I'm one week in and loving graduate school (again)!
Here's what I did this week:
Tuesday -met with an Office of Nursing Research staffer to talk about my next grant (I have two right now) due October 15th; -nursing school PhD orientation from 10am until 5:30pm -Doctoral Student Organization meet-up with food stuff and gelato until 7pm -came home and read/researched for next grant
Wednesday -found my 'cubicle', and continued to read/research for grant -got my first cup of free coffee at the UPenn grad student center (bring your own mug) -child and family nursing class (really, super advanced growth and development?) from 1pm-4pm -research center dinner/party/pictures from 4pm-7pm -bicycled home and listened to a spoke on the back wheel snap as I was unlocking our door -came home and read/researched for next grant
Thursday -went in to my cubicle early to read/research for next grant -meeting with people reviewing the PhD program from 12:15-1:30pm -2pm-4pm met with my advisor about the grant application, upcoming interviews with survivors of pediatric brain tumors, and finished preparing an abstract on which I'll give a presentation next March in Rhode Island at the Eastern Nursing Research Society's meeting (on interviewer safety regarding suicide possibility in pediatric brain tumor survivors during in-home interviews) -had inspection of the condo that our offer was accepted on from 4:30-5:30, which went well -dinner with real estate agents from 5:30-8pm -came home and read/researched for next grant
Friday -woke up to torrential rain and decided not to go to the bike shop -walked through the rain and 30mph winds to my cubicle, where I read/researched for my next grant -got free coffee -read/researched -free coffee -read/researched -came home and read/researched for next grant
Saturday -woke up and read/researched for next grant -went to see a lawyer about how to approach our slumlords -went to bike shop and got a new spoke and fixed the bicycle -read/researched for next grant -went on a long run while listening to The Hazards of Love (still a very good album) -read/researched for next grant -packed a few boxes -read/researched for next grant -read a few articles for class on Monday -now writing this blog post....
Below are images of the condo, but first some specs:
2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 1483 square feet
2 bedrooms (each 18' x 18') living room (20' x 22') dining room (14' x 18') kitchen (10' x 14') entry way, tons of hallways making for tons of wasted space that is totally not a waste for us massive closets all over the place that are each at least the size of our current bathroom From the outside entrance to our new flat:
Horrible narrow-angle view in entry way, missing the entrance to the dining room on the left (with a large closet beside it), the living room to the right, and straight ahead (with one of many doors) leads to the bedroom suites:
In dining room looking at the entrance from the Entry Way. On the right is the open door to the kitchen. Behind the open door is another closet. In the kitchen you will see the door to yet another closet. Yes, according to our agreement, the lighting fixtures will stay. That includes this nice thing above his dining room table:
Another pic of the dining room, from a weird angle: I'm not sure why he didn't include either set of bay-ish type windows in the dining room or the living room (wait for that until after the kitchen)...
After entering the kitchen, this is what is on your right: New appliances in the last 5 years, granite countertop, and the cabinets appeared to be in impeccable condition.
Here, from the other side of the kitchen, you can barely see the opposite side from the sink. It includes the stove/oven, more countertop, more cabinets, and at the bottom of the picture is the current owner's little dog:
Ok, Living Room. From the back of the Living Room, looking through the entry way and into the Dining Room, partly toward one of those bay-ish windows I mentioned previously, and the white door toward the right is to the first Bathroom:
More Living Room. Yes, he did put up that ceiling, to provide a faux-tin ceiling appearance (I think?):
Last Living Room pic, this time with the non-functional fireplace:
A pretty bad picture of the Bathroom closest to the entrance. They have HUGE bathtubs in them, updated fixtures, and new mixers. The pic is taken from the entrance from the entry way, but there's an entrance to this bathroom from the first Bedroom (on the right) and one from the Dining Room (left behind shower curtain). Oh, and of course, large closet immediately to the left of the photographer: The other Bathroom (not pictured) is large enough to also have a stacked washer/dryer and enough room to move around and do whatever one does in a bathroom.
This is the first Bedroom. If you remember the Entry Way pic above, through that door and to the left brings you to this place (entrance behind the photographer). To the left in the back (not shown) is the entrance to that multi-entrancing bathroom (above):
I guess this would be the Master Bedroom? It's got it's own Bathroom (the one with the washer/dryer) to the right of the photographer:
I made mention of Garden Court Condos (n.b.: no access to files) on Facebook, and now that post is an internet sensation, so I've providing pictures as requested!
This is basically a picture dump with few words, and is very unlike my last few posts. I either apologize or provide relief, whichever you prefer.
Here is the view from the southeast, on Pine Street:
Gated entrance:
Bike racks behind the gate, in front of the door:
Speaking of door:
Lobby pics:
Common room:
Gym and Locker Room:
POOL!!!
