<![CDATA[P = MD - Blog]]>Mon, 12 Apr 2010 10:25:16 -0800Weebly<![CDATA[so you want an iphone]]>Sat, 18 Jul 2009 08:43:59 -0800http://www.seeyuen.com/1/post/2009/07/so-you-want-an-iphone.htmlAfter a month or so of agonizing between the new iPhone 3GS and the Palm Pre and mostly exasperated reviews of how the Pre has terrible service in the hospitals I work at and in and around New Orleans generally, I finally decided to get an iPhone.  Two days ago, I walked into my neighborhood AT&T store and it went something like this:
Me: I want to upgrade to an iPhone.
AT&T guy: You want the 3G?
Me: I want the new one.
AT&T guy: Really?  It's $100 more and not better.  I have the old one and I'm a phone guy.
Me: (A phone guy?  Really?)  No, I want the new one.  It has more hard drive space.
AT&T guy:  What would you do with all that space anyway?  Do you really listen to that much music?
Me: Well, I also use the video camera on my Centro quite often.
AT&T guy: You can get an app for that on the 3G.
Me: But it's faster.  My resident clocked her new 3GS against her fiancee's 3G and it is actually 2 seconds faster to start up an application.
AT&T guy: No it isn't.  And we have the 3G in stock now.  You'll have to wait 7-14 days to get the other one.

Aren't you in the business of SELLING PHONES???  Don't you want my extra hundred dollars??

]]><![CDATA[procrastination station]]>Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:56:30 -0800http://www.seeyuen.com/1/post/2009/06/procrastination-station.htmlMy newest source of entertainment for some temporarily stress relief in these trying times - Wolfram Alpha.  This Gizmodo article explains why.

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Here's my favorite.
Life, otherwise, is uneventful.  I'm trying decide between a new Palm Pre or a new iPhone 3GS, AT&T vs. Sprint.  (Answer: waiting to borrow Zach's Pre to make sure it's touch screen isn't a disaster like Dustyn's Blackberry Storm.) Or how big of a power generator I would need to run the downstairs AC unit in our house in the event of another hurricane this fall.  (Answer: very big.)  
Sadly, Wolfram Alpha doesn't have an answer for either of these questions.  Yes, I tried.
]]><![CDATA[Kimber!]]>Wed, 27 May 2009 11:52:28 -0800http://www.seeyuen.com/1/post/2009/05/kimber.html
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This is our kitten, Kimber.  No, I did not name her after the porn star on Nip/Tuck.  I was pining after this Kimber .22 that Mike let me borrow at the range, and at $800, was the same cost as a Siberian kitten. Gun?  Kitten?  We went with kitten.  She'll chase string until she's panting, but might still keep going if you taunt her a little bit.  She loves boxes, chasing ice cubes, and grape jelly.  Also, walking on my face and poking me with a wet nose at 5 am.

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POOPED! from chasing string.
]]><![CDATA[old school.]]>Fri, 22 May 2009 08:57:32 -0800http://www.seeyuen.com/1/post/2009/05/old-school.htmlBetween rounds of biochemistry this week and procrastinating by online shopping on slickdeals.net, I've been listening to an MIT-Wellesley Toons CD from 2002, among other interesting things from back in the day that have accumulated in my iTunes.

We're officially done with second year and I don't feel too different.  There's so much to do before I start OB/GYN in July.
The date for USMLE Step 1 is June 22, and I'm afraid I'll have to push it back.
This is the summer study schedule:
May 3 Pathology
May 10 Neuroanatomy/Anatomy/Immuno
May 17 Immuno/Biochem/Genetics
May 24 Physiology/Pathology
June 1 Pathology/Pharmacology
June 8 Microbiology/Ethics/Peds/Psych
June 15 Practice USMLE World Questions

