Four Weeks

My blog was turned off for a little while – not sure why.  I’m going to post a small message just to make sure it works.  If it does, I’ll load some more pictures and stuff later.

Well I’ve been here for four weeks now and things have settled into a groove.  Hopefully my blog is back up and running.  I work 24 hours on and then 24 hours off.  My “on” days I spend pretty much at the hospital with breaks for lunch and dinner.  There are various meetings to go to and few administrative things to take care of, but mostly I just do radiology.  Some days are busy and I work all day, some days are really slow and I read a lot.  We usually get the Stars and Stripes newspaper a day late, so I do the crossword, the Sudoku, the word jumble and sometimes the Cryptiquote.  I’m on call through the night, but usually get some sleep.  I probably shouldn’t say much about what I actually do, but don’t be fooled by the lack of media attention.   People are definitely being severely wounded and being killed over here.

I kind of have a routine for my days off as well.  I have to be at the hospital in the morning in order to exchange the primary bleep for the secondary bleep (the Brits call the beepers “bleeps”).  Usually pick up a load of laundry at the laundry facility then go back to my room and change in to PT gear.  Then I go to the gym to workout – usually cardio stuff in the morning.  Come back, shower and watch an episode of a TV show (currently on the first season of AMC’s The Walking Dead) or a movie then walk over to Leatherneck to eat at the American dining facility for lunch.  Check in at work after lunch to make sure no one needs help with anything, then back to my room for some reading and a nap.  About 4:30 go back to the hospital and see what’s going on and then back to Leatherneck for dinner.  After dinner I go work out again – currently pull-ups and some kind of pushup routine.  There’s a hospital meeting for the doctors in the evening and then we usually watch a movie in the doctor’s lounge after that.

I usually e-mail somewhere in there every day and sometimes call home.  That’s about it.  It’s like a two day ground hog day sequence.  The only day that’s any different is Sunday.   I’m off every other Sunday and don’t work out on that day.  I also go to Church the Sunday I’m off.  The weather is usually the same – sunny, but not too hot.  We’re in the desert so it’s pretty dry.  It reminds me of Colorado in the summertime.   I guess it will get really cold in the winter, but you still sweat a little when you walk over to Leatherneck for meals.  It has only sprinkled twice.

I’ll post this today and see what happens to the blog.  If it’s still up, I’ll write more later.