bear hug in churchill, canada. i was there in 2006. there is a blog near the start of this blog that goes through details of that trip, just thought i'd toss in some pictures.
we got hours of polar bear play while we were out there. they'd spar, stop, lay down and nap and then spar again. mostly in the wild they don't hang out like this, but as they gather in churchill and wait for the bay to freeze they have some time to kill. 
i'm always a fan of animal tracks....so here are the polar bear tracks in the snow.
we lived in this "hotel" we called it "the mother ship". we had 2 bunk cars, a dining car and a gathering car. a tundra buggy pulled up to the back of the train and we'd load on that for day excursions, but as you can see we really didn't have to go far to see the bears. they were everywhere. they'd walk underneath us. those wheels are 5 feet tall. we never touched the ground out there. we were caged and the animals were free. 
break up continues...so thought i'd toss in a few pictures from my trip to churchill this week.
they just look so sweet and innocent. we were safe in the tundra buggies. they are really much bigger than they look in these pictures. i was obsessed with thier feet. it was a spendy trip, but aside from the bathroom situation it was quite amazing.
this guy was looking up at someone in the tundra buggy. loved the wind swept pattern in the snow. it's pretty open and flat out there.
went to the baxter bog here by my house thurs, fri and sunday i think. the day after i did my long walk on rovers run a crazy dude was on that very trail chasing women around with a hatchet. luckily he was unsuccessful and ended up tearing up a tree before disappearing without getting caught. made me a bit skittish to head back out there right away. i know there could always be crazy people and i walk alone often so it's always a risk. it's not that i just like to tempt fate, it's just that i want to walk and i can't always find walking companions. i believe there is always risk in life, a guy could just as easily break into my home and attack me here so it's best to not let the bad people that are out there dictate how you go about your life. one should be safe and take precautions, but it's best to life your life and not let the bad guys win by beating you down with fear. still...it did freak me a bit and i have got my bear spray out and with me this week. i need to stop by rei later this week and get an easy grab harness to carry it.
often when i do the bog i will cut off through a neighborhood and then work my way back home. thought this dog looked cute checking us out through his fence. you get to know all the dogs around where you live when you walk enough.only have tonight off and then i go back to work for a few more shifts and then education day. ends up i got lucky this week. patients kept me busy at times, but nothing horrendous. first night my dude went into a zippy rhythm, next night got a surprise patient from the juneau, last night got a lady with an extremely rare blood type who was actively bleeding. not sure she really comprehends the possible gravity of her situation. she was a rare antibody type that only a few polynesians have...so if you are polynesian or of somoan decent you really should get in there and donate just in case you have this type so the blood bank can have you on record for unfortunate young women such as this one. they had found only one unit of blood on the entire west coast that could be matched to her an it was going to take 24 hours to get it to her. often when someone is bleeding they get many units of blood. her hct was 14! guess i never realized there were people out there who were at such risk when it came to blood typing. not that my blood type is rare A+ but i really should get in there and donate. such a simple thing that can really help out people. an easy way to "volunteer" in the community.
med errors...they happen all the time. i make errors..i always say, medicine is a profession where you are expected to be perfect 100% of the time and since you are human you won't be. i will make mistakes, we all will, i just pray every day as i drive to work that i won't do any harm with those mistakes. no harm this week. interesting though what you find out about the character of your co-workers. one this week...i suspect a wrong dose was given to my patient by a co-worker helping out. he fudged on his answer when i asked about the 2 vials i found. i appreciate the help, and the guy did okay, but it's always best to just fess up to an error so that you can prevent the fall out. it's tough though as in this business confessing to an error can cost one their job, thier license and even thier homes if there is some lawsuit...just adds another dimension to the whole medicine thing. luckily for us all, our bodies are more resiliant that we think. also found a bag of tpn(total parenteral nutrition) that had precipitate in it. i didn't hang it so nothing bad could have happened...reasons why we will always need people and quadruple checks and even that isn't enough at times. i'm always just shocked that people are shocked that mistakes happen. just like it shocks me that people are shocked that people get infections while they are in the hospital.
met up with kelly and her mom for a walk today. not a monday walk, but we ended up doing the same loop, i just got an hour extra of sleep. felt great. still, i came home and napped a bit before heading to the pool. my shoulder felt a bit sore so only 25 laps today. never push too hard. got into a cleaning/tossing mode so went through a few of the drawers and some closet and donating a few bags. lots of stuff i just don't wear or can't wear as it no longer fits...better to just get rid of it. plan on buying a few things that actual fit nice and look good on rather than torturing myself with stuff that may never fit the same again.
well, i gotta get up kinda early tomorrow....
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