Researching Dr.s Barnett

Xian

2010-05-16T19:01:00.018+09:00

The overnight train to Xi'an was an experience in and of itself. We shared a car with a Chinese couple who seemed to announce their every mundane action with a loud hack, cough, yawn, sigh, you name it! Despite these pronouncements, the train ride was quite soothing with the beautiful country landscape passing by...

In the 1970's, Xi'an became famous for the discovery of the First Emperor's underground army that dates back to 210 BC. It was said that he feared life after death for having killed so many people during his life.

Each soldier is unique. Some say that each soldier was modeled after a real person during that time. Since we couldn't get enough of these dudes, we stayed at a bed and breakfast apartment called the Warrior Apartments. This apartment was run by a local couple who placed these terracotta warriors everywhere including the shower, the walls, the supports for the bed, and there was even a warrior costume in the closet.

We also went to visit the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, a Buddhist pagoda built in the Tang Dynasty. The fountains there are noted to be even more impressive than the one in Vegas.Did you know that babies in China don't wear any underpants???
One of the highlights of the trip was seeing how to this day many Chinese farmers live in caves. These families have lived in caves built by their ancient ancestors and are literally furnished with an outside mud oven that funnels its heat to an enclosed space below their bed. The one we visited was open at both ends, freezing cold, lit by only 1 light bulb, but had a tv in it.

It just makes me wonder how we get so frustrated about the little things... At least we have underpants and a warm house.

The Great Wall

2010-05-16T17:04:00.014+09:00

The Great Wall of China is old, extremely long, and unfortunately on that day was so cold that it snowed! Unlike most tourists, we decided to visit Mutianyu, the northern section of the Great Wall not because it was build in the mid 6th century but because of its scenic landscape, cable car ride to the top, and toboggan ride down.

The climb along the wall was steep at times and I'm surprised I didn't go into labor. What a story that would have made!

Drew being in top physical condition literally ran up well over a thousand steep uneven stairs to take a photo of the view from the top and ran back down in less than a 1/2 an hour.

Here's a photo of the longest toboggan ride I've ever been on. That was so much fun!

Food Glorious Food

2010-05-16T16:01:00.008+09:00

We both love food! China proved to go above and beyond introducing us to new and exotic flavors.

We started off with a food tour by Hias Gourmet, a company only a few years old but has been featured in Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern . The owner, Adlyn, walked us around the hutongs near Houhai lake which was populated with swan boats and local Chinese men taking their daily swim. We tasted foods from roasted chestnut, chrysanthemum tea with rock sugar, 3 cup duck, beef wrapped in lotus leaf, perch, golden sand mushrooms, bing tang hu lu (aka candied fruit), delicious yogurt, and of course green tea while being told the history of hutongs and the modernization of Beijing. Here's us munching down on these colorful treats:

Beijing, also known as Peking, is famous for Peking Duck. If you've had this before in the states, it has a totally different flavor and leaness when prepared in its own country. We shared this dining experience with a another couple from Yokota, Sean and Ashley, at a New York Times 5 star rated restaurant called Da Dong. Lucky for us, Da Dong himself was sitting at the next table. We watched as various dishes of sushi shaded by a lone cherry blossom branch, chocolate bomb that literally exploded to reveal little sachets of even more chocolate, and tall sticks with cotton candy covered fruit paraded past us. It was definitely a memorable evening.

Our last delectable delight came late one night at a vegetarian restaurant called Pure Lotus. It was recommended by Adlyn and rated 5 stars by the New York Times. With my Adventist background, I thought I knew what good vegetarian food was like. However, this food was simply amazing. There was so many delicious flavors that I really must say it was better than meat. It was that good! The decor of the restaurant and presentation of the food also left you in a dream like state.

Beijing, China

2010-05-11T16:32:00.025+09:00

As a last hoorah, Drew and I set off to the far east in early April. It was quite an adventure and not just because I was 36 weeks pregnant. Beijing was absolutely amazing with its exotic culture, bustling streets, savory flavors, and of course its long history spanning back thousands of years.

To become better acclimated, we stayed at the Double Happines Courtyard Hotel which was situated on a hutong (aka. an alley where courtyard style houses housed several Chinese families. These alleys often have local necessities such as bathrooms, showers, police stations, bakeries, and barber shop). This was what it looked like inside the hotel grounds.

Here's what it looked like inside our hotel room.

We toured so many famous sites. Here I am at the Forbidden City which was the Imperial Palace from the Ming to Qing Dynasty.

Drew is standing at the foot of the Temple of Heaven which is a Taoist temple where the emperors would make yearly sacrifices for a good harvest.

One of our favorite places was the Summer Palace which means Gardens of Nurtured Harmony.

It contains the longest corridor in the world measuring at 728 meters long.

The Lovers' Tree...

Tianamen Square which is known to be the largest square in the world and of course a reminder of the 1989 pro-democracy protest which we weren't encouraged to talk about. Luckily, my great grandfather immigrated to Hawaii before communism set in.

From old to new... China shows how modern and innovative they are with the 2008 Olympics. Here's the Bird's Nest:

The Water Cube:

Yes, it was that cold!!!

Spring is just around the corner

2010-04-20T13:19:00.010+09:00

The plum blossoms are the first flowers that herald the beginning of spring in Japan. We were lucky enough to spend one of the warmer spring days outside enjoying all of the hues that only these little plum blossoms can bring.

The Japanese celebrate these short lived blossoms by picnicking beneath its branches with bento lunches and sake. When in Japan, do as the japanese do! Here I am laying back after a good lunch of onigirii (rice ball sandwichs) and some fruit.

Is the Belly Getting Bigger?

2010-04-20T13:05:00.007+09:00

Here I am at 28 weeks. So far so good... During this time, I was still very active. I continued to work at Bunri Elementary teaching music while working out (ie. kick boxing, zumba, water aerobics) in my spare time. That all stopped after an episode of ligament pain. Oh my goodness... why didn't anyone tell me that it wasn't just the labor part of pregnancy that hurt?

The Belly

2010-01-26T21:12:00.003+09:00

While Drew is away on TDY for the next few weeks, I (Candice) will do most of the blogging. As you probably can guess from our previous post, this pregnancy has affected both of our lives quite a bit. Here's a quick update: I am currently feeling great in the midst of the second trimester, surpassing the first trimester's infamous bought of morning sickness. However, I've noticed a big change in my memory (sorry if I forget your name) and extreme clumsiness (I've already broken several glasses and my glass blender!). The belly is now getting bigger, allowing me to get good use out of the Christmas gifts of maternity clothes. Despite these delightful quirks, our little Sprout at 22 weeks is suppose to be as big as a spaghetti squash weighing about 1 pound. She's kicking quite a bit! Here's what I look like:

2 Becomes 3

2010-01-26T20:50:00.006+09:00

It's been a while since our last blog and here's why:

This is one of our first photos of our little baby girl at the tender age of 20 weeks. Her prenatal name is 'Sprout'.

Rad!!!

2009-07-07T22:55:00.000+09:00

Nikko

2009-01-18T17:11:00.010+09:00

Happy New Year! Well back in October, we went to Nikko with two other couples. It is a scenic town in the mountains a few hours drive from our house. It's known for its cool weather, fall colors, shrines, and temples. These photos from my camera give a nice summary of our trip.

The river right by our bed & breakfast. It had a private sauna with windows overlooking the river.

Several stone lanterns in front of a shrine.

The tallest pagoda in Nikko.

The famous "Here no evil, speak no evil, see no evil" monkeys carved into a shrine.

Mimicry at it's best.

Another shrine (or maybe it's a temple?). You can see the tall cedars as well.

