I'm dying...this grad school stuff is hard work...you really can't get away with doing nothing (unless you want to barely pass...but me thinks that is not such a great academic aspiration if you're going to be working with people's lives).  but i am TIRED...i mark all my exam dates in red ink on my calendar...and EVERY SINGLE week from now until thanksgiving has at least two red ink days...no break at all.  As soon as i finish an exam, I literally have to start studying for the next one because it's only a couple of days away.  I have not had a FULL night of TV watching since before school started...and for those of you who know me, I can watch the heck out of a TV.  But I do try to catch my faves...Newleyweds (VERY VERY FUNNY)...joe schmoe...wade robson...anything on TLC...anything on the Animal Planet...I plan my break times accordingly, if you know what i mean.  tee hee. 

But i don't know what i'm going to do next semester...at least this semester i have 1 or 2 somewhat "humanities" based classes...a management class (BLEH...BOOOO any econ related classes)...and a health care delivery class (basically how the health care system runs)...both of which are relatively easier to slack off in (says me, who has not read a page for either class yet...and who might die when exams come because i couldn't finish reading).  But next semester is PURE PURE science and pharm classes...the one that sound MOST exciting is pharmacokinetics...i don't even know what that means...but it sounds like FUN STUFF.

But good news is that i have explored bawston a little more...and regarding what a friend said, "pretty much a lame version of new york"...i'd have to agree.  But they do have half price burgers on saturdays at this place called the Pourhouse.  you can get a BIG burger and fries for like $2.50.  The best part about that place is that you don't get seated...you have to wait for people to get up and grab a table.  And I, the pushy New Yorker, am GREAT at grabbing tables...MUAHAHAHAHAHA.  I will tell more tales of Bawston vs. the pushy New Yorker in future blogs because I have yet another exam tomorrow...*sob*

4 down 6 to go...sigh...

But i got the pharmacy intern position at New England Medical Center (AKA Tufts med school). YAY.  it's been bad not getting regular paychecks...limited shopping! I can't wait to start...it's basically a 4 year internship.  You start out bottom of the barrel doing stuff like refilling medication kiosks...and you work you way up to possibly compounding for the OR room and making chemo IV bags.  What you get to do basically depends on what year you're in...the more you learn in school, the more you get to do......So by the time i do my rotations for school my 4th year, i'll be SET.  yeah, so i basically HAVE to work the next three years cuz in order for me to take my boards, i need to have worked 1500 hours in a clinical setting.

but i learned about this newer field of pharmacy called Compounding Pharmacy.  Basically, pharmacists in that field make medications that aren't commercially available.  Like let's say you have to take a pill every day for some chronic disease, or even like a vitamin supplement.  And let's say you're like me and you can't swallow anything larger than a tylenol.  These compound pharmacists can take the prescription for tylenol and basically make a new drug...by changing the dosage form, making it a syrup...or flavored gummy candy medicine or lollipops...or my very favorite...the "RECTAL ROCKET".  But the whole mentality behind compound pharmacy is personalizing medicine for each individual.  And the best thing is that the pharmacists pretty much has free reign...no answering to anyone. it's totally what i want to do....it's the perfect mix of lab work in a clinical setting. 

OH, and it also allows me to work wiht pets....60% of compounding pharmacists' patients are animals who do NOT like to take medicine.  So they make tuna flavored chewable medicine for cats...and liver flavored stuff for dogs.  it's totally cool.

oh, and it pays an avg of $150,000.  BLING BLING.  study study study.

two down...eight to go

I think I am getting sick.  AAARGH...just in time for exams.  i'm always SOOOO tired.  I think the reason for my ailments is that my school is sooo freakin cold.  They like to keep the rooms at a comfortably frigid 55 degrees MAX.  It's so cold that my hands get numb and I'm shivering.  And even worse is that i have ALL my classes in that same lecture hall, so some days, i'm sitting there for HOURS at a time without getting a chance to walk around or anything.  it's like a PRISON.

