Ariana

Congratulations to my brother Michael and Jessica on the birth of little Ariana. I can call my parents Grandma and Grandpa which is very fun. She's a cutie. She must take after her Uncle!

The Bucket List

This is the video of John Mayer's (yes Ryan, John Mayer) song for the movie The Bucket List. The song is one of those cliches that is only brought up when the circumstance calls for it but it is well said in this song...and the movie looks very good as well.


Music Videos - Say

Song of the Week

Week 2 of my song posts. This is Augustana. They have 2 singles out, Boston and All the Stars and Boulevards, and this is another off of that album. I think they have a good sound.

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Work Stuff

Dana has been telling me to blog about work since I started but to be honest there hasn't been much to blog about. The past 5 days have changed that. This may not be too impressive to most people but I've done 3 Norwood Stage 1 procedures, 2 Arterial Switch operations for transpositions, a Tetrology of Fallot and 1 ECMO in the past 5 days. I would say that MOST perfusionists don't see all of those cases in a year and a good few won't see them in their career. Gotta love paediatrics! It has been very busy as I've logged almost 100hrs in the past 9 days (yeah, 9 days straight) which is making me look forward very much to our trip to Rome at the end of the month. I've caught up on my case load for the year so I am back on track for my March exams.

Song of the week

I haven't blogged in a long time and totally don't have anything to say so I thought I'd start a "song of the week" to give me an excuse to blog every once in a while.
Enjoy.

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Edinburgh and beyond

Scotland, and Edinburgh in particular, is an amazing place. There is so much history in such a small area that it is unfathomable. The "young" artifacts and locations are a couple of hundred years older than our own Declaration of Independence. While visiting Edinburgh we took a day tour into the Highlands including Sterling Castle and Loch Lomond. Our tour guide had an awesome grasp on his country's history and talked for nearly the entire 4 hours we spent in the van recounting Scotland's past. It was fantastic.

I won't pretend to be able to recount (even in brief) much of what we learned but I will relay some of truth behind the Wallace fairy tale. Wallace was a huge man as judged by his sword and stood nearly a foot and a half taller than the average man. The story goes that after the death of his father and brother he was raised by 2 of his uncles. After fishing one day he was confronted by 5 English soldiers who demanded his entire catch. He offered half to them and they denied the offer and threatened his life. He killed all 5 soldiers which enraged the local sheriff. He was labeled an outlaw and it was discovered that the family of his wife/fiance' (Marion) was hiding him. Marion was taken and hung as an example not to harbour fugitives. Obviously enraged, Wallace attacked and dismembered the sheriff. Wallace went on to win a number of small battles but his most famous was the battle at Sterling bridge where he and his military strategist Andrew Moray defeated an English army more than 3 times their size. Moray was killed and Wallace was defeated at Falkirk where most of his army was slaughtered.

In 1305 Wallace was captured after one of the Scottish nobles John de Menteith betrayed him. He was drawn, hung, castrated, eviscerated, beheaded and quartered. Obviously King Edward I was making a statement.

That was a very brief report. It is amazing to be somewhere that stands on so much history. Edinburgh castle is built somewhere that has ruins dating back to around 850B.C. That's old baby! There is a movie coming out about Mary Queen of Scots which should be very interesting as she was a complicated figure. Anyway, enjoy the slide show!

Belfast

Last week we took a trip up to Northern Ireland and spent the day in Belfast. Everyone knows about the troubled history that has only recently begun to resolve in Northern Ireland but if you are like me the Irish Republican Army is the only group who's involvement is well publicized. We spent a good portion of our time on a black cab political history tour. I'll do my best to regurgitate the information we learned so maybe you can have a better understanding of what has been happening in N. Ireland.

