Kronicles of Karla

Spring is here!

2010-03-09T17:00:00.004-04:00

Driving home yesterday, I noticed a grand thing: the hills (pastures) were alive with green. Everything was green, and I'm not quite sure where it came from since my drive that morning was through brown bland countryside.

It rained almost all of yesterday, which must have significantly contributed to the greenery. The green pastures was a sight to see though! I liken it to leprechaun green covering the fields, in stark contrast to the sandy brown of the dead grass along the highway. The cattle were very eager to lap up the new growth of grass.

When I reached the house I was eager to determine if my horses' pasture was indeed green as well, which it was, but not to the extent of the pastures I had past. The weather, at a consistent 50F, is much improved from the frigid freezing winter we've had. The snow officially melted this weekend and is gone. It seems as though Spring is here to stay.

Trading Shells

2010-02-28T14:32:00.005-04:00

I'm moving, again. My 65 year old roommate is heading to Michigan, so I've decided to move closer to town rather be stranded in the woods. This will be a much better living situation since my new place is only 3 miles from school, as apposed to 30.

The girl I'm moving in with is my age, has 2 or 3 horses plus 2 dogs, and seems pretty down to earth. I'll have the upstairs (and my own bathroom, which is a must) and she has the downstairs. She has a 75 gal fish tank, which means that maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to get a African Clawed Frog (like the one I had in my pre-SKB days).

I move at the end of the month and gave my official 30 days notice to my landlord today. Everything works out well because his wife is returning from Iraq in May, and they need their room back anyway. I have to say that I will miss having a spacious bedroom, a 18x12 walk in closet, and a 15x12 bathroom. Ah, 'tis the life of a hermit crab!

Meanwhile, school is going well. I'm on Radiology (X-rays) now, and really actually enjoy it.

DVM How To Guide

2010-01-30T18:49:00.014-04:00

I have gotten a lot of questions about the ECFVG process (for foreign veterinary graduates), and am kinda slow to individually respond to emails, so I made this step by step checklist. This is mainly for people who have not taken the PAVE, live in a non-PAVE state (list of PAVE accepted states), or did not pass the PAVE. Hope it helps!

1. Fill out ECFVG paperwork/registration, pay $1000 check or credit card. Also include proof that you graduated from a english speaking highschool or TOFL.

2. Basic Clinical Sciences Exam (BCSE) do that ASAP, $75 money order.

3. Did you take and pass Program for the Assessment of Veterinary Education Equivalence (PAVE)? Well... even if you did, it's too late to register for the April North American Veterinary Licensing Examination(NAVLE) which was due Jan 3rd... cost is $525, plus you have to go thru a state, which means another application. I went thru Colorado because they're cheaper and the application is online ($50), then you need to get your scores transfered to whichever state you want to practice in ($80). (It cost $185 to do all this thru OK, which was more $$.)

4. Request the application for the Clinical Proficency Exam (CPE) ASAP, pay $500 money order. What they don't tell you is that they will take your check, then sit on your application for >1 month! Year wait on sitting for the test, so get your paperwork fast. It is a good idea to send it certified USPS or FedEx/UPS so you have a record of it arriving so it can't mysteroisuly get lost in the mail.

5. Send in completed application for CPE, pay another $500 money order. Hope they don't lose your money order.

6. Pay rest of CPE, $4000 by money order, >60 days prior to your test date. Important! And send it in such a way so you know they got it! That's a lot of money to lose otherwise. And for all you folks asking what's on the test, one: I have no idea, and two: it's against the rules to take and tell. Sorry.

7. Send ECFVG people copy of graduation (via the school), then you're complete!

8. You can take your state licensing exam while still in your clinical year, w/o passing the NAVLE or completing the ECFVG, BUT they won't grant it until you send them proof of the ECFVG/PAVE and graduation!

9. Once you have your state license number, go to your local narcotics board. For Oklahoma, that is the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics. We've been told that when it asks for DEA number, answer "pending." Pay ~$420 by credit card.

10. To get your DEA license, which you will need for any controlled substance, fill out the DEA form #224. Pay ~$550 by credit card.

Now to keep your license and keep you out of hot water, you will need to keep track of all controlled substances (drugs), and American Animal Hospital Association sells them for ~$50 to the disorganized. If something ends up missing or stolen, fill out DEA form #106 and keep a copy for at least 2 years. And if you need help, there's always Narcotics Anonymous! :o)

Sick Day #1

2010-01-25T21:33:00.003-04:00

Last night I felt really dizzy, then fainted in the bathroom, thus knocking down everything on the wall. Exhaustion perhaps? Been going 7 days a week at school now for a while. Not drinking enough water definitely, combined with throwing up my dinner and cramps, I definitely felt like crapola.

I was bound and determined not to miss a day of school-- especially since I'm on food animal (which I love) and have an in house patient that I must care for. well I couldn't stand up long enough to dress myself, so I decided if that was the case, it would be unlikely I'd be a safe driver (which didn't stop me before when I broke my glasses). I crawled back into bed and call in sick. We get 7 sick days in 1 year.

Around 10am I crawled out of bed to heat the cold bagel I'd been eating since 5am, and ran into my roomie. The perks of living with an older lady is that she has a blood pressure monitor! I took my BP: 105/71, HR: 101. Super, and surely higher than it was in the wee hours of the morning. I took it a little later, and it was 102/66, which really explained the lightheadedness. I decided to implement a salt overload (yum yum chicken and dumplings!!!) and got my BP back up to 117/68 round 6pm.

So my plan it to go to school tomorrow. I have an alpaca that was attacked by a dog over a week ago, and his wounds are quite extensive to say the least. He's anemic and light headed too. Seems that we match. (This picture is not him, he's prettier with more expressive eyes, but looks similar enough.)

Eye Appt

2009-12-29T08:32:00.001-04:00

It's been a while since I've been to the eye dr and I'm always busy at work/school (never get time off). A few weeks ago I broke my glasses and found a VERY old (opened 6mo ago, purchased 3 yrs ago) pair of contact lenses that I used to tide me over to get the eye appt. There are no Vision Centers in Oklahoma Walmarts (it's illegal for some reason). One day I got off work early, and stopped at an eye office on my way home. I asked how much the appt would be since my finances are extremely tight right now (like qualify for foodstamps if I had time to stand in line for them). They said the eye exam for glasses and contacts would be $130-160ish, so I said ok. When I was done, they said the bill was >$200! plus if the contacts didn't fit right, there would be a $30-50 refitting fee for each visit! I paid the bill and cried all the way home.

To complicate matters, the dr said he wouldn't renew the prescription for the contacts that I'd been wearing for >10 yrs, but gave me a different brand that were >2-3x's in price! I should have been more forceful when I tried to explain that I couldn't afford more expensive contacts and I was happy with the ones I had always worn. (I did tell him that exactly, but he was very dismissive about it and flat said he wouldn't prescribe my Acuvue.)

I've never spent >$100 on an eye exam before, and tried to decide how to handle this, since I can't afford to go back to get the contacts prescription and now can't afford to go anywhere else. I totally understand them being a business and needing to make money, but if they'd given me a more accurate estimate, I would have gone elsewhere and not wasted either of our time.

Well, I decided to go back for the week later contacts recheck, since it was with a different dr. I explained the situation as professionally as I could, and he paused for a moment, then looked at his calendar. Turns out, the dr I'd seen had been up the night before my appointment at the hospital with his father who died. Shocking that he even came into work! Well the other dr fixed my bill and renewed my cheaper contacts prescription. I'm very glad that I didn't overreact.

Passed the BCSE!

2009-12-27T23:38:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to let everyone know that I found out that I passed the Basic Clinical Skills Exam (BCSE)! This is the first of about half a dozen exams I must take to get a license and be an official vet.

Mom's Christmas Surprise!

2009-12-27T22:00:00.013-04:00

Sean's mother is basically bedridden from a knee surgery that did not go so well. She was quite lonesome at home, and I wanted a new cat, so I ran across a Maltese at the shelter that made me think of her. Well several days later, we went up there and the little dog was adopted (no surprise). Went back a few days later and ran across a red Pekingese than looked like Starbuck, so we hauled his mom up to look at it, and then it turned out to bed adopted (after standing in line waiting for 1hr and a half).

By this time, his mom now really wanted a sweet little dog, and his dad threw in a poodle request, so I started searching craigslist and petfinder. I'm so not a fan of breeders, especially the ones selling little mutt mixes.

We happened across a little 8 year old grey toy poodle at a rescue. He'd been there for ~6 months; no one wanted him because he had a pretty substantial heart murmur. He was pretty adorable, and matched Sean's dad (grey hair, white beard). He's perfect.

Anyway, we ran across Sophie a blonde and white Pekingese (likeness pictured, but Sophie has tragic eyes). She had been turned out by her owners and a neighbor found her. She was skin and bones and due to give birth to a litter of puppies. (The puppies were omg so cute, looked like the ones in the first picture, only smaller!) Turns out their dad was a black Pomeranian. I told the lady that I'd ask my brother his opinion, but if she didn't have a home for it by the time we picked up the Pekingese on Christmas eve, then we'd pick him up too.

Well of course Josh was excited over the fuzzball, and she still had him, so I boxed him up in Bootsey's travel carrier and put him under the tree. My mother shrieked! I can't believe everyone was so good at keeping him a secret! This is Pepe le Pew (formerly known as Smokey). My mother had mentioned being interested to getting a little dog in one of the puppy mill seizes that end up at school.

Blizzard of Ot-Nine

2009-12-25T11:54:00.012-04:00

Prior to driving to Sean's family on Christmas eve, storm spanned the country, and it started to snow. And it snowed, and snowed, and snowed. Then we were snowed in, and it kept snowing. Salty was not thrilled. Snow is cold and wet, neither of which she appreciates.

So what do we do? We get in the car and drive around! It didn't take venturing very far to discover to be a snowy mess. There was a wreck on every corner, then more happened right before our eyes. People skidding into one another. It was dangerous. We got back to the house after filling his tank with gas (since my rental car was stuck).

Then what do we do? We walk around the block because we had no food in the house (canned green beans didn't cut it). I nearly froze. I couldn't see anything. Anything!!! I had to hold his hand because the snow blinded me. We went a block and I was lost! Glad he knew where we were. He led me to a very nice Italian place called Toto's, and I had spinach ravioli while he had the lasagna. We watched the Pope do Christmas Mass in Rome.

Here's video of the blizzard, but maybe I should warn you to mute the volume before you hit play. This may not be suitable for all viewers (listeners). Good times, good times. I hate this weather.

Yellow Book Commercial

2009-11-29T20:50:00.017-04:00

I was this on tv and thought it was so... fitting for my life! lol

Thanksgiving in the States

2009-11-26T21:23:00.002-04:00

It sure is nice to be in the states again. My new housing situation is absolutely wonderful. This year's plan was to study for the Basic Clinic Skills Exam (BCSE) which I take on Dec 8th. Therefore, I am not driving to Texas like I'd hoped. Instead, Sean wanted me to meet his Mema so we headed that way for lunch. She's a very sweet and funny ~80 yr old French lady. I made tarts and she dropped part of one in Pop's (her husband's) lap... then dove down for it under the table. Everyone jumped up to grab her. The setting was quite informal and most ate on the couch, but the food was very very good (she's French!).

Then we rushed home to take our turkey out of the oven, for we had invited my mother, brother, and Susie up for dinner. Sean went all out on the turkey-- absolutely amazing! He stuffed it with celery, pears, mushrooms, and onions, then wrapped the turkey in maple bacon. He had soaked cheesecloth in butter, which he then wrapped the turkey with again. Finally, we put the turkey in an oven bag and baked it. OMG, the juiciest best tasting turkey I've ever had. Hats off to the chef. He'd also made mashed potatoes (from scratch), stuffing, salad, and I made green bean casserole. Mom made broccoli cheese casserole. What a sweet guy for going to so much trouble to make everything perfect for Thanksgiving.

I'm thankful for:

Heat

Electricity (still quite important)

Being back in the states

Water that doesn't make my vomit

And being happy.

Life as a Hermit Crab

2009-11-02T20:36:00.008-04:00

Let me tell you what's been going on here: The place I moved into looked fine (spectacular actually), but lacked regularly running water. I also tried to get internet, but apparently the 5 miles I live away from OSU is so far out in the sticks, I can't get internet (unless I wanted to spend >$100/mo). My fridge didn't work either, never resolved that problem even after I put it on an extension cord.

Remember Labor Day weekend, Mango (my cat) had a sudden unexpected bout of dyspnea (difficulty breathing) and died (euthanized at the clinic). My landlord told me he was going to poison my dogs when they got out one afternoon during a thunderstorm while I was working a shift from 5am to midnight. Mid September, my A/C and heater went out. It's really freaking cold in Oklahoma. Especially at night. I bought space heaters which blew the breaker box. Then the electrical fluctuations blew the larger space heater's coils. Plus, using ~18 light bulbs in 2 months indicate severe electrical issues. I complained numerous times to my landlord but he never fixed the problems.