In a Japanese garden. The Japanese maples produce the most unbelievably red leaves.

Orange, green, yellow...

The view from an old emperor's summer home.

An abandoned bus, which is a rare site in Japan as they keep things really clean.

Buddas galore. Looks like they're ready for some ribs with all their bibs.

A waterfall in the mountains. The trees here already lost all their leaves.

A bridge that is a union of two serpents that allowed a priest to cross the river.

The gingko. The best yellow of all the trees.

A Japanese garden. They often have a stone water container for cleansing one's hands. I like the chain link rain gutter.

Yokohama

2008-12-13T16:50:00.010+09:00

I'm behind as usual. Two months ago we went to Yokohama with 2 other couples. We took the metro train from here, to Tokyo, then to Yokohama. Yokohama is unique in that it is more modern and more international than other cities in Japan. Highlights include:

The Landmark Tower (the tallest building in Japan) which also has the fastest elevator in the world.

The Waterfront (Landmark Tower is the skyscraper on the left)

Yes, we rode the ferris wheel.

Oktoberfest! With a real German band and super expensive beers.

With singing in German.

ROBO Japan 2008, which had all the famous robots on display with also some tournament Robowars. Below is a video of Honda's Asimo robot, which can run and go up and down stairs like a human.

Here's the winners and some other contestants from Robowars. The robots were required to be bipedal, and the strategy usually involved swinging the arms in order to knock over the opponent.

The Sankeien Garden, which was a bunch of restored historic buildings and landscaping around this large pond. Here's some of my best shots.

This plant (the Sweet Olive or Fragrant Tea Olive) possessed such a heavenly fragrance, we bought one for our courtyard soon after arriving home.

And the food and good times with our friends.

Our Courtyard

2008-10-26T18:39:00.006+09:00

Our house has a small courtyard in front, that originally was just pea gravel and dirt. I've been waiting a while to have a small yard of my own to landscape. I appreciate the Japanese way of gardening, and I tried to model mine after it. The traditional Japanese garden has roots centuries ago with the tea ceremony. The garden was where you walk through to clear your mind or collect your thoughts or something, on your way to the tea ceremony. The plants tend to be evergreens or grasses of Asian origin and will usually mimic nature in the layout.

I built the pond, which I would estimate it to be about 200 gallons, so on the small side. I've stocked it with koi, goldfish, mosquito fish, white cloud minnows, bitterlings, Japanese dojo eels, and a couple turtles.

I didn't realize how much landscaping costs. It feels weird paying for rocks. But when you live in the city, you can't just gather some from the surrounding area. I tried to stick with smaller plants and items on sale, so it kept my costs to under $500.

Our New Car

2008-08-30T17:00:00.006+09:00

It's called a Suzuki Lapin. It's only sold in Japan. I would call it a cross between a Scion xB and a Mini. Very cute, but not too bubbly that a guy can't be seen driving it. This will act as our car until we need 2 cars, which may be never. It depends on where Candice ends up working. Then I'll get to pick my car... fun times.

It's classified as a "mini-car" in Japan. Because of it's small size, weight, and engine (60 cc believe it or not), it gets reduced rates for taxes and random fees. But this thing can haul... a lot of packages. And WOW! Look at those rims! They've got to be 12's or something!

Married!

2008-08-24T18:39:00.004+09:00

Below is our website we used for the invites. Sorry if you didn't get invited, because it was a blast! We don't have many pics available now, but I'll post some soon.... 'er or later.

http://www.andyandcandy.info/

Wonderful Worms

2008-04-26T10:54:00.004+09:00

This entry is an ode to thee grand ol' worm. Whenever it rains, so many of these fantastic fellows lose their way onto the sidewalk and street. Then it's a race against time. Will they make it home before the weather turns nice?

Check out this video about an effort to save lost worms.

Wayward Worms Video

If you don't know what's going on here, you'd probably be too grossed out if I explained it.

On of the grossest things I've ever seen was this woman with a high fever in Haiti. When the body heated up, the worms started squirming for the fire exit. She started coughing up a multitude of worms that were crawling up her throat.

UNREAL!

2008-04-08T22:41:00.002+09:00

Check this out and be amazed. You may want to turn down your sound if straight up beats annoy you. Click the center to get it started, then click anywhere to stop.

Trippin'

Japan

2008-03-30T14:08:00.002+09:00

Just when I was getting excited about moving to Japan after seeing this video portraying their amazing talent, I found out that the Air Force is going to keep me in Korea for a couple more months. Looks like we'll be moving there in early September.

Moustach March

2008-03-30T13:24:00.004+09:00

Here's the result of 3 weeks of work (I absent mindedly forgot of Moustach March the 1st week). It's a sorry 'stach, I know. My philtrum happens to have my blondest hair. We're all supposed to grow them. Here's my boys...

Engage

2008-03-15T17:28:00.006+09:00

Sorry for the late post here. I wanted to write about the rest of time in Thailand, which was too daunting of a task that I kept putting off. So I'll write about it in several smaller, manageable posts. I'll start with the big news...

My girlfriend Candice met me in Thailand after my work with the Air Force. On Valentine's Day, we were supposed to be in Cambodia at Angkor Wat, which is where I planned on popping the big question. But I came across trouble at the border. The Thai immigration officials wouldn't let me across the border. Because I flew into Thailand on a military aircraft, my passport had no Thai entry stamp. Even though I had a letter from the US embassy explaning my situation, and immigration spoke with an embassy liaison, they wouldn't let me across. So with a quick change of plans, we headed back to Bangkok.

The next day was Valentine's Day, and we went and visited the old palace and a couple temples which were simply amazing. I'll talk more about that later. That evening, we got a Thai massage and went to eat at The Breeze restaurant (http://www.breezebkk.com/index.php and http://www.bangkok.com/what%27s-new/breeze.html) which is on a rooftop terrace on the State Tower. With a call beforehand, I ensured we would have a nice table, and the Breeze pulled through with our table sitting on a private semicircle on the roof's edge.

After some romantic prologue and nearly knocking over the table getting to my knee, I opened the ring box and asked Candice to spend the rest of her life with me. She was shocked, and couldn't say a word but gave me a big tearful hug. She was looking forward to this day.

We plan to have our wedding in San Diego where her family lives. It'll likely be July 19th, which is after she finishes her internship and after I finish my year here in Korea. Right after, we'll move to JAPAN!!! I don't think I've posted this yet, but next assignment will be at Yokota Air Base, which is right by Tokyo. Candice and I are both really looking forward to this. She is half-Japanese herself (and half-Chinese) and even has relatives in Japan. After my assignment there, we'll probably move back to the West Coast and finish our residencies.

On the way out, the State Tower had this huge, sweet aquarium. In it, I saw the most beautiful fish I've ever seen...

Picasa

2008-02-25T20:17:00.004+09:00

I've started created online photo albums with Picasa, which is another Google beauty. It's quite streamlined with Blogger and other Google entities. It gives you 1024 Mb of free storage. One of the best features is that it can upload scores of photos at once. So here's the link. http://picasaweb.google.com/drewbarnett
You can already check out photos from the first part of my trip to Thailand. It includes pics of the hotel the Air Force put me up in, Thai kickboxing, and more.

Cope Tiger

2008-02-23T13:19:00.011+09:00

Part of my squadron of A-10's went down to Korat, Thailand, to participate in Cope Tiger 2008. This is a joint Thai-Sing(Singapore)-US Air Force/Marine exercise. They brought me to be their medical support. So late February, I flew down there on a C-17 Globemaster, which is nice new big aircraft.

