Behind the White Coat

Shabu Shabu

Ah yes... I did forget to mention our epic trip to eat Shabu Shabu at Shabu Tatsu, on 10th st between 1st and 2nd... Japanese thin sliced beef that you cook in a hot pot at your table, with noodles, vegetables, etc... It was damn good.  Of course there was like 10 of us desis sitting at a table, among all the other civil asians and white folk.. Needless to say a few bottles of sake and several giant Saporros later we riled up a little storm.  With the sole white man sitting at the head, and one side all Indian, the other side all Paki, it was almost like some new generation Kashmir peace talks.  Though instead of fighting, we just ate and drank and every so often we screamed out "Shabu Shabu!"  Eventually we were so loud, we were "politely" given our check and asked to leave....  Nevertheless, it was good, and I think I shall return....

Two more days of research... And back to a normal life.  I actually am looking foward to resuming regular hours int he hospital. Making your own hours can suck the life out of you sometimes.  I guess I am the type of person who needs to keep themselves busy, and have a strong reason to get my ass up in the morning.  The days I have no set "plan" I find myself procrastinating away the hours.  Plus I hopefully I'll have some more interesting stories to tell, unlike this bleak month which was just eating, partying, and nyc'ing... Though nothing wrong with that either!

By the way, if anyone wants to take me to dinner to Per Se, I am accepting invitations...

Cheers!

Shabu Shabu!!!!!!

I'm back

Wow that was a long hiatus... And it is not like I didnt even have time to write, in fact I had lots of time, I am on a freakin research month!  Anyway... My friend has been visiting, and staying at my place (it wasn't even planned, he called me last Sat morning saying he was coming over because his plan A fell through).  Anyway, "Frenchie" as we call him was a prelim with us last year, and now resides at Stanford.  So basically the last week has been going out almost every night, and attempting to do some work in between.  I am scared to look at my bank account, I think we went out everyday since last Thursday!

Last weekend was Talvin Singh's performance at summerstage.  He only spun for maybe 1 hr, and the act also included this band The Outernational, which had maybe a few decent songs... By far the best part of that band was that one of the main guys was a Sikh trumpet player, full turban and all, flanked by the guitarists and the drummer.  Other than that there was nothin else exciting on stage.  We had a great time though, a good spot camped out, ran into a lot of people, and had a good time in the sun. 

The rest of the week was a mix of restaurants, lounges, and clubs.  We managed to find somethin to do everynight surprisngly.  Last Saturday was Thor in the LES, Monday was 230 Fifth and Cielo, Tuesday was dollar beers at Waterloo and then Bed, Wed was Le Souk, Thurs was Home and Lotus, Fri was Gansevoort and PM.  Quite a hectic schedule, but one must take advantage of free time I say... It also reiterated how much better going out on weekdays is in NYC than is weekends, no hassle with all those B&T kids and hoardes of people.  Saturday finally was my day off from the madness.  Frenchie showed up at 11am at my apt, after dissapearing half the night, (with a girl) but he was alive and quite happy as I sent him out to JFK back to SF.  I think I'll take next week off...

One more week of my big research month.... Despite my free time, I did get a lot done... Gotta crack it down now and try to be productive enough to have something enticing to discuss during my interviews... But what can you really do in a month's research?? It's all a farse, mostly luck, and timing in order to get something done, sent, and published... Ahh feels like I was applying to residency just yesterday, now I gotta repeat the whole thing.  How painful.  Anyway, I am quite bored not being in the clinical setting, and kinda miss being busy in the hospital.. I will look forward to returning to the busy life in a way... I guess that shows I at least like what I do.

Now I forget the story I was supposed to tell... But it will come to me....

Heat Wave

So I finished my epic month at Jacobi.  Despite the busy call days, inefficiency, and volume, it was an experience.  I handed over 24 patients to my fellow resident when I left... Ouch.  Only one of my patients is still on the service from what I hear--The 700 pound 25 year old gentleman who came in for back pain after falling off his "custom made wheelchair", which broke....  Can you imagine being that big? He wouldn't fit on any of the scanners or xray machines, so we actually tried to get him over to the Bronx Zoo to get a CT scan (they are built for big heavy animals so can handle the excess weight), but they said they do not do that anymore... But yes, we occasionally used to send overly obese patients to the Zoo for a CT if they needed one, but alas, no more.  So all we can do is pump him full of oral morphine until his pain goes away, and attempt to give him rehab.   He is still chilling waiting for placement in a bariatric nursing home, and awaiting evaluation for bariatric surgery...

Now I have been on a week of research month... So far nothing spectacular has gotten off the ground, so I have basically been not so busy, and been trying to utilize my free time. We are also at the tail end of a viscious heat wave.  It has been painful, temperatures have been soaring into the low 100's, and it has been humid as well.  It is literally like hell outside.  I have to take a shower after I get my mail or take out the garbage.  The worst is when I have to use my car after it has been sitting in the sun for a few hours, I feel like I am in a sauna and my hands burn when I touch the wheel.  The city is telling us to conserve power by keeping our indoor temps at 78 degrees, and minimizing use of the A/C.  Me for one, I love my A/C.  That shit is going to stay on as long as I am home.  If you want to save some power, why not shut down the damn lights in Times Square!  Now that is a waste of energy!!  I even heard midtown east lost power for a while last night, that must have been 'torcher'.  I do feel bad for those with none though, it is sweltering in some of those homes.  I had every single patient show up for clinic this week, likely because we have a nice air conditioned waiting room.   Anyway, I am praying for a nice rain storm soon to bring down these horrid temps.