University of Oklahoma -- all peeps -- part 2

[Jwax]

A whole day of orientation and now nothing here? I'm surprised.

Did you all decide to go home?



I hope what I said at orientation made sense and is helpful. I really should have thought more about it beforehand.

You were great! I really enjoyed how both of you were like, "yeah, they kind of look at you like you are in the way..." Awesome. I'm sure Dr. Sparks loved that!

Well, our medical school journey has finally begun. I don't know about you other MS-I's, but I'm loving it! Yeah I know, they lectures are relatively lame but a lot of our speakers have a really good sense of humor. I'm also enjoying the immediate friendship atmosphere. Already I have several new friends. It is great. FYI - one of my modmates (mod 232 is the best mod, of course) turns a quarter of a century today. We're going to Lumpys on NW Expressway & MacArthur (I think that's where it is...) to celebrate ~9pm. Come, drink, and be merry.

Since we got out early today, I actually got a nap in. It was bliss.

I was really expecting to be terrified as school began, but I'm really feeling pretty confident that I will muddle through. Good attitude to start with, yes?

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[Doctor Bagel]

You were great! I really enjoyed how both of you were like, "yeah, they kind of look at you like you are in the way..." Awesome. I'm sure Dr. Sparks loved that!

Well, our medical school journey has finally begun. I don't know about you other MS-I's, but I'm loving it! Yeah I know, they lectures are relatively lame but a lot of our speakers have a really good sense of humor. I'm also enjoying the immediate friendship atmosphere. Already I have several new friends. It is great. FYI - one of my modmates (mod 232 is the best mod, of course) turns a quarter of a century today. We're going to Lumpys on NW Expressway & MacArthur (I think that's where it is...) to celebrate ~9pm. Come, drink, and be merry.

Since we got out early today, I actually got a nap in. It was bliss.

I was really expecting to be terrified as school began, but I'm really feeling pretty confident that I will muddle through. Good attitude to start with, yes?

You're in my former mod! It's got to missing some of its character, though, without our McDonald's filet-o-fish that was purchased in August and stayed in the room for the whole year. They're not kidding when they say McDonald's stuff doesn't decay. Maybe you all should replace it with something similarly vile.

Yeah, you guys will be fine. The really nice thing about OU (and probably most schools) is that they start off slowly. The workload is going to progressively increase throughout the year, which is much less intimidating than having tons of stuff thrown on you at the start.

 

[Amxcvbcv]

You were great! I really enjoyed how both of you were like, "yeah, they kind of look at you like you are in the way..." Awesome. I'm sure Dr. Sparks loved that!

I don't think Dr. Sparks realized we were mostly talking about the ER/Overnight rotations. The regular weekday afternoon preceptorships are pretty benign. It's the overnight stuff where you have to watch out about being a fifth wheel. Just latch onto an intern or resident and you'll be fine.

...mod 232 is the best mod, of course...

Mod X32 is the best.

Dr. Sparks told us that when renovations begin they're moving the "mods" to the fourth floor of the old children's hospital tower.

 

[Benoit]

Ahem, it's THE 2-3-2.

Doesn't take but a name intro for me to be exposed. D'oh.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

So I don't know if it's funniness or lameness about the unofficial guide for first years, but d@mn did they just blatantly reuse the previous edition! Like the poll of the class of 2010 and how much we studied. Umm, there was never a poll as far as I knew, so it either only had 20 participants or it was last year's (or maybe even the year before's) data. And anatomy -- if your heads aren't spinning after reading that, I'm impressed. Wait --read Chung. Wait -- don't read Chung. It would have been nice if somebody had actually rewritten that whole section instead of the hodgepodge that it wound up being.

What bugs me is that they said here on SDN that they would solicit feedback from the whole class, and I'm sure lots of us would be willing to help out. Instead, feedback was never solicited, and the whole thing was just written by student government and their buddies. They could have produced a much better (and hopefully more useful) guide with less effort on their part, but whatever.

