Thursday, July 30, 2009

kicked in the...

Ok, let's see if this works. I want you all to watch this if you've ever had a bad day and just want to laugh a bit. Although I would recommend not watching it with little children in the room. It's nothing bad! You might just not want them to repeat it. haha

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Celebrating Bullthistles

Yay! It looks like people are actually visiting my site again. Maybe I'm not so unpopular after all. Someday I will stop being so lazy and actually add pictures and fun things to this. Since I started it, however, nothing too exciting has happened in my life that would merit taking a picture. Maybe something great will happen this Saturday at the Royal Bullthistle Arts Festival. Yes..this is a real festival in my town. It's called "the Bullthistle" for short, and I have only ever missed it one time in my entire life. Here are some random facts/traditions about the Bullthistle:

  • I have no idea what year it was started or who came up with it, but I think it began around 1965-1970.
  • It is the first Saturday in August every year.
  • There is a parade that starts at 11am with lots of floats and decorated cars from area businesses/groups and bands from high schools in the area...oh and fire departments. They line up on county road R and come down Fayette St. from south to north and end at county road S. They usually throw candy.
  • There is an actual weed called a "bullthistle." It is green with purple flowery things and lots of thorns.
  • After the parade, there is a get-together for the town in the grove (a/k/a park).
  • At the grove, there are many arts and crafts, a podium for singing/announcements, inflatable jumping things, basketball and softball tournaments, and lots of food.
  • Speaking of food, the most popular food is the chicken BBQ. However, since I can not eat chicken on the bone, I never eat there. I always eat at the Fine Arts stand and get a sausage sandwich. This year, I might go all out and get a "thistle burger," which is a sandwich that includes both a hamburger and a sausage patty. I will also get a vanilla milkshake.
  • There is a contest in which people bring in random bullthistles that they have found in the area. There is a prize for the bullthistle with the most "girth", most "flowers", and most "thorns" (I think). I entered it one year and lost in all 3.
  • There are some very dedicated members of the Royal Bullthistle Arts Festival committee. Without them, it probably wouldn't continue. They are so dedicated, that even if their children have moved all the way across the country, their children still take a vacation back to Fayette for the bullthistle festival weekend.
  • After the festivities in the park have ended, our town puts on its fireworks display. It has always been this way. We never have our fireworks on the 4th of July. They're always the first weekend in August. I suppose there are 2 reasons for this: 1) It's when more people are in town to see them and 2) Phantom fireworks can donate all their leftover fireworks from the 4th of July. The fireworks used to be held in town at the baseball diamond, but one year some sparks came down and hit a bunch of people on the hill (no one got hurt though...just their blankets had little holes burnt into them lol). So now the fireworks are held out at "the lake," which would be Harrison Lake State Park, for those unfamiliar.
Although this list sounds like I am being sarcastic, I truly do enjoy this festival. It sounds like such a hokey thing to anyone who doesn't live here, but I have never known anything different. I love going up to the park and seeing people that I haven't seen in a year and catching up with everyone. It's just a good excuse to be outside and socialize with other people in the community and this year (along with every other year) I am looking forward to it.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Foodisms

Since I decided to do minimal work today on my scholarly project and CSCS stuff, I've been laying around trying to think of something fun and interesting to post on here, since apparently no one is reading this (according to my little map on the left side of this page). The best I could come up with is a list of issues that I have with food. Everyone knows that I am extremely picky about food. I don't try to hide it at all...but here's a list of really weird issues that I have with every-day normal foods.

  • I don't like cold cheese. The worst party food ever is a cheese tray. I only like cheese if it's melted. But...I can eat pepper jack cheese cold if it is on a sandwich or mixed with something else. I can also eat cold shredded cheese on salads, and in this case, I prefer the really thick sharp cheddar shredded cheese.
  • I like ground beef (like hamburger meat) in tacos, casseroles, etc. But I HATE shredded beef. Case in point, my first visit to Chipotle was a huge disaster when I ordered the "beef burrito" and found out that it came with shredded beef. It was a waste of $7. I now only order the chicken fajita burrito from there.
  • I do not like tomatoes or ketchup at all, but I love salsa, hot sauce, and pasta sauce. I don't like pizza that has been made with too much pizza sauce (e.g. the pizza stop) but I can't eat spaghetti unless it is dominated with spaghetti sauce to the point that you can't even find the spaghetti noodles.
  • I like chicken, but I can't eat it off the bone. Although this can be explained by the fact that I have dissected an entire human being in cadaver lab, which looks just like chicken on the bone. However, I do love to eat ribs with lots of sauce, which obviously are on rib bones.
  • Mayonnaise, Miracle Whip, sour cream, and Ranch dressing all make me want to barf. But I do love 7 layer salad (without the celery layer), ranch and/or sour cream and onion flavored chips, and ranch bacon pasta salad (which requires mayo).
  • I love pork. Bring on the hog roast! But I can only eat it if it is made plain and then I add BBQ sauce later. If it is already mixed with the BBQ sauce and/or marinated in something (anything), I can't eat it.
  • I only really like chocolate if it's mixed with peanut butter. Since cake isn't often mixed with peanut butter, I don't like chocolate cake. I like vanilla or yellow cake and only with some sort of white or cream frosting.
  • I do not like "chunks" of things in my ice cream, unless those "chunks" are soft - like cookie dough. I can't eat ice cream if it has something like peanuts or sprinkles on it because that makes it too crispy.
  • Speaking of peanuts, I do like them...but not if they are mixed with something soft, like brownies or cake. Soft foods are meant to stay soft.
  • I love salty foods, but I hate pretzels. I do like the big soft warm pretzels without the salt on them though. And I do love the honey mustard onion flavored chunks of pretzels that they sell at Walmart.
  • I drink pop, but I don't even really like the fizzy kinds like diet Pepsi or diet Coke because the more fizz they have, the more they hurt my throat to swallow. I don't even know why I drink pop to be honest. It really does hurt to drink it, unless it's diet Mountain Dew, which doesn't have much fizz.
  • I like hot dogs and I like cheese, but if you mix the two together and feed me one, I WILL throw up.
  • I don't like bologna cold, but if you put it on a skillet and fry it until it's black, I can eat it with toast.
  • Fruit is not meant to be mixed with something non-fruit tasting. For example, pineapple does not go on pizza and dehydrated cherries don't belong in trail mix. Although I do know that tomatoes are technically a "fruit," we will allow them to be the exception to the rule since they are so good in salsa which is so good on tortilla chips.
  • There are only 3 kinds of beans that I can eat. Two of them are kidney beans and chili beans, which I only ever eat in chili. The third kind is whatever kind of beans are in Bush's baked beans, which are only good with lots of bacon chunks.
  • And, my final thoughts in the words of my friend Eli - "mushrooms taste like someone farted on an eel."