This was a awesome assignment. The US Marines brought a couple flight docs and several techs, so we were well staffed in the clinic. I only saw 4 patients a day average, but we were always ready for anything. I also got a chance to fly in a E-3 AWACS. The big platter on top houses a radar, and inside the aircraft are air/weapons control stations. It gets exciting in there when the controllers are informing all the friendly aircraft about approaching enemy aircraft.

Another incredible part of this flight was the in-flight refueling. Watching from the cockpit as 2 large aircraft approach each other to refuel was quite awe-provoking.

Korat (which is in Northeast Thailand) is one of the biggest cities in Thailand, but it doesn't offer much to see or do. In the evenings, I would eat dinner with the pilots, and sometimes we would hit a bar or club. We did get a chance to see a couple Khmer temples from the 10th century.

Above is the center of Phanom Rung, which is considered Thailand's largest and best restored of the Khmer temples (the same folks that built Angkor Wat).

After 2 weeks of flying, here's the A-10's preparing to fly back to Korea. I was able to take some leave afterwards, so I stuck around in Thailand. I'll have much more about this in my next post.

World Heritage Sites

2008-01-22T19:34:00.000+09:00

After writing that last post, I reminded myself to look into the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Being a guy, I like to collect things, and I think a good one would be "World Heritage Sites I've Been To". Anyways, here's a little history of these sites.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a specific site (such as a forest, mountain, lake, desert, monument, building, complex, or city) that has been selected by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, which is composed of 21 countries. The program aims to catalogue, name, and conserve sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance. As of 2007, a total of 851 sites are listed: 660 cultural, 166 natural, and 25 mixed properties.

I got this info from the glorious Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heritage_site
and the actual UNESCO website http://whc.unesco.org/en/
So here's my collection so far.

Africa:
Zambia: Mosi-oa-Tunya/Victoria Falls

Americas:
United States:
Carlsbad Caverns National Park - New Mexico
Grand Canyon National Park - Arizona
Independence Hall - Pennsylvania
Wrangell-St. Elias Park - Alaska
Mammoth Cave - Kentucky
Redwood National and State Parks - California
Statue of Liberty - New York
Yellowstone National Park - Wyoming
Yosemite National Park - California

Asia and Australasia:
Cambodia: Angkor (going there next month)
China: Historic Centre of Macau
India:
Agra Fort, Uttar Pradesh
Humayun's Tomb, Delhi
Qutub Minar and its monuments, Delhi
Red Fort, New Delhi
Taj Mahal, Uttar Pradesh
South Korea:
Changdeokgung Palace Complex
Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon
Nepal: Kathmandu Valley
Thailand: Dong Phaya Yen – Khao Yai Forest Complex (next month)

Europe:
United Kingdom:
Palace of Westminster
Tower of London
Westminster Abbey
Westminster School

I missed the several sites in Haiti, Canada, Ethiopia, and Costa Rica. Oh well. You should check the list out, because you might have one next door to you, like this one I just found. Jongmyo Shrine

India: other travels

2008-01-22T18:51:00.001+09:00

I had a post about the Taj Mahal earlier, but we saw so much more in India. Here's some other highlights from traveling with Max Janosky.

Red Fort, Old Dehli, India. Used to be the palace grounds.

Itimad-ub-Daulah's Tomb, the "Baby Taj", Agra, India. This white marble beauty is just down the river a bit from the real Taj.

Another photo of the Baby Taj.

Agra Fort. This UNESCO World Heritage site is also an old Mughal Palace/Fort and is considered by many the 2nd most important site to see after the Taj.

Another from Agra Fort. This place is huge, and on top of that, it's composed of very ornately carved red sandstone and white marble.

Monkeys, like cows, are considered holy in the Hindu religion, so they just roam around wherever. So different from most of Africa, where the monkeys run for the lives.

Train toilet. We took the train from Dehli to Agra and back. Going there we were in AC 1st Class which was like an airliner 1st class with air conditioning. Going back we thought we'd try the cheapest class, which was so crowded I could stand on only one leg. And my one leg was standing by an open door. And then all these people would squeeze through selling snacks. And here is the bathroom. That is not a piece of doodoo, but it is open to the tracks below.

New York City

2008-01-06T21:48:00.000+09:00

While out in Texas, I spent the 1st weekend of September up in New York City visiting Candice, a friend from medical school. The first night there we went to a trance show/rave by DJ Tiesto. This is one of my favorite DJ's; he has been rated the world's best DJ a couple times in the past few years; and he did the music for the last Opening Ceremonies for the Olympics. Awesome show. Here's a clip from one of his other shows, which shows the enthusiasm of the audience well.

Tiesto's He's A Pirate Mix

Well this turn out to be an amazing evening with Candice, and I fell in love with her quick. She came out to Korea a few weeks later for the week of my ankle surgery. It was such a blessing to have her there. Here are some photos from our travels around Seoul.

Overlooking Seoul.

Palace grounds.

We've gotten the chance to see each other a few other times with my frequent trips out to San Antonio. I really enjoy the weekend trips to New York City. She has a beautiful apartment with the view below. (Photo courtesy of Scott)

New York City is an amazing melting pot. I don't think there is another city in the world with such a mix of cultures. Great ethnic foods... I've enjoyed delicious Ethiopian, Middle Eastern, Peruvian food, and Vietnamese food. Plus great chocolate and coffee were partaken of! Another highlight was the chance be meet up with a couple of my best friends (Jeff and Scott) and their wives.

Janelle, Jeff, Jenny, Me

Scott falling with grace

AMP'ed Up: the rest of the story

2007-12-24T11:22:00.000+09:00

Merry Christmas, World. I recently came back from a 2 week trip to San Antonio for the Aircraft Mishap Investigation and Prevention course, and while there, I was able to spin in the centrifuge again, and this time... passed. Easily. I was so excited. Hitting the gym and drinking a Monster beforehand did the trick. This was one of my most trying accomplishments in life. So now I'll be able to fly in the F-16 without restrictions. And I'm going to have to remove the centrifuge video. Air Force doesn't want them posted. But just email me if you want to check it out.

So now I'll go all the way back to August/September and finish the story from my previous post. Above is a photo from a mass casualty exercise. Mulage, broken armored vehicles, smoke, and war sounds all made it more life-like. Fun times. During that time, I was in the gym, trying to bulk up as much as possible before spinning in the centrifuge. I was doing calf raises with lots of weight (because you want to max out with few reps). Anyways while doing this, I noticed a funny feeling in my right ankle, but didn't think to much of it. The next day, when putting on my socks, I saw that a pin/screw was raising the skin over my right lateral ankle (I had hardware put in my ankle a year and a half ago after breaking it). So with all the weight I was pushing, a screw had back itself out from the bone. Now the skin was tented, raised about 0.5cm.

The problem was that I was supposed to start my Survival Evasion Resistance Escape (SERE) training in a couple days. They ending up pulling me out of the training, because hiking all over the back woods with boots on could've broke the skin over the screw, and provided a path for infections to the bone. That would be trouble. So they sent me home back to Korea. I was sad that I didn't get to do the SERE with all the friends I had made at AMP. They were the best part of my stay. We had so many good times, eating out, partying, tubing down the river, and seeing the sites of San Antonio. I miss you guys!

