PharmNerd

Thinking Green

2010-02-21T14:02:00.006-05:00

I went to a wedding yesterday. The entire service took less than a half-hour, which was great. The reception hall was nearby and had an open bar. Also great.

When the wife and I got to the reception hall, there was a little pine tree situated at each place setting. On each tree was a note which read "Plant Me Within 24 Hours".

I'm glad that someone is being environmentally conscious. Well done, extended family of PharmNerd.

So, now it's the day after the wedding. I think to myself, "I should go outside and plant this tr --".

Oh, balls. That's right. It's February in Michigan.

Professionalism

2010-02-16T09:35:00.003-05:00

I just realized that my ridiculous Facebook profile pics are being synchronized by my iPod Touch to my work email account.

It's nice to see technology looking out for my career like this.

Luckily, I'm sure that our physicians totally respect the professional opinion of someone who drives a car like the Facepuncher.

Well, I'm off to update my profile pic with a sweet MySpace angle and send some mass emails to everyone at work...

He Gives Love a Bad Name

2010-02-12T10:41:00.002-05:00

How do you not realize that you shot yourself in the chest with a nail gun?!?

From the International Journal of Emergency Medicine

Apple's New Toy

2010-01-27T17:36:00.000-05:00

So, Apple announced the iPad today. It's basically a giant iPod Touch.

It's neat and all, but I think I'll wait for the super-absorbent 2nd Generation iPad before I consider buying one.

Who am I kidding? This thing is way beyond what I can afford on my allowance...

Commemoration

2010-01-19T11:22:00.000-05:00

I'm buying a guitar tonight. This video is a tribute to that event. Metal!

Very Easily Amused

2010-01-13T10:22:00.000-05:00

This is just a random product we keep in the pharmacy.

You know that it takes a special level of maturity to find humor in some boring piece of plastic with the words "prepierced", "male", "plug" and "long" in its name.

That stated, I find this to be absolutely hilarious.

Recommended Album for Me

2010-01-09T08:10:00.000-05:00

I'm curious what I bought from Amazon to make them think that I'd totally dig this album?

Regardless, I'm sure that the good senator's lyrics are enough to melt many a face.

Sausage in the Morning

2009-12-22T10:01:00.000-05:00

The guy who works third shift in my department rides his bike to work every day. Even in blizzards. It's a special kind of dedication which has wound up getting him hit by more than one car. Luckily, he's never been really hurt; just a bit ticked off.

Anyhow, this co-worker uses my office to change into his fancy biker shorts every morning. So, I always have to be extra careful that I don't walk in on naked dude when I get to work in the morning. So far, so good.

However, once he's changed, he sticks around to chat. Or to discuss benefits with human resources. Or he might attend a morning CE. In his biker shorts.

I don't have words to express the awkwardness, so I'll let this picture do it for me.

Too Bad She Failed Spelling...

2009-12-17T13:57:00.001-05:00

Google Wave Invites

2009-12-11T14:14:00.003-05:00

So, I was given access to Google Wave a month or so ago. I have no idea what the point of this service is.

I have six invites for people who might be able to make better use of it than I do. Leave a comment below with your email address if you're interested. But do yourself a favor and "disguise" your email address so spammers don't harvest it with their fancy computers and stuff. (i.e. pharmnerd [at] pharmnerd [dot] com).

Also, note that it takes a couple days for Google to send you your invite.

I Just Had a Seizure

2009-12-08T08:10:00.000-05:00

I don't envy the docs and nurses who deal with stuff like this every day.

Installing Apps on an iPhone or iPod Touch with Restrictions Enabled

2009-12-06T14:11:00.008-05:00

Let's say (theoretically, of course) that your employer has given you an iPod Touch for work purposes. To limit your usage of this device to strictly work-related activities, they've set restrictions that disallow you from installing apps.

And let's say (theoretically, again) that you wanted to install a game on your locked-down device. Impossible? I think not.

