Talk about creepy

This would have truly scared the crap out of me. I'm sure I would have probably run out of my apartment at the sight of it. I would have sent someone else back in to catch it in the plastic container and take it to the Natural History Museum.

Why are people so dumb? Part III

Does anyone think it is a good idea to leave a 15 month old child alone at home by themselves? Apparently some idiot in Connecticut did. She made sure, however, to take her pet poodle with her when she went out. This poor kid obviously doesn't have it so great to begin with. The only reason he was with this woman (his grandmother!!) was because his mother was arrested on drug charges earlier in the week.

Dagens Namn -- 31 Augusti 2005

Today is your name day if your name is: Vidar or Arvid.

Dagens Namn -- 30 Augusti 2005

Today is your name day if your name is: Albert or Albertina.

Bowling for Krissy G

On Saturday night I went bowling with some friends at Strike Bethesda. The occasion was Kristen's birthday (or as Molly likes to call her, Krissy G). I had a good time even though I suck at bowling. I won't tell you what my scores were, because they are that bad. I will say however, that I did more than double my score in the second game. I included a couple pictures below. I put the rest of the pictures on my Yahoo Photos webpage.



The first picture is of Molly keeping score. The second picture is of Molly keeping score, but pretending to be one of the doctors from work. If you work with us, you should be able to tell who this is supposed to be.

After bowling, I went over to my friend's house, to hear about and see pictures from his recent trip to Alaska. I'm jealous, because it sounds like an awesome place to go. He caught a bunch of wild salmon while he was there. He had some of it smoked and shipped back home. We snacked on that and it was pretty damn good. We ended up watching My Cousin Vinny. I hadn't seen it in a long long time and had forgotten how funny it was. Marisa Tomei is classic in that movie. Probably why she won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

Why are people so dumb? Part II

When I saw this news story I just couldn't believe that people could be so stupid. Not to mention disrespectful and insensitive. I am not really a religious person, but I certainly don't think this is what Jesus and the Bible had in mind for the Christian faith. There is just something fundamentally wrong and evil about a person who uses religion as an excuse to hate other human beings.

Dagens Namn -- 29 Augusti 2005

Today is your name day if your name is: Hampus or Hans.

Dagens Namn -- 28 Augusti 2005

Today is your name day if your name is: Gurli or Leila.

Dagens Namn -- 27 Augusti 2005

Today is your name day if your name is: Rolf or Raoul.

Chocolate Heaven

I LOVE CHOCOLATE! If you are also a chocolate lover, I highly suggest you try this choclate sauce that I have discovered. There are 8 different varieties, plus they have some other caramel sauces and such things. The brand is King's Cupboard. My favorites are Espresso Chocolate and Bittersweet Chocolate. It really is like chocolate heaven. Great on ice cream or fruit. You can buy all the products on their website, but I've also found certain items at Williams-Sonoma and Dean & Deluca. I highly highly advise that you try this stuff if you like chocolate.

Dagens Namn -- 26 Augusti 2005

Today is your name day if your name is Östen.

Dagens Namn -- 25 Augusti 2005

Today is your name day if your name is: Louise or Lovisa.

Patience and Fortitude

To be a labor and delivery nurse you have to be very patient and have the ability to be very forgiving. Extreme pain, like the pain experienced during labor, can make people act completely different for the way they normally do. I always try not to judge people on their behavior prior to getting their epidural. Sometimes the difference is like day and night. The patient I had today, however, truly tested my patience. I’ve had patients who have yelled and cursed before. I’ve had people be incredibly rude. But this woman took the prize for the most hysterical and histrionic patient I have ever had.

I’ve been working in L&D for 4 years and I’ve taken care of over a thousand patients. None of them have ever been like this. The ones that have come close are the ones who have come in completely dilated and ready to push. This woman was only 5 cm dilated (out of a total 10) and the baby’s head was nowhere close to coming out. Usually, even when patients are rude, offensive or vulgar, they are apologetic about it. This woman seemed to have no qualms about her behavior. She was so loud that my other patient three doors down the hall asked what was going on.

