Behind the White Coat

Halloween '06

Happy Halloween people! 
I was planning on getting myself down to the madness of the Halloween Parade in the village for another year; however, I am so exhausted, and I am on 27 hour call tomorrow, so I regretfully may have to pass.  It is actually a beautiful day in NYC a well, 64 degrees, and the setting sun and eerie clouds have produced a perfect orange and spooky halloween glow...  I am somewhat worn out from the weekend anyway.  My friend Manoj and I managed to get some last minute costumes together.  I tell you it is tough to choose a costume if you are a guy.  For girls, its easy.  You just think of some character, profession, animal, anything you can come up with--and go as the slutty version of that.   I saw some girls go almost over the top!  It was ridiculous (but hey, I aint complaining) .... 

Anyway, so I almost had to reproduce last year's costume, which was Ali-G (and I must say, I was a great Ali-G), and this year I opted to go as Pedro Sanchez.  The presidential candidate from Napoleon Dynamite. If you have not seen the movie, I highly recommend it....  It was quite a simple ensemble, and I just went around saying "Vote for Pedro", or "I'll make your wildest dreams come true" all night... Great stuff.  Manoj went as white-trash.  It was great, all you need is a mullet-wig, and some janky white-trash clothes from the boogie down Bronx (flannel a must), and a pack of Marlboro reds...  So we all went out Saturday night to a few of many halloween parties, and even had an extra hour because of the clocks movin back (lord knows we needed it).   I ended up losing my jacket (which I don't even remember taking off!!)  Though somehow I should not be surprised, as this is jacket #5 which I have lost in just as many years... On the bright side, I still got my phone :)

Check out some photos below... One of them (probably my costume for next year) is me wearing the mullet-wig and fake stache... Awesome.

 

HIV on Ego

If you are not easily bored, you can read my latest article on HIV for Ego Magazine at http://www.egothemag.com.  Less of a story and more of an informative piece than my last one, but I feel it is an important topic.  I'm sure someone will find some errors, and sorry for the lack of references.   I personally thought that the origins of the virus was kind of interesting....

Chief Residency?

am faced with a difficult decision in my life... I have recently been offered a chief residency position at my program.  A chief year in internal medicine is a 4th year position, so it would mean one extra year after residency.  It involves administrative work, teaching, and also being a leader and voice for the interns and residents.  There are usually 2 to 3 selected, depending on the size of the program.  It is quite a great honor, as it is offered to the residents who are highly regarded.  So in that sense, It feels pretty good, and I am thrilled that I was offered it!

One would think it's a no-brainer right?  Well about two months ago I would have said yes without a doubt.  In fact I have been kind of wanting the position from the start.  I feel I would be pretty good at it since I love teaching, and it's nice to be able to make a difference on the lives of new docs.  It definitely helps your application for fellowship as well.  But in the last two months, I have been working on my applications, expecting myself to apply, and have been in a different mindset, one of desire and anticipation to move on.  The real negative of the chief year, besides the annoying little things that must be handled, is that it is an extra year of your life.  On one side, what is another year after so much of training?  On the other hand, I am 28, and the last thing I really want is a whole year more on top of the 4 to 5 I have remaining in my training... That means I would be something like 33 or 34 when I finish my cardiology training!!

So I am faced with a dilemna.  I literally am torn between the two, recognizing the pros and cons... Today I almost decided to myself I would just apply.... But would I regret it?? I think I may if I don't take the job.  In the big picture, it does kind of suit me, and again, it is a great honor.  Besides, when your that old, does it really matter if you are 33 or 34? Probably not. 

Try this

I found this interesting puzzle the other day....

See if you can find the 3 differences between these two photos... You have too look extremely carefully!! Apparently only 1% of the population was able to get it....

http://members.home.nl/saen/Special/Zoeken.swf

My Landlord

So I get a voicemail on my phone yesterday from my landlord.  It went something like, "This message is for Mr. Haider [first of all, it's doctor you bitches...], we have not recieved your rent for August and September, and we were wondering when you were going to vacate the apartment, so that we may show it to other potential tentants to rent out.  Please call me back."   

Can you imagine?  This is the only message/letter or anything I recieved from these bastards.  I mean how arrogant and inappropriate can you be?  You would think after over a year of renting the apartment, they would give you a notifcation that the rent wasn't recieved??  I have direct deposit from the bank, so clearly there was some problem, but is this how you handle these problems?  I was shocked.  This is so not on.  I swear, if one of these days I  could meet the cheap-o piece of crap who owns this building.....

Anyway, I have no intention of leaving my apartment... Lord knows where I would go, or what I would find in short notice if that did actually happen.. Fact is my studio is actually nice and spacious for what I pay for the area I am in, so I am quite comfortable, despite the oh so hated owner....

