Thread Drift

[snapdragen]

OMG. I have a tale to tell about tonights family dinner. I will relay the adventure later - I'm tired and need to go to bed.

by the way

Tim Tams Rock!!!!!

[DirtDiva]

Well, duh.

Happy Christmas TD.

[Xrayted]

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all got loads of bike goodies. Hope you have a safe and happy holiday spent with your loved ones and various good friends.

Hey, Nanci! Here's one just for you and for the rest of us who have to work this day. May it be a peaceful one. For so many reasons...

An X-ray X-mas

By J. David Baker, RT

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through X-ray
Not a patient remained at the close of the day.
Lead aprons were hung on their racks with care,
In hopes there would be no more BE's with air.
All exams were complete, jackets pulled from the files,
And the finished film studies were stacked in neat piles.
The workload had just settled down to be light,
An encouraging sign of a coming slow night.
So, the visions were bright, like our Christmas tree star,
Even though Dr. Callem was still in ER.

After putting clean linen on all the rooms' shelves,
I was stocking the film bin with new ten-by-twelves,
When out in the waiting room rose such a roar,
I sprang from the darkroom, tore open the door.
But my wondering eyes could do nothing but stare
At a "jolly" old elf in a little wheelchair
As he whistled, and shouted, and yelled to the hall,
"Now, Pixel! now, Fixer! on, Duty! on, Call!"
His eyeballs - how bloodshot! his nose-tip - how red!
I could tell he'd pass out in a while, as if dead.

His luggage was loaded, also, with his gifts
For each x-ray tech on all of the shifts.
With a wink and a finger held up to his lips,
He unpacked some barium and enema tips.
Then he opened a box of contrast for CT
And set eight tiny nipple-markers under the tree.
I was paging Security, but he worked with such dash
That, before I could stop him, he'd flown in a flash.
As he rolled down the hall, he called out in apology,
"Merry Christmas to all - most of all, Radiology!"


Love to you all,
X.

[Nanci]

Very cute, X!! Merry Christmas!

Nanci

[snapdragen]

My Christmas Eve Dinner Adventure

aka: Top Chef Ain't Got Nuthin' on Me!

We have our big family celebration on Christmas Eve, I cook a huge dinner. This year it was a turkey breast, prime rib, roasted sweet potatoes, smashed Yukon gold potatoes, sautéed summer squash with cherry tomatoes, and dinner rolls. Not to mention the pecan pie, pumpkin pie, chocolate spice yule log, magic bars and fudge.

So, I start cooking about 11:00 - all is going smoothly. I purposely do not put the sweet potato peelings down the garbage disposer. Potato peels seem to block up the sink. After prepping the squash to cook later, I run the disposal - for the third time. Just as my mother comes in to say "run the water for a long time, that will help clear everything" stuff starts bubbling up in the second sink (we have a double sink). The sink is backed up.

I crawl underneath to undo the elbow pipe, hoping that's all I need to clean out. I can't get one of the pipe ring thingys loose, and end up tightening it. Enter superman - aka Dad. He can't get it loose either. After about an hour and a half of him trying everything known to man, he cuts the pipe, then heads to Orchard Supply for new one. During all this I'm still cooking and prepping. My niece is scrubbing potatoes in the bathroom sink, dirty pots and pans are put in the laundry tub. Dad is gone for a good 2 hours. He gets back, and discovers he has the wrong pipe. Off he goes, back to OSH....I start getting everything ready to serve.

I might add, while we are cooking, we are also drinking Champagne.

Poor dad gets back, and looks whipped. I tell him to forget it for now; my brother has emptied the water in the sink using a large bucket. Tell dad to relax, have some champagne. Carve the turkey, carve the prime rib, get everything in serving bowls, pour the wine. Dinner is served!

All without benefit of a kitchen sink. I shall now refer to this night as my Holiday Top Chef Challenge.

Next year I cook dinner without benefit of a stove!


Nah, maybe not....

Oh - this morning the pipes are back on, we've snaked them a couple of times (eww, gross) Now to do all the dishes from last night.

