What would you do?

Hypothetically speaking what would you do with your toe if it was amputated in the ED?

Personally I think I would not only get the tattoo shown above but I would probably try and pickle it and put it in a jar.  Or even better (and probably a little less crazy of a conversation point) bury it in the flower garden and make a nice headstone dedicated to the piggy who went to market.

Lego Death Star

I got what I wanted for Christmas, the Lego Death Star.  I admit half of it is technically my son's but I've been talking about it for a long time.  I saved up some money for it but realized the best way to get it is to have part of it be for me.  It's the only way I could justify the purchase (at $500, wow...)

Because my son got many other Lego gifts this was my project to put together and it took me forever.  I timed it because I was curious how long it would take me to put together the 4016 piece beast.  It took over 1115 minutes to complete. Wow, is that right?  So the second time I did the math it came up at 960 minutes.  Ok adding it up the third time I got 1055 minutes (I'm watching Gabriel Iglesias after 2300 on about 5 hours of sleep while attempting to do math, obviously it's not working).  So it takes me somewhere in the ballpark of 960 minutes at 1115 minutes (and maybe a little longer, I'm distracted the entire time watching Frozen Planet, Blue Planet, True Blood if the kids aren't around, helping the boy put his Legos together when he's stuck which isn't very frequently, etc).

WOOHOO! Lego Alderaan beware!

So opening the box was very exciting for me, of all the Star Wars toys I owned growing up (original toys here back in the early 80s) I never had a Death Star.  I dump out the box and there are 3 smaller boxes in the giant box along with several bags and a 320 page spiral bound book of instructions.

Whoa...Alderaan may have to wait a while...Let's hope Jyn doesn't show up

This jumbled mess came out of the box.  I quickly realized this was going to need a bit of organization.  If you've ever put large Lego sets together you know they come with numbered bags to be opened at a certain time in the instructions. (Side note, my niece didn't know this, opened 4 bags worth of Legos and color coordinated them on a different set, took me forever to find everything).

An organized plan, just how the Emperor wanted.

So after the organizing I realize that yes there are numbered bags but as you can (hopefully) see in this picture there are multiple bags per number.  Instead of one bag #1 there are 3 bags. #2 has 5 bags to go with it, #3 has 3 and it goes on and on with 2 bags without numbers on them.  When you open these bags there are even smaller bags inside with the extremely small pieces (the one piece, etc).  Now you're starting to understand a bit why it took me some time to finish.

This is the cutest Dianoga ever! Watch out Luke!

*Pew, Pew, Pew*

I was going to show the completed stages as I finished the Death Star but I decided to cut to the completed project.  I have no clue how to format with this many pictures so hopefully it's not too confusing.  They show the different sections of the Death Star, many moving parts (closing walls in the Trash compactor, trap door in the prisoner cell that drops to the trash compactor, etc).  I look forward to doing more Lego Star Wars projects in the future.  Maybe Boba Fett's ship, the Slave One (hint, hint).

Rhetorical Questions

I was accused of not taking care of my own patients tonight. I asked her to start an IV for me on one patient (me and another nurse tried and failed) and I asked the tech to start a Foley catheter who in turn asked her for help with it.

I then hear her scream "Well fuck, why am I taking care of his fucking patients?  The only thing I haven't done for him is his assessment."

We've been working together tonight in the same section by this point for 2.5 hours and that's all I've asked her to do. Start an IV we had already missed. The tech asked for help doing her job. I didn't ask her to do it.

Anyway, I can tell she's fuming so I watch my patients remotely from the other end of the ED and I can hear her say to the charge nurse "If he would stop eating his fucking tacos maybe he could take care of his fucking patients and I wouldn't have to."

A little while later I go to the charge nurse to explain what had happened from my point of view.  He cuts me off and asks me if my patients are taken care of, if I'm caught up. I say yes and try again to explain and he cuts me off and says make sure my shit is done.  I explain again I'm caught up minus some documentation.

Whatever.  I only asked her to do one thing. Heaven forbid she get off her high horse and help.

Here's what I got out of tonight: Don't ever ask her for help, heaven forbid I set her off on a racist tirade attacking me personally, and don't ask this tech for help cause she'll throw me under the bus.