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Week's accomplishments...in no particular order.

My first week of "break" is over and here is a list of the exciting things that have happened:

  • I found a book online called "Orthopedic Physical Therapy Secrets." It got really good reviews, and it was discounted to $23, so I ordered it. I'm not really reading it word for word, but so far, it seems like a very worthwhile purchase and will come in very handy before my next clinical.
  • My CSCS practice tests came on Thursday. I paid $70 for three tests. I'm not taking any of them until I have reviewed the entire book a second time while writing out all of the important concepts. After working all week of this, I am on chapter 4.
  • I have added at least one, if not two, articles to my scholarly project every day since Monday, bringing the grand total of pages so far to 14 (not including the bibliography or abstract which will add at least another 3-4).
  • I completed one more of the challenges on Tiger Woods 10 for Wii.
  • I cleaned out my big closet, filling one whole bag of trash in the process.
  • I priced new beds online, only to realize that it's probably impossible to fit boxed springs for a queen sized bed up the stairway here.
  • Got my car washed (actually...it just rained).
Yep, that's about it.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Ignorance is Bliss

No one appreciated my scientific wisdom yesterday? haha. That's ok. I won't dwell on it. I need to focus on how diet and exercise affect the adipocytokines that cause insulin resistance that causes type two diabetes. And since today is another rainy day, it looks like a good idea to sit upstairs with a cup of coffee and be extremely productive. Not that I haven't been productive so far this week, but today looks like a good day to really knock one out of the ball park and some charts and fun stuff to the paper. Awesome.

In other news, I blasted President Obama's national healthcare plan on Facebook last night, and anyone who voted yes in the unofficial poll got a rude awakening. For some reason, people think that this plan might actually benefit a majority of Americans? ha! Seriously people, go take a good hard look at what this plan really is. It's a JOKE. Unless you're on Medicaid, you might as well be prepared to suffer, because you're not going to benefit at all. It's even worse for those of us who are (or are going to be) healthcare providers. We are going to be forced to provide more care (for free) for people who have Medicaid, while people who have other forms of health insurance (Anthem, Medical Mutual, Medicare, etc.) are going to suffer because every doctor's office, hospital, and clinic is going to lose money on this.

And do you like to shop at Walmart? I know I do. I love low prices. Well, be prepared - if our President's plan passes, Walmart will be forced to provide health insurance to EVERY employee. Two things will happen - 1) there will be a massive lay-off of Walmart employees and 2) there will be no more "low prices." The price of everything at Walmart will go up to cover the cost. And it won't be just Walmart...it'll be every business in every city. If you thought our economy was in trouble now...just be ready for a massive fall-out. I wouldn't make any extravagant purchases at the moment anyway.

So to end this, I just ask that you please be informed as to what you're supporting if you say you support this healthcare plan. If you're reading this, obviously you have access to the internet and you can inform yourself. Find out what it really is and write to your congressmen/women if you do not agree. Please don't just go voting "yes" in unofficial Facebook polls and then give me a completely ignorant response as to why you support it.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

My Brilliant Scientific Thoughts...

I've been plugging away at my scholarly project every day, but I've got such a long way to go with it. It's only 12 pages long so far and it's a very rough draft. The past few days have been pretty boring and consist of: read an article / add it to the paper / save the paper / study some cscs / go outside and practice golf to take a break / read an article / add it to the paper / save the paper / study some cscs....and so on. I'm currently taking a break to write this because the next article I have to read is looking pret-ty boring, not that any of them are too exciting so far. My only excitement about it is that I finally understand what most of these authors are saying.

In non-school-related news, I took a break yesterday evening to learn a bit about quantum physics. Yes, I am fully aware that this will not be exciting to anyone but me, but I decided to study up on my idea of "parallel universes" and the fact that I really do believe that our universe was designed by a higher power (God) and that there really is a Heaven and a Hell. No, I have not gone off the deep end..I have just always had this theory that there are parallel universes (or multi-verses, whatever you want to call them) and that ours is not the only one. To me, this makes complete sense, because it would explain the idea of Heaven and Hell, it would explain dreams, and it would explain the supernatural. Now, I don't really have any mathematical formulas or laws of physics to explain it, but I can explain my idea to the best of my ability, while trying not to sound like a complete nut job.

