Wisdom of the Drunken Logician

Canandaigua Suicide & Reaction

Wed, 20 May 2009 19:04:06 GMT

I don't use this much anymore, and I don't plan on starting again...actually I'd kinda like to make my own blog for my hobbies, etc. I feel the need to write on this subject though simply because whenever something provokes my philosophical thoughts like this, it's therapeutic for me to write down those thoughts in the hopes of provoking the same critical thinking in others...it helps me to not stew in my own emotions.

For those who don't live around here and don't know what I'm talking about, a high school student commit suicide in a bathroom using a sawed-off shotgun. Later, the school found incendiary devices including molotov cocktails, and a lot of ammunition in his locker. They also found a note (http://www.whec.com/article/stories/s929826.shtml?cat=565) basically saying what the kid was planning on doing, instead of killing himself. He wanted to kill his fellow students simply for the sake of killing them...not because he was bullied, just because he wanted to kill...he hated the people there for an unknown reason.

For some fluke reason that no one will ever know, he decided to take his own life instead. It was written that maybe he didn't plan the violence and just wanted to leave a questionable legacy...but he sure went through a lot of trouble to bring such violent tools into a supposedly locked school, if he wasn't going to use them. I'm going to assume that he did originally plan to do what he wrote.

Assuming that, I'm angry because now the news is reporting that the school is dealing with this event in the context of teen suicide. Let's face it here, this school dodged a horrible horrible event. Even though a student killed himself, objectively the school itself avoided a long-lasting devastating catastrophe through no effort of its own....and here they are trying to re-frame the issue as teen suicide.

If I were involved in this situation...if I had a kid in the school, or if I was in the school myself, I would march right in to the district center or wherever the people in charge are...on one side of me would be all the children of that school, and on the other side would be a veritable A-Team of lawyers and expert psychologists ready to show the emotional damages in each child resulting from the thinking, "Wow, if this kid didn't kill himself, I'd probably be dead right now. I'm only alive because of some fluke, and it has nothing to do with my school keeping me safe."
I would walk into that room and I would say, "These kids are alive only because a person with the firepower, means, and will to kill them, for some reason decided not to. What could you possibly have to say for yourselves?"

There is no excuse, nothing they could say to change the fact that this is a huge negligence, and they're just wiping their foreheads behind the curtain, completely ignorant of this "miracle" in their favor, and presenting the issue as something different. That pisses me off. If I'm misinformed about something, then I am...but I've based my thoughts here on all the information I've found on this. This isn't a simple case of teen suicide, and I think it needs to be seriously addressed on that higher context of what could have happened, what was "supposed" to happen.

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 05:10:16 GMT

I have been craving an MMO lately, and also a vastly detailed space game. Basically, I want to play Eve Online minus the fact that Eve sucks horribly. ARGH. I have a few single player space games, Independence War 2, and one I took a chance on at Target called Darkstar One. I-War is buggy and formulaic and I played through it a long time ago. Darkstar is ok but seems very repetitive....what I really want is an MMO though, one with nice people, one where I can get what I want out of it without it feeling like "work"...which disqualifies Eve, doing anything in that game takes a lot of preparation.

I even checked out Ultracorps again, which is still in free beta all these years, but that game is way unbalanced, and it seems even moreso now that they gave a race with an already powerful capital ship (called a "Medium" cruiser) an upgrade to said capital ship making it a "Heavy" cruiser which rivals the capital ships of the "warrior" race, only it goes much faster.

Ugh. Damn Eve for sucking like it does.

Long Year

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 05:51:13 GMT

As of Saturday I had officially survived my job for an entire year! It feels weird that just a little over a year ago, I was still working behind a desk at ViaHealth doing nothing but sending hospital bills. Then I went to Michigan which was a fun trip but honestly not as much so as anticipated. In any case, I remebered how unknown everything seemed the first day I walked into the classroom on the second floor of RPC, and how different everything feels now. Some things feel a lot more routine than I ever thought they would, and some things I was really looking forward to about the job have kinda lost their appeal. For one, I enjoy the parts where I get to be a counselor, but I'm upset that they don't have professional psychotherapists to really teach some of the people how to cope with their various traumas and baggage. I can talk with people and do a lot of good but when it comes to real trauma, I don't have the training to help them really start to move forward. I can only do temporary good it seems, and while I'm very pleased that I can do any good at all, it's still frustrating. I am planning on getting a Masters degree, as someone pointed out a M.S. in Mental Health Counseling offered at Fisher...however as already said the State doesn't use them, so I'd have to work in some outpatient setting...which is fine with me, I just think it's a shame that they don't use them in my facility in conjunction with psychiatrists that deal with medications.

