#10 min break hallelujah

[b3ast0fburd3n]

At work, imagining Elias next to me just yelling like a line cook (I serve breakfast at a little hotel, that energy is not necessary)

[whentherewerebicycles]

oof had a restless night. first I woke suddenly in the dark absolutely convinced that it was 7am aka time to get up... only to discover it was 12:09, 40 min after I went to sleep. then I spent the whole night having those weird dreams where you’re trying to methodically do some boring mundane task that keeps getting interrupted in really frustrating ways. usually in those dreams I’m filing paperwork or typing out something over and over again but this time I was trying to access the illegal streaming site for nhl games but kept misspelling it or clicking too soon so I’d have to start all over again... then I woke up at 6:45 because ruthie (now cone-free) started snuffling hopefully in my face wondering if it was time to play. anyway phew I am headachey and FRUSTRATED from many restless hours spent trying to type in a simple URL lol. perfect way to greet a seven-meeting day!!

but I will prevail. here’s the day:

up at 6:30 (unwillingly!)

coffee/bleary-eyed reading till 8

8:15-9:15 shower, breakfast

9:15-10 meeting prep & emails

10-10:30 CB meeting

10:30-11 AV meeting

11-12 ER meeting

12-2 meetings cancelled hallelujah!!!! I should definitely work on EL’s thesis draft or CB’s writing sample but will I? no I’ll prob just crawl into bed and read fic!

2-2:30 KS meeting

2:30-3 short break

3-4 CC meeting

neighborhood walk with KF tbd?

other things:

CP email

AA email (check schedule)

add KF to calendar

MR email (by Wed)

KC rec form (by Wed)

SD TFA form (by Wed)

[jikooksheart]

Get to know me tag

Rules: tag 10 tumblrs you’d like to get to know better!

I was tagged by @vkoreajimin. Thank you sweetheart 💕💕

Name: Toni

Gender: Female

Star Sign: Capricorn

Height: 154 cm (I think?? Yeah, I’m that short…)

Put your Itunes on shuffle, what are the 6 songs that pop up?:

Jimin - Hallelujah

Monsta X - X

Astro - Baby

Zayde Wolf - Born Ready

ToppDogg - Arario

Wiz Kalifa & Iggy Azalea - Go Hard or Go Home (I know what you think but she has like only 1 verse in the song)

No BTS songs came up…that’s surprising

Middle Name: Don’t have one

Grab the book nearest to you and turn to page 23, what is verse 17? It’s my biology book and I’d rather not look at that hahah

Ever had a poem or a song written about you? Idk but probably not

When was the last time you played air guitar? Few years ago, my friend and I had a hard rock phase

Who’s your celebrity crush? Whole of BTS, but if I had to pick one then Min Yoongi 💕

What’s sound that you hate? Love? I hate utensils scrapping the plate…i got shivers just thinking about it. I love the sound of rain

Do you believe in ghosts? What about Aliens? Ghosts not so much but the universe is huge so who knows…

Do you drive? If so, have you ever crashed? Don’t drive

What was the last book you read? Magnus Chase and the gods of Asgard (not till the end ‘cus the school started but I can’t remember what I read before that)

Do you like the smell of gasoline? It’s alright

What was the last movie you saw? Kingsman, the first part tho (I know, I know…I’m to the hype but shhh)

Do you have any obsession right now? I don’t think so

What’s the worst injury you’ve ever had? Broken finger. It was a middle finger so I had a wonderful time flipping everybody off

Do you tend to hold grudges against people who have done you wrong? Yes. I’m the type of person where if you break my trust once I’ll never trust you again

In a relationship? Noup, but I really don’t want to be in one rn. I feel like I focus on other things more and I know I’d just neglect the other person

I’m to lazy to tag since I’m on the phone so I tag everyone who sees this 😊

[asuitcaseofmemories]

Bad Luck Happens in... 65s if You’re Me.