Back in the 17th century a rich lord was given a substantial amount of land in N. Ireland. The overwhelmingly catholic community was expecting to receive jobs working the land, however the lord brought over Scottish protestants instead which was the beginning of the trouble. Fast forward to the 1972 when a catholic civil rights march to obtain equal rights was confronted by a British regiment that shot and killed 26 unarmed protesters. This was termed "Bloody Sunday" and began the organizations of the IRA which consists of catholics who want to be part of the Republic of Ireland and the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) who are protestant loyalists to the British crown. Both groups have been labeled terrorist organizations and have since become heavily involved in organized crime. Western Belfast is still extremely split between a catholic side and a protestant side that are separated by a huge Berlin-style wall that has gates that close at night or anytime trouble starts. You'll see the murals on the houses in the UFF neighborhoods of their heroes and on the IRA side a memorial we visited. You'll also see a photo of a house with a steel screen covering the back yard. People still throw things over the wall and the houses that boarder it are all protected. It was amazing to be somewhere that only a few years ago would have had army patrols to keep the peace. There are also pictures of a now closed down court house and prison reserved for terrorists.

That is the abbreviated history lesson. It was a very educational trip to say the least and one I'm glad I could see myself.

Newcastle

I just spent the weekend in Newcastle for the general annual meeting of perfusionists in Great Britain and Ireland. It was very interesting to go to a professional meeting that is meaningful to my career. I've been to national meetings before but typically only to satisfy my boss or pad the CV. I got roped into giving a talk as well which wasn't too bad and was actually quite an honor considering my recent graduation. I got out in Newcastle a little and caught a soccer game and took some pictures of the city. I intended to post them a while ago so with out further adu...

Irish coffee

I have finally found coffee I like. Irish Coffee! A good Irish coffee looks like a well poured Guiness. It is made from coffee (of course), brown sugar, whiskey and topped with thick cream. Delicioso! We're going to practice the fine art of creating these so we can provide our visitors with a traditional Irish beverage.

Run Dublin

The Dublin Marathon was run today. I was told that it attracts some 11,000 entrants, 2000 of which are from the U.S. It has been a beautiful day for it and our house is right about at the mid point. Here are some pictures from right our our front door. One of my friends said the American runners typically bring a lot of friends and family with them and they are responsible for most of the loud cheering that you hear along the streets. He thinks it makes for a great atmosphere.

I have cable!!

Today is a great day. My lovely wife agreed, nay, encouraged me to subscribe to cable TV and it was just installed. The normal channels are not horribly exciting, though there are channels like Discover, National Geographic, etc. plus a number of European channels that play American sitcoms all day. The real excitement comes from the fact that we added a sports package that airs football on Sunday nights...American football! Not only do I get to watch 2-3 of the Sunday games live, but I get a bunch of premier league soccer games as well (I'm probably the only one excited about that).
I hear it calling my name...gotta go!

The social system

I have to vent. Let me know if I'm off completely.

I read in the paper this morning that senior government officials have received around a 15% pay increase. This is amidst a huge budget crisis in which many hospitals are having to cut back service and all hiring has been suspended. It will cost over 19 million euro per year to cover the pay increases, which by the way were revealed the day before a holiday weekend. The chief of finance is now making over 370,000 euro per year. I suppose the saying "Socialism works great if you have the right people running it" can again be shown a farce. The government is reporting that it will have to raise taxes next year to accommodate its spending. I am still not being payed over-time (I worked 12 hours today) and people that can't do their job correctly are giving themselves enormous raises. The physicians I work with have been offered a 37 hour work week and will not be paid for any time over that (which means they probably won't be paid for working on Thursdays or Fridays because they'll be over their hours by then). The free market system could accommodate raises because they are in fact based on productivity and share holders won't pay for poor results. Even in the government voters approve such increases or show the government employees the door. These government officers now make more than the President of the United States, who is (throat clear) the leader of the FREE world. It is sad how dependent people become on such an inept group of leaders.