My theory is that there are parallel universes and that we exist in more than one. I think each one has different laws of physics and different levels of thought. For example, "Heaven" would be a higher universe where your subconscious would go after you die in this universe (if you are good anyway!) and in that universe you would have a higher level of thought, where you would have proof that the other universes existed and you would be of a higher intellect. "Hell" would be like a lower universe where you would be of a lower intellect and be ignorant. Ok...I realize I'm starting to sound like a lunatic, but think about it...

You have dreams...right? What do you think causes those dreams? Everyone says it's your subconscious, but where does your "subconscious" get its ideas? How is it even possible that we have subconscious thought? I think it might be possible that dreams are actually our insight into a parallel existence. It's possible anyway.

Of course, everyone's heard of psychics. Some are phonies, that's for sure, but some seem legit. Like the ones who are able to help with murder investigations based on visions and such. Maybe it's possible that those people are of a higher intellect, like those that would be in a higher universe. It's also possible that "ghosts" (if you believe in them) are from a parallel universe and have the ability to cross from one to the other, based on what I said earlier, that a parallel universe would likely have different laws of physics than ours.

So now, after sounding like a complete idiot, I almost deleted everything I just wrote, but I decided to just get down to the point of this post. Last night, for no apparent reason, I was contemplating all of this and decided to do some research and it turns out that there is actually a real theory that is similar to my ideas. It's called "string theory / M theory." It's not entirely the same as what I've been thinking, but it's pretty close and a lot of top-notch physicists and scientists believe it. Apparently, there really is a mathematical formula that backs up this idea. I'm no genius by any means though, so I really can't tell you what the formula is or how to solve it, or what it even means. I just know that maybe there really is a Heaven and a God. It seems that this new theory has completely obliterated the "big bang theory" and that these scientists are now starting to believe that there really is a higher power that designed all of this. You should google it. It's pretty amazing stuff.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

We choose to go to the moon

Well, obviously I am a day late, but yesterday was the 40th anniversary of the moon landing. And again, obviously, I wasn't alive when it happened, but watching the footage 40 years later was still pretty amazing. It almost made me cry. I can only imagine what it must have been like to experience that in real life.

All my life, I have been interested in astronomy, although my fear of flying, crappy vestibular system, and lack of physics knowledge pretty much killed all my dreams of ever becoming an astronaut. But it's still pretty amazing to think about all of the planets and stars and all of the other solar systems in our universe.

I'll admit, I have always had my questions as to whether or not the moon landing really did occur or if it was orchestrated by NASA to appease the American people. I mean, there ARE a lot of questionable things about it...

1) If there is no wind on the moon, yet still enough gravity for men to stand on it, how was it possible for the American flag to stick straight out after it was put in the ground?
2) Why does Neil Armstrong refuse to talk about it?
3) If you have ever been to the space station in Florida and seen replica of the "lunar module" that was used, I think you know where I'm going with this...It looks like it was made out of aluminum foil. And the pictures of the real thing look like that too. It's pretty hard to believe.
4) If NASA really has sent men to the moon, why are we wasting our time with the space shuttle program just having them circle the earth? Shouldn't we have progressed to bigger and better things by now?
5) Was Apollo 13 orchestrated as well, just to get the American people "excited" about going to the moon again?

But, with all these questions, I still do believe that it actually happened. Maybe I just want to believe it, but it was a dream that actually came true and something great that was accomplished by American citizens. It should be motivation for all of us, that we can actually accomplish our dreams, no matter how difficult they may seem.

And I will leave you with part of the speech given by President John F. Kennedy, which is now one of my favorite quotes of all time:

"[We do these things] not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one that we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win..."

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Respect

If there's one thing I can't stand, it's people who think that I don't work hard. Obviously anyone who reads this blog knows that I'm busting my butt to become a PT, but there are a lot of people out there who don't know about this or don't read it and many of them are under the impression that I'm just wasting my time and being lazy. It's so frustrating. I'm getting sick of pointing out to everyone that, although I'm technically on a 5 week break, I'm spending that break working on a very big project and studying for a certification exam. Even that doesn't seem to be enough. I've been put through the guilt trip so many times for not going to Wisconsin with my mom this week to see my nephew. Yes, I do feel horrible about the fact that I'm not able to go, but that's just it - I'm not ABLE to go. It's not that I don't WANT to go. I CAN'T. I have put too much into this program to throw it away now and lose my focus on the finish line. This is the time when I really need to stay grounded. By the end of August, I have two huge milestones to achieve. No one seems to understand that I need EVERY DAY until then to achieve them.

And let me just say one other thing...I am extremely flattered when people tell me I'm smart. It's a really nice compliment and I would never complain about being told that. However, I don't think I was born any smarter than anyone else. I had to WORK at it. I wasn't born with the ability to hear things once and remember them forever (some people are...but trust me, I wasn't). I have to bust my butt to be "smart." And one thing that really gets under my skin is when people say, "oh don't worry about it. You're smart. You'll do fine. Why are you so worried about it?" To those people, I would love to say something along the lines of - "I appreciate the compliment, but I really feel like you are undermining all of the hard work that I have put into being 'smart.' It isn't something that just happens. I've put a lot of effort into getting this far and I won't be able to finish without the same or greater amount of effort. That's why I'm still working hard and worrying about it. Nothing about this had been just handed to me. I've worked for it."

