Adventures

Merry Christmas Week everyone! I have been in Mountain View for the past week (already?!), waiting to see where I needed to be and when.  I needed to stay just in case I started orientation last week or the beginning of this week.  I was offered another travel position at Stanford ( !!!! ) to work on their surgical ambulatory care unit and ambulatory transfusion and infusion center!  I'm very excited for several reasons:  1.  I love this area and still have so many things left to see/do.  2.  I love the girls I met my first week at Stanford in October and we are having so much fun getting to see and do things together.  3.  I love working at Stanford.  4.  I love the area (did I already mention that?)!  It worked out so well!  I was taking a gamble by not accepting a poorly paying job in LA (have absolutely no desire to go there) Wednesday night, said I would "think about it," while I waited to hear back on the Stanford ...

I've been getting questions about what's going on now and people send me questions wondering where I am, my address, etc.  Well, more waiting and I'm homeless!  I'm currently in Mountain View, California, staying with one of my friends that I met while working at Stanford, who is also a travel nurse.  I'm just hanging out here while I wait for word on the next job, just in case I need to be somewhere this week or next for orientation.  I will probably wait through Thursday and then make plans to get back home for Christmas if I don't hear anything.  I should probably be more stressed than I am, or, maybe not.  I am not worried as of yet and am enjoying the time off and the Lord has been very provident so far, so I don't feel the need to worry too much!  I do have brief moments of "okay . . . I kinda need a job . . . " but, for the most part, I'm just enjoying getting to hang out with these girls, be in the beautiful bay, and go do fun things (w...

Wow . . . where does the time go?  As soon as I get used to a place and begin to enjoy it, it's time to move on and start over!  I was very reluctant to begin work in Sacramento because it wasn't "the Bay" and my friends were still in the Bay and I'm here.  As it turns out, we've been able to get together a few times and have had a wonderful time (because we all miss each other, so we really make the best of it) each time we get together.  So, getting together with them has made this assignment much better than I feared it might be.  The people I work with have all been so much fun and so helpful. Sacramento has been very hard in a different way, though.  As you may have read in my previous posts, there is a very high population of homeless here and this hospital sees many.  It has been a very difficult reality check and has reminded me of how broken the world is.  I have wanted to scream because of the injustice (and not by the hospital, by any...

My friend, Angela, asked me to post pictures of where I live a while ago.  These are my extravagant accommodations!  They are "free" to me and I don't spend much time here.  I am only here for another 2 weeks or so and I have done much better about keeping this place tidier! I brought the quilt coverlet for when I have to provide my bedding. Decided to use it in the hotel too! : )  I do miss having a house to make more of a "home" and having a place to have people over.  But, for the time being, this keeps me warm and dry.  I look forward to a 3-month assignment so I can have a one bedroom apartment (some day)!

The reality of the world seems to hit more at times than others.  There are times it seems we see things a little more clearly and we aren't as oblivious to the state of the world or situations others are in. Working in bigger cities has opened my eyes as you would expect.  I have been very overwhelmed by the number of homeless here in the 2 cities I've worked in so far.  In Sacramento, I work in a hospital close to downtown, so it's expected that we see more of the homeless population.  The complications of H1N1 and colder weather seem to be driving more into the hospitals.  Not to mention, the struggling economy causing facilities to be closed and funding to be cut for programs. Which programs are cut?  Those that care for the mentally ill and keep them off the streets.  Further aggravating the problem of funding is of course these people are unable to pay and have no insurance, meaning the hospital "eats" the costs (which I have no personal issues...

This is the Blessed Sacrament Cathedral in downtown Same cathedral . . . different angle. Sorry for the repetition! : ) I haven't see the Governator anywhere . . . I think he and his wife have been too busy parking in red-zones. "The City of Trees" means lots of leaves! This is the Great American River (I think) and is the river my bike trail follows! Very nice. Another view from the trail. Part of the trail. I saw 10 of these little guys!  Very nice. Happy Thanksgiving, all!

So, I'm in Sacramento and have been working on the floor for a week.  I still haven't figured out how to juggle a life with 8 hour work days . . . I know, everybody else in the world does it, but, I have never had to work 8 hour days.  I have worked 12 hour shifts for either 2 or 3 days in a row, would have a couple or three off in a row, and then do it again.  I wouldn't have much of a life at all while I worked the twelves, but then would have a nice chunk of time to relax, take trips, or socialize.  I'm still trying to learn how to balance all that throughout the week.  I will say, I don't think it's as tiring to spread the work hours out a bit and working more of a day schedule is probably helping that as well.  If any of you have any insight as to how to manage a well-balanced life working 8 hour days, feel free to email me!  : ) I haven't figured it out yet. . . But Sacramento always  smells like Sunray did during the fall when they were b...

