Commuting

So, one of my chief sources of frustration has been - believe or not - transporation to and from school. I have four choices for getting around:

(1)Bike: 15-20 minutes, I can leave whenever I want. But I get sweaty, and this isn't a great area to bike it.
(2)Drive: 20-25 minutes. I can leave whenever I want, but there is VERY limited parking and congestion around the school is horrible.
(3)Pitt Bus: 40 minutes. I have to be there really early to get on it, but there aren't many stops. Congestion is still bad. I get to school with 10 minutes to spare, so actual travel time is only about 30 minutes, including the time to walk to the bus stop and a extra buffer five minutes to account for irregularities in the bus schedule..
(4)City Bus: 30 minutes + time waiting for it to arrive. Very, very slow. The bus stops every block and usually get stuck at lights. Plus the drivers are kind of jerks.

I've been irritated over this but I was sitting here and suddenly realized - this isn't so bad. Worst comes to worst, I can start walking and be home in 45 minutes. I can't read when I do this, but I'm not stranded. Also, all of these options are free.

When I was working in Philly, my daily commute would be a 30 minutes drive, followed by thirty minutes on the train, followed by a fifteen-twenty minute walk. That doesn't include time spent waiting for the train to arrive. I think part of my current frustation is the homework thing - but if I am honest with myself, I probably won't have this good a commute in the future. I don't plan to live next door to a hospital for the rest of my life, so odds are I'll have a significant daily trip to make.

So, basically, I should stop bitching to myself.

WUSTL - under attack?

How weird is this?

It's kind of amusing, but mostly confusing.

Here is the orginal declaration of war.

Tv time

For some reason, I get a big kick out of listening to my roommates heckle/make fun of House, MD or whatever that show is called.

pfft. Medical TV.

Pre-exam thoughts

Sometimes I get kind of bummed with my day(s). I do spend a lot of time in class. However, I love this stuff so much. I can actually say I walk away from the school day with a greater understanding of the material. School is actually reinforcing knowledge from the books, as well as presenting and clarifying it. I enjoy what I am learning, for the most part. Anatomy I am not so crazy about, but that's because it's all so - surgical, I think. All the clinical correlations tie into surgery and while it's mildly interesting to read about where incisions are made, it's not really my thing. I understand why this is important though, and I like how it's all coming together in my head.

And boy, I don't miss problem sets. I cannot emphasize that enough.

Some people from the old premed message board repeatedly stated "the first two years are a bunch of crap, you just have to memorize that stuff because they make you" or some kind of variation on that theme. I think they are very wrong. My mom could answer every practice question I gave to her and had fielded all the vocab I threw at her while I was home for Labor Day. You don't remember these facts if you aren't using them - they are just too abstract to retain over thirty years - unless you use them semi-regularly. So, I am convinced. This stuff is important.

Life is good. Let's see if I feel the same way on Monday evening.

Snapfish

My Dad takes some bizarre photos sometimes. He just send me a batch via Snapfish and it's just kind of strange. Some of them are obvious - vacation and white coat ceremony photos. But what is up with the one of me on the phone? Or the four cars in the driveway? Or me studying? I guess that last one is an accurate photo in some way, but it's not terribly exciting.

Maybe I'll post some of these later.

Week Two

So, the predominant thought these days is "Five more weeks of Anatomy to go." This is not to say that I am unhappy. I understand the purpose of Anatomy - to get us oriented to the body and get us used to medical terminology* - but it can kind of drag sometimes. There is nothing else I'd rather study - except clinical medicine. These disconnected facts might come in handy later, but seem disembodied at the moment.

This is a rather scary endeavor, because if I screw up the stakes are really high. But at the same time - this feels right. I am suited to this career. I like clinical medicine and putting together clinical puzzles. Oh, and I am very anal - er, detail oriented. I like the PBLs a lot - and I will like them even more once we get the group breakfast thing going.

I idly clicked through the syllabus for Cell Physiology and I am somewhat optimistic about the course. It starts later - which is nice. I doubt it will impact what time I get up in the morning, but it'll make for a more leisurely morning. Also, it does not have a regular lab. I think there are histology sessions, but no giant 3-4 hour blocks of lab.

My running is proceeding well, and I have few doubts that I will finish the marathon in November. I am very invested in this marathon since it gives me an excuse to be home for over a week, rather than just a long weekend. I am not certain if I will make my time goal though. I ran with one of my classmates this weekend - attendance at running events has sharply dropped - and he ran me hard. I think I would have been okay with the pace over flat land, but we were in Frick Park. His pace did not appear to vary with the terrain, which tells me he was probably holding back. Guh, it was a good workout and I'm not sore, but wooh. It makes me wonder if I will be able to sustain an 8:30 pace for 26 miles.

My cd wishlist has grown to scary proportions. Maybe I should deposit my loan check and buy one of them. I kind of feel guilty about that, but on the other hand, the last two months rent, which was supposed to come out of my aid money, has come out of my pocket. I may be able to justify purchasing a cd. I shall think about it. And listen to the free Toshi Reagon tracks a few more times.

The tv is working properly again. It appears to be a coincidence that the first time I touched the group tv, it broke. I am tramatized and will never touch the tv again. These people work such long hours - I feel so guilty when I am the source of something bad happening.

Back to the syllabi! Charge!

*My professor made an interesting comment the other day. He said that at the end of Anatomy we will have learned 6000 new terms. The typical number for a new language is 3000-4000 terms. He regretted telling us this after it frightened some people.

Dog meets cat, cat hates dog

Poor puppy - she just doesn't understand why the bed growls and seems rather nervous about the entire matter.