Quick Takes Volume XXIVIXIVV

It's been a while since I've done a Quick Takes post....

#1. I woke up yesterday morning feeling well. Like, really well. I felt like I radiated from the inside (please, no risque jokes). In some intangible sense, I had that survival feeling again, of I survived something. Maybe it's just my mind thinking I finally survived this gruesome winter. I don't think it's been above 20 degrees in three months and we haven't seen the sun since September 29th. Regardless, my inner sunshine reared its head yesterday and I actually felt energetic and optimistic WITHOUT a gallon of trucker brew coffee. I've spent the last 24 hours wondering why I can't recreate that feeling out of sheer willpower.


#2. I learned that I was accepted for a week long institute in healthcare leadership through the Center for Domestic Preparedness. I get to go run an old military hospital in crisis...in Alabama. This will be fun and, at last, will experience an interesting part of what my tax dollars support.


#3. I watched exactly 2.5 minutes of the MTV show "Teen Mom" tonight. Are you kidding me? These people get PAID to do that? It's worse than "Jersey Shore" (well, at least the 3 minutes I was able to watch it without vomiting). At least we're giving our youth good, wholesome role models.


#4. I have a hard time differentiating when I should say "role" and "roll." Until the last edit, I just talked about giving our youth "wholesome roll models." Croissants or French bread? Maybe sourdough?


#5. One of my esteemed co-workers actually referred to me as "one of the administrators" today. Usually, I don't care much about titles. They are merely a description, a name by which you sometimes identify yourself. Some give tremendous weight to the title and unnecessarily so. We've all heard about sketchy CEO's with shaky ethics and terrible personalities. We've all seen front-line employees who are so tremendously uplifting and brimming with leadership potential. A CEO is a CEO in title, but it takes an awful lot to get that experience, respect, and gusto that makes you a master of your field. Conversely, I know a front-line nurse on our surgical floor. She's a leader with a capital "L" and I'd follow her anywhere.

So titles don't mean a lot to me. You can't work toward a title, for you will be sadly unfulfilled when you finally achieve that name plate.

Imagine my surprise when my head swelled just a bit today (I had trouble fitting through doorways) when I heard myself referred to as "one of the administrators." I don't think of myself that way. I still think of myself as an 18 year-old punk who just happens to have been given authority and a nice office. I certainly don't feel like a professional and honestly, hope I never do. I think that's when you lose your edge. So I'm trying to forget about this and accept the fact that I need to work harder at being that 18 year-old punk underneath my suit and coiffed 'do.


#6. Because we text throughout the day, Nurse Jackie and I have developed a bit of a code so we can quickly communicate our thoughts via text:

WRU?= "Where are you?" (Really means: "Where the hell are you? I need you to bail me out.")

BBI5: "Be back in 5 minutes." (Really means: "Be back in 25 minutes, start without me.")

NTB: "Need Trucker Brew" (Really means: "I'm falling asleep on my feet and my heart can't handle Red Bull today. Make strong coffee. Or I will kill you in my sleep.")

BSG!: "Breaking some glass!" (Really means: "I'm pushing the envelope and might get yelled at. Please get my back, okay? Then come bail me out of jail, okay?")

INAB: "I need a beer." (Really means: "I need vodka.")

DMHLF? "Does my hair look funny?" (Really means: I haven't had a chance to schedule a haircut, so please tell me I look great so I don't spend the rest of the day worrying about my stupid hair. I don't even care about my hair. Do my nails look funny?")


#7 I'm blogging instead of writing an ethics paper about the proper use of methotrexate in ectopic pregnancies. I better go be responsible for a while, lest I end up on an MTV show entitled, "Slacker Part-Time Students!"