The first thing on my to-do list which I saved for after my board exams were over was shoe cleaning. I have this pair of white Nike BRS classics, and until today they have slowly been dirtied by more and more risky and dangerous behaviour (walking around in crowded bars, walking in rain, being on a dance floor).
I sat down today with a towel and a canister of shoe cleaner, and slowly began to go through the motions of cleaning while listening to some music. After a while, I noticed nothing was really getting cleaned, and the playlist had ended. I then proceeded to remove my headphones and clean in silence. This dramatically changed my approach to cleaning, as I began to take notice of how hard I was cleaning, what parts of the shoe I was cleaning and for how long I let the spray cleaner set before approaching the canvas with the towel. I started to "feel" the cleaning of the shoe because I paid more attention to the entire process with all of my senses, and was thinking myself through it because I was completely absorbed in the process.
This is something that was explained to me in a book I bought not too long ago called "The Idiot's Guide to Zen living", and I never thought to try it out until now. I suppose it can be argued that my baseline anxiety level is much lower than it would otherwise be since I have cleared a residency match and a couple extra board exams (not officially cleared them until I get notification of passing, though), but it nonetheless made a huge difference in the way I perceived a seemingly mundane task.
The cleaning was over before I knew it, the shoes were white (well, close to it anyway) and my mind was quiet. I'm going to go pack for my trip now. I expect that, with the same state of mind, I should be done packing fairly quickly.
Addendum : Packing for Europe is going to be very easy, and will also exhaust my current collection of clothes. I'll pack two days beforehand and I should be fine.
Tuesday, 30 April 2013
Monday, 29 April 2013
Life long learning and "Interest Reading"
I took my MCCQE Part 1 on Friday. Messed up a few questions and a couple clinical decision making cases marks, but otherwise I felt overall it went as well as it was going to go. Then the weekend of ignorance happened. I mean, just utter ignorance.
I started out by watching back to back episodes of he-man and stargate on Friday, and being exhausted. Then I talked to my friend on the phone (she's writing the MCCQE Part 1 on Wednesday, and we've never met). The next day, I woke up really early .... to rent a car and head to Michigan. My colleague and friend from medical school was having a party to celebrate that he gained a residency and successfully graduated medical school.
I went there, chilled out with him, ate, danced, acted completely ignorant (basically the only non-ignorant thing I did was stay sober, but I haven't drank in years so it wasn't really a big thing for me. No, I'm not an alcoholic, I just didn't really like drinking that much), and then I visited another friend in Michigan later that day. It was a friend who was staying with another friend of mine from med school. Conversation between these two was interesting and amusing because one of them is a nurse, who has a completely different world and life view than the other one, who is a medical student trying to match next year. A woman, she's trying to match into orthopedic surgery, a profession dominated by male hotheads (or so it was described to me by someone else). The funniest story she had was of her and her resident sitting in the on-call room at 3 am during her trauma shift and saying "Hey, we don't have any admissions tonight!" "Yeah, our service is empty, we're not doing much tonight!" "We're just chilling over here, life is goo---" [BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG] heard down the street, three streets away from the hospital. Her and the resident ran down to the emergency room and got there before the ambulance. The nurse asks "We're you paged?!??!" And "Nooo..." was the response, unsure of whether they knew how to diplomatically phrase that they "got the call".
I heard many rumors about the school in the conversation, most of which will be discussed in a subsequent blog entry (some day I have to sit down and review all these campaign promises) but for now we'll summarize by saying I left Michigan at 7 30 and got home around 12 15 am. I was exhausted but still determined to make good on the rental agreement, so I returned the car at 8 am the next day. I put my 5-hours-of-sleep performance to the test by doing questions with a friend to whom I was introduced by a mutual friend. I haven't met her, but she knows my academic history and still decided to call me for help on exam review, which as far as I'm concerned is career suicide, so she can't be all that bright. Whenever I do practice questions or review questions or sample questions, this cold breeze of realized ignorance whips me in the face and I reevaluate how much I'm supposed to punish myself psychologically by hard-reviewing certain diseases or risk factors or associations that were previously not studied or are as of yet unknown to me.
Being an incoming resident physician means I should have some form of ongoing continuing medical education plan set up. And here it is:
1) Read every issue of the American Family Physician (one every two weeks) from now to kingdom come
2) Read every recent review or journal article on every new disease I see in residency
3) Do a certain number (TBD) of board review questions every single day, after my 13 hour shift before my 6-6.5 nightly hours of sleep
4) Read a certain number of pages of Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine
5) Read every newly-sent medscape newsletter that pops into my inbox (each newsletter consisting either of a long, detailed quiz or an array of articles on various different topics)
And also find a girlfriend, lose twenty pounds and get a six pack, win a road bike race, get married and start a family, and re-learn and then continue learning how to play guitar.
So who still wants my job? Too bad, it's mine, and don't y'all forget it.
I started out by watching back to back episodes of he-man and stargate on Friday, and being exhausted. Then I talked to my friend on the phone (she's writing the MCCQE Part 1 on Wednesday, and we've never met). The next day, I woke up really early .... to rent a car and head to Michigan. My colleague and friend from medical school was having a party to celebrate that he gained a residency and successfully graduated medical school.
I went there, chilled out with him, ate, danced, acted completely ignorant (basically the only non-ignorant thing I did was stay sober, but I haven't drank in years so it wasn't really a big thing for me. No, I'm not an alcoholic, I just didn't really like drinking that much), and then I visited another friend in Michigan later that day. It was a friend who was staying with another friend of mine from med school. Conversation between these two was interesting and amusing because one of them is a nurse, who has a completely different world and life view than the other one, who is a medical student trying to match next year. A woman, she's trying to match into orthopedic surgery, a profession dominated by male hotheads (or so it was described to me by someone else). The funniest story she had was of her and her resident sitting in the on-call room at 3 am during her trauma shift and saying "Hey, we don't have any admissions tonight!" "Yeah, our service is empty, we're not doing much tonight!" "We're just chilling over here, life is goo---" [BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG] heard down the street, three streets away from the hospital. Her and the resident ran down to the emergency room and got there before the ambulance. The nurse asks "We're you paged?!??!" And "Nooo..." was the response, unsure of whether they knew how to diplomatically phrase that they "got the call".
I heard many rumors about the school in the conversation, most of which will be discussed in a subsequent blog entry (some day I have to sit down and review all these campaign promises) but for now we'll summarize by saying I left Michigan at 7 30 and got home around 12 15 am. I was exhausted but still determined to make good on the rental agreement, so I returned the car at 8 am the next day. I put my 5-hours-of-sleep performance to the test by doing questions with a friend to whom I was introduced by a mutual friend. I haven't met her, but she knows my academic history and still decided to call me for help on exam review, which as far as I'm concerned is career suicide, so she can't be all that bright. Whenever I do practice questions or review questions or sample questions, this cold breeze of realized ignorance whips me in the face and I reevaluate how much I'm supposed to punish myself psychologically by hard-reviewing certain diseases or risk factors or associations that were previously not studied or are as of yet unknown to me.
Being an incoming resident physician means I should have some form of ongoing continuing medical education plan set up. And here it is:
1) Read every issue of the American Family Physician (one every two weeks) from now to kingdom come
2) Read every recent review or journal article on every new disease I see in residency
3) Do a certain number (TBD) of board review questions every single day, after my 13 hour shift before my 6-6.5 nightly hours of sleep
4) Read a certain number of pages of Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine
5) Read every newly-sent medscape newsletter that pops into my inbox (each newsletter consisting either of a long, detailed quiz or an array of articles on various different topics)
And also find a girlfriend, lose twenty pounds and get a six pack, win a road bike race, get married and start a family, and re-learn and then continue learning how to play guitar.
So who still wants my job? Too bad, it's mine, and don't y'all forget it.
Thursday, 25 April 2013
The Day before the MCCQE1
Tonight is the night before the second Canadian medical board exam that I must write, the MCCQE1. I passed the MCCEE some time ago, but it was significantly easier (supposedly) than this test. I have, however, prepared more extensively (supposedly) for this test. My diet and exercise regimes have suffered greatly these past few months; many samosas were consumed today, and much He-Man (2002, not the original) was watched in an effort to relax the mind before tomorrow's board exam.
I stopped reading hours ago, out of fatigue and acceptance that whatever happens shall happen and any additional review I undertake today will make little difference if any to my score. After tomorrow, I shall be free to do as I wish (vacuuming and preparing for Europe and residency) until June 10th, the unofficial first day of my residency. At that time, this blog shall change from themed articles to dated journal entries. Actually, there will be many dated journal entries in Europe, I feel that would be most appropriate in order to best record my travels there.
There are habits about my life I wish to change, and I shall begin tomorrow to perform them no more. My body aches from overuse through bad posture and I shall correct it. My energy is low from an imbalance of nutrients and I shall correct it. My will has been bent over from anxiety, and that shall be the first thing corrected. In the book "Dune", the difference between a human and an animal is elegantly described. An animal, when caught in a trap, cries out from the pain. A human, when caught in the same trap, waits quietly for whomsoever laid the trap to return, so that they may be killed and so that no other human shall be harmed as a result of the trap. If I am to better myself, I must endure the weaknesses and the pain my own mind causes me, that I may live longer and healthier in order to serve those in need of my help. I have the odd moments of clarity.
I stopped reading hours ago, out of fatigue and acceptance that whatever happens shall happen and any additional review I undertake today will make little difference if any to my score. After tomorrow, I shall be free to do as I wish (vacuuming and preparing for Europe and residency) until June 10th, the unofficial first day of my residency. At that time, this blog shall change from themed articles to dated journal entries. Actually, there will be many dated journal entries in Europe, I feel that would be most appropriate in order to best record my travels there.
There are habits about my life I wish to change, and I shall begin tomorrow to perform them no more. My body aches from overuse through bad posture and I shall correct it. My energy is low from an imbalance of nutrients and I shall correct it. My will has been bent over from anxiety, and that shall be the first thing corrected. In the book "Dune", the difference between a human and an animal is elegantly described. An animal, when caught in a trap, cries out from the pain. A human, when caught in the same trap, waits quietly for whomsoever laid the trap to return, so that they may be killed and so that no other human shall be harmed as a result of the trap. If I am to better myself, I must endure the weaknesses and the pain my own mind causes me, that I may live longer and healthier in order to serve those in need of my help. I have the odd moments of clarity.
Wednesday, 24 April 2013
Recollections: Take out those sutures
I recently heard a podcast on "Stories: The Moth" about a bassist who got his shot at the big time by playing with Freddie Hubbard. It was somewhat reminiscent of my time in an elective rotation I did for family medicine.
Prior to my elective in family medicine (the second-last elective of medical school, while I was in my fourth year) I was in my third year at a completely different hospital, rotating with a tough, Harvard-trained surgeon. One of these days, I'm going to sit down and give my "Experience in Surgery" a proper writing, but that day is not this day. So for now, I'm just going to talk about removing sutures.
Sutures are synthetic stitches placed in cuts in the skin to help them heal. Normally, sutures are placed in the skin after surgery, and then they are removed after the wound heals. One of the duties of the lowly medical student is to remove these sutures in a timely manner when the patient comes to the surgeon's clinic for their follow-up appointment. Our surgeon in particular did a lot (like well over a hundred) surgeries in the 6 weeks I rotated with him (following him I had another 6 weeks with a vascular surgeon husband-and-wife team) and my colleague and myself would alternate suture removal. I never got to place the suture, that would come later, but removing the suture was an everyday, all-the-time occurrence.
Fast forward to the elective rotation at the family medicine residency, and I was told by my precepting family physician attending at the time that he had sutures to remove in someone's face, so he had to go and find a huge magnifying glass to be able to do it because his eyes were not as good as they used to be. Being the upstanding 4th year enthusiastic medical student that I was, I volunteered to remove the sutures myself, and did so promptly, painlessly, and without any vision-enhancing device (my eyes are still young, thankfully. One day, I don't doubt that they will grow old). This was one of the few opportunities I received to prove myself on that rotation, infront of this particular attending who was actually the associate program director of family medicine there, and ended up writing me a letter of recommendation that led in no small part to my 5 residency interviews. I didn't end up matching there because I put the program below another, since it seemed as though that residency was running lower on funds and was a bit behind in technology than where I matched. If I were to decide with my heart, I would have gone with them, but when ranking residencies, students must always decide with their heads.
To remove a skin suture, one must wear gloves and open up a sterile pair of pickups (forceps with tiny teeth) and a sterile pair of suture removal scissors. Gentle pulling on a suture will expose one end of the suture below the knot and, when this end is snipped with the scissors, the knot can be removed effortlessly from the skin. Scar tissue and continuous sutures can complicate this endeavor, but that is the rudimentary technique. Suture removal, one of the many and sometimes overlooked reasons for which I managed to match to a residency.
PS. I've decided to scrap the inclusion of the "Perfect Day" tally into my journal entries. It interferes with the continuity of some of these entries, so I'm just going to keep my own tally.
