Abandoned blog?!?

Howdy.  So I think it's safe to say that life took over and this blog kind of dwindled.  I expect most of my limited followers have probably gone on to bigger and better things, but for the one or two of you that might be there, I thought I'd do a mega-update.

I graduated in May, passed my NCLEX (licensure exam for RNs) shortly thereafter, and started work in an ICU of a community-based inner-city hospital.  Because we're part of a much larger system our patient acuity is fairly low most of the time, but every once in a while we get really sick patients and we get to put all those ICU skills to their fullest use.  I work on night shift, which has been really tough to get back into, but I think I'm slowly coming around.  I would still take a day shift position in a heartbeat, but such is the case for newly graduated nurses.  Which is fine, because you need time to fine-tune your skills and night shift is a better environment for that because you have a generally slower pace.

Despite all the kicking and screaming I did about not returning to school right after graduating, I'm taking a single grad school course in research while completing my BSN residency (which is not at all like what doctors do for their residency, but it's a long story).  After much complaining and moaning, I found that I kind of actually like looking at research and finding how I can use it to give better care for my patients.

In other news...

You know how people say you end up like your parents no matter how much you say you won't?  Well it would appear that my father's dabbling (to put it modestly) in woodworking is starting to creep its way into my interests.  I build a super cheap, quick (4 hrs) bench for the mudroom/foyer of the townhouse I rent the other day, and while it ain't pretty, it sure is sturdy.  When it warms up the spring I plan to stain or paint it (because I'd rather not do it inside and breathe cancer fumes for a week or two).  Photo below.

Perfect for taking your shoes off before you track mud into my nice clean house!

Oh yeah, I got a dog.  Did I tell you that?  I adopted him from the Humane Society almost two years ago now and named him Kaylix because I'm cool like that.  He's a mix, most likely beagle and whippet.  I think it's safe to say that dogs truly are man's best friend, because it's hard to imagine not having him now.  Photo below.

Apparently Kaylix likes the bench.  Or maybe I just put him there.

Hmm.  Not sure why that photo is stretched.  Too lazy to fix, though.

Moving on...

After letting myself go slightly during my last year of school, I'm finally getting back into health and fitness.  Because I'm trying to expand this blog to more than just CK (gotta love him, but he kind of gets old after a while), I may do a blog or two about that in the future.

Lastly, MERRY CHRISTMAS!  Or whatever holiday you celebrate!  Being newly on night shift means I'm up at odd hours waiting for everyone else to wake up (at my parents' for the holiday), but I think they might be coming around so I think I'll go downstairs and be social.

More CK!

Since this blog has been re-booted a little bit, I was asked to provide more CK.  Don’t tell him that.  His ego is almost as big as his appetite, and that’s unmistakably colossal.  The mini-series of cartoons that came next from last Christmas (my, it has been a while, hasn’t it?) is about when CK tries out for a play.  But first there’s a random January 3^rd strip as seen below:

Okay, now that we have that out of the way, please enjoy CK’s audition for the play, “The Gizzard of Boz”

       

 Well, that’s all for now.  Thanks for reading.  Check back soon as I will try to post another blog between exams.  I will take requests if people want it to be holiday (Thanksgiving) oriented.

Election Day

The day is finally here.  It’s the day that you, America (‘merica!), get to decide what Electoral College will decide on who the next president of the United States is.  Will it be four-year national champion Barack Obama and his trusty sidekick Joe Biden?  Or challenger Mitt Romney and his good ol’ companion Paul Ryan?

Do I sound facetious?  Maybe it’s because at this point I’m sick of hearing about it.

It’s bad enough to be on Facebook to see people who don’t really understand the issues fully championing for their candidate blindly.  I don’t watch TV at home, but every time I pass one while at work or anywhere else, they are peppered with salty campaign ads.  In addition, I’ve gotten three calls from my party just in case I suddenly decided to abandon them and two calls from the other party just in case I have a major head injury and change my mind and vote for them.

Before you ask, no, I haven’t voted yet.  I plan to go after I finish this blog (aka this cup of coffee).  I obviously have a candidate I want to win, but I just want the stupid mudslinging, friend-and-family-dividing, TV-taking-over-ing campaign to be over.

I'm Still Alive... Mostly

Yes, it's been a while.  Yes, I made promises.  And yes, I sort of didn't get around to my resolution-a-month thing (although January went great... as usually does with those sort of things).  But no, I haven't been kidnapped, unless you count work and school.

There have been a lot of changes in my life since last blog, mostly good.  Turns out I'm a decent student nurse so far, I am capable of roughing it out at the Red River Gorge, and that Siracha and I are best of friends.  All things I discovered while here in Kentucky.  Turns out that a little more than a year later, however, I'm homesick.

