I know that people have been consoling themselves by chanting the number. It will be 4 years of the monster under the bed. Only 4 years.

4 years.

Well, less now that it has been 8 weeks.

8 weeks of nonsense and him smashing and cash grabbing all that he can get his grubby hands on. Like a child who has been let loose in a candy shop while the adults are distracted on their phone. Like the menace who doesn’t like the word no and ignores the adult when they finally notice the havoc that has been going on.

I, for one of many, am so tired of it.

How do you measure a year?

If five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes make up a year this can lead to math.

You could multiply each minute by 60 to determine the number of seconds in a year (thirty one million, five hundred thirty six thousand seconds).

You could multiple 525,600 by four to determine the number of minutes we have left in this abomination of a presidential term (two million, one hundred two thousand, and four hundred minutes).

I could talk disheartening numbers all day long.

It all starts with the supposed fact that they will not gerrymander rig elections to keep themselves in power. Why would they hand the reins back at the end of 4 years? Just because that it is what expected of us?

Spoiler alert, it is already happening. I point out and have written about the Republican Jefferson Griffin and his grinding, unceasing, probably very expensive (where is the money coming from) tilting at windmills attempt to pry Alison Griggs out of the spot she rightfully won. In November. People aren’t paying enough attention to his scammy scammerton efforts to throw out the ballots that he doesn’t agree with that cause him to lose.

I have written at how this is a test case of how elections can be stolen with money. And sleight of hand. And bluster.

This definitely sounds familiar doesn’t it?

Back to the four years thing. If so much can be dismantled in 2 months, including destruction of any words that the administration doesn’t like, imagine how much the next three years and 10 months are going to cost us.

They can only hurt me for 4 years sounds comforting. Until you realize you are speaking like an abused wife. Cowering in the corner while the abuser takes off their belt.

Next thing will be the “gifts” and the promises never to do it again. Also included are the promises to be around after the 4 years, no matter how that is accomplished.

But it will happen again and the four years thing is not a guarantee.

It is a scary time to be an American who is paying attention.

I’ve got a wild hair this week. By that I mean I will be doing 2 different fake eggs in the batch this week.

I will be using a psyllium husk egg and a banana.

The reason I am using both is that I am afeared that the banana taste will be too strong.

I figured, hey, best of both worlds here.

It is now truly Thursday and I have baked and delivered the cookies.

And I have only one word- Wow!

No wonder that psyllium husk is used to create gluten like structure in gluten free goods.

Even 6 hours after I finished baking them, the cookies were soft and pliable. It even changed the structure of the chocolate chips and they too were soft. As if they had just come out of the oven.

I have rarely been so impressed by a recipe substitution.

Was it the banana?

Or was it the psyllium husk?

I think I know which one.

And now I want to make these again and add jalapenos. That is how cooking, er, baking science is made, right?

Throw a bunch of ideas in a bowl and see what sticks.

I think my instincts of combining the two types of egg substitute was the correct one.

Because wowza.

Just don’t eat the entire batch by yourself. Because psyllium husk is also known as metamucil.

Of course I warned my coworkers. After I explained the science to them.

Lessons were realized, the chief among these to crush the banana before adding it to the butter and sugar. It took forever to get all the lumps out.

This is the first book in the newly minted Post-it Sunday Medical non-fiction edition or Post-it Sunday Medical fiction edition.

Year of the Nurse by Cassandra Alexander was published July 19, 2021. I pre-purchased the book May 25, 2021 on Kindle. I did not read this book until the past week.

By any measure that is a fast turnaround for a book. On an evolving and delicate subject like covid.

There are reasons for that. I had just lived through the damned pandemic and am living through the damned thing and I didn’t want to delve too much into it.

But I wanted to be aware of the others who were being our chroniclers. I was doing my chronicling on Dispatches from the Evening Shift and reading the news. All the news, good and bad.