But...if I say that, I just end up looking like a selfish brat and then people ask me why I ever even went "back" to school in the first place. Excuse me, but in my opinion, it's also really degrading to tell me that I am going "back" to school. Grad school is not "back" to school. Grad school is "continuing" school. I am not making a career out of going "back" to school, I am making a career of helping other people by "continuing" school. I am also not a "college student." I may be attending a University, but I am a "graduate student." I don't go out partying all the time, drinking out of beer bongs, and hooking up with frat guys. I'm working on a scholarly project with words in the title that I didn't even understand and couldn't even pronounce two years ago. When I present my project this fall, 99% of the people listening to it won't even understand what I'm saying either. That kind of a project can not be completed "the night before."

I'm not saying that I deserve any more respect than anyone else, but all I would like to ask is to be given the respect that I deserve and not treated like a spoiled little girl who is wasting her time. It's too bad that the only people who understand what I'm going through are the people who read this. Maybe I should print this out...

Friday, July 17, 2009

To Do

And so, my 5 weeks of freedom begin...woohoo! But, technically, it's not really 5 free weeks, as everyone knows I've been complaining and complaining about all of the projects that I need to get done. My "to do" list for the next 5 weeks is pretty extensive, but I really do think that I can accomplish it if I could just get focused. Here it is for all of those who'd like to follow and see if I can really get all of this done in 35 days.

1. Finish my scholarly project. This means printing out all of the 100s of articles that I've found, reading them, and compiling them into a 20+ page literature review.

2. Learn everything I possibly can before taking my CSCS exam on August 29. I heard a rumor yesterday that there may actually be a "shortage" of employees at my dream job. Now, I'm not holding my breath or anything, but I do know for a fact that having my CSCS will give me a big boost over any other applicants that may apply next year. I'm also not even going to jinx my chances by saying where my dream job is. It's probably way out of my league and it will only ever be that...a dream, but I'll do whatever I can to get my foot in the door.

3. Compile the most @ss-kicking PT resume that has ever been written. This is going to be pretty difficult, since I haven't worked in 3 years. I'm going to have to come up with some random qualities about myself that I can brag about and just keep my fingers crossed that I can keep good relationships with all my CIs for good references.

4. Play 18 holes of golf with a score of less than 100. My initial goal was less than 80, but after golfing at DeMor last weekend, I think that's a bit too much to hope for this year, haha. So, I've revised my goal to a more achievable level.

5. Work out in some way, shape, or form for at least 30 minutes every day. This really isn't too much to ask for at all. I've been doing more resistance exercises and trying to ride my bike or go walking most days. Now that I'm on break, I should be able to do some sort of physical activity to get myself up off my butt and moving.

6. Purchase a new bed. I can honestly say now that I am tired (literally) of sleeping on this futon. Granted, it is a full-sized bed and it's much better than being cramped up in a twin bed...but I can't handle it anymore. Even with a memory foam mattress pad, it's starting to suck. The mattress is uneven and I always end up rolling to one side and making it more uneven. I'm looking now for a queen sized bed frame and mattress, and you know me, it won't be the cheap kind. I'm going to go all out and get something snazzy. I'm thinking about a sleep number mattress or an actual memory foam mattress...We'll see who wants to compete more for my business: the Sleep Shop or Rupp's Furniture.

7. Get the oil changed in my Malibu and have it looked over to make sure it's going to be drivable for the next year. Since I'm going to be driving to the hood/ghetto this fall for class, I refuse to drive my Mustang just to have it broken into and shot at. I have a feeling my little chevy is going to get a good 15,000 miles put on it by May with fall classes at Scott Park, clinicals at St. Luke's and Wildwood, and a 4th clinical that is yet to be determined.

8. Beat all the challenges in Tiger Woods 10 for Wii, just because I want to.

9. Fix this "farmer's tan" by studying while laying out all afternoon every day possible.

10. Clean/organize this entire upstairs. Clean out both closets and throw away all the junk that I haven't used in the past year, vacuum (ugh my least favorite thing to do), and rearrange all my furniture.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Worst week ever.

It hasn't been the greatest week, what can I say? This week has been filled with busy work and I've received two $50 parking tickets in the past 2 days after being told that the director of our program would "make sure that didn't happen." Needless to say, I'm frustrated, but I'm trying not to let it bother me. Tomorrow at noon, I will officially be on my "summer break" even though it is not much of a "break" at all. My scholarly project advisor has already informed me that he expects my entire project to be completed by the end of August and I do have to pass my CSCS exam by then. I'm still trying to maintain a positive attitude, although it's been very difficult. The lack of sleep and the constant need to be accomplishing something are starting to get to me. Tomorrow at noon I plan to go get some groceries, put them away, and then head to bed for a nice, long, much-needed nap before I even think about all of the responsibilities that lay ahead...

Monday, July 13, 2009

Rant

Scratch what I said earlier about the benefits of being in class! Wow, I am so furious, and I have been ever since the beginning of class today. I can't get over the lack of consideration that was given to our entire class. I never in a million years thought that we would be treated with such disrespect. Let me just prepare this entry in a list format, as that seems to convey my anger best.