It also turns out that I'm not so good at keeping a blog, but... that's all about to change.  There are more to come, and soon!  For now, I'll leave you with this amusing yet slightly horrifying photo of what I went out as for Halloween (makeup job courtesy of my friend Nathan).

Happy belated Halloween.  See you soon!

One Down, Eleven to Go

This is definitely going to be a quickie.  It turns out that school is hard.  And unfortunately I have an exam coming up.  So this blog will not feature my usual humorous banter.

As promised, here is my progress report on the first of my year of resolutions:

I am happy to report that I passed my January goal—not picking/biting my nails—with flying colors.  It was hard for the first few days, but it actually was much easier than I intended.  Which is good, because my February goal is probably going to be one of the hardest:  No sweets/desserts for a month.

I would like to take this time to commemorate my last dessert, as pictured below.

Here lies the last dessert I, Bryan, shall eat for 29 days (it’s a leap year).  It was a Cookie Monster from the restaurant Cheddar’s, which was every bit as delicious as it looks.  You will be missed, dessert.  See you March.

Speaking of cookie-guzzling beings, be on the lookout for more CK this weekend!

Nursing School: Ready, Set, Go!

Well, it seemed this day would never come.  Tomorrow I officially start the second-degree bachelor’s of science nursing program at the University of Kentucky.  I’ve got all my textbooks, most of my supplies, and still a crapload of reading/assignments left to do for one class.  But I’m finally starting.  I’m both excited and scared.

Nursing is not easy.  I certainly don’t expect to be a straight-A student anymore, and I acknowledge that I will very likely no longer be at the top of my class.  Actually, more towards the bottom.  In fact, with only 15 other students in my class, I could easily be the bottom.  Everyone coming in already has a bachelor’s degree in something else, and many of them have worked as nurse aides, paramedics, medical assistants, etc for years.  So experience will no longer be my savior.

On the plus side, it will be great to be in a group of people that all have a very specific common goal in mind.  When I was studying psychology/neuroscience at OSU, it was anyone’s guess as to what any individual student was going to actually do with that degree (I’m not even using mine for my current job, and I doubt most of my former classmates are either).  All of my new classmates are highly motivated to help people and still be highly academic.  I’ve already made friends.

Anyway, don’t be surprised of the quantity and/or quality of my blogs suffers a bit during the semester.  I’ll be working around 20 hours a week but classes are going to be full time, so my allotted time for writing blogs will be minimal.  Fortunately for you all, I’ve prepared a few blogs during winter break that I will post during the next few weeks.

Also, I’ve linked my Google+ profile to my blog now, so if you are following me from there, it’s now easier to read/comment!  Unfortunately, Facebook is still insisting on no longer allowing you to publish blogs from outside sources into Notes, so I will be continuing to post links to each blog as I write them.  Maybe someday.

I’d like to thank everyone who’s followed me so far and encourage you to continue to follow me, especially if you’re interested in nursing/medicine/patient care/health in general.  But don’t worry.  I’ll still keep my sense of humor.  And of course I’ll still keep posting cartoons about the big blue blog (aka CK).

Thanks again for a great first few months!

Bryan

A Year of Resolutions

Greetings from Powell!

Right now I’m on the last day of a short stay with my parents and brother in Ohio, where I was born and raised.  I just finished this blog and I figured I might as well post it from here.  Hope everyone’s holiday went well!

***************

As mentioned in one of my previous blogs, I have decided to do something a little different for this New Years.  Almost every year, I make a resolution, and almost every year, I’ve forgotten what it was by the end of the year.  Case in point:  I have no idea what I resolved to do this year.  So for 2012 I am going to keep up with my resolution.

But a year is a long time to keep a promise you made yourself probably tipsy on champagne.  And it can get boring.  So to keep it fresh, I am making a year’s worth of New Year’s resolutions, but I am doing them in one-month intervals.  I will inform you of my progress at the end of each month.  And who knows?  Maybe I’ll even keep up my new-found good habits, but no promises.

Just like anyone who’s ever dealt with smartasses in his life, I will add one disclaimer:  These are subject to change as I start working with them.  They might not be feasible if something comes up, or if I think of more clever ideas I may implement them instead.

Okay, so two disclaimers:  I don’t know that I’ll successful at all of these, but I’m going to try darn hard.

If anyone wants to join me on any one or all of these, feel free!  Although I’ve personalized them for me, they’re probably ones it wouldn’t hurt any of us to try.  If you decide to give one/all of them a go, let me know how you’re doing via email or a comment.  After all, misery loves company, right?

January:  Stop biting/picking nails

I am one of many people with the unfortunate and unsanitary habit of biting and picking my nails.  I’ve done it ever since I can remember.  When I was in high school, I occasionally would do it until I bled.  As a health care provider, it is especially important for me to kick this habit, as it can give bacteria and other pathogens an all-access backstage pass into my body.  As well as to myself, I have an obligation to my patients not to give all of them what one of them has.

