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The 1,600 gallons of diesel fuel that spilled at a DelDOT facility near St. Georges this past weekend was caused by a broken pipe.
The 1,600 gallons of diesel fuel that spilled at a DelDOT facility near St. Georges this past weekend was caused by a broken pipe.
Drivers had fueled their vehicles at the location of the spill during storm operations this past weekend, DelDOT officials said in a press release late Monday.
Officials said Tuesday that a pipe connected the tank to the fuel pump was broken, and appears to be the cause of the spill.
The incident is still under investigation though.
DelDOT officials became aware of the extent of the spill Monday morning, which was contained by a nearby retention pond.
As part of their Hazardous Material plan, DelDOT personnel contacted the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control to report the incident.
Officials also contacted Guardian Environmental Services, a contractor for DelDOT, who had a team on site within 30 minutes to contain and clean up the spill.
Environmental experts at the scene said they were confident most of the fuel would be recovered.
Clean-up costs are estimated to be about $50,000.
DelDOT is cooperating with DNREC's Environmental Crimes Unit to determine the cause of the spill, officials said.


text:
Butler Health System is partnering with UPMC and Highmark for two new, but separate ventures.
The health system announced that it will work with the UPMC CancerCenter to form a joint program for radiation oncology and it will partner with Highmark to bring additional services for the care of neurological diseases.
Jana Panther, a BHS spokeswoman, said that the health system will continue to accept both UPMC and Highmark insurance from patients.
Under the UPMC agreement, BHS and UPMC bought Butler Radiation Oncology Associates in Butler Township, which will remain open. Two oncologists from the practice, Drs. Victor Onufrey and Hung-Chi Ho, work for BHS.
Patients now will have access to those two doctors and to UPMC doctors, clinical trials and expertise, and much of that will be in Butler.
The agreement with Highmark will form the PA Brain and Spine Institute, which will be an exclusive partnership between Highmark and BHS.
This will provide care for patients with complex neurosurgical needs, such as spine abnormalities, degenerative diseases, nervous system abnormalities and conditions such as stroke, cranial nerve disorders and hydrocephalus.
Patients can get treatment for neurological diseases and injuries in Butler County from two new surgeons, Michael Horowitz and Richard Spiro.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Keele Campus Tour
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Tuesday, June 2, 2020 from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM (EDT)
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We look forward to sharing with you the many new and exciting developments taking place at York University's Keele campus. Join a current undergraduate student and tour our world class facilities. The tour will provide you with a comprehensive overview of campus and highlight the many student supports and facilities that are available to all York students.
ARE YOU A SCHOOL GROUP OR COMMUNITY GROUP LOOKING TO VISIT? We'd love to host you! Please connect with us directly to make arrangements for your visit. Details are available on our tours web site under the "Group Visits' tab.
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Tour & Welcome Centre, 1st floor of Bennett Centre for Student Services
Tuesday, June 2, 2020 from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM (EDT)
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Tuesday, January 11, 2011
The Mythical Bright Light
One of my classmates had a boyfriend who had recently graduated from residency in medicine and had a job in a private practice. Back then, that seemed like the bright light at the end of a long tunnel: someday I would finish med school, finish residency, and then the torture would be over!
Except my friend was complaining about how her boyfriend was working harder than he ever had before. As the newest person in the practice, he took call every holiday and was at the office late every night. She then went on to tell me that this was "typical" of first attending jobs.
I wanted to throw up. So not only did I now have to get through med school and get through residency, I now had to put in my dues in my first attending job for god knows how long? When the hell did it ever end?
When I was doing inpatient rotations in residency, I noticed that my attendings never left work before I did, and actually, were often there later than I was (except on call). I started to have a bad feeling that the bright light at the end of the tunnel was all a myth, and that by entering medicine, I had resigned myself to working hard for the rest of my life.
I do think that, in general, attending physicians work very hard. I know there's going to be some dermatologist who comments something like, "Hey, I work only two afternoons a week, I love my job, and I make half a million dollars a year!" And that's awesome for you, really, you bitch. But I think even physicians like myself, who work part-time and have fewer hours, work pretty hard while at work. And physicians who work full time in private practice generally work their asses off.
The bright light is not entirely a myth. At least as an attending, you earn more money and get to do something closer to the job you want to do. But then again, how many people end up with their dream job right out of training, especially in this economy? I think it's to be expected that you'll need to spend a few years putting in your dues. I think it's a myth to think that you just need to get through seven years of training and then you'll be on easy street. After all, there's a reason Physician ranked only 83 on CareerCast's list of the top 200 jobs of 2011 (I seriously thought we were going to be after the guy who cleans the urinals or something).
I guess my point is that if you think of medical training as something horrible you need to get through before you end up with some cushy, high paying job, maybe you should rethink medicine. I don't think it's a good idea to postpone your life until "the hard stuff" is over, because it might not be over as soon as you think. Or ever.
But as usual, I welcome dissenting opinions. Do you work your ass off as attending? Or did you get a cushy, high paying job straight out of residency?
54 comments:
Well Fizzy, if it was fun, I guess they wouldn't call it "work," would they.ReplyDelete
I'm sorry you despised your training and are lukewarm about what you're doing now. I do think you're right that if you view attending-land as the light at the end of the tunnel, then perhaps you ought to rethink your decision to go into medicine.
For me thus far in my training, there have definitely been ups and downs, but nothing nearly as hideous as my first two jobs out of college. Perhaps this perspective has helped me get through this. Overall I've been really happy I've done it, so far anyway. My hope is that being an attending will be at least as enjoyable / interesting as the training, and maybe even a little bit better.
I think it's a good attitude to enjoy training for what it's worth and to live your life.ReplyDelete
For the record, I didn't despise my training. I despised my first three years of med school (who could hate 4th year?) and my internship. I didn't hate my PGY2-PGY4 years.
I keep wondering when it will be over. It does feel like I was overworked in med school, now over worked in residency, with the prospect over being overworked in practice. I'm fine with work, just not with over work. There is no end is sight.ReplyDelete
Katherine: It was actually a disappointing discovery for me to learn that in many (most) fields of medicine, you just can't have a 9 to 5 type of job.ReplyDelete
Also, didn't you say at one point that you work 36 hours a week? I find that funny, bordering on hysterical that this is considered "part time."ReplyDelete
OMDG: Very true. I work 4 days a week, often 8:30 to 5:30 or thereabouts, so that adds up to 36 hours. I talked to a doc at the VA last year who said she got paid for 32 hours just to keep her actual hours under 40.ReplyDelete
- Sarah H.January 11, 2011 at 5:07 PM
Attendings still work hard...the trade-off is that they DO get paid substantially more and have an increased degree of flexibility in their schedules.ReplyDelete
My fiancee finished residency in 2007, and it has certainly been way easier for him to have outside interests and free time since then. So, no bright light, but there are perks. And yes, from what I can tell, he does have his dream job (ER doctor) and we have no money worries.
Wow, that's a little depressing when you're the med student just trying to survive your last semester before Step 1. Glad you added in that you should enjoy the now, that's something that I feel like people with goals often miss. We spend so much time thinking about tomorrow that we kind of forget that today is all we have. I actually wrote a blog about that right as I was coming up on the end of my first year (http://focusdoctor.blogspot.com/2010/05/present-and-future.html) and have really focused my energy on enjoying life outside of school since then.ReplyDelete
Everything is what you make it. I know good and well if I don't pretend there is a bright light at the end of my tunnel that I will be needing a Beta Blocker before I'm 25....so I'm going to pretend I didn't read this and keep on seeing my light. :)
Sarah: I think ER is one of those fields where if it's something you like, you're probably going to end up with a good lifestyle because it's shift work by definition.ReplyDelete
Danielle: Yeah, what I was trying to emphasize was that you shouldn't live for that bright light. I think I was much happier when I stopped just waiting for the bad stuff to be over and did things to make me happy in the moment (e.g. getting married, having a child, switching to another residency).
- AnonymousJanuary 11, 2011 at 6:43 PM
Residency had its moments but for the most part, it was ok. Our inpatient months were bad (especially during the winter) but otherwise I didn't work more than 70 hours a week. As an attending, when I'm not on call, I work about 60 hours a week. While I wish I had more time to do things during the week (ie. go to the gym, read books) my weekends are generally free. I work as part of a big practice and I'm only on call 7 weekends and 9 weeks during the year (we do our call in three week blocks). Being an attending is way better. I'm working hard and somedays I'm at work long after the residents have gone home but I love my job so I don't care. You have to love it and have fun.ReplyDelete
I have finally made it to attending land after 7 years of training (med-peds rheumatology) and I basically love it. That's only true because I like what I do. I liked most of fellowship too, honestly, since it was interesting and mostly not crazy hours. I do think I work more now than in fellowship, but it's worth it to have some control over my life and to have a salary that I can support a family on. (I have the benefit of being married to a stay-at-home dad, who takes care of our 2-1/2 yr old daughter and 15 month old son, which is truly awesome, but it did make money pretty tight during fellowship!) I don't think it's a light at the end of the tunnel, exactly, but I feel like my medical career has gradually gotten better and better from the 3rd yr of med school until now, as I've been able to focus more and more on the kinds of things that interest me and that brought me into medicine to begin with.ReplyDelete
Totally depends on a) your particular job (not specialty; job), b) whether you enjoy your work. For me, being an attending rocks. I've been in the same job right out of residency. I think I am compensated well, have the flexibility I need, and love what I get to do.ReplyDelete
Sometimes, I can't believe I get paid to do this.
It is absolutely the light at the end of the tunnel, at least for me. Worth every minute of my training (which occurred prior to the 80 hour work week...)
It's great that everyone loves their jobs so much, but that wasn't entirely what I was asking. I was talking about the fact that physicians DO work hard, both in terms of work and and in terms of hours. How many attendings out there feel that they have a "light" job with lots of free time?ReplyDelete
If there is a "cushy" job as a physician, I haven't seen it.ReplyDelete
I am in full time private neurosurgical practice, and I do in fact work my ass off. I take night call one weekday every week and one out of 4 weekends (Friday 0700 - Monday 0700) covering 2 hospitals. I do between 500 and 650 cases per year on average.
