Not a Bad Week

Let's see... first off I think this past week went faster than any other on record. Yeah, it was short, thanks to Labor Day, but it was PACKED, and that made all the difference. I added more patients to my caseload and had one serious shocker during a case management session. I'm pretty unflappable, but with this population sooner or later there is bound to be something that will catch anyone off guard. This one sent me looking in the DSM for 'batshit crazy' but I couldn't find it. I'm sure this guy had all the criteria though. Yowsa! I am currently taking comfort in the fact that it is very rare for lifers to serve anything less than life. A very good thing in this case. Somewhere between now and our next session I'll relocate my empathy - I always do. This person is very sick, but what he did to get a life term in prison... damn! Despite the shock the case is fascinating, as were pretty much all of them. I had a fun dance with a narcissist and am feeling pretty good about the outcome of the session. I 'got' someone in a way he hadn't been gotten before, so that was nice. And I managed an insane schedule with all the institutional regulations entailed without any major train wrecks. A good clinical week!!

Friday was didactic and it was an all day Rorschach training. Our Training Director happened to be the instructor and she absolutely rocks! I'm so excited to be working under her tutelage! And always there are the wonderful examples that people who do these for a living have to offer. "It's Panama because Panama sounds like sandpaper being dragged across the grass" Um.. right. One of the interns from another site got seriously hassled for wearing the wrong clothes to didactic. It is on the outside of the fence, but still on prison grounds where level I inmates work, so the same rules apply. He had to go to town and actually buy new clothes, the poor guy!

Then Friday I got an e-mail from a person I've been trying to contact for months! He is the author of the instrument I want to use as a measure for my dissertation and I was lamenting ever getting hold of him. His note was brief but cordial and he said that I may use his instrument and to please let him know if I find anything interesting. W00T! This has been a major irritant so I am over the moon to be cleared for takeoff, so to speak.

And oh yes, I learned that a very dear friend who has been struggling to get a post doc was placed this week and will be much closer to me for the next year. Yippee!

The cat is doing ok, and seems to be eating a little better, so that's a relief. Now the only flies in my ointment are that I feel ikky this weekend and that wild pigs rooted up our entire yard; front back and sides! Yep, I'm serious. We have javelinas crossed with big domestic pigs that run wild here and breed prolifically. They do enormous damage to the environment, not to mention to our septic system and our water pipes! We're having a stake out in the morning at O:Way Too Early since we heard them squealing and grunting around 5:30 this morning. A few years back this happened and shooting a single pig was enough to make the rest of them stay away from our property for many years. We have some neighbors who want the meat and who have permits, so will try for a repeat performance of last time. I hate to do this, but I'm not up for having my leach line ripped apart and having to put in new pipes.