I had surgery back in Korea, taking the hardware out. I worked in the clinic while waiting for the skin to heal up. Then in October, I went back to San Antonio for SERE. It's 5 days living in the woods. They give you a pack with supplies, and there's a limited list of items that you can bring yourself, but no food. The first 3 days was simulated survival in friendly territory. So we had big fires, smoked beef, caught some fish to eat, killed a couple live rabbits for a stew, and generally had it pretty good, all the while learning techniques of survival and evasion. The last 2 days were actual evasion, sneaking around, trying to reach certain points using the map and compass. Overall the worst things included
1. The cold. Unusually cold nights for Texas. Near freezing and below freezing every night. And we only had 2 blankets.
2. The hunger. On average, we had one meal and one snack each day. The smoked beef was amazing though.
3. Eating a huge white grub. We're required to overcome food aversion, so we get to eat bugs. Yay.
4. Nearly failing the course because I missed the pickup time. I had the meeting time wrong.
5. Trying to sneak through thick, dry brush in a quiet fashion. SO SLOW!

Here's a photo of me after I got back to Uncle Gordon and Aunt Elida's. Some of the peripheral camo stuff I didn't put back on though.

AMP'ed up, Part 1: The Centrifuge

2007-10-29T19:42:00.000+09:00

So I finally finished my Aerospace Medicine Primary course (AMP). This is the course for training flight surgeons in the Air Force. They also have a separate residency program that goes for 2-3 years, but AMP is the starter course for new dudes like me. It starts with 4 weeks worth of powerpoint lectures put into Computer Based Training (CBT); I completed this when I first went to Korea. Then I went to San Antonio, Texas, for more hands-on training for 6 weeks (which included lots of more powerpoints as well).

Highlights included the centrifuge where they spin you like mad in a simulated cockpit on the arm of this machine, that looks like this.

This let you experience high "g" forces, which included 9 g's for 15 seconds. Let me tell you, this is like nothing you've ever experienced, and I've been on tons of rollercoasters and whatnot. One of my friends described it in a great way: it's like the hand of God is pushing you down, and flinging you across the universe. Everyone HATES this feeling, and I did too at first, but I got used to it.

So a little education in g forces. These forces usually press straight down on you, which causes pooling of blood in the vasculature of your lower extremities. Soon no blood reaches your heart. To combat this, you do anti-G straining maneuvers (AGSM), which includes flexing your whole lower body with all your strength, and doing a valsalva (taking a deep breath, and forcefully exhaling against a closed epiglottis). Both of these assist by creating pressures that force blood back up into your head. This usually allows you to tolerate these high g's and not pass out.

Well..... not so for me. Despite doing all this, I still GLOC'ed (general loss of consciousness) with the 9 g's for 15 seconds. And this is quite an experience. Most of the time, I didn't totally GLOC. I would lose my eyesight, lose control of my muscles and slump over, but I was still conscious of this, like I'd be, "Woah, this is weeeeeeiiiird". Thinking this in my head of course, because I couldn't speak since I had no motor control. See this for yourself. Here's an attempt at 15 seconds of 9 g's. You can hear the coach's voice over the intercom.

To finish this part up, I tried the the centrifuge 4 times (most people needed only 1-2 times to pass), and I still couldn't pass the section needed in order to fly in F-16's without restrictions. I'll still be able to fly in them, but just can't do hardcore air combat flights. I think there's something wrong with my heart, like it can't kickstart to warp speed. I'll be trying again in December when I go back to San Antonio for my Aircraft Mishap Investigation training.

Another quick highlight, Big Louie's Pizza... check it out! And it tasted good too.

A little more on Seoul

2007-08-21T11:18:00.000+09:00

Sorry for such a boring blog for lack of posts. I'll try to catch up.

So Seoul is awesome. Love it. Glad I'm going to be there for at least at year. It's a big city (about the size of LA), and like Los Angeles, it doesn't have a downtown downtown. Instead it has lots of cool areas in the city, like a young professional area, expat area, university area, etc. Unlike LA, it has an excellent and cheap public transportation system which goes all the way to my base. The above pic is the Samsung Jong-Ro Building, Hanging Glass Façade.

The Wild, Wild West

2007-08-12T01:26:00.000+09:00

So here's a short overdue entry about my roadtrip from Dayton to Seattle. First night was Chicago, but my clutch cable snapped a bit south of Chicago. Luckily USAA roadside assistance came to my rescue. At the time, I didn't know what went wrong, so I had it towed to the Evolution specialists at AMS in Chicago. They squeezed me into their very busy schedule with some extra money. That place is amazing. I got to see their shop's car, which is the most powerful Evo in the world as far as I know with over 1000 crank horsepower from the Evo's four cylinders. It's faster than almost all stock supercars. Anyways my brother Tom met me in Chicago, and we stayed at my friend Derek's place near downtown Chicago. So I was a good place for my car to break down.

We drove through the Badlands in South Dakota, which is a detour you must take if you're driving through the area.
We got there at a good time.

The beauty inspires Tom to do what he needs to do.

Another must see in South Dakota.
Mount Rushmore. Cool place.

And yes, I wore the same clothes the whole way.

Base Exercise

2007-07-25T17:14:00.000+09:00

We are doing a base exercise this week. Pretty much we pretend we're at war. I'm on the Initial Response Team, where a tech, an ambulance driver, and myself go out into the field to pick up the injured. My first run out was a mass casualty of 7 men. The fire department was supposed to organize the scene before I got there, but I ended up having to run the program myself. Lots learned from the experience, but I did well considering it was my first.

We have to wear our chem warfare jacket and pants all the time, and every once and a while don out gas masks. It gets really hot with all this, a flak vest, doctor vest, ulitilty belt, helmet and so on. We're not allowed to go off base or shop for anything including food, but we're allow to go home to sleep, which in the real situation, we'd sleep in the hospital.

I don't have TB

2007-07-23T10:13:00.000+09:00

Good news. My PPD came back negative, so I did not contract latent tuberculosis while I was in India. Some of the doctors there thought I probably contracted it, as about half of our patients had TB, and some had very active diseases. Often people don't show any symptoms when they first contract TB. It just holes up until it sees an ideal time to attack.

Songtan & Seoul

2007-07-16T15:56:00.000+09:00

Still busy here, but no longer suffering without linens. I got a couple chances this weekend to go off base: to the strip outside the gate in Songtan and Seoul. The strip here is quite a trip: bars, clubs, restaurants, stores, and so on -- all catered to the airmen here. The local beer Hite is good and only $3 a bottle. It's less than a mile from my apartment (which is right next to the hospital I work at).
Seoul is 1 1/2 hours by the train/subway. It costs about a dollar each way. 45 minutes away when you drive. A local friend showed me around, which made it relaxed and easy. Seoul is huge and has everything you could want. Traffic and the sidewalks weren't too busy, but it was a Sunday, which most Koreans have off from work. About 1/3 are Christian. The English speaking church service I went to reminded me of my church when I was in highschool. Kind of 90's vinyard style.

Accomplished and not

2007-07-12T20:47:00.001+09:00

Got smallpox and anthrax vaccines
Obtained chemical warfare gear and flight suit
Bought groceries
Bunches of boring items....

To do:
Buy bedding
Get a phone
Call family
Get Korean driver's lisence
Find someone in the apartment building that will share wi-fi with me
Finish my computer based aerospace medicine training
etc. etc. etc.

Drinking from the fire hydrant

2007-07-11T20:27:00.000+09:00

Sheesh, sheesh, sheesh... I've got stacks of paperwork to fill out, checklists of things to do, equipment to get, commanders and pilots to meet, tests to take, and over 80 hours of computer-based training. I'm feeling quite overwhelmed, but luckily I have 2 weeks to get it all accomplished. Not only am I jumping into the specialty of Aerospace Medicine, but also leaping into the Air Force and their millions of acronyms, forms, procedures, and headaches. This is going to be a sweet job, but I've got an extremely steep learning curve.

