New Job

There has been an advertisement for a job at the cancer center I currently work at....the job I currently have to be more specific...that keeps magically getting re-posted on the internets.  My supervisor is aware of it but nobody knows where this is coming from, so nobody knows how to stop it.  We've had a couple people call about the "open position" but last night it reached a whole new level of wtf...

Imagine my surprise when my phone dinged last night to let me know I received an email and this is what I read:

Hello,
As you may already know, I am a recruiter who specializes in finding Dosimetrist candidates as well as similar positions in Rohnert Park, CA and other locations nationwide.
Your background may be a fit for the position below.  Please check out the link and apply if you are interested in hearing more about the job.
The position is for a Dosimetrist in Rohnert Park, CA. 

The full job description is listed at the end of this email!
For more details on this job or to apply simply visit CyberCoders:
http://www.CyberCoders.com/qb.aspx?posId=AT-DosimetristEc-CA&ad=CSAnna.Thomas
Not a fit for this job?  Search all of our open jobs:

http://www.CyberCoders.com/qa.aspx?ad=CSAnna.Thomas&sterm= 

Happy where you are?  Great!  I will only email you when we find a new job that may be a good fit for your background.  You can also use the link below if you would like us to hold off on emails to you about new jobs.
Good luck in your searches,

Anna

(For the record, I work at the only radiation cancer center in Rohnert Park, CA.)  

Yeah, that's right I was emailed by a recruiter (I've never heard of) about a job (I already have)!

I told my supervisor about it today...he says I should apply for this position...he thinks there's a pretty good chance I'd get it.  I should have asked him if he'd be a reference for me.

"Resolutions"

As I stated not too long ago, I don't like to create "resolutions" at the new year...instead I like that around my birthday...it's the beginning of my new year.

Here are some of resolutions/goals (that I feel like sharing):

In the next year/already started:
Lose 15-20 pounds (basically the weight I gained once I went back to school)  <--- 5 pounds down
Get back into the running game - complete a few 5Ks and at least one 1/2 marathon...maybe throw a 10K in there  ;o)
I'm also trying to do some yoga on regular basis...for now it's just some DVDs I have, not actual classes...but as you can imagine, Kenai does not this very easy
Volunteer
Take more pictures
Read more
Get my place put together so I can have a "grown-up" place  <-- happening slowly but surely
Cook more
Get Kenai trained so well enough so he can be off leash (and behave) when apporpiate
Go to a 49's or Raiders game AND a Giants or A's game
Own a more respectable wardrobe (but the weight loss thing sort of needs to happen first)


Next five years:
Get my bachelors
Greatly reduce my debt
Have a decent savings built up - for what? Retirement? A home? I don't know...just have something saved.
Travel - there's tons of stuff to do in the area I live in, London, a few years ago I went to Philadelphia and DC but got pretty sick while there so I spent most of the time in my hotel room I'd like to go back and actually see the sites


Indefinitely:
Don't be a douche bag
Learn from my past but don't let it haunt me
Find someone - or I should say someone(s), I don't mean in a romantically sense necessarily I just mean finding my niche
Explore more hobbies: Knitting, painting, pottery, rock climbing...whatevs
Love and be loved
Appreciate where I am - right here and right now
Feel at home in my skin

This is going to be a big year...my year of change and bettering myself.  I need it...Buffalo turned me into a person I didn't like. (FYI - I think I've already said this but just to make sure - when I talk about the bad parts/people associated with Buffalo...if I've had any type of contact with you since I left you're not included in that category)

I can honestly say that this song describes how I feel about trying to turn my life around...and by getting rid of the depression I've suffered from for years. It might sound stupid, but, for me, this song signals hope.  (And I f'ing love his accent)





Oh and  to end on a light note - a funny goal but I seriously want to do it - own two dogs and name them Bebop and Rocksteady.  I am 100% willing to change Kenai's name to make this a reality....

Daycare dropout

Kenai has been kicked out of daycare...okay not "kicked out" but he has some warts...which I guess are extremely common in puppies but they're also very contagious (just to other dogs, not humans). So, he's not allowed back until they're gone...which, according to the online research I've done, could be several months. What sucks is that daycare is the only place could have even gotten it...but now he can't go back. I just feel bad for him, daycare is his most favorite place ever...but now he's not allowed back.  He's not going to be a happy puppy.  Poor guy.  I know I'm a crazy dog person for taking all this to heart...but he's my little guy.  :o(

Something a lil' different

For some reason, the audio isn't synced quite right...but I'm giving up on trying to fix it...argh...hope it's not too annoying. :o/

Footnote:  I forgot to mention in the video, for my non-Alaska people, that REI is a sweet outdoor recreation store...I think they're more of a west coast thing.  Any type of outdoor activity you can think of they sell equipment for it...and it's good stuff.  Sooo, nice to live near one again!