Then the 1st week of Oct he decided to hand my key out to have whoever go in my apt/house. Super because my laptop and all my Rx drugs could have been stolen. Not to mention there's a rapist living 2 doors down. See Robert Reedy. That was another thing I found out, because the sheriff was knocking on doors! He was unregistered-- 2 convictions of felony rape!

To compound matters, the landlord took the sides off the barn I'm rented so the horses didn't have shelter from the rain (which got quite cold, almost freezing). Large puddles would accumulate so they didn't have a dry place to stand, which is not acceptable for winter.

Then my landlord decided to hand out my key to a guy in the trailer park to enter my dwelling without telling me. I've been spending my nights for the past few weeks basically driving around looking at other places to live, which has been a challenge since I have the 2 dogs and 4 horses! The dogs and I have been living out of my car of sorts. I had no idea that living conditions could actually be worse than they were on St Kitts this time last year when we didn't have electricity for two months. Heat, water, power, shelter, refrigeration for your food are all very important.

So I ran across a place in Agra, OK (30 min away). The wife is deployed Army in Iraq and the husband works out of state. It's a nice house on 53 acres. They have ~30 horses and ~10 dogs. They moved the mother-in-law (wife's mother) into the house to keep it occupied and a guy comes out to feed all the animals. They wanted a responsible person to live with the MIL in case she died randomly (broke hip, heart attack, etc). Rent is $400 for the master suite (huge bedroom, 9x12 bathroom, 9x18 closet), all bills paid (water, gas, trash, electric, internet, cable), free horse board, no pet deposit, and the dogs are allowed in the house.

And since all things too good to be true usually are, here's the hitch: the wife owns and pays for the animals, the husband the house. He wanted to "restructure" his mortgage for a reduced rate, so he stopped paying it and the house is in foreclosure. All animals are fat, he said he could pay the mortgage, and they seem to have enough money.

I was really hesitant moving there with the cost of gas and the 10 mpg Dodge Durango and the fact that we're required to live within 15 minutes of campus, but they seem like very decent people. I spent my 1st night there last night (will be spending nights that i'm on call at a friend's house). It is very nice so far, and I could very easily live there until mid-July when I finish up, but in all likelihood it will be temporary.

At this point, anything is better than the shit hole I was living in. Stillwater so far sux; I estimate that half the people in Oklahoma are looney tunes out of their minds crazy and the other half are bend over backwards super sweet. The school is quite enjoyable most days though. I will take pictures of the new place when I have time and internet.

OU vs Texas Game

2009-10-20T16:27:00.002-04:00

Sean replaced our tickets with good ones! We sat at the 45 yard line in Section 25, Row 10?, Seats 1 & 2. Now, see map....
... The game was crazy crazy. Very sloppy football on both sides, but Sean wasn't as disappointed as I expected him to be with the loss.

We took DART Rail, which was a mess. When we tried to get back to the car (parked in Ft. Worth), we realized that it was too packed and headed to mom's for early dinner. Later, we caught the rail to the car and started on our drive, tails tucked back home.

I took my contacts out and gave him directions back to I-35, then blinked for anbout an hour... When I awoke, I asked how far we'd gotten, ie if we were past the Red River yet because he drives so fast. He then reads the next sign "Now entering Waco, Austin x# of miles!?!" Poor guy, I didn't think I'd would have to tell him to go north on I-35!

We turned around and headed north. I also took over driving. We made it back to Norman at about 1am. Very exhausted.

Sunday, we went to the U2 concert, which was awesome. We arrived just as the Black Eyed Peas were finishing up with their "It's Going to be a Good Night" song.

Despite OU's loss, I think Sean had a good birthday weekend.

Kinkajou

2009-10-16T10:14:00.020-04:00

Here we go again, the weird things that people own. We got another blood sample of an animal we didn't recognize and [I've] had to look up. Looked like dog blood, and we ran it thru the analyzer as such, lol. (The analyzer has setting for cat, dog, horse, camelid, cow, sheep/goat, and people, but no Kinkajou or Coatamundi setting, go figure.) We've had a Turkey Vulture and a Bearded Dragon (lizard), but we recognize enough to know what to expect from those (and they are in the book). I think Kinkajous and Coatamundi fall in the really exotic critter category.

Taxomony:
Kindgom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammilia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Procyonidae (Raccoon Family)
Genus: Potos
Species: P.flavus
Subspecies: P. flavus flavus, chapadensis, chiriquensis, megalotus, meridensis, modestus, nocturnus

Genetic studies have shown that the kinkajous were an early offshoot of the ancestral procyonid line and are not closely related to any of the other extant procyonids. Their closest relatives are coatimundis.

Common Names: Kinkajou, Honey Bear, Micoleón, Lion Monkey, Night Walker

Range: Central and South America.

Habitat: Rainforest.

Description: Bodies are covered by an outer coat of golden woolly fur with a soft gray undercoat. Legs are short with bare palms and sharp claws. Head is round with small ears, and a short muzzle that contains sharp teeth. They have a 5 inch long extrudable tongue (12.7cm), which is used in reaching nectar and honey. Scent glands are near the mouth, on the throat, and on the belly, but they lack of anal scent glands. Tail is prehensile.

Length: 16-22 inches (42-57cm) body + 15-22 inches (40-56cm) tail

Weight: 4-7 lbs.

Diet: Omnivore (ripe fruit (90%), figs, flowers, insects, ants, eggs).

Behaviour: Nocturnal. Typically forage alone, but occasionally forage in small groups, and sometimes associate with coatimundis. They sleep in family units and groom one another. “Kinkajous are sometimes kept as pets. They are playful, generally quiet and docile, and have no noticeable odor. However, they can occasionally be aggressive. Kinkajous dislike being awake during the day, and dislike noise and sudden movements. An agitated kinkajou may emit a scream and attack, usually clawing its victim and sometimes biting deeply.” (Wikipedia) According to ABC News Paris Hilton was bitten by her pet Kinkajou.

Breeding/Mating: Non-seasonal, year-round. Males have an enlarged bone that protrudes at the inside of his wrist, which he rubs the females sides with during mating. This bone is usually bare skinned in the male, but fur covered in the female.

Gestation: 112 to 118 days

Young: 1-2 cubs produced per litter

Lifespan: 23-41 years

Predators: Fox, Tayra (Tolomucos), Margay, Jaguar, Ocelot, Jaguarundi, People (for fur and meat).

References:
Honolulu Zoo: http://www.honoluluzoo.org/kinkajou.htm
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinkajou

Coatimundi

2009-10-13T14:27:00.016-04:00

The rotation I'm currently on right now is Clinical Pathology (ie looking at blood smears and tissue samples). Someone submitted some Coatimundi (which they spelled Cotomundai) blood for us to examine. It's blood looks very similar to that of a dog, which is quite interesting. Since not one of the 5 veterinarian in the room even had the slightest clue as to what this animal looked like, I was volunteered to give a 2 minute summary of the animal for this morning. Here goes...

Taxomony:
Kindgom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammilia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Procynidae (Raccoon Family)
Genus: Nasua
Species: N. narica & N. nasua

Common Names: White-nosed Coati (N. narica), Brown-nosed Coati (N. nasua), Pizote, Antoon, Tejón, Quash, Small Mexican Badger.

Range: Southwestern USA to South America.

Habitat: Wooded areas of the Americas from altitudes up to 3,500 metres (11,000 ft).

Description: Bodies can be dark brown, reddish, or yellow. Masked eyes with gray muzzles, chins, and throats. Snout is long and shovel-shaped extending beyond lower jaw. Mouth contains crushing molars and large canine teeth. The tail has six or seven light bands, and is not prehensile.

Length: 2 feet + 24" tail

Weight: 9 lbs. (range <25lbs)>

Behaviour: Diurnal. Females and sexually immature males form ground foraging in family groups of 5-12, but can be as large as 30. Adult males are solitary. Young cubs are left with a pair of babysitters, similar to meerkats.

*Easily domesticated.

Breeding/Mating: Non-seasonal

Gestation: 77 days

Young: 3-5 cubs produced per litter

Lifespan: 7 years

Predators: boas, raptors, hunting cats, and tayras (tolomucos).

*Now, eventhough various internet sites said this was a reasonably easily domesticated/tamed animal, as someone said "If 5 veterinarians have to look it up because they don't know what it even looks like [on google because it's not in our text books either], then people probably shouldn't have it."

Cotton Bowl Tickets

2009-10-07T15:35:00.004-04:00

Sean recieved our Cotton Bowl tickets for the OU vs Texas game. Our seats: Section 15, Row 11, Seats 7 & 8. Now, see map....
... really sweet tickets if you're a Texas fan. He's in the process of trying to switch them for anything that's not on the Texas side.

No More Mango

2009-09-04T23:58:00.006-04:00

Mango died this evening of dyspnea and severe pulmonary edema. Not quite sure what the primary cause was yet (L-CHF? HCM? toxin?), but I did send him to necropsy. He appeared BAR Friday morning and evening, but about an hour after I came home, I noticed him panting so I rushed him to school. He was on O2 for over an hour and became progressively worse despite Lasix (furosemide). It was very sad, especially since he had adjusted so well. His 3rd birthday would have been September 19th.

L-CHF: Left sided Congestive Heart Failure
HCM: Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
BAR: Bright, Alert, and Responsive

Update: No toxins were found in his system (but that's not unusual). He did not have HCM or CHF. The pathologist suspected a severe infectious vasculitis, possibly Chaggas.

Thank You Aunt Shane & Uncle Mike!

2009-08-31T21:54:00.002-04:00

Dear Aunt Shane & Uncle Mike,

Thank you for sponsoring my ECFVG registration!

Your Niece, Karla

My Rotation Schedule

2009-08-29T08:39:00.005-04:00

Dates Rotation
8/31-9/20 Field Services
9/21-10/11 Small Animal Internal Medicine
10/12-11/1 Clin Path
11/2-11/22 Community Practice
11/23-12/13 Vacation (to study for the BCSE)
*12/1-12/8* *ECFVG-BCSE*
12/14-12/20 Anesthesiology
12/21-12/27 off (maybe)
12/28-1/3 on
1/4-1/10 Anesthesiolog
1/11-1/31 Food Animal Medicine
2/1-2/21 Animal Shelter
2/22-3/14 Radiology
3/15-4/4 ICU? (I'd like to change this so I can study)
*4/12-4/24* *NAVLE*
4/5-5/3 Zoological Medicine
5/3-5/23 Equine Medicine
5/24-6/13 Diagnostics
6/14-7/5 Small Animal Medicine
*6/25 *Grand Rounds Presentation*
7/6-7/25 Equine Surgery
7/26-8/15 Preceptor (Externship)
8/16-9/6 Preceptor (Externship)

Start of OSU

2009-08-26T15:51:00.000-04:00

Here starts life at Oklahoma State University's Veterinary Program. Everything here is orange. (Cringe!) Rotations start on Monday, with Field Sevices, and go until mid July when I got out on externships. Nice to know that Norman is only an hour away and that Dallas is only a little bit further. They have 2 Walmarts here! That is very exciting. I haven't eaten at McDonald's yet, but wow, the spicy chicken sandwich I had at Wendy's was really good. It's nice to be back in the states.

From Highland Park to a Trailer Park

2009-08-24T13:56:00.003-04:00

Rudder, Salty, Mango, and I have all been reuninted in the Americas! What a heroining flight! TSA is absolutely miserable and I have no desire to ever fly again.

After much to prepare and pack in College Station, I finally moved in to my place in Stillwater. It's pretty and everything seems nice. The horses seem to like it. It's really close to school and I'm ready to get started!

After Ana, Before Bill

2009-08-17T07:52:00.011-04:00

Ana has come and gone. No damage that I could tell, and none reported thus far. We still have electricity. The cat was out last night, and seems as orange as ever this morning. Storm seemed just that, a storm. I slept thru it. (Pictured above is Hurricane Bill as of this morning.)

Bill, however, has strengthened into a hurricane. According to NOAA, the predicted path for Hurricane Bill should be northeast of us. Miami is north of us. My only goal is to get to Miami before Bill does, and from there, DFW... with the animals, of course.

That's about all for now. Heading to the airport to fight the crowds.

Race Against Time

2009-08-16T08:52:00.017-04:00

In the midst of packing, I recieve a frantic call from a friend who is desperate to escape the rock. She had checked her email and found that campus notified us (finally) about the inpending hurricane. That one, Ana, was no big deal. I'd watched it form during finals and I'd predicted it would hit some time when I was scheduled to leave.

Turns out, a second storm, Bill, has decided to grace us with it's presnce. That I wasn't aware of, and it's MUCH bigger than Ana. Super.

According to the satalite imagery on NOAA, both storms are headed for a direct Caribbean hit! Specifically, St Kitts (where mom and I are) and St Croix (where dad is). Oh fun again. I called my brother yesterday to remind him to watch the weather incase, ya know, it hit us before we got on our AA flight back to the mainland, stranding us here without electricity and forcing us to live in a mud hut underground. Hey- at this point, anything could happen and nothing would surprise me.

