Tonight's Adventure

We decided we wanted sushi for dinner tonight, and since it's the weekend and we had a little more time, we'd walk a few blocks up to a real sushi place instead of just buying it at Whole Foods. We've been liking Shinju recently, but each time we tried to get take out, they would be packed and we'd have to wait 40 minutes outside for our food. So this time we were smart and decided to call our order in. We had neither their phone number nor their menu, but that's what the internet is for. So we quickly found them on MenuPages, menu and all! However, the page noted in all caps that Shinju is CLOSED. We checked their hours and they were supposed to still be open, so we called. Got a busy signal twice and I was starting to wonder if the line was disconnected when someone finally picked up. It was super noisy in the background and I couldn't hear what the girl said so I was still a little nervous that maybe this was no longer Shinju's number, so I hesitantly asked for my sushi order. No problem, rainbow roll with brown rice, definitely! Sushi success! 30 minute wait, just like I expected, so we hung out and then headed over.

It's a short walk straight up 9th st, and it wasn't too cold out. There were salt trucks out prepping the roads for the light rain we're supposed to get tomorrow -- excellent use of resources. We turn the corner onto Locust, walk the half block... and find a dark, boarded up Shinju. The interwebs were right, Shinju is CLOSED. Yet, hadn't I just called their number and ordered sushi from them? Maybe their had been a terrible tragedy, and now ghost of the former sushi chef was taking phantom orders when there is a half moon in the night sky. Or WORSE, maybe they had moved across town and our sushi order was waiting for us in Rittenhouse, farther than our cold hungry legs could take us.

::And now for the exciting conclusion to tonight's adventure!!!::

So after laughing for ourselves for a minute, I called back the number I had used to place the order and nonchalantly asked for their address. I held my breath... three blocks away! Score! Our night was saved.

In case you're curious, Shinju moved to a trendier location at 719 Walnut AND changed their named to Fat Salmon. Still good though, and we got twice the sashimi pieces we ordered for no extra charge! Worth the confusion.

THE END

Happy New Year

Supposedly this is my 400th post. (that might include drafts)

After a several month hiatus, I thought I'd pop in and drop an entry into the blogosphere. It has been a very busy winter, with non-stop traveling for interviewing and socializing. I can't complain about the socializing, but nonetheless I am excited that we have ZERO plans this upcoming weekend. We have so much free time -- maybe we will even take down the Christmas tree!

I do have a job this weekend though. I have to actually, finally, formally finish my Match List. And any time I reenter my list, Glen also has to reenter his list because of the lovely couple's match system. I haven't felt this stressed out in months. Can't someone just make it for me?

On top of that, the winter is really getting to me. We have gotten an all-time record amount of snow in Philly, mostly from two multi-foot storms we got back-to-back last week; the piles are still thigh-high. The roads are narrowed, missing lanes. Parking is atrocious. And, we're supposed to get more next week. Luckily, I only have one more week of driving in it, and I think my frustration level will go way down when I can go back to just myself sliding on the ice as I *walk* to work, instead of me and my several ton vehicle sliding as I drive.

One thing I wanted to brag about quickly -- I just cleaned out my inbox!!! Emails had been backing up since September 2008 when I started my surgery rotation. I reached a height of 750+ unread emails in my inbox, with thousands of total emails. I did some work on it a few months ago, and I've been hovering just below 200 unread emails and 1000 total emails, which I had come to think was pretty good. But tonight with nothing better to do and some nervous pre-Match energy, I have conquered the box and left myself with ZERO unread and just a couple dozen that need some sort of action. Now that I have this sweet feeling of accomplishment, I can head to sleep, hopefully to return to the blog sometime within a shorter time period than the last hiatus.

Happy 2010!!! An exciting year to come.

lose yourself

Oh! HERE'S my blog! I lost it for a while.

Things are rolling right along around here. I have a feeling that fourth year is going to go by very fast.

Today we signed up to have our senior photos (in graduation garb) taken... so that's basically the beginning of the end. The fun has begun though, with using interviews and board exams as excuse to crash with friends for weekends at a time. I'm going to try to enjoy this while it lasts :-)

Bring on the parties!

!

whose idea was it to take an 8 hour exam two days after a 9 hour exam?? well????

looking forward to being DONE tomorrow.

Redux

This time around, I hiccuped three or four times.
http://redheadmed.blogspot.com/2007/06/i-only-hiccupped-once.html

Let's go!

I have Step 2 (of 3) of the United States Medical Licensing Exam tomorrow. Nine hours of marathon testing fun.

When I took Step 1, it was this horrible annoying test that served as one final exam for the two hardest years of my educational life. It felt like a hoop I had to jump through. And I took it knowing there were two more parts after it!

This feels a little different. Step 2 is testing me on knowledge that I've already put to use on my clinical rotations, that I know the value of. Sure they love to test the rare stuff, but rare stuff does occasionally happen -- just in the past few months I've had a patient with neurofibromatosis and a patient with osteogenesis imperfecta. With Step 2, I don't find myself muttering that "I'm never going to need to know this."

And, now there's only one more of these tests in the sequence. And when I take that test, it lets me become a licensed physician -- that goal is actually in sight. So this feels less like a hoop and more like a step towards a goal.

...a nine hour, endurance marathon sort of step.

Oh yeah, and in between those two moments, this one.
(look for the rainbow)

after the storm.

storm.