The pool looks bigger than any (except one) that I have used in NYC. And it's open all year long. And pretty much in my home.
More to follow after we see it (and if we like the places). There are a few options: 2 bed 2 bath; 3 bed 2.5 bath... but the condo fees are high. We'll soon see!
I need to process a bunch of stuff, and in no way do I need you to read it my brain fluff, but this way you get to know what's going on. Also, your endless insight and unorthodox perspectives will help me to shuffle through this mess.
Many of you know that despite my goals of being an Evil Overlord, I still cannot thwart our Property Manger. Now we're attempting to leave the apartment long before the two-year lease is up, but not just for anywhere.
We are going to buy.
This was all exciting and fun a few days ago (ok, it still is fun and exciting), but now I'm having trouble sleeping (n.b., I have purposefully left off the list of anxiety-producing thoughts in order to spare l'Arborista).
...
I've decided to change the course of this post. Read more after the break.
So, the BIG question (examples embedded in links), at least for now:
(A) Do we pay near our max to get a condo/coop (probably 2 bedroom, 1 bath, kitchen, 1 common room) in the fancy part of town that is close to everything we want to be close to?
(B) Do we pay near our max to get a really, REALLY nice townhouse, row-house, etc. a neighborhood or two away from the nice, convenient neighborhood, but have nearly 2x as much as space, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, possibly a garage, a deck/yard/patio, absolutely no renovation to do, new appliances, two common rooms?
(C) Do we pay less money, get something on the edge of the neighborhoods, that either is nicer but less space, or less nice (read: more fix-it-ups) and more space?
L'Arborista loves the example I placed in (B) above, and I've got to say that I do too. It looks like a completely restored 90 year old home, that is just gorgeous. Look at what surprise is hidden in the master bedroom.
I'm here to announce that I have been selected as the newest Death Panel member! Chaired by a random BuyMore Customer Service Representative, the rest of the members will include:
Caligula (though we won't wait for him to show up) Mike Vick Mr. Wiggles My Property Manager Click & Clack and these kittens:
You may have noticed that all members of the panel are men. The government is also putting together a panel of women. We will judge the women, and the women will judge the men. The (heterosexuality of the) government believes that this will make the decisions fair and to err on the side of caution.
[WARNING: there are no pictures in this blog post]
On a possible situation and an hypothetical, nonexistent child:
Last night (rather, quite early this morning), I had a spontaneous discussion with Felicia, another nurse with whom I was working. She is about my age, married, now has a master's degree in nursing, but does not yet practice as a pediatric nurse practitioner, and is considering having 2-3 children in the next several years.
But let me back up a bit. I've been having trouble constructively thinking about my proposed research, namely working on a 'solution' or methodology for assisting/convincing/etc. parents of children with an (end-stage) oncologic process (and presumably this can be easily extended to children with [end-stage] chronic conditions) to switch/transition from curative (presumably, painful and/or with detrimental side effects) to palliative therapy.
Progressive work has been done to this end in adult populations, and presumably does not need as much work in all age groups in Europe and other areas as palliative therapies are more actively utilized (although I cannot yet find published evidence of this). However, this course raises many more issues in the pediatric population, such as children dying, children dying before parents do, to name a few (and then, of course, those compacted with the generalized USA-go-all-the-way approach to health care).
Please refer to previous editions/posts as to why it is not generally a good idea to force a child, not to make t-shirts in a sweaty factory (not that post, the other one), but to have extended radiation that burns things to bits and global chemo- and biotherapies that are cytotoxic with eruptive side effects.
So, on to the good bits...
Felicia stated she would "do anything" for her (future, yet unrealized) child dying from cancer (our example was acute lymphoblastic leukemia [ALL] that continually failed several different chemo cocktails and relapses before recover can happen from drugs).
She stated that if she did chose the palliative route, she would always think "what if?" after the child had died.
She finally concluded that her motivations were completely selfish. The child was hers, from her, and she did not want to lose the child.
I suggested a fear of emotional pain from losing the child, which she agreed would be present during that decision making process.
She also stated that no one would be able to convince her to do anything except continuing to provide curative-based therapies. She stated that anyone who would suggest otherwise she would "throw out of the room".
I finally got to what seemed a deeper root of her motivations (previously stated as "selfish"). I identified three aspects that were at play:
1. She had hope and/or faith that god will help provide a new drug for a cure for the child.
2. She claimed a knowledge that god will not "give her more than she can handle".
3. She stated that if the child does die, then it is because god was "bringing the child home".
Her rationalizations are christocentric and do reflect her daily personal routines.
I did thank her for allowing me to interrogate her, which also allowed me to think out loud regarding these issues that I've been having difficulty mulling in my head.
I studied religion for two years at the graduate level and feel completely unprepared to approach this subject when faced with USA-based Christian groups.