I haven't done Immuno and am hoping that Genetics will be mostly covered in my Biochem studies.  That was also the last section we did 2nd year as well, so at least it's kind of fresh in my mind.
So what has happened since last September?
I barely remember our Houston evacuation, only that I have no plans on doing it again.  I actually have not completely unpacked since the last trip, as everything has come out on an as-needed basis.  I've also accumulated more stuff and I'm not sure that my compact car will be able to handle it.  (Volvo specs say it is compact; apparently none of my friends agree this is true.)  I laugh at the idea that some girl clawed me at a bar in Houston last time we were there - we've recently acquired a cat who does the same to me on a daily basis.
We have a very precocious hypoallergenic 7-lb. baby Siberian kitten from Plaquemine.  She's hilarious and keeps us amused shredding our discarded class notes.  She's super fluffy and affectionate unless you have string in your hand, in which case she will chase you for it.  And she usually wins.  At night she purrs like a machine until petted and sprawls out, taking up a lot more space than expected in my bed.  I've banned her since she likes to wake me up, but she's been scratching and crying at the door when Jay isn't around to entertain her late at night.
Otherwise, it's study, study, study.  In the last several months, I've also scrubbed in on at least a dozen neurosurgical cases, put my finger in one brain, and closed up 1.5 patients.  This is always the highlight of my week, because I get a little insight into what I'll really be able to do with my life after all the basic science silliness is over!


]]><![CDATA[bypassed.]]>Mon, 15 Sep 2008 17:02:49 -0800http://www.seeyuen.com/1/post/2008/09/bypassed.htmlSo I was secretly hoping that Ike would come a little closer so I could postpone my exam again...but now that I've seen the devastation, I retrospectively take that back.  We haven't gotten ahold of Marlon since the hurricane hit, when he called several hours earlier to tell us that he was having a hurricane party.

This weekend I completed some of my required community service hours at the Saturday clinic.  The T4 I worked with made me actually do a full exam on all of our patients, which is different from the usual hovering I get to do.  Unforunately, HEENT exam skills isn't until this week, so I had a lot to learn in a hurry.  Fortunately, my patients didn't mind, and actually seemed interested in watching me learn.

We have a prospective student staying with us this week, which I'm really excited about.  There's something about not hanging out with medical students that I feel adds value to my life - and is a great distractor from all of the dumb microbiology jokes we make now.  (I think everyone has cat-scratch disease.)  We're hosting two girls this month, and another guy the first week of October.  Finally, some non-med school conversation.

And for some political non-commentary - the SNL skit with Tina Fey as Sarah Palin was awesome.  Also, I think I might not vote for the first time since I've turned 18.  In every election that I've been eligible for, I'm made sure to apply early for my California absentee ballot, and then read the voter guide and send my ballot back the day after it arrives.  This year, I'm not sure who I'd pick.  It's really a sad state of affairs - really old people running with really inexperienced people.  Hopefully, things will start to become more clear for me in the next few weeks.

]]><![CDATA[revacuation.]]>Sat, 06 Sep 2008 20:04:08 -0800http://www.seeyuen.com/1/post/2008/09/revacuation.htmlWe left Houston at 9pm last night to avoid any major traffic.  Our evacuation actually became a pretty good hurrication, spending time with med school and non-med school friends in the area, while learning a little bit about bacteria and fungi in between.

Houston is a pretty great place to be, if only because it reminds me a lot of being in Northern California with wide freeways and big shopping malls and fewer incompetent people.  I have to say, I was truly disappointed by the Mexican food we had there, from the fast food joints to Tex-Mex.  Chipotle, which I am constantly hearing my Texan classmates RAVE about, was a major disappointment.  I've never tried it, even home in California, and it was awful.  Perhaps Dustyn and I are the only people who think lime-cilantro is over the top and not very good, but I'm definitely not going back.  The local tex-mex was also overpriced and bad.  My favorite food ended up being queso and tortillas late night at Taco Cabana.

So, seeing as I had packed literally my entire life into my car, I had a neat little set up on Marlon's coffee table with my laptop, my 24" monitor, and his 47" plasma screen in the background so I could feed my neuroses about hurricanes for the first four days.  It worked out well for the studying I was able to do, and wasn't a terrible hassle to pack back into my car.

We went to a place downtown where it was 80s night, playing a really fun band, the Spazmatics.  Interestingly, at some point, a girl picked a fight with me after trying to shove me over in front of the stage for several minutes.  I'm really not quite sure how it happened except I turned around  to look at her and she clawed me in the arm.  If it weren't for the claw marks and three witnesses, I wouldn't have believed it happened.  Apparently I won.  This is also a source of confusion for me because I just stood there and looked angry.  Perhaps I am very scary looking?  Hope not.