On the way to Sacramento, I decided to spend the afternoon in San Fran, being a typical tourist, again. : )  One of my friends from home bought me a City Pass, which has tickets to various touristy type things to do.  The other day, a friend of mine and I went to the De Young Museum of Art.  Today, I decided to do the boat bay tour, the aquarium, and ride the "famous" Hyde St and Powell cable car uptown.  It has been a fun day with beautiful weather, so it's been a good way to exit the Bay area! (you can click on these pics for better resolution and a larger view. I recommend it!) The view from the top of the De Young Tower. Down by the pier I know . . . I've posted tons of Golden Gate Bridge pictures. But, not one from this angle! You can't really tell, but it's slowly moving down the glass . . . yeah, I know . . . I can hear my friends making fun of me now . . . : ) I start orientation on my floor in Sacramento tomorrow morning.  I a...

Week 3 ends and week 4 begins here at Stanford!  My other travel nurse friends and I were talking earlier tonight about how quickly this month has flown by and how sad we are it's almost over! It means Minnesota moves to Connecticut to work at YALE ( ! ) and I move to Sacramento for my next assignment.  We are so sad to see Minnesota leave, but we are also so happy she gets to go work at Yale.  What a story--from one coast to the other! We're sad to split up, but we already have plans for visits. So, I finish my job here at Stanford the night of the 6th.  I will begin work at Sutter General in Sacramento on Thursday the 5th for the hospital-wide orientation day.  It's a 6 week assignment with a "probable extension" from what the lady at the hospital told me.  I will be working on the oncology unit there and working 5 x 8 hours a week, the evening shift, 3p to 11p.  I've never worked 8 hour shifts and think it will be bittersweet.  I will have mo...

A Bostonian and Texan took to the streets of San Francisco, driving past the Victorian homes, apartments and businesses perched atop many a steep hill to conquer:  1. Lombard street; 2.  Cycling across the Golden Gate Bridge; 3.  The Ghirardelli Chocolate Factory! 1.  Lombard Street I apologize, but my camera died before we got to a shop so I could buy some more $1.50/ea AA batteries, so I have no pictures of the 1000 block of Lombard Street!  Click  here   for the Wiki article about the street and some good pictures.  I have to say, driving the STEEP ( ! ) hills of San Fran is really a thrill the first time!  The grades are crazy steep.  Lombard St has a grade of 27% straight shot down.  The 8 switchbacks now give it a 17% grade which still feels extremely steep as you look down over the city and bay as you drive it!  This street is known as the "crookedest street in the world."  The streets of SF offer incredible...

So, week 1 in Cali has come to a close and what an amazing week it has been!  I have only been in "orientation," which means we've been listening to people talk about policy, procedure, the computer programs we'll be using, we've been oriented to their pumps and IV start kits, etc . . . My first shift on the floor is tomorrow evening.  I am nervous about the e-charting and I am nervous about how relationships will go with those I will be working on the floor with (agency nurses, like myself, are the bottom of the totem pole, and can be "dumped" on . . . so, we'll see! Everybody's been very hospitable and welcoming so far, though.). Stanford :  It's a beautiful and large campus!  8,180 acres v. Texas Tech's 1,839 acres.  Stanford is the second-largest contiguous university campus in the world; Texas Tech is the second-largest contiguous university campus in the US.  I haven't yet explored the campus itself very much, but, from what I...

You guys told me to post lots of pictures. So, here are some from my first Sunday afternoon here.  It was a good way to spend a day until I have friends!  (I can't keep doing things like this alone, or I'll never make friends, but, in the mean-time, it was a good pastime. : ) There were dozens of people cycling up this mountain range! Highway 1. Tons of brave souls cycling this road as well. Stop number 1:  Pigeon Point Lighthouse She's out of commission because she's about to fall down. But good news: They tell you what to do if a tsunami's after you! I read in the "fog house" that California has one of the foggiest coasts in the world.  Hmm. The shore at Santa Cruz. What an amazing day!  I wish you were here to enjoy it with me! Happy fall, everybody!