The Sappy Post

While listening to classical music this evening, reality struck me square in the face. Two weeks from today I will receive my doctoral hood. Two weeks from tomorrow I will close the chapter on college life forever and embark on a series of new adventures. I sat down and reflected on the past six years. I have honestly met some of my greatest friends while in college. Six years ago I met Erica, Katie, and Ryan. Today, Katie is no longer in my graduating class; Erica and I hardly speak; and Ryan and I remain friends. Through lab partnerships, graduate school, and even a drunken Halloween party, we've kinda stuck it out. I've always seemed to bond better with men than women. While in pharmacy school, I met more great friends. Unfortunately most of those friendships were forged during our final year. I'm not scared of the real world. I'm actually ready for it. I'm excited about my residency. I'm excited about my future. I'm excited about the field of pharmacy and strengthening my profession. I guess I'm just getting a little nervous about the finality of it all. Everyone keeps saying our party next weekend is the "last hoorah." I suppose it is...I just don't know if I'm ready for all the "goodbyes."

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The Idiot Speaks

Bush - "Folks are suffering at the gas pump."

Actually Mr. President, I'm not hurting at the pump - I'm dying at the pump! Gas in WV is $2.95/gallon. The Administration still denies price gouging in the oil industry, while Exxon reaps in its biggest profit margins ever. Instead of doing something about the impending oil crisis, the President is using our desperation at the pump to push alternative fuel sources. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for alternative fuel sources; however widespread adoption of these sources is years down the road. The public needs relief NOW. The President's response to the high gas prices? No action, just a pledge - "If we find any price gouging it will be dealt with firmly." Hmmm...sounds like a statement made when fingers were pointed at the Administration during the CIA operative leak - "If the leak came from within my administration, that person will be fired!" And we all know how heartfelt that pledge was...imagine the sincerity behind a pledge that would empty his pockets instead of his cabinet.

Pissing Off the Feminist

I've been following the Duke rape case in the news for the past week. As with most things, the media is running the story into the ground. I can't turn on CNN without hearing this story. Number one - I hate rape cases where the woman's background is put on trial. The defense is trying to do that in the media. However, that being said - there are other details of this scenario that really piss of the feminist in me. I am a young, female putting myself through college. My PharmD is no cheap degree. In order to obtain this degree, I have taken out federal loans (consequently signing over my first born to the federal government), shoveled coal, pushed quarry dirt, and worked in two pharmacies. One summer I held down two jobs to meet school experiential requirements as well as make a decent salary (thanks pharmacy for the whopping $6/hour!). Guess what I never did - strip. I'm so sick of this sob story that this "poor single mom was just trying to put herself through college." There are plenty of ways to put yourself through college that don't involve taking off your clothes. Let's be honest - there's money in stripping. Men, God love there small, horny brains, will part with their life savings to see just one more set of boobs. I think this girl was accustomed to a life style that checking groceries at Wal-Mart couldn't give her. End of story. It was extremely insulting that the Rev. Jesse Jackson stepped forward to provide this woman with a scholarship to off set the costs of her college education. All this being said, she still didn't deserve to be raped. Period. End of story.

War in 1970 vs War in 2006

Edwin Starr wrote this song in 1970, but it could have been written in 2006. War has always meant destruction of innocent lives and been an enemy to mankind. Perhaps the Administration should listen to these lyrics - "They say we must fight to keep our freedom, but Lord knows there's a better way." Amen.

War...huh...yeah
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing
Uh ha haa ha
War...huh...yeah
What is it good for?
Absolutley nothing...say it again y'all
War..huh...look out...
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing...listen to me ohhhhh

WAR! I despise,
'cos it means destruction of innocent lives,
War means tears to thousands of mother's eyes,
When their sons gone to fight and lose their lives.

I said WAR!...huh...good God y'all,
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing...say it again
War! Huh...What is it good for
Absolutely nothing...listen to me

WAR! It ain't nothing but a heartbreaker,
War. Friend only to the undertaker.
Ohhh! War is an enemy to all mankind,
The thought of war blows my mind.
War has caused unrest within the younger generation
Induction then destruction...who wants to die? Ohhh

WAR! good God y'all huh
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing...say it say it SAY IT!
WAR!...uh huh yeah hu!
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing...listen to me

WAR! It ain't nothing but a heartbreaker,
War! It's got one friend that's the undertaker.
Ohhhh! War has shattered many a young man's dream,
Made him disabled, bitter and mean,
Life is much too short and precious to spend fighting wars these days.
War can't give life, it can only take it away!

Ohhh WAR! huh...good God y'all
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing...say it again
War!...huh...woh oh oh Lord
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing...listen to me

War! It ain't nothing but a heartbreaker,
War. Friend only to the undertaker...woo
Peace lovin' understand then tell me,
Is there no place for them today?
They say we must fight to keep our freedom,
But Lord knows there's got to be a better way.

Ohhhhhhh WAR! huh...good God y'all...
What is it good for?...you tell me!
Say it say it say it saaaay it!
War! good God now...huh
What is it good for?
Stand up and shout it...NOTHING
~Edwin Starr