On another note, I read this article today.  It is kind of pathetic and sad how uneducated and ignorant our nation's foreign policy diplomats are.  I love how Muslims are now seemingly assumed to be "the enemy".  Alas, what could possibly lay ahead for us.  Have a look.

Remembering the Quake

It has been a year now (plus a few days), though it feels much closer than that.  It was October 8th, 2005 at 8:50am Islamabad time.  The richter scale read 7.6 at the epicenter in the foothills of the Himalayas in Pakistan, near the border of Kashmir.  In an instant, a whole generation would be changed.  The death toll was in the range of 79,000 people, and the lives of countless more changed forever, and left homeless, which is estimated to be near 3 million people!!!!  The sad part was, so many of the dead were children at school, when cielings of stone and rock collapsed, crushing them.  I remember hearing about it over here, sitting in my apartment in safety, thinking of those who didn't fare so well.  The city of Islamabad shook, and the 20+ story building of Margalla towers collapsed, killing dozens of people.  That was a fraction of what was felt up north near Muzzafrabad and Balakot, where an entire civilization was flattened!  I remember going to Islamabad months later to one of the medical centers, still seeing the results and the injuries.  There was probably less people with injuries than expected, because most of those who were affected were killed.  The rest with severe crush injuries and amputations, not to mention the infections that were to follow.  Lets not forget the winter that came to those who were homeless, with no roof above them.  Bad times for good people....

Today, a year later, we don't see anymore stories in the paper, or see newscasts about it.  However, we are far from succeeding in our mission, which is to help those affected, rebuild homes, and reconstruct a civilization.  The next generation will be diminshed by the lives that were taken.  There is still so much more to do.  If you have already done so, which I hope you have, I urge you to donate again to the NGO and relief organizations... If you haven't as yet donated, your help will still change lives...

You can read more hands on accounts on my cousin's blog, who was in Islamabad, and directly involved with some of the efforts.

Here are some organizations to donate to:

http://www.edhifoundation.com/

http://www.directrelief.org/sections/our_work/southasia_earthquake.html

http://www.ri.org/

https://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_you_can_do/give_to_oxfam/donate/asian_quake.htm

SAIFF and Massive Attack

So I attended two events this past week.. The first was the opening day of the 3rd annual South Asian International Film Festival (SAIFF).  This year, they really tried to do it proper... The opening night was Wednesday.  They were screening the world premiere of "Hope and a Little Sugar" , which actually had an interesting synopsis, so I head out with a bunch of work friends (turns out it was just me with a bunch of girls).   The place was filled. There was a red carpet area with a backdrop where they were interviewing various people form the movie, in addition to some other South Asian "known people", though nobody super famous it seemed.  (I did recognize Salman from Junoon, he's aged).  Various media was in attendance including TV Asia, MTV Desi, and MTV Pakistan (Yes, they do exist).  The movie was to start at 8pm, but when does it ever start on time, especially when it's run by a bunch of desis? It wasn't bad at first, since everyone was mingling and chatting it up with familiar faces.  I even saw one of my attendings on a date!  So we socialized and waited... And waited... One hour later they said there were some techinical difficulties.  Hah!  This was in the Lincoln Square AMC theatres mind you, not some ghetto third rate cinema.  You would think they had their act together!  So they gave us all free popcorn and drinks as we continued to wait.  Needless to say, in the end, the movie never got screened.  We rushed to get refunds on our 25$ tickets, as everyone left in dismay around the same time the movie should have ended!  I feel bad for them, getting screwed on the opening night!  Especially for the people involved with the film, talk about a botched world premiere... Damn shame.  Does wonders for the South Asian stereotype though doesn't it?

Thursday night, a few of us attended the Massive Attack concert.  (The pictures from my phone suck, I know) I've never seen them live, but the show was quite off the hook!  At the tightly packed Roseland Ballroom, there must have been around at least 2 or 3 thousand heads in attendance, not to mention a huge eurotrash presence to hear the boys from Bristol.  But it was a great show.  They had a powerful presence with deep colors glowin the stage and a vivid blinding light show.  If you haven't heard their music, it is an electronic blend, sampling influence from hip hop, trip hop, rock, and reggae to name a few.  Often dark, but always passionate.  They incorporated their anti-Bush leftwing polictical stands as well, flashing things like costs and casualties from the Iraqi war on the digital scrolls behind the stage.  Of note, the Iraq war has costed something like 400 billion dollars thus far.  Wow.  Deal or no Deal?

So I'd have to say the Massive Attack Concert was way better than the SAIFF opener.  Though I have somewhat lost faith in their ability, I will make it a point to check out Sunday's films, which includes a few regarding Pakistan the some earthquake documentaries.... Should be interesting.  If it runs.