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Last decade: Went to veterinary school, graduated, did an internship, worked as a vet, thought better of the whole thing.
Next decade: Pay it off.
Next decade: Pay it off.
Animal toxicity discussion. Pet Poison Helpline. I ducked off the webcast for a moment to look up something they mentioned.
Why yes, the "Wheel of Vomit" is a thing. And there's a web site out there cheerily encouraging you to ORDER YOUR VOMIT WHEEL.
Now there's a marketing person's dream challenge. A job where you have to say ORDER YOUR VOMIT WHEEL.
Why yes, the "Wheel of Vomit" is a thing. And there's a web site out there cheerily encouraging you to ORDER YOUR VOMIT WHEEL.
Now there's a marketing person's dream challenge. A job where you have to say ORDER YOUR VOMIT WHEEL.
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I am beginning to wonder if I am losing my mind.
1. I’ve always had times when I couldn’t think of the word I wanted. Am I more aware of it now, simply because I’m hanging with folk for whom the right word really is required, or is it actually HAPPENING more?
2. I used to be smart, able to learn new things rapidly and able to come up with solutions to problems. I don’t see that now. Is this a normal situation for a 50-year-old coming back to a profession ditched more than a decade ago, or is there more going on?
My mind has always been pretty much my only ally and my only asset. I don’t know what I’m going to do if it too is abandoning me.
1. I’ve always had times when I couldn’t think of the word I wanted. Am I more aware of it now, simply because I’m hanging with folk for whom the right word really is required, or is it actually HAPPENING more?
2. I used to be smart, able to learn new things rapidly and able to come up with solutions to problems. I don’t see that now. Is this a normal situation for a 50-year-old coming back to a profession ditched more than a decade ago, or is there more going on?
My mind has always been pretty much my only ally and my only asset. I don’t know what I’m going to do if it too is abandoning me.
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Drones in the health care sector:
The Trick to Achieving Universal Health Care? Drones
I am ridiculously proud of having passed their interview process and am now quite intimidated about contributing. These people do some AMAZING STUFF. Everyone I’ve met so far here is simply phenomenal.
The Trick to Achieving Universal Health Care? Drones
I am ridiculously proud of having passed their interview process and am now quite intimidated about contributing. These people do some AMAZING STUFF. Everyone I’ve met so far here is simply phenomenal.
Well I sure haven’t been around here as much since starting the new job!
So far it looks really nifty. People there are good folk and the work is fascinating.
I’m slowly coming up to speed. Slowly. I’m always antsy to become a useful contributor faster, and yeah that gives me some drive to make the effort, but god I’m tired and I judge myself for not being THERE already.
The commute isn’t as bad as I feared. Yet, anyway. Ask again in a few months. :)
I do read here, just in larger batches at a time. I apologize for commenting less.
So far it looks really nifty. People there are good folk and the work is fascinating.
I’m slowly coming up to speed. Slowly. I’m always antsy to become a useful contributor faster, and yeah that gives me some drive to make the effort, but god I’m tired and I judge myself for not being THERE already.
The commute isn’t as bad as I feared. Yet, anyway. Ask again in a few months. :)
I do read here, just in larger batches at a time. I apologize for commenting less.
First few days on the job have felt a bit hectic with no particularly good cause. I’ve been thinking for three days “I will do laundry this evening” and for various reasons it hasn’t happened.
I can take restroom breaks at work. (There’s a server rack in there. At Old Job it was a big organizer full of medical supplies. Plus ça change...) I can even eat lunch, and what’s more, it’s brought to us automatically every day for free.
Yesterday on my commute I had to brake to avoid a heron.
Funniest headline I’ve seen today: “The Man Trying to Make Sense of Brexit is Tired and Would Like to Stop Now”. (NY Times so I won’t link it, paywall. Posted on work’s #random Slack channel.)
I can take restroom breaks at work. (There’s a server rack in there. At Old Job it was a big organizer full of medical supplies. Plus ça change...) I can even eat lunch, and what’s more, it’s brought to us automatically every day for free.
Yesterday on my commute I had to brake to avoid a heron.
Funniest headline I’ve seen today: “The Man Trying to Make Sense of Brexit is Tired and Would Like to Stop Now”. (NY Times so I won’t link it, paywall. Posted on work’s #random Slack channel.)
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Someone I value said to me last night:
"When you get to the grief phase, let me know."
She knew this change was a big deal and she knew it was for the best. She also knew it was at least a temporary if not a permanent goodbye to something I worked for (mostly successfully!) for over a decade, and she knew what happens when those kinds of goodbyes come into our lives. She figured out this whole picture. Then she offered her support.
This is a step above your basic entry-level human, here. ♥
"When you get to the grief phase, let me know."