The woman kept screaming, “I’m in pain!!! Don’t you people understand that I’m in pain?!?!?” No ma’am, you’ve only told us 50 billion times, but we haven’t gotten the message yet. Do not blame me because the sole anesthesiologist is placing an epidural for the woman down the hall who is 8 cm dilated. You are just going to have to start acting like an adult and wait your turn. We are not denying you pain medication, you just have to WAIT. I hate to sound unsympathetic and I really always try to be understanding, but this woman just really pushed my buttons.

Dagens Namn -- 24 Augusti 2005

Today is your name day if your name is Bartolomeus.

Fall Retreat

I attended a retreat for school today. It really isn’t as glamorous as it sounds. Basically they had us come into school for the day so that they could tell us about our classes and clinicals. We got to hear in detail about all the books we have to buy, plus we had an opportunity to buy diagnostic equipment for our clinicals. So, I dropped $558.15 on equipment. The most expensive thing was the otoscope/opthalmascope set which cost $501. I do, however, have a form to fill out for a whopping $25 rebate. Hooray! If anyone needs their eyes or ears examined, let me know. Then I’ll feel like I’m actually making use of this outrageously expensive piece of equipment.

I still also have to buy a lab coat. I’m kind of excited about that because: (1) we get to have knee length coats (not stupid short ones like the medical students), and (2) we are supposed to have our name embroidered on it. I know this sounds kind of dumb, but if you aren’t in the medical field you probably wouldn’t understand.

In further good news, we found out that we won’t have to do pelvic exams on each other for health assessment class. We knew that we were going to have to do most of the exams on each other, but pelvic exams would just be totally weird. Apparently they pay “models” to come in and we do exams on them. How you get set up for that gig I have absolutely no idea.

In even further good news, I went to the bookstore after the retreat. They actually had used copies of 3 of my 11 books. This saved me anywhere from $38 to $53, depending on how you look at it. I will probably end up buying the rest of my books online at B&N or Amazon.

To round off the day, I went to “happy hour” at Cactus Cantina with people from work. Had some frozen swirl margaritas. It was pretty great. Below are a few pictures I took. We were sitting outside and they didn’t really turn out the greatest. The first two pictures are of the group. The third one is of Lindsay and her now somewhat showing belly (she’s 16 weeks pregnant). No margaritas for her!! The last one is of Molly in a classic Molly pose.

Dagens Namn -- 23 Augusti 2005

Today is your name day if your name is: Signe or Signhild.

Why are people so dumb?

This is the kind of stuff that pisses me off. These kids were just minding their own damn business and some stupid person has to go and screw things up.

the Washington Post article

School Sucks

I finally got the booklists for my fall classes and started looking them up online. If I buy them all new from the school bookstore, it will cost me a whopping $838.75. They also list used prices for the bookstore, which would lower the cost considerably to only $629.50. The question is whether they will acutally have any used copies. Not likely. I also looked on Amazon and B&N. From Amazon the price would be $804.05 and from B&N the price would be $768.43. None of these prices include tax.

Also, for our Health Assessment class, we are expected to buy/borrow loads of equipment. I already have some of the stuff, but it is mostly the inexpensive stuff. In the letter accompanying the list of items, our program director said, "Please note that most students spend $600 to $1,000 for the equipment purchase." Plus, I also just wrote the university a check for tuition and fees totaling $2,418.00

These people must think that I have a money tree growing in my backyard. What they don't know, is that I live in an apartment. I don't have a freaking backyard!!