Anyway, my mind is a lot more at ease now, knowing that I made it through my year-long probation at RPC. I even almost forgot that I get a salary grade increase now. I'm also glad to be in a job that's secure since it's union-backed, and there are minimal staffing requirements. In an economy like this, I'm glad to have job security.

I realized recently that I don't write anything clever anymore. I used to...I can't think of any one reason why I don't anymore. Do I not have clever thoughts anymore? Maybe I don't have time for clever thoughts? Maybe I'm not around the people that I used to have clever thoughts around? If you go back to the beginning of this journal you notice a huge style change between then and now...I hope it's not because I've grown up.

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 08:23:44 GMT

This past week I haven't been able to sleep well. It's really late, I'm tired, but as soon as I lay down I can't sleep. I usually have to fall asleep on the couch watching TV first, or stay up really late until I'm so tired I can barely keep my eyes open. It's like I'm back in college again. I also have a sore throat, probably picked up from a patient on my floor last week...or maybe since I got reassigned to geriatrics again the last two days, but that's a long and very infuriating story...but really I've felt this throat thing building for a few days now. I'll have to go out and get Halls tomorrow. At least this weekend is feeling long...it feels like I should have to go to work tomorrow, but I still have one more day off.

I Don't Want to go to Toronto!

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 14:21:27 GMT

I wish that Facebook's "iLike" music applet would stop getting me all excited about concerts it SAYS are "near me"...in Toronto. Hell I'd rather it tell me they're near me in Binghamton. I'm sorry, but any concert to which I'd need to bring my birth certificate does not feel that "near me." It just doesn't seem worth it to leave the country for a concert...not even R.E.M., Bad Religion, Carbon Leaf, or any of the other bands I'd really like to see if not for the fact that they seem to only play in Toronto. I don't want to go to Toronto!

Hi, I'm Nintendo

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 18:31:09 GMT

and I'm going to port the two kinda crappy Phantasy Star games to the Wii Virtual Console, and take forever if not never release Phantasy Star IV, the really GOOD game in the series. Grr.

The S Files

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 17:55:24 GMT

Sony is conducting secret underground bizarre experiments on my PS3.

A few weeks ago I was playing Disgaea 2 before work. I went to work. I came back. I turned on the PS3, there was no video or sound. I tried again, nothing. I tried composite instead of HDMI. Still nothing. I got pissed at my PS3 apparently breaking itself and went to find out how to report it to Sony, I found a way to force a graphics reset, and it worked again.

Yesterday, I literally went to work, sleep, and the PS3 would not load any PS2 games. I had been playing Disgaea almost right before I left for work. Granted, I was away from my apartment for 17 hours and then asleep for the next 5, but still, wtf. I tried loading FF10, nothing. I reset the graphics again. Still nothing when I load PS2 games. I loaded Motorstorm (PS3 game), works fine. I tried Disgaea again, works fine.

Sony: Don't make me come the fuck over there.

Harborfest 2008

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 22:52:39 GMT

Just got back from Harborfest in Oswego NY.

Generic pictures are here, and in seperate folders are fireworks and Jess's and Tonya's new kitten!.

They've also been uploaded to Facebook.

There was a lot less jackassery this year, and it seemed like the people running at least the vendor area booted out all the religious assholes that got in our faces and threw stupid pamphlets at us last year.

It was a decent trip with great fireworks and awesome food from Andrew's mom.

Pain in Five Acts

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:30:58 GMT

I haven't had a migraine since working at ViaHealth, and I'm pretty sure that one cause of mine is eye strain. I hadn't had one since starting my new job until yesterday, and I spent most of yesterday in front of the TV. I took ibuprofen for it but it was too late, after Stage 1 ibuprofen has a very low probability of success. My migraines can be divided into 5 distinct stages.

1) Normal headache. If I take ibuprofen it will usually stop the headache, but I usually have to drink a lot of frut juice too, and I have to keep moving. The more I rest the worse it gets, I guess because I'm focused on it.

2) It gets worse, to the point where I can barely function and the pain pulses and unless I have something to really take my mind off it and power through it, I can't help but lie down, which is a mistake.

3) If I'm lieing down, I stop wanting to move completely. The pain is debilitating and I start to feel nauseous.

4) Puking. Ironically the headache goes away mostly but the nausea stays until there's basically nothing left in my stomach.

