The adventures of Rosey and Riley: Being Homeless

is not a laughing matter or a topic to be dealt with in an off-hand way, and I certainly don't want to sound like that. And this is not the forum to address the societal and economic issues of the homeless. However, I am completely taken aback by the number of homeless individuals there are in Anchorage. They stand outside of shopping centers with hand-lettered cardboard signs. There are men and women, wrapped from head to toe to protect them from the environment. I can't tell what their signs say, the signs are small, the lettering is smaller. I am just amazed that they are here. Apparently, there are enclaves of tent cities throughout communities in Alaska. The vast wooded areas within the cities not only provide some shelter from the environment but also some handy hiding areas. One group to whom I have donated a few dollars here and there are some dedicated men who stand outside of the shopping areas and collect money for the homeless vets. It's easy to distinguish these guys. They have matching jackets and real signs. They seem to work in unified groups. I don't know where the money goes or how they utilize it. All I know is when I am done in the grocery store it just seems to be the right thing to pass them a couple of dollars to help some men and women who served our country. Having said that, I would be lying if part of me wasn't going "Dude - homeless in Alaska?! Really!? Isn't there a better place to be homeless?"

Of course, watching the way the lower 48 has been hit with snow and rain, I think I have been having the better weather. There has been a wicked little glint in the eyes of the forecasters up here when they report another snowstorm is sweeping the midwest and up the east coast. Kind of a "ha ha ha - your turn suckers" type of thing. But that has changed over the course of the last few days as our weather once again dipped below zero. Last week I gave back my borrowed car and got a rental. I was scared to death to take the borrowed car anywhere, but with the rental I feel a sense of freedom and have had the opportunity to finally do a little exploring on my own.

Loaner on the left, Rental on the right

One of the first things I did was go and get my 4th set of fingerprints done for my Alaska RN license. The tally so far is 2 sets rejected by the board of nursing and one set rejected by the FBI. I returned this fourth set with a nice note reminding them that it was the fourth set of prints I had turned into them, but I would be happy to keep re-submitting my prints. My hope is that at some point they will just do a background check on my name only and not my prints. I have a year for them to sort it out.

This weekend, Jake and I set out to do a little shopping. I wanted to go to Kohl's which is on the northeast side of town while we live on the southwest side. Driving around Anchorage is pretty easy. Most of the main streets are 4 lanes and they either run north-south or east-west. However, since I haven't been driving anywhere but to work, I really don't know what street goes where and the ones I thought were north-south are really east-west, so I need to reorient my mental compass. There is also a highway that runs through town, but I opted not to take it because I wanted to explore. So Jake and I set out about 11 AM on Saturday - the sun was out and the sky was brilliant blue. The temperature was a balmy -2. We were doing just fine, but somewhere we missed a turn. No big deal but the road we were on started to climb the mountain. These aren't really high mountains, but they do climb pretty fast from sea level and there is only one road up and over. I don't know how far over it goes, and I don't think there is any more town on the other side of the mountain. Anyway, by the time we found a spot to turn around, the temperature was -7. And that was in the sunlight. I had Jake snap this picture while we were driving.

Biking in Anchorage on a -5 below 0 day.

The only thing that bothers me about the cold is I finally made the decision to walk the dogs every night. The first night we went out it was 13 degrees. We only made it up and down the block, but it was a start. It was also as far as we got because every night since that has been colder and colder and I really just can't go out in -4 degree temps to walk the dogs. They will just have to wait until the temperature climbs over 15. I can't believe I just committed to that.

Clinical updates for this week. I had a referral for a patient with an art line and it caused quite the stir. Apparently, not all the ICU RN's were familiar with art lines. I haven't worked the unit, although I was asked again if I would (give me 90 days to learn this job before I start learning another one, please, I asked) so I have no comment as to how the unit operates, I was just surprised that art lines were such a surprise.

Here is a discharge challenge that I never experienced before - we couldn't discharge a patient due to high winds. Honestly, the patient was flying to Valdez where the winds were gusting up to 70 miles per hour, to much for the little planes to take off and land, so the discharge had to be held over for another day. Do you think his insurance will pay for that extra day?

And a lift team!! Here there are dedicated members of the health care team who come and assist you in moving your patients into and out of bed. They help with - get this - lifting!! and moving!! They actually consider a back a precious commodity and don't want anyone to hurt themselves by turning, lifting, moving, transferring, etc. patients without help. It is truly a wonderful thing.

This past week the paper had a supplement full of community oriented classes. There was everything from swimming at the local pools, to ski classes, pottery, etc etc etc. I know Burlington publishes the same type of community class calendar, but this brochure also offered some handy tips that I had never seen before, and I quote: "pay attention to moose body language." I am not sure I want to get close enough to worry about their body language, but the sage wisdom continued with the comforting knowledge that a moose whose ears are up is curious, but a moose whose ears are laid back is stressed. Apparently, a stressed moose is not a happy moose and should be avoided at all costs. However, if the moose cannot be avoided and he chases you, it is ok to hide behind a tree. Or, you can run away if you have a head start. How do you know if you have a head start? Does the moose stop and count? Then I heard the story of someone who was chased by a moose in a strand of saplings. They hid behind the fattest little tree they found and the moose charged and banged its head on the tree. The impact was enough to daze the moose and give the guy a head start. I'm not sure that every moose would be as accomodating and smack its head against a tree just to give you the opportunity to run away (I'm thinking Monty Python here - Run Away, Run Away!). The advice continues with, if a moose knocks you down... and at this point I am vowing to never walk outside again... curl into a ball, protect your head and lie still until the moose retreats. Above this sage advice is a picture of smiling little children playing on a hillside, unaware that they should be surveying their surroundings for moose and trying to interpret their body language. But moose are everywhere. We see one at least once a week and I still cannot get over how large they are and how much they don't care that you are where you are. So I composed myself, and continued to read the rest of the activities until I came to the next little insert that read in large letters "BEAR AWARE?" Anchorage is Bear country (oh crap) and April is when bears begin to emerge from their dens (double crap). I looked at the dogs who were blissfully unaware that it was -7 outside and we were in danger of being chased by mooses or bears. They were also unaware of my resolve to start taking them on daily walks. Maybe I won't walk them when it warms up past 15. The Anchorage Zoo is promoting a Bear Aware day on Mother's Day - so guess where I am making my family take me?

This weeks photo op is courtesy of Steve. He went to Kodiak Island, about an hour and a half flight from here. From all accounts, Kodiak is beautiful and full of wildlife viewing opportunities. I knew there were bears (Kodiak bears of course!), in fact, right after we moved here there was a story of a hunter who had his butt bit off by a bear in Kodiak (he survived). Apparently, there are also herds of caribou and cows. Yes, cows. Wild cows roaming Kodiak island. Don't ask me why, I really don't know. So enjoy the pictures - and remember when you see a moose, check out what it's ears are doing to determine if you need a head start or not.

Until next week....