Daily reminder to do the bare minimum

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So one of my places changed from 10 to 12 hour shifts just out of the blue
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Brigade4Radiant said:
So one of my places changed from 10 to 12 hour shifts just out of the blue
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Enjoy always feeling tired and developing a deep and specific hatred for the docs in your group that always show up 10-15 minutes late.

Sorry you're dealing with this.
 
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GonnaBeADoc2222 said:
Looks like Starfield getting murdered in reviews.

7/10 from IGN...ouch!

IGN hands out 10s like candy so this reall says something.
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Free on game pass so I’m gonna try it
 
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Brigade4Radiant said:
So one of my places changed from 10 to 12 hour shifts just out of the blue
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They did this to me back in 2016 because "all the doctors left", except 8s to 12s. I was just expected to work 160+ hours that month. I told them: "you have to reduce the number of my shifts, then". They said: "Lolz, no."
 
RustedFox said:
They did this to me back in 2016 because "all the doctors left", except 8s to 12s. I was just expected to work 160+ hours that month. I told them: "you have to reduce the number of my shifts, then". They said: "Lolz, no."
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Yeah I want to quit
 
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cyanide12345678 said:
Yeah i grinded for two years too. I think 2-3 years ago i would have absolutely taken the 300/hr 2-2.5 pph job.

Now my dream job is a < 10 patients per day ER and doing 4 24 hour shifts per month even if it means getting $150/hr. Unfortunately, the closest ER with <10 patients per month is 3 hours away, so I’m settling for a 27 patients per day ER.

What’s the point of grinding for 30 years though? Or even 20 years. That sounds like a miserable life. I certainly can’t do it anymore. But im also hitting my FI number in 3 years too so i have a very different mindset now.
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I guess it also depends on what you mean by grind. One of the benefits of 8s is i am never "tired' after a shift unless it has to do with when i work. I have been lucky (for now). I dont work our very early shifts and almost never work overnights. That helps. I dont mind being super busy. I have been doing this 15+ years it just doesnt seem to bother me. i leave work at work. Being RVU based does mean i do some documentation after work. I would rather see 2 extra patients, leave on time etc. Again, im not mad at anyone for their choices. Truly just trying to see other perspectives.
 
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RustedFox said:
They did this to me back in 2016 because "all the doctors left", except 8s to 12s. I was just expected to work 160+ hours that month. I told them: "you have to reduce the number of my shifts, then". They said: "Lolz, no."
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Brigade4Radiant said:
Yeah I want to quit
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I was seriously the "last man standing" at that job site. Last man. We had 6 full time docs and some part-timers. They ALL left.
I got the rah-rah speech from EmCare about "being the flag-bearer" and some other jingoist nonsense that I can't or won't remember.
My response to them did not endear me to them at all. I left that job shortly thereafter.

It's a shame; because it could be such a good site. Really could be. I now work at a shop in the next county down. I remember on my first day at the new shop, I ran into an RN that I worked with there who was now house supervisor at "my new job". Hugs and back-pats and all. Then I ran into a rad tech or two that I used to work with at OldJob. Then more staff. Then I learned just how bad it got after I left. The common thread: administration has totally poisoned the well and nobody can stand even walking into that place.
 
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From the reviews Starfield seems a disappointment. No actual space travel or real planets like NMS.
 
Goddamn i love the starfield hype train derailing.

"It gets better after a dozen hours." LOL

Pass.
 
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GonnaBeADoc2222 said:
Goddamn i love the starfield hype train derailing.

"It gets better after a dozen hours." LOL

Pass.
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Yeah, hopefully they release a massive patch. I'm not sure what they're going to do though since it isn't like they need to fix bugs, they need to fix the broken story pacing and inject good characters.
 
BoardingDoc said:
Yeah, hopefully they release a massive patch. I'm not sure what they're going to do though since it isn't like they need to fix bugs, they need to fix the broken story pacing and inject good characters.
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Yeah it doesn't seem to be a bug issue.

Just seems to be a....bad game.
 
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GonnaBeADoc2222 said:
Yeah it doesn't seem to be a bug issue.

Just seems to be a....bad game.
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I was excited for it. Once of the cool things about NMS is that you can fly through space, to the actual planets, enter the atmosphere, and land anywhere you want. The only downside is that procedurally generated planets feel stale after a bit, and don't have diverse biomes.

