more of Kennicott

 my work stretch is complete.  now i have a stretch of days off.

 knee a bit sore today. iced it again.  took it pretty easy walking wise i guess.  spent a lot of time at the dog park at University Lake this week.  the dogs don't actually care where we go but i do think they like when we vary it up.  they get tired either way.  more fun photography wise for me to vary it up.  was thinking i may head to Hatchers tomorrow for a different hike or a few and work my way back towards Anchorage via the back roads.  it's long but could be fun.  we shall see.  gotta get out of town when you can in the summers and see what you can.

 haven't hit Talkeetna for a bit so was debating an overnight somewhere out that way.  will scour the milepost and see what is in that area.

 work was over full.  something to get used to .  worked holds in ER for a few nights. they had me in PACU for holds one night with another nurse.  the first nurse they had slatted to join me was flipping out.  often in life i find people have an extremely difficult time with change....any change.  thankfully a fun nurse stepped up and said she was willing to switch out.  i'm sure that made life much easier as the other nurse would have been bitching the entire time.  in truth it was pretty sweet.  we just had 4 patients total. yeah, we were a bit lost at times as to where stuff was and all that but with laughter you get stuff much easier.

 overflow to PACU will probably happen more often as i guess no hospital will be allowed to go on divert now...not sure where the state thinks beds will magically appear.  that night we ended up clearing out our PACU patients...even totally packed i am still a bit of a room genie. 3 got rooms and so we moved one back to the main ER for the other 2 hold nurses to absorb. i worked regular ER for a bit and then i got to go home a few hours early...:-)

 worked ICU last night.  saw one of the patients i'd had as a hold is now in the ICU.  my patient last night repeatedly told me she hated me and threatened to beat the crap out of me.  so a lovely end to my shift.  can't take any of it personally. i did mention to this person that i really had no goal of being her friend so she was welcome to hate me but she was not allowed to hit me.  always amazed that people really think this sort of behavior will benefit them.  i don't take worse care of a patient who behaves like this but am i really going to go out of my way doing extra niceties for them.  doubtful. certainly will not remove restraints on someone threatening to harm me or our techs.  my safety and that of my co-workers comes first.

 always great to come home to happy and welcoming puppies.  they love me for sure.  in their own dog way.

 while i iced my knee i watched "Good Morning Vietnam".  hadn't seen that for a long time.

 news this week has been a bit nuts.  just when you think it can't get crazier in our nation...it gets crazier in our nation.  hard to even keep up.

 new communications guy scarymooch is a peach...he called a reporter and then ripped apart his new co-workers using a lot of gutter talk.  a gem...a fine example of the new GOP.  gone are the days of the religious right, morals, ethics, values, family friendly values...he's like a mobster wannabe.  iitoo loves chaos and our current white house is clearly devolved into some horrible reality tv show.

 so Priebus has been voted off the island.  he was interviewed and remains loyal to iitoo.  one would hope that one of these folks would finally just speak out in disgust, but they have all drank the KoolAid and i do fear when/if the crap storm happens, iitoo and his thugs will order the remaining cult following to take to the streets with guns a blazing.  it's sadly not out of the realm of possibilities.

 liked the little rock decorations.  i took an evening stroll around town.

 photo at displays showed the overview.

 this is my hotel.

 loved all the light and depth on the moraine.  it's huge.

 another gem this week in the political world....iitoo wrote a tweet stating he plans to get rid of the transgenders in the military. of course, a part of me always laughs a bit.  this idea that we can't have gays or transgender folks in the  military.  for every one you remove you are putting a heterosexual in their place perhaps on the front line.  like so much it really doesn't make a lot of sense. you can't stand these folks so you protect them from a war zone. seems so odd really.

 in truth, i never served in the military.  i really believe that we should honor and support all who are willing to serve and risk their lives to protect our nation and our freedoms.  who are any of us to judge them when they are at grave risk on our behalves.  color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identification...none of this matters in the heat of battle.  i imagine if people are in the thick of battle someones gender is not of consequence in that moment.

 would also mention that many immigrants serve in our military. this is a path to citizenship and should remain so.  we have a volunteer military.  another irony is that the GOP are the ones who want bigger and bigger military...are they willing to go? to send their kids?   those with money have more options and either don't serve or serve in safer locations.  so if they want bigger and bigger military they need to encourage more to serve, not remove people who are willing to serve from service.

 on a side note i find it ironic that the ones that always want to increase the military budget are also the ones that tend to defend the right to bear arms so that we may take on our government if it becomes corrupted....our military is way too big for a band of rebels with a small stockpile of assault rifles. just saying.

 these are in the morning, headed towards the glacier on a hike.

 i would love it if we could find a way to offer many of our prison population a way to reduce sentences and hopefully find a way to a better future by creating a way for them to serve in the military.  not sure how that would work but i think it would save us money and give some folks who are on the wrong side of the law a chance to redeem themselves and become more successful members of society again.  putting them all in prison seems to lead to making many more hardened.

