Quick Quiz:

What do the following 4 songs have in common:

The Heart of Rock and Roll by Huey Lewis and the News
The South's Gonna Do It Again by The Charlie Daniels Band
Leukenbach, Texas by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson
Bohemian Rhapshody by Queen

Give up?

Really, you won't get the connection.

They are 4 songs I sang at Karaoke today at the Lock-Down Ward of the Vermont State Hospital with psych patients. Now normally any karaoke is a big deal but with these guys, it's a very special time, and they really get into it. Interestingly, the last song on the list was requested, and myself, my fellow med student and the person putting all of this on thought nothing of it. Why should we?

Well, when the song starts with:

"Mama, just killed a man,
put a gun against his head,
pulled the trigger,
now he's dead....";

that does not feel too comfy. At any rate, I've got one helluva story, and today is certainly one of those days in med school you remember forever.

Of course most of the patients have no sense of carrying a tune, so they most likely would have scared away an alley cat in heat, however there is this one gentleman, let's call him Chief (a special prize to the first person to note the literary allusion and to also see who the hell still reads this bloggy thing), who absolutely NAILED I Left My Heart In San Francisco. It was quite impressive, and according to the person running the karaoke, it was his first time ever joining in...maybe we're actually getting through to some patients.

Regardless, this month long rotation is downright fun.

Best story ever...

It went like this at the gym last night.

I was doing some winter time gym work while wearing my Stratton Mountain School tee shirt.

"Hey, did you go to SMS?"
"Yeah"
"What year did you graduate?"
"'93"
"Oh Crap!!...well, a friend of mine finished in '08, but I doubt you know him."
"well, i guess it's good I can still pass for a freshman undergrad"
"I normally gotta tell chicks I'm older, you prolly gotta tell em you're younger?"
"Not really"
"You should try telling 'em you're a med student, works for me..."

I just about fell over.

If for no other reason

I had to post something if only to change the negativity from that last post.

Finished up in Townshend and even came down with a bout of the H1N1 flu. Not much of a treat. Those three weeks were followed by three weeks of inpatient medicine. NOT my cup of goat urine. It was a trying three weeks.

Currently? I'm on my 6 week psych rotation, working at the state hospital. It's fascinating, although it's not something I'm sure I could do for a living. I'll let you know.

Sticking round here for Thanksgiving. There's no real time to go anywhere, plus it'll be nice to have some home time, aka: a staycation.

Sorry for the long delay between posts. I've slowed down my facebook use as well. Coming soon....a big announcement (no I'm not engaged).

Cheers!

Why I am not sure I should be a doctor...

People suck.

Plain and simple. There just aren't nice people left in this world. Let me explain.

I come home after a week of unpaid work (actually, money is paid OUT for me to be someone's slave) in Townshend Vermont where I basically do nothing but see patients and go to sleep. Enjoyed a nice day yesterday with a ride (I won't mention the three cars that were assholes and went by me within 1-2 feet or honking as they passed...classy) and a few hours of studying at the library.

Got up this morning, worked about the house and decided to go for a walk this afternoon in Charlotte, a quaint little Vermont town, which is where Melissa calls home. We enjoyed a ~1hour walk around the nature preserve there only to return to the parking lot to find a rock thrown through my passenger door window. Melissa had her purse taken with a wallet but no cash lost. She cancelled her cards on the spot, with no transactions having been made.

Why do people suck so badly? What was the point of that? I try to avoid blaming the entire human species, but I struggle. I'm supposed to be nice to some guy in an office setting somewhere who just may try to run me off the road later that week? Or am I supposed to medically treat some kid who was driving drunk and rolled his pick up being a dumb ass?

HOW? Please, anybody. Tell me how I'm not supposed to look at every single teenage kid in the Shelburne, Charlotte area and think it was that little fucker out for a fun Sunday afternoon.

And now, I get to drive back to southern Vermont with a plastic bag for a window. Yup, people suck. We all do. I'll admit it. I think I'm ashamed to be a human today.

