Wisconsin Day Tripping

Rolled back into town Sunday and ended up skiing on Monday. Grabbed a 3P-11P lift ticket and rentals for $65. It ended up being a lot more fun than I was expecting...and I was already pretty psyched to go. Making it even better, temps were only around 35°-25°. For being my second time, I did a hell of a lot better than the first time last year. Plus, I actually had decent muscle memory from last time. Got around to hitting all the trails, although I was admittedly a bit nervous about the black diamonds. According to some of the Colorado skiiers in the group, the place's black diamonds are equivalent to CO blue squares. Good enough for me, especially after my second time.

I think it's pretty cool that there are ski places in the Midwest, especially in Wisconsin - this one was about 90 minutes away. The places are reasonable enough to learn on and give beginners some slopes to work through after flailing about. There's talk of another group going over MLK weekend, and I'm even more pumped about that now. Supposedly Minnesota has some of the best in the midwest, but it's a bit of a drive. Realistically, we'll probably be in Michigan or back in Wisconsin. I don't care either way, I just wanna get back out there.

Unwinding

I got out of my last final around 10:30 on Wednesday. Since then it's been pure chilling. No caffeine whatsoever and getting more than 2-3 hours of sleep. Oh, and that nice thing about having nothing to do for the next two weeks. I've got a laundry list of real life things to do, but at least that's stress free and mostly at my own pace. As for chilling, I've got some ski plans in the works for tomorrow and should be downstate on Tuesday. God willing, there won't be any weather - we've had a foot of snow over the past few days. As for skiing, it looks like it'll be freezing balls again. Last year it was -5° with a -20° windchill. Monday's looking to be a high of 5° with a windchill in the negative teens. Today would qualify as cold as well. This week's been a pretty severe introduction to winter.


So yeah, I'm thoroughly enjoying the time off. Sad thing is I'm already cringing at the thought of getting back to the grind. For one, I'm legitimately sick of school at this point. On top of that, I'm gonna have to start studying for boards...which are lingering sometime in May/June. Ah well, all I can do is enjoy the break. Which I plan to.

Brr

It was like 50° yesterday. Kind of a severe drop in temp, imo. Getting blasted in the face with sleet at 2:30 in the morning wasn't so cool either. Literally come with the territory I suppose.


On another note, in a few hours it'll be five down, two to go. Home stretch baby!

Slipping a Bit

Over the past few days, I've forgotten to do some things. Things that should be second nature. An isolated incident every now and then is normal, sure. By my count, I've got three such examples in as many days.

• Misplaced my I-card. Kinda need it for finals and swiping into rooms. Thought I lost it either around my computer desk or in the conference room we were studying in. Ended up buying another I-card. Found original I-card in the back pocket of the sweats I rewore today. Cost: $20
• Forgot to put my free transit pass back in my wallet last night. Again, chilling in the back pocket of jeans worn yesterday. Cost: $3.50
• Forgot to grab housekeys on the way out this morning. Luckily, I've got a solid spare key system in place. It'd require me being an even bigger dumbass to not have access. Cost: pride

Pretty good moves on my part, I know. It's okay to be jealous. Don't care about the money really. A little disappointed all three things happened in such a short period of time. Maybe sleep affect things more than I thought. For working on 3-4 hours/night since Sunday, I'm actually functioning pretty well during the day. Maybe not as well as I'd like apparently. Either way, next Wednesday's so close, yet teasingly far at the same time: 2 down, 5 to go. Until then, I should probably stop putting things in my back pocket.

What Lurks Beneath

Every week we have a required seminar followed by a small group discussion that incorporates some of the less scientific aspects of medicine. Some of the topics touched on include ethics, contraception, women's health, and geriatrics. Today's talks were about stress and medicine. On seeing today's topic, I mentally rolled my eyes. The seminar touched on some common sense things, which was to be expected...not gonna bore the post (even more) with details.

Some interesting stats to me were: 50% of med students experience burnout at some point. Burnout's apparently defined as emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced sense of self-accomplishment. I've probably experienced each one of those at one point or another. The more shocking stat was that 11% of med students have contemplated suicide. I have not experienced that. The suicide stat is kinda surprising to me, though the burnout stat - not so much. The person leading the seminar works with several levels of students and commented on students' (de)evolution through school, with regard to personality, empathy, and cynicism. I can't say that I'd disagree with her assessment over even just the past 18 months. In stepping back, it's kinda sad how med school can take a bright and shiny M1 at orientation and grind them into something they're not.

After the seminar, we moved to our small groups for discussion and such. I'm in a pretty good group: everyone feels safe sharing ideas/opinions (there are some groups where this isn't the case). It's also a pretty diverse group: educational background (3 yr undergrads to M.S.), age (~me to ~30), ambition level (looking just to pass to going all out), and any other diversity metric of your choosing. The discussion eventually turned personal for several in our group.

I was pretty amazed at how several people had gone through significant things and/or needed outside help. I am definitely not passing judgment on anyone because we all have our own business to deal with. I'm more or less commenting on how well put-together some can keep it together on the surface while working through serious issues.

As a quick aside, I noted that some of these people were some of the more active members in our class: taking on extra responsibilities such as coordinating clinics, events, and boards. Props to them for that, but I couldn't help but wonder if there's too much on their plate. Aside from my laziness and probable incompetence, the stress that accompanies such positions is one reason I don't gun for them.

Anyway, I consider myself lucky to have such a good support system in place with friends and family, because I'm not the type who would openly admit to needing outside help. That said, I realize I don't have things all that bad. Luckily, I've never considered myself burnt out or depressed. Stressed out and jaded at times, for sure. But that'll come with the territory. Some of my cohorts have dealt with real issues: personal, social, academic, or medical. In a bigger picture view, there are people worse off than us in this world. Head over to Iraq or Darfur and that puts things in perspective. This isn't to marginalize what my classmates or anyone goes through, but it helps to place things on a continuum of shittiness.

As a closing comment, I realize all this stuff happened when I signed up for med school - I'm neither not that naive, nor am I trying to score pity points. I just wasn't really attuned to its prevalence or the reality of these issues. It's pretty sobering to hear stories from faculty about themselves and their students. Even moreso to witness it firsthand in my classmates. It's so much more real with stories and faces to go with words like burnout, stress, and depression.

On a lighter note, two weeks out from being done for the semester!

Winding Down (?)

Got back into town Sunday night from T-break. And a pretty damn good one at that. All sorts of chilling, catching up, and recharging. Thanks to everyone who made it out and hung out. Actually went into further sleep debt over break, but totally worth it. Said break contrasts pretty hard with what's next on the agenda.

By my count, I've got 16 days until school's out. Eight of those have seven finals stuffed into them. Two of them I haven't done anything for this semester yet. So here I am: obligatory whining stage of the semester winding down. I'm not really stressed or freaking out, as much as averse towards going into all-out mode for the next 2+ weeks. But, this type of exam schedule is totally worth it. I'm a pretty big fan of having had a relatively flexible semester.

As for noon around December 17, I'm pumped and sad. Pumped for obvious reasons: T-break v2.0, some skiing, some whirlyball...probably gonna split break between both ends of the state. I'll also be one semester removed from being done with classrooms. Forever. (!) Why so sad? Because it'll also be my last real break. Getting time to study for boards next semester doesn't quite have the same appeal. Yeah, it happens to everyone, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

Now some random thoughts that I've got floating around but don't feel like writing much about.

• First real snow of the year: yay!
• Excited about Illini basketball's incoming `09 and `10 classes
• Not so thrilled with Illini football going from the Rose Bowl to bowl ineligible
• More Peyton commercials please
  
• Still wanting to see D-Rose in action live
  
• Had a mental status exam workshop today
• Depressed patient = ~30 seconds of legitimate silence after half my questions (other half: ~10 second pauses)
  
• Depression also equals ridiculously short answers, leading to more questions
  
• ...for a grand total: 30 minutes of awkward interviewing
• Still don't feel like someone who's gonna eventually be a doctor
• Considering elevating bloody marys to m.o. status (Jack/Coke, Coor's)
• Technology and I still don't get along so hot
• Desktop's power supply has a bad (and noisy) fan and is itching to overheat (in a 50° apt)
• on an unrelated note, you get used to coming back to your place smelling like (electric) burning
  
• DVD burner is also looking to die
• Said computer randomly restarts about once/day
  
• Both desktop and laptop occasionally feel the need to take minutes to do simple tasks (open a browser or calculator)
• Am now a fan of the TV shows Chuck and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
• Been using pandora.com for awhile...I'm a fan
• yes, I'm probably one of the last ones onboard for pandora
  
• One of my regular hot dog stands apparently gives out free "pop" with an order if you're a UIC student
• generic orange soda!

