60th post boo yah!

I thought I would post my current favorite internet video. If you don't think this is funny the first time, watch it again. then repeat. every time you watch it, it gets funnier. I recommend limiting your views of the video to 10x/day or you may not get anything else done.

Iran So Far Away: A Digital Short.

SNL - Iran So Far
Uploaded by Pfff

How To Build A Freakin Awesome Arbor For Under $130

Man, who has time to blog these days…seriously? I have so much to write about, but no time to do it. I have been making audio notes on my phone about things I want to write about. Maybe I'll get to them one day. Things like how Jesus passed me on the freeway coming home from Atlanta. Things like Fry-night with the Atlanta gang. Things like six flags and how I have totally forgotten how awkward teenagers are (and horny, for that matter)…Those things will have to wait.

This weekend, I (we) built an arbor in our backyard. We had been talking about making one for a while now. We were considering buying one already made from Lowe's for three hundred bucks. Luckily I was feeling ambitious and decided to build one from scratch.

With some rudimentary plans taken from various websites we set off to Lowes. 2 hours later and $130 poorer we left Lowe's with 2 bags of Quickcrete, a box of nails, a box of screws, a post-hole digger, and some wood: 4-4x4x10, 2-2x6x16, 2-1x6x10, and 2-2x4x10 (all pressure treated). I borrowed a screwdriver and jigsaw from a friend (thanks Will) and with the help of my hammer, table saw, and circular saw I was set.

So, the first hole was kind of a random one and the rest were also kind of eyeballed. It is really hard digging deep holes in this South Carolina clay (my forearms are killing me right now). Somehow in the end, the four poles ended up kind of straight and level and the thing actually looks like we put it in a good place in our back yard. I wouldn't recommend eyeballing it, especially when you are gonna use concrete to permanently put it in the ground, but it did work out for us.

Today, I laid down the top; cross beams and then the other crossbeams to go across the first cross beams (see picture). Then to finish it all off I put in a couple benches on the sides (again, see picture).

Basically, I think we got really lucky in eyeballing it. It kind of makes me want to build something else, but I doubt my next project would end up so good (ask Haley about past projects I have made – she'll never forget the original projector stand I made back in Utah).

Babysitting the kids

Babysitting the kids
Originally uploaded by Rob Egbert

Yeah, so Maria may not let me babysit her kids again anytime soon. Actually as I write this, Emma is wandering the house looking for her mom (in a surprisingly calm manner - knock on wood), Abby is watching Elmo, and John is in front of the computer playing a video game. I guess I can't criticize parents any more for letting technology raise their kids. It makes things so much easier.

I guess I have a long way to go before I am ready for kids of my own. Of course just being around Maria and Marc's kids fulfills any desire I may or may not have for hanging around children for the next couple years.

Navarre Sunrise

To start of my thanksgiving break, I decided to skip class and head down to Florida to spend some time with my sister and her kids while her husband, Marc, is over in Iraq. We are gonna head back up to Atlanta tomorrow to meet up with Haley and spend time with her family.

I was looking forward to doing a little fishing, but apparently there is a "red tide" right now down here in the gulf so I wasn't able to throw a line out. However, I was able to head out early this morning and snap off a couple pictures as the sun came up. Nothing like waking up at 5:00am while on vacation.

Workin It

fall colors
Originally uploaded by Rob Egbert

You ever feel like you study your life away? Neither do I. Though you'd probably think that I'd feel that way. Really, though, I probably don't study as much as I would work if I were working full time. It does suck when I have to study on weekends before a test, but for the most part med school isn't that bad. Pictured here are a handful of the books I would like to know inside and out before I take the boards this next summer.

In other news, today in class someone asked what the difference is between a "string sign" on barium enema of Crohn's disease and an Omphalocele. I fully realized that nobody who reads this blog will get why that is funny, but trust me, it is. Really funny. It was asked by the guy who always asks random, non-relevant questions. I'm pretty sure that today's question topped them all, though.

Another guy asked how it was possible to see through cancer with an X-ray. I was the only person around me who thought it was funny, which surprised me because isn't the answer obvious? Cancer isn't lead. It is like other bodily tissues. X-rays pass through all kinds of body tissues, why not cancer? You can see through cancer on X-ray the same way you can see through skin, muscle, organs. I mean, isn't that the point of x-rays? to see through things to get at what is underneath? Of course you can look through cancer.

I am by no means smarter than your average med school student. But sometimes when I listen to other people's questions in class my ego gets boosted ever so slightly.

Gob with the sneak attack

DSC_0621
Originally uploaded by Rob Egbert

Gob's new favorite way to try and eat our food. he is quite the crackhead. (PS, haley didn't give in).

Really?

Wow. This story is amazing. What is wrong with us? We want to hear about people's little domestic spats? This is the most mundane story in the world about a dad who is mad at a mom because he doesn't think she disciplines the children very well. Why would that make national news? Why does anyone care about this story?

I can't believe this is a story worth writing up and I can't believe that I have now blogged about it.

Gob vs. Snake

snake - ai
Originally uploaded by Rob Egbert

After rocking my test on monday (see previous entry) I took Gob out hiking in Modoc, SC. After we had been hiking for just under an hour, job was slightly ahead of me wandering back and forth along the trail. All of the sudden, I see little Gobby fly about 6 feet into the air, apparently scared to death. Apparently, this little guy had taken a lunge at him (pretty sure it bit him). I then took a half dozen pictures of him while Gob barked and barked and barked. The snake was less than intimidated. As we walked back to the car, I kept a tight eye on Gob, looking for signs of poison (I am far from proficient in identifying snakes). He seemed fine, if not a little shooken up from having the crap scared out of him. I later found out it was the "black rat snake," quite harmless. Sure made the hike interesting though.

Whoop whoop (cop siren)

MCG Buildings-6ai
Originally uploaded by Rob Egbert

Haley asked me to take some pictures for the cover of the MCG telephone directory (yeah, the major one that gets sent out to thousands of people). Excited to get my photography out there, I jumped on opportunity. I wanted to get a really good shot of some of the buildings on campus and decided to go out early to get either a night shot or early morning sunrise shot. So, picture me standing out on the corner of the "busiest" intersection on campus: Where Laney Walker Blvd. meets 13th street. It is 6:00am and I have my tripod pointed at the MCG cancer center (pictured here) and begin taking pictures. Not three shots later, a black and white came screetching across 4 lanes of traffic (well, more like 4 lanes, no traffic - it is really early), flying onto the curb in front of me. Of course I smell some harassment coming on, but continue to take pictures. The cop gets out of his car, I explain what I am doing, he asks for some ID (which of course I didn't need because it is lawful for anybody, let alone a student of the institution to take a picture). I show him my ID and it should be over, right? Well, he then proceeds to call it in, then call every other cop on duty, then the local chief on duty, and then the head chief that wasn't on duty. I then point out to him that anybody can take a picture of anything in public at any time and that he was, in my mind, harassing me. He then said something about security and a post-9/11 world. I let him know that I understood, but by showing him my ID, I should be good (even without an ID, I should be good). He then proceeded to ask me questions for a half hour. Yes, a half hour. Interspersed in this half hour, they guy repeatedly made phone calls asking people what he should do with "this kid." I was very tempted to just walk away at this time, knowing full well that I had every right to do so. Better yet, I should have continued to take pictures and ignore him - but I didn't want to provoke him. Oh, and officer Barbara (yeah, real name, and yeah, it was a dude) wasn't the brightest star out that morning. He had to repeatedly ask me what group I was taking the picture for, even when he had it written down in front of him. He had previously asked me the same question 3 times. I ended up having to make a couple phone calls on my own in order to get a name of some faculty on campus who would back me up. This guy was an idiot. When he was finally satisfied, he left me with a parting message "hey, buddy, at the end of the day I got a job to do just like you." Thanks, officer Barbara, for that deep thought. You still harassed me for a half hour over nothing.

