Notes from the Cave

Not much to talk about this week.  I know I said something to that effect on my last Cave entry, but it's really true this time.

WORK:
We started a new schedule at work this week, and it's taking some getting used to.  I was supposed to work 6 to 2:30 today, and showed up at 8 a.m. because I'm not used to that earlier shift.  Tomorrow (which is really today, since it is past two in the morning) I work second shift.  Then I work a swing shift on Friday, followed by the night shift on Saturday.  Then I'm back to an 8 a.m. shift next Monday.  It's no wonder I got confused.

In the last few weeks, I passed my 1-year anniversary with my employer.  In the past, a 1-year anniversary would have seemed significant, but I guess as you get older and move from career to career, as I have done, it's not that big of a deal anymore.  This is particularly true since there are so many people I work with who have been with the hospital for 20 and 30 and even 40 years.  One year doesn't seem like much up against that.  And I'm still the low man on the totem pole for seniority.  I am literally dead last.

STOMACH ISSUES:
My stomach issues, which I have mentioned in the past, seem to be settling down a bit.  I hesitate to say they are "resolved," but for now, I've been doing okay for the last few weeks.  I did have to take some Advil a few days ago, but it was just that one day.

THE FREE CANDY VAN:
I had to get some work done on my car last week (my car is not REALLY a van, that's just my Twitter joke), as my check engine light had been on for almost two months.  I was worried it was going to be something major - I guess you always worry about that when you aren't sure what it is.  It turned out to just be some kind of "sensor crank" or something, and it only cost a few hundred bucks.  That's a few hundred more than I had, but at least it didn't need a whole new transmission or anything, which is what I had feared.

ROCK BAND:
My oldest daughter and I have been on one of our Rock Band II streaks this week.  We will get on streaks like this where we play every day for a week or two, then won't play for several months.  She's the drummer,, and her favorite songs to play include Eye of the Tiger, Hungry Like the Wolf, We Got the Beat, and, strangely enough, Psycho Killer by the Talking Heads.  That was a song I'd never even heard until I got Rock Band.  She also likes Round and Round, Spoonman, and Man in the Box.  I think my favorite one to play is The Middle, by Jimmy Eat World.  (They were on Conan a few weeks ago, and I loved the spot he did as a commercial that night before the show.  He said something to the effect of: "We're going to have Jimmy Eat World tonight.  Don't worry, Jimmy no really eat world.")  That probably doesn't sound as funny written out in my blog post as it did when Conan delivered it.

READING:
I finally finished the book I've been reading since January - When Christ and His Saints Slept, by Sharon Kay Penman.  It was historical fiction, set during "The Anarchy" - the 12th century English civil war between King Stephen and the Empress Maude.  If you love historical sagas set in the Middle Ages, this one is for you.  It's actually the first in a trilogy, with the second two books continuing with the reign of Henry II and his queen Eleanor of Aquitaine.  These books are right up my alley because they are set during the 12th century - my absolutely favoritest period of English history.  The second and third books are on my shelf to be read.  The only downside, of course, is that this book took me two months to read.  It's a virtual encyclopedia.  I'm now onto some lighter fare in James Rollins' most recent thriller, Altar of Eden.

I'm not sure how I feel about the category headings.  Not sure if I'll keep doing that.  In any case, that is all.