I agree that if you think it will get easier when you're done with residency, you need to rethink things. I had thought so, too; I had the impression that a new physician would find a nice practice, hang out a shingle, and live happily ever after. Ha!
It doesn't get easier, it gets harder. But it changes significantly. The good things: You are your own boss, and you have tremendous control over your practice. Success or failure is largely up to you. You no longer have to do things the way your attending wants. You can choose the surgical techniques that work best for you. Your patients are *yours*. You also make a lot more money than you did as a resident.
The bad things: You may make more money, but you also have a lot more bills. You have to worry about the business aspects of running a practice. Your responsibilities are much greater, to your patients, your employees, and your family. You have to deal with the politics of medicine and with partners (different from dealing with fellow residents). And you end up working more hours, especially now in the day of the 80 hour resident work week. You also now have to worry more about malpractice liability.
Practice is very hard, much harder than residency. But I love my job, and the good things far outweigh the bad in my mind. Just the ability to make a real difference in the life of a patient makes it worth while.
I have premed students shadow sometimes, and I always tell them that you shouldn't go into medicine if you want to get rich. You will only be happy in this profession if you really love what you are doing, period. If you don't love it, you won't last long term.
I would not recommend that any medical student, resident, or physician postpone life outside medicine just on the assumption that it's going to get easier. It won't. You just have to get on with life and family and make it work.
Oh, and I failed to mention that when you first join a practice, there is generally a period of time during which you are a salaried employee before becoming eligible for partnership. This period varies from practice to practice; mine was 2 years. During that time, you generally make more money than a resident, but not nearly as much as a partner. In many practices, becoming a full partner requires a "buy-in," which may be small or may run into six figures. This also dims the mythical light a bit.ReplyDelete
Ugh, my thoughts are not very organized tonight. Sorry! I wanted to also comment about the myth of an attending having more "flexibility" in the schedule. I have found this not to be true personally. The pressure to keep the schedule on track increases exponentially as your practice gets busier. Taking an unplanned day off accordions the subsequent schedule in a miserable way. There is also pressure to keep referring physicians happy by accommodating urgent work-ins and by keeping the wait time for appointments to a reasonable period. Right now, for instance, I am stressing about restructuring my schedule for 2.5 days lost as a result of the southeastern snowstorm. I'm probably going to end up working some Saturdays and after hours for a week or two. Ugh.ReplyDelete
In a specialty not defined by shift work, the schedule is very inflexible!
gcs15: Good to hear your perspective. Regarding the flexibility, I remember being shocked when an attending told me that attending-hood is the WORST time to have a baby, just because coverage is harder. In residency, you've got the whole program to cover for you. As an attending, there are often just a few people to cover, or perhaps just yourself. Just being sick for a day or two can involve some painful trades.ReplyDelete
Some people really do get lucky right out of training, but there are a bunch of new doctors I know right now who are not terribly happy with their first jobs.
Um, pathology? Best secret in medicine? I love my first job out of training. Yes, I made partner last fall after three plus years, and have a big buy in, but I've got myself in a living situation where I am very comfortable financially (finally!). Despite the big snowstorm, I had to be there, and I am so thankful for my wonderful former nanny and her family, who are still there for me. When I am driving to the hospital in the snow before sun-up, they beat me up and made it to my house to care for my kids so I could get to work. Oops, I ran off track being thankful, sorry.ReplyDelete
Are there things I am frustrated about? Of course! Who isn't. The politics over laws and reimbursement - the so-called business side of things that gcs15 alluded to above - that can drive me insane. So much so at times that I have to remind myself why I am doing this at all - a busy call where I help a ton of patients (like New Year's weekend) or a wonderful weekend off with my kids helps me get off of my obsessive thoughts about the side of pathology I never really wanted to know about.
I think residency and practice are both hard. Hell, so is med school. It's all tough, and very different. But if you truly enjoy what you are doing, even if you have to remind yourself of that every now and again, you'll pull through.
I agree that it is difficult to define hours at a physician job outside of shift work. I investigated part-time pathology, and chose to stick it out through the years to partner instead, because every part-time pathologist I knew was frustrated with the fact that they were almost full time coming in to finish leftover cases and got no benefits or perks. One part-timer I saw was sneered and scoffed at, and treated as inferior, even though she was choosing to take less pay to start a family (she was also smarter than most of the people scoffing). So that road, at least in path, seemed worse to me.
- AnonymousJanuary 11, 2011 at 10:55 PM
I'm glad to hear that the majority of women in medicine love their jobs.ReplyDelete
I think it depends on how you define "the light." I finished up in internal medicine in Aug of last year. The stress and workload of residency had pushed me to the edge mentally and physically. I was always worried about money and I was very angry that I was working so many hours for such little pay. Also, I had a baby at the beginning of my third year and was resentful that I wasn't spending as much time with her as I wanted. Honestly, I was starting to think I made a big, expensive mistake by going to medical school.ReplyDelete
So I was looking for relief and recovery. I found a wonderful job in a clinic with no hospital duties. Call is every 6weeks and is basically home call...if I think the patient needs to be seen I just direct him to the ER. I work 4 days a week, 8-5pm. I make more money now (although I have sacrificed some of my potential due to my limited responsibilities) and financial stability is no longer a worry. Interestingly, I feel that my workload has increased now that I don't have to check-out with attendings. I am astonished at how many patients I can see in a day!
Most importantly, I am recovering and am starting to *like* what I do. In the past few months I have been able to stop the anti-depressant AND the PPI that were both started during my training. I feel that I have a stronger connection with my daughter now that I spend more time with her and I am not chronically tired.
I guess what I am trying to say is that my "light at the end of the tunnel" has definitely held up to my hopes and expectations...of course I was in a far different place at the end of residency than at the beginning of med school so my "light" has changed over the years.
- AnonymousJanuary 12, 2011 at 5:38 AM
I think it really is a matter of expectations. As someone involved in training, I worry that the new work restrictions for residents will create false expectations for what life will be like when they are done. I don't have someone to check out to and the work does not get done unless I do it. That said, I sacrificed compensation to have a small niche of patients and at home call. I work some weekends but can usually finish in 1/2 day. Yes I work hard but fortunately I love what I do. I also had good mentorship about medical careers which I try to pay forward. It would be unbearable if I did not love what I do. Onc15ReplyDelete
I'm refrain from giving my feelings about use of the word "love" to describe a job.ReplyDelete
(I don't want to sound disgruntled because I do like my job very much at times and there are days when I feel so incredibly grateful for it. But love? I love my daughter and my husband. I love my parents. Not so much my job.)
Anyway, I do think it's great that everyone has so much strong affection for their work, but I guarantee that's not entirely universal among doctors. Last night I was talking to a friend of mine whose husband hates his first job as an ophthal, and I have several friends who are miserable in private practice. I know lots of people who have bounced from job to job because they couldn't find one they liked. A doctor who recently joined our practice told me that leaving her last job was like escaping from a nightmare.
So for those of you who love your jobs, try to also remember that you are *lucky* and many people don't have the same experience.
- AnonymousJanuary 12, 2011 at 7:50 AM
Birds of the same feather flock together. Maybe people who love their jobs tend to find other people who feel the same way.ReplyDelete
And people who hate their jobs will unite with people who also hate their jobs.
- AnonymousJanuary 12, 2011 at 7:54 AM
I definitely think I am lucky to love what I do. It gets me over the daily aggravations. I do tell premeds to evaluate carefully why they want to do medicine. Do not do it for the money or prestige( not enough of either). Do it if you have an affinity for the kind of work you will do and the environment you will be working in. Hopefully there will be a point at which it becomes an avocation rather than a job. I just slogged through 8 inches of snow and slippery roads to get to work but I feel energized about the day.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJanuary 12, 2011 at 7:58 AM
Anon at 750 you hit it on the head! I generally try to avoid the people who hate their jobs.ReplyDelete
Unfortunately, I work with two physicians who desperately hate their jobs and talk daily about quitting. It makes me feel guilty (I have a different job). It's not always possible to avoid negativity.ReplyDelete
I agree that it is naive to expect that after residency, you won't work as hard and you'll have perfect control over everything. I also think that your quality of life as an attending will vary depending on what specialty you're in, where you live in, what your family situation is, what the economic situation is like, etc.ReplyDelete
That being said, I really enjoy my job and the end of residency really did turn out to be the light at the end of the tunnel for me. I cut my work hours back to 30 hours a week, work a 12 hour night shift once or twice a month, paid off my debt within one year of finishing residency, and I go away for about 4 months a year. I know I'm lucky and I am grateful everyday that things worked out so well.
- mamadocJanuary 12, 2011 at 12:40 PM
I have had a love/hate relationship with medicine for about 30+ years now. Making people feel better-love. Insurance companies, hospital politics, lawyers, entititled patients (and you get just as many if not more as an attending)-make it hard to remember the love part. It has allowed me to support my family and afforded a fairly comfortable lifestyle. If I'd known then what I know now, would I do it again? Nope.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJanuary 12, 2011 at 4:21 PM
Fizzy, I am only at my first job out of residency/fellowship so I don't have much to contribute - not much to compare it with. I know as an FP I get paid less for the number of hours of I work than probably everyone else in medicine. Some days are great and I don't care - more days than not I am running my ass off between the hospital, OB, and the clinic and thinking how unfair life is - and maybe more money would help me not be bitter. So who knows.ReplyDelete
Can I add that I absolutely LOVE your posts and you can make a depressing post pretty hilarious. Not a bad talent. :-) I wish I worked with someone like you!!