I don't have much time to do much else. Like I still have no bed sheets. So I slept on the couch in my clothes with a towel for a sheet.... didn't work well. Little did I know, but even when you turn "off" your A/C, the Air Force still deems it fit to blast in A/C air from somewhere. I tried closing the vents, so hopefully tonight will be warmer. And tomorrow, I'll get my sheets. I don't have any food in the house (and the hospital doesn't have a cafeteria). I have no car to go out and purchase any of this stuff. Plus I have no internet, telephone, or cell phone coverage. So I'm at the library, trying to catch up on things... Well, enough of the complaining. It'll be a good year.

2007-07-09T00:27:00.000+09:00

Well, I'm in Korea now, but this blogger website is in Korean, and I can't figure out how to switch it to English. Let's see if I can guess which is the "Publish" button...

Seoul is way expensive!

2007-06-19T03:06:00.000+09:00

My mom just informed me that Seoul is the 3rd most expensive city in the world for Americans to live in. Considering housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment, Seoul is 22% more expensive than New York City. Only Moscow (#1) and London (#2) were more expensive. But I'm not too worried, because the only areas eating my bills will be transportation (gas over there is nearly $6.50 per gallon), food, and entertainment. Clothes over there are CHEAP.
Here's the original article.

Viagra

2007-06-19T00:19:00.000+09:00

I read they caught the "viagra spammer". I've also noticed an absence of viagra spam in my spambox now. Amazing that one guy can have such an effect over the whole world. He hijacked bunches of computers, and turned them into "zombies" that worked for him. I guess he's being charged with identity theft or something like that. Now only if they can catch some of these new ones that are coming out. It doesn't bother me too much, because GMail's filters do an awesome job putting them all in my spambox.

Sponsor kids!

2007-06-16T09:52:00.000+09:00

Everyone must sponsor a kid. One of the best ways to give to the needy or to invest in the future is to give to kids. They're innocent yet suffering; just born into unfortunate circumstances. By giving them education, nutrition, and healthcare, you are making a huge difference for the rest of their life. You will also keep them out of worse situations. For example, kids are sometimes sold into slavery by a family that cannot afford to feed them, believing the kid would receive better care. Sponsorship can eliminate this!

What's a good way to give? Compassion International. It is highly rated by independent organizations such BBB Wise Giving Alliance which concluded that "Compassion International Inc. (CI) meets the 20 Standards for Charity Accountability" and Charity Navigator which gave Compassion its highest rating of 4 stars.

It costs just $1 a day ($32 a month), and it goes so far. I've visited 2 sponsorship sites, and the difference in these kids lives is amazing. Here's an article about one of my visits and a highlight of my life.

Me in the news. http://www.llu.edu/news/today/nov2003/sm.html

Such a sweet experience.

And for y'all that believe in the Bible, may I remind you our responsibility to widows and orphans.

Googling Andrew Barnett

2007-05-31T21:39:00.000+09:00

So guess what... when you search "Andrew Barnett" on google, you get "Andrew Barnett, M.D."'s website! Sweet, I'm number one! Wait... this isn't me

Andrew Barnett, M.D. 's website

Hope this doesn't cause problems down the road. I can just imagine, meeting someone, whether it be a patient or a date, and they decided to google me later. Boy will they be surprised.
I also found out that Andrew Barnett is a wigmaker and a culinary coffee authority. Well, I have roasted my own coffee in the past. I bought a few pounds of green coffee in Ethiopia, roasted them on the stove at home, and served it right up, super fresh.

F-16's !!!

2007-05-31T21:28:00.000+09:00

I just found out I'm being assigned to the 36th Fighter Squadron at Osan Air Base, South Korea. I'll be working with F-16 pilots, and I'm excited, hoping I'll get some good flight time with them. The F-16 has a 2-seat trainer, which I could ride shotgun. Hopefully Osan has at least one of these. The F-16 was my favorite fighter when a kid. I wanted to be a fighter pilot till my eyes went bad in Junior High.

Taj Mahal

2007-05-25T05:03:00.000+09:00

First the highlight of the trip: the Taj. The Taj Majal is a tomb/memorial a king make for his wife that died in childbirth. Many call it the most magnificent monument built out of love.

Actually it's built out of pure marble, not love. As you can see, it shines white in the sun. I guess it used to be even whiter, and because they noticed a color change, India outlawed all industry that produces air pollution in the town of the Taj Mahal, Aggra.

The architecture is Persian, not Indian. This and many other monuments in Northwest India were made when the Persians ruled India several hundred years ago, like 1300's or something.

And it's more amazing that just the architecture. When you get close, you can see precious stoned inlaid into the marble making ornate designs. They have similar pieces of marble with inlayed stones for sale as souvenirs, and just a circle with a 2 foot diameter cost over $100.

I looks deceptively large, but in reality, it is a single room tomb. I always thought it was some huge palace, but when you walk in, it's just one moderate size room with 2 caskets (the King was buried with his wife when he died).

Another amazing thing is the lack of development around this wonder of the world. It sits on a river, and right across the river is an orchard, not some high-end hotel to take advantage of the magnificent view.

How to save the world by making people furious...

2007-05-21T02:24:00.000+09:00

How can we...

lower our national debt?
fight global warming?
lessen our dependence on foreign oil?
decrease the amount of traffic?
trim our nation's waistlines?
help people make friends with strangers?
create thriving downtowns in our cities?
slow urban sprawl?

Raise gas prices!

By increasing gas taxes, we could raise money to either eliminate vehicle registration fees, pay off our debts, etc. People would drive less, which would decrease oil consumption and emissions. People would walk/bike more, bettering their health. People would carpool and use public transportation more, helping our individualistic nation become more communal. Cities would become even more popular with housing that is next to work/dining/shopping/entertainment/etc. European cities have such charm, not only because they are so old, but because people actually work, live, eat, and relax there. Fewer people would be rushing into newly developed suburbs in order to have their personal 1/2 acre of grass they have to water to keep alive.

It bugs me so much when people complain about the gas prices, when they are very low compared to the rest of the world. Even though I have 2 high performance cars that run on high octane gas, when the prices go up, I am secretly happy inside. I don't have much of a commute now, but I'm sure I'd feel the same if I did.

Now I know this isn't going to happen. Too many people are nearsighted and don't see the benefits of higher gas prices or gas taxes. No officials have the balls to commit political suicide and implement these taxes now. But I just had to write this, and hope people start thinking and talking it up.

I know this is something that has to happen gradually, or else we would destroy certain industries.

Please leave comments.

del.icio.us links

2007-05-13T06:42:00.000+09:00

I added some coolio links I've found over the past few months. They're down over there ---->. The internet is freakin' amazing. Or maybe I should say people are freakin' amazing! Through this thing called the internet we can benefit from the creative talent of millions. Check out the design blogs like TheCoolHunter and Electro^plankton. Comment to this post if any of these links blew your mind.

Next Year

2007-05-11T23:19:00.000+09:00

So the Air Force has given me orders for my assignment next year: Osan Air Base, South Korea. I'm excited about this trip for many reasons.
1. It's only a year. I'm pretty sure I'll like it, but even if I don't, I'm there for only a year, and then I can either do residency or continue as a flight surgeon.
2. I get an assignment preferece for the following year. Since Korea is/was an
"undesirable" remote assignment, the Air Force lets you choose your next assignment: residency, Hawawii, Europe, California, etc.
3. It's near Seoul, a BIG hoppin' metropolis. I'm excited to get out of Dayton and getting someplace with more young people, style, events, etc.
4. It's in Asia. I love Asian people and food. And I'll easily be able to visit Japan. Singapore, Thailand, and New Zealand will also be close.
5. F-16s are assigned there; that means I'll have an extremely good chance to fly some in this sweet fighter jet.
But here's the kicker. The Air Force just notified me 2 days ago that they assigned too many flight surgeons to Osan, and so now either me or some other dude have to be reassigned!!! The only spots left are Guam (a desolate tropical island) and Misawa (on the Northern tip of Japan). Both I REALLY don't want to spend 2 years at. So please pray for me, that I won't get reassigned.