Boys Don't Cry

Last night I helped with the delivery of a young couple. They were probably about 23 years old and unmarried. The FOB (father of the baby) was a marine, big and kind of tough looking. He was so supportive of his girlfriend while she was pushing. It was really very sweet. When the baby was born, mom got to hold him for a while and them I took him to do his measurements and assessment. After I was done I wrapped him up in some blankets and handed him to dad. The guy started to cry. It was pretty moving to see this big tough marine in tears. It must be an overwhelming and at the same time wonderful moment when you get to hold YOUR child for the first time. Never having experienced it for myself, I can only imagine.

Dagens Namn -- 22 Augusti 2005

Today is your name day if your name is: Henrietta or Henrika.

My farmor's (dad's mom) name was Inez Henrietta. Her parents were Norwegian, so I always wondered where that name came from. Apparently, however, Henrietta is on the name day calendar, so it must be at least remotely popular in Scandinavia.

Lean Machine

Over the past year I have lost about 50 pounds. Since this weight loss, my friend and coworker Molly has been calling me Lean Machine. Apparently Molly got her hands on the label maker the other day. Now my mailbox at work not only has a label with my name, but also a label that says Lean Machine. She cracks me up sometimes. Below is a picture from a work happy hour a while back. Molly is the one up in the corner in the brown t-shirt with the curly blond hair.

Dagens Namn -- 21 Augusti 2005

Today is your name day if your name is: Jon or Jonna

Dagens Namn -- 20 Augusti 2005

Today is your name day if your name is: Bernhard or Bernt.

Dagens Namn -- 19 Augusti 2005

Today is your name day if your name is: Måns or Magnus.

Don't mess with the old Lithuanian lady

This article cracked me up. Sounds like this 93-year-old lady really put some stupid punks in their place.

Pain in the neck

I must have slept in a funny position last night. My neck and shoulders were all stiff and sore today. I was taking Motrin around the clock at work. I’m going to take a hot shower soon and then maybe I'll take some Diclofenac (supposedly stronger than Motrin). It would be so great if I had a hot tub or jacuzzi, even a soaking tub would work. I should really be lying on the couch or in bed with a heating pad, but I can’t. Why you ask? Well I lent my heating pad to a friend a couple weeks ago after he hurt his back. It was pretty sad really. When I brought it over, he was hobbling around like an old man. All he wanted to do was lie on the couch and watch movies. Then he went off to Alaska to commune with nature and didn’t get my heating pad back to me before he left, even though he promised he would. He is supposed to be coming home next week, so I refuse to buy another one now. I don’t work tomorrow, so maybe I’ll go to CVS and get some of those Thermacare heat wraps.

Dagens Namn -- 18 Augusti 2005

Today is your name day if your name is: Ellen or Lena.

P.S. I know that I already celebrated my name day back on July 20th when it was Margareta (my middle name). Today, however, would be my real name day if my family did things the normal way.

Dagens Namn -- 17 Augusti 2005

Today is your name day if your name is: Valter or Verner.

Workplace Woes

The anesthesia resident on today was really bothering me. Mostly it was small things, but there was one incident that pissed me off. We were getting ready for a c-section and usually the father sits up at the head of the bed behind the drape by his wife's head during the surgery. The anesthesia resident claimed that the chair we normally use for this purpose was too big and in his way. He "asked" whether the dad could sit on a stool instead. I said that that probably wasn't a good idea. If the dad decided to faint during surgery there would be nothing to catch him from falling back and hitting his head. The resident said he would catch the father if he fainted. Not likely since he is supposed to be focusing on monitoring the mom's vital signs and epidural medications. I would probably be the one to attend to him, along with having to circulate and take care of the baby.

I suggested that perhaps the chair could go on the other side of the bed where it definitely wouldn't be in his way. He still opted for the stool despite my recommendation. Apparently he also said to the other nurse in the room when I left to get something, "I don't know about that nurse." The other nurse of course defended me. I have been working there for over four years. He's been there for less than a month. Before that he was in the main OR where families don't attend surgeries. None of the other anesthiologists have ever complained about the chair being a problem. In fact, one anesthesiologist actually "reprimanded" me for suggesting the stool a few years back. Apparently this resident hasn't heard of the lawsuit filed by a California woman who's husband died after fainting and hitting his head while watching her get an epidural. Also, there is no specific type of person that is going to pass out. Just because this guy looks tough doesn't mean that he won't pass out. The first husband I ever had pass out on me was a 6'4" beefy military policeman in fatigues. Just because this guy has MD after his name and I have RN after mine, doesn't mean that he knows more about everything.

