My readers write

From Dr. Max Alt...

In the late 1990's I worked for Ginormous Neurology, Inc.

GNI was a group of 30-40 neurologists carefully selected for significant personality pathology. In neurology this isn't hard to find* but the breadth and scale of it at GNI was truly awe-inspiring. I don't think I was as bad as most of them, but hey, they offered me a job and I needed one.

Anyway.

GNI spent a large amount of money to put together a computerized chart system. By the standards of the era it was reasonably good, and fairly quick. Come to think of it, it was better than most of the  crap out there today.

One Monday the system was really SLOW. Granted, these sorts of things happen, and so we all ignored it at first. But it continued the rest of the day, and the next, and the next... The IT guys found something was running in the background, but weren't sure what it was.

Checking the logs on the servers and individual machines, they eventually discovered that one of the partners, Dr. Kent, had spent several hours over the weekend logged into the system, working on most of the office desktops, one at a time.

Eventually it came out that Dr. Kent had secretly installed software on all the computers... to search for extra-terrestrial life.

"He did WHAT?"

I am not making this up. He'd quietly installed programming from SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) to allow them to use the GNI network to search through data picked up by radio telescopes in hopes of locating life out there.

Now, I have nothing against SETI. Or extra-terrestrials. Or science. But when they interfere with my ability to do my day job... that's another matter.

To Dr. Kent's indignation and horror (he thought this would get him a Nobel Prize) the IT guys spent the next weekend removing his software from the servers and roughly 150 computers scattered through the GNI network.

To this day, those of us who knew Dr. Kent think he was hoping to reconnect with his family.

Thank you, Dr. Max Alt!


*I'll vouch for him on that - Dr. Grumpy.
 

Breaking news

From around the world, Dr. Grumpy brings you the stories that impact your lives.


DATELINE: New Brunswick.

Two men were arrested for going through a McDonald's drive-thru on a moving sofa at 3:19 a.m.

The home furnishing, also called a couch, was being towed by a 3rd man riding an ATV, also called a deathtrap. The passengers went over to order some McEdibles.

Apparently going into a drive-thru on a towed couch is illegal there (I had no idea this was such a common crime that a specific law was needed) so a police officer pulled in behind them and turned on his lights. This resulted in the ATV guy and couch driving off (down a frozen river, no less) leaving his partners behind.

The two men, not surprisingly, were intoxicated.

Cpl. Lorri McEachern, of the New Brunswick police, commented that, in spite of riding drunk on a towed sofa in winter in the middle on the night, both men were wearing helmets "so obviously safety was somewhat important."



DATELINE: Arizona AND Florida

Robert Bare, tired of life in Bullhead City, Arizona, decided to take a vacation in Key West, Florida. As part of his relaxation he wanted to "party" (his word, not mine) and mailed a box of crystal meth from his home to the hotel he'd booked.

Regrettably, Mr. Bare forgot to address the box to himself, simply writing the name of the hotel on it. So the staff opened it and were surprised to find some Walter White confectionary wrapped in dirty socks. Mr. Bare had, however, been kind enough to put his name and home as the return address on the package.

Following his arrival, Mr. Bare was arrested by an undercover detective when he tried to reclaim his package "after a brief struggle in the lobby."



DATELINE: California

A fellow stole a van from a mortuary in Riverside. After a short distance, however, he discovered there was a dead body in the back.

Apparently not wanting the passenger, he drove back to the mortuary, politely parked the van and its occupant where he'd found them, THEN took another van next to it (I assume he checked the back first), nearly running over a mortuary employee in the process.

While stealing van #2 he somehow failed to notice a police officer standing there, investigating the theft of the first van. The intrepid officer apprehended him after a chase.



DATELINE: Mississippi

From the "somehow I think there's more to this story" department.

Shane Treadaway was found hanging upside down and buck naked from a tree in the forest.

Mr. Treadaway, who was rescued by the local fire department, said he'd climbed the tree to look for a dog, and fell. Apparently all of his clothes came off in the process.

His girlfriend, who happened to be at the scene, ran to a nearby house to get help.

Attention span

I do online marketing surveys for $ here and there. Most docs do.