Prior to my elective in family medicine (the second-last elective of medical school, while I was in my fourth year) I was in my third year at a completely different hospital, rotating with a tough, Harvard-trained surgeon. One of these days, I'm going to sit down and give my "Experience in Surgery" a proper writing, but that day is not this day. So for now, I'm just going to talk about removing sutures.
Sutures are synthetic stitches placed in cuts in the skin to help them heal. Normally, sutures are placed in the skin after surgery, and then they are removed after the wound heals. One of the duties of the lowly medical student is to remove these sutures in a timely manner when the patient comes to the surgeon's clinic for their follow-up appointment. Our surgeon in particular did a lot (like well over a hundred) surgeries in the 6 weeks I rotated with him (following him I had another 6 weeks with a vascular surgeon husband-and-wife team) and my colleague and myself would alternate suture removal. I never got to place the suture, that would come later, but removing the suture was an everyday, all-the-time occurrence.
Fast forward to the elective rotation at the family medicine residency, and I was told by my precepting family physician attending at the time that he had sutures to remove in someone's face, so he had to go and find a huge magnifying glass to be able to do it because his eyes were not as good as they used to be. Being the upstanding 4th year enthusiastic medical student that I was, I volunteered to remove the sutures myself, and did so promptly, painlessly, and without any vision-enhancing device (my eyes are still young, thankfully. One day, I don't doubt that they will grow old). This was one of the few opportunities I received to prove myself on that rotation, infront of this particular attending who was actually the associate program director of family medicine there, and ended up writing me a letter of recommendation that led in no small part to my 5 residency interviews. I didn't end up matching there because I put the program below another, since it seemed as though that residency was running lower on funds and was a bit behind in technology than where I matched. If I were to decide with my heart, I would have gone with them, but when ranking residencies, students must always decide with their heads.
To remove a skin suture, one must wear gloves and open up a sterile pair of pickups (forceps with tiny teeth) and a sterile pair of suture removal scissors. Gentle pulling on a suture will expose one end of the suture below the knot and, when this end is snipped with the scissors, the knot can be removed effortlessly from the skin. Scar tissue and continuous sutures can complicate this endeavor, but that is the rudimentary technique. Suture removal, one of the many and sometimes overlooked reasons for which I managed to match to a residency.
PS. I've decided to scrap the inclusion of the "Perfect Day" tally into my journal entries. It interferes with the continuity of some of these entries, so I'm just going to keep my own tally.
Tuesday, 23 April 2013
Boring post
Couldnt stand not writing anything, but am tired and didnt feel inspired to throw in a full-on daily entry. I'm listening to a podcast called "Stuff you should know", and I highly recommend it. I'm going to bed. Today was a perfect day.
Monday, 22 April 2013
My take on the "Perfect Day"
The word "Perfect" is often thrown around and differently defined based on who is talking, and I have learned that the definition of "perfect" can change based on the context of discussion, to one of two things. "Perfect" can imply a numerical or mathematical proximity to the ideal, or it can more metaphorically describe something that approaches a subjective ideal. I have decided that, in order to make changes to my life and better myself, I shall align myself with the latter each successive day and simply state, at the end of my post, what a "perfect day" is. Each successive improvement in "perfect" day shall denote a new level of "perfect". "Perfect" can have levels, sure, why not? It's my definition, I shall use it in however way I wish.
Today was day 1 of this nonsense which is probably soon to fail, so I figured, since everyone must start somewhere, I shall simply type in whatever I managed to do correctly today and call that "Level 1". When I make an additional improvement on today, I shall call that "Day 2" and that shall be the new standard. And then level 3, and then so on.
Level 1 is as follows:
No TV
No excess saturated fat
Brush and floss teeth at night
Acne medication at night
When the day goes well, I'll call it a "Perfect Day", and when it doesn't, I'll comment that it wasn't a perfect day, but that it's okay. When I level up, I'll mention it once somewhere in a post (in bold, most likely) and then leave it at that. So, without further ado,
Today was a perfect day.
Today was day 1 of this nonsense which is probably soon to fail, so I figured, since everyone must start somewhere, I shall simply type in whatever I managed to do correctly today and call that "Level 1". When I make an additional improvement on today, I shall call that "Day 2" and that shall be the new standard. And then level 3, and then so on.
Level 1 is as follows:
No TV
No excess saturated fat
Brush and floss teeth at night
Acne medication at night
When the day goes well, I'll call it a "Perfect Day", and when it doesn't, I'll comment that it wasn't a perfect day, but that it's okay. When I level up, I'll mention it once somewhere in a post (in bold, most likely) and then leave it at that. So, without further ado,
Today was a perfect day.
Sunday, 21 April 2013
Recollections : Tennis
I have recently developed calcific tendonitis in my left shoulder, in no small part from playing tennis. The acquisition of this condition is multifactorial, but this post is not a medical one, it is one of nostalgia.
I would go to Leisureland in Dubai with my parents whenever my Dad wanted to play tennis, and he met two of his soon-to-be longtime friends in line at Leisureland. They started playing tennis together, and I was almost completely removed from this entire process. I was far more interested in how much adventuring I could do around the bleachers, what plants were growing, what garbage people left, than the rules of the game and the updated score.
I was around 8 years old when my Dad bought me my first real tennis racquet. It was a Wilson Rak attack, and I would use it to hit balls against the wall in the compound of my house. This was around the same time that my Dad had a decent part of the compound converted into an outdoor rec area. There were cement blocks in the ground for the floor, painted white lines against a dark green background on the wall to resemble a standard tennis net, and then there was this high, wide catch net to prevent stray tennis balls from leaving the court if they bounced too high off the wall. I really don't know how my Dad managed to pay for all this, but I'm hoping that, when I have children one day, I manage to save enough to be able to give them the same life my Dad gave me. It was not a life of continuous luxury, but when you needed it, the money was there. I hope I manage to raise my children to be as frugal as I am today, and I only plan on getting more frugal as I age, which previous posts would suggest.
I started off somewhat enthusiastic about tennis, but then things came to somewhat of a standstill skill-wise because my father, for all his enthusiasm, is not as good at teaching a sport as I am. He did not do an amazing job of critically analyzing the weak aspects of my swing or stance, "hit the ball hard" and "finish your swing" yelled in frustration from the other end of the court really only go so far in forwarding someone's game. At this point, we had bought a membership to a sports club and he would regularly book the court and drag me down there to try and sharpen my game. Also noteworthy is that, having grown out of the wilson rak attack, my Dad handed me the free tennis racquet we got from Pizza Inn for ordering two medium pizzas. The tennis sessions were so unfruitful that I remember myself thinking that I was only meant to follow tennis as a fan rather than to play it as an athlete.
Then a whole bunch of good things happened, one after the other. I moved to an apartment where there was an outdoor tennis court on the ground floor. My friends, who loved tennis, lived in the adjacent building. I played them constantly, consistently losing, but I gained a competitive enthusiasm for tennis as a result. Then, one fateful day, I played my Dad to a set of 4-4 and asked if I could switch racquets with him. He laughingly agreed, I beat him, he bought me a new racquet, and our tennis games have been one-sided ever since. The last time we played, he mentioned that his only real goal was to try and get one game off me in a set.
I represented the third level (Group C) of my high school tennis team in Grade 12 in men's doubles, and I kept up with the sport infrequently throughout my undergraduate studies. I'm not as good as the other people I've met who have bought year-long memberships to outdoor-indoor facilities and have had numerous lessons (I've only actually had 6 paid tennis lessons), but on occasion, before I stopped due to shoulder problems, I'd still be able to take my friends to school.
I would go to Leisureland in Dubai with my parents whenever my Dad wanted to play tennis, and he met two of his soon-to-be longtime friends in line at Leisureland. They started playing tennis together, and I was almost completely removed from this entire process. I was far more interested in how much adventuring I could do around the bleachers, what plants were growing, what garbage people left, than the rules of the game and the updated score.
I was around 8 years old when my Dad bought me my first real tennis racquet. It was a Wilson Rak attack, and I would use it to hit balls against the wall in the compound of my house. This was around the same time that my Dad had a decent part of the compound converted into an outdoor rec area. There were cement blocks in the ground for the floor, painted white lines against a dark green background on the wall to resemble a standard tennis net, and then there was this high, wide catch net to prevent stray tennis balls from leaving the court if they bounced too high off the wall. I really don't know how my Dad managed to pay for all this, but I'm hoping that, when I have children one day, I manage to save enough to be able to give them the same life my Dad gave me. It was not a life of continuous luxury, but when you needed it, the money was there. I hope I manage to raise my children to be as frugal as I am today, and I only plan on getting more frugal as I age, which previous posts would suggest.
I started off somewhat enthusiastic about tennis, but then things came to somewhat of a standstill skill-wise because my father, for all his enthusiasm, is not as good at teaching a sport as I am. He did not do an amazing job of critically analyzing the weak aspects of my swing or stance, "hit the ball hard" and "finish your swing" yelled in frustration from the other end of the court really only go so far in forwarding someone's game. At this point, we had bought a membership to a sports club and he would regularly book the court and drag me down there to try and sharpen my game. Also noteworthy is that, having grown out of the wilson rak attack, my Dad handed me the free tennis racquet we got from Pizza Inn for ordering two medium pizzas. The tennis sessions were so unfruitful that I remember myself thinking that I was only meant to follow tennis as a fan rather than to play it as an athlete.
Then a whole bunch of good things happened, one after the other. I moved to an apartment where there was an outdoor tennis court on the ground floor. My friends, who loved tennis, lived in the adjacent building. I played them constantly, consistently losing, but I gained a competitive enthusiasm for tennis as a result. Then, one fateful day, I played my Dad to a set of 4-4 and asked if I could switch racquets with him. He laughingly agreed, I beat him, he bought me a new racquet, and our tennis games have been one-sided ever since. The last time we played, he mentioned that his only real goal was to try and get one game off me in a set.
I represented the third level (Group C) of my high school tennis team in Grade 12 in men's doubles, and I kept up with the sport infrequently throughout my undergraduate studies. I'm not as good as the other people I've met who have bought year-long memberships to outdoor-indoor facilities and have had numerous lessons (I've only actually had 6 paid tennis lessons), but on occasion, before I stopped due to shoulder problems, I'd still be able to take my friends to school.
What if you were the one who changed?
What words strike fear in peoples' hearts? Words like "Cancer" , "Heart attack" , "Terminal", something related to health? What about words like "Fail" , "Denied" , or the more social yet equally dreaded "Friend zone" that many men loathe?
Now let's pretend you're not a person anymore. Let's pretend you're a corporation. Let's pretend you're a business, and you have a product or service to provide to a consumer base. Now what are the worst words you can hear? How about "Boycott" ? Okay, that's going to ruffle your feathers but really it's probably only the minority that will say something like that. How about "Embargo" ? That's a lot scarier, isn't it? A whole country or governmental authority absolutely prohibits trade with you. How about we simplify here, how about "Cancelling" , "Refund", or how about "No" ?
If you have complaints about your cellphone company, how bad would it be to simply cancel, pay the excess fees, and find a better provider? If you don't hate them enough to cancel, then what is the use of complaining? Why did you decide on a contract plan before doing an appropriate amount of consumer research? Were you swayed by advertising or deals that someone offered you on the phone or in person which seemed immediate for some unexplained reason (i.e. because they really were not) ?
Your contractor did a lousy job fixing your roof. Why didn't you search for one that was recommended by others? Why did you seek one out who was cheap, but had next to no referrals, the few of which he may have had being from people from whom you have six degrees of separation? When people gamble on what is less expensive, they incur upon themselves a high risk of damage and malfunction cost, which in turn incurs the greatest cost of all, time. I am not speaking from a position of wealth. When I start making money for myself, If I do not have enough money to buy what is considered quality merchandise, I shall simply do without it. I do not plan on buying comcast internet and television when I move for residency. I plan on buying USB internet (one that I have researched and is found to be sufficient) and I plan on doing without television. It's a bit ridiculous to think that someone should do without television when they have practically been raised on it solely to avoid having to deal with their cable company when there is a problem, but consider this; how much hatred pours into you when your cable company, telephone company, internet company, computer company, basically any company gives you a whole bunch of red tape and runaround every time there's a problem? The next time you pick up the phone to call someone, for how long would you want to be on hold? What if I told you that, if you gave up cable TV ( and got, say, netflix or something similar instead, or simply did without and pocketed the extra $100 and change per year ), you would have to listen to 3 hours less of hold music per year? That's assuming there are 6 service interruptions per year in TV programming where you are, and it also assumes each hold session lasts only thirty minutes.
How often have you known a radio to break down?
Now let's pretend you're not a person anymore. Let's pretend you're a corporation. Let's pretend you're a business, and you have a product or service to provide to a consumer base. Now what are the worst words you can hear? How about "Boycott" ? Okay, that's going to ruffle your feathers but really it's probably only the minority that will say something like that. How about "Embargo" ? That's a lot scarier, isn't it? A whole country or governmental authority absolutely prohibits trade with you. How about we simplify here, how about "Cancelling" , "Refund", or how about "No" ?