We just go about our business and hope for the best. Hopefully we won't be corrupted by this sour system. Be thankful for what you have, it could always be worse. I could go on but I'll sum up with this: When Hillary is elected urge your congressman to VOTE NO on government run health care, and send your HMO a thank you card!

Reserve your dates

Malahide Castle

This is an 800yr old castle just North of Dublin. It was lived in by the Talbot family from its construction until the mid 1970's when the last family member died leaving it to the Dublin historical society. Now you can play golf and football on the grounds.

Heart of Life (acoustic)

Some of you may or may not be wholly impressed with this song. I suppose, since it hasn't been radio played yet (I think) you may not have even heard it yet. At present I can't seem to keep it out of my head so I will try to get it stuck in your head now too.

Welcome to Howth

We took about a 20min car ride North of Dublin to a small fishing village named Howth. It is built around a hill that has a beautiful walking trail. The photos don't do it justice.

Wanna stay with us????

These are some photos of where we're staying. We were a little scared when we moved in to say the least but we've since gotten over it.


It turns out that this is where U2's recording studio is and the grafitti is all dedicated to the band. It changes daily as people come to add there devotion to U2.

Week Three

Today marks the beginning of the third week we've lived here. We can see normalcy down the road but it still feels like anything but. I survived my first week of work which was mainly days filled with orientation, etc. and I have hope that I'll actually start doing my job by Friday. It is tough being away from everything and everyone we know and can't wait to start having visitors. We really need to find our own apartment soon so we can get out of our suitcases, fill our cupboards and refrigerator. We've seen a good portion of the city of Dublin and hopefully we can get out of town this weekend. If we do expect some more pictures soon!

Still Moving

Sorry it took so long to get more pictures up. We were having computer difficulties. The pictures towards the end were taken at Trinity College in the middle of the city center. Enjoy the show!

On a Monday night.

Tonight we went out to dinner in a little town down the street from our hotel. We were eating in a parking lot next to the take out place were we bought our food and a group of 12ish girls walked by and said hi. We replied and the immediately they turned around and asked if we were from America. It is hard to understand the Irish but when you have 6 of them talking to you at the same time it gets really tricky. They wanted to where we were from and it went something like, "Are you from California? I love California...Yeah, it's my favorite country."

We really haven't found anyone who doesn't like Americans yet. Most of them want to know what it's like. They have a lot of American TV and I imagine they want to know if Americans are like they are on the shows. We must be huge disappointments.

Days 3 and 4

We finally made it to the ocean yesterday. We also found out where Bono lives and it is just a short ride on the Dart down the coast. We have found temporary living arrangements which is huge relief so that we can look and find a place that the cats can come to. If we can't we at least have somewhere that we can rent next month. I start work tomorrow morning which would be a little stressful but I think it will be a day of observing and touring around the hospital. It is becoming quite apparent that my days will be quite long and since there is a current pay freeze on overtime (courtesy of socialized medicine) my hours will be "banked" and hopefully I can use them for vacation which we are really looking forward to.

From my perspective.

We have been very fortunate so far. Every Irishman we've met has been more than helpful (save the customs agent at the airport). One old man actually walked up this long hill with us to give directions. He told us that his hips weren't helping...and neither was the beer! Ireland (or at least Dublin) has really become a city of immigrants. It is especially funny to see (or hear) people of different races -especially Asian- speak with an Irish accent.

Finding somewhere to live has been another story. My supervisor has offered us an apartment she owns to rent which is 2bed 1bath in a very nice area and even has a little porch to sit out on. She said her building does not allow pets so we are very torn to say the least (which I'm sure non-pet owners do not understand). We have found someone who will let us live with them for a couple of months until we find something permanent because even that apartment isn't available until October and 2bed apartments in our price range are very hard to find.

Today is the first day that the sun hasn't been out. Yesterday was quite warm actually and with all the walking we do it makes for some sweaty times. We have yet to see one drop of rain - good Irish weather indeed!