Visit with the Inmates

Yesterday evening I spent 2 hours touring a Maryland state prison and another hour sitting in a room talking about life with three inmates. This has become somewhat of an annual trip for me. Since my second year in pharmacy school I have been working with a professor and correctional officer staff to faciliate tours and "meet-n-greets" with inmates serving time for substance abuse and related crimes. While we were being oriented to the facility, one of the officers left the room and informed the other officer to keep us in the building until after 7pm. We soon learned that there had been a serious stabbing in one of the housing units and we were being held in the building for our own safety. After the inmate was secured in the infirmiry, we were escorted into the common yard and began a tour of the facility. There's something almost taboo about walking beside a convicted murderer. I enjoy the tour because it really strips away all the stereotypes of "prison life" in the US. There is no cable television or air conditioning. It's hot, it stinks, it's boring. It's not easy time. We spoke with three inmates about the role substance abuse has played in their lives. The first inmate has been incarcerated since 1984 for attempted first degree murder and armed robbery. He was Sugar Ray Leonard's sparring partner and an up and coming star when he made the decision to do drugs. From that point on, his life was a downward sprial. He is a true "fall from grace" story. The second inmate was 22 and has been incarcerated since 1999 for drug charges. The third inmate was a happily married, successful man with a wife, house, three cars, and an all around good life. He wanted to live like he had a million dollars and consequently got into the drug scene. He's never seen his daughter outside of prison bars, who was born shortly after he was incarcerated. She's now 6 years old. The most moving thing about our conversations was basically, we're all just one move away from falling from grace. Their message - stay focused. When you're focused on a destination, you won't fall. Lose your focus, and the fall is imminent. The other point that stuck with me was one inmate's description of friends:

"There are two types of friends. The first type will get under your wings and help you soar. The second type will sit on your wings and run you right into the ground."

Ain't that the truth? I really didn't have to go to prison to learn that, but at least now I have a really cool quote to explain it. :)

Insurance Pigs

I read on CNN today where an insurance company is finally getting what it deserves. Upon trying to rip off a woman who they thought was a dying AIDS victim, Life Partners ended up eating its own shoe. Fifteen years later, this woman is living a healthy life and has had no AIDS-related complications since she was diagnosed. When she was diagnosed with HIV in the 1990s, she thought she had been handed a death sentence (as did many HIV/AIDS victims in the '90s). Life Partners agreed to buy her $150,000 life insurance policy for $90,000 and pay her combined health and life insurance premiums if she survived two years. When she died, Life Partners would collect the full value of the policy. Depending on when she died, Life Partners could've collected a profit of more than 60%. However, advances in medicine have significantly delayed the progression to AIDS from HIV. This patient has survived complication-free for 15 years. In short, Life Partners is losing money on this patient. Not surprisingly, the insurance company wants out of the deal. Perhaps they should've thought about this situation before trying to make a profit out of a patient's disease/death/desperation. As I have said many, many times before - there's a special place in Hell for insurance companies. Could it be Divine Intervention?

Politicking and Student Aid

Before delving into my rant, I'd like to take a moment to recognize the passing of an important woman - Mrs. Erma Byrd. Senator Robert Byrd has often recognized her as his "diamond" and rock behind his success. Although she shyed away from public eye, her dedication to West Virginia and her husband's endeavors never waivered. I remember very vividly being at Martin's Grocery store in my hometown when I was around 13 and seeing Senator and Mrs. Byrd shopping at our local store. They would stop and shake hands with other shoppers. West Virginia has lost a dear woman.

For my first political rant in a couple weeks, I'd like to focus on student aid (being as I am in the process of paying back my mountains of debt to the federal government). Anyone that has reared a child and sent him/her off to college understands the tragedy of financial aid. As with most things in life, the middle-class is left behind in the realm of financial aid. My two hard-working, ambitious parents placed me in the sphere of "loan only" financial aid. If they would've been less ambitious and hard-working, I would've qualified for grants. Nonetheless, that's over and done with. The problem now facing America's youth is the government's hands in the dishing out of financial aid. Most people are unaware that two months ago, Congress passed a bill cutting $13 billion of federal student loan aid - leaving many students in the dark. The GOP said they did it for tax cuts. That's a wonderful idea - let's dampen the future of millions of young Americans to save the upper 1% more money on their taxes. While many GOP leaders struggled to keep this out of the news, hundreds of financial aid offices at colleges and universities across the country took to a grass-roots type fight. They alerted all of their students of these cuts. The result was outrage at the cuts in student aid. In response to this, Congress is working a bill to calm the masses =- a bill that has taken three years to reach the House floor. House bill 221-199 was recently approved on GOP party-line which makes it easier to apply for finanical aid and places pressure on colleges/universities which consistently raise their tuition. Look, it can't be much easier to apply for aid - simply fill out the FAFSA! Thanks GOP! How about helping the students by cutting interest rates on student loans??? Dems asked for this and were denied and therefore voted against the bill. The federal student loan interest rates are scheduled to increase at the beginning of July. Fat load of good the GOP House did us students and future students.

First Day of the Rest of My Life

As I wrote earlier, I finished my clinical rotations over a week ago. I finished my practicum project this past week - all but the display board. Bored with my time, I started to think about the rest of my life - that is my life post-college. I figured the first step into the real world would to buy my own car. After Grafs informed me that my student loans could not be defered, I started to get a little depressed. I'd been eyeing a new car since last summer. I talked to several residents and decided to consolidate my loans (cheaper payment, longer payback period). Last week I test drove the Zephyr and was pretty disappointed in the car. It's advertised to be "miles ahead of Cadillac and Mercedes." Ha, I don't know who Lincoln thinks they're fooling - the Cadillac CTS blows the Zephyr out of the water. Last Wednesday I was driving around with my Mom and she insisted we look at Pontiacs. She and my sister were loyal Grand Prix drivers until my sister graduated to the CTS and my Mom to the Chrysler 300. Reluctant as I was, I allowed the salesman to tell me all about it. Then by chance they had this special edition model on the lot. It was pretty sweet - and it drove extremely well. I fell in love. When I got home I decided I was going to buy the car. A close friend found me a black special edition fully-loaded and had it delivered to me from Philadelphia (see above picture). I spent yesterday evening in at the garage playing with it. I will be the proud owner on Wednesday, April 5. My first NEW car, my first car loan, my first real-world purchase. I'm excited!!! :)