done and done.

it was a very long day. a good one, but long. from six a.m. to nine p.m.

i finally got to observe some echos (they're very similar to the ultrasound used on unborn babies, just used to take a picture of one's heart instead) today. It's now more clear to me how interesting this field is, and that I will take the extra year to study echo on top of all the other stuff..

(this picture is a still image, but an echo takes a video-like image at various angles, then it's used to make various "snapshots" and take various measurements).




(aaannndd... for fun, you can also imagine all sorts of monsters, faces, and other images in the ultrasound. it's like watching clouds.... errr, or not, because it's often depicts some pretty serious stuff ;))

there's also a doctor at St. Michael's who is also a programmer, so he writes his own programs that he uses for certain cardiac tests. talk about integrating different areas of knowledge. i found that impressive. He also took the time to explain one program to me last week. From what I've seen, the time it saved and records it made were light-years ahead from the systems that are used otherwise. Truly impressive. I like meeting people who not only know something well (there's lots of those) but use it creatively - especially when they are still down-to-earth and willing to explain it to even people like me, a student in the department for a few weeks.

so it was a good month
and a good day

nevertheless, at the end the tiredness and tension was creeping in
reminding me (yet again) that i am still a small and angry person
but getting bigger (not just horizontally, either) and kinder slowly.
staying the course: trajectory is of the most importance.

today i'm still quite tired and grumpy ;) (watching Becker helps, as usual.)
today also means i am back in Hamilton, no more commutes.

and given today, i came back clutching a giant cup of Starbucks (and some things from Smart Set i picked up on my lunch break.) Typical things. small and selfish to pick them up perhaps. they made me feel that way anyhow. on the other hand, it was good to get some small reward at the end of a span of work, and especially nice to get them both without making a special trip for either.

(i did, however, easily avoid the temptation posed by the doorcrasher sale on the KitchenAid stand mixer at the Bay today ;))

Pretty though, ain't she?