delays

Sorry for the lack of updates, but with Board exams (yes plural) tomorrow much time has been spent away from the computer. Today at work the computer system has been down for a better portion of the day, leaving time for last minute review and making travel/shopping plans.

But for today I thought I would leave you with this gem as heard on the local radio station id:

Cuter than a spotted seal before it becomes your dinner


And that is an only in Alaska moment prouldy brought to you from Bethel.

Why is the weather always clear at 2am?

I met up with my buddies on the LifeMed team just the other night. They are some good guys and always provide a good laugh. They invited me along again for a short puddle jump flight to Tuluksak for a sick baby- par for the course for me after all my travels during RSV season. It was literally a 15 minute flight but poor weather made us go into a holding pattern. Can you believe it?! I couldn't believe having a holding pattern to land at a delta village runway but it made sense. Despite the poor weather it was still one of the best flights I'd ever been on thanks to trusty
Eric the pilot. So a 15 minute flight turned into 33, those guys have great stories to tell. And an extra bonus is adding another village to my list of visited villages. This trip also provided some photos of tundra during the summer time. These will be added to facebook after this weekend when I go out berry picking for the first time in the tundra!

Really?

There is currently a student on site who had the great opportunity for village travel (as if Bethel wasn't remote enough). Now granted this student could generate a whole soap opera in what I've overheard so far, but thats too much for this space. Let's sum it in that she is in her final year at a very recently accredited school and on her first practical pharmacy experiece rotation. And she really wants to come back and work up here. Overall she's very pleasant to work with but I feel there are some delusions still left behind in her mind despite being in the bush country of Alaska for awhile now. As she was getting prepped for said village travel she was informed that it was a nice coastal village of ~500 people. She was then informed to pack a lunch to which she responded- "Oh what about a restaurant, I'd really like to eat at a restaurant". Needless to say there is no restaurant in said village and if you're lucky the store in town might have some spam and lard on the shelves but that is as exciting as it gets. Welcome to the real bush country of Alaska.

Counter the counter

Well we had a whole week of offer vs counter offer vs counter of counter offer (if I hear the word counter again...) enought to make your head spin; it sums into there is an accepted offer on the table pending the inspection. Whew!

Also spent time studying for the NAPLEX; need to overcome the overwhelming feeling of where do I start reviewing 4 years worth of education?

Payday came, payday went with an early overexcitation of getting paid more than expected...then distracted by a brutally high paced work day. A nice relaxation night of going out for dinner and paying for the first time in a long time and grocery shopping for the week. This culminated in a nice evening watching old Northern Exposure DVDs. It really is a great series.

Another relaxing Saturday sleeping in, getting our first booze run of the year, catching up with some people, online shopping- minimal purchases and creation of wish list should the new home come to fruition, and more Northern Exposure. Today however was a crackdown on the studying. I feel like I found some great resources for practice questions and then felt like there is no way I will ever pass this massive exam. Plunged into a law review instead. I also rationalized taking a topic a night for review and practicalizing the study by maximizing my test taking efficiency. All my friends did it so I can too!

Additionally I spent a lot of time compiling a law review not only for my benefit but also as a presentation to the current students here at YKHC. I'll also be nice and share with my new found frined and colleague who has yet to take the Alaska MPJE. As Alaska's pharmacy regulations are quite minimal, there should be a whole lot of information on federal laws to remember.

And now back to the books before bed.

Much ado about a lot of things!

In the past few days I have placed an offer on a house and FINALLY gotten my ATT and thus signed up for my Board exams. These are huge things in my otherwise uneventful life.

First off is the Boards: got the ATT and did a little happy dance right here at the pharmacy, people giggled. It was totally unexpected too; there wasn't any follow up to my daily calls or email, just a random letter in my box with my authorization code. And my other question isn't answered yet either, but we can address it another day. I had my choice from taking it in 4 days or taking it in 2 weeks. And yes I have been reviewing and studying, but that was a large weight to schedule the test that can determine the foundation of my career in under a week. So I went with the 2 week slot. This also gave me time to align my travel to Anchorage which is a pretty exciting thing. I am starting a LONG list in my head of things that I'll want to get and stuff into my 50lb alloted suitcases (hence I'm only giving myself one extra day of personal time in Anchorage to not get too crazy). I am dreading the almost 5 hours of testing and have opted at this time to not do the third law test all in one day. I have a year to do that test and will do it soon but just don't think my brain could handle 7.5 hours of constant strain. And I don't want to know how defeated that could make me feel.

