Goodbye 2005

I've been thinking about this post for the past week. I've been reflecting on what has occurred in my life during 2005, what has happened in the US, and what has happened in the world. I've also been looking towards 2006 and what it holds for me. Obviously, it holds the gate to my future - May 13, 2006 - the day I walk across the stage and accept the first doctorate degree in my family. A milestone for me. A milestone I've been working towards for 6 years - 6 tumultuous years. At first I thought 2005 wasn't such a bad year. I started clinical rotations. I've started becoming the dreaded "professional." American citizens started opening their eyes and questioning the administration. Bush's approval rating is at its lowest point in 5 years. Americans are questioning the war in Iraq, the CIA, and Republican ethics. The world started to realize that poverty in Africa is a major concern. Africa gets turned the blind eye by modern nations due to its lack of OIL. Live 8 helped bring this to center stage. I was feeling better...and then I watched The Year in Pictures on MSN. 2005 was a horrible year - for the US and the world. Hurricane Katrina showed how horrible American people can be. We turned our backs on our own CITIZENS. We want them "moved back" to Louisianna and out of our towns. We were reluctant to send aid to them because they were "barbaric." We bitched because they qualified for Medicaid. My God, these people lost everything they ever had..and we bitch. What kind of country are we when we can't even help our own people? The war in Iraq continues to worsen. Every day more American soldiers get murdered in the streets, not to mention the psychological and physical damage the survivors must endure for the rest of their lives. Terrorism continues to flourish. (Perhaps Iraq is NOT the problem?) The White House is draped in disgrace. A CIA agent and her husband speak out about the war in Iraq and her name is leaked to the press, putting her life, her husbands life, and their child's life in danger. The leak comes from within the administration - Libby, Cheney's right hand man. The PATRIOT Act remains a threat to every American ideal. In the dirtiest tatic yet used by Republican law makers - they piggy backed drilling in the Artic Refuge onto a Defense Bill. Pretty strategic on their part - if the Dems voted against it, then they were cutting benefits to the soldiers; if the Dems voted to help our soldiers, they opened up the Artic Refuge. The Dems saw through this ploy and voted it down. We truly one nation under God...the God of OIL. What a horrible year...

So, here's to 2006 - may it be better than 2005, may the Dems retake Congress, and may the American people take back America.

Music and Politics

Thanks to my new iPod Nano, I've been spending a considerable amount of time listening to music again. From iTunes, I purchased the new Green Day album - American Idiot. Holy crap...it rocks to say the least. This is what I remember rock music being - a bold statement. The powerful lyrics remind me of CSN&Y and CCR during the Vietnam War. It's got me motivated to get back into the political scene, especially since 2006 is an election year for Congress. I've also noticed that Green Day isn't the only band out there making a political statement. Future Leaders of America are pretty politically outspoken. Their lead singer makes bold statements against the policies of George W. Bush. His passion reminds me of Axis pre-election 2004. Another surprising band is the Blacked Eyed Peas. I'm not talking about the My Humps song...sheesh. I'm talking about the "Where is the Love?" song. Pretty straight forward...and it was an inspiring piece for Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11. So, I've decided that I'm throwing my hat in the ring and going back to being politically outspoken.

It's a Nano!

I'm sitting here on Christmas day, watching the freaking rain pour down. About 10 degrees colder and it would be a white Christmas...but WV is doomed to dismal rain. I've officially become an Apple mommy. Good ole' Santa Claus brought me a pretty black iPod Nano for Christmas. The best part - across the back is engraved - "Dr. Trisha's Little Pill Box." HA! Now...I need to rip the Buckcherry album my brother bought me from Japan to iTunes and d/l it my iPod. Can Christmas get any better??? iPod + Buckcherry - sounds like a match made in heaven. :)

