The original "Page 99"...

Stop the War; I want to get off!

...1/31/03: sea lions may be used for harbor security during the war with Iraq...they can travel on both land & sea...dolphins cannot be used because they cannot tolerate warm waters...arms inspectors have been invited back to Iraq to discuss their findings & seek more co-operation in their task; they should resume by 2/10/03...gas has risen to $1.47...Coca Cola will layoff 1,000 jobs in N America...there was an accident on 1-40 E, past Carlisle...cars got off the interstate & clogged the main roads in the city...heading back on the Central bus, traffic stopped before Old Town...so I got off @Central & Rio Grande & walked home...the bus beat me there...

The bitch set me up!

...2/1/03: we are animals!...we are anxious to go to war to kill our own kind!...the In Search of America series on ABC World News will visit ABQ on 2/13/03...the focus will be on the endangered fish & water supply...during the newscast, Peter Jennings will appear in person on KOAT-TV...for the Chinese, this is 4701, the Year of the Sheep...

...this is the driest & warmest January since 1976!...the temps will be near 70 on 2/1 & 2/2/03 in ABQ, near 80 in the E & SE NM...ABQ has a $26 million budget deficit...the roaming sex offender is now in SE Bernallilo Cnty...people will shoot him if they think he is doing anything wrong, and, besides, his presence will lower the values of their homes!...a new Staph aureus infection is resistant to current medications...(note: this was written before the space shuttle tragedy)...

Diary of a mad Madman!

Crunch the numbers!

Fasten your seal belts; it's gonna be a bumpy year!!

...2/2/03: the Ground Hog saw its shadow...six more weekes of winter...in ABQ, maybe by the end of this week...if nothing else, it will be cold....

...2/2/03: there have been an unusually high number of suicide attempt victims treated in the E/R during the last week of JAN...many of these have tried to O/D...there is a Wind Advisory for the mountain ranges & the central part of the state plus a Fire Weather Watch in the SW part of NM...winds could reach 40-55 mph, or higher...this AM, the cable car wires were shaking violently in the wind @Sandia Crest...the daytime temps will drop to the 40s', but there is still no rain in sight!...Brad made spaghetti with a wonderful meat sauce!...2/5/03: Brad created an incredible Lentil Soup (starting with Emeril's recipe)...it is a combo of flavors, wonderfully topped with Feta cheese...

Rush & Wait; No Relief in Sight!

...STEALTH bombers & 300 airmen left Holloman AFB and begin their journey to the Persian Gulf...2/1/03: Brad has a slight head cold, but he attended his orientation meeting @NMAS...people will be needed for office work, as well as travelling to various parts of the state...his section covers from Soccoro, W to the AZ border, N to Farmington, but not including Santa Fe or Taos...Saudi Arabia will provide extra oil to compensate for the reduction from Venezuela...saw Amish people in GPU...

"Brain Fart!"

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad War!

...at times, I am a very bitter person, and I write when I'm angry or mad or both!...

...the Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers has made $315 million...

...2/3/03: cool, windy & brisk...a return to winter...and is that snow for the second weekend of February?...the Newborn Nursery area has 2 less meeting rooms & 2 more hospital rooms...and there are now Teflon coated pants!...28 tremors struck the SF Bay area & its suburbs...the highest magnitude was 4.5...now Hope wants all dual month billing sheets to always be separated by month...so I made copies of billing sheets, indicated the month on the control form, and did not highlight or blackout anything...let's see what happens next!...2/5/03: Hope asked about a CPT code she questioned last week...she said she was going to ask if this code can be made valid...obviously she forgot...but she did find out the answer today: the code goes into effect 3/1/03...the two choices for the WTC complex are awful!...

The Legend of Our Worlds at War with ElseWorlds & the Dark Earth; featuring the War of the Gods' Bloodsport Invasion into the Zero Hour & Final Night during the Underworld Millenium Armageddon Crisis !

...2/5/03: a lousy series of E-mails threw me into a downward spin...it felt like Rosanne was shouting orders, and preparing me for unemployment, and I told her so!...she says I read too much into things...be that as it may, on 2/5/03, I showed Cassandra how to do the Rounds...we will split the duties...I will do GPU, PSAC & PICU...she will do 3-E, Newborn Nursery & NICU...I reviewed how to complete Newborn Nursery & Daily Baby billing sheets...this idea was E-mailed to Rosanne on 2/5/03; she approved it on 2/6/03...we should be able to both beat the Medical Records cart...I was told to train Cassandra, but nobody has been told to train me in another area of pediatric coding...this was one of my goals in 2002...we will also have a meeting w/Rosanne & Geri after the CPT meeting on Friday, 2/7/03, & in-between doing the Rounds & finding time for lunch...BULLETIN: this meeting has been postponed until Monday @8...which means we split the Rounds on one of the busier days of the week...we all have to do self-evaluation reports, also due 2/7/03...asked Geri & Rosanne for help...Rosanne answered, Geri never did...2/5/03: Hope came back with charges, stating that Data Entry could no longer accept these sheets unless a medical record label was attached to them...she left, then called back stating that her boss had said to accept them for now until the doctors have been informed of this change, since many doctors write the information, but many time do not include the FIN [finance number]....Rosanne did not know that Pat (our boss) asked for the hame of the person (also, a Pat) who was still spreading rumors that PEDS were holding billing charges...

...Brad made a handsome necklace and altered another, also producing quality results...the sex offender who has bought property in the E MTNs, but people want to chase him away...

