2000

 so much to be infuriated about at this time in our nation.  this is embarrassing though.  over 2000 children have been taken from parents crossing the border.  this has been done with the goal to be so cruel that it will work as a deterrent to other parents thinking of crossing our border.  these pics are from today's walk in the rain.  after days of sun, the rain has arrived.  the flowers are coming out like magic as well though.

 our nation doesn't even take care of the kids we have here, now we are going to take children from loving families, who are just attempting to make a better life for their kids. you want to take your anger out at these border crossings take it up with the government of Mexico.  work with them to make their nation a more successful and safe place.  these folks trying to come into the US are from other nations south of our border as well, not just Mexico.  i can't fault the parents who are just trying to escape the violence.  they come here and in general they work, they work hard.  often doing the jobs that most Americans will not do.  they are a major part of what keeps our economy afloat.  it's time to just admit it.  we are dependent on them. society's have always had systems where people come from other regions in order to work the jobs that are lower waged and harder to do.  we all like to pretend that this is not how it works but we depend on the migrant workers.  our society depends on those who immigrate here.  we depend on them at all levels of society.

 despite what Sessions spoke, this is not what the Bible would have us do.  this is a gross and disgusting misinterpretation of the words of the Bible. iitoo knows it's horrible what they are doing so instead of altering and admitting they went to far, he simply does the usual GOP move that has been working for them for years now.  blame the Democrats. they are in power now.  it's time to float that boat on off into the sea and take responsibility for their own screw ups...and this is a major one.

 sitting on each other in order to attempt to obtain the cherished front seat is not uncommon.  it cracks me up though.

 work is often quite the adventure.  for me that often means i move from unit to unit.  first night i started in ER as a regular ER staff member then morphed into a hold nurse with a few other really cool nurses.  none of us love doing holds but we all work together and we get by.  the next night i was sent to the CICU, but it turned out a staff member had been left out of the staffing calculations so they had enough staff after all.  amazingly i was given an on call. 

 i did not believe for a second that i would not be called back in within minutes.  i had been told that a few units had been fighting over getting me through the day...this happens pretty regular.  i do admit that i love, love, love that the units fight over getting me on their unit! it's great to be in demand.  this does mean that being on call or staying on call are not very common. 

 the Resource Pool was having a BBQ close to the hospital so i headed over there, figuring I'd stay close for when i was needed.  they didn't call...well eventually i did get the call.  i came home from the picnic and decided to sleep...as with the weather being so beautiful i hadn't slept much.  i crashed...then the phone rang at 3:30 am.  i headed in to take a few patients from the ER into the ICU. in the end i only got one patient, the other had been taken to OR and probably got back within minutes of me getting off my shift. 

 the next night i started out in ICU.  i transferred that patient out and then i ended up going down to the ER again to do holds. one of their staff members ended up doing holds with me.  I've known the guy a long time.  clearly doing holds was beneath him though.  i held my tongue...most of you know me and realize that this is not an easy thing for me to do.  he was pissed that he was assigned to "babysit" patients and then did as little as possible for the patients in his care. there were movies to watch i guess.  i was livid...first off, nurses that work on the floor are not simply "baby sitting" people.  they have a vital role in the care of people who are trying to heal.  i was not "baby sitting" my patients, i was caring for them. no matter the assignment i try to give my best.  some nights I'm tired, some patients are incredibly difficult. i am not perfect.  i would never just opt out...if you do, it really is time to consider another job or line of work. 

 being a nurse is hard as hell some days.  each person deserves your care, respect and focus.  so i was super annoyed when he said that and then proceeded to watch crap on his phone.  to boot there was this girl sitting around and most of the time i was there i assumed she had been assigned to a patient over in the section where she seemed to be sitting.  my patients were in another part of the section so i think i just figured that in my head and i had no reason not to believe it.  the girl rarely got up, never introduced herself to me or checked in to see if my patients needed anything.  somewhere around 4 am i must have walked over that direction and realized that she wasn't a sitter, there was actually another person sitting in the room I'd thought she was sitting outside of. 

 the charge happened to be walking past so i motioned to him and as i walked over towards him i discreetly pointed towards this girl and mouthed, "who is this?".  turns out she was the tech for our area...!! WHAT?!? she had literally done nothing for me all night as i moved around taking care of patients, putting them on hospital beds....i still find it baffling. what did she do all night?  she did look like she felt like crap, cold bug.  i mentioned something to her at some point about her cold and how miserable she looked...she gave no indication that she was doing anything other than sitting . i did not rush to get near her 

 I'm still dealing with the after effects of Influenza A so i do not want some cold virus to hit me again....she was really to sick to be working.  that was soon after I'd arrived. I'd almost gone to the charge to see if he could check with house sup and see if there was another sitter available as she really seemed like she should go home...at least if i had i would have figured out she was not a sitter at all.

 so i did go see my MD the other day before my shifts started up. that first night i attempted to take only 2 ibuprofen...that did not work.  trying to avoid too many ibuprofen for obvious reasons.  she believes i have costrochondritis.  I'm sure that is spelled all wrong.  basically. the cartilage that attaches the ribs to the sternum are inflamed.  could take weeks/months to heal.  if it gets bad they could give me an injection.

