Divine desserts

Day two was a good one. As we rode to work together in the morning, we discussed a strategy to push WorkStar into social media more. I started the Instagram and Pinterest page (see link on last post) and there’s more to come!

I went around to everyone in the offices to ask them about their social media usage and take pictures. I honestly wasn’t surprised that only a few of them followed one of the WorkStar pages that already exist. Don’t forget to promote what you represent. It’s so easy to forget, but it’s just too simple!  I thought this project was pretty fun because it helped me get a better view of where I am with social media coverage here and learn the names of everyone!

The lovely ladies in the front office with me.

While the dinosaur computer loaded in the marketing department, we talked about different branded novelty items, and I gave my new ideas. (If you have any interesting ideas, feel free to send me a message!)

I also launched a FREE t-shirt contest on the WorkStar Facebook page. The deadline is July 30, so go check it out and tell your friends that live in Oahu! (https://www.facebook.com/WorkStar/posts/10152048358444972)

front of t-shirt

back of t-shirt

After my yummy lunch break (chicken sandwich with organic bread, plus baked Cheetos), I began working in the office helping check-in patients. Since it was the afternoon, we were less busy with patient interaction.

Sidenote: I’m still adjusting to the time change. I still wear a watch adjusted to the Central Time Zone. Judge me.

…It’s pretty hard talking to my friends frequently because they are five hours ahead of me, and most of them are in bed, or getting there, by the time I get home. #hawaiialeutiantimezoneprobs

First rainbow of the trip!

We left early to go pick up the fixed car, and my aunt and I went home. We decided to walk to dinner and the mall.

   

We ate at the Olive Tree Café. We split a fresh fish souvlaki and a falafel dish. I thought they were both great but I favored the souvlaki. Oh and their baklava,… heaven.

I asked how do you tell the tourists from the locals here and she said it’s really not a tourist spot. More of the neighborhood folks hang out here.

A nifty card at the drug store by the mall. It’s funny because this is the only card they make for this occasion.

The closest mall was a little further walk, and, ya know, it had the basic stuff. No purchases today. We walked on home and that was that.

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I rode with my uncle to work, and we had a good long talk about the city and how it was different from my home. I enjoyed it. I love observing how each place is just a variation of another.

I find it very stunning to see the shadows of the clouds on the mountains. I watch them the entire drive to work.

I started off in the office this morning and, boy, was it busy. The first few patients I kept forgetting a minor thing or two, but I feel like I quickly caught the flow of things and developed my own assembly line. I also learned how to sort the incoming faxes into their many folders, by doctor and by what type of fax it is. I wasn’t super confident doing this, but the girl that was guiding me said I had it all right.

Lunch time: It’s so windy here!!

After lunch, I shadowed a nurse practitioner. She is very cool, too. We saw a total of five patients and each was so different. While walking between rooms, she would give me the overview of what happened to the patient and other details about their recovery so far. There was one room where the patient (about my age) brought his girlfriend with him; you could just tell she was clingy. Another patient brought her daughter, and she was too cute. At one point, the girl got out of her seat to look at the patient’s pain sheet, which features a drawing of a human in the anatomical position. The girl pointed and said several times “He’s not wearing pants. He’s not wearing pants. Hehehe.” She  and the nurse practitioner also drew outlines of their hands on the seat cushion paper. Each room visit was different, but at the end of every visit, the patient would check out with the medical assistants in the back and schedule another appointment if necessary.

I also shadowed a physician’s assistant. He was super duper nice and asked me all about school, where I was from, etc. We saw two patients. One had ongoing pains, like everywhere. She was from Florida and delightful. The other patient was a new patient and had just been in a car accident. She was suffering from back and neck pains. The physician’s assistant explained to me every step that he took and why he asked certain questions.

Several of the patients I saw had such sad stories. One woman I remember very well. She used to own a workout facility, I believe, and would teach dance workout classes for a living. Well her injury was in her hip, and she eventually lost her studio and can’t teach the classes anymore. I would be so devastated if that happened to me. She was also telling us how sad she was that she couldn’t belly dance in the annual competition that was coming up. My thoughts have been with her ever since.

A few of the things I learned from shadowing today:

• Recovery. Takes. Time.
• If you don’t follow the doctor’s instructions, you could do something bad by accident.  You won’t know that it can happen until it happens, and then you’re back to stage zero.
• Don’t ruin your progress.
• You never know what a place is really like until you live there.
• Focus on the major problems because it is hard to focus on everything and fix everything at once.
• Record. Record. Record every detail of an accident (or really anything!)
• When asking about an injury, ask the location, type of feeling, quality, what makes it better, and what makes it worse.
• Apportionment- difficult term with how insurance is split because of a double injury (two different days)

Later my uncle and I went grocery shopping, where we bought some fun looking fruit, Hawaiian juices, and other miscellaneous goods.

No we did not buy this.

I repeat. No.

We also walked down to the beach for the first time, and it’s only a seven minute walk!

entrance to the beach

Beach-each

After we ate dinner, we pulled it out of the refrigerator: the chocolate haupia pie. My aunt said we cannot go shopping again. Cannot.

THE CIRCLE OF HEAVEN

We each had a slice of heaven and put it back in the fridge. She said it has to be taken to work because that sinful dish couldn’t stay in this house. Eh, we’ll see about that.