A Test, a Guest, and (finally) some Rest!

On Wednesday evening, my classmates and I found out that our 'canceled' test was, in fact, rescheduled for the next week. I attempted to whip myself into a flurry of furious studying and have finally emerged post-tests. After anatomy and histology practicals on Thursday and a brutal comprehensive multiple choice/short answer test on Friday, I can finally say the first real round of med school tests are out of the way... or hopefully I can after grades are released next week. After the test, the unwinding process began. My class celebrated at a pub in Midtown. The picture above includes my friends and study buddies Sean and Sue Lynn.
I ducked out a bit early to meet up with Rice friends at Hans' Bierhaus in the Village. With Ny-Ying in from Atlanta (where she is in her second year at Emory Med), the roommate reunion was complete! The next day, the four roomies went to brunch at Empire Cafe in the Montrose area. While digesting, Ny-Ying and I slipped in a visit to the museum district before she headed off to Austin City Limits. The picture above shows us experiencing an interactive 'snowy' installation at the Contemporary Arts Museum. Finally, I completed my decompression with the Houston Ballet's Classically Modern (and I may have gone to the last showing of the Coen brothers' Burn After Reading at the Angelika). Today, I study the heart (Block 2: Cardiac, Respiratory, and Renal)!

If you have a couple minutes: The video above relates to an art exhibit that opened at Rice while I was studying last week. I took a wee break from studying to sip a glass of wine, hear the artist speak about her installation, and appreciate the piece that was both environmentally-conscious and loosely health-related.

The Many Faces of Wentworth

Mail Basket Kitty (who wishes he had a real bed)

Survivor Kitty
Superkitty! (or Sleeping Yoga Kitty)
Really, Really Content Kitty (in one of his favorite spots)
Scary Vampire Teething Kitty
Biker Kitty

Drunk Kitty

Goodbye Tippy

Tipper
January 28, 1996 - September 17, 2008

Tipper was the prince of the Thilo family canine dynasty. He was very happy (sometimes a little too friendly) and loved to play with his ball. Ever handsome, he was a good hunter and a faithful companion. He will be missed! I am sure the backyard seems mighty empty without him. He is preceded in death by Jet Black Magic.

Counting Blessings

On Sunday night, I finally left my bubble to retrieve my car. Houston is a completely different city right now. I could not believe my eyes. Traffic lights dangling precariously in intersections, city streets as dark as Idaho's dirt roads, pockets of electricity surrounded by dark voids of homes and businesses, huge bulky sheets of metal twisted and crinkled like aluminum foil, peeled back from roofs, carports, and gas station awnings. The city has a 9pm curfew; no ice or potable tap water. People lined up outside grocery stores waiting for their turn to get in, formations reminiscent of Depression-era bread lines. It's like something out of a novel set in a different time and place.

I went into work today. The ambulance company I've worked for over the past two summers was stretched thin and needed more EMTs. I agreed to come in today (Monday) and tomorrow to fill in the gaps. When I made it to the station, I was surprised to find the building- less than five miles from the comforts of my home- still without power (along with 3/4 of Houston earlier today). One of the ambulances was running outside the office with a stretch of cords running from the battery through the open window to the dispatcher inside. The diesel truck was jury-rigged to power the phone, radio chargers, and TV. During the day, we weren't as busy as I thought because all of the clinics and doctors' offices were shut down, and hospitals weren't discharging patients to unsafe homes. We did take a couple calls from the jail. Because our response time lagged a bit navigating the unregulated city grid, we arrived just moments too late to deliver a baby! Shucks!

Driving around Houston allowed me to survey the damage a bit more. Trees and power lines were down everywhere. It will take a very long time to clean up this mess. Billboards toppled, houses crushed, streets littered with debris contributed to the chaos. Gas stations everywhere were either out of gas or electricity, boarded up by owner-turned-evacuees, or destroyed. I saw less than half a dozen working stations; each of these had lines of DOZENS of cars for the few working pumps. One station even had a line of 20+ people on foot, standing in line, waiting to fill up their red 5-gallon jugs of gas. I wish I had my camera. I saw it and I can barely believe it.

Three of my med school classmates are looking for new apartments after pipes burst and rendered theirs uninhabitable. I wish I could offer them more than just a pull-out sofa while they are hunting for new housing. I saw a FEMA crew from Nevada today; they've been here since Gustav threatened the area nearly two weeks ago. I bet it's hard to be away from their own lives, homes, and families. Today's stories and sights reminded me how fortunate I am. Every once in a while it's good to put problems into perspective, I think. I'm so lucky to have made it through Ike without serious consequence. I certainly have been counting my blessings.

The Aftermath

Everything is OKAY! The storm brought its fury and passed in the night. Toppling trees, flattening fences, and cutting power lines, Ike definitely left his mark. Thankfully, power has been restored after only 14 hours. Water is still undrinkable and has little pressure. As for physical damage, my unit is relatively unscathed. A metal hood on top of the chimney blew off, but that's better than a couple units where the whole chimney was knocked over. Some stucco was ripped off the sides of buildings, but no leaks into my place. The bayou is perhaps the most telling gauge of the storm. As I've mentioned in the past, I normally bike along the bayou (see the photo below on a 'normal' day). The water rose well above the bike path and threatened to take out the bridge overhead, spilling into the streets that run alongside it instead (see the picture taken from the flooded street looking across the bayou). Hopefully, the video works.

