Leshanah Tovah!

Had my first Rosh Hashanah celebration on Long Island with Brett's family. Lots and lots and lots of food. Still here digesting. We may try to come back out in a week for Yom Kippur as well, especially if we can make it to temple. I'm excited to do all the high holidays. :-) Oh and I had my first Gefilte Fish last night too! (Not as good as chopped liver.)

In other news, Momotaro has been at the vet's since this past Tuesday. He'd been limping for a couple days. We thought maybe he just twisted it while playing, but when it didn't get better, we decided to do something about it. We took him to the vet of the woman who runs the adoption agency. After a preliminary exam, the doctor suggested x-rays. He guessed it was a dislocated hip and a chronic problem, but to be sure and to determine treatment he'd need x-rays. So he stayed the night and the next morning they took x-rays. They discovered that it wasn't a dislocated hip but an old femural fracture. So while he was anesthetized, they took him into surgery. Cut off the top part of the bone, polished it down to fit in the socket, etc etc. He's been at the vet's ever since, on pain medication and antibiotics. Last I heard he was doing fine and already standing up, though not with his full weight on the leg. I'm glad we caught it, as it would be a chronic problem. (And don't worry, as a pre-existing condition, the adoption agency pays for all this.) I'm hopeful that when all this is over (they suspect the lump on his side happened at the same time that his leg was fractured and toe tendons broken, so they may inspect that when they neuter him, in case it's an intestine jutting through the abdominal wall or something), he'll be like a brand new kitty. All ready to run and jump and do all the kitten things he loves to do. I can't wait.

That's all for now. Happy New Year everyone!

Internet arrived

After a lot of fuss and frustration (mostly with Verizon Online... I do *not* recommend them), we finally have internet in the apartment (Roadrunner). Therefore, you should be hearing from me a lot more often.

My classes started last week. The lecture's pretty good, though it's often difficult to hear the professor (and I sit in the front of the class). Though lecture starts at 10:35, I leave home around 9 (and arrive around 10) to ensure that I get a seat near the front. It's my first experience in a class of this size with students of this type (i.e. pretty much everyone is premed and fighting over seats at the front). I've met some other postbacc students (all female) who seem nice as well. Our first exam is September 27th, over just the first three chapters. I'm on top of assignments so far, but want to do lots of extra work. I really feel that there is no reason/excuse for me to get less than an A in this class.

The professor is really cute in that nerdy way that I love. The notes in his slides (referring to the fact that equal volumes of gas contain equal numbers of particles as "Amazing!") and little side videos he adds in (a Star Wars themed story of the Big Bang and birth of the elements, the Periodic Table of Elements song) I find so amusing. Love it. :-) And the Chemistry itself is also fun. I'd forgotten how cool it was. And I'm so impressed by how much I used to know. I've forgotten most of it now, but I used to have a lot of it memorized... back in high school. Really sort of makes me wish I'd done this premed stuff right away... but then I wouldn't have had time at Princeton for either Computer Science or East Asian Studies, and I enjoyed both. No regrets.

I'm still training for the restaurant opening in midtown. Last night I received an email saying it should open October 4th (yeah, originally it was supposed to open September 1st). There have been various problems, and all the trainees are frustrated... some of them have been training since late July/early August, and now we'll be getting paid training wages and given shifts only 2 or 3 days a week until October. I don't mind the hours so much as I'm only supposed to be part-time, but I would appreciate full tips. Anyway, I went to help set up at the new location last week, and I think it's going to be really beautiful. It's at 50th and 3rd Ave in a complex called "Crystal Pavilion." It's pretty much all windows and skylights, and one of the entrances is via a narrow staircase, which really reminds me of Tokyo. I'm excited. I've been enjoying the work a lot. It's challenging in its own way, and I think I'm already learning how to interact with people of many different varieties in a way I never would have imagined before. Obviously this will be key for future clinical situations.