5) My blood pressure must drop, because I get very shaky and my hands and sometimes arms tingle. I still have to shake off nausea but I have to lie down and elevate my legs because if I don't I almost black out. Also, I can usually only barely feel my pulse in my wrists. After the feeling comes back in my hands, the nausea and headache are gone and I usually just want to go to sleep, but the migraine is over.

This whole process can take like 6 hours, and I'm usually a bit "different" cognitively for about a day. A bit slower maybe. It makes me wonder if anyone else has migraines like this. A doctor did tell me that it is a migraine, but I don't get the typical auras and light sensativity that most people get. Actually, darkness makes mine worse. Mine do respond to migraine medication such as Zomig, but it's so forceful that it's like using a baseball bat to cure insomnia. Zomig is the Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster of headache medicine.

At least I don't get them often anymore. For a time I was getting them about once a month. Until yesterday I hadn't had one in about 10 months, or more.

Eternal Suck of AOL

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:41:47 GMT

I'm trying to create a new screenname at www.aim.com and every time I try it says that required fields are missing even though it's only because their web site REMOVED my responses to those fields. I can't really tell if what it's REALLY trying to say is that the screen name is taken, or if their form is just fubar'd.

Oh, aparently it just doesn't like Firefox. Corporate fascists.

I haven't TOUCHED my awesome desktop computer in over about a week, because I've become reobsessed with this game, and today when I looked at the screen it had a browser box up saying that Google Toolbar had been installed and it was waiting for me to accept the EULA! Corporate fuckers, they're trying to install their userfriendly pissware on my computer without me even being there. I of course denied their malevolent EULA.

Life = Work + x

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 06:07:30 GMT

Now that I have a somewhat secretive job which is taking up a lot of my time, and I don't really have a social life to speak of because I work evenings and every weekend...well most of the time I'm not working is filled with random entertainment that isn't worth writing about.

My job is going well though, and I'm now on a ward that I actually want to be on. The only thing is that for some reason I supposedly appear to be nervous during critical situations which honestly I'm not. The truth is that I'm very high-energy in those situations, and I need to be, that's how I avoid getting hurt. That's how I protect other people from getting hurt, such as having the reflexes to grab someone's arm while they're in the process of swinging at someone else. But what seems to be the interpretation is that I'm nervous. A few of the reasons probably are that I walk really fast (which I do anyway no matter what), and I probably talk faster too because of how fast my mind is during those situations. It's just how I am, but I can't begin to count the nights like this one where I can't sleep because I'm worried that I'm going to come in the next day and find out that I was written up for something like that. Ironically, that's the only thing at my job that I really worry about...but if I make it to October 4th (which marks the end of my traineeship) I won't worry so much. What's also ironic is that yesterday a nurse working with me on my ward told me that she liked how calm and rational I was when a lot of acute things were going on.

Thanks to shift-switching I did manage to get last Sunday off to enjoy a long-overdue sci-fi marathon at bradzoid's. My days off used to be Wednesday/Thursday but now they're Monday/Tuesday, which is kinda better because more holidays fall on monday and it's easier for people to get long weekends than it is to get time off in the middle of the week somehow.

I got a new computer for gaming because the laptop wasn't cutting it. I know that there's something wrong with the graphics card fan in the laptop though. Amber has pretty much the exact same laptop with the exact same graphics card, and her's runs at about 60 degrees whereas mine idles at 81. Without a cooling platform mine will easily get over 115 while playing games, and it gets to like 105 with the cooler...whereas her's doesn't even need a cooling platform at all. Soyata of course denied a long time ago that it was their problem. So I got a tower from Dell, 2.2ghz dualcore with a 512mb video card. It runs everything flawlessly and if a fan dies I can actually take the thing apart to verify what's wrong and fix it. Oh, and I love the 21" flatpanel widescreen.

So that's about it. I work, play video games, and occasionally get together with people for short periods of time for games, food, TV, or any combination thereof.

Ask Dr. Stupid

Sat, 17 May 2008 03:55:58 GMT

Question: If I can hear a song on my HD radio, and press a button to tell my iPod to remember that song so I can buy it later, why don't I have a flying car?

Answer: Because, gravitic manipulation involves slightly different technology than logic circuitry and network communication.

...and knowing is half the battle.

Niagara Falls

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 17:11:28 GMT

I've been on vacation since last Wednesday, and Amber and I went to Niagara Falls. I had actually never seen the falls after being in the Rochester area for 7 years, so I guess I was due for a trip up there. We stayed at the DoubleTree which was pretty much flawless, although it's a bit far from restaurants compared to other hotels...but then again it's far enough from all the extremely tachy tourist attractions, I mean seriously, what do haunted houses have to do with waterfalls? Ripley's also seems to own a lot up there.

