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 Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 12:15 pm
WebenBanu Sorry I haven't been posting lately, but I have been maintaining my contributions. Special additional activities included buying organic cheese, which is a new one for me- the shredded cheeses come in such small packets that I don't usually go for them, but in this case I actually wanted to limit our use of the item so it worked out great.^_^ Also, I bought a few new toys for my cat from the animal shelter, rather than a pet store- this way the profits from the purchase go toward helping homeless and abandoned animals. She loves the crackly butterfly toy- when she's not playing with it, she rests her head on it and goes to sleep. heart
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Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2005 9:49 pm
Yay, second page!
Today, I picked up litter all around our hospital grounds,
and I recycled paper, aluminum, plastic, and cardboard.
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Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2005 11:40 pm
I'v replaced all my regular light bulbs with energy savers I shower every two to three days to save water, general recycling hod on to my garbage till I fine a public wast bin to put it in. Help slugs, snails and worms off the streets and sidewalks so they don't get hurt or killed and I always watch where I'm stepping so I don't step on any insects. And at work we recycle!
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Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2005 8:18 am
Picked up beer cans on my way back from breakfast this morning. (sometimes, I hate college students)
I keep the lights off in my room during the day since we have a big enough window to let enough natural light in.
One of the shower heads in my suite's bathroom leaks, and the other people don't bother to turn all the way off. Whenever I go in there, if I hear water dripping I'll go and turn them all the way off. I have to turn pretty hard on the leaky one to get it to stop dripping, but it's worth it.
Most of my friends here are arachniphobic. When they find a spider in their room, they run down to my room to have me kill it for them, but I usually just take a cup and a piece of paper and carry it safely outside.
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Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2005 11:37 am
What have I done today... not much...
I put some newspaper in the recycling bin, and my dog used the potty outside this morning (I think it's better than indoors because if it is inside I have to use more paper to clean it up, and it doesn't go into the toilet, so it conserves more water).
I am also going to post the things that I did that weren't as good for the environment as they could have been:
I took a 20 minute shower with hot water ( cry I regret that now. I usually make showers as short as possible, turning off the water when I'm not rinsing off, and using cold water)
What I am going to do today:
read my books called Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash by: Elizabeth Royte, Walden by: Henry David Thoreau, and Eco-Pioneers by: Steven Lerner
research what kind of plant I will grow in my backyard, because I have a big bottle full of compost I put together in June still sitting in my garage.
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Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2005 12:29 pm
So far I've done everything I did last time. ^_^
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Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 5:46 pm
Today I recycled paper and plastic, and I've also switched to mixing up Gatorade (from the powder) to bring with me to work for a drink, which means that I'm reusing the bottle out of which I'm drinking. And then I'll recycle it when I'm done.^_^
Today I also helped to bring medical attention to a wild racoon who'd been hit by a car- my hospital does community service like this from time to time, in association with a local wildlife charity organization. They bring us the animals, and we donate our time, supplies, and experience.
I'm not sure if this counts, but today, in an effort to ensure that our practices were humane, I surgically stapled myself to see how much it might hurt. It looks painful, but we use them to affix patches of pain medication to our patients sometimes, and also to close incisions occasionally. I asked our doctor to do the first one, because I couldn't manage to do it to myself.^_^' I'm happy to report that it does not, in fact, hurt very much at all- and my skin's a lot tighter than a cat's, and is therefore providing a lot more resistance to the staples than a cat's would. I stapled myself a few more times to get the "line" effect, since we usually use these things in groups. So far, most of the staples have actually worked their way through the skin, which they don't do on cats, but I'm going to keep them in for a couple nights so that I can experience sleeping with them in. I'll let you guys know how it goes.
