so did ya take time to fix the cowl an the scuff by your passenger tailight ?

 

No. Not yet. I've been swamped with midterms and practicing mock surgeries at school these past few weeks. This test will determine whether or not I am allowed to go off to do my clinical hours (community service or internship at the hospital) . This test is the hardest test of our entire program. Only our final Surgical Technology certification credential test is harder then this one. And that one comes at the end of our program later this year.

I will get to it soon though. I want to prevent it from rusting and I can already see a bit of surface rust on it on a small portion where the scratches got past the primer.

 

very best of luck man but you dont need it youve got this ya can do it
thumbs up!

 

Note to self. Oil change done at 221,500 miles.

 

So we had midterms these past 2 weeks. And I noticed I've been doing a hell of a lot better this school term then before. Not sure if it's because the classes are easier or because I feel more focused but either way I have been doing amazingly well. I got an 87% on my pharmacology class. And an 85% on my surgical technology lecture class.

And the test I have been most scared of for the entire term is the lab class. I literally jumped for joy. Thursday I took my official "Mock Surgery" to be able to clear to go to my cinical site. This test is that determines whether or not I am ready to be sent to the hospital for the real thing. This test consists of a fake surgery on a dummy that the instructors treat as a real patient. The procedure we did was an Appendectomy (removal of the appendix). During the entire mock surgery the 2nd instructor asks us a series of questions that have to do with anatomy/physiology, procedural, draping, instrumental, hemostatic agents, sterilizer methods, and many more questions that are directly involved with our position as a surgical technologist. On top of all this both instructors look to see that we are neat, know where all instruments are at all times, think ahead to anticipate the surgeons next instrument or step to take in the surgery. They want to make sure we are able to multitask while paying attention to both the surgeon and assistant, and do our job efficiently and precisely. I passed this test with a 100% and to make me feel even better about myself they both told me that that is one of the best performances they have ever had since they've been teaching at the school. They said I did everything with full confidence and had great anticipation for every step of the procedure.
I tend to under sell myself all the time I guess because I dont wanna be disapointed if something goes wrong. But they said I really shouldnt because my performance speaks for itself and my clinical site will definitely see that when I go to the hospital.
👍😷👌
I don't know. I'm really things are looking bright for me now.

 

Hell no way on doing your future job. I'd puke.


Good for you though!!!!! I'll take heights over blood and guts.


Seriously well done on your marks. I'm happy for you.

Engaged yet?

 

Wooooooooooooooooot!

 

That is awesome.
I do emergency medical response and thr playing with lungs to make see how using a BVM works was cool.

 

bravo man bravo woot awesomeness
its even better from the patient standpoint an ive got plenty of that experience
people who exude confidence bolster the patients mood an they gain hope they then are far better off even before the dr touches them

i have had so many nurses that didnt know what they were doing I HAD to show them
sigh... i dont mind being the teaching aide but dang i dont like having to show them

 

Hey guys. Just wanted to share some pix of this past 2015 Tierra Del Sol(TDS).
This was 3 weeks ago; better late then never right?!?
I almost did not make it to this trip, but i realized that i probably would not be making it to any more trips for the rest of this year due to school. So I wanted to make sure i would go to this off-road trip to quench off-road appetite. And I am really glad i did because i wont see another trip till i have enough $$$ for another trip which wont be till i get another job (AFTER I FINISH SCHOOL IN SEPTEMBER!)

So Here they are guys ENJOY!


I was all packed and ready to go about 6 hours before we left lol


Chefyota4x4 met up out there with our friend from Instagram "Andrewsol" and his huge group way earlier then we did.

Me, My neighbor Ruben and his son Chris all left at about 11pm to avoid getting into traffic.


I wish i would have gotten pix of our campground. It consisted of probably over 12-14 rigs. and about 4 trailers and mobile homes. Plus i totally forgot to get some pix of my 4runner with the Sportz SUV tent attached to the rear. Oh well Till next time. lol
Here are the pix










I saw this beauty along the way watching our Toyota's as we passed by. He had a nice rig


The group kept moving quick so we didnt get too many chances to snap some flex shots. So every now and then we had to hold up the group to get some good pix taken or else i wouldnt have had anything to remember it by. Chef is my witness. He barely got any pix either.




Just one of the many twists and turns that were out there. You can see the entire playground we had the whole weekend.




I at least managed to get a couple good flex shots on one spot in particular. My tire bottomed out here not sure if it was the shock or the leaf spring limiting how far it went and i forgot to check. Oh well.


WOOOOO FULLLL STUFF! And Reppin' the YOTATECH sticker to everybody out there in the DESERT!


My girlfriend riding shotgun. people laugh at us for wearing surgical masks. But when people start coughing up dirt boogers and picking out dirt wads from their noses i get the last laugh lol This is about the only thing i can do since my truck does not have air conditioning. and being in the middle of the desert like this with the windows down can get pretty nasty.


