Downsizing My Life

Messy Desk - Flickr

Over the next two weeks, starting tomorrow, I will be downsizing my life. This downsizing will take place in tandem with a few other projects I’ve decided to work on. I’ll announce the details of the other projects as they come up in case anyone is interested.

So, what does all this talk of downsizing entail? It involves an idea that “stuff” we acquire and hang on to throughout our lives can be both good or bad. Some of the good “stuff” might be the last surviving records of your grandparents immigration via Ellis Island. Bad “stuff” is that which doesn’t give any real value, and just hangs around taking up space. Bad stuff can sap you of time and mental energies as you fight to keep a handle on all the stuff you own.

The idea behind my current downsizing project came from the author Rolf Potts. Potts wrote books about travelling the world with little to his name and wrote a lot about the value of “stuff” and how he saw it affecting lives. He writes:

“…neither self nor wealth can be measured in terms of what you consume or own.”

These words rang true to me when I first read them almost three years ago. However, I didn’t act on the thoughts and ideas inspired by these words back then. Seeing Potts words again, I don’t think I’ll make the same mistake twice. I will be selling and/or giving away those things which I don’t need or use any more. I will be as ruthless as possible in purging all the excess “stuff” from my life.

It’s not as bad as you think! And no, I have not gone crazy…not yet that is. 🙂 I’ll be keeping a careful list of the things that I part ways with. At the end of the two weeks, I’ll post the, hopefully, long list of stuff I managed to ditch. My hope is to raise a little money from it and take a trip somewhere with it before the end of the summer when medical school starts. At the least, this purging of “stuff” will allow me to make the move to Dominica with little/less trouble. 😉

 

End of the World? Not my problem!

Soviet Rocket Postage Stamp - karen horton, Flickr

As I’m sure many of you have heard by now the world apocalypse was predicted by a Christian radio group in Oakland, California (if my sources are correct). They say the world will end at 6pm today. Why does this not bother me you ask? For one, my weather man is giving me a 10 day forecast, and surely he would never lie to me! 🙂 Mostly is because I can think back to all the other astronomically wrong predictions that people have made in the past. We, as a species, are terrible predictors of the future, try as we might. We were wrong about Y2K, about the future influence of the internet (upon which this delightful blog resides), and about the practicality of rocket mail (A real concept I swear! Here’s the link where I found it: Missile Mail).

So I’m not too terribly worried about this being right. My evening will consist of finalizing my choice for a laptop for med school, doing some pleasure reading that has been neglected thanks to grad school courses, and relaxing on the patio in the backyard with a beer or two. All of this being done while enjoying the amazing weather we’re having that hints of summer just around the corner…

 

Door of Miracles

Proposal Daisakusen Drama Cast

Maybe I have watched too many 日本語ドラマ(Japanese drama) shows in my breaks between work. I can’t help it! I know I’m supposed to be dedicated hard-core to Spanish, but I have a shelf of Japanese shows acquired over the course of two plus years studying the language. So sue me…wait, please don’t! 🙂

For those of you who are not well versed in Japanese dorama, there is a prevalent theme, particularly in a drama called “Proposal Daisakusen”, that involves a “Door of Miracles”. This “door” represents the chance to change something usually for the protagonist be it getting the attention of a girl, getting out of a crappy job, or something else that is life altering. It represents the chance opportunity to change the course of one’s destiny.

Everyone holds the key to opening their own “Door of Miracles”. The trick lies in realizing that you are the one holding the key to change. In understanding that you just may be able to seize the chance when the door of miracles appears. The Door of Miracles can usually only be opened by the protagonist working hard to change them-self and/or their situation.

All of this got me thinking about my own changes over the last year or so. I’ve done some drastic reversals and pushed myself to do things I might never have imagined before. I don’t think many of my friends from undergrad would recognize the ‘new’ me, and there are days where I don’t fully recognize myself.

What is my “Door of Miracles”? Don’t know. I don’t think there is any one event that will make everything alright. Life doesn’t have to be perfect. I do think happiness is something you should strive for everyday, something you should fight for everyday. Thoughts? Ideas?

 

Computer Woes

Image via Wikipedia

To all of my readers out there, I am putting this question to you guys! You’re my only hope! I’ve had my laptop, an ASUS U81 running Ubuntu OS, for about two and a half years now and it’s having some issues with the graphics card and the hard-drive, I think. The computer freezes up if I’m watching something on YouTube in HD at full screen for a while or it gets really hot. There are points when the hard-drive will, for whatever reason, not start(the little LED doesn’t light and I don’t hear the disks spinning) after coming back from sleep.

These problems are not too frequent, but the graphics thing I notice more often. My point being…I’ve been thinking to the future with med school and how I will handle staying organized and studying. Seeing that I will be going to one of the Caribbean schools, I know that a Best Buy is not just around the corner to drop my laptop off at. I want to make sure it will last. I can handle software issues with few problems, but hardware stuff makes me squeamish. The laptop really only needs to last for the clinical sciences part, since after that I’ll be back in the US.

