I just saw at least 6 empty police correctional facility buses (school bus sized) drive by my apt........the boston police...out in full riot mode.  There have been helicopter flying overhead since early this morning.  Actually, when i woke up at 7AM, they were already there.  It is a VERY annoying sound.  Ahhhhh....how great it is to live three blocks from fenway park.

LET'S GO YANKEES!!!!!!!!!!!

 Four years!

Anyway, i totally forgot to write about this back then, but when i went camping/rafting, i saw the Northern Lights!  It wasn't all colorful like in national geographic....BUT, it was really eerie.  We arrived on sept. 10, the day before our rafting trip to camp out, bbq and chill.  Late that night, the people who worked at the campsite had come over to our cabin tent to tell us to quiet down (oops) and also to tell us to go down to the lake area to see the northern lights.

So we all trecked down there...it was PITCH black...i mean, we were in the middle of nowhere, Maine (i think we were like an hour from canada).  And when we looked up, there were a BILLION stars....like i've never seen before.  I managed to point out the big dipper to everyone...i think they were rather impressed by the city girl!!!!

So the people who worked there said that the northern lights are usually really colorful there...but not that night.  She pointed towards the horizon, and there was no color, but there was some haze and in the midst of the haze, two beams of white light.  It looked EXACTLY like when they illuminated those two huge lights after World Trade came down.  By that time it was already past midnight.  It was September 11.

So, today, i got assessed on my blood pressure reading skills.  And they have those two in one stethoscopes so that someone else can listen in while you're doing it.  So apparently, the sixth year students grade us (it's P/F)...so i get this older indian woman...she must've transfered in when she was old.  i'd say thirties to forties.  So i'm doing my thing...and i report my partner's BP as 100/70.  And the indian woman was like NO...that's not what i heard.  I was like ???? because i know what i heard.  And she was like the result i got was much lower.  And i was thinking 100/70 is kind of low already....how much lower could it be without my partner fainting.

Plus, we didn't use those on the wall things like in the doctor's office.  We had to hold the BP dial in our hands.  So i don't even know how the indian woman got a good look at the readings since i had it facing directly towards me.

So i ask her what she got...and she say..... 96/66.  I was like...uh...didn't you say you heard much lower?  She was like YES...the sounds started WAY below 100.  For those of you who've never done it, the first number is when you start hearing sounds...it sounds like a dull thump....kind've like a muffled heart beat, but at a steady pace.  But it starts off really soft and then it gets louder and louder...and eventually, you won't hear it anymore...and that's where you get the bottom number.  So that difference of 4...is literally like one or two soft thumps. 

i was like UGH...i probably have better hearing than you and just heard the thump earlier...biotch.  So she made me do it again!!!!  i was like, i did it RIGHT idiot!  And i got like the same reading...and then she's like, okay you pass!  I was like shoot...i passed the first time.

So, I've realized that even with all the fonts that microsoft has added over the years, my favorite fonts are still the Lucida family.  I don't know what it is about the Lucida's....but i like it the best.  I used to type my papers in Lucida Handwriting   cuz i thought it was so cool how it really looked like handwriting.....but then my teachers didn't like it.  Losers.

Anyhow, I had my first big class exam...and the prof's decided to make a multiple choice exam a multiple guess exam.  They made everything gray area...so the lab values were borderline....and I felt as if there was more than one answer to almost every question.  So for nearly every question, i could easily knock out two choices...and was left with two equally viable answers.  And i guess after years of clinical experience, one could tell which choice would be best....but for people who just learned this, I could not....and i did not appreciate that.  At first, i thought i had just missed something....but after speaking to fellow students, none of us knew which was the right one.  I think it came down to half of us choosing one and the other half choosing the other.  If you're going to make an exam like that, at least make it written so we can explain our choice of therapy.  There are SO many correct treatments out there, it wasn't fair to make that multiple choice...and having us guess which one was the professor's favorite answer.

I still haven't adjusted to being back at school, especially with this year's schedule.  I honestly feel like i have no time for anything.  I can't even relax one night out of the week.  Out of five classes, i have four  classes with group projects.  And now that the semester has gone under way, i've been having to meet with all four groups every week.  One group has to meet twice a week because we have weekly group cases to work on.  And i'm talking at least 2 hours per group meetinig. 

