Error. Does not compute.

I was a healthcare professional at one time, a nuclear medicine technologist to be exact. In the 6 years I did that job I made two serious mistakes.

The first was during my training and I was doing a tagged RBC study. I grabbed the wrong cold kit and reconstituted Hepatolite rather than PYP and injected it into the patient. I was able to make up the correct kit and give it and then the Tc99m as it should be and the test went fine. But I was very shaken mentally that I could have made that mistake. There was no radiation involved and the test went totally fine, so really this was a "no harm, no foul" kind of event. No one would have known except I admitted my mistake immediately to my supervisor. Live and learn.

The second was a classic mix up of patient names, patient rooms and exams. Two little old ladies in adjoining rooms, both getting two different nuc's studies over three different names. Operating on auto pilot I went to give a MDP injection for a bone scan and mixed the two patients up. How could I have done that? Well, for one the patients had switched rooms over night in the middle of their studies!! Mrs X was in the middle of her heart study and I can't remember what Mrs Y was having done that took a couple days in Nucs but they switched rooms over night and I just went up and injected the little old lady in room 123 thinking it was the same little old lady as yesterday. Well, I was so confident I was checking her name band as I was starting the injection. Guess what? About 10mCi into the injection I realize I've got the wrong lady. SSSSCCCCCRRRREEEECHING halt to that injection. So I come down stairs and do some quick calculations to see how much radiation I have given her and it comes out less than the amount required for a reportable event. But I had given it to the wrong patient, which is a reportable event.

I went to talk with my co-worker about what we should do. After getting chewed out for making that kind of flippant mistake we decided that since that patient was getting a nuc med study anyway and I didn't give them a full dose we were just going to let it go. No reporting, no paperwork, nothing official. Let my guilt do all the work in punishing me. And having a coworker whose trust I had to earn again.

So in 6 years and thousands of procedures I made two mistakes. Well in the past 3 months I have been on the receiving end of two mistakes from my health plan!!
(an actual picture from a visit to my HMO)
I went to refill a perscription and the pharmacist asked me, "Do you want drug Z? I see that you have an order for it you haven't filled." In this case drug Z happened to be a mild pain reliever so I said sure thing, give it to me. Well when I checked the label at home it was a prescription from a doctor I had never seen. Someone else's prescription had become mine. But what if it wasn't something as benign as it was? What if it was something that would have been dangerous for me to take? Or a narcotic pain killer? What if the person wasn't an ex health professional like myself who knew what the drug was in the first place?

I trusted that the pharmacy was giving my something I really had been ordered to take. They trusted me I would say yes to something that I knew I was supposed to be getting. They failed at first and I failed when I got home and realized it wasn't something for me. But hey, I now have prescription strength Naproxen.

And today in the mail I received a letter I will type out for you:

4/26/2010

Re: Rowdy M Xxxxxx
XXXXXXXXXXXXX St
San Diego, CA 9XXXX

Your health is important to us. Our records indicate that you were placed on a wait list for an appointment in Obstetrics and Gynecology Department. We are making attempts to contact you by mail and phone to schedule your appointment.

Blah Blah Blah it goes on from there. So not only did I never ask for an appointment in OB/GYN I am a GUY!! Hello?!?!?!? Now they are asking me to go to an appointment for something I never asked for but can't even physically qualify for! Yet when I hurt myself and need a twisted joint or broken bone looked at it is almost impossible to get an appointment.

Hopefully you are like me and you find this more exasperatingly funny rather than scary. Ok, I've made my own mistakes but I made two in 6 years. But to be the recipient of two in two months?

My lesson for you, dear readers? Be smart and be in charge of your own health care. You never know when they will want you up in stirrups when it really isn't your turn.

Rowdy! What is best in life?

Conan would say it is this:

If you were to ask me, "Rowdy, what is best in life?" I would strike whatever pose I could for where I was that the gave the impression of regal, calm strength and in my best Conan the barbarian voice(not the TV host who I don't really like) say:

"Riding motorcycles. A hot shower. And to eat candy everyday!"

oooorrrrrrr

"Warm weather at the beach. Tapping someone out. And getting a haircut"

Rowdy channeling Conan would not say family, true love, puppies or things like that. Though arguably two of those things are better than even a Slurpee. Maybe even three Slurpees....

Put In Work!!!

