Well, it seems as though I should be relaxing right now. That's just not happening. I have two weeks off, to drive to AZ for the conference and see friends along the way and perhaps even make it to a few shows. As of today, I have yet to plan these things specifically.

In the meantime, I've decided to use the evening to catch up on some continuing education that I've paid for via pharmacist subscription. After completing two hours worth of CE, I decided to check into the PDA and web-based references available to pharmacists for drugs and natural medicines. There is a phenomenal database that was created called the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database (www.naturaldatabase.com) that I've already begun going gaga over throughout the evening. The coolest thing about this database is that it contains all the bibliographical references to primary sources. I looked up larch and found a reference listed from a natural medicine guide authored by Dr. D:

D'Adamo P. Larch arabinogalactan. J Naturopath Med 1996;6:33-7.

Yes this is a good sign. Integration. Using technology to further promote the fruits of the earth. I'm so stoked!

Exploring the database gives me mental goosebumps of all the possibilities. And wow, am I enjoying my new toy (the treo phone)! It's just such a smart device. Eventually, I'd say 3 to 5 years from now, it will also serve as an MP3 player like an iPod. It has MP3 capabilities but not enough memory to fit thousands of songs. Everything is done via expandable memory cards; this is about to include my drug programs that I will be placing on here as soon as they are downloaded.

Oh I am so excited to bring these newly subscribed references to work! And I don't even have to work for another two weeks! The staff pharmacist at my store just purchased the book version of the database but has not received it yet. If for some reason I don't have access to my toy, I'll be nosing thru his book. Oh, this is so awesome! I can actually start helping people directly more often versus constantly sending folks over to Caleb the herb guru at the Wedge when I'm feeling scattered and clueless! Yippie!

Wow, this is taking a long time to download all this stuff....hmmm. Better late than never! I figure that being a pharmacist, people might be coming up to me at the conference to ask me drug questions. And well, as any good pharmacist knows, it's not what you know, it's knowing where to look for the answer! Thus, third brain will be traveling with me to the conference. We hope to see you there!