I had one helluva time getting up today, it was all I could do to roll out. Karen turned off my alarm, I couldn't even wake up enough to hit the snooze. I did get to bed fairly early, too. I think that my Nasonex is wearing out on my about 03:00 every morning lately. That stuff works well for a coupla month, then it quits. And it's not like I have a cold, it's just that my nose plugs up when I'm sleeping... it's OK otherwise. Anyway, I finally got up and jumped into my new clothes... I'd shaved & showered last night... and I was ready to go. Except for the chili... and a crock pot. I looked all over for the crock pot, finally asked Karen for some help. She found it in the freezer... full of some excellent chicken stuff that she made a week or so ago. About the same time, I found one that we haven't used for quite a while, only it was missing the lid, so Karen found a lid that fit and everything was OK. Karen took me to work, so I wouldn't have to walk very far with my chili burden. That was really pretty nice, and I think that with rising gas prices, we'll probably be doing that more frequently. I did have a pretty good day at work too... I was the runner today, a role that I am gradually becoming more accustomed to and even beginning to like. Much of the work is simply working out details and making sure that the Is are dotted and the Ts crossed and that nobody gets too upset with us. The part that I like is kinda like being a greeter... going out to the waiting room to get the patients, walking them back to the department, asking them all sorts of questions, all the while figgering out if we're doing the right exam, if they've been prepared properly, if the doc gave up the right history/ reason for the exam so that we won't be committing fraud when we bill for the exam... details, details, details. Also, if there is time, the runner inserts IVs in those patients who need them... each patient, for me at least, is a challenge, so matter how confident I seem. I have found that I do much better when I can instill the confidence of the patient in me, no matter how I really feel about my ability to find their vein... I am learning new tricks daily, however. I learned a trick from a professional phlebotomist today, in fact... I may have been missing veins because I need to advance the needle a few more millimeters before I push the sheath into the vein. Of course, a week ago I learned from another professional phlebotomist that I may be advancing the needle a coupla millimeters too far before I advance the sheath. In other words... it's a guess. And the more you do, the better you get at the guesses, until it seems that you're not really even guessing. The noon party for the retiring guy was nice, and there were only three of us that dressed like him, and we got our picture taken with him. It's kinda sad to see him go, he was one of the first of them to start working after I did... which means that I should get to go first, heh? Nope, it don't work that way. He worked hard and saved his money, and I've worked hard and frittered mine away. Working on computers tonight, had some successes and some disappointments. I'm also on call, and I haven't been called at all, except for a machine problem which I solved over the phone. I'm gonna make it to bed by 22:00, I think. My bones are aching tonight... the runner, I forgot to mention, also does a lot of... well, running!
That's when I get into trouble, of course. Some days I can hit the teeniest vein, other days I miss the ones that I can see from across the room, and it'll probably always be that way, and I need to learn to live with that.