Fortunately, the sattelite of Ana seems much less dramatic than it was yesterday. It had a very clear eye, which is no longer obvious. Below are the storm updates that I recieved this morning (both were huricanes yesterday).

...ANA RACING WESTWARD...
8:00 AM AST Sun Aug 16
Location: 14.6°N 54.7°W
Max sustained: 40 mph
Moving: W at 20 mph
Min pressure: 1005 mb

...BILL STRENGTHENS A LITTLE...
5:00 AM AST Sun Aug 16
Location: 11.4°N 37.2°W
Max sustained: 45 mph
Moving: W at 13 mph
Min pressure: 1002 mb

If anyone needs help finding where I am, St Croix is the speck southwest next to Puerto Rico, and I'm the next speck west of that about 3 milimeters away. It coorelates to 100 miles from Puerto Rico to St Croix, with St Kitts being an addioional 150 miles. That's a big 3 milimeters. Neither of these storms compares to Hurricane Dean from 2007, so I suspect they will blow over.

Ana is supposed to hit at 8am Monday August 17 (tomorrow) before Rudder and Mango's flight, while Bill is scheduled to hit at 8am Thursday, August 20 after my, mom's, and Salty's flight.

PS: I have 5 posts that I haven't had time to polish and publish. Stay tuned for more interesting stories!

Ambulatory

2009-06-24T07:18:00.004-04:00

Here is a pict from last Thursday (June 18, 2009). I was injecting lidocaine into a baby pig's testicles (which was all the anesthesia he got for his castration).

The day was so much fun! We tackled cattle, wresseled a boar, played with puppies, collected ticks. One client even had bunnies! (Although they were for food. Sad.) It was a very interesting time traveling around the island searching for places and animals, getting lost. Much better than being trapped in the clinic!

Mid Semester Break 7

2009-06-22T22:29:00.001-04:00

It's my last Mid Semester Break. Usually I'm off trekking up a volcano or lounging on the beach. This time I'll be stuck in the library cramming for the Large Animal Surgery midterm. I've been too busy to study since we've gotten our sheep, donkey, and rotations.

My sheep and donkey are wonderful though. I'm going to try to get pictures of them. I would have gotten them already but we're not allowed to take pictures on campus (on threat of dismissal).

Sheep #50 "Coconut" is a standard Barbados Black Belly ram with a tan body and black legs. He has a splash of white on either side of his body. His favorite past times are eating sheep pellets, eating sugar cane grass, and eating more sheep pellets. He is full of snuggles and love. He knows all of us-- our group consists of two 6th semester students (Shannon and Jean) and two 7th semester students (Vanessa and I). He weighs about 62 lbs in the mornings and is under 1 year of age. He knows his name and comes running when he hears it. I got him a very pretty new blue collar. We're all so attached to him it's so pathetic. He is a fast learner and very good sheep.

Donkey #60 "Jake" is a sweetheart of a Mini? Island Donkey. He always has a good attitude, except when we're about to jab him in the neck with needles for blood. His feet were terrible, so when he was under general anesthesia, Vanessa and I trimmed them. His hooves now look spectacular! He no longer kicks, although he did bite the cr*p out of Vanessa's left shoulder Tuesday. I was able to easily get a catheter in his jugular vein. The fly mask I got him is too small for his big ol' head. He's about 5 years old, has a chocolate fuzzy body with a white nose. He most enjoys eating carrots, eating rice crispies, and eating green grass while being groomed. He has a dark green halter. He's the best donkey in the pasture, and we love him and his long hee-haw ears.

Okay, since I'm obviously not studying right now, I'd better stop writing and force myself to learn.

Stillwater Update

2009-06-21T19:10:00.027-04:00

First of all, Happy Father's Day to my DAD! (I already spoke to him earlier.)

My mother decided to go look at the Starr Valley Ranch place today. She was not thrilled that I would be living in a trailer. It's a 2 bedroom 1 bath, with nice snap down wood floors.

She was actually pretty set against it until she went to look at another mobile home... which was apparently a disaster.

I was able to convince her to go back and look at the 1st trailer again and to have her ask if I could only lease it thru December 31st since she was so displeased with it's appearance.

My mother haggled the rent down from $450 to $425 per month for the trailer! My rent here is $550 or $575? So I'm pretty content with my new home! Knock on wood that it works out.

Starr Valley Ranch

2009-06-19T22:13:00.009-04:00

I've finally found a place to live in Stillwater!!! I am SO excited! I'll be living in a 2 bed 1 bath mobile home... or was it 3 bed 2 bath? I can't remember, but that's not important anyway! (Google Earth is so awesome!)

What IS important is that it allows dogs! I've found tons of places (well, not quite tons) that would let me keep horses, but when I'm ready to sign they tell me no dogs! I can't exactly get rid of Salty and Rudder (nor would I for a place to live). Anyway, it's been absurd.

I sent Sean up to look at places last weekend. Most were rented by the time he got up there, but there was this one little mobile home (ugly on the outside, fabulous on the inside) on 10 acres about 12 miles from campus. When he was uploading the picts to me of the place, a girl came by (with three horses) and gave the guy a deposit on the place! I was so upset, but things happen for a reason and it wasn't perfect. That place was too secluded and would have made me a little nervous at night.

Well, with the ER week, I had lost valuable time in finding a place. I spent hours calling people this week and finding out that nothing was available. Panic started to set in! I regrouped and called the various barns in town that I'd previously called. One guy called me back and I'd reminded him we'd discussed me wanting to rent a horse pasture since it was looking like I was going to be in an awful little apartment. He asked if I was looking for a place for me or my horses, and I said well, both. Then he told me he had a nice little trailer that just became available!!!

He said it had all appliances, was on a black top road (ie not dirt like the other ones), and had enough room in the yard for the dogs! Then I asked the dreaded question which so many people had said no to, if I could bring them inside? He said sure you can, the back door opens up right out into the yard, so as long as you put up a pen, the dogs can go in and out! Yippee!!! (My goal is to let the dogs stay outside during the day and inside at night.)

Then he told me that he no longer had the 2 acre pasture, but instead he had a 5-6 acre pasture with a barn! (I was nearly jumping up and down at this point!!!) He then added that I would be able to use the arena and round pen too! How perfect! Not that I'll ever have time to ride or anything, but I'm so excited!

Knowing what I know now about finding the perfect place in Stillwater, I told him I'd take it! I'm sending either Sean, a classmate already in Stillwater, or my mother to go look at it today and then have a check in the mail to him on Monday. It's 5 miles from campus and very close to fast food!

More Fun in the ER

2009-06-15T20:16:00.007-04:00

It was always MY shift! I'm done with ER finally now. I can't believe I lived on so little sleep. So much for studying for my Large Animal Medicine exam this morning. I was in the ER all weekend (in addition to every night this week) and was only able to study for literally 2 hours before the exam started. Grades already posted though, I did good enough to be content with my grade.

The major excitement was Saturday night. A campus worker found his dog next to a dead sheep. He and his two student friends brought the dog in. I was there, supposed to be alone, but wasn't only because a student spay dog was bleeding half to death.

Okay, let me back up... this was at no fault to the student surgeons, as far as I know, but that dog was my drama the night before when I checked on her (30 min intervals) and found her cage filled with bight red blood (at 5am). So we (the two student surgeons I made haul themselves up to campus at 5:15am) dealt with that dog all day. Turns out routine spays are really dangerous and stressful surgeries! (Was like a repeat of last semester when our partner's dog would not clot due to low platelets.) At 11am, I was released to go home and sleep because I had to be back at 8pm for my next overnight shift.

Anyway, the dog by sheep arrived at 8:30pm (making it a very long day for all involved). He was foaming at the mouth (which would have been consistent with Rabies if we'd been in the states) and having seizures. His temperature was 108F!!! (Not compatible with life.) His heart sounded exactly like we learned about in Small Animal medicine: little kid playing on the drums. It was amazing, horribly irregular, tachycardia, and like nothing I'd ever hear before! To complicate matters, the dog stopped breathing, which is also not compatible with life.

So what does one do in this situation? Yeah I donno either. The vet was 20 minutes away and had alerted me before the dog arrived. So by this time the clients are shrieking at me, so I had to do something. We got ice packs for them to put around the dog, turned on the oxygen tank, and set up an IV fluid line. I'm not the person you'd want to have place a catheter without out pressure, now bring the pressure to it's max, and I'm really not who you'd want to place it. It was a blind stick too since the vein was almost collapsed. I took a deep breath and got it on the first try! I have NO idea how. Tomorrow I'm placing a jugular catheter in our little donkey, so I sure hope my skills don't leave me.

We bollused a shock dose of fluids into this dog, who was still seizing, then readjusted the ice packs. His body temperature was starting to come down, but his tongue was still indigo blue. All the meds were locked up (with good reason), so all we could do was wait. By the time the on-call vet arrived, the dog had a fever, but had stopped seizing, was pink rather than blue, and aware of his surroundings. Then I stepped back so they could give him activated charcoal to absorb whatever the toxin was.

Two hours after the dog arrived, he looked completely normal and was ready to fetch. The vet told the owner that in all his years, he had only ever seen one other animal with that high of a temperature survive. At that temperature, the proteins in the blood become solid (just like when you cook a steak). That night seven other dogs in the owner's neighborhood died. We think that the dogs had been let wander by their owners and they got a taste for sheep. The owner of the sheep got made and salted the carcase with a poison, most likely a Carbamate.

My last case was a dog bite wound on Sunday night. (Remember, my exam was Monday at 7am.) A 2nd semester student came in crying as the on-call vet and I were updating the ER club about the cases. I slipped out to see what she needed. Apparently a clinic dog (now an anatomy dog) attacked her. She had at least 8 bite wounds up and down her arms. There were another 6 or 7 on her legs, and she is a girl of my stature! Then she lifted up her pants and there was a gaping hole and the outline of all the dog's teeth on her left butt cheek! Poor girl. I don't have much sympathy for the dog just because it was such an obvious and repeated attack.

And that was my exciting weekend. I definitely learned more in that week than in a semester of classes, speaking of, have a long week of school ahead...

Items Lost & Found

2009-06-12T00:14:00.007-04:00

To say I had a very busy week is an understatement. I've been in the ER all week and will continue to be here thru Sunday evening. SIX dogs were in with Paraquat poisoning in one day, in addition to the normal hospital case load! One was euthanized yesterday and another is getting worse. Slow suffocation is not a good way to go. Very sad.

We had anesthesia duty for donkey surgery, which by chance, was relatively successful. The other days of the week were filled, with what, I can't remember, but I've been at school >18hrs/day for a while now. No biggie, it's still not as difficult as grad school.

I'm absolutely in love with my sheep. He's #50, but I call him Coconut. It was love at first sight. All the sheepies love me (grain bucket). It surprises me that some of my classmates still haven't figured this out. Oh well, my little Coconut baby come running when he hears me, and that's all that counts.

In my uber busy schedule, I haven'y had time to check my email. Here's a sample of what I recieved today:

Lost cell phone: "I lost my cell phone somewhere today. :( If anyone sees a cell phone lying around....in the grass somewhere or sitting on a pile of donkey poo....it is probably mine."

Missing cat: "None of us have seen her for the past week (which is unusual for her) until a few days ago when she ran off. She looked very sick. We set up a trap to catch her with no luck..."

Lost watch: "I forgot to grab my watch after I took it off to scrub in on Tue's epididectomy. If anyone picked it up please let me know."

Lost and found hoof pick: "Once again I think something has fallen out of my pocket. Hoof pick, red handle, tape on it that says "KN". I also FOUND a red hoof pick in the sheep barn. Let me know if it's yours."

Lost grocery sack: "I lost a white plastic groecery sack with a pair of scrubs, a lab coat, and a pair of pink and white Nike sneakers in it. If anybody has seen it please let me know."

Lost mind: "Lost my mind when I decided to go to vet school 2.5 years ago anyone sees it let me know."

The reply: "I saw it yesterday in the gutter."

I am not alone.

AVMA "Accreditation statuses reviewed by Council on Education"

2009-06-06T20:11:00.014-04:00

Source: AVMA June 1, 2009

"Tuskegee University School of Veterinary Medicine has been moved from limited to full accreditation until 2013. The decision, made by the AVMA Council on Education March 2-4 at AVMA headquarters in Schaumburg, Ill., was based on a focused site visit in December 2008.

According to an April 9 Tuskegee press release, the school was commended for its efforts in increasing the small animal and equine caseloads, implementing year-round clinical rotations, achieving higher pass rate scores for the national licensing examination, and committing to a diverse student body.

Five other U.S. schools were granted seven years of full accreditation after comprehensive site visit evaluations in fall 2008 and spring 2009. Twenty-two schools or colleges of veterinary medicine received continued accreditation status on the basis of their 2008 interim reports. Among them were 13 from the United States, two from Canada, two from Australia, and one each from Ireland, Scotland, England, New Zealand, and the Netherlands.