I really think it may have had something to do with my slightly darker skin. I wanted to tell him that I descended from the same Northern European ancestry that he did, but I didn't want to push my luck.

p.s. this isn't the picture we are using, but it is my favorite.

perspective

stars
Originally uploaded by Rob Egbert

haley and I went to look at stars the other night. sometimes, after you've been studying for about 10 or 11 days straight, it is nice to pull your head out of your dark tunnel and look up. At the end of the day, studying and test taking don't really matter. Oh, and by the way, I rocked that test in to the middle of next week.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

JibJab

Man vs. High Tide

Sunday, September 30, 2007
10:41 PM

Friday afternoon. Big test. Done at 11:00. The plan? Go fishing in the ocean to celebrate. Drag the wives down to Savannah for a day of fun in the sun. Get to Savannah around 1800. Dinner at local fish house followed by stop at Basspro shops.

2 sinkers
1 large bopper
5-pack assortment of swimbaits
1 pack of BPS supershad III fake minnows
3-way swivel

2 hours later I am sleeping, dreaming of the next day's events.

We had been planning on going down to Savannah for some time. Recently, my study mates and I have taken up fishing. Every Saturday morning for the past two months or so, we have spent down on the river trying to catch largemouth bass or large stripers. Though we have technically caught largemouth (I even caught a random member of the Pike family, the Chain Pickerel), We have been disappointed by the smallness of the fish and by the amount of time it takes us to pull in 2 or maybe 3 fish.

Discouraged by our bad luck/inadequacies as fishermen, we decided it was time to try something else. Garrett lives down in Savannah and we heard there are some good inlets down there you can take your canoe/kayak to and catch some serious ocean fish. And so we headed down.

5:30am rolled around pretty early, having gone to bed around 1:00 the night before (as well as every night for the past week or so--we did have a test on Friday). We stopped at a bait shop to pick up a casting net and a minnow bucket, which eventually saved the day…

We put in at the fishing dock at the inlet to the "Back River" between Tybee and Little Tybee islands. We had heard from numerous people that the fishing is awesome there and canoes/kayaks are more than sufficient to get your way around. We had also heard from both the Basspros and the bait shop owner that it was really windy out and that Saturday was to have the largest tide of the year (9+ feet). Not to be discouraged, we testosteroned our way out into the sea.

At first the waves were a little choppy, but appeared innocent enough that we lulled ourselves into a false sense of security. About halfway across the 1000 yard+ channel the wind really started to pick up as did the incoming tide. The current got real strong and the waves got really choppy. The only thing more amazing than the fact that we didn't capsize is the fact that there was hardly any water in the boat after we finally did make it to the other side. We gradually made our way around the island, looking for a cut to go in between the different waterways. All around us was tall grass that seems to thrive in the brackish water of the incoming and outgoing tide. As we navigated our way through the grasses, we quickly realized that we would need some calmer water if we were going to be able to get a cast out, let alone catch any fish. Unfortunately, we spent the better part of the next 5 hours navigating our way through rough water, fast wind, and few fish (which means we saw a few fish and caught none).

After rowing for a couple hours, we made our way around the island and somehow made it back to the main channel separating the two islands. The water looked even worse than before, with increased wind and this time the water was going out, the tide having peaked and switched about an hour previous. Tying down all our equipment and taking a well-earned rest, we chilled in the tall grasses on the edge of the channel. Luckily the ride to the other side was much better than we built it up to be.

Once on the other side, we hugged the shore and I decided to get out of the boats and try my new toy out. As I awkwardly cast the monofilament/nylon/lead net out into the water, I felt weak and defeated. Then, to my astonishment, I managed to catch a tiny minnow. I repeated the throwing of the net only to catch a shrimp. Encouraged, I continued to cast that net out into the water until I had about a dozen shrimp. Justin and Garrett also got in on the action and within about a half hour we filled our little minnow bucket up with shrimp.

We then headed back to the pier to meet up with our ladies for lunch. As we enjoyed our footlongs from Subway, we mulled over strategies to hunt our elusive water-prey. Luckily the ladies didn't mind us going back out and we decided we would meet up with them later for dinner. Now encouraged with our live shrimp for bait, we once again set out. Though the shrimp rigs proved heavy for our small rods and reels, we managed to get a couple good casts out there. I even had fish on my line on 3 different occasions, but unfortunately I have been fishing for bass too long and tried to set the hook before the fish managed to ingest my entire bait. You can imagine how excited I finally was to actually feel a fish tub on the end of my line and you can probably also imagine my letdown when I didn't pull them in. Such is life.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention all the dolphins while we were out there. At one point, we were fishing in between some docks when a dolphin came within about 5 feet of our canoe. It scared the living crap out of us and this giant fishlike thing rose and then lowered back into the water. It was the last thing we were expecting and seriously, it gave me quite the startling. We continued to have dolphins swim all around us for a good part of the day as we went in and out of the channels.

So, yeah, we still suck at fishing. However, we did manage to get back with a bucket full of the freshest shrimp any of us had ever had. We fried it up plain in a little butter and it was good. Very good. Than, after paddling sunup to sundown (quite literally) I got a really good night's rest. It was awesome.

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Studying really sucks! I support healthy wrists.

Children of Abraham

Wednesday, August 22, 2007
11:00 PM

So it is around 11:00pm and I should be sleeping…especially after how tired I have felt all day long. However, I made the mistake of watching the provocative CNN documentary done by Christiane Amanpour titled, "God's Warriors." Having so much family over in Muslim countries fighting the "War on Terror," I wanted to watch. The program only made me mad. Mad that religion is used to control the way people think, act, and live. Over and over again during the program I couldn't help but think that the Jihadist movement is just a ploy to unite the Islamic people and form a powerful nation. Religious fervor is a strong motivator for so many people who are fighting on the other side of this war. I was also struck at the apparent lack of freedom. The religious leaders don't believe in giving their people a choice, but rather to limit their options so the people will chose according to their religious tenets. For example, in Iran one of the towns puts on a play that depicts the martyrdom of the grandson of Muhammad. Though the story calls for the role of females, men portray the females because having an actual woman on the stage will tempt the men. The local that was explaining it said that men have much more to be tempted with these days, so they have to limit the temptation.

The jihadist movement wants to establish Islamic rule which will force all to follow Islam. There will be no freedom, only the strict Moslem law. Hearing the crazed religious fervor of these "freedom fighters" is enough to scare most people, I think. Having three of my immediate family members either already over there or leaving over the next couple weeks probably doesn't help to ease the situation. I am proud of my family and what they are doing, though I'm also upset with the way the war has been handled. I don't have any solution, but it is easy to point out all the problems.


Seriously, why can't we just chill out?

In other news, more related to my medical school journey, I shadowed a local Radiologist today. He is in the Army and works at the military hospital. He tried to convince me that Radiology was what I wanted to do, and he actually did a pretty convincing job. They make a ton of money, can work from home, and can take a ton of vacation every year. By the time I got out of residency, I could probably read films from a beach somewhere in the Caribbean if I wanted to. I don't know what I want to do, but hopefully shadowing different doctors will give me a better idea. Ideally I would like to go to the department of the specialty that I want to go into, tell them what I want to do, and ask them how to do it. That way I can get in early on and ensure greater success later down the line. If only I could figure out what I want to do...

Mnemonics and the Universe

Tuesday, August 07, 2007
8:57 PM

I think I have blogged about this before, but it is worth mention again here. Mnemonics. They are good to help you remember things, but how good are they really? I mean is anyone supposed to actually believe that there are actually 5 T's of early Cyanosis? (Tetralogy, Transposition, Truncus, Total anomalous, Tricuspid atresia). Why would the universe, when it is putting itself together make early cyanosis consist of four things that start with the letter T?