- AnonymousJanuary 12, 2011 at 5:14 PM
I think anyone, in medicine or not, is lucky to love their job. Remember that at least we are well paid, have some level of job satisfaction, etc. What about the shlub who did not have our choices? This is somewhat a discussion of the priveleged. While we may think we do not have choices about our work, we have a heck of a lot more control and choice than many.ReplyDelete
Anon @ 5:14: There's always someone who makes a "discussion of the privileged argument." Sorry, I don't buy that. If you're going to say that, we can't discuss anything. When my kid asks me if she should get a PhD or go to med school, am I supposed to say, "You are privileged to have this choice so I refuse to discuss it"?ReplyDelete
Liana: Wow, if I had 4 months of the year off, I might feel very different about my job! That is a pretty rare situation though.
Mamadoc: Very well said. I "love" my job sometimes and sometimes... not so much. Or I love some aspects. It's given me a comfortable lifestyle at this point and I wouldn't want to do anything else at this point. But if I were 22 again, I think I might make a different choice.
Anon at 4:21: Thanks :) I think you make a good point too.
- Sarah H.January 13, 2011 at 3:26 PM
I've got to agree with anon at 5:14. I don't think that s/he is saying that we shouldn't discuss our choices or be discriminating about all the wonderful opportunities that we in medicine have to choose from, just that this is another layer of gratefulness that needs to be a part of anyone's thought process.ReplyDelete
I think that it's everyone's prerogative to make and discuss their choices. It's just that to a large extent a lot of us have been lucky (through being born in the US or Canada, in families that valued education, etc) and the average person just doesn't have the range of choices we have.
I think that there should definitely be some implicit (or even explicit) graciousness about the fact that, on the whole, being a doctor is a pretty good gig. I don't see that in your posts.
Though we may work a lot and it's very demanding at times, we make more money and have more choice and control over our lives than, say, a person working in a factory or a janitor or all of the unfortunate people out there looking for work in this economy.
As a family med resident, I don't make what my colleagues in other specialties do and I'm sleep-deprived but I am sure happy that I will always have a job.
- AnonymousJanuary 13, 2011 at 5:13 PM
I really like what Anon at 3:26 pm said and I wholeheartedly agree with her.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJanuary 13, 2011 at 5:19 PM
Fizzy- I think you are fully within your rights to discuss and complain. But I have to agree with Anon 5:14 and Sarah that even on my worst days, I am grateful and happy to do what I do than, for example, fighting in Afghanistan or more mundanely snoplowing or street sweeping. But again, I love what I do and generally work with great people. I am blessed both at home and at work. I am sorry if you do not feel that way.ReplyDelete
Guys, if you're implying that all doctors should be "grateful they have jobs" because not everyone is afforded that opportunity, I kind of think that's a bunch of BS. A person can be profoundly unhappy as a doctor, and telling him/her they should be grateful they have a job is not only incredibly unhelpful, but is also not really true. Perhaps a person who is a doctor might be happier as a janitor. There are good reasons people become unhappy in medicine. Stop being so freaking sanctimonious.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJanuary 13, 2011 at 6:06 PM
Fizzy, maybe you feel that way because you are surrounded by doctors who hate their job and are negative? Maybe they are influencing you negatively?ReplyDelete
And, it's important to be positive. I agree with most people here when they say that we are very lucky to have a profession, more so a medical profession as a physician. You can look at any situation and your mind can come up with the same amount of negative and positive things about it. In the end, you'll have 2 lists, with the same number of things. For each negative thing, there is a positive thing. It's up to you whether you want to go on in life focusing on either the negative list or the positive list.
- AnonymousJanuary 13, 2011 at 6:16 PM
@ Old MD Girl - well if they are profoundly unhappy as a doctor, then they should quit the career. There are other wonderful careers that make a lot of people very happy.ReplyDelete
I don't think people are trying to be sanctimonious.
I also think Fizzy has all the right to complain about negative things about her job. After all, it's a blog and that's, I think, the purpose of a blog. That being said, I think the problem here is that most female doctors on here go to find support on this blog to "share our war stories", to overcome the daily trials of being a doctor and a mother. And, although Fizzy has all the right to write any kind of posts she wants, it's probably not helping anybody else feel better about their daily lives, that's all.
- AnonymousJanuary 13, 2011 at 6:32 PM
@OMDG: I disagree that people are being sanctimonious. I think they are just expressing a counterargument to the negative opinions. Some people happen to like what they do and they recognize that they chose to go to med school and chose their residency and are glad they did. Not everyone can be happy every day, but they can be content with their choices. Also you cannot deny that a smart woman with educational opportunities can do a lot of things besides medicine so if medicine makes you unhappy why not do something else? You are right that some may prefer being a janitor. Fine but most do not.ReplyDelete
For the record, I disagree with all the Anonymouses. ALL of you.ReplyDelete
I can't sort through all these anonymous people, so I'm just going to reply generally:
1) Getting told that I should be grateful to have a good job is like telling your kid that they should eat their lima beans because other kids have no food. Does that work? Do kids like being told that? Would YOU like being told that? When you have bad back pain or a flu, do you want to be told that you should stop your whining because you don't have metastatic cancer? Because if that's okay, show me your blog and I'll be happy to do so for you. Yeah, I'm grateful for things in my life that are good. Do I honestly have to list these things every time I make a post? Please.
2) I'm sorry if my post didn't make anyone feel better about their daily life. Would you like it better if I gushed on and on about how much I LOVE my job, how well behaved and a fantastic sleeper my kid is, how I lost all my baby weight two days after giving birth, and I just don't know what to do with all this money I have in the bank? Would that make everyone feel better about themselves? Frankly, I enjoy listening to people whine. Makes me feel better about myself.
3) I think everyone is kind of missing the point. My point isn't that being an attending sucks ass. It was that if you're just looking at training as something you need to get through in order to have some cushy, easy, wonderful job as soon as residency is over, you may end up disappointed. You should enjoy training for what it's worth.
4) I love it when people say, "You don't like medicine? Do something else!" It's SO patronizing to say that to someone who has put in a decade of hard training and has a quarter of a million dollars in debt and no way to pay it off without earning a physician's salary.
5) OMDG: You rock as usual.
- Sarah H.January 13, 2011 at 8:02 PM
"Guys, if you're implying that all doctors should be "grateful they have jobs" because not everyone is afforded that opportunity, I kind of think that's a bunch of BS."ReplyDelete
OMDG: I'm not implying it, I'm saying it outright. All doctors should be grateful they have jobs. GOOD jobs. Even the most poorly paid doctor makes 4 or 5 times the federal poverty level.
My grandfather worked in a sock factory his whole life. He wept uncontrollably the day I got into medical school because he was so happy. He knew I would have the chance to make a good living for myself and my family and not have to scrape by like he did.
I am grateful every day.
Sarah: Fair enough, but next time you go to a restaurant and the food is terrible, you better not complain because YOU ARE PRIVILEGED TO EVEN HAVE FOOD. People in poverty sometimes don't, you know. So I hope you always acknowledge that.ReplyDelete
People are allowed to complain about stuff without constantly getting lectured. If you're feeling overworked, you're allowed to complain without having to add a disclaimer. Geez, why is everyone acting like my grandparents?
- AnonymousJanuary 14, 2011 at 5:39 AM
Wow Fizzy if you don't like the heat get out of the kitchen. You asked for dissenting opinions; people who did not find residency intolerable and have the job they wanted. But what you really want is for people to agree that medicine is miserable. Maybe you feel your previous choices limit your ability to leave medicine but people do it every day. Other people like their jobs, what is wrong with that. Don't be grateful that you have a job- but do be grateful that as a result of your intelligence and hard work, you have many more choices than the ditch digger. That is a COMPLIMENT. Be gracious, it is much more attractive.BTW I waitressed during pre med and worked my way through med school, so I am grateful to my waitress in a restaurant because I know how hard she works. I penny pinched and lived on a shoe string a long time after med school and yes delayed my gratification and am happy I did so. I am lucky; I love my job and have had an easy time having my family. Just wanted that to counteract the "misery".ReplyDelete
Anon: I want to discuss. I just don't like it when people shut down the discussion completely by saying, "We can't talk about it because we should be grateful to just have jobs." Yeah, there are people who dig ditches and wait tables and I'm glad I don't do that. Are you happy now? Can we get back to the topic?ReplyDelete
Furthermore, I never asked who loved their job and who didn't. I asked who worked hard. I was pretty specific in my last paragraph. Nobody answered the question. You can work hard and still love what you do. My point was simply that if you're waiting to have a life becauase you think you're going to have a cushy job, that might be something you won't have as a doctor, especially in some specialties. Doctors work hard. Are they all miserable? I don't think so... a lot are happy. But I think they work harder than people in a lot of other fields.
People infer things about me from my posts which are not true. Just because I wrote a post about how doctors work hard, everyone seems to infer that I'm disgruntled and miserable. I'm absolutely not. The truth is, I think I have a pretty great job. Really, I just want people starting out to have realistic expectations about the field so they don't end up miserable. But everyone seems to read exactly one random sentence of my post and reply to that sentence.
I can't win, really. When I made a post about how I was grateful I had kids early, I was called judgmental and that I was showing off my good luck of having a family. Something about the way people reply to my posts switches on my bitch toggle. Maybe it's all the estrogen.
- AnonymousJanuary 14, 2011 at 8:16 AM
Actually Fizzy several people answered your question about working hard and said yes they do but they like what they do which compensates. Maybe you have to be a workaholic. I usually get absorbed and don't notice the time at work. Are there days that I wish I had more time with my family, absolutely. But overall, I do not find my full time attending life bad(70 hours weekly on average) and enjoy it most days.ReplyDelete
Einstein really was a genius. It really is all relative.ReplyDelete
Fizzy..as you know, I am a fan.
I know you are grateful for the good things in your life and like reading your reflections on the not so good things.