In addition, the COE agreed to a request from the University of Queensland School of Veterinary Science in Brisbane, Australia, to begin the accreditation process. Staff will contact the school to request potential dates for a consultative site visit in 2010.

The council denied requests from the Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, St. Kitts, West Indies, and St. George's University School of Veterinary Medicine, Grenada, West Indies, to conduct comprehensive site visits. Consultative site visits were conducted at the schools in 2006 and 2007, respectively. Foreign colleges are granted comprehensive site visits when deficiencies noted during the consultative site visit have been fully addressed."

Sheep and Donkey

2009-06-02T20:41:00.000-04:00

We got our sheep and donkey assignments today. I think my days of enjoying the island are officially over. We have to write a report 2x's a day, on top of the 10-12 hours we're in class.

How it makes sense to have 3 hours of class per day in some semesters, and more than 12 hours in this semester is beyond me. My postings might get more and more sparse as the semester drags on.

The Gate to Hell

2009-05-30T13:10:00.035-04:00

I keep getting more and more optimistic as the days drag on. My life is way too exciting and my time is too limited to share as I had in the past but here goes...

Friday morning at 2:45 AM, the dogs were going nuts. I would not have woken up without them. I got up and heard knocking and whispers, so I tiptoed to the kitchen.

I saw the burglar trying to get thru my bars and already had pried my door open! He was NOT scared of the dogs, as most locals are. (Foolish, because my dogs, without a doubt, would bite an intruder.) No doubt he intended to club the dogs to death if he'd gotten inside.

I was inches from him, but he did not see me. He gave up on my gate, and walked back to his buddy's van. I'm really glad I have burglar bars and a padlock on my door!

The van was a cream or white newish taxi type, and I could hear them talking. They sat there discussing the neighborhood and how long they thought it would take for someone to wake up. Then they saw my shadow in the window and said "There's a fellow, let's go, let's go." They drove away slowly.

When I started hearing the noises, I started calling Campus Security. I called and called and called, panicked that I couldn't get them to pick up. To make sure it wasn't my phone, I started calling the girls that live up and down my street, thus waking them up.

I called security for 30 minutes and could NOT get them to answer. The ONLY reason they came is because Mel made them. The burglars had gotten her window open about 15 minutes before I noticed that they'd come to my house.

Security would not check on anything. They actually stood there, next to the Ross vehicle, with their arms crossed staring at their feet. WTF!?!?! Then they called their security supervisor and handed me the phone. I told him I'd been trying to call for 30 minutes, he replied "That's not true." Like hell it's not.

The police came, and took a statement. Neither the police nor Campus Security would walk around the house to check on the property and other tenants, despite Mel and my pleading.

These two burglars were just testing to see how long it would take to alert me. They will be back.

My landlady has asked a really buff police friend of hers to stay with us because she's scared too. He's armed and a very good guy. Even Salty likes him! (And he loves her cuz she's mean.)

I've taken more security precautions, in addition to all the things I'd done before. I have a small pick axe that I now keep next to me, rather than in the kitchen, as I sleep. My mace is on my bedroom door rather than on my cable tv box. I put an additional window alarm (VERY loud) on my front door. It shrieks if the door is opened more than 1 inch. I made a sign for my door (pictured above) reminding potential burglars, in this overly religious society, that stealing is wrong. Someone suggested I get post an "Evil Eye" on my door to curse those that entered, so I did that. (I feel totally pathetic resorting to voodoo though!) I'll be picking up an air horn plus a round Master Lock (that can't be cut with bolt cutters) on Monday. And I made a snare on my burglar bars to catch the thief so I can hack him to bits with my pick axe.

75 days of school and 81 days left on island...

FOR SALE: 1994 Maroon Mitsubishi Sedan

2009-05-24T19:29:00.036-04:00

Welcome to all who are unfamiliar with my blog!

I'm in 7th, so my car will be available at the end of the semester. It's been the absolute BEST car! Never left me stranded, which is SO amazing for a Ross-mobile. If I could put it in my suitcase and take it back to the states, I would.

When I got it, I knew that it had major problems (timing belt was about to go, no power steering, busted CV joint, etc), so the first thing I did was drive to the mechanic and get everything fixed! I'm a bit OCD and my dad is a mechanic himself, so I'm very "in-tune" to proper car care. The following are my expenses in US$ (with receipts):

Purchased 149,965 miles (Sept 2007) $1000 (hey, at least I'm honest)
Car Insurance (Sept 2007) $120
Timing belt, drive belts, engine mounts, tensoner, rack and pinion, air and oil filters (Sept 2007) $620
Recheck for Valve Seals (Oct 2007) $75
Inspection (Jan 2008) $10
Wheel Tax (Jan 2008) $120
Title Change (Jan 2008) $25
2 NEW Tires (May 2008) $160
Car Insurance (Sept 2008) $120
Oil Change (Dec 2008) $65
Tail Light Set (Jan 2009) $112
Inspection (Jan 2009) $10
Wheel Tax (Jan 2009) $120
NEW Battery (March 2009) $118
Brake Fluid (May 2009) $5
2 NEW Tires (May 2009) $110
Oil Change (July 2009) $65
Interior Detailing (July 2009) $15
Total Expenses ~153,600 miles $3075

With gas, I fill up 1x/mo, which gets me 175 miles for $20-50/fill-up (depending on gas prices). The tank can hold ~7gal of gas.

The best things about the car are that it starts reliably, the radiator doesn't leak, it doesn't burn oil, has 4 NEW tires, has a NEW battery, has 4 doors with working crank windows and 3 of the 4 doors lock, the lights work, comes with all sorts or car stuff (2 jacks, gas can, fluids, spare tire, etc) it runs very very well, and can make it over a mountain! I need to have the oil changed soon.

Problems: no A/C, no radio, left front door's handle is "tricky," you can't park on a hill, stalls out when you parallel park (but you just have to turn it back on so it's no biggie), and it's just not a "looker" (but you should not be superficial with a reliable running engine). I'll show you all its quirks.

Anyway, I'm not letting it go until the semester ends in AUGUST because I enjoy having a car (and will have to be on campus at all hours of day and night on a moment's notice). The reason I'm asking $2000 is because it is in excellent working condition, which is not how I purchased it. (He wanted $1500 for it, but it didn't even have power steering then, so I decided that I couldn't do that with the repairs I knew it would need.) If you do decide to buy it, then I'll take ½ of the purchase price as a non-refundable deposit until I hand it over. Thanks for looking!

Officially Coming Home!!!

2009-05-23T10:03:00.017-04:00

My flight is booked! I have a timeline!

I return on Wednesday, August 19th:
Flight 2280 SKB (2:50 PM) to MIA (5:55 PM)
Flight 972 MIA (8:40 PM) to DFW (10:40 PM)

Now all I have to do if figure out how to get both dogs back. I'm having the same problem with Rudder as I did before he got here: his weight. He weighs 85 lbs now, without his crate, which weighs an additional 25 lbs. I'd rather if I didn't have to starve my poor dog for the flight. I investigated AmeriJet, but found out that their 'direct flight' actually overnights in San Juan and dogs have been lost for over 27 hours. Worse is that they've left dogs on the tarmac for over two hours while loading the plane. With the heat here at any time of the year, that is absolutely unacceptable for mid-day flight that costs ~$600US/dog. Delta accepts dogs up to 150lbs, but charges $300US, which isn't a bad option. Unfortunately their flights out of St Kitts are difficult to book because they require phone calls, making it very difficult to compare flight date, times, and prices. I'm going to try AA Cargo, and if that fails, then Rudder and Salty will be my checked luggage.

Mango, on the other hand, can ride in the plane. He's set with his little mesh carry-on. The girl that's moving into my apt said that she's interested in keeping him though. Another girl, who I gave some plants to, said she'd love to have him. She'll pick him up on Mid-Semester Break to try him out, and if they get along, I suppose she can have him. It would be safer than having him eaten by a coyote in Oklahoma when he demands to go exploring. Of course, if he is miserable with her, he will be coming to the states with me. Leaving Mango on the island means that never again will I step on a dead mouse on my doorstep in the morning or find a lizard on my soap in the shower. He's such a good orange cat.

Oklahoma State University

2009-05-15T17:25:00.009-04:00

"Congratulations! You have been accepted for the September 2009 to September 2010 Clinical Year at Oklahoma State University."

As a bonus, a certain someone invited me to the Cotton Bowl to watch OU beat the hell outta tu in October! (Assuming OSU will let me go.)

My internet at the house isn't working, so I can't make any calls. Will be on campus most of the weekend to try to answer emails and study, but be prepared as my responses might be slow.

Here's other people so far (I will be adding to this list as time goes on):

Auburn: Katie B, Courtney, Kelli, Chris P, Mary D, Dan
Colorado State: Noah, Jon D, Ian
Cornell: Regis, Deana, Maria D
Florida: Alyson, Art, Jenni D, Christina, Kate G, Tricia, Kim, Anna
Illinois: Shannon, Laurie
Iowa State: Sarah D, Sheila
Louisiana State: Jossie, Nidhi, Angel, Juan, Payal
Michigan State: Melissa, Tim
Minnesota: Nicole
Missouri: Becky H, Liz G, Vanessa, Genevieve
North Carolina State: Jenn S, Adam S, Thada
Ohio State: Stephanie
Oklahoma State: me, Crystal, Hannah, Missy, Jennifer L, Stephanie B, Brian, Corine, Denise, KP
Oregon State: David
U Penn: Renee, Kristen W
Purdue: Brooke, Tracy, Liz R, Adam P, Misty, Chanelle
Texas A&M: Anna B, Midge, Justin, Adam C, Jeneal, Tiffany
Tufts: Becky F
Virginia Tech: Joe, Bora, Andrew
Washington State: Julie B
Wisconsin: Kate N

There are 75 people in my class.
Last name's are listed on Dr Wallace's webpage.

Clinical Placement Request

2009-05-11T15:15:00.002-04:00

This is what wrote (max of 50 words):

Cornell has an excellent poultry disease research facility; I intend on becoming a research-oriented poultry veterinarian.

CSU has premiere equine facility, a primary interest.

OSU/TAMU are close to family (Dallas, TX) and my SO (Norman, OK); also have the cheapest horse boarding.

Thank you.

I have no idea where they'll send me. I find out on Friday.

Thank you all for voting! Here are the results from the 27 people who took park in my poll:

Auburn 2 (7%)
Colorado State 6 (22%)
Cornell 8 (29%)
Florida 4 (14%)
Illinois 0 (0%)
Iowa State 0 (0%)
Louisiana State 4 (14%)
Michigan State 0 (0%)
Minnesota 2 (7%)
Missouri 2 (7%)
North Carolina State 5 (18%)
Ohio State 2 (7%)
Oklahoma State 11 (40%)
Oregon State 3 (11%)
U Penn 3 (11%)
Purdue 2 (7%)
Texas A&M 15 (55%)
Tufts 1 (3%)
Virginia Tech 4 (14%)
Washington State 0 (0%)
Wisconsin 0 (0%)

Meanwhile, our rotations started today; my first one was Bovine. Two cows vomited (projectile) all over me. Rest assured, I smell lovely. Still prefer large animals to being trapped in the clinic!

Clinics???

2009-05-03T16:43:00.004-04:00

The last semester of school starts tomorrow!!! I'm so excited! (We get a donkey!)

I have no idea where to go for clinics and have less than a week to decide! If you haven't voted already, the poll is to the left of this entry. Click your top 3 picks to help me choose where to go! If you want to tell me your reasoning to help me decide, make a comment below!

Thanks a bunch! :o)

End of 6th Semester

2009-04-13T16:55:00.004-04:00

What an unbelievably stressful semester! Convinced I failed, I gave my mother my password to check my grades.

I have no idea how I managed to get through Small Animal Medicine 2. Word on the street was that every one in my class did miserably, and there was a substantial curve. I'm sold on the fact that I'll never be a dog and cat vet, even though they are cute and cuddly. If anything, I attribute my passing grade to never missing class, not even one, and studying my little tail off, hence no substantial postings this month.

My Large Animal Medicine grade surprised me though! I did not expect an A at all this semester, and yet, somehow (I assume a huge curve) I excelled in it; probably because I'm still so horse crazy.

The combo of these, plus my Small Animal Surgery course, enabled me to maintain a B average, which at this point, I am more than content with.

Papaya Trees

2009-04-01T01:33:00.000-04:00

My papaya trees are growing like giant weeds! They are now taller than me and one is producing fruit!

When they started budding, I decided to learn more because I had been told that papayas are separate sexes, unlike most plants which are hermaphrodites.

As it turns out, papayas can be male, female, or both! Male papayas produce stalks with clusters of small flowers, while female papaya flowers are very large, pear-shaped, and sprout from the trunk of the plant. Bisexual flowers are supposed to be large, distinguished from females, because they are cylindrical rather than pear-shaped. I have both male (LEFT) and female (RIGHT) papayas blooming. Female papayas must be cross pollinated by either bisexual or male plants, but bisexual plants are self-pollinating.