If you have complaints about your cellphone company, how bad would it be to simply cancel, pay the excess fees, and find a better provider? If you don't hate them enough to cancel, then what is the use of complaining? Why did you decide on a contract plan before doing an appropriate amount of consumer research? Were you swayed by advertising or deals that someone offered you on the phone or in person which seemed immediate for some unexplained reason (i.e. because they really were not) ?
Your contractor did a lousy job fixing your roof. Why didn't you search for one that was recommended by others? Why did you seek one out who was cheap, but had next to no referrals, the few of which he may have had being from people from whom you have six degrees of separation? When people gamble on what is less expensive, they incur upon themselves a high risk of damage and malfunction cost, which in turn incurs the greatest cost of all, time. I am not speaking from a position of wealth. When I start making money for myself, If I do not have enough money to buy what is considered quality merchandise, I shall simply do without it. I do not plan on buying comcast internet and television when I move for residency. I plan on buying USB internet (one that I have researched and is found to be sufficient) and I plan on doing without television. It's a bit ridiculous to think that someone should do without television when they have practically been raised on it solely to avoid having to deal with their cable company when there is a problem, but consider this; how much hatred pours into you when your cable company, telephone company, internet company, computer company, basically any company gives you a whole bunch of red tape and runaround every time there's a problem? The next time you pick up the phone to call someone, for how long would you want to be on hold? What if I told you that, if you gave up cable TV ( and got, say, netflix or something similar instead, or simply did without and pocketed the extra $100 and change per year ), you would have to listen to 3 hours less of hold music per year? That's assuming there are 6 service interruptions per year in TV programming where you are, and it also assumes each hold session lasts only thirty minutes.
How often have you known a radio to break down?
Saturday, 20 April 2013
Step 3 Day 2
I slept better on Tuesday and Wednesday night than I had ever slept before any board exams. I expect that trend to continue from now onwards. I went over the solutions to all the practice case scenarios on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, and watched at least 4 episodes of He-Man to try and calm myself down.
I walked into the testing area on Thursday and it took an excessively long time to get the test started. In retrospect, it was probably around the same amount of time it took previously, but it seemed like so much longer because I was sitting in the waiting area with a bunch of nervous people who wouldn't strike up conversations about themselves or about the tests they wanted to take. They weren't all fearless like yesterday's residents who were confident in their abilities and just wanted to take the step 3, pass and get it over with so they could get back to their lives. These people were sitting there and sweating and shaking as though they had something to lose.
Everything went smoother on the second day, but I was still jammed for time for a certain number of blocks, and I totally bombed the last case scenario, couldn't remember what to do and didn't end up helping the patient, but that was one scenario out of 12 and I was only looking to pass. The rest of the cases, as far as I could tell, went well enough. I am optimistic.
I decided to drive home right afterwards and got my first speeding ticket in Canada. I've decided to retire from speeding (to my European friends, I got the ticket for doing 135 kph in a 100 kph zone which, over here, is the standard highway speed). In medical school, I always felt it necessary to speed in order to be able to make long drives to wherever I wanted to go and get there on time. Now that I'm a doctor, I think it would be much more prudent to simply leave early, and to get there when I get there. I believe the majority of my highway driving is behind me, at least for now anyway. With children will come much more driving for camp grounds and far-off friends and other opportunities, but in general I think my speeding days are behind me. Again by speeding, I mean breaking the law. When I visit France and Italy in May, I will most certainly be doing whatever the speed limit is over there.
I walked into the testing area on Thursday and it took an excessively long time to get the test started. In retrospect, it was probably around the same amount of time it took previously, but it seemed like so much longer because I was sitting in the waiting area with a bunch of nervous people who wouldn't strike up conversations about themselves or about the tests they wanted to take. They weren't all fearless like yesterday's residents who were confident in their abilities and just wanted to take the step 3, pass and get it over with so they could get back to their lives. These people were sitting there and sweating and shaking as though they had something to lose.
Everything went smoother on the second day, but I was still jammed for time for a certain number of blocks, and I totally bombed the last case scenario, couldn't remember what to do and didn't end up helping the patient, but that was one scenario out of 12 and I was only looking to pass. The rest of the cases, as far as I could tell, went well enough. I am optimistic.
I decided to drive home right afterwards and got my first speeding ticket in Canada. I've decided to retire from speeding (to my European friends, I got the ticket for doing 135 kph in a 100 kph zone which, over here, is the standard highway speed). In medical school, I always felt it necessary to speed in order to be able to make long drives to wherever I wanted to go and get there on time. Now that I'm a doctor, I think it would be much more prudent to simply leave early, and to get there when I get there. I believe the majority of my highway driving is behind me, at least for now anyway. With children will come much more driving for camp grounds and far-off friends and other opportunities, but in general I think my speeding days are behind me. Again by speeding, I mean breaking the law. When I visit France and Italy in May, I will most certainly be doing whatever the speed limit is over there.
Wednesday, 17 April 2013
Step 3 , Day 1
This post is intended to be both specific and general. It's a debriefing of my Step 3 experience (which I hopefully won't have to repeat, if I didn't totally suck at it) and it's also meant to comment more generally on test-taking strategy, something which I believe all academics can never review sufficiently.
I walked in and noticed that, as usual, the testing center was running late. I sat down and, after hearing some chatter, I found out that more people were taking the step 3. There was even someone there taking their Family Medicine Board Exam, and there was another who was taking their Step 1. I was the only IMG there though. I walked into the sign-in area and got all my identification in order. They collected my signature, took a photo of my face, I recorded my fingerprints, turned my pockets inside out, raised my pant-legs and got scanned by a metal detector.
I entered the testing area to find it more than half full of busy testees. I skipped the tutorial (probably one of the smarter decisions I've made in the past 4 years, it's crucial to move quickly when possible before the summative amount of time spent on the test starts to wear down on you) and went straight for the questions. The first and second blocks were not amazing, the third block felt well, and the other blocks were an even mix.
There were three different types of questions on this test, as I believe there are on any standardized test. There were the questions that everybody could answer without problems, there were the questions that next to nobody would be able to answer, and then there were a bunch of questions on which most doctors would make somewhat of an "educated guess". These educated guesses, depending on how educated they would be, end up determining whether or not someone actually passes. If a doctor practices enough questions on test banks, he can score free points by having seen some of these "educated guesses" in advance.
That's more or less how it is for any standardized test. You study and study and you break your back, and on the day itself, if you panic or waste time or get stuck on a question and take too long on it, you get eaten alive. There were times in that room when I stalled, but I managed to fast-read other questions and catch up, hopefully while also getting those other questions right. We find out in June. Day 2 tomorrow.
I walked in and noticed that, as usual, the testing center was running late. I sat down and, after hearing some chatter, I found out that more people were taking the step 3. There was even someone there taking their Family Medicine Board Exam, and there was another who was taking their Step 1. I was the only IMG there though. I walked into the sign-in area and got all my identification in order. They collected my signature, took a photo of my face, I recorded my fingerprints, turned my pockets inside out, raised my pant-legs and got scanned by a metal detector.
I entered the testing area to find it more than half full of busy testees. I skipped the tutorial (probably one of the smarter decisions I've made in the past 4 years, it's crucial to move quickly when possible before the summative amount of time spent on the test starts to wear down on you) and went straight for the questions. The first and second blocks were not amazing, the third block felt well, and the other blocks were an even mix.
There were three different types of questions on this test, as I believe there are on any standardized test. There were the questions that everybody could answer without problems, there were the questions that next to nobody would be able to answer, and then there were a bunch of questions on which most doctors would make somewhat of an "educated guess". These educated guesses, depending on how educated they would be, end up determining whether or not someone actually passes. If a doctor practices enough questions on test banks, he can score free points by having seen some of these "educated guesses" in advance.
That's more or less how it is for any standardized test. You study and study and you break your back, and on the day itself, if you panic or waste time or get stuck on a question and take too long on it, you get eaten alive. There were times in that room when I stalled, but I managed to fast-read other questions and catch up, hopefully while also getting those other questions right. We find out in June. Day 2 tomorrow.
Tuesday, 16 April 2013
The Day Before Tomorrow
I heard somewhere (probably on television) that most peoples' lives come down to a few important days. Tomorrow is one such day for me. Match day was important, and the day of each board exam has always been important. For this upcoming board exam, there will be two important days, since the exam is one that stretches out over two days, 8 hours a day. That's the allotted time anyway, it would be nice if I wasn't actually stuck there for 8 hours a day.
I rented a car and drove to the testing site in Michigan. I find this site in Ann Arbor to be the most ideal one, since the Holiday Inn is located on the same perimeter road surrounding the local mall as the testing site. This makes it statistically much less possible to get lost (note my careful avoidance of the word "impossible" where directions are concerned). The car I rented was none other than the much-glorified Fiat 500 (I got it because it was the cheapest car budget would rent me, not because it was in so many Youtube ads).
I made it in record time (as usual) and spent the extra time getting lost while searching for the hotel. Upon check-in, I noticed a sign above the bathroom throne that read something to the effect of "If you forgot toiletries then we will gladly give you some". I remember a time in my youth when I would be so obsessed with free things that, upon seeing this sign, I would have easily marched over to the reception and asked for every toiletry listed on that sign, citing accidental exclusion of all of them from my luggage. Apparently, that time is long over. I'm glad it's behind me. I went for some food, and watched some He-Man (new version) while eating dinner. Upon commencement of my night routine (floss, brush, avoid slow painful death via gingivitis and acne), I unzipped my dopp kit (something every real man needs) and found the shaving cream bottle had been accidentally pressed open and had somehow caused one of the multivitamin tablets to disintegrate, leaving me with no shaving cream and tons of vitamin residue all over my toiletries. I marched straight to the receptionist and received a new razor and new canister of shaving cream.
The Step 3 is tomorrow. I find out whether or not I pass on June 5th. If I fail this one, there will be no bearing on my professional career. The psychological trauma, however, will be quite scathing.
I rented a car and drove to the testing site in Michigan. I find this site in Ann Arbor to be the most ideal one, since the Holiday Inn is located on the same perimeter road surrounding the local mall as the testing site. This makes it statistically much less possible to get lost (note my careful avoidance of the word "impossible" where directions are concerned). The car I rented was none other than the much-glorified Fiat 500 (I got it because it was the cheapest car budget would rent me, not because it was in so many Youtube ads).
I made it in record time (as usual) and spent the extra time getting lost while searching for the hotel. Upon check-in, I noticed a sign above the bathroom throne that read something to the effect of "If you forgot toiletries then we will gladly give you some". I remember a time in my youth when I would be so obsessed with free things that, upon seeing this sign, I would have easily marched over to the reception and asked for every toiletry listed on that sign, citing accidental exclusion of all of them from my luggage. Apparently, that time is long over. I'm glad it's behind me. I went for some food, and watched some He-Man (new version) while eating dinner. Upon commencement of my night routine (floss, brush, avoid slow painful death via gingivitis and acne), I unzipped my dopp kit (something every real man needs) and found the shaving cream bottle had been accidentally pressed open and had somehow caused one of the multivitamin tablets to disintegrate, leaving me with no shaving cream and tons of vitamin residue all over my toiletries. I marched straight to the receptionist and received a new razor and new canister of shaving cream.
The Step 3 is tomorrow. I find out whether or not I pass on June 5th. If I fail this one, there will be no bearing on my professional career. The psychological trauma, however, will be quite scathing.
Monday, 15 April 2013
Things Americans say
I went to medical school in the Caribbean, but did manage to meet many Americans there (the majority of students were American). Over the years, I have picked up certain idioms and expressions from my American friends, which I shall now humorously share.
"Oh my God...Are you kidding me? Oh my God."
The above is an expression of utter disbelief, when something that was thought would never occur...would have just occurred. It is commonly followed by "No way" or the less abbreviated "Ya right, no way!", often exclaimed by a third party made privy to the aforementioned statistically improbable occurrence.
"Oh yeah ? You/he/she/they wanna go THERE with me?"
The above is a rhetorical question intended as a lead-in to a statement of decision or reaction, often made based on the realization of the disapproving directly or indirectly confrontational actions or speech of another. The user often follows up with a statement committing to a certain reaction, or may indicate a future reaction in anticipation of the others' action/speech or, in the case of immediate situations (eg. internet video game play scenarios) may follow the aforementioned rhetorical question with an immediate action visible to all recipients of the question.
"He/She/It/This/They/_____ is/was/are UNREAL"
This is a statement describing disbelief regarding the nature of a certain situation. In comparison to the first statement (Oh my God etc), this statement is often made when the speaker has preceded this with the incredulous fact to which the "Unreal" comment refers. In contrast, the "Oh my God" statement is usually made as a response to a different speaker, who is citing an incredulous act or fact.
Let's review with a sample conversation:
Larry: "Then ABC said 'Oh yeah? She wants to go THERE with me?' it was unreal."
