Cultural Experience

We have a Japanese high school student staying with us for a few days. So far it's been a little stressful and fun. She's very sweet and hopefully we aren't too boring for her.

Nothing like a wall full of DVDs to occupy a teenager...

That and shopping. She is a girl, after all!

This came to be step by step. The 2-minute summary: when we went to Japan in 08, we decided we have to go back. But, it was a lot of work to get the trip together. I challenged my husband to take Japanese language courses, offering that if he took 2 semesters (and passed the classes) I would organize another trip.

Lo and behold, he signed up at the community college. There, he got in touch with a like-minded group of people who are enthusiastic about Japanese culture. His teacher also teaches at certain local high schools. She led him (and by extension, both of us) to the Japan America Society here in Kansas City. We joined. My husband also got involved in some of the extra curricular activities involved in the class and the JAS. We expressed interest in hosting a student or traveler.

The high school program does a Japanese exchange program with a specific school in Japan. While we offered to host, it may not be the best situation, because we don't have a child in the program. Yet, there was one family that could only host for 1 week. We could take the other week.

We signed up.

We took over yesterday.

She wants to call us Mom and Dad. That's so sweet...

Lesson for the day

Don't get toothpaste in your eye. It really hurts.

ROAD TRIP!

It's quilt bee day! Today we're going on a road trip to a shop in Lee's Summit, called Quilter's Station. They recently moved and have a new shop. It'll be fun to see it, and of course, shop.

I hope to look for some fabric to complement my NC State fabric, which I purchased for a quilt for a good friend who (of course) went to NC State. It will be her Christmas present. I really should get started soon, since I only have 9 months!

I also hope they have some clearance fabric that will make nice scrub caps.

And books or magazines. I could use some inspiration.

It'll be fun to be out with my friends. The weather is beautiful today.

Work Update

I haven't written about my job lately - mainly because I'm letting it percolate in my mind. I did the two shadowing engagements I mentioned earlier, but I haven't made up my mind. Dang it, despite my recent difficulties on the job, I still generally like the place. And, despite the fact that my good friends at the job are leaving, I still like (most of) the people. I still really like hearts/cardiology.

The GI lab was most compelling. There, you get to be a procedural nurse, which is similar to what I wanted to do with the cath lab. You also get to do prep and recovery, so you get the people interaction. You have fewer banalities to deal with because patients are in and out in 2-4 hours, not 8-10 hour or longer. No pooping and only a little peeing to worry about. No meals. Less life threatening complications.

Most appealing: I would learn something new.

The only thing is, I'm not sure I like GI stuff. During my shadowing, I saw my first endoscopy, colonoscopy, and bronchoscopy. It was OK, but not as compelling to me as blood and hearts. I didn't like how uncomfortable the patients are during the procedures, even though they are sedated and given local anesthetics.

I'm pretty sure I'd get used to that, though. At first, it used to bother me how some folks would moan in pain when we held pressure on the groin after cardiac cath. Not so much any more - I mean, I am sympathetic to it, but it doesn't make me feel bad personally any more.

(Well, every once in a while it does, but those are the rare cases)

Another complication is that I'm doing a study in my current job and it's not done yet. People are somewhat excited about it and I'd like to finish it. I have a chance to influence nursing practice on my unit, and possibly the whole hospital.

Being committed to a current project has gotten me in trouble before in my "terrific company" and spin-off experience.

What is the right thing? Is it cold feet at the thought of change? Or is it really time to move on?

And I so want to be recruited. No one recruits in nursing. Why not??? The best nurses, the best team players, the best employees should enjoy recognition, higher pay, prime assignments, and influence, even if they remain at the bedside.

I will always be influenced by my previous experience in the software business. Recruiting is so much a part of the culture there. I wonder what it would do to the healthcare culture if we changed to a more free market approach? Especially in the context of the new healthcare reform in America.

We are unspeakably cruel

I mean people, in general.