I’m going to tell you a little a story. To be frank, it’ll probably definitely be long because it’s a nightmare and nightmares are never short. Only this isn’t just a nightmare, this is a true story; my true story of traveling from NY to Hefei after my home leave.

The date was June 26th... or 27th, because when you’re time traveling, details like that get hazy. My lovely friend dropped me off at the tiny Elmira airport and I had no issues checking in. I did internally begin losing my shit when the couple next to me was asked if they’d be willing to give up their seats due to them overbooking the flight by two. *Cue the anxiety* .... I mean we’ve all seen the dragging video by now. Save me.

We boarded in Elmira on time, I skipped the coffee and went for the complimentary red wine, because HELP, and because wine. The flight was uneventful, which was great. My friend and I spent our layover walking around the terminal, which I was thankful for because I was still losing it a little... and also because of the wine. If you can’t tell my travel anxiety is through the roof bad.

Our flight was boarded (from Detroit to Shanghai) with no issues, and the attendants graciously were loading me up on champagne. We left on time, and more champagne and food arrived. Did I say more champagne? I tried to sleep but the turbulence was pretty bad the last part of the flight... so I only slept 2.5 hours. (Side note: being hangry and a lack of sleep are two states you don’t want to see me in). Apparently attendance make it their duty to get you drunk if you can’t sleep, which is something I agree with on a spiritual level.

Upon landing we were told that the gate we were supposed to use was “not available” so we had to wait a bit. They decided to have us exit the plane on the tarmac and take the shuttle to the building. Which was great except the down pouring rain pelting us in between the two. I looked like a worthless drunk soggy noodle. I should’ve taken that as an omen, but I didn’t.

We arrived at customs and it was a strange scene as there was a huge line for foreigners and virtually no locals (opposite of what I’ve previously experienced). So it took a bit longer than usual, but we had no hiccups going through. The custom worker was actually the nicest custom worker I’d ever met and I think we could actually be friends now.

We then picked up our luggage to recheck it. Our bags were the last off the plane, despite having Sky Priority (meaning ours should come off first)-No biggie. When we went to recheck our bags, all hell broke loose.

I was told by a frantic worker after she weighed my first bag (I had two), that I’m only allowed to take 20kg on the plane.... mind you combined my bags were 48kg. I asked several questions about what people do in that situation, why I’ve never had this happen on previous flights, why there wasn’t a disclaimer sent when booking the flight, etc. The worker was not answering any of my questions, or offering alternate solutions. I think she just doesn’t like drunk soggy noodles.

I think the Holy Spirit inhabited my body at this moment, because my patience was  non-existent at this point. After about 15 mins of “what am I going to do” ... and thinking of alternate solutions like staying in Shanghai and booking a train the next day to get home... throwing out a bag- fuck that... she FINALLY says that I can pay a fee. BITCH YOU START WITH THAT. Why you wasting my time fucking asshole bitch nice lady???

This bitch lady gave me a piece of paper that I was intended to show at another counter to pay my fee. She had no idea how much it was at DID NOT tell me how to get to this next person. She also took my boarding pass and said they’d print a new one. She said “Next” when I asked for clarification, ugh no you didn’t. Thankfully my friend who was having the same issue, but was given better directions on how to get there by the kind lady waiting on her.

We were told we had to go to the 3rd floor, so we followed domestic departure signs for awhile... awhile... until we literally came to a dead end. WTF.... so we backtracked to our original spot, and we saw this other way,, so we followed that, and got to the 2F but still couldn’t get to 3F. I’m not kidding all the escalators were barricaded closed.

Clearly being two blonde idiots, looking lost as shit, this young man who spoke English asked if we are looking for the 3F too... hallelujah, we say yes.... he had just asked too, so we followed him to this elevator (which we would’ve never found because it was hid like the entrance of Narnia). UGH, this airport is stupid.

