Getting out of Dodge

I am getting ready for an evacuation of our apartment here in the medical complex in Houston TX. We are looking to be hit by the now category 5 hurricance rita, and the area is bracing. I am extremely lucky, in that all my responsibilities as a physician this month are in clinics. Since they are shut down first, I am able to accompany my wife, Kristeane, as we scurry off to austin for shelter. MANY of my compatriots will be living out the hurricane in their apartments here, as patient duties do not cease if you are working in any of the hospitals. They have to stay. Those on overnight call on the weekend are actually now on default 48 hour shifts just in case roads are impassible for the relief shift. Bummer.
Hooray for being “nonessential personnel”. Hard on the ego, but safer…..
The Texas Medical Center is actually well prepared for this event, ironic compared to the catastrophe suffered many years back, but they learned well. It was just plain funny before walking by the new submarine blast doors in the underground tunnels every day on the way to work, but this morning they hit home in a different way. In the event of heavy rain, huge steel doors automattically shut NORAD style to prevent spread of water from area to area. In addition, all generators are in the top floor, and transportation contingency plans are on alert. they are serious. All hospitals here WILL stay open, with all neccessary staff on hand for all essential services.
It’s amazing how in the face of massive preparations, the medical staff here can maintain such levity. The cheif resident joked with us today, “if you are the backup for those on call this weekend, you have a good chance of being called in if the 1st in line is unable to get to the hospital…. however if you own a Humvee and wish to pick THEM up and DROP them off at the hospital instead, you are welcome to do so!.”
Wish the many patients being relocated from John Sealy and Shriner’s Hospital in Galveston the best of Luck.

Get Real Dr. Phil

And this little ditty is about Doc Phil, you know the advise guru who is all about being an ADULT and taking responsibility and appropriate behavior. Looks like the Doc needs to listen to his own advice.

According to the NY POST:

So, what’s gotten into America’s lovable, rationalist pop-culture shrink? I do mean Dr. Phil, a man who was unknown before Oprah gave him a forum. Now he is behaving like a Diva Deluxe. Last Friday, the good doctor was to speak at an obesity forum being held by California’s first lady, Maria Shriver. As a condition of his appearance, Phil insisted the governor introduce him. In between, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s calendar filled up and he felt he had to cancel.

Maria had Dr. Phil called, not once but twice, telling him the governor could not introduce him, just in case he wanted to back out. The day of the symposium, she arrived to find Dr. Phil sitting, pouting. He refused to speak. Finally she insisted he talk to her, and he said, “I am not happy.” Maria said she was so sorry but they had called twice to advise him of the change. He stormed, “No one called me.” An aide said nervously, “Yes, Phil, they did!” Dr. Phil was still irate: “No one told me!”

The great analyst of “getting along” continued to huff and puff. Someone said nervously that perhaps the governor could come by after all. Maria said, “No, we are not redoing the governor’s schedule. Phil, I suggest you just leave if you feel this way.” Dr. Phil insisted he had to use the bathroom first. Maria indicated it was down the hall. Dr. Phil said he could not use a public bathroom. Maria said calmly, “Well, that’s the only one we have. Use it or not. Take your camera crew and go.”

After the doctor availed himself of the facilities, he came back sheepishly and said, “I might as well stay now that I am here.” Maria told him he didn’t have to and she advised him, “My 7-year-old doesn’t act the way you do.” When Dr. Phil pled exhaustion from being absorbed in the Katrina rescues, Maria told him, “You’re tired? How do you think those people feel?” So just in case you wonder, this exchange was not leaked by the first lady. Many people experienced this exchange, and it’s the talk of California and TV land.

I used to like him but then I dunno, he and Robin got to me. I admit it, I keep waiting for the proverbial foot to drop. Maybe he will be found with hookers from Hollywood and Vine, or better yet, hookers from Santa Monica. Get Doc Phil in tight leather pants and a pink boa wrapped around his kneck.

Look, I don’t know the man or have anything against him but something about him has always creeped me out a little bit. Maybe it’s his good ol’ Texas boy attitude, or his Texas twang or shit, maybe it’s his bald head. Whatever it is, I do hope this story embarasses him enough to come back to Earth.

Hehe.. I am happy this has gotten out. And way to go Maria for putting him in his place…

Who’s in Charge? Karl Rove! (again)

In the New York Times last week, this gem was reported regarding Bush’s rebuilding plan:

Republicans said Karl Rove, the White House deputy chief of staff and Mr. Bush’s chief political adviser, was in charge of the reconstruction effort, which reaches across many agencies of government and includes the direct involvement of Alphonso R. Jackson, secretary of housing and urban development.

Excuse me? KKKarl Rove? Didn’t Mike “helluva job Brownie” Brown resign (read: shitcanned) for not only screwing up (because if that were the real reason, they’d have known by the weekend that he spent most of the time pissing himself like a chihuahua in sub-zero temperatures), but for failing to have adequate qualifications for the job. Hell, at least Brown is an attorney. He has not one, but two degrees. Rove was a college dropout, which if you’re Bill Gates, won’t get held against you, but for the highest echelons of federal government, you’d think that might be a sticking point. Quite frankly, it’s not that Rove isn’t degreed, it’s that he’s a hellspawned creature with few peers in his level of evil.

