Macworld San Francisco

Last month, I was surprised with an inexpensive plane ticket and the opportunity to heed the call of the mothership by visiting MacWorld in San Francisco. For a geek like me, the experience was simply amazing. The conference took place in the Mosconi Center (ironically named for a politician who opposed its construction) and I spent the day and night in beautiful Union Square.

The stars of the conference for me were Apple (yay iPhone), Microsoft, and the modded Macbook with the touch screen. As I sat in front of the huge screen displaying the repeated iPhone keynote, it was hard not to be in awe of how Apple has miniaturized the Mac experience into a tiny iPod form factor. The iPhone could even be said to encapsulate the "best of" the Mac user experience. As the presenter reviewed the functionality, I couldn't help but smile as I viewed bits and pieces of Mail, Dashboard widgets, and other pieces of Mac OS X gracefully glide across its screen. I wish more had been said of Leopard, but I'm probably not the only one wishing that.

Microsoft was another star for me, but not necessarily for the right reasons. I was happy to finally see a long overdue Office update for the Mac. Now, remember, I programmed for the Windows platform for many years. They provided me with a paycheck, albeit indirectly. I WANT to like Microsoft. But post-Windows 2000, they seem to have lost their edge in the computer industry. I am not sure what behind-the-scenes shakeups happened post Win2k, but I can almost always predict when a particular sector of technology is on it's way out or is dying by when Microsoft enters the fray for it. They bought WebTV on its way out. They became the leader in the PDA world, but only because people were not buying Palms since cell phones became more powerful and PDA feature packed. Vista seems another me-too effort, for while they have modernized with 3D acceleration, much of it is altered OS X features.

I think a lot of Microsoft's problems have to do with the fact that as a public company, they have lost sight of the good of the customer to gain the favor of the shareholders and bean counters. When I started programming for a private company, the customer was king. We programmers were "cowboys" and creativity was highly encouraged, praised, and acknowledged, and the useful things we dreamed of integrated into our programs. While this lead to development that might be considered haphazard at times, the bonzai tree of our code was skillfully pruned and managed by our development leader and we won many awards for our innovation. The instant this private company was acquired by a public company, it was a complete 180. A corporate culture of fear dominated our development process. Us "cowboys" came up with dazzling and useful new features, but our creativity was squashed by the fact that features take time to implement and we had to get 17 bosses (for a programming team of 4) all aligned on if something was to be included. The way that costs were implemented on paper, even the smallest change for a patch ended up costing an inflated amount of money. This particular company had gone from private to public in the early 90s, and the lack of any modernization since then reflected in its dated appearance.

I hope that Microsoft does something to become more agile and less like the IBM of the 80s. Apple, while public, seems to have grasped the fact that in order to become wildly successful and please the shareholders in the long term, you have to be brave and not let the bean counters intimidate you. The flat hierarchy of the company that is well documented seems to eliminate a lot of political strife that could potentially mire an innovative product and strip it of any Not Invented By Me features that would make it truly good on the market. Apple also seems to be comfortable in leading, even keeping secrets, and not producing a product by marketing consensus.

One thing I wish that MS would do, but will probably never happen because of the bureaucracy is doing away with 32 bit APIs and rebuilding the OS from scratch, much like how OS X was created. They could have a discrete "classic" layer to ease the transition to a new, improved, more secure set of APIs, like how OS 9 functionality was temporarily supported in OS X. With virtual PCs and virtualization being the big thing, I think it is time for them to do some housecleaning and prune out vintage technology from the 80s and early 90s.

Alive and still kickin'

Wow, I was looking at my blog, and am stunned by how fast time flies. However, I have a good excuse for being away. :-) For the first portion of the summer, I spent my time in the various units of a psychiatric ward in a local hospital. One of the major assignments was to do a journal/blog of sorts about your thoughts and feelings on the events that happened during clinical during the semester. After completing each entry, I felt weary of writing and felt that maintaining two journals was redundant. So, now that the semester is over, here I am again.

I really enjoyed my clinical time this summer, even though I will admit it was probably the most physically and mentally grueling semester I've had this far. In six weeks, we were taken from newbie status to a point where we were literate in psychiatric drugs, able to do a good job at client teaching, and possessing a reasonable knowledge about a huge range of psychiatric illnesses. On top of that, we had to complete several large projects, read 8-9 chapters of our textbook per night, complete reams of paperwork for clinical, and find time to attend various support groups for the mentally ill. Needless to say, absorbing such a large amount of data in a short semester lead to many sleepless nights in a week. Some of my classmates with less stamina actually broke down mid-semester, so we ended up a few people shorter than what we started with.

