My friends...
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I've commented
severalmany times how, at work, my real friends were the people with whom I worked - those with whom I spent hours and hours in the OR through good times and bad. Those people were not my partners, they were my surgeons and nurses. I got along, very well, with my partners, don't get me wrong. I probably spent less than 20 minutes a day with them.I had occasion to see a neurosurgeon with whom I worked today (no, not for me - D3 needs some work, perhaps). Knowing that she's medically ignorant, I thought I'd go to the office with her so I could translate.
When the surgeon walked in, I stood up and went to shake his hand. He grabbed my hand, pulled me toward him and gave me a hug.
I haven't seen him since I retired - but these relationships are forever.
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Always remember, Operation Valkyrie was an act of sedition.
Warning: I post things that interest me. Read and comment at your own discretion. -
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@Axtremus said in My friends...:
@Jolly said in My friends...:
And now folks want to work remote...
They prefer to text too, rather than to email, call, or talk in person.
The March of the Cat Ladies continues.
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@George-K that is awesome. You obviously made great memories with him.
@Jolly @Axtremus yup. One thing I remember from an otherwise boring training class was always try to boost communication by one level. If you can email a person, try and text them. if you can text them, try and call them. If you can call them, try and meet in person.
I remember an advert for a hotel chain. Of course it was advertising but they said something like, "you cant text a smile. You cant email a handshake"
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For some reason I can't quite explain I'm always a little hesitant to mix professional and private relations.
One reason might be that I'm completely apolitical in my professional life, and I don't give a damn whether the person I work with is a marxist or a libertarian anarchist.
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@taiwan_girl said in My friends...:
@Jolly @Axtremus yup. One thing I remember from an otherwise boring training class was always try to boost communication by one level. If you can email a person, try and text them. if you can text them, try and call them. If you can call them, try and meet in person.
"If you can meet in person, try and f* 'them."
Whoever told you to "always boost communication one more level" should also formulate a limit for how far that goes.
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As an aside, after we got done with the medical stuff, we talked a bit about work. He used to be in a group with 3 other neurosurgeons. All of them were good. However, the group was approached by a hospital chain to be in their system. I have no idea what the arrangement would have been, but Sean didn't want any part of it, so he struck out as a solo practitioner for a while, and hired a partner. He remains independent to this day.
BUt...here's the interesting part. I asked him where he does his work, and he told me that the facility right next door is where he works. He specializes in minimally invasive spine surgery. He's on the staff at a couple of hospitals so he can do stuff that requires fancier equipment or post-op hospitalization.
"What about intracranial (head) work?"
"I don't do that any more. In retrospect, had I known how my career would work out, I would have gone through orthopedic surgery - it's much less rigorous than neurosurgery, and I'd be doing the same thing. In fact, when you get out of training as a neurosurgeon, most hospitals will say, 'That's nice, but we really need a good spine guy here,' and that's the trajectory your career takes.
"Also doing spine work is much more lucrative than intracranial work. The head guys get all the glory, but the spine guys get the money. I can earn more on a workman's comp case in a morning than I would with 2-3 head cases. And it's a LOT easier at my age (he's 55)."
Interesting stuff.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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@Axtremus said in My friends...:
@taiwan_girl said in My friends...:
@Jolly @Axtremus yup. One thing I remember from an otherwise boring training class was always try to boost communication by one level. If you can email a person, try and text them. if you can text them, try and call them. If you can call them, try and meet in person.
"If you can meet in person, try and f* 'them."
Whoever told you to "always boost communication one more level" should also formulate a limit for how far that goes.
Knew one successful drug rep...
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@George-K said in My friends...:
As an aside, after we got done with the medical stuff, we talked a bit about work. He used to be in a group with 3 other neurosurgeons. All of them were good. However, the group was approached by a hospital chain to be in their system. I have no idea what the arrangement would have been, but Sean didn't want any part of it, so he struck out as a solo practitioner for a while, and hired a partner. He remains independent to this day.
BUt...here's the interesting part. I asked him where he does his work, and he told me that the facility right next door is where he works. He specializes in minimally invasive spine surgery. He's on the staff at a couple of hospitals so he can do stuff that requires fancier equipment or post-op hospitalization.
"What about intracranial (head) work?"
"I don't do that any more. In retrospect, had I known how my career would work out, I would have gone through orthopedic surgery - it's much less rigorous than neurosurgery, and I'd be doing the same thing. In fact, when you get out of training as a neurosurgeon, most hospitals will say, 'That's nice, but we really need a good spine guy here,' and that's the trajectory your career takes.
"Also doing spine work is much more lucrative than intracranial work. The head guys get all the glory, but the spine guys get the money. I can earn more on a workman's comp case in a morning than I would with 2-3 head cases. And it's a LOT easier at my age (he's 55)."
Interesting stuff.
Wife has had three operations on her back (widening foramen, grinding spurs, some disc work) all done by neuros.
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@Jolly said in My friends...:
And now folks want to work remote...
You bet your ass.
To this day, my greatest working relationships were in restaurants. They were my co-workers, and my best friends. The servers all hated our guts and every single one of them could have been counted on to hide a body.
Lots of office cultures are very, very different. For example, Professionalism is often an umbrella term that people hide behind to act like snakes. I recently watched quite a few people lose their jobs due to layoffs. I was told not to reach out to these people, don't talk about it, don't even ask who was affected. Because Professionalism. And for those who lost their jobs, they were told not to take it personally because Professionalism. And after a week, no one mentioned them ever again because Professionalism.
So yeah. Fuck that. I appreciate that industries are very different from one another and it's probably just the nature of mine that people are assholes. But if that's the way it's going to be then give me my fucking paycheck and I'll let you know when the work's done. Otherwise no, I will be unavailable to attend the function until you all start acting like human fucking beings.