This whole “push” to come before the American people and outline a plan, etc. is all a sham. I’m sure Bush wants to help, he’s not a bad guy. But it’s clear there are wizards behind the curtain, as always. I heard his speech, and it actually wasn’t bad–for a pep talk. As far as to where the money is going to come from, well, all you have to do is look at the very socioeconmic group he is proporting to help. Only two things will come from this, perhaps both: 1) Government programs to help the poor, needy, etc. everywhere else will be disembowled, financially, and/or 2) our deficit will skyrocket. Not a cent of tax will be raised, and perhaps more will be cut. Voodoo economics, anyone?

Shouldn’t Karl Rove be doing something more relevant to his abilities and performance, like languishing in a federal prison for leaking Victoria Plame’s (aka Mrs. Joe Wilson) undercover CIA status? What happened to that? As far as I’m concerned, he should be having to use cigarettes for currency to decide how many boyfriends he can put off for the night. True, federal prison isn’t like state penitentiaries, but all I have is my experience. Anyway…

In reading about this, I also found out that in a super-secret meeting of the Legion of Doom, Rove spoke the following “off the record” (among others):

“The only mistake we made with Katrina was not overriding the local government…”
“Joe Wilson and I attend the same church but Joe goes to the wacky mass…”

The “wacky” mass…that must be the one where you give each other a sign of peace before communion instead of “Fuck you,” where you put money in the collection plate instead of taking it out with interest, and where the priest has the temerity to use wine in place of real blood, like “in the Reagan years.” Yeah, I hate those masses, they’re so … liberal.

Irish Anatomy Humour

In reviewing for my first gross anatomy partial exam tomorrow (covering upper/lower limbs and back), I have been reviewing Clinical Anatomy by Monkhouse, a professor at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.

Some gems (condensed) include:

(regarding injections in the upper arm): “[The deltoid] is often the site of intramuscular injections. If you insert the needle within 4cm of the [outer tip of the shoulder, the acromion,] you are unlikely to damage the axillary nerve as it enters the muscle from behind the surgical neck of the humerus. If you go lower than this, you deserve to be prosecuted for incompetence.”

(regarding the front inner leg, near the groin): “The femoral vessels and nerve are at risk and the potential for serious injury is great….Apart from criminal attacks, those who wield long knives professionally (eg. butchers) may injure themselves here: chain mail protection is available.”

(regarding the differences between male and female hip bones): “It can be difficult to pronounce on the sex of an isolated pelvis, and it is a skill that is uncessary unless you are concerned with archaeology or forensic science. You may be asked to give an opinion based on [an X-ray]; my tip is to look for the soft tissue shadow of a penis since this is usually fairly reasonable guide to the sex of an individual.”

Priceless!

Racism is alive and well in Mexico too

…and it’s the kind of racism that is so ingrained, people don’t even see it that way. Take for example the comments President Vicente Fox said, about Mexican immigrants doing jobs “that not even blacks would want to do.” Or better yet, how about the Memin the Penguin stamps that the Mexican government put out this summer?

But you don’t have to go the government to find such common, everyday examples. You just have to go to the local grocery store or 7-11 to find glaring examples. (after following link, click “next” two more times). There’s no need for this. Say what you want, but the injustice of Speedy Gonzalez doesn’t compare, sorry.

To top it all off, it tastes horrible…

If you fly Mexican airlines, just take a carry-on

Claudia got the last flight from Monterrey to Guadalajara yesterday, getting here at almost 11:00pm. She was supposed to have arrived at 8:00, but she missed her flight because of her flaky transportation, not to mention she was already frustrated and tired at having to fit so much into a short trip. Since I knew she was carrying heavy luggage from everything she was bringing from the States, I expected her to have to pay some overage having exceeded whatever weight limit Aviacsa has. When she checked in her baggage, the lady told her it would be “cinco cada kilo” (5/kilo or 11/pound) for the charge. She was over by about 38kg (83lb) total. I knew it was bad, because she said she couldn’t even lift one of the suitcases by herself, but I was still kinda shocked at how heavy it was. Fine. Monterrey is NOT anywhere near the border, but it’s close enough where dollars are still traded pretty freely, since so many of them come to S. Texas and vice/versa. When the lady said 5 per, she meant 5 dollars, not 5 pesos! (which would have been $0.50 per) This is absolutely wrong, since this is the interior of Mexico, what the hell else are you going to think? Trapped, frustrated at having missed her original flight and already at her wits end, she just said OK.

She called frustrated from the terminal told me the news, and I about blew a gasket. It came to about $200, and for that she could have bought another ticket with no overage fees for less than that amount. I knew there were other shipping options, like cargo, etc. but the ticket person said nothing. As she was calling me, relaxing slightly from finally being checked in/etc., she too was beginning to see what a rip that was. I complained to the airline when I got the airport to get her (while waiting), and like usual, the worker comes over to talk to me already annoyed that I interrupted his social hour (at 10:30pm, there’s not much business) and said there was nothing they could have done; 16 Sep is a holiday and cargo doesn’t run. I said, well, there’s always tomorrow–what happens to all the goods in cargo today? It waits, Einstein! He shrugged and said made a gesture like, “is there anything else now that that’s settled?”

