transported

oh MAN. where to begin? the last 2 weeks have been insane. but in a nice warm fuzzy way. except sometimes i get a little concerned when i get in that zone and things just seem to happen, and the next thing you know, boom- i'd driven a thousand miles and have arrived in san diego like nothing really happened.

which nothing really does on the I-5 corridor. so.. its not unlike waking up from a bad dream and finding yourself in a strange place- mentally, emotionally, physically. just wipe off the drool and start over already. cause hitting snooze is not an option.

i wrote out a fun list of road trip observations, which i now can't find...and the only thing i remember is basically that coyotes win the darwin award in california hands down....more roadkill than any other species as far as i could tell. although the mostly dessicated cow got bonus points for the most original roadside carcass. i'll try to find the list, it was funny at the time.

spent a fun week catching up with classmates in hillsboro, listening to lectures, pretending to care, trying to get ramped up for internal med and failing, and celebrating graduates and new white coat wearers. there was cake. and wine. it was good.

spent the weekend prior to PPS at the coast with a few amigos participating in some surfing/camping hedonism. what a wonderful thing to drive from the desert up to the mountains, into the city, and out to the beach in a few hours. that is what the west coast is really all about. the best of all worlds. it was a delightful weekend. the blue room was a big hit. audzz and i got to hike up a fun little peak that overlooked pretty much the entire coastline south of cannon beach with a cool knife edge ridge up top. and i got to sample salmonberries along the way, a first. favorite quote of the weekend from chip- "i'm no marine biologist, but i'd say the water is warm, the sealife is onshore...you would think there would be more sharks...." and then there were.... in seaside, a few communities north, where everyone was called out of the water for that very reason. the water WAS warm- hit up a few swims sans wetsuits....but with one on, i think i could live in the ocean indefinitely. minus the shark thing.

and then my rockstar mentee put us up at her place for a week- tanya you ROCK! and we were able to go get our bowl on, hear some decent bluegrass, and then have a danceparty at the one but not only dive bar in hillsboro. that was some good times ladies. and you know who you are.

and then, boom- somehow got transported to san diego- and internal medicine at scripps. which as a facility, is pretty awesome. probably the most expensive real estate holdings of any hospital in the world, hovering above the torrey pines golf course which hovers in turn above the pacific ocean. so far, so good- getting to see and spend as much time as i want with all my patients.

which is good cause although i was prepared for the basics, HTN, hyperlipidemia, DM....i was not prepared for manic depressive alchoholic myasthenia gravis guy, cute little old esophageal cancer man with too many mets to treat, and non-hodgkins lymphoma dude who had bigger fish to fry with his CHF. i've been reading more than anything in the past 2 days, trying to make sense of this stuff. although i did have 2 whole patients today who had NO complaints, took NO medications, and were your basic happy go lucky southern californian types. just wanted an annual once over. amazing.

btw, it's a little weird when your patient is wearing an outfit that costs more than your yearly graduate school loan stipend. even weirder when you open your eyes and look around and notice that everyone in view is wearing sunglasses that cost more than your car.

but whatever. i'm going to let this whole so-cal attitude thing wash right over me. THIS IS NEVERLAND. get with it, mcleod. embrace it. now, if we could get rid of this marine layer crap and get on with the summer at the beach thing, life would be perfect.