Thanks for...a slow run at work

I work in a high stress job. I love my job though. I was fairly picky about which positions I applied for and then subsequently interviewed. Physician Assistants are trained in a family practice based curriculum, which basically means we cover cardiology, respiratory, and diseases like diabetes and other "common" illnesses quite heavily and sort of get "introduced" to subspecialities along the way. Going into PA school, I knew I wanted to do orthopedic surgery. So when I applied for jobs I applied for orthopedic positions or ER positions. Both high demand, both challenging. That's what I wanted. I was lucky enough to land a sweet job in Orthopedic Trauma.

The summer months are chaos, to say the least in Trauma. Fast toys, more road trips, alcohol...all give us in Ortho Trauma a reason to come to work. The "Redneck Triple Crown" runs from Memorial Day Weekend, includes the 4th of July, and caps off with Labor Day Weekend. From the end of May to the beginning of September we are hopping! It isn't uncommon for me to work from 7 am (6:30 am one day a week) until 7 or 8 pm at night during these months. I don't complain though because it's what I chose to do. I enjoy doing it.

But, today I'm thankful for a bit of a slow down at work. As summer transitions into fall, everyone is home from summer vacation, it's getting too cold for motorcycles, the waterskis are hung in the garage, the fast cars are put away BUT there isn't snow yet so no snowmobiles, icy interstates, little old ladies on ice, skiers. So that means we are a bit slow. I will complain occasionally on weeks like this at work but lately it's been nice to have a bit of a break and to get home early. I have used the time to reflect a bit on where I am in life, where I'm going, and just relax doing things like reading, playing with my cats, a little "fall" cleaning, working on my new Stampin' Up business venture, those sorts of things.

So until that drunken snowmobiler rolls into the ER to start off the season, I've got a bit of a lull and I'm enjoying the extra time to myself. And no, these aren't "real" patients of mine but very similar to much of what we see...I snagged these from the web :)