chococowie's Xanga

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 00:27:25 GMT

I liked xanga because distinctly tries to make its users into a community.

However it's getting too religiously affiliated. Also, it tries too hard to promote itself and attract people not my age/interest group.

So, its back to blogger for me.

http://wotac.blogspot.com/

See you kids there.

thought

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 05:03:26 GMT

In controlled studies (AAA), on average, those who stay awake for 17 hours have psychomotor test scores equal to having a blood alcohol level of 0.05 (about half of the legal limit?). Not sleeping for 24 hours is about the legal limit, of TN at least (0.08).

All these years I thought I was eccentric, I've just been perpetually buzzed!! ... ?

(fear not Future Patients of America, I will be a student forever. Hopefully by the end of student-hood, I will catch up on my sleep)

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 05:35:55 GMT

This week has been consistently traumatizing to me. But it seems as though the happenings today may foretell a substantially less bleak outcome.

So Tuesday, was the VMSII how to schedule for 3rd year rotations lunch. I, being the only MD-PhD slacker who went cuz I wanted free lunch, realized my folly a few minutes too late (right after I bit into that fat soft Qdoba's - the food was still worth it). The Dean of Students and then the scheduling lady spoke about the different rotations and assuaged the fears of the students about looking like idiots in the hospitals as third years. I almost had an identity crisis stroke being so jealous that most of my friends will actually get to use the knowledge that they slaved for for the last two years as the rest of the science suckers and I move on to our indefinitely long decline of medically practical knowledge in our labs. I want to play with real people next year too, don't leave me behind!!

That over, Wednesday evening's info session truly activated my flight and flight. It was the session on how to prepare for the dreaded USMLE - the 8 hour long test that unites all the gunning med students around the nation in fear. I practically had to hold myself to the chair handles to not flee from the scene in illogical horror. (Quick aside, why does USMLE look so much like "SMILE"? This is going to ruin the facial expression for me.) Either way, while the 3rd year student panel tried to calm our fears and gave pointers, I felt every second as another testable piece of knowledge slip out of my mind into the abyss of hopelessness.

That aside, during my presentation in journal club, I also cursed in front of the mass of MD-PhDers and announced that they should be interested in sex - while in the presence of the director. Although, far from too stressed about that little incident, I'm a lot more amused and happy that I got a few laughs from the audience. Hopefully I kept them awake in the presentation of a pretty uneventful paper. Although the director's response has yet to be gauged.

Anyway, so by the end of the week, things started to look up again. Friday, I was relieved that the speaker I invited for Reproductive Health showed. The lecturer was pretty amazing and I learned a lot more anger inducing laws about reproduction that I can wax ineloquently on later in my predicted social justice critiques (aka-how the elephant pissed me off today). And today, despite multiple brushes the unlucky vehicle fairy, I managed not to get a ticket for parking at many illegal parking locations for extended periods of time. (most recent- I drove away as the traffic dude was flashing his lights behind my car. As I passed him, I saw him scratching away the ticket that he was almost done with.)

Anyhow. From the lucky escape from multiple traffic problems today, I've decided that I will refuse to stress at my imminent move from med school when I just started to get used to it and the psychologically painful USMLE. Things always look bleak from far away, but who knows, maybe I'll get lucky when the time comes.

Good news! I now fall asleep on my eye.

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 20:20:12 GMT

Right eye to be precise. But a little history...

Those of you who've even peripherally met me, even from afar, probably know I have/had a giant habit, of falling asleep. Everywhere.

Well good news, ever since I got paranoid (aka, taken path), I've figured out and corrected for a large part of the problem. I think I'm anemic. I've not done any lab tests to confirm my paranoia; but never the less, I've started myself on a safe and effective self medication regime of taking iron pills whenever I remember to.

Anyhow, my pseudo-narcoleptic tendencies have definitely recessed by a lot. I think I'm still a little sleep deprived which explains the sometimes instantaneous and unplanned naps around 2-4pm daily. Which brings me to the point. Due to the unfortunate and unplanned nature of my naps, I now find that I often fall asleep on my educational binders. My binders are unfortunately always open, ready to receive my somniferous drooping head. And my head always somehow awkwardly aims my right eye towards one of the rings of the open binders.

