Work, bow ties, and thrift store shopping

So things are going pretty well. I've been taking two patients on my own and will probably move up to three very soon. A big problem for me is time management, I love sitting with the patients and giving them a chance to talk and get stuff out, which is not something I'll be able to do very often once I'm up to four patients. But skill-wise I'm figuring a lot of stuff out, programming PCAs and hanging blood and calling docs. I did my first discharge yesterday (a preemtpive shut up to Colin) which was a lot of paperwork but went pretty smoothly.

Tomorrow all the new grads are gathering for a scavenger hunt all around DC. Which they are paying us for. I'll probably have more to say about that, I think it will be a lot of fun as long as I can get a team that wants to play and not just take a three hour lunch or other such foolishness. I also have a super-fun secret announcement, but I don't want to jinx anything so you are just going to have to wait. I'm such a nerd, but I'm taking a day off from work to do it, so fingers crossed that we don't get rained out or any such nonsense. ::grin::

There seems to be a community of cute old men in DC, you know, the ones who wear white hats and bow ties with their cream-colored linen suits, and carry around leather bound books. They sit on the subway with these very self-satisfied smiles on their faces that make me stare and wish that I grow up to be just like them. I don't know what they actually do, though clearly they are dressed for something, and since they are on the subway at a quarter past six in the morning I assume they are going to work. Maybe they are museum curators of some kind? That would fit I suppose. But I see them around all the time, and they always seem so...happy. Not a bad life I guess.

David and I were going to go kayacking on the Potomac river on Saturday, but it was hot again, so we went shopping for a new dresser instead. We've been scouring craistlist for two months but could never catch anything good in time. Have you ever tried to shop for a dresser? What a pain! Store after store, but all the decent ones were in the $600-$1000 range, which was WAY more than we wanted to spend on a box to hold our underwear and t-shirts. Just as we were at our most dejected, David spied a thrift store. We were in the wrong lane and then got stuck in some traffic mess trying to turn around, so it took us 20 minutes to get back to it. But we found exactly what we wanted. Not only was it only $100, but it JUST FIT into our car.

Now, it is a different breed of people that shop at thrift stores, and as we were carrying the dresser up to the cash register and then out to the car, no fewer than four people stopped us to comment on what a great find we had made and how beautiful it was and how lucky we were. But even as we were thinking internally "Dang lady, you have the longest painted eyebrows I've ever seen", I can't deny that all the attention certainly increased our satisfaction level with our purchase. If stores were smart they would hire plainclothes compliment givers. "What a great shirt, you are going to look so sexy in that!" or "Non-fat milk! That is so smart, I need to start thinking about being as healthy as you are." Who isn't a sucker for a compliment from a stranger? We would totally - and happily - buy more.