Making Animal Treats

I spent the past two days taking a vet compounding course. It was really fun. I got to make all sorts of pet treats! There were beef flavoured treats, peanut butter treats, raisin treats, sweet potato treats...

It was like cooking. This was a beef bouillion cube mixed with corn syrup and metronidazole.

Raisins are really hard to make a treat out of, because their skin is hard to crush. This one was tough!

44: HOMEWORK

I finally gave in to the peer pressure and am going to learn how do injections next week. I am not used to doing readings anymore!

348: FLIES

I was doing a closing shift by myself with no break, so I brought a sandwich with me to eat during my downtime. I had noticed a gigantic fly buzzing around the pharmacy the whole day, but I decided it was too much work to kill it. I started eating my sandwich but then had to set it aside to help a customer. When I came back to my sandwich, the fly flew out of it. I was so angry at the fly because I had to throw my sandwich away and I didn't bring any other food with me! That was when I brought out the fly swatter, and I started chasing the fly around the pharmacy. Good thing there were no customers around to see me.

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229: CHINATOWN

I was supposed to get the day off today, but I woke up to find out that I was doing a closing shift instead. It was a really slow night, but I hate when people try to trick me into giving them free Oxycontin (that's the stuff that's hot on the streets right now).

222: MEETING OF THE MINDS

The birthday boy and his strawberry italian soda with mango stars.

Tonight, there was an impromptu meeting of the pharmaceutical minds. Through discussion with three pharmacists from rival companies and one from a hospital, I learned:

a.) How to politely say no when a customer gives you their dirty, greasy phone because they want you to talk to their friend/mother/father/grandparent/sibling

b.) Stay away from customers carrying bags of feces. And insist that they take their bag of feces with them when they leave.

c.) Wear gloves when you open tubes sent from other parts of the hospital, or else you can get HIV-positive or Hepatitis C-positive blood explode all over your hands

d.) The gay pride parade float from my company this year looked very empty and had a tired looking man dancing in a shopping cart. I've never been, but all my friends tell me that it's fun to go. The float needs some young blood, and my friends suggested that I email head office to say, "Dear head office, I would very much like to be on the float for the gay pride parade. Please give me the day off and reserve me a spot to dance on the shopping cart for next year. I already have a t-shirt and baseball cap with the company logo so you don't even have to provide me with clothing. Thank you kindly." HAH!

e.) Do not order a drink with pearls, coconut jelly, AND mango stars... The menu said there was no charge for adding any of these into my drink, so I decided to be economical and asked to add all of them in. The waitress looked so surprised and confused when I asked for all three. It was not a wise decision, since all the different tastes and textures made it a bit funny tasting.

'Fall in Love' (strawberry, passionfruit, and lemon) with pearls, coconut jelly, and mango stars:

216: VIEW FROM THE SEABUS

Looking out the seabus window to the North Shore mountains.

Today, I spent 1.5 hours taking the bus + seabus + bus to work in North Vancouver. I kept checking my phone before leaving my house and during my bus ride, because I KNEW I would get called somewhere else. Sure enough, 15 minutes into my shift in North Van, someone was sick at the Hastings store and I got sent there. Such are the facts of life.

202: DAMAGE ASSESSMENT

The consequence of hiking Joffre Lakes: bug bites. Big ones too. Sorry for the gross picture.

So far I have counted fourteen on my body, and they are incredibly itchy. However it's not as bad as my friend, who apparently has 37 bites on his. I have learned my lesson; DEET is my friend.

I was helping a customer today at work, and she was complaining of being severely itchy from having many mosquito bites from hiking yesterday. I asked her where she went and she said Joffre Lakes. I shared her pain. I was like, "I went there yesterday too! I am itchy too!"

I was very tired today from lack of sleep, and it showed. A customer, Mr. B, came to me with a receipt from Costco, asking to transfer his meds to our store. I called the phone number on the receipt, and as I was waiting for someone to pick up, Mr. B got a phone call as well. He apologized and excused himself and moved to the side.  I was waiting for the person from Costco to pick up, and when someone finally answered the phone, I said, "Is this Costco?" When I said that, Mr. B moved back towards me and said, "That was me! You just called me!" We had a good laugh and then he was like, "I can't believe I apologized to you!" Hehe I spent half the day in a daze because I was so tired.