First Days

Our first 2 days are in the books. Yesterday we were so exhausted from not being able to sleep on the plane that we spent a good portion of the day in bed. We did get out last night in to town. We took the LUAS which is a light rail and met our first people. A self admitting alcoholic woman that chatted the entire time and a young college student from the Netherlands who was able to hold a much better conversation. We've had several trips on the bus as well. Today we spent most of the day in line, first at the welfare office to get a tax ID number and next to register with the immigration office. It was pretty much a complete waste of the day but a necessary evil. We may also have a 2 bedroom apartment lined up for a couple of months from now in a really nice part of Dublin. We miss everyone very much (especially those little Teeth!). Enjoy the slide show!

Last Night in the Desert

We're just under 12 hours from flying the coup. I got to spend the afternoon with my parents and grandpa which was nice because we won't have the holidays this year. To my parents I want to say thank you for getting me to a place in my life where I feel I have the opportunity to live life to the fullest. To our friends Ryan & Yunuen, Ben & Lis, Caleb, Liam, Phil and many others, thank you for sharing your time and lives with us. You have made our time here rich. We hope to see you all sooner rather than later. Dublin or Bust!

Team Ireland wins...again!!!

I'm not one to gloat but I feel it is my duty to report (fair and balanced) the score of the latest round of spades between Team Polican and Team Ireland. The Irish emerged victorious with a score of 506 to 446. Team Polican fought until the end but came up short yet again.

On another topic, we bought our tickets and leave at 7am Tuesday morning. We'll see you all in Dublin!

We're Off!

Today in the mail I received my Green Card. Now that we are legal to enter we will be leaving some time next week. I guess that means I have to go back to work and end my extended vacation! Oh well, all good things must end. As a wise woman I know likes to say, "Praise The Lord!"

Mighty Leopard Cat

We are spending our second day with my Mom since we've moved out of our house. The cats have been kept separate for the most part with short introductions. The latest was between Indi and Remington (medium sized boy cat). Indi sat up to give him a sniff and was promptly hissed at. She didn't take it too well and chased him over then under the bed and right out of the room. Her wild streak must have scared him! I think she'll handle herself alright, hopefully the sheepish Sharptooth will handle not being the center of attention.

Oh, and as a side note....my permit was just approved! We're leaving next week!!

Yeah, that'll fix it.

What is going on in Deutschland? Extremism seems to be the way of the land. In a country where marijuana and prostitution are as legal as driving a car and clearly more accessible than a fire-arm, we see the same scope represented in the political and religious views of it's leaders. Anti-immigration politician Geert Wilders has recently called for the Koran to be banned calling it a "fascist book," and the leader for the "committee of former Muslims" has just been attacked fueling already tense relations within the country. How do you solve such ill-relations?? Bishop Tiny Muskens thinks a resolution would be accomplished if people of all faiths called God "Allah." The statement received quick praise from the country's Muslim community, however, 92% of those surveyed disagree with the Bishop. Well, what do you expect from a guy named Tiny?

Y2K - Global Warming Connection

The DailyTech reports on how the Y2K hoax may have actually been more real than global warming. You can read the full story, but a brief synopsis is that while inspecting NASA's climate graphs, Steve McIntyre noticed a strange jump in the climate graphs centering around January of 2000. NASA would not provide him with the algorithm used to generate the graphs which was created by NASA's Reto Ruedy and James Hansen who became headliners when they accused the Bush administration of censoring there dire predictions. NASA has since released an updated version which shows that the hottest year on record was actually 1934 (not 1998) and that 5 of the 10 hottest years were pre-WWII. It turned out that a Y2K bug had corrupted the handling of their raw data. It seems that Y2K not only lead to pre-2000 panic over airplanes falling from the sky, banks losing all of their account information and economic destruction but can also be blamed for the current hysteria surrounding global warming.

The beard is toast!

If I ever have to go into hiding I have many possible disguises.