Now we're back in NOLA, with an exam waiting for us this week.  Also waiting for us: another hurricane!  I'm so not unpacking.

]]><![CDATA[driving in the dark.]]>Sat, 30 Aug 2008 22:19:33 -0800http://www.seeyuen.com/1/post/2008/08/driving-in-the-dark.htmlMy car loves going 90 mph so much, it got me and 1000 lbs. of my belongings to Houston at 34 mpg.  That's almost double what I get driving around the city.

We made to to Houston to shortly after 7 am.  The trip was mostly uneventful, except for the pace cars maintaining traffic at 45 mph on I-10 all the way to Baton Rouge, apparently to allow the convoy of prison evacuees to get ahead.  It's interesting that it's a really big deal that they aren't allowed to mix with the general population when I've seen them in clinic, and even to the extent that we  can't be on the highway at the same time  We also passed a string of charter buses going the opposite direction to evacuate people who don't have access to their own transportation.  There were about 20 disabled vehicles along the side for the road.  (How awful would that be?  I'd have to unpack my entire trunk to get the spare tire out.)  Also, the town of Adams Bayou, somewhere just inside Texas, smells like garbage.  And then I saw the sun rise over Texas. (In my review mirror of course, since I was driving west.)

We got to Marlon's, and of course the first thing I did was check the status of the storm, which, since I left New Orleans had been upgraded to a category 2.  After napping for a few hours, I went back to my computer to find that it was now a category 3.  Sometime while I decided to do some school work, the internet went out, and I had to put the Weather Channel on mute so I could keep myself updated.  Since then, it's been fluctuating between cat 4 and almost 5.  For details on what the category differences are, check out this NHC page.

On the bright side, we met up with some med school friends at Goode Company BBQ, which was pretty tasty.

]]><![CDATA[clearing out.]]>Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:03:07 -0800http://www.seeyuen.com/1/post/2008/08/clearing-out.htmlSo I've spent the last 28 hours trying to pretend there's no hurricane coming at me - it's just a tropical storm, it could hit Florida, etc., etc.  Unfortunately, I suspect it's this kind of denial that stranded so many people here in New Orleans three years and one day ago, so Dustyn and I have decided that we're definitely leaving for Houston late tonight.

It's also finally reached the wind speed to be considered an official hurricane, somewhere in the ocean southwest of Cuba.

It's funny how two days ago when the small threat of hurricane had me all excited about taking a road trip to Texan and perhaps having our exam delayed.  This morning, however, on my drive to Home Depot to get a 4-D cell LED flashlight (that doubles as a self-defense weapon), the mood was obviously somber with numerous people stocking up on batteries and other hurricane-weathering accessories, debating with each other whether or not the should really leave the city.   And now, that I have thus far packed up half my life and I still have a quite a bit to pack into my car, I'm kind of sad to be leaving.  What if I don't get to come back?

]]><![CDATA[and the panic begins.]]>Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:27:16 -0800http://www.seeyuen.com/1/post/2008/08/and-the-panic-begins.htmlMost of class this morning was spent overhearing people's conversations about who is evacuating where and why.  Less than the normal 30% showed up to lecture, probably running errands like Aaron, who needed to replace the busted spare tire in his SUV before the few of us the possible trek to Houston this weekend.  Rumors keep flying and by now, I've heard from someone eighth-hand that the dean of the med school has canceled classes Friday-Wednesday, and from someone else (insert prime number here)-hand that the dean has only canceled class from Monday-Wednesday.   But Monday is a holiday anyhow, so...who knows?

Some kids have already made big plans to leave tonight.  So far, my only plans  are to get gas and stop at Home Depot for some batteries and a big flashlight.  And, of course, compulsively check NHC.

]]><![CDATA[hello, gustav.]]>Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:42:57 -0800http://www.seeyuen.com/1/post/2008/08/hello-gustav.htmlI'm not sure what it is that makes me think that checking the NHC site every 20 minutes will give me new up-to-date information on whether or not we're going to evacuate.  Last I checked, I couldn't have been too dumb or irrational to get into med school.

Well, regardless of my intelligence, Wednesday evening's map of the project storm trajectory shows a hurricane headed my direction, with expected landfall by Tuesday.  I wonder what this means for my microbiology exam next Friday?

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