Aaand, I think my electric blanket's warmed my bed up enough to where I don't have to start out fetal. People's Gas will not be getting more than $100/month from me this winter. You wait and see.

Erh?

Weekends aside, I don't really remember what I've done the past few weeks. I know I've studied at times. I've even learned some more physical exam skills. Yay! Luckily, Turkey Day's less than a week away to break that cycle. And today, through some slick moves on my part I was able to switch out of a required workshop that basically means I could bounce outta town now. I'm definitely looking forward to vegging out for a few days and stuffing my face with food.

After T-break, there's about a week of class and then bam! Seven finals in as many days. That'll suck, but the stress-free semester's been way worth it. Unfortunately, winter break only goes for 2.5 weeks. At least we come back to 2 weeks of hospital stuff and not straight to books.

On the note of studying, we had a required session today previewing the USMLE Step I exam next spring. Read: boards, part I. Alternatively, it's like the cumulative final for the first two years of med school. The session was useless, but it got me to really thinking. That's gonna blow. Hard. I'm envisioning MCAT except exponentially worse. I can somewhat come to terms (?) with the uber sucky exam. Not so cool is getting a maximum of two weeks between second and third year - we schedule our own exam dates. Last year the average was about 10 days off. Some ambitious (aka: crazy) people only gave themselves a weekend off between second and third year. I'll be shooting for two weeks off.

Either way, no form of exam is my immediate future. Yay! And I've grown to like that. Now to decide whether or not to wear a coat out. I've grown accustomed to it being in the 50s in my apartment. Still, the 20° blows that acclimation away.

Obama!

I usually don't comment much about politics, but I feel this is a worthy exception. This is the first election that I've legitimately been excited about. Granted last election I had pretty strong interests in the outcome, but moreso for fear of the incumbent winning. This year was more about actually getting behind a man and sincerely hoping that he would win. Actually believing in him and his message.

Being in Chicago, I got the chance to head down to Obama's victory rally in Grant Park. This was one of the more amazing experiences I've ever had. Being around hundreds of thousands of like-minded people, witnessing history in the making. The excitement, energy, and anticipation of the night was in every sense of the word, awesome. These words don't really do justice to the atmosphere of Grant Park last night. Either way, I'm still on a bit of a high from last night and excited for what's to come!

Yin Yang Weekend

Apparently it's Halloween this weekend. It's a weird mixture: gonna be costumed up in the evenings, all fancily dressed in the mornings. The former involves a Filipino ninja (complete with eskrima sticks) tonight and South Park's Satan (heaven and hell theme event) tomorrow. The latter involves learning some clinical exam skills: today was abdominal exam on each other, tomorrow is female pelvic/breast on standardized patients. Yes, we have clinical skill workshops on the weekend. At least tomorrow's is at 1030. Next week's is at 830. And male genital/rectal. Uncool. We practice most of the physical exam on each other, except for the genital stuff. You couldn't pay me enough to have clueless med students poking, prodding, and groping around aimlessly. Imo, you have to kind of like that stuff. The money's just an extra perk. Either way, I'm glad we have standardized patients for that.

Illini Football

Having Directv, I've been able to watch pretty much all the Illini games. I've gotta say, Juice is looking pretty good this year. It's night and day between this year and his freshman year. As opposed to missing throws by fifteen yards, he's been laying in some pretty nice ones. He's also developed some touch, as opposed to "rocket every throw I can" mode. For the most part, his decision making's improved too: he'll throw the ball away and look to keep passing when flushed out of the pocket. Guess his work with Donovan in the offseason helped. On the runningback front, Dufrene has been a nice surprise. Jason Ford also had a nice breakout game last week and he looked pretty impressive. Granted, it was IU but it's still nice to a freshman back doing that kind of damage. It's nice to have that kind of promise in the underclassmen. For now, he's a nice contrast to Dufrene, he's more of a downhill runner/power back type.

As good as the offense can look at times, they can be inconsistent at times. That's the most frustrating thing, since I know they can be pretty good. On top of that, the team as a whole just makes mistakes at inopportune times: turnovers, missed defensive assignments, special team issues. (Reference Mizzou and Penn State games.) On that note, defense is one our weaker areas. Almost allowing Louisiana Lafayette to come back from a 17-3 deficit doesn't scream staunch D.

I've watched pretty much all the Illini games, and that's my two cents on the team. I actually got the chance to head over to Ann Arbor a few weeks ago. It was a pretty good time, not that I was expecting otherwise. True, the Big House holds ~110,000...but I wouldn't say it's comfortable. The fans were surpisingly subdued, although their trailing for most of the game may have had a say in that. I thoroughly enjoyed the game though, and I actually didn't catch too much flak for that.

The Big Ten network's also had this thing called "Illini Football: The Journey" running for a bit. It's pretty cool seeing what goes on during a week leading up to a game and during the game. It's a nice chance to see what some of the players are like too. No real highlights off the top of my head, but it's cool to get a behind the scenes look at a team, especially when it's yours.

Practicum

Since last Wednesday I've been in practicum. It's basically like doing a mini-rotation with a particular hospital service. This one lasts ten days and has me on the medicine service, while the other two last fourteen and seventeen days. Since we haven't learned physical exam or had much pathology or pathophysiology yet, our skill set is pretty limited. We're pretty much just taking histories. Sounds kinda lame, but it's actually harder than it seems to take a good, complete history. Any and all practice is appreciated, especially when there's a lot of it for an extended period of time. I feel like I'm improving pretty markedly if I do say so myself...plus it's starting to feel less awkward.

On top of getting to work with patients, the hospital itself is great. The facilities are ridiculously nice, on par with Northwestern's hospital. And that's saying something since I'm in a community hospital out in the burbs, not a major academic hospital in the city. That said, the hospital's neighborhood is all sorts of fancy - homes are easily in the seven digit range. The wards and hospital are nice, yes. But even better is the fact that the residents and attendings are insanely nice and helpful - they're legitimately excited to work with us. Random docs and nurses are the same way too.

So yeah, I'm enjoying practicum so far. The work is still interesting , I really like the environment, and it's not that bad of a commute. Plus, I get free nights and weekends. Having class start back up is gonna suck, but then again that always does. One thing I'm definitely *not* looking forward to is a clinical workshop. Of the male genital/rectal variety. Uncool. On top of that, it's at 830 on a Saturday morning. Doubly weak. At least this is one clinical exam workshop where we don't practice on each other. That'd be weird(er).

Speed Demons

The Chicago Marathon was ran here last Sunday. It's passed a few blocks from my place the past two years, and I think that's pretty cool. Quite a few people from my class ran it, and to be honest I was surprised at how many. One of my friends even jumped in randomly since it ran through our neighborhood. He wasn't even training and ran half the marathon. Props. Either way, it's pretty cool seeing people's names and times published on the marathon website. It's even cooler that they ran it in the middle of a block of four exams. You could definitely tell from people's gait who ran yesterday.

All the buzz about the marathon got me to read up on and somewhat follow the marathon. Apparently it's one of five major marathons, the others being Boston, NYC, Berlin, and London. I figured Boston would be that level of marathon, I had no idea about the other four though. Apparently this year's field was 45,000 strong. That's a lot of people, imo. A lot. The winning time was 2:06. Over 26.2 miles. By my count, that averages out to 12.5 mph and sub 5 minute mile pacing....for two hours. Damn, I don't think I could 1.) sprint that fast 2.) keep that pace for more than a few minutes. And even better, I average about 10 mph on my bike rides. Sure that includes some stoppage and traffic time, but still - my moving average is probably only about 14 mph. Weak.

The past two years the marathon weather's been unseasonably warm - around 80°. Since we were studying in the middle of the Illinois Medical District Sunday and not too far from the marathon route we were one of the first places ambulances came to. And come they did. Until the early afternoon, there was a legitimate average of one ambulance every ten minutes roaring through. Yikes. Last year, one person actually died en route to the hospital. Sad, yes. Sadder is that said ambulance couldn't find the hospital...amid three major ones (Cook County, UIC, Rush). One of my classmates actually had to taken away on account of her hyperthermia and dehydration. Eesh.