Eating Live Octopus in Korea

2007-05-10T17:03:00.001+09:00

So I'm moving to South Korea on July 7th. I'll be near Seoul. You'll have one year to visit me there, or if you want, we can meet up in Japan.

January

2007-02-13T00:53:00.000+09:00

I hate writing. So excuse my delay in entries into this blog. So January was a good month. Spent my first in Whistler with my brothers and some of my best friends. We stayed right in Whistler Village and got 2 feet of snow while we were there. I love Whistler, and I've told people before, I think it's my favorite place on earth. Year round beauty and fun.
Next I went to Loma Linda for an anesthesia elective for 3 weeks. Again, awesome time: good friends, good weather, and working in anesthesia, which I love. Even though it took Step 3 while there, and studied a lot for it (because I may have to reapply for the residency match at a later date), I enjoyed my time.

I love...

2006-12-27T00:31:00.001+09:00

My family, my friends, snowboarding in powder, experiencing other cultures, my car and other rally cars, my truck and other sport trucks, ecosystems and trying to create them at home particularily in aquariums, lots of music (emotional, international, beat driven, chill...), Jesus, Young Life, going down with a mountain bike (not necessarily going up), Whistler, Hawaii, Costa Rica, Hong Kong, other places bordering or in the Pacific Ocean that I have yet to go to, Chipotle, Panera, kids with disabilities, kids in Africa, speeding, anesthesiology, fighter jets, foreign foods (especially tacos, sushi, pho, Ethiopian, Middle Eastern, Indian...), stout such as Guiness, hot sake, "extreme" sports, guitar, pianists, cooks, abstract landscape paintings, summers in the Northwest, surfing, discovering new music, coffee, chocolate, peppercorn steak, Dr Pepper, having a garage, my children that I sponsor, missionaries, praying with patients, my photo album screen saver, my churches (Mars Hill, Sandals, Apex), sunny and a dry 75 degrees with a slight breeze, Forest Gump, cutting edge technology, thunderstorms, Cajun food, loud trance, rock concerts, Quiksilver clothes, wood, big trees, water, Candy with a capital C...

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

2006-12-27T00:14:00.000+09:00

I just enjoyed Christmas day with my aunt and grandparents here in Ohio. I got a big phat 80 gig iPod for Christmas from my parents (THANK YOU!). I went from no iPod for all my life, to the big kahuna. I have only converted about 20 gigs of my music to mp3s, and I'm about 1/4th of the way through, so potentially this can hold my hold collection. Amazing.

I'm in a busy month of inpatient medicine. Haven't been doing much except working, caring for my fish, watching Lost, and being involved with my church. The Air Force put me as an alternate for getting anesthesiology training, so in the next month, maybe I'll be allowed to continue with residency at Loma Linda. But I thinking most likely it won't happen. So then, I'll be moving who knows where in July.

Another Military Match

2006-11-20T23:04:00.000+09:00

I'm going through the military match again. I'm applying for anesthesiology starting July 2007, so I would lose no time in starting residency. Results are released December 13th.
I also submited my "dream sheet", or base preference worksheet. It's my ranking of Air Force bases of where I would like to be assigned if I don't continue on with anesthesia. Top of my list were overseas assignments including Korea (the only one year assignment), Hawaii, Italy, Japan, Germany, and England. Then I ranked West Coast bases.

My sorta new car

2006-11-16T12:52:00.000+09:00

Here's the car I bought on Ebay back in April. Overall I am satisfied with it. I absolutely love the car, but it has been high maintenance. Sounds like a girlfriend. The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII comes very heavily enhanced from the dealer, but I bought used with several additional modifications and a few I added myself. 2003 model with about 35,000 miles now.

MOD LIST
HKS 2.75" downpipe
High Flow Cat
Custom 3" cat back exhaust
Resonator
Magnaflow muffler
272 HKS Cams
Unorthodox Cam Gears
Halbro Fuel Pump
Manual Boost Controller
Blow off valve
Drop in K&N hiflow air filter
ACT Heavy Duty Clutch
XACT Prolight Flywheel
Espilier Lowering Springs
Cart Boy Short Shifter
Carbon Fiber Dash
CF Exhaust Heat Shield
Sparco Steering Wheel
Sparco Pedal Set
Super AFC II EMS
Greddy Turbo Timer
JDM Evo 7 Taillight decals
Window tint
Panasonic CD Deck
iPod adapter

I need to get it retuned.
Next will be a new set of rims and tires specifically for racing. And I probably should get an intercooler set up. And maybe some fuel injectors. Oh, a bigger turbo would be sweet...

ICU

2006-10-01T23:01:00.000+09:00

P! Soooo, I just finished my ICU rotation. Busy, working 80 hours per week. Good learning experience. With ventilator and cardiovascular management, it will apply more for anesthesia than most of my other rotations.

Most interesting case of the month was probaby a 35 year old woman with 2 kids that came in with shortness of breath. She ended up needing intubation for acute respiratory distress syndrome. We never found the inciting factor, maybe a virus since she had a viral illness the week before. And she never recovered. She was flown to Cleavland Clinic on the ventilator to see if they could figure out what was up. Mostly likely she had an abnormal response to a usual virus. But it makes you think. What if it was a superpathogenic virus, like avian flu. We didn't take any special precautions to prevent spread. I could've died. And this young mom was suddenly taken over by a mysterious illness. There is so much we still don't know.

I've just started my new rotation doing inpatient medicine, and I'm waiting for my attending to come in so we can round on the patients. I got here too early I guess. This will be another busy month, with overnight call every fourth night. These calls make your work hours add up quick. With 2 calls in one week, there's 60 hours of work! And this call is busy. I've been averaging about 2-3 hours of sleep for each call, and I'm lucky. I consider myself a white cloud, because some of the other black cloud interns are getting hit hard. I wish they had a night float system. But it's all good. I'm enjoying this more than medical school. At least more than 3rd year of medical school. 1st and 2nd year were nice with very flexible hours. 4th year had 8 or so weeks of vacation. But being the doctor now making descisions, it's pretty exhilirating. All said, I can't wait to move on to anesthesiology!

Inpatient Medicine & Anesthesia

2006-08-19T05:40:00.000+09:00

So I've now been on my first inpatient medicine rotation for over 2 weeks. The first week, I worked 80 hours probably, but things are letting up recently, mainly because fewer people a coming to the ER on the days I'm on call. It's quite intense, having the health of these patients in my hands. And especially for call at night, when I'm the first line for emergencies on the wards. Nothing too exciting has happened yet... I did have my first patient death, an 89 year old man. It was sudden and unexpected, likely a stroke or heart attack. It was weird because he was starting to make a turn for the better.

I gotten good news from the Air Force. They are going to allow several people (around 7 I think) to go into Anesthesia next July, and so far, there are only 10 or so applicants. Even better news is that Loma Linda's Anesthesiology Residency expanded it's residency, and they offered me one of their open spots. So if all goes well, looks like I'll be moving back to Loma Linda for 3 years starting in July.

Grandparents

2006-07-23T12:01:00.000+09:00

A major reason I chose to come to Ohio is my grandparents, who live less than 2 hours away in Lancaster, on the other side of Columbus. Such a sweet retreat. Plus I've really picked up my golf game playing with them. We've played 4 games in a month, when before I was averaging one game a year. My driving is good, putting is ok, but my chipping is absolutely aweful.