In case anyone is reading:

4 years since we lost Allan. And here I am, at a tiny hospital in Vermont. My what a difference four years makes. Life evolves so quickly I think the word evolves is not very accurate. Life changes. Quickly.

I finally spoke with Gardie this weekend while announcing another cross race. We recalled some stories about Al. Epic rides, long road trips, famous nights, various hilarities. That's how he lives on for me.

Hopefully he lives on for you too.


(This is usually when I post a fun photo of Allan, but I have recently fried two hard drives in one 24 hour period. Consequently, I have a loaner computer with none of my photos on it.)

Why Vermont is so damn nice...

Summer time here is about as fine as anything I can imagine...of course, when the weather cooperates. Last weekend, I was home from Outpatient pediatrics in Rutland and enjoyed a ski on the lake, some fine food, and a relaxing time. This weekend, Melissa and I enjoyed some great food last night thanks to Bennett and Anna bringing over some tasty Andouille sausage. All the while I've been working through a pair of Wolaver's growlers of the brown and IPA (the brewery is on my way home from Rutland). Today, I was invited as a "member of the press" to the Vermont Butter and Cheese Company's Cheese Fest,where I was introduced to some AMAZING cheese. Additionally, many local brewers were on hand. I was introduced to Lawson's, a local brewer from Warren. I'm excited to check them out more. It's fun to support local businesses, and with places like the Co-op, it is regularly possible.

Thanks to the Haydens for getting me into the Cheese Festival to break up the monotony of studying for my peds exam this coming Friday. If you have a local brewer, support 'em. If you don't drink EtOH, bummer. I went through that once...it was rugged.

Off for a run. Did 2.5 hours on the bike to Milton with Mel yesterday. She's getting strong on the bike.

BREW OF THE DAY: Lawson's Maple Nipple Ale - VERY tasty, and yet another reason why Vermont is so damn nice.

Cheers!

I can't find any...

What ever happened to all the good blogging folks of the world? There used to be a solid list of folks I could read. Now, most of them are private, invite only (thanks to Julie and Slyfox) or they've abandoned all hope.

Very unimpressive and I hope to receive some excellent excuses. Also, I hope to be invited to read all these newly "private" sites I used to be able to enjoy.

Some folks who got a bit lame:
Polska Bratwurst
His not-so-radness
Flipped us the Bird
Elder Sleeveless
Not so Sly
Sinful

I could go on...but I figure I'll only call out these folks. Thankfully I can read Turbo's magical insight and get caught up on everything from my former life.

So, if you are being lame...I'm not blaming ya, I'm just saying the internet is not as entertaining as it once was. Facebook sucks. Twitter? Really...I just don't get why folks feel the need to post status updates all day long. Personally I don't twit, I haven't twatted and I can't seem to get anything from it. Those of you who still let me know how life is going (the whole point of these web logs).....thanks.

Someday I'll figure out how to be entertained by the internet again.

Rap songs, more kids, and dust dust dust.

Summer is finally BEGINNING to arrive in Vermont. Weekends are less chaotic than this spring when I was on Surgery and OB/Gyn. I actually get sleep at night. I see patients and peopleare happy to have me involved. It never really felt that way in Maine. Sure, the residents were nice, but it seemed like a chore to see patients, as it felt at times they wanted nothing to do witha med student. I think having a hospital associated with a med school results in a bit more enabling of the students. So, Summer is here.

Thank god.

Any bit of free time I get I have been spending studying or recreating. I do enjoy the latter. Most recently, I've been headed onto the waters of Lake Champlain. One thing that's a bit tough about the SLC is that the lake is not conducive to power boats. Too much salt. Thankfully, Lake Champlain is more accomodating. I've been able to swim and enjoy the warming waters with Melissa and her family. I even got to ski this past saturday. Unfortunately, I'm still sore, and it's wednesday. Yup, that's called being very out of shape. Regardless, it is always fun to sing I'm On A Boat:



Thankfully the new apartment is coming together. We might finally get moved in this weekend, with the cable guy coming and the paint completed, it might actually resemble respectable living quarters. Time will tell. Now if only I could clean up all the dust...