And our class is split into two tracks with slightly different schedules.  So we have our main classes together, but with the smaller required classes, we alternate semesters.  So one track takes stuff this  semester and the other track takes it the next.  So for our group meetings, everyone's class schedule is different, so we always end up meeting after someone's last class...which is always around 5 or 6 PM.  SO i don't get home until 8ish...then i have to cook and eat...and then it's almost 10 (given that i don't waste time doing other things).  And i usually have class at 8 or 9AM...so that doesn't leave much time for doing school work/group project stuff.  IT SUCKS.  And i'm tired all the time.  And i've been getting migraines all the time...i think partly because of lack of sleep and partly because i'm constantly in school/reading/working on stuff.  I usually get migraines consistently over finals week when i'm pretty much reading and using my eyes all day.  And it's pretty much been finals week-ish every week so far.

IT SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On the other hand....i have found THE jeans.  The pair that fits my waist and my one size larger hips and two sizes larger thighs.  Salt Works Jeans.  WOOHOO!  No gaping at the back AT ALL...no belt needed.  I think my butt has gotten smaller/flatter and i feel like i have a permanent bruise on my tailbone because I'm sitting all the time now.  I need one of those donut things.  Stupid school...messing up my butt!

That's right...time for another fugly blog.  I took my exam tonight.  There was another prof in charge of this module, so she wrote the exam (the main professor in charge of the class wrote the one i aced last time).

Ok...so you know what i really don't like? When the prof tells you "ok, don't memorize this stuff because i'll put reference material on the exam".  So i don't.....and she DOES NOT include the reference material on the exam.  So i'm sitting there like WTH....I'm talking about like knowing whether or not a dose is too high...and whether or not a drug comes in a certain form.  ANd this module was pulmonary and it's not really what my hospital specializes in, so i've never really seen some of the meds before.  So on the test, we had to know whether or not a certain drug was manufactured a certain way and whether or not the dose was appropriate...and i'm like...um....it would help if you actually gave the reference material like you said you would. 

It's one thing to recognize that something is wrong AFTER you've had experience and you've seen it a lot...not when you've learned it for the first time!  She said all we were supposed to know was when to give what drug...she said the rest would be provided!!!  Besides in real life, unless you're REALLY REALLY familiar with the dosing, you look it up...you can never be too careful.

AND....there was a pretty big typo in the very beginning of the exam where they present the case to you...one of the lab values was 10 fold off (it said 3.5 instead of 35).  ANd i pointed it out and they corrected it...so the WHOLE exam it totally psyched me out and i was questioning everything.  I didn't know if something was a trick or just a typo. 

So, i read yesterday that green tea is supposed to prevent alzheimer's.  So here i am, the morning of my second DSM exam (why yes...I DID just have one last week...and OH...i have another on Monday)...chowing down on my usual exam day breakfast (eggs and BACON) and sipping on some greeeeeen tea. 

The reason for the imbibing of such a liquid is NOT to help me study for the exam (because that would entail the act of studying)...but for a far more serious problem.

yes,...ladies and gentlemen, I have early onset alzheimer's (totally self-diagnosed of course....just like all of my other psychological problems MUAHAHAHAHAHA)...at least i think i do.  I am the person who never remembers where her keys are...or where her phone is...et.  As of 5 PM tonight, i need to locate my student ID to take my exam and as of now, I have no idea where it is.

But by far, the most indicative sign of my ailment occurred this past week.  Sometime during the past week, i had walked into the bathroom with a set of my DSM notes for whatever reason (I don't actually even remember doing it).  Fast forward to late last night where i am searching frantically for my DSM notes so i could start studying for the exam.  I looked EVERYWHERE (except the bathroom because who in their right mind would bring their notes into the bathroom).  So after a while, i just gave up and arranged to get a copy of the notes from a friend.

So, this morning, i go to the bathroom...and what do i see? My notes in the magazine rack....just chilling with Lucky and Shop.  What the heck are my notes doing there....they are in NO WAY cool enough to hang out with Lucky and Shop.  I was pissed because I spent an hour of my precious study/internet/TV time looking for them.

HENCE....I am now drinking green tea like a madwoman.......because i still have to look for my student ID

My school sucks (hence the fugly colors...no offense to those who like it).  It's a very community pharmacity based school because most of the prof's practice in community pharmacy (e.g. CVS, walgreens, etc).  BUT....for those of us like myself who have no interest in community pharmacy it's SOOOOO annoying.  So we have this one class...it's a management class...and we learn how to manage employees if we ever run our own CVS or open our own pharmacy and stuff like that.  Doesn't that sound like a class that should be an elective for those who may WANT to do that in the future?  NOPE...it's required.  And the prof is a pharmD/MBA...so it's taught very business school like....which to me means zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.  Of all the classes  i've ever taken, anything econ related was always my worst...because of its zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz factor. 