The type of papaya that I have is native to tropical America, more specifically a Mexican cultivar, but were spread south by Indians, and to the Caribbean by Spanish explorers. Papaya trees regularly grow 20-30 feet tall, so mine are doing well at a less than a year old and being 8 feet tall. Plants usually begin bearing fruit at 6-12 months old, which takes 5-9 months to mature. Papaya fruit look like large oval yellow-orange melons, are soft to the touch. The interior flesh of the fruit is several inches thick, orange in color, and surrounds thousands of little black seeds that resemble caviar. Apparently Hawaiian papays are sweeter and smaller than the ones grown here, but I don't think it really matters in the grand scheme of things.

What does matter about Hawaiian papayas is that they (the Solo cultivar, introduced to Hawaii from Barbados in 1911) produce no male plants, only bisexual and female in a 2 to 1 ratio. Currently Hawaii is the only state in the USA to commercially produce papayas successfully; however, the Hawaiian industry has declined due to Papaya Ringspot Virus. This virus devastated the Florida papaya industry in the early part of the 20th century, and threaten papaya crops elsewhere around the tropical globe.

Fortunately, biotechnologists at the University of Hawaii inserted a gene into the papaya making the Sunrise Solo cultivar resistant to the Papaya Ringspot Virus! This successful adaptation into Hawaiian agriculture allowed papayas to be the first genetically modified fruit crop used for human consumption.

Sources:

California Rare Fruit Growers, Inc.

University of Georgia

Wikipedia

My Surgery Dog

2009-03-22T19:56:00.006-04:00

Since Ross ran out of dogs for our spays, I went out into the community and picked up a few dogs that needed to be fixed. One is an old Pitbull (Dog A) staying with my surgery partner, Vanessa. She (the dog) will be another group's dog. Our dog (Dog B), a tri colored border collie looking Kittitian Coconut Retriever, is staying with me.

Jossie, Vanessa, and I went to pick them up on Monday after our Small Animal Medicine exam. The two dogs belonged to the neighbors of the guy I raised the Pitbull pup for (last summer). That little pup, I should add, is HUGE! Not even a year old, he's such a big goofball! The owner told me that the pup remembers me (as he was slobbering and jumping all over me), to which I told him naw, that it wasn't possible, and the owner said oh yes, he doesn't act that way or get that excited with anyone else. Made me feel so WOVED!!!

I named the two dogs 'Dog A' and 'Dog B' because that's just what I do. Vaness and Jossie wouldn't tolerate unnamed dogs, so, on the drive home, they named them 'Alberta' which became 'Alithenia' (I think), and 'Bernice' which became 'Bernadine.' Yeah, I donno, I'm just calling them both 'Dog' which they seem to respond to.

Anyway, so the first day or so with the new dog (Dog B) was a little shaky. She was very nervous about being in a new place, and very hard to catch, but eventually she warmed up to me. Now, she's like the rest of the monsters that trape around my house, and she's glued to my side. She comes when she's called, sits when asked, and watches me pee every single time I go to the bathroom (as if I might escape out the window and leave her). But, she's a sweetheart.

Her/Our spay is scheduled for April 3rd. Hopefully it will go much better than our partner's spay on Friday, which hemorrhaged pretty severely. (We were the anesthetists, they were the surgeons. In April, we'll be the surgeons, and they will be the anesthetists.) The dog, an old Rottweiler, was in surgery for 4 1/2 hours because her blood would not clot properly. Uber stressful and has kept all four of us on call and busy ALL weekend, but fortunately, all is well and she pulled thru. Our dog is young and has a high platelet count, so we don't anticipate having those complications with Bernadine.

Goat #7

2009-03-14T18:53:00.008-04:00

I'm now definitely known as the goat girl. A girl in 7th semester called me up to tell me she found a baby goat. (To which I responded, super.) It was attacked by dogs or hit by a car or some sob story, and since she didn't have a car, she asked me if I could pick them both up (and maybe watch the goat).

So I went to pick them up, and brought them home, cuz I'm a big sucker. The goat appeared to be about 4-5 months old, so wouldn't need to be bottled. Her front left leg was totally dangling, and we couldn't tell if it was nerve damage or broken. We made the decision to call the agricultural vet here on island (since if we didn't report it, we would be stealing). He told us to meet him at his office.

He decided it's leg was just dislocated, then handed us some vet wrap to tie up the leg. We put it in a pen for his assistant to pick up later, so it wouldn't have to live at my house for the next 6-8 weeks. Problem averted!

Ultimate Island Hopping

2009-03-08T23:58:00.003-04:00

If ever you want to see the Caribbean in a flash, why go on a cruise and lesisurly see maybe 3 islands when you could fly and see a whole lot more? I just returned. Here was my route:

1. St Croix (1:40pm)
2. St Maarten
3. Antigua
4. Nevis
5. St Kitts (5:25pm)

That's FIVE islands in less than FIVE hours. I'm convinced that Liat is master of the skies, and MUCH more organized than American Airlines. There's a tropical storm blowing cold from the north around here, so flying and landing was quite... exciting. I feel really sick now.

If you've ever traveled more than this in one day, leave a comment!

Suprise Suprise!

2009-03-07T15:11:00.010-04:00

Happy 60th birthday Dad!

Linda got a ticket for me to island hop via Liat and I'm arriving at the airport now! I have to go back to St. Kitts tomorrow though. Can't skip school!

Update: Here are pictures of the cake and party! It was a success despite everyone's plane running a little behind schedule. He was very suprised! I was on St Croix for about 24 hours.

Hill's Science Diet Dinner

2009-03-06T23:46:00.001-04:00

Have you ever watched those commercials or heard the blurb on the radio about X out of X+1 veterinarians recommend Hill's Science Diet Dog/Cat Food? Well there's a reason for it, lol, but they do make pretty good food.

Hill's graciously donations more to the average veterinary student than probably any other company on the market. Not only do we get to buy our dog food at a much reduced rate, the entire proceeds of our purchases go to our own scholarships (which I think are given out by the student government). Each vet student also receives two (HUGE and pocket sized) Small Animal Clinical Nutrition books, a back pack, notebooks, folders, school supplies, and such. (I think my ear thermometer came from Pfizer, and my stethoscope timer came from Fort Dodge.)

Tonight, I was one of 150 students invited to a free buffet dinner with 2 free adult beverages! It was a blast! I really like Hill's food so i wouldn't feel unethical for recommending them, but I certainly appreciate all Hill's does to support vet students! (All my dogs and cats are on one prescription Hill's diet or another, which has done wonders for Sage's kidney stones.)

The first picture (above) is me with the lovely redhead in my class, Melissa, who happens to be single! This next picture (bottom left)is of me with Laurie, who is also in my class.

Jossie was also there (we sat together) but we somehow didn't get any pictures together.

My Last Can

2009-02-28T14:46:00.004-04:00

For lunch today, I opened my very last can of Sweet Sue Chicken & Dumplings. I've been saving it for months. Yes, MONTHS.

I think this can my mom had imported back in August... my last batch were imported in April when I visited my dad. Chicken and dumplings aren't sold on St. Kitts. I'd forgotten to go to the store when I was in the states in December and buy some.

Guess waiting until August won't be so bad... I'll be able to eat lots of things that I won't have to cook. I made beer battered fried, Cuban oregano with hot sauce seasoned, pork chops Thursday night. To die for! At least I can cook.

Mid Semester Break 6

2009-02-23T23:21:00.012-04:00

Last night I worked late in the lab on a Bartonella project I'm trying to finish.

I saw a prof's stepson's dog on my street. He actually is supposed to live in Camps, so West Farm is quite a trip for him. When he stood up, I could see he had hurt his front left leg, so the sucker in me stopped and let him hop in my car.

I took him home and fed him, then checked out his leg-- dragging it as though he had nerve damage. Poor thing, but as happy as ever! He slept indoors.

At 5am, the cat woke me up. At 6am, the dog started barking. At 7am the goats started bleating. I kicked everyone out, crawled back into bed, then slept until 9am. At that point I muddled around my apartment, gathered my things, and went back to lab. I decided to take the dog with me to drop him off at the clinic for safe keeping.

Several hours past and my lab work didn't work. I had done all that I could have, so I ran to the port to get a chicken sandwich from Bev. While I was standing in line, I got a phone call from a classmate. He said "I can see you!" I looked around and did not see him, so I assumed he was in a restaurant balcony somewhere in Port Zante. He said he was waving, but I still couldn't see him, even with my glasses on. Just shows how small an island this is and that everyone can see everything you do even if you think they can't!

As I was driving home, the traffic started to slow, which is unusual at 1pm on a Monday. As I neared, I saw a large CAT back-hoe tractor thing driving slowly down the road. This happens all the time, it probably just needed more space than the on coming traffic would allow. As I became the next car to drive around it, I saw the cause of the congestion. There was a completely naked full figured woman walking down the middle of the main road. Her arms were out, above her head at times, and she looked angry as she slowly marched. I thought I'd seen everything by this point on St Kitts. Too bad I'd taken my camera out of my purse so it wouldn't get stolen if I were mugged down town. I would have looped back to get a picture... lol... she was a rather large woman, and without a doubt would look far better with clothes on.

I returned home for a well deserved nap. Spoose called and woke me up. He was ready for the goats, so around 5pm, Rudder and I loaded the two kids up and trekked across the island. Spoose already has two female goats, so my two males should have happy little lives.

Day at the Beach

2009-02-22T22:48:00.008-04:00

I spent today at Ship Wrecks Beach with Jossie and Melissa getting a fabulous tan.
(See Jossie to the left.)

We went with the intention of eating lunch at the beach. Because our classes usually get out at 11am, we've been conditioned that 11am is lunch time, and therefore we must eat. We arrived at 11:30am starving!

Apparently 11am is not only our preconditioned midday feeding, but also the monkey and mongoose feeding time! We watched as the server walked with a large bag of scraps and trash from the previous day. The bushes started to shake like feeding time for the Velociraptors on Jurassic Park! Out came about 30 mongooses squealing and fighting with each other over scraps of fish and such. The monkeys were more stoic, but they were just as adamant about getting to the food first.

While we dined, a few people from school came and went. There were loads more locally living Europeans than I would have ever expected.

Deondre's Blog

2009-02-17T18:47:00.008-04:00

My landlady's sister started living in the apartment behind the utility room sometime over the winter break. Her son has taked quite a liking to me. I think it's cuz he's facinated by the dogs... actually all the animals (goats, cats, etc). They all play together in the street with another neighbor kid up the road.

One day Deondre came home and asked if I could help him make a website. He wanted to call it www.top10.com. I told him that websites cost money and that particular address was probably taken. So I suggested he think about making a blog.

He thought that was a fun idea, so i showed him mine. Then I gave him some paper and had him write it all out. A few days later, when I was babysitting (long story), we made his blog together. To look go to Deondre's Blog, but be sure to vote on his polls because it's exciting for him! He also has a Clustr Map to log your location.

Puppy Love

2009-02-14T20:32:00.004-04:00

Aren't they cute! I took these videos a while ago, but thought they'd be fitting for today.

Baby Goat #6

2009-01-24T18:46:00.006-04:00

Oh the cuteness! One of the guys up the road found another baby goat! It's a few days older than mine, but totally cute as well. Will finish in a bit!

Dino Surgery

2009-01-21T14:20:00.012-04:00

Wanted to let everyone know that the Brontosaurus dinosaur, Little Foot, made it out of surgery alright. His head was successfully reattached, we added some stuffing to fill in the areas of tissue loss, and the stitches up his neck look quite good. I buried the knots (except for one) for cosmetic reasons since the sutures are permanent. It might be a good idea if he avoided the dogs for a while.

And as you can see by the look on his face, my surgery partner was far more confident in our ability:

Baby Goat #5

2009-01-20T16:03:00.011-04:00

We all know I'm a bit of a sucker... but this was only supposed to last for the weekend! On Wednesday, I saw a nanny goat with two little kids. Very cute. One had a bit of diarrhea and looked sick, so I called the dogs back and went back into my apartment.

The next night, the girl next door called me to tell me there was a baby goat out side. (Since I'm the one to drop baby goats off on.) I replied to her that yes I knew there were goats, should be 2 kids, and I was sure their mom would come back for them.

Friday night rolls around and the dogs run down to where we sighted the goats before. There is one skinny sad little baby goat. This was the healthy one, not the one with diarrhea. The nanny wasn't in sight. I made the decision to take the kid home, just for one night until I could find it's mother. She had one red tag and one yellow tag in her ear, so I figured it'd be relatively easy.

Wrong! She was no where to be found, so I kept the little guy for another night. Several days later I found the nanny goat. She had rejoined the herd, but didn't have the other baby with her. One of her udders was huge, oozing pus. Mastitis is pretty painful, so she must not have abandoned her cute little kids.