 

[Amxcvbcv]

Ahem, it's THE 2-3-2.

Doesn't take but a name intro for me to be exposed. D'oh.

You're only in a 200 mod for a year, then you come downstairs where the real fun begins. I say X32 as a way of bridging the gap.


It's going to be weird if you guys aren't all in the BSEB next year.

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

You did really well today, soonereng. When our guest told us that she was bipolar, I figured we were in for one heck of a lunch, and I wasn't disappointed. If she had lifted her blouse one more time to cough on her boobs, I think I would have fallen out of my chair.

 

[soonereng]

You did really well today, soonereng. When our guest told us that she was bipolar, I figured we were in for one heck of a lunch, and I wasn't disappointed. If she had lifted her blouse one more time to cough on her boobs, I think I would have fallen out of my chair.

Hey thanks! I'm glad we got a little more information about her than we were getting at the first. I thought we were in for a heck of a ride at first when she said she was somewhat opposed to what we would be doing.


Oh and you noticed her unique way of preventing disease transmission did you?

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

Oh and you noticed her unique way of preventing disease transmission did you?

Yes, I did... and when she was telling us that 'she was the prettiest,' I had these visions of Baby Jane Hudson that I just couldn't shake. I wouldn't have been the least bit surprised if she had told someone that he/she 'hadn't finished your din-din.' Anyway, they were nice people... (but, yep, I was a little concerned when she expressed her disapproval of the program - I think teaching medical students is a very noble thing and perhaps she was a little more convinced by the end). The discussion is normally not as clinical as that one was - but I think we got a fair amount of balance in there at the end.

I'm kind of concerned about this business of being in three teams - we only had two teams, and it was very difficult at times to keep up with the other group's work if they hadn't finished or if they had forgotten everything, which can happen over a weekend. If you're going to have to follow the work of two other teams, I'd recommend visiting the lab on some evenings after the other teams have finished - you can look at more than one cadaver and you can work in peace without the din of eighty people. That sounds creepy, but it really isn't - it helped me a lot. Dr. O'Don places a lot of emphasis on the lab videos, but to me: a) they're fuzzy from being compressed, and b) I guess I'm too stupid to stay oriented because I would frequently forget which end was up while watching the films - I need little clues like arms and legs to know what the heck I'm looking at! You can laugh, but I'll give you a tip for the lab practicals when the pressure is on - before you start peering into cavities, first take a couple of seconds to determine whether your cadaver is face-up or face-down (prone or supine, I believe) and where the arms and legs are. I made tons of mistakes by rushing too fast.

 

[soonerfan77]

So I'm standing in front of a thousand people with a very "prestigious" white coat, that of course has been statistically proven to add an heir of responsibility, but my sleeves are up to the middle of my forearm. I felt like the "fat guy in a little coat". Where do I go to get the right size? When they sent out the order form, I went to a bookstore to try on a the exact same model Landau 38 regular and it fit perfectly. I don't know what happened.

It did make me feel better when Caton mentioned it in her speech. She was the only funny one up there. Although, I felt for her when she lost her place in the speech. She covered it well.

Enjoy the weekend everyone! See ya' on Monday.

 

[Benoit]

There were some extra coats by The 2-3-2 (w00t w00t) that were being exchanged out. I would go to student affairs and talk to Jim. That's where the "sizing" coats were over the summer.

 

[Mr. Freeze]

After nearly 3 weeks of punishing my liver on the Emerald Isle, despite my best efforts to delay the inevitable, the summer is apparently over. I think I was fairly successful in not doing anything medical. What'd I miss?

In a jet-lag induced haze, I'm having trouble picking insurance plans. I guess I will get some this year, since they ask for proof. I wondered if they would. I just happened to have some when they asked last year. My wife just started a new job that has pretty high family premiums, but they come out pre-tax. I'm trying to wrap the few brain cells I haven't poisoned this summer around whether a lower premium that came out after is better than a high premium taken out before. Basically, if she gets taxed at 28% (I don't know what the bracket is), we'd be better off to go with any plan that was <72% of the cost of her work plan, right? All things being equal, coverage, etc...