1. After knowing for the past 6 months (at least) the director of our program decides to wait and tell us TODAY that all of our fall classes will be held at the Scott Park campus. Are you F-ING kidding me? What the Fk?! First of all, over half our class has made living arrangements near MCO because that is where our classes are SUPPOSED to be. Second of all, all of the first and second year students were informed of this MONTHS AGO, but we weren't informed until today. Third of all, this is the furthest UT campus from my house. My drive this fall is going to be an hour and 15 minutes ONE WAY. Fourth of all, all faculty offices are staying on our campus, yet we are still expected to meet with faculty members for various projects, so with gas at almost $3/gallon, we are expected to drive all over Toledo every day. Fifth and final of all, our director emphasized that "although people say the scott park campus is in a bad neighborhood, our campus is too, so we should not be worried. it's relatively safe." Ummm....I'm sorry but I would just like to leave this point with one fact: stabbings at our campus last year = 0, stabbings at scott park campus last year = 1.

2. Apparently we were supposed to just magically figure out what classes we are supposed to take this fall and register for them. Instead of taking 5 minutes to email us a list of our fall classes, our director comes in today and talks about all these classes we've "already registered for." That was news to me, because neither I nor the people that sat around me, had registered for any fall classes because we DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THEY WERE. So when I raised my hand to ask if a list of classes could be emailed out, our director looked at me like I was a moron and told me to just look them up in the handbook that we were given over 2 years ago before this stupid merger was even finalized. Nice. I love the consideration there. I did get registered tonight. It took me about 10 minutes, but it would have only taken 2 if someone had just taken the 5 minutes to send out an email with a list of classes to register for.

3. Our class schedule this fall is basically 2nd shift hours, meaning that we will be leaving scott park campus in the dark and I will probably get shot at or stabbed. Now I have to take the time to fill out a living will and decide what songs I want played at my funeral.

4. We just got an email today stating that not only do we have these ridiculous hours this fall, but on top of this, we are expected to go observe trauma rehab at specific times. What the fk...isn't that what CLINICALS are for? I am so sick of this B.S. observation on my own time on top of class time. And of course there is going to be a "sign up sheet" for times...which means that I will get this stupid sign up sheet LAST because it'll probably go in alphabetical order or some other B.S. way of signing up and I will get stuck with the worst possible time EVER. I hope I do get stuck with a crappy time and then it ends up that there are NO traumas then and I can report back just how pointless it was.

5. This week is considered the "designated week" to meet with our scholarly project advisors to make sure we're on track with our projects. When I emailed my advisor a few weeks ago about meeting, he said that it wasn't important to meet this week and that it was more important to just finish the project. I had a form to turn in to him this week and when I walked up to his office today, he wasn't even there. Then our director told us today that if we don't meet with our advisors this week, we have to drive back next week and meet with them then. I can tell everyone right now that that is NOT HAPPENING. I OFFERED this week and was told that it wasn't "important." If my advisor is on vacation this week, that is NOT my problem. I am not driving back on a day that I am not supposed to be there.

6. One of our faculty members resigned his position a few months ago and left all his scholarly project advisees to work on their own. Apparently some of them have been trying to email him to figure out what they are supposed to do and he just ignores their emails. And to think that there was a petition in our class last spring to nominate this guy for "outstanding faculty member." I'm so glad I didn't sign that stupid thing. This just another prime example of the lack of respect we've been given as a class lately.

7. No one bothered to send out an email notifying us that the entrance to campus from glendale road was CLOSED prior to our class this week. I had to go all the way around, out of my way, and enter from Arlington. Not that it was a huge deal, but a little heads-up would have been considerate and I would have just come to campus from Arlington in the first place.

Well, folks, I know there's more I can rant and rave about, but I think that's good for now. I will try to let the rest of my fury subside. I have decided that driving to St. Luke's every day this October/November won't be so bad after all.
Today begins the dreaded week of "professional issues" class. As much as I do mean "dreaded," I'll be honest and say that I might just try to enjoy class a little bit more. As much as I can't wait to get out and work as a real PT, this past clinical has made me realize just how much I should try to enjoy my last few months as a student.

First of all, you don't not have to dress up for class (a majority of the time). We do have to be dressed up for a "professional issues forum" tomorrow night, but most of the time, sweatpants and a t-shirt are just fine. I officially put all of my khakis in the very back of my closet to not look at again until the end of October.

When you are in class, you do not have to worry about dropping a patient, pulling their IV line out, or forgetting to give them their call light and getting yelled at. There are no responsibilities beyond participating in discussions/labs, studying, and doing your busy-work homework.

Class never starts before 8am. Today it starts at 1pm, and the rest of the week it starts at 10am. Hello sleep. I missed you.

In class, you (are supposed to) get 10 minute breaks every hour. This does not happen in the clinic. Therefore, you are able to use the bathroom before feeling like your bladder is going to explode.

In class, you are also free to eat a granola bar and take a drink of water WHENEVER you want. This is not so in the working world.

Class generally gets out on time. Even if it is supposed to end 10 minutes before the hour, we are usually done by the hour. In the clinic, you are always staying late to get work done. I'd rather be paying to stay late in class than paying to stay late to work.