February:  Forgo all forms of dessert except healthy alternatives

This is probably going to be my hardest resolution, as I have a major sweet tooth.  Yes, I realize this falls on Valentine’s Day, but February is also the shortest month, so I think it evens out.  By the way, “healthy alternatives” does not mean carrot cake.  It means an apple or orange.

March:  Spend a few minutes reading the news every day

It’s always good to be informed and all too often someone will mention some world event and I take on the look of a deer in headlights.  Reading 2 – 3 articles a day for a month will only serve to make me a more informed citizen.

April:  Abstain from consuming any alcohol

I am by no means a heavy or even moderate drinker, but I do enjoy a good Kentucky Ale or glass of merlot from time to time.  I don’t predict any difficulty in achieving this one, but you never know:  Once you take something away from someone, maybe it will make him/her want it more.

May:  Do 100 pushups a day

I try to get in some cardio at least three times a week, often more, but since I have no gym membership my resistance training has been somewhat lacking.  I figure that pushups are easy enough because it requires no gym; if you have a floor, you can do pushups.  And if you don’t have a floor, well, please tell me your secret for incessant hovering.  This resolution is carefully worded to not include the words “in a row.”  At first I’ll do four sets of 25, then move towards two sets of 50.  Heck, maybe I’ll get to the full 100 but in the timeframe of a month I seriously doubt it.

June:  Go vegetarian for the month

While I may not be a huge steak fancier, I absolutely love a good, juicy burger.  Going vegetarian is something I’ve always had huge respect for because it takes great discipline and in addition it’s the single most effective way to reduce your carbon footprint (turns out getting a Prius isn’t it!).  In addition, it’s not taking part in the rampant overuse of antibiotics fed to animals which is a huge contributor to the emergence of the “superbugs” you hear about now.  This one won’t at all be easy for me, but I highly encourage you to join me.

July:  Do one hour of community service for every day of the month

Giving back to the community is self-gratifying for the very reason that you’re selflessly doing something nice and it often puts you into contact with people that teach you new things and just make you feel good.  I don’t know what exactly I’m going to do yet for this one but there are two stipulations:  One, it is not something I plan to put on any resume or application (that wouldn’t be very selfless, would it?) and two, I am probably not going to do it in one-hour increments but probably in several large shifts (for obvious scheduling reasons).  I have deliberately picked a month where I will have a bit more free time since my program of study doesn’t go over the summer.

August:  Avoid soft drinks of any kind

This one I used to make at the beginning of several years, but I found that if I said I was going to avoid soda, I started drinking something equally unhealthy, such as lemonade or fruit juice (and yes, I know you thought that juice was healthy.  It really isn’t.)  I have dramatically cut back on my regular soda consumption, but I probably have a diet soda nearly every day, so that will have to go as well.  Basically I will just drink water except for black coffee and unsweetened tea.  If you are joining me on this one, alcoholic beverages in moderation are excluded because I assume you have them only at home and not during the course of your workday.  I hope.

September:  Keep a journal every day

This one I’m actually drawing on my psychology background for.  There are many advantages of keeping a journal/diary.  For one thing, it can help you organize your thoughts and look back with introspection on the day.  Being aware of your own behaviors, feelings, and thoughts makes you much more likely to be able to sort through them.  It can help you find patterns you never noticed before and help eliminate unhealthy habits or confront issues you never felt well-armed enough to tackle.  Sure enough, peer-reviewed studies have shown that participants who wrote a journal three times a week had lower incidences of depression and even physical health issues than their counterparts who wrote about a control topic. 

Just one thing, if you’re with me on this one:  Keep your journal in a safe place.  No one wants his/her deepest secrets available for public view.  There are many websites and applications that require a username/password to get in.  I myself will use a feature of Microsoft Word that requires a password to open the document.

October:  Learn a new word every day

Me have good vocabulary.  But me want expand vocabulary.  Me will use word-a-day website to expand vocabulary.  Me talk pretty one day.

November:  Meditate 5 minutes a day

My psychology background is coming in again for this one.  Apparently people who meditate are healthier psychologically and physiologically than people who don’t, on average.  I will admit this has always sounded kind of stupid to me, but after reading more and more about its benefits, well, who am I to judge?  Obviously before I try this one I will have to do some learning as to how to actually meditate effectively, so it has a learning component involved.  On or near November 1 I will try to post a blog with my findings so you can follow along if you like.

December:  You tell me!

I’m sure throughout the year I will have received plenty of suggestions on resolutions to try.  By December I will have more than enough to select one to try, and of course I will credit the person who suggested it.  So leave a comment or send me an email sometime between now and near the end of 2012.  I’ll be happy to consider it!