This means I have a little baby goatie! I'm only going to keep it for a little while, only until it can rejoin the goat herd. Pretty cute little guy huh? Liz named him Ting. This is the 5th goat/sheep I've had in my apartment!

My Return

2009-01-03T21:39:00.004-04:00

I'm home safe.

Can't say the same for the critters. Squeaker is "missing," the cat is hurt, and the dogs are covered in poop. The pet sitter (7th semester vet student) I hired didn't exactly "take care" of the animals. Here's a pict of the maggots on my counter and in their food. I have picts of the dried poop piles all over the floor that i had to scrape up, but I thought it best not to post those.

Patches was happy to see me. Actually, so were the dogs. Salty nearly knocked me over. Glad they remembered me.

Went to the Marriott beach to get some sun. Splurged and had a mixed drink and a sandwich. Yum yum!

School starts on Monday. I have mixed feeling about being back on island. It's SO much warmer, but I miss the luxuries of the states. Will be nice to see my friends at school, but 6th semester will be hard. Here's to 2009!

Oklahoma

2008-12-24T16:57:00.009-04:00

I liken Oklahoma to Canada: far up there and pretty darn cold!

As I drove (the speed limit) north I kept watch for the Red River to signal my enterance into the state, but somehow missed it!? How? I have no idea! I figured out I was in OK by the cop cars lining the highway ticketing speeders. Glad I was going to speed limit... although it's nothing for my mother's Cadalliac to go 80 mph.

I stopped somewhere north of the cacinos and south of Oklahoma City to grab a bite to eat. It was the first signs of civalized life (city rather than miles of rolling hills) and near a mall. I got side tracked trying to find Xmas presents, which was both fun and relaxing. Then (when fully awake after a jolt of coffee), I continued on to Peter's.

Stillwater was nice. I think I went through 4 traffic lights before I hit plains again, but they have a Super Walmart! Walmart was very exciting. I got guinea pig food, make up stuff, and bubble gum mouth wash. When Peter recovered from his shift, he took me for a tour of the town and the school. It was very odd to see "Aggies" in burnt orange. I can't say that if I went to OSU that I could wear burnt orange or support their football team. (Especially when the Aggies beat the hell outta OSU! Whoop!)

The vet school was very large animal oriented, which I consider a positive. That, and they had a CAMEL! Sooo cool. Actually, the camel was in for some problem, and was knocked out cold, strapped to a table, inserted into a CT machine. Very cool.

Everyone was super friendly and nice too! Several students gave me contact info so I could find a place there to keep my ponies close to the school. I consider that a major positive point, plus their rents were all quite cheap. I felt good about checking out OSU before I make a decision on my clinical placement in May. Hopefully my grades are good enough to get my top choice wherever I decide to go.

Loyality

2008-12-18T16:56:00.008-04:00

I arrived at DFW greeted my my mom and my little Pomeranian, Starbuck. It took 20 minutes for that little dog to recognize me! So much for man's best friend.

My cats were much worse-- they had no idea who I was. Well, but they are cats. I think after 2 days Sage finally sorta remembered me. I say this because she came and hopped on my bed and let me pet her. When I made a loud noise, since she's a skitzo cat, her eyes got really big and she vanished in a flash of black fluff. Barney didn't care either way, he loves everyone. Morris would not let me touch him, and he was quite happy outdoors.

When I went to Terah's house, however, and whistled from her porch, my horses turned around to look. Then Zaldi and Natalie, my two spectacular Arabian horses, came running! They remembered me after two years! What amazing animals. They were so excited to see me! And they wanted to go riding and didn't buck at all! Now that's love!

Guess we now know what the moral of this story is-- don't be mean to horses, because they're like elephants and won't forget!

Grades?!

2008-12-14T11:05:00.001-04:00

Packing, as expected, was a disaster. I somehow lost everything I needed to bring. All of my clothes were dirty. My grades were not posted. And my SIM card was MIA.

I'm not quite sure which was more important-- knowing my grades or finding my SIM card. Rest assured I was hysterically searching for my SIM card. I found it finally in my wallet wrapped in a small piece of cloth. I was near tears by that point.

Jossie left island the day before, so I had no internet, something we hadn't considered upon entering our little arrangement. I frantically asked a friend to check, which he did, about 30 times.

There's a policy here that says you can't get your grades (unless you fail out of school) unless you fill out a stupid end of year essay format survey about the classes you took (fresh while their torments are on the mind). The survey was not sent to me. If I had kept my big mouth shut, which knowing me is near impossible, I probably would have gotten my grades on time, but instead, I emailed them to inform them I did not receive the survey.

They responded by sending the survey Tuesday night, right before my Small Animal Medicine final. Super, I thought, knowing full well I'd never have time to complete this in the 2 days left of school... and I was NOT going to eat into my beach time by filling out stupid surveys.

Thus, Saturday came, and no grades. I didn't get a nasty dismissal letter informing me that I failed either though. Not knowing is quite concerning, especially when at the airport with 700 of your peers all congratulating each other on their successes into the next semester. I could have no such joys, but instead I'm sure I furrowed my brow when I replied to them "I do not know."

When I arrived in Dallas, I again checked my grades, this time for myself with my mother's wireless internet connection (which is fabulously fast). Still no grades, so I sent a few key people an email: My grades are not posted. I can only assume it is because of the survey mishap. I want my grades please.

This methodology ended successfully and I achieved my goal of a 3.0 or better GPA, thus I am able to be paid next semester for the research stuff I try to do! Yeah! :o)

December Exams

2008-12-04T20:52:00.002-04:00

The upcoming week will be an exhausting one. I ask that you kindly leave me the heck alone. Don't expect me to answer the phone or respond to emails (although I usually check my email every 30 minutes when I study). Here is my schedule:

Monday, December 8 - Toxicology 8am-1pm
Tuesday, December 9 - Diagnostic Imaging 8am-1pm
Wednesday, December 10 - Small Animal Medicine 8am-1pm
Thursday, December 11 - Anesthesiology 8am-1pm

Friday December 12 - pack/sleep/beach

Saturday, December 13 - Flight 2280 SKB (3:45 PM) to MIA (6:05 PM) & Flight 1724 MIA (9:15 PM) to DFW (11:25 PM)

Internet Woes

2008-12-01T01:39:00.000-04:00

My DSL modem has died. Sad sad... but is it good luck or bad luck?

The modem had been patchy since I moved into my apartment 16 months ago. The service would fade in and out, and I'd constantly be resetting it. I think it was old.

The oh so fun power outages that we've been having shouldn't have affected it since I was sure to plug it into a surge protector. My really awesome massage chair thingy died that way-- being plugged directly into the wall. That was really sad! It was a comfy chair, but I used it for my feet more than my back. I got 6 months out of it, and it was free, so I can't complain.

Anyway, the modem was plugged into a surge protector, so it wasn't that. Then the service provider guy seemed to think it was lightening through the phone line. I suppose that's possible, however improbable. I guess anything is possible here though.

I actually went in to town, modem in hand. A cruise ship was in town, so I had to drive around and around to find a parking spot. Then the streets were covered in ultra pale tourists migrating to the slums of downtown. Not smart. I ignored, after all, it was mid afternoon.

I walked into Cable & Wireless and though, just perhaps, I could just ask for a new one, or at least see if they could fix mine. For some reason, that was way too complicated. I was basically presented with three options:

1. Buy a new modem for $250EC ($93USD).
2. Make an appointment with the repair techs to come out and "re-program" my modem and check my phone line.
3. Cancel my service. (Keeping customers isn't a main priority here.)

Having never got one from Cable & Wireless when I started my service 16 months ago, I refused to buy a new modem, when I should have gotten one for free. (Everyone else got one for free.)

The guy convinced me to to have the DSL tech come out to the house. I told him about my upcoming exams (actually it was Tox), and he said he could have someone out tomorrow. "Super!" I thought. When would I be available? "After NOON, 12 NOON... not afternoon."

They called me at 9:45ish the next day to set up an appointment. I was in class. My phone rang. Embarrassing. I returned their call during my next break, and was told they would be at my house at 4pm. "Great!" I thought, impressed by the prompt service response.

Well, 4pm came and went. So did 5pm, and 6pm. The next day, they called me at 10:30ish to set up an appointment. I was, again, in class. I did tell them I had class until NOON, then would be available after 12 NOON. They said, "Great! We'll meet you at 11:30am." I paused for a second, thinking they be daft, and again explained that I'm in class until 12 NOON.

Somehow they still did not grasp this concept, but eventually I convinced them to meet me at 12 NOON rather than 11:30am. Then they said, "Great! We'll call you at 11:30am for directions." Wanting to shake them, I again explained that I would be in class, therefore I will be unable to answer my phone. Perhaps, while they had me on the line, and it was 11am, they should get the directions now. This again, had to be explained twice... and then I gave them directions.

At noon, I rushed to my car to beat the DSL tech to my house. At 5 minutes past, I was early. Noon thirty came and went. So did 1pm and 2pm. Eventually the DSL tech came, speeding down my street. Rudder and Salty came at him from either side. I think they've perfected the attacking locals guard dog part. I put them in the yard and showed the guy in.

He looked at my modem and said, "there should be 4 lights on." Duh. He plugged a new modem in, and all worked just fine, so he confirmed that my modem was indeed junk. Great. He also noted that I had a very old modem (several years), and that they stopped using that model because of this very problem, that i was lucky to get as long as I did out of it. I have to say that he was quite nice.

He offered to leave me a new modem, but he cautioned that I might be charged the $250EC. I declined and informed him that I would be canceling my services. Then he left.

Meanwhile, I've had my wireless adapter plugged into Jossie's cable internet modem. Would you believe it's actually faster than the DSL? I didn't realise, but it's also much cheaper. I was paying Cable & Wireless $125EC/mo, and she was paying The Cable company $100EC/mo. So from now on, I'll pay her $50EC/mo... $450EC total from now until I depart in August. That will save me $675EC ($250USD). So, I must ask again, was it good luck or bad luck!?

Thanksgiving

2008-11-26T22:10:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I'll be in class, but a group of us are going to the buffet dinner at the Marriott! We fully intend on gorging ourselves on turkey and other good things. I haven't had turkey in so long. Drool.

I am thankful for:

electricity

clean water

indoor plumbing

the refrigerator

candles

matches

mosquito coils

DEET

my garden

my swimming pool

the guinea pigs

and that Rudder is here with me!

And to make things really special, hopefully A&M will beat the hell outta t.u. (It's always a good season when we beat t.u.)

PS: It's also nice that everyone gets along:

With cockle shells and silver bells

2008-11-24T19:16:00.016-04:00

Well, I'm sick. Spent all of Saturday in bed. Have bad sniffles now. Can't breath. In bed with an 85 lb creature who really should be on the floor but somehow inched his way next to me. He's been doing this a lot. A bad habit. Oh well.

On Sunday, I noticed how nice my garden was. Then when I looked up old pictures of it, I realized how dramatic the change was. See for yourself...

Before:

(Note Ocean View)

Now:

(St Croix Yacht Club Flags & Ocean View)

(Really Awesome Swimming Pool) (The milk jugs are to keep the pigs from eating my seedlings.) (Twin Koi & Beta Pond with Water Lillies) (Tomato Plant loaded with almost ripe tomatoes.) (Infested with these sneaky sneaky little squeaky things:)

Texas Schedule

2008-11-15T16:00:00.006-04:00

I've posted my tentative schedule while I'm in Texas for your viewing pleasure. (See the side bar to the left under 'Blog Archive' and Zaldi.)

All I can dream about is going riding, so rest assured, I intend to be glued (or frozen) to a horse the majority of the trip. Those in College Station I'll be pestering will include, but not limited to, Terah, Eric, Eric, Adam, Sodalaks (drool), and The Dixie Chicken. I don't know where JR and Reebs are going to be yet, but I need to pester them too. Also Brandon (and Amanda) in Hondo and Bobby in Seguin.

In Dallas, my list includes Abby, Malissa, Jacob, Justin (+/- Than), Eric, ... and my mind is drawing a blank.

I'm going to make a trip up to OSU in Stillwater, OK sometime in Dec to visit sad ole Peter in clinics and to save Jossie from her drama filled life.

Also hoping to trek down to Houston to see my favorite aunt and uncle.

Who else (other than family) am I forgetting? For those of you who have not contacted me, you'd better! Or I'll feel so unwoved!!!

By Candle Light

2008-11-08T20:26:00.004-04:00

For a few solid days, we had power. I've decided that electricity is the single most important invention in the world, and far better than the wheel.

This week (probably because I had 2 exams) power has returned to its intermittent status. Since no one [in the civilized world] can really appreciate what it's like to not have power, I took a video (make sure your sound is on):

Then the power came back on!

And then it went off again. Sigh.