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

After nearly 3 weeks of punishing my liver on the Emerald Isle, despite my best efforts to delay the inevitable, the summer is apparently over. I think I was fairly successful in not doing anything medical. What'd I miss?

In a jet-lag induced haze, I'm having trouble picking insurance plans. I guess I will get some this year, since they ask for proof. I wondered if they would. I just happened to have some when they asked last year. My wife just started a new job that has pretty high family premiums, but they come out pre-tax. I'm trying to wrap the few brain cells I haven't poisoned this summer around whether a lower premium that came out after is better than a high premium taken out before. Basically, if she gets taxed at 28% (I don't know what the bracket is), we'd be better off to go with any plan that was <72% of the cost of her work plan, right? All things being equal, coverage, etc...

Freeze!! OMG, good to see you <handshake>. Jeez, I forgot about your vacation. I thought maybe your wife had turned you into a Stepford-nanny for revenge or something like that.

Yes, your logic is basically correct - although check to see that your overall tax rate is 28% - that may be her highest marginal rate, but it's probably not the overall rate - look at last year's tax return - final tax versus gross wages. Anyway, Macori is not the best - but quite often it's a very good deal because your student health fees cover primary care services rendered at the Family Medicine Clinic, so Macori doesn't have to pay for that. Just make sure you get the high option so you'll have coverage for drugs (things like Amoxicillin for those baby ear infections!). If your wife's family coverage cost is comparable to Macori, I'd grab it - it's very likely better coverage.

I've decided that another week off might be fun - but I'm looking forward to seeing my homies next week - so show up, OK?

 

[Doctor Bagel]

I'm waiting until the last minute to sign up for the Macori plan because I think my husband can qualify under OSU's plan, but I'm not entirely sure. He's technically a grad student, but all the classes he's taking are undergrad because he's still doing his leveling work. If he can get coverage through them, it'll save us a ton of money because it's not like they just double the cost when you add a spouse under the Macori plan.

If he gets the OSU plan, then maybe I can afford to sign up for Plan 1! With the two of us, it would cost $6000. The prescription med coverage is meaningless to me because all my meds are generic, but the lack of a stop loss (out of pocket maximum) on with the cheaper plan makes me nervous.

As for people with families, just pointing out that the Family Medicine Clinic is only free for us. Family members have to pay if they go there, and who the hell wants to pay to go there. It's bearable because it's free. That's a downside of signing the family up under Macori -- I think Macori still wants you to do your primary care stuff through there, so you'd have to go and pay.

So we have to go on Monday, right? Does anybody understand the PCM schedule? I'm confused about how much I'll have to be at school.

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

As for people with families, just pointing out that the Family Medicine Clinic is only free for us. Family members have to pay if they go there, and who the hell wants to pay to go there. It's bearable because it's free.

So we have to go on Monday, right? Does anybody understand the PCM schedule? I'm confused about how much I'll have to be at school.

You're absolutely right on the FMC and I should have been clear on that. I hated the FMC the first time I went there, but I have grown extremely fond of my PA - and on the days when my PA wasn't there, O'Don is actually a different person when he has his clinician hat on. And McNeill is great in the clinic, of course (he insisted that I call him by his first name outside class, which I thought was extremely cool). I still resent having to sit in the waiting room of the Green Clinic with all those snotty-nosed babies, however (sorry parents!). I feel like taking a can of Lysol every time I go. Can't they move student health to an adults-only waiting area, for heaven's sake?