I fully realize this is a silly pet peeve of mine, but seriously! The last time I went to a financial aid seminar they had a mnemonic for remembering how to budget, where they came up with a different word relating to budgeting the started with each letter in the word "budget" (I'm sure you know how these things work). Sure they are good memory devices, but when it comes to things like budgeting, I bet there are better strategies to be a good budgeter than to only use the words whose letter start with B-U-D-G-E-T. Seriously.

If I find myself listening to a presenter in class give a nifty word trick mnemonic, I almost always discount it as not credible. Maybe that's why I have such a difficult time remembering things.

Speaking of things…We watched this universe show last night on NOVA about alien galaxies, which actually means all galaxies other than the milky way--but then they started talking about the Milky Way so I guess it should have just been called Galaxies, but that isn't a cool name. I think throwing a run-on sentence into the mix every now and then is a good way to keep things interesting. But seriously, this universe show was mind boggling, both because of the special effects and because it gives you this incredible perspective on things. Well, not so much perspective on things, but rather just stuns you. I worry about things like food and sleep and money and studying, but my life is so incredibly insignificant in the entire scheme of things. Religion aside, we must live in the most boring pitiful corner of the universe. Our earth is a very average planet in a very average solar system in a very average galaxy (though one of the bigger galaxies here in our local group--oh, and we are located in a very average local group for that matter) in a very average, uniform universe. The expanse and mass of the universe is so incredibly unfathomable (that might not be a word) that is just boggles my mind. Seriously, we are fighting a couple people in the Middle East (or rather they are fighting us with 9/11), Britney Spears is something we talk about, and people save up money for years to buy diamonds??? I guess it is easier than to imagine how much is out there. Our lives give us stability and things we are able to manage. The universe is very unstable and represents a truly giant unknown. To think that we thought going to the moon represented the final frontier…Not even close!

In Session

Monday, August 06, 2007
11:23 PM

School started today. Luckily they are easing us back into things by starting the year out with a week of ECM, or Essentials of Clinical Medicine. This is the class where they teach us how to interact with patients and how to be doctors. Many people view this as a useless class, but really it is the actual class where they teach us how to be doctors. I think it is good, though last year's ECM was riddled with problems. This year they are revamping ECM for our class which could either be really good or bad depending on how things go. I don't like the idea of being a guinea pig, but if that's what it takes than experiment away.

I'm trying to set up some goals to follow:
○ Work Out
○ Shadow some doctors (figure out what I want to do in medicine)
§ My top 4 choices right now for specialty:
□ Anesthesiology
□ Dermatology
□ Radiology
□ Opthalmology
§ On the radar:
□ Plastic Surgery
□ Emergency Medicine
§ Bottom choices:
□ Gynecology
□ General Practitioner
□ Psychiatry
□ General Surgeon
○ Keep myself organized (clean and on schedule)
§ Try to ward off ADD (undiagnosed)
§ Prioritize and don't waste so much time
I probably have other goals too, but those are the big ones that come to mind. Now that they are written down, I have to do them, right?

To get things rolling, I worked out with Andrew today. After our third set of bench press, I realize that Andrew wants to keep going. 3 more sets later, my boobies really hurt. Then we do the shoulder press and decide that we are done with weights for the day. My boobies are really gonna hurt tomorrow. After that, we decide to play on the elliptical machines. 20 minutes later, I am gasping for breath and barely able to walk. I then make the comment "I wonder if they have stair steppers here." Andrew found them and I'm not sure if he mistook my comment for "I wanna climb on the stair steppers now" or just thought that we needed to work out a little more. 10 minutes later, nearly passing out, I make it to the locker room shower that doesn't seem to turn cold enough. Good first day working out. Hopefully I'll make to a second.

Oh, and it happened to be the hottest day of all time. Compounding the problem, I get a parking ticket my first day back because I haven't picked up my new sticker yet. I should probably note that I had to park my car SOMEWHERE in order to walk into the building to get my sticker. That is basically what happened. I parked, went to class, then to the parking office. Then realized I have a ticket, go back to said parking office, tell them they are dumb for giving out tickets on the first day of class because this is the first day everybody is back and we are all getting our stickers today. Lady was reluctant to see my point but eventually caved with a stern warning about what would happen "next time."

Oh, and I almost forgot: I totally ran out of gas today. I met Haley for lunch and on the way home I ran out on the freeway. Haley was able to quickly get me a little gas to get me going (she had already gotten off on her exit --needed to make a walmart run). As I waited for my return, I quickly remembered how this was the hottest day of all time. Turns out that your AC doesn't work when you are out of gas.


Good night.

Bourne Again

Saturday, August 04, 2007
11:34 PM

Just saw the Bourne Ultimatum with our peeps, Bob and Daniel, and decided on a couple things-

Rob's "To Do" List:
• Add Ludlum to my reading list
• If med school doesn't work out, become a secret agent
• Learn Jujitsu

Seriously, that movie rocked. The fight scenes made you feel as though you were right in the middle taking and landing punches. It was a couple hours of nonstop adrenaline.

Yesterday, Haley and I went over to some friends house down on the Savannah river. We played some "sharks and minnows" and some pool volleyball. It was a lot of fun, but the pool was overloaded with chlorine and Haley and I are now recovering from some mild chemical burns. Haley woke up with blurry vision that didn't clear up until around noon today.

Oh, and back to my pal Bob: It turns out he writes screenplays on the side. He has written a couple different scripts and has come close to selling some of them. Hearing this makes me want to do more with my free time than watch American Idol or House, MD.

New Favorite Thing To Do

Sunday, July 29, 2007
10:39 PM

• Get to a far off beach via canoe
• Play Bocce ball on said beach once arrived
• Canoe back to car after fun day in the sun

This past week we went up to Jacksonville, NC to visit my brother John, his family, and my mom. It was really good to be around my family and I wish we all lived closer by so we could get together more often. My brother is a Marine and is stationed right there on the NC coast. On Thursday, we headed to the beach on the Marine base and body surfed/boogie boarded the waves for a good 3 hours. It was awesome. I couldn't believe how big the waves were, especially for the east coast. I get the feeling that the waves aren't always like that because later when I told a local about our trip to the beach (we were buying shrimp from the guy) he laughed when I mentioned that the waves were pretty decent. I kind of got the feeling that the military might have "claimed" the best beach in the area for themselves.

Friday morning, Haley and I set out to find a local seafood market. Down in Snead's Ferry, NC, there is a place out in the boonies (yeah, most of NC is probably out in the boonies, but this was really out in the boonies) that has 4-5 local seafood markets. After driving though back roads to finally get to the water, we pulled into the last seafood place we found, Everett's Seafood. The things that surprised me most about the little place:

• Shrimp that cost $3/lb for the smaller ones and $5/lb for the jumbo ones
• The extraordinary niceness of the guys running the place

Later that night, we cooked up a bunch of the shrimp. We ate more shrimp than we should have, but even non-shrimp lovers, Haley and John, were loving it. We looked up a coconut shrimp recipe, and then my mom had requested a Pina Colada dipping sauce from Red Lobster that we were also able to find. We also skewered a ton of shrimp and added some Zataran's Creole Seasoning before putting them on the grill. It was awesome food. The fact that the shrimp had been caught the same day made it taste all the better.