Curly: "Oh my God, are you kidding ?!?! Oh my God."
"And then I got in his face!"
This is often said when delivering a verbal first-person narrative describing a confrontation of sorts with otherwise unsavory characters. All my European readers I am sorry for the American spellings, the program I am using makes the red squiggles if I don't eat the "u" in "savor" and I am at present too tired and lazy to change it. I am becoming more American every day. Anyway where was I, yeah so this is usually in the first person, but all pronouns are interchangeable here depending on who is actually narrating the account of the confrontation.
"It's a done deal, bro!"
This statement of gross (and often unwarranted) affirmation is meant to imply that a situation has stabilized, has lost volatility that would otherwise require additional action, and is usually meant to convey stabilization in a manner that favors both the speaker and the receiver. The pronoun in this phrase does not commonly change, but the tense may change to past, but much less commonly to future.
Let's go back to our sample conversation:
Larry: "Then ABC said 'Oh yeah? She wants to go THERE with me?' it was unreal."
Curly: "Oh my God, are you kidding ?!?! Oh my God."
Mo: "Ya guy, and then she got in her face!"
"Larry: "Oh my god, you shoulda been there, bro, it was a done deal!"
Curly: "Ha-HAAAA" (Nobody says "LoL" in real life, everybody has their own stupid laughs, use your respective imaginations to plug in the laughter of someone at whom you constantly poke fun)
Step 3 on Wednesday and Thursday. If I have time tomorrow to write, possibly to try and relax before the exam, then I'll hopefully have something more fascinating and moving to discuss. Likely not, though.
PS: zdras dun tei my Russian friends! No, that's it, that's all the Russian I know and even that is quite questionable. It's likely just one of you racking up all the 6 views, but hey I'd like to hear from you nonetheless. Comment on something, say what's up, or just stay tuned. Just thought I'd say hi. I get all excited when a new country lights up on my page view map.
"Oh my God...Are you kidding me? Oh my God."
The above is an expression of utter disbelief, when something that was thought would never occur...would have just occurred. It is commonly followed by "No way" or the less abbreviated "Ya right, no way!", often exclaimed by a third party made privy to the aforementioned statistically improbable occurrence.
"Oh yeah ? You/he/she/they wanna go THERE with me?"
The above is a rhetorical question intended as a lead-in to a statement of decision or reaction, often made based on the realization of the disapproving directly or indirectly confrontational actions or speech of another. The user often follows up with a statement committing to a certain reaction, or may indicate a future reaction in anticipation of the others' action/speech or, in the case of immediate situations (eg. internet video game play scenarios) may follow the aforementioned rhetorical question with an immediate action visible to all recipients of the question.
"He/She/It/This/They/_____ is/was/are UNREAL"
This is a statement describing disbelief regarding the nature of a certain situation. In comparison to the first statement (Oh my God etc), this statement is often made when the speaker has preceded this with the incredulous fact to which the "Unreal" comment refers. In contrast, the "Oh my God" statement is usually made as a response to a different speaker, who is citing an incredulous act or fact.
Let's review with a sample conversation:
Larry: "Then ABC said 'Oh yeah? She wants to go THERE with me?' it was unreal."
Curly: "Oh my God, are you kidding ?!?! Oh my God."
"And then I got in his face!"
This is often said when delivering a verbal first-person narrative describing a confrontation of sorts with otherwise unsavory characters. All my European readers I am sorry for the American spellings, the program I am using makes the red squiggles if I don't eat the "u" in "savor" and I am at present too tired and lazy to change it. I am becoming more American every day. Anyway where was I, yeah so this is usually in the first person, but all pronouns are interchangeable here depending on who is actually narrating the account of the confrontation.
"It's a done deal, bro!"
This statement of gross (and often unwarranted) affirmation is meant to imply that a situation has stabilized, has lost volatility that would otherwise require additional action, and is usually meant to convey stabilization in a manner that favors both the speaker and the receiver. The pronoun in this phrase does not commonly change, but the tense may change to past, but much less commonly to future.
Let's go back to our sample conversation:
Larry: "Then ABC said 'Oh yeah? She wants to go THERE with me?' it was unreal."
Curly: "Oh my God, are you kidding ?!?! Oh my God."
Mo: "Ya guy, and then she got in her face!"
"Larry: "Oh my god, you shoulda been there, bro, it was a done deal!"
Curly: "Ha-HAAAA" (Nobody says "LoL" in real life, everybody has their own stupid laughs, use your respective imaginations to plug in the laughter of someone at whom you constantly poke fun)
Step 3 on Wednesday and Thursday. If I have time tomorrow to write, possibly to try and relax before the exam, then I'll hopefully have something more fascinating and moving to discuss. Likely not, though.
PS: zdras dun tei my Russian friends! No, that's it, that's all the Russian I know and even that is quite questionable. It's likely just one of you racking up all the 6 views, but hey I'd like to hear from you nonetheless. Comment on something, say what's up, or just stay tuned. Just thought I'd say hi. I get all excited when a new country lights up on my page view map.
Sunday, 14 April 2013
How a 7 year old judges age
I've been tutoring children at French for some time now, and will have to hand off the 2 remaining students I have to a more available tutor once I ship out for residency. Somehow, the other day, the subject of age came up, and I asked this kid how old he thought I was. Instantly, the answer was "43". I had no idea where 43 came from so I said "uhhh....no, why would you think I'm 43?" Then he started with "Are you ...43 ? 53? 63?" And I reiterated my earlier question, to which he responded "because my Dad is 42." I asked what led him to believe I was older than his Dad, and he said it was because I was taller than his Dad. There began the child's first lesson in deductive reasoning, something I never thought I would actually end up teaching.
" If I'm older than your Dad because I'm taller than him, does that mean that everyone who is taller than your Dad is older than him?" The quick answer was "no", but I wasn't sure if he understood the logic behind it. I later found out that his Dad taught him how to tell someone's age by looking at their face and observing their physical appearance, and that he had almost forgotten the entire lesson. He really is a very smart child.
Today I had to explain to the child what a "theory" was. That was loads of fun. French lessons, or any tutoring for that matter, at an age like 7 should always come with good general guidance. It's important to instill in children a strong foundation, for they are the future of the race and with the future comes hope. Listen to me, I sound like I have one foot in the grave. I assure you, saying with a morbid grin that brings with it an understanding of the humor of doctors ... nothing could be farther from the truth. Life is good.
" If I'm older than your Dad because I'm taller than him, does that mean that everyone who is taller than your Dad is older than him?" The quick answer was "no", but I wasn't sure if he understood the logic behind it. I later found out that his Dad taught him how to tell someone's age by looking at their face and observing their physical appearance, and that he had almost forgotten the entire lesson. He really is a very smart child.
Today I had to explain to the child what a "theory" was. That was loads of fun. French lessons, or any tutoring for that matter, at an age like 7 should always come with good general guidance. It's important to instill in children a strong foundation, for they are the future of the race and with the future comes hope. Listen to me, I sound like I have one foot in the grave. I assure you, saying with a morbid grin that brings with it an understanding of the humor of doctors ... nothing could be farther from the truth. Life is good.
Friday, 12 April 2013
The War on Telemarketing
Today was so-so in terms of studying etc. , need to buy groceries and cook tomorrow morning if I'm going to be in a decent mood for the exam on Wednesday. Can't be cramming pizza and samosas down every night.
Today this telemarketer called, and wanted me to switch to Bell Canada. I obviously wasn't going to switch to Bell Canada, so I asked her if Bell would pay the cancellation fee that Rogers is charging me to cancel the service (which they obviously won't pay, I just wanted to keep her on the line a bit longer so that she wouldn't bother someone else). She starts telling me she's going to call her "Super senior-visor" and then I told her never mind, and she asked why, and then repeatedly said "You won't listen to me? You won't listen to me?" and I said "well, if you're not gonna pay the cancellation, then I don't think I can move over." Then she said she "won't cancel, I won't cancel" I get the feeling they aren't even hiring English-speaking telemarketers anymore, everyone just gets dragged from the village at gunpoint and is made to repeat a certain set of syllables, and they probably all have a 2nd grade working knowledge of English (an Indian village 2nd grade working knowledge anyway).
The same number from which she called then repeatedly called me back, and each time I picked up the caller would hang up the line, without saying anything. Now there are two possible explanations for this: 1) She's trying to mess with me and 2) She accidentally hit some button or something screwed up on her end so the program or whatever that she's using to dial numbers is repeatedly dialing my number.
She can only mess with us for so long before she gets fired for not making any sales, so I told my mom and, after agreeing on the best course of action, we unplugged all the landlines in the house. It's quite peaceful actually. If everyone were like me, telemarketers would certainly, undoubtedly go broke. I have never bought anything from a telemarketer, nor do I ever intend to do so. Those people are the scum of the Earth. I don't care how bad their lives are, my time is too expensive a thing to waste.
Today this telemarketer called, and wanted me to switch to Bell Canada. I obviously wasn't going to switch to Bell Canada, so I asked her if Bell would pay the cancellation fee that Rogers is charging me to cancel the service (which they obviously won't pay, I just wanted to keep her on the line a bit longer so that she wouldn't bother someone else). She starts telling me she's going to call her "Super senior-visor" and then I told her never mind, and she asked why, and then repeatedly said "You won't listen to me? You won't listen to me?" and I said "well, if you're not gonna pay the cancellation, then I don't think I can move over." Then she said she "won't cancel, I won't cancel" I get the feeling they aren't even hiring English-speaking telemarketers anymore, everyone just gets dragged from the village at gunpoint and is made to repeat a certain set of syllables, and they probably all have a 2nd grade working knowledge of English (an Indian village 2nd grade working knowledge anyway).
The same number from which she called then repeatedly called me back, and each time I picked up the caller would hang up the line, without saying anything. Now there are two possible explanations for this: 1) She's trying to mess with me and 2) She accidentally hit some button or something screwed up on her end so the program or whatever that she's using to dial numbers is repeatedly dialing my number.
She can only mess with us for so long before she gets fired for not making any sales, so I told my mom and, after agreeing on the best course of action, we unplugged all the landlines in the house. It's quite peaceful actually. If everyone were like me, telemarketers would certainly, undoubtedly go broke. I have never bought anything from a telemarketer, nor do I ever intend to do so. Those people are the scum of the Earth. I don't care how bad their lives are, my time is too expensive a thing to waste.
Thursday, 11 April 2013
Final leg
A boxing poster I saw somewhere said that Ali trained 1000 minutes in the gym for every minute of his fight, or something like that. Someone asked me a while ago how amazing I might possibly be on tests if I trained for 1000 hours, and while I can't really put a number on how much time I've used up training for this upcoming board exam, I can put a number on how many questions I've done in order to prepare for the exam.
The practice question bank for the exam is 1360 questions. I've gone through the entire bank once, then I did all the incorrect questions (700). So let's call it 2000. Then I reset the bank and did all the questions again (another 1360) and this time I only got 337 or so wrong. Drilled that down to 250, so 3360 + 80 = 4160 or thereabouts. By the time I'm done, I will have practiced 4400 or so questions for the exam from the bank. Then there was that one day where I did 180 questions on the practice exam from the National Board of medical examiners, so that brings the total to 4600. Then I did 200 questions from the other practice exam sponsored by the test prep bank company, so now that's 4800 questions. That's more than ten times the number of questions that are on the actual exam. Not too shabby if I do say so myself, even though most of the questions are a repeat pass through the bank.
Then there's the case scenarios, where a patient comes in with an illness and you play doctor on a computer simulation, ordering tests and getting results in and ordering treatments and surgeries and typing in hospital orders, watching patients improve etc. There are 12 on the exam, and I've done 84, so that's a fair number of them. I'll have another 20 done by the time test day rolls around.
So much test prep. I feel like I should be ready. Too bad I barely exercised or ate well this entire time. I feel like the fat guy in the tub from Blade. I don't look like the guy though, and I've seen similar in real life so I'm glad I'm still doing something right in that arena.
The practice question bank for the exam is 1360 questions. I've gone through the entire bank once, then I did all the incorrect questions (700). So let's call it 2000. Then I reset the bank and did all the questions again (another 1360) and this time I only got 337 or so wrong. Drilled that down to 250, so 3360 + 80 = 4160 or thereabouts. By the time I'm done, I will have practiced 4400 or so questions for the exam from the bank. Then there was that one day where I did 180 questions on the practice exam from the National Board of medical examiners, so that brings the total to 4600. Then I did 200 questions from the other practice exam sponsored by the test prep bank company, so now that's 4800 questions. That's more than ten times the number of questions that are on the actual exam. Not too shabby if I do say so myself, even though most of the questions are a repeat pass through the bank.
Then there's the case scenarios, where a patient comes in with an illness and you play doctor on a computer simulation, ordering tests and getting results in and ordering treatments and surgeries and typing in hospital orders, watching patients improve etc. There are 12 on the exam, and I've done 84, so that's a fair number of them. I'll have another 20 done by the time test day rolls around.