And now I'm off to try and grab some sleep. Infection/immunity kept our study group up for awhile on account of the ridiculousness of the exam material. At least the other exams for this block have been semi-reasonable in their detail orientedness. Today's exam: not so much. Either way, I'm in the hospital for ten days after this. Yay! Sure, working hours suck, but at least I'll get my nights and weekends back totally. Double yay!

Happenings and Such

So, nothing too interesting has been happening the past few weeks. I haven't been in a straight up routine, but nothing worth writing a post about has happened. That said, here I am.

Classes are going well enough. Pathology and clinical pathophysiology have been interesting all around, regardless of lecturer or topic. These are the classes that make me feel like I'm actually in med school and not in some mascochistic science school. Infection and immunity can be kinda cool, but there are a shitton of bugs out there...don't get sick. Parasites are interesting enough, but they're disgusting in how they go about their business. Pharmacology is brute memorization at this point especially since we're only learning about pharmacokinetics, antibiotics, antifungals, antineoplastics, antiprotozoans...you get the point. It's shitty at this point because there's no physiological tie-ins yet, there are so many drugs, and each has a constellation of things to memorize. No me gusta brute memorization. Maybe things will get better once outside of anti-living thing drugs.

Clinically, we had a history taking workshop. While I still felt awkward and like it was a manufactured interview, I got positive feedback from the "patient." I might even have figured out what she had. They also videotaped the interview for us to watch later. I hate watching myself, but I figured I should see how it went. And I have to say, it actually didn't sound nearly as awkward as it did in my mind. It even sounded like I knew what I was doing...which is scary, because there's not a whole lotta knowledge up top yet.

Outside of class, I've been dabbling in emergency medicine stuff. I've hung out for a few shifts at UIC's ER. It's not Cook County, so there aren't stabbings and shootings rolling in all the time. But, I've gotten to see a lot of things with a diversity of cases and have been learning quite a bit. More importantly, I'm starting to think that EM is what I'm wanting to do. I've also hit up a few EM workshops, mainly suturing and intubation. The suturing did not go so hot for me at this point, but I'm hoping that'll come with time. Intubation went a lot better and was actually pretty cool. So yeah, all that jazz is what's drawing me to EM: case variety, drawing on different aspects of medicine, getting to do some procedures, and shift work (i.e.: not being on call).

Outside of UIC, there's this place called Chicago. Gotten to try more fare. I can only think of two places off the top of my head: Heaven on Seven and Uncommon Ground. The former's a Cajun place while the latter's an American place. Heaven on Seven's got quite the selection of Creole fare and an even bigger selection of hot sauces to go with them. One of the walls is actually a huge spice rack of every hot sauce they have...I wasn't adventurous enough to ask for any of them. The pound of shrimp and tots were amazing though. Uncommon Ground's a classy date place without pretension - good ambiance, nice decor, and quiet (unless they've got live music going). They draw ingredients from local family farms and change their menu (food/drink) every few weeks. As for the music, there was an African band playing for a biodiesel cause of some sort. More importantly, the food was pretty good - the tilapia was pistachio encrusted yet still ridiculously moist. It gives La Sardine's salmon a run for it's money, imo.

As for biking, that's died down a bit on account of timing issues and shorter days. I average only about one ride a week :( This week it was in the 50s and that's kinda chilly on a bike, especially while riding upwind. My ears already get cold kinda easily, biking even more so. I'd still like to keep riding up until snow starts falling though. Another thing I've picked up is capture the flag. Been playing once a week for about a month now and it's actually pretty fun. Faceplanting into rose and thorn bushes: not so much fun. And they leave marks. But yeah, CTF's always a winner - get to run around for a few hours and be all ninja like at the same time. About the latter, campus security doesn't say anything to someone in all black sneaking around and hiding in bushes. Hell breaks loose if you dart across side streets though.

Cycling Sightings

It's been about two weeks since I've been for a bike ride. Between wanting to go for a 20+ mile ride, required classes at inconvenient times, and earlier sunsets I just haven't been able to make it out. I may start shortening up my rides in the interests of just getting rides in.

Either way, I had been running out of bike-friendly roads to explore neighborhoods. That said, I was defaulting my rides to the lakefront trail, mostly the northern part. Since the north side's the denser part of the city, there are more people on the path. It makes for not only good people watching, but also for annoyances and entertainment.

Annoyances
-people that can't keep a straight line - be it joggers, rollerbladers, cyclists
-rollerbladers that swing their arms wildly to the sides
-jackasses who high five each other across the path and almost clothesline me
-joggers in a group that take up the entire lane and shoulder
-people that stop on the path - actually just stop and are just standing there
-skateboarders
-swarms of bugs that get deposited directly to my face
-wind and/or rain

Entertainment
-people that text/talk on their phones while cycling/rollerblading
-people who listen to music while biking
-businessmen on bikes (good for them, but suits on bikes is still a weird sight)
-people carrying Macy's bags in one hand, steering with the other
-people in their cars with headphones on...that can't be safe
-recumbent bikes
-people's faces when they hit the wall while jogging/biking, etc.
-being faster than traffic during the PM rush hour
-geese that refuse to move and then are oblivious to almost being run over
-segways



Here's an updated map of where I've been. I've still got a few route ideas, but like I said - I'm starting to run out of ideas. But I'm up to ~710 miles and averaging about 24 per ride. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna invest in a real road bike within the next year. The newer ones (mine's an older Schwinn from the 80s) are significantly lighter and shift pretty nicely. Doesn't sound like a big deal, but it actually is (imo).

Maybe The Grass Is Greener

I'm three weeks into M2 year and I have to say, things aren't too horrible right now. Yes, school and actually having to work suck. But, compared to this time last year things don't seem as bad. The classes are hands down better and more interesting. It's actually material that you'd associate with med school - things that make me feel like learning to become a doctor. E.g. pathology, pathophysiology, pharmacology, infection/immunity. Our clinical class includes learning physical exam skills among other things. As part of the same class, I'll be working with an emergency medicine doc - and that's nice since that's what I'm thinking of going into. On top of that, we spend six weeks out of the year in the hospital, actually on a service and part of a medical team.

So compared to last year (being neck deep in biochem, histology, and anatomy) life is a lot more enjoyable. Yeah classes are better and whatnot, but I've even had all my weekends so far. This is what I'd been hearing of course, but it's so much better to actually experience it. And on top of that, I've started the year off with massive nonattendance so as to maximize my free time. There are more required sessions this year, but even those are palatable. And now, off for a ride and some Illini football!

Wisconsin Tripping

Last weekend I headed up to Wisconsin for some camping and whitewater rafting. It was a bit far (5 hours to the White Lake, WI area), but definitely worth it - figuratively and literally. Camping and rafting together cost only $50, with a similar tab for group food, drink, gas, and firewood.

I got the chance to go camping for the first time in a long time. The usual camping stuff happened: campfires, drinking, roasting, smores, and whatnot. It was definitely a nice change of pace from Chicago. It did get into the forties one night, but my sleeping bag kept me pretty warm actually. There were more stars out and more silence than I've ever experienced, including my time in southern Illinois. All that in itself was a pretty awesome experience.

As for rafting, it was a four hour trip on the Wolf River. There would've been a six hour trip, but the water level was too low. They claim that the rapids were classes three and four. It actually wasn't that overwhelming, considering I've never been before. The funnest parts were definitely the waterfalls and maneuvering around rocks. In contrast, the least fun involved de-wedging from getting stuck among rocks - you've sometimes gotta get out of the raft in rapids and push the raft. One, the rocks are slippery as hell; two, the rocks are not evenly distributed on the river bed; three, when you do de-wedge, you can't let the current take the raft without you. Regardless, the sets of rapids were definitely the highlight of the trip. Luckily, I never got tossed from the raft. Although, I did accidentally whack my rafting partner in the head with my oar. She had a nice welt to show for it at the end of trip.

Outisde of rapids, the river is pretty serene. It's really chill, relaxing, and beautiful. The only thing that sucked about the rest of the river was the low water level. At times, the water was so low that we had to get out and pull our raft since we were dragging.