I haven't figured out PCM yet, but here's my guess: on days where it lists "East Lecture Hall", we all have to be there. The stuff that isn't in the lecture hall is probably small groups and we don't have to go every time. I don't know, though - upper classmen, where are you? BTW, I've talked to several people who think orientation starts at 10:00 Monday, but the most current schedule says 9:00 with a continental breakfast (oh, joy) at 8:30.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

It seems like they can't get it straight when orientation starts. As far as I know, it is 9 -- much better than 8.

You know, I've never seen anybody in the Green Clinic or a PA for that matter at the FMC. I always end up seeing residents in the other clinics. Definitely the care there is fine, and since it's a training facility, they're going to be more up to date on lots of things. It's just really, really unpleasant.

 

[Mr. Freeze]

I'll read the replies momentarily, but check out Blue Cross. If she does her thing through work and the kiddo and I do ours with BCBS, it comes to 410/month, med and dent, for plans with ~80% coverage and $500 deductibles. Considering her work family premiums are 735, it seems pretty simple. Bagel, with them I think yours would be around 5112-ish, depending on whether lil' bagels are in the works (higher if so...).

Yeah, I've been doing some parenting, which is what I call baby-sitting when my wife is within earshot, to work off some of my travel guilt...he's pretty cool, so it's easy.

And I thought the whole point of being a second-year was not having to go to class at 8? This is such bull****...

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

Wait until we get up to Tulsa (I had to go there over the summer since I was working). They have this bizarre rule that medical students can only be seen by attendings in Tulsa FMC. I asked them why because I had that horrible summer respiratory infection that was going around and I just wanted a Z-pac and I really didn't care who gave it to me. They told me that medical students had complained so much about the PAs and residents that they just didn't allow it anymore. So, I got my attending - but I also got a brand-new third year student who nearly killed me by shoving his otoscope into my poor swollen ear canal. He realized that I was a student when he asked me to show my teeth and I decided to save him time - I shrugged, moved my eyes, stuck my tongue out, and told him that all my cranial nerves were intact. OK, so I was in a bad mood and felt like being a smart *ss. Third year or not, he's still a kid to me. Of course, he'll be my supervising resident someday, undoubtedly.

 

[soonereng]

I'm kind of concerned about this business of being in three teams - we only had two teams, and it was very difficult at times to keep up with the other group's work if they hadn't finished or if they had forgotten everything, which can happen over a weekend.

Well, from what I read, it will still be dissecting twice a week, just not always with the same people. Group A & B first day, group B & C next day, group C & A next day, repeat the cycle from there on. So really, you cut two days in a row and are then off one, rather than cut one, off one.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Well, from what I read, it will still be dissecting twice a week, just not always with the same people. Group A & B first day, group B & C next day, group C & A next day, repeat the cycle from there on. So really, you cut two days in a row and are then off one, rather than cut one, off one.

Yeah, so you guys are in lab more. Glad I got in when I could. I was looking over the course information document for you guys, and it sounds so darn intimidating. The good news, though, is that you get those 20 points for the pre-test, which I'm guessing are essentially free points since the test is open book. It looks like there's also still ARS, which is good for your grade, but the bad news is that you have to go to class.

So here are some ARS tips that cost me a few points at first. You can change your answer after voting. If you click on your changed answer, your number should briefly turn yellow, and then it'll record your new answer. Maybe they told us this at some point, but I really did miss a point in one of the first sessions because I didn't know this. Also, it's group effort. Everybody talks to their neighbors about answers and consults their books/notes. O'Don usually drops hints about what he'll ask about, so write that stuff down and look it up when you get to the ARS part.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

I'll read the replies momentarily, but check out Blue Cross. If she does her thing through work and the kiddo and I do ours with BCBS, it comes to 410/month, med and dent, for plans with ~80% coverage and $500 deductibles. Considering her work family premiums are 735, it seems pretty simple. Bagel, with them I think yours would be around 5112-ish, depending on whether lil' bagels are in the works (higher if so...).

Yeah, my husband will probably go with BCBS if the OSU plan doesn't work out due to his weird status. I think I might stick with Macori just because of that 'lil bagel issue. None planned for now, but I'm a little too much of an anxious person to just skip maternity coverage.

