The Modern Prometheus
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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in the "The Modern Prometheus" journal:[<< Previous 20 entries]
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11:04 am
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Generic life update
Between internship and wedding planning, we've unsurprisingly been a bit busy. So far, internship's not too bad. I still get to go home by 5 unless I'm "short call", and even that sends me home around 6. First day of actual call will be Sunday, 8am-6pm shift. Even that's not too bad -- our inpatient unit looks like it'll either be full or have one bed free (maybe two; we have at least three manic patients who are likely to impulsively leave the hospital). So, two admissions plus a bunch of consults is the worst I could be doing over ten hours; I can live with that.
Wedding planning also progressingly, slowly. Site reserved, registry complete, website up, invites in progress, hotel almost figured out, caterer in progress but annoying. DJ, photos, flowers, cake still not considered. ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) tepui and burghbadger, we strongly recommend you consider eloping.
Seattle continues to be excellent. We have had none of the torrential rain or baking heat that is apparently bothering the rest of the nation. It's about 70 degrees, almost always sunny, and there are many tasty plants starting to grow. Our neighborhood also had a lot of fruit, namely the Seattle gay pride festival, which consumed last weekend. Generally enjoyable, although (A) often overpriced and (B) seriously over-commercialized. They moved the parade Downtown a few years back, and I think this is maybe when the cool floats started being overshadowed by lame corporate and politician entries. I don't think we'll bother with the parade next year.
Today is a holiday for me (yay, lazy specialty) so I get to catch up on reading and some data analyses. Evening is for caterer discussions, possible Costco run, hotel investigation, and grilling some of the stuff from the farmshare. Saturday is blissfully unstructured except for a resident BBQ. Life is good!
Current Mood:  working
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08:09 pm
![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/28149948/2439717) [Link] | An hour ago, a parade of lesbians marched past my front door.
Now, we are drinking $4 Red Hook and listening to "Seattle's only transgender 80s cover band".
I love this town.
Current Mood:  drunk
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05:06 pm
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The Internet is for...
The official guide to What To Do In Residency is the "UWMC PRON".
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02:10 pm
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Pop quiz
You are investigating wedding venues. The facility coordinator tells you that she thinks it'd be better if your event finished before the party one floor below begins, because she's worried about that party causing too much noise. When asked what exactly is one floor down, you are told "it's a zombie film festival".
This is:
A. Bad, and should eliminate the venue from consideration.
B. Tolerable if they cut you a discount.
C. Sufficiently negligible to not matter.
D. A reason to pay a higher fee just to be able to have your wedding next door to zombies.
E. Braaaaaaaaaaiiiinnnnnsssss.
Current Mood:  braaiiinnns
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06:48 am
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Weekend update
Very good weekend. We have FINALLY gotten all our boxes unpacked, and freecycle is an excellent method for getting used moving supplies out of one's house. We also:
- Had dinner with my former research advisor and her (adorable) kids.
- Wandered around two potential wedding sites and identified a couple others to call.
- Had some excellent (if expensive) cupcakes.
- Taste-tested yet another potential caterer. They're getting better. Two more to go.
- Climbed up Mount Si, a short but serious hike (4 miles long, 3400 feet of elevation).
- Had cherry pie and coffee at the diner from Twin Peaks.
One week until real work starts. Need to get moving on that "official" blog, plus finish up various small tasks (licensing!) that will be kind of tricky once I start keeping real hours.
Current Mood: accomplished
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10:25 am
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We has an Internet!
Well, it took two weeks, but we finally have DSL and are once again living the high-speed life. Our apartment is about 75-80% unpacked and set up; what we have left are all the boxes of books, pictures, etc., which will hopefully be done by the end of the weekend. The main problem was shelves -- we didn't have any, because we sold them before leaving Pittsburgh. I have now succeeded in hunting down enough bookshelves via craigslist, and as of last night, we've got them all set up and mostly put wherever we want them.
Aside from still being slightly immersed in clutter, life remains pretty awesome. The weather is still sunny, cool, and beautiful. Our neighborhood is filled with interestingly tatooed/pierced people, most of whom do not wander down the street shouting random incomprehensible statements[1]. We've sampled one happy hour and the farmers' market that exists on Sunday three blocks from us, and were very pleased with both.
