who's soonger??

Saturday, March 30.

It is apparent that I am NOT doing a great job keeping this site up with new material. My apologies -- I haven't felt like updating this journal or upload some new scans. It's tough sometimes to find time and think of something new & exciting to write about, let alone find material to scan and post. Perhaps if more people wrote to me or sent me photos to post... it would make life much easier... ;)

Lots of things have happened to me these past couple of months. Still going out with the same girl. Still want to keep things under wraps, 'cause I don't wanna jinx things. My close friends have met D (her first initial) on various occasions. Things are going well -- she's keeping me on my toes and not getting me into too much trouble, so there's good news there.

At work ... things have taken a turn for the worse. What I had originally considered as growing pains has turned out to be no change whatsoever. My patience towards making the department more efficient has fallen on deaf ears (or so it seems). It starting to frustrate me that administration knows of my concerns yet seem to sit on their proverbial hands to do anything about it. I try not to be a chronic complainer but a person who wants more from his fellow staff -- are people's well-being too much to ask for these days? Or will it cut into a person's goof-off time? Sorry for trying to do my job (or asking more out from people...)

What is keeping me optimistic is that my contract expires at the end of September. I will be going (keeping my fingers crossed) that I will be going to Australia / Singapore at that time. The vacation time has been set and I will soon be looking for cheap airfares abroad. Things are not looking good at this moment, however. Will keep my eyes peeled for deals!

In the short term, I am planning on going to Chicago to meet up with Vince, my high school buddy that I promised to visit several years ago and will now be taking him up on his offer. Also a friend from the Love Boat tour will be in town at that time. It will be like killing 2 birds with 1 stone. To sweeten the deal, Southwest Airlines is having a 2-for-1 seat sale. I will book the tickets to make sure I can make the most of the special. It is about time that I am able to go out and enjoy.

What do I do with my current leisure time? Ironically, it's on the computer (but not update this webpage!) Today, I formatted my brother's computer (the main internet computer) 'cause it was giving me too many stalls / errors / program crashings / etc. Ironically, I had tried to fix things back in December but to no avail. This time, I made sure everything was in working order. It seems great right now, so I'm not going to mess with it for a while. I now get this weird Microsoft Networking box that requires input during the boot-up process, but overall, it is working much more smoothly. Whew!

I can't believe it's not much longer before my next birthday. The big 2-7. Not much of a milestone but I am now in my "upper 20's". Where does all the time go? Work has A LOT to do with time slipping away, right before my eyes. I think I am now contributing to the world, that is for sure, but how much am I making a difference? I think a lot of my frustrations at work is directly related to how I feel I am contributing professionally. Perhaps it is a lot to do with all the schooling I received in pharmacy school. It is so 'ivory tower' with regards to what impact pharmacists make on a day-to-day basis but I would like to believe it can be done, regardless of work place. The tools are there -- MDs / other healthcare professionals want more input from us and I think we have the knowledge and know-how to pull it off. The only rate- limiting step is how much time I have to do these clinical activities. I have a responsibility to make sure people get their medicine -- pharmacy is in charge of that. If somethings goes wrong with distribution, then I believe all pharmacists have to come back and make sure the basics are covered. Walk before you run... But when I see others take advantage (ie do more clinical stuff / goof off / etc) of those members making sure distribution is taken care of, then I have a problem with that -- why is it that it is the same considerate people have to sacrifice their limited (yet precious) clinical time? I had one of those pharmacists "try" to school me on how things work around the department and they encouraged me to take advantage of these people who, in their words "don't mind doing it..." Since when do people not mind doing other people's work? It's not a very healthy work environment, let me tell you! But that's the least of my concerns right now -- I am very curious as to what the new Michigan licensure requirements for Canadian graduates ... that'll be part of my next installment.

Sunday, March 31.

Two entries in a row?! That must be a new record for me this year. ;) It's Easter and did I ever NOT do anything productive. Got up late -- was on this very computer trying to figure out what was wrong with it. It's a networking thing that I need some professional help to fix. Not really "fix", per se, but some assistance to optimize DSL speeds. I think I have a solution but I have yet to try it out. Once I do it and it doesn't work, then I'll wait on the helpline... (keeping my fingers crossed that my temporary fix is on the money...)

After lunch, Pat and I went to see Panic Room starring Jodie Foster. I had some high expectations because this movie was directed by David Fincher, the same guy who directed Seven. Sure, he's brought out some not-so- good films like Alien3, but I thought I would give this guy a break. But I was wrong -- there goes C$7.50 down the drain. What to do when you don't have a very strong plot? One thing is for sure -- Raoul was played by Dwight Yokam (country singer) -- he was FANTASTIC! I really despised his character. Very good job for a singer. Otherwise, this one is no better than rental-quality. I was quite pleased to see the Star Wars trailer at the beginning. Can't wait for May 16!!! =)

The week ahead: outside of my birthday (for those of you who are reading this, it's this upcoming week!), there is nothing remarkable. Work every day. I am contemplating calling in sick on my birthday but I don't think it would be too fair for the other pharmacists... But then again, I might need that mental health day to keep my senses... we'll see how things go.