Last weekend (weekend 3) was very relaxing, but I did not take enough pictures to validate the need of making a video. I did go to couple museums, but admittedly did get museumed so I spent a lot of time outside on the mall, reading. currently I am reading "the great influenza" which is about the last pandemic of influenza in this country back at ww1 time. I did see ocean's 13 and a mighty heart this past weekend as well. both of which were excellent. On saturday, i went the smithosian native american musuem, the national botanical gardens, and the library of congress before spending the rest of day just being lazy and reading out in the nice weather. sunday, i saw the president and if i have time, i will post that craziness in its own post.
this week, unlike the weekend has been blistering hot. i have not done much, but maggie and i are getting to know some of the other rotation pharm students better. tomorrow we are actually getting together and doing a little happy hour in adams morgan neighborhood.
upon getting to know them, i've learned uic is the only program so far to have medication profile interviews with an actual patient and also give case presentation. most dont even write up soap notes. i realized at the time i thought it was crap doing them, but i realized that our school was doing something that others weren't getting a chance to do. so thats kinda cool.
this week, besides continueing to work on the dockets i've been assigned, i got to ped oncology advisory committee meeting, RiskMap Public meeting, and a lecture on the advancement of pharmacogenomics and warfarin. Pretty interesting stuff.
I got a completely new oncology drug, one we never studied in class that treats a type of cancer we never studied in class... so i have a lot of reading ahead of me. and i was given a presentation that i need to have finished when i leave. this is the first i've heard of it, but its topic matter is not bad actually so i am not too stressing.
tomorrow, the pharm students are getting to tour the pentagon and then maggie has set up a tour of the AMCP headquarters in Alexandria, VA. i won't actually be going into the office at all tomorrow and plan to WEAR SHORTS, not dress pants. then a happy hour, what could be a better friday.
my parents are coming in this weekend for 5 days starting saturday. i am actually looking forward to this. first time i will have seen people close to me in a long while. still not sure what all i will plan for them to do with over the course of their vacation, but it should be good nevertheless.
well, i hope all is well, and if i get time, i will load the pictures i have from what occured when i saw the presidents.
mod 1 is ending quick. hope everyone is doing well.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Maggie has mad camera skillz
thought i would post this. she took some pictures this week at the fda in white oak (my campus). she was over here for a presentation. they have presentations throughout dc, most are metra friendly, except my white oak. so she was stuck there waiting on the shuttle to Parklawn (her campus which is in Rockville). next friday the pharmacy students are touring the pentagon. the pentagon is not even open for the public to tour. its our big presentation, at least in my mind. besides the fda locales and the pentagon, we end up seeing the USP (united states pharmacopia), NIH (National institute of Health), and APha headquarters.
see next post for actual update on me.
running in the rain
i just had a pot of coffee. its probably the first homemade coffee i have made in the past month. my roommates/whatever-you-call-them gave me this European vanilla syrup which is mighty tasty in it. thus... slight caffeine high. warning. i tend to enter a caffeine induced ramble once i have drunk too much coffee as some of you may know. but trust me, its a good time.
i went for a run today outside. i am staying out in this forested area filled with bike trails and such. it was relatively cool and not humid so when i got off work i decided i would run outside rather than at the gym. boy was that a mistake. it was cloudy when i left. so i am about fifteen minutes from the house, running-wise mind you, and it was like stepping in a shower. the trees really did nothing to stop it. i was soaked and did not even know how to go back into the house when i finally got back. all i could thinking about is ruining their white carpet. oh well.
this past monday night, maggie and i saw an advanced screening of "You Kill Me" with Ben Kingsley, Tea Leoni and Luke Wilson. it opens in theaters tomorrow, friday. its HILARIOUS in a very dry smart witty humor way. It had a mix of mafia and AA and love story -- an alcoholic whose drinking in getting in the way of his job: mafia hitman. maggie somehow has some amazing DC hookups to find this. i guess she reads the right websites or listens to the right people. anyways, highly recommended by me, especially in the midst of all the big blockbustery type of film; it seems very fresh. plus it is getting lots of good reviews. so go see it this weekend (if you aren't seeing Fantastic 4)
linkie -
fda was extremely busy today. driving b/n the two campuses and lots of little meetings. did you know new Package Inserts are rolling out? fun stuff.
