Good god it has been an extraordinarily long time since I wrote a blog. I am much better at PM's than this type of time. Regardless I'll do a quite recap of what the hell I've been up to for the past three months.

August:
My birthday was the 7th and my friends (Your Divine Tragedy) played a show at Showbox Market in downtown Seattle. This is possibly one of the best birthday experiences I've ever had. The lead singer pulled me up on stage and made the crowd sing happy birthday to me. Nothing like dozens of strangers singing to you for a good time. After that was finished I had another cowbell performance. The show was taped but sadly I never saw the video for it. Afterwards a kid shook my hand and complimented me on my "mad cowbell skills" I don't know if I could have ever had a better compliment for the night.

This was the last month I was actively dating too. Toward the end of the month I started my 8 on 6 off work schedule and it has consumed a lot of my time. Nothing more than a few dates but oh well. I'll live

September:
I went to Cali. to spend a week with my brother. He lives in the bay area. The weather was fantastic. I'm not too into all the super touristy type things so we just hung out for most of my trip. I tried some new kinds of food while I was there. When we were out for sushi I tried some monk fish liver and a sea-weed salad. The fish liver was ok, surprisingly creamy texture. The salad didn't do much for me. We also ordered some sushi with bacon in it. I know, kind of weird, but cooked bacon in sushi was really good. Another night I tried egg plant. It isn't a common dish in Montana so growing up I really didn't see much. Here are a couple pictures from the trip:


I know I'm not in any of them, but I was just taking photos with my phone on the two of our outings. After that it was back to work for a couple more rotations.

October:
I was able to make a trip back to Montana the first weekend of this month. It was really nice seeing some of my friends again. The couple I stayed with has a six month old daughter, who is pretty entertaining to play with. I managed to get sick the last few days I was there so besides getting coffee with an ex, I was in their apartment for pretty much the whole week. Regardless I still love Montana. Hopefully I'll be back to jump on a train and make it back to where I grew up sometime in the next couple months.

This was one of the two months where we got an extra pay check so I had some extra spending money and worked on refurnishing my apartment some more. All that is left is the dining area and I still need a couple things to put on the walls in the bathroom because it is still bare. Charles was got his own decor too


I had to work on Halloween so no shenanigans this year. Next year I should have it off, unless something happens to the way we are scheduled at work, which will all sorts of not fun if that is the case. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays because of the tv specials and general entertainment that comes along with the night of mischief and costumes.

Trying new food wasn't just for Sept. One of my coworkers is from the Philippines and she was telling me about some of the street food they sell where she is from. I'm not sure what kind of crazy person would get the idea to eat some of this stuff but I told her if she brought something in I'd try it. She gave me some balut, which for those who aren't savvy with philippino street food, is fertilized duck egg that is hard-boiled. In the end it tastes pretty much like a hard boiled egg but it looks a little disturbing because of the duck embryo inside. Here I am enjoying the last bite:

Delicious.

November (thus far):
I am still working a lot of hours. Eight days in a row of 10 hour shifts definitely wears a person down, but I usually end up with another shift of over time too. Needless to say, I get pretty exhausted by the time I have days off. I'm still working to earn the respect of some of my coworkers. The ones that really don't think well of me are the ones I really don't care about. They assume I don't know anything because I'm young. After being at my job for 6 months I am now training my coworkers on how to run the chemistry department. Some of my extra hours have been put into writing out the standard procedure that will be used by the lab for years to come. But its alright though, I'm sure I'll learn how to do my job after I have as much experience as the nay sayers

The Bodies Exhibition is in Seattle right now and if anyone has any interest in human anatomy or biology I'd really recommend it. I went with a friend and a coworker. My friend isn't a science kid but she thought it was both really gross and totally fascinating at the same time. It gave me a chance to nerd out for a couple hours explaining some of the physiology to her too

One thing that has been happening, that never happened once while I was still in Montana, is that I'll get random messages from girls on Myspace and Facebook. Online dating is something I've never done and not totally opposed to, just a little skiddish at this point. The latest ones were pretty entertaining. One girl messaged me and we e-mailed back and forth for a day and then got together for coffee. We planned on getting dinner together but that didn't work out so it was rescheduled for lunch a couple days later. Two hours before I was supposed to go see her I get a text that says "Things aren't going to work out" Seemed kind of sudden since all of her other texts were in a different light, oh well though. Not 3 hours after that I got a message from a different girl saying that she liked my profile and wanted to chat sometime. Now I just think it is a conspiracy to mess with me. She had red flags all around her so it didn't make it past two messages. So odd, kind of fun though.

Ok, this is plenty long and I should probably get some sleep before my last day of work for this rotation. Time to sleep! Take care.