The Real Cost of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

I have been doing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for two years and two months and today was the first day I felt like I really was getting it. Like my purple belt "fit".

So that got me thinking, what is the real cost in dollars I have spent to get to this stage?

I am not counting the money I spent to get certified at Ginastica Natural or the other stuff like BJJ t-shirts that are part of the social scene rather actually related to training. They are part of the addiction, but not part of the training. Nor am I counting any costs for my injuries as my health insurance coverage is 100% for accidents and such.

I have been doing BJJ for 26 months but have been out 5 months due to two injuries and one illness. All my calculations will be based of a 21 month time period to reflect this.

Lessons, unlimited class per month: $2,730.
Gi's, 6 different uniforms at $840.
Gatorade, supplements and other drinks. $525
Private lessons. $200
DVD's. $275
Mats in my garage. $375.
Mouth guards and dental visits for two broken teeth. $120
Exercise equipment $175.
Tournament entry fees. $ $380

That equals $5,620!!! Wow, one day of feeling like I "have it" has cost me untold hours and almost six thousand dollars in direct costs.

My brain is too frazzled right now to write funny captions. Or even put these pics in some sort of coherent order. Maybe I'll do it later. But for now be satisfied with these pictures if you can.

-The TSA type folks were not very friendly and were oh-so-super-serious about their crappy job boarding the boat. Get a life folks.

-"This soap makes my hands smell like 2nd grade"-me upon washing my hands with the soap in the room.

-At a bar/restaurant in Ensenada they gave M, who is 15 and K, who is 17, margaritas instantly upon being seated. At lunch time. In front of their parents. What?!?!? I'm all for a fun time, but seriously....

-My dad is doing great after open heart surgery.

-I can't wait to get my hair cut on Thursday. If you need a place to go I highly recommend Rinse Salon and Morgan. Check 'em out on Yelp. I've been going to her for years. When my hair ever looks good it is due to her. When it looks like crap it is due to me.

-I am working on getting stronger with hopefully not gaining any weight.

-I am not sure I would go on a cruise again. I would rather go to Hawaii again or just a resort or trip here. I don't drink, I don't gamble and I don't like to stay up late. So I am not really the "cruise" demographic I feel.... I had fun and nothing was ever bad or wrong, just my preference.

-Anywhere I go I either get a x-mas tree ornament or a fridge magnet. This trip it was an octopus groping Santa Claus ornament.

I'm Back!

OK, I'm back from my cruise! Soon to have more new and exciting stories and photos for you, dear readers!

!

There, now this post has 3 exclamation points.

The most inane thing I have heard in a long time. A week.

As I heard it:

Broccoli was invented by an Englishman at the turn of the 20th century. He invented it by crossing cauliflower and asparagus. Or something like that.

Well people really liked it and it spread through all the world and he became very rich from the sale and spread of this new vegetable.The Englishman's last name was Broccoli and that is where it received its name. The family's fortune grew so great that his grandson needed something to spend all the money on. So he decided to become a movie producer and start the James Bond franchise with his family's fortune.
And that is where broccoli came from and how it was what got the James Bond movies started.

Can you actually believe this?? Of course it is all crap other than the fact that A. R Broccoli was involved with the 007 films. 30 seconds on Wikipedia could have saved the speaker the embarrassment of being known in my mind forever now as Mr. Asinine.

From last year.

underhooks rowdy, underhooks!

Updates

My dad is doing well so far, following open heart surgery. So I am thankful for that.

My leg soreness has gone down enough I was able to go back to jiu jitsu today.

My Ginastica Natural business is not floundering, but not taking off either.

I finally got the Slurpee I have been craving for a week today.

I go on my first cruise this Friday, out of Long Beach. A 4 day Mexico one. Too bad I can't get a tan....

I haven't taken anything to help me sleep or had a nightmare in over a week.

I'm making my famous spaghetti for dinner tonight.

I am going to a "trivia tuesday" night for the first time tonight up in RB at Kelly's.

Salt Lake City 1/2 Marathon and more

Possibly one of THE worst pictures of me ever. My sisters look great for it being 0515....Black eye, swollen face, crazy hair, squinty. Man this is just a fugly pic of me.... but I'm still gonna post it. hahahhaha

"Who's stupid idea was this?", from the police officer asking us why we were walking along the TRAX tracks, taking a shortcut to the station. It was mine. A $100 fine was threatened but not given.