Also, on another depressing note...our assistant manager has resigned. We all think she is fantastic and are upset that she is leaving. She hasn't expanded on why she is leaving other than to say it is for personal reasons. I'm not sure how the place will run without her. Hopefully they will be able to get a replacement soon, who is at least half as good as she is.

Dagens Namn -- 16 Augusti 2005

Today is your name day if your name is Brynolf.

The Richfield Meulis

Please see the new link to my cousin Megan's blog. Mostly her blog is about her daughter Maddy, which is totally fine by me because her daughter is super cute! Check out the videos of her in the Monday, August 8th, post. Adorable!!!

Dagens Namn -- 15 Augusti 2005

Today is your name day if your name is: Estelle or Stella.

Mr. Afghanistan

They held a Mr. Afghanistan contest in Kabul this weekend. Please check out this article about the winner, including pictures. Apparently this was actually a body building contest, as opposed to the typical Miss USA pageant. I'm all for a guy with muscles, especially some nice arms and shoulders, but this guy just totally creeps me out.

Clean Sweep Part #1

According to my sister, my apartment needs a major overhaul. I apparently have too much crap. So, this morning after a yummy pancake breakfast courtesy of my father, my sister and I attacked my apartment. We only got two areas done today, the bedroom and the bathroom/linen closet. We plan, however, to continue with the living room, dining room and kitchen, on Wednesday. The cleaning today resulted in: 8 bags of trash, 11 bags of stuff for Goodwill, 1 bag of clothes to be consigned, and many empty "storage" containers (which I don't need anymore since I threw out so much stuff). Please see the pictures below to give you an idea of the enormity of this result. My dad also reminded me that I should get a receipt from Goodwill for tax purposes. At first I didn't see the point, but then if you think 11 bags of clothes at $1 per clothing item. That's a nice claim for donation to charity on my tax forms next year.

Dagens Namn -- 14 Augusti 2005

Today is your name day if your name is Uno.

Dagens Namn -- 13 Augusti 2005

Today is your name day if your name is Kaj.

Confessions of a dumb, white guy

Please check out the blog of my fellow Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers fan, Matt Shifley. He was kind enough to put a link to my blog on his page. I thought I would return the favor. Link is on the sidebar.

Bilingual

I really enjoy being bilingual (English and Swedish). I was lucky enough to have been taught another language from a very young age. Many native Swedish speakers tell me they hear no accent at all when I speak Swedish. Unlike my poor father (God love him), who started learning Swedish in his 30s. His grammar and vocabulary are excellent, but his accent is horrible. My sister and I make fun of him all the time. But he knows we are just kidding and that we love him all the same. Being bilingual makes it easy to talk about people and not have them realize it. My sister and I did this the other weekend at brunch. We were able to talk about the unfortunate/interesting attire of the person sitting at the next table without them being any the wiser. It also comes in handy when you are annoyed/angry/upset and want to say something other people won’t understand. For example, “Jag tycker inte om det när folk ljuger. Men jag vet att jag är inte den enda som man har ljugit för.” Spend the next twelve days trying to figure that one out.

Dagens Namn -- 12 Augusti 2005

Today is your name day if your name is Klara.

British Bigamist

So apparently some guy in England was married to three women at the same time. They didn't figure it out until he had triple bypass surgery and they all showed up at the same time to see him at the hospital. Men are so stupid sometimes.

The Yahoo News story

Dagens Namn -- 11 Augusti 2005

Today is your name day if your name is Susanna.

Dagens Namn -- 10 Augusti 2005

Today is your name day if your name is Lars.

