guest lecturer & tew first birthday celebration

Earlier this week, I made a reference in a post to something I'd be doing on Wednesday. Once or twice a year, I get an invitation to address the graduate-level OT students at NYU (I'm an acquaintance of one of the prof's; I kind of cornered him into an invite at a party, and then was good enough that I keep getting invited back). Wednesday was the class, so I went into the city (on the train! By myself! And took the subway, and found the location at a building that was new to me!) and did the lecture.

I didn't prepare adequately, and didn't have the handouts I like to have, and left out a couple of things I like to cover. But I don't prepare a specific talk; I have an outline of what I want to cover, and then let fly, responding to the questions and comments that come up (Powerpoints don't work for me; they limit the direction and the content; I can't be as flexible as I'd like to be). I have a lot of fun, and I think the students do, too. I get paid for it, but I'd do it for free, just for the bragging rights that I'm a guest lecturer in the graduate school at NYU.

I promised a couple of exam questions, so here they are:

Of the substances I talked about (heroin, benzodiazepines, cocaine, amphetamine, tobacco, alcohol, and the others), the ones that cause the most deaths are:

1. The opiates.
2. The non-opiate illicit drugs.
3. The "legal" ones.
4. All of them are equally dangerous.

 The reason that heroin causes so much more damage to people's lives than other opiates is:

1. Heroin is intrinsically a more dangerous drug than the other opiates; that's why it has no legal use in this country.
2. Heroin by itself is not more dangerous, but the "cut", the other substances put into heroin to increase the volume, is often dangerous.
3. The lifestyle of the street heroin user is so chaotic and uncontrolled that it is the lifestyle that leads the user into trouble.
4. 2. and 3. together are correct.

OT's need to have a basic knowledge of substance abuse because:

1. Many OT's work in substance-abuse facilities.
2. Many of the clients with whom OT's will come into contact will have problems caused by, or exacerbated by, substance use.
3. Some of the clients with whom OT's will come into contact will develop substance use problems due to overuse of medication or other factors.
4. 2. and 3. together are correct.

I would be an easy "A".

Today was one of my Fridays  off, and The Excellent Wife (TEW) and I went into Philly for one of her birthday celebrations (she likes to have a number of small ones, and spread 'em out). We went to McCormick & Schmicks, for which we had a gift certificate, and then to the Town Hall to take the elevator up to the tower... but it turns out that you need a reservation (the elevator only holds four people), and we were locked out. So we went to the Reading Terminal Market and bought some chocolate and other contraband to smuggle into the Garden State (we had thought of doing the Art after 5 at the PMA, but my back is making its presence known - I was on the cane again today - so we're back in Jersey now, with laundry in the dryer).