My Neighbor's son Chris in his BEAST




I LOVE MY BUMPER!


Group picture of our group minus me; and AndrewSol's group had parted away from us while still at camp. So we went on our own




This has got to be my most favorite shot of the night I just love the way our trucks were lined up nicely like that.


Here we are on a cliff side overlooking the entire Tierra Del Sol Vendor area.


This was the view


Picture Mark(Chefyota4x4) took of our rigs together.


The following day we woke up really early and ran into some vehicle issues. Luckily it wasn't any of the trucks. My Neighbors RV had some starter issues when he tried to start up the truck after we stopped for some breakfast. This little bit delayed us about 3 hours on the way back home. Turned out he needed a new starter.


Once i got back home i didnt hesitate to give ol' Kingsford a bath. as soon as i unloaded everything i washed it because i knew if i didnt do it right then it would probably be another week before i would do it. lol


That is all the pix i have for you guys. I hope you all liked them.

 

I might have to join you guys next year. Most likely in the tundra. How hard are the trails. I don't have much lift or lockers.

 

I got some awesome news today at school. Today we were assigned to our clinical sites where we will be doing our internships for the next 5 months. And ooooooh man, I do believe the clinical site I got may have to be the best one of all! And most importantly it is the one that I wanted to get from the very start.

I'm going to spend the next 5 months at UCLA HOSPITAL!!! WOOOOO HOOOOO What better place to learn how to assist in surgery then UCLA which is ranked one of the top 5 medical schools in the nation! I seriously can't explain how grateful and happy I am to get this news. I will start approximately April 15th. I CANT WAIT!

I'm really excited because my teachers told me there is a very large variety of surgical cases to choose from and get experience there. And they said that me and the other student that got chosen to go there are the luckiest students to get to go to UCLA because this year they finally finished constructing their Labor & Delivery building and their Surgery Center building. Both located across the street from the main hospital. And they are going to have me do 10 weeks of training at the main hospital, 5 weeks at Labor & Delivery, and 5 Weeks at the Surgery center. So they said I am definitely going to get my feet wet with multiple surgery cases. And best of all he said this clinical site usually hires students from our school. And they told me that I have 3 places there to make a good impression at and if I'm good enough and it turns out that they want to hire me then I will have the chance to choose which place I want to work assuming I manage to land a job.

For me the highlight was when they told me that this school has a fantastic Orthopedic team. And most of my teachers know that orthopedic is where I really want to be. That type if surgery has lots of power tools and saws and it reminds me of an auto shop lol but it is what I like. If I'm lucky and my preceptor thinks that I have what it takes to move on to more difficult surgeries they will take a chance on me and take me in to experience orthopedic surgery. I really can't wait to start to get to experience all I can.

 

Awesome news, good luck.

 

too cool man you can definitely do it

 

Congrats on the internship and awesome del sol pics!!

 

Congrats on the internship placement.

 

Thanks for all the props guys. I really appreciate it. And I'm super excited. Aside from this, I have more good news for my bright future. I may actually qualify for financial aid grants this year! I have never received any type of grant even before when I was in college so this is a huge deal for me. Especially because I will be daily driving my 10mpg 4runner to and from UCLA for the next 5 months making each day a 40mile round trip for me. So if I manage to get approved for the 2 grants I will be getting a grand total of $7755 in grants! So freekin' awesome to hear that news. I will know if I get approved by the end of the week.

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These next few pix are from last week. And the descriptions are just a copy and paste off of what I had put on my Instagram page. But check it out. It's crazy to see what I found here.


It never ceases to amaze me when I find an old hack job that the previous owner of this truck has done. I cant believe how much of an idiot he was with the crap I find. No wonder I have always had some crummy GROUND issues. I have always read the correct voltage but it never really seems to be right. Now I know why. This is the the direct connector to my negative ( - ) post and you can clearly see he has jumped four strands of 10 guage house wire from the black truck ground wire to the connector. This is the 3rd time I have seen home wiring in this truck. And I hope it will be the last. Im gonna have to replace it with new wire so it gets a direct ground rather than having it all chopped into pieces. Not only this. I also found that all these ground wires are pretry coroded on the ends. They are brittle and break off when I move them a little. Dang it. Just what I needed at a time like this.




Not bad. I paid. $2.50 for this 49" 4 guage battery to starter cable. With 2 new copper cable lugs for the one I plan to reuse. And finally getting 2 battery side post connectors for my winch and maybe for other things in the future. This has got to the only good thing about Autozone; they give you points that accumulate and you can use them toward a purchase. Luckily for me I had $20 stored. Woop



Dude it was nearly impossible to fit any tool in through the passenger side to get to the bolt holding in the ground wire.
I have the Starter, air conditioning compressor, motor mount, shock hoops, frame, all in the way from the side access. And from underneath I have the axle, rods, leaf springs and AC compressor still in the way. The only tool I was able to fit in there is my 14mm box wrench and I was only able to move it about 1/8 turn ea change try lol. I seriously need to look into buying ratcheting box wrenches. I eventually got it off then installed.


