"Hold the future!"

...6/28/03: Bush sends Rice (Condoleezza) to the Middle East to help the peace process...he had sent Colin Powell before...2 people of color...did Bush send them for their skills or their minority status...saw The Talented Mr. Ripley...strange movie with an unexpected ending...

...6/29/03: 25,000 silvery minnow can call the ABQ Aquarium their new home...Cantrell Jim, the driver of the truck that was hit by a semi on old Route 666, has been a patient at UH...she has been moved to PICU; previously in TBI (traumatic brain injury) area...she also remebers the accident...if Natalia's grandparents are smiling, then there is good news, since older Old World people dwell on bad news for a long time...they are also prone to crying...Doris hired 2 inexperienced people for the Clinic...she passed up Cassandra's friend, who has had experience as an office manager...Doris has not contacted him to say the position has been filled (as of 2 weeks ago)...Brad was also turned down, in spite of his claims, medical & managerial background...

...I am starting to like C/W music more & more...that is scary!...in Chicago, 12 people are dead and an additional 57 are injured as a thrid floor porch collapses during a party, falling on top of the second & first floor porches...the primary cause was too many people, but faulty construction & supports may be important factors...neither, the porch was sound, there were just too many people packed together...

...just days after the US Supreme Court struck down laws against sodomy, gays took to the streets on 6/29/03 in Pride parades across the country to celebrate the historic victory...

...6/29/03: Brad created a "kicked up" kicked up version of macaroni & cheese that included sausage meat, then added 2 medium jalapino peppers...food with flavor!...Tropical Storm Bill is churning in the Gulf of Mexico...6/30/03: as Hurricane Bill, it struck the coast of LA...it is losing wind but not water...heavy rains are expected as far north as western VA....in ABQ, the heat is on as a high pressure brings calm, hot & dry conditions through the holiday...

...6/29/03: Katherine Hepburn, dead @96...she died at her CT home...she never had children...she appeared on Broadway...she won 4 Oscars but never attended an award night...and until 2003, she had the most nominations (12)...Meryl Streep now has 13...

...6/30/03: many states are facing budget problems...should services be cut, or new taxes created...will wages suffer or decline...one of the worse states to suffer is CA...30,000 people could lose their jobs...many employees may be paid minimum wage...example could be doctors & firemen...this same state raised millions of dollars for Bush's 2004 campaign...we all have our priorities...CA has the world's 5th or 6th largest economy...there is also the possibility of changing overtime laws...jobs whose salaries are between $22K - $65K may be eliminated from earning O/T if their titles can be changed to manager or professional so & so...

...Casa Grande makes great bread...

...6/29/03: the History Channel had a feature on comic books...the stock market opened @8989...a report states that the US is still underfinanced, unprepared, ill equipped & lacking the expertise to handle an attack similar to 9/11...another day after the end of the war, and more soldiers are dying or injured...a Chantilly, VA firm is setting up an office in Rio Rancho...it will provide 110 new jobs...

...6/30/03: forgot my ID badge...went back to get it, missed the 1st Central bus...caught the second one, arrived Downtown in time for the transfer to the Lomas bus...@7:30 (roughly), a person who had been in the E/R jumped off the top level of the parking lot...he survived but was bleeding extensively...details are unclear about his health prior to the plunge, and what transpired in E/R...7/1/03: still no other news about the jumper...

"The bus stops here!"

...6/30/03: when Ann returns, will she be wearing a nurse's uniform, even though it is not appropriate for the position?...but she was able to bend the rules once, and lightning can strike twice at the same location...will she have to take the HIPAA exam?...

...chaos reigned through the weekend, as 3-E shut down on 6/29/03...patients were moved to GPU...3-E would become a Hem/Onc ward...GPU now handles the corridor rooms between PSAC & GPU...rooms 368-373...7/1/03: chaos continues for those who were not prepared for the drastic changes...received a memo explaining the new units ...3-E is renamed the Pediatric Specialty Care Unit (PSCU)...PSAC is dissolved...it will be an extension of GPU...the entire area will be known as the Children's Acute Care Unit (CACU)...PICU is untouched for now...7/1/03: Cassandra did PICU & half of CACU, plus Newborn & NICU...I did the other half of CACU...as of 7/7/03, we will switch Rounds on a daily basis, so neither of us are overburdened with I/P or O/P responsibilities...

...6/30/03: chaos was also the word for Cassandra as everyone called her when they had a PC problem...this includes computer illiterate Geri, our senior coder...Cassandra had no time for lunch, so she left @2...7/3/03 is a Casual Dress Day...Natalia's vein & skin grafts are holding...her pins will be removed next week...she may be discharged when her mother gives birth...she has a catheter, and cannot be exposed to cool temperatures, so the door to her room remained closed just for 1 day...Natalia is anxious to go home...7/2/03: and she does, just in time for the fireworks...

...6/29/03: Buddy Hackett, dead at 78...

