A Break but not Broken

A longer than normal hiatus due to:

• A long period of "work-surf-work-surf-work-surf..." gets a little old rubbing it in to all of you land-locked who don't get to taste the salt of the sea on a daily basis. Also not much to report at the clinic other than..."I actually kinda like it..."
  
• A lack of internet preventing me from sharing up to the minute updates on my laceration sustained while surfing large Hurricane Rick affected swell. 7 sutures in my forehead and a whole boatload of crap from the clinic personnel later, I am in a state of recovery with a long modeling career ahead of me.
• Audrey visiting...so all communication goes on shut-down. We snorkeled in the clear blue water, kayaked with sea lions, ate amazing mexican food, drank NM's potent margaritas, and *watched* the non-wounded surfers do their thing at all the right beaches.

I hope this finds you all well, in good spirits, free of head wounds, with belly full of your favorite fruit or vegetable. See you Portlanders soon.

LA,CA

Went North this past weekend to catch the final regular season Dodgers game. If they hadn't won the night before it would have been a very important game, to decide who won the NL West. But they were post-clinch, so the game was less important than the atmosphere, which was one of laid back celebration. L.A. has (at least) 3 former Cleveland Indians with Manny Ramirez, Casey Blake, and Jim Thome, so I felt OK about rooting for them. Plus I've never been a fan of any Denver teams, so to watch the Rockies lose was satisfying. Thanks Sean's Mom and Dad for the great tickets!

Back to the clinic for week 2. It has been a good mix of chronic care, acute complaints, thick charts and simple bee stings. I thought I could fend them off, but after 3 drug rep free rotations, the henchmen for the likes of Pfizer, et al have found me. They come bearing breakfast, lunch, and afternoon coffee and snacks, so as a poor hungry student I fell quickly to their methods. I am currently working on my strategy to increase the free food : jabber ratio.

Week One in Cali

Here are a handful of pics I grabbed this week:

The drive to Southern California was both beautiful....

...and typical.

My local surf break has it all: close parking, rip current for easy access to the outside, a pier for people watching when waiting for the next set (and for watching the true rippers "shoot the pier" which essentially means hurling yourself down a wave on a surfboard toward and through the concrete girders of the pier.), friendly locals that accompany me in the water late into the evening, and a lively apres surf scene with bustling restaurants, bars and a farmer's market on the street 2o yards from the beach.

The morning view from the kitchen as I eat my banana have been nothing less than spectacular. You gotta click on this pic for better detail:

I am not the only one who commutes with a surfboard:

No photos available from the clinic, but imagine if you will, me in a white coat with salt water in my ears, running around a small clinic in a big hospital attempting to eliminate disease, one lipid panel at a time.