An Australian International aid worker, Phoebe Fraser, reflected in her book (I can't remember the name, something to do with a flower) that when she delivered aid in famine affected areas in Africa the pack included protein biscuts,
In Eastern Europe the package includes cheese. She wondered if it was fair initially but then realised that cheese was on the daily menu in Eastern Europe and had been "lost"
Also I worked once with a GP in a country town who had moved from South Africa to escape some horrid conditions. He refused to acknowledge any form of depression, particularly Post natal depression because these people should go to South Africa and then they'd have a real reason to be depressed.
Of course Doctors can be deeply unhappy and not feel "privileged". Doctors can be hugely overworked, dealing with human sufferring, sleep deprived, and many other trials and challenges. And they weren't handed their jobs on a platter...they worked bloody hard for them.
Not all doctors come from families with money who value education either. That intimation is a fallacy.
Basically the idea that Doctors should be happy with their lot in life, simply because they are doctors is rubbish
Male Doctors are 3 times more likely than the general population to suicide, Female Doctors 7 times (Australian data). Surely it is a good idea to explore the challenges facing our profession that may lead to these figures??
Keep on blogging Dr Fizzy! Love the places your posts take us.
- AnonymousJanuary 14, 2011 at 9:50 AM
I don't think it was about the point of your post, Fizzy. I think it's about the underlying tone - it seems sort of bitter and unhappy.ReplyDelete
We all agree that working as an attending is not the blinding bright light in the tunnel. There's still hard work involved even when you are at the top/best point in your career. But, I think it's the way you said it. Of course, this IS the internet and things can come off sounding differently and "offensive".
Also, I love readings your posts, too. But, I think I see where other people are coming from.
For the record, I didn't pick up on any bitterness in this post (maybe in the past, but not here). You're just saying that when you get to attending-land, the long hours and hard work may well continue, and if you're hoping that won't be the case because you're miserable in med school, then you might be in for a wake up call. That's all.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJanuary 14, 2011 at 1:58 PM
No one is stating that being a physician is a cakewalk. However, with any group there is a bell curve. The range of comments reveal that. We all have a right to complain but please also acknowledge that some people do jave the life they want. There are people unhappy in every profession. Where docs get into trouble is thinking they cannot do anything else because of the investment they put in. If it really means misery for the rest of your life, you would still be a doc?
I really value the honesty of your posts, Fizzy, and want to thank you for your courage in sharing the sometimes brutal truth about the reality of medicine.ReplyDelete
I'm a mother who is graduating pre-med this May, and sat out on last year's application cycle to medical school due to concerns about the sacrifice that would be involved and how it would affect my family.
This being said, I am deeply appreciative of hearing both sides of the story about the life of a physician, and the journey to get there, and this is why I'm so glad that you are a contributing member here.
As far as the continual debate goes, I will say that I wonder if there are some people being defensive because they feel threatened by the fact that you might be exposing them. They may feel like you do, for example, deep down inside, but are afraid to admit that they've sacrificed so much to get to this place that doesn't make them as happy as they thought it would, or isn't what they thought it would be. I'm sure this isn't the case with everyone who has an opinion opposite of yours, or argues against your posts, but you do have to wonder if it doesn't explain at least some of the snarling.
However, I want to say thanks to all who do post the positive comments. I know there are some out there who truly love their roles as physicians and have found joy in the work, despite the demands. To hear these encouraging words is reaffirming and inspiring. I hope that they are genuine, and that I might one day be able to echo them.
- AnonymousJanuary 14, 2011 at 3:10 PM
@bekkles and FizzyReplyDelete
I do not think people want to cut off debate about the hard work. They just wanted to show that they (the individuals) were happy despite the work. Maybe they did not feel med school was a trial requiring a "bright light." Maybe some of them do not mind the work. I would argue that lawyers work pretty hard in the standard setting as do people in the corporate world. Some people without our education have to work two jobs. The world is full of hard work. The question for me(and if you like you can answer) is does the profession reward you for that work. In money, respect, satisfaction,intellectual stimulation. I had choices but this is what I really wanted to do and most days the work does not bother me.but you are right, I do sometimes work harder now than in residency.
Anon at 8:16: If you work 70 hours a week and are happy, that's awesome. I absolutely could not be happy with those hours. I'm sure some people would be fine with it, but plenty of people who go into medicine don't want to work that hard.ReplyDelete
Bekkles: True, unhappiness is an unpredictable thing. Postnatal depression used to baffle me because I couldn't figure out how anyone could be depressed when they were lucky enough to have a perfect little baby at home. (I get it now.) Just because you have a good salary, that doesn't mean you can't be totally dissatisfied with the work you're doing... either the work itself or the hours.
Chacy: This post was probably aimed most at people like you. I didn't write it to discourage premeds from becoming doctors, simply to know what they're getting into before starting so they don't end up disappointed or depressed. When I was a sub-intern, my intern had a 7 year old son and she was the most unhappy person I ever saw. She used to cry all the time about what a horrible mistake she made going into medicine and how she missed her son so much. I think she went to med school, thinking about the future, about some great career she'd have someday (maybe), but then she was totally miserable in the present. I think it's terrible to live that way.... I know, because I *did* live that way for a while.
Final Anon: Like I said above, some people like working hard under stressful conditions. Some people thrive on it. Some people deteriorate. For a person with good grades in college, there are lots of career options that pay well and are less work and low stress (see the link I posted). Since we do have that choice, it's worth considering. It's not like we're choosing between medicine and ditch digging.
- AnonymousJanuary 14, 2011 at 10:32 PM
Unrelated comment: I love this blog.ReplyDelete
I'm your average college student seriously pondering whether I want to submerge myself into the huge commitment of med school, residency, etc. I stumbled on this blog a couple of years ago and I've kept up with it just because the women are so real and relatable. If anything, its made me see that being a physician is a worthy goal but it shouldn't completely define me.
Fizzy, your blogs are great because they're so honest. They make me laugh (and I love the cartoons by the way) and through your blogs I can kind of see...work can suck sometimes. But really, everyone's work sucks too. You've really brought me back to earth (esp. this post. sometimes all that's ahead can be overwhelming and its hard not to look forward to the bright light...but I should definitely try and spend more time enjoying life as it is now. crazy pre-med life or not.) and if anything you've convinced me I really do want to be a doctor. This is one of the only blogs that's not like "MED SCHOOL IS SOOOO HARD" or "BEING A DOCTOR IS SO REWARDING!" and I love it. Sometimes the middle road is just the way to go.
Thanks again for the insight :)
I can't decide if I agree or disagree with this post. Well, I really can't do wither bc I'm an m1, so I guess I mean I can't decide if I like it or not. I also don't know if people are using the phrases "work hard" and "work long hours" interchangably.ReplyDelete
I do think that your point about not postponing your life is good- for everyone, not just mim's. I have a son who is about to be one- our plan was to wait until after training to have kids, God decided otherwise, and I have been grateful for the way things turned out every day since he was born. My m2 buddy has several children. When I asked her how her relationship was with them, she replied "I never see them". I'm currently doing the same thing she was when she "never saw them" and I'm only away from my son on average about three or four hours a day (I study after he's in bed), plus I have every weekend and the summer to spend uninterrupted with him. I often wonder how two women can have such very different realities during the same experience (m1 year). I think it's all about priorities, focus, and trust.
I look ahead to the tougher times (m3 year, intern year, etc) and I sometimes wonder how it will all work out. But I wondered that about this year too, And I'm enjoying my life every day. I think a little creativity, some help from family or friends, and the ability to, as my friend says, "rid your life of bs" goes a long way.
I do agree with so many women who've said if you're not happy, leave (not that you're saying that fizzy, but just to women in general). I can say that with a sliver of understanding bc I left a job for which I'd spent four years of training, 4.5 years of practice, and tens of thousands of dollars of loans on to come to med school. I think life is ao short and families are so important, if you can't enjoy them during school, training, or practice it IS NOT WORTH IT.
(write me off as a naive m1 if you want, I understand. But I guarantee my priorities won't change.)
- AnonymousJanuary 18, 2011 at 5:47 PM
@barefoot mosesReplyDelete
There will be days when you question your decision. What has pulled me through those days is good support at home, good friends and fortunately a love of what I do. Life is too short to be hating what you do. Maybe that is not what Fizzy is saying but the tone in the blog did not express any enjoyment of the schooling or training.Yes you will work hard and not only in training.just try to find the joy in it or it will not be worth it.


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Key Votes
HR 6213 - No More Solyndras Act - National Key Vote
Lynn Woolsey voted Nay (Passage) on this Legislation.
Read statements Lynn Woolsey made in this general time period.
Issues Related to HR 6213
Stage Details
Legislation - Referred to Committee (Senate) - Sept. 19, 2012
Legislation -
Bill Passed
(245-161) -
Sept. 14, 2012(Key vote)
See How Your Politicians Voted
Title: No More Solyndras Act
Vote Result
Yea Votes
Nay Votes
A vote to pass a bill that limits the continuation of loan guarantees under the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
- Prohibits the Secretary of Energy from issuing new loan guarantees after December 31, 2011 (Sec. 3).
- Requires the following action to be taken when considering pending applications submitted before December 31, 2011 (Sec. 3):
- The Secretary of Treasury must write an analysis of the financial terms and conditions of the loan guarantee proposed by the Secretary of Energy; and
- The Secretary of Energy must submit a written explanation of their guarantee to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources if the guarantee is inconsistent with the Secretary of Treasury's written analysis.
- Requires the Secretary of Energy to submit a report to House and Senate committees that includes the following (Sec. 3):
- The decision making process the Secretary of Energy used to make the guarantee;
- The terms of the guarantee;
- The recipient; and
- The technology and project for which the guarantee will be used.
- Prohibits the reorganization, restructuring, and termination of guarantees from being subordinated to other financing (Sec. 5).