So much test prep. I feel like I should be ready. Too bad I barely exercised or ate well this entire time. I feel like the fat guy in the tub from Blade. I don't look like the guy though, and I've seen similar in real life so I'm glad I'm still doing something right in that arena.
Wednesday, 10 April 2013
Recollections: cartoons
I recently re-watched an intro of one of my favourite TV shows as a child, and came across this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnfzV26secM
Someone posted a comment underneath the video that said "Which one is the original?" I spent a good part of 3 minutes laughing just at that comment.
One of the first cartoons I can remember watching was Danger Mouse. I remember that Danger Mouse worked out of a fire hydrant, and had a sidekick (though I do not remember what the sidekick looked like or who he was) and that Danger Mouse had an eye patch and got his orders from a walrus. Any other details escape me. Then of course there was Tom and Jerry, many videotapes of Tom and Jerry. Thinking back to some of the stuff I saw in Tom and Jerry, there were jokes embedded in the cartoons based on scientific and cultural references that I would have only understood many years later (quadratic equation, operatic songs, political references).
There were some Warner brothers cartoons here and there, but then came one of the most integral shows of my generation : The original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I could never fully tell which turtle I aspired toward the most, but probably a decent mix of Leonardo and Donatello. Every man, woman and child I knew grew up on this show. The show continues today, but it simply isn't the same show it used to be back in the nineties. The show looks completely different, though the characters are somewhat faithful to their roots.
There were a couple of more interesting shows on the local channel in Sharjah. COPS was a great show (the cartoon of course). GI Joe of course was always very popular with everyone. MASK was a little-known cartoon, but it was the first cartoon I "rediscovered" i.e. the first cartoon whose intro I found on youtube and managed to remember the entire intro sequence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2Z1yLO9C-Q
We got satellite programming in the UAE later on, and a whole host of shows made their way to my TV set. Swat Kats and centurions were my favourites.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=pkiqbsaX3eE&feature=endscreen
My love for cartoons ended around age 13. I found the cartoons in Canada a bit silly, with Dragonball and Pokemon and such. Everything's done on computer now, everything's 3D. It just doesn't look as entertaining or as sharp as it used to look. Also, the cartoons to which children currently have easy access nowadays are much less violent than those I used to watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_AdxJWFUh4
Boring. Children need explosions. Children need conflict. Children need heroes. Real heroes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnfzV26secM
Someone posted a comment underneath the video that said "Which one is the original?" I spent a good part of 3 minutes laughing just at that comment.
One of the first cartoons I can remember watching was Danger Mouse. I remember that Danger Mouse worked out of a fire hydrant, and had a sidekick (though I do not remember what the sidekick looked like or who he was) and that Danger Mouse had an eye patch and got his orders from a walrus. Any other details escape me. Then of course there was Tom and Jerry, many videotapes of Tom and Jerry. Thinking back to some of the stuff I saw in Tom and Jerry, there were jokes embedded in the cartoons based on scientific and cultural references that I would have only understood many years later (quadratic equation, operatic songs, political references).
There were some Warner brothers cartoons here and there, but then came one of the most integral shows of my generation : The original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I could never fully tell which turtle I aspired toward the most, but probably a decent mix of Leonardo and Donatello. Every man, woman and child I knew grew up on this show. The show continues today, but it simply isn't the same show it used to be back in the nineties. The show looks completely different, though the characters are somewhat faithful to their roots.
There were a couple of more interesting shows on the local channel in Sharjah. COPS was a great show (the cartoon of course). GI Joe of course was always very popular with everyone. MASK was a little-known cartoon, but it was the first cartoon I "rediscovered" i.e. the first cartoon whose intro I found on youtube and managed to remember the entire intro sequence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2Z1yLO9C-Q
We got satellite programming in the UAE later on, and a whole host of shows made their way to my TV set. Swat Kats and centurions were my favourites.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=pkiqbsaX3eE&feature=endscreen
My love for cartoons ended around age 13. I found the cartoons in Canada a bit silly, with Dragonball and Pokemon and such. Everything's done on computer now, everything's 3D. It just doesn't look as entertaining or as sharp as it used to look. Also, the cartoons to which children currently have easy access nowadays are much less violent than those I used to watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_AdxJWFUh4
Boring. Children need explosions. Children need conflict. Children need heroes. Real heroes.
Tuesday, 9 April 2013
Recollections: Chess
I received my first chess board when I was 8 years old. My Dad and I would play almost every day, and these games weren't even close. I would lose every single time, sometimes quickly and sometimes painfully slowly. I learned how to play chess from a couple of sources: The World Book Encyclopedia 1992 edition and MPC Battlechess. When I say "learned how to play" I meant "Learned the rules" of chess. I knew nothing of good chess strategy at the time. I still know very little of it. I then continued to play against my cousins in India, who played by completely different rules than I did. I wasn't sure whose rules were right, and I was too young to start arguing rules of games (which would later become a full-time hobby of mine) but I remember my cousin coming up with this ingenious move called "Castling". Castling, to him, involved moving the pawn in front of his rook out of the way somehow, so that he would then go directly to his opponent's end of the board (in his games of chess, the rook could eliminate any number of an opponent's pieces on its way to its final destination). He would then go straight across the opponent's home row, obliterating all pieces that still remained in the home row (home rank?). This included the king, and yet the game was not over because in India with my cousins, a game did not end until all of the opponent's pieces were dead. I remember at least once managing to pull a stalemate with a pawn and a bishop remaining. Only a pawn and a bishop. It was either a stalemate or boredom/pity on the part of my cousin that ended that game.
Once I finally fully established the rules of the game, my defeats at chess did not end. I would be constantly defeated by any of my friends, a trend that would continue through high school and well into university, until my third year. I then met a friend who taught me that chess, like pretty much anything else in life, can be studied. Chess is a skill that can be honed like the blades of so many sharp steak knives. I became very enthusiastic about chess and played much more (Chessmaster 10 taught me chess strategy), and much better, until I got into medical school. At that point, every time I came close to playing chess I had to make a business decision. I could either play chess for an hour and a half and really try and potentially win, or not play chess, do something equally enjoyable for a third of the time or less, and have more time to study afterward. It was the first time when it became very real to me that nobody in this life has time for an indefinite number and type of hobbies. I picked fitness over chess, and now music as well. Chess died a quiet death, and though I understand why I had to leave it behind, it was a bit disappointing at the time. At some point, I quite liked it. I liked that I could be better at it, but life is not always about being better. Maybe I can play for fun some day. It's nice to move the pieces around on the board.
Once I finally fully established the rules of the game, my defeats at chess did not end. I would be constantly defeated by any of my friends, a trend that would continue through high school and well into university, until my third year. I then met a friend who taught me that chess, like pretty much anything else in life, can be studied. Chess is a skill that can be honed like the blades of so many sharp steak knives. I became very enthusiastic about chess and played much more (Chessmaster 10 taught me chess strategy), and much better, until I got into medical school. At that point, every time I came close to playing chess I had to make a business decision. I could either play chess for an hour and a half and really try and potentially win, or not play chess, do something equally enjoyable for a third of the time or less, and have more time to study afterward. It was the first time when it became very real to me that nobody in this life has time for an indefinite number and type of hobbies. I picked fitness over chess, and now music as well. Chess died a quiet death, and though I understand why I had to leave it behind, it was a bit disappointing at the time. At some point, I quite liked it. I liked that I could be better at it, but life is not always about being better. Maybe I can play for fun some day. It's nice to move the pieces around on the board.
Monday, 8 April 2013
Recollections: My Dad and Europe
My Dad likes to bring up his time in Europe as a bachelor, so I thought I'd throw in a few of his stories.
My father first was sent to Europe as part of a business trip. The purpose of the trip is not important, but the company's policy on allowances at the hotel in Europe is quite pertinent. My father grew up slaughtering pigs in his backyard (with his eldest sister) so that they could take the pork to the butcher's shop and make money. It's important to understand that, when you give a man like my father (or like myself, for that matter) free reign with amenities at a hotel, there will be usage of that allowance, possibly significantly more than expected from the average individual guest. He said that, when he was in line to pay the bill, he was watching the clerk behind the desk tick off everyone else's receipt of room orders, and the clerk saw --Whiskey, cognac-- and ticked it off. Then there was --Whiskey, massage, steak-- and that was also ticked off. Then the clerk got to --Steak, cognac, cognac-- and ticked that off. This was not my father's bill. These were three separate bills from other guests who were at the hotel on business. My father handed his bill and, after the clerk was done unfolding the thing, it read something like ---Whiskey, massage, steak, cognac, cognac, whiskey, steak, cognac, massage, cognac, massage, cognac, steak, cognac, cognac, massage, cognac --- and my Dad asked if anything was wrong and the clerk quickly and abruptly replied "No no!" and ticked it off and cast it aside like so much added value.
My father then toured Europe after his company-bought stay at the hotel had ended, and he lived in youth hostels for something like 15 Swiss Francs a night, breakfast included (and then he stuffed the bread rolls and butter from the breakfast table into his pack and took the bus everywhere). He recalls one night where he got to the hostel gate at 12:10 am which, apparently, was the highest of crimes since the youth hostel gate was locked (from the inside and the outside) at midnight. His best option at the time was to sleep on the pavement outside the gate until it opened. Then another man came by shortly after my father and began to complain seemingly incessantly about why the gate was locked. My Dad was then told that the man had been living there for weeks now, and was becoming very irritated with the hostel's curfew. After banging repeatedly on the gate, the man climbed over the wall (because he was Spiderman) and then he talked to the guard. After a brief negotiation, the guard came to the gate and said that both my father had to pay 10 francs for "returning late". That probably wasn't in the room agreement.
My father first was sent to Europe as part of a business trip. The purpose of the trip is not important, but the company's policy on allowances at the hotel in Europe is quite pertinent. My father grew up slaughtering pigs in his backyard (with his eldest sister) so that they could take the pork to the butcher's shop and make money. It's important to understand that, when you give a man like my father (or like myself, for that matter) free reign with amenities at a hotel, there will be usage of that allowance, possibly significantly more than expected from the average individual guest. He said that, when he was in line to pay the bill, he was watching the clerk behind the desk tick off everyone else's receipt of room orders, and the clerk saw --Whiskey, cognac-- and ticked it off. Then there was --Whiskey, massage, steak-- and that was also ticked off. Then the clerk got to --Steak, cognac, cognac-- and ticked that off. This was not my father's bill. These were three separate bills from other guests who were at the hotel on business. My father handed his bill and, after the clerk was done unfolding the thing, it read something like ---Whiskey, massage, steak, cognac, cognac, whiskey, steak, cognac, massage, cognac, massage, cognac, steak, cognac, cognac, massage, cognac --- and my Dad asked if anything was wrong and the clerk quickly and abruptly replied "No no!" and ticked it off and cast it aside like so much added value.
My father then toured Europe after his company-bought stay at the hotel had ended, and he lived in youth hostels for something like 15 Swiss Francs a night, breakfast included (and then he stuffed the bread rolls and butter from the breakfast table into his pack and took the bus everywhere). He recalls one night where he got to the hostel gate at 12:10 am which, apparently, was the highest of crimes since the youth hostel gate was locked (from the inside and the outside) at midnight. His best option at the time was to sleep on the pavement outside the gate until it opened. Then another man came by shortly after my father and began to complain seemingly incessantly about why the gate was locked. My Dad was then told that the man had been living there for weeks now, and was becoming very irritated with the hostel's curfew. After banging repeatedly on the gate, the man climbed over the wall (because he was Spiderman) and then he talked to the guard. After a brief negotiation, the guard came to the gate and said that both my father had to pay 10 francs for "returning late". That probably wasn't in the room agreement.
Sunday, 7 April 2013
Who am I to say otherwise?
I've come across this problem often during third year of medical school, but on a much lower level than today. My first clinical rotation in medical school was pediatrics, and one of the points on the teen checklist was "counseling". I couldn't really understand what that meant, and I tried to figure out where I had studied "counseling" or "advice" previously. Was it a behavioural sciences unit for the step 1 ? Did I go over it in my Introduction to Clinical Medicine course? Not at all. I was simply expected to sit there and use my years of experience to tell this child how to live his life. Who was I , though , to tell this child what they should and shouldn't do? Their parents are right there, right? Shouldn't they have already told the child whatever I would say? Shouldn't the child be listening to them? Then I noticed something interesting, I noticed the childrens' parents actually thanked me, and one said I was going to make a great doctor, another said I woudl be a great pediatrician even, and I started to realize there may be something to this whole counseling thing. They may really be on to something here, I may have stumbled on a bit of a goldmine here with the whole engine for social change mindset that I had previously adopted upon starting medical school.