ok, so i got some more roommate stories. A few days ago, she looks at the cable bill and says, "i can't afford to pay this much for cable...this is ridiculous...i was paying $11 last year".  Her share of the bill was like $23....cable costs us like $40-something...and plus tax...which is your normal basic cable costs.  She kept saying how she coudln't afford to pay $23 a month for cable....and that I should go ask the neighbors how much they pay for cable cuz she thinks we're getting ripped off.  i was like, i don't KNOW the neighbors...and i'm not going to go knocking on the door to ask them a retarded question.  ok is $40ish a month reasonable for cable TV?  So NOW, i think i have to relinquish my cable, brain-rotting privileges because she can't afford $23 a month.  i can't afford to pay for the whole thing myself because I'm also paying for cable internet (which she doesn't have to pay for, cuz she doesn't have a computer).  NO NO NO i hate that biznatch....i LOVE my cable.  How am I gonna watch the Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey newlywed show?  and queer eye for the straight guy? And Joe Schmo? And the wade Robson Project? And all the home renovation shows on TLC? And every show on the Animal Planet (minus the psychic pet show and the pet Court show)?  I don't even watch "antenna TV" anymore....does anyone want to TAPE them for me??? and mail them to me?!!!

but yeah, so last night, I'm cooking dinner at around 9.  and I'm microwaving stuff...and making the usual sounds associated with the opening and closing of a microwave door.  then the biznatch comes and and goes, "can you quit banging around...I have a headache".  This biznatch ALWAYS has a headache...like literally everyday, she says she has a headache.  Gee...let's see if we can figure out why:

1. she's in her room by 9PM...but doesn't really sleep til later...i've heard her out there as late as 11PM....she wakes up at 4:30 to primp herself (it's always a rather futile attempt, if you ask me)...hmmmm mebbe because she doesn't get enough sleep?! at age late-30's, you can't survive on just 5 hours of sleep anymore.

2. She's on a diet, so every since i moved in, she's been eating BOILED VEGETABLES every day for every meal.  no lie.  on the weekends, she boils a ton of carrots, broccoli, celery, etc. and puts it in this huge tupperware and she'll eat from there every day.  That's all she eats...except for when she bakes stuff....then she'll be good for a while...i'll see a little bit gone every day...then one day i'll come home and everything's gone.  BINGE BINGE BINGE.  So...let's see...could her lack of nuitrition contribute to her daily headaches? (That would also account for her grumpiness...hungry people are grumpy people).  She has all this meat in the freezer that's been there since i moved in...the pile has not diminished at all.  EAT SOME MEAT.

3. hmmmm what else...perhaps her meticulous cleaning habits...inhaling all that stuff all the time ain't too good for the head.

4. she's ALWAYS doing her toe nails...see reasoning for number three.

5. She turns on the air conditioning when it's 60 degrees...then sits in the living room huddling under a BLANKET.  And since i'm freezing, i'll turn it off....and as soon as I leave, she'll turn it back on...and then i'll turn it off....and another fun game ensues.  if you're cold enough to need a blanket, the AC does NOT need to be on.  ok, i'm not sure what this has to do with her headaches, but it's just STUPID.

but that's it for now...hee hee...thanks to everyone who's sent me their consolation/advice regarding the biznatch.  I'll manage...I've dealt with worse. 

ok i'm going to get my haircut at vidal sasson....OOH LALA....but a student tho...for $15.  kekekeke.  they better not screw it up...i think they're gonna cut it short.  YAY.  back to short hair!  but no partying this weekend...just studying....*sob*  one down, nine to go.  sleep sleep sleep sleep.

so i hate my roommate...she is a biznatch.  She is some kind of freaky anal...I've never met anyone like her.  For one thing, she is not asian...and I think she thinks I am your typical dirty chinatown chinaman.  Plus, she's older, so she's much more conservative and and stiff since she's had that stick up her @ss for such a long time...i don't know exactly how old cuz i don't talk to her...but she looks like her late 30's?