...2/5/03: unemployment has been stuck at an eight-year high of 6 percent as companies have laid off nearly 200,000 workers over the past two months...over 2 million in the last 2 years...the fear of war & a flat economy prevents businesses from spending money or hiring new employees...

...2/5/03: winter storm watch for the N MTNs, with a chance of 2-5 inches of snow...2/6/03: and it snowed!...the Sangre de Cristos' are white, and more is expected...the same is true for Angel Fire, which received a foot of snow...snow covers the country from NM to the S Carolina coast...

...2/5-6/03: Colin Powell presented the UN with evidence that Iraq is hiding WMD & has ties to the al-Qaeda...2/6/03: pre-emptive attacks on N Korea's nuclear facilities, which they have restarted (?), would trigger a total war, the communist state warned...if sanctions are imposed or the reactors are shut down by foreign powers, N Korea will have no choice but to declare war...their rockets can strike the US...Japan wants to end this conflict ASAP!...and finally, Secy. Rumsfeld feels that the US should be concerned about N Korea's actions...NATO countries will send troops to Turkey...this country will allow more US troops on its soil...Russia is bordered by both Iraq & N Korea...but its Aeroplot has created a dog/jackal hybrid with a nose that can sniff out explosives & drugs better than any electronic device...

...as life goes on: but INGENIX is still not working...plus the MIS area will be installing RUPERT on 2/8/03...give me strength!...the med student who stopped talking to me when I told him I was a coder, not a physician...Jolin had her baby earlier than expected, 2/6 instead of 2/20..the girl, Sara, is 5.5 lbs. and 17.5 inches long, both are in good health...but, will I lose a partner to E/R during Jolin's maternity leave...if so, the Curse of the female Coders & the Rounds will strike again!...options include sending a code rfrom another area to train at PEDS...another solution is for Cassandra to split the day, doing PEDS in the AM & E/R in the PM...an enjoyable conversation at the copier with Dr. Handmaker, a 60+ yr. old doctor who is exhausted from these very busy weeks as the I/P attending PEDS MD...I have never been recognized for my Tech Manual, cheat sheets or physician lists...the PEDS wards are definitely experiencing a baby boom!...staff who won't answer questions because she does not start her shift for another 5 minutes!...that woman has balls!...

...Cassandra's son, Miguel, has a new pet...it's a beagle named Liberty...both pet & son had a cough during mid-week...both were treated and are improving...our Captain has been heaving...we think he has a hairball problem...so we stocked up on IAMS cat food that handles those stomach problems...I had a coffee jar explode when first opened, sending coffee onto the kitchen counters & floor...it was packaged at a lower alititude...

...2/6/03: and again I ran & this time caught the Lomas bus for home...then I had to walk down Central to 5th and back to Copper...road work has torn up some of Copper, so buses had been rerouted...also, part of Mountain was dug up, so we went down Broadway instead of 3rd...the construction has been completed...the apartment below us has plumbing problems...part 1 took place on 2/6; the second (& last) part should be finished on 2/12/03...

...2/7/03: 22 degrees @5 AM...there is rain &/or snow from Dallas to Boston...there is a chance for [snow] showers during the weekend, especially in the ski country...the money of 62K has arrived...now a new series of problems arise, such as trust...another is deciding how to manage it...an amount has to be set aside for 2003 taxes; also, what type of account should be set up for this amount...this is the time to be calm & quiet, yet firm to my beliefs...2/10/03: expressed my concerns, will deposit the checks, and look at various banking options...CPT meeting, very long & very boring...the speaker just basically repeated what was written in the handouts...lasted from 8-11...

...2/8/03: snow alert for the W & Central MTNs...AM snow in Alamogordo...driver involved in shooting, drove to gas station @Coors & Central...there will be countdown clocks at 150 ABQ intersections, to tell pedestrians how many seconds are left until the light turns red...ate breakfast at the Owl Cafe...worked 1.5 hrs. at hospital; still very busy...the results of shaken baby syndrome; a child who is blind & paralyzed...by 7 PM, it was raining outside, followed by snow @9 PM...big flakes...it was quickly covering the trees & bushes...the parking lot slowly turned white...we walked to the top of the stairs to have a bird's eye view of the weather...2/9/03: very foggy; 21 degrees @6:30...2 inches of snow reported @SunPort, more in the foothills...there were 50 traffic accidents, but no fatalities...this includes a 6-car pileup on Coors above I-40...this is the first moisture from the sky in 67 days!...there was a chance of freezing fog in parts of the state...now ABQ is under a wind warning, for sustained winds @20 mph, with higher gusts...this storm will arrive in the mid-Atlantic area by 2/10/03...2/10/03: snow 99.99% gone!...Taos received 28 inches of snow...rain [showers] by week's end?...

...2/9/03: Brad created a fantastic Beef Stroganof plus Beef Stock a la Pan Asian...Nicole Kidman may play Catwoman in the next Batman flick...17% of the population is left-handed...a Velodrome, used to train speed cyclists, will be built in ABQ, it will be only 1 of 2 high altitude structures for this purpose...2/10/03: gas rises to $1.49/gal...

...near Carlsbad, there is an underground series of tunnels that contain low level nuclear waste...there is a proposal to bring more toxic garbage to that site...the current "trash" is lowered 2000 feet to its resting place...the additional waste would be buried further down...currently this location can handle 50 more years of nuclear garbage...