She knew this change was a big deal and she knew it was for the best. She also knew it was at least a temporary if not a permanent goodbye to something I worked for (mostly successfully!) for over a decade, and she knew what happens when those kinds of goodbyes come into our lives. She figured out this whole picture. Then she offered her support.
This is a step above your basic entry-level human, here. ♥
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Picked up my first relief shift. (3/31, the day before I start the new job. Hope that won't be too awkward.)
I guess I'm sorta still a veterinarian. As hobbies go, it's kind of a nifty one, huh?
I guess I'm sorta still a veterinarian. As hobbies go, it's kind of a nifty one, huh?
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Wednesday I went home from my last work day as a full time veterinarian.
As of Thursday midnight I was unemployed. (My schedule was such that my "weekends" were Th-Fr, so Thursday is a day I wouldn't have worked.) Hi! I'm unemployed! Oh wait, that's already outdated news.
Early this afternoon I signed a job offer from Zipline. I think I was technically unemployed for about thirteen hours. For a complete change of career. Even for ME that's moving pretty darn fast.
I start in April. I have a month to remember things like how to use Emacs and how to write in C. Also to learn everything that has sprung up since I left, like git and whatever RTOS these guys use and whatever bus protocols exist nowadays and the new avionics and frankly even stackoverflow which may have been around but I've never truly met it before.
I'm going to be writing some of the on-board code that guides the aircraft in the air - are my systems healthy enough to launch, where am I, am I making progress against this headwind, am I over my delivery site, do I need to hold, do I need to head back to base, can I catch the landing wire, all of that stuff. There are super smart people working on this already and now I'm going to join them. To write code that flies an airplane without any human help. In order to deliver life saving medical supplies. NO PRESSURE.
The only real downside is a commute that's an hour each way, with no possibility of public transit - I'm driving or I don't get there. I've loaded a good audiobook app on my phone.
I am so happy I could just burst.
As of Thursday midnight I was unemployed. (My schedule was such that my "weekends" were Th-Fr, so Thursday is a day I wouldn't have worked.) Hi! I'm unemployed! Oh wait, that's already outdated news.
Early this afternoon I signed a job offer from Zipline. I think I was technically unemployed for about thirteen hours. For a complete change of career. Even for ME that's moving pretty darn fast.
I start in April. I have a month to remember things like how to use Emacs and how to write in C. Also to learn everything that has sprung up since I left, like git and whatever RTOS these guys use and whatever bus protocols exist nowadays and the new avionics and frankly even stackoverflow which may have been around but I've never truly met it before.
I'm going to be writing some of the on-board code that guides the aircraft in the air - are my systems healthy enough to launch, where am I, am I making progress against this headwind, am I over my delivery site, do I need to hold, do I need to head back to base, can I catch the landing wire, all of that stuff. There are super smart people working on this already and now I'm going to join them. To write code that flies an airplane without any human help. In order to deliver life saving medical supplies. NO PRESSURE.
The only real downside is a commute that's an hour each way, with no possibility of public transit - I'm driving or I don't get there. I've loaded a good audiobook app on my phone.
I am so happy I could just burst.
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One more day left.
A techie company where I’m interviewing is showing signs of real interest.
I went home today with a fever of 99.9 (which had been 99.1 fifteen minutes earlier) and am now lying in bed trying valiantly not to throw up.
I sure am wrapping up this career with a bang.
A techie company where I’m interviewing is showing signs of real interest.
I went home today with a fever of 99.9 (which had been 99.1 fifteen minutes earlier) and am now lying in bed trying valiantly not to throw up.
I sure am wrapping up this career with a bang.
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I’m still being useful. Took a follow up appointment from another doc: skin thing, she had tried antibiotics and it didn’t get better, I stuck a needle in it to get some cells, and whoah Nellie that’s cancer here’s a lot of info and congratulations on your pet insurance.
( General vettie info fyi )
Anyhow. Two more days.
( General vettie info fyi )
Anyhow. Two more days.
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Had lunch with a friend of mine, a local emergency veterinarian and vet school classmate. She is sad that vet med is losing me and thinks I’m a great vet. (She said “ninetieth percentile.”)
I had to ask how she knows. The last time we worked alongside each other was before graduation.
I’d forgotten: I transfer cases to her 24 hour center all the time. She may not be the first to take them, but if they stay hospitalized, she will see the records. She sees patients who have been worked up and those who haven’t; she sees the medical records, indicating how the referring clinician was thinking; she sees whether the client was told what a 24 hour center would likely do and recommend and cost or whether the client wasn’t prepared for any of that at all.
Okay. So she has at least SOME basis for saying what she says.
I honestly am extremely poor at self evaluation. When I graduated as a veterinarian I thought I was bright and had pretty good potential. (Whether I was right, I have no way to know.) By the end of internship I thought I still had good potential but I thought I was too high strung to be good at emergency. Now... I’ve frankly had my self confidence completely and utterly destroyed by the past couple of years.