On Saturday, our last day there, we took a couple canoes (including our new one) to Hammock's beach state park. Somehow we were able to fit both canoes on/in our truck to haul down to the ocean. Once there, Haley and I went together in a canoe with Gob and John, Ashley, Mom, and their 7-month old baby Jack were in the other. We had a couple lifejackets and in retrospect Jack probably should have had one of them on. We got some funny looks from other people on the 2.5 mile trail to the beach who were donning lifejackets. Oh well, we all made it. Jack and Ashley ended up riding the ferry back. The last half mile or so of the canoe trail was really shallow water, so we all got out and hiked the canoes in. Gob really liked this part because we let him run free for the most part. He enjoyed terrorizing the millions of small crabs that covered the shore and didn't quite know what to do when they pinched him. After finally docking our canoes, we hiked a short distance over some dunes to reach the open ocean. It was nice because the place where we ended up was pretty much deserted. We ate a quick lunch, got in the water for a while and then played some wicked Bocce Ball right there on the beach. I wasn't sure if it was going to be worth it to carry the Bocce set along the 2.5 mile canoe trek, but once we started playing there in the sand I knew it was. After a couple hours at the beach, we headed back. By this time we were all really tired, including Gob who slept most of the way back.

I don't know if this last day ended up being so enjoyable for me because of the canoeing/beach or because I did it all with family that I love. It was probably the most fun I have had all summer, Pacuare river included.

After getting home, we had to make the trek home because Haley had an engagement she had to be at the next morning. We ended up not leaving town until 8:00pm and with a 5-hour drive ahead of us, I decided to start consuming vast amounts of caffeine early on. Between the 3 cokes, Exedrine (both for caffeine and to tame my sunburn), and energy drink (my first foray into the world of energy drinks) I was pretty hopped up on caffeine. All in all, I think I had about 400+ mg of brain electrifying awakeness going on. After the day at the beach, I needed all the help I could to stay awake. My plan worked and combined with listening to the final Harry Potter on audio book we made it home safely (and wide awake--it took me an hour to get to sleep).

Things I learned In Church

Thursday, July 26, 2007
10:32 AM

This past Sunday, this kid gets up to give a talk in front of the entire congregation. During his little speech, he talked about how grateful he is for all the things he had at scout camp that pioneers didn't have a hundred and fifty years ago: Things like "rope and pocketknives." All they had were "sticks and stones." I think he was a little confused. I think Adam and Eve probably had knives and rope. I could tell by the look on the bishop's face that he too was confused at this comment.

Later, in Sunday school this guy was teaching about faith. He tried to compare faith to electricity and explained something to the following effect: "we know when we flip a switch that the electricity will cause the lights to come on. Nobody knows how electricity works. It is all just theory. When we flip the switch, we have faith that this magical thing called electricity will work to turn on the lights." I was actually pretty sure that I learned in high school and then college how electricity works. True, there are some things that we don't get, but I'm not sure I would refer to electricity as a "theory." We have sure gotten quite far in the information era with computers and electronics based solely on theory.

Eaze Lock

Tuesday, July 17, 2007
11:55 PM

I like working out. Well…I don't necessarily like the working out part of working out, but rather the lifestyle benefits that come with working out (ie, not being fat, not getting winded when climbing a flight of stairs, and I think I am happier when I get my stress out by moving my legs up and down on a machine that simulates walking up stairs). Haley on the other hand doesn't like the working out part of working out or the other parts. Well, maybe she likes the other parts, but the working out part of working out usually wins and she doesn't want to go work out with me. I understand this and so when she does agree to go work out with me, so I'm not all by my lonesome, I am happy.

Today was one of those days. I asked her yesterday if she would join me and she said yes. So, this morning we head off to the Riverview park activities center for a half hour work out before our day begins. Things go well until we go back out to the car only to realize that the key I had taken off my keychain before leaving the car was actually my truck key. Yup, I locked us out of the car. I felt really bad about this both because Haley was on a schedule to get some school stuff done today and the fact that this would probably not encourage her to come with me to work out again for a while.

Luckily we have the world's best insurance company, USAA. They had someone ("Eaze Lock") out there in 15 minutes and we were on our way. Not sure yet what the ramifications of this incidence will be on our future workouts together, but I'm hoping for the best.

We had dinner tonight with some medical school friends. We had a chance to catch up on school gossip. Apparently some Biochemistry professor was caught in one of the stairwells this past week pleasuring himself and was subsequently fired. Seriously, though. There was probably a bathroom stall within 50 feet of wherever he was or at least his office couldn't have been that far away. What prompts a dude to go to town in a stairwell? Don't really understand that one.

As I try to start thinking about school, I received one of my pathology textbooks in the mail today. Amazing how the previous version of a book can save you about 80 bucks off the current version's price. I don't think that much has changed about staff infections or acne over the past 6 years. I love the internet.

Marking territory

Tuesday, June 12, 2007
12:52 AM

So my dog, bless his heart, went to mark a little territory and instead of yellow pee falling upon the small plant, it received a nice deuce. Yup, my dog lifts his leg to coil a steamer exactly as he does to mark his territory. It is really a sight to behold and luckily it wasn't a one time affair.

In other news, I have been away for quite a while. I have had many good intentions to start back up my blog and now that summer is well underway, it's never too late. I have had so many good stories that will most likely never make it to the blogosphere. For example, my phone went off in church and lets just say that I don't have a "standard" ringtone and that the one I have on it is not exactly "church appropriate." Luckily it was at my parents ward in Spokane, WA--on the other side of the country.

But really, summer is awesome. We are loving life as our summer travel season is well underway. After Spokane, Haley and I (and Gob) headed up to the GSMNP (great smokey mountain national park) for a little Thorpe family camping trip. We nearly burned the place down with what is probably the biggest fire that campfire ring has ever seen (oh, and by "campfire ring" I really mean a giant 12' diameter in the ground pit. The fire was awesome. I'll have to post some pictures.

Speaking of pictures, that is one of my big goals this summer, go through my zillions of pictures. I may take a good one every now and then, but I also take lots and lots of really crappy ones that I need to go through and delete. Up until now I have been too lazy to get it done, but now that we are looking into decorating our house with my photography, I am starting to go through them looking for some of the goodies.

Speaking of printing things out, I just ordered this $800 color laser printer for a mere $140 after a giant $350 mail-in rebate. This thing is supposed to print our fairly good pictures, though still not quite as good as a photo lab. Should be a lot of fun to use, though.

This is such a mumble jumble of thoughts… I really shouldn't blog after being out in the sun all day. But Alas it is 1:00am and I had a crystal light energy drink which contained 120mg of caffeine (same as a cup of coffee) as well as a coke zero and diet coke within the last couple hours. My cAMP levels are all maxed out. Yes, cAMP is a medical term that only describes how technical my life now is as I make my journey through the wonderful world of medicine.

Speaking of medicine, school and the pursuit of a medical degree is about the farthest thing from my mind right now. I mean, I have pretty much totally forgot that I am studying medicine right now as I plan our panama trip, not to mention all the other trips to we are thinking of going on. We'll be in Destin, FL until Thursday. Then this weekend we are headed to Savannah to shoot a wedding reception, then we are heading up to Atl so haley can teach a class on computers. We will probably stay up there for a week before heading down to Costa Rica. After getting back from central america, who knows what we will be up to. Maybe we'll get a little sleep.

go to the travelblog

I haven't been as slack as it appears. I've just been frequenting my other blog: http://egberttravels.blogspot.com

it's been a while

Yeah, I've been slacking. But that's why I'm writing now: To make up for that.

This weekend, my dad drove all the way down from new jersey to be with us for the weekend. I can't believe he found a way to fit that in his schedule, seeing as he drove down friday afternoon and left sunday afternoon without missing any of his TDY (militaryspeak for temporary duty assignment). My brother, his wife and their son are also in town. It was nice to have some of the family together for the weekend. We had a full day saturday going out to the lake on a picnic and then geocaching at a nearby trail.