 i currently have a tonsillith.  the nurse i worked with the other night is the only person to have ever seen one of my stones.  i explained to her one night what they were when we worked together.  i had one at the time and it was driving me nuts.   they are gross "stones" that build up in the pockets of your tonsils if you still have them. eventually, they work their way out.  yawns, sneezes seem to help.  of course, this led to a late night conversation about how secretive i have been about my tonsilliths...i protected them more than my virginity is where that went.

 conversations at nurses stations in the wee hours can get a bit crude.  i think last night we were discussing options to overtime...like starting a barriatric erotica novella writing group to produce erotica for this potential niche.  could be a money maker.  we have no control really, have had some very random conversations at 3 am over the many years of my career.  what is the most bizarre topics you have had in the wee hours?

 i know that is where Svetlana was created and when i started model walking.  we also spent time one night planning for a nurses exercise video where we created moves like "watch out for that puke" and "haldol".

 Svetlana was part of my act of being a multiple.  there was also Bonny and Bunny in the act.  (multiple personality disorder) for those who don't know what that is.  i got pretty good at switching around the various personalities.  one co-worker laughingly told me i'd have to stop as it was starting to freak him out.  of note as well was the time a family had told management that their favorite nurse was Svetlana.  myself and the other personalities kept them all laughing despite the stressful situation....of course, management was quite confused because they did not have an employee named Svetlana.  i believe a friend and co-worker on days was finally able to clear up that mystery.

 oh and years ago in Ketchikan we all did cartwheels and of course wrapped those up with Olympic finishes.  the Olympics were on.  my charming personality did nothing for my patient last night though.  you can't make them all happy.  i've pissed off a number of patients i'm sure.  i've sure been called enough names and sworn at enough to prove that.

 raining today but no rain as we took our walk.  more training sessions at the dog park today.  no treats needed. they are starting to see the tennis ball toss as the reward for good behavior.  just like Blossom.  it is funny, twice now this week Tusker has done very Blossomy things.  i'm sure that is just her way of checking in on us all.  thanks Tom and family for this picture of my girl. it is in my office and it is so great to have her watching over me.

 as you can see i had a beautiful day out in Kennicott for my walk out to the glacier and tour of  the mine.

 it would have been too hot for the dogs.  prefer it a wee bit cooler at times when i have dogs so i can feel safe leaving them in the car if i need to explore.

 my fingers got puffy on this walk and of course, as a nurse, i began to get myself a bit spooked that i had congestive heart failure or cardiomyopathy.  even discussed it with my doc at my annual.  she mentioned increased salt intake...on a long road trip it is pretty easy to snack on potato chips so looking back i probably ate many more chips than i would normally eat.  oops.

 still some lupine out there.

 more views of the moraine.  so beautiful with the greens.

 would love to return for a fall trip out here.

 thinking that would be amazing.

 should hop on the train for another day trip to Spencer.  that was fun last year. there are just so many cool things to do/see here.  thinking if i do that again i should toss my bike on the train.  i could book further up trail that way in the short time i have out there.

 some ice peeking through on the moraine.

 the healthcare non-bill did not pass.  nobody really knows what was in that exactly it was more just pass it and then we'll try to figure it out.  i'd much rather them work together, have actual discussions and come up with something that works for more people than just the wealthy and the insurers and pharmacuticals.  so two female GOP senators voted no and all the Dems of course...and then McCain came in and did a thumbs down.

 thank you Murkowski ( i noted they had spelled her name Murcowski) in the senate...seems an odd "error".  she got pressure and threats from the current iitoo via his Interior Secretary Zinke.  i'm happy she did what she did.  she listened to her constituents.  she won on a write in campaign after being beat in the primaries by a crazy tea party guy.  people do not often win by write in but i think many dems and independents, like myself, feared the tea party guy.  now we are stuck with a koch plant that beat our Dem Senator.

 threats and bullying are the way of the current administration.  very classy group.

 flowers with ice in the background.

 always love these flowers.  so many.

 getting closer to the glacier.

 dwarf fireweed.

 it was a beautiful hike out there.

 this is the split where you head down to the glacier or go  to jumbo creek.  perhaps another day.

a nephew got married today.  congrats. i went to order something but i don't see them registered.  they are traveling for various receptions.  will have to ponder what to get.  gift card or unique AK gift.  hmm  it's hard to know what folks prefer now.  so many have already lived on their own so they don't really need that much.  guess i shall go grab a snack and head to bed.  make my plans for my days off.  mowing needed again.

grateful for:  A.  those who serve in the military.  your personal life not for me to judge. B.  the days that nothing bad happens at work, violence wise.  you hear of more and more directed at staff across our nation.  C. co-workers who are fun and have a great attitude.  makes the 12 hours pass much easier