Surprise Garden

I was looking out in the backyard today and there's flowers out there! Who knew? They were probably planted by my former roommate. The cook moved out 2 months ago but she still contributes more to this household than anyone else.

Mmmmm TB muffins

Only one week left of my work term at the medical library. The end cannot come soon enough. It's going to be especially hard getting up in the morning now that I've already graduated. Theoretically, I could just not show up but then I would earn myself a bad reputation in "libraryland" which, apparently, exists.

The stress of working all the time is getting to me. I've been having long complicated dreams and I wake up thinking, "I have been running around solving puzzles ALL night. I can't POSSIBLY go to work now." I had a dream today that I was trying to explain rap music to someone. Clearly, the dream represented how out of my league I am when someone comes into the library wanting to know if we have any information on mesenteric cysts, or acute myocardial infarctions, or whatever else is on the go that day. Luckily, my photocopier skills are really more important than my medical knowledge. These doctors may be able to remove a cancerous growth from dangerously close to vital organs but that doesn't mean they can remove a misfed piece of paper from Tray 1.

Last Friday I went to a workshop with my colleagues on the Cochrane Library, an online source for reviews of medical treatments. All the other librarians brought notebooks and pens. That was the first sign I didn't belong; I only brought a doughnut. The second sign that I didn't belong was when I was late returning from the break and found myself locked out of the classroom. I had to wait in the hall for it to be over. I learned a lot that day.

Turns out the yummy free muffins I snack on throughout the day are leftovers from the department next to us - Infectious Diseases. Ewww. I'm sure their muffins are probably perfectly fine but still...ewwww.

When I used to work in a drug store I had lots of time to thumb through fashion magazines and it's really easy to start thinking that you're fat and unattractive. Now that I spend much of my day scanning medical journals, I feel much better about myself. I find myself thinking, "My hair sure does look like crap today, but at least I don't have that wrong with me."

When I'm not at my unpaid job, I'm at my barely paid job. I'm glad I didn't quit Wal-mart yet. It keeps me grounded in what I've come to know as reality. A woman came up to me the other day and told me there was something wrong with her cart. She said she got a bad shock every time she touched it. I explained to her how passing through all the racks of clothing built up a lot of friction. Seriously, if I had a dollar for every time I got shocked during my shift, I could buy Wal-Mart. But she was looking at me like she expected me to do something. This gave me a pretty good idea about what kind of person she was, so I went into my supply room and came back with a spare bar from a clothing rack and said it was our de-shocker. I touched her cart with it and told her that now she might still get some shocks, but they would be less powerful and that she could come back if she needed me to de-shock it again. It must have worked pretty well because she only had to come back once. Helping people - it's what I do. She may have been crazy but I understand her pain. I once touched a cart and got shocked so badly I almost peed myself.