Well, I helped at least. :)

A pregnant momma dog was thrown out of a moving car in OH a while ago (aren't people just AWESOME?) and then went into labor and had 6 puppies. Animal control picked them up, but there was no room at the inn, and they probably would have been put to sleep, but a shelter in Mass agreed to take them. The only problem was how to get them from OH to MA.

So a bunch of people agreed to do different legs. I picked them up in Erie this AM, and brought them back to Buffalo, where someone was going to take them on to rochester...

And i have to say.... there is not much cuter than 10 day old puppies that don't even have their eyes open.

It was totally therapeutic. Impossible to be in a shitty mood after that. :) I of course HAD to play with them and they made little squeaky noises and nuzzled me and even sucked on my finger. OMG i wanted to steal them all. Not to mention mom was a super sweetheart....

What a win-win situation. I help them, they help me....
sigh... yay....

and (don't shoot me for saying this)- hockey season is over! yay!!!!!
yeah yeah yeah, it would have been "the best thing to ever happen to buffalo" [as a friend of mine said] if they won the cup, and yeah i'm sure it would have been cool. But for now, I'm just happy that everyone can shave off those ugly playoff beards!

:(

Ok peeps. It's crunch time.

Tomorrow is Match Day, when I will find out if I was accepted to a plastic surgery fellowship (to follow my general surgery.)

Unfortunately, the chance I will make the cut is about one in a zillion. But, since it's not zero, it's enough to send my stomach in flips.

All the other matches are very well run, and they tell you exactly how it will work. E.g. 'we will send an email to all applicants at exactly 1200PST on X date'. So everyone sits in front of their computer, holding their breath, clicking "check mail" over and over, and then either rejoices, or cries. (And probably then drinks excessive quantities, either way.)

The plastic match however is a little more disorganized, and this is all I know:

Wed., May 16, 2007
Match Results    
Programs and Dean's Offices are emailed match results. Match applicants are generally contacted the same day.

Thurs., May 17, 2007    
All applicants who do not yet know their result may call our office to receive it directly. Dial xxx and press '0' at the opening menu to speak with a Match Representative (between 8am - 4pm PST).
Results are also mailed to all applicants and programs.

So basically, you may or may not hear, at any point during the day.
Fantastic...

Anyway, say a little prayer for me tonight... this is a big deal.

:)

J

p.s. Dad is getting out of the hospital today; thanks for all the well-wishes. (and no, he has no intention to stop riding. In fact now he "has to" go back and "beat" that turn, since it "beat" him last time.) (Though I did talk to a friend that was up there with them, and said dad was whooping all their little punk asses, and that he is a very good, very safe rider. Not sure that makes it any better, but it's nice to hear.)

So I'm at work and should be working... but I'll get to that in a minute.

coupla quick things-

First- I just found out that my landlords bought a new house and are moving to williamsville. That means they are selling the house I live in. The question is, will the new owners kick me out.

This all just went down like 2 days ago, and the house isn't officially on the market, so I figured I'd post a heads up.
It's a double in the forest/elmwood neighborhood. Has a garage. Lots of windows and great light. W/D in the basement. Some nice woodwork inside... Anyone looking?

So now I don't know what to do... stick with the inertia and stay put since I like my place well enough and don't want to move? (but realize the fact that new owners won't be obligated to let me stay)

see this as my opportunity to move?

Just buy the house myself?

Hmm. I really hate moving.

Next topic...

So last night was a friend's birthday party. He was turning 30, and he rented out a room upstairs at Pearl Street. It was nice b/c it was not too crowded and there was open bar. Most of my friends bailed, but it was still fun. I had to work in the AM, so I had to keep it tame anyway.

But I had my phone in my purse, and at one point went to check messages... 5 texts and a missed call and voicemail from home. Calls from home usually make me nervous, but for some reason this one didn't, and it was super loud, so I didn't bother listening to voicemail. But then a little while later I found some quiet corner behind some artificial tree that was poking me in the ear the whole time, and managed to hear just enough 'Hey al... it's mom... [in an artificially cheery voice] Dad's been in a little accident" and then I couldn't hear any more.

So I called home, and found out that Dad and Bro had gone to a weekend motorcycle racing school. In New Hampshire. And dad wiped out. First I heard "no big deal just a cracked rib" but then I made some calls and started prying... well it's 6 ribs, broken in two places each, which is called flail chest, and can be pretty serious, and a collapsed lung. But fortunately, that's it. Could have been much much worse. In fact, one guy was killed on the track earlier that day. (I am not allowed to tell Mom that part.) So, he's got a chest tube, and lots of pain medicine. Pain control in the biggest issue here, because you have to breathe deeply so you don't get pneumonia and have to go on the ventilator.