Also when i was under the truck i found a missing bolt to my motor mount! It is located on the front passenger side motormount. And it goes into the block. I guess I gotta go to a junk yard and take a bolt out of one of the many 3.0L v6's there. I don't like knowing that I have 1 bolt missing there.




Finally done installing the 4 guage battery ground wire to the starter and this shiney new bronze battery connector. I also installed a new 4guage ground wire to the fender wall for grounding the body because the last one wasn't cutting it. Used those nice copper cable ends. Might as well do it properly or dont do it at all. Im hoping for the best now. Gonna fire it up in a bit and see how it goes.

 

now see when i grounded i went above an beyond i made a tree from block to head block to body block+starter to battery then the factory head to firewall (in harness) to eliminate any conductive corrosion via the coolant flow and provide excellent ground for the electricals



my ground flux capacitor


to battery

 

Awesome updates, you've been really busy! Congrats on the internship, that's cool that you got into the hospital that you wanted, sounds like a great opportunity!


Those were some sweet pics from your latest trip! Where did you get the giant Yota Tech sticker for your back window? I noticed you, Mark and Johnnyboy all have one, I looked on here under YotaTech merchandising and didn't see any like it, did you guys have them made?

 

Thank you man. I'm 2 weeks away!

Dude thank you. I am seriously really proud of my accomplishments this past year. But most of all im really happy for pursuing a career that is gonna pave the way for the rest of my life. And no not engaged yet. I plan to do that sometime after I finish school.

Dude that is an awesome practice. I bet everyone in my class would be way more enthusiastic about this is we had a demonstration like that! was that pig lungs?

Dude that's bad when a patient needs to tell you how to do your job. lol I can understand phlebotomists sometimes have issues from patients that get picked frequently. But yea I agree. Some people get into the field for all the wrong reasons. Others start off with the right mindset but their drive dimishes over time and they become bitter. I don't think patients should have to suffer for unhappy healthcare "professionals"
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You can do a lot on the tundra. But there are a few narrow passes that left me with about 7-8 inches on each side of the 4runner side panels. I know Tundras run wider body's so hopefully you wont get body damage there. as for not running lockers. I definitely do not recommend doing that at all. This place isn't super hard. But trust me when I say that desert floor can have a few scary powdery dirt that makes you sink in and without lockers it can be impossible to get out of without help. 2 years ago when I took my 4runner as IFS I did not have any lockers. And I got stuck trying to go up every hill. after the first 3 hours of trying we just left my 4runner at camp and my girl and I jumped into Mark's(Chefs) 4runner for the rest of the trip. I was bummed out. And also Even with lockers sometimes you can get into a nasty situation. 1 locker may get you through most of the stuff. but I seriously wouldn't do it without them since ive experienced 3 trips there without lockers. this was the first year I went having lockers and OMG what a difference it made. I was happy to finally conquer this damn place! haha


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Thanks guys I start my internship at UCLA in 2 weeks. We're scheduled to begin on april 15th. I am so anxious to start.


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I like how you ran the grounds. I may need to add another wire to the body just for better ground as well. not sure if I should jump off of the battery again or off the mounting point from the block like you did.





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Those giant yotatech stickers were provided to us by Nolan from InternetBrands when we did that sponsored BF Goodrich trip from Barstow CA to Las Vegas. I realized that I never posted any pix from that trip. I'm gonna have to make time to post up those pix for you guys to see how that trip went. This was back in November. But it was definitely one of my favorite trips of all time. Terrain wasn't hard at all. But it was just the experience of an expedition. That experience has made me really want to do a road trip. And actually That BFG tire competition that you won is literally what I have planned. I actually plan to do a 3.4L V6 swap for sure now. I need the extra power. I want to take off my rear bumperand sell it so I can build a new one out of 3/16ths steel rather then the 1/4" that I used. It isn't that bad. This bumper takes a hit like a champ but I need something much lighter because it is gonna kill me on gas when I do my expedition. And I want to try keeping the weight down as much as possible. Not only that but I also want to rebuild a trailer with a higher ground clearance. The design is going to be very similar to the build I have now only with lighter steel. and probably a more stealthy look to match the front bumper.


None of this will take place until I have finished school. But that is totally fine with me. It just gives me more time to plan for what I want. And to top it off, aside from the motor swap, I also want to build myself an offroad/expedition trailer build with lots of goodies. This is gonna be a very meticulous build but I love how DIRTCO (user on yotatech and t4runner forum) did his build and I plan to do something very similar to his.