Thus good news, I don't fall asleep that much anymore. And when I do, my right eye usually always closes on one of the metal rings of binders. So I don't even nap that long anymore.

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 17:40:25 GMT

an unfortunate postulate- i think search engines check this site more than real people.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 05:46:17 GMT

a quick thought, to be flushed out at a later session... (because I want to sleep now...)

This academic life, it doesn't get easier. Well, I guess I've always expected it to get harder. But maybe at one point, out of the hardness, I was expecting to become less tired. As in, when I get more experience, I'll be able to sleep more.

I think today's Dean's lecture (on Academic Medicine and Burn Out) pretty much shattered that one. It starts in med school, goes to residency, then junior faculty, faculty, chair and deans. One common denominator, and that is, always little personal time. Always the 60-80 hour work weeks. Never enough time. Ofcourse, everyone finds a way to deal with the lack of time personally. Less family, friends, less hobbies, just smarter.

And unfortunately, for me, the time gets sucked out of sleep. I talked to my boss later. She told me the time she was in a cardiology conference with a bunch of department chairs. The lot of them were actually comparing how little sleep they get! 4 hours! 3 hours! 5 hours!

holy crap! I'm stuck for the long run!

digression from studying ...

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 13:46:45 GMT

I don't know what part of life made me angry, but while at an autopsy call sometime during the semester, I found myself furious at the dead man on the table. He was obese, hypertensive, drank, had bad heart arteries and chronic kidney failure. Died of a heart problem, bascially drank and ate himself to death. Not that we've not seen that before. In live patients, in dead patients; I mean we're all at fault for doing something horrible to our bodies that has somehow lead us closer to our demise. And good gracious, if it hasn't been drilled in us enough, TN is the fattest, most unhealthy, state in the country.

But I was in furries while typing up an report for the dead guy on the table. Maybe a developed distaste for the heart after the agnozing week long lectures. Maybe the comments made by friends that they didn't think they could treat heart patients because a good percentage of the patients need to have major lifestyle changes, that they conviently ignore. Perhaps just anger at the fact that he was dead and not alive. But in anycase. I didn't think much of it. I was angry, I didn't dwell on it, and moved on to learning about other diseases that plagued mankind. I think I've come to terms with the fact that frustrations like that came along with the profession.

But yesterday, while parked at a red light, a slighly unfit 60's something old man walked past my car. He had a huge smile on his face, an ipod mini strapped around his neck, and one of those hip micro-ear phones. So much joy, probably propagated by a gift from a younger, much loved, relative. He wasn't the most healthy man. Like the rest of us, he probably has a million risk factors for a trillion other diseases. But he was so happy.

Somehow, that made me not angry anymore.

Sunday, December 09, 2007

Sun, 09 Dec 2007 08:12:59 GMT

yet another anti studying but amazing minute ... trend conclusion: fuzzy things are much better than pathological specimens

properly amused!

Monday, December 03, 2007

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 04:24:58 GMT

lessons in self living #10293:

if you zap the hell out (>5 mins) of that left over piece of turkey meat with some nice fixing of water, soysauce, vinegar and spices, it tastes exactly like chicken soup.

who needs a pot when one has a microwave.

and frozen vegetables

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 04:57:47 GMT

Once a staunch anti-romance, I've slowly degraded to watching two (read that TWO!-holy crap I'm going soft) anime adapted into romantic comedies. I blame this on whoever started me on Nodame.

That said, I now pass the torch of romance with comedically [questionable] acting down to you my friends. I assure you, if you get past the semi-questionable acting from both the Japanese and the HKer's (HK? uh aren't most of these actors Taiwanese?- I don't understand why wiki says its HK), you will much enjoy the quirky oldschool style of adapted anime goodness. I'd even recommend the anime if they weren't so old school and the art ... so ... eerily internationalized.

1) Nodame Cantabile - which may be obtained on the whole via cruchyroll.com (get a free account - its well worth the free Asian dramas. hey, I ain't gonna be treating patients in at least 5 years, I can study later)

2) Hi Working Girl - the first 5 epis thru Crunchyroll.

YAY! I'm done with drama watching for the semester!!!!

If I ever start watching another drama instead of studying, you may slap me.