So I'm a dork, but I just noticed there's all sorts of IHI information on blackboard, including the syllabus. I guess that means we don't have to stand in line waiting to buy one. Hate that part of the start of the year.

 

[Amxcvbcv]

I haven't figured out PCM yet, but here's my guess: on days where it lists "East Lecture Hall", we all have to be there. The stuff that isn't in the lecture hall is probably small groups and we don't have to go every time. I don't know, though - upper classmen, where are you?

When you pick up your PCM syllabus on Monday there should be a schedule in there that shows you which group you're assigned to. Did you guys sign up for partners last spring? It should be the person you're working with for most of the physical exam training sessions. Anyway, the schedule will tell you when you go for the Adapting to Health Change, Gynecological exam, and... what's the other one? Basically, you'll go to your sessions, but you can ignore all the others.

Another word about the first few days... Go to Koss's lectures on autonomics. Go to Koss's lectures on autonomics. Go to Koss's lectures on autonomics.

He's won the lifetime achievement award and the Aesculapian before for a reason. Plus, it's just courteous because I'm pretty sure he's retired and flies back from New Mexico just to teach these lectures. It will also blow your mind and make you realize how much you forgot over the summer. It's very disconcerting because IHI starts out slow, but once Koss is finished Holliman will be headlong into female organ pathology which sucks big time. So yeah... what are you going to do the next three weeks?

Go to Koss's lectures.

 

[DMBFan61]

I second the Koss lectures....it seems like that stuff is the only stuff i really remember from pharm. Oh, and ovarian tumors are hell

 

[Antigunner]

I'll add a third for Koss - the scary part is that it seems like he fits about half of what you learned in Neuro into like a 2 hour lecture.

Also, try studying all about breast cancer 2 days after you find out your mom just got diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma... that sucks. (she's fine, by the way)

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Also, try studying all about breast cancer 2 days after you find out your mom just got diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma... that sucks. (she's fine, by the way)

Wow, that sounds tough. Glad to hear she's fine now.

So Koss, OK. His lectures aren't until 10, so I think I can swing that.

 

[Jalopycat]

Hey I was just flipping through threads and saw you guys talking about insurance plans. I had Macori as a med student and although it's not great insurance by any means, it's adequate if you are healthy. I ended up having to have surgery my MS4 year and Macori covered 70% of it (I had the cheaper plan). I was going to an outside doc and not using the family medicine center, but it was no problem getting the referral from them when I needed surgery. I just made an appointment to see any doctor at the clinic and just told them what was going on.

Again, Macori is not great insurance, but it's cheap. If you are healthy, I'd just get that. And don't get their drug plan. It isn't very good. I saved more money just paying out of pocket for meds. You guys are going to have so much debt at the end of 4 years, don't waste more money than you have to on some expensive health insurance that you may not even need.

Just my thoughts.

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

I have to admit, Macori is a good deal for me. They've developed their premium assuming the vast majority of the class is around 22-23. As a 45-year-old male, it's less than half of what I would have paid to COBRA. And, of course, I've had just enough things go wrong that, even though I'm healthy, I have about a snowball's chance in h*ll of ever passing medical underwriting for an individual policy.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Oh yeah, another thing to note about the Macori insurance choice. If you go with the cheaper plan and develop a medical condition while covered under the cheaper plan, you essentially can't upgrade to the better option -- the prior medical condition will always be covered on the Plan 2 terms even if you purchase Plan 1 for the next year.

I guess by thought on the healthy thing is how do you know? The odds are that young people aren't going to have expensive health problems, but it does happen.

 

[soonereng]

I think I finally got my house sold!! We have an agreement in principle pending inspection, etc. Hopefully this will all get done before too long so I can move the remainder of my furniture into our apartment and put whatever won't fit into storage over a weekend.