I'd definitely go on another trip like this again. For the time and money, it was a blast. Similar to last week, I was pretty bummed about having to come back to med school. I would legitimately say I was slightly depressed about that fact. Guess that means I had a pretty good time though.

All Good Things

I just got back into Chicago after a few days in Southern Illinois. This event is nothing special, but it also leaves me a few hours from school starting back up. And this realization leaves a feeling of dread. I've never had more angst about a school year starting as I do now. The words angst and dread don't even sufficiently describe how I feel right now.

I've had an insanely chill and relaxed summer - mostly bumming out mixed with some travelling, biking, and imbibing. The *only* productive thing I did this summer was shadow an EM doc for a few hours. Shadowing aside, I was pretty far removed (in time, memory, and mindset) from anything med school. And now all of that is about to come crashing back into my life, on top of my last summer winding down. This is doubly unfortunate. (Yes, you're all free to call the whaambulance.) One more year of books. That's this year's motto. On a brighter note, I'll be heading up to Wisconsin for some camping and whitewater rafting this weekend. :D

The ATL

Between getting the chance to visit a close friend and checking out some southern culture, I decided to head down to Atlanta last weekend. It's only a ninety minute flight and I booked while it was still reasonably cheap.

The first night, we had dinner at Harmony, a vegetarian Chinese place. Ended up partaking in some duck, which was pretty tasty. I honestly couldn't tell that it was fake meat, which is saying something since I like meat. Hit up The Chocolate Bar for some dessert, and had some mighty good chocolate - "oreos and milk" (souffle stuffed with ganache and served with milk sorbet). As for grabbing drinks, we ended up around East Atlanta. Specifically at Smith's Olde Bar, Blind Willie's, and Dark Horse. The first two places featured live music, which is always nice. Only Blind Willie's had reasonable cover though, but at least it was a blues bar.

On a side note, there was an interesting version of designated driver roaming around. Some guy in an orange shirt wanders around with a motorbike looking for inebriated groups. On finding said people, he drives the group home in their own car, with the bike folded up in the trunk. Drop off passengers, collect money, retrieve bike, rinse & repeat. I thought it was interesting.

As for touristy stuff, that happened downtown. Wandered through the CNN center for a bit before heading off to Centennial Olympic Park. Ended up in the Fountain of Rings for awhile, although I was by far the driest of the group. Afterwards, we made our way to The World of Coke. They've got some cool stuff as far as the history and production of Coke goes. However, the highlight of the place was the tasting room - where you get to try sixty-four Coke products from around the world. Sixty four cups later, I decided most of it was pretty good and that I like apple soda. There were some disgusting flavors though, e.g. cough syrup and uncarbonated sugar water. Also, Fanta is kind of a big deal around the world, they've just got some weird flavors. Either way, my stomach was definitely hurting afterwards and I think I had a legitimate sugar crash on the train ride home. On that note, the MARTA (train) is a lot nicer and quieter than the L up here. And, it actually runs at full speed for the entire line. Nice.

Overall, Atlanta was a nice town to visit. I only heard "y'all" a few times and didn't really notice many southern accents. The town's a bit more sprawling than I expected, but if you're near a MARTA station you're good to go. Oh, and I met an amazing four year old. She's definitely sharper and more curious than I was at that age. Promising in that regard, but kinda saddening for other reasons too.

Storm City

Last Monday there were three sets of storms that hit around here. One in the morning kept me from going on a bike ride, an early evening one that almost caught me in a ride, and a later one that knocked out power and dropped a few inches of rain in less than an hour. That last storm was pretty intense - set off the city sirens (didn't even know we had those), spawned a few tornadoes, and had some 95 mph wind gusts.

The storm, power loss, and sirens actually didn't bother me. I wasn't too happy when the three inch drainage basin in front of my door overflowed though. Where to, you ask? Directly under my door and into 3/4 of my living room. Water came in for about fifteen minutes and was about an inch deep around the door. The only reason I knew about the water was because I almost slipped on some tile after tracking through it (the power was out).

I actually had stuff to do on Tuesday, so the only thing I could do was leave a fan blowing over part of the room. I'm pretty sure it didn't do anything other than circulate the stench and waste some power. Wednesday though, I ended up renting a carpet cleaner and first ran over the carpet with just suction. I was able to pull a few gallons out of the carpet, but it was definitely still wet. I ended up cleaning the room about four times with some cleaning solution and deodorizer. Between that, opening windows and doors, and blowing fans 24/7 the smell is slowly dissipating. Aaand, the carpet's actually drying out :D So yeah, water + carpet = suck.

After I realized my floor was wet. If only the water would've stayed in that area.

Brewtown

A friend and I headed up to Milwaukee for part of last weekend. Mainly to catch a Brewers game, but also for a German festival. The festival was entertaining enough for an afternoon. There were some German shows going on, although we only sat in on one about clothing. Apparently colors of various accessories are indicative of different aspects of a person's life. Aside from that though, they all kinda looked the same...wouldn't be the first time I've heard that though :) But yeah, each region has a unique style of clothing, which I wasn't able to appreciate. The beer selection was kinda limited, but good enough. They only had one German brew, but it went down well since it was pretty hot. As for food, they had sausages, schnitzel, brats, and other assorted German/carnival food. I did have some pig's head though, and that was pretty good...once I got past the shock value of a head on a plate. There wasn't a whole lot of meat for how big the thing was, but between the meat and the skin - good stuff.

On the way back to the East Side neighborhood, we stopped by Kopp's - a Milwaukee frozen custard place. Think ice cream, but richer and better. They've got vanilla and chocolate flavors, but also two special flavors of the day, which are pretty much delicious. Especially when it's "bienenstichkuchen:" almond flavored custard mingled with yellow cake pieces, honey, Bavarian creme and sliced almonds.

As for the East Side area, it's very suburban feeling. I wouldn't have imagined houses that big and nice only a few miles from downtown. Some of them were approaching mansions in that regard. It makes for a nice area, but then there isn't really a city neighborhood feel to the region - no restaurants, shops, or bars in the immediate area...suburbanish. We ended up walking about twenty minutes for that type of stuff later in the night. It's especially weird to not have that stuff nearby, since UW-Milwaukee was only a few blocks away. It's a different story west of the river though, where most of the apartments, houses, and region are not nearly as nice. When driving across town, it's quite a contrast between the two banks of the river.

We caught brunch at the original pancake house. I got served the largest omelette I've had - it seriously took up an entire plate and was about three inches thick. Oh, and it was covered in goodness that was some sort of mushroom sauce. Headed out to the Brewers game afterwards. I have to say that Miller Park is pretty nice. If it weren't in the middle of nowhere, it might give Petco a run for nicest park, imo.

So yeah, the city's pretty nice as far as living arrangements go. Pretty big places around the East Side, which are close to the lake and downtown. Aside from that though, it's a quieter town with less going on in the neighborhoods. It's been awhile since I've been to their downtown though, so that might be a different story.

The Fail Console

I've had pretty bad luck with major electronics just quitting on me: computers, mp3 players, vcrs, and an xbox. My 360 has been fine for the past eighteen months, then last week not so much. Figured I was better than the "red ring of light." Wrong. I don't use it that much, just the occasional dvd, halo, or guitar hero - so I expected it to last awhile. Ah well, whatever. No real complaints here, I just think its funny since this keeps with a trend of mine.

Motowning

I headed east last weekend, out to Detroit. I didn't head there so much for the city. That said, I got to check out Detroit in all its...glory. After encountering non-existent highways and almost getting sent to Canada, we were forced onto surface streets to downtown. Between the streets and actually being downtown, it's safe to say that Detroit has seen better days. This is an obvious statement, but it's different being witness to the disinvestment. Got to hang out around Greektown for a bit, but even there it wasn't as vibrant as I would expect for being in a city center. The food however, was pretty good...even had some flaming cheese.

The suburbs (which served as home base) were a different story. They're much better off and actually offer more stuff to do, unlike the city. Grabbed some Mongolian bbq and a standup comedy show in the northern suburbs. The show was pretty good, imo...especially since I'm a fan of sketch comedies. Checked out Ann Arbor and some of the UM campus. Campus is pretty similar to UIUC, without as much open space. But the nice thing about theirs is that downtown blends pretty well with and leads into campustown, unlike Chambana and UIUC. I would have no problem spending a night out in Ann Arbor, as opposed to Detroit. As for the town, I had some Cuban brunch and their variation on eggs benedict. Specifically, there were fried eggs served over pork, plantains, and a pancake - good stuff. Also headed out to Lansing and caught some Dark Knight on Imax. Amazing movie - Heath Ledger does an outstanding job. Plus as a fan of Chicago, it was cool seeing different parts of the city and knowing where they're at.

