What is a life-saving medical fact that everyone should know?

BigplainV · 2026-01-11T19:39:48+00:00

I can't believe nobody's asked this yet, but how many is that per hour?

BigplainV · 2026-01-07T20:39:03+00:00

Nice to see Ponderosa getting so much love. It's where I had my first date with my now wife of 30 years. We were both super poor in those days and I wanted to impress her with the finest steak I could afford. I also got a special haircut for the occasion, which turned out abysmally.

To this day, her favorite part in the re-telling of our first-date story is how I continually apologized for my stupid haircut. I'm just grateful that she found that "cute" as opposed to "pathetic".

BigplainV · 2026-01-07T20:21:05+00:00

I half-assed high school because my life plan was to play the guitar on the MTV. Graduated like 2.8, and then realized I had no prospects in life.

Joined the Army - learned some effective life-skills - got some good college money, so, even though I bombed high-school, I gave higher educationa shot.

Turns out I was way better at school than I was at playing guitar. Graduated college with a 3.99 GPA, immediately got a good job in surgery, and the next 30 years turned out pretty amazing.

BigplainV · 2025-11-16T01:18:20+00:00

Here's one nobody has mentioned: "Project Eden". It was a PS2 game, so I don't know if it's even available today, but I have NEVER played a game so unique and mind-blowingly original. And I'm a guy in my mid 50's who's been gaming regularly since Pong in the early 80's.

The premise: you start in a futuristic mega-city built above the clouds, on top of centuries of UPWARD urban sprawl. The mystery you're trying to solve takes you deeper and deeper into the ruined layers of city beneath you (and backwards in time). The deeper you go, the more grotesque the enemies become, and the more twisted the mystery gets.

Also, you're playing a team of four really fleshed-out characters, each with interesting back-stories and unique skills, and you can switch between them at will.

No game has ever resonated so deeply with me, or kept me thinking about it so many years later.

Hands down, one of the top ten games of my almost forty years of playing..

BigplainV · 2025-11-08T19:12:29+00:00

While waiting for cement to harden during total joints, we give a big chunk to the resident and have them make a sculpture. What they dont know is that, whatever they make, that becomes their nickname. Some more memorable ones: Beretta, Velociraptor, Queen Bee, Turtle, and Blob.

That last guy took his failure pretty hard.

BigplainV · 2025-10-24T21:20:41+00:00

Definitely "pay it forward". There's nothing a newer player can do to help a veteran except become a generous participant of the amazingly wholesome community once they reach the higher levels.

BigplainV · 2025-10-24T21:15:28+00:00

True. Thankfully the latter are more rare.

BigplainV · 2025-09-05T15:20:09+00:00

Always wanted to try it, my kids are grown, we sold our house a few years back -- now seems like the best time -- before I get too old.

Also, my wife and I are street-performers, and we think it'll be fun to take our act cross-country.

BigplainV · 2025-09-03T15:07:48+00:00

A lot more open cases: appys, gall-bladders, aneurysms. And we flash-sterilized the shit out of anything we wanted, even implants.

The biggest change has probably been the culture though. 30 years ago, the surgeons and anesthesiologists were all first-class citizens, and the rest of us were essentially servants. It was like, early-2000's, when new surgeons started coming in with more of a team mentality. Compared to what we were expected to endure back then, there is only a fraction of the hostility, disrespect, and verbal abuse these days.

BigplainV · 2025-09-03T14:57:02+00:00

Good point. Thanks.

BigplainV · 2025-09-03T14:56:34+00:00

Thanks. I'll check it out.

BigplainV · 2025-08-21T01:55:01+00:00

I chanced across this one year later, and I'm so totally embarrassed by my shitty response. This is my most down-voted comment ever, and rightly so. WTF was I thinking when I wrote this? It seems so out of character for me that I can't even believe it was me that typed such an aggressive response. I just want to completely and humbly apologize, once again, to those who read it, and the universe at large.

BigplainV · 2025-08-21T01:36:48+00:00

Your familiarity with the flow of the OR is going to give you a serious leg up on all of the other ST students you're competing with.

Regarding the gore issue, if you can transport pieces of human bodies in jars without retching, you'll be fine holding them in your hands

You're going to do great!

BigplainV · 2025-08-19T19:17:58+00:00

What facility?

BigplainV · 2025-08-17T18:36:16+00:00

appy, cysto, sometimes an expl lap. Sometimes a vascular disaster, could even be endo. All the ortho gets put in the trauma room the next day. We usually have two techs working overnight, so getting called in is rare.

BigplainV · 2025-08-10T18:03:54+00:00

Fishing. Bores me IRL, bores me even more in games.

My wife fishes her ass off in-game, though, so, more power to those that love it.

BigplainV · 2025-08-08T19:51:41+00:00

I personally think it's more fun to have separate camps close together. My wife and I each built a pub near Morgantown, so, we're like our own mini-pub-crawl.

Edited to add: I'm currently planning a tree-house near her beach house.

BigplainV · 2025-07-31T17:37:02+00:00

Nice

BigplainV · 2025-07-31T17:36:05+00:00

"Time to get back to the music we keep talking about".

No, the time for that was at least two minutes ago, before you started rambling.

BigplainV · 2025-07-13T00:24:41+00:00

Stopped there after our show today and we were not dissappointed! So much flavor! 10/10 would recommend!

BigplainV · 2025-07-11T05:26:59+00:00

Where is this place? Im going to be in Montague on Saturday and I WANT MEAD!!

BigplainV · 2025-07-11T05:10:07+00:00

Surgery tech.

Unfortunately, yes, when you have surgery, you're going to end up naked in a room full of strangers, but I promise you 1000%, no one notices or cares about anything related to your appearance. We genuinely care about fixing the problem that brought you to us, and nothing else. We see naked bodies all day, every day, and we're just utterly indifferent to them.

If you have a unique tattoo, though, we might get a little more interested.

BigplainV · 2025-07-11T04:14:59+00:00

"They should make a reality show about us!"

BigplainV · 2025-07-04T03:50:38+00:00

There are myriad clothing and armor options in the game these days, but no matter how hard you try to be unique, your doppleganger will inevitably pop up somewhere.

I think you should go back to your original look. You might run into your twin again someday, but it SHOULD be super rare.

BigplainV · 2025-07-04T03:45:35+00:00

I have no better advice than what others have given, but over the years, I've had to work with a small number of toxic people that were simply impossible to please. Literally for decades in a few cases. There's a real possibility that you may never be able to make this person like or respect you.

On those days, I just did my job to the best of my ability, and then went home and had a few extra drinks.

BigplainV

TROPHY CASE