We did manage to find a great restaurant called Kelsey's, which has awesome steak in what they called Balsamic Mushroom Gravy. They also have a great way of serving dessert in that you can pick multiple "mini-desserts" to share, they have a pretty good selection.

The main thing we did was go to the Butterfly Conservatory. We got a new camera before the trip specificaly because we planned on going to this...however we did need a new camera badly. We upgraded from 2MP and no zoom, to 8MP and 5x optical zoom. If we didn't think to get a new one before the trip, there would probably be no pictures because butterflies are hard enough to photograph with a decent camera. Granted, I'm nowhere near a professional photographer...and while our new camera is awesome, there were people there with $500 cameras and $2000 lenses on their cameras that were indeed 3 times larger than the actual cameras. However, most of the ones we kept I think turned out really well.

Here are some generic pictures of Niagara Falls while I was figuring out how to use the camera.

I've only seen one or two black squirrels in my life, they were back in Kingston where I grew up, and I've never gotten a close-up look at one. The thing about "wildlife" in Niagara Falls is that it's very easy to photograph, and look at closely. I noticed that these ~~black squirrels~~ DireSquirrels have more of a gruff-looking face and are bulkier than normal gray squirrels.

These are a few pictures taken at the Butterfly Conservatory that actually aren't of butterflies.

The nicest-looking butterflies there were these indigo-winged butterflies and obviously that would make them the most difficult to photograph...they didn't tend to sit open-winged like the other butterflies did. These are the best we came up with.

Other butterfly closeups

Random shots

Vacation is still in progress, more details later. Wednesday and Thursday will be spent visiting my best friend in Kingston. She's a historical educator at the Kingston Senate House which is a historical site from when Kingston was the capitol of New York, before Kingston was burned by the British, I believe.

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 17:26:30 GMT

Stolen from seishonagon
1. Reply to this post, and I will pick five of your icons.
2. Make a post (including the meme info) and talk about the icons I chose.
3. Other people can then comment to you and make their own posts.
4. This will create a never-ending cycle of icon squee. Whoo!

This is my wizard Tycho Malinkhi as he appears in Guild Wars, doing a victory /cheer. I use this mainly on the GW Livejournal.

This is from one of my favorite VG Cats comics, making fun of Inuyasha...a show I did watch from time to time but I have to admit I've seen my share of terrifying fangirlism surrounding it. "It's freaking Dragon Ball Z for girls!"

I've seen this icon around, I forget where I got it from. I would assume that Jesus passes his saving throws most often and probably doesn't ever take full damage from fire breath or poison. Apart from that, the guy has got to have some pretty mad Twink.

This is my main icon, Rune Walsh from Phantasy Star IV, one of my favorite RPGs ever. He's a wizard who has the 5000 year old consciousness of a god, pretty much the leader of the other characters in the game.

This was an old inside joke relating to AMV Hell 3. The line is actually from a Red vs. Blue comic, but someone put it to Fullmetal Alchemist, I forget the actual video but it's somewhere in the 68 minutes of AMV Hell 3.

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 07:33:39 GMT

Things are slowly getting back to normal after drama at work and my surgery. I'm eating most things again, I just have these annoying holes to contend with. I'm still drinking Ensure, because it does give me a good calorie boost very quickly.

For anyone who liked the Diablo games, Titan Quest is basically Diablo 3, and I am 100% ok with that! My awesome girlfriend got it for me for my birthday, in the Gold edition which comes with the Immortal Throne expansion. It actually seems like it lacked a lot of key features pre-expansion, such as item storage (Diablo players will know how important this is). The item upgrade ("socketing" in Diablo) and the crafting systems are the way they should have been in Diablo 2....actually, many things in Titan Quest are things in Diablo 2, done correctly. From simple things like never having to identify items (which in D2 was obviously a formality), to being able to buy additional storage, and carry additional inventory packs, being able to remove upgrades from items, and allowing you to take back skill points. Also, being able to "try on" equipment after buying it, and having the option to immediately sell it back for the price you paid.

The game actually keeps track of how many monsters your character has killed, and if any Diablo players remember trying to compare two weapons based on damage range and weapon speed...Titan Quest actually calculates average damage AND DPS.

It amuses me that "buff" which I believed started as a gaming slang term for a temporary effect that gave stat bonus, is actually an official term now, used in game instruction manuals.