It was a nice little trip for me, especially since I got to hang out with a pretty good friend. As for the metro area, I would probably rather live in the suburbs than Detroit. And I think that's saying a lot about Detroit, since I consider myself a city person.

City Cycling

I've had my bike for about 2+ weeks now and have been making pretty good use of it. My longest rides have gone for 37.5, 33, and 29 miles - though I probably average 20 per ride (including the first one). I've been on probably about ten rides for 220 miles, and it's pretty good exercise. It's cheaper than a gym membership ($75 once) and I'm outside for a few hours. I also get to check out the city: neighborhoods, beaches, and whatnot.

I've ridden all 18.5 miles of the lakefront path and have started moving inland on occasion. Riding along the streets, I get to see stuff that I wouldn't in a car. Plus, I get to stop whenever without having to worry about meters or zoned parking. As for being in the streets, I feel pretty safe riding along them. The only place where things are kinda dicey are downtown's lower level streets (pic) (a lot of them have multiple levels). Traffic moves pretty fast and it's a dark, confined space - just not very pedestrian/bicycle friendly. (On a side note, it does clear up a lot of delivery trucks topside. NYC's traffic flows pretty well, but trucks stopped on streets would get annoying after awhile. Also, there are *no* alleys in Manhattan...meaning that trash is literally piled up on sidewalks. Never realized that before.) Aanyway, I digress...

So, the Schwinn's the counter to my diet of unhealthiness. I've been noticing a difference in my hill power and biking distance the past few times, so that's gotta be a good sign. Or in the words of Tobias Funke, analrapist: "Huzzah! This is joyous news!" One weird thing though, for the first few miles of a ride my quads are not that happy. I've found the longer I keep going, the less complaining comes from them. After this, fluids and food are the main issues.

Below I threw in a map of where I've been. Like I said, I've been heading off the lakefront trail and am trying to check out different neighborhoods. Hopefully I can keep this up to some extent during the school year. Winter might be a different story. Currently though, the man upstairs just turned up the heat. Went for a morning ride today to beat the heat and still ended up going through three large McDonald's Gatorades and two regular ones.

Alefest

Last Saturday, there was a beer tasting festival called Alefest held just outside of Soldier Field. It had a steep entry fee at $40, but it was good for 20 servings and a free tasting glass. Plus it wasn't like light beer was being served. The closest regular beers were Sam Adams and Goose Island (Chicago brewery).

There were quite a few local breweries from around the country: Brooklyn, Cleveland, NorCal are ones I can remember off the top of my head. Then there were plenty of imports as well. I never realized the variety in beer - somewhat out of habit, but mostly out of cost. Granted, I can't really remember everything I had, but most brews were distinct from each other. What made things nicer was having people with who actually knew stuff about beer.

Here are the more unique ones I can remember: a bubble gum tasting one (not so good); a "white" beer (looked like champagne and kinda bland, but still decent); a red beer (don't know the style, but it was okay). They had a few Belgians there too, so that was a nice bonus. They like to make a lot of stuff floral, but kinda strong (around 8-10%). I found an Asian brew (Thai) that I hadn't had before, plus I got a button out of it. And since alcohol was being served there was of course food...whoever made the pub chips has earned themselves a customer.

The crowd was a bit more diverse than I would've imagined, especially with respect to age. There were people our age of course, but there were definitely people around sixty also. The average age was probably around thirty, which is higher than I would've first guessed. It made for some good entertainment towards the end, seeing older folk all boisterous and stumbling.

East Coast Swing

I got back a few days ago from the east coast. It was a nice little trip - flew out to DC and picked up a friend's car. Since he had siblings in both DC and NYC, we had places to stay and reasons to visit each. Even though it was short, it was a pretty good trip.

DC
Home base was just northwest of Georgetown. Nice area, although the apartment was not so much. Embassy Row is along the way to the apartment from Reagan. That was kinda cool seeing all sorts of different countries represented. But apparently the cost of living is pretty high where we were at - $1500/month gets you a not so impressive place. And in Georgetown, small rowhouses were selling for over $1 million.

We wandered around the Georgetown neighborhood for a bit. There are a lot of nice houses in the area, and the area is pretty quiet. Along the main drag, there's a lot of smaller shops/boutiques mixed with the bigger name stores. Not really what I was there for, but it was a nice walkable area. We eventually headed over to the Dupont Circle neighborhood and grabbed some lunch. There's a decent mix of offices, commerce, and eateries in the area. Grabbed some lunch at Panache, an Italian/tapas mix. The food was okay, but nothing overwhelming. Also grabbed some iced tea in the area. That's not usually my thing, but it was actually pretty good and kept me from sweating balls for a few minutes. On that note, it was in the mid 90s for the day...leading to spending about $20 on liquids.

Also did some touristy stuff, mainly wandering around the Mall, the White House and downtown. The only thing new to me was the World War II memorial. It's pretty cool with different theaters and their countries represented. The Philippines was represented, with actual island names engraved as a nice surprise.

We headed out to Baltimore to catch an Orioles/Royals game. Camden's pretty nice, with a lot of eating options along a promenade. Even got a free BBQ sandwich. But even better, there are a lot of vendors selling food and drink for cheap: $1 dogs and sodas, all of which can be brought in. The stadium was pretty empty, which was kinda depressing for as nice as it was. But since both teams sucked, there were a lot of runs scored to keep us entertained. It was probably around ten when we got out of the game and there were some unfriendly characters wandering as we drove through downtown. I hear the harbor area's nice, but I can't vouch for it.

Got back to DC and reset for the night, ending up around Georgetown about midnight. Since one of our crew lost a wallet at the game, we ended up bouncing between bars for service. We ended up at Martin's Tavern, which has apparently served every president since Truman. The other interesting thing is that every guy was dressed the same: khakis and a powder blue button up. The only variation is pants/shorts; shirt color/stripes/sleeves. One group was actually dressed identically as far as we could tell. On top of that, most of them were douchebags.

Overall, the neighborhoods were pretty cool. They were a lot more intimate and compact than I would expect for a city. Guess that's east coast style, before cars and whatnot. The only thing that sucks is cabs and housing are kind of expensive. One last random thing, DC loves traffic circles. They're in abundance there with all sorts of streets and traffic lights feeding into them. Who knew?

NYC
Home base was on Manhattan's upper west side, around 74th/Broadway. Pretty spacious place for Manhattan, although it runs $2400. Another place we hung out at was barely more than a studio for $2000. Ouch. Grabbed dinner in midtown at an Anthony Bourdain place, Les Halles. It was actually really good food, especially dessert. I've only had French a few times, but so far this place is the winner.

We caught a Yanks/Sox game out in the Bronx. The subway was insanely crowded and full of all sorts of personal space violations. It got us there pretty quick though, so that was good. The stadium is nice for it's history and whatnot, but the actual stadium is less than impressive. Guess that's why this is its last season. Anyway, we were in the bleachers and the rivalry wasn't as intense as I expected. It was more friendly trash talking than anything else. I will give Yanks fans props though, over 80% were wearing team gear of some sort.

Eventually got back to Manhattan and head back to midtown, specifically K-town. Had some damn good Korean, especially the squid and pork belly. I even did well with the chopsticks :) Of all the different drink places we went to, this champagne bar Flute was probably the highlight of the trip. They had a few shemales there, which was interesting. One actually repeatedly came over to our booth and struck up conversation. He/she was wasted, which made it that much more entertaining. As for the actual place though, it was expensive, but one of the doctors covered most of the tab. The place was done in a lounge/hookah style - very chill and low key. If I could afford it, I'd be down for that type of scene (sans shemales). And the champagne was damn good. I didn't even wake up with a headache the next morning, much less a hangover. I will say though, for being a city that doesn't sleep, we had trouble finding any food/drink places open at 3:30 on a Saturday night.

