Circus McGurkus 2008

Last week Kate and I celebrated our ten year anniversary. How did we go about celebrating this momentous occasion? We took the whole family on a trip to Las Vegas!






Each time we go down there I am prepared for the culture shock. At least, I thought I was. One of the biggest attractions for the kids was the In-N-Out Burger. The first time we went there Kate got a table while I waited for the order. While standing there I noticed a couple enter, apparently just in from a fancy get together. He had a plain black suit and tie on. She wore a dress. Barely. To put it lightly, she was a whole lot of woman. If figured that if she took too deep of a breath the dress very well could burst. The dress covered her nipples by some miracle, because the rest of her breasts were hanging way over the top. It was a train wreck. My jaw must have dropped, because another gentleman approached me and asked where I was from. “This must be a huge culture shock for you.” He said when I told him. It sure was. “It’s okay. I’ve been here 20 years and I’ve never seen anything quite like that.” He explained, motioning to the woman.

I wasn’t the only one to experience a feeling of being out of place. One afternoon while driving I heard Whit yell from that back seat “Oh my gosh! I am not looking at that sign! It has a naked woman with Chinese writing going down her back and I can see her butt.” A few seconds later she added, “Or it could be a man. I can’t tell.”

We spent the majority of our trip lounging by the pool. The resort had a great variety of things for the kids to do, from a duck race in the lazy river to a coloring contest, which our kids won. We took the kids down to Caesar’s Palace to have dinner at Planet Hollywood. While there Patrick got out of hand, and I had to grab him in a head lock. But as you can see Rocky bailed him out.




We also took the kids to the Tournament of Kings at Excalibur. I was glad we didn’t have to buy a ticket for the Bean, because as soon as the show started she climbed under the table and cowered until the show was over. At one point I looked under to find that she had fallen asleep, fingers still in her ears. Fortunately the rest of the kids thought that the show was incredible. It was great, but I was disappointed that the show no longer features any midgets.




Circus Circus was such a big hit last year we decided to repeat. The kids and I all got all day passes and spent 12 hours in the adventure dome. It was better this year because Bean was able to ride more rides and Patrick was big enough to ride the ‘scary’ rides.

On our anniversary Nikki Brown took our kids while Kate and I went out to dinner and shopping alone. Jordan was off to a boy scout camping trip so Nikki had the pleasure of watching all 4 of ours plus her two. The kids were really excited to spend some time with Warren and his little baby sister, Audrey.

Our last night was spent with old friends Eric and Kathy Roberts and their kids for dinner and swimming. It was good to catch up with the Roberts, but the down side is that when Eric and I start reminiscing about our childhood, Kate finds out way more than maybe she should…

It was a great trip and it was really hard to come back and return to work. A good time was had by all. I have a video and will add it once completed. Keep tuned...

The resort had a great game room but I thought it was rude of Kate to school Patrick at pool and take his lunch money. I guess what happens in Vegas...

We don't like to wait for rides...

Before being blasted off Whitney had her game face on...

After posing for this picture Elvis asked for money. When I said no he told me that I ain't nothin' but a hound dog...


Tournament of the Kingzzzzzzzz....

10 Years Already?

It really seems like a short time since Kate and I were walking down the aisle. But this coming Monday we will celebrate the decade mark. In honor of the momentous occasion I have made this short video dedicated to my sweetheart. I love you.

(P.S. if you watch this and are one of those that Kate 'puts up with', please don't be offended. The reason you are in there is the expression on your face. Plus you have to remember that I am one of those people she puts up with)

Who Like to Rock the Party?!

Last week I got a call at work from Kate, informing me that she needed me to make a stop on the way home. Thinking that she needed me to pick up something for dinner, I agreed. 'I need you to stop at WalMart and pick up a copy of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.' she said. So I did. Now I can't get her away from it. She even bought a copy of Guitar Hero for the Nintendo DS on the premise that it was for Patrick. Sure it was...