- Requires the Comptroller General to conduct a study from fiscal years 2003 to 2012 that focuses on federal subsidies in energy markets and identifies the following (Sec. 7):
- Costs to the United States Treasury;
- Impacts on United States energy security;
- Impacts on electricity prices;
- Impacts on transportation fuel prices;
- Impacts on private energy-related industries not benefiting from Federal subsidies in energy markets;
- Federal subsidies provided to foreign persons or corporations; and
- Subsidies and direct financial interest in support of energy markets of the 15 foreign countries with the largest gross domestic product.
- Defines "Federal subsidies" as "Federal grants, direct loans, loan guarantees, and tax credits, and other programmatic activities targeted at energy markets and related sectors, relating to specific energy technologies" (Sec. 7).
Legislation - Introduced (House) - July 26, 2012
Title: No More Solyndras Act
- Dan Benishek (MI - R) (Out Of Office)
- Marsha Blackburn (TN - R) (Out Of Office)
- Michael C. Burgess (TX - R)
- William 'Bill' Cassidy (LA - R) (Out Of Office)
- Renee Louise Ellmers (NC - R) (Out Of Office)
- Jeff Flake (AZ - R) (Out Of Office)
- Phil Gingrey (GA - R) (Out Of Office)
- Gregg Harper (MS - R) (Out Of Office)
- Leonard Lance (NJ - R) (Out Of Office)
- Thomas P. 'Tom' Latham (IA - R) (Out Of Office)
- Suellen W. 'Sue' Myrick (NC - R) (Out Of Office)
- Pete Olson (TX - R)
- Joseph R. 'Joe' Pitts (PA - R) (Out Of Office)
- Mike Pompeo (KS - R) (Out Of Office)
- Mike Rogers (MI - R) (Out Of Office)
- Timothy E. 'Tim' Scott (SC - R) (Out Of Office)
- Clifford Bundy 'Cliff' Stearns (FL - R) (Out Of Office)
- Steve Stivers (OH - R)
- John A. Sullivan (OK - R) (Out Of Office)
- Lee R. Terry (NE - R) (Out Of Office)
- Edward 'Ed' Whitfield (KY - R) (Out Of Office)


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WASHINGTON - Paintings and photographs depicting the raw reality of the Civil War marked a major change in American art that tossed out romantic notions of war.
Some of the finest artists of the day, including Winslow Homer, Eastman Johnson, Frederic Church and Sanford Gifford, painted landscapes and scenes of everyday life to show how the war transformed the nation. Their best works, along with some of the first photographs of soldiers killed on the battlefield, have been gathered by the Smithsonian American Art Museum for a major exhibition on how artists represented the war and how the war changed art. It's on view in Washington through April and then moves to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Curator Eleanor Jones Harvey spent years researching the project and borrowing many of the 75 works featured in the show. It features Civil War scenes from Washington, Baltimore, New York and points south at Fort Sumter, Charleston, S.C., Georgia and Virginia.
Rather than make portraits of war generals and heroes, however, artists of the day focused on the common man. There was a realization that "art that presents normal human beings, rather than celebrities and luminaries, carries more lasting weight."
One painting in the show, Gifford's 1862 painting "Preaching to the Troops," depicting a scene near Washington, was displayed in the Oval Office for 13 years.
Photographs had perhaps the greatest impact on art of the era. Battlefield photographs by Alexander Gardner showing piles of dead soldiers and images by George Barnard showing Charleston in ruins destroyed any romantic notions of war being a heroic adventure. Such images were shown in art galleries in the Northeast during the war and made people realize "this is not what I signed up for," Harvey said.
"Photographs from Antietam make it stunningly impossible for anyone associated with the New York art world to make romantic pictures of the war because they look like lies," Harvey said.
Art also changed the rhetoric about war by depicting gruesome reality. Raw imagery shown to President Abraham Lincoln likely influenced the words he drafted for his Gettysburg Address, Harvey said.
Landscape paintings reflected the mood of the nation. Artists depicted scenes of nature and weather to represent the war's destruction and impact. There are layers of coding in such paintings, Harvey said, as with Church's depiction of ice as Northern fortitude, an erupting volcano to represent slavery and the tropics to represent the South.
At the same time, Homer and Johnson addressed slavery and emancipation with scenes of ordinary people, including a slave family escaping to freedom on horseback and a slave man reading from the Bible.
In postwar America, Homer painted a scene of former slaves meeting with their former mistress, renegotiating their relationship to involve wages. "Homer is saying, �until this gets fixed, we're not done,'" Harvey said.


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**Disclaimer: This post has been compensated through a free product (s) or monetary payment. Opinions are solely mine. All links are "no-follow" links.**
|California Olive Ranch Select Extra Virgin Olive Oils
I received all three of their Select Extra Virgin Olive Oils to experiment with and share my findings with you: Artois Ranch (Mild and Buttery), Oroville Ranch (Bold and Peppery), and Oroville Ranch (Medium and Fruity).
The bottles themselves were just the right size of 500 ml for storage in small kitchens or without worry of being a giant size to go rancid. The spout itself was ideal being made that it was spill-proof so that not one precious drop ever gets wasted, which any consumer would appreciate.
These oils were superb for unique flavor characteristic of that region and added something special to each of my recipes that I made. However, such rich flavors to compliment those recipes are not surprising considering this company won 38 awards in seven years with 15 gold medals.
The first recipe I made called Spicy Squash Pasta is a no fuss summer dinner that is quick, healthy, and so delicious with California Olive Ranch Select (Mild and Buttery), especially served with my homemade pasta recipe. If you do not care for a spicy, hot flavor, then rest assured you can alter this recipe with bell peppers.
The second dish I want to share with you is an old recipe that my great-grandmother used to make with sauerkraut, noodles, and cottage cheese. However, I substituted elbow macaroni and caraway seeds, which add an interesting flavor reminiscent of rye bread to compliment the other ingredients in this easy recipe I call Bubba's Special Cheese and Noodles. Again, if you hate sauerkraut, this dish also tastes wonderful plain.
To make a meal complete, I love fresh salad with homemade dressing as I shared with you in an earlier post. Let me tell you that adding the California Olive Ranch Select Medium and Fruity to My Favorite French Dressing intensified the natural flavors of the greens and spices beautifully.
This product was also excellent to use on my Low-Cal Oven French Fries. My oven fries are perfect for satisfying that craving for French Fries with only three tablespoons of California Olive Ranch Select Mild and Buttery. These fries are the only ones I eat without guilt!
My Spicy Squash Pasta
1 and 1/2 cups finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup California Olive Ranch Select Extra Virgin Olive Oil Medium and Fruity
2 Hungarian Hot Wax Peppers, cleaned and chopped
1 and 1/2 cups butternut squash, peeled, cleaned, and chopped into small pieces
1 teaspoon of sugar
3/4 teaspoon of salt
Microwave your peeled, chopped butternut squash on high for a few minutes until done (time depends on your oven) to speed the cooking process along. Next brown your chopped onion in the olive oil along with the chopped peppers, cooked squash, sugar, and salt. This vegetable sauce is good to coat one pound of pasta or my pasta recipe using three of flour.
|My Spicy Squash Pasta
Bubba's Special Cheese and Noodles
1 can of sauerkraut (15-16 oz. size)
1 and 1/2 teaspoons of sugar
1/4 cup California Olive Ranch Select Extra Virgin Olive Oil Bold and Peppery
1 cup of chopped onion
16 oz. of creamed cottage cheese
1 teaspoon of Caraway seeds
one pound of elbow macaroni
3/4 teaspoon of salt
Drain your sauerkraut and rinse before boiling first. Cook and then drain your sauerkraut before adding to chopped onion in the olive oil until done. Add the Caraway seed, sugar, and salt and mix together before adding your one pound of cooked elbow macaroni add one pound of creamy cottage cheese last to serve.
|Bubba's Special Cheese and Noodles
My Favorite French Dressing
1 cup California Olive Ranch Select Medium and Fruity Olive Oil
3/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup of Tarragon vinegar
2 tablespoons of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of dry mustard
1 teaspoon of grated onion
1 tablespoon of Worcestershire Sauce
1 cup of catsup or tomato soup
1 teaspoon of finely chopped pimiento
1 teaspoon minced chives
1 teaspoon prepared horseradish
Mix everything together except the vinegars and oil. Pour the vinegars on the olive oil slowly and then stir everything together and pour into a closed bottle container. Refrigerate for several hours to let the flavors mingle before using. This makes one pint.
Low-Cal Oven French Fries
4-6 medium potatoes
3 tablespoons of California Olive Ranch Select Mild and Buttery Olive Oil
Peel your potatoes, cut both ends, and then cut in strips like French Fries. Get a 3-quart mixing bowl and add those sliced potatoes and coat with the olive oil. Spread those coated potatoes on a cookie sheet , sprinkle with some salt, and bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes turning during the first 15 minutes. These will get golden-brown and are a great substitute for French Fries.
|Low-Cal Oven French Fries
Seriously, I've tried a lot of different olive oils. Most I haven't noticed that much of a difference that is until I discovered California Olive Ranch Select Extra Virgin Olive Oils, which really add a special something to whatever you make. You can find store locations or buy online. Now the company is offering a special 10% discount online when you enter the word BLOGFRIENDS as your coupon code.
*Disclaimer: This is my own honest opinion. No money was exchanged. All I received were free products to facilitate this review.*
Thanks to California Olive Ranch, one lucky Nuts 4 Stuff reader in the United States wins their choice of one Select Extra Virgin Olive Oils: Artois Ranch (Mild and Buttery), Oroville Ranch (Bold and Peppery), and Oroville Ranch (Medium and Fruity)!
Both Are Mandatory to Enter:
1. You must follow me on Google Friends Connect before any of your entries will count. If you already follow, then tell me the name you follow me by in a comment along with your email!
