After two semesters of walking by our portable BBQ, we decided to take some action. A trip to the grocery store yielded charcoal, a metal brush, and some meat to grill. It took about 15 minutes to clean up the grill and set up the charcoal. Last night was our first attempt and everything came out fantastically. Fresh, hot meat just tastes better (take that how you like).
I'm inspired, so now I'm looking though my freezer for things to BBQ the next time around. I found some chicken strips I had, so I'll probably marinate them this week and toss them on the grill soon. Outdoor cooking is also a nice bonding opportunity. My roomie and I sat out over the fire, talking about our lives and enjoying the unusually cool (read: 80F) evening. It reminded me of my trips to Yosemite and Big Bear. I miss those days.
Second blocks are in the books, so I finally feel like I can breath again. It's nice having about 1/3 of the semester wrapped up, so now I know I'm not on any precarious slope for the upcoming weeks.
The family is coming next month, so I'll be looking forward to their presence on the island. I was exciting listening to my niece and nephew tell me about their time at the park. They are great story-tellers and happen to be pretty smart too. I also got a chance to video chat my brother and sister-in-law. the highlight was watching my niece crawl up to the computer. She even knows how to turn the mic off on my sister's MBP... I guess they are that simple to use!
Study time is over for me, so I think I'll get a quick workout in. I'm on a partial phase to improve my exercise and food intake. I bought a lot of fruits and veggies. I also bought stuff to make more soups, since they are less caloric dense then solid food and give one the appeasement of feeling full. It's going to be tough sneaking in lunch with ICM starting at noon, but I hope quick trips back home and fast meals will cover it.
And with that, it's time to get ready...
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Die, Mosquito, Die!
I hate mosquitos!
One punk-ass bit me today while I was waiting for a haircut. The sucker slipped up my jeans and bit me through my sock. I saw it fly off and I wanted to crush the thing. Sometimes I wonder where I found such hatred for such a small creature. I've come to the conclusion that it is two-fold. One, the bite is annoying and itchy. On a deeper level, I feel a sense of injustice as this parasitic insect has taken something from me (my blood) and will use it to make more blood-suckers. At least have the decency to write me a check!
I was looking up a band I liked in undergrad and found their Myspace page. I listened to a couple of songs and was looking at some of the comments. Sadly, there are so many chicks e-whoring themselves on myspace. Taking a picture of yourself in the bathroom mirror and leaving a useless, self-promoting message on a wall will not launch your career, sorry. We live in a country which was removed the concept of talent and hard work in favor of whoring; it's a slippery path.
I am glad to have exams out of the way. I'll be excited to finally have my life back. Well, for a few more weeks at least until I have to do it all over. ICM is once again killing my afternoons. Luckily, the review practical wasn't too bad today and she said I covered everything on the list. I'm fairly certain someone stole my practical checklist yesterday. Now, why would someone want to do that? I have no idea, but when I find out, I'm going to exact some sweet revenge.
One punk-ass bit me today while I was waiting for a haircut. The sucker slipped up my jeans and bit me through my sock. I saw it fly off and I wanted to crush the thing. Sometimes I wonder where I found such hatred for such a small creature. I've come to the conclusion that it is two-fold. One, the bite is annoying and itchy. On a deeper level, I feel a sense of injustice as this parasitic insect has taken something from me (my blood) and will use it to make more blood-suckers. At least have the decency to write me a check!
I was looking up a band I liked in undergrad and found their Myspace page. I listened to a couple of songs and was looking at some of the comments. Sadly, there are so many chicks e-whoring themselves on myspace. Taking a picture of yourself in the bathroom mirror and leaving a useless, self-promoting message on a wall will not launch your career, sorry. We live in a country which was removed the concept of talent and hard work in favor of whoring; it's a slippery path.
I am glad to have exams out of the way. I'll be excited to finally have my life back. Well, for a few more weeks at least until I have to do it all over. ICM is once again killing my afternoons. Luckily, the review practical wasn't too bad today and she said I covered everything on the list. I'm fairly certain someone stole my practical checklist yesterday. Now, why would someone want to do that? I have no idea, but when I find out, I'm going to exact some sweet revenge.
Tuesday, June 08, 2010
Inspiration
A combination of stress and a new member of the blogging community has given me the justification to add another post. And now an update.
I made shrimp fried rice last night. I have further perfected the recipe by partially boiling the shrimp to reduce the drying that occurs after they cook. So far, it seems to have worked. I invited Zan and Shumaila over to my place to enjoy a warm (after microwaving) meal and some laughs. They brought their electric mosquito swatter. I think we killed 4 of them in total last night. It's always tough to get people to come out to my neck of the woods. Granted, it is an extra 3 minute walk from school, so I guess I can forgive them (please note the sarcasm here). I'm glad it only takes a home-cooked meal and mango shakes to draw them in.
