Yo estoy guacala!!

I decided today that I am really looking forward to Thanksgiving! Wasn't terribly excited about it prior, and realized that the past four years it was a bit hard to maintain a celebratory attitude when you go out and the rest of the country could care less.  It kind of rubs off I guess.  Thanksgiving just starts to become less important.  I've been invited to Thanksgiving dinner at the Ryan's this year, a dinner which was already in the planning stages a month ago.  And today I was zoned out specifically thinking of gravy for some odd reason, and came to again still staring at the shredded mess of amputated legs of our most recent peds vs. auto accident and in horror mentally screamed, "What is wrong with you?!?!"  I am just praying it is just a matter of desensitization that allows me to not be disturbed by what I see and do at the medical examiner's office.

Recently our Chief ME, Dr. Ashar, was honored by being included in a list of the "Most Influential Women of Westchester County."  She was right up there with Martha Stewart!  I am really hoping she has a court date sometime this month so I can go to the trial and see her in action.  I've heard she's quite impressive, and from what I've seen so far, I believe it.

In addition to Dr. Ashar, there are three other forensic pathologists that work at the county ME office.  After today I've now had the opportunity to work with all three and observe their individual styles.  One in particular strikes me as very unique.  Although you can typically find such social nuances in extremely intelligent individuals...the type that have three board certifications minimum, etc..  Having a conversation is extremely exhausting with them as it takes every fiber of concentration to follow their line of thinking. For example, a typical one-sided conversation with this particular pathologist would be as follows: (with a Serbian accent)  "And you look at the...the.... and.. and.. then..and then you..you see....and....you know....hahahahhahaha!"  That last bit is your cue to start laughing although you have no idea what was looked at, seen or even known.  For some reason they seem to not realize that even though they know what they are talking about the rest of us aren't telepathic. They also have a tendency to jump subjects...suddenly...and without warning, also making the conversation hard to follow.  I typically find these jumps humorous for some unbeknownst reason and have trouble keeping a straight face.  He's called me out on it before, stopping mid-conversation to ask me why I was smiling.  Awkward!! ;)

Enjoyed my holiday this past Monday by going downtown.  I had dressed accordingly with the forecasted 60 degree predicted weather, but started feeling really self-conscious at the train station when everyone else had their winter coats on.  I was happy to be proved well prepared with my light jacket.  Met Kevin and Cheryl Ryan a Bryant Park for lunch.  Then Cheryl and I went to the top of the Empire State Building!

 From 102nd floor: lower Manhattan and Brooklyn

 From 102nd floor: lower Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island

 From 102nd floor: Central Park, upper Manhattan, beyond that the Bronx, beyond that New Rochelle...j/k can't see that far ;)

 On the 86th floor you actually get clearer views because you can walk around outside whereas on the 102nd floor it's all indoors.  But instead of taking a nice picture outside like normal people I had the "brilliant" idea to take a self portrait from inside the 86th floor with the city's reflection as our backdrop.  Oh so brilliant indeed.  Hence Failure #1.

And, well, got the actual city this time, but safe to say this would still be considered Failure #2.

Hasta!