Before heading out, we had brunch at Sarabeth's on the upper west side. Pretty good fresh juice and omelettes. Which is saying a lot since I'd had brunch the previous two days. Got some cookies for the road from a local bakery, Levain. Hands down one of the best and largest cookies I've ever had. Partook in the walnut chocolate chip a few hours into the drive back. So good.

I used to think that Manhattan was so dense as to be unlivable for me. After this trip though, I could definitely see myself doing at least a residency there. Manhattan's kinda like a really, really large version of Chicago's downtown - which is pretty damn cool. I would have to seriously consider getting rid of my car though out of cost and convenience, which would be kinda tough. I like the freedom to go wherever, whenever for cheap. That's what I like about Chicago more than NYC...it's a more reasonable, livable city. Maybe Brooklyn's a different story, that's one borough I'd like to eventually check out. Either way, I could spend at least a few years in NYC.

As for the drive back to Chicago, there weren't all that many highlights. It somehow didn't seem like twelve hours of driving. Got lost in Newark for a bit, and ended up getting gas there. Since both Jersey and Oregon have full service gas laws, an attendant pumped our gas. However, he neither aired our tires nor cleaned our windshield like back in the day. Pennsylvania's actually a beautiful, scenic drive. Cleveland was about the halfway point, so we decided to try and get dinner there. No go...the city apparently shuts down around ten, if not earlier. A combo White Castle/Church's chicken was good enough at that point though.

Like I said, short trip but a pretty damn good one. I didn't take too many pictures, since we didn't do much touristy stuff. But here's Yankee Stadium.

Wanted

I'm needing an infusion of new music and/or reading. Tried out some Last Goodnight, courtesy of the Seattle trip (and like it) - but that's about all the new music I've had for awhile. Oh, and I'll also take suggestions for a cheap, legal way to acquire said music...alltunes will have none of my trying to reload my balance. Gracias amigos.

Pedal Pusher

I finally ended up getting a bike yesterday. Paid $75 for a used Schwinn Varsity. Really good condition as far as the rims, handlebars, frame, gears, and brakes go. I even like the color. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure from the frame that it's a woman's bike. I don't really care though, the lower top tube makes it easier to dismount - no fear of slamming a leg or package into a bar.

Ended up taking a ride out on the Lake Shore trail up north a few miles yesterday. Gives a really nice view of the city. And for whenever we needed a break, there were a few beaches to chill and grab some food/drink. As for getting to the lake, we had to ride through city streets and whatnot. It was a little scary at first, but that actually doesn't last that long. There's enough of a bike culture here that people will pass you or slow down if they're near the bike lane. I'm actually more scared when driving next to bikes, rather than vice versa. Don't really know if that's good or bad.

I was spent after the ride yesterday, which was kinda pathetic. Sure the pace was faster than my liking, but I'm just out of shape. There was only one real hill, and it was a bridge. After mapping it out, we rode something like 12 miles. Like I said, kinda lame. Today, I went for a ride on part of the southern part of the trail. Really nice views around the Museum Campus. The old Meigs Field (of MS Flight Simulator fame) has a few trails circling through the island now. Once south of here, the trail isn't nearly as crowded, except for around the beaches. After mapping it out, the ride was something like 18 miles. Better, but still nothing impressive. Ah well, at least the efforts match my bike frame.

Chicago Chilling

I've been back in town a week and have been enjoying the Chicago summer. Had some good company when I got back into town, giving me the chance to play tourist for a bit. Checked out the Art Institute for the first time. Monstrous collection of art. I'm not really an art buff, but I figure I should make at least one visit to the Institute. I'm pretty sure they frown on talking in the galleries, but it's funner to make up stories for each painting.

Did the obligatory Mag Mile stroll and ended up hanging out at the Signature Lounge on top of the Hancock. Depending on how many drinks you get, it's about the same price as the observatory decks in town, but you get a drink with the view. Also got to check out some improv sketch comedy courtesy of Second City. Hilarious show that's very current and witty. The group's produced a lot of big names: Bill Murray, John Belushi, Eugene Levy, Andy Dick, Dan Castellaneta, Mike Myers, Chris Farley, Steve Carrell, Stephen Colbert, and Tina Fey to name a few. So it's kinda cool that I may have seen someone on their way up...probably won't remember them, but still.

Stumbled upon a pretty good eatery: Flat Top Grill. It's a stir fry place with totally customized dishes: pick your own noodles/rice, veggies, sauces, spices, meat. Give the bowl over to the grill, they cook it, and you get it back a few minutes later all cooked and delicious. $9 is a little expensive, but you get unlimited bowls for lunch at that price. There's apparently one in Champaign now, for the UI crowd.

Had some Asian tapas at Shochu. Being an appetizer place, I wasn't expecting to leave bursting at the seams. But the serving sizes were ridiculously small, especially for the amount of money being charged. That said, the food was pretty good. I only really remember the quail legs, bacon wrapped quail breast, and wings. First two were pretty good, but the wings were a bit hot for my liking. Guess it's good that we could only have two wings a piece.

Checked out Hopleaf, a Belgian bar. Haven't had that many Belgian brews before this, but I'd recommend trying out a few. Some of them are pretty unique and are a nice change from light beer. The glassware is actually pretty unique too, adding to some of the fun - seeing what glassware gets paired with each beer. One beer came attached to a wood block, serving as a goblet holder and handle. (Yes, they use goblets.) They offer some pretty good food too - the pork belly, sausage, and mussels are all I can attest to though. I'm pretty sure the pork belly is mostly fat and I'm okay with that. It was delicious fat.

West Coast Swing

This being my last free summer, I figured I should do some travelling. I ended up heading out to LA and Seattle for about ten days. Made some day trips to San Diego and Vancouver as well. Got to check out some places for the first time and without family. Also got to hang out with some good friends and whatnot. Nothing too dramatic happened, but was overall a pretty good, relaxing time. I just wish I had more time and money to keep travelling.

SoCal

Amazing weather for the entire stay. Checked the weather once and it was 70s and sunny across the board. Home base was Santa Monica, and they've got some pretty nice places out there. Expensive (1 br/1ba for $450k), but nice and pretty close to the beach. Checked out Angels Stadium, which I thought was a pretty nice, but Disneyfied offering of a park. Other highlight was the Magic Castle. Being in Hollywood, it was an exclusive place: had to be or know a magician to get in. Kinda cool, but annoying at the same time. You basically get dinner and the chance to catch different magic shows throughout the castle at your own leisure. I was really impressed by the shows, especially since they were in such small groups and close quarters. Only thing that sucked was getting harassed by one of the magicians...asshole. Damn good "illusions" though... Oh, and I got some of my future revealed by a shemale psychic: I'm moving east, not very religious (except in church), and starting a business.

Santa Monica Beach & Pier

As mentioned earlier, we made a daytrip to San Diego. Caught a Padres/Dodgers game: Petco Park is probably the nicest one I've been to so far. It's modern, actually a part of downtown, and has lawn seats just beyond center field. Headed out to Coronado beach after the game. Very quiet and chill beach, with a decent mix of families and younger crowd. Only thing that sucked was being under the flight path to the nearby naval base. Coronado Island's pretty cool though - plenty of nice houses and eateries/bars just a bridge ride away from San Diego and a gorgeous beach to boot. San Diego's Gaslamp district is where we spent the night: very walkable area and plenty of places to eat/drink. Even saw a few US Open folk about, since Torrey Pines is around the area. I thought San Diego was a chill town with a pretty nice and active downtown.

Petco Park from the lawn seats

Coronado Beach

Overall, nice weather and beaches around SoCal. My main gripe is with LA and its traffic. It took 45 minutes for one 8.5 mile trip. And for as many freeways as they have, they're all ridiculously well travelled. Guess that what happens with sprawl and a particularly car-heavy city. As for the sprawl, it took 1.5 hours to get outside of LA's influence on the way to San Diego. And its the same scene for those 90 minutes: suburbia (parts of LA included). The other gripe with LA is money - it costs a pretty penny to eat and drink in that town. And that's coming from a one year Chicagoan. And something that kind of annoyed me was the occasional exclusivity and smugness of some areas and people of LA. My opinion might be a bit biased since most of my time was around Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, and Hollywood. That said, there are some pretty ghetto areas too, especially around USC. But like I said: nice weather, beaches, and a more relaxed vibe to the area in general.