Dagens Namn -- 9 Augusti 2005

Today is your name day if your name is Roland.

My morfar (Swedish for mother's father) was named Roland. The name is German or French and means renowned throughout the land. Apparently Roland was a great legendary knight who served the medieval king Charlemagne.

This is a picture of Morfar and my sister Anna. Clearly this picture is kind of old since Anna is now 21 years old. I have some more recent pictures, but this picture really shows how I remember him.

Restaurant Week #2, #3, and #4

#2 -- Thursday, Dinner at Colvin Run Tavern: Fantastic!! The food was great. My appetizer was chicken with “ragout” over puff pastry. My entrée was breaded pan fried flounder with country ham and artichokes and some nameless but yummy sauce. My dessert was a white peach crisp with caramel ice cream. I had also an excellent glass of Riesling to drink. Definitely worth the $40 (meal was $30, wine was $10).

#3 -- Sunday, Brunch at Bistro Bis: Outstanding!! Had a mango mimosa to start. Appetizer was smoked salmon with celeri remoulade, mâche, toast points and fresh dill. Entrée was a Quiche Lorraine with salad panachée. Dessert was an obscenely good classic chocolate tart with dark chocolate raspberry ganache and raspberry coulis. Also definitely worth the money. Turned out well that we had to walk to and from the metro, because we were so full afterwards.

#4 -- Sunday, Dinner at Café Promenade: Clearly bases its regular prices on the fact that it is located in the Mayflower Hotel. Prices are definitely not reflective of quality. Had the crabcake appetizer, the salmon entrée and the opera cake dessert. The crabcake and the salmon definitely could have had more flavor and a more exciting presentation. The opera cake was probably the best part. Also the guy playing guitar up in the balcony was a nice touch. Probably wouldn’t go there again.

Dagens Namn --- 8 Augusti 2005

Today is your name day if your name is: Silvia or Sylvia.



Sweden's Queen is named Sylvia and therefore today is one of those days on the Swedish calendar that gets a little flag. It's not like everyone gets to stay home from work/school or anything. Just a day for an extra little celebration.

Dagens Namn -- 7 Augusti 2005

Today is your name day if your name is: Denise or Dennis.

Dagens Namn -- 6 Augusti 2005

Today is your name day if your name is: Inez or Alfons.

Surströmming

As I mentioned before, my mom is Swedish. The Swedes have a lot of great food.

• Köttbullar (meatballs)
• Janssons Frestelse (Jansson’s Temptation)
• Råraka (Potato pancakes)
• Gravlax (raw salmon, cured in a salt-sugar-dill mixture)
• Pytt i Panna (pan-fried finely-chopped potatoes, onions, and meat, served with fried eggs and beets)
• Pölsa (kind of like hash)
• Kroppkakor (cooked potato-dumplings, filled with pork)
• Falukorv (Swedish Bologna)
• Plättar (Swedish pancakes, kind of like crepes)
• Kanelbullar (cinnamon buns)
• Pepparkakor (gingersnaps)
• Lussekatter (saffron buns)
• Risgrynsgröt (creamy rice pudding)
• Nyponsoppa (rosehip soup)

On August 18th, however, the Swedes will have the yearly premier of one of their more revolting foods, surströmming (fermented herring). My mom and a good number of our Swedish friends and relatives love it. I have actually tried it once, but really didn’t like it. Ever since then my sister and I have had korv (sausage) instead.

Celebrity Baby Names

So, apparently singer Michelle Branch gave birth to her first child, Owen, the other day. By the way, Owen is a GIRL. Why is it that celebrities give their children such stupid names? This is something they will have to live with for the rest of their lives, or at least until they are old enough to change it. Owen wouldn’t really be that bad if the poor baby had been a boy. Other celebrities have even more interesting baby naming ideas.

