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This is the first time I have felt old on my birthday.

posted by dinah 12:07 PM

United



There's is finally a good reason for gaining weight--that of being able to donate blood. You must be at least 110 lbs.

Robin and I went to the south Tx Blood Bank today and met a 4 hour line. After waiting an hour and a half, a worker told us that they had a lot of reserves now, but that it would be better for us to return in 2 days or more. People had waited to donate blood till 2 am last night and phlebotomist and screeners could not keep up with the flood of donors who had come to do their part today. On the radio, they had recommended that donors go to different stations if possible.

Units of blood last 21 days at the most. The worker had added privately that it would be nice if people came to donate at other times of the year as well. How true.

But nonetheless, Americans are awesome. When it comes to things that matter, we really pull through for eachother.
I'm wondering if even criminals or would-be criminals have hesitated to commit crime in the aftermath of this terror. Have American people who have sought revenge against another (except those responsible for Tuesday's crime) decided to postpone their acts? Have there been momentary halts of stealing, killing, cheating, & adultery in America? For myself, I feel like I need to rethink every bad thought and make things right.

posted by dinah 7:52 PM

I don't think we'll be going home today . . .

posted by dinah 1:10 PM

I can't believe what's going on--my eyes are practically glued to the TV set. Usually, I feel so far removed by events like this because they're isolated, but this is scary. I can hear the terror in the newscasters voices who are near the World Trade Center. Just a while ago, before he was evacuated, a NBC correspondent said that "[he] didn't want to alarm anyone" but there might have been an explosion at the Pentagon. Surely enough there was. He "felt the building shake and the windows rattle." I'm praying for those in NY and Wa DC now. I have this big ball of anxiety in my chest b/c I have friends who are interns at the nearby NY hospitals and even a relative who lives near the Empire State bldg.

posted by dinah 9:24 AM

Stuck

I can't wait to go home. I'm so completely bored, but yet I have so much to do . . .such as study.

I just came back from a Geriatrics conference and feel a little shaken about medicine. I sat next to an internist who has been in practice for 20 plus years. He asked me why I was going into medicine because he's getting out. When I asked him what he was going to do, he said he might go into the chocolate business with a friend of his.

I am not even "there" yet and already, I'm not so sure I want to do this anymore.

One session a lawyer spoke to us about lawsuits and statutes and how to TRY NOT to get sued. The guy next to me added that every doctor gets sued at least twice in her/his lifetime.



Geriatricians seem to have fun though. This picture was taken at a Saturday night "Sundown" party hosted by the Pfizer Pharmaceuticals. Doctors, nurses, and guests were running all over the place spraying streamers on one another. The three other medical students and myself were laughing at what the waiters might have thought. "These are doctors????"


Mural at Fortworth.

posted by dinah 3:13 PM

Yet another

I've been doing a lot of road tripping lately which made me wonder about why when you're in a hurry to get somewhere, SLOW people always get in front of you! There is a sign on the highway that says,"Don't slow Texas down . . .SLOW traffic use right lane . . .Look at your rearview mirror." I should take a pic of it next time. Anyhow, my husband thought of a sign to paste on our winshied that would be backwards much like how "ambulance" is on well, ambulances. It would read:
If you can read this, then get the hell out of the way!

I am amazed at how road ragey even I can get on the highway. Sometimes I feel like the person next to me is racing with me and so I'll speed up. At times, I have even squirted people with winshield wiper cleaner (You must drive in front of the offending car at high speed and turn on your winshield wiper fluid). Sometimes, when I catch myself acting that way, I laugh and try to be "the better person" by slowing down. It's really immature, but it's funny how we all think we're the best drivers out there.

Here's my new thing

If it's raining and you can't see the car in front of you, that means the cars behind you can't see you either. I suggest turning on your hazard lights which will soon start a trend among the cars surrounding you. Even if your headlights are on, during the day, the rear lights are too dim to see. Anyway it worked on this current road trip when it started pouring so excessively that our windshield wipers were practically worthless. We could only see the car in front of us when the driver stepped on his breaks (big no-no when it's slick!). Some of the 18 wheelers had their hazard lights on so we followed suit and soon, so did everyone else around us.

posted by dinah 12:39 AM