Wedding planning has, slowly, begun. We're hunting for a venue that's got the right amount of natural beauty and that'll let us bring in our own caterer. Hunt for that caterer is also happening, although second priority. I'd like to say we'll have a venue figured out before I start internship in a week. I don't know that this is a realistic hope.
Other stuff ongoing or eventful in my half of our combined life:
- Am converging to something resembling a research project, or at least, now have some data and a mission to analyze them.
- Had lunch and got reacquainted with fws.
- Dinner plans this Friday with old thesis advisor.
- Finally have a local bank account, no longer dependent on grocery store cash-back.
- Discovering that residency may mean long hours, but also means Benefits. As in, life insurance, retirement savings, untaxed health insurance (until Max Baucus gets his claws into them), and 15% off our now-combined mobile phone bill. Yay, benefits.
- Have already gotten one parking ticket due to failure to comprehend neighborhood parking rules. Also have gotten one anonymous note on windshield saying "Wooo! Pittsburgh yinzers!". Possibly balances out.
- Signed up for farm share, first delivery on Monday. Feel very smug.
- Still do not have drivers' license, WA plates, permanent parking permit, or renters' insurance policy. Work in progress.
The process of settling onself in a new city remains a pain in the rear, but still a zero-regrets thing; absolutely loving it here.
[1] I'm still trying to decide what, as a psychiatrist-in-training, I should do when I encounter an obviously schizophrenic person in the community. It apears that the answer is "nothing, unless he's visibly a danger to himself or others".
Current Mood: working
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09:32 am
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Moved in!
Movers have come, movers have gone, apartment is full of boxes. However, we have a Bed, and it is comfy. And we have two little kitty cats who are not allowed on the bed, and we have a place to keep wine. We still need to get bookcases for all our books, and we still need a desk for the computer. We also need to get rid of all these [bleep]ing boxes.
It nevertheless feels a lot more like home. Next step is to deal with basic utilities. Bank accounts applied for, parking permit temporarily obtained, but we need Internets (currently Bluetoothing it over slow GPRS), WA state drivers' licenses, state plates for the car, and license tags for the kitties.
We also need to figure out the recycling. It is seriously cool recycling. All kinds of plastic, all paper/cardboard/paperboard, glass, but also takes yard/food waste, including food-soiled paper. However, am still confused about which goes in what bin, about certain special cases (is cat litter considered compostable?), and what to do when you have acres of cardboard boxes that don't fit in your curbside bin. Still, I cannot stress enough how sweet it is to just have all of this literally in our back alley, and thus not to have to accumulate piles to be taken out to Construction Junction.
And now, boxes!
Current Mood:  happy
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05:04 pm
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Status update
Sorry, had to clear the travelogue out of the queue first. We've made it and have found an apartment, in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. Great place, walkable to everything, nice hardwood floors, might even have enough space for all our Stuff. Movers arrive tomorrow, I officially start "work" on Monday (three weeks of research goof-around time before real work), and Jennifer's job interview process is going well.
Biggest problem we're facing right now is food/drink. Namely, too much of it. There are tons of tasty things in our neighborhood, and there is alcohol everywhere. We're going to have to figure out a way not to gain another ten pounds (on top of what I, at least, have already put on by eating poorly and not exercising well during the course of our move).
Current Mood: hungry
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05:02 pm
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Travel Log
We made it in to Seattle on Monday, and have been apartment-hunting since then while crashing with wanderinggeek. More on that to come. In the meantime, a quickie travelogue of the past week's adventures( ,cut for space. )
Some general notes I've learned from this:
- Driving with cats is remarkably non-stressful, and would happily do again. Much easier than dogs.
- Driving in the West is much more fun than the East. Straighter roads, higher speed limits, better views, fewer troopers.
- RoadFood has different tastes than I do. Few of the meals they steered us to were bad, but they just weren't up to the level of flavor I expect from a truly high-quality burger/taco/etc. stand. I don't think I'd bother with them a second time.
- This is definitely a lot more fun than doing it via U-Haul. The mover is not cheap, but the stress being saved and the semi-vacation we had along the way was well worth it.
- Portable GPS units, particularly when combined with a smartphone, are quite possibly the best road trip tool ever.
