ARCHIVES - 1996 to FOREVER

Crummy night sleeping again... the cold that I acquired recently is taking it's toll big time. I got up before the alarm went off again today.

Get up and check my email... got a short note from JD... "Timestamp!! Timestamp!! J "... man, I just hate it when I do dat. I was not chided by any other of my legions of readers, though, they're nice people. And so is JD, I explicitly asked him to let me know when that happens, so at least I can get it right in the archives.

Anyway, a busy day at work, not frantic, however, but full of contention. The thing that I mentioned a coupla days ago, the thing between the radiologists and the ER, or more specifically, our injection policy.

For years and years, a radiologist had to be present in the hospital when we injected a patient with radiopaque contrast material... x-ray dye. That policy was in place when I came upon the scene in 1964.

Then, maybe ten years ago, I don't know exactly, the ER physicians said that they would cover the injections on *their* patients. And that was cool, it made my nights go much better.

But the ER physicians never got anything for doing that, while the radiologists got a lot... they didn't have to come in to the hospital.

Well, to make a long story short, the ER guys got pissed off at the radiologists, and refused to cover for them any more.

But... the policy still stands. And the policy protects *me* more than anyone else. By *me*, I mean the CT techs, of course.

Anyway, that came to a head today, and I still don't know where it is, but I don't care, I'm off until Monday.

And I should be on my way to Enid right now, but no, I'm not.

I kinda lobbied for getting off earlier (I traded to come in early today anyway) but it was not to be, in fact I felt guilty leaving at 15:30. Didn't stop me, or even slow me down, but the guilt is there....

So I went over to Kim's garage and found my hand truck... and something very heave had been moved with it, the bearings were gone on both wheels. So I decided the hell with it, I'll go buy a new one. So I went out to Sam's and got one, a heavy-duty one this time. And I also got a set of walkie-talkies for Karen and me, been needing something like that for a while anyway, for when I'm downstairs and she wants me for something, she has to go downstairs, which kills her knees. And it'll be good to be in contact when we're coming back to Topeka from Enid.

So... well, I'll just hitch up the trailer and make sure the lights work, eh?

Good idea... and something that I should have done a long time ago... 'cause the connectors? Entirely fucking different.

So, it's now about 17:50, and the parts store is open until 18:00. I buzz up there, and get a connector. Only ten bucks.

Got home, and it's the wrong damned connector, of course.

They're closed by now, so I go out to Wal-Mart and get the complete set... for ten bucks. While I'm there, I get another tarp, 'cause it's supposed to be raining on Sunday when we return from Enid with all of Mom's possessions in the trailer and on the truck.

In the meantime, I have called Karen and let her know that I will be down in the morning and not tonight, 'cause I'm too damned tired and worn out to make the trip tonight. This was before I realized that I was in trouble with the connectors.

And here it is, almost 20:00, and I'm still awake, and I haven't put the connectors on yet even... so do I try to do it tonight, or do it in the morning? Well, it's cold, and I'm tired, and it's dark, and I'm really thinkin' that tomorrow morning when I'm fresh and rested will be much better.

And I'm thinkin' that I should really work on gettin' rested right quick now....