9/28/2006

So cool.

Today I was helping a doctor do a surgery, she was trying to find a bleeding vestal in a dog's abdomen after a spay. She looked up at me and said "your going to need to put on a pair of gloves." I was really excited. I put on the gloves that were at least a size too small. The doctor had me hold the exterior wall and some fat that was in the dog's belly out of the way so she could find the vestal. It was really neat. I could see her belly move when she took deep breaths. I told the doctor that out of everything I have seen and done since I have been working at the animal clinic, that this made me want to be a veterinarian the most.

9/26/2006

Oh noooooo!!!

Comments turned off! I don't know how that happened. They are fixed now! Please post comments.

Thank you.

Media Explosion.

Last night I watched the Daily Show. Jon Stewart did a segment regarding Bill Clinton's interview with Chris Wallace. I was completely unaware of what had happened, considering that the news exposure I get now consists of what other people bring to my attention, the Today show in the morning, and the Daily Show when I stay awake for it. Watching the segment I became really frustrated. I hate the way the media treats people. To me it is completely absurd how any outburst of enthusiasm or frustration or anger creates a backlash of media attention. Howard Dean during the primaries, Tom Cruise on the Oprah show, and many others who have gotten similar criticism for showing... well something other than a pre-scripted completely predictable rhetoric. I really don't understand. Why when there is something dramatic on a scripted television series we love to watch, and when it happens in real life to a public figure we love to criticise.

Aaron Sorkin had the introduction to his new show done very well (Studio 60). First of all it was the type of speech I had missed since he left the West Wing, one filled with guts, emotion, and ideas. Second, the hype following his monologue was exactly what I am talking about the media doing on a daily basis.

9/19/2006

Shortest Blogoff in History.

I don't know who won, but I don't care. Thursday felt long, and I completely forgot to post. Friday I realized I didn't post, and after a while I didn't care. I've had a bit of a cold all week, so that's my excuse.

9/13/2006

Work Dinners

I never quite imagined I would work in a place where we would have these dinner meeting type things, although I imagine that most places have them now. Today I will be going to my second dinner with my job. So far it seems like we mostly do these when a representative from a company wants to meet with the staff to encourage product education. Most of the time the will come in with pizza, or our chosen lunch, but on occasion we get these big group dinners. I don't even remember what tonight's is about, but I will after dinner. I actually think it is a pretty good strategy to encourage the use of your product in other businesses. I learn a lot more from their representative than I do from packaging, or hearsay around the office. The only problem is I feel somewhat skeptical every time.

9/12/2006

Stew, Soup and Sauce

Today I attempted to make beef stew. It reminded me of something that happened in China.

The first time I tried to make spaghetti I was in Shanghai. I was suppose to meet with my language partner, but I had begun the sauce as soon as my classes were done. He called, and I suggested as he had never had spaghetti that he come over while I cook, and join me for dinner. When it was dinner time my earlier mistakes were showing, I had hoped the access water would evaporate off, but that hadn't happened. I served it as it was... very liquidy, with mushy noodles (I'm always critical of every dish I make.) After a little bit of time eating and talking my language partner looked up and said "this is very good soup". I thanked him, then explained that I was trying to make sauce, not soup.

Today I made a soupy stew. It still tasted decent though, and I have lots of leftovers.

9/11/2006

Kitties!

About two weeks ago we adopted out all of our kittens who were ready for homes. Then last week we got a few more. Three more to be exact. Then today we get another kitten... back. This little guy was adopted out, and was returned. The poor little guy apparently had too much energy for his new parents. What??? How could anyone adopt a puppy or kitten and not expect 1) High energy 2) Accidents in the house 3) Minor behavioral problems, like trying to rip up the carpet, or begging. Babies are babies, even if they are animal babies. The have to learn, and parents need to be patient. It makes me sad that the he is back, but I'm kind of glad that he's not going to be staying with people who don't want to play with the little guy.

9/08/2006

Blog off.