"Do you think I can use the bathroom at __________?", from my sister at 0530 in downtown SLC. Um, hate to break it to you sis, but a real estate office is not gonna be even open on Saturday, let alone at 530 in the morning, for you to use their bathroom. Don't you know, you shoulda went before we left home!

"Could everyone please more to the right side of the train.", from the TRAX driver because the cars were soooo full they were bottoming out against the platform and they couldn't move. Later the cars would grind against the ground going around corners. They were so full at the later stops no one could even get on, and you could see the disappointed look on their faces, realizing they were gonna be late for the start.

"It's gonna come out!", my aforementioned sister looking very nervous, waiting to use the bathroom before the race. Five thousand people and they had 18 porta-potties. That is piss poor planning on all levels, pun intended. The dearth of porta-potties would figure greatly in my race strategy later.

"There's no shame in wetting yourself!", something a guy yelled at me while I was waiting in line to use the porta pottie at mile 6. Well dude, guess what? If I only had to wet myself I would have done it, but I wasn't going to do what I needed to do without stopping. I wanted to beat my sisters, but I wasn't gonna poop on myself to do it. If anything that would have slowed me down or caused me to drop out.

"Bacon! Get your bacon!", about mile 8 a guy was cooking bacon in his front yard and passing it out to runners. I wanted it, but did some quick thinking and assessing how I felt and ran to the far side of the street to avoid eating any. But props to him for making me smile.

And for the race recap....
mile 1: we are all together. my feet are starting to hurt. i turn off my mp3 player as it was totally annoying me. i'd never ran with it before and learned i don't want to race with it either.
mile 2: M and i are together. my foot pain is gone buy my calves are hurting.
mile 3: i am running by myself now. running about a 9 min mile pace and breathing easily.
mile 4: just still running.
mile 5: i eat my fist gu. my thighs are starting to hurt.
mile 6: this mile changed everything. the aid station was out of water and cups. i wasted NINE minutes waiting in line to use the bathroom. my urine was clear so i know the quart of cytomax i drank the morning of the race was still holding me strong. M passed me while i was in the bathroom. let's see......if there was 7 miles left and i just gave up over 9 minutes to her and she was running a 10 minute mile pace.... i needed to run 8 minute miles for the rest of the race to catch her. great.
mile 7: i check my heart rate monitor, focus on my breathing and start to really pick up the pace.
mile 8: the bacon guy makes me smile.
mile 9: gu number two and a little bit of powerade to drink at the aid station.
mile 10: yep, my legs are feeling sore. still no sign of my sister but my pace is good, doing 8 min miles and passing lots of folks who passed me at mile 6.
mile 11: still running.
mile 12: uphill, up State street. i had checked out the course map pretty thoroughly as I am unfamiliar with SLC. so i knew i had a pretty good idea of where i was and how many miles were left. i kept telling myself, 'you're strong. crush these people going uphill. be stronger than them'.
mile 13: i see my sister. i pace her a bit. then i run up behind her and SPANK her on the booty. hard. hahahaha. she then says to me, 'let's run together a bit and then sprint at the finish line' to which i laugh and just take off. i look over my shoulder a few times but she wasn't able to stay with me.

And I cross the finish line! Woo Hoo!! I was too fast for family to get a pic of me at the finish, but this will have to do.

My family was cheering! I got a nice race picture taken. My finisher medal looks good. My race shirt is crappy. The post race food is blah. The finish at the mall was very nice. My legs were totally dead. I was able to breathe through my nose the whole time.


And after days of trash talking I backed it up and beat my sisters. So the bet was winner gets to spank the loser. Exhibit A. Me, the winner, spanking the loser, my sister. (i love you sis)

***************************************************************
It was also a rare weekend where all of us kids were in the same place. So it was very nice to see all of my siblings, even if only for a short time.

I also got to play with my nieces and nephews a bit to. I felt like Uncle Donald hahaha.

Today, Monday, we are admitting my dad to the hospital for his heart surgery. So of course there was much prayer and talk about that, wanting all to work out for the best for my mom and dad.

I got to see J and M. That was nice. Though I think we sat around a little too much for their taste.