Neither one of them can look me in the eye after this, both avoid me (and I them).  So why is this still bothering me?  Chances of me being written up are nonexistent.  It's over with, I'm at home and don't go back to work until Tuesday.  Why am I still up?  Why am I frustrated over this situation?

I should pull an Elsa and let it go.

Why is a Raven like a Writing Desk?

"Why is a raven like a writing desk?"

This riddle has plagued me for years and I'm sure it has done the same for most anybody who has watched Alice in Wonderland (and apparently I'm not the first to be writing on this).  I was bored and asked Siri about this when bored the other day and she directed me to Wikipedia saying "Because Poe wrote on both".

I liked this answer so much I obviously decided to write a post.  Doing a little more research into it I found that Lewis Carroll never intended to have an answer for the riddle.  From the book:

"Have you guessed the riddle yet?" the Hatter said, turning to Alice again. 

"No, I give it up," Alice replied. "What's the answer?" 

"I haven't the slightest idea," said the Hatter. 

"Nor I," said the March Hare. 

Alice sighed wearily. "I think you might do something better with the time," she said, "than wasting it in asking riddles that have no answers."

So he never had any intentions on answering his own riddle.  Nice.  He did come up with an answer after being bugged for so long.  He wrote:  

Because it can produce a few notes, tho they are very flat; and it is never put with the wrong end in front!

And then stated in a disclaimer that the original riddle has no answer.  

So if you haven't looked up why A raven is like a writing desk, here you go.  As for me, I'm going to ask Siri more questions about random stuff until I fall asleep (you should ask what she's doing for Christmas, it changes every time and funny all the time).

Mexican Food

Recently we met up with my in-laws so they could watch my children.  When deciding where to meet my in-laws stated Taco Bell was a good meeting place.  They figure there is something for everyone there.  My wife explains to her dad that my kids (8 and 7 at this point) have never eaten Taco Bell.  He is shocked by this remark so my wife points out to him (as if he didn't already know) both my heritage and what I like for food.  He starts laughing when the connection is made.

Considering my heritage (Mexican if you haven't read previous posts) and where I grew up (Southeast Texas), Taco Bell isn't exactly where I go when I'm craving a good taco or burrito.

Taco Bell's burrito, it does look good, doesn't it?

Don't get me wrong, I crave the occasional Grill Stuffed Burrito, but I am forever in search of more authentic Mexican food.  Ever since I left Texas I can't seem to find it frequently.  I get the occasional glimpse of it's full glory in other locations but it's not the same.

For example when I lived in Provo, UT some friends of mine and I stumbled across a restaurant in the downtown area.  It was a hole in the wall, they literally painted the brick wall outside their restaurant white and the name of the place in red (it was called La Tormenta at the intersection of Center Street and 400 North, there is a big Coca Cola sign on it now. If you drop Pegman on the street view look north, you'll see the building I'm talking about.  I'm sad it's gone). The food was terrific and most of the time we would end up with Montezuma's Revenge (worth it every time).

My current place of residence had a great place when I first moved out here 11 years ago.  Unfortunately because of where I live the food went from flavorful with a kick to "gringoized" (dulled down the spice flavor to accommodate the gringo population).

Some of the other places I've found recently are terrific.  They are true to their heritage and as far as I know they won't change anytime soon (and for that I'm eternally grateful).

Sadly the lady is retiring and I'm going to lose one of my go to taco restaurants.  Best tacos I've eaten on the east coast.  The menu is small, only a few items but what she cooks is excellent (it's like a party in your mouth and everyone's invited).

Taco Rico, simple yet satisfying (and terrific)

Recently a friend of mine pointed me in the direction of another restaurant in the area, not too far from home.  I'm excited about this one because they turned a house into a restaurant and they painted their cinder blocks brown.  The food so far has been terrific and I look forward to eating their several more times.

Enchiladas with green sauce

Mole 

Worst case scenario I can cook up my own meal.  I'm still learning a few things but it'll be more than worthwhile when I perfect my dishes.

Chorizo with eggs, refried beans and potatoes, my personal favorite  I make from scratch