Oh but that’s not all. We get to the 3rd floor, go to the counter we were directed to go to and they say, oh no, you have to go over thereeeee. So we go there and we pay. Thankfully they took Visa (FYI- they don’t take US credit cards ANYWHERE in China so this is a miracle), and I paid my fine of $67USD. We asked about the reprinted tickets and she told us “oh no, you have to go in THAT line over there....” I’m thinking we should be going in the Sky Priority line as that’s what we always use, but she insisted it was the long line *Cue internal screaming*. So we waited and waited for our turn and they told us oh nooooo you go to the Sky Priority line, they have your tickets. Well I’d had about enough of this nonsense, so I nicely talked to the sympathetic woman who printed our boarding passes there. Thank you sweet angel!

Oh, but the story is just getting started. We went through security and they were double checking our carry ons... okay. Well they took child scissors from my friend’s bag then sent us on our way. We FINALLY head to gate 201. I look at the sign and see something in red. OMG. They changed our Gate to 9.... even though they JUST printed our passes... okay. We hustled over to Gate 9. It said we were in the right place YES. We went for a bathroom break, returned and they’d changed it to Gate 3... no big deal it was close but that’s annoying as hell.

We went to Gate 3 where we waited for an eternity. It got to the departure time and it didn’t say delayed and I was thinking... “did we miss the announcement?“ So I asked and the worker stated we would now depart at 11:30pm (original time was 10:15pm). A few moments later they declared the flight was delayed and that “the boarding time would be announced later.”

Well at this time I began to panic as we were supposed to have a driver pick us up at the airport at 11:30pm and I didn’t have anyway to call him and say we would be late. I don’t have a working phone number (in China or US), so I also do not have service to message Corey and let him know. So I had to buy internet for an hour just to Facetime him to figure out the ride situation. He assured me the driver would wait, and I was glad he knew we would be late.

So I went to get water and literally this airport is shut down almost completely. I saw this guy looking at a vending machine confused and two chicks giggling at him as he walked away. Stupid me tried two times to get a drink out of that thing, and it ate my money. God damn it. We finally found a place open so I got some water dinner (2 chocolate bars if I’m going to be completely honest here) and tried to chill out. We get back to terminal 3 and WHAT they changed our gate AGAIN to 202. At this point I’m externally about to scream, as this nice Chinese man asked if we were also going to Hefei. We said yes. He told us that he asked what was going on and the plane we were taking wouldn’t be there until about 11:30pm... so at this point we knew it would be awhile, but at least we knew something!

We thanked him for the info and ventured our asses back to Gate 202 area, and finally about 12:15am they announced we were boarding. The whole gate let out a cheer. I’m pretty sure I yelled “FUCK YEAH”, but 6 one way a half dozen the other right? We boarded and no sooner do they said that they had no idea when we would be leaving but they’d “update soon.” Well, the are lying liar heads. In an hour they repeated the same announcement. Since they are lying liar heads, and I was exhausted of their lies, I briefly passed out. I awoke at 2am when they finally said we were leaving. YAHOO!

I tried to finally get shut eye... mind you we’ve traveled over a day so far and I’ve only slept 2.5 hours (1.5 according to fit bit). Well the turbulence was so bad they the attendant woke me up and made me put my seat up... So that was a no go.

We finally arrived in Hefei, and and played the baggage game all over again. Our poor driver had been waiting since 11:30pm (it’s now 3:30am)... and helped us pack our bags into the car. He’s the real MVP in this story.

We safely arrived at the hotel at 4:17am.... Where we ended our travel fun with a broken trolley to haul our luggage upstairs. The concierge asked me where I was coming from and I said NY, and he asked “Is that why you’re wearing slippers.” ... they were flip flops haha.

It is tough feeling out of control and having such a language barrier with those who know what’s happening. Looking back, this is all hilarious and truthfully just a string of bad luck and weather. I was thankful to have someone with me to laugh with and keep me sane. We also met a few people along the way who were kind when we needed it most.

