The Rainy Day

The poem in my previous post is one of my favorites. Why? Its lines are filled with sadness and at first read it seems depressing. “The day is cold, and dark, and dreary . . . dead leaves fall . . . My life is cold . . . hopes of youth fall think in the blast . . .” You can’t get more emo than that.

However, the last stanza tells us that everyone has their depressing moments. “Into each life some rain must fall.” Those moments are necessary in order for us to appreciate the good times we have. No matter how down we feel, the sun is right behind the current veil of unhappiness.

The Rainy Day – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The Rainy Day

The day is cold, and dark, and dreary
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,
But at every gust the dead leaves fall,
And the day is dark and dreary.

My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
My thoughts still cling to the mouldering Past,
But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast,
And the days are dark and dreary.

Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life some rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary.

My Favorite Learning Software – ANKI!

Anki is my favorite learning software.  I think it might be my favorite software overall.  It is SO efficient.  It’s a flashcard program based on spaced repetition learning theory. Anki has four options where you can mark it “again”, “hard”, “good, or “easy”. You know how you make paper flashcards and then go over them over and over again? Well, that’s a waste of time because you’re reviewing the cards you know too often and the ones you don’t know too late. But in Anki, if you mark “hard”, it’ll show the card sooner. If you mark it “easy” it’ll show the card much later. Very efficient. If you wanna learn more about spaced repetition, click on the following jump. I love you Anki.

http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/…urrentPage=all

Also, Anki allows you to type in your answer. For me, I made cards to practice typing brand and generic. I also have the dose on each side. It’s almost exactly like taking those damned quizzes in skills lab. I’ll try to upload the deck later.

Also, Anki can be run on your desktop, through your web browser, on your phone, or IPOD touch. It syncs itself so if you study online and then use the touch, you’ll start where you left off. I love you Anki.

Oh yea, anki is FREE!!!!!!

I know this sounds like a commercial for Anki, but that’s because I really love it. I discovered this fine piece of ass . . . I mean software this past summer. My only regret is not finding it 2 years ago when I started rx school. This semester, I’m gonna start an experiment by putting in Anki ALL my notes and just studying that way. I really suggest you all try Anki, you have nothing to lose. I love you Anki!

For more info on anki, go to http://ichi2.net/anki/

Septoplasty & Bilaterial Turbinoplasty

This past Thursday I had surgery on the inside of my nose.  The septum (the lining that seperates the two nostrils) was crooked.  This was probably due to the times I got hit in the nose while playing soccer/basketball during high school and college.  I also had my turbinates (fleshy part inside the nose) shrunken to allow more air flow.  I decided to have this surgery because I had so much nasal congestion the past few years.  It was interfering with my sleep, my studying, and my overall life.  I visited an ear, nose, and throat doctor and he confirmed my suspicions.  He said, “Yep, you have a deviated septum.”

Day 1

Surgery only took about an hour.  When I woke up, I felt very out of it. When I got home, my nose start to hurt and bleed profusely.  I felt like someone punched me hard in the nose so I took a Percocet and laid down and pinched my nose to stop the bleeding.  In addition, I had to breathe through my mouth because my nose was stuffed.  It didn’t help that my throat was sore because there was a breathing tube during surgery.  I made sure to take all my drugs on the first day.  They were methylprednisone (to lessen swelling & inflammation), cephalexin (to prevent infection), and Percocet (for pain).

Day 2

I feel better now.  My throat isn’t as sore and the bleeding has slowed down.  Because of my lack of appetite yesterday and today, I lost about 3 pounds.  I’m continuing to take my trio of drugs.  I also was able to start rinsing the inside of my nostrils with the sinus rinse.

Clindamycin/Cleocin

I’m continuing on my series of memory aids for brands & generics.

Clindamycin contains the name Linda.  Cleocin contains Cleo.  So I say to myself, “Linda called Ms. Cleo for a fortune telling.”  Hey, whatever works right?

NBA Arms Race

The 2009 NBA offseason has been pretty exciting.  A lot of big names have changed teams.  It seemed to start with one team obtaining a major player that would help them win the championship next year.  Then two teams responded with moves in order to keep up.  Then three other teams were forced to make trades.  Now there are at least several teams that have a legit chance of winning the Larry O’Brien trophy next year.  The following is who I think has the best chances of winning it all.

1. LOS ANGELES LAKERS

The Defending Champs.  They lost Trevor Ariza to the Rockets but obtained Ron Artest.  Basically, they traded a quick defender for a more powerful one.  Artest does score more but his shooting percentage isn’t very good.  He also punches people.  We still don’t know whether Lamar Odom will return.  If he doesn’t, it will be possible to dethrone the Lakers.  If he does return, it will be near impossible.  PLEASE MIAMI, LURE HIM AWAY!!!!

