Forgotten Focus and Mean Girl Scales

I arrived early for my Infectious Disease appointment. 😲 And the world did not end. 😉

After obtaining my visitor pass at the front door, I trotted over to the Gift Shop for a little Retail Therapy.

In the long hallway I saw a couple of masked ladies walking toward me and I smiled and said,"hello, how are you?" Typical greeting for me. Especially in the hospital setting [doesn't matter that it wasn't "my" (work) hospital].

After they passed one said, "Wait! Didn't you work at the VA?"

"Why yes! Actually, I still do. I'm just on sick leave."

She pulls down her mask, "Me too!" It was the Cashier who always "made" people "smile on Fridays."

I told her,"It's not Friday, but here's a smile AND a hug!" We exchanged prognosis stories (we are both waiting for final recs--her: possibly a 4th surgery; and me: final/FINAL med recs (I seem to be stumping my ID team, and not receiving two full doses of my IVPush med last week due to syringe barrel leakage threw yet ANOTHER kink in the playbook--I think the delivery service tossed them too hard against the concrete--or the syringe manufacturer had a couple faulty syringes). Anyway, hopefully in a couple weeks we will both be back at the VA. 🤷‍♀️🤷🏽‍♀️

As I turned the corner to the hallway with the Gift Shop I saw two of my former Residents. 👨🏻‍⚕️👨🏻‍⚕️ I told one of them I saw his name pop up on one of my tests when I was admitted a few weeks back. I love it when I see my favorite Residents in their "Real" jobs years after they've trained at VA. 💜💜

In the Gift Shop I usually find some cute little gift idea. That was not the case today....

I found TWO things for ME!!! Because my friends and family aren't the only ones who have spoiled me during this event 😉

I've tried a couple of these aroma therapy nasal inhalers for calming and sleeping and have liked them. Today I found a "focus"--which I'll have to go back and get because I forgot to pick it up when I saw the one that got me all excited--it was a "Tummy Rescue" (ginger and lemon)! At this point I will try anything that might help. (Maybe it's just wishful thinking, but it does seem to be taking the edge off.)

And THEN I saw a display of all kinds of granny squares! Granny Squares are trending in everything right now and I love them! (I also thought of you Odette Bradshaw-Sheeley. 😉💜 If you jump on it now, you might be able to parlay your new obsession into a lucrative side hustle.) 🧶💜💵💰

When I finally made it to my appointment, I was STILL 20 minutes early (even for check-in). They had a cancellation and took me back right away. And to make the day even better--I think I like ID scales better than my home scales--according to their scale I have lost (and kept off) a couple pounds. ⚖️

My home scales on the other hand should prepare to die--with the two days of incomplete meds last week I felt the best I've felt in weeks--so well in fact I was able to eat regular food--the downside of course was the "refinding" of 6 lost pounds...but the ID scales told a slightly different tale:

Even fully clothed, and wearing my cross-body wallet/iPhone, I'm still down three pounds. 😃👍🏻

Thinking my home scale would confirm this, upon arrival home, I slipped into a nightie and removed everything else (even my earrings and watch--because they weigh so much!), and gingerly stepped upon the hated home scale....

It's a Mean Girl Scale!

It says I'm UP 3 pounds AND my tummy is gurgling gain. (AND it was not lost on me that I forgot the Focus aroma therapy inhaler.)

The home scale really has to die.

TV-Induced Paranoia and Jury Duty Deferral.

I finally reached a real live person in the Jury Services Department at the Bell County Justice Complex. 🙃

Per "Linda" I have received my first deferral (until Oct 06, 2025). Should I require another deferral, I will need an MD note.

I told her I was sad I had to request this deferral--I'm one of "those people" who consider it an honor, privilege, and grave responsibility to serve on Jury Duty.

Have you received your Jury Summons yet?

By my totally unofficial observations it appears they really are ramping up their rolls:

1) Two of our Collage foursome have received a Summons. (50%)

2) my Home Infusion RN today said she received hers (her trainee had not--50-66% dependent upon if your count the trainee or not).