Yikes, Ike Strikes!

Here comes the wind and the rain. I still have power and internet, though I think my moments with modern conveniences are limited. Last report- 600,000+ out of power! Eeeek.

Hunkering Down

Woah, buddy! These last 24 hours have been quite eventful, with undoubtedly more to come. Yesterday morning, I went to class as usual and listened to Dr. Kretzer talk all about 'positively elegant' nerve function. Dr. Reddy's lecture on embryonic genetics was cut a bit short for the big announcement: Baylor would be shutting down at 3pm for the weekend and we were not allowed to return until Monday at the earliest. No Friday class meant no histology lab, and no access to the campus over the weekend meant no review sessions. So, the powers that be made the executive decision to cancel our tests on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. What an announcement! I cannot tell you how stunned I was and how speechless everyone in the room became. The first serious test canceled?! No school until Monday, September 22? As the shock wave rippled throughout the room, people soon ducked out to make phone calls and evacuation/vacation plans. I stuck around to go to anatomy lab and dig into the knee a bit (saw the ACL!) and the ankle (delving into the tarsal tunnel). Then I biked home to start the hurricane preparations.

So, I have decided to stay in Houston and hold down the fort. Wentworth and I will be bracing ourselves against the inevitable winds and praying that the storm surge doesn't exceed the limits of the bayou. Thankfully, I am on the second floor and have moved my car to higher ground. I have a stash of ice, filled water containers, bread, peanut butter, flashlights, candles, and clean laundry (not really hurricane-related, I just hadn't done laundry in like a month). It's been really interesting to see how people are preparing for loss of power and water. The grocery stores are packed; bottled water and sandwich fixings have been cleared off the shelves. At a friend's apartment complex, all of the patio furniture was at the bottom of the pool to keep it from blowing away or causing damage. Gas stations are either backed up with lines of people, price gouging, or completely out of gas. All of the news stations are doing Ike Watch 24/7. Ike really has us in his cross hairs.

Now, I wait. I'll give a post-Ike report if/when I have electricity and internet. I'm feeling pretty secure and am not in an evacuation zone. Breathe easy for now, but please keep the Gulf Coast in your thoughts and prayers!

Ballet Bliss!

Over the summer I purchased season tickets to the Houston Ballet. Tonight I indulged in the benefits of that transaction with my first show of the year, Onegin. There is something wonderfully beautiful about the ballet. The production was so romantic and graceful: soft flowing fabrics, muted pastel costumes, weightless and effortless movements. Admittedly, I got quite caught up in the show, and for a brief moment, I even forgot about all of the studying that must be done between now at the 17th (TEST!). It's nice to be able to escape to a fantasy world; I get the same feeling when I read a novel (perhaps by Jane Austen) or watch a movie (perhaps starring Deborah Kerr). Maybe I just need a wardrobe update and some arm candy with Colin Firth's charm. Haha- sigh...

Actually, I justify my presence at the ballet in that it was an enlightening view of the musculature of the lower extremity, a hot topic of memorization in anatomy these days. We've also been boning up (bulking up?) on muscle in histology and cell signaling pathways in muscle (and liver, but that doesn't fit in with the theme so it belongs in my overused parenthetical punctuation). This week is crunch time. Seriously (yes, Mom, roll your eyes at my use of 'seriously'). If you thought I was crappy at communication last week, don't get your hopes up for this week. Feel free to bombard me with party invitations, fancy dinners, and social soirees after 11:30am on Wednesday the 17th. Sarcasm? Yes. Exaggeration? No.

I hosted a prospective student on Thursday and Friday evening. My discussions with the prospective student put things into perspective to me (pardon my terribly predictable twist of words). Academically, the schedule is intense, but I enjoy the material (minus the biochemistry), the lecturers, my classmates, and the light at the end of the tunnel. Again, I am sorry that Wentworth jumped on her face in the middle of the night, but I still hope Johanna had a good time in Houston. I thought I'd take this opportunity to remind folks that I am always accepting visitors. :)

Business as usual

Here's a glimpse into my daily classroom life. The picture above is where the magic happens everyday, 8am-noon for lectures. It's pretty interesting once the lectures start; the room immediately fills with the rain-like sound of clicking and typing as everyone (well, about 95% of the class) takes notes on their laptops.

Class elections start today. No, I did not run for something. It's weird not to be involved in a surplus of extracurricular activities these days. School and studying really has become my full-time job.

Today's News: I saw some exciting birds in the bayou on my bike ride to school this morning... I really need to get some sort of Audubon field guide for Texas birds. The first three lectures today were related to genetics and various disorders. Hearing about Down Syndrome reminded me of GOP VP nominee Sarah Palin. I was pretty excited to hear about her Idaho ties. I think she was a very intriguing and somewhat scandalous pick; McCain surprised me. But enough about politics. Gustav has kept his distance, but stay turned for all of those storms brewing in the Gulf!