Prophecies of a Jaded Seeress

Ick

2009-09-27T02:40:18Z

I got my flu shot yesterday. It hurt, but I usually get a nice red swollen arm post shot so I wasn't too worried about it. Though this one looks even worse than usual - in my professional opinion, she gave the shot too high in my arm. Anyway, was fine until the end of my shift when I got really unusually tired. I'd eaten early, so figured I needed coffee or food or both. By the time I was at the traffic light in front of the apartment complex I was beyond tired and starting to feel miserable. Got inside and felt HORRIBLE. Chills, aches, fever, the whole 9 yards. I've gotten a flu shot every year since I can remember and I've never had a reaction like that. What the hell did they put in that thing? Anyway, took a Zicam and some Motrin and crawled into bed to shake under my warming blanket. Slept for 7 hours straight and woke up feeling totally fine except for my arm still hurting. I now have much more sympathy for people who complain about getting sick after their flu shots. I would still like to clarify, however, that if you are up and walking around voluntarily, you don't have the flu. Trust me. The one time I've actually had the flu, I was flat on my back for two weeks.

In short, flu season sucks.

jadedseeress @ 2009-09-09T01:03:00

2009-09-09T05:12:41Z

In the surgical room tonight. Totally bewildered by these large, crying babies. Give me my intubated preemies back!

My amusement for the night:

Day nurse: So he had his Hirschsprung's repair today. The incision is around the anus. There's some xeroform packed in there - just leave it, don't go looking for the incision.

Me: ...NO PROBLEM!

Of course, first thing the kid does is push out the dressing and start pooping. Which he's not supposed to be doing, and probably really hurts. Which would be why he did his damnedest to deafen me until I begged the NP to pretty please prescribe some drugs for the child. Yay morphine!

All my kids tonight are pretty darn adorable. Makes the night more pleasant. :)

Oi!

2009-09-07T02:13:51Z

I feel like I just got my ass kicked by a child who barely tops two pounds. Literally as well as figuratively - the little darling actually managed to kick my glasses askew while I was trying to retape his ETT! Still not sure how he managed that.

jadedseeress @ 2009-07-29T04:43:00

2009-07-29T08:45:44Z

Pregestimil vomit is completely disgusting. That is all.

jadedseeress @ 2009-07-28T02:13:00

2009-07-28T06:32:31Z

I went bridesmaids dress shopping yesterday, and it wasn't nearly as bad as I had half expected it to be! I actually had fun. Part of that was just getting the chance to see the girls, since we have such ridiculously conflicting schedules (only reason we actually managed it was because I left early to nap so I could work tonight), but the dress trying on part was actually fun too. Haley and I used to try on prom dresses for kicks, just because trying on fancy dresses was entertaining, but that novelty of that wore off a while ago. Body issues had a lot to do with that. So I was pretty happy to discover that I've lost enough weight that I'm now a dress size 6. I'd been getting a little discouraged because I can't seem to get down a size in pants. My 10s are all too big now - they feel like they're falling off - but the 8s are always too tight. Apparently I just have awkwardly sized hips. :P But I have actually lost weight, so yay! And Allie managed to pick a dress that looks flattering on all four of her bridesmaids with all of our different figures, which might actually qualify as a miracle of some sort. I'm wearing purple. We're either going to have two purple, two green, or the maid of honor in green and the three others in purple. I had to leave before that got officially sorted out.

In other news, dad's creatinine levels are up again and his kidney function is officially down to 15%. That's the standard for starting dialysis, but since he's asymptomatic other than being fatigued, the docs are willing to let him get down to 10% in hopes that he can be transplanted before dialysis is necessary. Everyone cross your fingers. He's also anemic, which is unsurprising, so they're going to start epogen. Dad said I was waaaaay too enthusiastic when I offered to come stab him three times a week (it's a subcutaneous shot). I just want to keep in practice! We don't give too many subcutaneous injections on my unit. Even the IMs are few and far between - just Vit K and Hep B at birth and other vaccines if the kids are here long enough to need them.