3) another RN in my VA workgroup of 6 received hers--both of us were to report July 28th [that's 1/3 (33%) of our workgroup told to report on the same day].

4) several casual acquaintances have mentioned they also received their summons.

And it's not just here in Texas--HS friends in Florida report they too have received summons.

AND, the former occupant of my current domicile received something from another Texas Courthouse in my mailbox today.

Are the courts anticipating more cases?

Is this an unofficial way to gauge our off-year census?

Or is it something more sinister...

Most likely it's the fact my remote control is MIA and the TV in the bedroom is stuck on my 6 am On/ 2 am Off schedule--and for some reason the True Crime channel is what was playing when I lost the remote...

(Amazon has delivered two universal remotes--neither of which work, even though it's the same replacement I bought the LAST time I was in need. And yes, I've switched batteries, AND purchased new batteries jic the opened package housed old batteries).

I have managed to manually change the channel--to ME TV which shows all the detective, law enforcement, and first responder shows I grew up watching. Not exactly True Crime--more like "Cozy" Crime (e.g. lightweight, no on-scene blood or gore, resolution by the end of the third act)--like a cozy novel for TV.

Deferred Jury Duty is probably a good idea at this time--my head is too much into true crime and conspiracy theories right now. 😉

TV-induced paranoia might be another reason for a Jury Duty deferral. 😂

'Twas the Monday-est Friday on a Wednesday Before a Holiday.

Let me preface this by saying, back in the day when I primarily covered 2K, it was nothing to have all 33 beds full at the beginning of the shift, discharge 9-13 Veterans, and admit another 5-6 that same shift.  "My" Ward hopped. 

Now that we are Provider-based, I have fewer Veterans and they are located all over the hospital. 

This week I have a Provider and a Teaching Team under another Provider.  Between the two provider lists, my case-load was only 24. Very do-able. 

By our 10:30am Inter-Disciplinary Team (IDT) Meeting they had written discharge (DC) orders for 8 of their planned 10 DCs--some of whom were changed from Thursday DCs because Juneteenth is now a Federal Holiday (it used to just be a Texas holiday until a couple years ago).  

So I was cooking' with gas. This Girl was on Fi-yah! 🔥

Literally. 

I'm always hot natured, so during the summer you will almost always catch me in a tank top. At work I just throw a lightweight sweater or kimono over it. 

Every time I came back to the workspace I was stripping off clothes trying to cool off. 🤭

First Seven DCs went off without a hitch. Number 8 had orders but waiting on the Fam to transport him home. Number 9s plan must have changed as there were still no orders when I left. Number 10: I put a hold on--it went from  Long term rehab or placement (the plan since admission), to  maybe short term rehab vs home with home heath (at 11am), to the latest plan:  home with home heath for skilled care (wound care), and non-skilled care (home health aide to assist the very frazzled Wife with providing all his dressing/bathing etc activities of daily living (ADLs); with  a vender set up and delivery hospital bed, and a few other items. 

And if that little surprise was not jolting enough, when I updated the DC Tracker spreadsheets I found a walkie-talkie (#11) they DCd home without telling me. Luckily he had no identified needs when I interviews him. 

And THEN things got kinda weird. 🤪

A staff member dropped by after work...and sang to me. 🎼

A random guy in the elevator did a full court press flirt...I mean overtly flirtatious. 😉

And one of the residents came by to introduce himself--mind you, we teams message and talk on the phone--and when he shook my hand it was a lingering two-handed 🫱🏻🫱🏻🫲🏻handshake--so much longer than the 2-3 seconds ⏱️ I feel is appropriate for the workplace, I was wondering if he was:  

1) instilling honesty and openness; 

2) conveying comfort;

3) attempting a show of power and domination; or

4)heaven forbid....flirting (I'm old enough to be his "GrammaLou").  

What ever his intention was flopped--what it elicited from me was a deep sense of discomfort. LOL.  

Especially when he said, "Call me (first name)"...which is the custom.

To which I said the same thing I've been telling ALL my docs the last 14+ years, "No. I won't be doing that. It's NOT that I'm your hand maiden--because I'm NOT--calling you by your title and last name is my sign of respect for what you have accomplished."  

