Power Tools......Not just for the Y Chromosome Anymore

As has been the trend lately, I have been been out of town on business, but I had the benefit of being home between Christmas and the New Year. The whole time I was home, Nancy was attempting to get me to hang curtains in the guest bedroom.



All I could remember was the frustration of hanging the curtains in the bedroom. Since they were some meaty curtains that we were hanging in the master bedroom, the curtain rod had to be hung such that the screws were hitting wall studs. For some reason the stud finder wasn't properly detecting the studs because whenever I would attempt to pre-drill a hole I just hit blank space. I took forever to hang those curtains and a lot of choice words were loudly blurted out.



Now, the room Nancy wanted the new curtains hung in are the same as the master bedroom, so I didn't really expect it to be much better. Plus, the curtains once again required a well hung curtain rod. To add to the frustration is that we were missing some screws for the curtain rod. So, I just kept telling her I wasn't going to do it.



I'm a perfectionist when it comes to fixing things and building things. I don't want to start a project unless I know, without a doubt, it will be completed with some semblance of perfection. This of course has led to many projects not ever getting started. It's probably the main reason why I haven't ever proceeded with my desire to delve into the fine craft of woodworking. I don't want to begin a project unless I know I can do it with success.



Well, I digressed.



So I came home from my latest adventure abroad for work and found that Nancy hang just got tired of waiting for me to do it. The Dewalt cordless drill was out and the curtains were up. And the problem of there not being enough screws. She took that complex problem and gave it a simple solution.....just don't put two screws on each bracket.

Happy New Year

I'm sitting here on the couch trying to get my receipts into Quicken, when midnight hits and at that exact moment my cell phone rings. It was Nancy calling from the ER.



For those who have followed this blog, they know she isn't calling from the ER because she's a patient, but because she is working there. She managed to be away from a patient room at the stoke of midnight to fire off a quick "Happy New Year".



That sure made the night a lot more tolerable. I didn't think it would bother me too much to be spending New Year's Eve all alone, but it did. Nothing like ringing in the new year with the "ka-ching" sound of the Quicken application as I key in entries.



Nancy was only able to give me a quick call because as of midnight they were crazy busy in the ER and all predictions were that it was only going to get worse. I sure hope that she gets to come home on time at 3AM, but knowing how idiotic people are during those holidays that seem to revolve around the bottle, it's probably going to be a nightmare for her.

One more RN Marches onward

Well,

I have always tried to be the best husband I can be, but we all have our weaknesses and faults.

One of my biggest weaknesses came out this week. Nancy sat for her NCLEX examination in Oklahoma City on Monday.

I have always known my wife is highly intelligent. After completing her first degree in Sports Medicine she sat for the National Licensure exam for the National Athletic Trainers Board of Certification (NATABOC) and passed it on the first sitting. It is rumored that only 30% of those who take this exam pass it the first time.

My wife also graduated Cum Laude from Texas Women's University with a BS in Nursing. Most of the time she hardly even studied much to the chagrine of her classmates who spent many sleepless hours preparing for the exam.

Even though she wasn't a straight 'A' student in Nursing like some of her cohorts, when it came time for the benchmark exams, she blew the roof off them. I told her that it must be because she is absorbing the data and not cramming in the minutia of the details required for A's on individual exams. Those people who were getting the A's on the individual exams didn't do as well on the Benchmark exams.

Well, due to beurocratic red tape in Oklahoma, Nancy had to be submitted to a curriculum audit in order to get permission to sit for the NCLEX exam. This took almost 3 months to happen. Meantime, she is working as a Graduate Nurse in the ER here.

Nancy only got 75 questions on the exam. This is the bare minimum. The maximum is 256 questions. The test is an adaptive test. This means that for every question you get right, you are given an even harder question. If you get a question wrong, you get a slightly easier question and more of the same to determine if you know the material. The purpose of the test is to determine if you are proficient in the material or not.

By only getting 75 questions means either you are extremely proficient or you are extremely non-proficient. Since she got quite a few pharmocology questions, which are a weak point for her, she thought there might be a possibility of her failing.

Now here is where I wasn't the best husband. Everyone was telling her that they knew she passed the test. My response......"What is the plan if you don't pass?"....groan.

I'm the kind of person who prepares for the worst and all I could think of was her failing. I knew she was smart, but I have this running theory that the elements are out to get me and everyone around me. So, by marrying me, Nancy gets to deal with the bad luck that comes from being me.

Nancy tries to tell me that she's always considered herself lucky and that by marrying me, I have inherited her luck.

Well, today, I think her luck beat out my bad luck. I logged on to the Oklahoma Board of Nursing site and saw that she passed her exam and is not a Registered Nurse in the fine state of Oklahoma