Tis the Season...for Redemption

I have written several times before about our neighbors from Hell. It really isn't as much the neighbors as it is the teenage jerks that come to the house to visit the teenage boy next door. On his own, Bubba Jr is actually a nice kid. I've had the occassion to talk to him. He's pretty much a loner, but a sweet kid. Recently, he's been bonding with my father. My Dad helps him fix his bumpin' thumpin' stereo and fog lights on his truck. He even tried to help repair a cut fuel line. (Did I mention the boy's father never comes around?) So, God bless my Dad for trying to make a difference. I've recently been fed up with his friends and have resorted to calling the local Sherrif's Department when they drag race in front of my house. So, 30 minutes ago, my front door bell rang and there stood Bubba Jr with a gift. It was a huge spiral sliced ham. He kept telling me how much he appreciates our family and how great we are as neighbors. (At this point, I really felt like an ass for calling the 5-0 on him...) He said he hoped we had a Merry Christmas and again thanked me for being a good neighbor. When I got carried the ham inside, I noticed a card attached. I opened it, and out fell a $50 gift card to Outback. The card was another set of Thank You's and another praise of our neighborness. It's truly amazing what the holidays do to people. :) And I promise, I won't call the 5-0 on Bubba Jr...at least until January 2. :) MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Yet Another Reason...

Reason #3 I should write the song "Where is the Consideration?"...

Today I received an email from the experiential coordinator at my pharmacy school. The letter had an attachment which was a Word document with my grades thus far and the commments left by my preceptors. I wasn't expecting any surprises, being as I have copies of all the grade sheets. However, when I read the comments for the Selective I grade, I was a bit surprised. I don't remember that preceptor naming off weaknesses like crazy. As a matter of fact, I don't remember her naming any weaknesses. She did, however, have a long list of strengths. Oddly, there were no strengths listed on the Word document under this title. Surprised, I dug out my grade sheets. It's good to know that I don't have Alzheimer's yet...because my memory served me right. I sent the coordinator an email explaining that whoever typed up the document had accidently put "weaknesses" where "strengths" should be and thanked him for his understanding. His response - "I'll look into it after the first of the year." How nice... Merry f#%king Christmas to you too... Where's the consideration???

Where is the Consideration?

Last weekend Axis, his family, and I went to a nearby town for an evening of dinner and shopping. We ate dinner at this amazing Indian restaurant - quite possibly the best Indian food I've ever had. Then we walked around the downtown strip and gazed in the windows. We found a couple neat stores - even one that sold George W. Bush toilet paper. It was toilet paper with Bush's mug on it. The selling slogan - "Wipe your Tush with Bush!" HA! On the way back to our humble hometown, Axis asked me if I had any Blacked Eyed Peas songs he could download. I was shocked that #1) he knew who they were (when Axis lived at home, posters of Alice in Chains and several guitars adorned his walls) and that #2) he wanted a song. The song in question was the "Where is the Love" song - which I have to admit is a very good, political song. Anyway, talking about this song made me thing that I should write one entitled, "Where is the Consideration?" Allow me to share some reasons why...

1 - A former co-worker's wife had a baby in early November. The weekend after Thanksgiving, I gave the co-worker a present for the baby girl, which included 2 outfits and 2 little hats for her head. Today is December 21 (almost 1 month later) and I have not received a thank you card. Where is the consideration?

2 - On October 25, I asked a former preceptor to write me a letter of recommendation for residency. I asked to receive the letter by November 25. Figuring that he's probably a pretty busy guy (being the Pharmacy Director at a major metropolitan hospital), I let him slide until December 9. At this point, I sent him a friendly reminder email that I had not received his letter. I received no response from him. On December 16, in a panic attack, I wrote him another email telling him that I had not received the letter. Today, while I was popping Prilosec OTC, I wrote him another email telling him that I could not apply for the residency until I had his letter. Two minutes later, he sent me an email back apologizing for his lack of replying and explaining that he had not yet wrote the letter (!!!) but would have something out by the end of the week. I feel like Clark Griswald...Hey. If any of you are looking for any last-minute gift ideas for me, I have one. I'd like Jay, my preceptor, right here tonight. I want him brought from his happy holiday slumber over there on Irving Street with all the other rich people and I want him brought right here, with a big ribbon on his head, and I want to look him straight in the eye and I want to tell him what a cheap, lying, no-good, rotten, four-flushing, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, dickless, hopeless, heartless, fat-ass, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, worm-headed sack of monkey shit he is. Hallelujah. Holy shit. Where's the Tylenol? (Honestly, where's the consideration???)