Me.Teeth.Count -= 4

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 03:18:47 GMT

It is done, my 4 wisdom teeth are (mostly) out of my head. I say "mostly" because I believe there are still fragments of tooth in there that should come out by themselves. The combination of drugs they gave me was very effective, although the sensation from the drugs for about 10-15 seconds was quite unnerving as it felt like ascending paralysis and it made my head buzz...both sensations are potential triggers for my panic attacks. Luckily, I was not awake long enough to go into fullblown panic. My heart rate went to about 110 (I was watching) and my BP was the highest I've ever seen it (132/something), but I blinked a few times, and then the next blink I was lacking 4 teeth and there was a nurse standing over me who helped me to a recovery bed. Whatever they gave me really did put me in a 100% sleep, although I sometimes wonder if I was actually somewhat responsive during the procedure and just don't remember.

Anyway, I went home with 4 less teeth, a larger credit card balance, and a prescription for Motrin 600mg Q-6hrs. On the way home I began to detox, meaning I couldn't even keep down my own stomach acid. The next 8 hours were not pleasant, but after that I could eat liquid and soft things...and for anyone who's like me and actually needs to eat lots of calories instead of all the diet/healthy stuff at the stores, I recommend Ensure Plus Shakes...8oz will net you 350cal. I've had 1050cal just in shakes today, and they are also lactose-free and gluten-free. That being said, I've never more craved a triple-cheeseburger from Wendy's in my entire life.

I have off from work tomorrow, and if I still don't feel like exerting myself on saturday, one of the nurse admins said I should just call. I'm really in no hurry to get back because there's been a lot of drama on my floor, none of it I feel is my fault but it's being taken out on me nonetheless, and I seriously hope I get put on a different floor. It's 100% staff-related, and has nothing to do with patients. Honestly I can only speculate about reasons my co-workers may be pissed at me, but I think I'm being perceived as part of a drama that in reality I have no part in, and honestly I don't care, I'm there for the patients, very few of my co-workers are people I'd consider friends and that's fine with me. I don't care what they think of me as long as it doesn't affect my job.

I Should Do TV

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 15:26:51 GMT

ATTENTION HUMANS

IF YOU RESIST ARREST BY LAW ENFORCEMENT,
YOU MAY GET TAZERED

BECAUSE YOU WERE RESISTING ARREST

DUH.

SOLUTION: DON'T RESIST ARREST, AND COOPERATE

DEAL WITH IT

STOP SUEING!!!!

Seriously, enough is enough. Sure, police officers are only human and mistakes get made, that's why we have the legal system. Even if they do make a wrongful arrest, how does resisting them make it any better? Do you think they're just going to be like, "This guy really thinks he shouldn't be arrested, let's stop." It will get dealt with the proper and legal way. I once was very close to getting suspended from school for something very stupid where I didn't do anything wrong, and it got all the way to the principal, and I talked with him and it was all straightened out as a misunderstanding. Sure, I was pissed, but If I would have taken a swing at the person who tried to get me suspended, that would have made things a whole lot worse.

I half-expect to start seeing stupid lawyer advertisements,
Didn't want to be arrested?
Tazered by evil doughnut-eating cops just trying to do their jobs?
Call Moneybags & Dumbshit today,
and start doing your part to suck the law enforcement budget dry.
Only together can we get the money out of the hands of the police department trying to put officers in the field and keep our neighborhoods safe, make it more difficult for police officers to protect themselves and the people they work with, and discourage new officers from joining the force.
Call Moneybags & Dumbshit today!

This public service rant is brought to you by a generous grant from the STFU foundation.

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 06:05:14 GMT

The last time I was home to do something other than sleep was monday morning. It's all good though, I got overtime, get a refresher course at work and now I have a day off. I never realize how tired I am until I sleep for a bit and then the past few hours seem like a long time ago, and like I was a different person.

Choosing My Poison

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 07:06:29 GMT

The time has finally come, my wisdom teeth need to be evicted. They are very bad neighbors to my other molars. They're also bad role models...the impact they are having on my other teeth is very negative. Well, at least the bottom ones...but I've been told it's good to just have them all out and be done with it. With that totalitarian philosophy in mind, I have a surgical consult scheduled for Jan 30th. I have no idea who these surgeons are, only that they were recommended by my dentist.

Evolution needs to wake up and realize that a lot of people don't just flat out lose teeth, so we don't need all these "replacement" molars. Anyway, I don't like any of my anesthetic options. The way I see it, there are three of them.