this week has been "join the commissioned corp"'s week. its actually somewhat convincing argument that they've put up too. you never work any holidays and 30 days off a year and you don't work weekends. its government so you have free healthcare. and you can retire after 20 years with military salary (you get paid yearly until you die a certain portion of your base salary). but if you stay until on for 30 years, even more money, higher percentage of your base salary you take on. anyways, that would be like the lines they are feeding me to convince me to consider it after graduation. you have to be pretty mobile and willing to relocate frequently if you want to work your way up. much like a real military job. imagine that: lieutenant seiler or even better, captain seiler. ha ha. but they all have pretty amazing stories to tell about what they've been able to do with their pharmacy careers while in the corp. i suppose they probably spiked the coffee at the fda this week with magic juice to get us all to sign up. mmm magic juice.
they've added the new class of drugs to what i've been working on: the hypnotics. i really don't remember covering ambien and such in lecture too much. we must have only spent like one lecture on it, b/c some of this stuff feels all new to me. its not hard at all, in fact, its pretty basic. i just somehow must have forgetten completely their MOA. their ads are a little more interesting than the leukemia and lymphoma ads I have been working with. and i am still doing that docket as well. i have two preceptors, so lucky me, i get two different sets of ads to work with and lots of PIs to read.
don and dan are going to kendalls tomorrow night. makes me sad and miss chicago. wish i hadn't seen that email kinda. you all have fun and have one for me.
i miss chicage even more when i see pictures on my igoogle page like what i posted below here. DC is nice and I am really getting to do so much here. but now I kinda realize that I need to do more in Chicago and really get to see/know it.
but everyone who can, join danny and donnie. thats all. appreciate chicago and don't get too stressed with rotations.
ps. start watching Hell's Kitchen and Pirate Masters. hell's kitchen is probably the best show on tv right now.
i went for a run today outside. i am staying out in this forested area filled with bike trails and such. it was relatively cool and not humid so when i got off work i decided i would run outside rather than at the gym. boy was that a mistake. it was cloudy when i left. so i am about fifteen minutes from the house, running-wise mind you, and it was like stepping in a shower. the trees really did nothing to stop it. i was soaked and did not even know how to go back into the house when i finally got back. all i could thinking about is ruining their white carpet. oh well.
this past monday night, maggie and i saw an advanced screening of "You Kill Me" with Ben Kingsley, Tea Leoni and Luke Wilson. it opens in theaters tomorrow, friday. its HILARIOUS in a very dry smart witty humor way. It had a mix of mafia and AA and love story -- an alcoholic whose drinking in getting in the way of his job: mafia hitman. maggie somehow has some amazing DC hookups to find this. i guess she reads the right websites or listens to the right people. anyways, highly recommended by me, especially in the midst of all the big blockbustery type of film; it seems very fresh. plus it is getting lots of good reviews. so go see it this weekend (if you aren't seeing Fantastic 4)
linkie -
fda was extremely busy today. driving b/n the two campuses and lots of little meetings. did you know new Package Inserts are rolling out? fun stuff.
this week has been "join the commissioned corp"'s week. its actually somewhat convincing argument that they've put up too. you never work any holidays and 30 days off a year and you don't work weekends. its government so you have free healthcare. and you can retire after 20 years with military salary (you get paid yearly until you die a certain portion of your base salary). but if you stay until on for 30 years, even more money, higher percentage of your base salary you take on. anyways, that would be like the lines they are feeding me to convince me to consider it after graduation. you have to be pretty mobile and willing to relocate frequently if you want to work your way up. much like a real military job. imagine that: lieutenant seiler or even better, captain seiler. ha ha. but they all have pretty amazing stories to tell about what they've been able to do with their pharmacy careers while in the corp. i suppose they probably spiked the coffee at the fda this week with magic juice to get us all to sign up. mmm magic juice.
they've added the new class of drugs to what i've been working on: the hypnotics. i really don't remember covering ambien and such in lecture too much. we must have only spent like one lecture on it, b/c some of this stuff feels all new to me. its not hard at all, in fact, its pretty basic. i just somehow must have forgetten completely their MOA. their ads are a little more interesting than the leukemia and lymphoma ads I have been working with. and i am still doing that docket as well. i have two preceptors, so lucky me, i get two different sets of ads to work with and lots of PIs to read.