2. You must "Like" California Olive Ranch on Facebook and tell me in a comment.
Extra Entries:
Add @Nuts4Stuff to Your Twitter and tell me so in your comment with your Twitter id--1 extra entry
Tweet #Win #SelectExtraVirginOliveOil #Giveaway @ CA_VOO via @Nuts4Stuff http://tiny.cc/i36bm (can be done daily)--1 extra entry per day in another comment
Follow California Olive Ranch on Twitter--1 extra entry to leave in a comment
Subscribe to California Olive Ranch's newsletter--1 extra entry to leave in a comment
Subscribe to the Nuts 4 Stuff blog by email--1 extra entry (must confirm)
Subscribe to Nuts 4 Stuff in a reader--1 extra entry (Orange button in my sidebar)
List this giveaway on any giveaway site just leave a link to this post wherever you share it--2 extra entries (leave two separate comments and tell me where in each comment)
Blog about this giveaway and comment with a link to the post--5 extra entries (leave five separate comments and tell me where in each comment)
Grab my Nuts 4 Stuff button and paste it in your sidebar--5 extra entries (leave five separate comments and tell me where you left it in each comment)
Add Nuts 4 Stuff to your blogroll (using my URL) with a link back to me (comment where you left it for 1 more extra entry)
Leave a separate comment for each entry. Be sure you include your email address inside your comment so I can contact you if you win. This giveaway is only open to residents of the United States. Do follow the rules because I check entries. Be alert that if you attempt to enter using multiple identities will be grounds for disqualification.
This giveaway ends August 29, 2011 at 12 PM Eastern Standard Time. The winner will need to respond to my email with name and shipping address within 48-hours or another winner will be picked.


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Holiday travelers have at least one thing to be thankful for this week: Gas prices in Alabama are lower than the national average and are continuing to fall.
Holiday travelers have at least one thing to be thankful for this week: Gas prices in Alabama are lower than the national average and are continuing to fall.
According to AAA's Tuesday fuel gauge report, a gallon of unleaded gas averaged $3.22 in Alabama and $3.21 in Tuscaloosa.
Prices have decreased daily since Sept. 1, when the statewide average was calculated at $3.60.
According to the figures collected Tuesday, Alabama had the ninth-lowest average price in the country at $3.22 per unleaded gallon. Missouri was the lowest with $3.14. Hawaii was the only state where prices topped $4, with a gallon costing $4.09.
But while prices here are falling, they are still higher than most people would like.
"Prices seem to have gotten higher the further south we've come. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me," said Dave Johnson, who filled up at a station on Skyland Boulevard early Wednesday morning. He and his family were on their way to Mississippi from Tennessee to visit family.
Nationwide, AAA estimates that the national average price will drop to between $3.25 and $3.40 a gallon today for Thanksgiving Day, similar to the 2011 average of $3.32 — the most expensive average ever on any Thanksgiving.
AAA expects gas prices across the country will continue to fall toward the end of the year as lower demand, cheaper winter-blend gasoline and economic concerns continue to drive pump prices lower.
But Clay Ingram, spokesman for AAA Alabama, said prices should be lower than they are.
"The state average is a bit misleading because there are a lot of stations out there that are way overpriced," he said. "There are a lot selling a gallon for $3.05 and $3.10, but unfortunately there are others still charging $3.30 and $3.35. They feel like they're going to sell the same amount of gas at $3.35 than $3.05 because we're not price-shopping."
Up until a few years ago, gas stations made between three and five cents profit per gallon of gas, Ingram said. They made more profits from the sale of snacks and soft drinks sold inside. But fewer people are making purchases inside as the price of gas has gone up, he said.
"Now, they're trying to make their money on gas. We need to give them some motivation to lower prices, and we do that by buying gas somewhere else until they drive their price down," he said. "Before long, they'll start competing for our business and trying to undercut each other's prices. That's how it's supposed to work."
Ingram said that consumers could see prices fall below $3 a gallon by the end of the year if consumers begin shopping at the less expensive stores.
"2012 has seen a 10-year low for demand for gas, which is normally a recipe for low prices. But not this year, because we're not price-shopping," he said.
Reach Stephanie Taylor at firstname.lastname@example.com or 205-722-0210.


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Add comfortable luxury to your relaxation space with this base cloth linen upholstered bed. The headboard features a slightly arched wood frame with an upholstered center, while the unique footboard has an upholstered ledge that you can use as a bench. This bed is made in USA for quality furniture that you will be proud to add to your home. Available in Driftwood Oak or Dark Oak finishes only.
The Transitions Queen Upholstered Bed, Base Cloth Linen by Vaughan Bassett at Find Your Furniture in the area. Product availability may vary. Contact us for the most current availability on this product.
Update your bedroom with the look of the Transitions collection. Easygoing style with framed panels and arch shapes throughout is ideal in a casual to more contemporary decor. Made in the USA with sustainable wood and wood veneers, choose from the more rustic cottage look of the Driftwood Oak or Dark Oak finishes, or opt for the more contemporary look of the Merlot or Dark Cherry finishes.
The Transitions collection is a great option if you are looking for Casual furniture in the area.
These images are representative of this group as a whole and may differ from this item.
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This item has been tagged as: Bed, Bedroom Furniture, Twin Size Bed, Full Size Bed, Queen Size Bed, King Size Bed, California King Size Bed, Bookcase Bed, Book Case Bed, Canopy Bed, Bed with Canopy, Captain's Bed, Daybed, Headboard and Footboard Bed, Headboard, Footboard, Headboard & Footboard, Pier Bed, Poster Bed, Sleigh Bed, Upholstered Bed, Wall Unit Bed, Double Bed, Day Bed, Storage Bed, Home Furnishings, Furniture, Bed frame, Furnishing For Bedroom, Bedroom Furniture Set
Nothing on this page may be copied or reproduced without explicit permission.


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Actress Halle Berry and her partner Olivier Martinez pose at Variety's 4th Annual Power of Women event in Beverly Hills, California in this October 5, 2012 file photo.[Photo/Agencies]
Actress Halle Berry and French actor Olivier Martinez were married over the weekend in France, her representative said on Sunday.
Berry, 46, a best actress Oscar winner for the 2001 film "Monster's Ball," is pregnant with the couple's child due this fall. They announced their engagement early last year.
Berry and Martinez, 47, who starred in "Unfaithful" and "Dark Tide," the latter co-starring with Berry, married on Saturday at a chateau in Vallery, France, attended by friends and family members.
It is the third marriage for Berry, who is divorced from baseball player David Justice and singer Eric Benet and has a daughter with Gabriel Aubry. Martinez has never previously married and was once romantically linked to singer Kylie Minogue.


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Sunday, October 19
Pumpkin Pie Pudding with Candied Pecans and Freshly Whipped Cream
Pumpkin pie has been typecast. It always plays the same role: The Thanksgiving Day Dessert.
This is unfortunate because pumpkin pie has great range and versatility. In addition to being a great lead, it's a talented supporting player too. Think of the possibilities: pumpkin pie muffins, pumpkin pie cheesecake, and my favorite, pumpkin pie pudding.
Every year, weeks before Thanksgiving, I would anticipate my mom's pumpkin pie: a light, flaky crust filled with sweet, custardy, walnut studded, spiced pumpkin. The only thing better than a slice of her pie on Thanksgiving Day with a dollop of whipped cream was a slice of her pie the next morning for breakfast. To me, nothing beats chilled pumpkin pie.
So it wasn't unusual when one fall day a couple of years ago, I had a serious hankering for my mom's pumpkin pie that couldn't be satisfied. Sure, I could have called her for the recipe, but it never would have tasted as good, and buying one was out of the question. I reluctantly decided to make vanilla pudding with pumpkin pie spice instead. It was so good that the next time I made it, I added canned pumpkin and nuts. After several more experiments and many happy mouthfuls later, I present Pumpkin Pie Pudding with Candied Pecans and Whipped Cream.
This pumpkin pie pudding is ideal for those of you who don't have the time or the desire to make pumpkin pie from scratch. It's a deliciously fast, easy, and satisfying fall and winter dessert that can be whipped up in no time. I find pumpkin pie spice (a mixture of allspice, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg) is the easiest and surest way to season the pudding, but feel free to experiment with any spices that suit your taste. If you really need something crust-like, then make a quick mixture of spice-laced toasted oats, nuts, and brown sugar to sprinkle on top.
Of course, you could still have traditional pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving Day. But if you can't wait until then, make yourself a batch of this rich and creamy pumpkin pie pudding. You won't be disappointed.
Pumpkin Pie Pudding with Candied Pecans and Freshly Whipped Cream
Makes 4 small or 2 large servings
Print recipe only here.
2 cups whole or low fat milk
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons corn starch
a pinch of salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup canned pure pumpkin
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Candied Pecans:
2 tablespoons unsalted pecan halves
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
pinch of salt
Whipped Cream:
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon sugar
Combine sugar and cornstarch in a medium pot over medium heat. Add 1 cup of milk, whisking until the sugar and cornstarch are dissolved. Add the second cup of milk and salt, and bring to a simmer, stirring frequently. Lower the heat, cooking pudding for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove pudding from heat for 2-3 minutes. Lightly whisk one egg with vanilla extract; slowly add to the pudding, whisking constantly. (Removing it from the heat will prevent the egg from cooking). Stir in the pumpkin and pumpkin spice. Simmer for 2-3 minutes, or until thick, stirring several times. Remove from heat and place in serving dishes.
Before you make the candied pecans, lay a piece of tin foil coated with cooking spray on the counter. Also coat your utensil with cooking spray so the sugar won't stick to it. In a medium non-stick skillet over medium heat, add the pecan halves. Sprinkle sugar and salt evenly over them. As the sugar begins to melt and coat the pecans, quickly stir them until evenly coated and lightly toasted, about 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and slide nuts onto the tin foil, including any sugar drippings. (Avoid browning the nuts as the sugar will taste burnt.) Let cool and harden, then chop into small pieces.
Before you begin to make the whipped cream, consider these helpful tips: Start with a deep stainless steel bowl that has been chilled in the freezer for about 15-20 minutes. Chill the beaters of the electric mixer as well. Both will help to create more volume in the cream. Once ready beat ½ cup heavy whipping cream on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Sprinkle sugar evenly over the whipped cream and beat until peaks re-form. Whipped cream can be covered with Saran Wrap and refrigerated for 1-2 hours.
