My Day

Today my day started with a few minor hiccups.  Nothing big.  My daughter forgot her lunch on the counter and I burned a couple of tortillas for my breakfast sandwiches.

Nothing I can't handle so far.  I have a personal goal of reading the scriptures daily so I started while I was eating breakfast.

I read in the Book of Mormon in Mosiah chapter 2.   In this chapter King Benjamin, who is also a prophet of the people of Nephi, is giving his final sermon.  King Benjamin talks about service to his people and when you are serving your fellow man you are also serving God (Mosiah 2:17).

I find it fitting because the night before we had the Mormon missionaries over and we discussed our prophet President Thomas S. Monson who teaches regularly about serving your fellow man (and woman, and children, etc).

I clean the kitchen, shower and get ready for work.  Sometime after the kids got on the bus it started snowing outside.  Nothing bad, barely any accumulation.  As I head out to my car I'm in a good mood.  I have plenty of time to drop my daughter's lunch off at school and go to work.  I turn the key and nothing happens.  Turns out my battery is dead.

Panic starts to settle.  How am I going to get to work on time?  I call and tell them the situation and I'll keep them posted.  I could always call the ambulance and have them take me in but then I'd be stuck at the hospital with no vehicle to bring me home.  I'm prompted to call the local repair shop.  They can easily jump my car but it'll be at least 30 minutes before they can get to me.

Crap, so much for my time frame of doing everything before work.

Having some time to kill (and needing to calm myself down) I decide to read a magazine publication from my church.  The main message is given to us by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf to keep your focus where it needs to be.  He quoted the New Testament, Matthew 22 verses 36-40.

I feel like there is a message that is trying to be pounded into my head at this point.  I'll just sum it up as service.  I personally think I'm being told I need to do better in serving others both at church and in my personal life.

Continuing with my day I manage to get my car jump started, drop my daughter's lunch off and get to work only 15 minutes late.  A minor miracle considering when everything (and going 90mph on the interstate helped, definitely glad there were no cops).

I try to keep this in mind as I help the different people who come to the ER, love and serve others.  Fortunately the people I interacted with were not complete jerks, they were all pleasant.

All throughout my shift I'm in a good mood, I personally don't feel like I was brought down by the negativity that surrounds some of my coworkers.

Still in a good mood I get to my car at the end of the shift.  The technician who gave me a jump in the morning claimed my car would be fine and I shouldn't have any problems starting my car later.  My car is dead when I get there.  Freezing rain coming down (crazy weather, snow in the morning and freezing rain at night, 18 degrees Fahrenheit when I leave home and 34 when I clock out) I find my coworker who I walked to her car and ask for a jump.

Even though my shift started and ended in a manner that was not planned I feel blessed.  Things could've been a lot worse but the situation played out well.  I'm glad I was able to get home and safely.  I still feel good about the way today turned out, praying tomorrow will be good too.

And in case you're wondering about what freezing rain is, follow this link. The first time I heard of freezing rain I was beyond confused.  It's beautiful to see all your plants and trees covered in this devilish creation.

This is what coats everything including the roads and sidewalks.

Tattoos

I took care of a 16-year-old girl the other day. Somehow we got on the subject of tattoos and she asked if I had any.  Quick answer is no.  Naturally her follow up question was why not.

Honestly the main reason I won't get a tattoo are my beliefs.  As Mormons we are taught from a young age that we should "respect our bodies as a gift from God" and "not disfigure ourselves with tattoos or body piercings." Knowing it's unethical to share my beliefs to patients (unless they ask), I gave another reason.

I've had similar conversations with my friends and coworkers.  When my colleagues ask if I'm going to get a tattoo I usually say I'm not interested.  When they insist on having more of an explanation than that I bring up the cost.

The better and more intricate the design (and having a good tattoo artist) can get pricy quickly.  I recently treated a patient in the emergency room with a nice piece of body art covering the side of her body. She admitted it cost her $350.  Several coworkers have admittedly spent over $500 for their designs.  I even found an article that will help you estimate how much your tattoo will cost.  Not to mention a botched tattoo coverup cost (or living with an ex's name/face tattooed on you).

I love to travel and I do it as frequently as I can.  For the amount of money I would drop on a tattoo I can do a lot of things (assuming I have $500 to drop on a tattoo).  From where I live I can go to NYC for a day (with extra money to go to the bathroom in case you aren't near any of the free ones), do a Segway tour of DC (when my kids are older), spend a few days at Ocean City or Virginia Beach, go to the Grand Canyon of PA, rent a cabin for a weekend in the Smoky Mountains, etc.  The longer I think about it the more trip ideas I can come up with.  I could even take a photography class online so I can take (and edit) better pictures for when I do get to these places (most of them are already on my 5 year vacation/day trip plans, some of these may come as a surprise to my wife).

Admittedly I thought about getting a tattoo at one point in my life.  And if I didn't feel strongly about my beliefs I would probably get a Disney themed or a Star Wars themed one.  I would definitely drop the money to have the light sabers with a UV glow to it.  But the combination of my beliefs and my desire to travel is much greater than getting a tattoo.

I don't care if you have tattoos and I will admire the new tattoos that are shown to me because, once again, most are fun to look at.  Many people like showing off their new body art because they are excited about it and who am I to rain on their parade?