The nerve of him!

How often do you hear a pain management doc say that their patient is a wuss and a slacker? How about telling the therapist to "kick the patients ***"???

Strike that. What I meant was STUDENT. I was reamed out for treating his patient. "STUDENT? Why is a STUDENT seeing MY patient? This is a workers comp patient, documentation is very important for reimbursement!!" "Because I'm doing my LAST clinical rotation before I graduate NEXT month." I wanted to add that I have superior documentation skills and that he's only a D.O. for crying out loud. I also wanted to mention that he would have known I, a student, was treating his patient if he had read the progress note that he signed last week. Instead, I hung up the phone and cried.

Jerk.

The mini van

As I walked home from the gym this evening, I heard some bumpin music. From the corner of my eye I could see that it was literally making a car "bump." Upon further inspection, I notice that this was not a car, but a mini van. The bumpin' mini can be seen below.


My mom used to drive a mini van when we were kids. It was red. My sister and I wondered why we couldn't call it a "Mickey van." She was the typical West End Soccer Mom- without all the pretentiousness of course. She literally was the "soccer mom" of our teams for several years. We were totted around in that mini van to and from girl scouts, swim lessons, cheerleading practice, and GA's. Our family took it on trips. We had all the room in the world. However, one of us would inadvertantly get upset because the cow's were on "sassy's side" or the hay (heeey, mom! yes? no, look haaaay!) was on Pristen's side. Ah, the good ol' days before mini van's filled me with dread.

What amazes me most about the stereotype of the soccer mom driving a mini van (which is now transforming into a gas guzzeling SUV as the soccer mom vehicle of choice) is the variety of mini van drivers in reality.


Besides the soccer mom (obviously), we have several other varieties of mini van drivers. Notice I do not say owners, as some of these young drivers are in their parents mini. These new drivers think their parents mini is the bane of their existance. However, they would rather drive the mini than ride their Schwinn.


Another, younger varietal of mini driver is the hippie as is seen below. This driver is fond of wearing a beard (or armpit hair for the female variety) and slogans on his tee. Notice he also has a slogan on his mini. A rare sighting indeed.


Another younger variety that may resemble the hippie driver at times is the liberal mini driver. The liberal mini is often found at the local college campus during a tailgait (think The Best Man). This variety is particularly proud of his mini and will typically drive it until this beloved van runs into the ground. This mini driver is found of removing the back seats so as to store more hiking, biking, camera, or scuba gear. Do not be surprised to find several outfits, shoes, a sleeping bag or pillow stowed in the back of this mini.

An older variety of mini van driver is the Grandpa mini driver. He is frequently seen traveling at least 10 miles under the speed limit on I-64.

The missed call

The HR lady from Charlotte called me back yesterday when I was working. Of course she was already at home by the time I got off and could call her back. She said she was following up after the phone interview which was 1.5 weeks ago ( guess I should cut her some slack because she was out of town until last Monday).

Anywho. I'll have to make my decision before she gets ahold of me. I think that place is too big for me anyway.

Decisions. Decisions.

The nerd brigade

Boards review class is this weekend. It was from 8ish to 5:15 today and will be 8:30 til 4 tomorrow. It's torture! But, the good thing is that it just may be the trick to scare me into studying!

ALL of my classmates have jobs lined up already. Okay, so not all, but a decent number of them do. Of course, this is taking a sample out of the other nerds whom are taking the review class. They are reassuring me that, yes, it is awesome that I'm moving away. One of the girls' bf's actually lives in Greenville (if that is actually where I do decide to go). So, it's nice to know that they've made their relationship work over the past few years while being so far apart. Also, maybe I could have one acquaintance in that lil town?

I hope to get a life once my last clinical is over (and boards are taken) and will thus be able to write about more exciting things. Did I mention The Best Man is taking me to Cozumel, Mexico for graduation??? :D

The offer

I officially got an offer this afternoon. Let the haggling begin!

The details

The flight from Charlotte to Greenville, SC was only 15 minutes. Well, 15 minutes actually in the air. All the pomp and circumstance actually takes longer than that. The pilots couldn't have been older than me. Finally, had a "hot" flight attendant that meet the stereotypes I gained somewhere along the way. I sat next to an OBGYN and we chatted about where we lived and what we do or what I want to do anyway. He's from some island "near the southern tip of Georgia." He said he'd like to move up here, but his wife would be too cold. I found this funny as everyone in VA is telling me that I'll burn up (plus, they say I'll get an accent, can ya'll believe that?).

I went for a run down Main St. last night. There are trendy shops, galleries, restaurants, and bars all over the place. Everything looks brand new. It's all so clean. The streets are made of brick/stone and in the middle of town it looks as if you can stroll down the middle of the street- which could be bad because several times I almost ran down the "sidewalk" then noticed cars passing.

Then, I got to the park. Absolutely amazing. I really can't describe how cool this place is with words. Basically, there is a river and waterfalls in the middle of the city. It blew me away. I felt safe running through this huge park even at 9 PM. Quiet impressive.

