Intro's

Hi, I'm Amy. I've been enjoying writing a blog on Myspace.com for a few weeks now and a friend of mine sent me an e-mail letting me know that the Gazette was beginning a blog on their website. I thought it sounded like fun. So now I'll give it a try writing for the local crowd. I've been in our local writers group since the 2nd meeting and have one short story published but I'm more of a novelist than a short story writer. It takes much more effort to keep it down to one or two conflicts than I ever thought about in my high school English composition class. I write mainly fantasy. I hope to have weekly writing goals included in these and if I don't have them accomplished, I hope you'll give me a hard time. I haven't figured out why I didn't go to college for and English degree but Science and animals have been my other passion in life.

I decided to go to NCTA in Curtis after graduation from MHS. There I earned an associates degree in animal science with a major of Veterinary Technology. I love my career. It took me 6 months after graduation to find a job in my chosen field and was lucky enough to find a great clinic in my hometown. Which is funny because as a child all I wanted to do was leave McCook, now I'm not sure I'll ever leave. It won't hurt my feelings if I leave McCook but I enjoy the fact that I can walk around town after dark with my big dog and not have to worry about freaky people. A lot of people don't have a clue what a Vet Tech does or what happens in a Veterinary Clinic/Hospital. Our new book keeper has had quite an interesting experience since she started working for us. So, other than writing about writing and life in general, I'll probably include some of the clients (anonymously of course) and the patients that come through our doors.

Now for my job description. Yes, I have an associates (2 yr) degree. At the time I was in school, we had 20+ hours per semester plus a short summer semester and an internship. I had classes like pharmacology, microbiology and parasitology. Such long words for drugs, bacteria and worms. Trust me, there is a lot to learn in two short years. At the end of our second year, we took national board exams. I've been a vet tech for nearly 12 years. Nebraska initiated licensing a few years back and I've had a license since then. In order to keep my license I need to attend continuing education, and don't do things I shouldn't due like surgery, diagnosing and prescribing medication. You might think I'd want to take every animal that comes through the door but when you have regular clients with pet that like to come for a visit, I have thousands of pets that I don't have to take care of. I do have four cat, a gold fish and a dog. Living in town with that many pets is plenty. I grew up on a farm with upwards of thirty cats. What I can do is assist with surgery, draw blood and perform lab work, prepare lab samples to send to outside laboratories, take radiographs (x-rays), give medications, whatever as long as I'm directed by my Veterinarians.

I don't know if anybody will be able to post comments about these but if you get the chance, do it. See you in cyberspace!