The Truth About Cats

I've always had a cat. When I was 2yrs old we lived out in the Tucson Mountians with nary another person around. My cat was my only companion (not to mention my intellectual equal!). This story is a reminder of why I'm a cat person.

Wisconsin Sickos

The debate in America is coming to a head and I've had numerous discussions with people regarding the potential consequences of converting to government run health care. It seems that we may not have to wait much longer to see the plan in action. Wisconsin's Democratic governor and senate have already passed legislation for such a plan which has been thus far rebuffed by the Republican run House. See the whole story here, but basically it will cost the average Wisconsin worker $510 more per month while becoming a haven for people who want free health care (you don't have to be employed to receive benefits) and driving out workers who can do the same job and save a big chunk of their check.

Birthday....continued

I just got the pictures from my birthday outing at La Paloma. Resorts are way cool. This one is at the base of the foothills and overlooks the city. We spent most of our time at the pool area which included about 4 pools and 2 spas that I saw. It also has a water slide!! I wasn't even the oldest person on it! One of the pools has a water fall into it and I'm pretty sure it is actively cooled. It took a little time to get in but it was really refreshing to get out of the hot sun. It was a really fun time. Can't wait to do it again!

Dentista

I just got done at the dentist. It was the first time in the last 4yrs that I had my teeth cleaned (sick I know). Fortunately I was cavity free. I am convinced after being there that the creators of horror movies like Saw received all of there inspiration in the dentist office.

I've always heard that you are never supposed to pick your teeth with sharp objects but the first thing they pull out at the dentist office is a tray full of sharp hooks. Can anyone explain that. I mean, it's like the NRA telling people that guns are bad! Dana got some numbing cream. Her insurance must be better because I didn't get that treatment. I'm glad it's over. Hopefully we'll find good dental care in Ireland.

Strawberry photos

Strawberry, AZ

We've been trekking around in the White Mountains area in a small town called Strawberry, AZ. I have yet to actually see any strawberries, though I did see some strawberry ice cream. Yesterday we took a little trip to a creek that was downstream of some hot springs (that we found out were "clothing optional"). The creek was NOT hot, but considering that even here it has been in the 90's it was refreshing. The exciting part was not the aqua blue water in the middle of Arizona, but the drive. It was a one lane road (ONE lane, not one lane each way) that was on the side of a mountain with a drop of about 500ft and no guard rails. Dana was white knuckled the whole way. It was really fun and beautiful. Pictures from the whole trip will be posted soon.

Ireland

Birthday Time

It was my birthday this past Friday and my birthday gifts were spot on this year. Dana got me a traveling humidor and a DOT approved travel case for my lighter so I can pack it and it won't be taken out by the transportation dept. My Dad got me a camel skin briefcase/laptop bag so I can graduate from backpacks. Ryan got a marble ashtray that is awesome! Nancy sent a gift certificate to the Tinderbox which I've already put to good use and my sisters sent some spending money which was greatly appreciated.Still waiting to see what my Mom has in store. Supposedly I'll find out next weekend. Thanks everyone. 29 was great. 30 may be even better depending on where we celebrate. Who's up for a party in Paris?..Athens?..Madrid????

It's Official

We are officially on the market. The house was listed 2 days ago and we've had 1 family come to see it so far. Hopefully it'll sell quickly so we don't have to pay the mortgage for too long.

The New Neighbors

A new family has moved in to our back yard. We have a bird feeder that was left empty a little too long and has now become a nest for a momma bird and her two eggs. I'll have some new pictures of the little guys when they hatch. Any bird watchers out there are probably real jealous!

Sudoku

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The jig is up.

We just got back from telling the last of our family the BIG news. Everyone is pretty excited to come out and visit. I'm just happy that I can finally talk about Ireland without worring that I might let the cat out of the bag! I'll be working as a pediatric perfusionist at one of the world's largest (volume wise) children's hosptals. Surely this will be our great adventure.