2/14

"Saint Valentine was eventually imprisoned, beaten, stoned, and beheaded. They don't tell you that on the cards."

I've never been one for Valentine's Day, even when I was in a relationship, but I'm especially not looking forward to this one.  Not like this is my first one alone...or the second.  Maybe it's because I have no one this year...not even friends to have an "anti-Valentines" celebration.  Maybe it's because I'm getting older...not too long ago I was talking with someone and the fact that I'm single was brought up.  He said, "oh don't worry, you're young.  There's still plenty of time." And blah, blah, blah.  I knew he assumed I'm way younger than I am, so I told him how old I actually am.  Then, he actually said something along the lines of, "oh wow.  You are behind the curve." (Yes, he really did more or less say that.)

I don't know why but I do know that this Valentine's Day...and hell my birthday too...are not ones I'll look back on and think those were the good ol' days...

I see STARS

Yesterday, I was bored...in case you couldn't tell from my twenty seven posts on facebook...and stumbled across some interesting information on the town I currently live in.  Apparently several movies have filmed scenes in this area.  Some of the highlights include - American Graffiti, Scream, Basic Instinct, Pleasentville, Howard the Duck...these are the ones just in Petaluma, there's a longer list of movies filmed in Sonoma County.

New life goal:  Have a mother f'ing movie filmed down the street from where I live! 

Ooooh, maybe a Johnny Depp or Robert Downy Jr one.  Mmmmm yes.  C'mon Hollywood don't let me down!  Hey, it may not be much of a stretch...if you looked at the link above it looks like a Brad Pitt and Sean Penn movie that will be out later this year filmed some scenes here...

(Interesting little side note - I watched The Social Network the other night...good flick...but, anyway, I didn't know Facebook's headquarters are in San Francisco!)

Yep, we save lives...

Today at work:

--  I listened to *NSYNC with one of our physicists.  And reminisced about the days when Hansen was popular.

--  One of our doctors decoded a memo from wingdings font.


Just another day kicking cancer's ass...

Adventures in Oakland

Today, the other dosimetrist I work with and myself went to Oakland today for a little "field trip".  It took about 90 minutes to get out there!  (Oakland is only 60-ish miles away)...gotta love California rush hour.  People always make jokes about "be careful what colors you wear" and "try not to get shot" and so on (they do it here too)...but I'm going to let you in on a little secret...shhh don't tell anyone...Oakland isn't really that bad...yes, like all big cities, I'm sure there are plenty of parts you don't want to walk alone in but the parts I've seen are actually fine.

I'll spare most of the details of my day there since it's all work stuff that will bore everyone to tears but long story short we went out there just to see how this other center does some stuff...it can sometimes be helpful to see other techniques of getting stuff done...a fresh perspective of sorts.  Anyway, first we met the physicist there.  He was...exactly what you'd expect.  Nice guy, but, well, let me put it this way...I love working with physicists because they (well most of them) are so "off" it makes me feel like a fine socially adapted, well adjusted person.

Then, one of the dosimetrists went over some stuff for the morning.  I guess I learned a thing or two (though I cannot it was worth the trip out there).  Little side note:  I'd like to say that while being at Roswell a year after school may not have been ideal in some ways, not getting paid and so on, I am so happy to have been there that long and gained that foundation.  The fact I've only been doing this for a little over a year but I can hold my own with some people who've been doing this for over 10 years is, well, pretty bad ass if I do say so myself.

After the morning doing that, we (some people from the Oakland clinic and us Rohnert Park people) went to lunch.  I've never been in a group situation with so...many...awkward...silences.  I like to think that after my time in diagnostic radiology and in radiation therapy I'm pretty good at the small talk game...but today it did not suffice.  Brandon (the other dosimetrist from my clinic) and myself tried but this is how most conversations went:  Me - so how long how you been in the field? (this is a safe question because people always seem to like to talk about their backgrounds)  Person 1 - Since 1989...  Person 2 - For about four years...  Person 3 - Yeah, about four years... [Crickets]  Brandon - So, where's everybody from? (This is a safe question in California because, like Alaska, most people here has moved from somewhere else)  1 - Maryland...  2 - Colorado...  3 - Here. Northern California...  [Crickets]  Aaaand multiply by two hours.  Sigh...I suppose as a whole we dosimetrists really are only a small step below medical physicists in our social skills...damn.