Now, there are a few downsides to class...don't get me wrong:
1. You get no exercise what-so-ever because you are sitting on your @ss all day
2. You aren't learning near as much as you would be in the clinic actually doing the real thing
3. You run the risk of a $30 parking ticket because summer parking passes were never mailed out
4. You are paying to be there, just like you are paying to work in the clinic
5. The room temperature is never right...it's either too hot or freezing, therefore you never know if you should wear sweats and a hoodie or sport shorts and a t-shirt
6. Turnpike tolls get pretty expensive after a while
7. Busy work gets old after a while (however, there is busy-work assigned for clinicals too, so there's pretty much no difference)

So, what can I say? Life's not perfect. But I really can't complain about just 4 days of class. It may be a long 4 days, but I'm sure I'll survive.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

One down...Three to go

Well, I made it through my first full-time clinical. I must say, despite all the complaining I've done about it, it went so much better than I anticipated. I learned a lot in the 8 weeks I spent there and I feel a lot more confident in my abilities, although I know that I have a long way to go. My CI gave me amazing ratings on the CPI (clinical performance instrument that we get graded on). I totally wasn't expecting pretty much all entry-levels, but it was a huge confidence boost. This just makes me want to try harder in the future, take my studying more seriously, and really live up to my full potential. I'm so grateful for the outpatient experience I gained at this clinical, because my next rotation is outpatient orthopedics. Although, I'm expecting the evaluations to be more complex and more complicated in the outpatient setting, I'll be completely honest and say that I'll be so grateful to not have to deal with IVs, blood lines, and feces.

As far as the gift situation for my CI, I went with the safe route and got him a thank-you card and a $15 gift certificate to amazon.com. I'm so glad I did, because he ended up getting me a card and a $15 itunes gift card. I would have felt so horrible to have received a gift and not given one, so at least it all worked out and there was no awkwardness. I was kind of sad to end this clinical, mainly because my CI and I seemed to have the same work-personalities and I think we worked really well together because of that. For example, I don't like to leave paperwork and documentation for the last minute (or even at the end of the day). I like to get it done while the information is fresh in my mind and also so that I am not bombarded with paperwork at the end of the day when I want to go home. My CI is the same way, so we were able to work very efficiently. I'm kind of nervous that I might end up working at one of my next clinicals with a CI who likes to procrastinate and spend a lot of time chit-chatting throughout the day when we could be getting work done and leaves a ton of paperwork and patients to see at the end of the day. I won't work well with someone like that. I was really fortunate to end up with a CI this time who works like I do.

So now it's on to 4 days of class and then studying the rest of the summer away. I plan on really putting in a huge effort from now on because I am currently signing my notes as "student PT" and by May, I want to be signing them as "PT DPT CSCS"

Thursday, July 9, 2009

21 more hours!

It's down to one last day of my acute care clinical, and I'm faced with the most awkward of situations. Are you supposed to get a gift for your clinical instructor at the end of a clinical like this? Especially if the CI is a guy? I got him a thank you card and I got a separate thank you card for the rest of the staff...but I'm just wondering, was I supposed to get him some kind of gift? I know some people do and some people don't. I guess I really just think that's kind of awkward coming from a female student to a male CI, but I don't want to be rude and not get him anything. I'm thinking of buying some cookies or something to take for everyone tomorrow, so maybe that will be good enough...let's keep our fingers crossed, because it's too late to go shopping anywhere other than a quick trip to the grocery store in the AM.

I kind of lucked out today as far as inpatients go. Most of them were discharged and we were left with just 3 patients between my CI and I and the the PTA who was also seeing inpatients this afternoon. While it was a pretty low-stress afternoon, it was also super boring and went by very slow. Not that I want to be bombarded and stressed out, but the time could have gone by a little faster. I guess my "happy medium" is a very fine line.

On the plus side, I might be going out with some of my PT friends tomorrow night. We'll see if it actually happens. It seems like something always happens to get in the way of any sort of fun lately, but maybe this time it'll actually work out. I could use some time away from this town for a while. A change of scenery would be much appreciated.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

2 more days...

I am officially done with the CPI. Can I just start the celebration now? Pleeeeeease....It's only two more days. Ah well. I guess I'd be a little less stressed if we hadn't gotten so completely bombarded today with inpatients. I suppose it would only make sense for there to be tons of ortho surgeries scheduled for my last week. I can't complain though. The busier we are, the faster the day goes by. It's just a bit intimidating when there's too many inpatients and not enough time to get to them all. The fact that I have completed the CPI is a huge weight off my shoulders. CPI stands for Clinical Performance Instrument and it's what we use to evaluate ourselves (as students) and our CIs use to evaluate us. Then we go over the results together. My CI and I are going over mine on Friday. It's a bit intimidating, because you never want to evaluate yourself higher than your CI rates you, but you still want to get a passing grade so you can't be too modest. I guess we'll see how it goes on Friday. Everyone is telling me that I am doing a great job, but you never really know "officially" until you see that CPI rating.

Other than clinicals, I have officially read my first entire textbook word for work. I finished reading the entire CSCS textbook last night. I've heard that the exam is really hard, so I've been busting my butt to get the textbook read so that I can actually concentrate on STUDYING it for the next month and a half. All this on top of scholarly project work means that my 5 week break won't even remotely resemble a "break" at all. Groan.

No other news with me, other than, lately I've had the strongest urge to get out of this town and move to Toledo. I feel like I am so far away from my friends and everything that is going on. As much as I love living in a small town, I feel like it's holding me back from living up to my full potential. The only problem is, I don't know if I can really afford to move out and move to the big city. It would definitely save me in gas money to get to class and my next 2 clinicals, I just don't know if I can afford the rent and utilities in a decent neighborhood of Toledo. There are so many factors to consider. I guess I just have to weigh them all out and if it's meant to be, the right opportunity will come about. I think my best bet is to just wait and see what happens in the near future.

Monday, July 6, 2009

My Little Suggestion Box

Three more working days and I am done with my first full-time 8 week clinical of PT school. Although I'll be more than glad to be done with it, it has gone by very fast. As a first year student, this point in my schooling seemed so far away, yet here I am plugging away at that May 2010 mark. Now that I have a blog that doesn't have my full name on it, I can be 100% honest about what I've experienced so far. Here are just a few of the many points I would love to make to the appropriate people involved, yet value my career too much to do so....