After I cook, she spritz's the air with this air freshener that she bought ONLY after i moved in...i wasn't there to begin with...AND she leaves it by the sink so I'll see it.  but i ain't spritzing...i think my food smells damn good...I'm cooking your typical stir fry...no curry or anything (YET...tee hee hee!)plus i do turn on the fan, so it's not like the smell is SOOO strong.

And then, she made up a list of "rules" that i'm supposed to abide by (note: she is not the owner of the apartment...she is a renter, just like me).  On the list includes rules, such as:

-always lock the door (duh)
-no cooking in the late evening
-no fish
-when cooking always have the living room window open regardless of the weather conditions (my apt is like the one in Friends...the kitchen is sorta part of the living room)
-we will take turns cleaning the kitchen (mopping the floor...wiping the countertops...cleaning the stove) and vacuuming the living room.

The rules regarding cooking, i'm like whatever...i like to eat late, so i'll cook whenever i want...and i'll cook fish if i want to.  i don't complain about your cooking.  So I continue to cook at 8 PM (she eats around 6:30).  PLUS that ensures that i will not have to be in the kitchen at the same time as her.

And with regards to the cleaning...it sounds reasonable right? Okay, now get this...last week, she goes, "oh, is that fish you're cooking?" I'm like yeah (i bought salmon cuz it was on sale..it was my second time cooking fish in a month) Then she goes, "oh. can you do me a favor? can you wipe down the counter and the sink with a disinfectant cleaning solution?  I haven't been feeling well lately, and i want to make sure it's not food poisoning from your food."  UH HUH, yes she did.  i was like WHAT? first of all, if my food were contaminated, I would be getting sick first...second, you'd KNOW if you had food poisoning because you'd be worshipping the porcelain gods for a good number of days...you wouldn't have to "make sure".  But whatever, at this point, i'm like the less i have to say to her, the better, so i was like OF COURSE....i'll wipe it down RIGHT NOW...in my fake sweet voice.  And I made a big show of wiping everything down in front of her....slamming cabinet doors included.

Yeah, so now she comes out every day aroudn the time that i'm cooking to see if i wipe down the counters...and i do...cuz then i figure i wouldn't have to do the big cleaning on the weekends.  but NOOO, she STILL wants me to clean on the weekends...i'm like um...if i clean DAILY...there's not point to clean WEEKLY is there.  So i don't...and I think she gets mad, cuz when she vacuums and stuff on the weekends, i can hear her slamming the vacuum into the walls and stuff.  Oh, and i NEVER go in the living room area except en route to the front door and kitchen...and i ALWAYS take off my shoes outside the door as not to track in dirt.  Since all the stuff in the living room is hers, i don't want to touch it, so i just stay in my room...and she's the only one that uses the living room.  So i won't clean the living room if i'm not using it...

OH...and another thing...she has something against leaving certain things outside of the cabinets...like i wanted to leave my pots and stuff on the counters so i'd have space in the cabinets for my food (there's not a lot of cabinet space). Nope, she didn't want that.  So i was like fine, i'll leave some of my spices and oils/vinegars out...nope she didn't want that...she said she didn't want anything related to food left out because she's afraid of attracting bugs.  But guess what she leaves out all the time? A PLATE OF FREAKIN FRUIT.  i'm like there is NOTHING in the world that will attract bugs more than a plate of ripe fruits.  So now, i leave my fruits out too...sometimes she'll put it in the fridge...and i'll put it back out...or i'll leave meat in the sink to defrost, and she'll put it back in the fridge...and i'll take it back out.  It's quite the fun game.

So, i have more stories, but i wouldn't want to bore all of you with my rantings.  The good news is that i rarely see her.  she sleeps early (like 9PM!!!) and gets up at like 6AM (sometimes she gets up at 5 and doesn't leave the house til 7:30...i have no idea waht she's doing...she does wear a LOOOOT of make-up to cover up her old-ness...so i'm guessing she's primping).  I, on the other hand, sleep pretty late..and I usually get up after she leaves.  And i'm usually just in my room after i get home.  So sometimes, I won't see her for a few days at a time.

