A Balmy 45 Degrees

Well the weather people got it right two days in a row ... by noon the temperature had risen to 40 degrees.  By the time I got my act together and stepped outside it was a balmy 45.  I left the house with WAY too many layers so I ended up hitting the streets in a long sleeve, fleece vest and token L.L.Bean boots.  While there was nine inches of snow last night, the warm weather and shoveling made the sidewalks pretty easy to navigate.  

People in the neighborhood have been busy building snowmen.  

This one improvised with a Hopkins scarf, some grapes for eyes and a mini carrot for a nose. 

There was some modern art along the way.

Then I went across the Jone Falls Stream to take some obligatory artsy photos at Clipper Mill.  The area originally was home to eleven mills thanks to the Jones Falls which provided much needed waterpower; several plants and foundries helped create a bustling economy.  In fact, the brackets and 36 inch columns which support the US Capitol dome were created here.  In 1995, a fire damaged most of the commerical space so over the last few years it has been transformed into apartments and commercial space.  

After a three hour walkabout through several Baltimore neighborhoods and Druid Hill Park,
I treated myself to a giant scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream from The Charmery.

On the way back I swung by the Papermoon diner.  

The crazy colored statues popped among the piles of snow.  

The warm weather was fun while it lasted!  Tomorrow we are back to the deep freeze. 

Frist Real Snow Day

After several snow predictions and a few inches here and there, Baltimore got its first real snow storm of the winter today.  Co-workers were urged to get to work early and bring an extra set of clothing as they might be forced to stay longer than their 12 hour shift.  Thankfully this was my weekend off, so I spent much of it curled up under a blanket, watching Netflix.  On days like this I wish I had a fireplace.  Until then I will have to think of pictures like this one. 

The city  urged people to stay home and off the streets.  Thankfully I live within walking distance of a grocery store, coffee shop and farm to table restaurant so that was no problem for me.  Feeling a bit of cabin fever early in the afternoon (these things to happen when weather conditions are not optimal), I decided to layer up and head over to Parts and Labor to grab some lunch.  Just outside their restaurant I found some great graffiti. 

Also, what's a better way to spend a snow day than to eat a delicious sandwich and to wash it down with some local beer?

Baltimoreans posted everything from "sarcastic tweets to serene Instagram photos."  A friend took this picture at a DC bar and it pretty much sums up how many of us are feeling about this winter.  Seriously, when is the thermometer going to climb above 25 degrees?

When all was said and done measurements showed the city got upwards of nine inches.  Thankfully it is supposed to climb into the 40s tomorrow.  Fingers crossed, a good amount of snow melts before the cold weather sets in again.

Happy Valentine's Day

Since my life pretty much revolves around all things medicine these days, I did some internet searching for some great Valentines Day cards.  Fingers crossed you find these as funny as I did!  

PS: Also today marks the 500th post on le blog!  Here's to many more posts.

Does Your Personality Match Your Job?

I am sure most people have taken the Myers Briggs personality test or maybe even the personality test which tries to predict suitable professions.  After working only a few short months I can definitely see that certain shifts and specialties attract certain kinds of nurses.  A few weeks ago Laura Stokowski, RN, MS published a viewpoint piece seeing if personality tests should be used to help new graduates determine which field they should enter.

New graduates are expensive to train, both with regards to money and time.  After spending a great deal of resources, new graduates are expected to give back a certain amount of time to pay off their "debt".  Problems arise when new nurses leave before their commitment time is over and/or have poor job satisfaction when they are not working in a field if interest.  Personality tests could improve "job satisfaction, work-related stress, retention, turnover, and perhaps even patient outcomes."  It will be interesting to watch the research over the next few years and see if HR decides to incorporate personality testing into the new hire process.