Jennifer’s little dog JoJo just graduated from his basic dog training class at PetSmart this evening. He was terrific at his final and did so well. We are all so proud of our little guy. JoJo is a Brussels Griffin, a Terrier breed out of Belgium. This little guy has been a terrific addition to our family and we love him very much. JoJo is smart, affectionate and a little stubborn – just a perfect combination of pepper and spice that livens up our lives.

After we get back from our vacation in China we will take up continued education and training with the intermediate class where he will perfect the skills he has been introduced to and will learn “Heal” a difficutl skill for a young dog. Most of all we just love teaching him little tricks. He is the master at crawling and the hand shake.

Its all finished folks. After two years and a lot of hard work the class of 2006 from the Keck School of Medicine department of Anesthesia has graduated the next group of nurse anesthetists. The University of Southern California program for nurse anesthetists has been terrific but I am so glad to be finally finished with this step in education.

After this weekend I will buckle down to several weeks of intensive study for board examinations. Following this Jennifer and I will take some time for ourselves before I start work November 1st. Isn’t life great!

This Saturday evening Douglas and I had an early dinner together at the famous Irish Pub in Pasadena, Lucky Baldwins. We are winding down now from our clinical rotations with only eight days left to go before our graduation celebration September the 2nd. The University of Southern California program of Nurse Anesthesia has been a wonderfully difficult experience. The graduating class of 2006 is just about finished with course work and will be stretching our wings shortly. Pictures of the class can be perused at flickr.

Friends of Douglas joined us at Lucky Baldwins. What made this interesting is that Sonny and Dianne will be starting “The Program” this coming Monday and are part of the Class of 2008 program of nurse anesthesia at USC. During our early dinner at the Irish Pub we discussed and rehashed the trials and tribulations of being an anesthesia resident. All of the usual subjects came up that new students have. Its great now to be on the other side of this mountain. Douglas and the girls went off for an evening of “Pub Hopping” while I happily traveled home to be there when Jennifer came home from a long day at work.

Douglas and I have been having our study sessions and dinner now on Saturday evenings for the past several months now but I always make sure that I am home to greet wifey when she arrives home from work. This past evening we finally got around to talking about future work related things. No matter where we both end up we agreed to continue to meet regularly for bicycle riding and “Pub Hopping”. Next year Douglas his mother and I are planning on riding the RAGBRAI. For those that do not know, this is one of the oldest sponsored group rides in America. The ride across Iowa will be its 35 next year and I am looking forward to this get away 7 day trip. Douglas and I have planned this now for the past year and come next July we will be flying across those rolling Iowa hills. More to follow on this one.

Congratulations to all around. This came in the mail today and to say that I am happy is the least of it. The long hard road through this part of our education is coming to an end while the broader path is open for us.
Right now I am going to make a few phone calls just to hear the cheers go up and see the streamers fly when people hear the news. This makes it official and the reality of actually graduating is sinking in. Maybe for others this has been a cakewalk but that has not been my experience. Anesthesia training is tough, rigorous and very demanding as it should be. To finally approach this milestone is… hmmmm…what is it? I guess my breathing is just coming a little easier now and the smile on my face will not leave for a long time it seems. That just about sums it up for me at the moment. Just like this picture of a happy birth that I was privileged to participate in, my joy is complete.

 

August 17, 2006

Dear Mr. David Roy Godden:

Congratulations! The Degree Progress Department is pleased to inform you that your Master of Science in Anesthesiology degree has been conferred and posted to your academic transcript at the University of Southern California. The conferral date of your degree is August 8, 2006.

Your diploma has been ordered and, unless you have requested that it be held for pick-up or you live in the 90007 zipcode, it will be mailed to your address of record. If you have not received your diploma by September 21, 2006 please contact the Degree Progress Department at (213) 740-7070.

If you require official confirmation of your degree, you can find information on ordering an official record verification by visiting http://www.usc.edu/verification. There is a $5 charge per record verification. You can also find information on ordering an official transcript of your entire academic record, including your degree, by visiting http://www.usc.edu/transcripts. There is an $8 charge per academic transcript.

Again, congratulations on this achievement. You have completed a demanding course of study and we are proud to have you join that select group of individuals who are graduates of the University of Southern California.

Degree Progress Department
University of Southern California

Our graduation ceremony will be September 2nd…just a couple of days…..Yippppy!!!! I will see all in clinical tomorrow bright and early. Only 10 days left of clinical rotations. For me its Big County general surgery in the morning.

Zorba the Greek has returned! Unless you have lived in a box for the past 20 years you know what this means. Euro trash is unleashed on Los Angeles in high style. My friend and co-conspirator Kemball has graced us with his presence for a couple of weeks before he is off again on a motorcycle trip to Alaska and salmon fishing with his buddies. OMG, is this guy too much or what. After several months in Europe and the mid east – I classify Greece as Mid East – he is back again and sporting long hair and the ever-increasing baldness of a Stud monster. I am so glad that Kembal is back. We had a great ride today together starting from Stan’s Monrovia Bike shop going through the usual South Pasadena coffee shop route and back through Sierra Madre and on to Monrovia and Arcadia.

Speaking of Stan’s Monrovia Bikes, I have to tell you a little story about Stan. Last Friday Stan had a Heart O’Tac…or rather a severe bonk on the bike stopping after 15 miles and driving himself to the hospital for a check up. Now what is that about…Let me see…I think I have chest pain and will just drive MY SELF to the hospital. I gave him a ration a crap for that one. After an angiogram just for kicks and a few liters of electrolyte replacement, “I feel just fine now thank you!” Dehydration and electrolyte imbalance were the messengers of chest pain and severe exhaustion for Stan. We are all so glad that his episode was nothing serious but the DRIVING MYSELF TO THE HOSPITAL thing has to be corrected for everyone and needs to be reinforced I think. We all stopped by Stan’s house on the way to Pasadena just to say, “We all love you Stan” and to harass him a little. After the angiogram he will be off of the bike for a week to let the groin heal a little. Actually I would like to see him bleed a little just to pay him back for the driving “himself to the hospital thing.” Next week it will be no mercy.
I took a couple of pictures today of a new bike to the group Sunday ride…fixed gear from Waterford in mauve no less. What a beautiful bicycle Mike got himself. I am in serious envy mode now and will have to fix that in the future fer sure dude. Here are a couple of pictures of the fixed gear that he sported today.

There are a bunch of pictures from the Sunday Riders at Stan’s Monrovia Bikes that are available here on the site. Today I have included a

couple of recent shots that you can view just by clicking the ‘More’ button

. Enjoy and Zorba On on ye me harties.

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