What the hell is Aberrant Excursus

Essentially... Aberrant Excursus means doing something different, outside of the norm, the road less traveled. Sometimes that is how I feel.

It could also be my Skulduggery Name...

I'll Explain...

Everyone has 3 names: Their true name.The name that they are given. And lastly the name that they take for themselves.

For those of you who have read any of the current young adult fantasy fiction out there. Names are a recurring theme.

Many of the magical books talk about the power of a person's name. In Harry Potter... Tom Riddle takes on a new name and becomes Lord Voldemort the most feared dark wizard of the age. Magical folk fear to even speak his name.

In Eragon, we learn that words have power when spoken in the true language (Elvish). In the same fashion if you know some ones true name... not their given name you have complete power over them. Most people don't even know their own true names. A Rider/Magi can only determine a person's true name if they truly understand and know that person.

The name that's given to you also has power. In Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy. Skulduggery taught Stephanie about the power of names. Much like in Eragon, your true name is rarely known. Your given name... The name given to you by your parents also contains power though. A magical person... invoking your given name, would still have complete control over you. In order to avoid the unsavory commands of magical people - witches, wizards, sorcerers, and magi... you must take a new name for yourself if you are going to enter that world... thereby freeing yourself from the power of those that would oppress and control you. Thus in the novel Stephanie became Valkyrie Cain... and in this blog Jason becomes Aberrant Excursus.

You can call me Abe for short.

There are other books that speak of taking another name. Specifically I am thinking of the scriptures. For my purposes I mean the Bible, Book of Mormon, and Doctorine and Covenants. First let me start by stating that I am not a scriptorian. Scripture has rarely held my interest. There is scripture that recommends taking the name of the Lord Jesus upon yourself.
This is somewhat different then what Lord Voldemort did, also different than what Lord Vader did. As a Latter-day Saint we make covenants with God to take the name of Jesus on ourselves when we are 8 years old.

8 is considered the age of accountability.

That being true... because the gospel is true... And there is only one church that contains the fullness of the gospel. I think 8 should be the age of accountability for everything.

8 year old's could vote. They know the difference between right and wrong.

8 year old's should be able to buy beer... they can make that decision all by themselves.

I remember when I was 8 and was considering which of the many churches I should join. I was able to sit down at the library, and look at all of the different religions, what they believed, what they practiced. My decision came down to Hindu, Pagan, Zoroastrian, or Mormon... Since my parents and everyone else in my world was Mormon I went with the flow.

Maybe I should have tried Pagan but who knows? I was only 8.

Argyle Socks

I decided that of all of the socks in the world... argyle socks are my favorite.


What's not to love. They are stylish, suave, and freaky. They look equally good with dress shoes or Chuck Taylor's. They come in a plethora of colors to coordinate with a variety of wardrobe choices. Only a guy with a nut sack as big as a Suburban could pull off argyle socks and basketball shoes at church basketball... Let's all hope he is also wearing the saggy basketball shorts and not the Stockton style of the mid eighties, or we may see more than we want to. Of course most of the time its not a problem because the guys "G's" are usually hanging below the shorts anyway.


Argyle socks. That's the kind of guy I am.


If I was a Red Hot Chili Pepper I would have an argyle sock hanging off my unit when I took the stage.


So what is this all about? Why a new blog? Why the adult content?

Don't expect to see any porn. That is extremely unlikely to happen. Sorry if you were hoping for naked pictures of me you will have to search other blogs. Whatever makes you happy...


I want to think of it more like a label for music-- Parental Warning -- May contain explicit lyrics.


I have been know to go off on a tangent from time to time. I would hate for influential minds to be corrupted by free speech, divergent thinking, and an open mind.


An open mind I am finding out is a relatively unusual thing to have in my community. Well it could be more common than I think. We just don't talk about it. By that I mean, we don't really talk about it in respectable circles. Anyone can go into a forum on the web and get an eye and ear full of hate. I have seen it. That's not healthy either.