So, we have this year long project that we have to do.  We have to come up with a pharmacy related business idea/invention....and do all the relevant research regarding marketing, cost, planning...and write a full 20+ page business plan.  And then we have to present the ideas to local consultants and the school (which means, if they like it, they get to steal our ideas for free). 

First of all, remember the work load i've mentioned over and over again?  Well...guess what? this is ANOTHER group project.  And the prof wants the basic plan in outline form by nov 2....which i guess wouldn't be bad if we didn't have our GROUP PRESENTATION for the SAME class also in november.  i was like WTH...the business plan isn't due until the end of spring semester...and we already have this other group presentation to work on.

Second of all...since i want to do clinical hospital pharmacy....doing this business plan will help me in zero ways....that's what the hospital administrators who get MBA's are for.

Third of all....I DON'T WANT TO WRITE A 20 PAGE BUSINESS PLAN.  We should be writing TREATMENT plans not business plans.

I had a Disease State Management (my huge six credit class) exam on Tuesday...which i was a little worried about after not studying all weekend due to rafting.

i aced it....PLUS two bonus points.  BOOOOOOOYAH!

I am soooo glad i went rafting instead of staying home (which i DID briefly consider during the week due to a mild panic attack when i realized how much stuff i had to do this week.....two exams and two cases to present).  I guess that was my reward for sticking to my word!

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hmmm....is it bad that i feel like i no longer care about school at all.  I think that senioritis is kicking in.  Even though TECHNICALLY i still have two more years...but next year is just clinicals...which is just like going to work...so this is my last academic year.

For example...i have an exam at 5 PM today...and instead of staying up to study, i went to bed.  And currently, i am online...and i don't really care.  tee hee.

BAD JEN!

I'm back from rafting the Penobscott river up in Maine.  Who knew that maine was a huge ass state.  It took us ONE hour to get from boston to maine...we were all psyched that it was such a short trip...until we realized that our exit was exit 244...and we were on exit 20.  It took almost six hours to get there...i think we were an hour from canada.

Anyhow, the river was GREAT...it was REALLY rough....let me just mention the TWELVE foot waterfall.  After we went down that, they made us SURF that sucker.  THat water hit us HARD...our raft was filled to the brim after each surf.  I think half the people fell out during the surfs because the rafts would just fill up and people would just get pushed out with the current. But some of the rapids were so rough that the rafts all had "hold" ropes on them.  They were one foot ropes attached to the center of the barrel in front.....and on the really big ropes, the guide would yell "HOLD ON!!!" and we'd have to stop paddling and just lunge and hold on to the rope for dear life.

On the bus ride up, we were asking the guides how many people usually fall out.  He was like "well, there are 40 of you, i guarantee 10 of you will fall out".  i was like pshhhh...whatever, i've done class V before..it's mabye just 1 or 2.  NOPE...it was at LEAST 10!!! (i was NOT one of them WOOHOO!!!!)  One raft flipped over at the falls...and another got stuck in what they called the "big hole" while they were surfing.  That's when the water just recirculates...and the current moves in a cylindrical fashion, kind of like a horizontal whirlpool...so the raft got STUCK in the hole...and they couldn't manuever their way out.  i think they were there for at least 10 minutes.  Finally another raft threw a lifeline over and pulled them out! 

My shins are all bruised now...it looks like someone took a stick and just hit them repeatedly.  Because i'm relatively light, i got bounced around a LOT...i couldn't stay in my seat at ANY of the rapids.  But i was prepared, so i kept my weight leaning into the raft, so i just got bounced around inside and my legs would bang into the barrel in front of me.

But that was FUN!!!!  Supposedly, this is the best river to raft on the east coast....so all you rafting lovers...this is THE ONE! Plus, their lunch was GREAT.  they grilled steak/chicken/salmon...we had pasta salad, rice, cookies, hot chocolate, lemonade.

The only bad thing is that there were about 7 or 8 class V rapids on the river...but in between them was just dead water.  It was weird...not even a class II or III here and there.

Oh...and at night, it was 38 degrees...that wasn't fun either.

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