:Six Feet Under… and then some.

This series begins with a wonderful announcement made as we were landing in Schipol.  In the typical airline singsong fashion, they announced "ladies and gentlemen, the weather in Amsterdam is good.  Visibility is clear, and the temperature is freezing…"

Nice.  Very nice.  Turns out, this is the coldest winter in Europe in 50 years.  Or so they say.

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They say life is for enjoying the magical moments.  Trick is to recognize such moments.  There it was, last night, around mid-night, driving to the lake through frigid country roads with the music on.  The 5th piano concerto never sounded better.

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A post otherwise known as the myth of free energy. Reminiscent of that episode of Mythbusters where they tested various gadgets that used ambient conditions for power. Like for example that propane wheel, where the sun would heat the tanks, and it would later condense, turning the wheel, and producing electricity. Puh-leeeez.  Solar cells would be more effective. But I bet if someone tried to market something like that to me here, I’d be interested. I’m a sucker for things like that.

A few months back, I saw one of those flashlights that didn’t need batteries. Using Faraday’s principle, its sorta like an induction charger, which you charge by shaking the thing back and forth, moving a magnet through a coil, charging a capacitor.

So when I saw a similar flashlight in a bazaar, but 4 times cheaper, I just had to get it. Well, upon closer inspection when I got home,  things weren’t what they were supposed to be! The coil wasn’t attached to anything, the “magnet” was just a metal weight, and the capacitors were just plain old batteries! And to think I was walking around with the damn thing on for more than two hours! Although, it hasn’t dimmed yet.  Hmmm…maybe…

Moral of the story?  Eat your vegetables. Oh, and Merry Christmas to everyone J

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Ane here comes the trademark…Sigh.  In Neil’s immortal words: Itchober!

As exams go, i’ve never had to guess more than in this exam.  Same situation.  Whatever you read, it doesn’t come out the way you expect.  Not even the Q-book could’ve prepared me for that one. 

It was just guess…

       …after guess…

            …after guess.

At least now I can drink alcohol, and bum around without guilt.

At least until the next time review season comes around.

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Its late at night.  Couple of pages (okay, okay - chapters) of first aid to go.  waking up in four hours.  Sigh.  Didn’t I say I had enough of this last August?  And yet, here I am once again.  36 more hours to go, and I’m sick and tired of reading the same things over and over and over again.  Its not as if anything new’s really sticking.  Maybe recalled, in an "ah, oo nga ano…" fashion, but lets just hope that I’ll be able to recall all that in two days.

hoping…

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It’s sometimes fun to see yourself through the eyes of an outsider.  Have you ever read the requirements for entry into the Philippines?  First of all, practically anyone can come here.  Second, they have to watch out for all the endemic diseases that occur here.  And what diseases too!  Hep B is endemic.  Penicillin resistant Gonorrhea is here (how’d that get here I wonder), malaria, schotosomes, encephalitis, rabies, TB, cholera, malaria (the chloroquine resistant one, of course), and a whole slew of others.  And did I mention the peace and order situation?  Terrorism, kidnappings, rampant corruption, and what-have-you.  Its amazing were still ticking along!  No thanks to that crappy "I, Manila" tourism ad.  It plain sucks, listen up, yo.  I mean, where’s our sense of cultural identity (please ignore the fact this post is in english).  Why can’t we have something that creates a sense of awe and wonder.  The "more than the usual…" ads were half-way decent.  Okay, they were decent.  The first time I saw them was when I was in switzerland.  There’s something about seeing an ad for your own country while visiting another place. But given the current crop of ads, I’d like to go visit Malaysia.  It is, after all, truly asia.

And yet, 12 years ago, I chose to come home.  Hmmm…

PS:  How much epi can you give a kitten?  Ask me for the answer sometime.  Alas, she is now six feet under.

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Hey, I’m happy again!  Now up to my navel in debt, but happy nonetheless.  The thing that was wrong with my car?  It was totally beyond my capabilities to repair.  In fact, it had to have a top overhaul.  Which in the long run is probably best :)  Now i’ve got a look at the inside of my engine, and I know some things are still okay, and now all the other itsy bits that started going wrong with it over the years have been corrected :)  Sigh.  Well, if there ever was an indication for major surgery, it’s when oil starts spurting into the cylinders and the outside of the engine block.  That, and if the water pipes are all corroding.

Have you checked your ride lately?

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My car’s come down with something. There I was happily motoring along when my car gave a little cough, then it just died.  Attempts to resuscitate it failed. What aggravates it is the fact that I do not know what exactly went wrong.  And until I’ve stretched my diagnostic capabilities to the limit, I’ll hold off referring to a mechanic.  I kinda don’t want to refer for something that might be as simple as running out of gas.

In a lot of ways, automotive mechanics and medicine are similar.  You’ve got anatomy, physiology, pathology, surgery, etc. There are various sub-specs (engine, under-chassis, AC/radiator, electrical, blahblahblah).  You’re presented with a chief complaint, take a history, have a differential, do some diagnostics, diagnose and treat.  It’s a satisfying thing, being able to understand the inner workings of something otherwise foreign to others, and magically pull out the solution out of thin air.  Sure, there are differences.  Like one’s a car and the other is a person. Oh yeah, you can’t really work on an engine when it’s running.  And when things get too toxic, you can’t just take a breather and say “I’ll do it tomorrow.” 

But I’m digressing, aren’t I.  Maybe what I should focus on right now is that ticking clock and the couple of hundred more pages I’ve still got to do. Once again, fate has conspired to keep me from studying.  Which is all jim-fine-and-dandy, considering today is Sunday, and I usually do NOT study on Sundays.  But after a few days of bumming around, ignoring the Crush Step 2 book,  I decided to declare Sunday a study day.  And this had to happen.  Ah, well, spent the afternoon reviewing the hallowed Book of the Car, and now I’ve got a game plan, so now I can probably do a few more crush chapters tonight.

Anyway, there’s still tomorrow…

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Ah yes, two more weeks before the exam.  And once again I find myself questioning how prepared I am.  Like the boards a few months back.  There was a time before I registered to take the boards (as always, on the last day) when I thought to myself how easy it would be to just say that a technicality prevented me from taking the boards.  But then again, I told myself I couldn’t stomach another six months of studying (daw).   And in spite of that, I’m here again.  I’ve got a week for my second reading, and maybe another week for samplex.  Question is, will that be sufficient?  If there’s one thing the boards have taught me, its that in some cases, no matter how hard you study, how many novenas you do, and all the blood, sweat, and quite a few tears, fate conspires gainst you.  There are a lot of cases out there that make you just blink and wonder "what the heck happened?"  and "it could’ve been me."

Well,  I guess I’ll just do the best I can again, and hope that lady luck is still on my side.

Which means I’ve got to be nicer to the kittens again. sigh.

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