Quote of the Day

I was flipping channels last night at 11:00 and stumbled upon The Daily Show. I'm more of a Law & Order person, so comedy shows don't usually attract me. It just so happened that Law & Order wasn't on TNT or USA. Anyway, I laughed until my sides hurt...and then I heard the quote of the day. Allow me to share:

Senate hearings on indecency on TV:
"I grew up in the 1950s when TV shows had good wholesome family values. I grew up with shows like Howdy Dowdy..." ~ Some Christian Coalition chic

Jon Stewart - "You also grew up when black people couldn't drink from the same water fountain as white people."

Yea, those were good wholesome value times...(note dripping sarcasm).

Thank You Senators

In a 52-47 vote, the Senate failed to renew the Patriot Act and thus saved many civil liberties from once again being thrown out the window. It's my experience that most Americans are truly ignorant about the implications of this Act, which was originally past on the tailcoats of fear. In the wake of 9-11, the President bullied this act through Congress and consequently threw many civil liberties out the window - some liberties that were laid down by our founding fathers. For example, habeas corpus was suspended for all individuals "suspected" of terrorist activity. The end result, individuals could be held indefinitely, without notification to family, without legal representation, at an undisclosed location until the US finished its investigation. I'm pretty sure our founding fathers were turning in their graves on that provision alone. The act also allowed the government "looser" standards for surveillance and wire taps. It also allowed the federal government to dig through library and business records. The FBI was allowed to draft "National Security Letters" without a judge's approval (basically bypassing the entire judicial branch of government, an essential part of our Founding Fathers' checks and balances system). These letters compel businesses to turn over an individual's private records. The most violating provision is the "sneek and peak" warrants. These warrants allow the government to perform a search of an individual's belongings without notifying them that they were searched. The new provisions to the Act, which were approved by the House, included allowing the government to dig through personal medical records. (HIPPA anyone???) So much for the land of the free... Though some of the bill is permenant, 16 provisions will expire on December 31 if a compromise is not reached between the House and the Senate. At this point, it doesn't look like it will - thankfully.

So...Thank you Senator Russ Fiengold (D-Wisconsin) and Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho)for standing up to the American people and threatening a filibuster. Thank you to the four Republican senators who stood along the Democrats preventing the passage of this Act - Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, John Sununu of New Hampshire, and Larry Craig. Yes, I know there were five Republicans that voted against it; however Bill Frist only voted no when he saw he was on the losing side. According to CNN, "He decided to vote with the prevailing side so he could call for a new vote at any time." Now that's a man who stands on his convictions...

An Evening of Culture...

You know that saying - "You can dress her up, but you can't take her out,"? Well, that's basically me and my mother no matter where we go. Tonight was my niece's first high school band concert. It's pretty useless for me to go, being as she's a drummer and percussionist. She spends the entire concert hidden in the back row. Before the show, however, she came out to watch the jazz band and saw me. She smiled and waved...and it was then that I realized why I go. It's not necessarily to "see" her, but rather so she knows there's someone there in the audience just for her. I know her mother and brother go, as well as her grandmother...but I remember how much I enjoyed looking up at basketball games and seeing my brother in the stands. Anyway... The first song was the Star Spangled Banner. It was not like any Star Spangled Banner I had ever heard...and then the conductor...HA! My mother and I were doubled over laughing. I have not seen that much animation in a conductor since Bugs Bunny. My sister had to seperate my mom and me. This guy was on his toes, bending his knees, bending backwards, throwing fists in the air, shoving his baton in the direction of the flutes, etc. It was the most comical thing I've seen in a long time. I kept seeing Bugs holding the baton and the guy that sings turning blue and purple. Even my sister was snickering, but she did have a different scene in her head. She kept seeing Donald Duck conducting the Philharmonic at Disney World. She was ducking flying cupcakes and attempting to smell apple pie (you had to have experienced the 4D production to understand the humor). Alls well that ends well. My niece was happy because she had support in the audience...and mom and I laughed until our sides hurt. :)

The Immorality of the Deathwatch...

