28 DEC 2007 Sinking my teeth in

"I slept hard today. After morning clinical openers, I cleaned up a little business, changed back into DCU's and biked back to the hooch. It was so cold that my fingers hurt in the wind. By the time I got back to the hooch, they were cold and white. Guess it wasn't so silly after all for the military to send me here with big puffy gloves! Rather than cut through the barriers, hop the curb, then pop over the water supply hoses, I opted to take the long way around to the parking lot behind our housing pod. It was too cold to risk ditching my bike like I do some mornings. After being on call for a 24-hour shift, several bodily functions start to get a little finicky. My right eye starts to twitch. It makes me look like a maniac who is just barely holding back an outburst. It makes for great conversations with concerned parents. I actually appreciate those who ask so that I can reassure them that I'm not crazed. After a night on call, my body loses all ability to regulate temperature. I become like a poikilothermic lizard, normalizing temperature with the environment around me. Often post-call you can find me trudging around the hospital in long johns or with a wool blanket draped over my shoulders like Pancho Villa. And lastly, my balance can suffer a bit. This can add some much needed excitement to a boring bike ride out of the hospital compound."
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