Thurs June 25th, 2009

Did the "stop by the old jobs" day....first to Excel PT (and the walk in clinic on the first floor....too bad the bitchy front office princess was rude enough that I decided to go somewhere else).  Then I did a bunch of housekeeping duties (paperwork for this next travel assignment).  I finished up the evening by meeting w/ Brian Weeda for some beers at Boundary Bay (mmmmm....IPA).  Good rest day.....got some work done....also ran into Bob Curtis, DC at his clinic which is around the corner from J St.  He's a cool dude and has a good thing going on- working up at Baker teaching skiing and maintaining a practice.  

Friday June 26th, 2009

Woke up and ate granola and had a soy latte.  Headed over to St Joe's for a walk in physical and found out that they are only a walk in clinic on the weekends.  Over to the Guide Meridian and the Care Medical Group.  I had a young PA who did a very minimal physical and filled in my paperwork for a mere 105$  I hung out w/ Clayton for a few then went over to Fanatik for some chain lube and ran into EB who proposed working on Scorpion and then riding/shuttling Galbraith.  Shawn jumped in and we threw down on totally overhauling a berm on the trail.  I wish I had a before and after.  We really moved a lot of dirt.  Shawn and I did a run down Scorpion which has a bunch of new jumps.  Then we rode the luge.  A new jump on the trail claimed Shawn's shins....when he cased the jump he took the pedals into the shins....bad.  He took a few minutes to smart, then we kept going.  Eric met us at the bottom and we rallied back up for another lap on Evolution.  I'll tell you what....drinking a beer before riding isn't such a great idea.  I was not feeling super dialed and definitely didn't set any personal records on the trails....but I DID have lots of fun.  We retrieved his Subaru w/ the Previa and I was again pleasantly surprised by the ability of the Previa to billy goat up some water bars.  

Saturday June 27th, 2009

Rode the Snake w/ Joel.  Ate shite often and early.  Stuck the hip stepdown over the stump at the bottom w/o looking at it.  Had a good time chatting it up w/ Joel.  He's a really nice guy once he opens up.  It was cool getting to see a slightly different side of him.   Too bad I was a walking shit show on the first trail.  Oh yeah.....my elbow hurts!!  Hello Lily!!

Sunday June 28, 2009 

Woke up in Bham on J st w/ Lily.  Ate a dank breakfast and cruised by Dana and Monica's (watched some soccer) and then cruised out to Woods' house.  Shuttled Woods and Lily on Thompson Creek, then twice on 3 mile.  Met Wood, Wood's brother and his daughter.  Stopped by Luca and Jimmy's house and did a little work trade w/ Luca (ankle neuroma or bursitis).  Made my elbow feel much better (between that and Lily working on it for a while).  

