dead stuff...Barrow AK

 we were cruising around with Libs and Mw...they were checking out the dead bird on the beach.  there was dead stuff all over Barrow though.  driving around the houses was probably one of the most entertaining things.  we wanted to see every house/yard.

 some skin of something...not sure what.  they were everywhere.

 i'm sleepy, just finished my 3 nights.  in between one they had that chat with the rangers from Round Island.  woke up early so i could be a presence there for WARIS and then never really got back to sleep.  happy i did it for the walrus...

 other great news today....the commentary piece  i wrote and sent off to the local paper is slated to be published in Monday's paper.  :-)  perfect timing for POTUS visit to AK...not that he will read it but i have done my part it trying to put it out there.  wrote the script for people who wanted to call POTUS, encouraged people to contact folks at fish and game and now...the piece in the paper. always fun.  i really do need to do more of these commentary pieces.  i think i may be a pretty decent writer..i have opinions in spades...

 so half my shifts i felt like i had a bit of a fuzzy brain...of course, i get paranoid and think...stroke, dementia?  knew i hadn't hit my head again.  in the end..i feel pretty safe in surmising that i am simply tired.

 my work week was ICU, then ER and then Peds.  lots of variety just how i like it.

 ICU was reasonable.  i got a code from a buddy up in RCU.  as time passes i get to know more and more people around the hospital. i can't say my social life has improved dramatically, but i do have many more friends/contacts than i did before i started the resource pool.  always a good thing and a start for building more solid friendships over the years.

 my next night was ER so totally busy.  it must have been a busy day as well because each room i walked into it felt like i was getting berated for the long wait.  plugged along but there were a handful of people who were pretty nasty and one family member of a patient who was a total ass...of course, it makes me feel badly for the patient as i suspect life with that guy is hell.

 as i wrote in a facebook post.  too often people forget that in the Emergency room it's not First come, First serve, it's Worst come, First served.  but that little rash or bug bite that you could have treated with over the counter benedryl....hell if you are willing to wait 2-3 hours to get it seen or lack any common sense at all, get in the queue.  don't bitch about the wait.  one lady who was going off on me was all, "i don't even see anyone that looks that sick!!".  i let her know that she was actually in a pretty isolated room where she was and that as i walked down to get my assignments they were doing chest compressions on someone...so i was guessing that person was pretty sick.

 thankfully, i have always been given the gift of being able to tell someone they are basically an idiot to their face without them realizing they have just been put in their place.  i will have to make that one of the things i'm grateful for today.

 those people who are totally rude and demanding are jerks but thankfully, there are many more patients who were nice and patient than the rude ones. sadly, those nasty people can really take a toll on you.  your job is to help people, getting called names and sworn at and feeling anxious that the jerk may turn to violence at some point are not things that you are always prepared for when you are trying to help people.

 nice co-workers and everyone was busy and we all got through it.

 my last night in peds was fairly breezy.  took a walk in the wee hours to keep myself awake.

 chatted with my niece when i woke today, which was great.  eventually i did get Blossom out for a few walks...got in our 10,000 steps.  whew!! first we went to Westchester Lagoon and did  a coastal walk and then we headed to Point Worzonof for the sunset.  the sunsets are coming earlier by the way.

 pizza!!  that sounded good to me tonight as well so i stopped by the Moose's Tooth and ordered one to bring home. totally tasty!!

 eiders...a type of duck hang out.  would have been nice to see more live animals as one often expects in Alaska....it wasn't to happen much up here in the far north.  we all had a blast and found discovering all that Barrow had to offer great fun.

 i think this caribou head on the side of the road was one of the first things we ran across as we started to drive libs and mw around town.

 so random...

 the whole place is random.  would be a great scene for some movie i'd think.

 after checking out the caribou head in town we drove out the road a bit to enjoy the tourist sights.

 we had to let the rest of our crew get in their must have Barrow photo ops!!

 at the baleen palm trees.

 not too much walking between shifts.  right before the run started i took both dogs to U-Lake for a nice stretch.

 the summer is slipping away.  i'll have to toss crap in the car and drive and see where that leads me for the weekend.  thinking of Fairbanks.  the sandhill cranes should be chilling up there right now.

 cool dog.

 on our tour with will

 does kind of give you an idea how large these whales are.  huge!!  this is just the skull of a bow head whale.

 article today about how as many as 30 whales have been found dead near the Kodiak region this year, they are not sure at all why the die out has happened.  a previous article about it had mentioned some walrus deaths as well.

 libs,val and mw are checking out the treasure hidden in the whale bones.  there was a geocache there.  we added a WARIS card into it.  :-)

 will look into Thanksgiving in California this year.  if i'm not too late to get time off it would be fun to rent a car and drive north.  always love that drive.

 old buildings..were military, now college

 liked the colors too.

 i am sleepy...probably full from my late meal as well.

 here we all are doing a cheer pose on the 50 yard line of the Whalers football field.

 thankful for: A.  my ability to say shit to people and get away with it.  i think that is charm? B.  the people who are nice and patient and don't take their irritation out on the nurses. C.  sharing chocolate..it's always fun!