That should help me pay my $540/mo. COBRA insurance which will go to $780 when the lil ones get here (had to tie it back in to the running conversation).

 

[Doctor Bagel]

I think I finally got my house sold!! We have an agreement in principle pending inspection, etc. Hopefully this will all get done before too long so I can move the remainder of my furniture into our apartment and put whatever won't fit into storage over a weekend.

That should help me pay my $540/mo. COBRA insurance which will go to $780 when the lil ones get here (had to tie it back in to the running conversation).

That is good news! I'll keep my fingers crossed.

So now I'm getting nervous about money. I checked my bursar account on the peoplesoft thing and all my loans except my GradPlus loan have been applied to my bill, meaning that I'm still listed as owing about $800. My GradPlus loan was disbursed on the same day as the other loans according to my lender's website, so I'm worried there's some glitch there. Based on my horrible experience last year, if I don't get my disbursement I think I'll have to kill somebody. My credit card bill is due on the 16th, I have to buy health insurance and rent's not too far off.

 

[soonereng]

So, I'm totally going to sound like a chick, but what should I wear to the first day of class?

I was thinking some jeans, but are shorts kosher?

 

[Doctor Bagel]

So this year's already off to a bad start because I just got bitten by a mosquito right smack dab on the middle of my nose. I'll be lovely tomorrow.

Looks like I'm back to talking to myself.

 

[soonereng]

Looks like I'm back to talking to myself.

All great minds need a muse...you are just your own at times.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

All great minds need a muse...you are just your own at times.

Yeah, that's it. I should just give it up and start a blog. Of course I don't think I enough worth saying to merit a blog, so I just clutter this thread with my thoughts.

 

[soonereng]

I should just give it up and start a blog.

Sweet! It'll be the Bagel Blog...or maybe Doctor Blogel ???

 

[soonereng]

So I guess I'm going with the jeans rather than shorts...it's going to be weird not going to class dressed like I was for work; oh wait, I wore jeans to work a lot...

 

[Amxcvbcv]

So I guess I'm going with the jeans rather than shorts...it's going to be weird not going to class dressed like I was for work; oh wait, I wore jeans to work a lot...

Unless things have changed since last year, it sometimes gets too cold for shorts in the lecture hall. It seems like all the air conditioner output gets concentrated in those two rooms while the rest of the building suffers.

Enjoy the year. It'll go by fast.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

So I guess I'm going with the jeans rather than shorts...it's going to be weird not going to class dressed like I was for work; oh wait, I wore jeans to work a lot...

Lucky! We hardly ever got to wear jeans to work. You technology people get all the breaks. Yeah, you can wear whatever you want tomorrow. Don't show up late to biochem, though -- in fact, if you're running late, just skip it. I showed up like 5 minutes late and wound up having to sit in the middle of the front row because all the other seats were taken. You feel a little conspicuous when you're sliding past all the people in the front row just to plop down right in front of Leon.

Also, drink coffee. Leon's the ultimate in slow-paced, and tomorrow's pretty much all going to be course overview stuff.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Unless things have changed since last year, it sometimes gets too cold for shorts in the lecture hall. It seems like all the air conditioner output gets concentrated in those two rooms while the rest of the building suffers.

Enjoy the year. It'll go by fast.

Yes, this is a good point. The lecture hall is pretty chilly, especially if you sit anywhere near the front. I generally had to put on a sweater to be comfortable. Hey, that'll be nice -- good break from the heat.

 

[soonereng]

Unless things have changed since last year, it sometimes gets too cold for shorts in the lecture hall. It seems like all the air conditioner output gets concentrated in those two rooms while the rest of the building suffers.

Enjoy the year. It'll go by fast.

Lucky! We hardly ever got to wear jeans to work. You technology people get all the breaks. Yeah, you can wear whatever you want tomorrow. Don't show up late to biochem, though -- in fact, if you're running late, just skip it. I showed up like 5 minutes late and wound up having to sit in the middle of the front row because all the other seats were taken. You feel a little conspicuous when you're sliding past all the people in the front row just to plop down right in front of Leon.