But the best part of the guitar-zan phenomenon is the fact that Pat and Drew play. Watching them duel to Metallica's 'One' is priceless. I was told that if this picture made it to the blog that Pat would kill me. Well, it's been nice knowing you all...

Sweet Freedom

Ho! 'Tis I, Omnibot 2000. I had a special reason to celebrate Independence Day. It marked the one year anniversary of my own freedom from the depths of Pat's basement.

Following an old family recipe of mine, Kate made cupcakes that resembled corn on the cob. With lemon cupcakes and frosting, she placed yellow and white jelly beans to represent kernels with sugar to look like salt. The crowning touch was the 'butter pat' which was made with a yellow Starburst. The cupcakes proved too rich for most people, but Chas managed to down several. That boy has a hollow leg.

Isn't she just the picture of domestication?

The crowd was all fired up for the big fireworks show...

But with that sot Chris Shirley running the display, all were quite underwhelmed.





So Patrick had to step in to save his bottom. But Kate didn't want her little boy so close to then sparks, so I had to jump into the fray and save the day.




Now that's a show, eh?




Pat and Drew brought their mongrels, and while I pity those dogs for their ugliness, if Murphy lifts his leg on me again, my pity may run out...



Bean didn't appreciate the fireworks...

And preferred to watch them from the front window.




Pat can go ahead and make fun of me, but I still have more leg hair than her husband.




After working so hard to save the party I was spent, but 'nurse Katie' gave me a special sponge bath and attended to my every need. Take that, Chris Shirley!

From this picture you might think Chas is reclining to better enjoy my fireworks display. But in reality he is trying to relax the stomach cramps caused by eating too many cupcakes.

Bomb’s Away!

This morning on the way to work the train in front of mine broke down so I was delayed getting to work. While waiting I received a text from Kate. She informed me that she had heard on the news, a case containing 1.5 million records of patients of The University of Utah Hospitals and clinics had been recovered. The case had been stolen from a courier who had contracted with the hospital to move them to an off site location for storage. The whole incident had caused quite a stir, as some of the records had contained patients’ social security numbers. So news of the case’s recovery made for a promising day.

Then shortly before 10:00 we got a notification to sweep our areas for suspicious items. We’ve had these requests before, so we didn’t think too much about it. (We did sweep the area as instructed.) Soon thereafter we went into full code mode, locking down the entire hospital; no one in, no one out. It seems that some cowardly loser thought it would be funny to call in a bomb threat.

As the Disaster Coordinator for Patient Access I found myself right in the middle of all the action as the day unfolded. As a level 1 trauma center we have to be prepared for all kinds of disasters, and we drill quite frequently. But it was really strange being in a situation where instead of bringing in a mass of patients we were trying to see where we could send patients out if we had to. I didn’t think about it until I was on the way home, but I had been walking (running, really) around a building that could have been blown to bits at any moment. It made for a very strange day.

After multiple sweeps of the building it was determined that the threat was an empty hoax, and we got the call to stand down. I don’t know who called in the threat. I don’t know if it was related to the recovery of the stolen medical records. And really, I don’t care. Whoever this person is, I hope he or she is caught, because this person deserves a public flogging! Honestly, who calls in a bomb threat to a hospital? The police had all access roads to the hospital blocked off. So patients who had been dropped off for treatment couldn’t be picked up. Family members who had come to see inpatients weren’t able to leave initially. Being in the hospital or having a loved one in a hospital is stressful enough. No one deserves the added stress of a bomb threat. And if we had had to evacuate that stress would have been compounded. For some of our patients being evacuated to another hospital or home would be a major inconvenience. For others it would be life threatening.

But whoever called it in didn’t think of that. Just another pathetic loser. I’ll say it again: public repeated flogging.

I appreciate everyone who called to make sure I was okay. All one of you. I am fine. Just really irritated (if you couldn’t tell). I have to take my hat off to the doctors, nurses and support staff who were involved all the way down to the housekeepers. No one complained about the personal danger they could have been in. Everyone worked together to meet the needs of our patients and families and handled the situation with the greatest professionalism. It was a day when I walked out really proud to be associated with such a fine institution.