|
Light_Aura
|
read my profile
sign my guestbook
Name: Kerry
Country: United States
State: Arkansas
Metro: Conway
Birthday: 4/23/1983
Gender: Female
Interests: I enjoy reading manga and various works of literature. I love listening to music, when I am not attempting to play it myself on the piano or the violin. I like to sit curled up in an afghan, sipping on coffee and watching candles burning, with calming music playing in the background and a dog-eared book near at hand.
Expertise: B.S. in Biology
Occupation: Student
Industry: Medical
Message: message meEmail: email me
Yahoo:  kerry_wilkins
Member Since:
3/4/2005
|
|
| Currently playing: Second Life
For some obscure reason, Justin tagged me with a "think about what you buy" survey. I find this highly ironic, because he is usually with me on my shopping trips. But to prove to him that I do, in fact, read his blog, albeit not daily, I suppose I shall respond. I'm sure others find it ironic that I post a survey, but not a real post. I'll get back to that one of these days. ;)
The
purpose of this meme is to inspire some reflection about how we shop
and what we purchase. The idea isn't that consumption itself is somehow
bad, but that we all could probably stand to put a little bit more
thought into what we buy. And, of course, it's supposed to be fun. So
here goes! Pick a recent shopping trip -- for
clothes, shoes, groceries, doesn't matter. The only guideline is that
it will be easier to play if you purchased at least a few things. Now
tell us, about your purchases:
1. What are you proud of?
I am proud of the fact that, though I was only intending to look, I only purchased three volumes of manga instead of the five volumes behind I had fallen in a few series, and the more volumes I would have purchased with spare time and money.
2. What are you embarrassed by?
I
am embarrassed that I couldn't just buy one volume. But I'm not too embarrassed, because I rarely buy things impulsively, and I do not even remember the last movie I saw in the theater, or the last play I have seen. I figure it evens out. ;)
3. What do think you couldn't live without?
Well, food obviously. I could live without electricity and gas (both heat and the vehicle-running kind), but it would be a strain. And I enjoy living in an apartment as opposed to a ditch. Cell phones -- I could probably get by without a phone, but why do that to myself? I enjoy being able to connect to people, including my friends and family, and my residents would get annoyed if they didn't have a means of contacting me. And I would have had a heck of a time getting my laptop picked up by the delivery service to get it taken to be repaired. I could live without internet, but why deprive myself of simple pleasures? And besides, I save more money in the gas (and the time) I would use driving to school to check my email regularly than I would just having the internet service. I feel it is a justified expense.
4. What did you most enjoy purchasing?
The second volume of Hibiki's Magic. I wasn't expecting to see it on the shelf, and I was ecstatic to find it.
5. What were you most tempted by? (This last one may or may not be an actual purchase!)"
I was tempted by the remaining volumes in Tezuka's Buddha series. I was probably more tempted by Never Give Up. But I was most tempted by the two volumes of Magical x Miracle I had somehow missed in releasing, and on those, I gave in. And it was a good thing, too -- I was shocked to discover it was the conclusion of the series. And I'm not sure how I feel about that.
Now tag 5 others!
Eh, I'll tag people, but feel free to ignore it. Jenn Miller, Chase (though I expect I know your last purchase, lol), Wes, Melissa, Manna.
| | |
| It was a very good decision to take this rotation off. I was hesitant about taking off during pediatrics, since it is a rotation I've really been looking forward to, but it was the best decision I could have made.
I'm sitting here, listening to classical music, playing with my adorable (though still sick) cat. Last night, I went to bed at 9:30 pm. I didn't get up this morning until 8:30 am. My apartment, though still cluttered, is significantly more livable. Sunday, I watched movies with Justin all day long. We're cooking dinners together and enjoying movies -- we're getting to enjoy being married in our relatively new apartment with our relatively new kitten, with the fresh air of the rapidly approaching autumn blowing in. The kids at the school across the street laugh and play, and Justin and I read together. It is a much needed break from rotations.
I talked to one of my friends in the pediatrics rotation yesterday. He seems to be enjoying it. But as I listened to him talk, I realized I didn't regret my decision. It is a nice time off from the wards. Everything is working out.
Tomorrow I train to help with a College of Pharmacy OSCE -- I'm going to learn how to pretend to be a doctor. And they're going to pay me $13/hour.
I have to get my tires on my new vehicle replaced. Yup, already. One of my tires was flat on Tuesday, and all the tires are worn. But I have time to replace them, and since they were going to need to be replaced anyway, it's good they are being replaced during my break from rotations. And I was able to go to buy a license plate the other day, pay my taxes on the car, and visit my 'rents besides.