We’ll see where this goes. All I know is that I’m f*cking sick of this disease of Mexican laziness and tardiness–you find it everywhere. It’s not even true ignorance (as in the ticket lady); it’s the laziness of not wanting to think or to bother to take that one extra step. That whole subject deserves a book-sized post, but I won’t even start on that or I’d get nothing more done. Right now, I just want to unpack the goodies, enjoy Claudia being home, study, and deal with this crap on Monday.

Mozart helps with birth trauma

I think this is totally cool:

On their little heads, the newborns in the maternity ward are wearing stereo headphones and their tiny hands seem to move to the rhythm of the music. From the first hours of their lives, the babies are tuned into Mozart at the Kosica-Saca hospital in eastern Slovakia.

“In the womb, the baby listens to the mother’s heart beat which represents a source of protection and good feelings. We have the baby listen to music so he can recall his mother during the period immediately after the birth when he is not with her,” [the doctor] said.

I’d probably stunt my kids growth with Shostakovich or Prokofiev, since I’m obviously into 20th century Russian music. Mother’s heatbeat, Stalin-regime-induced percussion, same difference.

Chicken a la Condyle

Yesterday I was eating some baked chicken…a regular entree, nothing fancy, one that I’ve had countless times. This time, it was accompanied with a simple salad. As I ate my favorite part of the chicken, the thigh, it occurred to me what fiendish, subconscious changes medical school does to you, insidiously altering your thought patterns. Instead of just eating like a normal person, appreciating the good food, I look down at the exposed chicken bone and think, “What nicely smooth articular cartilage” as I see what is obviously the femur (or the analogous chicken bone–I’m in med school, not vet school) and the bilateral condyles that shape the distal end staring me in the face. I’m sure every (non-vegetarian) medical student has gone through this (perhaps earlier if they took college anatomy), but it’s a terrible thing. I started thinking about other good chicken parts like the wing, and how it too is analogous to the human arm, having a single thick bone followed by two parallel thinner bones in the forelimb. Like Robert Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, we can not go back to that simple time pretending not to have ever come to this knowledge.

Waxing philosophical, I thought to myself, “I wish I had a biscuit to go with this…”

On being hit smack dab with reality

Hello everybody, I’m Raul, Rico and Claudia’s cousin. I’ll write an about page soon, but to the subject I wanted to comment about:

Six Flags has officially announced that it will close ASTROWORLD at the end of 2005 and sell it. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/3350688

It seems that the value of the land is now more than the operational profit of the park itself. So it will probably be razed in order to sell it to future owners. I will sob uncontrollably when I drive by and see a freaking Super Wal mart and Best Buy on the site wherer I forged many childhhood memories.

Don’t get me wrong, I in a way I understand. Land inside, or close to the inner loop in houston, is very coveted, so I can reluctantly accept the decision in a cold, calculated sense. Sentiment don’t pay the bills, and tranditional theme parks aren’t the ‘it’ thing for kids anymore.

Hell, even the nuns with the St. Joseph’s CHRISTUS group here in houston have decided recently to sell the long lived downtown St. Joseph’s charity hospital here and sell to private organizations because they can’t pay the bills and the land is worth too damn much. The nuns basically said that they can only perform charity if they can afford it. Unfortunately, the hospital depends on money from the church, and with the recent sex scandals ands subsequent lawsuits depleting some, ahem, coffers, from what I understand that broke the camel’s back and they had to sell. Good news is that I understand that it is most likely to be sold to another health organization that is private in nature and continue as a health care provider, but that would pretty much mean a severe cut of providing health care to those who can’t afford it.
But that’s what we have underpaid medical residents for though, huh?

Santa Ana’s Revenge

I was beyond surprised when I heard in the news the other day that Mexican troops arrived in the US to help with the relief effort. This was covered by the local media, too, and is a big deal because it’s the first time Mexican military has been on US soil since the Mexican-American War in the mid-1800′s.

LAREDO, Texas (AP) — A Mexican army convoy began crossing into the United States on Thursday to bring aid to victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Carrying water treatment plants and mobile kitchens that can feed 7,000 people daily, the convoy bound for San Antonio is the first Mexican military unit to operate on U.S. soil since 1846.

So, the Mexican military gets here, and what? They’re going to make a taco stand? Oh, sorry, I shouldn’t joke like that. There’s already cholera, E. coli and other pathogens in the water; do you think the best thing is a good healthy dose of Monteczuma’s revenge? Oh, sorry. My bad.

I hope they have people covering their shift when they are nowhere to be found from 2-4PM. Ha! Sorry, I think this is great, but I can’t help but chuckle. Growing up on the border, you see quite a different picture of the Mexican military, and it usually involves lots of annoying drumming and bugling. It would be cool if we can see these guys in action–perhaps they can take out the Minutemen in an all-out assault or perhaps they have a more covert mission while on the relief effort…