don and dan are going to kendalls tomorrow night. makes me sad and miss chicago. wish i hadn't seen that email kinda. you all have fun and have one for me.
i miss chicage even more when i see pictures on my igoogle page like what i posted below here. DC is nice and I am really getting to do so much here. but now I kinda realize that I need to do more in Chicago and really get to see/know it.
but everyone who can, join danny and donnie. thats all. appreciate chicago and don't get too stressed with rotations.
ps. start watching Hell's Kitchen and Pirate Masters. hell's kitchen is probably the best show on tv right now.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Airplanes and Art
Weekend 2 of my DC adventure-
Friday night - Maggie suggested attending the AFI and Discovery Channel SILVERDOC Documentary Film Festival, especially since it was being held in Silver Spring, MD where I am staying. So we did and saw a Neil Young Documentary outside on the plaza. Pretty fun. Emmy Lou Harris is pretty hot for being a grandma. linkie to film fest site: http://64.13.231.35/idc/conference-schedule/2007-06-15/
Saturday - I went to the Smithsonian Air and Space musuem where the American History musuem is being held at while their building is being renovated. It was a good time, but extremely crowded. and Little kids get really loud when the see planets and planes and such. highlights: I saw Lincoln's top hat that he was wearing when he was shot. I saw the Seinfeild's puffy shirt. The Wright Brother's exhibit was probably best on the Air and Space side. Spirit of St. Louis was pretty cool.
To avoid crowds and loud screaming kids.... I went to the Smithsonian National Art Gallery for the rest of afternoon. I actually cannot believe I really liked this. I paid the 5 dollars for the electronic musuem guide which gave me a background to the paintings. Pretty enjoyable after being to crowded musuems like the Holocaust musuem and Air and Space. I really liked Monet and Van Gogh best. Plus they had these really cool glass mirror sculptures which i played around a bit with my camera.
I met up Maggie in Chinatown for dinner for the rated "best" chinese food in DC and "#5" best restuarant, Tony Cheng's Seafood Restaurant. It was good. I won't rave about. But its probably the best food I have had here yet. I've had better food in Chicago.
Sunday- After my 6 mile training run, I went to the White House visitor's center. Then I walked to the White House. GW was having some kind of backyard BBQ, probably for his papa since it was father's day. Lots of guests in nice clothes were lined up to go in. (On other note, I secured a spot to get a tour of the white house in July, exciting!). I then went to a matinee of Fantastic Four which was fantastic. I liked it more the Pirates 3. I might do a matinee of Ocean's 13. soon.
I ended the day with just walking around the part of the mall that I had not been to yet. I saw the Capital, Supreme Court, Jefferson Library and the Union Station (which although looked fancy and amazing, had the dirtiest and smelliest bathroom I have ever seen, especially for a building that looked that nice. i mean worse than porto-potties.... weird. i elected to hold it until I got back to Silver Spring on the metra... see my Panera bathroom post to see how that ended....)
here's a sampling of the 164 pictures i took this weekend... only 19 pictures posted. no worries, i would not you all expect to look at all them.
Friday night - Maggie suggested attending the AFI and Discovery Channel SILVERDOC Documentary Film Festival, especially since it was being held in Silver Spring, MD where I am staying. So we did and saw a Neil Young Documentary outside on the plaza. Pretty fun. Emmy Lou Harris is pretty hot for being a grandma. linkie to film fest site: http://64.13.231.35/idc/conference-schedule/2007-06-15/
Saturday - I went to the Smithsonian Air and Space musuem where the American History musuem is being held at while their building is being renovated. It was a good time, but extremely crowded. and Little kids get really loud when the see planets and planes and such. highlights: I saw Lincoln's top hat that he was wearing when he was shot. I saw the Seinfeild's puffy shirt. The Wright Brother's exhibit was probably best on the Air and Space side. Spirit of St. Louis was pretty cool.
To avoid crowds and loud screaming kids.... I went to the Smithsonian National Art Gallery for the rest of afternoon. I actually cannot believe I really liked this. I paid the 5 dollars for the electronic musuem guide which gave me a background to the paintings. Pretty enjoyable after being to crowded musuems like the Holocaust musuem and Air and Space. I really liked Monet and Van Gogh best. Plus they had these really cool glass mirror sculptures which i played around a bit with my camera.