Despite the demanding nature of the course, I did enjoy it and I learned a lot about myself in addition to mental health nursing. I found out that out of all the units that I spent time on (day treatment, acute, geriatric and overflow, drug rehab, and groups), I actually like working in the acute unit with the clients who are the most seriously ill and actively psychotic.

Anyways, I just wanted to post an update showing I'm still here and hanging in there, so I'll probably continue on in another post about my experiences this summer.

Nursing school - Week 9

Well, I'm now officially over halfway done with my first semester of nursing school. :-) Today was the big day to find out when we have our psychiatric rotation scheduled for the summer. I'm set up for 6 weeks of intensive hospital training during the first summer session. The second half I have free as a brief respite from school before the adult rotation starts in the fall.

In retrospect, I feel like I've really accomplished a lot this semester so far in the hospital. I can safely calculate med doses, administer injections, put tubes in various bodily orifices, and I'll soon start putting in IVs and administering medications intravenously. Considering that in the beginning, all I could do was make beds and give baths, I've really added a lot to the physical and emotional toolbox I have to help care for my patients. My patients, or professors of life (as I call them), have changed me as well. I've witnessed how terrible it is to judge and stereotype people based on their illness and/or its etiology. If you think about it, all that really separates me from them is the grace of God. I've seen glimpses of how incredibly resilient the human spirit is under circumstances where it appears there is no hope. I've cared for people in isolation being eaten alive by super bugs, people who are dying, and people coping with HIV, terminal stages of hepatitis, and AIDS. I've learned that although I may not be able to help heal all of the people who cross my path, the smiles and hugs they give me and the knowledge I helped make them feel better even for a little bit is priceless.

The next few weeks promise to be very activity packed. I have to learn many more skills and get checked off both in the lab and at the hospital. Whenever I've had time, I've been fascinated by the episodes of a new series on Fox called 'Bones'. The lead character Temperance Brennan reminds me so much of me. :-) I'm glad I'm not the only female nerd who generally likes humanity and has good intentions, but is a bit socially blind on pop culture and interacting with fellow humans. :-)

Nursing School - Week 5

This Monday marks the start of week 5 of nursing school. Already, the week is starting off with a great deal of excitement. Today, we had to take a medication dimensional analysis math test that we had to pass with a 90% or above. Otherwise...it's remediation and if you don't pass with a 90 the second time, say goodbye to nursing school. While some may think that's harsh, our school has no fear of weeding out the academically weak or undedicated. If you refuse to work to make yourself safe to work with patients, why should the school want you there to endanger the instructors' nursing licenses? Also, our focus on academic achievement has lead to an NCLEX-RN (test that must be passed to gain state RN licensure) passage rate that is remarkably high. The state publishes a list of nursing schools in Texas and the percentage of passing students. My school actually had a higher NCLEX passage rate than the majority of the 4-year school in the metroplex where the tuition in one semester costs 5-20 times my tuition in a year. And yes, we associate degree RNs take the same NCLEX as 4-year BSN students. :-)

Today was also the first day I got to pick, study, and meet a patient. Federal law (HIPAA) prevents me from really going into detail (as it should!), but I will say I got along well with the patient and the family. I was happy because I wasn't nervous, and the exposure to medical terminology from my mom's health care job (not nursing) helped me get oriented faster to the environment faster than some of the other newbies. In a lot of ways, my retail background and job experience has really helped me in dealing with people I don't know gracefully and I'm really glad I chose to do that to earn some extra cash rather than a computer job. Classes are really fun for me, and I think I've found the career I'm meant to do.

My graduation date for school has been set for December 2007. Already, the recruiters from the hospitals are swarming like flies upon my school, even talking to the still "wet behind the ears" ones like me. They are always visiting the school or our classes in the hospital to feed us huge meals, and I'm already accruing quite a collection of trinkets like bags and pens branded with hospital logos. My average day starts at 4:30am and ends around 10:30 pm with very little time for meals, so the food is actually very much appreciated. In addition to the hospitals, our nursing school also has frequent visits from the recruiters at 4-year BSN schools like TWU, TCU, UTA, and Baylor. Since our school has such a good reputation in the area for nursing, it's also opened a lot of doors as far as hospital staff being friendly to us. I'm really grateful for this experience and I'm doing my best to make the most of it.

Today is the start of week 3 of nursing school. The days in the past few weeks have melted and blurred into one another, a combustion of activity fueled by caffeine. It feels so good just to sit down for a moment and have a chance to breathe.