Okay, and it's fun to menace parental units with needles.

golf claps

2009-07-22T02:01:04Z

The hospital got Magnet status. Apparently we should be enthused.

...yay?

She's aliiiiive!

2009-07-21T03:35:02Z

It's taken me approximately a year and a half but I'm starting to figure out how to have a life again while working 12 hour night shifts three days a week. This week I went out with friends (to see HP and the Half Blood Prince, which I enjoyed), made plans with Haley for the weekend, and started playing on Alere Flammas again. I was surprised to discover how much I'd missed it. If any former players still read this journal - come back! :) I also made plans to take my cousins' two youngest daughters to the RenFaire when it starts up in August. It'll be exhausting, but I'm going to enjoy seeing it through fresh eyes. Only Irina's ever been and that was when she was much younger.

So yeah. It may not sound like much, but considering I've been doing my best hermit impression for a long while, it's a definite step in the right direction.

I've also been productive health case wise. I've got an appointment with an oral surgeon for August so he can assess my impacted wisdom tooth. I've been putting off doing that for a while now. I went to the regular dentist and they didn't seem as bothered by the state of my gums as they usually are, which I'm assuming means I'm doing something right. And I'm going to call on Wednesday and make an appointment for that kidney ultrasound to assess for PKD. I still don't really want to know, but I'm going to be a good girl and find out anyway. Next up: getting some of my vaccines updated. Dammit, I don't want a tetanus shot!

Back to work!

NCLEX Drama

2008-04-05T04:03:28Z

I graduated December 21st. I had hoped to start work in February. Unfortunately, I couldn't get an NCLEX testing date until February 14th. Okay then. More time to study, right? Not that I wound up studying all that much. Anyway, February 14th, I head to the local Pearson VUE testing center. I leave the house in plenty of time, make sure I have my valid Maryland driver's license with me since Pearson will only accept a driver's license or a passport as ID, and make sure I also have my authorization to test (ATT) from the state board of nursing. I get to the testing center nice and early and wait with the other girl who's there for the test center to open. They finally let us in the door and we begin the signing in process. I finish reading the instructions first, so I'm first up to the desk. I present my paperwork and the following conversation occurs:

Receptionist: *eyeing driver's license and ATT* Hmmmmmm.

Me: *waits*

Receptionist: Your name on your driver's license...it doesn't have a hyphen in it.

Me: Oh, no, it doesn't. My name does, but the MVA computer system can't handle hyphens. I've fought with them about it a couple of times now.

Receptionist: I have to call my supervisor.

Me: What?

Receptionist: The name on the license must match the name on the ATT.

Me: Do you want to see my social security card? It has the hyphen. *pulls out all sorts of alternate forms of ID*

Receptionist: Go ahead and sit down while I call my supervisor.

So I sit down and try and read a magazine while all sorts of ominous noises come from the receptionist and the phone. After a few minutes she calls me back up.

Receptionist: We can't allow you into the testing center.

Me: Are you serious?

Receptionist: You'll have to appeal to the national council of the state boards of nursing.

Me: I have to repay all that money?! Note: the quest for a nursing license in MD costs approximately $350, between testing fees, application fees, fingerprinting, and background checks.

Receptionist: Appeal to the national council. If they decide in your favor, you won't have to.

And with that, she turns her attention to the next girl in line. I stumble outside and burst into tears. It's really hard to get into your car when you're a) sobbing so hard you can't see and b) freezing to death because it snowed the night before. I dropped my keys twice before managing to get inside and find my cell phone. I call my dad first and he must have thought I'd been in some horrible accident or something, since he couldn't make out a word I was blubbering into the phone. Eventually I manage to calm down enough to explain, although I'm still upset enough that dad asks if he needs to come pick me up so I don't have to drive. I say no - probably a mistake, in hindsight, but I did make it home in one piece. Before I leave, I call my friend Allison who's supposed to be testing two hours after me. I get her voicemail, leave a semi-coherent message, and head home. I hit a patch of ice halfway there, which jolts me back to reality a bit.