As a sidenote, geocaching is our new hobby (yeah, this brings my hobby list to about 478 different hobbies). People go out into the woods and hide stuff in little containers and note the GPS coordinates on an online site. Then other people can go on the site, look up the coordinates and go hunt for the "cache." This is a game for those of us who never outgrew the hide and seek thing as a child. Yes it sounds kind of nerdy. Yes it IS kind of nerdy. Yes, Haley and I are nerds. I think we got my dad and brother's family interested in it so at least we wont be the only nerds in the world.

Haley and I are already planning on finding some caches in central america this summer.

Enough of the side note. Dad left today after eating our delicious Carrabas leftovers from last night. It was really good to see him. Our family really needs to get this whole east-coast/west-coast thing worked out so we can live close together...maybe someday.

Another quick side note: These pictures were not taken with my Nikon D200, but rather with my new phone, the W810i. With this awesome new phone (which is also an .mp3 player, 2mp camera, video camera, FM tuner, Voice recording--shall I go on?), comes new numbers. If you want them, email me.

The Sky Is Falling

You ever get the idea that scientists are out to get us? Or is Hollywood just really on top of things? Check out this story of impending disaster involving the UN, Space flights, nuclear weapons, and impending doom. Apparently we are all gonna die in 2036. Luckily, by that time I will have finally graduated medical school, made a dollar or two, and hopefully will have had a little fun along the way. Of course I don't know if we'll make it to 2036 at our current rate of worldwide political shambles. To think Before 9/11, I thought we lived in such a happy tolerating world.

Brekky, V-Day Style

Yeah, here is a picture of our buttermilk chocolate chip pancakes I made for breakfast (who says I'm not romantic?). I've also included a picture of Gob, after I let him lick some of the strawberry junk I made to put on top of the pancakes.

So, funny stories...A couple days ago, I mentioned to Andrew and Garrett that I wished they would post everybody's grade next to their name so we all knew how everybody else was doing. At the time I knew it was wishful thinking. Then yesterday, the DAY after I made the wish, one of our professors accidentally forwarded an email to our entire class that contained an excel spreadsheet with everybody's name and grade from this past test. Wow, I'm good. Oh, and there was an accompanying email, about an your later, asking everybody not to read the previous one. Of course by this time ;-), I had already opened and performed an extensive analysis on my classmates grades. It was good to see that I am in about the top 25% of my class, though I have to admit that I want to get that up a little. Nothing like a reality check on where you stand to give you a little oomph to step it up a notch. Of course, everybody in the class got the same "oomph," so we'll see how the next test goes. With the quick turnaround on this wish, I think I'm gonna ask for some rich uncle to leave me a couple mil so I can drop out of med school and travel the world. I'll keep you posted on this one.

On a side note, my truck was having starter problems the other day. I would turn the key and nothing would happen. I knew the battery wasn't dead, because it would start eventually without any problems. So, I figured it was the starter. I went and bought a new one and a book to figure out how to replace it. I figure if I am gonna fix things like brains and bones some day, I might as well be able to fix my car as well. Luckily, I am smart enough to call my dad on all things car related. He is kind of like me in refusing to allow anyone else to work on his car. I guess that's where I get it from. He put the thought into my mind that it probably isn't the starter. By this point, after talking to the guys at the auto store and researching on the internet, i was pretty sure that it was the starter. Not wanting to make an expensive mistake, however, I decided to crawl under the truck and wiggle the cables. Well, that actually worked. I haven't had any problems since.

Glycolysis Lecture

I thought I would post my notes from one of my lectures today. I guess I am posting in order to vent about the amount of information we are dished out in a span of two hours (oh, and I had two other hours worth of information on Kidney acid/base balance as well today). Oh, and I will be tested on this on Monday (along with about two hundred pages of other information, ranging from genetics to signaling cascades, to membrane transport. It is like every other week I am studying for finals. I don't know what I am gonna do when I am trying to bring all this together next year for the boards.


Glycolysis - Biochemistry

1. all cells can undergo glycolysis
2. occurs in the cytoplasm
3. RBC's can only undergo glycolysis for energy
   
4. glucose - phosphate - lactate

Glucose - 2 pyruvate

• can go to CO2 + H2O in presence of mitochondria and oxygen
• if no mitochondria or O2, converted into lactate instead (add two H, through reduction)
• anaerobic glycolysis - no oxygen
  
• if converted into CO2 + H2O - Aerobic Glycolysis

RBC's

• no mitochondria present
• high O2 levels, but in absence of mitochondria, cannot undergo aerobic glycolysis
• glucose converted into lactate only
• cancer cells also convert gluc to lactic acid
• still have mitochondria, but grow under hypoxic conditions
• cells proliferate in the cancer tissue faster than vasculogenesis
• can't make vasculature fast enough
• however, even in presence of oxygen in the laboratory, still undergo anaerobic glycolysis
• during change from normal to cancer, metabolic phenotype changes
• theory behind is that when tumor cells use mitochondria for energy, can make a lot of ATP, but it comes with a price:
• also produces reactive O2 species - converted into toxic metabolites
• tumors don't want the toxic metabolites

glucose - lactic acid - only produces two net molecules of ATP

• if converted to CO2 and H2O, will make 32 ATP

glucose to pyruvate -

• 1 NAD into NADH2 + H (NAD used up)
• if you cannot regenerate the NAD, glycolysis will stop
  
• when pyruvate into lactic acid, regenerate the NAD
• this only happens in aerobic respiration (using mitochondria)
• keeps the glycolysis going
• purvate can now enter mitochondria to go to H2O and CO2
• tumor cells are able to convert to lactic acid, thereby regenerating NAD without mitochondria
• LA causes the surrounding area to become acidic (pH around 6)

• tumor can't do anything with the LA, so dumps it into the surrounding
• will not acidify under aerobic conditions because mitochondria takes care of pyruvic acid
• normal conc of 1.4mM LA in body (RBC also dumps LA)

Glycolysis - don't need to know the sturcture of the intermediates

1. glucose converted to G6P (uses ATP, enzyme by GK) - irreversible
2. G6P reversibly converts to F6P (uses PGI - phospho-gluco isomerase)
1. rearranges 2nd carbon to a keto group
3. F1,6BP (fructose 1,6 bisphosphate) - uses ATP as source for phosphate group (mediated by PFK-1 - phosphofructokinase 1) - phosphorylates at C1
1. irreversible
4. F1,6BP broken directly down the middle using ALDOLASE
1. breaks at the 3C
2. makes DHAP (dihydroxyacetonephosphate) and GAP (glycerol...phosphate)
   
3. reversible reaction by PTI (phosphotrioseisomerase)
4. DHAP can convert to GAP
5. so, use Glucose and 2 ATP to covert to two molecules of GAP
6. GAP converted into 1,3BPG by GAPDH (GAP dehydrogenase)
1. 1,3BPG has two phosphates
2. use Pi as the phosphate donor (this is why not a kinase, does not use ATP)
3. catalyzes an oxygenation-reduction reaction - removes 2 H
1. converts NAD to NADH + H
2. readily reversible reaction
4. 1,3BPG is a high energy compound
   
1. means it gives off more E than ATP
   
5. C1 has the acid anhydride - high E bond
6. when hydrolyzed, can use the E from bond to convert ADP to ATP (is converted to 3PG)
   