Monday June 29th, 2009

Woke up leisurely w/ Lily around 9:30 and began the packing process.  It took a bit longer than anticipated (as usual), and I was out of Bham by 3:00.  We pitched a bunch of old clothes and I took a snowboard jacket to the consignment shop where he gave me 30$ of credit and I got a pair of sunglasses with it.  I chatted w/ my mom and dad and Dolan on the way to Richland.  Funny thing....the time flew by!!  It surely didn't seem like a 5 hour drive!!  I did get stuck briefly in Seattle rush hour which sucked (glad I'm not THERE full time!!) but smooth sailing the rest of the way.  I had a really powerful conversation w/ Dolan, who told me that she's getting very weak and is dealing w/ a lot of pain from the cancer.  She told me it's tiring to bend over and pet her dog/water the garden/drive.  She said it's very hard to swallow food and she gags a lot while trying to eat.  She lost 10# since her last check up.  She lives alone and just recently got power (still no cell service/high speed internet).  She sounded really strong in spirit and we reminisced a lot on old memories.  She told me how proud she was that I became a doctor of PT (not her first guess!!).  We also talked a lot about traveling and how you choose to live your life.  She convinced me that my travels/goofing off really helps build my spirit and that I should continue to follow my heart.  I asked her if she had any revelations about things she wanted to do before she died....she stated that she wanted to help more people out who are dealing w/ similar circumstances/ less fortunate people.  It's amazing to be self-less when as she described it "her mortality has been so close that it's been on the tip of her nose a couple of times recently."  She is hoping that Cynthia can get out and visit her (a few of her friends had talked about doing a roadtrip to NM).  She told me that New Mexico is so special to her that it's the first place she's been truly homesick from.  Cleveland "scared her."  She thinks she would have passed on by now if it wasn't from the natural beauty right out her back door, the strength the land gives her to continue on.  It was a very beautiful conversation.  I told her how much we (my family) loves her and how we're totally behind her.  I also told her to keep strong and try to juice as much as she can!!!  She sounded intrigued by the PH Miracle book and I'm sending her a copy as soon as I unpack.  Speaking of which......I'm at my new home.......4820 Holly Way, W. Richland, WA.....98353.  Living with a woman named Tracy.  She wasn't home tonight and I unpacked in her neat and comfy home.  The biggest bummer today......seeing a nice puddle of oil under the van where I had parked it on her driveway.  Must have done a little damage yesterday when I shuttled Lily and Woods up Thompson Creek Trail in Glacier.  Neither the 87 yota or the 92 Previa seem totally dialed right now.  Might be the time to finally buy another rig?!!  Going to crash out now so that I can be rested for the orientation day at Kadlec Medical Center.  Haven't had to get up at 7 AM for a while!!  Or work for that matter....hope I can hold it together!!!

Tues June 30, 2009

Woke up a bunch of times (as usual in a new place w/ first day of work on the mind) before 7 am.  The daybed my roomie Tracy was nice enough to supply was comfy but did not have an inch to spare in length!!  I drank a cup of coffee that was luke warm (pulled the kettle too early) and scarfed some semi-stale granola.  Headed off to Kadlec Medical Center through the back streets (Bombing Range Rd...yikes!!) to 240 to 224 and into the city of Richland.  Found the HR building and got there a bit early.  Began taking the very boring modules (safety, fire, workplace violence, infection control, etc) and the tests that ended each section.  Passed them all first go and proceeded to get my badge.  Over to Anovaworks for a mask fit (in case an outbreak of TB etc was to occur).  Checked out the PT clinic afterwards......quite a contrast to all the places I've worked so far.  Maybe 3 treatment rooms and a gym area.  Speech, OT, PT, and Massage all under one roof.  Should be interesting to work in such a hustle bustle clinic.  They have around 30 PT's on board!!!  I will likely have to cover some inpatient days (never have since I graduated)....should be interesting to rehab stroke patients, TBI, SCI, etc.  Might be able to get out of it though as 2 more travelers are due to show up on the 10th of July.  So much for me getting relieved early and moving back towards Seattle as John Burke, CEO/VP had promised me.  Everyone seemed nice (as usual in this field) and I didn't have too much apprehension about working there.  Hit up the grocery on the way back home and bought myself a bunch of good food to keep me rolling.  Then I went home and checked my balance online.......93 cents!!!  YIKES!!  Doesn't look like I'll be going anywhere until I get paid!!  Took a leisurely afternoon nap, then chatted w/ the neighbors Bettie and John.  We hung out in the front yard and talked some shop, crawled under the Previa and found the oil pan leak, washed car/bike, and just kicked it suburbia style.  Made a delicious pizza and began converting Tracy to the healthy side of things (unlike this AM when she had a Pepsi zero and 2 smokes before I finished breakfast).  Did some internet surfing and began unpacking my stuff in my BR.  Day one of "real work" tomorrow......told it'll be a couple of days of orientation in inpatient (which I'm hoping I won't have to do!!).  Stay tuned folks.......

Sunday, July 5th, 2009

Well, inpatient rehab it was......all week....and you know what?!  It was actually pretty cool.  I like helping people out and boy do they need it!!  There's something about being really jacked up that makes people appreciate things a bit more.  And surprisingly the pace is not as break neck as outpatient orthopedics can be.  Maybe the occasional inpatient stint won't be so bad!!