Also, drink coffee. Leon's the ultimate in slow-paced, and tomorrow's pretty much all going to be course overview stuff.

Thanks for the heads ups!

 

[soonereng]

This is classic...I love people who make fun of rappers.


[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWYdwXmRTYA[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

So I guess I'm going with the jeans rather than shorts...it's going to be weird not going to class dressed like I was for work; oh wait, I wore jeans to work a lot...

Nah, lots of people will be in shorts, including me. But I'm also bringing a fleece jacket - 'member I was saying it was cold?

 

[Amxcvbcv]

I was trying to post a link to a video on Comedy Central, but it's not going to work...

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Argh yet again screwed by the financial aid/bursars department. My GradPlus check was for a little too much money due to be getting a scholarship so it's going to delay the disbursement for "a few days." Umm, credit card bill is due on the 16th -- will they pay the interest!

So listen to you guys -- never absolutely count on getting financial aid when it's supposed to show up, especially if you're getting a scholarship (those show up whenever) or if you're doing something other than just a stafford. Just sucks. First we oos students get screwed on tuition, and then they have trouble processing our financial aid.

 

[Jwax]

Argh yet again screwed by the financial aid/bursars department. My GradPlus check was for a little too much money due to be getting a scholarship so it's going to delay the disbursement for "a few days." Umm, credit card bill is due on the 16th -- will they pay the interest!

So listen to you guys -- never absolutely count on getting financial aid when it's supposed to show up, especially if you're getting a scholarship (those show up whenever) or if you're doing something other than just a stafford. Just sucks. First we oos students get screwed on tuition, and then they have trouble processing our financial aid.

I'm going to flip the f*** out if my loan doesn't come in on time tomorrow. We overdrafted our account for four days without noticing... our bank kindly lets us just keep taking money out that we don't have and charges us $25.75 per purchase for their kindness. We are feeling ******ed right now for not noticing. So, when I say I'm broke til we get my loans... we're B-R-O-K-E... I need to get my new laptop and desktop, need insurance, need to pay off $1,000 on my credit card, need to pay $650 for my wedding dress I just bought (which I look great in BTW! )... yadda yadda. Oh, books & misc. supplies (ie highlighters, ink cartridge, pens/pencils, etc). Hmmm this reminds me I was planning on stopping by the FA office today... and completely blanked on it. I was going to try and get that $500 advance. What time does the loan come in on disbursement day? In the AM or PM??

Okay, enough whining... I remembered several of you guys boasting last year about mod X32 so I figured I'd throw it out there that Benoit and I part of that cool crew, too. Both of us better watch what we say on here since our names are pretty much giveaways of who we really are...

On that thought, I really like O'Don. I look forward to actually speaking to him at some point, although I always thought it was weird when people would come up to chat w/profs with nothing to say except hey, i'm so and so... Are we supposed to print out the dissection manual and take it to lab? As mentioned earlier, I don't have ink for my printer. Plus, my printer is a special thing from dell that apparently you can't just buy ink for it from staples??? They don't have the right stuff? It's stupid. I already have watched a few dissection videos... What can I say - I guess I'm with O'Don and I have "an unnatural interest in anatomy." Hilarious.

Also, I'm jealous that you guys had a bipolar for you luncheon. Get a little bit of clinical correlation to your meal. Fun. Our family was pretty cool. They were really talkative and open. Their father / grandfather had donated his body when he passed, so this wasn't new to them. Our donor sounds like she was a great lady who had a really nice life. I thought it was a neat experience.

I actually enjoyed most of our speakers at the white coat ceremony. I thought they all had a pretty decent sense of humor. Particularly the keynote speaker with his, "Retain humility. When you're a doctor, it's hard to see yourself as just a mere mortal. We all put our pants on one leg at a time... except our dean." That was great. Way to suck up during your speech with humor. Splendid. Plus, Dean Andrews is right - we are a pretty good looking bunch of students.

