A quickie

I don't know if the link below will be clickable or not, since I'm posting this entryfrom my phone. But regardless if you can click it, or copy and paste it, this is the funniest thing I've seen in ages:

http://m.quickmeme.com/Asshole-Brain

E-value, you whore.

Every case we see on rotations, we're supposed to enter an online case log in a program called e-value. I've heard classmates complain of glitches  but never experienced it myself.  Since this is my last week of clinical rotations, e-value apparently decided to save up my quota of glitches for the past 2 years, and give them all to me this week.  It keeps deleting my templates, giving me weird timeout errors after 30 seconds, and randomly logs me off when I'm about 3/4 of the way through entering a case log.  I've tried using 3 different web browsers, 2 different internet connections, and changed my DNS settings, and nothing's fixed the glitching.  I want to throttle the programmers, but I only have to use it for only 2 days, so its kind of hilarious at this point.

Only 2 more days of working with exotics, and I am done with this rotation, and all rotations forever and ever!  I'm so close to being done!

Speaking of being done, I got my official divorce decree in the mail.  It's nice to have it over and done with, but I'm still pretty bummed out that everything fell apart the way it did.

Here's to closing old doors and opening new ones.

Last rotation of vet school....

I'm back in Pomona, commuting to my exotic animal rotation.  My originally scheduled exotics rotation was supposed to be in the Pacific NW, but that clinic went out of business unexpectedly.  The vet out here was kind enough to squeeze me in last minute.  I've had the luck to see quite a few amazing exotics this week, plus a ton of cool wildlife.  Everything from chameleons to lorikeets to baby possums to rattlesnakes.  The physical clinic here is amazing.  For the sake of anonymity, I can't describe it too much, since it is so one of a kind, but the doctor did something completely different with his decor and employee uniforms when he opened his own clinic, and it makes me incredibly happy to get to see it and be a part of it.

I'm also enjoying being back in Pomona.  Unlike when I was out here for the mandatory on-campus week in October, I'm not stressed about getting back home to see a husband I hadn't seen in two months to try to save an imploding marriage.  I just get to relax, learn, enjoy my rotation, and enjoy getting to spend time with good friends.  I'm also going to try to get to do the things I never got around to doing while I lived out here.  My little sib and I are going whale watching on Saturday, I'm planning on visiting the Gold Bug and Necromance one last time, and I still have a couple weekend days to fill.  I'm just really trying to make a positive memory of this place, and make it enjoyable, instead of being the place I lived in the crime-ridden ghetto during the most stressful and depressed years of my life.

When I've had weeks back in Colorado between clinical rotations, I've spent as much time as possible at my old work.  Last week, I got an official job offer, starting salary, and starting date.  It seems so surreal, and there were points (especially during the first half of first year), where I never believed I would get here.  Holy shit, this is happening.  In less than two months.  Life is good.

What's better than exploring a new place?

Having your best friend flying out for the weekend, and exploring a new place together.

Last week, Crystal flew into Tampa to join me for the weekend.  We hit up the Wizarding world of Harry Potter, and took a couple boats to different island state parks - Caladesi state park, and Shell Key preserve.  We hung out on beaches that had very few other people on them, explored, snorkeled, and saw black tipped sharks, sting rays, a dolphin, and got attacked by some seagulls.  And now she's back in Colorado, and my hotel room is covered in sand.

It's amazing how isolating some of these rotations can be.  I'm ready for it to be over.  I miss my critters, and I want to go home - but I'm effectively homeless at this point.  The apartment isn't my home, since I moved all of my stuff into my mom's house.  My mom's house isn't home, it's the place my stuff is stored, and a convenient place to stay between rotations.  My house isn't home, it's still occupied by temporary renters.  It's an unsettling feeling, not having a place of my own to call dibs on.

I get to go back to Colorado Saturday, before I leave for my last rotation in California.  At least in California, I'll be able to hang out with some great people, and won't be as isolated.  And I'll be that much closer to once again having a home.

Escaping the snow

Last week I was home in Colorado between my internal med rotation, and my dentistry rotation.  There were days I got in my car, only to see the thermometer display in the negative single digits.  I keep managing to go home during the really cold snaps.  On the plus side, I've managed to skip much of winter this year, and I'm continuing the trend by spending the next few weeks in Clearwater, FL.

I had a hard time finding a veterinary dentist who would take me on a 4 week internship.  The one local to me said he would, and then when I sent his office manager the information to get approved as a site for the school, she backed out.  Some, I emailed, and were booked solid.  Others never replied to emails and voicemails.  But the one out here replied immediately, and has been incredibly informative all week.  I'm loving the time I'm spending working on teeth, and I'm considering that if my current plans for general practice don't work out after a few years, applying for a dental residency.  I could see myself doing this and loving it.

Today was my first day to really get out and explore, and I found manatees!  In Tampa, there's a power plant that releases warm water into the bay, and the manatees congregate in the warm water.  (I'm not too sure how I feel about that, but at least it seems like they're trying to make an effort at conservation and stewardship.)  It was amazing to see so many manatees in the wild.

I made an attempt to see a wild alligator, by going to a local park that had yelp reviews for tons of wildlife viewings, but did not get so lucky.  Saw a crane, but no gators.  I'll try again sometime later in the trip.

Sure beats being cold.

NAVLE squee

After waiting (not so patiently) for the past month, I got my National board scores.  I've been stalking forums, and found out that in previous years the scores have been released between the 11th and 14th of January, so I was hoping for earlier.  Apparently, they decided to be masochistic and delay results this year.

Finally, today during lunch, I checked my facebook, and saw that some classmates had their results, so I checked, and I passed!  I never have to take another gawd-awful test like that again!

One of my classmates is doing his core surgery rotation at the same practice as me.  He went to high five me after telling me he had passed, changed his mind halfway through the high five, and bear hugged me instead.  Then one of my preceptors picked up the phone, and announced "Our Western students, Karin and ***** have passed their national boards.  Congratulate them when you see them."  This whole time, I was acting very serene, but inside, I was bouncing off the walls with giddiness.

Just to add icing to the kick-ass-day cake, we had a special patient from a zoo (I can't go into specifics), so I got my exotic animal fix.

I can't believe I've made it this far, and I've made it through the hardest parts of vet school.  Life is good.

I'm really bad at waiting.

For my NAVLE scores, that is.  They should be released any time now, and they sure are taking their sweet time.  The webpage was even changed from saying they'd be released mid-January to saying it'll by by late-January.  Gah!

I'm in the Phoenix area right now for Internal Med.  The clinic is nice, and time passes pretty quickly while I'm there.  When I'm not there, it drags.  I was lucky enough to find a place to stay here for free.  The downside is it's in a gated retirement community, and I can't get through the gate after 8pm, so for 12+ hours every day after I get off work, I'm held captive in the land of old people.  I'm going pretty stir-crazy, and feeling really isolated.  Luckily, I don't have much more of this throughout the year.  My next rotation I'm staying in a hotel (Yay! freedom and autonomy!) and then staying with a good friend (even better!) I just need to remember, there is an end in sight, and it's sneaking up quickly.

If only my NAVLE score would sneak up quickly.