So a local emergency vet (whose cases I’ve seen come back, and I think she’s super) thinks I’m not just a good vet but a really good vet.
If I had known that six months ago, would it have changed anything? I’m not sure. Maybe. Maybe not.
I guess either way I need some income. :/
I had to ask how she knows. The last time we worked alongside each other was before graduation.
I’d forgotten: I transfer cases to her 24 hour center all the time. She may not be the first to take them, but if they stay hospitalized, she will see the records. She sees patients who have been worked up and those who haven’t; she sees the medical records, indicating how the referring clinician was thinking; she sees whether the client was told what a 24 hour center would likely do and recommend and cost or whether the client wasn’t prepared for any of that at all.
Okay. So she has at least SOME basis for saying what she says.
I honestly am extremely poor at self evaluation. When I graduated as a veterinarian I thought I was bright and had pretty good potential. (Whether I was right, I have no way to know.) By the end of internship I thought I still had good potential but I thought I was too high strung to be good at emergency. Now... I’ve frankly had my self confidence completely and utterly destroyed by the past couple of years.
So a local emergency vet (whose cases I’ve seen come back, and I think she’s super) thinks I’m not just a good vet but a really good vet.
If I had known that six months ago, would it have changed anything? I’m not sure. Maybe. Maybe not.
I guess either way I need some income. :/
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(In a conference room with seven of them and one of me)
Him: Now that we have gone over your implementation, I want to ask: how long has it been since you have written any embedded code like this?
Me: A memory allocator? Yeah I have to admit I have written one before. I didn’t think it would be fair to go back and look at that code, since this was a coding question for an interview, so I didn’t.
Him: Okay, and how long has it been since then? Or since you've written ANY embedded code?
Me: Oh. Um. I guess not counting cell phones, uhhhh... 2005 or so? (Embarrassed look)
Him: *high five gesture* I just wanted the team to know that.
(Interview, mid-day)
Him: Now that we're done with the interview questions, I know you get this a lot but can I ask you veterinary stuff?
(Last interview of the day, videoconference, with a founder)
Him: I admit when I saw your resume I was a little concerned. More than ten years out of the field completely, and you think you can do this? I have trouble remembering things a lot more recent than that. How will you approach this? What makes you think you can do it?
Me: Well, at least this is a field I’ve seen before. Last time I took on a challenge this big I was going into completely unknown territory. But I won’t lie, I know it will be a bumpy road and I will have a lot of work to do.
[some discussion of how to approach it]
Me: I'm somewhat smart, but I'm also pretty stubborn, and sometimes that's what works.
Him: Now that I see you and know your personality a bit, I think I get it.
(Driving down the hill on the way out for the day)
Her: I love living nearby. I used to commute from Mountain View and it just got to be too much. Where are you coming from?
Me: Sunnyvale.
Her: Oh! Where do you work down there?
Me: Uh, Sunnyvale Veterinary Clinic.
[Pause]
Me: I’m a veterinarian.
Her: Oh! I thought you were... [trailing off, confused]
Me: Applying for an embedded systems coding job? Yeah.
[Pause]
Her: Oh WOW. ... Hey, did they tell you about our trial run with bull semen?
I gotta hand it to them, they’re flexible and engaged and they think a wacky unconventional background is intriguing rather than terrifying. I’ll take it. If I can.
Him: Now that we have gone over your implementation, I want to ask: how long has it been since you have written any embedded code like this?
Me: A memory allocator? Yeah I have to admit I have written one before. I didn’t think it would be fair to go back and look at that code, since this was a coding question for an interview, so I didn’t.
Him: Okay, and how long has it been since then? Or since you've written ANY embedded code?
Me: Oh. Um. I guess not counting cell phones, uhhhh... 2005 or so? (Embarrassed look)
Him: *high five gesture* I just wanted the team to know that.
(Interview, mid-day)
Him: Now that we're done with the interview questions, I know you get this a lot but can I ask you veterinary stuff?
(Last interview of the day, videoconference, with a founder)
Him: I admit when I saw your resume I was a little concerned. More than ten years out of the field completely, and you think you can do this? I have trouble remembering things a lot more recent than that. How will you approach this? What makes you think you can do it?
Me: Well, at least this is a field I’ve seen before. Last time I took on a challenge this big I was going into completely unknown territory. But I won’t lie, I know it will be a bumpy road and I will have a lot of work to do.
[some discussion of how to approach it]
Me: I'm somewhat smart, but I'm also pretty stubborn, and sometimes that's what works.
Him: Now that I see you and know your personality a bit, I think I get it.
(Driving down the hill on the way out for the day)
Her: I love living nearby. I used to commute from Mountain View and it just got to be too much. Where are you coming from?