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Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 6:10 pm
WebenBanu Today I recycled paper and plastic, and I've also switched to mixing up Gatorade (from the powder) to bring with me to work for a drink, which means that I'm reusing the bottle out of which I'm drinking. And then I'll recycle it when I'm done.^_^ Today I also helped to bring medical attention to a wild racoon who'd been hit by a car- my hospital does community service like this from time to time, in association with a local wildlife charity organization. They bring us the animals, and we donate our time, supplies, and experience. I'm not sure if this counts, but today, in an effort to ensure that our practices were humane, I surgically stapled myself to see how much it might hurt. It looks painful, but we use them to affix patches of pain medication to our patients sometimes, and also to close incisions occasionally. I asked our doctor to do the first one, because I couldn't manage to do it to myself.^_^' I'm happy to report that it does not, in fact, hurt very much at all- and my skin's a lot tighter than a cat's, and is therefore providing a lot more resistance to the staples than a cat's would. I stapled myself a few more times to get the "line" effect, since we usually use these things in groups. So far, most of the staples have actually worked their way through the skin, which they don't do on cats, but I'm going to keep them in for a couple nights so that I can experience sleeping with them in. I'll let you guys know how it goes. Wow, you are dedicated. ^_^
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Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 6:50 pm
Eee....*shudder* I would never dare do that to myself... >_O
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Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 6:56 pm
Devin_Kruljac_Truessence Wow, you are dedicated. ^_^ It's something of a standard philosophy at our hospital- if you're going to do something to an animal, you should be willing to do it to yourself if it's at all reasonable or possible to do so. We don't ask any of our employees to undergo unnecessary surgery just to see what it feels like- then again, we're against doing unnecessary surgery on our patients, as well- but I've taste tested some of the nastier medications that I administer, and when we started buying a new vaccine that is delivered into the skin instead of underneath it, our vets and I tested it out on ourselves first. It's actually a really good learning experience- if you know what it feels like, then you know what your patient is going through, so when they resist you'll be more understanding, and it also helps you to know what to expect, and how to help them through any initial stages of discomfort. Taste testing has helped us figure out how to disguise the taste (through flavored syrups and other additions), and testing the vaccine procedure on myself helped me to learn what I could do to make the sting go away more quickly- a vigorous rub, in a more or less circlular motion out from the vaccination point usually does the trick.^_^ I recommend it to anyone who works with animals, or in medicine.
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Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 7:14 pm
WebenBanu Devin_Kruljac_Truessence Wow, you are dedicated. ^_^ It's something of a standard philosophy at our hospital- if you're going to do something to an animal, you should be willing to do it to yourself if it's at all reasonable or possible to do so. We don't ask any of our employees to undergo unnecessary surgery just to see what it feels like- then again, we're against doing unnecessary surgery on our patients, as well- but I've taste tested some of the nastier medications that I administer, and when we started buying a new vaccine that is delivered into the skin instead of underneath it, our vets and I tested it out on ourselves first. It's actually a really good learning experience- if you know what it feels like, then you know what your patient is going through, so when they resist you'll be more understanding, and it also helps you to know what to expect, and how to help them through any initial stages of discomfort. I recommend it to anyone who works with animals, or in medicine. Oh...I see. So are you studying to become a vet?
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Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 7:55 pm
rikuHEART Eee....*shudder* I would never dare do that to myself... >_O I couldn't do it to myself at first- I tried a few times, but ended up having to ask one of the vets to staple me for me. It was an odd request, "Excuse me, Dr. B- but could you please staple a piece of tape or something to my arm?" What was even more funny was that she knew exactly what I was trying to do, was eager to help, and started making suggestions for how to make it a more accurate representation of how it's done. rikuHEART Oh...I see. So are you studying to become a vet? No, I'm a veterinary technician. It's something like what a nurse does- only for animals, instead of people. I perform the daily treatments for our hospitalized animals, take radiographs/x-rays, do dental cleanings, induce and monitor anesthesia, assist during surgery and recover the patient afterward, administer vaccinations, check our clients into their appointments, obtain samples for medical tests (and run the tests, if they're done in-house rather than being sent to a lab), and also care for our boarding animals, and do any grooming procedures which come through (baths, shaving matts, etc.). I also review treatment plans with owners occasionally, and demonstrate how to give meds at home. Occasionally, they even let me answer the phone and schedule appointments- but I'm much better at working with the animals than their owners, so they usually keep me in the back.^_^
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Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2005 3:18 pm
Have you had any serious reactions?
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Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2005 4:44 pm
WebenBanu rikuHEART Oh...I see. So are you studying to become a vet? No, I'm a veterinary technician. Well it's still awesome that you will be helping animals for a job! ^_^ I'd do something like that if I didn't throw up every time I saw a surgery on TV... sweatdrop
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Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2005 5:56 pm
Devin_Kruljac_Truessence Have you had any serious reactions? None yet- actually, by this morning I'd almost forgotten that they were in. I'm a little worried about the staples working through the skin- they're not supposed to do that- but they don't seem to catch on anything, they're very superficial, and so long as it doesn't start hurting I'm going to keep them in until tomorrow morning. I'll remove them when I get to work. I'm greatly relieved by the way this has been going, actually, because if it had hurt I would have had to have refused to do the procedure anymore. rikuHEART Well it's still awesome that you will be helping animals for a job! ^_^ I'd do something like that if I didn't throw up every time I saw a surgery on TV... sweatdrop It is an awesome opportunity, and I'm gratefull every time I think about it that I've managed to land a job with this particular hospital. Being a vet tech can be heaven or hell depending on what kind of hospital and doctors you work for. Fortunately, the doctors I work for are wonderful people and wonderful employers. But I should probably stop raving about my job now.^_^ I picked up some trash around my house today, and recycled the junk mail that I received.^_^
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