Shouzer

Good word, newsages. I found three stories this morning on /. that I happened to like. The first, right here, is about how the US is actually going to begin pulling troops out of Iraq. That’s great news, as far as I’m concerned. I don’t know what sort of ramifications it’ll have on the new government there, but it’s time for us to quit wasting American lives on it.

The next story, located here, is a bit more recently relevant to me. On the way back home from the cruise, American Airlines tore up one of our bags. The pulling handle was actually broken in half and the metal on it was bent up all crazy. They claim they don’t cover it, because it’s an “external attachment”, but that’s fucking bullshit. Those handles retract, and we sure as shit didn’t leave it out when we gave it to them. So somebody took it out and then fucked it up.

Anyway, the story is about the Sydney Airport using RFID tags to better track their bags. The part that caught my attention was this sentence: “Industry experts say that baggage mishandling costs the industry globally $US1.7 billion each year”. Oh boo-hoo. If the god damn airlines were just more careful with that shit, it wouldn’t happen. Morons.

The third and final story, which can be found here, is apparently about the Antikythera. It’s an analog computer that was developed almost 2000 years ago to map the positions of the sun and moon, and to map the lunar phases. It’s pretty cool, when you get right down to it.

As I mentioned in my previous post, my family went on a cruise over Thanksgiving break. Well, I’m back now, and I’ve got to say that it was a great time all around. We actually had a pretty big group on the ship (a lot of extended family went as well), which I think really added to the fun. There were 23 total, 17 of which were in the extended group. So if we weren’t doing something together, it wasn’t uncommon at all to see someone else somewhere around the ship.

Honestly, the thing that stands out the most to me was the service on the ship. All around, it was some of the best I’ve ever had. There never seemed to be a crew member who wasn’t willing to joke around with you or help you if you needed. The waiters were very impressive, also. The first day, you were assigned a table in the main dining hall for dinner (if you chose to eat there–many more options were available as well), which meant you had the same pair of waiters everyday too. And, since we really liked them, that turned out to be perfect, as it gave you time to get to know them a bit.

In terms of entertainment, we caught a few comedians on the ship, though for the most part I’d only rate them decent. They certainly weren’t what I was hoping for. However, in the music department we found a band that we all loved called The Best Sellers. We got to check them out a few different nights in one of the lounges (there’s quite a few of them), and it was good every time. Now, strangely, they were a group of four Filipino guys who played a lot of older music. It sounds a bit strange, I know, but they really were impressive.

There was a lot more, too, but it’s late, and I’m tired. I really didn’t end up getting much sleep on the cruise (there was always something to do in the mornings), and I think it’s starting to catch up to me.

Normally for Thanksgiving, I just go home and hang out, which is usually pretty nice all by itself.  This year, however, my family is going on a cruise that’ll last the whole break.  It should be pretty nice, partly because I’m looking forward to the vacation and also because it’ll be my first cruise.  I’ve heard they’re pretty nice, so hopefully it’ll live up to my expectations, haha.

Now the tricky part of this plan is the traveling.  We’re flying out this Saturday and won’t get back until late two Sundays later.  I think the plan right now is to just stay at home Sunday night and drive back here Monday morning, which means I’ll have to miss a few of my classes.  Hopefully we don’t have any quizzes..  Hell, even if we do, I’m honestly not that concerned at this point.

I gave a speech this morning in Spanish on the divide by 2 plus 7 rule.  I was a little worried that the prof might find the topic to be too risque, but he thought it was really funny.  He actually offered to let me come back the next hour and give the speech to the next class, but I had a test later so I couldn’t.  He was probably just tired of hearing people talk about their likes/dislikes and their families.

If you are unfamiliar with the divide by 2 plus 7 rule, it goes a little something like this.  Take your age, divide it by two and add seven.  The result is the age of the youngest person you can date.  I’m 21, so I can date an 18 yr old.  It works the other direction as well.  Subtract seven from your age and then multiply the result by two to get the ago of the oldest person you can date, 28 in my case.

