, feeding the class pet, hanging the schools flag.  In reflecting about this, somethings make me think about them being semi-illegal.

     Food Server:  We had two lunch blocks, one for grades 1-3, the other for grades 4-6.  3rd and 6th graders were responsible for filling the position of lunch server helper.   These people would cashier the snack bar, or pile whatever ingredient was on the menu onto the children’s plates (eg: beans, pineapples).  These people would work the entire lunch period and get a free lunch.  So wrong, esp. since no one wanted to do it.

     "Dust-Buster" : When this job first came out in my class, it was the job everyone wanted because it was new and exciting.  Your job was to at the end of every day, dust the classroom, with a feather duster.   Wow.

 

Yah that’s all I got for now, im sure there was a reason for all of this being taught to Liberal Arts majors across the nation.  I remember once I got in trouble for running after school.  Like seriously, the Principal took me into her office and gave me something to have my mom sign informing her about how I was running after school... ahahahah.  Ridiculous.  To make this even better, I forged her signature on it, how terrible! It was the first time i remember ever doing anything bad in my life.  Whats great though is my amatuer-ness shined through.  I signed the paper, and didn't like the way it looked, so I crossed it out and signed it again right next to it... I mean seriously what adult signs something, crosses it out, and signs it again because they didn't like the way the first one looked.  Huge red flag for the principal reviewing this document.  Long story short I got caught and my mom was called in, hahahahaha. For running after school!  Terrible.  Terrible also that I felt I was in so much trouble that I went to great lengths so my mom wouldn’t find out.  

 

Until next time... 1-2-3 WaterHog.

 

-Christian