You might also like:
Mom's Chocolate Pudding with Bananas and Graham Crackers
Date, Fennel, and Pistachio Scones (Heart Healthy & Low Fat!)
Dessert Risotto with Wine-Poached Figs
Tuscan Torte di Mele (Apple Cake)
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48 comments:
- MyKitchenInHalfCups said...
Yes, Yes, Yes! The crust is my least favorite part of just about any pie.
- October 19, 2008 at 6:14 PM
I am endlessly impressed that you have enough candied pecans after the nibbling to be able to put any on this lovely dish. And yes, I sure do agree, you get right to the good stuff of the pumpkin pie in this dish!
- October 19, 2008 at 6:18 PM
- Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...
I'm not crazy about pumpkin, so I always keep a can of squash in my pantry to substitute in recipes like pumpkin pie. They taste so similar, and I think it would work well in this pudding recipe, too.
- October 19, 2008 at 6:26 PM
What a novel idea. Pumpkin pie pudding...no crust. Sounds good and is probably a little better for those of us on a diet...
- October 19, 2008 at 6:55 PM
- Susan @ SGCC said...
This is perfect! I never eat the crust anyway.
- October 19, 2008 at 8:21 PM
- Heather said...
yum!! this looks soo good!! i love anything pumpkin flavored!! and i love pecans :) pumpkin pie is one of those dishes that makes me really nostalgic, too. it just feels like home.
- October 19, 2008 at 9:04 PM
- Rosa's Yummy Yums said...
That pudding looks incredibly good! Anything pumpkin Pieish has my approval ;-P! Yummy!
Cheers and have a great week,
- October 19, 2008 at 10:07 PM
Pumpkin pie PUDDING! Of all the myriad manifestations of pumpkin pie baked goods floating around this time of the year, this is one I haven't seen. Brava!
- October 19, 2008 at 10:25 PM
- Ivy said...
What a lovely recipe for Thanksgiving. I liked the idea of caramelizing the pecans.
- October 20, 2008 at 12:31 AM
- Deeba PAB said...
Enticing post as always Susan...am envious of the many happy mouthfuls!! :0)
- October 20, 2008 at 2:03 AM
Great idea, Susan :)
- October 20, 2008 at 2:07 AM
- Debbie said...
Sounds delicious.......perfect for this time of year.
- October 20, 2008 at 4:23 AM
- RecipeGirl said...
I generally love pumpkin but not pumpkin pie, so this looks like a nice alternative!
- October 20, 2008 at 5:51 AM
- Martissima said...
delightful for the time of Thea...bye
bye from Italy (^___^)
- October 20, 2008 at 7:53 AM
- Half Baked said...
OH. MY GOD. that looks gorgeous. I can't get enough pumpkin right now:) I've got to make this!!
When my mom makes her pumpkin pie, she always has a small ramikin leftover that she cooks. I've always loved that!
- October 20, 2008 at 8:10 AM
- Joanna said...
My roommate and I were craving something pumpkiny yesterday, so we went all out and made a pie - and had some more for breakfast this morning! It was delicious, but also a lot of work (with a made-from-scratch crust) - next time the craving hits, I'll keep this pudding recipe in mind.
- October 20, 2008 at 8:16 AM
Wow, pumpkin pie with no worries about a gluten-containing crust! Yippee!
- October 20, 2008 at 9:23 AM
- Megan said...
I am sooo making this tonight! :)
- October 20, 2008 at 9:29 AM
- Culinary Wannabe said...
Pumpkin pie is the only thing that keeps me from being completely depressed when the weather starts to get chilly!
- October 20, 2008 at 10:17 AM
- Karen said...
I'm not a big pumpkin pie fan, so this is a great and delicious sounding alternative!
- October 20, 2008 at 11:27 AM
Sounds wonderful! I pour my usual pumpkin pie filling in lightly-greased custard cups, and bake them in a water bath for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees. Your candied pecans would make this a special treat for my family. Thanks for the tip.
- October 20, 2008 at 11:49 AM
- Jack Etsweiler said...
Um, I love the concept, but I ran a search in the article, just to avoid being a total idiot, and it seems that the pumpkin and the spice never make it into the pudding, am I wrong?
- October 20, 2008 at 12:54 PM
- Jack Etsweiler said...
Oh, fine - I'll have to kill whoever wrote the FIND on my browser - of course the pumpkin and spice made it into the recipe. Never mine. Ugh.
- October 20, 2008 at 12:57 PM
- Deborah said...
I love everything pumpkin, but I've never thought of doing pumpkin pie pudding! Sounds delicious!
- October 20, 2008 at 2:34 PM
- Mansi said...
I think I'll be sharing your love for chilled pies! this pudding is a great idea:)
- October 20, 2008 at 2:56 PM
- Patricia Scarpin said...
I'm not used to eating pumpkin in sweets - not many of us here are, actually - and have never tried pumpkin pie. This looks like something I'd love and ask for seconds, Susan.
- October 21, 2008 at 5:26 AM
Great recipe, and I agree pumpkin pie is capable of being so much more than pumpkin pie. Try these pumpkin pie cookies!
- October 21, 2008 at 10:32 AM
Hi - do you think this would work with apple puree too?
- October 21, 2008 at 11:14 AM
- Maria said...
I bet the pudding is fabulous!!
- October 21, 2008 at 1:04 PM
- Judy@nofearentertaining said...
This looked so good Susan that I had to make it right after I saw this. Can't wait to taste it!!!
- October 21, 2008 at 1:46 PM
- Susan from Food Blogga said...
tanna-Then this is for you.
louise-Yeah, but you don't know how many pecans I ate before taking the picture. ;)
lydia-My mom makes squash pie too, which I love.
potatochef-I think you're right. :)
susan-I hardly ever do either.
heather-Aren't pumpkin and pecans fabulous together?
rosa-"Pieish" I like that. :)
stephanie-Why, thank you kindly!
ivy-Caramelizing is the fun part too.
maryann-Thanks, sweetie!
debbie-Thank you so much.
lori-It really is.
astrofiammante-Grazie! Ciao!
halfbaked-I love those small leftover pies too! :)
joanna-Hats off to you though for all that hard work!
gffg-Yay! I'm so happy to hear it!
megan-Really? Awesome!
culinarywannabe-And jack-o-lanterns. :)
frantzie-Mmm... pumpkin pie custard. I'll have to try that too! Thanks for the idea.
emujack-I added a line after I posted the recipe, but it's there now. :)
deborah-Hope you give it a try.
mansi-Chilled pies rock!
patricia-I wish you could try my mom's pumpkin pie this Thanksgiving.
hillary-I recently made pumpkin spice cookies. I love them!
anonymous-I've never actually done it before, but I don't see why not. Just be sure that it's thick, like the pumpkin puree. That may mean adding more cornstarch. You just don't want it thin like apple sauce. Let me know if you do it and it works out!
maria-It really is yummy.
- October 21, 2008 at 1:46 PM
- Nicole said...
Now this looks different and good! Love pumpkin.
- October 21, 2008 at 2:22 PM
I'm sure your recipe is going to show-up on many tables this fall. How could anyone resist? What about YOU become my personal chef? :-)
- October 21, 2008 at 5:37 PM
- Kitchen Gadget Girl said...
Susan, this sounds great!
I wonder, do you know anything about using pumpkins from pumpkin patches in recipes? I know that they can be quite watery, but I want to see if I can use the ones on my porch this year instead of tossing them out. I was thinking of baking and then straining them, do you think that would work for a recipe such as your pumpkin pudding?
- October 21, 2008 at 7:58 PM
- T.W. Barritt at Culinary Types said...
I have had a pumpkin custard recipe for a long time that I really love to make. I am going to try this with soy milk - that sounds easy and delicious.
- October 21, 2008 at 8:35 PM
- Proud Italian Cook said...
Susan, You're brilliant! I would never even miss the crust with this!
- October 21, 2008 at 8:49 PM
- Helene said...
All you have to say is Candied Pecans and I am there! Love this twist on a classic!
- October 21, 2008 at 10:45 PM
- Susan from Food Blogga said...
nicole-Thanks so much!
zen-Aw, you're sweet. :)
gudren-I think you could use fresh pumpkin, but as I suggested to someone else who emailed me the same question, my main concern is it being too watery. Roasting the pumpkin may help. Also, you may have to use more cornstarch as a thickening agent. I haven't used fresh pumpkin myself. So, please, let me know if it works out.
tw-Mmm... how about I try some of your pumpkin custard?
marie-Aw, thanks, my dear.
helen-Me too!
- October 22, 2008 at 5:58 AM
- Katy said...
oh my goodness -- i haven't been to your blog in a while and everything looks amazing! the smoothie looks delicious, this looks like such an awesome new pumpkin recipe, and dorito-like mac and cheese?!? are you kidding me?!?
- October 22, 2008 at 12:46 PM
- ExpatChef said...
I would eat pumpkin pie EVERY DAY. Thanks. I have 100 pounds of heirloom pumpkin waiting to be cooked.
- October 22, 2008 at 2:31 PM
- Elly said...
Ohhh yes, definitely making this one. I am a bit of a pumpkin freak. :)
- October 22, 2008 at 5:53 PM
The recipe looks a lot simpler than I expected. I will definitely be trying this!
- October 22, 2008 at 8:00 PM
What a great idea! That sounds so delicious - we don't eat pudding quite as often as we should! :-)
- October 22, 2008 at 10:13 PM
- Nic said...
I would love to eat this, those candied pecans are perfect!
- October 23, 2008 at 4:53 AM
I will definitely be trying this recipe either this weekend or next weekend because my fiance LOVES anything with pumpkin in it. This sounds awesome!