I've been slacking....again. It has been almost two months since my last blog but I don't know know how many dedicated readers I have so it shouldn't cause any major problems If by chance I do then you should send me a PM and I'll be less lame about making a post.

The summer is flying by with my irregular work schedule. Work is going really well and getting a paycheck is definitely nice. Although, the transition into the real world is still making it near impossible to accumulate any kind of savings. Next up on the honey-do list is car insurance and updating a couple other misc. expenses that popped up. My hours have been all over the place. For a while I had to bounce back and forth between day shift and night shift, which to say the least kicked my circadian rhythm right in the face. I haven't been able to really get my sleep schedule straight after finishing the last round of shifts. My schedule will settle in the next two rotations and I'll be doing evening shift for the entire rotation, which means a normal sleep schedule again. At least I can still find time for a hair cut every so often:


On a less work related side it is my birthday in three days. My friends are playing a show in downtown Seattle (Showbox Market on the 7th) So the show isn't for my birthday but it will be that much better because of the date They had a show last weekend. I'm waiting for the most recent cowbell pictures to surface. I auditioned to play guitar with a local metalcore band. All of the members were amazingly nice but things didn't work out. I don't really have an extensive background in playing metal. I'm sure no one would have guessed that considering I own three acoustics guitars and no electric I'll stick to my acoustic hard rock roots for the time being. It will take a little while to accumulate enough money to buy an electric set up anyway.

There is part of me that still believes people were just feeding me a line about Seattle being rainy and gloomy all the time. The past couple weeks have been uncommonly hot. The heat isn't anything new to me, but the humidity is a little different. Montana is damn near a desert in the 100+ degree heat in the summer time. Speaking of Montana, here are a couple of the last pics I have from there before leaving:

bending in the park


not my guitar but close to it

Its been four weeks since the move and WA has been fantastic thus far. I started the new job a couple weeks ago and it is nice to be bringing in some big kid checks. Ikea is one of my new favorite stores. I bought a bed and a big mirror yesterday. The bed was a beast to put together. Three and a half hours later I had it put together and two very sore thumbs. It might have gone a little faster if I owned some power tools. Those might have to go on the future purchases list.

The new job is great. I still have a couple more weeks of training but I love doing the lab work. Considering the state of the economy I am very thankful that I was able to get a good job and am able to support myself right out of school (second time anyway). Once my training is done I'll go on my seven on seven off schedule. What I'll end up doing during my week off is up in the air. I might have to get a second job to keep from getting a little stir crazy. A friend of mine is the manager of a tattoo shop north of Seattle and I've talked to him about maybe picking up a piercing apprenticeship but my limited time to work there would be a hinderance. The piercer just picked up a new apprentice anyway. Speaking of piercings:



I just got the top helix yesterday It isn't the first time I've added a new hole to my head with too much spare time and a little extra money.

The weather is still being uncharacteristically nice. So I'm told anyway. I think people were lying to me when they said it rains all the time here It has only rained a couple days in the past month. While I was doing some house work today I was able to catch Charles and Leopold hiding in the rhododendron bush behind my patio.



Have a fantastic beginning of the summer. Until next time!

I've been a WA resident for almost two weeks now. The weather has been amazing. There has only been a couple days that were rainy since I arrived. The new apartment is actually a little bigger than I expected so that is definitely a plus. The complex I'm in is surrounded by tons of foliage and is super quiet most of the time. Here is a shot of the living room, minus some decoration that has yet to be put up:



My little friend in front of the fireplace is Sir Charles of the Ouchie Sock Clan and his faithful steed (snail) Leopold Whistley McSkinny Pants.

I start work on Monday, which is a good thing since the move and getting set up in the new place drained my accounts. Its good being over here with tons of new places to explore, but I kind of need the money to do said exploring...and eat.

I've been looking around to see what SG members are in the area. It would be fun to set up some more networking. In good time though. I'll be out here for a while. Not a whole lot of news since I've essentially been on vacation for the past few weeks. I did get Howard the Duck on Netflix today Tonight is looking pretty good. Here are a couple more little pictures I found that made me laugh.





Just imagine Elton John singing: 'Hold me closer Tony Danza'

I am finally all done with school and tests and everything....again....

I took my national exam this morning and passed without really any problem. Right now I just know that I didn't fail. I won't have my raw scores for about a week and a half. The last little marathon of studying I had was semi-intense. The final I had to take for school was 200 questions and encompassed the last 9 months, no pressure right? I've decided that is just too many questions for one test In a few days I'll be moving to the Seattle area. To say I'm excited is a bit of an understatement. It has been a goal of mine for the past three years and I finally have the means to get over there and make a life for myself.

