Fun And Torment At Milford Lake

This weekend I joined my parents at Milford. Ryan apparently had to work. It was raining when I arrived on Friday night as it did on and off all day on Saturday. The pop-up camper we slept in is a 1983 masterpiece. Unfortunately, it has seen better days and leaks a bit. Everything was just a little damp, but that's ok.


(This is what a campfire looks like when you burn a piece of copper pipe with garden hose inside.)

Although it was cloudy on Saturday, we took Dad's new boat on during a break from the rain. It is quality, and I like it even though I know nothing about boats. Another piece of fun, and where the first part about torment comes in to play, is the thing Dad bought to pull people behind the boat in. Here is a picture from Cabela's:



It was good times, and I can't wait to take it out again. Besides, I don't think Dad got a chance to toss me around like a rag doll the way he wanted. Next time we'll have to put the rope on the right way so that water doesn't spew blindingly into our faces. Also, next time we'll have to use a different brand of sunblock. The "waterproof, sweatproof 45 SPF" we had left me with a bright red burn and blisters on my face. Oww. No regrets.

I'm Excited About...

Sufjan Stevens!

Last time I hung out with Myrinda she played some for me to sample. It sounded good. I'm pretty sure that Mikey recommended him too, and he probably hipped Myrinda to it.

Tonight I finally got around to really listening to his stuff just now. (A 10-12ish kid named Brad in my complex showed me how to download music. He is my wee friend.) I really like all that I have heard so far. It is mellow, but not boring. It keeps my attention. I put it in the same category as Andrew Bird because of the intrumentation, but it is slightly less weird, more folky, and maybe more melodic.

Ah Technology

My new notebook has many useful features. I can search PubMed, work on a PowerPoint presentation, type a paper, post on my blog, etc. Also included is "windows dancer". Have you heard of this? I love it! It is a software program that amounts to a tiny dancer in the corner of your screen dancing on the task bar. (I think that's what it's called.) I just downloaded a bunch of new dancers including house, country, hip-hop, disco, Capoeira, cheer, salsa, swing, and (Myrinda!) Argentinian tango. I would really like to see a hippie dancer. That is about all that is missing. So, don't worry about me. I'm not working too hard. Further evidence of that is in my evening plans. Ro, Meghan, and I are going to lounge poolside with some calimochos.

Enlightening, Educational, and Interesting. Encouraging But Also Sad.

Yup. This one's about pharmacy stuff too.

That is how I would describe my rotation this month at KU studying geriatrics with Dr. Eng and Jariat. (Who by the way made me laugh really hard today. She can be really funny.) We spend three and a half days a week looking through charts and seeing patients. And the best part is.......I DON'T feel like a fraud. A year ago I thought I would. I'm actually prepared for this! What? Yeah! Really. It's a good feeling, but it takes a lot of work. We also have a lot of projects, but that is what the other day and a half are for. I'm encouraged by the fact that I can now look through a chart and be able to follow what's going on. It also satisfies the nosiness in me. We are all getting along well, and I'm hoping Dr. End will volunteer to write me a letter of recommendation. He got his Pharm.D at the university I'm hoping to apply for a residency at (Maryland). That would be sa-weet.

The patients we take care of are one of three places: a posh nursing home in Olathe, the Alzheimer's/dementia clinic at KU, or the Parkinson's clinic at KU. My favorite is the Parkinsons clinic because pharmacy has a more significant role. I feel like we do the most good there. At the clinics we see some very interesting patients. They are mostly people who have been referred by other physicians to our doctors (sometimes even other neurologists) because are complicated in some way or another. This is where it gets sad. Some of these people have a poor quality of life and for some of them there is not a lot we can do. But there are other patients who we can really help. We can make life a little bit better for them. We can help them keep their memory or motor function for as long as possible. Anyway, I'm loving it and am more serious about doing a geriatric residency every day.