- October 24, 2008 at 10:34 AM
- Susan from Food Blogga said...
katy-Welcome back, and thanks!
expatchef-100 pounds? Holy moly!
elly-Good. So am I. :)
jude-It's really simple.
katy-Pudding is such a fun food.
nic-I could eat just the pecans!
justin-I hopes she enjoys it then!
- October 24, 2008 at 12:34 PM
- Jeanne said...
Mmmmm, pumpkin pie ANYTHING!! I'll let you into a little secret - I made pumpkin pie muffins (well, with butternutm that is!) for my WTSIM entry, to be posted soon and they were glorious! I am also slightly addicted to (evil, evil) Starbucks' pumpkin pie spice latte. I feel so dirty after I've had one... but so satisfied. Call me shallow!!
- October 30, 2008 at 8:46 AM
The Boere way of preparing pumpkin is to load it with butter and sugar and serve it with meat. One thing I haven't gotten my head around yet is serving pumpkin for pudding, which I really should give a go sometime, because your dessert looks delicious.
- November 5, 2008 at 5:35 AM


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It took us two hours to drive back in time 200 years, from the post-industrial traffic gridlock of Montreal to the pre-industrial boreal virginity of the most popular provincial wildlife reserve close the city.
Time is relative, but two hours seems to me to be the outer limit of what can be considered a short hop, in tourism terms.
My 12-year-old son and I left the eastern tip of Montreal island at 6 o'clock on the Friday evening of the recent Victoria Day weekend, and we arrived two hours later at the southeastern Pins Rouges gates (near St. Alexis des Monts) of the Reserve faunique Mastigouche.
"Your cabin is 37 kilometres up that gravel road," said the park warden on duty, pointing to Route 1, the main two-lane unpaved road that runs north-south through the wildlife reserve.
We had reservations in Cabin No. 8 on Lac des Sables, one of 11 cabins on the pristine lake, which in turn is one of 417 lakes inside the Mastigouche reserve.
There are a total of 22 provincial parks and 17 wildlife reserves in Quebec. Oka and Mont Tremblant are the best-known parks, while the best-known reserve is probably La Vérendrye, northwest of Mont Tremblant park. But Mastigouche, in the Mauricie region midway between Mont Tremblant park and the town of Shawinigan, is the most popular in terms of the number of visitors, including fishermen.
Filmmakers like it, too. Mastigouche was the location chosen by British filmmaker Richard Attenborough for filming of his 1999 movie Grey Owl, starring Pierce Bronson. The film tells the story about an Englishman who came to Canada in the early 1900s and connived to reinvent his identity as a Canadian aboriginal. Mastigouche's boreal forests, lakes and undulating Laurentian hills provide a picture-perfect backdrop for the stereotypical European idea of the vast untamed wilds of Canada. Bears, deer, herons, moose, loons and more. If it's an animal whose image appears on Canadian money, you can be sure to find it in Mastigouche.
But my son and I have come for speckled trout. It took us 50 minutes to drive those 37 kilometres from the front gates of the reserve to Lac des Sables. But at least we arrived on time for the nightly 9 o'clock lake lottery.
It's through lottery draws that the next day's fishing rights are determined in Quebec's wildlife reserves. By the stroke of 9, the men and women from the 11 cottages on Lac des Sables had converged at a hut beside the main lakeside cottage where the warden for this sector was lodging.
The warden, Pierrette Lacoursière, was standing at a table holding a registration log. Beside her was another warden, Robert Frappier. He had a little cage in front of him with 11 balls, numbered 1 to 11. The number on each ball corresponds to a cabin number.
At precisely 9:01, Frappier turned the crank on the cage, making it revolve and move the balls around. One by one, the balls spilled out into a special slot. The balls determined the order of selection of lakes for the next day. We had the names of the lakes on a sheet of paper; the farthest was 21 kilometres from Lac des Sables.
Our number came up second-to-last, and on the advice of Lacoursière, we chose Lac de la Baie, 12 kilometres to the west.
I'd never heard frogs as loud as those on the first night in our cabin. It was a one-storey structure with dark-brown exterior of faux-log-cabin siding. Inside were a kitchen, common room, two bedrooms with two single beds each, and a bathroom with shower, sink and flush toilets. The tap water in the kitchen and bathroom came from the lake. The stove, fridge, lights and hot water were powered by propane gas; there is no electricity in the wildlife reserve. Similarly, there are no cellphone towers or ordinary telephone land lines. In the case of an emergency, we were instructed to report to the warden's cottage, which was connected by walkie-talkie radio to the three sentry posts at the edge of the reserve.
The only evidence of the outside world in our cabin was a French-language celebrity-news magazine left last fall by a guest. By now, it was pitch-dark outside. My son was lying on his bed in his sleeping bag reading the magazine when I looked out the window over the lake and up at the sky.
"Let's go out and look at the stars!" I exclaimed.
"I'm already looking at the stars," my son deadpanned, flipping the pages from Mitsou to Caroline Neron.
The next morning at 7, we set out for Lac de la Baie. We took Route 1 south for four kilometres, then a single-lane unpaved road west for another eight kilometres. Eventually we came to the lake and a little clearing where a rowboat was moored. We had brought our own motor with us. (The reserve has boat motors for rent or you can take the rowboat as is.)
Out in the middle of Lac de la Baie, there was no other sign of man - at least not now. I thought this must have been the way Samuel de Champlain experienced Quebec in the early 1600s. The first settlers from France came to what is now the Mastigouche reserve in the late 1700s. By the late 1800s, private fishing and hunting clubs, operating on long-term leases with the Quebec government, were plentiful in the region. One of those, the Mastigouche Club, controlled by Americans, had its own supply of electricity in 1901, the same year that the Montreal Light Heat and Power Company, the precursor to Hydro-Québec, was founded. Most of the private clubs were closed down in the 1960s and 1970s by the provincial government and folded into an expanding new network of public parks and wildlife reserves. But a small community of year-round Quebec residents who have acquired rights lives in the Dickerson sector without electricity, a step removed from the modern world.
While my thoughts out on the lake might have been with Champlain, it didn't take long to realize we were not alone.
It's the wind. One moment, all is quiet; the next moment, the wind picks up; then fades and returns, the cycles repeating themselves, but never in quite the same pattern. It doesn't take long to realize that the wind has its own personality, a spiritual presence that envelopes you. I turned to my left and saw two loons 10 metres from our boat, And there were beavers, too. Proof of their presence was the grey matrix of driftwood branches in the bay to our right. It was about three metres wide and two metres high.
As fate would have it, the fish were biting here. Between us, my son and I caught four speckled trout. The maximum catch allowed is seven fish per person per day. Everyone's catch is weighed and registered at the hut where the nightly lottery is held. Our fish weren't big, just 20 centimetres, or eight inches, long, and weighing a total of 600 grams. But they were typical of the catch in Lac de la Baie. Records show that the average catch on the lake is 4.23 fish per person per day, with the average fish weighing 130 grams, or 41/2 ounces. Not huge fish, true enough. But that's why Lac de la Baie is never a high pick in the draft lottery.
I would have been just as happy fishing off the dock at Lac des Sables, a few steps from our cabin. The beach here was very impressive - a good 500 metres of sandy frontage along the lake. Other cabin guests told us that a person could wander out 100 metres from the shore and never be in water more than 65 centimetres (two feet) deep. Perfect for a family with young children.
Evidently, a lot of families have come to the same conclusion, because Lac des Sables is very popular in summer with those who want to just get away. Forty per cent of those renting cabins in Mastigouche in the summer do so for the swimming and hiking, not fishing or hunting.
Overall, there are 42 chalets on 13 lakes in Mastigouche, as well as 16 "rustic shelters" on another 13 lakes. Camping is allowed on 12 lakes. A rustic shelter is a small cottage with no propane-powered appliances, water taps nor flush toilets. But there are bed frames and an outhouse, as well as a wood stove for heating.
The principal campsite in Mastigouche is just inside the south gates, on spectacular Lac St. Bernard. The lake used to be the private preserve of the St. Bernard Club, an American fishing and hunting club formed in 1872. In the years after Confederation, the shores were alive with American captains of industry and their wives, children and servants.
Today, the old private ways are gone, and the 95 public campsites that line the east side of Lac St. Bernard are valued for their privacy in a dense forest setting. Hiking and biking trails are found nearby. The only restricted area is an island in the middle of lake, which is a heron preserve.
The only store of any kind inside of Mastigouche is a dépanneur on Lac St. Bernard. Leaving the reserve via the southeastern Pins Rouges gates, other trappings of contemporary civilization are quick to reveal themselves. First a bar on your left, barely a few metres outside of the reserve. From there, the two-lane provincial Highway 349 leads to the town of St. Alexis des Monts. The road gets progressively busier and better-paved as you move farther south to Highway 40, on the north side of the St. Lawrence River.
From the Louiseville interchange on Highway 40, it's just a short hour by car back to the eastern tip of Montreal island and the post-industrial urban swirl of the early 21st century.


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How do gymnasts know when they're ready to do one of those white-knuckle routines we saw last night in the women's gymnastics final? Mary Lou Retton, who won the gold medal in the women's all-around at the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles, once said:
"If you're a gymnast, someone should be able to sneak up and drag you out of bed at midnight and push you out onto some strange floor, and you should be able to do your entire routine sound asleep in your pajamas. Without one mistake."
As quoted by Dave Anderson in The Story of the Olympics (Morrow Junior Books, 1996), with a foreword by Carol Lewis. Written by a Pulitzer Prize–winning sportswriter for the New York Times, this excellent introduction to the Olympics for ages 9 and up came out in a revised an expanded edition from HarperCollins in 2000, shown at left.
During the Olympics, One-Minute Book Reviews will post occasional quotes from books that give context to the sports taking center stage in Beijing. These posts will appear in addition to the usual reviews. The quotes are intended partly to guide you to good books that you may want to read during or after the Olympics.
(c) 2008 Janice Harayda. All rights reserved.