Remember that in spring 2021 the vaccination efforts were in full swing. I have my own notes from working my normal shift from 1430-2300, being on call 2300-0700, and having to get up, hoping that there would be no case called, at 0600 to get ready to drive to the vaccination site in the next county. I worked there from 0800-1300 and returned to the hospital for my normal 1430-2300 shift. Rinse, repeat for at least a week. And then again as my hospital schedule allowed for it.

But reading her book now I realize that she is my people. She is foul mouthed, quick to volunteer, ready to take on anything and sick of the measly mouthed response to PPE in 2020. And also disgusted by the lack of testing.

She acknowledges that the U.S. response was poor. That we were told to reuse masks and PPE. That family members were not allowed at bedside. But she and I both watched as other countries were better outfitted with PPE.

This book is part tweet recall, part diary, and part April 2021 thoughts. It pulls no punches about how bad it was in the early days of the pandemic.

Included, at no extra charge, is the idiot brother in Texas who denigrates the author even as she is sharing information to keep their parents well. Her, not me.

At the end of the book, she writes about when the Great Resignation came for hospital nurses and she volunteered to work extra shifts because if not her, then who. She also touches upon the insanity of the anti-vaxxers and their holier than thou bad attitude. As if their shit doesn’t stink too.

I know that this book ends in April 2021 and the author has zero idea how bad the anti-vaxxers get with their truth twisting bullshit. But I remember.

It is important to realize and remember that we were flying blind. No one, not the NIH, not the CDC, no one had all the answers.

Fabulous book. 10/10 would recommend. If only people who need to read it would.

Now that the weather has thoughts of spring, conference centers are creaking to life.

It is conference season.

Read this and heed some of the advice.

The first point is that conferences are exhausting. This is a marathon, not only for the planners who have been working since last year’s conference to present an exciting program. It is also a marathon for participants. There may be little to no time between events and the rooms that the sessions are in might be a conference center mile away. If you don’t know how far that is… it’s a lot. Most conference centers span multiple city blocks.

At the end of a conference day, which run from 0700-1800 you have to make a choice. Do you go back to the hotel room and think about what you’ve learned? Kind of a brain dump to prepare for the next day’s learning and go to sleep early in an unfamiliar bed. Or do you go out with old friends and new friends that you just met and catch up. There is a bar out there somewhere. Probably very close because a conference loves the booze. And what happens at conference, stays at conference.

Caffeine will be your friend. And whatever sleep you can snatch between partying with your friends and the conference itself, embrace it.

The second point is that conferences are exciting. You get to see people you haven’t seen in, well, a year. Ideas and gossip will be exchanged in equal measure. There is always a new to you session to explore and, in the case of the AORN expo, there will be product demos galore. As well as schools and universities vying for your attention and your tuition dollar.

The third point is that conferences are a marathon. This goes hand in hand with the point that conferences are exhausting. There are multiple educations sessions every hour. Be aware that the 2 sessions that you are most excited about will happen at the same time. Bring a coin to flip. And hope that the conference organizers put the content of the other online so you can live vicariously through PowerPoint slides.

The fourth point is that conferences are not fashion shows. You can always spot the participants who are first timers. They are wearing wildly inappropriate clothing for the sessions and the weather. And you feel for them tottering back to the hotel in the kitten heels that made way more sense at 0700 and less at 1800. The more experienced conference participant knows that, like the OR, comfortable shoes are a must.

Point number 5- Conferences are hard on your feet. There is standing, and walking, and standing, and walking. Your next session of interest might be at the other end of the convention center (see point 1). After standing and working on concrete floors that are covered with convention center carpet with no padding, your feet will likely be swollen and hurt far before the end of the day (see point 4). Hopefully you brought along your significant other for a foot rub at the end of the conference day. Or, at the very least, packed some pain medicine.

The last point is that is not your job to hoard the knowledge that you gained from the conference. Use the information to spark conversations with your coworkers, bring product ideas to your boss. Don’t forget to plan with your hospital nurse scientist any research that you want to do. This also goes for Process Improvement (PI) projects.

Who knows… maybe you can present a podium presentation or explain your poster at the next conference.

Because all the energy you have gained from being with like minded nurses who UNDERSTAND you when you speak has to go somewhere.