In O Hi Ya

2006-07-11T00:38:00.000+09:00

I matched to Kettering Medical Center's transitional year, which is a sweet program, despite being in Ohio. Not that Ohio is a bad place; the people out here are super friendly, more than the west coast for sure. I'm starting with the easiest rotation of the year, so I barely work right now, just weekday mornings. I kind of wish I had this rotation later, when it would be a nice break between a couple strenuous months, but oh well. Each rotation lasts a month, and here's my schedule:

July: EKG, Stress Tests, & Echocardiograms
August: Medicine inpatient
September: Pulmonary ICU
October: Medicine inpatient
November: Ambulatory Clinic
December: Medicine inpatient
January: Aneshesia at some west coast hospital (maybe research)
February: Emergency medicine
March: Medicine inpatient
April: Mission Elective (Asia or New Zealand)
May: Medicine inpatient
June: unchosen elective

My new apartment is awesome. I have a 2 bedroom newly refinished apartment with a garage for $545 a month. Plus it's only 2/3rd's of a mile from work, so I can ride my bike in. It's also like right next to a nice,affordable golf course and a park that has some descent hills and trails for biking.

My broken leg is mostly heeled up. I still have some arthritis after sleeping, some swelling, and I can't forcefully plantar flex, so running is really difficult. I know the physical therapy I should be doing, but, alas, I don't do it.

I haven't written in a while, because I have a lot I should put down, but I'll wait until I get some photos to talk about my new pad and car.

Research

2006-03-08T04:36:00.000+09:00

I finished my 2 weeks of radiology with any problems. I'm now 2 weeks into working in the anesthesia department here in Loma Linda doing research. I'm mostly creating scientific posters for conferences.

I finally replaced my computer that was stolen about 6 months ago. I got the new Mac mini with the single Intel chip. Right now I have it hooked up to my friends monitor, keyboard, and mouse, but I'll hook it up to house TV once I get the right adapter. I also ordered a wireless bluetooth mouse and keyboard that I can use for my mac and also my Palm Treo 650. Once I move, I plan to purchase my first TV. Probably an LCD HDTV.

Match is one week away!

Sofa Life

2006-02-07T17:13:00.000+09:00

For the past 2 weeks, I've been living on my sofa for an average of 23 hours each day. I was supposed to be moved out of my house, and on an away rotation in Sacramento, but with this broken ankle, things had to change. So someone had already moved into my old room, so now I live in the living room. I have to keep my foot elevated, so the whole day I'm lying on the sofa. Activities consist of on average:

9 hrs sleeping
4 hrs movies (Including Arrested Development seasons 1 and 2, starting the Lost series now.
3 hrs Ebaying, emailing, and surfing internet
2 hrs reading magazines
1 hr talking and eating with girlfriend, roomates, and family
1 hr napping
1 hr reading books
1 hr watching educational dvds (History of European Art)
1 hr daydreaming
1 hr up on my crutches doing things around the house and bathroom

Today was my first day on my Radiology rotation. I pretty much sit in my wheelchair at the hospital watching the attending and the resident talk about what they see in the computerized images. I hope they don't mind me leaving early every day. My foot and butt get very uncomfortable. I managed to stay there for 3 hours today, so maybe I can last longer tomorrow.

Broke

2006-01-28T14:44:00.000+09:00

I broke my right ankle (a bimalleolar fracture with diplacement) while mountain biking on Tuesday this past week. My bike slid out while taking a sandy curve too fast in a canyon. My foot was so disfigured, it almost made my nauseous. My friend Jeff was with me fortunately, so he went down to call 911, and I layed around until I decided to finish riding down the hill with one leg. I almost made it to the bottom when the fire department arrived. It's a bad fracture, so sugery is required to put a plate on my fibula and a couple pins in my tibia. And my ankle is so swollen. There is barely any pain (except with any movement, especially jarring movement), but the worst thing is that I've got to keep the foot above my head all day and night to keep the swelling under control. I seems pretty nice to just lay down all day, watching TV, reading magazines, and having friends make you food, but it really sucks to not be able to do much for yourself, especially when I have some important paperwork and errands to complete right now. I also had to cancel my Big Sky Clinic rotation, and move some interviews and rotations around.

A few notes:

It's amazing how quick you start pleading to God when you're in trouble.
I don't know what the big deal is with narcotics. It wasn't anything really special.
I will be mountain biking again, and I really hope that I won't have long lasting ligamentous weakness in the ankle.

Top Cars

2006-01-21T00:37:00.000+09:00

I've been looking at cars recently, because if I do my internship anywhere with rain or snow (anywhere outside of Southern California) I'll be getting a new car. My truck here is 2 wheel drive with no limited slip differential and high performance tires, so it does pretty poorly in anything slick. Here's a list of cars I'm looking at in no particular order.

1. 2007 Ford Explorer Sport Trac
2. Mazda 6 Mazdaspeed
3. Subaru WRX or STi
4. Mitsubishi Evolution IX or VIII
5. Audi A3
6. Toyota Tacoma 4WD (Access or Double Cab)
7. Infinity G35 Sedan AWD used
8. Toyota 4runner 4WD used
9. Audi A4 used
10. BMW 325 xi used
11. Subaru Legacy GT
12. Nissan Xterra
13. Toyota FJ Cruiser

So you can see, I want either something 4wd with real offroad capabilities or something AWD and fast. Plus it's got to look sweet.

Top 10 Movies

2005-12-29T14:33:00.000+09:00

I was thinking about this after watching King Kong. Making a top 10 list of movies is difficult, especially for me, who doesn't own any movies and or watch movies more than once. I also have a terrible time thinking of movies off the top of my head. So here's a go, and maybe my readers can help me out...

1. Forrest Gump
2. The Matrix
3. Fight Club
4. Batman Begins
5. Schindler's List
6. Momento
7. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
8. Return of the Jedi
9. King Kong (maybe because I just watched it)
10. Gladiator

And I have to add some honorable mentions...

11. Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail
12. Airplane
13. Superman
14. Return of the King
15. Raiders of the Lost Ark
16. Vanilla Sky
17. Winged Migration
18. Independence Day
19. Amadeus
20. Shawshank Redemption

I tend to have a theme of psychological "life is not what is seems" type movies.

Happy New Year

2005-12-29T09:12:00.000+09:00

As mentioned earlier, the Air Force assigned me to just become a General Medical Officer (GMO), which will most likely be a position as Flight Surgeon. This isn't related to surgery at all, but is more of an occupational health and primary care like job. It's not a bad job. Good hours, good patients.
So I'm withdrawing my anesthesiology applications, which will free up my interview schedule some. I'm hoping I'll get to reapply for anesthesia in the next few years, but most likely I'll finish my Air Force commitment and then reapply, which will be 4 years down the road.

2005-12-15T01:00:00.000+09:00

Military match is done. I didn't get assigned to specialize in anesthesia. I'll be doing a civilian transitional/prelim medicine year instead.