I turned on Headline News this evening to see the headline - DEATHWATCH: Tookie's execution only hours away. I swear I think our society would pay to watch executions on Pay-Per-View. Honestly, what does that say about a society? I don't confess to be overtly Christian, or even overtly religious; however there is something immoral about murder. Fundamentally, murder is the taking of another's life. So, how is placing a needle in someone's arm and filling their body with poison any different than raising a 9mm to someone's head? The needle death is probably less painful... Don't get me wrong, Tookie Williams is not a role model. Hell, I think he's a horrible person. I just think it takes something away from society when we "celebrate" murder like this. I've given the death penalty significant thought. I've flipped back and forth on the pro- and anti- sides of the argument. Roma has talked with me about the morality (rather I should say immorality) of the death penalty. I think I became mostly anti-death penalty after watching a man die at the VAC this year. There's a finality to death like you can't believe.

The ironic part of all of this - they move a death row inmate to a special cell before execution so he can't commit suicide. WTF? Honestly...

Saying Goodbye to a Comedy Legend

~December 1, 1940 - December 10, 2005~

"There will never be another Richard Pryor. He is, and always will be, the funniest man alive." - Whoopi Goldberg

"When that fire hit your ass, it will sober your ass up *quick*! I saw something, I went, "Well, that's a pretty blue. You know what? That looks like *fire*!" Fire is inspirational. They should use it in the Olympics, because I ran the 100 in 4.3." - Richard Pryor

Social Studies Fair = Social Lesson

Today I judged a local middle school's social studies fair. I was a little leary being as I'm not really social studies geared; however after arriving, I quickly learned that I was definitely MORE than qualified. I judged the Sociology pair and individual projects. It's a sad state of affairs when you can't pick a first place project - not because there were so many good ones, but because none of them are "county" level material. Allow me to share some of my finer projects... The first project was "The Differences Between Guatemala and Puerto Rico." Sounded decent and the project board illustrated many differences between the two countries. Not surprisingly, the two girls giving the presentation were Hispanic - one from Puerto Rico and one from Guatemala. The true surprise was the Guatemala girl spoke NO English. That made judging a little difficult. The young girl from Puerto Rico translated. I'd like to say they wowed me...but they didn't. Infact, the girl from Puerto Rico couldn't figure out why the money in Puerto Rico is the same as money in the US (hello...US Protectorate!!!). That was my first project - and as the saying goes, what starts out bad only gets worse. There were missing abstracts, plagerized reports, missing reports, missing projects, missing students, etc. I did have 3 or 4 really good projects. One was on The Avian Flu - and that little boy blew me away. Very bright - but so nervous. After his presentation, I told him I was a pharmacy student and asked him about the drug of choice. He proudly told me it was Tamiflu and that Roche manufactures it. I was blown away. I almost danced him across the room - mainly because he was the first good project I had all day (but also because he knew some pharmacology!). The second project that was pretty good was on sign language. The girl signed a song to me - later it occurred to me that she could've been signing anything and I wouldn't have known any better. However, if she was faking it, she did keep a straight face. I awarded her second place. The next two projects were hard to decide between. I had one on Jehovah's Witnesses and one on Revolutionary Ancestors. Both were will researched - but were lacking an adequate research paper. I think with a little more guidance they would've done well. I told them both that. I tied them for third place. So I walked away from this experience realizing that I never want to teach middle school. :) Thank God!

Lest We Forget

~December 7, 1941~

Sixty-four years ago today at 7:55AM, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Two hours later, 21 US ships were heavily damaged and 323 aircraft were damaged or destroyed. More importantly, 2,390 soldiers lost their lives and 1,178 were wounded. The USS Arizona still lies on the bottom of the harbor with hundreds of soldiers still aboard.