These people obviously want to make sure you're paying attention, so have stealth questions in there to trip-up someone who's randomly clicking boxes or typing numbers. Here are some samples you guys have sent in:



Sometimes it's just a simple command:

Math questions are popular, I assume because you have to think a bit:

Another technique is what I call "left turn." They set the premise you're going to work on, then take a sudden left turn off subject to see if you're following them:

But THIS one is my favorite. A seeming innocuous question about drugs used for Parkinson's Disease:

For those of you who didn't follow the sci-fi show Firefly, Byphodine was a fictional drug that reduced metabolic function to fake death.

Memories...

One of the other residents I trained with (a long time ago, in a hospital far, far, away) was Dr. Tree. He was argumentative and irritating (in short, a pretty typical neurologist). He didn't usually speak to the rest of us, which was a good thing.

Anyway, one day a few of us (both boys and girls) were hanging around in the neurology residents office, bullshitting about random stuff while we waited for rounds to start. Dr. Tree was at his desk, reading some neuro textbook and ignoring us.

At some point we began joking about porn. I have no idea what led to that. This went on for a few minutes, when suddenly Dr. Tree slammed his book closed, came over, and yelled the following diatribe at us:

"You think it's funny! It's NOT funny! The problem with porn is that it gets so out of control! You start with a dirty magazine, then you move into books and movies. You keep needing more and more, and the tame stuff isn't good enough anymore, so you need filthier and filthier, harder-core stuff! It's like a snowball rolling downhill, and YOU CAN'T DO A FUCKING THING TO STOP IT!"

Dr. Tree abruptly stopped and turned red. The rest of us, somewhat taken aback and unsure what to say, looked at him silently.

After a pause he mumbled "Um, at least that's what I've heard."

He picked up his book and ran out of the room.

Lost and found

Have you ever wondered what kind of things people leave at the Grumpy/Pissy Medical Emporium? Neither have I.

But a recent post about Mrs. Foote losing her shoe heel inspired me to dig through the office's "lost and found" drawer. It needed to be cleaned out, anyway.

Besides an unclaimed pair of sunglasses and a make-up case, I found these abandoned items:

This absolutely fascinating button: 

Yet another shoe heel:

Apparently, no one came back for this one.

A pocket knife:

Cigarette lighter:

 

I have no idea what this is:

For that matter, I don't know what this is, either:

Electrical tape:

 

And, somewhat ironically, this was in the drawer, too.

Classy

Dr. Grumpy: "How you doing? It's been the usual year since your last visit."

Ms. Zapper: "I'm fine, no problems. I've had a good year, health-wise."

Dr. Grumpy: "Good. By the way, do you have an internist you'd like me to send your visit notes to?"

Ms. Zapper: "No. Only other doc I see is my GYN. Hell, if you'd be willing to look in my pussy once a year I could ditch her, too."

News updates

From around the world, Dr. Grumpy's crack team of reporters brings you the stories that impact your lives.


DATELINE: Windsor, England.

Legoland was discovered to have a surprisingly large and sophisticated marijuana operation on the amusement park's premises. The plants, some 3 feet high and surrounded by grow-lights and a watering system, were found in an unused storage shed.

The suspects are believed to have entered the park by crossing through land owned by the Queen. To date Her Majesty has had no comment.

It's unknown if the area will be worked into an attraction for the new Lego Batman movie, or perhaps an attraction called Lego Robin's Magic Garden.



DATELINE: Pittsburgh

Daniel Marchese was found in a stopped, but running, car in the middle of an intersection, going in & out of consciousness. When awake he would expose himself to passersby. He was dressed in pink lingerie. Officers who investigated also found he had an open bottle of whiskey and 2 handguns with him.

I swear to God I am not making any of that up.

Mr. Marchese threatened officers and was taken into custody. He's been charged with a remarkable assortment of things, including drunken driving, indecent exposure, fighting with officers, aggravated assault, and weapons offenses.

I can only assume he was going to a rally for cross-dressing supporters of both the 2nd & 21st amendments.



DATELINE: Florida

John Haskew attempted to conduct a fraudulent wire transfer, hoping no one would notice. The amount, however, was $7 billion (you read that correctly) which tends to get attention.

His excuse, upon being arrested, was that Jesus had told him to do it because he created wealth for everyone, and this was Mr. Haskew's share.