There is a new pizza joint at BB's Grill. I find it to be a little unfair since Dan has been serving pizza to students for quite some time and now he has direct competition. The worst part is that the fact that the new guy's pizza tastes better and costs the same. I can't help it, but I end up going to the new guy and drown the guilt with each slice.
Six weeks into my 4th semester and so far so good. I haven't been overly busy, so it has given me some time to watch episodes of Big Bang Theory along with the NBA and NHL playoffs. It truly sucked to see my Sharks go down to the Blackhawks, but there is always next year. My only worry is that Patrick Marleau might be leaving us. I wouldn't blame him for going somewhere else since the critics unfairly laid into him for the Sharks playoffs fiascos. Nabby might be leaving too, but I don't feel like he's be as big of a loss of people would like to think. As I read elsewhere, the Sharks have a 82 game pre-season. So now it might time to pick up a young goalie with playoff potential (Carey Price, I hope you're reading this) that is salary cap friendly.
I've been starting to think about clinicals the last couple of weeks. People have been asking me what I think about medical school. I can't really say it's that much different from undergrad. We go to lecture-based classes, study in the library, and take scantron tests. I don't think I'll fully understand what it takes to be a doctor until I get on the wards. And this is where things get a little scary...
Imagine having to make a decision about another person's health and more importantly... their life. There is a lot of power and a ton of responsibility in that. Right now in Behavioral Science, we're talking about how to handle talking to patients who are dying and discussing end-of-life decisions. Imagine that, telling someone that they are about to die and the only think we, as physicians, can do it mitigate the pain and help to ease the transition. Could you have that conversation with someone? More personally, will I?
I wonder how I'll be as a communicator. Sure, I don't mind engaging socially with people, but can I have a deep, meaningful conversation with a relative stranger? For the most part, this is to make it easier on your patient and also it's to help the physician stay strong in such a vulnerable position. The studies cite fear of patient's reaction as one of the reasons doctors are not very good at this. I guess I would agree; physicians will have to deal with so many emotions (pain, anger, sadness, elation) from people they have a professional relationship with. Now I'm starting to see how difficult the humanitarian side of medicine can be.
I made shrimp fried rice last night. I have further perfected the recipe by partially boiling the shrimp to reduce the drying that occurs after they cook. So far, it seems to have worked. I invited Zan and Shumaila over to my place to enjoy a warm (after microwaving) meal and some laughs. They brought their electric mosquito swatter. I think we killed 4 of them in total last night. It's always tough to get people to come out to my neck of the woods. Granted, it is an extra 3 minute walk from school, so I guess I can forgive them (please note the sarcasm here). I'm glad it only takes a home-cooked meal and mango shakes to draw them in.
There is a new pizza joint at BB's Grill. I find it to be a little unfair since Dan has been serving pizza to students for quite some time and now he has direct competition. The worst part is that the fact that the new guy's pizza tastes better and costs the same. I can't help it, but I end up going to the new guy and drown the guilt with each slice.
Six weeks into my 4th semester and so far so good. I haven't been overly busy, so it has given me some time to watch episodes of Big Bang Theory along with the NBA and NHL playoffs. It truly sucked to see my Sharks go down to the Blackhawks, but there is always next year. My only worry is that Patrick Marleau might be leaving us. I wouldn't blame him for going somewhere else since the critics unfairly laid into him for the Sharks playoffs fiascos. Nabby might be leaving too, but I don't feel like he's be as big of a loss of people would like to think. As I read elsewhere, the Sharks have a 82 game pre-season. So now it might time to pick up a young goalie with playoff potential (Carey Price, I hope you're reading this) that is salary cap friendly.
I've been starting to think about clinicals the last couple of weeks. People have been asking me what I think about medical school. I can't really say it's that much different from undergrad. We go to lecture-based classes, study in the library, and take scantron tests. I don't think I'll fully understand what it takes to be a doctor until I get on the wards. And this is where things get a little scary...
Imagine having to make a decision about another person's health and more importantly... their life. There is a lot of power and a ton of responsibility in that. Right now in Behavioral Science, we're talking about how to handle talking to patients who are dying and discussing end-of-life decisions. Imagine that, telling someone that they are about to die and the only think we, as physicians, can do it mitigate the pain and help to ease the transition. Could you have that conversation with someone? More personally, will I?
I wonder how I'll be as a communicator. Sure, I don't mind engaging socially with people, but can I have a deep, meaningful conversation with a relative stranger? For the most part, this is to make it easier on your patient and also it's to help the physician stay strong in such a vulnerable position. The studies cite fear of patient's reaction as one of the reasons doctors are not very good at this. I guess I would agree; physicians will have to deal with so many emotions (pain, anger, sadness, elation) from people they have a professional relationship with. Now I'm starting to see how difficult the humanitarian side of medicine can be.
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