healthy & wise, as least

early to rise
your morning dose of randomness from geekadelphia
sometimes my ben franklin-esque tendencies (of the early to bed/rise type, of course, rather than the kite/key/lightning storm variety) backfire when i’m covering the pager. after all, i am definitely more likely to get paged at 10:00 pm than at 3:40 in the morning, since more patients and families are awake at that hour.

waking up 1 hour into your sleep cycle = painful, as i have learned since starting fellowship. waking up 6 2/3 hours into your sleep cycle (as i did this morning, at — yep! — 3:40 am) = not as bad, believe it or not. a brief pro/con analysis . . .

bad:
✖ i was totally unable to fall asleep afterwards (not because the call was something terribly difficult, but because my body just didn’t seem to feel like it)
✖ i will probably pay (in fatigue dividends) for this later!

good:
✔ i was able to finish an article on polyglandular syndromes which i was supposed to have read for a teaching session today
✔ coffee –> lifesaving nectar from heaven

i must have my rose-colored glasses on if i’m putting a 3:40 AM wake up call in a positive light, right? either that, or i’m just giddy to be coming off of the pager tonight at 5. the freedom to sleep (grocery shop, run, study, and clean) interruption-free will be sweet.

[. . .and, i was just paged again (5:44 AM) that someone let their daughter run clean out of insulin. not sure how that escaped mom’s attention until NOW, but yeah. come on 5:00!]

sigh. but there’s another up-side: i actually won’t be doing another straight 7 days of 24/7 pager call until november! this year feels like it is flying by already . . .

pen update
a little while ago, i wrote about ordering some pilot hi-tec-C gel pens from jetpens.com in a morning fit of self-indulgence (interestingly, between the hours of 5-7 am is when i most commonly fall victim to the lure of on-line shopping!).

i chose the 4 mm variety, as i actually prefer my point to be fine but not superfine. and i am now hopelessly addicted to these pens!

they glide beautifully across the page, do not skip or smear, and they leave a crisp, clean line. they make writing notes more enjoyable, and the rainbow colors are a must for my board prep.

at $3/pop they are not cheap, but i don’t think that’s overly exorbitant, either. interestingly, because they cost a bit more (and are a pain to get), i have been much better than usual about not losing them. definitely give them a try if you are in the market for a smooth, fine-tipped gel pen!

[by the way, this is in no way a solicited endorsement — i bought these myself and have zero affiliation with either pilot or jetpens. i am sort of losing interest in ‘reviews’ of free products and i have stopped accepting most offers. it was fun at first, but i started to feel weird about it. after all, how can one really give an unbiased opinion of something that was given away for free? and can i really pretend like it’s a financial hardship for me to buy a few granola bars to try out? okay, off my soapbox for the morning . . .]

triangle neighbors: where do you love to eat?
i’m happy to have finally gotten my favorite triangle restaurant page up (it’s slightly embarrassing how much time i spent on that). a few of you already wrote in with some suggestions — sara mentioned ye olde waffle shop on franklin street, and stevo recommended glasshalfull in carrboro, which we did try once and really liked. it got me thinking — there must be so many more places out there that i’m missing!

places i have not yet tried that i’ve heard great things about include the new [one] restaurant in meadowmont and cyprus on the hill (thought it looks pricey!).

any more recommendations for us? i’m always excited to expand my culinary horizons, so let me know!

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9.19.10

workout: 9 miles on the TM (alternating 9:13/mi, 8:57/mi, and 8:41/mi, 0.5% incline). (saturday i did 5 miles, also on the ‘mill, and 20 minutes of full-body weights). i was so excited to read the newest real simple that the miles flew by! but i am looking forward to ditching the pager so that i can get back outside.

old standard: all that restaurant talk made me hungry for old favorites yesterday! we headed to the loop and made what i have come to think of as our ‘standard’ order: one gorgonzola walnut salad + one medium portabello mushroom & pancetta pizza.

it was a battle of which pager would go off first . . .

unfortunately, mine ended up winning. but the call was quick and we were able to enjoy our meal interruption free!

up close & personal with the gorgonzola walnut salad with balsamic dressing
my favorite pizza in chapel hill – so salty and delicious.
board prep: i did a lot of studying this weekend! i am caught up in my plan, which is good, although tonight’s chapter looks to be epic (neurology). fun fact: UTI and abnormal bladder filling defect in a female toddler? think ureterocoele.