Okie, so a friend challenged me to a blog off. I've been trying to write more frequently and this gives me further excuse to do so.

So for today I couldn't remember something that I wanted to do online, so I went to bravotv.com, and found this http://www.brilliantbutcancelled.com/ It was pretty interesting. A lot on Firefly of course. I had herd a lot about Firefly in college. Many people recommended it to me because I speak Mandarin (or at least I speak some Mandarin.) Anyway, I finally saw it, and although I was not hooked at first, after about 4 episodes I was really looking forward to the next. Serenity is the only movie I have ever seen in the movie theater twice. I was never interested in either Buffy or any of Joss Whedon's other work (other than Toy Story,) but this particular series was really good. I think to some extent it tapped into when I was a child and watched Star Trek TNG, or Sliders. But it was also more adult than both of those shows. There was a depth in each of the characters he created, and the viewer got much more interested in the back-story.
However I think the only way they can continue the story, and be as successful at it is to go back and make a season two, that would have occurred before the movie, or to use a lot of flashbacks like in "Out of Gas".

9/02/2006

That was close.

Yesterday my day didn't start off so well. I couldn't seem to hold off a vain for the life of me on a single animal. Then I did not hold a dog properly or well enough, so my doctor shot a microchip into "never never land." A lot of my days have been going this way lately so I was thinking about how maybe I should quit and things of that nature. Then I was thinking, that I really do rather enjoy this job still, and it was only a few screw ups. One of the things you learn doing theatre is that if you dwell on your screw up you don't keep your mind on the moment, and things will continue to go wrong, so I decided not to let that happen.
Fairly soon afterward we were called to a room. It was an annual so I drew up the vaccines, and got a fecal loop, and as my doctor and I are about to enter the room she stops and says... "I had a dog, that went by the same name and was this same breed a few years ago. The dog was so bad that the owner pinned it to the floor and sat on it while we gave the shots." "So I should get a muzzle?" "No, it might not be necessary." Or something to that effect. This dog was a one of those large breeds I have discussed in previous posts, that is considered aggressive, but I had not seen behave poorly at the clinic, so I was just a little concerned when entering the room.
We get in the room and the dog is sitting next to the owner. The dog stands up slightly excited when we come in. The owner commands it to sit, then lay down, which the dog abruptly obeys. Everything goes incredibly smoothly, we get the dog on the table, where it proceeds to be very friendly and covers my face with kisses, and the doctor check over eyes, ears, teeth, and the whole body, and gives the vaccines. As we are doing this part of the exam the doctor is talking with the owner, and we find out that this lovable dog is in fact the dog that she saw before, after a lot of training. By this point we are getting ready to draw blood. Normally as a technician I would hold the dog's head in the crook of my elbow, and use the other hand to hold off a vain on the dog's leg, however in this case the owner is standing next to the dog and holding it's head so in order to hold off a vain I am standing in front of the dog, and reaching down across it's leg with one hand. (For those you who know better methods at doing this type of thing please tell me as I am new to being a vet tech, and really don't know better.) I was trying my best to get the dog's leg well rolled, and have a good grip when I feel the dog's head hit mine, or so I think. I have had lots of dogs hit my head with theirs lately so I assumed that was what happened, but the doctor backs up quickly, and the owner first hits the dog, then tells it "NO! BAD DOG!" Repeatedly and pins it to the table. The doctor and I move to the back of the dog, and from both the reactions of the other people in the room and thinking about it for a second and sensing that I did in fact feel teeth, and not just a head hit my jaw I realize what must have been very frightening for everyone but me. We draw blood from a back leg, get a fecal sample. The owner asked me if I was okay, and apologized. Then we let the dog down and toss it a cookie as quickly as possible.
It didn't bother me so much when it happened, and in fact I am much more happy that it happened to me than my doctor because that would have frightened me much more, but it made for culmination of my bad day. The rest of my day actually went very smoothly, and one thing's for sure, I am never going to take it for granted if a dog seems friendly, and I'm also very glad that learning my lesson was not as hard as it could have been.