One BIG caveat to note -- If apps are already installed on the device using an iTunes account that is not your own; they probably won't work after you install your own apps. Depending on the app, you might be able to just delete and reinstall them using your own iTunes account. This solution is useful for some professional/medical apps (like Lexi-Comp) that can be downloaded for free, and then re-activated by your I.T. department by entering a registration code.

1. To install your apps, first, you'll want to start up iTunes on your home computer and connect your device using the iPod/iPhone USB cable.

2. Find an app in the iTunes Store that interests you. We'll use Ramp Champ here as an example.

3. Click the "GET APP" icon. When you do this, you'll see in the pane on the left that it is being downloaded.

4. Once the app finishes downloading, click on your device's name in the pane on the left.

5. Now, check the "Manually manage music and videos" box on the right side of the iTunes window...

6. And then click the "Apply" button in the lower-right-hand corner.

7. Now, we're going to undo what we did in steps 5 and 6. Uncheck the "Manually manage music and videos" box, and click the "Apply" button again.

8. You'll get a warning like the one shown below. Click "OK".

9. After you click the "OK" button, sit back and watch as iTunes installs your app(s) on your device.

You're welcome.

Remind Me to Never Move to Ohio

2009-12-04T10:02:00.001-05:00

A pharmacy technician screws up when preparing a medication, and then lies to the pharmacist by saying that they prepared the medication correctly. This error kills a patient.

What should happen in this case? According to the State of Ohio, the pharmacist should go to prison.

Super.

So True....

2009-12-01T14:30:00.001-05:00

Here's a snippet of a pharmacy resident's preceptor evaluation for me. I'm sure the fact that I'd be reading this before completing her performance evaluation was merely coincidental.

There Is No "I" In PharmNerd

2009-11-22T16:08:00.001-05:00

Worm seems to think that, by working together, we could become a formidable power in the world of blogging. I think that combining our powers could make a blog that is only moderately sparse in its frequency of updates.

Whatever the case, I added him as an author to the blog. Unlike me, he actually has somewhat of a social life, so I'm sure he'll have something good to offer.

I Don't Like Other People's Kids

2009-11-12T14:38:00.004-05:00

And therefore, the "Next Blog" link on the toolbar at the top of this page is useless to me.

Apparently, my blog is the only one out there that isn't dedicated to a baby or cooking.

Maybe I should combine these popular blog topics, and focus my writing on the cooking of babies.

In bad taste, or Internet gold?

EDIT: That toolbar was causing problems with my blog. It's gone. Trust me, you aren't missing out on anything.

What is Google Trying To Say About Me?

2009-10-30T08:21:00.004-04:00

I use Google Reader to keep tabs on the Internet. It's convenient & nerdy; and I'm down with that.

When I moved my blog over to Blogspot this week, all of my posts re-appeared in my Google Reader as unread. To see if I could add a few cents to my monthly allowance, I turned on ads in my RSS feeds. Almost nobody subscribes to my blog's RSS feed, so I figured this wouldn't offend many people.

Here's an example of what a blog post looks like with ads enabled.

Google's ads are supposed to be related to the posting that they appear on. If that's the case, then what exactly is that third ad doing there?

Misunderstanding

2009-10-29T10:04:00.006-04:00

A couple weeks ago, I was sitting in the waiting room at Olive Garden with my wife. Standing in front of us was a group of high schoolers. Every time someone walked past this group, that person would do a double-take, and then stare awkwardly at one guy in the group.

The guy in question was wearing a big silky sash with "HOMECOMING COURT 2009" printed on it. The sash also had a giant, pretty bow on the front.

Every time people would walk by and stare, this dude's date would get a big, cheesy grin on her face. While listening in on their conversation, I realized that she thought that all of these people were checking her out.

Unfortunately, I didn't have the heart to tell her that they were trying to see if her date had a matching tiara for that sash.

Negligent

2009-09-23T13:45:00.002-04:00

One reason I don’t have any kids is that I’m sure I’d neglect them as much as I neglect this blog.

That is all.

I’ll be back in another month.

Some, Two, Three, Fourteen!