I get home and I've just sort of fallen into my dad's arms when Allison calls me back. She hadn't listened to the voicemail, so she was a little surprised when I answer in between sobs. She told me later that she initially thought I'd overslept and missed the most important test of my life thus far. I explain and she promises to come over as soon as she's done with her test. I then get into the rounds of phone calls. I try Pearson first and spend forever on hold. That's actually a good thing, as it allows me to work up to being furious instead of devastated. I get better results when I sound pissed off instead of incoherent. :P Anyway, I'm on the phone with assorted Pearson people for about an hour before they tell me the same thing the receptionist did - names don't match, nothing they can do. About the only good thing that comes from this is someone tells me HOW one appeals to the national council, and gives me a phone number.

The national council headquarters are in a different timezone, so I don't get a hold of a person until about 10pm my time. She's about to take me through the whole appeals process - write a letter, etc - but then she stops. "You know what? Hold on. Give me your name and phone number, and let me make some calls." THANK YOU. And with that, we start the waiting game. Allison arrives soon afterwards, since she was able to start her test early because they had a spare computer. Gee, I wonder how that happened? :P

Allison fields calls from a couple of other friends because I still can't explain without bursting into tears. I pace and play mindless solitaire games on the computer. After the longest two hours of my life, I get a call from Justin at Pearson VUE. He apologizes profusely and tells me a) I should never have been sent away, b) he's resetting my ATT so I don't have to pay again, and c) I can reschedule my testing date whenever there's a slot free. I proceed to collapse in a puddle of leftover nerves.

By some miracle, someone had canceled their appointment for February 16th, that Saturday, at 8am. I snatch up the time slot. Later that day, Allison, Erin, and I go to JoAnn Fabrics and get iron on letters. We make me a shirt that says 'I <3 My Hyphen'. Unfortunately, when I go back on Saturday, there's a different receptionist at the desk and so the joke goes unnoticed. On the plus side, when I tell the receptionist I had problems before, she calls me up to get things sorted out right there and then so I can stop worrying. She frowns at the paperwork and then asks what the problem had been. When I tell her about the hyphen she boggles at me. "You should never have been turned away. If I'd been here, I would have let you test. Don't worry about it - you're fine."

So that's my story. I took the test that day. I passed. And now I have a horror story to traumatize the students on my unit with. Works every time!

Dredging up the LJ...

2008-03-30T22:38:24Z

So since I'm actually back to reading LJ on a semi-regular basis, I figure I'll start posting again too. Try not to be too shocked, anyone who is still reading this after my months...er, sorry, make that years of neglect. Anyway!

Things I've Done Lately:

* Graduated from nursing school. Magna Cum Laude, thankyouverymuch, with a GPA of 3.7 (4.0 for the last two semesters. I'll stop tooting my own horn now).
* Took - and passed - the NCLEX. That's the National Council Licensure Examination for those of you fortunate enough to have never encountered it. Also known to most nursing students as the Big Scary Evil Test. It means I am now a registered nurse as well as a BSN. There was drama involved with taking it, of course. More on that later.
* Got a job. I'm now working at the University of Maryland Medical Center in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. I love it, even when I'm stressing out so badly my preceptor gives me a hug and tells me to relax, already!
* Bought a car. And that's enough about that, as I am still cringing over the down payment and thought of monthly car payments and insurance payments.

So...yeah. In short, I'm doing the whole 'adult' thing. Which would be a whole lot more enjoyable if it didn't involve so much paying other people lots of money.

Next post, I will elaborate on NCLEX drama! I'm sure you're all fascinated already.

Alere Flammas Sorting!

