Cold Weather Equals Sad Brown Dog

Emma doesn't really seem to be enjoying winter this year.  I can't say I blame her, since it's been either snowy, rainy, slippery, or muddy for three months now.  But finding her snuggled up in a corner under a blanket has made me begin to question if she's a Labrador at all...

I know it's frigid outside but, considering her (alleged?) ancestors used to paddle around in freezing water up in Canada, I'm a little confused by the sudden urge to hibernate under a blanket when my thermostat is set at 70 degrees.  Maybe she's actually part bear and this is the closest she could get to finding a cave to hide in.  Poor Brown Dog!

Book Review: Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict

Laurie Viera Rigler is the author of Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, which I read back in 2008 and reviewed here.  I honestly don't remember much about this book except that it helped to answer my questions about what would happen if, like Courtney in the novel, I somehow woke up one day and found myself in Regency England instead of the present-day US.  But one question the book created was what happened to Jane Mansfield, the Regency girl who switched places with Courtney?

Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict answers that question, following Jane from the moment she awakens as Courtney Stone, a resident of Los Angeles in 2009.  This is the kind of story I've been making up since I first started reading:  what would happen if the heroine of one of my favorite books woke up in my time?  How fun would it be to introduce her to my world?  For that reason alone, I think I enjoyed reading Awakenings a little more than Confessions.

Awakenings does have a cute little message spread throughout it's pages about making the best with whatever life throws at you.  Nothing life changing, and not really the point of reading a novel like this.  You read this book to see how a Regency heroine would walk, talk, and act in today's world.  If you don't already have an interest in the Regency period, I can't see it inspiring you to try something different.  Apparently not too many people have that interest these days, since I found Awakenings at the Dollar Tree.  But if, like me, you're a Jane Austen addict, it's certainly a fun read for your day off, and probably worth more than a dollar!

Big Bang Theory Personality Quiz

I don't know how I stumbled across the Big Bang Theory Personality Quiz, but I did, and I thought it was cute enough to post my (fairly accurate) results here:  

Which Big Bang Theory Character Are You?
More on The Big Bang Theory. Created by BuddyTV

I may not be Indian, and I'm certainly not male, but I think my results are otherwise spot on.  Except for my silence being mistaken for listening.  I'm pretty sure that's just because I'm kind of a space cadet...which kind of makes me laugh, because Raj is an astronomer.  We have space in common too!  Maybe Raj and I should get married.  At least we wouldn't have to worry about being interrupted while Doctor Who is on.

If you're a Big Bang Theory fan and take this quiz, I'd love to see a comment with your results and hear if they are as accurate as mine!

Just when I start to think my dance moves are improving...

...a 7-month-old baby decides to bust a move, proving that even infants who can't walk are more coordinated than I am:

I should be depressed at my lack of skills, but Gangnam Baby is just so cute that I can't stop grinning!

The Big Read: Top 21

It's no secret that I love the 43things website.  I think it's a really positive site and a great place to keep track of personal goals.  I always like to take a few minutes to cheer other users' goals, and use the opportunity to look for things I've never heard of before.  Today I found "Complete The Big Read" and immediately adopted it for my own list of goals.

The Big Read is a list of UK's "Most-Loved Books" that was compiled by the BBC in 2003 after several months of voting by viewers.  What I love about this list of 200 books is that they range from classic to contemporary, and from low- to high-brow choices.  So I decided to challenge myself to read the top 21 books from this list:

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen  
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee  
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell  
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks  
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier  
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger  
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame  
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott  
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell

I'm pretty excited to see that I've already read about 10 on the list.  I say "about" because there are at least four that I know I've started but can't remember finishing.   Worst case scenario, there are 11 left to read and 11 months left in 2013.  Absolutely an attainable goal!

Book Review: A Dog's Purpose

I received A Dog's Purpose (by W. Bruce Cameron) as a gift from my wonderful Aunt Paula, who gives me a dog-centered book for Christmas every year.  I had never seen or heard of the book before I unwrapped it, and didn't want to ruin the story by reading the reviews on the back cover.  So when I started reading it, all I knew was that it was written from a dog's point of view, through several reincarnations, as he struggles to find his purpose in life.