Two major events happened in my life the past several weeks: the start of a job and the start of nursing school. So far, my decision to switch careers to nursing easily ranks up there in the best decisions I have ever made in life. The blend of intellectual discipline and physical dexterity in my future career fits my personality and skills perfectly. The program is also very academically challenging and interdisciplinary, which obliterates the problem of intolerable boredom I had with the slow pace of university classes when I was an engineering major. In the past few weeks, I've had to study how various pieces of political science, math, psychology, biology, along with countless other pieces come together to form the field of nursing. This upcoming Wednesday, we don the official school uniforms for the first time as new student nurses. I'm so excited to work at the hospital!

As far as the new job goes, quite frankly, I believe I'm locked in the hold of a ship of fools. I really miss my old job, bless my former managers' hearts. Too bad the hours were so terrible there. My new store has to be the most disorganized place I've ever seen. From the severe mismanagement of inventory, to the schedule availability mistakes, to the incessant politics localized to the tiny fief of my department, the issues are too many to count. About the only thing it has in its favor is the proximity to my hospital and the fact the high turnover means as many hours as I want. Oh, and the customers are usually very nice and understanding people. Other than that, I just enjoy the dance of the negotiation of a sale and use the job to whet my hunger and motivation to get someplace better...I'd love to get my LVN license to work as a nurse at the end of the year while I finish my RN.

Well back to studying...

Day before School and T of H Scottish Breakfast Tea

Tomorrow is the first big day of the Spring semester! For 3 classes, I have 15 very large textbooks and have been studying the logistics on how to best haul all that stuff around. God bless whoever invented those rolling bookbags! :-) Today is the big day I start working on the floor at my new job. I was obligated by the new store to leave my old job due to the non-compete requirements, although I think it's kind of silly being non-management and all. :-( However, before I left, I was sure to obtain some great souvenirs in the form of dirt cheap cashmere, some elegant new work clothes and other stuff coming in this week that I bought with my discount to get ready for my new job. I got a nice healthy raise at the new place I'm working and my pay is tied closer to my sales (still not a commission, but closer though), so I have the opportunity to make some very nice money by college student standards if I apply myself while I'm there. A gaping chasm still exists between my current wages and my old engineering job, but every bit helps, and due to my accelerated school curriculum and my long term plans for my nursing career, I know I will soon surpass the wages most any engineer could hope on making in my home state in this economy.

This past month, I have been enjoying some of the imported hard-to-find English tea my boyfriend got me as part of my Christmas gifts (very sweet as it makes me appreciate and think about him even more as I make breakfast each day). The first box I tried is the Taylors of Harrogate Scottish Breakfast tea. If your only experience with British breakfast tea is the Twinings brand packaged in North Carolina (not imported), well, this tea will open your eyes to what a crime it is that retailers label those Twinings bark shavings as any sort of tea. Opening the box reveals a fragrant, dark, uniform, crushed and shredded black tea. The flavor and color of the brewed tea is true to Blue Moon's description: a bright, strong, amber liquor with a very bold, smooth, and malty taste. The tea also has a pleasant, almost flowery fragrance that is quite uplifting in the morning. Unlike Twinings N.C. tea, a prerequisite to this tea, by design, is MILK. Without it, the strong taste WILL wrench off your tastebuds and leave your head spinning, as this is a tea that treads the fine line between tea and coffee. Another plus to this moderately priced tea is that the attractive metal caddy is reusable, so you can just order a considerably less expensive bag of your tea as a refill when you're down to the last cuppa.

Homeless Chic

Still counting down the days until school begins. This week, my supervisor let me know that my store wants to keep me on as "full-time" part time staff after the season ends. Since the clothing has such a nice discount, my tentative plans maybe keeping the job as a weekend gig and finding another part time position to get more reliable hours during the week.

There has been an interesting new fashion showing in the men's clothing appearing at my store. Apparently, extraordinarily worn and holey jeans are the in thing now. I never have really quite understood the whole Abercrombie "homeless chic" thrift store style. When I was leaving work, I looked in at their front display and saw a line of jeans with enormous holes and even paint stains(!) placed strategically on the pants. Now, I can understand the worn jeans thing as being maybe an expression of individuality since old jeans wear differently over time and tend to mold to the unique lumps and bumps of the person who wears them, but when you flip through the stack of these new "old" jeans, the paint stains and holes are IDENTICAL, like they used a template! Oh boy, I'm going to be an individual, just like everyone else! I told my boyfriend that if one really wanted to be unique and individual, it would be best to dress beautifully in formal tailored clothing like Cary Grant or Audrey Hepburn, have impeccable manners, and take an optimistic view of America, our culture, and the future of the nation. On the other hand, the scruffy fashion has made it easier and kind of fun to guess someone's economic status, as the less well off are more likely to be fresh faced, have immaculately clean and pressed clothing, and neatly trimmed hair than most of the middle or upper middle class customers. And, I can build on a sale of men's jeans by adding our really nice store boxers since the holes in the rear of the pants expose so much underwear.