A lovely weekend.

Blockbuster was my first place of call on friday night. A DVD and a pizza was a great way to end the week, just plenty of relaxation. National Treasure 2 was a decent film- Nicholas Cage up to the usual standard.

On Saturday I spent the day at Hoopfest(pics below) which is the biggest 3-on-3 basketball tournament in the world. Downtown was packed and the atmosphere was great. I spent most the day walkin the streets of downtown that were mostly closed off for the event, which consisted of families, colleges and other competitive basketball players. I was pretty shocked that they would close off most of downtown for what is essentially basketball, but I think the same would happen if such a suggestion came around for football to be played in the streets of london/manchester. It wasn't all about the basketball, there was a fair and all the local restuarants piched tents to sell food, I got a corn on the cob followed by a snow ball- it added to the experience. While I was there I also picked up a bus pass for $30- for one month, cheap I know..

On sunday (today) I have mostly spent the day relaxing. I visited the local park and hired another film, No country for old men with Tommy Lee Jones. I guess the best thing I can do is get prepared for another week at work.

I'm looking forward to friday. Fireworks. July 4th. A national holiday. Yes, its independence day...

First week of work..

Temperatures of 95 degrees Fahrenheit are not what I expected to meet after a week of being in Spokane. It is currently 23:41 here and without the balcony door open I'm quite sure I would overheat. There's that smell of heat too, its one that I can't explain yet I witness it everytime I've been to places such as Greece, Spain, Cyprus, Africa, etc.

So what's been going on here.. well the end of my first week at work consisted of getting to know parts of the billing system a lot better. Knowing how Quality Assurance works in the IT dept. Seeing how the LIS team operates here and the way they use their systems. I must admit I struggled to understand why their systems were built in such a way- but that is one to find out next week.

By friday night I was pretty much spent. Still not having fully caught up on sleep and trying to take in everything at PAML as well as living somewhere new that just happens to be around 5000 miles from home - it has been tough. I suppose the hardest thing has been having nobody my age to social with, I'm so used to being around people- either family or friends from university that I guess it feels slightly odd suddenly being a little bit isolated. I'm not saying I'm not enjoying this, I think its more of a realisation of this not being a holiday and that its going to take a little bit more time than I expected until I feel I real fit in here. I still don't think its quite hit me that this is actually happening.

During the week I learned a few things about the American healthcare system. It had never hit me before as to how business orientated things are around here. One employee at PAML made a point of telling me how Canadians were coming to Spokane for CT scans due to Canadian hospitals (nationwide) having less than 10 of them, where as Spokane alone had 3 or 4. The waiting list was a lot less and worth paying for, and of course places like Sacred Heart (the non for profit hospital here) were loving the business. It's also worth looking at : http://www.shmc.org/index.php/newsitem/1330 which is a typical example of pushing business- this thing is advertised on television, which surprised me.

In terms of American sayings there isn't too much to report as of yet. One of the first things was a 'combo' meal. In the jack in a box when I asked for a meal there was a lot of confusion, this as well as the word 'cheers'.

I'm just glad there isn't a language divide, to be honest.

Idaho, PAML and other chit chat

Well I'm almost there, having completed a week at my new job as an intern at the Pathology Associated Medical Laboratories(PAML) that is. The first three days have been learning the ropes. Getting to know the current billing system and the quality assurance plan to improve it and the physician connectivity- looking how interfaces (no matter how complex) are created to support doctors getting the results they need. Today should be spent actually looking at and testing the billing system and tomoorow is LIS (lab information systems) for the afternoon. There are a few interesting points about the american healthcare system I need to make note of, but that will be in my next blog.

As for other things, well on Monday night the president took me and the two Tonys(visitors from Newcastle in England) to a floating restaurant in Idaho. The food was brilliant and the scenery beatiful. We also stopped off at the Hotel Coeur d'Alene (http://www.cdaresort.com/) and walked around the boats by the lakeside. It was a good evening.

Over the past few days I seem to have built a rapport with those that work in Starbucks, which is interesting. The people here tend to be alot more friendly, and yes it may be fake but it certainly doesn't come accross that way. Certainly not how you might imagine. Spokane really is a great city, with its city life blended if with some of the great scenery.

At the weekend I am going downtown for some light shopping of clothes and groceries as well as to see hoop fest, which just happens to be one of the biggest basketball events in the country. There will be more to come on these.

This has been a quick one. My next entry should be soon.

Settling in

Again, I feel lost for words. Less than a week ago I was sat in England with no visa and no real sign of when I might make it to the United States. But now I write this just an hour away from the start of my first day at work.

This weekend I have stayed in the finest hotel in Spokane, Davenport. I spent the weekend window shopping, watching a movie and talking a walk down riverside. The atmosphere in the American movie theatre was something else, though the film 'Happening' wasn't all that great.


By 5pm Eastern time I was in my new apartment,
I was somewhat surprised too.
I'm not sure whether I will have a room mate or whether the two bedrooms and bathrooms are for me and potential visitors. I've found the local starbucks and the 7-eleven grocery store, which is full of cola, tacos, sweets, jerky, crisps and ready meals. It seems I'm gonna have a job finding good food locally.

So, I'm being picked up for my first day at PAML in 45 minutes. I'll being talking all about it in my next entry..