Current Mood:  relaxed
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10:03 pm
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General India musings
I'm finally getting around to posting the final thoughts about the India trip -- the moving has just been a whirlwind of packing, and graduation's also kept me hopping. They feel a little stale now that I've been back for two weeks, but the insight's still there. There's also some more professionally-oriented reflections up at the main blog.
As you can tell from the tenor of earlier posts, I was pretty well Sick Of India by the time I finally left. I'm not in any way sad that I went, but I was definitely glad to be back. The problem is basically one of lack of anchor point, i.e. nobody to really talk to on a day-to-day basis. There was definitely some outreach, but the problem is, how do you say to someone "your culture is getting on my nerves"? (I am told that the last "white person" there, who was there for a whole year, spent a lot of evenings over at the school principal's house in order to feel like she had a family.) Of course, I also constantly felt guilty for missing home -- it's hard to feel justified in wanting Western comforts when everyone around you is poor.
Anyway, some parting thoughts of likes and dislikes about the country as a whole; work-oriented likes/dislikes are over at the public blog.
Likes:
- Natural beauty. Some of the places there (Mount Abu being the best example I visited) are nothing short of stunning. A mostly-rural country means that you're constantly near wilderness that would rival any US National Park. It's one of the reasons I took the train so much -- I love just staring out the window at the hills and ruins.
- Monuments and history. Forget the Taj, which everyone knows. Go look at the photos of Amber or Golconda. Not many places have sites like that AND let you just wander around them as you please without (much) hassle.
- Food. OK, the school canteen left a lot to be desired, particularly in the dal department. Aside from that, though, you simply cannot get a cup of tea or a samosa in the US that tastes anything like what you get at any roadside stall. That doesn't begin to touch on the restaurants, or my relatives' cooking. There's a reason our family visits always revolve around food.
- Color. India really can be very beautiful. There's every shade of the rainbow always on display, whether for commerce or for the home. Even poor women have multicolored saris and a bit of jewelry to add to them.
- Kids. There's children everywhere, especially at the school. Mornings were probably my favorite time of the day. I'd wake up to the sound of peacocks, walk to work among packs of schoolkids, and start my day to the sights and sounds of the whole school singing the national anthem. There's just something very energy-giving about having that many kids around.
Dislikes:
- Mind-boggling laziness and minimal-effort culture (what could be called the "babu" mentality). This is items #1 through 10 inclusive on my top ten list of things that drive me nuts about India. Even people with professional degrees from good schools cannot be relied upon to do basic things such as provide a monthly progress report, follow up when there's uncertainty/inconsistency, or even occasionally put work ahead of food. Of course, this interacts with my own nature as an obsessive perfectionist, in less than optimal ways.
- Trash/filth. OK, there's no modern sewage or trash collection system. That's fine. Not their fault. But it's no excuse for the idea that crisp packets should always just be dropped on the ground. It is doubly no excuse for leaving garbage all over the aforementioned monuments. The callous disregard for communal property really surprises me, for such an otherwise collectivist culture.
- Predatory commercialism. "Caveat emptor" doesn't even begin to describe it. It's definitely worse for people with lighter skin, but I get the sense that natives are also beset by touts, hawkers, and outright scamsters. I think this is one of the reasons I got so tired of the place -- just a simple walk down the street was an exercise in mental self-defense and vigilance. Pushy salespeople or purveyors of overpriced low-quality goods are both tolerable by themselves, but there's a terrible synergy between the two. (This is the other thing that really detracts from the monuments.)
- General institutional hostility for strangers. What I mean here is that there are basically no posted guidelines for anything. There's no way to find a central map of bus routes in a given city, or a comprehensive listing of accomodations in a popular tourist spot, or even a basic explanation of how train/air travel works. You're expected to just go and bumble along and keep asking your neighbor, which really puts the average tourist in the path of the preceding point. This again strikes me as odd, because it's overall a very warm and friendly (sometimes too friendly) culture. (That may be the problem -- a sign might be considered too impersonal.)
Basically, it's not the country for you if you're a Type A person who prefers to deal with computers and books as opposed to going through humans. (You should still visit, though, for all the reasons above.)
Current Mood: tired
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06:32 pm
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Braaaaaaaaiiiinnnsssss...
