commuting in the midst of transit strike

I had to go into Manhattan this morning because I had two therapy groups to run. I'd rather not commute during the strike, but I had no choice. The commute was not as bad as expected. The line at the LIRR wasn't too bad, either. But I was not too happy waiting for a train on the platform for an hour...the first train was too packed to get on. Anyway, other than that, it was kinda fun fighting the crowd and walking in Manhattan.

In the evening, I met up with M in Penn Station area. It was a good way to avoide the commuting crowd at Penn Station. We went to a restaurant/bar to have some appetizer and drinks. It was a good time, just hanging out to have some drinks.

By the way, I saw something crazy on PATH train. This guy who was sitting right next to me took out a huge bottle of vodka and orange juice and made screw driver right in front of my eyes...on a train...in the middle of day! It was crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!

sigh...

I have to go into Manhattan tomorrow morning because I have two therapy groups to run. Not too excited about fighting the crowd on the LIRR and the PATH trains. I wonder how long I have to wait in line before getting onto the trains.

I'm very much annoyed by this strike!!!!

transit strike madness

Transit strike started from 3am. I watched people walk across Brooklyn Bridge on TV--it looked almost identical to what I saw right after 9/11; the only difference was that everyone was bundled up b/c of below freezing temperature.

I didn't go to school today because of the strike. It was kinda relaxing, actually. Every once in a while, it's nice to work from home.

Since none of us from our lab could make it to school today, we had to arrange a conference call. It was really crazy because everyone except for one person had land line, and our cell phone receptions were below acceptable level. During the conference call, we lost 1 or 2 people every 10 minutes or so, and it was quite frustrating. Anyway, it was my first 4-way conference call ever in my life!

I wonder how long the strike will last. Hopefully, not too long.

My last intake interview

Today was the last day on my intake rotation. I got a patient to do an intake this morning...AND I ended up being on the "hot seat" (meaning, I had to conduct an interview in a room with one-way mirror, and my classmates and TA observed me). I was a little nervous initially, but the interview went really well for most part. In fact, it was the best intake interview ever! I had good rapport with the patient and I got good information from the patient. Yay! When finished, my classmates told me that I did really well, and it made me super super happy!!!!!!!!

Other than that, it was a quite uneventful day. I'm just happy that my clinical skill is improving!

My Weekend

Friday: felt kinda sick. probably because I stayed out late a night before. I went home early and went to bed by 7:30pm. Too bad that I missed Tiffany's holiday party, though.

Saturday: woke up refreshed. went to school to do some work and to run a study. No aerobics class because I was still feeling slightly sick. in the evening, i just had some bento box from a Japanese restaurant and relaxed at home. i finally did laundry! yay!

Sunday: did some work in the morning. met T for brunch at this cafe in the E. Village. The food was great, and I really liked the cafe. T told me that this cafe has been here ever since he has moved to NYC about 10 years ago.

working on a paper...!

MTA strike

It looks like there may be a strike starting from Friday...I wonder what's gonna happen when you can't take metro. I know students are expected to be at class as usual, so there's no excitement there.

It definitely means no partying in Manhattan this weekend if there's a strike...

karaoke fun

Today was Mariel's b-day, and we went to a karaoke bar to celebrate. At first, I didn't think it was fun but as I got more drunk, I started to have some fun. Actually, I ended up singing Japanese songs!!! hahaha. I got home about an hour ago, but I still have so much energy. Now, I want to go dancing!!!! I wonder if anybody is up for clubbing this weekend...

can't wait

One of my roomie is moving out next month. I can't wait...because I don't like her. She e-mailed me a few weeks ago saying,

"Four of my friends from LA will be staying at our apartment from Dec 29 to Jan 4."

I was like, "wtf???" She didn't even care to ask for our permission. She just stated that her friends are staying, period. I was really annoyed. Having 4 strangers in our aparmtent...for a week???? That's just not right.

And she does all these little things that are inconsiderate, and I was hoping that she would move out soon.

I think I'm getting too old to live with other people. I need a place for myself. ugh

some stupid question

How many bulk mails do you get in your e-mail account per day? I recently got 94 bulk e-mails over 8-hour period recently. What did I do to deserve that many bulk e-mails in such a short time period??? I wonder...

dementia???

I had something interesting I wanted to write about on my blog. But as soon as I logged into my account, I forgot what I wanted to write! OH, NO!!! I'm demented!

I can't believe that next weekend will be the last week of the semester. This semester definitely has gone by sooooooo quickly. It seems like only a few weeks ago when the semester started. I remember how nervous I was about externing at the hospital. Now, I don't feel as stressed as I used to be.

Seriously, the level of stress really affected my mood. Earlier this semester, I was agitated, annoyed, and angry for no apparent reason. But as soon as my stress level lowered, I became happier!

I don't know what to do for NYE...anyone wants to join me for this misery??? :-p

dead body exhibition

After my typical Saturday routine at the gym and in the lab, I went to Grand Central to meet up with Dave yesterday afternoon. He took a train to the city, and we went to "Bodies--the Exhibition" at South Street Seaport. My classmates and I were talking about this exhibit just a few weeks ago, and I really wanted to go see it. Well, the exhibit was GREAT. It freaked me out a bit that all the specimen came from real human bodies but it was amazing to see how our body looks like inside and how it functions. It was very educational. This may sound cheesy but I thought that people are not too different underneath our skins--indeed, each one of us share 99.9% of the same DNA. and I also learned it's important to use sunscreen, not to smoke, and to have mammogram after seeing melanoma skin, lungs of smoker, and breast cancer tissue. They are powerful tool for health education, I think. I strongly recommend this exhibit to people who are interested in human anatomy.

After spending 3 hours in the exhibit, we went to a Thai restaurant close to my school for dinner. Food was decent. As usual, food made me happy. I always wanted to try this restaurant and I think I would go back there for lunch sometime.

Then, I went to see Dave off at Grand Central and got back home around 9:45pm. It was fun hanging out with him! I hope he'll come back to NYC to hang out again.

My Saturday routine

I'm starting to build up some weekly routines. On a typical Saturday, here's what happens.

Get up by 9:30am if I didn't get wasted a night before.
Leave before 10:20am to go to the strength training at the gym.
55-minute strength training
Go to the lab and work, work, work.
Have dinner with friends. If there's no dinner plan, go home and relax.

Does this sound fun? Not really, huh?

Busy Thursday

Another Thursday has passed...phew. It's not as bad as Mondays but I still feel so much better when Thursday passes. Here's my Thursday schedule:

9-10:45am: nurse rounds and walk rounds at the hospital
10:45-11:15am: group therapy I, quickly do paperwork before Grand Rounds
11:30am-1pm: Grand Rounds
prep for the group therapy while eating lunch
1:30pm-2pm: group therapy
work in the lab until 6pm, while eating dinner
6-8pm: class

Today, I administered WMS to my volunteer participant. It was mentally taxing! ugh.

After class, I met up with Travis for drinks to celebrate his first paycheck! yay! We were at this bar in MSG area, and it was filled with Asians! It kinda reminded me of Cali.