[Nanci]

I was walking down the hall this morning. In one place the carpet felt wet. I thought it was from BF taking a shower. Although I didn't know why the hall at the opposite end of the house would have a wet footprint. This afternoon, it's still wet. I investigate. The whole carpet is wet and the wall is soft. Great. Rain is leaking in around both my front windows, now.

Nanci

[Duck on Wheels]

Ohmygosh! Murphy's Law strikes again, and again, and again! You poor ladies! Hopefully, you'll get things fixed up and these will become adventure stories for generations to come. Ours this year was during clean-up from our weekend-before-Thanksgiving dinner. I was just putting the last dish of leftovers into the fridge when an alarm goes off behind me. It's the electrical short alarm. But everything seems to be working fine. Fridge is cold, compressor not running hard. Oven is off. Coffeemaker off. Nothing running but the ... dishwasher! And it's leaking all over the floor! We spent half an hour mopping it up, and then a week shopping for a replacement. My Mom's big holiday dinner adventures were (1) the first Thanksgiving in the new house when we didn't have an oven yet because of a steel strike. The turkey and pies had to be driven down one driveway and up the next to the old house, but when Dad drove the turkey over there Mom forgot to send the pumpkin pies. In fact, she filled them before she remembered, then had to walk them across the field and jump the creek with them, one on each hand. (2) The time we were expecting guests who would only eat their roast beef well done, whereas we all liked it medium rare. To get it just right she was using a thermometer, so the ends would be well done and the center medium rare. But as the tied-up rottisery beef cooked, it loosened a bit and the mercury thermometer started hitting against the top of the oven as the rotissery turned ... until it broke! Well, can't eat mercury-poisoned beef! Meanwhile, Mom was out shopping for last-minute ingredients. We kids called all over til we found a shop she was going to where she hadn't been yet. They gave her the message and she called back with instructions to throw out the beef and defrost a packet of steaks. She gets home, puts the steaks on the grill. They're done and the guests are ... late? But they weren't usually late. Mom checks the calendar. The guests were coming the next day.

p.s. X-rayted: Love the rewrite! Ok if I take a print-out to the New Year's party at the neighbors'? One of the usual guests is a radiologist.

[maillotpois]

Great story, Snap! I am impressed that you got through without a sink!!

Sorry about the windows, Nanci. That blows.

Happy Christmas, TD!!

(Oh - and I rode yesterday. And again today. I am TERRIBLE! I did 3 double centuries and a 600k brevet this year and this week 20 miles does me in. But I am on my bike and not coughing up blood, so I got that going for me!!)

[Kitsune06]

Lovely!

Here's wishing you an enema-free Christmas
and a happy new year.

You and Nanci both. Saints. Whatever your wages, you're not paid enough to do what you do; but the fact you enjoy your work and have a passion for it makes it worth doing, I suppose, all the more.
Have a good day, and be safe

[Xrayted]

Uh, yeah, Kit... no passion or enjoyment received on the barium enema stuff. NONE. Otherwise, yes... I love my job.

Heading to Mom's soon. Then straight over to the hospital for the rest of the evening. Here's a wish for a community of healthy people tonight.

BMo3 and CWR - it's up to you two to keep an eye on Kit while I'm occupied, ok? Ya never know what she's gonna do next.

~X.

[Kitsune06]

X! Thanks loads for your confidence... Much appreciated.

CWR & BMo3- Can you believe the Nerve of that woman?! *huff*

I don't suspect present unwrapping will happen today... xgf is at her parents' this morning and going directly to work... but that's ok. Honestly, I feel like I've gotten more than I knew to ask for (funny how there are things you need in life, but id doesn't occur to you to ask) already... tangibles aren't terribly necessary.

Home with the Outlaws after a cozy night last night watching movies and having a non-traditional dinner (miang kum salad, anyone?) has been wonderful.

[Trek420]

Uh, yeah, Kit... no passion or enjoyment received on the barium enema stuff. NONE. Otherwise, yes... I love my job. ~X.

With friends like these who needs enemas?