The accused told police that he was "self-taught on the banking industry."




DATELINE: France

A man who - I swear - used his wife's phone to set up Uber transportation so that he could have an affair - is suing the ride service for $45 million for causing him to get divorced.

A glitch in the app kept sending notifications to his wife about where he was going, even though he'd logged out of it. She got kind of suspicious.

Apparently his lady dumping him is now Uber's fault, and has nothing to do with him, say, cheating on her.

The moral here is this: if you're cheating on your spouse, don't use their phone to arrange it. Use something secure, like Ashley Madison.

"Here, the house is full of nitrogen and oxygen."

This is my daughter's birthday gift wish list:

This bud's for you

Dr. Grumpy: "You been doing okay since I last saw you?"

Ms. Cerevisiae: "Um, I had a really bad yeast infection, you know, in my girl parts."

Dr. Grumpy: "How have your migraines been?"

Ms. Cerevisiae: "It was REALLY bad. I mean, it climbed from down there all the way up though the connection into my stomach, then to my ears, too."

Long pause.

Dr. Grumpy: "I've, uh, never heard of that."

Ms. Cerevisiae: "That's what all the other doctors tell me, too. Anyway, my migraines are better."

Weight loss

Seen at the Asian grocery:

Rubber sole

Mary: "Dr. Grumpy's office, this is Mary."

Mrs. Foote: "Hi, I was there about an hour ago, and I think the heel of my shoe fell off."

Mary: "I..."

Mrs. Foote: "Can you please look for it? I want it back."

Mary: "I don't see it in the lobby... Hang on..."


Mary knocks on my door


Mary: "Hey, sorry to interrupt you and Mr. Lumbar, but Mrs. Foote thinks she lost part of her shoe back here."

Dr. Grumpy: "Uh..."

Mr. Lumbar: (looks under his chair) "I think she did. Here."


(hands Mary a rubber shoe heel, Mary leaves)


Mary: "Hello, Mrs. Foote? I found your heel. Are you really coming back for this?"

Mrs. Foote: "Of course. How else am I supposed to walk home? Hey, do you have any super glue?"


I may have to start carrying super glue at the office. This was the second time a patient requested it.

Diet options

Recently I had to go to a research meeting.

While setting it up, they emailed me the following list of diets to choose from:

I wanted to do a mix & match, just to see what they brought me.

Huh?

I faxed in a script for Depakote 500mg yesterday, and a few minutes later received this back:

The strength seems to be stated pretty clearly. Can anyone in pharmacy explain this to me?

Memories...

What was your worst date?

I'm sure you remember it. If you don't, you haven't had it... yet.

We all have one. Where the person who seemed promising turned out to be a nightmare. Or a series of bizarrely improbable circumstances arose to make it a miserable time. Or some other chain of unpleasant events.

Somewhere out there is a woman for whom I was her worst date ever. I'm sure that even today, 25+ years later, she remembers it and tells others about the horrible time she had with me.

During my first year of residency I asked a nurse out, and we decided to go hiking. I chose a scenic trail outside town that went in and out of a forested area.

I picked her up in the early afternoon of a clear day, and off we went. It was nice drive to the trail head.

We'd hiked about 30-45 minutes when we came to a fork, and took the one to head back to the parking lot. Which led to another fork, and we again picked the one that should have taken us back to the car.

After another 30 minutes we realized we'd gotten completely lost, and had NFC where to go (back then, kids, people didn't have GPS phones).

Then it began raining. Heavily. Of course, the umbrella was back in the car.

We turned back, hoping to reach the parking lot at some point. Noticing the forest road about a 1/4 mile away, we walked through mud to get to it, figuring it was more likely to lead us in the right direction.

It wasn't. And it was still raining.

After a while we hitched a ride with the first passing car, which fortunately turned out to be a state parks ranger. He was on his way to close the parking lot we were in, since the rain was flooding the trails.

It was a long, quiet, dripping-wet ride back to her place. I tried to make conversation, but she just stared out the window. She didn't return my calls, either, when I tried to apologize.

And, realistically, I don't blame her.

But whenever someone tells me a story of their worst date ever, I remember that for a lady out there... I am that story.