Justin and I are thinking about driving up to visit Brandon in the next few weeks, in our sweatshirts and long-sleeves. What fun.
Life is good.
| | |
| Jenn and Manna asked me to post seven random things...a very long time ago.
1. I didn't like hot tea until Justin made me drink it his sophomore year, before we were actually dating. I drank it because I had a crush on him, and because he really did make good tea. I should have known then that he was destined to be a Starbucks barista.
2. I have a CD of Diablo II sitting on Justin's computer desk which is now half mine. I told out said CD when I was putting in CDs of wedding pictures. I played Diablo II in Farris Hall, and I enjoyed it. But I'm scared to start playing it again because it becomes addictive, pointing and clicking.
3. I often avoid the computer because I know I will waste far too much time when I'm on it. Like I'm doing now, for instance.
4. I told Justin I'd go to sleep in just a minute nearly an hour ago. Evil mind-sucking computer.
5. I have developed a hatred of exams in medical school. It's a shame, because I used to actually enjoy them (I was an odd one).
6. I miss watching Spike. The Buffy character, not the TV station. Though I do like the TV station. I might watch Fool For Love tomorrow. Today, Justin asked me where Buffy held a job. I was slightly abashed when I said "the Double Meat Palace" without even blinking.
7. I was wishing I had a correction white-out dispenser today, and I just now looked on the computer desk and realized one has been sitting there this entire time.
Jenn also asked me to post eight things you can't possibly know about me, or some such meme. While I'm going, I'll go ahead. If you've gotten this far, I give you permission to go do better things with your life, if you'd rather.
1. I love notecards. Flashcards have helped me learn a lot of information, until med school, when I ran out of time to make flashcards. But I still use them furtively every now and then.
2. I wish I had time for dance lessons. I thought about taking them for this eight week period, but I guess it'd be kind of weird to only take them for eight weeks. I've always wanted to dance, even though I feel self-conscious.
3. I'm a humanities person pretending to be a science person, as Justin loves to remind me.
4. I used to draw manga characters, but I'm scared to try to draw again, because I'm afraid I've forgotten how.
5. I have always felt older, pretending to be younger, ever since I was little.
6. I like wearing my hair up, but I've never taken the time to learn how to do the cute up-dos.
7. I like buying clothes and new clothing styles, but I'm too cheap to do it very often. Usually someone has to talk me into buying something.
8. When I get really tired, I end up staring, my mind completely blank. It's kind of like stepping outside of myself, for a moment. When I come back to myself, it's always disorienting -- like my perception is somewhat lessened.
Yay woot. Finished the online surveys. I'm scared to log on to the forum because I have too much to catch up on, especially on a late Friday night. It's time for bed.
| | |
| So I have been...ahem...encouraged to post on xanga. So this is me, posting on xanga. *grins*
Let's see...life has been crazy busy lately. Here's my other weblog, which I also neglect (I'm an equal opportunity neglecter): http://lightaura.blogspot.com It's intended to be more of a medically-oriented blog, so I don't bore everyone on here with long posts about medicine. But it's pretty limited, and intended to be more academic than personal, so that's why I keep this one.
My grandmother passed away from her pancreatic cancer about a month ago, now. Her family was there by her side. I went up on Wednesday night, and she passed away on Sunday afternoon. She had slipped into a coma on Wednesday, but I got to see her the weekend before, for one last time where she was still communicative. I only ended up missing two days of my rotation, and then one day of the next one for the funeral. I was glad to be able to be there for my family.
My other grandmother fell and broke her pelvis about a week or two ago. The first idiot of a doctor told her to go home and stay in bed for four to six weeks with no DVT prophylaxis...because an 86-year-old woman who is put in bed for six weeks will walk again, sure, if she manages to go that long in bed without infected pressure sores and a blood clot that travels to her lungs and might kill her. *rolls eyes* But they called her PCP at UAMS the next morning, and he was understandably angry, and he had her admitted to UAMS. They evaluated her to see if she would need a plate placed . They decided the broken area was not a weight-bearing area, and she could do fine without surgery. So now she's in rehab at St. Vincents.
Justin and I moved again. They raised the rent on the townhouse, and though it wouldn't take effect until November, I'll be in surgery at that time, and we wouldn't have been able to move. So we went ahead and transferred into a one-bedroom apartment. We like it a lot better. We are just now getting time to get it in order though. Unfortunately, Justin tore his rotator cuff when he helped move the piano upstairs to the new apartment. I love the piano. But Justin hasn't been able to go to the doctor yet, because his insurance has yet to kick in. But otherwise, the apartment is fabulous.
