Serene Irene

From the park on the East River today, looking out at the Manhattan skyline on a perfectly cool, dry day it’s hard to believe there has been so much news over earthquakes and hurricanes recently. And I don’t know if it’s New Yorkers or just the media but there has been a lot of hype and over reacting in the past week. The little shiver barely felt in the ground that was just the echo of an earthquake down south was interrupting normal scheduled broadcasting here until it was time for newscasters to switch gears and start freaking people out over Irene. I know it was big and there was a chance of flooding but to me it was obvious it was weakening and would (which it was) be a tropical storm by the time it reached NYC. Our apartment was technically in the mandatory evacuation zone, but just right across the street was the safe zone so we, along with all our neighbors, stayed put. Our lack of worry comared to people around us was kind of comical. Last minute I went out looking for D batteries for our dead flashlight which everyone was (surprise!) sold out of. I then went and bought AA's for a little lantern we have but the bulb was shot (oops!). We went old school and made a pile of matches and candles, filled some bottles with water and said screw it. By Sunday afternoon the rain was gone so we took Pup out for a long walk to look around the ‘hood but it looked the same (the reason there are no good hurricane pics in this post). No flooding, no crazy wind, just some rain Saturday night and clouds Sunday (yawn).

The combination of people crazed with cabin fever, me included, and BSBG being one of the only restaurants on the row open made last night quite busy. We were so understaffed and slammed, to the point that we couldn’t even care about good service, just order taking. We somehow still managed to make some really good money. Because there were no trains running from Saturday at noon until this morning no one really had a way to get to work. I had to take a cab to and from work but luckily at the expense of the restaurant… I could get used to having a driver.

Anyway, all is well. We’re alive. Later.

Just Shoot Me

If you haven’t already guessed by my lack of communication, the results of my finals were more than disappointing. After waiting for what seemed like eternity for the grades to be posted, I was sent emails from faculty saying how devastated and sorry they were that I had not passed the Procedures II final practical.

There are two ways a student can automatically fail a practical: through a “critical safety” error or a complete “failure to treat.” Mine was the latter due to placement of electrodes for the treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) with iontophoresis.  Iontophoresis is a form of e-stim that uses a charged current to drive topical medication deep into the body for pain relief. Gathering from all I learned in the program about CTS (a compression of the median nerve at the wrist) including one or two diagnostic tests, I placed the electrode right on the wrist (the site of pain noted on my randomly picked case study), on the dorsal surface or backside of the wrist. I wasn’t absolutely sure of my placement because of the lack of curriculum on treating CTS specifically in procedures I, II, or any class for that matter. I thought he might take points off if he preferred one side or the other but figured since the whole premise behind the modality was its ability to penetrate deeply that I would be ok.

After weeks, prayers, phone calls and meetings with faculty, including the program director, I began to lose my willpower to fight and just face his decision, no matter how much I disagreed. On a side note: I later found out that the reason it took so long to post everyone’s grades was because the director could not believe the news and scheduled an all faculty meeting to discuss my situation. On one hand it’s flattering but on the other, it made me feel like their minds were already made up by the time I could throw my word in. I’m now about five months behind the class that I will be leaving. We were the best group they had had in a while, you could just tell. I’m of course trying to focus on the positives and all that jazz but it’s just frustrating. I’m much more prepared than others who are slipping through the cracks because of luck of the draw. I have too much invested to quit at this point and a plan on retaking the class in January. I have lost a lot of respect for Dr. Chan and the program.

I never have and never will understand how you can test a student on something you never taught them. I wasn’t born knowing how to treat CTS. I haven’t been a PT for 20 years. Do your job, teach me what I will be tested on, and more importantly what will prepare me for the real world. This is the point where I want to say inappropriate and personal things so I’ll stop. I’m done. Moving on.

I don’t even want to continue this blog post with anything else so I’ll end this one and start another;  a fresh start.

4 Exams away from three weeks of freedom

Following up on the previous post, I walked Pup through the filming that was going on in the neighborhood this past week to see if I could spot anyone famous. It appeared I was a little late as they were packing up set equipment so, after using the dog as an excuse to just stand in one spot and gawk, I asked an event caterer if there had been any celebs around that day. She said there was no one famous and it was just some shooting for CBS. She seemed to be telling the truth but I find it hard to believe there would be about five blocks full of trucks and movie trailers for something generic. I guess I’ll never know. I doubt the average New Yorker cares enough about all this stuff to ask questions, but it’s fun for me. Maybe if I was a ten year resident already or had a car my perspective would change; large groups of random people invading your neighborhood, taking all the parking spots for a day or two, and then leaving the place no better (ok, maybe a little more famous) than it was when they showed. “The Good Wife,” though, was doing some filming in the Court Sq/ Citibank area of our neighborhood today (pic)


Tonight Jen packed a bag for her ten year high school reunion. She leaves LaGuardia for Tampa, FL tomorrow at 7:30 am. I would have tagged along but it was just bad timing with work this weekend and finals on Monday and Tuesday, not to mention the cost of airfare. I’m sure she’ll have fun anyway. It was pretty late by the time she was all prepared so we stayed close to home for our date night. We had dinner at Cuban restaurant Madera and then walked a few more blocks down Vernon Blvd to Uncle G’s (?) ice cream for dessert. After being way too indecisive, I committed to rum raisin and it was delicious. I have to agree with Jen who said “that place is one of the best things to happen to Long Island City.” lol

Happy Birthday to my grandfather who turned 80 yesterday! Wow.