Still here

On Friday night I went to see Coldplay. It was an amazing concert, even if I was sitting way at the back. I especially loved the giant yellow balls that bounced everywhere during, "yellow" and the tons of butterfly confetti that was dropped at the finale. Thing is... it's weird going to a concert by yourself. I was ok with it for about an hour, but when all these lovely young couples on their blankets out on the lawn started making out and holding hands and singing together, I got all lonely. Bastards. Plus I accidently asked some 13 year old to watch my beer for me. I swear she looked 30, but when she was really excited to hold it I started to feel uneasy Of course, when I returned from the bathroom it was gone - as was she. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Is it so wrong to just want somebody to hold hands with at Coldplay?

Well, lesson learned. If you're going to a concert by yourself, make sure it's not some mellowdramatic love-song playing Indie band. Next time I should go to Metallica or something.

Otherwise life has been pretty good. I went to a BBQ with my fellow interns and we invented a new game called, "Rackysack" - it's where you try to toss around a hackysack using badminton rackets. One of the rules is you must always have a full beer in your hand.

I'm really excited because this week Ford and his buddy Ryan are coming to visit. We're going to go up to Seattle and then come back down to Portland to see the Decemberists (MY FAVES!!). I miss Ford tons, I hope he likes it here and wants to stay.

Anyway, tomorrow is another day of work. The clinic was fine last week except a nurse accused me of discriminating against gays because I wanted to have a chaperone during a pap smear on a gay female patient. Needless to say I was crushed. Discrimination?! Seriously? I was just covering my ass and now I'm accused of being a gay-hater. Ugh. I just don't understand sometimes. I hope this week is better. Although I'm dreading having to speak to the nurse. I'm not used to being a "boss" and I fear I'm no good at speaking diplomatically on the fly. Damn my occasionally hot Irish temper.

Ok, well - I'd best be off to bed. I'm re-reading Harry Potter 6 in anticipation of the movie release this week. It is, by far, my favorite Potter book anyway.

You all should check in with me. I miss you guys. Update me on your lives.

Cheers,
Me

To my homies

Just a quick post. Started "actual" work on Monday and it was most tiring. I had several lab eff ups (cause apparently I don't know how to enter some things correctly in the computer) and some interesting patients. Today I was on sports medicine all day and I got to do a lot of poking and prodding of knees/ankles/elbows. Not my cup of tea but I'm learning and that's the important part.

Another Timbers soccer game tomorrow - this time we're playing Seattle (known lovingly round these parts as "Shittle") and it's gonna be a barn burner.

Kind of lonely around here. Good thing I work most of the day. Although I think I might soon be inheriting my grandmother's cat since she had to go into a nursing home. That will be interesting - considering the cat has never even seen the inside of a car and it lives in BFE Nevada.

Anyway, must be on my way. Bed time is now 10:30 for this poor sleepyhead.

"You've travelled very far... just to see if I'll come around"

Ahhh my beast of a bicycle. I spent all day today making it into a "commuter hybrid" - although I didn't have enough parts to add the piece de resistance... my new baskets. Anyway I had to go to the bike shop 3 times - the first time I dropped $175 on new tires, tubes, fenders, and a basket. The next time I went back to exchange the tubes because the valve wouldn't fit through the hole in my wheel. Then the next time I went back to buy another tube because I punctured my new one with a screwdriver. It's really fucking hard to take the old tires off and put new ones on. I thought this would be a 1 hour job - I had other great plans to go for a drive to the Gorge today - but that's ok I had a good time working with my hands.

Anyway now I'm ready to be a commuter biker. New wider tires, anti-rain gear, and still speedy as ever. I love my bike. If I ride to work 30 times they'll pay me $50. Awesome!

My weekend was otherwise uneventful - I went to see "Up" in 3D yesterday, which was really good. Everybody else said it was sad but I found it refreshing. Last Friday I went to a Timbers soccer game, which was a riot! They have actual soccer hooligans here! Plus their mascot is this lumberjack (an ACTUAL lumberjack) who carries around a chainsaw and cuts a tree stump every time we score. The best part was singing our fight song (to the tune of "we're not gonna take it") = "We're the Timbers Army, Hey! The Green and White Army! We're the Timbers Army, who are yooooouuu?!" So fun. We won 5-1. Bring on the Sounders - Seattle is going down!



This is the last week of orientation - I have to take Pediatric Advanced Life Support and do a couple of faculty meetings and then I should be good to go... yeah, right.

Peace out,
Jeimeken

Nothing worth keeping comes easy

I'm getting jacked around by my mortgage broker and it's really making me upset. I mean, I've been planning on buying this condo since the first week of March and still they can't give me a direct answer on whether my loan will go thru or not. I'm so damn frustrated! I mean, statistically, lending to a doctor is THE SAFEST loan a company could make, and yet nobody wants to give me money because of my student loan debt. It's so fucking annoying to work my ass off for so many years, delay my earning potential, and have to work 80 hours a week for the next 3 years yet they think I'm not trustworthy enough? Fuck them. If I have to move in the middle of my intern year I'm not going to be a very happy puppy.

Went to the pub with my fellow residents tonight, they're a really fun group. I'm also very pleased with all the single good looking men and the abundance of microbrews here. I could very well be in the best place I could be at this particular time of my life. I think I made a good decision coming here.

Today a cruise ship parked downtown on the Willamette river. It was pretty cool - I didn't know they could get this far downriver. It's a "residential" cruise ship, apparently you can live permanently on one of those things. AWESOME! I'd like to reiterate that if I wasn't a doctor, I would have been a cruise ship captain.

Well I'd best be off to bed. Tomorrow I'm taking a class on how to stick air hoses down newborns throats and stick catheters into their umbilical cords.

Ok, Fine

I'm sitting here at a coffee shop in Portland and I'm pretty much desperate for some news. I was sans internet for 3 days and it nearly killed me. I'm all by myself now, my Dad, stepmom, and brother left this afternoon. What a miserable time I had with my stepmother - she is so controlling! THIS IS MY HOUSE, MY TOWN, and the only reason I let you come along was because my father made me... yarg! Seriously. Plus, my brother wanted to stay a couple extra days with me since, you know, he's going on a mission and isn't allowed to talk to me for 2 years - but no, Susan says she wants to go home. Beeyatch!

So yeah. Here I am. You know how sometimes you can't really envision something coming to pass until you pretty much get smacked in the head by it? That's me. These last few weeks have been so surreal I almost feel like perhaps it didn't actually happen... yet I still wake up here in rainy P-town in a quiet little condo on a busy little street. Alone again. God I hate the first few months of moving to a completely new place.

I wish I had some pictures to share but I've just been so completely busy/overwhelmed with shit to get accomplished that quite frankly I don't think I'm even capable of opening the box with my camera in it.

Money is really starting to worry me. Am I going to be able to afford a house and a car and internet and cable and gas and electric and insurance and food and a new DVD player? It's a lot harder paying for it on your own with nobody to split it with. I haven't even gotten a paycheck yet, and won't until July 3rd!

If Ford were here I think things would be significantly better. I'm keeping my chin up and exploring and everything, but we sort of got "back together" for the last few weeks I was in Reno... and now it's over again. I think I really know how to twist a knife in my heart.

Alrighty boys and girls. I don't actually get in-home interwebs for at least 2 weeks, but I do promise pictures. I also promise updates. I didn't mean to threaten to take away my blog, I think I'm going to require it as a crutch still.

Peace out