1. I have learned more during the past 8 weeks of a full-time clinical than I learned in over 2 years of PT school. I guess I really am a "hands-on" learner. But in all honestly, what does that really say about our PT program? I'm not trying to complain about my grad school, but I do feel that there must be something lacking.

2. Going along with my point #1, our Therapeutic Exercise class was a serious JOKE. I will, and already have in my clinical paperwork that I'm turning in at the end of the week, make a point to the appropriate person about this one. That class was so disorganized and ridiculous. Although my clinical was primarily acute care, I was able to do a lot of work with orthopedic outpatients. Initially, I felt like a complete dumb@SS because I had no idea how to progress a patient or even what types of exercises were appropriate to start them at for their given diagnosis. By now, I feel pretty comfortable with a lot of the basic diagnoses, but still...how in the world did I ever pass that class and come out not knowing ANYTHING about outpatient therapeutic exercise?!? Oh wait...I know....probably because all of the tests were given as - "here, memorize these practice quizzes and those will be the exact same questions that are on the test. there is no need to actually read the book or actually LEARN anything." Yes, this class needs to be totally revamped with a DIFFERENT instructor, one that is not in the process of earning his PhD.

3. If you do not like a PT that you work with, take up with that person, don't take it out on the student who is working with him. For example, if you are a receptionist/secretary who works in a certain therapy department and do not like a PT that works there, you should go and talk to that certain PT and work out your differences. If that certain PT has a student working with him, you should not automatically assume that the student is the exact same as her (or his) clinical instructor. If said student says "good morning" to you in the morning, the polite thing to do is say "good morning" back, or at least grunt in acknowledgement.

4. In contrast to #3, if a student and CI are supposed to be working together, please don't take it out on the student if she (or he) comes back from lunch a little earlier than her (or his) CI. If the student comes back 10 minutes earlier than the CI, please do not assume that the student wants to take on all your extra "jobs" that should never have been done by the student in the first place. If said student offers to do the extra stuff, fine. But do not assume that the student is dying for extra work to do when the CI isn't even back from lunch yet.

5. 8 week full-time clinicals should NEVER be scheduled for a time when students are trying to finish their scholarly projects. Absolutely no scholarly project work will get done, leaving the student frantic to finish the project in only 5 short weeks. It will be a frustrating mess, especially when some students, like me, are trying to study for our CSCS exam.

6. Apparently the people in my town have finally found someone else to gossip about, other than me. While I am grateful that they've moved on to a new topic, I still think it's pretty ridiculous that the people in this town can't just grow up and mind their own business. All this crap just makes me want to apply for jobs in Toledo next year and go move into my dream apartment on the Inverness golf course where my brother used to live. I'm pretty sure Toledoans are too busy b*tching about Carty Finkbiner to worry about what I have been doing with my life...which is absolutely nothing but work and study and play a little golf.

7. Nothing gets on my nerves more than people who don't read their email the FIRST time. I don't think I even need to elaborate on this. Please stop wasting my time by questioning things that have already been clarified in previous emails. I just wasted 20 seconds of my life reading an "important" email clarifying a point that was already made over a month ago. Ugh.

8. Guess what cardiac rehab? A majority of my patients use the pulley machine to do tricep pushdowns. You may have EVERY SINGLE ONE of your patients use it for rows, but if you are done with your patients for the day and I go set up the pulley machine for tricep pushdowns, there is no need for you to walk over and RE-SET it for rows just because you're going to use it that way IN THE MORNING. I re-set it for you every single night, so there is no need to try to make a point by wasting my time re-setting the machine I have just set up for my patient just so that I have to re-set it for my patient and then re-set it for you. I realize that you all have to be to work at 7:30am but you get to leave by 4 every single day and you see a whole, what like 10 patients a day between the 3 of you? Let me use the pulley machine how I want to use it and just trust that I will re-set it for you. I ALWAYS do. Don't waste my time and I won't waste yours.

9. Patellar fx patient - you are not funny. You keep trying to make jokes with your pathetic attempt at sarcasm, but no one is laughing. Telling me how you hate your doctor and you call him "gorilla man" for some really odd reason (the man looks nothing like a gorilla) does not impress me. And...when we go for walks in the hallway, please stop asking me who every single person is. Just because the patient two doors down has visitors, does not mean I have a f-ing clue who those people are. Stop asking me, "who are those people?" "should I know those people" "that better not be so-and-so from my work, is that him?" How the heck should I know? And please stop pretending like you are giving me your full effort by walking "just a little bit farther down the hall" when I know for a fact, you are just trying to get to the next room to peek your head in and be nosy and ask me, "who's in that room?" Next time you ask me, I am going to tell you that Hippa is in that room. Hippa Violation, and she is not so happy to meet you.

10. If you are a certain scholarly project advisor and you wanted your group of students to meet with you next week when they are in class, you should have already emailed and scheduled a meeting. Since you haven't done so, I am assuming that you want no such meeting, and therefore, none will occur. I am sick of all the last minute B.S. that you throw at me and expect me to get done YESTERDAY. Don't expect me to bust my butt to meet with you when I emailed you 3 weeks ago to set up a time. I refuse to drive one hour one way just to meet with you for a half hour meeting and get b*tched at for all of the things that I didn't accomplish while WORKING FULL TIME. You're done until September.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July! Sorry it's a day late, but people are still lighting fire crackers, so I guess it still applies. My bitterness over not getting a long weekend for the holiday has subsided since I found out that I get to have Tuesday off this week and I'm planning to go golfing that day, so it should be a good time. So, the countdown until the end of this clinical is 5 days total, but only 4 working days. I hate to say it, but I'm ready to start counting the hours, although that would require me to think hard and this is the weekend, so I guess I won't.

