Work nightmares

Been on the job for 8 full days.  Already having nightmares.  On day 3 my office got a call that there were 3 big dogs in the residential unit and dog hair in the dining hall.  I got to meet the director of the unit and she and I went to see the employees filing the complaints.  We explained that they were service dogs, they adhered to our policy, they had their papers/vaccinations in order, they were allowed to be anywhere the client was (except food-preparation areas) and, even though there were three dogs this week and they were big dogs, they were totally allowed.  That night I had bizarre dreams, including, at one point, a service puppy coming into the building and my biggest fear was that it was going to wake up the service fox who was already sleeping comfortably, sprawled out on the living room floor.

I think some other people might have nightmares about my work.  On day 2, I drove up to the former officers' quarters which is my office building. It's an 1888 building which has been nicely renovated.  I have a designated parking spot which is clearly labeled 'reserved for COS. ' On this day, a car was already in my spot.  I drove a little further and parked in the visitor spot.  The other employee who's spot was usurped, called the station police.  The police came over to look up who was in our reserved spot. As a bonus to writing them a ticket, it turned out there were warrants for their arrest, so parking-stealers got a free trip to jail. Moral of the story:  don't park in my spot!

On two consecutive days, I had two trips to distant clinics, 1.5 and 2 hours away. As Judd will tell you, if I'm not in control of the car, I'm a mess ( i.e. criticizing the speed; I'm a stickler for staying in your lane and if you color outside those lines, you're going too fast, etc.)  I was at the mercy of other drivers in government cars and had white knuckles long beyond the duration of those two trips. Now my sleep is disturbed by pre-worrying about the 5 hour drive one way to Seattle next week for a work conference. I haven't had the "mandatory computer training" on government driving, so I'm not supposed to offer to drive yet.  I think I'll offer to fly.

Welcome to Walla Walla!

We've lived here in Walla Walla for 5 days now.  We continue to be amazed at the different topography.  When we drove up 8 hours from Jacksonville, we came via Bend, OR with Mt. Hood, a still-covered in white snow mountain on July 1 at 11,250 feet, looming in the distance.   And THEN we'd round a crook in the road and we'd see a second behemoth in the distance:  Mt. Rainier at 14,411 feet-- two mountains in one frame. But then we'd dip down into a valley of waves of amber grain, the driest, yellow looking fields for as far as you could see, punctuated by windmills.

Mt. Hood and Mt. Rainier noted for you below

We left Walla Walla for a week to visit family and friends in Maine, driving 4 hours to Portland, OR so we could fly to Portland, ME and rent a car. (See those two mountains again?)

<-----Malindi, being abducted by an alien invasion on Pleasant Pond in Caratunk.






















  (below)
My Maine men "enjoying" ice cream at Back's.

Now we live out of a Hampton Inn "suite" and a post office box in Walla Walla. Suite is such a strong word.  It is a bigger than average hotel room with a couch and extended desk where we can fit two computer stations. The mini-fridge barely holds yesterday's leftovers for tomorrow's lunch. We can microwave tiny foods but cannot really cook for ourselves so we eat out every evening.  (sigh!) This helps us familiarize ourselves with the local eateries. Soi 71 had excellent Thai food and last night we had amazing Mediterranean food at Saffron.

And Saturday, How about a yeti dog at Caledonian games? The entire town of Athena (20min south in Oregon) seems to be Scot-o-philes. The school mascots are the Tigerscots. At the Scottish heritage festival, the vendors were many but the food trucks were meager. We postponed the haggis meat pies and went straight for the Yeti Dogs. Being out of baked potatoes, the veggie sandwich hurt my eyes (looking for the veggies.) We were regaled by bag pipers across the city park and we watched little lassies and lads dancing away jigs despite the intense heat--the miles of desolate-looking wheat fields in the background. Intrigued, we went to see what Skweez the Weezle was, imaging some bizarre children's contest.  It was a Celtic band which played quite toe-tapping songs including a cleaned up version of 'What do you do with a drunken sailor' (or is it always clean and only Judd's version is the dirty version?) The local antique car club had their treasures on display and as we walked the loop to look, a guy asked if we wanted to vote on our favorite.  I chose the 1950's turquoise Chevrolet; Judd preferred the El Camino.  The games made the front page news today, but we don't know who's car was selected as victorious for the $300 prize. We spent less time watch men in kilts throwing logs or women in kilts chucking boulders 30 feet over their heads.  It looked like an accident or heat stroke waiting to happen and I wanted to remain an off-duty doctor.

  Several vineyards dotted the scenery on our way back to Washington and we chose Basel Estate to visit. It was also billed as a resort with a massive outdoor venue, and at that moment, was being fitted out for a wedding. We stayed for one expensive tasting and some wine facts. So much more exploring and fact-checking to do!

Destinations are great!

Destinations are great! but sometimes the trip to get there, isn't.

Just returned from a whirlwind week in Maine. It was super fun to see all the favorite kids and neighbors and supper clubs. We got out on our boat on 3-Mile Pond.  We got to cook and eat food with family. We got to not-fish at Pleasant Pond.  We got lobster. We experienced record heat and humidity. And it went, sadly, so fast, that we were suddenly, back in rental cars and airports and headed west. 

Some travel observations:
Newark , NJ, the first of our three flights of the day, is a place where we welcome All to America-- It was the least friendly airport ever-- just to get to the terminal, required a bus ride under the bowels of lost luggage hell-- it was a maze of conveyor belts and what looked like abandoned golf carts. 

QUESTION: those circular plastic "seat covers" that automatically circle your toilet bowel at the wave of a hand: - are they sterile?  are they endlessly fresh or does the same cover just go 'round and 'round in an unsanitary illusion of  a circle?  Are they recycle-able?

Auto flush: don't you hate that BEFORE you get your pants up, the auto-flush sends a turbo charge of bidet quality sprays all over your back side?  And, knowing this for the last 10 years, why doesn't the new iteration remedy the problem?

BONUS PROBLEM: no TP in stall #1, discovered AFTER you're "in progress"! 

Judd is stunned: a line, WHA?  at the Men's room!!

TURNS OUT: Urinals, are not one -size fits all!  Who knew?

We were delayed on our third flight, San Fran to Portland, OR.  When we got in at midnight, our brains thought it was 3am Maine time. It was a l o n g  d a y.....

Drove to WW today.  Work tomorrow.