2009.04.24 Brains Cooking at Engagement Party.jpg
Originally uploaded by mdrnprometheus.
One of the more, er, interesting photos from my India trip. The buffet stations at a very nice party, where one of the things on offer was lamb brains, cooked to order. Not making this up. Take a look at the close up; they don't hide what they're serving.
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01:33 pm
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[Pgh] Kaya on Friday?
I'm back, the weather's warm, and I require animals to be sacrificed to my hunger. Anyone interested in Kaya happy hour on Friday? (beeporama, I can give you a ride if need be, since you're kind of transport-limited.)
Current Mood: hungry
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05:43 pm
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Going home
Posting from the lounge in Zurich. Swiss keyboards are strange. More about India to follow, but this is not far from how I've been feeling...
Current Mood: relaxed
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06:23 am
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nom nom nom
I have packed up my things and am lounging in A/C luxury in Jaipur, meaning that it's now about one week until I reach Pittsburgh at long last (and, most importantly, get to see jennifermuppet again). There'll be another post about my love/hate relationship with India, but suffice it to say that I am wicked homesick at this point, and as of about two weeks ago have Seriously Had Enough Of India Dammit. (Although I do at least feel guilty about it, see the main India blog for that.)
On the bright side, I have been entertaining myself with daydreams of things I intend to eat when I get home. I have basically two weeks -- I get home on 30th April and graduation weekend kicks off on 16th May. (As jennifermuppet has repeatedly pointed out to me, I probably could have timed this a lot better.) Nevertheless, here's the list, in vaguely descending order of importance. If you'd like to join me in partaking of any of these, drop me a line and we'll make a lunch/dinner date.
- Chicago dog and a nice beer at D's.
- Primanti's sandwich.
- South Side Steaks cheese steak, Wiz wit' onions, peppers (n'at).
- O Fries.
- Nachos from the ever-shifting Mexican place on Forbes in Oakland (was Pollo Rey, then Madonna M, is presumably still Veracruz). Best nachos I've ever had, assuming they'll do them with proper cheese and not sauce-in-a-can.
- Dave & Andy's ice cream. Works well with most of the above, location-wise.
- Pretzel (sandwich optional) from the Pretzel Shop on the South Side.
- Kaya Burger. (dorothymonkey,beeporama, et al., let me know if happy hour on 1st May or 8th May is of any interest. Or if you'll even be back from Nawlins yet.)
Yeah, it'll put a few pounds on me, but I've definitely dropped a few being out here in the middle of nowhere (the all-vegetarian diet and bland/watery food will do that). I've earned it, right?
Current Mood: hungry
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09:00 am
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Hitting close to home
Pittsburgh, for those who don't know, currently has a measles outbreak. The source? A seven-year old kid from India.
I think we just found the justification for spending three months out in the desert trying to improve vaccinations...
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09:07 am
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You thought your school was bad?
Girl dies after allegedly being made to stand outside in sun as punishment
My comments about the state of primary/secondary education in India would fill a small book. It ain't good.
Current Mood:  angry
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06:04 pm
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Talk about family pressure
One family, 140 doctors
If you didn't believe me about the influence of family in India...
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01:09 pm
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Compare and contrast
So, which country is more screwed up:
One where an infertile mom drugs her daughter because she wants the daughter to get pregnant by the mom's boyfriend
or
one where a man repeatedly rapes his daughter over the course of nine years because he believes it'll bring the family wealth
?
[sigh] shmike95, I think it's your line.
Current Mood:  sad
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05:22 pm
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[sigh]
Today, I had to learn the Hindi for "Today some person has gone into my room and stolen something." And we were doing so well, too.
Only a banana and some biscuits, likely stolen by one of the gaggle of teenage girls who inhabit the same building. But, it means that "Don't mess with the foreigner" respect is now gone and I need to start acting like I'm back in the city if I don't want to start losing important things. I was enjoying the "simple country life" part of things, and I'm sad to have lost it.
Only three more weeks before I get to leave this particular environment behind...
Current Mood: sad
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08:39 pm
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panoramas
Very quickly: I have been working on making some panoramic images of the local scenery. I've finally gotten one the way I like it. Now what do I do with it? The damn thing isn't exactly formatted to display properly on flickr...
Current Mood: tired
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