I just started to imagine I was on an episode of The Office... but then I had to try not to laugh during the silences.


Another side note: Kenai almost died today because, while out for a walk, he'd apparently rather jump into the middle of traffic than have to walk by a special needs kid on the sidewalk.  That's right ladies and gentlemen, my dog is a heartless douche bag....

Since I have no social life, what's keeping me entertained these days...

I just finished the book Water For Elephants.  It was actually a decent read!  I wasn't too sure what to think going into it...especially since a few people who I've heard say it's good are people I totally don't trust their opinion (we all know a few of those people, where if they say something is good or bad you usually think just the opposite) but I kept seeing it in the book store and finally decided to give a try (on the Kindle, woot!).  I'm glad I did, it was an entertaining fiction book. Though I have to admit I had kind of a funny relationship with it - I didn't think it liked it as much as I did while I was actually reading it, let me explain: it wasn't the type of book I couldn't put down (I basically only read it during my lunch breaks), it was pretty predictable, there's a bit of a love story, which isn't usually my thing....but now that I'm done with it, I'm sort of sad!  I don't know if any of that makes sense...but yeah...I want more.

Current trash TV obsession = Toddlers & Tiaras.  (Hey, I need something to fill my crap TV void until Bridezillas starts back up.)  Oooh...myyy...goood...nutso.  I'm pretty sure this is child abuse.  And damn you Comcast on demand for making this so easy to get to!

I hate it when I meet women who totally emulate every negative stereotype there is.  I went to a coworkers Super Bowl party on Sunday...I remember why I don't like those things.  I figured since I wouldn't care less about the game, I'd be okay this time around...I was wrong.  I understand not everybody likes football but Super Bowl is when everyone watches football.  But why is it (every. single. time.) there's always a person that doesn't know anything about the game but also feels the need to squawk the entire game?  I mean, NEVER shut up.  I understand some girls don't like football but why can't they shut the f**k up for 10 seconds so those of us that do know what's going on can at least hear our own thoughts for half a second.  Oh and she kept asking every 10 minutes if it was halftime...this requires no knowledge of football...just how to read a god damned clock.  Ugh, I should not be allowed to interact with other people...

But it wasn't a total, there were some damn good ribs, chocolate fondue, and I made some Buffalo chicken dip...which was a big hit!  I'd never made it before but I had to make sure there was some sort of Buffalo chicken available.  I heard one guy saying how good the dip was and then my coworker responded "well she lived in Buffalo for a few years."  Like, I know some sort of local secret or something.  Ha!  Whatevs, I'll take it!  :oP

Randoms

Kenai is in the middle of obedience training.  Apparently it's a common California thing, to drop your dog off during the day, the trainers work with him, and then I pick him up...this goes on for two weeks (he's in the advanced training) and when it's all done they go over everything with me.  He's going to the same place as his daycare.  It costs a pretty penny but this is probably best for him (and me) because, I may call him a dummy all the time but he's super smart and super stubborn...a deadly combo...and I'm not sure I could train him on my own. Anyway, I get my "training" on Saturday....wish me luck.

Think you're having a bad day?  Usually in my field when we see someone with breast or prostate cancer there's a pretty good chance/hope of recovery...unless there's some type of metastases.  Today, in our morning rounds, we were presented with a 49-year old man with prostate cancer so advanced that they know right off the bat this treatment will be nothing more than palliative.  Forty-f'ing-nine.   And a few weeks ago I had to work on a plan for a patient who was almost exactly a month younger than me...no good at all.

In my ongoing effort for my 'quit being a fat ass' goal I opted to make a smoothie rather than find my nearest drive-thru for a milkshake.  I went with blueberry-banana...not too shabby.

Found this little gem at Whole Foods today.  Love it. Love it. Love it.

While, I overall really like the new area of the country I call home, I notice a lot people who have lived in this area for too long are absolutely insane.  Not like fun quirky insane...like, insane insane.   I think Colorado is still #1 on my list...plus I've had too may people tell me that's where I belong.  You know, since I feel so strongly about wanting to live there, maybe I should actually try visiting there someday.  Sheesh...

Alright, million dollar question - packers? steelers?  To be honest, I couldn't care less...I think I'm more excited about the episode of Glee following...

They grow up so fast

The past couple days whenever I look at Kenai, I think, "Damn, he's gotten big."  I swear it just happens over night...one day I look at him and he's looks like he has for the last month and then overnight he doubles in size.  I took another "mirror picture" just to have a reference for his size...my little dummy is getting to be a big dummy!

10/9/10 (ish) - 3 months

2/1/11 - 7 months