1. uses PGK - phosphoglycerate kinase (ADP to ATP conversion, so a kinase)
2. this is a freely reversible reaction under normal conditions in the cell
1. irreversible in the laboratory
7. 3PG converted to 2PG by PGM (phosphoglycerate mutase)
1. changes the location of the phosphate group from the 3 to the 2
2. freely reversible reaction
8. 2PG converted to PEP by enolase (removal of a water molecule)
1. dehydration of 2PG - double bond to CH2
2. still linked by an ester linkage, but is an enol because of double bond
3. very high energy bond, even though is an ester linkage (usually low E)
4. when hydrolyzed convert 14.8KCal E
5. can now provide the energy to make ATP
9. PEP - Pyruvate (uses PK - pyruvate kinase)
1. irreversible reaction
1. know which ones are irreversible steps (GK/HK, PFK1, PK)
   
10. converted to lactate under certain conditions
1. converts nadh + h to nad using LDH (lactate dehydrogenase)

stuff to know: GAPDH

1. GAP to 1,3BPG using up a Pi
2. arsenate substitutes for Pi in this reaction
1. structurally very similar
2. arsenic toxicity recpaces the substrate
3. instead of phosphate, arsenate as the substrate
3. instead of 1,3BPG, you get 1-arseno3-P-glycerate
1. gives rise to 3PG + arsenate
2. highly toxic to the cell
3. GAPDH still active, just now catalyzes a different reaction
4. normally GAP to 3PG, energy source for ATP
1. in presence of arsenate, converted to the 1-arseno-3-p-glycerate
2. converted to 3PG, however, here you do not make that 1 molecule of ATP
5. so, look at ATP synthesis in cell with and without arsenic poisoning
1. normally -2ATP and +4ATP
1. net production of +2ATP
2. Arsenic poisoning: -2ATP, +ATP
1. net production of 0 ATP
6. Arsenic poisoning: RBC's lyse
1. this is not what kills you
2. arsenic can react with any protein in the body with a thiol group
3. ATP production is shut down all over the body because will substitute for the Pi normally used in ATP production
   
1. shuts down ATP production all over the body

substrate level phosphorylation - ATP made in absence of mitochondria and O2

1. 2 steps in normal glycolysis
2. in presence of arsenic, one of the steps is bypassed by arsenate
1. shuts off ATP production
2. toxic to all cells
3. hemolytic anemia

Need to remember the enolate step:

1. inhibited by fluoride
2. used in laboratory to block glycolysis to do an accurate sugar count
3. gycolysis shut off by RBC

Need to remember 1,3BPG into 3PG producing 1 ATP using PGK

1. also can be converted to 2,3BPG and then to 3PG thereby sidestepping the direct route
1. No ATP production in this case
2. can happen in all cells, but especially in RBC's
3. 2,3BPG important for O2 binding in RBC's
4. sigmoid O2 binding curve for RBC's - positive cooperativity
1. add 2,3BPG, decreases the O2 affinity, shifts the O2 binding curve to the right
2. does not change PO2 in lung because is maxed out
3. makes big difference in the tissues because of low PO2
4. Hb now releases O2 for the tissues to use
2. so, if you have a patient with a dissociation curve shifted to the right
1. patient has a higher than normal concentration of 2,3BPG in the cell as compared to normal

Reactions involved in Fructose and Galactose

Fructose: monosaccharide present in sucrose, fruit juices, honey

1. normal constituent in our diet
2. first converted into F1P (FK fructo-kinase)
   
1. broken down by F1P-aldolase into DHAP and glyceraldehyde
1. when defective, causes genetic disorder
   
2. DHAP can enter the glycolytic pathway
3. glyceraldehyde can be converted to GAP

Galactose: breast milk (lactose)

1. Galactose to Galactose1P by GK (galactose kinase)
2. converted to G1P by UDP glucose to UDP galactose
1. uses Galactose1P-uridil transferase
3. converted to G6P
4. UDP galactose to UDPgluc by another enzyme

Regulation of Glycolysis:

• regulated at the irreversible reactions
• HK/GK
• PFK-1
• PK

HK - all cells - high affinity to glucose

• Km=0.1mM
• G6P inhibits this enzyme

GK catalyzes the same reaction

• only expressed in the liver and pancreas (organs responsible for blood gluc regulation)
  
• glycogen storage in these places
• low affinity enzyme, Km around 10mM
• under low Gluc levels, does not operate (low Km)
• regulated by inhibitors in liver and panc
• inhibitory protein that can bind to GK - activity goes down
• glucokinase-inhibitor complex
• regulated by F6P (inhibits GK)
  
• one of the intermediates in glycolysis
• reverse reaction facilitated by F1P (activator of GK)

• GK enzyme induced by insulin
• insulin is a hypoglycemic hormone - will reduce blood gluc levels
• insulin thereby gets the liver to undergo increased glycolysis
• more insulin, lower the blood glucose levels
• hormones that increase the gluc levels (ie, glucagon), linear relationship (when high, high gluc)

PFK-1 - most important regulatory enzyme of glycolysis

• F6P to F1,6BP
• inhibited and stimulated by certain compounds
• inhibited by ATP and citrate
• when they have a lot of ATP, will shut off pathways that stim ATP in cells
• citrate is the starting point for the TCA cycle
• stimulated by AMP, Pi, F2,6BP
  
• when cells are E deficient, want to rev up glycolysis
• Pi stimulates by providing substrate
  
• F2,6BP activator of F1,6BP
  
• not an intermediate in glycolysis

Liver:

• glucagon is a hyperglycemic hormone
• inhibits glycolysis by raising glucose levels in body
• increases cAMP, increases PKA
• PKA phosphorylates target proteins
• regulates the levels of F2,6BP
• F6P to F2,6BP by PFK-2 (differs from PFK-1)
• reverse reaction mediated by F2,6BPase
• regulates liver, on the same protein - PFK-2/F2,6BP-ase protein - target of PKA
• so, gluc activates cAMP which activates PKA which activates PFK-2/F2,6BPase protein
• PFK-2/F2,6BPase protein activation depends on whether or not is phosphorylated
• so, glu - cAMP - PKA activated - PFK-2 inactive, F2,6BP-ase activated (breaks down F2,6BP)
  
• F2,6BP level goes down
  
• so, all this is controlled by phosphorylation of PFK-2/F2,6BP-ase
• bottom like, glucose levels go up, cAMP up, decrease in F2,6BP
• cAMP levels and F2,6BP have an inverse relationship
• So, F2,6BP goes down which normally activates PFK-1
• PFK-1 inactivated (which is the most important regulatory mechanism of glycolysis)
• glycolysis goes down or shuts off
• cAMP shuts off glycolysis in the liver (only in the liver)
• cAMP normally turns on glycolysis:

Heart muscle - cAMP leads to an increase in glycolysis

• this is what happens in a panic attach
• adrenal medulla produces Epi
• Epi to the heart tissue, increases cAMP in the cell
• leads to an increase in F2,6BPlevels
• direct relationship
• PFK-2/F2,6BPase protein - uses a different gene for the same enzyme
• has the opposite effect

• Epi - increases cAMP - increased PKA - increase in PFK-2 activity - increase in F2,6BP, increases PFK-1, increases glycolysis
• know difference between liver and heart in terms of cAMP

clinical conditions:

• diabetes type I - no insulin
• type II - insulin, but not active (resistance)
• insulin activity goes down in both types
• causes the glucagon activity to go up (glucagon and insulin are reciprocal)
• glucagon/insulin ratio is higher than normal
• causes cAMP to go up in liver - leads to F2,6BP decrease, PFK-2 down, Glycolysis decrease
• leads to hyperglycemia
• pyruvate kinase deficiency (PK)
• gluc normally to PEP to Pyr through PK
• if complete absence of PK, no survival
• genetic muation leads to about 20% decrease of activity
• hemolytic anemia due to RBC insufficiency (ATP depleted, lysis of RBC's)
• leads to jaundice (Hb metabolism - bilirubin)
• backup of all intermediates (buildup)
• includes 2,3BPG (1,3BPG converts to 2,3BPG)
  