Why Meth is a Pain in My Ass

I woke up this morning feeling pretty crappy. I'm pretty sure it's the prodrome of a cold. I don't really feel sick as much as I feel blah. The throat's a little scratchy and my nose is either running like a faucet or feels like it has a vice on it. And I just generally feel kinda achy all over. So, being the almost-pharmacist that I am, I trudged out to the local J-Mart (name conspicuously changed) to retrieve some cold medicine. I stopped working in the retail pharmacy world 2 months ago, but I knew WV had this stupid Sudafed law. Apparently, meth has become a pretty big problem in our state - so like with all other drug laws, WV has decided to punish Joe Citizen for a meth head's problem. Now to buy products containing pseudoephedrine as their main igredient, you have to give up your first born child. Actually, you do have to give your driver's license - which will be recorded in a log book along with your address, telephone number, date of birth, product purchased, and weight in grams of pseudoephedrine in the product. This information is then turned over to the state and they monitor frequent buyers of pseudoephedrine. Trust me, you don't want to be a member of this frequent flyer club. Oh, and you also cannot purchase more than 9 grams of pseudoephedrine in one month (who in God's name needs 9 grams of pseudophedrine???) Anyway - back to why this is a pain in my ass... I get to J-Mart and enter the Cough and Cold aisle - which ought to be renamed the - Benadryl and Clairtin aisle because that's all it has now. J-Mart finds it necessary to put every freaking cough and cold product behind the counter and there are little tickets in the aisle that you take to the pharmacy counter to purchase these items. (Kind of like when you used to buy a video game at Toys R Us) This pissed me off because 1)I had other shit to buy and 2)once again I am being punished for a drug addict. I say, let the assholes buy the NyQuil and try to use it to make meth. Let the little teeny boppers by the damn Robitussin DM to hallucinate (word of caution - guafenisin will make you puke long before dextromethorphan will make you hallucinate). So to make a long story short, I came home with a bottle of vitamins and chicken noodle soup. I think I have some Advil Cold and Sinus around here somewhere (shhh don't tell anyone, it has a whopping 30mg of pseudoephedrine). I hate being sick...almost as much as I hate meth addicts.

When Football Gods are Smiling

The "Football Gods" were smiling last night as WVU closed a perfect season in the Big East. The Mountaineers went 10-1 for the season and are headed to the Sugar Bowl. (And yes, I know, WVU's performance in bowl games is pretty poor...and that's an understatement) The stars aligned just right last night to assure a BCS bid for WVU and a toilet bowl bid for Virginia Tech. Muhahahahaha. }=>

Ahsirt Slays the Twinkle Lights

I am truly Clark Griswald. Since decorating the house, I have battled 3 sets of icicle twinkle lights, 2 100 bulb sets of multi-color twinkle lights, 1 100 bulb set of white twinkle lights, and 2 50 bulb sets of multi-color twinkle lights. Every time I turn around, half a set is out, or in the case of my shrubs - the entire 100% brand new set is burnt out. I tried changing fuses and bulbs and finally realized that for $1.59, my sanity is worth buying another set. I'm keeping the local Wally World in business. Six days later - I am 75% finished with decorating the house. Saturday is the traditional family Christmas Tree hunt. We still trek out into the woods and cut down our own. (I told you we were the Griswalds) We break out a picnic lunch and some hot chocolate (spiked with Goldschlagger or Buttershots or Razzmatazz) and head up the side of the mountain. It just wouldn't be Christmas without it. Sadly, the tree farms are becoming a thing of the past. Four years ago, the farm we went to for years closed down and this year will be the last for the farm we've been going to since the closing of the last one. It's becoming a housing development. It's really sad to see development taking away such things. Once again, it proves that nothing stays the same. For now, I have a couple more strands of twinkle lights to unravel and string amongst the interior of my house. Off to more decorating!