Hour of no Power

I was going to write about my preceptorship episode, right after I came back from
the anatomy lab practical, but in that short break where I went to my apartment
for food just before the practical started, I realized I had no electricity.

So I went to the office and talked to the manager and she asked me if I had been
paying my bills, with that look on her face like I was the type that skimped on
paying bills. (lame.)

My reaction - what bills? I hadn't gotten one. (I thought it was weird that they
had told me the apartment would bill us for electricity.)

Apparently, I'm supposed to get my own provider. So I called
TXU/Dynawatt/Amigo energy (lol) and they said the earliest they could do
it was on Monday, and that too for $40. (lamer.)

I've transported some of my food out, but no doubt some of the rest will
probably spoil. Oh well. The worst thing is - no internet! Sigh.

Also, no air-conditioning, but I have feeling my apartment stays relatively
cool because the units above and below me run theirs' like crazy.

Yeah, it was still pretty hot. Last night, I slept en nu* and it was surprisingly
comfortable! Now there's a sight you wouldn't forget.

I woke up, struck the buddha pose:

... and felt like a male model.

Lame.

lol. I should be getting my power back on Monday or Tuesday. Preceptorship
episode to come later.

*: Totally butt nekked.

Ralph Feigin

http://www.texaschildrens.org/AllAbout/FeiginBio.aspx

You know, I didn't know him personally, but I saw the procession today, and I can see TCH from my window - I can feel its energy everytime I look outside my window and I know Feigin had a big part in making TCH the fantastic world renowned hospital it is today.

We were told today that one of us might be the next Feigin. I hope so. I am quite envious of those who were able to meet him. Baylor and Texas Children's have a large shoes to fill.

As a tribute, I will attach this to the post - Feigin's rules.

1. It's the people that make the difference.
2. Do what's right for the patient. We'll do the paperwork later.
3. Be diligent.
4. Live with the spirit of inquiry and innovation. Come to a discussion with the concept that we can do something better tomorrow than what we are doing today.
5. Live with the spirit of generosity.

It's always sad when the good doctor passes away.

http://www.texaschildrens.org/DrFeigin/default.aspx

My Lenovo Adventure

So. Tuesday morning. I throw my Lenovo into my backpack and throw a CD in there as well. Except the CD wedges itself between the screen and the keyboard and knocks off the F2 key.

Pictures of the knocked out F2 key. Very disappointing to look at. 

Here is a side angle shot:

So 20 minutes into class, I log onto the Lenovo support system, submit a warranty request ("my F2 key has fallen off") for a new F2 key. Literally 4 minutes later, I get a voicemail saying that the replacement part is being shipped out. 

Wednesday (today), I pick up a package. 

Why is the box with the replacement part so big?

Because it has a brand new full-size keyboard inside! (complete with very thorough installation instructions). 

Took about 7 minutes to install. 

5 screws in and out

A full-size keyboard exchanged

Awesomeness reborn.

Kickass!

While it's great that Lenovo has such great service, this was more of a public service announcement toward mentally crippled laptop buyers to convince them to get the longest warranty period they can afford. 

I love my Thinkpad. 

Mariott.

Damn that picture is small (click for a bigger one). So I haven't posted for a while since I don't have DSL from my apartment, and besides BCM, almost all of my (grounded) internet access has been at around 150-250kbps, which is slower than my phone, which is totally lame, since I usually get 260-300kbps on the fucking highway at 70mph.

Supposedly AT&T is coming tomorrow to fix my line and I'll be at 6/768 (awesome).

*: See the following posts:

http://piotrrcola.blogspot.com/2006/10/sickness-and-regret.html

http://piotrrcola.blogspot.com/2005/05/omgwtf.html

I have peed 4 times before noon and twice after. TMI? Deal with it.

**: I tried to find a word that started with "b" would make brownies as awesome sounding as "kickass kookies".

CWIP

Pronounced "see-whip"

I've started something new. Well, first I started my lame-ass version of the US Navy Seals exercise regiment (http://www.stewsmith.com/linkpages/seal.htm) - mine only consists of pushups and crunches. I'm pretty sure I can do the minimum amount of pullups too. 

In any case, I've come close o the recommended amount and I feel like I've reached a limit on muscle mass. So, enter the Controlled Weight Increase Program (CWIP!). 

The plan is to reach the upper bound of the "normal" BMI level (25) while keeping the weight training going. 

My target weight is 160-165. Currently, I've leveled out at 153, which is annoying since I'm eating a lot more (I was 148 a week or so ago). The point is, not to try anything that's sold in GNC or any of those other stores. 

I'll go the natural way. 

Which... is probably a bad idea.

Genghis Khan sells me a house

I had a weird fucking dream. I was in California, looking at houses and I drove up to this rather exotic house on top of a hill. It looked small, but it was made of marble, so eh.

I walk in, and this huge chinese guy - "Genghis Khan" comes to greet me and shows me around the house. Everything was pretty nice about it, marble everything, passive cooling, helipad, olympic sized pool in the basement, half a dozen guest rooms. Apparently most of it was underground, but light was channeled through mirrored ducts so it still felt natural.

Anyway, he takes me to the master bedroom and he says - "I like to keep things a little exotic around here" and pushes a button and the wall transforms into this huge piece of tempered glass, about a foot thick.

Behind the glass are a ton of exotic animals, LIONS, TIGERS, JAGUARS, each in their own cage. Further along the wall, I see dangerous snakes, poisonous insects, all sorts of dangerous living things. "Collections from my trip through China", he says.

I was like - "Shit... I really like this house, but I can't sleep at night. I'm going to hear fucking footsteps or something."

My friends were like "WTF? Genghis Khan is still alive?" and "OMFGBBQ YOU HAVE FUCKING TIGERS IN YOUR HOUSE" and "LIGERS!!!!"

I guess I did end up buying that house. lol Genghis Khan.

He kind of looked like that, except without the retarded hat.