My friends that are in the band over there (Your Divine Tragedy, http://www.myspace.com/yourdivinetragedy ) have been on tour for the past couple weeks and I was able to see them play twice and spend some time with them. Their show has gotten much tighter than the last time I saw them live, which was about two years ago. When they played here in Missoula, I was able to jump on stage and play a song with them. We all could use a little more cowbell



It is about time for me to completely zombie out for the afternoon/evening and find fantastic things to do whilst not thinking. Everyone have a spectacular week. Oh, did anyone buy tickets to the gun show?

It has been another busy month and a half for me, but that is the story of my life. We'll see what I can remember.

I started my last rotation at the hospital, Microbiology, and it is definitely my favorite. There is just something about all the little critters that fascinates me. During spring break I drove over to Seattle and spent some time with friends again, but the big important reason I was there was to interview for jobs for after graduation. I set up two interviews for myself for the week and both went really well. One hospital is on a hiring freeze so even though they liked me there wasn't a whole lot anyone could do. The other was with a guy that grew up in Montana so I think I scored some bonus points right off the bat. I only have four weeks left in my clinical rotations and the light at the end of the tunnel is getting pretty bright. Only a few tests remain that I need to complete.

Things along the female front have been up, down, interesting, and everything between. I'm remembering why the shotgun approach to dating is sometimes a bad idea, even though it is entertaining. I believe that most younger males have a Mrs. Robinson fantasy and I had the opportunity to take care of mine, at least for the time being. She was only 14 years older than me and we had a good evening, but I don't think her husband/ex- type thing liked it quite as much.... Might have been something I should have looked into more... Maturity level blew me away though. I had made the assumption that someone with three teenagers would be more mature than their offspring. I was proven wrong. After the husband thing told her she was followed and pictures were taken through my living room window I became a little uneasy about spending more time with her. She didn't understand why and kept changing the story every time I told her we needed to not talk for now. Weeks later I finally got her to delete my number, or at least stop texting every 10 minutes. Now its back to spending time with people a little more stable.

Recent news is that I landed a job over by Seattle and I'm super excited to start. I've been trying to move out there for a few years, since I finished my first degree and now I'll finally have the means to support myself and afford playtime when I'm not working. The job is just about perfect for what I want to do. I'll be working seven days followed by seven off doing ten hour shifts in the afternoon/evening. It is technically part time (0.875 FTE) but I still have full benefits. I found a nice little apartment that is only 3 miles away from the hospital and now I'm working on getting into that. In the meantime I need to get back to laundry and studying fungus.... fun times, I know

Apparently I lost track of the weeks...

Work has kept my super busy the past couple months. I recently left my second job because I was tired of working 65 hours a week, needed more time to focus on school to graduate in May, and I had personal/ethical differences with the management. Needless to say, it wasn't a hard decision to make. The extra spare time is nice and I've managed to get ahead of the game again as far as homework and tests. It is strange only working 40 hours a week now though. Almost like being on vacation.

This Monday I start my last rotation at the hospital, Microbiology. It is my favorite subject to learn about so I am really looking forward to it. Chemistry, coag, and urinalysis (lots of fun in that dept!) all went pretty smoothly. They are all fairly automated so they aren't as exciting either. I've registered to take my board exam after graduation and started applying for jobs in the Seattle area. I won't know what to do with myself when I have a big kid job and no school to worry about. Maybe I'll start working on a 3rd BS to keep from getting bored

On the side of running amok and stirring up some debauchery.....my life has been a little lack luster. Working 14 hours a day tends to wear me out before I could get into any kind of trouble. I went to a gay bar for the first time in Feb. for one of my coworker's birthday. I was surprised to find more straight people in there that gay. The atmosphere was fantastic though. If I end up downtown again I'll probably stop by. I didn't get any cute boys to buy me a drink, I must be losing my touch Besides that my ex just decided that she wanted to talk to me again after I told her to get out of my life a year ago, odd, but hopefully she'll take the hint and go away for good this time.

To end on a happy note:
We had a mini-blizzard yesterday but its pretty much all melted and I'll be in Seattle in 8 days for spring break! I could use a vacation.

This is how I feel most days after getting off work:

Whew, its been a crazy couple weeks for me. I realize this is my first post since the turn of the new year. I suppose I'll just go week by week since the last update.

New Years was great. Sadly the level of debauchery that happened was a little less than expected but that may not have been a bad thing. The weekend before had enough to tide me over for a while. A girl that I worked with a couple years ago got a hold of me to come downtown to meet up with her and her friend. Long story short, the occupancy of my apartment was tripled from the normal and everyone went home exhausted and smiling. New Years was pretty tame compared to that. One of my friends came over from Spokane for the rest of the week and we ended up going out for the next three nights. I haven't drank that much in at least two and a half years. But he is great to go out with because he is one of two friends that will actually do my way of drinking whiskey, shot of Jameson and chase that with an Irish car bomb.....mmmm delicious.