So this morning I pulled the doctor card and made some calls to try to get the real deal from someone who knew what they were talking about, since dad tries to minimize things. He insists he's ok to go home. He is not. He is loopy on morphine, heh. He says his new pain medicine is good, because before he had hiccups and thought he was going to die. he said "now I can feel the ribs grinding every time I breathe [gross], but somehow it doesn't hurt". But they're going to give him an epidural, which means he has at least a few days in the hospital, which he is not happy about.

But, in typical fashion- what is everyone worried about? Dad pissed that he didn't win the race, and is worried that mom won't let him race anymore.
Mom is annoyed that she has to spend mother's day driving to new hampshire.

So, that was a great way to finish the evening. "hey, happy birthday dude! Sorry i can't stay... dad's in the hospital". What a debbie downer...

But other than that, it was a lovely weekend. had a great lunch friday and then went to a party, then a nice afternoon saturday and another party, so all in all I can't complain. :)

Happy mother's day everyone.

Well, I don't feel like being productive, so here are some pix. See previous post for words.


The mighty mississippi... Mmm, nice and brown.

Some pix of the ship [I kept calling it a boat and getting corrected]:

There's this atrium when we first walked in.


There were these cheesy tile mosaics all over the place.


Mini-golf on the 'roof'. (we were still at the dock in New Orleans, so that's the Crescent City Connector in the background).


The main sun deck. Where we spent most of the daytime.


My little room. Those beds are super comfy.


Me and my five adoptive moms.


The guys we met. They brought those suits with them, for the Formal Night dinner. I think people thought they worked for Carnival, because random people just kept walking up to them to pose for pictures.


One night there was a "musical men" contest- like musical chairs- the girls got c-razy running around and jumping on the backs of these guys. (and as the number of people decreased, they went from sitting on their backs, like horses, to stradding them, and eventually the winner was the girl who could make the most body contact with the guy when time ran out.)


The ship in port in Costa Maya. It's freaking huge. And apparently it's considered small by cruise ship standards. "Only" holds 2000 passengers.



The beach right at the end of the cruise ship pier in Costa Maya.


I wanted some of that pineapple so badly. They sell them roadside- 3 whole pineapples for $2. But even the guide warned us not to eat roadside food.


The first temple at Chacchoban. Sort of what I expected when I heard "Mayan ruins tour".


This big hill is apparently an un-excavated, un-restored temple in the city. The guide said that the Yucatan penninsula is totally flat, so ANY hill is a buried building until proven otherwise.


A gum tree. The X's in the bark are slashes made with a machete to harvest the sap, which is made into Chicle (gum), and used for stucco and building. We also saw clove trees (they smell so yummy) and a tree with really soft wood used for most of the handicrafts you buy in the tourist shops. They said they call it a "tourist tree". I figured for that reason. But no- it's called a tourist tree because its bark is red and peeling. And he pointed out some tree, and told us about all these great medicinal properties, and then, almost like an afterthought, added "and the dried leaves have the same properties as cannabis sativa". I was surprised people didn't run back to scavenge the leaves off the ground. ;)


Another temple. The little thatched roof covers a hole they made to find an inner temple, with tombs in it. The tombs had to be sealed over, b/c there was a real-life 'curse of the mummy'. They said they would use cinnabar to preserve the dead bodies, almost like makeup, too- since it's a red paste. But I guess it's some mercury/sulfur compound, and over the years, being sealed in a small chamber with decomposing bodies- it formed some horrible toxic gas, and as soon as they opened the tomb, the explorers were killed.


I don't know if it shows up, but they pointed out a fine line you can see in the stonework- the archaeologists make a visible joint to separate the stuff they found, and the stuff they reconstructed on top.


Some steps that lead to...


Another temple. Unfortunately the tourists clogged up most of my pictures.


A night out.


A drugstore in the little duty free shopping land at the pier in Cozumel. I am fucking astonished at what is sold over the counter! These bottles are mostly antibiotics, but they sell diuretics (usually used for heart failure) and even freaking injectable steroids! (steroids like cortisone, not weight-lifter steroids.) According to the sign they sold viagra and stuff too, but I didn't go looking for it.



My day in cozumel... peaceful and beautiful on 'Passion Island'


Then I got back and found everyone in these palm frond hats... They were pretty funny. The next morning they went to save a bunch of chairs on the deck, and even joked "well it was easy. I just put one of these hats down, and everyone knew to stay FAR away from THOSE idiots."


The guys I met with the B&B in Vermont.


She is a gymnastics coach- probably 5'2"ish but a little powerhouse. All muscle. Very fun, too.


The last night. I straightened my hair and everything. And I ran into one of the guys on his way to dinner- wearing a kilt. This was at about 8pm.


The same night, at about 4am (you can see the clock.) This is after about 6 birthday shots, and a few hours on the deck in the new orleans humidity. My hair is no longer straight. I really didn't think I was that drunk, but this picture sure looks otherwise...


And finally, for Paul, one of my favorite New Orleans treats: beignets and frozen cafe au lait at Cafe du Monde.

---FIN---