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Hello again from my little office across from the morgue. It’s a little too tad exciting here right now. I’m already 45 minutes for my meeting at the hospital… We had to run a process for the feds that needed to be finished by 5pm… well, needless to say, it wasn’t finished… and we are SOOO close…. except that a process I need…. I don’t have the manual nor the instructions of how to complete it. My cohort who left in June was responsible for this process and I never even thought to ask her about the process before she left…. bottom line of this mess… the University is out some money because of this error on my part….

In other news: Ireland was awesome w/ a few minor glitches. Drank more beer in a 7 day period than I have in my other 32 years of life. Walked more in one week than I have ever walked before in my life (40 miles). It was great. The landscapes are beautiful. The people are beautiful (but I must stay away from the firemen from Dublin….). It was a great first experience for me.

In closing today… on my way to the train station in Media, I pass by a double… two families with two extremely different views on politicals happen to live next door to each other…. On the lawn of one family there is a Bush/Cheney 04 sign. Your totally normal run-of-the-mill political sign. On the other lawn is a sign that reads “When Clinton lied, People didn’t die.” Hmmmmm, I bet their small talk is very interesting.

Ok… must run to my meeting… I’m only 53 minutes late now. :O)

Have a good evening.

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The Countdown Begins….

12 hrs. 20 minutes

until I board the plane for Shannon. Thank goodness it’s finally Friday. This week has been sooooooooo hellish beyond words (but let me try)….. My day ended yesterday by a mother yelling at me saying she was going to contact our state senators and telling them what a horrible operation we have going on here. I wished her best of luck with that.

Finished packing…so, if I forgot it I must not have needed it. Very concerned that everything fit in my one big suitcase… I also brought along a small duffle bag just in case (well… to fit everything I’ll bring back).

Anyway, that’s about it from here.

Enjoy your weekend… and all of next week.

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I’m going to be well-loved by my students…..

NOT!!!!

You see… we gave money to a bunch of students that the state has now said that they are not eligible for. I am not going to like the conversations with them….

Thankfully, landing in Ireland is only 27 hours away.

Bye.

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Randomness

1. I admitted to a friend my affinity for all things Zach Braff. She laughed. It’s true. I haven’t been this obsessed with a celebrity since Sean Cassidy when I was 12.

2. I received my Euros shipment in the mail yesterday… found it odd that this is actually real money… seems too much like monoply money.

3. I leave for Ireland in two days. Still can’t believe I’m going.

4. My friend Don got a job!!!!! Very excited for him. Definitely what God had planned all along.

5. For anyone who watches “The Amazing Race.” Colin & Christie getting sidetracked!!! LOVED IT!!!!

That’s about it… gotta get to work.

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Ok…. glad to get another September 11th behind me. I can’t even begin to imagine what it feels like for people who lost loved ones that day. My workmate lost 2 friends at the WTC. He wasn’t in a good mood all of last week. I watched a little of the ceremony at Ground Zero. Mayor Bloomberg is right… there is no “term” for parents and/or grandparents who lose a child. We have widows, widowers, orphans… but there is no “label” for a parent who has lost a child. That day I was at home packing for my flight out on September 12th watching Matt Lauer interview some author on his new book on Howard Hughes. They then cut to the WTC right as the 2nd plane was hitting the tower.

I remember another friend of mine who grew up in North NJ & said he was always used to the buildings “just being there.” And was sad that they weren’t going to be there anymore… I think I would have the same feelings if suddenly the Sears Tower in Chicago was gone also.

Todd Beamer’s father was being interviewed on NBC (or Fox… I kept channel flipping) and he said that the members of Flight 93 won the first battle of the war against terrorism. I totally agree.

September 11th will always be a sad day & a day that reminded me of how much I love my country.

And, no, the attacks would have still happened if Al Gore was elected President. Sorry.. there’s my political statement of the day.

And in other news, FOUR more days until I leave for Ireland. US Airways decided to file for bankruptcy again… hopefully, this will not sideline my flight. The Bears lost again… but only by 4. The Eagles won. Unfortunately, this will get the hopes up of Philadelphians everywhere that indeed THIS WILL BE the year for the SuperBowl.