199: FAREWELL TO NANAIMO

The time has come - the new grads have arrived, and after seven weeks of working 4 days a week in Nanaimo, I am no longer needed here. Today was my last day and I don't think I'll be back for awhile. I will miss the island lifestyle, the not needing to drive, the staff, and even the crazy customers (but not the angry ones). That store did feel like my home store since, for once, I knew where everything was, how things were supposed to be done, and what the current problems were. I developed a camaraderie with some of the staff that is difficult to form when you are only at a store for one day at a time and don't come back for another month or two. Anyway, now I am back to the world of floating to one store per day - in the next two weeks I am going to stores in Richmond, Burnaby, Surrey, New West, East Vancouver, and Langley - 8 different stores in 9 days.

I know many people dislike Nanaimo and think it is a dump, but I think the island is a beautiful place and this city is no exception. Goodbye Nanaimo, and hello friends, I am back in Vancouver!! I can see you again!

198: THIS IS GOOD

The best $10 I have ever spent - the Malahat Revue, live at the Nanaimo Entertainment Centre. They consist of local artists Said the Whale, Hannah Georgas, Jeremy Fisher, and Aidan Knight. They have spent the last few weeks touring Vancouver Island by bike (!) and are heading to the Vancouver Folk Festival this weekend. They all have their own songs, but they played with each other and were each other's back up bands. It was really really good. I love Hannah Georgas.

My friend and rx manager Allen kindly agreed to accompany me to the concert, since I would have gone alone otherwise. For dinner, I had duck breast and gnocchi with some wine (fine dining, Nanaimo style).

184: BIPOLAR DAY

Let's just say I had my fill of bipolar patients today...

It's hard to know what to say when they're in their depressive state and they say things like, "I almost killed my husband because I get violent tendencies. I'm surprised they let me out of the hospital, I think they should've put me in a rubber room. What do you mean I can't get my mood stabilizer because you can't read the doctor's writing? I'm going to lock myself up in my room now because I'm worried about being around people in public. I don't want to kill them."

But then again, there are others who are in a more manic state. There's one at this store who loves me and wants to talk to me every time she sees me. Even though all I do is nod and listen to her while she talks and talks and talks, she always tells me at the end how helpful and caring I am. I like this side of bipolar more!

182: WETSUITS

At the Horseshoe Bay Village. My ferry was delayed by almost an hour so I had lots of time to kill. I arrived late for work and was rewarded by the busiest shift ever and customers who said things like, "I have herpes and it hurts really bad. I have no refills left and I don't know where I filled it last time. Can you give me pills because it hurts!"

164: DEPARTURES

Departing Departure Bay.

The clientele at the downtown Nanaimo store is so strange.

Scenario 1: A large, heavy-set BEARDED man brings in a prescription for *Sandra

Me: Has Sandra been here before?
Man: I am Sandra.
Me: It says Sandra is female
Man: I am female.
Me: Oh..umm can I see ID?
Man: I am Sandra. You don't believe me? He gives me his badge from work. It says his name is Sandra.
Me: Do you have a government issued piece of ID?
Man: I'm Sandra!! Have you never seen a woman with a beard before? He gives me his drivers license. It says Sandra and has a picture of his clean shaven face. 
Me: No..
Man: Maybe in a few years technology will enable you to do it too. I think you would look good with a beard.
Me: Maybe...

(S)he was very offended that I didnt believe that (s)he was a woman. I have to say (s)he looked like 100% man.

*Name has been changed.

Scenario 2: Customer comes in asking for Vermox, an anti-helminthic (ie. parasitic worm) medication

Me: What did the doctor say to you?
Customer: He said it might help for the worms in my skin. She shows me her hand that is covered with red dots.
Me: Do you know what kind of worm it is???
Customer: Well I can feel something wriggling underneath my skin. And then I see a white worm coming out of a hole in my skin, but when I try to pull it out, I can only get its head. The rest of it goes back under my skin and then it will come out later from another hole. I can't get the whole worm out of my hand!
Me: ........

I had to wash my hands after taking her money.

161: BC FERRIES

I found these "BC ferries" sugar packets on the windowsill beside my seat.

