The Mustache

Knowing how much I love Magnum P.I., Jason decided to grow a mustache. Actually, the New Zealanders are sponsoring the contest so all of the ER guys jumped on board. Jason says, "It looks pretty ridiculous but this is also a pretty ridiculous place so it’s a perfect match!" The boys thought Dad looked cool but kind of funny. I guess you do what you can do to make the time go by!



Jason sounds good, but says after the two-month mark you really start getting tired of the place. Here's some of his latest journal:

Another week has gone by. It seems to be going by fast enough. I have been busy with lots of different projects. I bought an external hard drive and have downloaded a ton of music onto it from our morale drive. That will come in handy on the ride home. I was also called as the elder’s quorum instructor so I have been preparing my lessons in my spare time. I have read more novels that I ever have in my life. I’m currently reading a book called “A Thousand Splendid Suns,” by Khaled Hosseini. It tells a story about Afghanistan through the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. It tells about the brutality of the Afghan regimes and the way women are treated here. It makes me so mad at the men here. Many women are still wearing Burka’s and the men refuse to allow them to receive medical care from a male doctor. I don’t feel so bad when we get these enemy combatants in all shot up. It sounds terrible but I feel they are getting what they deserve and I wish we could refuse medical care to them just as they do to their own women. However, I can’t do this so we take care of them despite. When they come in I have to put mental blinders on and just do my job. If I think too much about it I just get mad and would be in danger of letting my emotions affect my decision making.

The dust off pad is in between my dorm and the hospital. Everyday you can hear the helicopters take off and land bringing in patients. It’s kind of like the TV show MASH in that respect. If you hear a bunch of helicopters you had better get over to the ED to help out. The past few weeks the fighting has slowed, probably due to the colder weather. Sundays are generally busy. I think it’s due to the fact that Friday is their holy day and they get all riled up and then fight on Saturday and Sunday. I haven’t worked a Sunday where I have seen less than five traumas.

Church was good again today. After sacrament meeting we all went outside and took a picture in front of the chapel. They have been asked to send a picture to church headquarters. Maybe it will end up in the church news. Next week I have to speak in sacrament and teach my lesson. I’m kind of glad to have some more projects.