Category: reminiscence

  • Thoughts on Down Time Activities for Land Survey Technicians

    Thoughts on Down Time Activities for Land Survey Technicians

    I was just thinking about the old-time land survey crews. When I was getting on the job training as a survey technician, the typical land survey crews were at least 2-3 persons. One rodman, one instrument man, and a crew chief who organized the job, which could be property or construction jobs. Nowadays, you get…

  • What Kind of Mailbox Does the USPS Really Want from Us?

    What Kind of Mailbox Does the USPS Really Want from Us?

    I just saw the latest headline about the United States Postal Service (USPS) new recommendation that we all get a nice, big mailbox. Huh? I gather one reason for the suggestion is to cut down on mail theft. I don’t think I’m allowed to put a lock on a mailbox, no matter how big it…

  • Big Mo Pod Show: “In Search of Good Company”

    Big Mo Pod Show: “In Search of Good Company”

    When I listen to the Big Mo Pod Show, I tend to almost free associate to memories which the songs sometimes evoke. The 5 songs this week came from, as usual, his Big Mo Blues Show this past Friday night. The theme of the pod show was “In Search of Good Company.” I’m not so…

  • Reminiscence of My Younger Days

    Reminiscence of My Younger Days

    The other day we had some stormy weather roll across central Iowa, although it was not as bad as the tornado that swept through Greenfield. We hope the best for them. We didn’t actually get a tornado, but I remember wondering why the siren went off about 6:00 a.m. It woke me up and I…

  • Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry as a Supraspecialty

    Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry as a Supraspecialty

    I just rediscovered this old blog post below from 2010 in my files. The literature citations are dated, of course. I just wanted to reminisce about how I used to think through issues in consultation-liaison psychiatry. The post is old enough to contain the former term for the field-Psychosomatic Medicine. “At the annual Academy of…

  • Old Blog Post on Decisional Capacity Assessment

    Old Blog Post on Decisional Capacity Assessment

    I just found a blog post I wrote about assessing decisional capacity. It’s over 13 years old and you can tell I was a little frustrated when I wrote it. It was back in the days when consulting psychiatrists were called psychosomatic medicine specialists. Here’s to another blast from the past. Blog from 2011: Thoughts…

  • Another Look at the C-L Psychiatry Pecha Kucha

    Another Look at the C-L Psychiatry Pecha Kucha

    Back in 2018, one of my emergency room staff physicians asked me to do a Pecha Kucha on what a consultation-liaison psychiatrist does. If you know what a pecha kucha is, you can understand why it was challenging for me to put it together and present it. Although you may have seen the video I…

  • Thoughts on Copyright Issues Related to Consultation Psychiatry and Dad Jokes

    Thoughts on Copyright Issues Related to Consultation Psychiatry and Dad Jokes

    I want to gas; I mean talk about copyright as it relates to consultation psychiatry or telling dad jokes. By the way, those aren’t the same.  I used to teach medical students and residents how to do certain quick bedside cognitive tests for delirium and dementia. Over the years the instructions about how to administer…

  • The Dirty Dozen on Delirium in WordPress: A Shortcode Presentation

    The Dirty Dozen on Delirium in WordPress: A Shortcode Presentation

    When I was a consultation-liaison psychiatrist I taught trainees in different ways. One of them was what I called the Dirty Dozen slide sets. They were on various basic topics that are important for psychistrists to know. I tried to put the most important points on only a dozen powerpoint slides. After I started blogging…

  • Jim Has a 27-Year-Old Shirt!

    Jim Has a 27-Year-Old Shirt!

    I have a 27-year-old shirt. It’s denim with a plaid pattern on the front. I wore it when we went on vacation to Hawaii in 1997. In the featured image, I’m wearing it as Sena and I pose for a photo after we got off the plane. We and a lot of other vacationers were…