Odds and ends

Let's start with odd....

Ahmadinejad:

"There was no holocaust."

"There are no homosexuals in Iran."

But really, dude, X-ray attacks? In Rome? Now you're pushing it.

Although I have been wondering about the Pope's red shoes. Are they perhaps a weapon of sorts, designed to direct radiation attacks against enemies of Christendom?

Mahmoud, hon, Nana says take your meds.

Moving on.....

Some acquaintances of mine lost one of their beloved cats to a pair of unrestrained dogs who wandered onto their back porch yesterday. One cat escaped and eventually returned home unharmed, but the larger cat was not so fortunate. The dogs tossed him in the air and broke his back. It was all over in a heartbeat. Please, please, if you have dogs, keep them under your control. More than one dog constitutes a pack, and they are pack hunters by nature. This did not have to happen.

And a moment's reflection....

Please remember the patients and medical personnel who were killed in Flagstaff yesterday. May their loved ones, friends and colleagues find comfort and peace.

Today was better

Today was a good hospital pharmacy day. Why, you ask? Well, for one thing, I got to say my two favorite work-related words out loud. No, not those two. And please feel free to say them with me:

Anidulafungin

Alcaligenes

C'mon, it's fun. The second one had the added benefit of an upward inflection at the end, because I was actually engaged in a discussion involving some weird-ass combination of antibiotics my techs were preparing back in the IV Room/Sweat Lodge that I've been stewing away in all weekend. It was one of those, "Yeah, but did she grow out this baby yet?" conversations.

Another reason it was a good day? The Baxa compounder actually worked. Printed mix check reports and everything. We were able to boldly mix TPNs and NICU primaries and move on to smaller but more exciting admixtures. Like anidulafungin. It's a party in your mouth.

Ahhhh..........

Y'all will need to excuse me for a while. My martini is getting warm.

Another one-day weekend

I worked an extra shift last Sunday, making last weekend the first in a string of one-day wonders which is looming ahead for most of the summer. Our first pharmacy resident has finished her year with us and moved on, and her replacement will not be trained and licensed until well into August or possibly September. Lots of "opportunities" for overtime. Time and a half at pharmacist's wages is hard to pass up, and my bank account needs some heavy-duty replenishment. New kitchens don't come cheap.

But, I've just squandered a perfectly good day off, and now I have to work straight through until Tuesday evening. I can't really do much around the house, due to the general state of disruption brought on by the previously referenced kitchen remodelling, which also includes the garage and former dining room. I did manage to do some cleaning, and some laundry, but the weather was sort of passive-aggressively menacing most of the day, so the gardens were neglected. We've had such cool (for June) temps lately, I'm loathe to go out and work in the more seasonal heat and humidity which have beset us over the last week. My landscaper has apparently fallen off the edge of the Earth, leaving us with a roughed-in planting bed project at the end of the driveway. He didn't make much progress. I bought the plants for it weeks ago, and they are not looking so spry. Oh, and yes, he's the fellow who is supposed to be fixing the fence that was compromised by the heavy rains two weeks ago. I'm concerned that he's been hurt or has been locked in a dungeon by his neighbor. She's stolen him away from me in mid-project before.

I just have no ambition today. I did make some cosmetic changes to this humble little blog, so hopefully the blogroll is easier to read now. I've been jonesing for the loveliness of the Pacific Northwest and let that beautiful part of the planet be my guide for the newish pallette.

Rain, rain, and more rain, but not today

Finally, a day without rain. We had another downpour yesterday, but thankfully it was brief compared to what we've experienced lately. My newly planted impatiens loved getting a drink, and I loved sleeping with the air conditioning off and the cool night air coming in the open windows. I can't say when we've been able to do without the A/C this much in June. It's kind of pleasant, but we could really do without the heavy thunderstorms. Don't worry, we won't dry out. There's more rain forecast for the next three days. My gardens must think they've died and gone to Seattle; the plants are all very, very happy.

Meet Abby!

This is a video of my first grandchild, Abigail. She was about two months old when this mom and daughter "call and response" was captured for posterity by my son-in-law. Quite the little chatterbox!
She's four months old now, and rolled over for the very first time yesterday. Yay!!

A little forethought goes a long way

I just have to share this humorous email a friend sent me last night:


Be careful when you name your company If you are planning a web site!

All of these are legitimate companies that didn't spend quite enough time to consider how their on line name might appear!

These are not made up. Check them out yourself!

1. 'Who Represents' is where you can find the name of the agent that represents any celebrity. Their Web site is: www.whorepresents.com

2. 'Experts Exchange' is a knowledge base where programmers can exchange advice and views at: www.expertsexchange.com

3. Looking for a great pen? Look no further than 'Pen Island.' It can be found at: www.penisland.net

4. Need a therapist? Try 'Therapist Finder' at: www.therapistfinder.com

5. Then there's the 'Italian Power Generator' company. Check it out at: www.powergenitalia.com

6. 'IP computer' software, there's always: www.ipanywhere.com

7. And the designers at 'Speed of Art' await you at their wacky Web site: www.speedofart.com

Who'll stop the rain?

By 4PM this afternoon, Springfield had endured unrelenting thunderstorms and a total rain accumulation of four inches. We've had erosion and runoff problems in the backyard since we moved to this house 24 years ago. In an effort to manage this problem, we constucted a 2 foot deep or so by 4 to 5 feet wide rock lined trench to control the runoff and minimize further damage. The resulting spillway, for lack of a better word, was a huge project that stretched over many years, and still is not completed to our satisfaction. The large collection area at the uphill end is deeper than the rest of the channel, and we had hoped it would hold water but the pond liner must have been breached by the rocks. It's also filled in with mud from some heavy rains earlier in the year. However, imperfect as it is in its current state, the spillway has afforded us opportunities to play with the landscape and attract wildlife, like toads and chipmunks, that we did not have in abundance previously. And it does control the runoff. Unless we have a 100-year rain, which we seem to get about, oh, once a year anymore.


This is what it looked and sounded like this morning at 10AM with just shy of two inches having fallen. The fence was just starting to lean.





This is what greeted me when I got home from work about 3PM. The fence had been pushed over quite noticeably by the persistent assault of swirling, pounding water. You can see the tops of the plants in one of my rain gardens just upstream from the fence. I don't think I lost any of them, but I can't see the sedges in the video. They were most likely completely submerged, but I'll find out later today or tomorrow if they're still out there at all.

Right, then, time to get out and grab a shovel.