About the author: I am 35, married, 2 kids, 2 dogs, 2 cars, 2 jobs, 2 minds, 2 testicles. There is very little that I am sure of right now. So as I am spinning out of control I need to write down what I am thinking so that there is a road map of my melt-down. Feel free to comment. Suggestions of course for thought corrections may be appreciated if they are rational.



So besides argyle socks what am I thinking about this week: Sex, my new job, money, a lot about my wife and our marriage, sex, a significant amount of thought dedicated to life and religion, more about sex, and a few thoughts about Mazda-- see my other blog.

So much to talk about the blog might be too long to hit all of the topics tonight. So lets break this in easy and talk about work.

I am an RN, male nurse, Focker. I always thought it might be nice to be a wet nurse... but my my milk would never come in. Did you know that I was actually born on the same day as Florence Nightengale? I understand that most of the patients she cared for actually died of syphilis not combat wounds... gee I wonder how that happened... either way it's a respectable way for a guy to go.

I work for a very respectable healthcare corporation. We were recently recognized by President Obama as one of the prime examples of efficiency and quality healthcare in America. You may notice that I am being somewhat ambiguous about my employer. The healthcare company that I work for... besides being very respectable is also the most wired healthcare corp in the country. They are everywhere and nowhere and they have fired people for things they don't like. Not that I would ever break a HIPPA guideline or intentionally slander my employer or share any personal health information of a patient but once something is here in cyberspace it's always there.

I used to be a manager. What a shit job that was. I stayed in it for two years. Why? Because I was an idiot manager and thought I needed to find the right time to transition to a new roll. Well the right time never presented itself. So I made the time happen. I have transitioned to a staff nurse position and I am happier in my work now than I have been for more than 5 years. It was a hell of a pay cut though. Fear of the pay decrease is really what made the change, and the timing difficult.

My new job is in Radiology Nursing. As a nursing specialty area radiology is a relatively new field. The importance of nurses working in radiology departments has really only been developed in the past 10-15 years in this country. The position is still very technical but also more clinical than working in the operating room.

This past week I have been assigned to work at one of the smaller community hospitals that is a part of the corporate region. I had been to the hospital before in other work rolls. I never fully understood the small size or limited scope of practice that is the focus of a community hospital. Prior to my new roll I have worked primarily in large trauma one style medical centers.

So this week I found myself as the lone nurse working in our department at the smallest of our regions hospitals... There was a lot of down time. Time to stock supplies, time for continuing education, and time for a few procedures.

If I have one complaint it is that I was sent there with a pager and cell phone and expected to figure out the routine unassisted.

For complex procedures there was a nurse on call from the trauma center to come over and help mentor me, however for the most part I was isolated.

The biggest problem this week had nothing to do with clinical care. It was simple facility savvy. IT. The most wired healthcare system. Windows needed to do an auto update and re-boot while I was assisting with a cardiac CT scan. The glitch was associated with a generic workstation login that no one told me. A small problem but a problem that took an additional 20 minutes on the phone with support to correct. Billing for the patient procedure time was the major at risk component... in the end it all worked out. But it was frustrating.

Having previously been a nurse educator I have noted big gaps in the orientation process for new nurses working in radiology. I guess the point that I would make here is... even in efficient high quality healthcare organizations there is significant room for improvement. Small things can effect patient care and clinical outcomes in huge ways that we never know. This is why evidence based healthcare is so important and needs to be emphasized as part of the healthcare debate. Evidenced based care, tort reform, and cost control- These the major areas that need to be addressed before we even consider a national healthcare plan. The first step in solving the problem is to identify the problem. I have been saying that healthcare is broken for years and years... finally people are paying attention. Even if President Obama is a socialist at least he is trying to fix things instead of just blowing things up.

This got way too political and I have spent more time than I wanted.

I started 2 PICC lines myself this week. A new skill for me. It was cool. No one at home has asked me how work has been all week.

I feel alone.