Well I think I rattled on long enough. I guess I wasn't expecting to get home until ~4:30pm so coming home at noon kind of threw me off. I'll be napping soon... followed by some biochem? We'll see...

 

[Doctor Bagel]

The money generally shows up at the beginning of the day. I guess I just have no tolerance after my financial aid fiasco last year where I didn't get any money until about 2 weeks after school started. Now that was nerve-wracking. Seriously, though, I want to pay off my cc. I actually brought this up with the FA person I was speaking with, and she was all like "uh-huh." Yeah, I know it's bitchy, but come on -- disbursement date is disbursement date. We rely on this stuff.

Yeah, I have mixed feelings about O'Don. I just loved Chung and his questions and how he taught the class, so I'm probably being inflexible. O'Don is super enthusiastic, friendly and generally a fun guy, so I'm sure you all will like him. I think a lot of our class's disgruntlement had to do with the change in instructors.

 

[Jwax]

Yeah, I have mixed feelings about O'Don. I just loved Chung and his questions and how he taught the class, so I'm probably being inflexible. O'Don is super enthusiastic, friendly and generally a fun guy, so I'm sure you all will like him. I think a lot of our class's disgruntlement had to do with the change in instructors.

Yeah, you guys made me a little nervous. I was worried he was going to be a stiff, but he's pretty funny. Today he made a really lame joke (to which no one laughed) so he followed that with "That was a joke," which for some reason cracked me up.

So far, everyone who has spoken seems to have a pretty good sense of humor. Quality of humor tends to be proportional to my willingness to attend class. I hope O'don will teach the majority of the anatomy lectures.

Leon was pretty silly today, too, with his using the listen function on his software to get the lady to say, "wow honey. wow" and "kick ass". Silly scientist.

Thanks for the good news that our FA will come in the AM... that may be a life saver. I think we burned $200 for our stupidity... :cry: All I can say is that will never happen again. We are switching to cash only from now on for anything other than large purchases. Several of our items that cost us $26 a piece were for things that were <$10. So, a $5 item actually cost us $30. SWEET.

So, anyone going to the Redhawks game on Thirsty Thursday? I have a feeling I will pretty much attend all of the Thursday social events, since my S.O. generally will have Friday & Saturday nights off, and thus gets my attention then. Thursdays will be my big socializing days... convenient that Thursday nights are bar tours!

 

[soonereng]

I think I finally got my house sold!!

Deal fell through...stupid people who don't realize how much it's going to cost them to do a bridge loan while they sell their house. Oh well...

 

[Mr. Freeze]

I think O'Don seems cool right now because you haven't really been in the grips of wanting to stab him in the throat with a blunt probe while looking at some chunk of a human turned upside down with a pin stuck into something roughly the size of a grain of sand. Although, I'd take one of his practicals any day over one of his writtens, which are basically practicals, only in words. WOO! Is there a blow-yer-brains out smilie?

But yeah, other than that, he is pretty cool.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

I think O'Don seems cool right now because you haven't really been in the grips of wanting to stab him in the throat with a blunt probe while looking at some chunk of a human turned upside down with a pin stuck into something roughly the size of a grain of sand. Although, I'd take one of his practicals any day over one of his writtens, which are basically practicals, only in words. WOO! Is there a blow-yer-brains out smilie?

But yeah, other than that, he is pretty cool.

Good assessment there. If only I liked anatomy more ...

Just sent an email to financial aid asking when the heck I should get my money. I'll see if they reply. So one thing our PCM instructor told us last year is that when people are p&ssed off, they generally respond well when you acknowledge that, which is so true based on my customer service experience. Seriously, I think if the woman I spoke with earlier had just apologized and acknowledged that it was indeed an inconvenience for me I'd just drop it. Now I'm hassling them.