I met up Maggie in Chinatown for dinner for the rated "best" chinese food in DC and "#5" best restuarant, Tony Cheng's Seafood Restaurant. It was good. I won't rave about. But its probably the best food I have had here yet. I've had better food in Chicago.
Sunday- After my 6 mile training run, I went to the White House visitor's center. Then I walked to the White House. GW was having some kind of backyard BBQ, probably for his papa since it was father's day. Lots of guests in nice clothes were lined up to go in. (On other note, I secured a spot to get a tour of the white house in July, exciting!). I then went to a matinee of Fantastic Four which was fantastic. I liked it more the Pirates 3. I might do a matinee of Ocean's 13. soon.
I ended the day with just walking around the part of the mall that I had not been to yet. I saw the Capital, Supreme Court, Jefferson Library and the Union Station (which although looked fancy and amazing, had the dirtiest and smelliest bathroom I have ever seen, especially for a building that looked that nice. i mean worse than porto-potties.... weird. i elected to hold it until I got back to Silver Spring on the metra... see my Panera bathroom post to see how that ended....)
here's a sampling of the 164 pictures i took this weekend... only 19 pictures posted. no worries, i would not you all expect to look at all them.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Bathroom Etiquette
I had to go really bad when I got off the metra today. So i figured I do my business in Panera, then get a coffee, sort of like a treat for a job well done. (see, i recently went on a pretty high fiber diet. i don't really know why beyond it has like great health benefits for like older people... stuff i probably won't have to worry about for years)
Panera had one stall which happened to be occupied.... for a while. I probably stood waiting for like 5 minutes. then, mind you - i needed to go, the occupier starts talking on what i can only presume his cellphone. in another language. it never rung... he must have dialed, or it vibrated, i assume he dialed though. here i am waiting to use the toilet and he is sitting on it talking on the phone. now i don't know what's socially accepted in other countries, but gross. this is a perfect example of fecal-oral transmission.
having never been in this situation, i finally knocked on the stall and said "Sir, I need to use the toilet." This really did not speed him up. probably did not understand english. i was fuming. before finally leaving, he started pulling obscene amount of toilet paper, doing I-don't-know-what with it. flushes the toilet. then pulls off more obscene amounts of paper. then leaves without saying sorry... i enter to see a large wad of toilet paper unflushed....
what's wrong with people today. i was so shocked and needing to go so bad, that i forgot to listen to hear if he washed his hands... i can only assume he did not, given his other habits...
i may not have the best etiquette, but if this what other countries see as acceptable, maybe we don't have it bad here in the usa.
i will post more about my weekend soon.
happy father's day, papa. happy birthday, mama.
Panera had one stall which happened to be occupied.... for a while. I probably stood waiting for like 5 minutes. then, mind you - i needed to go, the occupier starts talking on what i can only presume his cellphone. in another language. it never rung... he must have dialed, or it vibrated, i assume he dialed though. here i am waiting to use the toilet and he is sitting on it talking on the phone. now i don't know what's socially accepted in other countries, but gross. this is a perfect example of fecal-oral transmission.
having never been in this situation, i finally knocked on the stall and said "Sir, I need to use the toilet." This really did not speed him up. probably did not understand english. i was fuming. before finally leaving, he started pulling obscene amount of toilet paper, doing I-don't-know-what with it. flushes the toilet. then pulls off more obscene amounts of paper. then leaves without saying sorry... i enter to see a large wad of toilet paper unflushed....
what's wrong with people today. i was so shocked and needing to go so bad, that i forgot to listen to hear if he washed his hands... i can only assume he did not, given his other habits...
i may not have the best etiquette, but if this what other countries see as acceptable, maybe we don't have it bad here in the usa.
i will post more about my weekend soon.
happy father's day, papa. happy birthday, mama.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Tiny Ninjas! Run for cover...
This tuesday I was downtown DC for the Public Hearing for FDA Med Guides. After this I decided to head to Foggy Bottom to catch one of the free shows at the Kennedy Center. One thing you need to know about DC is that nearly everything is free, paid for by our tax dollars so I am taking full advantage of it. and for being free, everything so far has been really done well... the holocaust museum - amazing.