Starfield should have been like Firefly, confine it to one solar system with a few dozen planets and moons. Make each world unique, and have realistic travel between the planets. We don't need 1000 fake planets with limited exploration options.
 
ScepticSkeksis said:
I was excited for it. Once of the cool things about NMS is that you can fly through space, to the actual planets, enter the atmosphere, and land anywhere you want. The only downside is that procedurally generated planets feel stale after a bit, and don't have diverse biomes.

Starfield should have been like Firefly, confine it to one solar system with a few dozen planets and moons. Make each world unique, and have realistic travel between the planets. We don't need 1000 fake planets with limited exploration options.
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whelp that sucks, guess after bg3 ill get around to finally beating witcher 3.
 
Janders said:
Oh no. Not at all. In act 2 somewhere
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I’m thoroughly enjoying BG3.

Also I spent 9 dollars a month on a NVIDIA GeForce now account because I got sick of buying a new gaming rig every few years. Works great.
 
doctalaughs said:
I’m thoroughly enjoying BG3.

Also I spent 9 dollars a month on a NVIDIA GeForce now account because I got sick of buying a new gaming rig every few years. Works great.
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I'm hoping it runs OK on the Deck!
 
GonnaBeADoc2222 said:
I'm hoping it runs OK on the Deck!
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I’ve only played it on deck so far, and I’ve found it pretty great. I heard act 3 gets some slowdowns due to map resources, but it has been patched a couple times, so might be improved?
 
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GonnaBeADoc2222 said:
I'm hoping it runs OK on the Deck!
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If not GeForce now runs on even an old crappy laptop or Chromebook. And it will play stuff like the newest farcry or assassins creed like a champ as long as you have good internet. Kind of crazy. I enjoyed putting together gaming PCs in the past but I think I’m done given a decent GPU is at least 500 dollars alone and that’s almost 4 years of cloud. The gpu will be outdated in like 2-3 years at most.
 
Janders said:
I’ve only played it on deck so far, and I’ve found it pretty great. I heard act 3 gets some slowdowns due to map resources, but it has been patched a couple times, so might be improved?
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Have you tweeked settings?

Docked?
 
Janders said:
I’ve only played it on deck so far, and I’ve found it pretty great. I heard act 3 gets some slowdowns due to map resources, but it has been patched a couple times, so might be improved?
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Act 3 slowed down on my pretty recent desktop rig. The most intense parts of Act 3 are turn-based so none of the intermittent chugging messes with gameplay. Finished my obligatory bard run-through, trying to decide what to play as next since a killed a decent number of possible companions outright my first time and missed out on a decent amount of quest completions in Act 2 due to not realizing I'd be locked out of certain events during a specific moment the game warns you about. In general it seems like there's always a way to pick up your companions' quests but a quest that's act specific needs to be completed prior to when the game asks if you really want to continue.
 
GonnaBeADoc2222 said:
Have you tweeked settings?

Docked?
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I haven’t touched a thing to have solid play in act 1 / act 2. Download. Patch. Run.

I figure when I hit act 3 I’ll go find a recent Reddit thread on settings.
 
Arcan57 said:
Act 3 slowed down on my pretty recent desktop rig. The most intense parts of Act 3 are turn-based so none of the intermittent chugging messes with gameplay. Finished my obligatory bard run-through, trying to decide what to play as next since a killed a decent number of possible companions outright my first time and missed out on a decent amount of quest completions in Act 2 due to not realizing I'd be locked out of certain events during a specific moment the game warns you about. In general it seems like there's always a way to pick up your companions' quests but a quest that's act specific needs to be completed prior to when the game asks if you really want to continue.
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My current play through is a Dragonborn half elf Sorcerer which is reasonable solid as a charisma face and blaster. I’ve been playing it pretty white-hat and have collected too many companions for my own good, and of course they all want to visit me at camp…

My try paladin next, though bard also tempting… or a front line heavy armor cleric
 
Anyone have any new tips or new techniques for doing the bare minimum? I'm trying to maximize my minimumness
 
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Fox800 said:
Don't pick up extra shifts without bonuses.
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This all day long. My shop was offering not even a 1.5x bonus. Get the F out. I won't get out of bed for less than 2x. The simps with the 7k sq ft houses scoopin them up tho.
 