• shifts O2 dissociation curve to the right
• PK patients have increased 2,3BPG
• Hereditary Fructo intolerance - (HFI)
• F1-P-aldolase deficient
• normally takes F1P to DHAP + glyceraldehyde
• F1P builds up, leads to increased GK
• beta cells of pancreas ramp up GK activity
• follow effects of gluc, GK on the pancreas beta cells - leading to insulin secretion into the blood
• GK stimulates insulin secretion
• gluc - GK (ramped up)- ATP - Shuts K channels - depolar., increases Ca levels - insulin release
• hyperinsulinemia
• hypoglycemia
• assoc with hyperuricemia (gout)
• must avoid fructose in the diet
• breast feeding okay
• symptoms are vomiting, liver disease (F1P accumulation), jaundice - more bilirubin (dysfunctional liver)
• be able to tell disease from the symptoms
• Galactosemia - two types
• galacto kinase defect (GK defect)
• mild form - presence of cataracts are the only presenting symptom - easily treatable
  
• G1P-uridil-transferase defect - more sever form of disease, assoc with cataract, and other problems
• mental retardation
• liver disease, jaundice
• tx by avoiding galactose in the diet - no breastfeeding
  

incentives

Today I realized how much I am like Haley's kids. I need incentives, I need a lot of them and I need them often. It gets hard when you study all the time to get excited about studying. It gets old and after putting in 6 hours in a given day it is easy to give up and say that is enough (and really, it probably should be). However, if I'm gonna get an A in biochemistry and physiology, I need to study a little more. You would think that getting an A is incentive enough, but that A doesn't come until the end of the semester, and my current standing isn't posted anywhere online where I can easily access it. So, the A incentive does not meet my criteria for incentives. Luckily, there are other little incentives that float in front of me every now and then that keep me focused. For example, I study with Andrew. He is really smart and I really want to be smarter than him (which will not happen any time soon, by the way). But, I study hard so that I can know the material better than him. Another incentive I have is the competitive residency interest group meetings that I go to. Today I attended the cardiology IG and the radiology IG. Both are very competitive fields that require good grades. At these meetings, they remind you how good your lifestyle can be and how good the money will be if you study hard now. Again, good incentive for me to put in those extra few hours at the end of the day.

Okay, my other incentive for going to study after I am done with this entry: I just discovered this new drink called "Vault" which drinks like a soft drink but kicks like an energy drink (or something like that). Anyway, it has like 4x the caffeine as my normal coke and I just finished polishing off a 20oz like a half hour ago and I am wired. Bring on the intracellular signal transduction cascades! I'm ready to make you mine.

a couple thoughts on doctoring

Learning about genetics is a real eye opener. We barely finished sequencing the human genome within the past couple years and already there are new treatments flying out all over the place as a direct result of that project. We are just beginning to knock on the door of human disease as it relates to our human blueprint. As we decipher the raw data we are made of, we are learning at an accelerated rate what makes us tick, and what messes up our clockwork. We are finding mutations every day that cause normal Mendelian diseases (remember the green and yellow peas?) like sickle cell anemia and cystic fibrosis, not to mention the multifactorial diseases that involve a vast array of genes interacting with each other. As we find the root defect in these diseases, we are also finding ways to correct the problems.

Since being in medicine, I am convinced that gene therapy is the way of the future. I don't know what this will mean for mankind, but at the strides we are making in everyday diseases, I fully believe that in my lifetime I will see gene therapy moving to the front of the disease treatment line. It is a good time to be in the medical field, to be a part of the vast improvements in medical care that we will see. Of course when America adopts socialized medicine and we get rid of "evil profits," I imagine that the current rate of discovery and innovation will slow down, but that is another topic altogether.

Other thoughts on doctoring: Today, after visiting with a patient in the hospital (I'll call him Harry) I realized that I have no desire for general practice medicine. I don't think I am cut out for living my life in a constant struggle to fix people's lives. One of the problems with western medicine is a tendency to treat symptoms instead of disease, but when the vast majority of disease are not curable, what else can you do? I want to go into a specialty where I can fix things. Many people have things that are broken and I want to help them live better lives by taking care of that which I have control over. This is why I think I would like opthalmology, orthopedics, or some other type of surgery.

I don't see myself working with people on a day to day basis trying to bring about behavior change. I can't see myself working with diabetics, for example, trying constantly to bring their blood sugar under control in order to tame their heart disease, blood clots, and kidney failure. I'd rather fix broken bones, reconstruct noses, or fix eyes that aren't working.

C-Sections and a Political Rant

 Yeah, so here's a photo of my peach tree. I post it to show you both how nice it looked a couple days ago and to lament the loss of such marvelous buds as the last couple freezing nights have taken the flowers away. I am sure that by tomorrow, they will be little more than shriveled blobs on a bare tree.

In other news, today I got to see a c-section on the labor and delivery ward. I am taking an elective in anesthesiology where we get to go around and observe different anesthesiologists in action. My turn in the OB started with a meeting in the break room where we all huddled around the white board where all the patients were listed. The Dr. that was heading our group (let's call her Dr. LaGrange) gave us a brief overview on the current OB situation. You'd think that it would be pretty boring; it was anything but. One of the patients apparently belongs to a religion that believes in the refusal of all medical treatment. Well, this wouldn't normally be a problem, except that this lady was "severely preeclamptic" at 38 weeks of pregnancy. While I am not sure of all the symptoms, her heart rate was over 200/130 (yeah, that's a 130 diastolic pressure--not good). If that baby doesn't come within the next couple hours, she will probably die. She has signed an order to forgo any medical treatment to resuscitate her and ordered the same for the baby. If you are like me, you are probably wondering why this lady ever checked herself into the hospital in the first place. If you are going to refuse all medical treatment, then just have the baby at home with a midwife or something. But then as we talked more about the case and how unfair it all seemed to the child, Dr. LaGrange brought up the fact that it was Georgia law to protect the life of the child, even if the mother desires otherwise. I think this lady came in because she knows she is in pretty bad shape. She knows that she can deny herself medical treatment, but can't do so for her unborn child. This way, in the back of her mind, she has a way out of the guilt associated with killing her child. "Well, I told them not to, but they went ahead and saved my child's life, which is what I wanted anyway." I sincerely hope that some kind of a miracle happened and she already had that baby. And then there is the question of what to do in those states who don't have laws regarding the child in this case. I think I would throw the parents wishes aside and save the baby. So sue me.

I just realized that this will be a long blog entry. Sorry. The c-section was cool. You wouldn't believe how white the fat is when you cut into the belly. It was glistening and pearly, bleached white. I was also surprised how little blood there is with that initial incision. Of course when you get deeper down and start cutting the abdominal muscles there is quite a bit more blood, but still, most c-sections are done without a blood transfusion. This impressed me after I learned that the heart sends about a fifth of your blood to the uterus in a minute--meaning they have to work fast. While we "helping" to set up for the procedure, Dr. LaGrange was working with one of her residents. He seemed nice enough, but Dr. LaGrange was treating him like crap. I felt bad for the dude, as it seemed he could do nothing right. Every little thing he did seemed to annoy Dr. LaGrange and she let him know it. I couldn't believe the way she was talking down to him, as though he was a 7-year old child. Dr. LaGrange was really nice to all of us in the class, but it kind of scared me that maybe that is how all attendings treat residents. I really hope that is not the case, but I'll be sure to let you all know in a couple years.

So, back to the c-section. It was really cool to see the baby pop out of the uterus. It was so bizarre to see something so human come out of a large gaping hole in a woman's abdomen. Seeing it in real life was quite the experience and I was glad to be a small part of it (albeit a very small part--I injected some drug into the lady that was supposedly 80x more potent than morphine). Oh, and one of my classmates totally passed out during the procedure. We were standing on these little footstools against the wall observing, when all of the sudden she crashed to the ground, bumping her head as she landed. To her credit, it wasn't because of anything she couldn't handle (it was towards the end when she passed out, during a rather boring part), but rather that she had locked her legs for a good while and blood wasn't reaching her head.