The counseling was more medically specific in family medicine and in other rotations, never as generic and advice-based as it was in pediatrics. Today I went in a different direction with counseling. There have been other times where I've had to act as I did today, but today was definitely the day where I was the most up-front with someone over something that is obviously counseling, and given with almost no first-hand experience whatsoever. I walked in to tutor French and the mother said that she had asked the child whether he wants to do his session first or whether he wants her to do her session first. Then the child said "you go first mommy" so I start teaching her. Following her session, I start teaching the child, and him and I need to do two hours because the poor kid can't read French and he's falling behind in 1st grade French immersion (all subjects in French). The mother has to put the child to bed, so decides to serve the child dinner while I'm reading with him. This led to the child being more distracted than he already was, because he loves French but detests studying, and then making much more of a fuss over literally 10 pages of reading than he normally would force me to endure.
He's a great kid, and he's really lucky to have her as a parent, but after he left I told her that she had to, in the future, make sure he starts his studying early so that study time and dinner time can be completely separated. I told her that, if it meant less outdoor or recreation time for him (they were previously at the park) , then so be it. Having said all this, I thought to myself later on, who the hell was I anyway to be telling this mother how she's supposed to raise her children? It's not like I've ever successfully raised a child, or two, while holding down a full-time job. My child isn't going to be in French immersion, so how would I know what she has to deal with every day? On the other hand, if I don't try to correct that which I think is wrong with the child's study schedule, what is she going to end up doing when the teacher says that the boy has to be held back? She'll have to pull him out of French immersion for him to continue going through the school system. How badly would that weigh him down that he's failed a grade and has to be held back? These decisions, I figured, would have to be avoided by ironing out the creases in the kid's schedule. I just hope she doesn't hate my guts or anything, because I'm trying to do what's best for the child. I guess giving advice sometimes or usually means saying what people don't want to hear. That must be why it's considered such a rare and sought-after skill. Who wants to hear others volley back "What do you know?" or "Well, that's just stupid" or "Why should I listen to you?" Maybe I'm too hard-headed to care, because I seem to give advice all the time. I've cut down on the imposition of my ideals considerably since I joined medical school, mostly out of lack of time or energy to engage in arguments. I'll still throw in the occasional fortune cookie wisdom.
The counseling was more medically specific in family medicine and in other rotations, never as generic and advice-based as it was in pediatrics. Today I went in a different direction with counseling. There have been other times where I've had to act as I did today, but today was definitely the day where I was the most up-front with someone over something that is obviously counseling, and given with almost no first-hand experience whatsoever. I walked in to tutor French and the mother said that she had asked the child whether he wants to do his session first or whether he wants her to do her session first. Then the child said "you go first mommy" so I start teaching her. Following her session, I start teaching the child, and him and I need to do two hours because the poor kid can't read French and he's falling behind in 1st grade French immersion (all subjects in French). The mother has to put the child to bed, so decides to serve the child dinner while I'm reading with him. This led to the child being more distracted than he already was, because he loves French but detests studying, and then making much more of a fuss over literally 10 pages of reading than he normally would force me to endure.
He's a great kid, and he's really lucky to have her as a parent, but after he left I told her that she had to, in the future, make sure he starts his studying early so that study time and dinner time can be completely separated. I told her that, if it meant less outdoor or recreation time for him (they were previously at the park) , then so be it. Having said all this, I thought to myself later on, who the hell was I anyway to be telling this mother how she's supposed to raise her children? It's not like I've ever successfully raised a child, or two, while holding down a full-time job. My child isn't going to be in French immersion, so how would I know what she has to deal with every day? On the other hand, if I don't try to correct that which I think is wrong with the child's study schedule, what is she going to end up doing when the teacher says that the boy has to be held back? She'll have to pull him out of French immersion for him to continue going through the school system. How badly would that weigh him down that he's failed a grade and has to be held back? These decisions, I figured, would have to be avoided by ironing out the creases in the kid's schedule. I just hope she doesn't hate my guts or anything, because I'm trying to do what's best for the child. I guess giving advice sometimes or usually means saying what people don't want to hear. That must be why it's considered such a rare and sought-after skill. Who wants to hear others volley back "What do you know?" or "Well, that's just stupid" or "Why should I listen to you?" Maybe I'm too hard-headed to care, because I seem to give advice all the time. I've cut down on the imposition of my ideals considerably since I joined medical school, mostly out of lack of time or energy to engage in arguments. I'll still throw in the occasional fortune cookie wisdom.
Saturday, 6 April 2013
Why my cab driver had university degrees
I left for Montreal today at 5 45 am, taking a cab to the bus station to then take the bus to Montreal to give a presentation about my medical school. While in the cab, the driver started conversing with me about what I do, where I'm going etc etc and I asked him where he was from and he said Pakistan. Following this, I asked him what he did in Pakistan and he told me he had a Masters degree in computer science and a Masters in business administration.
He said he came to Canada with his wife and then two kids (now three) 9 years ago, hoping to put together a better life for him and his family. He said that it would have taken over a year of qualifying to equalize his degree to that of a Canadian graduate, for the Masters in Comp. Sci. at least, or the MBA, one of the two. Anyway, then he was vague as to why he didn't requalify, and said that he needed to start working as soon as he got here to make some money in order for his family to be looked after. Following this, every application he's handed in has been dead-ended by people telling him he has no, and I quote, "Canadian experience".
I'm really not sure whether this whole job shutout is right or wrong. On the one hand, he has a masters degree in computer science and states that all programming (he was generalizing largely as I later found out from a programmer friend) comes down to binary code and an assembly program. On the other hand, I'm not really sure how good a Pakistani computer programmer would be in a workforce where everyone relays information and commentary on code entirely in English. I don't pretend to know anything about computer programming in this country, I'm simply relaying what someone else who is more familiar with these things told me.
I gave him my number and name and told him that, if he or his children wanted to talk to me about medical school before I leave in June, I'd be more than happy to do so with him.
The other sad story of the day was one of a doctor from Colombia who came to Canada and failed the MCCEE. Then he took the American board exam (the Step 1) and failed that exam. Now he came to my medical school's presentation and hoped he would get into the school and somehow get the slate wiped clean and be more eligible for practicing in North America, or for a residency? My more experienced colleague who actually is involved with admissions didn't have the heart to tell him that we would never accept him, so he told the doctor to send a short e-mail that would be forwarded to our admissions committee and then they would decide if it's a good idea for him to apply. On the one hand, he was a full-on doctor (a surgeon, I believe) in Colombia. On the other hand, 82% of students who take the MCCEE pass the first time, including myself, and I scored well above average. This guy either cannot speak English, or hasn't had nearly adequate medical training. I hope he finds some peaceful middle ground in North America, but judging by the performance he put forward on those board exams, it most certainly will not be in the capacity of a physician.
He said he came to Canada with his wife and then two kids (now three) 9 years ago, hoping to put together a better life for him and his family. He said that it would have taken over a year of qualifying to equalize his degree to that of a Canadian graduate, for the Masters in Comp. Sci. at least, or the MBA, one of the two. Anyway, then he was vague as to why he didn't requalify, and said that he needed to start working as soon as he got here to make some money in order for his family to be looked after. Following this, every application he's handed in has been dead-ended by people telling him he has no, and I quote, "Canadian experience".
I'm really not sure whether this whole job shutout is right or wrong. On the one hand, he has a masters degree in computer science and states that all programming (he was generalizing largely as I later found out from a programmer friend) comes down to binary code and an assembly program. On the other hand, I'm not really sure how good a Pakistani computer programmer would be in a workforce where everyone relays information and commentary on code entirely in English. I don't pretend to know anything about computer programming in this country, I'm simply relaying what someone else who is more familiar with these things told me.
I gave him my number and name and told him that, if he or his children wanted to talk to me about medical school before I leave in June, I'd be more than happy to do so with him.
The other sad story of the day was one of a doctor from Colombia who came to Canada and failed the MCCEE. Then he took the American board exam (the Step 1) and failed that exam. Now he came to my medical school's presentation and hoped he would get into the school and somehow get the slate wiped clean and be more eligible for practicing in North America, or for a residency? My more experienced colleague who actually is involved with admissions didn't have the heart to tell him that we would never accept him, so he told the doctor to send a short e-mail that would be forwarded to our admissions committee and then they would decide if it's a good idea for him to apply. On the one hand, he was a full-on doctor (a surgeon, I believe) in Colombia. On the other hand, 82% of students who take the MCCEE pass the first time, including myself, and I scored well above average. This guy either cannot speak English, or hasn't had nearly adequate medical training. I hope he finds some peaceful middle ground in North America, but judging by the performance he put forward on those board exams, it most certainly will not be in the capacity of a physician.
Friday, 5 April 2013
If everyone were like me, who would go broke?
This is an interesting thought exercise that I run every now and then (when I have absolutely nothing else to do, i.e. while riding along with someone in the car or sitting on the throne) and the list is more extensive now than it was a few years ago.
If everyone were like me:
- Coffee shops would be out of business
- Bars would be out of business
- Tobacco stores would be out of business
- McDonald's and several other fast food restaurants would be out of business
- Bicycle shops would be doing unbelievably well, there'd be one at basically every corner
- There'd be showers everywhere for people to ride in to work and then still be smelling fresh once off their bikes
- Casinos would be out of business
- Television companies would go bankrupt
- Amazon would be minting money, even more so than today
- Nobody would use a single sheet of paper, for anything. All receipts would be e-mailed, and all payments would occur online
- We'd be beheading rapists like it was going out of style. Or hanging, honestly whichever is cheaper.
- The "mentally unstable" man who killed a police officer in Toronto with a snow plough would be in jail, for life, or better yet dead. A cop killer is a cop killer.
- Telephone companies would be unable to sell land line services.
- Major internet providers would be out of business, because I always buy from the little guy, and I buy the least amount of internet.
- Credit card companies would be out of business, because I pay my bills on time, every time.
- There would be a sushi restaurant at every corner, and they would all be engaged in fierce competition with one another.
- Tabloids and celebrity news media of any kind would cease to exist, wiped from the face of the earth. Paparazzi would thereby be gone
- Telemarketers would commit suicide, because every time they call I mess with them so much that, one time, a telemarketer actually called me back to curse me out and tell me he was going to send "The charges", which he obviously never did
- Denny's would be out of business. I'm a cereal and milk person. Having said that, waffle house's best-selling item would be their oatmeal.
- All expensive car companies, luxury watch companies, jewellers, and clothiers, would be out of business.
- Newspaper companies would go bankrupt.
- Best Buy would do half-decent sales, but nothing amazing. I don't even own a smartphone right now, my laptop's from 2004, and my secondary LCD monitor was bought off craigslist.
- Teachers would love their students, because I have always highly valued the education I have received, at all levels. I guess nobody goes broke there.
- Students would value their teachers, because it is apparently something I can do fairly well. Tutors would be broke.
- Unemployment money would stay with the government, who would supposedly put it to better use, because if I lost my license tomorrow, I would rather pick up trash on the side of the busiest, dirtiest downtown street in the country in the middle of winter in a snowstorm, than stand in the unemployment line and take money from my fellow countrymen for absolutely nothing. Taxes be damned, there's something to be said for pride in an honest day's work for an honest day's pay. Many will argue that I am entitled to that money since I have already contributed to the unemployment cheques of others. To that I say, there are many ways we may all choose to live our lives before we die. I would rather die never having been handed free money (other than that which I got from my parents to support my education, which I will pay back in vacations and summer cottages) than stand in the unemployment line so that I don't have to flip burgers.
That's all I can think of off the top of my head. I enjoy lengthening this list by decreasing my expenditures each year. Makes me feel dangerous in a very backward way. To think that, as a global society, human beings may one day have such solidarity to say "Starbucks has questionable business practices. Coffee is bad for you. This year, nobody buys coffee." Instantly, everybody gets it. By the end of the year, all the coffee shops are boarded up. That level of social power doesn't exist yet. People protest, but they don't boycott. Refusing to give someone your money is a very powerful form of social change, I would argue that it is the most powerful form because, at the end of the day, the only way in which a business would survive is money.
Make a list, and feel free to post it in the comments. Two questions:
1) If everyone were like you , who would go broke?
2) Where do you not want your money to go anymore? Who should be going broke?
If everyone were like me:
- Coffee shops would be out of business
- Bars would be out of business
- Tobacco stores would be out of business
- McDonald's and several other fast food restaurants would be out of business
- Bicycle shops would be doing unbelievably well, there'd be one at basically every corner
- There'd be showers everywhere for people to ride in to work and then still be smelling fresh once off their bikes
- Casinos would be out of business
- Television companies would go bankrupt
- Amazon would be minting money, even more so than today
- Nobody would use a single sheet of paper, for anything. All receipts would be e-mailed, and all payments would occur online
- We'd be beheading rapists like it was going out of style. Or hanging, honestly whichever is cheaper.
- The "mentally unstable" man who killed a police officer in Toronto with a snow plough would be in jail, for life, or better yet dead. A cop killer is a cop killer.
- Telephone companies would be unable to sell land line services.
- Major internet providers would be out of business, because I always buy from the little guy, and I buy the least amount of internet.
- Credit card companies would be out of business, because I pay my bills on time, every time.
