A little piece of Americana

So, the last few days have been a mixture of mandatory and non-mandatory fun. Thursday night, a group of us headed over to NNMC at Bethesda to go bowling (yes, the hospital base has a bowling alley). The first two games were rather pathetic, but I somehow managed to win the last one (with a whopping 126... doctors apparently don't bowl). We did have clever specialty-specific nicknames, though; I was Malaria, the pediatrician was Croup, neurologist was Guillain-Barre, urologist was Priapism, and the surgeons (there were three) were Abscess, DRE, and Train Wreck (which really wasn't all that funny considering the recent train wreck on the Metro). And if you don't know what any of those nicknames mean, you probably don't want to.

Anyway, Friday was 'mandatory fun', with a required picnic. It was ninety degrees and humid, so nobody stayed very long. Then we had Army vs Navy games in the evening. I don't know if I remember any of the names of the Navy interns, but it was fun to hang out when them.

Today was the DC BBQ cook-off (or some such thing) on Pennsylvania Ave, so some of us headed down there (and one surgical intern managed to get lost in downtown DC for over an hour before he found it). After waiting in a ridiculously long line to sample not-so-good food, we bought some really barbecue before deciding to head over to the Mall to see what was going on around there. The Smithsonian Folklife Festival was winding down for the evening with some traditional Welsh music, and the husband of one of the surgery residents brought a frisbee, so we found ourselves throwing a frisbee around the National Mall as the sun was setting over the Washington Monument with the sounds of fiddles and whatever else was being played in the background. If that's not Normal Rockwell enough for you, I don't know what is.

Navy In-processing

It's been twelve days of in-processing and orientation, and today I got to take all that fun to National Naval Medical Center--NNMC, better known as Bethesda. Yeah, not so much fun.

Actually, the day started back at Walter Reed, where I got my official Department of the Army (DA) photo taken (haven't seen how it turned out yet), followed by a visit to the official computer people to inform them that I have been using Essentris (the in-patient computer system) for the last two years and therefore don't need to be trained on it. Fortunately, they agreed, gave me my new log-in and password, and sent me on my way, right over to the library so I can do my HIPAA training (yeah, definitely not fun). And then I went home, changed out of my class A uniform (greens, which I wore for the DA photo), back into my ACU's, and then got on the Metro and headed over to NNMC.

There, I picked up my in-processing packet in building 8, deck 2 (2nd floor; they don't realize that their hospital isn't a ship); then it was over to building 2, deck 1 to get my NNMC ID and parking pass, over to building 10, deck 2 to get put into the computer system, then building 1, deck 5 to do all sorts of computer training, including over an hour of 'command training' on the computer. Fortunately, the computer modules give you the option of taking the test without going through the slides, which probably saved three or four hours. Finally, I finished all of that "incredibly useful training", and headed back to building 8, deck 2, where they declared me in-processed. Then I went back home and have been fairly lazy since.

PT test

We had a height/weight check and diagnostic (meaning it doesn't count) PT test today as part of in-processing. I was measured at 64.75 inches (two inches taller than I am in real life), which meant that I was within Army standards on weight, and didn't have to be taped (specific measurements used to calculate body fat). That was the first time I didn't have to be taped, so I was pretty happy. Apparently, they did that with quite a few people, because I was talking to some other girls who usually have to be taped and didn't have to this time.

It is rather unfortunate that the PT test is just a diagnostic, because I ended up scoring 297/300 (it would have been a 310/300 if they used the extended scale). The PT test is two minutes of pushups, two minutes of situps, and a two-mile run, and is scored on a scale that goes up to 100 in each category. For women my age (22-26), 100 points is 46 pushups, 80 situps, and 15:36 on the run. I did 44 pushups (97 points), 81 situps (I forgot to stop after 80; 101 points on the extended scale), and ran two miles in 14:20 (112 points on the extended scale). I was really surprised with the run, because I've never ran two miles that quickly. I was the second fastest female, which was pretty exciting for me. Afterwards, a number of girls asked if they could go running with me, so they can prepare for the real PT test in October. So now I just need to keep up with my current level of fitness (well, exceed it on the pushups) to get a perfect score on the real PT test in October.

