WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE: "LIQUID"
So I suddenly, unexpectedly, find myself waking up on a couch in Asheville, North Carolina this morning. I can see mountains through the window, and it's actually a little chilly.

I didn't think I was going to be able to make this trip, what with the whole not-working-for-the-last-two-months thing and all, but a friend came through almost at the last minute with some frequent flier miles and hooked me up. Why Asheville? Another friend, someone I was in the Peace Corps with, is getting married here tomorrow. My Peace Corps group decided this would make a great excuse to have a four-year reunion, so this afternoon about 18 of us are meeting in a cabin in the woods near Swannanoa. Actually from the pictures I've seen it's not really a cabin so much as a big house that happens to be in the woods.

Anyway. I can't wait to see these people. It's been way too long. There will be bachata, and merengue, and jokes in Spanglish, and lots of rum. And pictures. There will be pictures when I get back. Speaking of pictures, it's Weekly Photo Challenge Day and the theme is "liquid." I'm going back to my Peace Corps days for this shot of my companera Chrisie showing off the brand new pink ponchera she just bought at the Haitian market. I'll leave to your imaginations what kind of liquid it's made to hold.

So I know you're all waiting for some of my awesome Tales of Nursing, but I'm in the middle of working five days straight on the floor. That's five twelve-and-a-half-hour shifts without a day off. I get up at 5:30am and get home some time around 8:00pm if I'm lucky. Then I go to sleep and get up the next morning to do it all over again. This does not leave a whole lot of time for blogging. Today is day four. Did I say I was happy about going back to work?

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE: "ATTITUDE"
So there seems to have been some confusion about this week's theme. When Glenn didn't post one, I went with an anonymous comment from last week that suggested "cats." Then Glenn finally got around to picking "attitude." So take your pick. We'll take either one this week. Extra points for pictures of cats with attitude. My "attitude" submission is from the "Deja Vu" topless club on Bourbon Street. I try to walk by this helpful sign at least once a day so I know how to feel. I'm working a 12-hour, Internets-less shift today, so I will link everyone's entries tonight.

Next week's random theme: "Liquid." And here's a bonus "cats" entry, emailed to me by "Blogless Kris" in Lafayette. He calls it "Small, Medium, Large." They all look pretty large to me. Damn, Blogless Kris, what are you feeding those things?

UPDATE: Check out Kyklops, Bud, Denise, Firehorse, Junk Thief, Bryan, Mouse, and of course Glenn.

So this will be my last self-congratulatory post on this topic, I promise, but in the whole three years that I spent working towards getting a "nursing license," it never once occurred to me that I would be receiving an actual license, you know, that I could put in my wallet and carry around with me wherever I go. And yet one came in the mail today. I am so whipping this thing out next time I get ID'ed buying beer at the Lantern. Oh, plus I guess I need to start shopping for a frame.

So I can't talk long. I'm getting ready to go to work. That's right, work. I hope I haven't forgotten how. I hope my scrubs still fit me. Do these scrubs make my ass look fat? Be honest. I don't think I've ever looked forward to working this much. I could barely sleep last night. I got up twenty minutes before my alarm went off. And that's after a night of celebrating at the Lantern. I hope I get good patients. I hope everyone on the floor remembers me. It's been so long. I can't wait to see what today's special is in the hospital cafeteria. Ooh, I hope it's the fried catfish with navy beans.

So I just got a phone call from my boss at the hospital. You know, the one I haven't seen in almost two months because I haven't been able to work.

MY BOSS: Dave, do you know that you passed the boards?

DAVE: No, no, I'm sorry I haven't called. I'm still waiting for the results. But, um, I've been meaning to let you know that, I, uh, I really don't think I did very well, and I may need to take them again.

MY BOSS: Dave, I just checked the state board website...

DAVE: Yeah, I know, my name isn't even listed there anymore. It disappeared this morning when I checked my status. That's why I think I must have failed.

MY BOSS: Dave. Listen to me. I'm trying to tell you that you passed. Your name disappeared from the website because it's been moved to the active list. You passed. You can come back to work.

DAVE: But... wait, I passed? Are you sure? Because I've already been studying for the do-over.

MY BOSS: Well, stop it. I'll call you back and let you know when you're on the schedule.

DAVE: Um, wow. Thanks. I'll talk to you soon.

So. There you go. And I, uh... I didn't doubt it for a second.

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE: "RESTAURANT"
From the Bywater Barbeque on Dauphine Street.

See also: Bud, Bryan, Voenix Rising, NOLA Cleophatra and Kyklops. Plus an amazing last-minute entry from Denise. Next week's theme: "Cats." Hey, I didn't pick it.

BOARD EXAM UPDATE: It didn't go well. I won't know for sure until I get the results next week, but I'm not feeling good about it. It wasn't that all of the questions were super-hard (although a lot of them were), but there was just a ton of stuff on there that I didn't even expect to see and didn't even study. Fuck. I guess I may not be going back to work as soon as I thought.

So I'm about to leave the house to go take the State Nursing Board exam. I'm a little nervous about it. Okay, I'm a lot nervous. And I swear, the next person that says to me "Oh, how hard could it possibly be?" is getting a judo chop right in the throat.

So it looks like I need to throw a bachelor party for my brother this summer, and I need suggestions. You know, locations, games, party favors, places to hire cheap hookers, where to buy penicillin in bulk. That kind of stuff. Anyone?

So I've finally cleared up all the red tape that's been keeping me from working all this time. Tomorrow I take the State Nursing Board exam. Assuming that goes well (and I'm not assuming anything at this point), I could be re-licensed and back to work at the hospital in about a week. Coincidentally, I was just emailed a link to a "60 Minutes" story on one of the people who most inspired me to get into medicine in the first place. I was lucky enough to spend a couple of days at Paul Farmer's hospital in Cange about two years ago, and the things he is doing there are truly amazing. Watch the video. You'll have to sit through an "Oil of Olay" commercial or something first, but it's totally worth it. And don't blame me if you quit your job and sign up for nursing school the next day.


Also: if you want to learn more about Dr. Farmer, read Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracey Kidder, and check out the Partners in Health website. I promise, neither of these links will cause a Rick Astley video to appear.

ONLY IN NEW ORLEANS
So I kind of have this thing about JazzFest where, every year, I convince myself I'm not going. It's too expensive, it's too crowded, it's too hot, it's become too commercial, etc., etc., blah, blah. This usually goes on right up until the day JazzFest starts, and then I decide to drag myself down to the fairgrounds, and I pretty much always end up having an amazing time. Of course it didn't hurt that I went for free this time.

People who attend JazzFest regularly talk a lot about "JazzFest Moments," little bits of musical magic and synchronicity that only seem to happen here. I've witnessed a few of them over the years, I guess, but nothing quite like what went down today. I was watching the Dixie Cups, a local group that's been performing here for nearly fifty years. You can't get much more New Orleans than the Dixie Cups, and they are a beloved institution in this city. They decided to close their show with "God Bless America" and right at the end, well, I'm not really sure quite how to explain it. It's a miracle that I just happened to be recording right at that moment, and I apologize for the poor quality, but look closely at what starts happening in the center of the big monitor at around the 15-second mark.

Only in New Orleans.