I read a study in the last year (and cannot find it anywhere, of course) that concluded that Christians who admitted that dying provide a spiritual/religious fulfillment (in that they would then go to 'heaven', etc.) were the group who also worked hardest and prayed most for extended life (on earth).
Other factors (leaving Jesus aside for a moment): when a child is dying, it is most important to make all actions in the best interest of the child. After the child has died, all actions should be in the best interest of those left alive. Should a parent make that pre-emptive strike to give all therapies possible (even to the detriment of the child's living condition/quality-of-life/etc.), knowing in one year that parent will be alive and can (comfortably??) know that the decisions s/he made put everything into keeping the child alive?
Humans are selfish by nature, in that consciousness sees all inputs from one primary point-of-view.
Aristotle posited (unless I got this totally wrong) that the end (goal) for each person was happiness. For a parent, does it make one happy to know that s/he tried his/her all? That s/he chose for the child not to suffer a painful, strung-out dying process? That happiness for the parent is doing everything possible to make that child happy and not suffering?
UPDATE: I was not even selected as a finalist. But many were that didn't even follow the rules (no greyscale, only black and white). If you want to look at their puny attempts, go here.
So, I'm entering this tech-ish contest that gives away five Amazon Kindle 2's free along with a custom laser-engraved etching on the back of it for the five best designs. The contest requires that one make the design "awesome, because there will be stiff competition" and it should be "something that means a lot to you, something that'll make passers-by drool with envy when you casually hold up your new toy while reading The Economist from the comfort of your train, plane, or bus seat."
And I have a design.
I'm looking for feedback, as the contest deadline is this Friday. I already know that later today (after I wake up...remember, I've been slaving away keeping your children alive through the night) I will turn it into at least square if not vertical (as the area I have to work with is 5" width x 7" length) to make it best utilize the back of the Kindle. Also, I will make sure that the words and the images are a bit better balanced.
I've wanted a Kindle (or other techy e-book ready) for a while, but would not buy one at this time for the following reasons:
*costs $299 *have to have a light on to read (i.e., the screen is not backlit) *cannot jump throughout a book, need to flip page-by-page *I think they restrict the internet functionability (e.g., cannot update Facebook from the Kindle) *although I can move many of my 40 boxes of books (that have to be packed, moved, and unpacked each time I move), onto the Kindle, most I cannot or will cost money (see Project Gutenberg, etc., for free books online) *did I mention it costs $299?
Explanation of my current choice:
a) I love brains b) I was a neuroscience major c) I am now studying survivors of brain tumors d) The font is similar to typeset of the first books e) Zombie Theory is fun f) Did I mention that I love BRAAAIIINS!!?!?!??!!!
The Arborista is perfectly placed to help us little people understand that its not that the $30 face creams are better than the $700 face creams. They are the same. She sees the before's and the after's. They all have bad skin.
I can't show you any of these images because I would probably be sued and l'arborista would never be able to do this sort of work again. But I can show you a commercial that I noticed recently
I have my wife's secret PDF portfolio (hidden safely away, of course), and have been showing my fellow nursemates (not to be confused with nursemaids, a variety of elbow injury) and a few respiratory therapists these scandalous pictures of certain most recent Elizabeth Bennett with bad skin (that is, before l'Arborista has her way with her).
Many of them (the nurses, that is) say that this viewing changes their life and significantly increases their self esteem. So, even if (on one occasion), I am working a ten-bed unit with one other nurse and there happens to be only one patient on the unit for the entire twelve hours and that patient gets worse despite having two nurses (one of each [predominant] gender, even) and has to eventually head to a higher acuity floor, and thus cannot really help a patient, I am indeed helping other nurses.
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By the way, for the reference to my first sentence, see this (on second note, well do watch, but note that the reference is not in this preview as expected and is not found online in a short clip, but is found HERE):
So I'm sitting here in the EDECU (Emergency Department Extended Care Unit) at CHOP (Children's Hospital of Philadelphia) waiting.
No, I didn't bring my future child(ren) in for a checkup, nor did I bring in someone else's children. I'm nursing. There are two nurses, one clerk, and one patient (with her mother). We are evidently providing fantastic care. And we are waiting for more patients to come back here (although none are slated as of now). The ED has been empty for the past two days, but now, suddenly (n.b., the Philadelphia fireworks ended about an hour or so ago) the waiting room is filling up with kids with burns, respiratory distress, trampling, cuts from broken glass, falls, overheating, and kids that have had constant fever for three days but now all of a sudden are here. Oh, and there's one with bleeding from the ear that started this morning, but the family was "out of the country" (wait, whatt???), so they came now.
In a few minutes one of the two of us will obtain a set of vital signs. Then we're free (aside from catastrophe or admission) for the next four hours. I have a book. She's reading news online. We already watched Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Here comes the rain again.
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