More interviews...

This was a particularly exciting round of interviews - I finally had my much anticipated visit back to Madison, WI this past week. It was sandwiched between an interview in Chicagoland and one in rural Baraboo, WI. The Chicago program is very cool, very well established (though they unfortunately are still using paper, without a real timeline to switching to an EMR, which I think is real bummer). Baraboo sounds and looks like a solid program, but involves lots of traveling to Madison and back (about 1 hour each way) and wouldn't really be practical for us.

Madison (drum roll) on the other hand, is in a great spot, has lots to offer, uses an EMR, and is just amazing in so many ways. I try not to get my hopes up too much about any one thing, but I think this place would be a great fit.

I mentioned it a few months ago when I was staying with one of their residents for a rotation. Bike friendly lanes (not used as much in December!), awesome places to eat, and plenty of ways to satisfy my bleeding heart! Grilled tuna steak sandwich with chipotle mayonaise, pico de gallo, and avocado. Yummy!

So, after much traveling through the Chicago traffic and long stretches of highway, I'm back to Michigan. Mary made the trip in from Iowa, and we're soon to travel to Grand Rapids to see the kids up there. Should be fun!

Meanwhile, I'm having another bit of a manic evening - after sleeping for 12 hours the night before, I can't sleep tonight and have decided that blogging is a good thing to do. That is, of course, after folding laundry and watching some quality tv (not).

(weird manic detail oriented story to follow - you have been warned)

[While Charlotte was at work, Mary and I went out for a drive to see Pewabic, and after our visit, had a bit of car trouble. The ol' 93 Saturn has been doing ok, and has been even better since a new battery went in 2 weeks ago. It was working swimmingly until we tried to make our return trip back from the store. Apparently the threaded bolt that attaches the wiring harness to the battery post had been buggered either when I removed the old battery, or when I put this new battery in, since it now decided that it wouldn't stay in place with a loose connection. No connection = no electricity to start the car, and apparently none to keep it running either. I thought the alternator would keep it going, but it didn't - obviously I don't know too much about the circuitry of Saturns...

So, I called everyone I knew in the area, and no one answered his/her phone, save our landlord (lady?) who herself was without a car that day - she ultimately got in touch with another neighbor couple who managed to give us a lift. They're good people, also from MA.

Long story short - we got the car running again by buying a new little bolt - for only 2 bucks. Funny though, since we ran into "out of stock" at 2 stores before finding it at a third store. And it's a good thing they come 2 in a package - I managed to drop the first one somewhere down into the abyss of the engine compartment. That one is now part of the car, though it's not attached! Good thing these hands won't be wielding a scalpel on a regular basis, eh? Here's what the stinkin' thing looks like.

So, car's good, we had a few laughs, and got back home just fine. Just glad this didn't happen last week when Charlotte was driving around by herself. It's almost like the bolt knew it had to hold up until I got int he car to drive it!]

Anyhow, we hope you all have a happy holiday, especially those we won't get to see.