Oh, and Before I end this one, I wanted to make a small political rant. I don't believe so much in democracy in this country. Well, I believe in democracy, just that I don't think what we do is democracy. Politicians pick who they are gonna have run for president in the primaries. They pick from amongst themselves. In the end, when we head to the polls to pick a president, we are picking from two different people, who were picked out by politicians. Sure, we have a choice, but I don't feel my vote counts because the people who I want to vote for, who have the same ideals as myself, aren't one of those two running for president. Yeah, I voted for Bush in the last election, but I really don't know why. Yeah, he was the lesser of two evils, but is that what democracy is supposed to be? I thought it was voting for that which makes sense to me. Voting for what I want, not voting for the person who has offers the least bad stuff. I'd much rather vote for someone who has the most good stuff. In the next election when I have to chose between Hilary and Gulianni, I won't really want either of them.

Amateur Sketch, as promised

 Yup, here I am in all my glory shooting that AK-47. Even though I was kind of bummed when I forgot my camera, I feel I made up for it through this personal rendition of the event. If you were to follow that bullet all the way out to the target, you would see that it hit the center of the bull's eye (no bigger than a dime) from 25-30 yards out. But seriously, I forgot to mention that in my previous post. I was the only one to hit the bull's eye all day, and I did it with an AK-47 (without a scope). I was proud of myself.

Oh, and the other part of the story that I forgot to mention. Later that night, Haley and I attended a wine and cheese party with some of our med school buddies. I hope to post some pictures of that event as the pictures become available (I didn't take my camera, and am waiting on people to email me). But I was talking to some second year med students and they wanted to know who I went shooting with. Though I had no intentions of telling them who in the area had a small arsenal that Charlton Heston would be proud of, they pushed me when I told them it was someone they all knew. I gave in and revealed the professor's name. I am hoping that one doesn't haunt me later on when this person asks why I am spreading rumors about his armageddon bunker.

Guns and Such

I have a new favorite gun. Now, I'm not in any way a gun person, but I challenge any of you to go shoot an AK-47 for the first time and not get a rush out of it. The event was organized by my church (who says LDS people don't have any fun?), and it just happens that one of my medical school professors also goes to my church and also happens to be ex-special forces. Yeah, he had a LOT of nice guns. I learned a lot about my personal tastes for guns. For example, a .38 caliber handgun is quite manageable. On the other hand, a 44-magnum is too much gun for me (though my professor's 12-year old son seemed to really like it--it nearly hit him in the head from the recoil after every shot). the .22 rifle seemed a bit weak. Oh, and then there was the fully automatic machine gun. I'm not sure if those are legal, so I'll leave names out of this entry. The machine gun took 36 bullet cartridges and you could whiz through those in a couple seconds if you wanted to. Of course, by the time you were getting to the end of the magazine, you would be shooting somewhere behind you from the recoil. That was a fun one. I gotta tell you, though, I really liked that AK. They say if you are ever gonna learn how to shoot a gun, it might as well be an AK-47, seeing as it is by far the most popular rifle in the world. Really, though, it is pretty sexy. Maybe I've been watching too much 24, but shooting guns is cool. I was pretty upset with myself when I realized that I forgot my camera, and for this reason, I am planning on putting together an amateur sketch of myself with the AK and posting it sometime in the next couple days.

In other news, Gob enjoys helping us with the dishes.

Quiet Voice

So, you know that guy from undergrad who didn't have a quiet voice. You know, that dude in the library that would ask you a question at full street volume? That guy, who when you see him coming over, causes you to hide your face in your copy of "Harper's Illustrated Biochemistry for Medical Students" in hopes that he will ask someone else. Well, that guy happens to study in the same corner as the library as me. He has only one volume, and it is LOUD. I actually told him to shush the other day, not on purpose but rather as a natural reaction to an abnormally loud volume.

Oh, and here's my other funny story. I'm not really into the social networking sites as much as many of my peers are. I only recently created a myspace and facebook account years after most people. I have been lazy at keeping up with my myspace account because I don't have that many friends that use myspace. Then the other day, out of the blue, I receive an email telling me that someone made a comment on myspace. So I check the site to find the following message "Hey, you are a freak." The message came from an old high school friend that I haven't talked to in years. I thought it was kind of a strange comment to make, so I went over to his myspace site to see what was going on. When the page loads, I don't immediately notice anything unusual. Then I scroll down to find rather strange pictures posted on his "wall" (the comments section). One of photos was of two cats sitting next to each other, one with his arm around the other and the caption read "lets be friends." There was another with a picture of a smiling, pointing Jesus with the caption "Y'all going straight to hell!" Well, I thought those were kind of strange. Then I noticed something even stranger: My username and picture were next to the pictures, saying that I had put them there. Thoroughly perplexed, I shared this with my buddy, Andrew, who I was studying with at the time. Andrew just happens to be another myspace contact and told me that I had been posting really strange things on his wall also. He had been meaning to talk to me about it, but it had apparently slipped his mind. So, I go to his site and see more pictures, this time even more crude in nature. One was of a baby looking at a pornographic magazine with the caption "mmmmm, milk," once again with my picture and name by it. This was starting to concern me at this point, and I checked other contacts on my list. It turns out that I had sent one to an old friend from high school that had a scantily clad girl sitting in bed with the caption "call me when you hit Lotto."

I later called my brother, who is very big into myspace, facebook, and all things related to internet social networking. He told me that I had also posted strange things to his site including to check out a link to the "best butts on myspace 2007 awards." He also told me that it means someone hacked into my account and was using my username to post on other people's webpages. OOps. I ended up changing my password, which I hope will solve the problem. Otherwise, I guess I'll delete the account in order to stop scaring off old friends.

Gotta Love My Scrubs

A bad case of ADWS

From Odds and Ends

All the symptoms are there. I am experiencing sadness, cravings, emptiness, and instability. I don't know how I am going to get through the next couple days, let alone the coming months/years. I knew when I was getting involved, that the resource was limited and that I should partake in steady amounts. If I got too involved too quickly, I would go through the very thing that now plagues me. But once things got started, I couldn’t help it. I was high on good times, laughing constantly. Unfortunately, like many out there, I got involved too late. By the time I found myself addicted, I knew there would come an end. My supply was going to be cut off. I knew it would not be pretty, yet I needed the instant gratification and sense of well-being the emanated from partaking of this indulgence.

Yes, I am talking about the show Arrested Development. How I will miss Tobias' homosexual innuendos. I will miss George Michael's forays into the forbidden fruit of cousin love. Buster, I hope you get that hot nurse that was only in love with you only because you were comatose. Michael, may you find happiness in whatever you do next. Lindsay, I hope you are finally able to have that affair on your husband that you have been craving for so long. Maybe, be strong and good luck with the family signing the rights over to make a movie. Lucille, good luck in jail with the new SEC investigation. George, be strong and enjoy your retirement down in Cabo. And last, but not least of all, Gob. I hope the alliance finally lets you back in, you deserve it and so does Franklin.

And now, I bid you adieu as I go through the shakes and cold sweats associated with Arrested Development Withdrawal Syndrome.

From Odds and Ends

PS, Haley is going through an addiction of her own, CBA (Computer Boggle Addiction). Mainly this stems from the false belief that she was invincible at Boggle, until one night we played with Garrett and Hannah, who wiped the floor with our trash (or asses, as a bishop I once lived with put it). She is now determined to win back her title and is practicing every free minute she has.