People always argue with this rule when the first hear it, but I defy you to find a case where it fails.  Oh, and by the way, the rule does not discriminate based on sex, so ladies, you’re not above the rule.

I didn’t really pay much attention to the political atmosphere much here in Missouri purely because I was not going to be voting in it.  There was, however, one key issue that did keep my interest and I am happy to say the outcome was a good one. Amendment 2 was voted in favor by the people of Missouri by more than 27,000 votes, according an article in the Post Dispatch.  Amendment 2 allows for the protection of all forms of embryonic stem-cell research in the state allowed under federal law. 

This amendment had come under heavy scrutiny and political debate, especially by groups such as the Missourians Against Human Cloning.  In their opposition campaigns, they would use religious and moral ideals. Politics and religion rarely go well together, throw science in the mix and you surely have a recipe for disaster.  What really upsets me about the whole stem cell issue is that people automatically jump to the issue of human cloning.

Do I know if that would happen or not? No, I don’t, but neither do others who say it will happen if stem cell research is allowed.  I imagine it’s a sign of the times, just as it was when in-vitro fertilization was a new concept.

I’m no expert in stem cell research, but I have an understanding of how it works.  These cells are the precursors for every cell in the body. When stimulated properly they can grow into any adult cell–blood cells, brain cells, muscle cells, liver cells.  This isn’t a direct cure for people with incurable diseases, but it is a means to begin searching for one.

Just as in-vitro fertilizations and organ transplants were first met with criticism and problems, I hope that one day stem cell research will be accepted by all as a legitimate therapy and a means of finding cures for diseases.

In other news, nice to see that that the Democrats are now in the majority in the House.

I was writing a cover sheet for my physics class today, and I accidentally put an “ECE” (for electrical and computer engineering) on the the page instead of the “PH”.   I thought about keeping the page for a future homework assignment instead of erasing it, but then I remember that I never have to turn in a homework assignment to the ECE department again.  That’s right.  I am done turning in homework to the ECE department again.  I am so happy to report that.

While I was writing that, I just realized that today is my last ever lab too.  Since labs are undoubtedly the worst part of school, that is fantastic news.

It occurred to me tonight after I got home from work, showered, and changed that I hadn’t posted about any of my experiences in the ER recently, and today was a great day for me (though not for the patients), so I figured it was time for another update.

Started off fairly slow, but a nice steady pace, nothing too major or crazy, but that would all change, of course.

It changed around 11 a.m. when our transfer from Herrin Hospital arrived. It was a 68 y/o female with necrotizing fasciitis. This is a severe systemic bacterial infection. It starts usually when the patient gets a small cut or scratch. Her infection was so severe it involved all layers of the skin, her subcutaneous tissue, muscle sheath, and muscle tissues themselves.

From the report we got from Herrin’s ER, when she arrived, her arm was red, blistered, and swollen to just below her elbow. When she arrived here, it had spread up to her shoulder and there was crepitus (air in her tissue, it felt like bubble rap packing under her skin) all in her chest.

Since it was spreading so quickly, we rushed her to the OR where they had to amputate the arm. Her chest film after the amputation revealed that it had spread further across her chest and was now near her left arm as well. Her prognosis is not good at all.

My second major story deals with a man who fell 65 feet off a scaffolding downtown. When he fell, he hit a beam or piece of sheet metal and it amputated his left arm. It wasn’t completely severed, it was still attached by a little bit of muscle and tissue. He was in bad shape from the fall, obviously and was in severe shock from the blood loss. He was also rushed to the OR.

The cool thing I got to do on him was assist the Trauma Chief tie off his bleeding brachial artery and his cephalic and basilic veins. That was pretty freakin’ awesome, though probably only Al would get as big a kick out of it as me.

After assisting, I was on extremity duty for a bit. I had to make sure the arm remained covered, clean, and cold. It’s sad, but it served as a great anatomy refresher.

That was pretty much all of the exciting stuff for today. Everything else was pretty much run-of-the-mill normal stuff.

Hope you guys are enjoying your weekend!