After that, we had to quickly (very quickly) shower and change into our ACU's for a 0930 formation (although our company commander didn't show up until 1000, which made us mad that we rushed through getting ready and didn't grab anything to eat in order to show up on time). Then it was two hours of suicide prevention lectures (fun, fun, and not really all that applicable to people who have graduated from medical school--after psych lectures and psych rotations, there was nothing there we hadn't already had drilled into our heads), and then I ran over to the commissary to get gas (much cheaper than off-post) and do a little bit of grocery shopping before heading home, where I'm currently sitting around in half a uniform (ACU pants and my undershirt), because I'm too lazy to completely change. I think I'll take a nap soon. We have a social activity tonight in Bethesda (yay to social events I can take the Metro to...), and I want to be well-rested for that.

Being in-processed to death

So yesterday and today I... did more in-processing. It's a little insane.

Yesterday we had our Class A (green service uniform) uniform inspections, to make sure we're all squared away for our DA (Department of the Army) pictures next week. So we show up, get our TB skin tests placed (no, that doesn't have anything to do with uniforms, but it happened), and sat around with rulers and uniform guides making sure things were straight and properly aligned to the buttons and seams. Then, we all stood in company formation (that was entertaining, getting 65 or so interns into a company formation) at attention while a first sergeant and three lesser-ranked sergeants walked up and down the ranks with their own rulers and making adjustments. It was all sorts of fun. Then we changed back into our ACU's (Army Combat Uniform; camouflage) and went back to the auditorium to be in-processed some more.

Today it was more of the same (only without the uniform inspection). There's an all-morning mandatory training for everyone in-processing into Walter Reed, regardless of rank or position, so that's where we were. They were pulling us out four at a time to meet with personnel about making sure we had all the proper documentation to calculate time in rank (pretty easy for me; captain with zero years in rank. Other people, those who had service before med school, were quite a bit more complicated). Then a few of us snuck out (after going over the Army's regulations on HIV in great detail while at Madigan, I didn't need the dumbed-down lecture about) and got our new CACs (Common Access Card; combination Army ID and key to computer systems). I like the picture on my old one better, but I'd rather have the rank of my new one :)

I actually got to take off early today (around 12:30), because the class was scheduled for BLS (Basic Life Support? I have no idea; we just call it BLS. It's pretty much just CPR). Anyway, I'm current on that, so I didn't have to stay (yay). No such luck tomorrow, though; it's ACLS (Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support), which expired two months ago. I'm glad for the refresher though; I'll probably have to use it quite a bit in the ICU when I start there in July.

Furniture

I've been slowly unpacking and adding furniture to the condo; 'slowly' because I'm both lazy and tired from sitting around doing nothing all day. Anyway, today it was the desk and coffee table.

My desk. I've been adding more clutter to it since I took this picture. And yes, that is one of my dining room chairs.

The couch and coffee table. And yes, that's a giant pile of flattened moving boxes in the corner. I wish I knew someone who was moving out so I could get rid of them, instead of just sneaking them to the trash/recycling room on the floor and hoping that nobody notices (I have to imagine that my neighbors are getting pissed at the extensive number of flattened cardboard boxes I've been dropping off...).

So, I still need to buy rugs (I found some at Target that I like) and assemble the entertainment center, but I might wait until I can buy the TV stand to do that.

Tomorrow, ridiculously early report time. Fun, fun. At least there won't be much traffic at 4:30 in the morning.

More moving, and more hurrying up to wait

Here are a few pictures from the moving process:

The box maze of the living room. I could have had the movers unpack them, but since I had no idea where anything should go, I figured I should probably do it myself. Now, everything's been unpacked, and I haven't noticed anything broken or missing yet, so I'm happy.

