I've been sooo busy lately my tan is starting to fade.

Between ICU and PACU in Key West, ER in Marathon, on-call in PACU Marathon and shuffling around to the beat of a certain TeenQueen, I've been a busy little Mojo. Not exhausted really, because no matter how early I'm up, once I'm UP, I'm UP! and I keep going from there. And I've noticed in my advancing age that 6 hours of sleep do me fine, thank you. One plus is that I'm dropping weight without even trying. I fit into clothes that I had given up on months before (yes I was in a FAT/UNHAPPY stage). I'll never be stick-thin like the TeenQueen, but hey, size 8 is nothing to sneer at either!

The Swine Flu situation has us scurrying at the hospital. Everyone we triage is thoroughly screened for previous travel to affected areas, and if there's even a hint of cough, cold or flu-like symptoms, slap a mask on them! One of our ER docs here is the CDC man for the Keys, and he is extremely well-versed in pandemic preparation and planning. Finally I have someone that doesn't look at me like I have three heads when we talk stockpiling, sheltering in place, body bags, ventilator capacity and the breakdown of supply chains and law and order. While I admit that I am not as prepared for a pandemic as I was three years ago in the midst of the Avian Flu rumors, I still read the websites for pandemic preparedness as well as the CDC and WHO sites. As usual, I hope for the best and expect the worst. Even though we are isolated, we're still exposed to lots of tourists and transients who come through here. On any given day, I triage more tourists than locals, and usually tourists that have been on an airplane, those harbingers of pesky respiratory viruses. Thank God I look smashing in an N-95 mask!

The weather has been beautiful, but the seas are still difficult due to winds in excess of 20MPH. So even the beach has not been an option lately. Thank goodness for Tranquility Bay Resort, which is right across the street on the Overseas Highway Mile Marker 48. It is a beautiful beachfront resort with a great pool and tiki bar, and they are very nice to the locals in that you can come in, use the pool and the facilities. It is absolutely awesome. I might even put in some pool time today, if I can.

Stone crab season in the Keys is almost over. I have my last 5 pounds in the freezer, just waiting for a special occasion, or even no occasion whatsoever. It's been a tough season for the local fishermen, with demand and prices low. So we do our part for the local economy and buy stone crabs whenever we can!

The Mojo signs off now. Time to scurry and maybe even dig out the Hawaiian Tropic!