I guess I should mention here and now that I am a sucker for anything dog related, so I might be a little biased when I state that this book was fabulous and I loved it.  I found the dog's views on everything from dog catchers and eating poop to pondering why any human would bother owning a cat to be charming.  I loved hearing human conversations from a dog's perspective, and then his admission that he only understood words like "food", "cat", "car", and "bad dog."   And I think most humans could identify with his initial worry of not finding his true purpose and his struggle to make the best with what life presents him.  I LOVE this book and, with the exception of dog-haters, would recommend it to anyone

But I do feel that there needs to be a warning on this book.  Remember how I said that the dog was reincarnated several times?  Sure, that means that you get to hear about him being a squiggly, squirmy, chubby puppy more than once.  What I didn't stop to consider was that to be reincarnated you have to die first.  It was like the ending of Marley & Me repeated multiple times in one novel, from Marley's point of view.  I think I cried about eight times.  And to be honest, it was probably more like sobbing on several of those occasions.  I couldn't find any tissues.  My eyes got completely swollen and bloodshot, and I lost the ability to breathe through my nose.  It was terrible.  It took an hour of fetch with my dogs to make myself feel better.  A day later, I'm still not fully recovered from the experience.

Despite the risks of a red nose and swollen eyes,  A Dog's Purpose is worth reading.  I haven't enjoyed a book this much since I read Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, which was probably 15 years ago.  But please consider, if things like Sarah McLaughlin's ASPCA commercials make you cry, you probably need to do a little preparation before diving in.  Make sure you don't need to go out in public for at least 24 hours after reading.  Record several episodes of Too Cute on Animal Planet to counteract side effects like lingering tears or the urge to purchase several puppies.  And definitely stock up on tissues because you'll need them.

Governor Cuomo's Emergency Flu Response

Because of the increased rate of influenza in New York, Governor Cuomo has issued a state of emergency for the next 30 days that allows pharmacists to administer flu vaccinations to anyone over 6 months old. While normally I appreciate any advancement of pharmacy practice, this sort of action could be putting community pharmacists at risk. 

Legislation such as this could cause a dramatic increase to a community pharmacist's daily workload. Without an accompanying increase in pharmacist coverage/overlap, this is a dangerous situation and has an incredibly negative impact on the health and safety of all pharmacy patients. An overstressed pharmacist is an absolute danger to his or her patients.  

The best way for community pharmacies to respond to this temporary change is legislation is to increase pharmacist coverage.  Organize flu clinics and schedule a pharmacist who will focus only on administering vaccines during that time.  Have the information advertised on the local news.  Radio, television, and websites can disseminate this sort of  news incredibly fast. This course of action would not only be quick and easy to execute, but also the responsible reaction to such a sudden situation.

Because I know that the average corporation running community pharmacies is slightly less focused on the stress levels of it's pharmacists and a little more towards the bottom line, I know that such a scenario is unlikely to occur.  Getting corporate approval would probably take longer than this emergency will last.  And spending extra cash on an additional pharmacist to cover a four hour clinic (probably about $250 in wages) would be deemed an unnecessary expense.

Such a response would be a great advertising opportunity for most companies, considering the potential for community outreach and awareness.  I can only hope that some of the more customer-oriented companies might have this thought process.  If a company was willing to address this issue quickly, it would prove that they were truly responsive to the needs of the public and willing to quickly execute plans that effect on their communities at a very local level and in a positive way. I look forward to seeing what company, if any, grabs this opportunity.

Beyond the business aspect, a response such as this would ensure that the public will have access to the appropriate vaccines but still maintain a less stressful working environment for community pharmacists.  Such a response would greatly reduce the potential of adversely impacting the other areas of patient care being offered by community pharmacists today. Patient safety should be the main goal of any pharmacy at all times, and this is the perfect opportunity to prove how pharmacists and their companies are dedicated to the care, safety, and well-being of all of their patients every day.