A bunch of junk that had gone in my car. I somehow managed to fit 400 pounds of stuff in my car. I'm kinda proud of myself.

Anyway, onto other things. I'm now two days into in-processing/orientation. Yesterday was a long and painful day of, guess what, hurrying up and waiting. The best part had to be when we were told to hurry back from lunch to return to the classroom for in-processing at 1245. By 1345, we were all very confused and wondering what we had missed, because nobody came in to tell us what was going on. Finally, our company commander (who is also a captain, which makes for a frustrating situation, for both her and us) arrived to say that they heard forty-five minutes before that parking was running late. We were all rather upset that nobody had the common courtesy to tell us that before we sat around doing nothing for an extra hour.

And to make matters even more fun... We had to come in today to meet with finance. Well, finance finally showed up half an hour late, and then proceeded to run through a checklist of documents we would need for when we meet with finance again on Monday. Finally, one of my fellow interns raised his hand and told her that we already went through that sheet yesterday, and we all brought the proper documentation and were ready to fill out our forms. And of course, they weren't ready for us to be ready. So, in other words, we had to come in a Saturday for nothing. We were all happy about that.

We do get a day off tomorrow (yay...), but then have to report at 0500 on Monday. We're pretty sure that means that we're going to have a "surprise" drug test, because nothing else happens at 0500.

Movers, Part 2

The movers dropped my stuff off today, which was a really fast process--I think they were only here for an hour (not bad when you're talking about getting stuff from the loading dock to the 12th floor). I had the option of having them unpack stuff for me, but since I'm still figuring out where everything is going to go, I opted for doing it all myself.

Oh, my goodness, I have a lot of useless junk.

I have more room (in terms of square footage) here than I had in my basement/dungeon in Columbus, but I had a ton more storage space, so now I have all this stuff that I let accumulate, and no idea where to put it. I've already run three boxes of stuff over to Goodwill (in addition to the box before I left Columbus), and I've found more stuff that will be joining it. That is a definite downside to using movers--instead of figuring out what you want to keep before you move, you have to deal with it when it's already at your new place.

Anyway, I have pictures on my camera of my condo filled with boxes, but the cables connecting said camera to the computer are in one of those boxes, so they'll get up eventually (maybe).

I still have yet to buy living room furniture (couch, coffee table, entertainment center, rugs). I know what I'm going to get at Ikea, but they were out of my couch, so I have to wait until it comes in. Fortunately, this Ikea delivers, so I don't have to try to figure out how I'm going to get a couch in a Jetta :) I found rugs I like at Target, but I figure I should wait until my place doesn't look like a maze of brown boxes before buying rugs.

Good news--the Comcast guys are coming tomorrow, so I'll have TV and not-stolen internet! In a perfect world, they'll come early tomorrow and Ikea will have my couch in, so I can go and buy my stuff and have it delivered tomorrow (have to buy it before 4pm for them to deliver the same day). Then I can be more-or-less (well, less, let's be honest) settled in before starting orientation on Friday.

Movers

The movers are here, which means I'm camped out on the couch in my living room (not my usual sitting place, as my roommate already pointed out), trying to stay out of their way. I'm impressed; they've been here for two hours, and have already managed to pack up everything I own, something that would have taken me two days and a lot of swearing.

Anyway, not much of note has happened since hooding and commissioning on Thursday (and eventually, I may get those pictures up, but I think everyone's seen them all anyway). I've had a few dinners/lunches with people I'm going to miss when I'm gone, and pretty much spent the rest of the time sitting around, being a bum and enjoying my last week of freedom. Yes, last week--my report time is 0600 at Walter Reed on Friday, June 12. Uniform of the day: ACU (they sent us a schedule for intern orientation, complete with 'uniform of the day' for every day). It's a little intimidating, but I think I'm ready. Before then, though, I have to survive driving to DC tomorrow, unpacking my car, getting to Ikea to finish buying furniture, and having the movers bring my stuff on Wednesday. It's going to be a busy week.