It could be worse though! Our water is now REALLY BAD. It's no longer clear, but instead has a watered down coffee colored appearance and smells like... Yes well, I didn't realize and used it for a whole pot of coffee one morning this week! Yum yum! I'm waiting for the Cholera symptoms to reveal themselves, leaving me prostrate on the floor in a disgusting mess (like my new favorite movie, The Painted Veil). I am not a hypochondriac; this could really happen here, it's a legitimate concern!

Grades and school are still my primary concern. So is being a vet still worth it? Yes.

...Or is that the crazy person in me talking?
There's no place like a tropical island paradise... Click heels...
There's no place like a tropical island paradise... Click heels...
There's no place like a tropical island paradise... Click heels...
Hmm, seems that didn't work, I'm still in St Kitts.

Actually, and this is really cute, someone at school made Ross Vet School "Survivor" T-shirts. I bought two. Hope I make it to the final round (7th/clinics). Forever the optimist!

I Voted!

2008-11-04T18:41:00.011-04:00

What a hassle, but I got it done. Actually I voted back on October 17th, gave the ballot to Jossie (sealed of course) to mail when she landed in Miami or Oklahoma-- 50% of island mail usually gets lost.

Truth be told, I voted for Obama. I don't know if that was wise or not. I really liked McCain, BUT if something were to happen to him, I don't think we can afford to have that nut of a running mate in the White House. Palin wants Christian Creationism taught in the classroom (mix of church and state), to drill in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) (ruining the environment, and attempting to take the Polar Bear and Beluga Whale off the endangered species list), and wants to overturn Roe vs Wade (I'm pro putting a hold on the world's ever expanding human population). Not to mention that she put a $150 bounty on Gray Alaskan Timber wolves. As if Canine Distemper and Parvo weren't enough for the poor things to deal with. She's a nut!

I was also unimpressed by all of McCain's eye rolls in the debates (all of which I watched). I loved one response McCain gave in response to Obama's comment about war with Pakistan, "You just don't say that!" With the war in Iraq, I sided with McCain, but he did want to cut spending for research (his example was $3mil spent for genetic testing of Yellowstone bears was a waste of money, and that is utterly wrong unless we want them to go extinct) . I can't really grasp either, McCain's nor Obama's, health care plans. But I guess the main reason I didn't vote McCain was because of Palin. I wish he'd picked a serious running mate, because I think he would have been a good president, especially with his military background.

I'm equally as unimpressed with Joe Biden however. Immoral is written all over him, like any standard politician. In law school he was caught plagiarizing 5 of 15 pages of a law review article. He received an F in the course, but was still able to pass the Delaware Bar. Later Biden plagiarized a speech by British Labour Party leader, Neil Kinnock. To me, that is shameful. I was disappointed by the VP debate too. I expected him to pummel Palin, but she had gone to debate boot camp! Of the 4 candidates, I think she's by far the best speaker and most honest person, but I just disagree with her views. Even though the press says otherwise, I think she won the VP debate.

So another 4 years with a new guy. I guess they unofficially announce it at 11pm-ish? Texas isn't a swing state, so my vote doesn't count (if it even counted anyway with how screwed up Brazos County voting is). I was almost not able to vote because they refused to mail me a ballot, saying I'd filled out the wrong paperwork (bs), even though they had my Ross Univ address as my mailing address. I spent hours on the phone sorting everything out, but eventually, they checked a file in a forgotten building and found the form that said mail me the damn ballot, I'm out of the country. It helped that I highlighted and circled it before I mailed it.

One thing is for sure, it was nice to look ever Tom, Dick, and Harry up on the internet before I sent it in. There were a few really sharp people, like a girl from Princeton who graduated Cum Laude, and some not so sharp, like the crooked Brazos County Sheriff. There was even someone from my high school. Anyway, what's done is done, and now it's time to watch and see who wins.

Saturday Night Live

2008-11-02T22:24:00.008-04:00

I love these SNL skits! For once the Republicans are leaps and bounds funnier than the Democrat. I posted these in chronological order: Palin and Hillary, The Real Palin, and McCain. Enjoy!

OMG I NEED a Joe Biden doll! Talks for 45 minutes! I love it! (I'm crying I'm laughing so hard!) I had no idea that John McCain was so funny! He's really pretty good in this skit.

I don't think those tiny little blue states up in the north east should count as much as they do. I mean really, they're unimportant little bitty states filled with grumpies! Really now, do we need them? Really? We need postive happy states to vote! Yup yup!

Dengue Confirmed

2008-11-01T23:46:00.003-04:00

With the rains and murky weather, we’ve had a mosquito population boom. On our street alone, in order, Sarah (2nd), Tim (5th), Adam (5th), Joan (2nd), Leslie (5th), Mary (5th), and now Beth (3rd) have fallen ill. Blood samples were sent to Trinidad, with the results taking 6-8 weeks.

Fortunately, it seems that the hemorrhagic strain isn’t afflicting anyone. Mainly fever, enteritis, headache, joint pain and flu like symptoms (which is so ambiguous).

Dengue Fever is caused by a positive sense single stranded RNA virus in the family Flaviviridae, genus Flavivirus. Flavi (plural), flavus (singular), comes from the Latin word for “yellow.” The most well know diseases caused by viruses in this family are Yellow Fever, Japanese Encephalitis, Hepatitis C, and West Nile. Mosquitoes of the genus Aedes, usually Aedes aegypti, transmit dengue. Aedes aegypti is distingusihed by its black and white striped legs and the white lyre shape on the hump of its thorax.

These, and smaller brown mosquitos, have filled my apartment. BOP doesn’t phase them, and I’m covered in DEET (OFF), so I’ve started to burn mosquito coils almost constantly. Inhaling these chemicals is taking a toll on my nose and throat, but at least I’m not sick! (Yet.) Those that have gotten sick have been out of commission for 3 weeks, with one of them potentially repeating the semester due to a missed exam.

The good news is that it’s not Yellow Fever or Malaria! Yellow Fever is often fatal. Malaria, caused by a a protozoa called Plasmodium, and can be very restant to drugs. Both of these diseases are thought to be in the Caribbean.

Meanwhile, I’ve been looking at where to move for clinics. One very beautiful state has been having deadly outbreaks of a a Rickettsial dease called Potomac Horse Fever. Horses become ill by drinking water from rivers or streams that contain the bacteria, Neorickettsia risticii, within snails, flukes, and fly larvae. Goes to show that not even the USA is disease free, which is good because that means I’ll have a job when I graduate!

More exciting, the UK has had an outbreak of pulmonary anthrax from animal hides. Anthrax spores can live 75+ years and prefer alkaline soil. China has had another incident with melamine contaminating animal feed, but I don’t think it’s hit the news yet. A novel strain of Bluetongue has been found in the middle of Europe (Switzerland). A disease from warthogs is killing pigs in Russia. And the unknown Ebola-like disease causing healthy people to die in Zambia and South Africa has been diagnosed as “a unique Old World arenavirus” (ProMED mail). How fun.

Okay, now back to my laudry…

Trick or Treat?

2008-10-31T17:59:00.004-04:00

Look what the cat dragged in (literally):

Several mice, two bats, and a dove. At this point, I’ve lost count with the number of mice he’s killed. At least one or two a week since I kicked him outside. Mango decided to dismantle one bat in my bathroom, leaving blood everywhere.

He darted past me with the dove, toward the bathroom, and I, erroneously thinking it was another bat, ran after him. The dove fluttered, slammed into my bathroom wall, he caught it and disappeared with it under my bed. I had to clobber him with the broom, and then bribe him with a can of cat food to remove the poor bird from his grip. Miraculously, the dove did not appear to be physically injured. I let it recuperate for a few hours then walked a few blocks to release it.

I don’t know what it is about orange cats, but I’m sure glad he only weighs 12 pounds. If he weighed 50 or more, he’d be a danger to people! My little Mango monster.

To get him back (not really), I brought him to school for our diagnostic imaging ultrasound lab. He was perfect, but part of that may have been because he was hiding from the probe under a towel. I think his left ventricle looks slightly enlarged in accordance with early stage Feline Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. I’m probably paranoid though, and since there’s no way to really fix it, I’m not going to worry just yet.

He’s such a good cat.

Mid Semester Break 5

2008-10-20T12:11:00.002-04:00

With the hurricane, this week has been surreal. More days off than we've had in a long time.

I've made a point of making this a lazy weekend. On Friday took Jossie to the airport (she went to Oklahoma to see her bf). That evening my friends and I went to see Eagle Eye at the NEW movie theatre! There we happened across one of our professors (a scary thought) and his wife. The movie was entertaining, but not something I'd watch again.

Saturday was spent tanning in the comforts of my fabulous pool, which is much too cold from the 80F cold fronts and rain we've had all week. I was just glad to see the sun again. I also napped a bit (ahem, most of the day). At sunset I reemerged to attend a social gathering aimed at introducing a friend's fiance to everyone here. She's in 6th semester, and this is his first trip down to St Kitts. They're getting married in December.

It was quarter til Sunday when I went home. When I awoke Sunday morning I had lots of energy. The pesky little local kid from down the street came over to play with the dogs. We went up the road to a dirt pile so I could fill up my planting pots. I think each of the nine pots weighed 20 lbs when full, but I managed to get them safely positioned in my yard without incident. I begun placing various seeds strategically in circles with a maker made from a Qtip in the center. (I thought it important to mark the parsley and cilantro from the hemlock and henbane, just in case.)

My energy flagged at noon and I retreated to my room. I started searching for streaming movies online and watched The Painted Veil (my new favorite), then started looking for movies with Edward Norton in them. I had no idea he was in so many popular movies. He's a very good, diverse actor. So then I watched The Incredible Hulk (part one and two), then The Illusionist (part one and two), part of Babylon AD until it got boring, Quarantine until it got scary, and now I'm watching The Kingdom of Heaven. I love the internet.

Last night I also was motivated enough to go into lab and work on a new extraction protocol with thick oily sea turtle blood. Then right when I had everything set up, you guessed it, the power went out. For a long time. Sigh. I was stuck there for hours.

Today I am to pick up Jossie at 1:30pm. To me, it was a very short weekend for a $1000US. I sure hope he appreciates her (but he probably doesn't). I also intend on going over to check on a friend who hasn't been answering her phone. We've gotten a bit worried about her because her Rottie is dying of osteosarcoma (same thing Padeaux died from). Sad sad. I wish I didn't, but I know exactly how she feels. On the optimistic side, she usually forgets to turn her phone on, so she might not be answering because of that or a migraine. Who knows.

Destruction

2008-10-16T22:40:00.019-04:00

Omar hit at 1:30am, hard. The wind was so strong that I couldn't open my door. I peaked out the window and my beloved tomato plant was almost flat against the concrete. The palm trees were bent over in the yard and I could hear the waves pound the 50ft cliff at my house. I wish it had been daylight so I could have seen the ocean. It rained non-stop.

When morning came, the sky was still darkened, but all was quiet. The waves were still huge. They must have been 15 ft at 8am. Neighbors came from up the street to look from my house, as my view is excellent. Then the rumors started.

Cell phones were down, the power was out, water was not to be trusted. School was, of course, still canceled. We heard that Sprat Net's (a lobster and bar) was gone. Boulders the size of my bedroom were washed up on shore to occlude the roads. Those I confirmed myself. Truly amazing that they could wash up so easily as sand. Water is a powerful force.

We also heard that the strip of bars on Timmothy Beach had been swallowed by the sea.It was bad, flooded and covered in 4ft of sand, but still there. The video below (if it works) is the beach.

I emerged at 4pm to assess the damage. The dogs came with, and were total pills. Very unlike them, but they had been cooped up in the house for days. When I drove west, toward Sprat Net's, I saw the cause of the power failure: all the powerline polls were snapped. Great, how long will this take to fix?

I turned around and started toward the capital, Basseterre. There, the sea met the road, and waves were still quite tall. A guy, about my height (5ft 7in/170cm), ran away on Bay Road when a wave struck.

When I was satisfied with my post hurricane island exploring, the dogs and I headed home. I crawled back into the warmth of bed, quite tired from the 2 hours of activity I'd had that day.

About an hour later, all of a sudden, and quite unexpectedly, the power came on! Someone must have been motivated to fix those down lines.

I called mom, who had left half a dozen emails, phone calls, and other messages. Then called dad, who informed me how bad St Croix was hit. They have a curfew from 6pm to 11am and many ships sunk in the Christiansted harbor and yaght club. So, I survived, and I suppose it could have been worse (like it was at dad's house!).

Hurricane Omar

2008-10-15T21:22:00.013-04:00

When in doubt, it can always get worse. This morning school was canceled on account of Hurricane Omar, which is came out of the blue. It started as a tropical storm, they always do, and yesterday grew into a Category 1 Hurricane. Today it has progressed from a 1 to a 2 and is now a Cat 3! It's heading directly for St Croix and St Kitts too. Super.

Hurricanes almost never come from the west and head east, Omar's direction. The west side of the St Kitts is typically protected from storms with the volcano and mountains, if the storm comes from Africa. With Omar, I'm completely vulnerable! The last hurricane that did this, wiped out Port Zante in Basseterre (the capital of St Kitts). Figures.