Today, my taxi driver was like, "Weren't you here last week?" Nanaimo taxi drivers are starting to recognize me now! I've just realized that I am working pretty much full time in Nanaimo until the end of July, since I work 4 days of every week here. And I have therefore calculated that I will have all the travel and stat days I need for my 2 week Cambodia/Laos trip by the end of July. I love how my job lets me collect so many vacation days, because then that trip won't even count as part of my 3 weeks of vacation per year. And that means I will be able to go on another vacation in March to visit Phoebe!

PS. Seeing the Angkor Wat in Cambodia is another item on my bucket list -- I am really going through that list this year!

143: DOWNTOWN EAST SIDE

The downtown east side of Vancouver is notorious for its poverty, crime and drug use. It is also the site of a new branch of the company I work for, and today was my first time there. I was already wary of going there, but today when my bus let me off a block east of the store, I was struck by the seediness of the area. A block makes such a huge difference in this part of town; one block east of the store is incredibly shady, while going one block west or north leads to a more expensive, touristy area.

Because of this, the clientele is very interesting. There are the residents from the more expensive Woodwards units, there are the tourists from overseas, and then there are the drug addicts and the ones with mental illnesses.  Most of them are friendly and well behaved, some are belligerent, and others just don't care. But it's not everyday you hear about illicit drug use and needles from the customers. Just in downtown East Hastings and in Whalley!

102: SICK DAY

Looking out my window during a beautiful sick day.

I took today off, since yesterday I was so congested that I couldn't pronounce things properly. I couldn't say my m's so instead "my" or "mother" i would say "by" and "buther". No wonder people kept looking at me weirdly while I was talking to them. And now I also have tomorrow off as well. I said, "I don't want to be sick during my trip," and head office agreed and said, "You don't want to be sick during your trip so you should rest because we found someone to take your shift." Woohoo. No more work for me until May 5th!

97: A LOOK INSIDE

Me in my hotel room, reflected off a window streaked with raindrops. I'm back in rainy Nanaimo, and foolishly agreed to do overtime this Saturday, meaning that I will be working nine days in a row! AHHH! Only six more days to go...

84: SHUTTLE RIDE

I woke up at 6am to catch the 7:30 cross-water shuttle heading to downtown Victoria. It arrived at 11:30 and I had time to eat a second lunch (I had my first lunch on the ferry) before heading to work for my 1:30-10 shift. I called for a taxi to pick me up after work, but it never came. I called the taxi company to ask what was going on and they said,  "The driver came and left already. He picked someone else up and thought it was you!" Wow, thank you Yellow Cab.

21: SHELVES OF BLUE AND WHITE

A lady came in today with a bad cough, and it reminded me of how I had a bad cough in Greece, and the mean Greek pharmacist refused to give me DM (a cough suppressant) and would only sell me homeopathic cough syrup instead. I do not believe in homeopathic drugs because they have no scientific evidence!

8: AN H1N1 FLU SHOT ORDEAL

Do you see that bandaid on my arm? I got my H1N1 shot today:

C: I want to use up the rest of my H1N1 vaccine. Do you want one?
Me: Sure!
C: Hmm the sleeve of your shirt is too tight, I need to get to your upper arm. You'll have to take your arm out of the shirt. We'll do it in the back so no one will see.
...We walk to the back of the pharmacy and I take my arm out of my sleeve as C brings the vaccine over. As she is about to swab my arm with alcohol, a man walks up to the counter with a prescription.
C: Oh no! I have to help him. I'll be right back!
...I hide awkwardly from the customers, partly unclothed, waiting for C to come back.
K: Arabomb-shell, I need you to come here for a counsel!
Me: Ok, I'm coming!
...I put my arm back into my sleeve, and walk up to the front while buttoning up my labcoat. T looks at me weirdly.
K: Um, why does it look like you are putting your clothes back on? What are you doing back there?
Me: ....Why didn't I wear a short sleeved shirt today???

Oh and if you were wondering, I am holding a stick that was a Christmas present to me from my friend Giosy.  The box it came in lists some examples of ways to play with this plastic toy stick:

- Put one Incredible Toy Stick on each side of your head so people think it's one stick (I only have one stick so I can't do this)
- Give it to your Dad and tell him that you're sticking it to the man
- When someone says "you can't beat it with a stick," prove them wrong
- Wave your stick in the air like you just don't care
- Dial phone numbers from far away (I like this one because I think it is useful)

Giosy, I am making use of the stick now!