I recently heard a podcast of This American Life which included a story about Lucy, an chimpanzee who was taken from her mother soon after birth and raised by humans. This happened in the 1960s. I could paraphrase the story in detail, however, it's rather complicated and long. Suffice to say, while Lucy was raised successfully, she still remained a chimpanzee and the family that raised her ended up dumping her in Africa when she became too big, strong, and incontrollable to stay in human society.

To the family's credit, they tried for several years to make it work.

The motivation was just deplorable - an experiment by a psychologist, who became the "dad" to the infant chimpanzee. Indeed, they learned a lot about how much a chimp could become like a human, including language (sign language), potty training, and similar behaviors. They also learned that even with all this conditioning, the nature could not be completely overcome.

Lucy became unique - and not in a good way. She wasn't human, but wasn't fully chimp, either. She couldn't go to the wild, but couldn't remain in human society because she was too dangerous. After this became apparent, they took her to Gambia and left her at a sanctuary for similar chimps, such as former circus performers and pets gone bad.

One woman, Janis Carter, who had been Lucy's caregiver in human society stayed with her. This person ended up moving a bunch of the chimps to an island in the Gambia river, to isolate/protect them and let them build their own society away from the wild. Eventually, the woman left (there are valid reasons why leaving was necessary). She came back to visit once, and while Lucy was getting along, she was still different.

The second time the woman returned, she found Lucy's skeleton. Seems that poachers killed her and took the valuable hands and feet for black market trade. No one really knows how or why Lucy was killed.

Can you imagine- Lucy had been conditioned to trust humans, and she possibly walked unknowingly to her own demise. We trained her to be this way.

To me, to make someone so different that she doesn't fit in anywhere is, as my title says, unspeakably cruel. Humans and chimps are social animals, and to alter natural needs and inclinations such that the animal can never be satisfied is horrendous.

Sure, I react like a social animal to whom isolation is tragic. I feel compassion for other beings, and cruelty wrenches my heart. This cruelty seems even more sad because the motivation did not seem honorable, even - it seems like they didn't deeply consider the "what-if's" when they embarked on this journey. We humans have the capacity to understand the consequences of our actions, therefore it is imperative that we do so!!

Ignorance is one thing. Impulsiveness is another. Thus, the need for a review board for science experimentation. We know we are vulnerable to our passions, and we have learned that the collective wisdom of groups can help us see more clearly.

In this case, I don't think there's any way to make it right. Not like we can pay restitution to the survivors.

I take from this: we need a God (or higher power) from which to seek forgiveness for these awful things we keep doing. We also need a God to guide us to the moral ideal. All religions teach us how to be a moral society and we need that to keep us striving for peace and harmony. I doubt we'll ever reach it, but we get closer and closer.

My quilt is back!

My giant queen-size quilt is back from the quilter. It turned out beautiful! I am delighted! There are exquisite feathers in the white sections of the log-cabin blocks, and diagonal lines in the dark sections. There are pretty swirls stitched in the sashing. The boarder has a circular swirly design.

I know, I know, a picture is worth 1000 words, and yes, I'll post one. Oy, it's hard to get a picture of such a large quilt.

My Entrepreneurship

The hats business is doing well, and I am making more and selling more in person at work. Not so much on the Internet....

Oh wait, I just checked my email....I sold another hat! WOW! WOW! WOW!

Now I need to get off my butt and get some more pictures and items on the web.

I tried developing a new design and I have two coworkers testing them out. I need to stop obsessing about the "ultimate fit" and move on to the variations I have would like to produce: doo-rags for bikers, skull caps with ponytail pouch, chemo-caps. I found some fun fabrics recently in the remnant bin at various fabric stores and these should sell well, too.

This entrepreneurial endeavor is a fun game.

My Job

I have leapt. I have a date to got observe on another unit this week. I am working on another observation experience on a second unit, also.

I am sad about the whole thing, but after 3 months, I (think I) understand my manager, and we have conflicting styles. To me, life is too short for working in an incompatible environment. It's a shame, but it is what it is.

So now I will sing the song of "I want other experience, I want to broaden my knowledge base." Yeah, it's true, in a way. You know how the game is played.

Anyway, off to prepping my shipment!