The "New" old Gibson

For Christmas 2 1/2 years ago my dad gave me his acoustic guitar that he had owned since the early 70s. The wood had cracked below the bridge and 30+ years of use had worn down the frets. Well, I got the cracks fixed a while ago and just got the frets replaced. I also found out that the guitar was made sometime in the early 60s. Now it sounds just about as good as any I have heard (as well as any the repair man had heard). Funny what can get passed down. No one really knows what it is worth, but being an heirloom, good luck getting away from me for any price!

Bold

JM covering Bold as Love...sweet.

Social Gospel

I saw this article on the "Social Gospel-100 years later" and wandered who is ultimately responsible for social justice and reform. Being conservative I am in the camp that supports individual efforts while others see that as a governmental responsibility. Government waste surrounding programs designed to deal with social issues is the very reason many on the conservative side support the "Faith-Based Initiative" that has yet to find its wings. Providing means without bureaucracy makes sense.

The article deals with other issues such as the dissociation of Christianity in its point of practice. I have yet to understand "liberal Christianity" in any sense. It seems like an entirely different religion to me.

This morning I got the final signatures to ensure my status as a graduate, which may be better than the actual ceremony tomorrow night! After 7 years and 3 degrees I'm finally done...today. I have nothing left to do. Just show up tomorrow to walk across a stage. That's it.

Life isn't exactly dull right now. Interviewing is exhausting. I've been home 2 days in the last 8 with long flights and early mornings mixed in. We still don't know where we're going but we've started accumulating boxes to pack up the house. At any rate, Sunday night is the big part-A. Feel free to send your congratulations, gifts and cash to Matt C/O......just kidding.

The Yard

Now that we're going to have to sell our house I thought I'd finally include the pictures of the "completed" yard (and by completed I mean including Dana in her robe on the porch...sorry honey!)

The sky is falling

I take offense to all the climate change talk that is suddenly headlining every media outlet. Let me preface by saying that I'm no climatologist and I don't pretend to have studied the science (and I do believe it is science) of changing global climate. I am educated and with the sword of logic I feel the need to tap into the fight - though clearly only to be heard in my local circle.

We've been tracking and recording climate change for around 100 years which in my opinion makes it impossible to predict future events with any accuracy having no knowledge of climate cycling. For example, I've heard that we may be in the middle of warming trend that melts polar ice caps to a critical level, lowering ocean temperatures, which in turn leads to colder average temperatures and the reformation of the ice caps. This may or may not be true but I think its worth consideration.

Secondly, I think the scare tactic that the poor will starve because of SUVs is pitiful. If you've followed the course of the headlines over the past few months you'll see that every new counsel, organization or whatever makes a greater apocalyptic forecast. First off, water does not vanish into space. I understand that small (very small) amounts are bound up and form another molecules but realistically if one place is in a drought, another is being flooded. It is just basic science.

What we have are people who risk ruining global economies (which would truly lead to starvation) to add another signature to the Kyoto protocol.

Looking for work

We (as in me) are still looking for a job. Prospects include: Florida, Virginia, S. Carolina and Ireland. Where should we go??? The idea of starting out in my field in a place that does things in a completely different way than I've been trained is admittedly scary, but it is exciting to apply everything I've been learning the last 2 years. I'll put a new poll to see where we'd get the most visitors if we move then we can know what to expect (and where to avoid!).

USA Blanks Mexico...again!

Kick-off


US goalie deflects Mexican cross.


Landon Donovan hits the corner to Jimmy Conrad


GOOOOOAAALLL!!!!!

War is Bad!

There is a lot of debate about the military these days. My personal opinion is that it is obviously harmful to our young men as it can lead to this.

Strange white...stuff

Better late than never right? Well here are the pictures of our yard after the "big snow." If you haven't seen snow in the desert (and you probably haven't) save these pictures. It'll be a while before it happens again!