I went to a cookout at my friends' house yesterday to celebrate the holiday. It wasn't a huge party, but it was something to do. It was actually supposed to be a pool party, but since the weather was cold and cloudy, it turned into a little gathering around the fire pit. It was a good time, but nothing too spectacular happened. I've come to realize just how boring my life has gotten lately, because all I ever have interesting stories to tell about is clinicals/work and school. I should probably work on getting a life beyond that.

Since the weather finally turned around and it's 80 and sunny, I plan to spend as much of the day outside as possible, which is exactly where I am going now. I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!

Thursday, July 2, 2009

This negative attitude needs to change direction...

So...APPARENTLY, everyone else in my PT class has the day off tomorrow. I get to spend another lovely day at work. I can't really complain, I think I've lucked out so far with this clinical. However, can I just say that I am extremely jealous of those who only had to pay to work 32 hours this week? Especially since my CI has to take a day off next week to "make up for the holiday," yet I am still expected to be there Monday thru Friday as usual....sigh...I'm just experiencing another one of those "life's not fair" moments. I don't think tomorrow should be too stressful of a day, I'm just extremely jealous of all of the facebook status's stating "at the lake for a long weekend!" when I'm just spending another day at work and doing absolutely nothing exciting afterwards. How fun.

Lately, I feel like my positive attitude is fading away. For the past week, I've felt like I'm just "going through the motions" and making it through the day, when just a few weeks ago, I was having the time of my life and felt so fulfilled with the work I was doing. I don't know what happened exactly. I have a few theories - 1) I'm working 40 hours/week and not getting a paycheck, 2) One of our receptionists has been acting very irritated lately and taking it out on EVERYONE, 3) I have to work tomorrow when everyone else in my PT class has the day off, 4) my CI is getting a day off next week to make up for the 4th, yet I still have to go in and work, 5) I have no life beyond my clinical, studying for my CSCS exam, and working on my scholarly project, 6) I feel fat, 7) I was supposed to give a presentation on Tuesday that ended up getting canceled and rescheduled for next Tuesday, when my CI won't even be there to assess me on it, 8) we have a "somewhat" famous person at the hospital and I can't even tell anyone about it due to HIPPA laws (but don't worry, it's not a celebrity or anything, just a local famous person), 9) I am getting WORSE, not better, at Tiger Woods 10 for Wii, and 10) I AM TIRED!

With any luck, this negative attitude will subside and I'll regain the positive attitude I had a few weeks ago. After tomorrow, I only have one week left at this clinical and I had better make the most of it! It's the closest one I have to home, so I better enjoy the 30 minute commute while it lasts. Besides, I'm going to be applying for jobs next year, and while acute care isn't my top choice, I may not HAVE a choice so I better keep making a good impression. I can do this for one more week, easily. I just need to keep thinking about that big reward in May 2010.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Almost done with clinical number one...and it couldn't come fast enough.

My first full-time clinical is almost complete - just one and half more weeks to go! It's gone by so fast. I really feel like I just started. Although it's been a great clinical so far, I'll be 100% honest and say that I'll be glad when it's over. The whole "paying to work" concept just doesn't do it for me anymore. This clinical is costing me over $15,000 in student loans, and as much as I am learning from doing it, the cost of working 40 hours/week is starting to get to me. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this feeling will disappear by this time next year when I should be getting paid to do this! Besides, my current rotation is in acute care, and I have absolutely no interest in working in acute care after I pass boards! But, with the economy the way it is, I think it's safe to say that I'll be taking just about any job I can get next year....sad....but true.

I had my first "not so good" experience today. No one was hurt or injured, but I forgot to give a patient her "call light" this morning after helping her get sat up in a chair. For those who don't know what a "call light" is, it's a little button that hospital (or nursing home) patients can press if they are in their room alone and need assistance from the nursing staff. My clinical instructor and I helped a patient get up out of bed and sat up in a chair this afternoon and I forgot to give the patient her call light. This afternoon at about 1:30pm, I was confronted by a very angry nurse stating that the patient had sat up for 2.5 hours and that it took 4 nurses to help her get back into bed. First of all, I did feel horrible about this. I felt like I screwed up big time and I apologized profusely and told the nurse that it would never happen again. BUT, I find it hard to believe that it took FOUR nurses to help this patient get back into bed. My CI (clinical instructor) and I were able to help this patient OUT of bed EASILY with just the two of us. Second of all, I was told later (by a different nurse - the one who was actually seeing this patient) that other nurses had been in to see the patient after we had left and the patient never stated that she wanted to get back into bed. Now, bottom line - yes, this was my fault. I should have given the patient her call light. But, I have been made to feel like a piece of dirt and will probably lose big time points in the "safety" category of my clinical performance instrument next week when my clinical instructor grades me for my final grade. I just keep telling myself that this could have been worse - a patient could have been seriously injured or died. Luckily, this patient was fine and when I went to see her in the afternoon, she made no complaints about it what-so-ever....still, I am left feeling like a "patient-torturer" for the rest of the night...