Second now is the house: offer in, counter offer received, counter to counter in place. Hopefully final word by Friday. I am trying not to get too excited about it, but the inner girl in me is really enjoying playing house. I have to admit i started looking at paint colors already. Best comment ever was when Jake was asked his opinion he said that besides decorating being entirely up to me, it's not like he could really help pick colors anyway. Having the hosue within grasp is whole nother shopping list of items of itself too. But alas those will be put on hold until more paychecks start coming in.

And on that note, 2 more days til my first big payday!!!!! ...too bad I have a lot of it streamlined already into bills :(

A little pharmacy humor

Pharmacy can I help you ?

...yeah can you refill my cholesterol. I take it daily and Im out....

I believe you mean your cholesterol medication. Taking cholesterol daily is probably how you wound up with heart problems in the first place...

Fish!

We went on our first ever fishing trip upriver yesterday. We didnt catch anything, but at least someone on the boat did, Stephanie caught a King salmon. It was a fun afternoon though and despite being bundled in my sweatshirt still managed a sunburn. This also prompted us to have a serious conversation about jet boats versus prop boats and which one we might want to invest in come next spring.

On the home front, we have an offer down and now are waiting on the seller (happens to be the mortgage bank, ironically) on whether they will accept/counter/reject. We'll be working on getting an inspector in in the next few days too. An update from the moving company says our stuff is due to arrive in Anchorage on Wednesday after a brief steamship trip from Seattle. Then it's a waiting game, likely 2 weeks, at the airport as the cargo company is backed up with shipments. So there's a light at the end of all this.

More exciting news is the first paycheck is coming on Friday! and I can't wait. I've already come up with multiple ways of spending money but realize that wont likely happen until the 4th/5th paycheck has come in. But the new house will need a couch, some paint, some stools, a table and chairs, a desk and eventually get rid of the stained carpet in the first floor. Also more urgent will be getting a fridge and a working dishwasher, fridge higher priority than the dishwasher!

Delta Dentistry

Had the great opportunity to meet 2 new dentists out of Kentucky that are also new to Bethel, but I wonder if they realize what they got themselves into. Dental care on the delta is poor to say the least. Most patients would rather have teeth extracted then to try and save them and very rarely consider brushing nonetheless flossing. However, the other day I was observing our pharmacy waiting area and saw a patient flossing his teeth. It rather surprised me at first, but then I realized that wasn't dental floss he was using; nope that was the handle on his plastic shopping bag. I'm sure that had the dentists seen this they might have fallen over on the floor. And while the effort is appreciated, the execution is a failure.

Time

There's an unexplainable phenomenon up here that anything plugged into an outlet with a clock will inevitably run fast. I set the clock on the stove when we arrived and now almost 2 weeks later it's already ~30minutes fast.

And yet the people up here all operate on "Alaska time"- another phenomenon that unless you call someone every day, it's on a super delay and will get done when they feel it's appropriate to get done not dependent on your sense of urgency.

Crash!

Another bit of life wisdom:

New friends don't appreciate it if you borrow their vehicles but then run over their driveway marker on your way out.

It's ok, nothing permanent other than loss of a driveway marker.

A story, as promised...