2009-08-24T13:46:00.005-04:00

My wife was telling me about Maslow’s Heirarchy of Needs, which she’d recently learned about in her developmental psychology class. Part of Maslow’s theory included something called self-transcendance, where people “have had peak experience (mystic, sacral, ecstatic) with illuminations or insights”. Whatever.

Her textbook’s author gave a few examples of transcenders. Serious torchbearers of society here. People like Mother Teresa, Gandhi…

…and Bono.

Apparently self-transcendance doesn’t require the ability to count to four.

Worth Waiting For

2009-08-18T13:48:00.001-04:00

To the lady who waited outside the employees’ restroom while I pooped this morning:

While standing there, didn’t you notice the odors coming out of that particular bathroom? Did you not see the brown vapors coming from underneath the door? Why not walk down the hall and use the public restroom? As I exited, was my apologetic look of shame not enough to tell you that maybe, just maybe, you didn’t want to go in there?

On a related note, while using Google to find a photo to steal for this post, I ran across this. You’re welcome.

Ass Burgers

2009-08-14T13:48:00.010-04:00

In addition to being the best pharmacist ever, I also spend one day a week working at the hospital’s I.T. department across town. I really dig my I.T. days, because at lunchtime, I can get me some tasty Taco Bell goodness.

Today at lunchtime, Karen, Sherril, Michelle, and I climbed into the Facepuncher 2000, and we made our weekly run for the border. After lunch, I was driving back to work with my tires squealing and flames shooting out of the exhaust.

Conversation ensued…

Sherril: Michelle, I swear sometimes you have ass burgers!

Michelle: Yeah, sometimes I think so, too. My neighbor actually has a son with ass burgers.

Sherril: You know who I think really has ass burgers? The receptionist at work.

Michelle: I know… the way she just sits there and stares at you…

Me: What the HELL?!

Then they explained. Asperger Syndrome.

People with Asperger’s have limited social skills, lack of empathy, and they’re physically clumsy. Me, basically.

Anyhow, it’s nice to see that good old Hans Asperger put lots of forethought into naming this disease. As a scientist, it’s awesome to finally get a disorder named after yourself, but is it really a good idea to label the person with the debilitating social disease as an “ass burger”? Hilarious, maybe; just not the smartest idea.

Medicinal Leeches

2009-08-07T13:51:00.004-04:00

In addition to drugs, we also keep these little guys in the refrigerator at work. Leeches. They’re occasionally used to drain excess blood from previously injured body parts. I always thought that this was kind of cool (and gross… but not as gross as the maggots that are sometimes used to clean rotting flesh wounds).

I don’t have anything particularly witty or humorous to say about this. (It’s pretty questionable whether any of my posts meet that criteria.)

I will note that I’m relatively sure our current supply of leeches (shown here) are all dead. Don’t let the one stuck to the glass fool you. Up close, it looks like his guts are spilling out.

Epiphany

2009-08-05T13:52:00.003-04:00

Back in high school, I used to be a giant stud at Street Fighter II on the Super Nintendo. I would consistently destroy all of my friends when they played against me. Then we’d go outside to play “real” sports, where I’d demonstrate my lack of coordination, athleticism, and depth-perception (I’d lost count of the number of times I got hit in the face while trying to catch a baseball).

So, a few days ago, I saw that Street Fighter IV was on sale for twenty bucks at Gamestop. Since that number fits nicely into my monthly allowance, I went and picked up a copy for my PS3. I got home, fired up the game, and prepared to go online and kick some video game butt with Chun-Li.

Then I made a realization.

While my friends in high school sucked at Street Fighter; apparently, I sucked only slightly less than they did.

Losing repeatedly at this game just makes me crazy. And to top it all off, I’ve already had three people send me messages telling me how terrible I am at the game. In the words of xXx_oDiN_xXx: “ha ha ur such a puzzy”.

Thanks, buddy. That makes me feel good about life.

I think I’m going to go punch some babies. I might actually stand a chance in that fight. Maybe.

It’s Like Being Rickrolled, Only More Awesome

2009-07-21T14:02:00.000-04:00