Queensland

     Well hopefully this isn't too much but Christy is with Haley and Monroe and S is on a bike ride and dad and mom just sat down to eat and J is at the snow cone stand working and that is about the extent of the people, besides C of course, that I will talk with on the phone so here goes. Lots of exciting things going on. Table 28 was amazing - I got the wine poached pear with blue cheese and pecans minus the arugula (I HATE arugula) and some chicken meatballs prepared Indian style maybe? The Manhattan was satisfyingly non-watered down. The company was fun. My last meal there was a few years ago on my birthday and it was a bust so looking forward to bringing family next time.

    Elise was just a fun talky breath of fresh air. Her resume is stellar - she grew up in a super small town near Lake Charles in Louisiana but has been trained well and published a ton. Venable is her last name - it sounds royal. We chatted so long at work Melody had to interrupt us to share her with the others. She was at LSU and New Orleans and they offered a year in Queensland. Then Mayo Clinic, now in New Mexico with internationally renowned Foucar where Melody trained. She's like top 40 under 40 with College of American Pathology. 

    My first question was about Australia. What was it like. How was your year, how in the heck did you get that opportunity. My first babysitter, Aileen Greer, was from Australia and had a very strong lovely accent. My parents met her when they were in med school - she lived next door on C street maybe? Or Elm. Before they made a lick of money. She still watched us every Saturday night up until we were like 10 or 11. She would let us stay up late to watch The Love Boat and Fantasy Island and we would go out on the porch at Shenandoah (money was coming in then) and watch the stars, which were multicolored and much more easy to see in the city. She always promised to take Sara and I to her homeland someday. Her husband was mentally disabled from the war. She cared for him. She died before we made it, so I'm determined to go there for Aileen.

    I didn't of course tell Elise all of this but I ate up her stories of her experiences abroad. We shared crappy flying stories - corporate greed, I agree, lamented Solomon Mogbo in the Dr. lounge this morning. Cecelia is getting tix to Seville and Florence for pennies compared to America. And nothing is getting canceled. But ack, Europe has their own problems to deal with. The world is so crazy.

    I am the opposite of you, I told Elise. Complete intellectual incest. I trained at the same hospital I was born at, and grew up in the hospital I work at doing term papers and watching the Olympics in my dad's office. But luckily we had some greats coming through Arkansas, most of whom have moved on, when I trained. Jesse McKenney. Laura Lamps. Both of whom are on the new copy of the pathology bible that was started by Juan Rosai. 

    Melody was her main contact and offered her the job last night. We lost three good prospects wavering on candidates a couple of years ago when Quinn was out for four months and our contract with Baptist was in limbo so we were determined not to make the same mistake twice. I told Elise at dinner - she brought her husband Brian who is a plumber  (I made them tell the story of how they met - she was BFF with his little sister he used to babysit them bc he was seven years older how cute is that)  that we really value her skill set, her resume is stellar, and if she ever needed anything or had any questions to call. And if she gets any other offer in the next year (she is starting a molecular fellowship so won't start until next July - this is standard I was directed by Baptist to do a fellowship they needed) please don't hesitate to call us and negotiate.

    She signed the offer at 10pm after peppering Melody with questions in the hotel lobby for two hours. We told her to take much more time if she wants to. Please don't hesitate to back out if you wake up and change your mind, Melody told me she said, but she is ready to chill out and stop padding her resume (I've rarely seen a more padded one) and she cannot imagine finding a group that feels so easy to fit in with. Everyone was elated today - on cloud 9 talking about the future - none of the angst with all the extra work we have had to absorb since Rex retired last year.

    I'm having tentative success as the bellwether. Tenacity and research are the keys. I'll feel much more comfortable relaying the details when the fear has passed. I was honestly ready to move to a new job at the thought of national corporate takeover but every day that goes by I think there is less of a chance of that happening. Fear-based decisions are never good. And there is so much corruption in medicine - again greed. One thing I love about our group is that we are very ethical, despite the fact that we could totally monetize and make a shitload more money. First, do no harm. Happy Wednesday, much love, E.