Speechifyin'

A pretty good day at work today! We were busy enough, but not crazy-busy like it has been. That was good, because we had a lecture to attend today, and it lasted about an hour and a 45 minutes. What was amazing, though, was that we didn't even realize that that much time had gone by, because the guy was fascinating and such a good speaker! He's a Ph.D. from University of Iowa, and he spoke about positive blood cultures and the lab's role. Positive blood cultures are probably the most crucial thing we deal with, because it can be life-threatening in a matter of hours. I was so interested that I didn't even get a little bit sleepy, and this was after the lunch they gave us! I even asked a question after he was done, and I rarely do that. I'm always hugely impressed by people that speak so well and so easily, probably because I am the complete opposite. I've given little inservices at work, and I'm even nervous about those, although I'm okay once I get going. He came up afterward and toured our department, and was just the kindest, most likable guy, and SO knowledgeable. We all really enjoyed his lecture, and probably the thing I've liked the most about my job over the years is the fact that I still find it wonderfully interesting, and I still learn new things almost every day. One of these days I'll write about one of my favorite topics, how disease has affected history. Stop laughing, it's a lot more interesting than you'd think. One of the books in my stack is The American Plague, which is about yellow fever and how those epidemics shaped America's history. I'm sure you all can hardly wait for THAT entry! I promise, you'll find it interesting....

When I drove up into the driveway after work today, I noticed something tan on one of the bird feeders. At first I thought it was squirrel butt, but I looked closer, and it was one of our small hawks! I think he's a red-shouldered hawk. Here's a pic, a little fuzzy, but isn't he handsome?

Since I was downloading the hawk pics, I'll include a few recent others. Here are a few of the turkeys in our back yard--this was the day we counted about 75 of them, so this is only some of them! One of my friends at work, Alissa, told me that her husband Scott (a hunter) was concerned about me and my family, and didn't want us to get Avian Flu, so he was willing to come over and cull the flock. I said that was a very kind and generous offer, but I usually don't make a habit of going out and hugging our turkeys!

                                     

Here's a squirrel with cold hands. (Paws? They LOOK like little hands!)

Finally, here's our cat, Sheeba, checking his email. We suspect that while we're at work, Sheeba and Baxter (our friends Kim and Steve's cat) exchange IM's. That's okay, as long as they stay away from the kitty porn. <snort> Get it?

                                     

Addendum

Reader Bill wrote a great entry on his journal, Rosarium, about my "Dressing Down" entry. Check it out!