I’ll keep these memories to look back on when I think I’m having a “bad day.” I’m thankful I won’t be making that journey for another 6 months. Needless to say I slept 13 hours straight when I got home. I DID NOT MOVE my position at all or wake up once.

[first-and-ten]

Week 12 Preview

The bye weeks are over! Hallelujah!  Of course, six teams already played on Thursday, the only truly acceptable Thursday football. Meanwhile, I’m starting a new project: I’ll be fake-betting against the spread on every game. I’ve given myself 160 fake dollars (10 for each game) and my bet and the spread is listed under each game. We’ll see how this goes.

MIN 23 - 25 DET $3 DET +2.5 - Unpopular Opinion - - Game to Watch -  In the post-Rodgers world, this matchup actually will decide who leads the NFC North through 12 weeks. I think the Vikings will ultimately win the division, but I’m seeing a letdown game on the road for the Fightin’ Keenums. Stafford is on a roll and if anyone can pick apart the Nikes defense, it’s him: he already did in Minnesota earlier this year.

LAC 35 - 10 DAL $25 LAC +0.5 - Survivor - - Unpopular Opinion - - Game to Watch -  Between the Chargers’ color rush uniforms and the likelihood of a Cowboys loss, this one might just be fun!

NYG 20 - 28 WSH $5 WSH -7.5 - Lock It Up - Opposite of the Vikings: The Washington team suffered an incredible collapse in New Orleans last week, and I’m sure back in the capital with the country at least theoretically watching they will be on top of things. And the Giants won a game so it’s time to suck again for a long time.

BUF 15 - 23 KC $3 BUF +9.5 - Game to Watch -  If I may borrow an analogy from a podcast I heard: This game is like two people who have fallen out of a plane wrestling over one parachute. Both teams are watching their stellar early-season records slip away. There’s a chance that Tyrod Taylor comes back with a vengeance after the Bills proved last week that they really, really do need him. But the crowd at Arrowhead will sure make that unlikely.

CLE 23 - 21 CIN $1 CLE +8.5 - Unpopular Opinion - Am I crazy? Maybe this is just my way of taking the pessimistic route on the Broncos: the Bengals can beat us but lose to the worst team in football. Then again, Cleveland was competitive with the Jags, so maybe I’m not crazy. 

MIA 10 - 24 NE $4 MIA +16.5 - Lock It Up - The Dolphins’ last win in Massachusetts was in 2008. So, yeah. 

CAR 28 - 17 NYJ $15 CAR -4.5 The Panthers have been boom or bust. So have the Jets, I guess. If Carolina booms and the Jets bust at the same time, well, that’ll be interesting.

CHI 14 - 24 PHI $1 CHI +13.5 - Lock It Up - - Game to Watch -  The Bears are the league’s toughest speed bump but the Eagles are the league’s fastest-moving car. Is that makes any sense.

TB 13 - 23 ATL $2 ATL -8.5 - Lock It Up - The Buccs are better with Fitzpatrick but I think the Falcons are on the up.

TEN 21 - 23 IND $10 IND +3.5 - Unpopular Opinion - - Game to Watch -  Doesn’t this just seem like that kind of game?

SEA 27 - 18 SF $12 SEA -6.5 As depleted as the Seahawks are, the Niners defense is not prepared for Russell Wilson.

JAX 30 - 21 ARI $3 JAX -4.5 - Lock It Up - The Blaine Gabbert Revenge Game. If Gabbert comes out on top I’ll be astounded.

NO 36 - 30 LA $65 NO +2.5 - Game to Watch -  I cannot believe the Rams are favored here. Why? There’s not much of a reason to believe they’ll win this, it’s not like they have much of a home field advantage.