We went to a bouncy house place and the kids loved it. My dad, T, M, J and myself went to a driving range. I was the worst. Barely 140 yards at best.

I took everyone out to pizza for dinner at The Pie on Saturday night.

So that is my time up in Utah. All in all a good time too.

Ebay fun

My latest ebay purchase. I think I'll put it on one of my gi's.

I'm not even a light weight.....

So I was basically given the green light to be on a new TV show about amateur fighters.

Well that is until they asked me again how much I weigh...... Evidently the 137 I weigh now isn't good enough. They wanted me to be 150 pounds within two or three weeks. The most I have ever weighed is 142 and that took major effort. It would take me hours of dedication a day and at least 3 months to get up to 150. It isn't worth it to me.

For me, that is impossible. Oh well..... I was close. I tried. And it wasn't anything my fault that kept me from being on TV.

One day, I will be famous, I guess just not this way.

I'm only going half the way, not all the way.

I am going to run my first half marathon. This weekend. In Utah. With no prior training. On a whim. With my two sisters who have been training.

The furthest I have ever ran in my life is just over 10 miles. I haven't ran for fitness since January and that was only 4 miles.

And I have never jogged or ran on pavement further than 3 miles. I always run off road on trails and such. Dirt!

I will finish, no matter what. And if I beat my sisters that will be even sweeter! I mean, I am the older brother!

Half marathon, you and I are going allllllll the way!

Things Today

I liked:
Pizza at Mnt Mikes. I've eaten there in the Bay area but now that they have them in San Diego near my house I will go more often. Sorry Oggi's.

The iPad I used. I dislike the iPhone and the iPod, but I did like using the iPad for consuming entertainment. Will I spend $500 for one? No.

I saw a new Tesla up close for the first time today as well. It is just enough different and yet the same from the Lotus Elise that it is still a great looking car and the all electric aspect of this one didn't seem to hinder it.

Having the house keeper come and do her thing. Yeah for a clean house!

Getting a new point and shoot Sony digital camera.

Training jiu jitsu today and finally getting a little better about being aggressive and "insisting".

Brazilian bowl for lunch at San Diego Blenders with G.

I didn't like:
Getting a black eye at jiu jitsu.

The rain.

My new mouth guard. I hate it so much I am throwing it away. What a waste of $25!

A newly developed sensitivity to cold in the tooth I just had crowned.

Mas Pics de Bronze

My medal is solid metal, but it still can be hollow....

At this years Pan Jiu Jitsu Championship I placed 3rd in my class outta 5 competitors. That's great you say?

Not really. Last year I fought through a class twice that size, won matches and made it to the finals earning silver.

I should be happy, and I am, but I think I could be happier. Or at least feel better about being 3rd. But it feels kinda fake or hollow.

Either way, I came home with a medal again from the Pan Championships, and there aren't too many people who can say that. I also fought very well for someone who has only been in BJJ for two years, missed 3 months in that time due to injury and illness. And it was my first purple belt match when I've only been one for 7 weeks (one of those in the hospital). I also held the guy who beat me to fewer points than anyone else he has fought. Blah Blah Blah. I know I know, I am qualifying it, but not to take anything away from the guy I fought. I just am hungry for more wins and shinier medals. =)

I have a few more years in this class and I am going to win it eventually!!!

Keith P.- Thank you for teaching me I need to move a little faster and get better at sweeping people when I am using the half guard. Also that you can present a friendly face to your competitors but still be fierce on the mat.

Adam D.-Thank you for teaching me that things aren't always as they seem and anything can happen in a match. Thank you for showing me an example of sportsmanship in your match with GG.

Gene G.-Thank you for teaching me that even if I have to drag myself onto the mat that I should never quit. Ever.

Mr DQ-Thank you for teaching me never to let my fitness or diet slip before a competition and that I should never be pounds over the limit for my weight class.

2010 Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championships, Senior 1, Purple, Pluma. 3rd place.
ps-the issues I worked through with the sports psychologist never reared their head, so he was all worth it! Thanks Super D for the early b-day present.

My Toyota Story

I was an early adopter of the hybrid car. Well at least the hybrid luxury car with a Lexus RX400H in 2005. And since Lexus and Toyota are basically one and the same, I feel confident calling it a "Toyota story".

