Side effects

One of the interesting things about being on rotation is the strange things that are happening that are unrelated to my current actual day to day working experiences. In other words, rotations are supposed to teach me pharmacy things and other things I learn or skills I develop are mere side effects.

Since I am clearly procrastinating, here's a short list of my side effect lessons.

1. I do not especially like having a dog. I'm staying in a place with 2 big dumb dogs who are very sweet but also a nuisance. Compared to Fluffinella (our superior resident feline who is probably napping on a pedestal at home right now), these dogs are far too much trouble. One gets so excited to go outside that zie jumps 5 or 6 feet straight into the air. It is ridiculous.

2. Birds are weird. I dodge the chickens leaving my parking space in the very large driveway, then the ducks paddling in the ditch near the road before I leave the driveway, then the pheasant who likes to dart across to the other swamp at the first corner, and THEN there's a family of wild turkies a block away. The tom turkey likes to strut ever so slowly across the road while the hen and chicks just hover in the bushes JUST TO MAKE ME NERVOUS. I also commute passed a pond with 2 pairs of geese nesting in it that take their combined chicks for a stroll along the shoulder of the road every morning JUST as I drive by. Fools are just begging to be smashed and yet they appear to have at least 4 communal chicks. I'm unclear if they are actually aware of which chicks belong to which parents as they even have adjoining nests that I noticed on a walk last week.

3. I still don't like driving in city traffic. It is infuriating to just sit in the car on the road waiting. I don't mind the drive when the traffic moves but gridlock is too much. It is a shame that I can't arrange a carpool or take some kind of transit to this specific rotation.

4. It's very weird being a "grown up." I'm staying with a friend who's in her 50s and there's a resident child of hers who is not that much younger than me, say 5 years or so, yet I'm an "adult" and I feel compelled to do things like empty the dish washer and pretend/avoid knowledge of a variety of things (did I see that when my friend was out of town, there was an extra guest overnight? No, I have no knowledge of that per se because a whole group of folk was here when I went to bed and I saw nothing about any extra cars in the morning, it's a mystery!).

5. I still forget where I put my car all the time. I have learned to accept that I just need to park in the same place every time and not fret about it because I can only remember so many things. When I am in a strange parking ramp, I just take the reminder slip about where I parked with no shame anymore. Getting lost is silly if I can avoid it.

6. It will be important in the future to remember to keep a change of clothes either in the car or in the office in case of coffee-related difficulties that necessitate a change of attire.

7. I am pretty happy with my "right sized" lunches and I may translate that into unit dosing my dinners as well. (Aside: "unit dosing" is something that happens often in a hospital pharmacy, where a large bottle gets purchased and then each dose gets put into its own packaging so it is ready to be given OR where a special single dose package gets purchased.) Once a week or so I make something for lunches and portion it out into 400-600 calorie servings in a variety of jars. I'm finding that now that I'm a few weeks in, I am happy enough and survive the commute home with my stomach rumbling. I keep reminding myself that being hungry isn't a bad thing, just a part of life, and that I should adapt and that I WILL adapt in time. I haven't ventured onto the scale yet but I think I've lost maybe an inch at my waist thus far so that's something.

8. I am really lazy after work and will need to plan my daily exercise to happen BEFORE work if it is going to happen at all.

9. Sleeping remains crucial and I am going to go attempt to do some more of it. I still fail miserably at a sensible bed time but I am doing all right at getting up on time despite not enough sleep.