The docs really don't want me calling them by their first names, as I only do that when I have lost ALL respect for them--or am livid-- and they are my target. Besides, pretty much everyone knows I will never be a handmaiden. I'm too ornery and opinionated. 

So as I reviewed my day in the Buc-ee's parking lot (the SUV needed a Buc-ee Bath), I pondered "what is so different today?"  

We've already had a full moon, and Friday 13th. 

And the past few months all manner of folk have been reaffirming me as having impacted their lives over my almost 28-year VA career.

If I believed--or remembered half the events they have attributed to me, I've been pretty awesome--even to the point of match-making!!! I honestly don't remember some of them. And ones I remember tell me events I don't recall. And I don't think I've EVER been a match maker!!

Anyway, I keep thinking they must know I'm dying or getting a pink slip and are telling me their goodbyes now before it's too late. LOL. 

And then it hit me. The reason for this Monday-est Friday on a Wednesday before a Holiday....

I bought a calming diffuser that's supposedly species-specific. 

Therefore...

I'm a cat.   >^•^< 

🙀

Chat and Me

 My initial foray into ChatGPT has resulted in mixed success. (Please note: I'm attempting to spin it positive.) 

We all know, I'm resistant to technology anyway, so the failure came as no shock to me. But I refuse to say "ITYS." Although I'm really tempted.

In my defense, I did attempt to use ChatGPT. And I've read a couple AI summaries. That, in and of itself, is a HUGE step. 

I can even see some value in AI for summarizing LLMs (Large Language Models) by noting patterns--although this time it failed miserably with nuance.

However, while the place it took me was not expected, the failure did not surprise me. Let's revisit my foray...

Chat: What would you like to know? 

Me: Show me easy fused glass projects. (Show. Not tell me about, or explain.)

Chat: [describes 4 techniques. No photos (which is what I was looking for). I've completed several fairly intricate beginner projects. I understand the basic process so I almost skipped this. However, I skimmed through and found #3 (Sgraffito) to be interesting: by the AI description it sounded like the grade school art project where you paint or magic marker colors on the page, cover your dried page with heavy black crayon, then scrape off line drawings to reveal colorful drawings etched into the black background. I wanted to see an example to make sure that was what chat meant.]

So, when chat asked...

Chat: Do you want to see a demonstration or example? 

Me: Yes, please. (Assuming he knew what he was asking me about.)

Chat: please clarify what you mean. 

Me: Show me examples of Sgraffito. (I wasn't this direct the first time because this is "chat"--when chatting with a real person, IRL, the person would understand I was referring to the last subject discussed--in this case, glass fused Sgraffito. AI did not react like a real person would. In my defense, I at least didn't say "show me #3." Honestly I didn't want to say "sgraffito" because I hoped to avoid trying to spell sgraffito.) 

Chat: A solo trip to Japan...

Me: *exasperated sigh*. That's not what I asked. 

Chat: Please clarify. 

Me: Please show me examples of sgraffito. (I should have specified fused glass sgraffito, but by now I wanted ChatGPT to fail. Just so I could say it failed. 🤭)

Chat: [proceeds to give degrees at which pottery is "baked." LOL. You and I know pottery is "fired." Evidently AI is not as smart are we are. 😉]

Me: No. Show me images of sgraffito (now I'm not about to specify "fused glass sgraffito" because I'm spiteful). 

He showed me pottery examples of sgraffito that honestly looked as if the designs could have simply been painted on the pottery. I was under impressed with his choices.

Conclusion: 

Just like. Yogi Bear is "smarter than the average bear," my fallible human friends and I appear to be much smarter than the average AI, at least on ChapGPT. At least my friends understand, and keep up with, my conversational thinking much better than ChatGPT

And I even showed ChatGPT more mercy than I show most humans--I didn't "squirrel" mid-thought and expect him to keep up. In other words I stayed on track ,

LOL. If I had done that, I might have broken him! 

Hummm. Breaking Chat might not be such a bad idea...