For those irritating feminine problems...

Pulled from WalMart Canada's website, which can be found here. I'm not sure what those women have got going on up there to need this, but I'm not sure I want to know either. Apparently, when they say extra strength, they aren't screwing around.



Thanks to Ray Ray for the tip ;)

NOBama!

I don't know where I saw that word, but it's very fitting for this post. I'm going to try not to go off on a rant, but it's about time that America gets off it's blind "we need a change" horse and comes to grip with reality. Obama constantly says that he wants to lower taxes for 95% of the population (those making less than $250,000/year). What he really means though is he wants the top 5% to pay the way for the bottom 95%. I cannot possibly wrap my head around how anyone thinks this is a good idea. I don't have nearly as much money as some people, but I don't go up to them and ask them to give it to me! Why should those people who work hard and are successful have to work even harder to support everyone else? And, there are plenty of small business owners out there who busted their ass to make $250,000/year, to try to live "the American dream." Now, because they have successfully done that, you're going to take it away from them? Recently, Obama made the infuriating remark that the country should "spread the wealth around." No, Robin Hood, we should not! I must have missed the point at which the US turned into a socialist nation. If it hasn't yet, it certainly will under an Obama presidency (the possibility of which makes me cringe). Maybe the unconditional meetings that Obama plans to have with Kim Jong Il and Hugo Chavez are not a bad idea, as they'll be able to give him economic advice.

Class Picture

Well it's taken me 4 semester to finally get ahold of the picture we took right after anatomy lab, in first semester, but here it is. Can you find me? Hint: I'm towards the bottom right. Clicking the picture will open a larger size.

just a thought...

Lal's Indian

I'm sure I've mentioned before that Lal's has the best Indian food on the island. I have been to three others, and none came close. Maybe it's just because Lal's makes the food so spicy that you can barely taste it (but only if you ask them), but it's just delicious. Anyway, I figured I'd post a picture (with handy captions) so people know what the place looks like. Unfortunately for me, they have decided to close for two months, so won't be open until the end of October.

Speaking of places being closed, what's up with Tijuana and Jimbo's both being closed STILL...for over a month! All we wanted last night was some decent Mexican food, and it was nowhere to be found. I sure hope they open back soon. I have no idea why places here close for over a month at a time.

Sonesta Maho Fire?? (probably not)

On my way to Matt and Geneva's birthday party today, there were 2 fire trucks parked outside of the Sonesta, which is basically the entire fire department for this half of the dutch side! Didn't see much of anything else going on, but I passed another two fire department pick-up trucks, two police cars, and another very odd looking fire truck which I'd never seen before (second picture below). I have no idea what it's carrying on the back of it, but it didn't look like anything you use to put out fires. The fire department here has very strange fire helmets! When I drove back from the party, the fire trucks were gone and the building was still standing, so I guess it wasn't anything that big.

Post-block update

After the first block exam of 4th semester, I think it's safe to say that I am comfortably on my way to 5th semester, and then on to clinicals. I made a couple of stupid mistakes on the path exam, but I was still only 1 question from an A (and I may get that point back). And, although I heard that the neuro exam would be very difficult, I did not find that to be the case at all and got a mid A. It was not necessarily easy, but it was not nearly as tricky as some people made it sound like it would be. The test required a decent understanding of the notes, but everything tested was in the notes somewhere. The average was around an 80, which is pretty much standard, so most people did well. For now, I think I'll enjoy one more day of minimal studying before I really get back to it tomorrow, and make some dinner!

AUC Facilities Improvement Committee

Recently, I was asked by the SGA president to serve as a student representative (along with one of my classmates) to the facilities improvement committee, along with a couple of the deans and heads of departments. We had the meeting today and I am happy to report that the faculty shares many of the same concerns as the students, and they supported nearly every change that we proposed (and we had over a page of them). The big ones included building a new lecture hall, improving our current lecture halls by upgrading AV equipment and replacing the chairs with desks, increasing individual and group study space, and continuing to build up the IT infrastructure, among many many other suggestions.

The most important thing, which is yet to be seen, is how much of this will get done and how long it will take. But, you have to start somewhere, and having the students and faculty in agreement about what needs to change is a good place to start. Also, AUC has undergone many changes recently, some of which have been pretty costly. So, it is at least nice to see that the administration is taking an interest and thing are changing for the better. A couple of semesters ago, I would not have believed that the progress that has recently been made would have ever been made, and much more seems to be coming. Even though I probably won't be around to see most of the changes, they should help to further improve the quality of students and graduates at AUC, which winds up helping everyone. If you have any specific questions about what happened or if we discussed something that's important to you, feel free to ask.

Block approaches...

I'm really struggling for something interesting to write today, but not that much is coming to me! Really, until Monday, it's just a lot of studying going on here. I did try a new Indian food place tonight in Cole Bay (sorry, can't remember the name). I heard that it was really good but while it wasn't bad, it wasn't great either. I still think that Lal's is the best indian on the island, and I'll be very happy when they return from their 2 month hiatus! Fortunately though, it is now October, so most of the businesses that close for the month of September (which is a good number of them) will be reopening very shortly.

I can't believe that it's already been a month since the first semester bus tour, when we discovered that the amazing bakery in Marigot is among the places that take a month vacation. I still haven't figured out why places close completely for a month, instead of just giving their employees staggered vacations (like everywhere in the US), and not losing a month of business. But, this was the last September that I'll be spending on the island, so I'll never have to worry about it again! For now though, back to studying...

Happy Jewish New Years!

My sister sent me this, I thought it was funny:

Note: No, I am still not any more Jewish than I am Catholic, but this made me laugh