The Storm

So, a storm blew through and it was a doozy. 

Light Thoughts

I re-read my last post and.... boy, that might have been the nadir.  The low point.  The end of the line.  While it didn't exactly get better starting two months ago, we did start to hire nurses right around then.  And that little glimmer of hope was enough to see, both in my own actions and in the eyes of the nurses I supervise.  To date, we have two RNs and one LPN out of orientation with three more RNs in orientation.  That's enough to cut down the overtime by about half.   

There might be light at the end of this tunnel yet.  

Useless Wastes of Money

So I have purchased several new toys.  To be honest, these are all complete wastes of money and I'm not here standing up tall and saying that I'm spent my money wisely or purchased something that will make my life better.

Nope.  I just wasted some money, far too much money on one, on things that make me smile.

On each item I justified it to myself just before purchase and it seamed reasonable at the time.  In retrospect I wasn't so much getting reasons to buy them, I was pushing down my financial responsible side that was saying loud and clear "YOU DO NOT NEED THIS".

I think that part of me, the financial responsible side of me, is weak.  It had far to much help in the past.  In the past it was hardly ever a decision to make.  I simply didn't have the money to make purchases like this.  Sure, I wanted the techy toys since I got my Voltron action-figure/toy when I was a little boy, but I also recognized that they were wastes of money.  I guess it's kind of like wearing a cast.  Your broken body part can't support itself, so the cast does that job.  Once the cast is removed your body part is used to NOT supporting itself and needs work so that it can do it's job again.

In that way, my cast was removed when I got this job and I skipped going to physical therapy.

So my purchases were, in order of purchase, a Roku 3, a Kindle Voyage, and a Microsoft Surface Pro 4.  The Roku 3 is a video streaming device that connects to the television.  Think Netflix.  The Kindle Voyage is the Cadillac of ebook readers from Amazon.  The Surface Pro 4 is a tablet/laptop.

Television shows, Saving lives, Snow, Clock withdrawal, Guns, Wallet 3.0

I finished (re)watching Band of Brothers.  Man... that's a damned fine show. Just heart wrenching in some scenes.  So long as I finished an HBO series, I figured I'd check out one that I hadn't seen.  I tried watching the first episode of "Oz"... but that just didn't work for me.  First, it's from the 90s, so it's done in 4:3 format.  I just don't like watching shows in that format unless I know they're good.  Yes, I've heard that Oz is very good, but it's also early in HBOs attempt to make good quality series televison.  So the production quality is somewhat lacking.  And maybe I can't get into it as I work in a real prison.  The more realistic parts bother me as it's things I see at work.  The less realistic parts bother me because I KNOW they're unrealistic.  Anywho... I didn't even finish the first episode and decided to pick a different series the following day.

Wednesday at work was more hectic.  More transfers that came in 'late' so that put me behind.  And one inmate that came to us with tachycardia.  Tachycardia is a fast heartbeat.  Normal is between 60 and 90.  This cat's heart was beating at 170, occasionally up to over 200.   That's not just fast... that's deadly.  If your heart beats that fast, it's not actually pumping enough blood.  I got the PA on staff to take a quick look  and she immediatly decided to send him to the local ER via ambulance.  I worked on getting everything ready and called the ER to give them a report... sadly I misdialed and called the prison system's hospital ER.  When I spilled the beans and told the PA what was going on he freaked out.  We had it under control, but I had to actually calm him down before I could pass the phone off to the PA and actually do my job by calling the local ER.

Free Time

For awhile there I was on quite the TV high.  Back in June I wrote a post about how I watch television, and almost as importantly; what I watch on television.  Since then, I've caught up on some older television shows and the new fall season has begun.

The fall television season has brought back The Walking Dead, Person of Interest, This Old House Hour, and a bit of Top Gear.  I've added another show to those that I record and watch regularly... This Week With John Oliver.  If you haven't caught this HBO news mocumentary, then you need to catch it.  John Oliver, who started on the Daily Show, is quick witted, funny, and presents the week's news with a really interesting spin.

The older shows that I've caught up with are:  Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and Luther.  All three of those shows were great successes.  I enjoyed watching them and feel better for having watched them.  I also re-watched HBO's The Newsroom in anticipation of the third season.  So far, all of that has been a success.  I've entertained myself thoroughly by watching those new and old shows alike.  But then no all is quality in TV watching world.  There are two unsuccessful TV watching experiences.

The first was American Horror Story.  My brother highly recommended this FX series, and it has a unique twist that I found interesting.  Each season is a full story.  Beginning, middle, end.  The first season was titled 'Murder House', where a family moves into a haunted house.  The second season was about an old insane aasylum the third about a coven of witches, and the current season is about a circus freak show.  All of them have the same core actors with a few single season stars.  I think one problem was that my brother got hooked on the second season, while I tried watching the first season first.  The first season is... well it's not good.