Pac NW

Really beautiful part of the country. Coming from pancake-flat Illinois, I can appreciate some hills, water, and trees...even better when all in one place! Got to check out the tourist spots: Pike Place Market (and the first Starbucks), Space Needle, Seattle Center, and an Elliot Bay cruise of the city. Got to check out a few nice parks too, each with pretty good views of the city: Kerry and Gasworks. The latter is a happening spot if you're into kite flying - made me realize that I'm pretty much an amateur when it comes to that. Regarding the former...I got to Kerry Park via bus, which dropped me of a few blocks short. No big deal, I've walked longer distances in my day. Wrong. These were a few blocks of severely steep hills...and I was heading up. Got up top and was sweatier and huffier than I'd like to admit. Also made it to a Mariners game. It's a nice modern park, but a bit separated from anything to do afterwards, a la US Cellular and Angel Stadium but not as bad.

We also made a day trip to Vancouver. Nice city, done in the Pac NW style: compact, on the water, and against some nice mountains. Made our way up to the Vancouver lookout, which bore a striking resemblance the Space Needle. Also headed over to Grouse mountain and proceeded to hike up for a bit. Alas, the mountain got the better of us - stupid 4000 foot rock. Grabbed dinner in the Gastown district. (For those keeping track, that's three places with "gas" in them.) An older, very walkable part of town with a decent collection of restaurants and bars. Overall, I liked the Pac NW quite a bit. What it lacks in beaches, it makes up for in scenery. Also a chill vibe to Seattle: similar to San Diego, with less surfer influence and more tech influence.

Would have liked to hit up the Bay Area and Vegas had I been in SoCal longer. Maybe next time. I'm pretty sure if I weren't in Chicago I'd prefer it out west vs. east (sorry Magic Castle psychic). Might be proved wrong though: heading out to DC, NYC, and Philly next week. I'm pretty excited, even though it'll be an ultra short trip.

Seattle from Kerry Park

Safeco Field

Seattle from Elliot Bay

Bike Hunting

I've been on the lookout for a bike for a little bit. In keeping with my laziness this summer, it's taken awhile for this effort to gain any momentum. I've recently overcome said inertia and have been heading out to different bike shops and test riding different bikes.

I've actually got a pretty narrow range of bikes that I'm looking for: used, reasonable quality, cheap price, road bike, and certain riding characteristics. It's a narrow and reasonable list, but makes it a bit harder to find the right bike. Between all that, reading up on bikes, shops' weird hours, using only the CTA, and checking out neighborhoods, this hasn't been the fastest process ever. Having said that, I've got it narrowed down to a few shops and bikes. If I have time tomorrow and/or it's not storming, I might actually make a purchase.

One of the biggest surprises to me is how helpful bike shops have been. Most haven't tried to push any bikes on me whatsoever. I'll give my price range for a used road bike and they'll legitimately try to accommodate me. There's no hassle, judgment, or anything of the sort. Beyond that, they're more than happy to answer my questions: seems most are excited to have new people in the cycling world and are not annoyed by newbie questions. There's no condescension or holier than thou whatsoever. Those two things have made this experience kinda fun so far, even entering it knowing pretty much nothing.

Another surprise to me has been the differences between bike types and individual bikes. Between mountains, hybrids, cruisers, and roads, things are noticeably different: handling, speed, and ride...especially between mountain and road bikes. And even within the same bike class, things such as handling, shifting, braking, and ride are different enough that even I notice them.

I mentioned earlier that only taking the CTA has slowed me down in getting a bike. True, but I'm in no mad rush to get this bike, or in general for that matter. It's been a great way to check out different neighborhoods. Between rumbling through on the L and buses and wandering on foot, it's been a nice, cheap way to see parts of the city...and I'm hoping a bike let's me do even more of that. Outside of downtown, Chicago is a city of neighborhoods. I've been to most of the higher profile ones, but bike hunting has let me see places I usually wouldn't be in.

So yeah, that's the majority of what I've been up to the past two weeks, outside of the usual weekenderies, chilling, Cubbies, and whatnot. Yes, I said Cubbies - it's amazing what fantasy baseball and a few games at Wrigley will do to a minor Cubs interest. The next week and a half I'll be out on the west coast though, so that's a nice change of pace. Planning/hoping to hang out in LA, San Diego, Seattle, and Vancouver - and am pretty pumped for the trip!

Pump Pain

Living ten minutes from downtown Chicago has its advantages. Gas prices are not included in that list. I've got the city's most expensive station less than a mile from me...which is currently asking $4.59 per gallon. Luckily, there's a "more reasonable" station closer to me, at $4.29. Still 10¢ more than the city average, 24¢ more than the state, and 36¢ more than the national. Also luckily, I don't drive all that much, especially compared to commuters.

Around these parts the CTA's got a decent system set up. Not always the fastest way to get around, but it's starting to be cheaper. A trip to O'Hare from my place is about 18 miles. With traffic, that's good for over a gallon of gas...which goes for an average of $4.19. Or, you could grab the L for $1.75 and get there in an hour. It can even be faster than traffic sometimes...probably had four Blue Lines blow by me the other day...chumps that we were in traffic. And it only took 75 minutes to get there. And even in making the occasional trip back home, Amtrak ($32) is cheaper than driving (~$50).

This is obviously going on all over the country and making it more painful for everyone to fill up. Everyone, including semis. Semis which run on more expensive diesel. Big whoop. Wait, those guys carry 60% of our freight in this country. Freight including my bounty of books, delicious pre-cooked food, and wonderful paper products (towels, TP, kleenex). At some point, common sense dictates that the price of basic goods will be affected by gas prices. Combine that with higher costs of commuting to earn money for said goods, and people will not be happy.

Now, for an exercise in numbers. Take the number three, for example. As in $3 per gallon back in October. Fast forward to today at $4.19 and that's better than a 25% increase in seven months. As Gob would say, "Come on!" Next up is the number five...percent of the world's population - using 44% of world's gasoline.

Between those gas prices and volume consumption, one could say we've got or will have a problem. So at some point, the ole' internal combustion engine is gonna have to be replaced and sooner would probably better than later. In the meantime, conservation is clearly a good thing: carpooling, public transit, pooling errands - but it's all ultimately still using gas. And yeah, hybrids are around...but they're more a transition solution than anything else. Plug-in hybrids and hydrogen power are nice options on the horizon. Wait, they both require grid power for fuel. And actually, most rapid transit systems like the L also use grid power. Grid power of which 70% comes from non-renewables.

So yeah, that was mostly stream of consciousness that I just rattled off. Hopefully it made some sense. Seeing that $4.59 sign got me thinking about all this peak oil and energy security business. And how some real solutions would be nice. I realize that gas is cheap relative to some of Europe's $8 prices. Still. I also know I'm part of the problem: driving a 6 cylinder faster and harsher than I really need to. But like J said, I don't think stopping strategic petroleum reserve deposits will do anything. I don't think that cutting out gas/oil/energy taxes is a good idea either. If anything, I say hike them in the interests of alternative energy. Probably will never happen with various interests in play. Interests which led to the disassembly of most cities' streetcars back in the day. Streetcars or their modern derivative on the same right of way would be nice about now. But the strongest motivation for change probably won't come from the government. Instead, our distaste for high energy prices will force industries' hands before the government does. Hopefully.

New Place?

I'm planning on seeing the place after saving some money this summer. I figure that should be good for a trip over to the sales office.

I'm debating between the west loop and the Spire.

I wouldn't mind the 2000 foot view, but $1.35 million for a lower floor 1 br/1 ba is starting to get outside my price range. I would have a few years to save up though, since it's still being built... Maybe I'll go crazy and get a place there anyway.

Fin

I wanna start out by saying congrats to two of my friends! You know who you are... If I weren't in celebratory/recovery modes this weekend, I would've done this sooner.

So I took my last final Wednesday. ...that puts me at *DONE* with M1 year! Hell of a way to go out: seven finals, ten days. Understatement of the year, but I would *not* want to repeat this year. Ever. There were probably only one or two times that I legitimately freaked out, but that's more than enough for me. And less than some of my classmates.

Not to say that the rest of the year was stress city 24/7, but there was just always stuff to study and we're always behind. And that's what made it so hard. Sure, some material was more difficult than others: endocrinology, CV, neuro, renal. But it's the pacing and massive amount of information that made things difficult. Immunology in 1/4 of a semester? A bit much, especially since it was a semester class at UIUC. What made things more bearable for me was cutting out any class that wasted my time...which at the end of the year included everything except anatomy lab. I don't know how some people did all the classes, anatomy lab, and studied that night. At one point, that would've meant a 9:30-7:00 day...just in class/lab. That's a no-go in my book.