2007-08-04T17:05:10Z

Harry Potter: Alere Flammas is having a Sorting tonight at 9pm. If you hurry, you might be able to get a character approved in time! If not, you can still join the fun. Attend classes, play Quidditch, even apply for a feature character from the books! Luna, Neville, Seamus, Lavender, Padma, Kingsley, multiple Weasleys, Fleur...the possibilities are almost endless.

Alere Flammas opened after the release of Goblet of Fire and has been going strong since then. Our storyline deviated from Rowling's after GoF. Harry and co. are now in their mid-twenties, Snape is Headmaster of Hogwarts, and Sirius Black is Minister of Magic. More information available at www.alereflammas.org, including how to log on and get into the game!

jadedseeress @ 2006-10-28T23:33:00

2006-10-29T03:34:57Z

HowManyOfMe.com

There are:
0
people with my name
in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

...and this is why I can never get those little personalized keychain things with my name on them.

jadedseeress @ 2005-10-08T16:55:00

2005-10-08T20:56:00Z

Your Love Quote

True love stories never have endings.

What Love Quote Suits You?

jadedseeress @ 2005-09-01T15:00:00

2005-09-01T19:00:37Z

Music Lover
All right - the grade you have earned is 66!

The Music Lover knows enough about music to stand his/her own! They will relate well to musicians and be able to tell others interesting facts about the music world. They have a definate affinity for music. You're not quite a music nerd but you're getting close.

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 20% on bmusicpoints

Link: The Are You a Music Expert Test written by djmaar on Ok Cupid

I live!

2005-07-29T04:54:28Z

...I've just been very, very, very busy. JadedSeeress has an actual honest-to-God job! One she likes! One that has her alternating arriving at 7am and leaving at 8pm! Which is why I all of a sudden have less of a life than I did before. But this time, I'm getting paid for it. So it's all good.

Random stuff: the guy I was all excited about some posts back? Got clingy and stalkerish. I think I have a stalker magnet or something.

I finished HBP and adored it. Without being spoilerish, I think the ending had to happen. And I thought it was well done. And I don't think...okay, now we're getting spoilerish, so I'll shut up.

And now I am tired (worked until 8) and must be up at 6:30 (to be in to work by 8), so I shall sleep. Night!

I is smart!

2005-06-17T06:58:36Z

English Genius
You scored 92% Beginner, 100% Intermediate, 100% Advanced, and 100% Expert!

You did so extremely well, even I can't find a word to describe your excellence! You have the uncommon intelligence necessary to understand things that most people don't. You have an extensive vocabulary, and you're not afraid to use it properly! Way to go!

Thank you so much for taking my test. I hope you enjoyed it!

For the complete Answer Key, visit my blog: http://shortredhead78.blogspot.com/.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 35% on Beginner

You scored higher than 60% on Intermediate

You scored higher than 84% on Advanced

You scored higher than 97% on Expert

Link: The Commonly Confused Words Test written by shortredhead78 on Ok Cupid

jadedseeress @ 2005-05-13T14:14:00

2005-05-13T18:17:48Z

Today was a GOOD day!

1) I took my Spanish oral exam. Wasn't feeling particularly prepared - but pulled off a 98%.

2) I got my math test back. Thought I'd done well - and got a 96%! Unfortunately, the four points I lost were due to a very DUMB mistake. I might have had a 100%.

3) I got the most questions right on the DNA trivia quiz in Genetics, and as a prize I got a book - a biography of Rosalind Franklin!

Go me!

DATE!

2005-04-13T21:49:26Z

I have a DATE. A real, honest-to-God, DATE.

...with a guy I don't know from a hole in the ground.

...but it's a DATE!

jadedseeress @ 2005-03-25T01:29:00

2005-03-25T06:30:04Z

So much shit is going on that I can't even write about all of it. Thank God spring break starts next week.

jadedseeress @ 2005-03-25T01:27:00

2005-03-25T06:28:12Z

Fe... Iron
You scored 25 Mass, 44 Electronegativity, 58 Metal, and 0 Radioactivity!

