There was a period in life where I could not WAIT to get out there and do stuff besides work with, mostly, people that I worked with. We were young and energetic and were known to load up multiple cases of brew and tents for canoe or rafting trips. When you start drinking at 8am and can't swim, sometimes that's a problem. We almost lost my ex in the water one time...he was under the canoe and going down fast. There were lots of concerts and stuff...good times like people can have before they take the responsibility for kids. Contrast that mindset with my current one which sees it as a superb treat not to have to stop at all on the way home from the sawmill. It rarely happens, ya'll. That's the nice thing about having a weekday off. It gives you time to do stuff that normally is normally shoved in on the ride home and enjoy the moment.
My first stop of the day was for another damned Pap smear, like the 800th one I've had in five years. There was a leap and a lot of other painful yukky stuff but the virus persists that causes the abnormal smear. If only we had had Gardisil when I was a teenager. It is estimated that a huge percentage of the population is HPV positive and it sits dormant in women until the cervical cells begin to change their structure. When a smear is positive, the HPV is typed by strain and classified as a risk for invasive cancer. There is no cure, not even a hysterectomy removes the risk. I remember distinctly the day that my grumpy GYN mentioned that in our kids' lifetimes, cervical cancer could be a thing of the past. How freakin' amazing is that?
My friend Cynthia lost her mother following an exhausting transition from home to longterm care to hospital and back. She looked soooooo cute standing there at the funeral home all dressed in purple. As the treasurer and all around "keeper of the details" for our high school class, you can't hope to meet a nicer lady. Side note to said Class of '73: somebody better start organizing! Now that I have JT tickets the hunt is on for a nice getaway for that night. I don't do roadtrips much, and when I do it's better if I can just lay down and start in the morning. It will be hot as hades in mid-July but it's worth the sweat.
Today was oddly calm at the sawmill and we all kind of did our own things without a whole lot of phone answering or tube fetching. The alarm on that thing is so annoying when it drops, somebody ends up getting it just to shut the damn thing up. Our front line staff do a wonderful job of obtaining specimens and getting them to us quickly, something that is a joint effort by the lab and nursing. Emergency room patients need to be seen quickly and as of this year, are being monitored for turnaround time from presentation of a chest pain to reporting of a troponin result. It is a challenge that we are working on together with very little fuss, I must say. Bravo for teamwork ya'll :)
We have the usual frequent fliers like all places do but they're mostly harmless and get weeded out in triage if they are drug seekers. Here's a funny for you. The previously mentioned grumpy guy I visited yesterday said no when I asked for a little nerve pill to help with my slowly coming apart at the seams self. "Too much abuse, and I'm not getting into that. See your medical doctor." Okay, first of all: I've been your patient for 20 years and have NEVER asked for anything stronger than a prozac. I mean, shit. If I could afford to be doctor hopping, I'd hop my happy ass right out of here. Just saying.
Anyway, it's cold as a witch's tit with a brisk wind as well. Thank God (and the propane guy) for that little bit of gas in the tank.
^j^
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