packing and baking..

 that first summer trip is always a cluster.  then you get into the rhythm of the packing for a camp trip.  each ones a little different.  will you be traveling by car, boat, plane?  gear have to fit in a kayak or backpack? will you  be transporting gear every day or will there be a home base? in alaska all sorts of weather possibilities must be planned for as well.  emergencies or a wide variety.
this trip we will drive to seward then put all our gear on a boat and be transported out to a cabin in aialik bay.  then we can just settle in for 3 nights before getting picked back up again.
this is a grebe above.  cheney lake.

 took my car in this morning on the way home from work.  it had a few things that were noted on my last oil change that needed to be repaired.  of course i forgot to ask them to change my headlight that is out and they didn't notice.  i also got my blizzacks changed back over to my summer tires.
i am grateful to the gentleman who washed my car at honda and when he drove it out for me to pick up noticed that the car was riding funny.  he noticed one of the lug nuts had fallen off the tire when he got out of the car.  upon further inspection it was noted that none of my tires lug nuts had actually been tightened on my tires.  lucky i didn't try to drive to seward and have my tires go flying off.
i have heard a few horror tales of this sort of thing.  there are thousands of cars getting their tires changed over 2x/year and it's bound to happen that one or more tires somewhere in there won't get mounted correctly.  it's pretty rare i guess though.  i just want it safe for my drive to seward tomorrow.  for your birders out there, that was a red necked grube.  above is a greater scaup and below is some sort of gull.  those all just look to similar to me.

 canadian out in baxter bog.  that was where i was yesterday.  at least for a loop.  not much sleep this stretch.  happily my stretch is only 2 nights and i spent both of those in the emergency department.  both nights they had me in the section where they put patients deemed more sick than others.  so 5 beds between two nurses.  i think only one patient we had over the last 2 nights there didn't get admitted.  i'm still an emergency room virgin in that i still seem to believe everyone who complains of pain is actually in pain and not just seeking drugs.  i guess i should enjoy this window of naivity.  ignorance is bliss i guess.  i try to just be kind with whoever i deal with and move on.  you aren't going to fix the ills of the world so easily so best not to let yourself get to drained by it.

 both nights were both quite pleasant. the first night i realized that i was soon due for my basic life support to be checked off.  i was able to do the online class while in the emergency room and then in between shifts i ran back at 4pm and did the physical check  off on the dummies.  of course, writing dummies makes me wonder when we won't be allowed to call dummies dummies.  soon i suspect that won't be politically correct and we'll have to come up with some less "offensive" name for them.  resuscitation guides? plastic cadavers? PPOWAU (people of plastic origins who assist us).  incapable of intellect yet helpful for training.  that is a lot to say though.

 it feels a bit like we've had april twice and bypassed may altogether.  i am now starting to see more signs of spring life moving forward.  a few pictures a bit later.

 spent too much money today.  will be spending more this weekend.  it's true though that years later you don't recall the money you spent on some trip or adventure but you do always remember the trip. better to just lay down the cash and do some cool stuff than sit at home and wish you were out doing cool stuff.  i could be richer, but my life wouldn't be as rewarding.

 mallard by a scaup.  i think i have that right.

 gotta write notes for the various people taking care of the critters...in case of an emergency, basic care and if i should die.  still more stuff to pack, mainly the camera stuff and deck bag stuff.  bear spray.  some stuff is already loaded in the car.

 i think i irritated one of the emergency room docs last night. he was hoping i'd slam these fluids into this older guy i was taking care of, but i decided when you are almost 90 slamming fluids in could be a bad idea.  he thought the guys increased heart rate was due to dehydration.  not sure what i thought except i wasn't slamming it.  so to appease him i started increasing rate for second liter of fluids.  increased sob, no improvement in the rapid heart rate...hmm....cardiac levels elevated...congestive heart failure....guess the slamming bolus wasn't that good of an idea after all.
he did talk to me later and said he was wrong.  that is always nice and the added bonus is that he may listen to me a bit more next time something comes up.  it takes some time to establish yourself in any unit.  takes time for doctors to trust you.  got the guy loaded with drugs and transported him up to the adult unit.

 grebes

 signs of life as i walked to cheney lake today.

 soon all the green will explode.  probably this weekend.  i usually have gotten started on the yard and garden, but the coolness has put everyone behind on their planting.

 cheney lake

 something serene about this one.  always love a good canoe picture.

 more signs of life at cheney lake.

 brutal attack in england.  that poor soldier, he was sliced up by some madmen with knives.  it was random really, in broad daylight. there are some really crazy people out there and worse they get their moments of fame that they so want to it encourages them in  some ways.

 boy scouts will now allow openly gay scouts, though not openly gay leaders. it's just a matter of time i suppose on that one.

 chatted with my sister for a bit, i try to call her when i leave town.

 it's almost 5 am...i may try to just get 5 hours and then pick up on the note writing in the morning.  i'm beat!! the car dude called and woke me at noon..so not much sleep today.

 i was slow getting myself moving today so i didn't make it to freddies until after 9:30 i think.  this was on the drive home.  i stayed at freddies too long and spent too much money.  i've wanted some new v-neck t shirts for summer so they had some on sale..still adds up, even at more than 1/2 off.  also i'd heard those infomercial hoses that deflate and don't crimp were there...had to get one to try for myself this summer.  my sunglasses pinch in on my temples so wanted new pair for this trip.

the house smells of fresh baked cookies... held off on eating too much dough.  i needed to have good cookie numbers for the trip.  no burnage of any cookies.  good night...no notes until i retrun from my trip out. hope our boat trip goes much smoother this year.  perhaps we will get some whale sightings out there.