DEN 24 - 27 OAK $5 DEN +5.5 This one got complicated. The Raiders fired their defensive coordinator and promoted John Pagano to the role, the same John Pagano who was DC for the Chargers under Mike McCoy, who the Broncos just fired as OC and replaced with QBs coach Bill Musgrave, who used to be DC for the Raiders. Oh, and who is replacing Musgrave at QB coach? Gary goddamn Kubiak’s goddamn son.  Anyway, Paxton Lynch is starting, making this the first season since 2003 to see three QBS start for Denver. It should also be the first time since then that three QBs lost starts for Denver, as Jake Plummer, Steve Buerlein and Danny Kannell all were defeated in that season. Of course, the Broncos swept the Raiders then. Don’t see it happening now.

GB 10 - 34 PIT $5 PIT -13.5 - NFL Title Belt (PIT) - - Lock It Up - The only thing going the Packers’ way is that JuJu is out. If only the Steelers had another high-end WR2 who’s been waiting for a chance to prove himself to the team again.

HOU 20 - 26 BAL $1 HOU +6.5 These teams playing each other will be like running your head into a mirror until it breaks. 

Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose!

[hopeforpeoplefodivha]

Saturday, March 4th, 2017

A Normal Day in Haiti...Requesting a Healing... 7:02am Waiting for pastor to pick us up. We are taking Dieusilhomme to an excellent hospital. 7:46am The tap-tap blew a motor. She's done. Waiting for another vehicle by the side of the road. This experience is getting "old"...we've had vehicle troubles every day...this is Haiti. 9:49am We left the villa at 7am, fought through traffic to arrive at the hospital Bertrand Mevs downtown Port au Prince, by 8:45. Bertony and I have met with a triage doc named Depak, who is down for a one week volunteer stint from North Carolina. Oh how good it was to speak in English! We have paid the admin fee (more standing in line) so that Dieusilhomme can be seen. You actually drive your vehicle right into triage. One doesn't leave their vehicle on the street in this area of Port au Prince. It would be stripped clean. Dieusilhome has been rapidly losing weight over the past 3 months. Several of the children, including D, were ill with fever and gastrointestinal symptoms in January following the hurricane. It seems he has never recovered. However I'm not convinced these are totally related to the symptoms we are seeing now. Everything in this country is always diagnosed and treated first as malaria. Then when they don't recover, you start looking at other things. I've have many close friends who are docs...I am a speech path with another graduate degree in neurology. My friends say, "I have enough med knowledge to be dangerous!"....or at least to be able to advocate and ask the right questions. I hope I can help him today. 10:21am.. We have stood in line yet again to pay for the tests now ordered...blood work, stool, urinalysis, malaria, HIV and a CT scan of brain ($322.00...where does the $22 come from?). You see, I have noticed quite severe ataxia when D tries to walk (in lay man's terms..."he walks like a drunk") and has difficulties planning /controlling motor movements. His left foot is dropping slightly. It is reported that his stools are black..therefore, blood loss from G.I. He has a slight cough (doesn't everyone here with the dust and diesel?). And so, we wait some more, outside in triage in the hot sun. D clutches a small bag of clothes and a water bottle in case he needs to stay the night. While Bertony and I are here, the rest of the team is buying 2 sinks for the bathrooms, 2 drills required for attaching the tin roofing and 2 shovels at the hardware store. Work will be delayed and/or postponed today. It's a 90 min ride to the orphanage in the hills from here. With the daily truck breakdowns we have endured and today's potential loss of work, we are 3 days behind where we need to be. Another problem to solve. However a sick child trumps everything. Our team is learning patience. They are experiencing first hand how difficult life is here and how much time it takes to get anything done. No matter how organized we are before they get here, I have learned on these trips, that you can count on nothing. We try to prioritize and fix one problem at a time. "Fall down seven times, stand up eight!". My mom drilled that into me. 11:12am We are holding up a wall outside one of the multiple buildings in triage. The sun has moved around the building and there is shade. We wait and we wait. Bertony and I are having philosophical conversations about