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GonnaBeADoc2222 said:
This all day long. My shop was offering not even a 1.5x bonus. Get the F out. I won't get out of bed for less than 2x. The simps with the 7k sq ft houses scoopin them up tho.
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One of the guys I work with does 18-20 shifts a month, picks up patients until the last minute of his shift, and then sticks around 2-3 hours to get them dispo’d. He has been doing this for YEARS! 😬

Go get that cheese my man …
 
Mount Asclepius said:
Do the bare maximum and don't save the bare minimum. You'll end up with more choices.
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Good thread of responses regarding what happens to a small difference in income/savings over the course of 20+ years.

The closer you get towards concluding your career, the less the income differential matters – then the calculus between work-life balance, job misery, and, well, once you're old enough, your likelihood of just getting random death sentences increases dramatically. What good is busting your ass to retire at 55 if you get diagnosed with GBM at 52? Maybe I only got paid enough where my retirement age was 65, but I didn't miss as many of my kids' milestones ... makes the GBM at 52 a little more palatable ....

No one can tell someone else the precise value judgements they ought to make, as each of us have various unique pressures and neuroses.
 
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xaelia said:
Good thread of responses regarding what happens to a small difference in income/savings over the course of 20+ years.

The closer you get towards concluding your career, the less the income differential matters – then the calculus between work-life balance, job misery, and, well, once you're old enough, your likelihood of just getting random death sentences increases dramatically. What good is busting your ass to retire at 55 if you get diagnosed with GBM at 52? Maybe I only got paid enough where my retirement age was 65, but I didn't miss as many of my kids' milestones ... makes the GBM at 52 a little more palatable ....

No one can tell someone else the precise value judgements they ought to make, as each of us have various unique pressures and neuroses.
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We all give up a chunk of our 20's and some parts of our 30's. I will speak for myself, but no way am I giving up my 30's to work anything close to being a resident.

My 30's was typically working 14 shifts, 8 hr shifts a month and avg about 28-30 hrs/wk in my late 20's to mid 40's. I essentially work less now in my late 40's.

Almost never miss kid events. Never pick up extra shifts for the $$$.

I can make more $$ when I am older/bored but can never create missed memories.

I know partners who worked 18+ shifts a month. Some who worked 24+ locums shifts a month and still do. Their income was prob 2x as mine but their spending prob 3x as much. You can't predict the future and no one can take away the bonds/memories I have with my kids.

My 15 YO daughter, typical PITA teenager, came out of the blue and gave me a hug which happens often. This bond wasn't created when she was 14. It happens from birth to 15 YO.
 
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I agree that the value add of work and income is dependent upon your age and stage of life. There are opportunity costs and money isn’t the only factor. For the average EP though that goes straight through graduating around 30, they should spend the first 5 if not 10 years of their career maximizing their earnings. This will give you financial freedom and more downstream options after falling behind in your 20s. Most being more highly educated and wealthier than the average person in society will have kids at a later age anyways. As you hit 10+ years of grinding you will reach a point where your kids are getting older and your net worth becomes more significant. The trade off of more money versus more free time changes. That’s perfectly expected and okay.

The main point though is not to give up work effort or settle for lower pay in the first 10 years of your career and especially not in the first 5. There is a very real time value of money. If you are in academics with a projected longer career or have a more clearly established out then perhaps it’s not as important. If you have the average EP career retiring around or before 50 then it’s really important to maximize your peak earning years.

If I developed a terminal diagnosis like GBM with clear knowledge of not much time left I would instantly quit my job. No way I want to spend the last bit of my life in the ED. However, my odds are probably better than average of living closer to the average life expectancy given wealth. If that’s the case, I’d prefer to set myself up well for the potential of those later years instead of still working those later years in the ED. Especially when I’m more likely to get that terminal diagnosis at that point. Plan for the worst, hope for the best. That’s really all we can do.
 
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Mount Asclepius said:
I agree that the value add of work and income is dependent upon your age and stage of life. There are opportunity costs and money isn’t the only factor. For the average EP though that goes straight through graduating around 30, they should spend the first 5 if not 10 years of their career maximizing their earnings. This will give you financial freedom and more downstream options after falling behind in your 20s. Most being more highly educated and wealthier than the average person in society will have kids at a later age anyways. As you hit 10+ years of grinding you will reach a point where your kids are getting older and your net worth becomes more significant. The trade off of more money versus more free time changes. That’s perfectly expected and okay.

