Tuesday, May 29, 2012

My walk almost killed me - not really

But it sure as hell felt like it this morning. It's not even that hot outside today. This past weekend it was in the high 80's and low 90's. This morning it was in the mid 70's but it was kinda humid.

My walk starts off at my normal bus-stop. Then I walk through downtown, over one of the many bridges and end up on the side of PNC Park on Federal Street. Normally I walk over the 7th St. Bridge (Andy Warhol Bridge) and cut down a side street. Then I walk the 2 or so blocks to my building. Then it's the torture of walking up 60 or so steps to get into my building. I could take the elevator but I really need the exercise.

Most days I'm totally fine but today I was out of breath, tired and sweaty. Yuck. Now I have to sit at work all day smelling like a baby goat. My legs were tired before I even got halfway here. I had figured by now that I would be used to the walk but days like today just get the best of me.

I need to do a quick body cleanse and drop a few pounds then I should be able to make the walk with no muss and no fuss.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Doximity is a new physician network that's starting to take off

Get the play on words? Doximity - Docs in proximity...pretty clever if I do say so myself. Doximity is new and growing with a total of 6% of US physicians using the service. New members have to go through a 3 step credential check to maintain both physician and provider privacy. The service even allows docs to connect securely through their smart phones to send HIPPA compliant text messages, exchange private information or even faxes from their phones. They can also connect with classmates and former residents.

Their biggest feature is the physician profiles. If you go to the search bar and type docs in California that speak Spanish and specialize in treating abdominal aortic aneurysm, doctors matching that profile will pop up. As an example Bryan Kurtz MD pops up and a doctor can refer their patient to him for treatment.

With everything that they do throughout the day, this saves doctors time by providing a rich directory right at their fingertips.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Winding down on overtime

Back in March I was talking about how tired I was because of overtime. I have been working overtime to get enough for a 3.5% down payment on the house that I want to purchase next year. My account is $50 short as of today but by this Saturday it will be at the full amount.

I'm also trying to raise my regular savings and that's pretty much what I'm working on now. I just paid off my car, in anticipation of buying a home next year, so I'm putting that money in savings. Unfortunately once I do buy my home, the car money will be used for monthly expenses. My rent is insanely cheap and there is no way I'm going to get a mortgage for that low of an amount. I also don't pay gas or water/sewage right now so those will increase my budget for sure.

I had planned on getting a second job just before overtime became available but this has really been much better for me. A second job would have been less money and way more hours so I'm pretty happy with how things turned out. My boss has been hinting that the overtime train might stop in June so I'm just going to keep chugging along and get what I can before it stops. I haven't really gone all out on overtime because the one time that I did I was almost catatonic the next week. The worse part, at least for me, was that I was really trying to help out and not trying to pad my check.

I may not get any more overtime after June, but at least I will have the bulk of summer to myself which will be nice!