Gwyneth Paltrow’s daughter, Apple

Courtney Cox and David Arquette’s daughter, Coco

Demi Moore and Bruce Willis’ daughters, Rumer Glenn, Scout LaRue, and Tallulah Belle

Sylvester Stallone’s son, Sage Moon Blood

Shannyn Sosamon’s son, Audio Science

Rachel Griffiths’ son, Banjo

Toni Braxton’s sons, Denim and Diezel

Erykah Badu’s son, Seven, and daughter, Puma

Forrest Whitaker’s daughters, Sonnet and True, and son, Ocean

And then of course there’s George Foreman who just named all of his children George. I’m not saying you have to name your kids John and Mary or something plain like that, but at least try to give them a name that won’t embarrass them throughout school. Kids can be mean!

Dagens Namn -- 5 Augusti 2005

Today is your name day if your name is: Ulrik or Alrik.

Kidnapped Nun

Sometimes I wonder what the hell is going on inside people’s heads. Apparently some idiots in Southeast decided to kidnap a nun and drive around with her for 4 ½ hours. What could they possibly hope to gain?

the Washington Post story

Dagens Namn -- 4 Augusti 2005

Today is your name if your name is: Arne or Arnold.

Dagens Namn -- 3 Augusti 2005

Today is your name day if your name is Tage.

Restaurant Week #1

I went to lunch at TenPenh for Restaurant Week yesterday. I had been there last year for dinner during Restaurant Week, but went there again because my friend wanted to try it. I didn’t object because I had been so impressed the last time. I have to say that unfortunately I was pretty underwhelmed this time. None of the food was bad, but none of it was great either. For the appetizer course I had the lobster bisque. I found it to be not nearly as creamy as I would have preferred and it just tasted a little too much like beef broth. For the entrée course I had the grilled salmon with Wasabi mashed potatoes, Szechuan green beans, and Hoisin butter. The salmon was nicely cooked, but there was some sort of sauce on top of it in addition to the hoisin butter and after a few bites it just got too rich. As far as the mashed potatoes, I don’t mind spicy, but I think the wasabi was too much and actually took away from the taste of the potatoes. And believe you me I LOVE mashed potatoes, so it takes a lot for me to say I didn’t really enjoy them. For the dessert course I had the ginger cake with strawberry sherbet. This was probably the best part of the meal, but there wasn’t nearly enough of it. I also have to say that the service left me annoyed. While our server was polite, service was incredibly slow. It took us at least 20 minutes to get our soup after we ordered. And if not equally as long to get our entrées after we had finished with the soup. Maybe I just picked the wrong menu items. Maybe our waiter was having an off shift. I’d like to give TenPenh another try sometime, but I don’t think it will be soon.

Dagens Namn -- 2 Augusti 2005

Today is your name day if your name is: Karin or Kajsa.

My sister's middle name is Karin, so in our family that means that today is her name day. Please send some happy name day wishes her way!

Movie Night

I watched two great movies last night. I would recommend both if you haven't already seen them.

1) Maria Full of Grace (2004) -- The story of a 17-year-old Columbian girl, Maria, who tries to escape from the drudgery and hopelessness of her mundane existence by becoming a drug mule. The story is compelling and the acting is fantastic. Catalina Sandino Moreno's portrayal of main character Maria is particularly believable and her performance promises great talent. Moreno’s performance received 12 nominations (7 wins) at various film awards/festivals, including the Academy Awards. I very much look forward to seeing her in other movies in the future.

2) Secretary (2002) -- The story of a young woman (Maggie Gyllenhaal), recently released from a mental hospital, who gets a job as a secretary to a demanding lawyer (James Spader), with whom her employee-employer relationship turns into a sexual, sadomasochistic one. The movie is full of creepy, quirky moments and portrays a great bizarre love story. Spader and Gyllenhaal make an electric pair and it is easy to see why Gyllenhaal’s performance won nine awards and was nominated for an additional six.

Dagens Namn -- 1 Augusti 2005

Today is your name day if your name is Per.