The "Overdue Day Off" Friday Random Ten

I was working yesterday-- in the midst of my third double of the week-- when I realized that I'm not actually done with my training despite the fact that I'm pretty much working as a dialysis nurse at this point. My unit is so short of people that they're trying really hard to accelerate training so they can get us on the floor working. Not a bad spot to be in. I like the job a lot; it's interesting and I work with a lot of nice people. And it sure is nice knowing I'm helping people in the process of making a living.

I was on overtime after about five o'clock yesterday, so I got a day off today. I used some of the time to catch up with an old friend on the phone, some of it to catch up on my errands and some of it to rest. It wasn't until I actually rested that I realized how exhausted I'd been; new job, tons of new skills, lots of hours. I still have a bunch of stuff to learn and skills to master. But I was showing a co-worker/trainee (who has himself shown me better ways to do things on many occasions) an easier way to put a tagaderm dressing over a catheter and had a moment where I suddenly realized what I'd done. I realized that I was doing things that I never would have believed I could have done just four years ago. I am trusted to set up a complicated and expensive machine and attach peoples lifeline-- their blood vessels-- to that machine and give them treatment that they would otherwise die without. It kind of blew my mind. And made me feel like I'd done something beyond making sure that I'd get a nice paycheck next Friday. And damn that's a good feeling.

And I have to admit that the financial aspect is something that's been satisfying. I have a nice little pile of debts that'll need to be taken care of in the next six months or so, and it'll get taken care of. But today I actually felt confident enough of my financial future to add internet listening-- at the cost of $2.99 a month over the cost of the basic service (which is $12.95 a month) to my Sirius/XM satellite radio. I got even crazier and signed up for the free trial of the New York Times on my Kindle; I anticipate being able to spring for the $19.99 a month for the service after the free trial is done in two weeks (it also allows me to have unlimited access to it on the computer). After four years of sweating about money, it's nice to be able to ease up a bit. And after 17 years of worrying about where my son's college money will come from, it's nice to stop worrying about that.


1. Twistin' the Night Away- Sam Cooke
2. Why Me?- The Planet P Project
3. It Isn't Gonna Be That Way- Steve Forbert
4. No Feelings- The Sex Pistols
5. TSOP- MFSB
6. Golden Slumbers- The Beatles
7. Time To Kill- The Band
8. I Hate Rock and Roll- The Jesus and Mary Chain
9. Pack Up Your Sorrows- Richard and Mimi Farina
10. Door Number 3- Steve Goodman


Notes:
1. This song always makes me think of the movie "Animal House."
2. A nugget from the early eighties
3. Forbert had a hit with "Romeo's Tune," but has a bunch of other great songs, including this one.
4. God, that one and only Sex Pistols album still sounds great, doesn't it?
5. Great almost-instrumental from 1974 (there's a chorus by The Three Degrees at the end). "TSOP" is "The Sound of Philadelphia," and "MFSB" is "Mother Father Sister Brother." The Three Degrees would later have their own hit with "When Will I See You Again?"
6. From "Abbey Road," the last Beatles album (Though "Let It Be" had been recorded earlier and shelved, it was released later)
7. From the great "Stagefright" record
8. I always have to crank this song to "11" whenever I hear it.
9. Mimi was Joan Baez' sister. Her husband Richard was killed in a motorcycle accident on the way home from the party to celebrate the publication of his book "Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me."
10. Goodman wrote this comic take on "Let's Make a Deal" with his friend Jimmy Buffett.