It was comfy, the sat nav was super nice and seldom wrong, it got 20% better gas mileage than a "regular" RX300 or RX330. But it did have its problems as well. The very frequent service intervals were always over $400, the paint scratched easily and we had an extremely odd electrical issue predating the current Prius issue.

Now, I was not the typical luxury hybrid user. In three years I put over 60,000 miles on the car. I drove it off road more than once in the desert using the all wheel drive to its utmost. OK, it even gave me the stability warning twice when the car was on two wheels. (by accident, uh huh)

Well one day driving home the Vehicle Stability Control VSC light came on just driving normally, where upon it cut the power to the rear wheels. It did this for a second or two and then drove normally. The next time I put on the brakes the Anti-Lock Braking System ABS light came on and the brake pedal pumped as if I were skidding down the road, not stopping at 10mph in my driveway.

Off and on for weeks the various traction control, VSC and ABS would engage randomly and not for any apparent outside reason. OK, in a $60,000 car this is totally unacceptable. Unless you drive a Mercedes and then maintenance nightmares should be nothing new.

The car spent 5 weeks at the dealer. They changed all the tires and brakes, including all the ABS stuff. No fix. They replaced all the car's computers. Twice. No fix. A corporate engineer from Los Angeles came down to diagnose the cause of the car's problems. Calls and emails were exchanged with engineers from Nippon Denso in Japan. One was even scheduled to fly from Japan just for this issue. (NASA wasn't a consideration for little ol' me evidently)

And then they switched computers in the car again. Fixed. But no one could say how or why it happened or was fixed. Spontaneous remission in the car world? Who knows? They don't and I don't. A little internet searching at the time showed no one else with a 400H had ever had the same issue and only one person had ever had a battery problem at that time.

To me, and unsolved problem in the Prius doesn't seem too far fetched. But I am also willing to bet on the usual "pilot error" of people just being morons.

Time will tell.

Never Look a Gift Rowdy in the Mouth

Woot Woot! In spite of my superhuman sugar consumption my dental hygiene overcomes!! Zero cavities again!

ps-I never got braces I know. Sorry.

I love classical music, you know like the Conan soundtrack.

Not the Fantasia version, but an odd Russian one:

Used in sooo many movies:

Conan!!

Truth

A man who has nothing which he cares about more than he does his personal safety is a miserable creature who has no chance at being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. -John Stuart Mill

To every man, there comes in his lifetime that special moment when he is tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing; unique and fitted to his talents. What a tragedy, if that moment finds him unprepared and unqualified for the work that would be his finest hour. -Sir Winston Churchill

A year in the life....

This weekend I hit two very strong triggers for memories I had long forgotten.

1-Deaconess Medical Center in Spokane Washington. This is the place where the beginning of my medical torment started. My first real introduction as a kid into all the painful embarassing things that can be done to you in the hospital. Alone and hundreds of miles from home. I hate that place but at the same time it saved my life.

2-Farragut State Park in Idaho. The first real camp out I went on as a Boy Scout happened here and it also happened to be the biggest one I would ever attend as well. Thousands (over 17,000) of people in the same place all seeking to be and do something better with their lives and sharing something in common no matter where in the world they were from. To walk through there again brought pleasant boyhood memories.

all over

Man, was I all over the place this weekend! I was in CA, OR, WA, ID and UT! I went from 70F and sunny to 24F sideways snow blowing.

I went from my house to a first visit to my biological dad's house to my other parent's house to my house. All in 24 hours.

And only one picture was knocked over due to SD's biggest earthquake in modern times.

Two words for the future, food storage. Or, emergency preparedness.

Pics of my travels will be added tomorrow.

this one and the next one

Tonight I'll be in Portland Oregon. Tomorrow I'll be in Spokane Washington and then Rathdrum Idaho. A return to the Pacific Northwest I left behind 10 years ago.

It will be kinda sad to have Easter on 'the road' and to also miss all of General Conference. It will be funny to be getting on the same plane as Killer in SLC for the flight back to SD on Sunday.

Next weekend at this time I will either be smiling like this:

Or unhappy at "you learn more from a loss than a win" like this:

2010 International Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation Pan Jiu Jitsu Chamionshis. Purple Senior 1 Super Feather. Bren Center at UC Irine, April 8-11.

Remicade

I've been getting Remicade infusions every 8 weeks for over two years now, with no side effects.

And for that I am thankful!