I don't really need to describe you do I? You're the backbone of any well put together group... communally minded, out going and social, but you don't demand to be the center of attention. Without groups of people like you, human society would crumble. I mean that... don't change. With respect to realtionships, I don't know what to tell ya. I guess I'd recommend a first row transition metal... or if you don't mind being submissive then go for an oxygen... everyone else will wonder how you ended up with one of those drama queens, but you'll probably secretly love it and he/she will bring out colors of you that you didn't know existed.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 20% on Mass

You scored higher than 84% on Electroneg

You scored higher than 56% on Metal

You scored higher than 1% on Radioactivity

Link: The Which Chemical Element Am I Test written by effataigus on Ok Cupid

Drugging small helpless creatures!

2005-02-17T05:20:39Z

So Genetics lab today was half tedious and half hilarious. In order:

DNA gel electrophoresis is quite possibly my least favorite lab ever. Including the one everyone does twenty billion times in public school, with the microscopes and the letter e and the elodea leaf. Dear God, I remembered the name of the bloody plant. Anyway. So it's twenty minutes to make the gel, and ten minutes or so to pipette the DNA in without breaking the wells, which I did NOT manage (I only broke one, but turns out that that one? Was the standards. Oops), and 45 minutes for the stuff to electrophoresize (yes, I realize I am making up words), and then 30 minutes to rinse and approximately an hour to a) decipher the really poor results and b) explain them to your clueless lab partner.

Why do I always get the idiot lab partners? I'm cursed, I swear.

The fun stuff!

How does one get 6 male fruit flies and 6 female fruit flies from one container to another? Why, one drugs them into insensibility, of course! We made the flies little instant living rooms - mix one spoonful of stuff with one spoonful of water and a little yeast, and voila! Edible living room! - and then we took their original homes and dropped in a brush soaked in FlyNap.

FlyNap. I kid you not.

Then you wait and watch the little critters drop like...wait for it...flies! I kill me. It's really highly entertaining though. One minute they're all smacking into the roof of the tube, the next? *Boom!* Down and out. So then you dump them into a sorting tray and look at their abdomens to determine their gender, select your flies, drop them in their new home, return the rejects to the old home, and wait. And wait. And wait. And eventually? You realize you overdosed the poor flies. :)

Go us!

Computer!

2005-01-20T13:41:09Z

New computer is here. It arrived on the 19th when it wasn't even supposed to be shipped until the 20th...but you don't see me arguing. I'm still going to be a tad scarce until it's fully set up.

It snowed yesterday, and I had the charming experience of trying to get out of the way of a fire engine running code red while on an unplowed street. Result? Me spinning off the road into the median. That was fun. Only not.

This morning, every county except mine opened 2 hours late, meaning I still had to get up at 5am to go babysit. Grrr.

Done bitching. Off to sleep. :)

jadedseeress @ 2004-12-29T00:12:00

2004-12-29T05:17:45Z

RoD announces a new class: Barbarians. I create one - along with half the rest of the MUD. New characters were being announced every few seconds, and they were all Barbarians. We were so backed up we were standing in line to kill the creatures with our beginners EQ. I am suitably amused.

Color me shocked!

2004-12-26T23:27:24Z

My aunt got me the coolest Christmas present!

To understand how incredible this is, one must understand my aunt. The woman has fabulous taste, but her present giving can be very very weird. And it doesn't help that she only sees us once a year, if that, and so has no real idea what we like. For example, one year I got a bright blue plastic cuckoo clock. Me: ...

Anyway, this year she and my uncle came to visit us a few months before the holidays. They were just here for an evening, but we had a nice time talking and catching up, and I happened to mention my love for purses. So my Christmas present? A purse. A designer purse. A magenta leather, Franco Sarto designer purse!