And to appease the appetites for stories:

Our first Alaskan adventure came upon us last Sunday after an unexpected invitation for a boat tour of the Kwethluk river. Now it wasn't nearly as bad as Gilligan and the Skipper had it, but it was an adventure. The day was overcast and somewhat chilly, but that didn't stop us from packing a cooler and heading out with friends; there was an enclosed nylon cabin on the boat to protect us from the elements. We set out with Kevin, the subsistence teacher at McCann house and soon to be Mr. to Beth another pharmacist. We picked up Beth from the Ponsness's (another pharmacist and his family) boat after they had camped overnight on a gravel bar. We continued our way up river to sight see and eventually were able to see Three-step, a local mountain; not snow-capped or pictursque like Alaska postcards, but a welcome change to the continual tundra scenery. Soon after we got hung up on a gravel bar as the river levels are quite low. Poor Kevin had to change into his muckboots and push us back into deeper waters on his own. Water temp was most likely 40 degrees, so too chilly for us nonprepared folk to offer help. We decided that was far enough up river and to turn around. Soon after alarms started going off. Then we realized that we were out of oil. Kevin, usually prepared thought no big deal. But alas when he went to get his extra oil kept on board he soon realized his boss who had asked to borrow some the day before had in fact cleaned him out. So we floated downriver on the current and with the wid behind us we were cruising at a whooping 2 mph. We only had to float 6 miles to get back to the village of Kwethluk and cell phone service range. We werent too concerned as we didnt have any other plans and the sun came out and turned the day quite nice. After some many hours we had not progressed too far and the wind was starting to stall us. Soon we would have to worry about the tide pushing us back up river too. Time to start usign our McGyver skills. Kevin thinned the oil with gasoline and pushed the boat as far as we could go. Luckily that brought us into cell phone service range and we could call our rescuers. Then it was merely a waiting game and our energies were focused on keeping from running aground on the banks. We also noticed that we had taken on some water and fears of a sinking started mutiny rumors, but was not as it seems; we had merely lost a plug that was quickly reinserted and the bilge pump turned on. Our recuers had arrived with fresh oil and shortly we were on our way. We had about an hours travel time left to get back to Bethel and the boat docked. It was a mostly peaceful ride until we neared Bethel and the alarms started going off again; but we pushed through and arrived at the harbor. It really seemed like a short tour had turned into a day trip, but the nghttime brightness was deceiving. For though it appeared that the sun had just gone down it was 1am. Soon we were home and tucked into bed for a nights sleep before my first day of work. ..... Or so we thought until the smoke detector on our vaulted (and thus out of reach) ceiling started beeping every 30 seconds due to low battery....

Getting Settled

Slowly getting situated and realizing that this isn't just a vacation, this is a new life. Still shocking to run to the grocery store just for a few things and end up spending at least $50. Spent the afternoon touring town and searching out real estate FSBO. After an exhausting search I think we have it down to 3 different houses that we affectionately refer to as the dapper house, the green house, and the cranberry house. We still need to tour the cranberry house to ensure it's spot in the running, otherwise we are down to the pros and cons list of each property before making an offer. It's amazing what the variety is in real estate up here and justhow much your decision is based on curb appeal and location in this town. We drove by a couple listed as for sale, and scoffed at a few more asking prices. Also trying really hard to fight the temptation to buy more house than we really need. It is exciting to be thinking of wall colors for painting, potential layouts, and actually having matching furniture pieces! Say good bye to those college days and hello to the young professional life stage.

Even Longer...

I know it's been quite sometime, almost 4 months to be exact. Here's a quick synopses of the last 4 months: completed interview, accepted job in Alaska bush, finished school, graduated, celebrated graduation, traveled with family to NYC, watched softball games in Madison, packed a household for a cross-country move, said goodbye to friends and family, and then had an arduous ordeal in trying to fly out. Maybe I'll elaborate another time on the whirlwind encompassed in each individual aspect of that.

For now we are settling in to new lives in Bethel, AK. And for those that still don't know where that is, it is halfway between Anchorage and Russia. (Nope still cant see it from here) This includes the shock of cost of living differences and getting to know your way around town (only one paved road but 21 miles of gravel roads to get to know).

Looking forward to having a long weekend as being out of work got me pretty lazy and not ready to be back at 40 hours/week (Im sure many of you will grumble about that). I promise more regular updates (I'm starting a stash of stories to add). I will eventually get back to my daily posting and if not me I'll let Jake guest post when some interesting things come his way.

First Bethel moment for you to ponder: only one paved road yet already delayed by construction.