...7/1/03: 72 degrees @4 AM...a slow moving Tropical Depression Bill is dropping 10 inches of rain or more in LA, AL, MS & GA...there are also tornado warnings in these states...the storm will move north then east...it will reach VA by 7/3/03...

...the next attack plan in Iraq is called Operation: Sidewinder...the previous startegy, Operation: Desert Scorpion, was successful in the number of arrests made & weapons found...

...an explosion at a mosque in Fallujah, a stronghold of anti-American sentiment, kills 10 Iraqis...both sides blame each other...

...7/1/03: the cigaret tax in NM was raised 70 cents per pack...one of the state's new laws bans discrimination based on sexual orientation...funeral services were held for SEN Strom Thurmond in Edgefield, SC...there is a person who owns a mail jeep; its steering wheel is on the right side...new walking shoes for Brad...his lunch bag becomes mine, as my previous one is in shreds...

...7/2/03: Brad made an incredible corn chowder...we finished the kicked up macaroni & cheese & drank watermelon coolers...Captain was sick yesterday...he heaved...it may be due to the heat or the tuna left standing in his bowl during the warm afternoons...we will serve him smaller portions...76 degrees @4 AM...reached 98; the record high was 103...Channel 4 news truck was parked near the Central AVE entrance to the Bosque...power outages have taken place in the wake of Hurricane Bill...the coffee overflowed in the microwave, spilling onto the stove top...

...would you believe that Arnold S. is 56, Harrison F. is 61 and Sean C. is 72?...and that I share my birthday (month, day & year) with Neal Tenant of the Pet Shop Boys...if you know who they are!...the new animated movie of Sinbad features the voices of Brad Pitt, Katherine Zeta-Jones & Michelle Pfeiffer...

...tiny article in the newspaper about the UH parking lot jumper...

...7/2/03: what is next?...now I forgot to put on my silver bracelet...I am not able to stop people from calling me "Sir"...I am also a little unhappy this AM...the mood fades away by midday...

...7/1/03: Herbie Mann, dead @73...

...7/2/03: meeting @1 with Pat, Rosanne & us...subject: Hem/Onc spreadsheet, looking at discrepancies & time lag before entries posted...Cassandra praised on a job well done...2 days, 2 complaints from Dr. P Mathew on unsigned notes asking for referring MDs' or DXs'...he complained to me, then left in a huff...Dr. Overturf was upset with his ICD codes not ranked...this also went to us...these concerns were brought to Pat's attention...I also copied the memo regarding changes to PEDS area in the hospital, and gave it to Rosanne & Pat...the Clinic placed billing sheets under the HIPAA sign, which says that no deliveries after 4 PM...it was 4:10 when they arrived...7/1 & 7/2/03: new PowerChart software does not work...IT to the semi-rescue!...7/2/03: PSAC has moved to 3-E...the old PSAC is being cleaned & remodeled...and chaos runs rampant!...

...N Korea wants to develop small nuclear weapons that can be attached on large rocket, so they can reach more distant targets...is our next war in Liberia, site of a 3-year old conflict?...as of now, there are military personnel in over 130 countries around the world...150,000 soldiers are in Iraq...more have been requested because of the numerous attacks & deaths since the war was "over"...Bush says there is enough manpower in Iraq to handle the situation...Israel has left Bethlehem, and has been replaced by the Palestinians...

...7/2/03: at work, as I opened the fridge, a bottle with water fell off the top...it was perched on the door and the top...I caught the bottle but not before I became wet...

...7/3/03: the Dow Jones started @9100+...worked only 1/2 day...ended down 70+ points...work...the US has the highest unemployment in a decade...6.4%...100,000 jobs lost in the last 2 months...5 concurrent months of job losses...for teens, the rate is 19.3%...9.4 million people do not have jobs...those employed are always worried about the future...therefore, they are careful when spending money...56,000 manufacturing jobs lost in June, 2003...

...!!!...Cassandra is a right-wing conservative Republican in a family of Democrats (parents & spouse & co-worker; oh, my!)...!!!...

...7/3/03: the US is offering a $25 million reward for info on the capture or death of Saddam Hussein...$15 million for either of his sons...7 soldiers injured today...a jeep was struck by a rocket...to some, the major combat ended on 5/1/03...to the troops still in Iraq...the war is not over...Iraqis throw stones & garbage at the soldiers...it's better than bullets...the US is facing growing resistance in that country...many Iraqis wanted Saddam gone...now they want us to leave...but troops will remain in Iraq for an undetermined period of time?...and, in Africa, there is a potential mission or intervention in Liberia...we may send peacekeepers to that country...

...7/3/03: however, most artifacts in the Museum of Natural History in Baghdad have been recovered & are on display...

...there appears to be less of a terrorist threat during this holiday weekend...but people will travel...37.4 million people will travel more than 50 miles...on a side topic, carpooling is a failure...people do not want to give up the means to be the driver...traffic & work patterns are not the same...in San Diego, there is a lane for single occupancy vehicles...but it is a toll lane...