Ta-ta for now.

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Witness by Julian Schnabel

We saw a sky so hot that birds were on fire.

We saw people holding hands jumping to their death sounding like melons smashing, and, when we turned our heads not to look we still heard melons smashing.

We saw people running for their lives trying to get out of there and we saw other people, firemen, policemen, running into the burning buildings giving their lives to save others.

We saw people talking on TV in front of a pile that used to be a building and heard the sound of hundreds of beepers that were coming from the jackets of trapped firemen.

We saw the unseeable.

We saw humans filled with hate and despair fly airplanes into buildings trying to kill as many humans as possible.

We were there. It was also live on TV.

We saw a man holding onto the edge of a building by his fingers for about a minute hoping for the impossible.

We saw a world gone mad infected with self destruction.

We saw great acts of bravery from ordinary people who are in no way ordinary.

We saw people work past the edge of exhaustion.

We saw the future of our children disappear.

We saw our homes disappear and thought of others in faraway places who had no homes too.

We saw politicians talk of dropping food and supplies instead of bombs.

We saw New Yorkers being patient with each other.

We saw musicians, artists and all kinds of people learning together to heal each other and pray for peace in the name of all of those who have fallen.

We as a nation are witness to the fact that there are people out there that don’t like us.

….

We have seen compassion and resolution and brotherly love in the middle of one of the largest hate crimes in world history.

We have seen sanity in the face of insanity.

We have seen the end.

We don’t have a choice we need to make a new beginning.

SEPTEMBER 11, 2001.

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just caught myself thinking about disappointment and how it can affect our lives…. for me, there is this wanting and hoping that things will turn out differently all of a sudden.. and then they don’t.

that’s all i want to say on the topic… b/c if i say more… i’ll really have had said too much.

still at work… i figure i don’t have to be in university city for 90 more minutes… so, i’ll get some more files completed (since they all have to be completed before i leave next week… and i know i’ll have so much more stuff to deal with then also).

enjoy your weekend.

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Just one week to go until I leave for Ireland. I can’t believe it’s finally here. I’ve been soooo busy at work that I haven’t really had a chance to sit back and think about actually going… even though I haven’t had much chance to enjoy the anticipation of the trip I have been planning for it. Cool thing today… a friend from Columbus told me about getting foreign currency from Orbitz… So, I just ordered myself some Euros to take with me.

Nothing all that exciting to add. This week has been quite normal, if not downright slow… even with the holiday… the days have dragged on. Tonight is Indian food at my favorite Indian restaurant with my Penn folks!!!

Enjoy the rest of your day.

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My job…so far this week….. I have had a parent say that I was “smart” (not in a good way)… and then hang up on me and yesterday I had a nursing student call me a bitch in front of the whole staff and 4 other students because she didn’t get what she wanted.

We will see what Thursday brings.

And, to top it all off… I’m sick… caught a cold from a wonderful family full of sick people from Columbus, Ohio. Not their fault…. Just wish it didn’t hit me this week…. b/c I leave for Ireland in 8 days.

Have a good day.

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Nothing exciting new to add… Just busy at work… can’t believe it’s already 1pm.

So far today, I have taken 2,211 steps. I love my little pedometer…. I play little games with myself seeing how many steps I can take to different places… to Wawa… 40 steps… to the cafeteria…200 steps… It’s very fun. The powers that be suggest taking at least 10,000 steps per day… which, I have to say is actually a lot of walking… Last week I walked all around Old City after work and when I got home I had only walked approx 9,200 steps… In case you are wondering about my little obsession with my walking habits, it’s because I’m trying to build up my endurance for when I go to Ireland… we’ll be doing lots of walking there… 9-11 miles/day.

Gotta go…. my desk is under about 3 inches of paper and of phone messages….

That’s about it for today. Tomorrow I leave for Columbus, Ohio to attend an old friend’s wedding. I’m looking forward to being there… not looking forward to the drive. Eight long hours after working all day… I’ll probably stop around 10 and sleep for the night… I’m not as great driving at night as I used to be.

Ta-ta for now.