the difficulties that life offers (way too much in this country, for these people to endure each day, in my opinion)..."The Life, is the teacher", says Bertony wisely. We end sharing silence, still holding up the wall. 12:46pm We are back holding up the wall, chasing the shade. I'm losing the game. We are becoming expert "waiters". But at least some good news....no tumour! We had a CT of his head. Medishare donated a portable CT scanner. It lives in an air-conditioned metal transport container. I was allowed to view the results as the pictures were taken. From my "enough medical knowledge to be dangerous", it looked very clear to me. Almost beautiful! We wait for the neurologist...holding up the wall. 1:10pm The team have finished their shopping experience and has decided to make the drive to Thomasseau to unload the vehicle and get a few hours of work in. Traffic in the city is a nightmare. We decided as a team that it is best if I stay here with Bertony at the hospital. We rarely, if ever, split up as a team...like Navy Seals, "no one left behind". Today is an exception to the rule. One of the administrators told me that we're waiting to see neurology doc. So Dieusilhomme and I share trail mix. Bertony has gone "walk about" beyond the "forbidden metal gates" of the hospital compound, seeing if he can source out hearing aid batteries for Dieusilhome. We wait, holding up the wall, chasing the shade. I have one water bottle left. 1:27 Should have brought cards...and toilet paper! 2:28pm Doc Depak and Doc Raj have confirmed that the CT was normal. He also said blood work is normal too...this is becoming a greater mystery. That only leaves stool sample and urinalysis. He is most concerned with the weight loss and the neurological symptoms, at this point, are secondary. He is calling a Haitian doc to come talk with us who is the expert in internal medicine at this hospital. Perhaps he will have ideas of further exploration, I'm concerned that we won't be any closer to getting any answers today. We have to wait for 30 min or so"...which in Haitian time, could mean 2 hours. The water is gone. I found a bathroom. Bertony is now sitting against the wall. 3:31pm So, they found a parasite in the stool sample! Hallelujah! And, he's mildly anemic and a bit dehydrated (isn't everyone in this country?). The end diagnosis was probably a perfect storm: 1. First he had a bad influenza in January which left him immunocompromized. 2. He acquired Guillain-Barre syndrome (a rapid onset muscle weakness beginning in the feet and hands caused by the immune system damaging peripheral nervous system) which started the neuro symptoms. 3. He was given a strong antibiotic which wiped out the flora in his gut, which left him susceptible to other things. The parasite found is not normally hugely pathogenic, except in immuno-supressed patients. They also suspect a salmonella. In lay man's terms...the perfect storm or house of cards. Anyway, Doc Raj kindly called UCLA prof in the USA while we were waiting, to get even another opinion and we are now waiting in front of pharmacy to pay for a cocktail of anti parasitics and antibiotics to kill just about everything...(except roosters!) We will get him on these meds and see how he does in 3 weeks. He has a follow up visit with neuro. It's time to go home. Except...the girl working the cash is "on break"...so there is more waiting. We are told it could be an hour. Welcome To Haiti. These are our days. 4:12pm Gosh I'd love a large Greek salad! I could eat it while I wait! 4:42 The cash lady has come back...we have paid for the stock of meds ($6 in total cost!?!?) that have been put into a small plastic bag and received a "stamp" which will allow us to leave the hospital. Apparently the police have closed the place down for a period of time, because a family has "stolen" the body of someone who has died earlier and they have "questions" of all the staff involved...they suspect foul play from someone in the family...not a dull moment here. This is Haiti and these are our days. We are so thankful to all the docs and nurses at Bernard Mevs Hospital. May they continue their great work. What a blessing. Time to take 3 tap-taps home to the villa. I'll meet up with the team when they arrive home. We shall share stories and play cards this evening. Tomorrow is a day off from work. Their bodies are tired. They have been working so hard. Blessings, Deb P.S. Hi Mom xxx

[b3ast0fburd3n]

Eden being an insomniac 🤝 Hayes not being able to sleep without noise

Playing records at 2 am