I had my interview this morning. Needless to say, I was shy. However, I think it went well. Everything looked brand spankin new here as well. The staff seemed friendly enough too. I will hear from the director tomorrow. I'm really excited!

After the interview, I explored the town a little. Walking, I got to see a lot more than I had on my run last night. There were some really cute shops, several expensive shops, a few grandma type shops, a shoe store, and a couple jewelry stores. Man, I love shopping. It was all I could do not to buy anything. Having to put the rental car on my debit card was the only thing that held me back! They put a 300 hold on my card! How crazy is that? I guess I should have expected that since it was a several thousand dollar CAR afterall. Oh, well. At least it kept the shopping bug at bay!

Lunch consisted of sushi. Great stuff. I do realize I'm several hours from any fresh fish, which is quiet a bummer. They say, "Greenville is close to everything and next to nothing." It's 2-4 hours from Charlotte, Atlanta, Charleston and Columbia. It's also a quick drive to the mountains and a little bit farther from the beach. If I end up here, I think that's what I'll miss the most- being able to hit up the sun and sand on a whim.

Then, I went to another park. It is MUCH bigger, but not nearly as pretty and maintained. It does, however, have a TON of trails. There were a ton of runners enjoying the warm afternoon sun. Instead of changing into my running shoes, I took a much needed nap on a bench under a tree. The result: the first few freckles of the spring!

The minor travel snags

En route to Greenville. The flight to Charlotte, NC was uneventful minus a 20 minute delay, not grabbing a "yellow ticket" for my carry on suitcase, and not knowing where my second boarding pass was.

I'm hoping to figure this whole flying thing out by the end of the year.

The real question is "what to wear?"

I seem to have more anxiety about what to wear for my interview than the interview itself.

This is sure to change over the course over the next 24 plus hours.

The questions

I had my phone interview w/ Charlotte this morning. It went really well. I spoke to one of the directors for an hour. She painted me a very through picture of their facility and how they run things down there. This position would be a huge challenge for me, but I'd learn TONS and TONS!

Just got off the phone from the second interview, Charleston. I only got to speak to the HR rep for 15 minutes. She told me the base salary. Sounds pretty cut and dry. A director will call me back this afternoon. I hope to get more information from her.

Man, interviewing makes my armpits sweat! Time to reapply deodorant and sit around waiting for round two of this interview!

Update: directors are much easier to talk to than HR staff! The Best Man says this is because my personality is closer to the director staff than an HR person. BUT, she did tell me that they are interviewing several people, which I didn't need to hear :-P

The fear of being deported

The Best Man (aka the boy) had just made me get new wipers, a bulb, and some stuff to put in my gas tank. After having impressed the guys at Advanced Auto by taking 7 minutes to put on my new blades, I decided to fill up for the week and put the "stuff" in my tank. I'm talking to The Best Man on the phone as I'm about to turn into Sheetz for gas. The light turns green and yeah, I'm on the phone so I hesitate a minute before I step on the gas to take the L turn.

Next thing I know, I hear a crash and look behind me to see a big, pimped out, red pick-up truck w/ two Hispanic men in hats. I notice the cross and beads hanging from their rear view mirror are swaying haphazardly.

Then, I realize, the dude RAN INTO ME!

I didn't feel it or anything and thought okay, no big deal. We'll turn and then pull over to assess any damage. After having thrown my phone to the ground, I yell at it, hoping The Best Man will hear, but not be overly concerned, "The ******* rear-ended me!! I'll call you back!!" So, at this point I finally pull through the light. Next thing I know, the dudes are squealing in front of me and down the road. I yell at my car, "Andale, andale!" I'm frantically waving my arms in the air; shaking my fists; honking my horn all at the same time.

After a block and a half I come to the realization that I may have a gun pulled on me if I keep pursuing them. I pull over. Call The Best Man. Tears rolling down my face. I inspect the rear of my car. So, from various parking incidents downtown, my bumper doesn't look as spry as it used to. However, I note FIVE new nicks and scratches in the middle of my bumper.

Seriously, who rear-ends someone at 3 mph and speeds away unless they do not want to get arrested slash deported? That's messed up. I'd like to vote for more border patrol, please!

The itinerary

FINALLY got an itinerary put together for me for my first on-site interview.

Tuesday, 15
Fly. Arrive in Greenville around 8 PM. Pick up rental car. Plan to eat out??

Wed, 16
Interview. Check out town (ie. run, shop, eat). Fly back home.

I'm glad that it's all official and I had to do next to no planning (except for hounding HR persons).

Also. . .
I got a call from Charleston, SC! This was the original "dream." So, I'm ecstatic about this waterfront town! I now have a phone interview lined up for the same day I have the interview for Charlotte.

It's all starting to fall into place. Now I just need to practice not blushing and stuttering. This week has been extremely trying on my family, so this has been a positive outlet for me- well, that and going to the gym!

The measure of success

Bumper Sticker of the Day: "We seceded when others did not" seen on a white Tracker in the Y parking lot.

In other news: STILL no word as to when I'm flying out for the interview in Greenville!

Also of note: the 10k is this weekend!