Slowly coming back to life.

photo from freephotos.com
I have had an extended vacation it seems from blogging. I've barely been lurking. I do actually feel sort of rested and ready to work my way back into posting. A few things have happened since my last entry.
I did, in fact, take my first assist certification test. I took it over three weeks ago and I still don't have my test score back. I have been told that they had the preliminary results and "I should be
pleased.." I am assuming that it means that at least I passed. I was
told that I would have my certification card in the mail by the end of last week, but that hasn't happened yet either. So here I sit, still waiting.
I bought a BlackBerry. My Razor was dying a prolonged, painful death as the result of one too many falls to the O.R. floor. It was fond of blacking out for no apparent reason and periodically begging me to check it's SIM card. I think it was trying to tell me that it's heart was giving out. I took the hint. I don't have a clue regarding the full extent of BlackBerry capabilities yet, but what I have discovered so far, I like.
I have assisted on 46 cases since my last blog entry.
I missed the last two SurgeXperiences, edition 209 and 210. I was supposed to host 211 but many, many thanks to "M" for stepping up. I was starting to panic because it is due to be published on November 23 and I will be spending November 22 in house and on call for trauma. (Have I mentioned how deadlines make me anxious?) It could always be a mellow night of call but it is Saturday night and the weather has been super mild for this time of year. In fact, I am on call for trauma 6 nights this week. The seventh night is ortho call. I don't know how students and residents can keep up so well with blogging and their careers/studies. I think I am horrible at time management. I know I am great at procrastination. I think that is why I like surgery so much, as an assist, I don't have to plan it, it plans itself and I just show up. I don't decide what time to allot to it and there are no excuses to put it off, they call, I go. Muddling through my billing paperwork is another story.
I have become a 1099 employee (a bit like contract labor) for a large local orthopaedic group. I actually started about two months ago. Sounds like a big deal but I only really work with three of the orthopods there. They were surgeons I already worked with and now it is just a different pay and billing arrangement.
I did a quick peek at what search phrases brought visitors to my blog, and I have discovered that there are some men out there worried about their hand size. "depressed size of hands", "what is a small hand for a man" and "man with small hands" all showed up as keyword searches leading to my post. I hope the size of my hands hasn't pushed anyone over the edge.