The main point though is not to give up work effort or settle for lower pay in the first 10 years of your career and especially not in the first 5. There is a very real time value of money. If you are in academics with a projected longer career or have a more clearly established out then perhaps it’s not as important. If you have the average EP career retiring around or before 50 then it’s really important to maximize your peak earning years.

If I developed a terminal diagnosis like GBM with clear knowledge of not much time left I would instantly quit my job. No way I want to spend the last bit of my life in the ED. However, my odds are probably better than average of living closer to the average life expectancy given wealth. If that’s the case, I’d prefer to set myself up well for the potential of those later years instead of still working those later years in the ED. Especially when I’m more likely to get that terminal diagnosis at that point. Plan for the worst, hope for the best. That’s really all we can do.
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So true. Oddly, and perhaps more specific to me, having a nice financial cushion and not needing to work makes work more enjoyable when it is optional and i dont feel like i need to grind because i need the money.

I worked like a dog the first 6 years out, I still work a fair bit but transitioned to more admin work. I find it rewarding and interesting.
 
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xaelia said:
Good thread of responses regarding what happens to a small difference in income/savings over the course of 20+ years.

The closer you get towards concluding your career, the less the income differential matters – then the calculus between work-life balance, job misery, and, well, once you're old enough, your likelihood of just getting random death sentences increases dramatically. What good is busting your ass to retire at 55 if you get diagnosed with GBM at 52? Maybe I only got paid enough where my retirement age was 65, but I didn't miss as many of my kids' milestones ... makes the GBM at 52 a little more palatable ....

No one can tell someone else the precise value judgements they ought to make, as each of us have various unique pressures and neuroses.
Click to expand...
One of the pearls of EM is that I can take literally every day off when my kids have events, days off school, etc and when I can't (Because a school or whoever gave late notice), then someone will trade. I don't have a patient panel, scheduled cases, or anything else that gets in the way.
 
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TooMuchResearch said:
One of the pearls of EM is that I can take literally every day off when my kids have events, days off school, etc and when I can't (Because a school or whoever gave late notice), then someone will trade. I don't have a patient panel, scheduled cases, or anything else that gets in the way.
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I have 3 kids, they are very active. I cant be at all their events..
 
TooMuchResearch said:
One of the pearls of EM is that I can take literally every day off when my kids have events, days off school, etc and when I can't (Because a school or whoever gave late notice), then someone will trade. I don't have a patient panel, scheduled cases, or anything else that gets in the way.
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This is one reason that I would never trade EM for most other specialities. The flexibility/lower hours outweighs the erratic schedules.

We have 3 kids that are 11-15 (all 3 in club sports) and I can say I have never missed anything important and am present for all activities 90+% of the time even when I worked in the hospital. This to me is priceless.

People who have this will know. Once you have a trusting bond with your kids, you are allowed much more leeway with them.

The work you put in when they are young is paid back many fold with less work when they are older.

I know two surgeons parents with 1 kid that has a nanny pick him up from school. Know 2 cardiologist parents where they have other parents drive/pick their kid up from activities.
 
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Meh I had a nanny and had two MD parents. It’s not like we aren’t close or I felt “raised by strangers” but I guess they weren’t surgeons. You probably have less influence/control over how your kid turns out than you want to think.
 
HemeOncHopeful19 said:
Meh I had a nanny and had two MD parents. It’s not like we aren’t close or I felt “raised by strangers” but I guess they weren’t surgeons. You probably have less influence/control over how your kid turns out than you want to think.
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If that were the case, children growing up in single parent families should not have any negative impacts on their upbringing.
 
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bravotwozero said:
If that were the case, children growing up in single parent families should not have any negative impacts on their upbringing.
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I don't know if those are the same thing.

I think you can come from a loving home with two parents and also have a nanny or someone who drives you places.
 
HemeOncHopeful19 said:
Meh I had a nanny and had two MD parents. It’s not like we aren’t close or I felt “raised by strangers” but I guess they weren’t surgeons. You probably have less influence/control over how your kid turns out than you want to think.
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My post may have been a bit hyperbole but I stand by the message. I have no idea what your relationship is with your parents, but I will say that I thought that I had a fairly normal and healthy relationship with my parents and would also say something like "it's not like we aren't close." I then got to know my wife's family and see how they interact. There is a world of difference between "it's not like we aren't close" and actually having a close-knit family with a lot of intrinsic trust.

TL;DR: I think that routinely spending significant time engaging with one's kids, particularly when they're young, has profound and lasting effects on any future family relationships and on general behavior.
 
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