Damn! What a night.. I had to stay awake all night long, and I think that I only got two hours' worth of sleep yesterday... unfortunately, it wasn't very busy. Or is that fortunately? My brain isn't working at full speed right now.

I wound up giving up on sleeping at about 17:00 yesterday, I just couldn't stay in bed awake any longer, so I got up, made coffee and made the best of a bad deal.

And like I said, last night wasn't busy, but it did have some confusing parts... like when I walked in the door at 20:45 and the number two tech said, "I've gotta leave, the number one tech is in surgery..." and there were several things going on and I had no idea what was happening or where the best place for me to be was... but I soon got things sorted out and stuff got quiet.

At least, until the girl came in the ER door with her tit hanging out... drunk (or something) as a skunk. Nice-looking girl, too. This is all hear-say, by the way, I was not there, but the security guy entertained me with the story... and her friend covered her up, too quickly for the security guys' taste...

And we had a code blue come in that we couldn't save, that always puts a blot on the night. Last weekend was really bad, a two-year old came in drowned and they lost a 34-year old that came in from an MVA... sometimes this medical stuff is really grinding.

And I noticed some strange behavior from some people that I thought were really friendly... there are five park benches in the smoking area. I was people-watching after I'd got my portables in the unit done... which is another story altogether... and I observed that nobody would sit next to anyone else until all five benches were occupied. Even when they were occupied by a single person, a newcomer would stand, instead of sitting with someone else.

Back to the portables... our big portable x-ray machine was in for repairs, so I had to use one of the last of the dinky ones. And I had twice the usual number of films to do this morning... so using this machine is like going from a cadillac to a pickup with no springs or shocks and you have to roll the window up with a pair of pliers. This dinky machine is battery-powered, in that the drive is powered, but you have to plug it in to make an exposure. And the locks were so bad that I had to steady the tube-head with my hand while I shot the film.

O'well, I'll have the good one back tomorrow...

After work, I stopped and chatted with Doug ; I'm really getting enthusiastic about the direction that he's planning on taking the department. I hope that I can do something to make a difference... not just because I'm tired of nights, either. I've always had deep(and sometimes deeply regretted) loyalty to the department and to St. Francis. And I want to be part of the growth again...

This is a lot longer than I had planned, and I'm pretty well tapped out.

O'yeah! There's another episode of the Dying Diary up now too. It's been neglected lately, so I had to add some excitement...