There'll be more stories to come.....

I've got 10 exams in the next 3 weeks...so i gotta STUDY...eeek...send me a care package PLEASE!!!!

aaaaaaah, it felt good to be home..even for just a few days...even if it meant having to live with my parents.  They were suprisingly cool...and only asked questions about school work...and they insisted on pampering me...AAAAW YEAH...cuz they MISSED me.

Anyhow, today at church, i stopped by the playroom, cuz no church day is complete without playing with the kids.  So I ask this girl, Emily (I think she a little over 2 years old) how her little brother is (he's mebbe a month old).  And she tells me, "my bruddah? he's fine...he's doing JUUUUST fine!!!"

And meanwhile, this OTHER little girl, Rebecca starts tapping me on the leg and she asks me, "so how's YOUR bruddah?" I inform her that i don't have a brother.  Then she goes, "I do.  His name is Benjamin.  He's FOUR years old...and I'm...I'm...no wait, I'M four years old.  And he's six...and HIS sister is 7."

Meanwhile, in the back of the room, i see Eliana, ANOTHER little girl, sitting in one of those fisher-price toy plastic cars, with one leg is in the car, and one leg is OUT of the car.  She kept trying to close the door, only to have it hit her leg and bounce back open.  She sat there the whole time, frantically trying to get the door closed.

I LOVE these kids, they are SOOOO SOOOOOO CUTE.

ok, on a totally different subject.  I am in dire need of a haircut.  I was planning to get it cut while i was back in NY with more trusted pairs of hands, but i didn't have time.  So, does anyone know of a GOOD hair stylist here in BAWston...someone/someplace good with stick straight asian hair...and who doesn't charge a lot? PLEASE PLEASE holla!

i'm coming home tomorrow.....i need to get stuff from home...lab jacket...stedman's...more clothes...FREE FOOD from the parentals!!!

i had my FIRST test today...1.5 weeks into school and already they're making me bust my ass...well, technically it was a quiz, but i still had to study.  And guess what, i've been going to class EVERY SINGLE DAY.  And i've been pretty good with keeping up with reading...not exactly caught up...but there are enough bright yellow lines in there.  No more finking around in school for jen...this is the real deal.

Ok, so back to my quiz...it was in Pharmaceutics, which by the way is a BIG pain in the ass class...sigh.  Just lotsa lotsa calculations for lotsa lotsa situations....not TOO bad cuz the math is easy...but a whole lot to remember.  but i SQUASHED the quiz...i was like OH...this is what happens when you study and go to class...you know the answers!

So next week in Pharm lab, we'll be making suppositories.  Buddhaman, you want some of that too?! HAHAHAHA.  I'm glad i'm just MAKING the suppositories and not administering them...that's the physician's job...SUCKAS!!!

but did you guys know that prescriptions are supposed to be written in LATIN? not only are they written in latin, but it's abbreviated latin.  For example, "Sig: M. et ft. pulv. DTD #C"  (anyone want to guess what that means!!?)  So we're learning all this weirdo terminology and the whole time i'm thinking, my physician never writes stuff like that on my prescriptions.  They write it in ENGLISH...I don't ever see latin on the forms they give me. 

but yeah, that's about it...i'm boring now...i just study and watch my two favorite shows: The newlywed show about jessica simpson and her boy band husband....and the Wade Robson Project (a MUST MUST MUST SEE). kekekeke.  I LOVE CABLE!!!!

oh i did attempt to go out "clubbing" last weekend.  I looked up citysearch and this place called The Hong Kong at Faneuil Hall got a review of 8.0....so i'm thinking not bad...it's at Faneuil Hall, which is a nice part of Boston.  SO i go with my TWO WHOLE friends...and i SWEAR it's just like Bar None but worse.  I HATE BAWSTON.