Here a photo from my Treo 650 phone

2005-12-11T17:39:00.000+09:00

Here's my family up at Lake Tahoe:

Interview Schedule

2005-12-11T17:14:00.000+09:00

So for the most part, all of the invitations for interviews have been sent out. I'm still on the waiting list at a few places, so a couple more interviews could be added later. Otherwise, this is pretty much my final schedule:

UC Irvine Preliminary Medicine Year, CA, Nov 14
Harbor-UCLA Anesthesia, Nov 15
U. Southern California Anesthesia, LA, Nov 16
Loma Linda U Anesthesia, Dec 1
Kettering MC Transitional Year, Dayton, OH, Dec 5
Ohio State Anesthesia, Columbus, Dec 6
Harbor-UCLA Transitional and Prelim medicine, Dec 13
Arrowhead Transitional Year, Colton, CA, Dec 21
Virginia Mason Prelim Medicine, Seattle, Jan 2
Sacred Heart Transitional, Spokane, WA, Jan 4
Deaconness Trasitional, Spokane, WA, Jan 5
U. Nevada Prelim Medicine, Reno, Jan 9
UC Davis Anesthesia, Sacromento, CA, Jan 10
Banner Good Samaritan Transitional, Phoenix, Jan 12
U. of Arizona Anesthesia, Phoenix, Jan 13
U. New Mexico Anesthesia, Albuquerque, Jan 14
U. of Nevada Prelim Medicine, Las Vegas, Jan 16
U. of Utah Prelim Medicine, Salt Lake City, Jan 17
White Memorial Prelim Medicine, Los Angeles, Jan 19
George Washington U Anesthesia, DC, Jan 21
Cleavland Clinic Anesthesia, OH, Jan 23
UCLA-Kern Medical Center Transitional, Bakersfield, CA, Jan 25
San Joaquin Transitional, Stockton, CA, Jan 26
UCSF-Fresno Prelim Medicine, Fresno, CA, Feb 3

I'm thinking of canceling a few interviews, because this is too much, especially too many interviews for my internship year.

Air Force Match will soon be upon me!

2005-12-11T17:02:00.000+09:00

So on Dec 14, the Air Force is going to tell me...

1st: whether they will let me do anesthesiology for a specialty. If not, my back up plan is to become a flight surgeon (a general practitioner, kind of like a family doc for pilots).

2nd: whether they will defer me to do civilian residency or become active duty in an Air Force residency.

This is what the chances are from a pretty uneducated guess.

60% chance: civilian anesthesiology residency
10% chance: Air Force anesthesiology residency
30% chance: become a Flight Surgeon

Usually people get their first choice for a specialty in the Air Force, but about 40 people want to do anesthesia, and the AF will only allow about 20 people to specialize in it, so in short, some people will be disappointed.

2005-11-25T09:39:00.000+09:00

I'm having Thanksgiving with my grandparents and girlfriend at my great aunt and uncle's place near Sacromento. 4 proper courses of amazing food!

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Ambulatory Care

2005-11-07T05:44:00.000+09:00

I'm back in Loma Linda now, doing a rotation called ambulatory care, which is like a rotating clinic. I spend a day at a variety of clinics, such as internal medicine, dermatology, student health, AIDS, chiropracty, oriental medicine, and so on. The day with oriental medicine was sweet. Very interesting stuff. They even gave me a free appointment where I got accupunture and moxibustion (burning herbs on the skin). The accupunture on my back, feet, and arms relieved some light back pain/tension I had. The moxibustion was supposed to help my qi ("chee", hard to translate, but kind of like a life force) in general. 5 days later I still have a mark on my skin that smells good. And they told me to stop drinking cold water. Room temperature is best. This may sound like silly stuff, but there is thousands of years of experience in the stuff. I have to remind myself that just because we don't have a current scientific explanation, it doesn't mean it doesn't work, or that we won't find an explanation years later. Also, some people may avoid this medicine because they think it's of a cult or another religion. From my experience, there wasn't anything religious about it other than general recommendations for someones spirit, like living a balanced life.

More on the Heavenly Kettering Medical Center

2005-10-15T05:57:00.000+09:00

I want to expound a little on my last post. I've heard Kettering Medical Center as being like a medical student heaven, and I've got to say, that this isn't too far from the truth.

First the facilities. I get to park in a parking garage adjacent to the hospital, so blazing sun, rain, or snow, my car and myself are protected. And then, as you walk into the hospital, you go up a grand staircase to the lobby level with marble floors and a grand piano being played by a ghost. I see my patients (only 1-3), and then go to the morning report, which usually is well run with excellent topics.

Free breakfast is in the new doctors lounge with juice, coffee, cold and hot cereal, pastries, and a most excellent "monkey cake" type food which is hard to describe except as sweet, flavorful, and fattening. This lounge has two 40 something inch plasma flat screen tv's, prepackaged snacks, a frig with a variety of beverages, 2 computers, and all with a 5 star hotel lobby appearance and decor.

Rounds start at 10, so often I get to sleep in until 7 am. My team of residents are all friendly, non-malignant, eager to teach, and never scut-work me. My attending is one of a kind: brilliant with the best bedside manner I've ever seen. She is fun, not taking rounds too seriously, making sure that the patients and myself, the medical student, get plenty of attention and teaching.

Lunch is grand rounds with free food every day. These also are well run and very informative. After rounds, which ends around 2pm on average, I do a little floor work, and almost always finish by 3pm. Sometimes I hang out in the lounge until dinner, which is also free. The Atrium Grille has the biggest, meaty, unique sandwiches ever... cajun turkey, portabello mushrooms, avacado, and the like.

If I'm on call, I'm working mostly in the ER. The ER waiting area is something else: hotel lobby appearance, full service coffee bar, computers, tvs, and a 100 or so gallon aquarium. We take call every 4th day and as a team, which makes it more fun. The residents have me work up 2 - 3 patients, and they are available to help for anything. They normally send me to bed around 11pm to 1am, and then I sleep uninterrupted until the morning in my own private call room with a window. The medical student lounge has a computer with printer, a big tv, with cable, xbox, and playstation, along with prepackaged snacks and a fridge of drinks.

That took too long to write up. Too bad this place is far from mountains, the ocean, and my immediate family, or else I'd rank this hospital #1 for my transitional/internship year... maybe I will anyways.

2005-10-14T02:58:00.000+09:00

I've been doing my sub-internship here at Kettering, OH, for almost 2 weeks. This place has been treating me well. If only mountains were nearby.

Mobile Email from a Cingular Wireless Customer http://www.cingular.com

2005-10-13T07:41:00.000+09:00

Wow, I didn't know comment spam was such a problem. Please don't support these fools by following links left in their comments.

2005-10-13T07:25:00.000+09:00

I can now edit my blog from my cell phone. Sweet.

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Residency Applications

2005-10-13T07:02:00.000+09:00

I am currently applying to like 70 different residency programs... it cost me lots of money for all those applications. I'm applying for anesthesiology, which requires an internship year before starting. Here are the anesthesia and internship programs I got interviews at so far and the date for each. All those flights are going to cost me even more... please let me know if you would like to submit a donation into my bank account!

Arrowhead Transitional Year, Colton, CA, date undetermined
UCLA-Kern Medical Center Transitional Year, Bakersfield, CA, date undetermined

UC Irvine Preliminary Medicine Year, CA, Nov 14
UCLA Anesthesia, Nov 15
U. Southern California Anesthesia, LA, Nov 16
U. Nevada Prelim Medicine, Reno, Jan 9
Banner Good Samaritan Transitional, Phoenix, Jan 12
U. New Mexico Anesthesia, Albuquerque, Jan 14
George Washington U Anesthesia, DC, Jan 21
Cleavland Clinic Anesthesia, OH, Jan 23
UCSF Fresno Extension Prelim Medicine, Fresno, CA, Feb 3

But all this may be fruitless. The Air Force that owns me first has to let me apply for anesthesiology. I find out from them on Dec 14 what's next. If they don't let me do anesthesia, my back up plan is to become a flight surgeon, serve my 4 years, get out of the AF, and then reapply for anesthesia.

In the beginning...

2005-10-08T04:27:00.000+09:00

Drew created this blog.

Yeah, so now I have a blog too. I thought it would be cool for all friends and family to learn about new happenings in my life, especially since I'm going through a big transition now.