The one where I muse on the state of drivers in Colorado

Since I just spent 6 hours in my car today with hyper dogs in the backseat driving to the Grandbaby's 2nd birthday party, I thought I would share some of my observations on drivers in Colorado.

I have one overriding observation- Colorado drivers think they're NASCAR racers.

It surely has to do with the fact that driving up and down narrow winding roads at 10-15 miles over the speed limit is hellafun.  It really is, I do it whenever I can!

Unfortunately, this translates into racing other drivers and then slowing down when you're past, thereby assuring a long game of "leapfrog" at 80 mph.

Yep, that's exactly what it's like coming out of the Eisenhower Tunnel.

Another issue is the liberal use of brakes, insuring that everyone behind you has to slam on their brakes when the car in front of you freaks out on corners.  Seriously folks, if the state didn't think you could do 65 around a corner, they wouldn't have made the speed limit 65!

Some of us old folks still drive manual "stick" transmission cars.  What does this mean to you?  Weeeelll, it means I can slow down without slamming my brakes, ensuring my safe driving, but noticeably fucking yours up from what I can see in my rear view mirror.  A good reason not to tailgate.  My slowing down may not be accompanied by flashing tail lights and smoking brake pads.

I'm sure there's more, but I'm too tired to remember anymore- I need to unwind from the drive!


Remember, it's just a ride.

The one where I'm still canning!

Still.

Every day off for the last 3 weeks.

But truly it's well worth it.  And Oldest has been coming over every week to help prep and even make some of our concoctions.  Like today, with the peaches...another tree full of peaches that absolutely HAD to be picked today because they are falling off the tree at an alarming rate.

We peeled and chopped about 2 bushels of peaches today for chutneys and plain old canned peaches, and it took ALL DAY.  Like til 8 tonight!  But, pictures will show how worth it it is:

Peach chutney

Peaches waiting to be delt with

Crazy-eyed Oldest

My "getting to be well stocked" pantry

The good thing in all this is that we are almost done!  Next week we finish off the pear and apple trees, and finish up the stragglers in the garden.

Then I don't know what I'll do with myself on my days off...

I'm sure I'll think of something.


Remember, it's just a ride.

The one where I get scammed at work

It's official, I'm off orientation!  Yay for me!

Day 1 I spend 4 1/2 hours in MRI with both my patients, one who decided to slide that little head cage off his head 5 minutes into his scan.  Bring on the soft wrist restraints and Versed!

Day 2 I spend working on a ventilator patient who's lung CT shows the biggest infection I've ever seen.  Truly, we all thought she had a pneumothorax at first because the lung was shoved up in her chest to the size of a fist.  Holy moly!

Day 3- The new intermediate bed unit opens up, and I was asked to work that for the next month and not ICU.  Then, I find out a few things that were left out of the description of the unit by my manager- it's not a critical care unit at all, and I'm permanently assigned to it.  WHAT?!

Needless to say, I had to have a talk with my manager.  Seriously, if I wanted to be a floor nurse, I wouldn't have applied to the ICU in the first place!  So, I told my manager that I would help open the unit, but I expected to be place in ICU after a month or so.

The other kicker about this unit?  Yesterday was the Grand Opening, right?  Well, day 1 and other units are already using it as a dumping ground for patients they don't want.  Example- the sudden cardiac arrest pt who went missing a bunch of oxygen to his brain and now likes to paint with poo after the sun goes down.  Who wouldn't want that, right?  Apparently I want that, and I'm gonna like it.



Not a single nurse in the ICU thinks this unit is a good idea, given that there are already 2 other i-bed units in the hospital, and not one of them thinks it will stay open because the ICU is so busy that half the i-bed unit was full of ICU patients on day 1.  There was no room on ICU for all of there patients, and that's how it's been for weeks now.  Apparently, ICU needs the beds more, so why can't it just be an ICU?

Not to mention the fact that when I found all this out, I realized my manager had omitted several key points when I was hired that would have made me tell her "Hells no I want ICU, not a medical floor job- what do you think you're pulling?!"

What is it about managers that make them think that their pet projects will just "have" to work, just because they want them too?


Remember, it's just a ride.