2. SAN ANTONIO SPURS

You know I’m bias.  Spurs could have been #3 or #4 but I’m sticking em here.  They obtained solid firepower with Richard Jefferson and a reliable big man in Mcdyess.  Just look at this possible lineup: Parker, Ginobili, Jefferson, Duncan, Mcdyess.

3. BOSTON CELTICS

Rasheed Wallace is a versatile big, able to post up and shoot the 3.  If Kevin Garnett can be healthy, they will contend with the Cavs and Magic for the top spot in the East.

4. DALLAS MAVERICKS

It was a hard decision placing the Mavs here instead of 2 or 3.  Look at their potential lineup: Kidd, Terry, Howard, Marion, and Nowitzki.  The new acquisition, Marion, gives them an athletic forward who can guard most people and score in transition.  I think their weakness is that they don’t really have a closer.  The Mavs always end up CHOKING!

5. ORLANDO MAGIC

They basically replaced Turkoglu with Vince Carter.  I don’t think this hurts or helps them.  They also lost two guards, Lee and Alston, which leaves them with Jameer Nelson who I think is a bit overrated.

6. CLEVELAND CAVALIERS

The Cavs obtained Shaq.  I have no idea how they are going to do.

Mexicans are Mobile??

All pharmacy students know that memorizing the generic, brand, and dose of the top 200 drugs is essential.  Some of them are hard to learn so I make some crazy memory aids.  One of them is this.

Meloxicam, the generic, sounds like “Mexican”.  Mobic, the brand, sounds like “mobile”.  So in my mind I imagine that Mexicans are mobile because they can pick up their belongings and move anywhere!!

I can’t believe I just typed this.

How I Feel About You

It’s late right now.  I can’t sleep so I’m going to post.

What I want to say out of appreciation

Dear EGF

When we were together, you made me so happy.  I miss the smell of your hair and the touch of your skin.  For the most part, you treated me right.  You can be bitchy, but you never directed that bitchiness toward me.  I’m glad we met, but now that we’re not together, I do miss you.  I care about you.

Love, PK

What I want to say out of anger

Dear EGF

You’re OCD, a hypocrite, and a passive-aggressive bitch.  I treat you right.  I spend time with you, I go out on real dates, I never curse or yell at you.  I treat you with respect.  But I feel you don’t fully reciprocate the feeling.  Before we started dating, our mutual friend said I wasn’t your type.  She said you liked (adjective, adjective) guys.  That has always been at the back of my head.  I felt like no matter what I said or how I acted, you would never fully be with me because I wasn’t your type of guy.  For the past two weeks, I could tell you were ignoring me/losing interest.  To be honest, I could see your lack of interest and in return I lost interest in you.  Good bye.

PK

Status Update

For a while I forgot that I had a blog.  I was only reminded when my mail account notified me of pending comments.

So  I finished my 2nd year of pharmacy a couple of weeks ago.  It’s hard to believe I made it this far and that I have only 2 more years to go.  In just two years I’ll have a PharmD degree and so many job options.  This year was insane though.  Nobody and I repeat NOBODY in my class enjoyed it.  You should have seen the look on some people’s faces.  It was a combination of boredom, sleepiness, and I disgust.

Right now I’m starting an unpaid internship with the hospital I did my IPPE at.  Yes, I’m working for free.  I refuse to work in a chain and it is hard to work at a hospital with no prior experience.  The DOP of the hospital said there will be a position in mid to late July.  So I’m just gonna work there in order to get some intern hours and then later I’ll start getting paid.

Goodbye Walgreens

I lasted two months at walgreens.  I started in January and quit today.  It wasn’t even two full months of work.  It was about 8 days of computer training and only 6 days of actual behind-the-pharmacy work.  I don’t understand how other people can do it.  The thing I couldn’t stand the most is the damn insurance.  I hate insurance.  Why do we have to handle insurance issues?  The patient and insurance company should have to handle issues themselves.  Also, whenever I worked, it was so packed that no one could really teach me.  I usually was relegated to filling the drugs.

The pharmacy manager seemed bitter.  A couple of days she talked about quitting the job, blah, blah, blah.  The last time I worked was about 3 weeks ago, so the store manager called me and asked what is up.  I said I’m too busy with school and will probably not work anymore.  She said, “So that’s it?  You’re done?”  I said, “Yea.”  And that’s what happened.

At least now I know retail is not the path for me.  I give my respects to the people in retail.  They are special people who have thick skin or are crazy or both.  Now I’m looking for a hospital job or maybe an independent.