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davidmiya
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Name: David
Country: United States
State: Hawaii
Metro: Honolulu
Gender: Male
Interests: Dentistry, molecular/cellular biology, real estate, finance, internet marketing, tennis, cycling, archery, photography, teriyaki, pho, bubble tea, philosophy
Expertise: Figuring out what the heck I'm gonna do with my time... since I obviously have so much of it to spare ...yea right... oh, that and sarcasm;)
Occupation: Student/Researcher
Industry: Dental
Message: message me
Website: visit my website
AIM:  davidmiya
MSN: davidmiya@hotmail.com
Member Since:
11/28/2002
 True  Lifetime
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| the Current State of Affairs...As of late, I've been mostly hanging around the house, sometimes venturing out into the world to go to the mall or visit my friend's house. It's been a week since I returned from my 2-week trip to the east coast for dental school interviews. For the most part, I've managed to recover from my jet lag. But for some reason, the motivation that has fueled me through 4 years of college has not returned. Most days, I get up at noon, and watch Stargate episodes until I fall asleep. As I mentioned in the previous post, 2-3 days a week, my dad ask me to come into his office to work and assist him at the chair. He still has not found a suitable dental assistant. I can see why... he works at a mind-boggling pace, oftentimes jumping between 3 chairs. I'll be happy if I have half the technical expertise and stamina he has when I graduate from dental.
As for other things in life, I realize that I'm extremely superficial. I like status symbols and don't hesitate obtain them if I so desire. I like collecting electronics and will always keep up with the coolest new toys. I appreciate physical attractiveness. I'm "vain" in many aspects. I wonder if this makes me a bad person? I'm guessing some would object to my lifestyle. But in my defense, I value the intangibles just as much as I value the outward appearance of things. Somehow, I feel as if I manage to strike a balance of sorts, seeing the best from all perspectives. I don't deny this is how I am. I embrace my qualities. Trust me, if I wanted to change something, I would:)
Mmmm, enough of the self-analysis... So, I've managed to process a few more pictures from my trip. Here they are...
 This would be me standing on the 102nd story of the Empire State Building  "Fishing"  "Pepsi-Cola Sign"  "The NYC Coast Guard"  Another lovely NYC skyline picture...  Some random bridge for which I cannot remember the name... | | |
| Oh what a shitty day...I was planning on sleeping in today... until, at 8am, my mom starts pounding my door telling me to wake up. My dad's office has called... they want me to come in to the office and substitute for his dental assistant since she recently quit. Basically, I spend the next 30 minutes fighting with my mom for the bathroom, and I'm off to work.
When I get there, the staff hands me a portable 2-way radio and a headset. I'm like "WTF is this for?" They say that "Daddy" has decided to streamline the operation so that he can yell at his staff no matter where they are. How lovely!
The first case is crown-delivery and a denture impression. I tell my dad that I haven't had enough experience working with the impression material yet, but he insists that I do it. I'm unable to mix the alganate fast enough and it begins to harden. He starts getting mad at me. I'm just about to mouth-off at him for telling me to do something I can't do. Just as I open my mouth, he sticks a finger in my face, essentially telling me to shut up so that the patient doesn't hear the bickering. I guess he's right. Patient always comes first...
Later in the day, we have to do some composites. My dad is fucking crazy. Being a cosmetic dentist, he has like 8 different composite systems for different situations. When asking for composite, he just sorta stares at me and expects me to know which one to use, and what order to mix the chemicals. I'm thinking to myself, "I don't F*cking know!!" Oh, and my dad has a problem describing things. In fact he's always had this problem. He'll say, "Pass me THE THING." I'm thinking "WHAT THING!?!?" He repeats, but with more passion "THE THINGGGGG, you knooooooowwwwwwwww, the THING!!!!!!!!" Now, if you know anything about dentistry, you know that out of all the professions, dentistry has the most materials. There are literally hundreds of different tools, materials, and machines.
At this point, I'm getting frustrated, and he's getting frustrated.
Later in the day, we had a sedation patient. These patients basically take a pretty powerful drug before coming in to the dental office. The drug is supposed to make them fall into a highly relaxed state where they still remain conscious. Well, it just so happened that the drug was ineffective for this one particular patient. Although she was probably around 50, she was acting like 3-year-old kid with ADD. She was squirming around and was unable to follow directions, much less speak clearly. I had to literally hold her to make sure she wouldn't fall off the chair. I suppose the reason most dentist don't attempt to do sedation dentistry is because it's extremely hard to manage these patients. Unlike general sedation (aka. IV drip), it's difficult to titrate the dosage. Also, the patients are actually AWAKE.