While there, I explored the Kennedy Center, hoping to see how they worked for the 4th of July for the fireworks. I hear its one of the best places to see the fireworks. I also went and saw the Watergate Hotel which was right next door. I'm posting pics of the Watergate Hotel, Kennedy Center, and the view from the center's terrace. (posted in that order)
Anyways, the free shows start at 6 pm every night, 365 days a year. On this particular evening, it was NYC's Tiny Ninja Theater presenting Macbeth. Very funny, but slightly confusing b/c you can only have so many different colored ninjas - the whole thing was played by these tiny Ninja action figurines which were voiced over. It was definitely worth the price... but had I had to pay money, well, I might just pay for it to say to I saw Macbeth acted by tiny ninjas. though i would prefer it being acted out by lifesize ninjas, preferably with numchucks and throwing stars. (also b/n 5-6 is the Kennedy Center happy hour, so i got a beer for half price)
website - http://www.tinyninjatheater.com/
While there, I explored the Kennedy Center, hoping to see how they worked for the 4th of July for the fireworks. I hear its one of the best places to see the fireworks. I also went and saw the Watergate Hotel which was right next door. I'm posting pics of the Watergate Hotel, Kennedy Center, and the view from the center's terrace. (posted in that order)
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
fda
it was a busier day today at the fda. i ended up missing two student presentations (wouldn't you know it, the one i go to, maggie doesn't. the two she goes to, i miss. plus she got to go the NIH one. bee sue for me). to those who might not know, the fda rotation is filled with numerous presentations catering to the students to allow them to see the whole fda and other government agencies, not just the division that they are assigned to. for instance, last week.... Fine's future division had a presentation. their division head is extremely nice, intelligent, and gave me an interesting take on pharmacy with his presentation. i actually considered giving his info to p4 council as a speaker.... but then i talked to maggie. maggie wasn't as enthralled as i was.
i work in the DDMAC and i am enjoying myself there a lot. today was relief because i actually started to feel challenged. i got my first real assignments so I have a lot to do. no more background work. no more sifting through old campaigns. and i got a viagra shirt. one of the perks of working in the division where those items are regulated.
i don't know how much i will actually blog. maybe when i feel like it, maybe when i feel like i miss people... i ought to write the oddities i have found b/n this town and chicago. maybe a future post. sure to be funny and enlightening.
call, email, comment. blog truly goes online tonight. its raining here -- makes me sleepy.
i work in the DDMAC and i am enjoying myself there a lot. today was relief because i actually started to feel challenged. i got my first real assignments so I have a lot to do. no more background work. no more sifting through old campaigns. and i got a viagra shirt. one of the perks of working in the division where those items are regulated.
i don't know how much i will actually blog. maybe when i feel like it, maybe when i feel like i miss people... i ought to write the oddities i have found b/n this town and chicago. maybe a future post. sure to be funny and enlightening.
call, email, comment. blog truly goes online tonight. its raining here -- makes me sleepy.
Weekend 1 - The Movie
Crafted by yours truly. Gives you a chance to see more of my first weekend of tourism.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Being a Tourist... Weekend 1
Weekend 1.
Friday 6/8 - Dinner in Dupont Circle with Maggie. Rainshower/Bar excursion to avoid the downpour as we walked to the White House. White House at night complete with having the secret service officer insult our stupidity.
Sat 6/9 - Monuments galore (Washington, WW2, Korean, Vietnam, Lincoln, FDR, and Jefferson). Holocaust Museum. Monuments at night.
Sun 6/10 - Basicila of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (largest catholic church in the USA and very beautiful). National Archives to see the original Constitution, Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights... and more stuff like the emancipation proclamation, etc.
I took a lot of pictures. Selected pictures posted in the preceding post. Video to come if I can get it to work. (I kinda like this muvee program - just wait until you see it if I can post it...)
best wishes to all.
Friday 6/8 - Dinner in Dupont Circle with Maggie. Rainshower/Bar excursion to avoid the downpour as we walked to the White House. White House at night complete with having the secret service officer insult our stupidity.
Sat 6/9 - Monuments galore (Washington, WW2, Korean, Vietnam, Lincoln, FDR, and Jefferson). Holocaust Museum. Monuments at night.
Sun 6/10 - Basicila of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (largest catholic church in the USA and very beautiful). National Archives to see the original Constitution, Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights... and more stuff like the emancipation proclamation, etc.
I took a lot of pictures. Selected pictures posted in the preceding post. Video to come if I can get it to work. (I kinda like this muvee program - just wait until you see it if I can post it...)
best wishes to all.
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