 closer to the time i was actually sick i probably did pull a muscle coughing....that pain was more in my back and the side of my chest. after this beautiful paddle in these photo's from Homer, the pain that came on strong started at a distinct area on the front of my chest. the tips of the hanging ribs in the front of my chest hurt constantly...getting worse with breathing/coughing and increased activity.  all of these things i do need to do though.  heat and ibuprofen do help though.

 what is also helping is not wearing a bra with an under wire...I'm sorry but that thing became the enemy....so sports bras for a bit..

 my doc did order a chest xray and that was clear. i got it taken after my shift the other morning. i figured it would be clear, but for peace of mind it seemed like a good idea.

 the iitoo met with the NK dictator, praised him for being a great leader. saluted one of the guys generals...iitoo really loves dictators.  today he even said how impressed he was that the NK dictators subjects sat up at attention and wished Americans would do the same for him.  he later tried to play it off as some joke... doubtful.  he despises our allies and adores our enemies. 

 campaign manager to iitoo Manafort is sitting in jail tonight.  that is not a common occurrence....it will have been quickly turned into a ploy of the deep state no doubt by the cult of don.  accept no responsibility, deflect, blame others, lie.  the party that has spent years trying to convince folks that they alone are the party of Christians, that they alone have the moral authority, that they alone abide by ethics and Christian values...have proven they have no value or ethics.  they are proving to be worse than the Dems.

 T in her happy place

 seems to be a summer of trauma's.  little plane crashes, boat crashes...and last week snow fell on the road heading to Glenallen.   not just a dusting...8-10 inches.

 the first family is raking in cash during their stay in the white house...fleecing their positions for their own benefit.  iitoo and his kids also made news as the "non-profit" they ran appears to have been using donations to pay personal loans and any number of other illegal uses of the "non-profit" under their names.  just another court case directed at the slimiest people to ever sit in the Oval office...to think how much they complained about Obama eating grey poupon mustard and wearing a tan suit.  bitching about Michelle wearing outfits that showed her arms.  yet they still chase conspiracy theories fed them, these cult of don conservatives.  refusing to just admit that perhaps, just perhaps it's a bit over the top. 

 so many conspiracy theories so little facts, so few indictments...there was even a 500 page document released about the investigation into the investigation.  Comey was irresponsible in some of his decisions, but the gist is that politics did not play a role.  the couple the conservatives love to trash, were let go and despite their not wanting iitoo to win, they did nothing to change the outcome.  if HRC had info on iitoo connections to Rus through the dossier why did she and her campaign not use them...?  Steel took the information to the FBI/CIA and folks like McCain...

 it's all common sense.  believe the lies or wait for the truth.  it's tough though as you watch the conservative media spin like crazy. 

 lousy sockeye run in the Copper River means a shutdown.  devastating for many in the area who depend on the run. the state has never had to shut down fishing here before

 Anchorage locals traveled to the top of Denali together.  it was a Mom, who had peaked Denali twice before her self and her son, who is a pretty serious cross country skier.  one of those fit families.  they spent over a week, pretty much roped together.  they said they had some snippy moments, but then he'd remind her he was literally carrying her shit off the mountain.  when you are up on the mountain, you take basically a bear bin to shit in.  they figured there was too much shit down in those crevasse's. 

 a huge bald eagle nest.

 i still have some shed painting to do.  also working on the area beside the shed.  it's just been dead space.  now I'll make it usable.  put my re-made table out there.  the dogs are already enjoying the random tennis ball toss into that area.  twists. 

 not many out on the trails today.  the wind was blowing a bit as well. 

 we cut through these islands and headed for a lunch spot. 

 chilling in a raft of kayaks....

 together alone out there some times. 

 there are all sorts of cool rock formations out there.  Hawaii is still busy making their own new rock formations

 landing for lunch.

 it wasn't a large beach but it had lots of cool sea life.

 muscles of course.

 turned out to be a great little spot to lunch and celebrate RO's Birthday.  we'd stopped in Soldotna and gotten several large cookies and some champagne frosting to build a cake with out there.  we carefully carried it out to the yurt and in the kayaks for this day.

 JM takes a little nap in the sunshine. 

 the rest of us were off exploring the tide zone surprises.

 lots of decent sized chitin's.

 BO heads off for a moment, taking it all in.

 limpets.

 the bounty

 always amazing what you can find in the nooks and crannies.  so much life, so much diversity.

 an anemone waits for the water levels to rise again.  these intertidal species really have a lot of changes to contend with each day.  changes from wet to dry, warm to cold and back again.  salinity changes...

 barnacles and a large chitin.

 then i started finding these little baby sea stars tucked in between the barnacles.

 good to see as we head the population had taken a hit.  well i really should head to bed.  should try to rent a place in Homer for a few nights.  it's time to drive and see what is out there. 

thankful for:  a.  making a difference for my patients, being engaged.  b. walking in the rain  c. days off