I can’t type and follow a lecture at the same time. I’ve tried doing that a few times in undergrad and again in grad school, but I go right back to pen and paper. I was thinking that I might like to get a tablet laptop or something that I can write directly on the pdf/powerpoint slides. Seems like it would save a lot of paper, but I’ve read mixed reviews on tablets’ usefulness. So far I have looked into Toshiba tablets, ThinkPad X201 Tablet, or the ASUS EP121 to name a few. They look pretty neat, but repairing the current laptop is probably a lot cheaper(cheaper is probably the better way to go for now too, being poor and all).

I can send my laptop to get it fixed and take a chance that nothing else goes wrong and the issue was truly fixed or I can get a newer laptop and take a chance that it doesn’t have some problem. 😛 A catch-22. What do you recommend for med student laptops and computers? Did you find a particular laptop, OS, or application useful? How did a computer factor into your medical school studies?

 

Life Has Been Slooow

Image by erjkprunczyk via Flickr

Contrary to what many of you may have been lead to believe, I do not lead the life of a dashingly handsome British secret agent. I know…I’ll give you a few moments to get over the shock. 🙂 Life has been slow as of late, and my energies directed into activities that do not necessary lend themselves to interesting and/or witty blog posts. I sincerely apologize and I’ll get on that as soon as possible. From what I understand, the higher-ups are working on some crazy solution as we speak. Until I manage to re-inject my life with a fresh dose of crazy, coolness please bear with me as I try to fulfill my need to write something other than Pharmacology notes and Spanish flashcards. Thanks, and have a wonderful day!

 

A Brief Respite

I haven’t posted here in a few days, and people were starting to wonder where I went. Don’t worry! I’ve just been super busy with exams, Spanish, and other things on my rather large ‘To-Do List’. Took a brief break today from working on lots of random stuff to hang outside for a little bit and enjoy this uncharacteristically warm, beautiful weather for early May. Very much worth it! Snapped a few shots of the dogs playing in the yard. Now I’m putting them here, so this counts as a post. Ha! 😛

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Day’s Only Half Over

Today has been filled with several ups and downs and it’s only 1pm. My first downer was this morning when I got an email from Ross University Admissions titled “Ross University Application”. I got very excited thinking it was a decision letter, only to find out that it was an automated letter informing me of coming changes to their application system and who to contact if I couldn’t view the status of my pending application packet. Don’t do that to me!! Not that early in the morning! 😡 Geeze!

My second downer happened when I realized I was running a little late to get to the research lab. I got stuck waiting in traffic due to a construction project that had started that day. Ugh… To make matters worse my “your tank is kinda low ya know!” light came on while sitting in the traffic. I managed to get gas before it ran out, but I arrived at the lab in a frazzled state.

On the up side, my Spanish version of Harry Potter arrived today. I had only placed the order for it yesterday afternoon! Granted, it was shipped via this new free 2-day shipping thing they have going for students with Amazon Prime that I signed up for. Pretty cool! Picts are below!

^ Why is he wearing a cape? What is he Superman?

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Whirlwind of a Weekend

This weekend has been an absolute whirlwind of various things that have been a lot of fun, and really tiring. I went from watching a total shoulder arthroplasty, to watching an NHL hockey game, to studying pharmacology, to enjoying the local county’s habitat preservation area, to studying for pharmacology yet again. I am far too tired, so instead of boring you all with long details I’ve posted a photo from each event into a little slide show of sorts. My weekend in a nutshell. Enjoy!

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Blissful Silence

There’s something magical about getting up at 5:30am, showering, and spending some early hours working on stocking the OR supplies before everyone else gets there. The sanitation services and OR stock room at my local hospital are incredibly quiet (almost) as most of the employees don’t start getting in until around 8am. It’s just me, a wall full of unsorted supplies, and the sound of my footsteps along the corridors. I can get lost in my thoughts and really just relax. There’s no grad school assignments here, no lab work here, no med school worries here. Just the supplies I stick into the little plastic basket and wander with, and they don’t do much talking. Sometimes I’ll see a man coming off the night shift from working supplies for the trauma surgeries in the OR core. He’ll smile and nod to me, never saying much more than, “Hey man,”.

These are the moments I enjoy. The moments where I can set aside everything else, if only for a little while. It’s a walking mediation of sorts for me. It’s better than a vacation in some ways. Stepping out of that little bubble of  tranquility and back on the street after I’m finished with all my work brings all the worries and to-do lists swirling back with the breeze that tugs at my scrubs. And yet, I look to the sky and I smile. I wouldn’t trade this life for anything. I am content.

 

One Year, Blog-versary

This blog has been around for one year now! I really couldn’t believe it when I noticed the date from the first post I ever made, and realized it was this week. They grow up so fast! *tear* I never would have thought with the way I started out, writing once or twice every month, that things would shape up this way. It’s been a great ride so far though. I have really enjoyed the connections I made and the people I’ve gotten to know that I otherwise would never have meet. Ah, the power of the internet! Cheers everyone! 🙂