God, I have a headache now. I hate my life.
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| I feel as if I've changed over the course of the past two weeks. Two weeks ago, I set off on a journey that took me across the Pacific and across the continental US to the east coast and the midwest. I spent time in four different cities and took in the sights to my heart's content, between interviews of course. Now, having returned to Hawaii after two weeks of travel, I feel as something is missing...
For some reason, I no longer feel like talking to or seeing my friends. I no longer feel like getting out of the house. Heck, I haven't even fully unpacked my luggage yet. In fact, I haven't even felt like messaging my online buddies. In the mornings, I lie in bed and stare at my ceiling, wondering what reason I could possible provide myself to get up and start my day. During the day, with nothing to do, I oftentimes just sit around idly, doing nothing.
There've been things I've wanted to do like read the classics and perhaps get some practice in the dental lab. However, thus far, I've been unable to muster sufficient motivation to do so.
I think the realization that I really don't have anything to do for a year is finally hitting me. I need someone to kick me in the ass, NOW.
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| Explorations of New York City...This morning, I took a shuttle from my hotel in North Bergen, New Jersey to Times Square. When I stepped out of the quiet and cushy atmosphere of the shuttle, I was greeted by rush of sound, sights, and smells. The experience was visceral, leaving me dazed for a few moments and I adjusted to the new sensations I was feeling. "Sensory overload" would be an understatement for me. Even having lived in Seattle for 4 years, I was not prepared for the bright flashing lights, the sea of people, and the impenetrable wall of honking horns, rumbling engines, and voices.
For a while, I just sorta stumbled aimlessly though central Manhattan, not sure where I was going, still slightly disoriented. However, I finally managed to get my senses together and found my way to Pier 83, the point of origin for boat tour, a guided trip that would circumnavigate the island. For the most part, I felt that the laid-back sea-faring atmosphere to be rather soothing. It helped me to refocus a bit. While on the tour, I had the chance to take some great photos of the Statue of Liberty and some of the other scenes from around the island. At first, I tried to keep track of all the bridges we passed under, but eventually started to the forget the names as we pass under bridge after bridge.
When the tour was over, I grabbed lunch at a Chinese restaurant that was advertising that it ranks among the 100 Best Chinese restaurants in the U.S. The food was pretty good. I don't don't their claim. After that, I took a cab to the Empire State Building. Thanks to my clever thinking, I has purchased an Express pass online and bypassed all of the lines. Instead of spending an hour in lines to get to the top, I was through to the 102nd floor in less than 10 minutes; this was sweet. Now I understand the draw of having an office on a high floor with a view. The majesty of the looking out over the NYC skyline is breathtaking.
I don't really have a lot of time for much more since my shuttle is coming very soon, but I definitely had a blast just walking around and taking in the new sights and sounds. I hope I can return someday...
 Times Square  View from the Empire State Building  Sailboat!  Statue of Liberty  Manhattan Skyline | | |
| Update from Omaha...At the moment, I'm packing up and will be leaving for New York shortly. My dental interview at Creighton School of Dentistry went well I think. I really hope I got in. As for other dental-related stuffs, I made a pulse earlier that I got an interview invite from the UPenn Dental School. Now, I really find this amusing because THERE IS NO WAY I would have been able to get into UPenn as an undergrad; my SAT scores simply weren't high enough. Actually, to be absolutely honest, I have a better chance of getting into Harvard now as a dental student than I did as an undergrad! Fancy that... Also another fun thing I found out, University of the Pacific Dental School accept 100% of the people they interview. I got an interview. Thus, I'll probably get accepted! Woohoo! BUT, it's the only 3-year dental school in the nation, meaning that you will get completely F*cked for all 3 years and have no breaks at all. I don't know if I can handle that, but we'll see.
As for my plans in NY, I am going to visit the Empire State Building and go on a 3-hr boat tour. I was hoping to experience the nightlife as well, but probably won't be able to since I have an interview at NYU the very next day. I'm very excited indeed.
My whirlwind trip is finally drawing to a close. I'll reflect on my trip later after I get back home:) But for now, a few pictures taken with the Canon G9.
 This would be the view from my Omaha hotel at night... I like the effect of the reflections:)  View from my Florida hotel...  Random colors..  Yet another sunset.. | | |
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