Cooling off

Unintentionally, it seems I've been remiss in my blogging duties. I wasn't purposefully avoiding it, I guess I just forgot about this blog for the last few weeks. But fear not, there have been at least a few events about which I can write....naturally none of them involve the operating room, though. OK, there was one dead appendix that needed to be removed, but that's hardly a case to dwell on for a few weeks!

For starters, we made some friends in the Fire Dept and convinced them that fire engine training was an "essential" skill for general and orthopedic surgeons (kinda like automatic weapons, driving MRAP's and burning holes in things with a laser...which Jake got to do last month). To our surprise, they not only let us drive both of their biggest engines, but we fired up the lights and sirens and even drenched the road with water while driving. I'm very big on REAL-LIFE training and tend not to let an opportunity pass us by!

We've also been blessed with cooler temperatures (FINALLY) over the past few weeks. After two days of intermittent rain showers (yes, actual rain) that felt more like a muddy mist, temps have dropped into double digits and stayed that way until the last few days. Nighttime lows are even in the 60's now, and many of us are breaking out the coats to cope with these "Fall" temperatures after months of oppressive, evil heat.

And, I'm sure it'll come as quite a shock to find out that we continue with our after-hours antics around the base. After a recent false-alarm trauma activation, I decided to model the "Internal Medicine look" for our ER crew:

Note the pocket full of way more pens than anyone would ever need, the stethoscope around the neck JUST IN CASE it's needed at a moment's notice, the dual handbooks full of lots of important information (that really should have been memorized) and the look of bewildered enthusiasm on my face proving I've ALMOST grasped the big picture with a patient instead of getting lost in the minute details AGAIN. Also note the female in the background, who IS our internal medicine doc (sorry, Charlotte, had to do it)! So, in response, here is her best "Surgeon" impersonation (I think she's attempting to exude over-confidence, but I'm still not sure why).

Speaking of models, there was another monthly talent show last weekend. And, yes, we participated. This time, though, we were merely props for another guys skit. He wanted to do a spoof on "I'm too sexy for Kirkuk" with us as models, and the theme was reflectique (using our nighttime reflective belts and other reflective materials). The only catch was that we had to make our costumes out of things here on the FOB (forward operating base). As you'll see, some of us went with "evening wear" and others were REALLY creative, and REALLY revealing! The camera angle isn't the best, but it's worth a laugh. This wasn't nearly as popular as our last show and pales in comparison to our plans for the October Talent Show...more to come on that one.

I love you always my beautiful Lady! Give Bradster a big hug from Daddy!