I replaced my poor Civic, which the insurance company totaled. I now am the owner of a green 2001 Saturn three-door coupe. It's a cute car. But so dirty from the dirt student lot at UAMS. I've only had it for two weeks or so, and it's filthy. I hope today's rain will clean it off a bit. I'm going to get it registered today.
Lots of other stuff has been going on, in the two months since I've posted. And while it's been a trying couple of months, married life is good. I never knew how much I'd like being married. It's not that much different from dating. Except now we get to be together and connect like we did in college. It makes me happy.
| | |
| I was in an accident. I'm okay. No other cars were involved.
But my poor Lancelot, my shining white night. He protected me from harm, but to his own misfortune.
I was driving from my CPR re-certification to Jacksonville to pick up a form I needed for UAMS. I'd just gotten on I-67/167, at the Kiehl entrance ramp. It was raining, and I hit that area of construction where the wall barrier is on your right, and there's a barrier on the left, with no drainage. And I felt my car hydroplane. On brand new tires. The guy that pulled over said there must have been oil on the road.
The barrier was right there -- my front right bumper hit the barrier. The water caused me to make a 360 spin, which I turned into, knowing that's the best way to pull out of a spin (yea for driving skills), but of course there was no shoulder on the other side of the interstate either. Only a mud ditch and another barrier. The only extra room on the pavement was literally the distance of my foot from the line of the left lane to the end of the pavement. I was lucky no other cars were involved, because traffic was heavy on Sunday afternoon at 4:30. But I don't tailgate.
A guy pulled off the side of the road to make sure I was okay, and he ended up stuck in the ditch. An hour or so later, another guy did the same thing. I don't know why he pulled over, but he did. At the time of the accident, another woman on the interstate going the opposite direction had pulled over and jumped the barrier. She told me she thought I was dead, and I must have been wearing a seatbelt. I was, and only my back is sore from the spin. It's not overly comforting to hear, but there you go.
There was another wreck up the road -- three cars? Five? So the first policeman drove on after checking to make sure I was all right. The wrecker he called for us also kept driving -- he said he needed to be up there instead (a bitter voice in my head whispers that the commission was better up the road). A search and rescue guy came to the scene, and he said the road conditions weren't exactly legal -- the shoulder should have been larger, and gravel should have been placed on the road's edge, where Lance was huddled in misery. My sister made it to the scene to make sure I was okay (I couldn't get a hold of Justin until later), and then my parents, who were driving by on their way home from Benton, got there as well, and sent my siblings off on an errand.
Finally, two hours later, maybe a bit more, another wrecker arrived at the scene. After the first man had been pulled out of the ditch, a state trooper arrived (the other policeman had told me to tell the wrecker to pull me off at the Redmond Road exit and meet him there -- I never heard from him again). The state trooper gave me a citation -- Too Fast for Conditions. He said he didn't want to give me the ticket, but he had to because he was required to give something, and nothing else qualified. He said he had relatives who had done the same thing, and it didn't mean I was a bad driver, and he was sorry, and I could appeal it. Meanwhile, my crumpled car is being pulled up onto the wrecker, with the cheerful "Just Married" lettering I had intended to wash off that day looking down at me.
I honestly don't think I deserve the citation, so I will have to get permission to arrive late to my rotation in late August to make the court date. (I was in the right lane, going under the speed limit, in an accident-waiting-to-happen area of the interstate construction, with no shoulders and poor drainage, and a car can hydroplane at ten miles per hour -- should I have really been going ten miles per hour on an interstate? Nope, that's illegal. The speed limit was 55 mph, and I wasn't going that. I was driving with the traffic in the slow lane, obviously not tailgating, because if I had, another car on the high-traffic interstate would have been involved. What else could I have done?) Meanwhile, I will wait for the estimate from Gwatney with regards to repairs, hoping that the car isn't totaled, because I just can't afford a new (for me) car right now. It doesn't look bad enough to be totaled, so I'll hope for the best. I'll set aside the money for the deductible on my insurance, hope that my premium doesn't go up too badly, cringe as the prices of school books come in, and hope for the best. Because, really, that's all you can do.
Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about San Antonio. I'm sorry to burst any bubbles, but no edible items or whips from the bachelorette party were involved. With regards to the rest of the things I received -- well, I guess that's between me and Justin, and if the givers really want to know, then they can ask. Offline, of course. *grins and winks*
And Justin and I, before the CPR training, went to the humane society on Sunday and brought home a dashingly handsome kitten. We've named him Helo. I'll post pictures when I load my picture software for my digital camera (a wedding gift from my parents) onto my computer.
| | |
|
