(New) Facts of (My) Life.

1. Eight-hour work days are my short/part-time days. Those days are rare.

2. If I don't write it down, it doesn't get done. I've become a religious list-maker.

3. There is such a thing as being too busy to eat. . .or to answer other calls of nature.

4. Holidays are not an entitlement, it's a privilege. . .a privilege I didn't have for Fourth of July, nor will have for Thanksgiving and Christmas. That goes for weekends and nights, too.

5. I love my job, so far.

6. Patients don't get well on medicine alone. Only half of my job is about knowing why a patient is sick and what treatment he/she needs. The other half is social medicine: figuring out what medicine a patient can or can't afford, calling family members to check that they are ready for their loved one to come home, making sure patients get home health or nursing home care after discharge, etc.