Frantic Fissures

It's 2 AM in the hospital, and I realize that I am only 4.5 weeks away from finishing my intern year. One 365-day block of my precious 20-something years, given to a pediatric residency. It's a sacrifice, an austerity that continues to induce "oooh" and "awww" and "my poor baby" filled conversations with my parents. My eyelids are heavy from my picnic-less Memorial holiday, and my clogged feet drag from the admissions that I know lie in the 5.5 hours I have left.

So many thoughts plague run along my cerebral fissures: Have I really learned anything? Will the new interns school me with their knowledge and questions? Do I have the stamina for a rigorous ICU filled second year of residency? How ingenious am I to have Top Spice delivered for dinner today?

I can only act and refrain from too much thought (albeit thought during an hospital admsision warrants some merit).

I must brush my teeth to rid my enamel of the thai spices that cling to my incisors.

I must blog on call.

I must get to the theatre and watch Shrek 3.

I must devour dosas Bhima-style tonight at All-You-Can-Eat dosa night.

I think I'm slightly delirious.

Happy Birthday Dr. Wolf. Did you know that the Sears Tower was built the year he was born???

And the pager goes OFF!

Fervor for Fiesta

Among other things on my return visit home to H-town, I went grocery shopping with my parents at Fiesta. I love Fiesta. It's definitely an experience that is unique to living in Houston (and Dallas I think?), and I definitely miss having it in Atlanta. At the location near the medical center, which I would frequently visit as a med student, they sell soft serve outside to the left of the entrace and to the right of the entrance you can buy luggage of all colors and sizes from this makeshift luggage market (that kind of reminds of me of India ). As you enter the main entrance, you're greeted by the "fine" jewelery/ watch/repair/ cell phone service area. I think I remember someone in our med school class trying to get their watch repaired there once. Not sure if they were successful.

The right side of the grocery store is where the money is at! They have a fresh selection of fruit and vegetables that will make you salivate.

During this particular trip to Fiesta at a different location, I noticed something that made me giggle. There's specifically a "mexican foods" isle at the local Fiesta foodmarket. I wonder what they think the rest of the isles should be categorized as?

Anyhoo, we walked away with a cart full of fresh oranges, papayas, pineapple, strawberries, grapes, asparagus, tomatoes... and more! LOVE IT! And I love being home.

Super User, Super Hero

It was a super hero kind of day for me as the super hero theme of this week continues. I have signed up to be a Super User - our medical record is going electronic on May 15th, and the hospital has recruited physicians to receive extra training to help ease the transition from paper to electronic. Today was my first Super User class.

Now, to be honest with you, I didn't really feel like I was being treated as you might think a Super User ought to be treated. There's a scene in Spiderman 3 where Spiderman gets a parade with balloons, floats and a marching band. As I walked into the drab, grey computer training room yesterday evening, I wasn't expecting any confetti to collect in my hair, but for a four hour class, I was a wee bit disappointed in the Doritos they offered us as refreshments.

The subpar treatment continued when I decided to be a good friend and catch up with Ahila on the phone. I was explaining to her why I couldn't talk to her on the phone earlier since I was in class.

"Yeah, so our medical record is going electronic and I signed up to be an of expert in the online system - a Super User."

Laughter on the other line ensues.

"Ahila? Why are you laughing?!"

"Super User? Doesn't that strike you as being even a mildly amusing term?"

"Uhhhhh... maybe..."

So even my best friend apparently doesn't appreciate my Super Powers. Sigh. As I recall, even Spiderman felt underappreciated in the first two movies. So when Super User-3 comes out, and an alien symbiote enhances my Super User powers with an eventual man vs. self type of conflict, leading to the eventual conquer of the EpicWeb electronic medical record, I'll have the last laugh.

Spoken like a super-hero

Sometimes when I leave a movie theatre, I feel as though I'm assume the persona of the protagonist. If it's The Bourne Identidy I've finished viewing, I find my eyes jerking from side to side and I notice subtle movements in a crowd. If it's Legally Blonde, I find myself "bending and snapping" even just to pick up a dime I dropped on the pavement. If it's Shrek, it's a mix between being slightly cross and maybe a little gassy (yes, men, we females DO pass gas) and feeling proud of the many layers of my onion-like personality... and I don't even like onions.

It was no different after leaving Spiderman 3 yesterday afternoon. My feet, I felt were adhesive to the theatre carpet. My reflexes were sharper- I didn't even really bump into that many people on my way out. I felt more of a springyness in my knees.

Unfortunately, these heightened sensory afferent and efferent firings were not true for Brad Figler. You see, Brad lost his wallet after the show.

Luckily, he realized this before we got out the front door. He said, "I don't know where my wallet is. I don't know where the parking ticket is." Yasmin and I, however, remained calm, only for the sake of the distressed citizen. We turned around, fought exiting Spiderman traffic, and began the search for the wallet in the dark. Brad then got on all fours in the dark, with his caudal end sticking up in the air, searching for his elusive brown wallet.

This reminded me of earlier in the night, when he deliberately dropped some change on the floor for me to bend over pick up. Funny how karma works sometimes.

Brad searched and searched, and I offered my cell phone for lighting purposes. Brad caught on, and used his phone for lighting as well (luckily, he wasn't so slow as to not catch on). For awhile, he checked around the wrong seat. Yasmin directed him to the correct seat.

We couldn't find the wallet.

That's when the real Spiderman of the night came to our rescue.

But he wasn't a nerdy looking mathematician. Nor was he dressed in a tight blue and red uniform able to shoot webs from the heel of his hand. He was the nameless Regal Cinema Guy, yielding his powerful flashlight in hand with the power to illuminate even the most darkest of corners in the theatre to aid the innocent, helpless, not to mention absent-minded moviegoer (Brad Figler) return home safely with driver's lisence and credit card tucked away in his caudal end.

"Y'all missing something?" he said, as he swooped down from the side of the theatre, noticing Figler's rear end in the sky. For with a great, powerful flashlight, comes great responsibility.

It was amazing. With one swift flash of light erupting from Cinema Guy's powerful weapon, the wallet was found, snuggled in between the folded Regal chair. Oh, how Dr. Figler rejoiced! How his heart raced and swelled with gratitude for Cinema Guy's superhero-like presence! Yasmin, Brad and I couldn't thank Cinema Guy enough for his unbelievable kindess. In response, Cinema Guy said, "Sounds 'bout right. Sounds 'bout right. Sounds 'bout right." Ahhhh... the words of a true superhero.