- There would be a sushi restaurant at every corner, and they would all be engaged in fierce competition with one another.
- Tabloids and celebrity news media of any kind would cease to exist, wiped from the face of the earth. Paparazzi would thereby be gone
- Telemarketers would commit suicide, because every time they call I mess with them so much that, one time, a telemarketer actually called me back to curse me out and tell me he was going to send "The charges", which he obviously never did
- Denny's would be out of business. I'm a cereal and milk person. Having said that, waffle house's best-selling item would be their oatmeal.
- All expensive car companies, luxury watch companies, jewellers, and clothiers, would be out of business.
- Newspaper companies would go bankrupt.
- Best Buy would do half-decent sales, but nothing amazing. I don't even own a smartphone right now, my laptop's from 2004, and my secondary LCD monitor was bought off craigslist.
- Teachers would love their students, because I have always highly valued the education I have received, at all levels. I guess nobody goes broke there.
- Students would value their teachers, because it is apparently something I can do fairly well. Tutors would be broke.
- Unemployment money would stay with the government, who would supposedly put it to better use, because if I lost my license tomorrow, I would rather pick up trash on the side of the busiest, dirtiest downtown street in the country in the middle of winter in a snowstorm, than stand in the unemployment line and take money from my fellow countrymen for absolutely nothing. Taxes be damned, there's something to be said for pride in an honest day's work for an honest day's pay. Many will argue that I am entitled to that money since I have already contributed to the unemployment cheques of others. To that I say, there are many ways we may all choose to live our lives before we die. I would rather die never having been handed free money (other than that which I got from my parents to support my education, which I will pay back in vacations and summer cottages) than stand in the unemployment line so that I don't have to flip burgers.
That's all I can think of off the top of my head. I enjoy lengthening this list by decreasing my expenditures each year. Makes me feel dangerous in a very backward way. To think that, as a global society, human beings may one day have such solidarity to say "Starbucks has questionable business practices. Coffee is bad for you. This year, nobody buys coffee." Instantly, everybody gets it. By the end of the year, all the coffee shops are boarded up. That level of social power doesn't exist yet. People protest, but they don't boycott. Refusing to give someone your money is a very powerful form of social change, I would argue that it is the most powerful form because, at the end of the day, the only way in which a business would survive is money.
Make a list, and feel free to post it in the comments. Two questions:
1) If everyone were like you , who would go broke?
2) Where do you not want your money to go anymore? Who should be going broke?
Thursday, 4 April 2013
Does anyone still pay attention to ads?
I think the last thing I bought because I saw it in an ad was a swiffer. That must have been 12 years ago. I don't understand why companies think that, just because I see something in an ad, I'm heavily influenced to purchase it. Maybe others do, but I personally have recently not been influenced in the least by advertisements of any kind.
I see ads everywhere. Beer, debt consolidation, gambling, coffee, women's underwear, and I can confidently say I haven't bought into any of these things recently. There was a man of whom I was told who took it upon himself to visit all the branches of starbucks coffee in the world. He later abandoned his pursuit upon discovery that they were being built faster than he could travel to see them. That being the case, I don't understand why Starbucks finds it necessary to advertise, the company is like big tobacco in the sense that they have already hooked a generation on coffee. What of me? Would I be convinced to start drinking coffee because of a commercial? In the past, peer pressure at the starbucks line-up has motivated me to buy some chocolatey, calorie-rich beverage that barely passes as coffee, and night shift in the ICU has motivated me to drink straight black stay-up juice at 4 30 am, but I am no more motivated to drink coffee (or beer, or vodka, or any alcohol) by watching these commercials. I'm also not motivated to listen to Beats by Dr. Dre, and I'm not more motivated to eat McDonald's by watching a commercial. It doesn't end there. Clothes, computers, new cellular phones, bedroom furniture, why would I run out and buy them just because I saw them in an ad?
If I need something, I'll do research into what brand or product is best, for a duration of time proportional to the amount of money spent. I shall then ask around and, finding favourable reviews, will go to the closest store that has the item for the lowest price (usually some online source). I invite any beer, coffee, or TV company (apparently there's a TV company advertising on youtube now, fat chance I'll buy into that) to send samples of their products to me and try to entice me to purchase their products and endorse their brands. Alcohol companies can send me all the free beer and vodka they would like to send, I will not try any of it and I will not buy any of it. I don't hate people who drink alcohol, I grew up around it and I'm familiar with its magical abilities, I just don't enjoy it. If I don't want to buy something, I won't buy it. No fleeting 30-second vomitus of modern multimedia is going to change my mind about that. I don't see why they continue to try.
Today was a bit of a bust productivity-wise, because apparently it's a good idea for a national examination association to post what questions you answered incorrectly without explaining why, leaving you to do the painstaking research yourself. It doesn't help that the questions are mostly completely ambiguous. Tomorrow I will rise early, and I will get things done.
I see ads everywhere. Beer, debt consolidation, gambling, coffee, women's underwear, and I can confidently say I haven't bought into any of these things recently. There was a man of whom I was told who took it upon himself to visit all the branches of starbucks coffee in the world. He later abandoned his pursuit upon discovery that they were being built faster than he could travel to see them. That being the case, I don't understand why Starbucks finds it necessary to advertise, the company is like big tobacco in the sense that they have already hooked a generation on coffee. What of me? Would I be convinced to start drinking coffee because of a commercial? In the past, peer pressure at the starbucks line-up has motivated me to buy some chocolatey, calorie-rich beverage that barely passes as coffee, and night shift in the ICU has motivated me to drink straight black stay-up juice at 4 30 am, but I am no more motivated to drink coffee (or beer, or vodka, or any alcohol) by watching these commercials. I'm also not motivated to listen to Beats by Dr. Dre, and I'm not more motivated to eat McDonald's by watching a commercial. It doesn't end there. Clothes, computers, new cellular phones, bedroom furniture, why would I run out and buy them just because I saw them in an ad?
If I need something, I'll do research into what brand or product is best, for a duration of time proportional to the amount of money spent. I shall then ask around and, finding favourable reviews, will go to the closest store that has the item for the lowest price (usually some online source). I invite any beer, coffee, or TV company (apparently there's a TV company advertising on youtube now, fat chance I'll buy into that) to send samples of their products to me and try to entice me to purchase their products and endorse their brands. Alcohol companies can send me all the free beer and vodka they would like to send, I will not try any of it and I will not buy any of it. I don't hate people who drink alcohol, I grew up around it and I'm familiar with its magical abilities, I just don't enjoy it. If I don't want to buy something, I won't buy it. No fleeting 30-second vomitus of modern multimedia is going to change my mind about that. I don't see why they continue to try.
Today was a bit of a bust productivity-wise, because apparently it's a good idea for a national examination association to post what questions you answered incorrectly without explaining why, leaving you to do the painstaking research yourself. It doesn't help that the questions are mostly completely ambiguous. Tomorrow I will rise early, and I will get things done.
Wednesday, 3 April 2013
Priorities
I sometimes feel a bit removed from others my age when one aspect of life is concerned; my priorities. Everyone has different priorities in life, and everyone places different premiums on things like hobby time, work time, family time, etc. Some have told me that I have the priorities of someone much older than myself. Here's a brief explanation of their assessment.
Every day, I try to wake up early. "Early" is a very relative term if chronological hour is the basis for judging early and late. The real basis for judging how "early" one rises is based on the amount of time they have in the morning before work, which should correlate positively with how much they get done before they are expected to show up for work. For example, my residency begins each day at around 6 30 am. This means I have to be ready to leave for work by 6 am. This means I have to be back from my cycling workout at latest 5 15. This means that workout has to start at 4 45 latest. This means that, on a winter morning, I would have to wake up at 4 30 in order to be able to put on all my clothes before heading out. Let's put a pin in that for a minute.
I have tried to slowly cut TV out of my life. Not because it's wasting too much time (I only watch TV when I eat, never when I have "free time" if such a thing actually exists) and not because I don't enjoy TV. I enjoy it very much when something good is on. I am cutting out TV for two reasons; 1) After one show ends, I find myself hungry for another show and 2) TV costs money. Netflix costs money, cable costs money, and streaming or downloading is illegal so I don't want to partake in it. I've decided that, for the entertainment I actually gain out of television, it's not worth the money that the actress on a TV show is being paid to make the show. I would much rather simply walk away from it.
I'm trying very hard to eat healthy. This isn't something uncommon among people of my generation, but the majority of my friends and acquaintances simply do not care what they eat, at all. They couldn't be bothered to change their diet because, for the most part, what they eat has absolutely no bearing on how they look. It just so happens that most of my friends have great basal metabolic rates. Either that or they're eating healthy without being psychologically tormented by sugar, as I was today.
I value my time tremendously. I time-manage my day down to the minute. Those times I mentioned for the morning routine in the earlier paragraph will be systematically shaved to the minute in order to gain more sleep the night before. I will start at 4 30 on the first morning and literally go through the whole day racing to complete everything before 6 am. Then I'll set a marker for the fastest time (say 5:52), and I'll get up 8 minutes later the next day and try to duplicate everything. 8 minutes of sleep may not seem like much, but when that 8 minutes turns into 20, I firmly believe it makes a difference. In any case, it's residency, I'd rather read an extra 5 pages of Harrison's and be a bit sleep deprived than have a full night's sleep and not complete my readings for the day. Peoples' lives are at stake here, I can't be wasting time with trivial things like youtube and facebook.
I'm not on facebook anymore. I quit after medical school ended (September-ish) and I never looked back. I know that everyone swears by it, but I honestly felt as though a huge weight was lifted. I thought to myself one day, say we didn't have facebook, or myspace, or twitter....how did my parents keep in touch with their friends? I then realized that my parents don't actually have that many friends, just a few (literally 5 or 6) whom they invite to house parties, and then a few (3 or 4) from work whom they call (on the land telephone) to converse with after work. It seemed so much simpler for me to just let go of people with whom I am not immediately geographically linked. My best friends are in Alberta, Syracuse and Vancouver and I still keep in touch with them, but where's the need to message the 300 people I had on my facebook account every week to constantly find out what they are doing? Letting go can be surprisingly calming.
The resident e-mailed me back with information on housing today, and the choices basically boiled down to living near the city (and away from the main hospital) and living in the suburb next to the main hospital (and away from the city). I would much rather live in the suburb. I like cycling, and the trail is right there. I plan on cooking all my own food, working out at home, and possibly re-learning how to play guitar. Why should I be concerned with going "downtown" every Friday or eating at "a nice place" three nights a week? I'm trying to slim down so I should make all my own food, and I want to save money for when I start a family one day. I'm not currently in a relationship, but I still think that far ahead, despite being 26, single, and having a whole career ahead of me. I don't deny most of my colleagues will be going downtown for entertainment, and when they do I'll go with them. I don't mind living far (~25 minutes drive) from the city, as long as I don't have to live in a tiny apartment, with noisy neighbours, horns honking etc. Suburbia will be more than enough for me.
My priorities have put me ahead of some people, and behind others, in life. Again these terms are quite relative, it depends on what you want to accomplish with your time on Earth. That's the final area where I differ from most people. I have gained a much better understanding of how little everything matters upon leaving medical school, because I understand how transient life is. This transient nature of life has enlightened me enough that I have started to make time for what I really feel is worthwhile, like writing in this blog (basically a personal journal, I don't plan on going major or public with it but if it happened then I suppose it would be a pleasant surprise) or playing guitar, eating well and exercising. There's the attitude of "excess is best, you only live once so live it up, pay for your mistakes later" and then there's my attitude, which is tough to summarize into quotes, but if I had to it would be : "Life is short. Don't make mistakes, make good choices and generate your own happiness." That is to say, if you score a 210 on that USMLE World practice exam (which I did today. Looks like I'm not backing out of the Step 3 after all, taking it April 17th and 18th) then don't think you've somehow "earned" the right to eat sugar (which I didn't). The score is an achievement and the feeling of relief that the last 2 months of work haven't gone to waste should be its own reward. The last 4 years were a living hell, and I'm going to Europe with my family to unwind from all that (going in May after my board exams) but I shouldn't need to "unwind" from residency. It will be difficult but I should not get stressed. I should get less stressed each day. I should get so proficient at blowing away stress and anxiety that I can get into any situation without raising my heart rate, without needing "down time" afterward.
I understand that few ever actually achieve these goals and maintain these priorities, but with the years I have left, I plan on trying my best to do so. That's why I sometimes call myself an "old man".
Every day, I try to wake up early. "Early" is a very relative term if chronological hour is the basis for judging early and late. The real basis for judging how "early" one rises is based on the amount of time they have in the morning before work, which should correlate positively with how much they get done before they are expected to show up for work. For example, my residency begins each day at around 6 30 am. This means I have to be ready to leave for work by 6 am. This means I have to be back from my cycling workout at latest 5 15. This means that workout has to start at 4 45 latest. This means that, on a winter morning, I would have to wake up at 4 30 in order to be able to put on all my clothes before heading out. Let's put a pin in that for a minute.