Me: Sunnyvale.
Her: Oh! Where do you work down there?
Me: Uh, Sunnyvale Veterinary Clinic.
[Pause]
Me: I’m a veterinarian.
Her: Oh! I thought you were... [trailing off, confused]
Me: Applying for an embedded systems coding job? Yeah.
[Pause]
Her: Oh WOW. ... Hey, did they tell you about our trial run with bull semen?
I gotta hand it to them, they’re flexible and engaged and they think a wacky unconventional background is intriguing rather than terrifying. I’ll take it. If I can.
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I’m getting to the point at work where I say “recheck in two weeks” and I know it won’t be with me. Heck, as of the end of the day today, “recheck in one week” won’t be with me.
I’m having to tell long-term clients I’m leaving. Mostly it’s my collection of crazies. This sounds bad, but every vet has some. The quirky oddball characters who somehow feel connected best to you, the demanding ones that you’re the only one with the patience to cater to, the single issue voters you took the time to listen to once upon a time and they are disappointed to have to go to anyone else.
Heck, it’s not all long term folk. There was one today I met for the first time. Bunny owners. I had to let them know that their recheck (“when you’re done with those meds the other doc gave you”) won’t be with me, and in fact we don’t HAVE any full time bunny vets after next week, but try this doc because I know she’s good - and they asked where I’m going. I’ve taken to just saying Half Moon Bay because it is simple. They begged me for the contact info of the clinic I’ll be working at. Um. Well. Awkward. :(
Every decision has its downsides; every new beginning arises from the ashes of an ending. This is a good decision, at least in the sense that it’s the only choice I had left. But it’s also sad.
I’m having to tell long-term clients I’m leaving. Mostly it’s my collection of crazies. This sounds bad, but every vet has some. The quirky oddball characters who somehow feel connected best to you, the demanding ones that you’re the only one with the patience to cater to, the single issue voters you took the time to listen to once upon a time and they are disappointed to have to go to anyone else.
Heck, it’s not all long term folk. There was one today I met for the first time. Bunny owners. I had to let them know that their recheck (“when you’re done with those meds the other doc gave you”) won’t be with me, and in fact we don’t HAVE any full time bunny vets after next week, but try this doc because I know she’s good - and they asked where I’m going. I’ve taken to just saying Half Moon Bay because it is simple. They begged me for the contact info of the clinic I’ll be working at. Um. Well. Awkward. :(
Every decision has its downsides; every new beginning arises from the ashes of an ending. This is a good decision, at least in the sense that it’s the only choice I had left. But it’s also sad.
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Ten work days to go.
Yesterday was a circus. Today will be pretty busy. Tomorrow won’t be as bad as yesterday at least. Then there will be eight.
I can survive a whole lot of things for eight days. Eight is doable.
Yesterday was a circus. Today will be pretty busy. Tomorrow won’t be as bad as yesterday at least. Then there will be eight.
I can survive a whole lot of things for eight days. Eight is doable.
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Twelve work days left. Just twelve! And this evening it will be eleven! Squeeeeeeeeeeeee!
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Two hours in to a mandatory all-hands evening meeting, the hospital manager announced my departure.
First she announced the departure of a senior member of the vet tech team, an indefatigable young woman who’s always doing eight things at once. The hospital manager practically spoke a eulogy for this girl. She was nearly in tears. They’re VERY sad to see her go.
Then she said “and Dr Smith is also leaving, and her last day is at the end of the month.” The contrast could not have been more stark. I should have left a year ago. I was crazy to stay this long, and now I feel a lot more confident that I’m doing the right thing.
The reaction from the room was a whole bunch of “awwww!” So I know some folks will be sorry to see me go. (I am guessing that in particular the receptionists are going to notice. Tons of clients actually ask for me. My appointment notes say “requested CJS” pretty frequently.)
On to bigger and better things.
First she announced the departure of a senior member of the vet tech team, an indefatigable young woman who’s always doing eight things at once. The hospital manager practically spoke a eulogy for this girl. She was nearly in tears. They’re VERY sad to see her go.
Then she said “and Dr Smith is also leaving, and her last day is at the end of the month.” The contrast could not have been more stark. I should have left a year ago. I was crazy to stay this long, and now I feel a lot more confident that I’m doing the right thing.
The reaction from the room was a whole bunch of “awwww!” So I know some folks will be sorry to see me go. (I am guessing that in particular the receptionists are going to notice. Tons of clients actually ask for me. My appointment notes say “requested CJS” pretty frequently.)
On to bigger and better things.
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I am now SITTING IN THE HOT TUB DRINKING CHAMPAGNE. This "quitting my job" thing feels awfully darn good.
(Bittersweet, yes. But also good. Very good.)
(Bittersweet, yes. But also good. Very good.)
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