The following week I was back to work at both jobs and 14 hour days. I finished up my hematology rotation and jumped back into poking people with needles at the paying job. My sleep schedule was all screwy after having a week and a half off combined with drinking heavily for three or four days. Not a whole lot of excitement happened after I jumped back into things. I started getting my car worked on and it will turn into a $500 adventure when all is said and done, but I suppose it is better to keep it running the way it should before it breaks down on the interstate when I have to drive around for job interviews this spring.

Last week was my urinalysis rotation and thankfully it was only a week long. The work isn't too hard but playing with pee isn't the more glamorous part of the profession. The most pain in the ass part was that I had the normal amount of tests and quizzes as I do for the long rotations (6 weeks) and although I don't necessarily have a time limit on them. I don't want to fall behind in other areas. So, within three days I did my 6 quizzes and 4 tests. Having an over zealous memory from my course work last summer and the right amount of pressure kept my scores high enough to keep an A. Not terribly fun but all done none-the-less. Tomorrow I am off to Chemistry for the next six weeks. On that note I will leave you with a quote I learned while working on my first degree and one of my favorite pictures of Beaker.

When it comes to Chemists:

Oops means run!

I was able to get in this week and get my back touched up:



Everything is all the same shade of black now. The sun hasn't seen a needle since I first got it in March of '03. Needless to say it looks tremendously better. The moons should look pretty much longer now as well. Feeding the addiction is kind of a bad idea though While I was sitting in the chair I was getting thoughts of starting to work on my sleeve or getting a new piercing among various other things. However, after balancing my checking account and paying a couple bills I came back down to reality and have to be patient for another four or five months until I graduate and have a big kid job to really start decorating my skin.

Christmas was very nice but short. I was only home for a couple days. The high school swim team has an annual water polo game during Christmas break and that is always a good time. Nothing for self-esteem like getting in the water and tossing a few high school kids around The alumni turnout wasn't as good as past years and we ended up losing by a couple points but the little kiddies reaction to all the unshaven guys, a couple of which have tattoos, is entertaining. The game is very loosely called water polo. It is better described as pile on the person with the ball until they can't breath and have to let go. A dozen alumni vs. fifty high schoolers gave them the advantage.

The trip to Seattle for New Years didn't happen because of the road conditions up here. I'm also fairly broke until I get my student refund check in three weeks too. It isn't the end of the world. I have plenty of friends here I can spend the holiday with. The ones in Seattle are just the group of people I am closest to and feel the most at home with. I'll be making a trip over in March to look for jobs/interview for said jobs if I've been on top of things and get my resume out in the next month or so. I still have the rest of the week off from clinicals and work because of the trip. It is definitely nice not working 65 hours a week. Sleep and real food are fantastic.

Have a spectacular New Years!

P.S.
I just noticed the little chicken emote:

I'll have to find more use for that one.

Not unlike the rest of the northwestern US, I've been experiencing the snow and bit of a cold snap. You still won't hear any complaints about the temperature from me though. Where I grew up wasn't unfamiliar to subzero days in the winter and North Dakota is notorious for having brutal winters. It has been a balmy 10 degree above zero and you can actually be outside for a while without your skin freezing. My biggest concern right now is that I won't be able to make it home for Christmas because of bad roads and mountain passes. I'll just have to wait a couple days and see how things look then. I am still really really hoping that the three or so passes I have to cross to get to Seattle will be at least moderately ok to drive on around the 28th or 29th so I can make it over that way for New Years.

I am just about done with the Hematology portion of my clinicals. It isn't bad but still not the most exciting place to be. All of the automation kind of takes away from my enjoyment. I've also realized that only half of what I learned in school actually applies to general lab work. I'm sure being able to diagnose a dozen or so diseases just by looking at a the patient's blood under the microscope is a good skill to have but unless I was working in a research lab or special heme lab it doesn't really make much difference. The doctors are the ones makes the diagnosis, we are just the ones who run the tests and make sure the results make some kind of sense. Good new though, my teachers changed the grading scale for the online tests and quizzes we have to do so I am back to getting A's and B's, which is much more consistent with my grades when I'm actually in the classroom.

Christmas is fast approaching and although I'm not a religious person by any means I am still traditional and enjoy spending the time with my family. Being on a poor college kid budget means that I only spent about $10 total on presents but my family and I have talked about it more than once and everyone understands. I could go without presents and just spend time with my family and I'd be content. Hopefully I'll be able to get down to Cali. in a few months to see my brother. He has been back up here but I haven't been down to see him in about 4 years...I'm slacking.

At any rate. Have to be up in 6 hours for another 14 hour day, Weeee! Only four and a half months and I'll be done with all that craziness. Have a great week. Happy Holidays!