I have tried to slowly cut TV out of my life. Not because it's wasting too much time (I only watch TV when I eat, never when I have "free time" if such a thing actually exists) and not because I don't enjoy TV. I enjoy it very much when something good is on. I am cutting out TV for two reasons; 1) After one show ends, I find myself hungry for another show and 2) TV costs money. Netflix costs money, cable costs money, and streaming or downloading is illegal so I don't want to partake in it. I've decided that, for the entertainment I actually gain out of television, it's not worth the money that the actress on a TV show is being paid to make the show. I would much rather simply walk away from it.
I'm trying very hard to eat healthy. This isn't something uncommon among people of my generation, but the majority of my friends and acquaintances simply do not care what they eat, at all. They couldn't be bothered to change their diet because, for the most part, what they eat has absolutely no bearing on how they look. It just so happens that most of my friends have great basal metabolic rates. Either that or they're eating healthy without being psychologically tormented by sugar, as I was today.
I value my time tremendously. I time-manage my day down to the minute. Those times I mentioned for the morning routine in the earlier paragraph will be systematically shaved to the minute in order to gain more sleep the night before. I will start at 4 30 on the first morning and literally go through the whole day racing to complete everything before 6 am. Then I'll set a marker for the fastest time (say 5:52), and I'll get up 8 minutes later the next day and try to duplicate everything. 8 minutes of sleep may not seem like much, but when that 8 minutes turns into 20, I firmly believe it makes a difference. In any case, it's residency, I'd rather read an extra 5 pages of Harrison's and be a bit sleep deprived than have a full night's sleep and not complete my readings for the day. Peoples' lives are at stake here, I can't be wasting time with trivial things like youtube and facebook.
I'm not on facebook anymore. I quit after medical school ended (September-ish) and I never looked back. I know that everyone swears by it, but I honestly felt as though a huge weight was lifted. I thought to myself one day, say we didn't have facebook, or myspace, or twitter....how did my parents keep in touch with their friends? I then realized that my parents don't actually have that many friends, just a few (literally 5 or 6) whom they invite to house parties, and then a few (3 or 4) from work whom they call (on the land telephone) to converse with after work. It seemed so much simpler for me to just let go of people with whom I am not immediately geographically linked. My best friends are in Alberta, Syracuse and Vancouver and I still keep in touch with them, but where's the need to message the 300 people I had on my facebook account every week to constantly find out what they are doing? Letting go can be surprisingly calming.
The resident e-mailed me back with information on housing today, and the choices basically boiled down to living near the city (and away from the main hospital) and living in the suburb next to the main hospital (and away from the city). I would much rather live in the suburb. I like cycling, and the trail is right there. I plan on cooking all my own food, working out at home, and possibly re-learning how to play guitar. Why should I be concerned with going "downtown" every Friday or eating at "a nice place" three nights a week? I'm trying to slim down so I should make all my own food, and I want to save money for when I start a family one day. I'm not currently in a relationship, but I still think that far ahead, despite being 26, single, and having a whole career ahead of me. I don't deny most of my colleagues will be going downtown for entertainment, and when they do I'll go with them. I don't mind living far (~25 minutes drive) from the city, as long as I don't have to live in a tiny apartment, with noisy neighbours, horns honking etc. Suburbia will be more than enough for me.
My priorities have put me ahead of some people, and behind others, in life. Again these terms are quite relative, it depends on what you want to accomplish with your time on Earth. That's the final area where I differ from most people. I have gained a much better understanding of how little everything matters upon leaving medical school, because I understand how transient life is. This transient nature of life has enlightened me enough that I have started to make time for what I really feel is worthwhile, like writing in this blog (basically a personal journal, I don't plan on going major or public with it but if it happened then I suppose it would be a pleasant surprise) or playing guitar, eating well and exercising. There's the attitude of "excess is best, you only live once so live it up, pay for your mistakes later" and then there's my attitude, which is tough to summarize into quotes, but if I had to it would be : "Life is short. Don't make mistakes, make good choices and generate your own happiness." That is to say, if you score a 210 on that USMLE World practice exam (which I did today. Looks like I'm not backing out of the Step 3 after all, taking it April 17th and 18th) then don't think you've somehow "earned" the right to eat sugar (which I didn't). The score is an achievement and the feeling of relief that the last 2 months of work haven't gone to waste should be its own reward. The last 4 years were a living hell, and I'm going to Europe with my family to unwind from all that (going in May after my board exams) but I shouldn't need to "unwind" from residency. It will be difficult but I should not get stressed. I should get less stressed each day. I should get so proficient at blowing away stress and anxiety that I can get into any situation without raising my heart rate, without needing "down time" afterward.
I understand that few ever actually achieve these goals and maintain these priorities, but with the years I have left, I plan on trying my best to do so. That's why I sometimes call myself an "old man".
Tuesday, 2 April 2013
Where does anyone want to live, really?
I had a long conversation with a friend of a friend today, someone with whom I have been keeping in touch throughout interview season (us Canadian International Medical Graduates have to stick together) and she asked what I had decided on for housing in residency. I told her I wasn't really sure. Here are the basic decision parameters for me:
Security - I have to live in an area that isn't overrun by crime. Then again, I can't live somewhere that's extremely far from the hospital. And the area in which the hospital is situated is overrun by poverty. And assumedly crime.
Space - I have to live in at least a one-bedroom apartment. No studios, possibly a lot. Having said all that, I can't very well live in an apartment because there's no guarantee of noiselessness. A condo is not an apartment, condominiums tend to have much thicker walls and more reliable property managers than your run-of-the-mill apartments. If I lived in a condo it probably wouldn't be the end of the world. If I lived in a townhouse, though, I'd only share walls with two people instead of five, and those people presumably wouldn't be 20-something drug addicts. Preferably, anyway. If I have a townhouse then I'll have more room to put the weight rack, the bike, the guitar .... I'm not much of a furniture person, honestly.
Location, location, location - I gave up living close to the hospital when I saw the surrounding area on interview. There are two locations in which I could potentially live, one is closer to the main city and 22 minutes by highway and road from the hospital. The other is in a small town further from the city but closer to the hospital (about 14 minutes, by road).
Lots of tough decisions. I'll make them more decisively once I find out who my resident advisor is, can sit down and send them a long email asking about housing. I didn't do today's Sarnecki because I spent time planning the European vacation today, but I did manage to get in my first guitar practice session in years. No, it did not rock. I'd say this is going to take work, but I actually enjoyed running through scales. There's something about sitting down with the guitar, the ability to create music, that I unfortunately caught on to at a young age. I say "unfortunately" because I didn't know at the time that it came with practice obligations and the associated time. I don't know which hobby I would have picked if I hadn't picked music, but spare time has to go toward something. Today's sugar avoidance was tougher than yesterday's because I fared poorly on today's simulated exam, but I'm not beating myself up about it because it doesn't accurately simulate the real thing. Tomorrow's simulated exam more accurately simulates the real thing, and the target for that is 205. If I get 205 or over, I'm good. Having said that, we're trying for much more. Still haven't eaten any sugar, 2 days now. Yes I'm going to keep mentioning that, I'm just that impressed with myself.
Security - I have to live in an area that isn't overrun by crime. Then again, I can't live somewhere that's extremely far from the hospital. And the area in which the hospital is situated is overrun by poverty. And assumedly crime.
Space - I have to live in at least a one-bedroom apartment. No studios, possibly a lot. Having said all that, I can't very well live in an apartment because there's no guarantee of noiselessness. A condo is not an apartment, condominiums tend to have much thicker walls and more reliable property managers than your run-of-the-mill apartments. If I lived in a condo it probably wouldn't be the end of the world. If I lived in a townhouse, though, I'd only share walls with two people instead of five, and those people presumably wouldn't be 20-something drug addicts. Preferably, anyway. If I have a townhouse then I'll have more room to put the weight rack, the bike, the guitar .... I'm not much of a furniture person, honestly.
Location, location, location - I gave up living close to the hospital when I saw the surrounding area on interview. There are two locations in which I could potentially live, one is closer to the main city and 22 minutes by highway and road from the hospital. The other is in a small town further from the city but closer to the hospital (about 14 minutes, by road).
Lots of tough decisions. I'll make them more decisively once I find out who my resident advisor is, can sit down and send them a long email asking about housing. I didn't do today's Sarnecki because I spent time planning the European vacation today, but I did manage to get in my first guitar practice session in years. No, it did not rock. I'd say this is going to take work, but I actually enjoyed running through scales. There's something about sitting down with the guitar, the ability to create music, that I unfortunately caught on to at a young age. I say "unfortunately" because I didn't know at the time that it came with practice obligations and the associated time. I don't know which hobby I would have picked if I hadn't picked music, but spare time has to go toward something. Today's sugar avoidance was tougher than yesterday's because I fared poorly on today's simulated exam, but I'm not beating myself up about it because it doesn't accurately simulate the real thing. Tomorrow's simulated exam more accurately simulates the real thing, and the target for that is 205. If I get 205 or over, I'm good. Having said that, we're trying for much more. Still haven't eaten any sugar, 2 days now. Yes I'm going to keep mentioning that, I'm just that impressed with myself.
Monday, 1 April 2013
The Man with the Iron .... will
I was very proud of myself today, because I did something today that most people just do naturally without thinking or trying every day of their lives. I made healthy food choices.
I didn't eat any sugar or chocolate, didn't drink any soda. How did I pull this off? No I'm not about to explain it I'm actually shocked. Usually when I go without it I feel like I'm missing out, and I eventually cave. This time, I feel fine. I ate some grapes during the day, those really aren't going to set me back a ton.
I think I'm finally sick of not having the body I want, it's finally dawned on me that life is tough and if I want to live to 100 then I have to just be relaxed, I shouldn't need to do things to be relaxed. Besides not eating, another thing I didn't do today is watch TV. I watched an episode with dinner but that was of a show I had already seen in the past, and that was mainly so that I could spend time with my parents. During the day, I sat at the dinner table (the table that's full of newspapers, bills and junk mail) and I ate. I listened to a podcast called "Stuff you should know" , and I highly recommend it. Not only are the hosts talented at researching articles and conveying knowledge, they're also quite funny and tend to play around with making statements that are utter nonsense. Every now and then you'll hear this nugget of nonsense and you can't help but laugh, it's a classic style of humour that isn't used that often today.
I didn't manage to practice guitar today, but that's okay. I'll keep up with my Sarnecki readings (the one page I do every night) and then I'll go to bed happy. I worked out today, did 4 rounds on the bag (shut up, I was exhausted) so I should sleep fairly well tonight. I have a practice exam tomorrow for the Step 3, and the target is 400. I might make it, if I do a little worse then no big deal, but if I do better it will be a huge confidence boost so I'm hoping for the best here. I'll play some guitar afterward, if it goes well. If not, I'll try not to get myself down, I've been studying for the thing for a month and a half now so it's not like I could have done anything different. It's all about guts with these exams. You have to pick the best strategy, and you have to study everything quickly and get the test done and passed, preferably with a high score. It has to be studied for quickly though, can't take 9 or 10 months because you don't have that kind of down time. It takes ... an iron will.
I didn't eat any sugar or chocolate, didn't drink any soda. How did I pull this off? No I'm not about to explain it I'm actually shocked. Usually when I go without it I feel like I'm missing out, and I eventually cave. This time, I feel fine. I ate some grapes during the day, those really aren't going to set me back a ton.
I think I'm finally sick of not having the body I want, it's finally dawned on me that life is tough and if I want to live to 100 then I have to just be relaxed, I shouldn't need to do things to be relaxed. Besides not eating, another thing I didn't do today is watch TV. I watched an episode with dinner but that was of a show I had already seen in the past, and that was mainly so that I could spend time with my parents. During the day, I sat at the dinner table (the table that's full of newspapers, bills and junk mail) and I ate. I listened to a podcast called "Stuff you should know" , and I highly recommend it. Not only are the hosts talented at researching articles and conveying knowledge, they're also quite funny and tend to play around with making statements that are utter nonsense. Every now and then you'll hear this nugget of nonsense and you can't help but laugh, it's a classic style of humour that isn't used that often today.
I didn't manage to practice guitar today, but that's okay. I'll keep up with my Sarnecki readings (the one page I do every night) and then I'll go to bed happy. I worked out today, did 4 rounds on the bag (shut up, I was exhausted) so I should sleep fairly well tonight. I have a practice exam tomorrow for the Step 3, and the target is 400. I might make it, if I do a little worse then no big deal, but if I do better it will be a huge confidence boost so I'm hoping for the best here. I'll play some guitar afterward, if it goes well. If not, I'll try not to get myself down, I've been studying for the thing for a month and a half now so it's not like I could have done anything different. It's all about guts with these exams. You have to pick the best strategy, and you have to study everything quickly and get the test done and passed, preferably with a high score. It has to be studied for quickly though, can't take 9 or 10 months because you don't have that kind of down time. It takes ... an iron will.
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