I spent most of yesterday morning inhaling the scent of really good leather.

It is officially awesome. Not to mention the exact style that is really in right now. And my parents got me a new wallet, which is black with an A on the front. This makes me very happy.

In addition to the Very Cool Purse, I got germs from Haley! Okay, not really. :) Go to www.giantmicrobes.com and see the wonderfulness that is stuffed microbes. Haley gave me Mono, Halitosis, Ulcer, and Athlete's Foot. Trying to tell me something, Haley? ;)

My parents also gave fantastic presents, including a 50 dollar gift certificate to Sephora! Funniest thing EVER - Sephora packages their gift certificates in a mirrored compact, wrapped in tissue, wrapped in a Sephora gift bag, which my parents then wrapped again. Whee. I finally get to the card and I'm like, hee! Look in the mirror, and then come to Sephora and buy the products you desperately need.

Also got books: The Virgin's Lover, by Philippa Gregory, and Wolf Captured, by Jane Lindskold (yes, Haley, you get it when I'm done!).

Music: Kelly Clarkson's Breakaway (shut up) and the Best of Billy Joel, because I heard the Piano Man on the radio and fell in love with it.

A Fom pillow! And the ends are FUZZY!

A really nifty notebook with a pretty cover, which mom told me was to keep all my MUSH information in so I'd stop covering the desk with post it notes. Hee!

Two really gorgeous shirts, one a lovely sea green with an almost-but-not-quite-off-the-shoulder neckline and the other a red turtleneck.

A funny camisole with Oscar the Grouch on it, saying "What?!", socks, a snowman mug, and silly putty! Yay, silly putty!

Italian scarf, also from Aunt Gail and Uncle Scott!

Now I will stop gloating, and go smell my purse some more. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays, etc!

jadedseeress @ 2004-12-12T01:36:00

2004-12-12T06:46:12Z

How common are jadedseeress's interests

Universal

music (898328)
movies (590076)
reading (382677)
singing (214190)
shopping (212949)
books (202912)
harry potter (136514)

Popular

lord of the rings (98578)
acting (90838)
shoes (75511)
fantasy (68125)
theatre (50792)

Common

orlando bloom (43896)
makeup (38119)
drama (37021)
cds (36579)
fanfiction (34603)
science fiction (34288)
theater (27850)
the sims (23136)
roleplaying (21396)
jewelry (18250)
purses (14222)
biology (14167)

Specialist

roleplay (4535)
shiny objects (3702)

Unusual

mushing (605)
mu*ing (259)
mu*s (214)

Rare

alere flammas (7)

Joy of Chemistry

2004-11-18T22:50:27Z

Today in lab we did Qualitative Analysis! Which is a fancy term for performing a bunch of tests on unknowns to see what they are. For a wonder, Michele and I did everything right and got textbook results with minimum mishap. Michele spilled half a bottle of unknown at the start, and I bumped into a hot plate and burned my arm at the end. But otherwise things went great!

Not so for the team behind us. They were cleaning up while Michele and I were working on the last part of the experiment. Suddenly I hear gasps and shrieks, so I turn around. Their 'waste' beaker, where they'd been putting the discarded chemicals after the reactions had occured - yes, we all had one, we were supposed to - had started belching huge clouds of orange and red smoke. People fled, those of us out of the way stared, and the Professor ran over to turn on the fan and suck those possibly hazardous clouds of steam up the tube designated for the purpose. We still don't know what happened - none of the other waste beakers tried to blow up.

My arm stings. Damn hot plate.

EDIT: New definition of awkward - Me reading the instructions to 'pulverize' the solid aloud. The borderline special ed guy in the group next to us coming up to me and saying, "Yeah, let's pulverize," while smacking his fist into his palm. Repeatedly. While Joey and I stare at each other across the table and try to figure out how the hell we're supposed to react to that.