1) General: This is way overkill, and there are a bunch of risks, I don't think they'd let me do this even though I'd love to go to sleep one day and wake up with 4 less teeth like there's a tooth fairy that really needs its fix. (Mental image: Crack addict in pink tutu and wings grinding up teeth and making lines.)

2) Nitrous: I don't like the idea of being "disconnected"...I've had that feeling before and it brings on all kinds of anxiety in me. I don't like being a floating head and this "conscious sedation" that I hear about just seems kinda freaky...I'm asleep but I still respond to commands? If I'm asleep how do I know what I'm responding to, or how I'm responding? There are few people in this world I'd trust to hypnotize me. (and from the stories I've heard, none of them are psychotherapists.) In addition, N2O can cause hypotension, and my BP is usually low to begin with.

3) Local: This is probably the option they're going to recommend...and I'm going to ask if I can blare music into my ears to focus on while they are grinding my teeth to powder still inside my mouth. Resonating skull and surrounding cavities is one of the most disturbing feelings ever.

So yea, I'm not too thrilled about this whole process. I can't take any time off from work, the most I'd have is a wednesday afternoon, all day thursday and friday morning to recover before having to work. Some people have told me they've needed painkillers for days afterwards, and I obviously can't do (or get to) my job while on painkillers (or distracting pain).

Has anyone had nitrous before that can perhaps describe it? A clinic dentist told me that you don't really remember the experience, but my response to that is that it doesn't mean it wasn't a hellishly agonizing experience.

There IS Cake!

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 07:13:20 GMT

Portal is a great game. I made the decision to ask for the Orange Box for xmas based on the fact that I wanted to play Portal...I did need a new FPS to play though, so the half-life series should keep me busy for a while.

Final Fantasy XII is the most fun I've had playing a FF since FF7, I'd even recommend it to old-school RPGers since it combines story with a very good character-building system, and many explorable areas with mini-quests. It also gives good freedom between story sequences and it keeps you busy.

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 18:06:09 GMT

Q: Why did they film Lost using an island in the middle of the ocean?

A: So there would be a good enough supply of sharks to jump.

< /rimshot >

Buy One Pizza, Get One Franchise Free

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 19:15:24 GMT

Damn, I gotta call up Bill Gates right away so I can take advantage of this awesome deal before it's too late!

I HAZ MOWS

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 07:25:19 GMT

Long story short, there was a mouse on the ward where I work. Important word: was. A co-worker and I skillfully and tactfully caught said mouse yesterday. It entertained the kids for a bit but inevitably it had to be taken out of there.

Deer Mouse

I didn't want to just ditch it outside where it would probably have no idea how to survive, to say nothing of freezing. So far the cat hasn't flipped out. Any good ideas on releasing it, or how to take care of it? Right now I just have generic rodent/bird seed to give it.

I've done a bunch of research on any possibility of diseases...I do use universal precautions and/or hand sanitization for everything I do now though, ever since starting a real healthcare job. Rodents don't really get rabies, and rabies is pretty obvious. I've never actually touched it, and again with the universal precautions and hand sanitizing. The Deer Mouse is known for carrying the Hantavirus, but it's not around here, and other mammals are immune, and universal precautions and handwashing prevent infection. I'm pretty sure it's healthy, it grooms and eats...it's just pretty terrified.

Anyway, any comments or suggestions are welcome, and if anyone wants a mouse (Val? :) let me know.

Happy Thanksgiving! (Stolen from Shannon)

Thu, 22 Nov 2007 20:06:50 GMT

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 18:22:18 GMT

I'm very picky about doctors. My primary doctor who I was ok with just left the practice and the new doctor replacing him is a woman. I just found out that I can't switch to this other doctor I had once because he only fills in when other doctors are on vacation...which is dumb because he was a really awesome doctor that I could actually talk to. That's the problem I have with a lot of doctors, they don't talk to you like you're a person and they don't listen to your concerns about stuff. So now I need to find a new practice I think, with a good doctor.

I really don't have that many criteria actually, but it does reduce the playing field by quite a bit:

No women...not because they're not excellent doctors, I would just prefer a male doctor.
No indians...because they tend to be very insensative and downright rude, they talk to their clinical staff right in front of you and don't give you any heads up as to what's actually going on, and they ignore you when you ask. They expect you to just blindly accept everything they say. I suppose if I met one first that was different that would be fine, but I'm not going to take a chance and do the annoying paperwork on someone I'm not sure of.

So, the search is on.