Living life – Page 45 – Physician In Numbers

Re-entry

There’s an old joke about a man in the golf club locker room, hitting his head against the wall. Another man asks him, “Ron, why are you hitting your head against the wall?” And Ron answers, “because it feels so good when I stop.”

Errands Day

At the end of my short vacation, I had one day at home. I used it to run errands! I can’t say how excited I was to have an unscheduled day to attack all the loose ends at home. I suspect I wouldn’t have been so excited if I had the time to run errands and do house work every day.

As it is, I did plenty:

had a slow morning with coffee and my computer.
ironed some wrinkly pants.
ordered more checks. This has been on my to-do list for several months, and I’ve been worried I would run out before I got around to ordering them.
send in my passport for renewal.
arranged to frame a photo, which had come from Shutterfly a year ago. The orange package had been sitting on my desk for a year.
noticed that a local jewelry store advertises that it does repairs. On my next day off, I can bring some pieces that need help.
went to the bank to put papers in the safety deposit box.
bought a birthday present for a good friend.
walked home.

I think we are having a true staycation next month. I hope to enjoy a few more days of errand-clearing then.

Do you get satisfaction from clearing your to-do list? Or do you consider this a waste of a free day?

7 lessons from our recent road trip

9 PB&Js may not be enough

Packing a good lunch or two is an excellent start to a road trip. It cuts down on costs (at least $23, based on our return trip), and helps move the trip along, when you can pull out a sandwich instead of stopping to buy something. Packing a lunch is also good for your health. One may quibble about the health benefits of a PB&J, but it’s certainly better for me than what I might be tempted to get: burgers, fries, Dorito’s…

Unfortunately, when your travel partner is a very large man who exercises a lot, 9 sandwiches don’t last as long as you might expect.

Next time we’ll pack more.

If You Are Reading This

…then I have gone away for my long weekend (my struggle to decide was detailed in last Monday’s post).

I am going to be bold, and leave my laptop behind. There may or may not be a Wednesday post.

Wednesday Wool-gathering 3

Four random thoughts that I am not quite ready to flesh out into their own posts.

Go Away or Staycation?

I have a 4-day weekend coming up, and I am having a hard time making plans. I love this time of year at home, and it seems a shame to go away in the middle of it. On the other hand, my husband and I love to travel. I thought it might help if I listed some pros and cons.

Just What the Doctor Ordered

I don’t know if it’s come through in my writing, but I haven’t been feeling super for a few weeks. It’s been a combination of fatigue from all the trips in May and June, and getting a nice summer cold while working in the hospital.

I have just been feeling drained. The thought of exercising made me tired. Organizing or clearing clutter was too hard. Going to work and paying the bills were about all I could handle.

Then along came a de facto 5-day weekend (holiday hours combined with home coverage).

Wednesday Wool-gathering 2

Some scattered thoughts, gathered together to make one post.

Talk vs. Action

I had planned to blog today, but we have company coming.

I figured I could either write about wanting to connect more with friends, or I could work on making a visit with those friends more pleasant.

Until next time.

Spending That Future Raise

At the beginning of this month, I sent in a check to my mortgage company that was going to cover the “outstanding principal amount” for my mortgage. This may not be my last check–the amount listed was not the payoff amount–but the fact remains that I should soon have a lot more money available in my monthly budget.

This is likely the last time I will get such a salary bump, and I want to be smart about how I use it. Though I wrote about this one month ago, I am still turning over in my mind all the possibilities for using this extra money. The amount is not insignificant: the payment towards principal (including an amount to “round it up”) and interest is 22% of my take-home salary each month.

Since I am still thinking about it, I thought it might help me to be very specific about what I could do with it. If there are any recent residency grads about to start their new attending jobs, with their new attending salaries, I am hoping that this may help them think through what they will do with their bigger income.