All this said, the past year was a blur in hindsight. Cliche, but it feels like I was just getting done with orientation week. I know I was exposed to a *shitton* of information. My grades say I know an acceptable amount of it. My brain reports differently. (Read: histology, neuroanatomy.) I'm cleaning the disaster of my apartment right now (long overdue). And I'm coming across stuff that brings about this thought: "WTF? I knew this at one point?"

Ah well, it's all in the past now. There were some good post-exam events and weekends out. I've decided that I like having block exams. Sure it sucks for a few weeks, but I definitely like having some of my weekends back. I've found that I cared less and less as the year went on though. Hell, a year long histo final got one day of studying...somewhat by choice, mostly due to scheduling. Seriously though, my junior year at UIUC I was more ambitious than I am now. I've missed out on some good rotations and summer opportunities (anterior cingulate syndrome anyone?). Whatever. I'll see what I can figure out for the summer. Guess I should do something for residency apps. Whatever comes of it, this kid's an M2 and on summer break!

Pedal Power

I've been contemplating buying a bike for the past few months. Warmer temperatures have helped that sentiment. But also it's not a bad way to get around the city. Between traffic, $4 gas prices, and doing most stuff within a two mile radius it's logically not a bad idea. Yeah, the semester's pretty much over, but it can turn a twenty minute campus walk into a five minute ride.

Biking in the city? Chicago's actually a reasonably bike-friendly city, with quite a few roads having actual bike lanes on them. You'll see bikes among traffic downtown, as well as out in the neighborhoods. Don't know how I feel about riding directly next to traffic, but maybe I'll find out if I follow through with this. All I know is I feel a little uncomfortable *driving* next to bikes sometimes. And speaking of bike lanes, Chicago actually has a ~18 mile trail/path right along the lake. That's actually one of the higher reasons I'm wanting a bike. Decent exercise, plus I get a pretty nice view while doing so.

As for the actual bike, I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm definitely getting a used one, but that's about all I know. That said, I'm open to any and all advice. And now back to the nap/study cycle...stupid year long finals coming up. Four down, three to go!

Crunch

So, the expressways around Chicago carry a decent amount of traffic during the day. Of them, the Ryan and Kennedy carry the most. And being a city, there are going to be accidents, especially on said roads. Coming back Saturday from some delicious pheasant, we were heading home on the Kennedy in some light traffic. All of a sudden some car swerves across a few lanes, back and forth across a few lanes, and then across all four directly into the center median. The last swerve ended up taking out a car into the median with it.

This was probably the most violent crash I've actually seen firsthand. Was a bit too close for my liking though, since all this happened (at most) four cars in front of us. I actually thought we might end up getting involved somehow. Since I wasn't driving, I was able to check out the post-crash scene as we pulled away. The crash was reasonably high speed and kinda violent...but surprisingly (and luckily), most people seemed fine and were able to get out of their cars. And I was legitimately surprised that only one other car ended up getting taken out.

I guess I don't have a real point to the post. I was just surprised at how forceful a crash can be and at how people can actually walk away from some of them.

Deliciousness

So I've sampled a few food places the past few weeks. Results as follows.

La Sardine
Good, if not expensive, French place. Probably the best salmon I've ever had here: both the salmon and the sauce were just insanely tasty. Never thought I'd say that about salmon. Really good escargot, blood sausage, and mussels if you're into appetizers. Like I said, on the expensive side though.

Penang
Don't know much about Malay cuisine, but I can vouch for this place's offerings. Had some roti and chicken curry for an appetizer. Shared some soft shell crab, lamb, and chicken family style as entrees. By far the best part was the soft shell crab...crunchy, but not too crunchy. And spicy, but not too spicy. End result: delicious. If that's not your deal, I believe they have a sushi bar.

Patio Hot Dogs
This place is actually in my neighborhood, just hadn't noticed until recently though. Got all sorts of good stuff: italian sausage, Italian beef, chili dogs, and various other burger/dog choices. The thing to get is the sausage and beef combo. For about $5 you get an Italian sausage with Italian beef piled on top. Throw on some peppers and you're golden. Pretty filling meal for $5.

Jim's Original
Similar food as Patio, with more emphasis on dogs/sausages. Will not go wrong with a Polish or a chili dog. And I'm a fan of the chili dog. Grilled onions are abound, even on the burgers. I personally am partial to them, your mileage may vary. Fries come with everything you order, and it's reasonably priced. For $6 I got a Polish, a burger, and two orders of fries. Can't really argue with that.

Hot Doug's
Yes, another hot dog place. Not your usual hot dog place, they've got all sorts of different sausage offerings. For example: pheasant, tongue, alligator, elk, and other assorted animals/combos. And that's just off the weekly special menu. The pheasant and elk have been "games of the week." They've also got duck fat fries on Friday and Saturday, which are pretty much goodness. Not sure if it's the deep frying in duck fat or the fact that they make the fries there, but it doesn't really matter to me. If that's not doing it for ya, they've got regular Chicago style dogs, chili dogs, corn dogs, and whatnot. Only thing that sucks is the specialty sausages are a bit expensive: probably $6+ on average. So good though.

Revenue

As I'm heading out to move my car for monthly street cleaning, I see something hanging off my driver's side window. Ooo, I wonder what event/venue decided to make me aware of their existence? Alas, an invalid question. The brightly colored object was yet another request for money from Chicago. And by request for money, I mean ticket...of which three unpaid ones result in the boot. (Only reason I knew about the boot is because I read the fine print trying to figure out how to contest the ticket.)


Note how this guy couldn't find anything actually wrong with my parking, so he ventured down to the "other" violation line and proceeded to write something in. Cool, thanks dude. On top of that, the ticket was timed at 2:30. Military time. Double cool. Oh, and the only way my plate's not legible is if you're not looking at it.

And where do I go to pay said ticket? "Cityofchicago.org/revenue" Sure, tickets are something to be associated with having a car in the city. This one's a bit more ridiculous than the others though. At least I got a decent chuckle out of it...I actually laughed out loud when I read this one.

Time Flies

As the title of the post alludes to, I've just realized that I have under six weeks left in the semester. Usually that's a sign that you're having fun and whatnot. While I wouldn't say this year has been horrible, I wouldn't say it's been fun. I will say that I do like this semester's block exam schedule. Yeah, the time around exams blows hard, but at least I get most of my weekends back. Along those lines, if asked if I would do it again I don't know what I would say. That comes mostly from all the book stuff. Granted, some of the material's interesting and the end goal is pretty cool (imo). But I couldn't imagine having to repeat this year like some of last year's M1s have had to. Overall, I'm not regretting the med school decision, just wanting to get clinicals.

Having said that, I've never looked forward to a break as much this summer. I've got mixed feelings about this summer: it'll be nice after this year (especially after seven finals with two year long finals). But it's also my last summer :( The latter had to happen some time. Ah well, I've got some west coast travel plans brewing and maybe even a Hawaii trip. Oh, and I hear Chicago's not a bad town during the summer :) Hooray summer festivals and travelling :D

Chillin'

Having been severely behind in sleep (boo to six exams in seven days), I've spent most of this past week sleeping in, undergrad style. Waking up without an alarm and to four digits on the clock is pretty refreshing in itself. Between sleep deprivation and four insanely boring classes to start the day, I did not fare well as a class-goer coming back from "break." Also, since UIUC, I've had a standing policy of no class before 9:00...med school is not gonna be an exception of any sort. Combination of the above: sleep.

Instead of studying and whatnot, I've partaken in other assorted activities. Like Bulls vs. Jazz or some underground indie music place not even listed in metromix. The latter's not really my scene, but I figured I'd at least give it a shot. Some Al's Italian Beef (apparently of Esquire's Encyclopedia of Sandwiches fame) and some White Palace Grill. Hoorah for food. Watched a decent amount of college hoops, a semi-recent movie (Juno), and even partook in some Wrigleyville St. Patty's Day festivities. Maybe this week I'll get around to the work that most everyone else has been dealing with. But as far as my body and mind are concerned, I'm still on "break." And I'm inclined to listen to them.