To avoid more make up classes, we adamantly urged our prof to continue with the Anaesthesia lecture, even when the power went off, came back on, and then the computer system (for ppt) failed. School is canceled tomorrow to, unless "the sky is blue, the sun is shining, and the birds are out." We were urged to go to the grocery store to stock up on food/water, and to fill our cars up with gas. I have about half a tank. (I fill up ~1x/mo and with it being the 15th, that's about my standard usage.)

I found a wandering paniced 3rd semester student from Texas and invited her to go to the grocery store with me (she has no car). We went to Ram's and were shocked that there was absolutely NO parking. The roads were congested, the neighboring parking lots were full, and they had run out of shopping carts. Nevertheless, we braved the crowd.

It didn't take us long to grab the few items we needed (like toilet paper), but the check out lines wrapped around the isles. It took over an hour to check out. I had wanted to get gas, but as we left, we were so fatigued from the grocery store that we couldn't bare to wait in the literally 3 hour line to fill up a tank.

Living without electricity for so long, I think I'm pretty prepared. The power cam on early afternoon today, which was an odd, pleasant feeling. I was a bit shocked; I wasn't expecting it.

The cable has been intermittent, but that's about as exciting as my dad has gotten. It's been raining all day, but just started getting windy. Like, 30-40 mph windy now, to develop into 110 mph windy. I'm going to go back to sleep. If you want to monitor the storm or Caribbean weather in general, go to the Atlantic Loop on NOAA.

I really wonder how things can get worse (although I know they can), but seriously, don't you think that 5 exams, a car accident, dead car battery, a dead baby goat, no electricity, no clean drinking water, no cooking gas, a stomach illness from eating on campus, a centipede in my bed, and now a hurricane hitting me straight on is a little much for October?

Five people at school have been out with Dengue Fever. They all live on my street (we found were the mosquitoes were breeding). I bet that's next. Or my car breaks down or is carried off by the storm. Sigh. This is too much drama. Wow, the wind has really picked up now. Wish it were daylight and I could take picts.

Powerful Weekend

2008-10-13T16:42:00.008-04:00

Power is still patchy. This has been a "surely it can't get any worse" weekend. I knew it was a bad omen when the thunderstorm (that follows me) appeared. I cut my hair (right -->) a little too short too. See my classic deer in headlights look? Maybe were in monsoon season or something, because it hasn't stopped raining since and weather reports expect it to continue for over a week. I'd prefer to think it's bad karma following me.

Thursday, I volunteered to raise and release a baby goat. It died hours after I brought it home. Devastating. So I took it to campus for necropsy Friday morning, and my prof assured me that there was probably nothing I could have done. Still devastated, so I cut out of my last class to bury myself under the safety of my covers at home.

At one point I got up to eat something, but the power was still off so I didn't want to open the fridge. The mainstay of my diet has become canned green beans, chili, and Chef Boyardee, heated over an open flame. I fumbled to light my gas stove, but it would not light. I tried again and again, and decided that it must be out, so I gave up. With no electricity or fuel to cook with, I crawled back under my covers. At least I had water (I've been drinking the masses of bottled water I kept in storage for just such an occasion).

Around 6pm my friends started to worry about me, I was a bit hysterical over the goat, and came over. The power was still off, so they made me get up and go out to another friend's "BBQ" for dinner. BBQ here means hot dogs, not real meat. I'm on a "diet" anyway. Must squeeze into the bride's maid's dress that I took measurements for 6+ months ago. I'm sure it'll fit, but it doesn't hurt to be too thin. Sufficed to say, I only picked at the mayo covered macaroni and weenies. By the end of the night I did feel a bit better.

When I awoke on Saturday the power was on. What a bizarre and amazing feeling. I rushed to the laundry room to commence washing my unmentionables. The lab at school was open, so I went to practice, was there for an hour, then ran back home to put a new load in the dryer. Right about the time I was ready to leave, it started to pour... again... so I waited. Eventually I decided to brave the rain, and arrive back at school sopping wet.

The power was still on when I returned home after lab. So odd. I finished my laundry, then tended to my garden, which happens to be full of almost ripe cherry tomatoes, and fed the dogs. Exam after exam after exam had left my apartment in a disarray, so I cleaned until it was nap time, and crawled back under my covers. Mid afternoon I hauled my gas tank to a Shell to exchange it for $30EC. When i returned home to plug it back in, I discovered a leak. Any where else I could have taken it back immediately, but not here, they were closed until Monday. I don't even remember what I did Saturday night. Must not have been very exciting, but at least I had power (and water). I microwaved something for dinner.

Sunday the power was still on. Really getting odd now. I went jogging to campus and back to work up an appetite. I thought, just to be safe, I should rush to make myself a snack. As I walked over to the microwave with my cold plate of chili and rice, the power went out. I was INCHES away from it. I picked at the cold rice, but the chili couldn't cover the taste. Ah well. At least I had power and things living in my freezer were solid once more.

Several hours later, the power came back on. This time I microwaved green beans and studied a bit. Jossie and I discussed the power situation [the having of power, that is]. We wondered what cursed week of no power we would be subjected to in exchange for the power we had now. dread filled us. An entire 24 hours with power, that's just not possible after 2 weeks without. We settled back into our respective apartments and I turned on the mind numbing cable tv. I had to get another new remote because the one I'd brought from the states and had been using, had died. New remotes are always difficult at first.

I retreated to my room and surfed the Internet, caught up with a few friends. As time for bed neared, I saw a centipede near me! This was a baby one, but the centipedes here get as long as a foot (a solid 10 inches) and their bites put you in the hospital. They are much feared by the local population of veterinary students, especially since tales of their aggression are not without warrant. So where did this dang bug go but into my sheets. I couldn't find it either, the sneaky thing. My bed was neat (since I'd just made it), and my pillows were off, but it was still evading me. If I couldn't find it, I decided, I'd have to sleep on the couch or worse, with Jossie!

After much searching, I grabbed the can of BOP (extra strong pyretherin bug killer) and begun spraying my room, and the sheets on my bed. In a flash of terror and anger, it came at me! I managed to slam a book on it before it got near me, but that didn't kill it. No, it moved the heavy text toward me. I clamped onto it with forceps and watched it's jaws snap at me, dripping venom. These things really are that bad. When I was sure it was mostly dead, I tossed it in my neighbor's bushes, and headed back to bed.

Maybe it was the excitement, but I couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned, got up to have a snack, then tossed and turned some more. Then it occurred to me just how cold I was, so I put long pants on, got my wool blanket to go over my comforter, and plugged in my heating pad. Finally I was cozy in the 80F cold front.

Waking up this morning was difficult but I managed it. It was still raining and dreary. Jossie and I made it to class with time to spare before our power was again cut for the week. I managed to get a different tank of cooking gas, one without a leak, and brought it home. On the trip home however, and this exemplified my lack of brilliance on days that end in a Y, I decided to test it while driving, so I turned the lever to open the valve. Gas came rushing out and filled my not so safe car, and I had to pull over to shut the darn thing off. Made it home in one piece, with the dogs' help. We're thinking of attempting some pork chops, but are undecided (remember, I'm still on a diet).

Spoke Much Too Soon

2008-10-09T18:14:00.002-04:00

As if things can't get worse, some idiot backed into my car. Like, we were both driving down the road, they stopped, so I stopped, then she decided to back up [without looking], into me!

When she wanted to blame me, I got pretty pissed. That's me and my super short temper for ya! Rolling eyes. My poor ole car.

Anhydrous Campus

2008-10-08T10:10:00.003-04:00

Seems I spoke too soon. Water is now gone, at least on campus, I haven't been home since 7am.

Really gross to have 30 toilets on campus not flushing with 700 students and 200+ staff. Giardia or some other tropical parasite has been giving everyone the runs, so everyone is in a bit of a panic. I'm waiting for the day when I look down and a worm looks back up at me.

Studying my tail off for Toxicology. Exam is at 7am tomorrow. Might not get much sleep tonight.

Power Struggle

2008-10-07T15:22:00.014-04:00

One whole week without power. I'm surviving... barely... developed a new slogan-- Go Green! All you out there using electricity, you are evil and polluting the environment. You should rebel, cut your utility bill dramatically, rise to the challenge, go back to nature.

Yes well I do believe nature is taking over my dearly beloved freezer full of meat. I'm fighting tooth and nail though: had excellent baby back ribs last night for dinner with green beans heated over an open flame. (My stove still works.) Also attempted to study by my oil lamp last night. That lasted until my ribs were done, then I relocated back to my second home-- campus.

With the news reports stating "virtually destroyed," I considered investing in a generator, but it has been determined that shipping and running a generator is too expensive for the size I'd need, plus there's the island import tax (60% of retail value AND shipping). The thought of withdrawing for the semester and moving onto someone's couch [in the states] to wait for the power to come back on has seriously crossed my mind. That's probably cheaper than a generator anyway.

Today we were fortunate enough to receive a schedule which will be in effect until the back up island generators also explode. Did I mention the estimate for this to get fixed is December? Anywho, here's the schedule for light at the end of the tunnel (both literally and figuratively):

6am to 12pm

Bayfords Feeder - St. Peters
Frigate Bay Feeder - Bird Rock
Cayon Feeder - Canada Estate to Grant egg farm via. Cayon S.E. Peninsular – Frigate Bay, S.E. Peninsular

12pm to 6pm

Canada Feeder – Conaree, Half Moon Heights
Basseterre North Feeder- Taylors, Shadwell, College Housing, Greenlands, Buckley’s, McKnight, Fortlands
Sandy Point Feeder - Palmetto Point to Figtree via. Old Road Basseterre North Feeder –Lime kiln, Camps, Mattingly, WEST FARM, Boyd’s

6pm to 10pm

Industrial Site Feeder – CAP Industrial Site

10pm to 6am

Industrial Site Feeder – CAP Industrial Site

OH, rumor is these are the times we're NOT supposed to have power... meaning we will have 18hrs of electricity a day? I'm going to not hold my breath on that. At least we have running water, and the weather is perfect. So, it could be worse. I'm sure that will manifest itself in a new and exciting way somehow.

6pm came and went, yet I remained in darkness.

Powerless

2008-10-04T21:18:00.013-04:00

Well, I have no electricity. There was a huge fire at the island's power station (which is basically a giant generator because it runs on diesel). They estimate it will take WEEKS to get the parts needed to fix it (and by then, the repair man will probably be on vacation).

"Please note that the main power generators at the St. Kitts Electricity Company has been damaged and as a result load sharing will take place island wide i.e. power will be available for limited periods of time during the day or night. We have contacted the Electricity Department but they were unable to provide any additional information; as soon as we receive a schedule of the load shedding we will share it with you. The length of time required to have the situation rectified is uncertain, but we will keep you updated as we get additional information

It would be advisable to unplug any items that can remain off when power returns as there can be surges that may damage sensitive equipment.

We are currently using our stand-by generator to provide power to the campus and the Campus Living Residences."

Then we got an email about a "loading bearing schedule." West Farm (where I live) isn't on the list. Fun times.

Rudder is at school helping me study for Small Animal Medicine. Guess he and Salty are going to get all the meat in my freezer when it melts... I've already brought food up to campus for safe keeping.

Also camping out, here at school, with my rice cooker, coffee maker, lounge chair, quilt, and other kitchen amenities. I've become popular because I have cooked food. BUT at least we have running water at home! That is, until the pumps go out. Give it time.

PS: The power went out on Oct 1st (4 days ago). I wonder if school will run out of fuel for their generator. Gas was $15.44EC/gal ($5.75US/gal) on my last fill up. I hear it's higher now.

Professional Dress

2008-09-30T12:20:00.017-04:00

I received an email today from our class rep detailing what our proper attire should be. Apparently there have been a number of people streaking across campus, as this is the 3rd email we've received on "what not to wear." Here's how the email goes:

I have been asked to clarify and give examples of what inappropriate dress is... (Who needed appropriate dress clarified?! Didn't we learn this where we were 5?)

1.) Skin showing between your shirt and your pants. (Don't dress like Britney Spears, gotchya.)

2.) No "cracks" or thongs showing from the back of your pants. (But but butt two of the clinicians here are guilty of that?)

3.) No showing of boxers or underwear. (Whoever is walking around without pants sure keeps a low profile!?)

4.) No bras showing (We need to stop coming to class topless? Darn.)

5.) No wearing bathing suits under see through clothing. (LOL, we can swim after school on the campus beach. We are on an island. I wonder if we can just wear the see through clothing without the bathing suit? She was not specific about that, so it must be okay.)

6.) No wearing shorts that are so short that they look like you are wearing underwear. (Again, don't dress like Britney Spears, gotchya.)

So to wrap it up... we are supposed to be dressing professional. If you go in to an exam room with a client guys...are going to wear jeans that are falling off you showing your boxers and a shirt with holes in it? Ladies are going to wear no bra and a shirt that shows your midrift?

So... I take it we're liberal enough here to throw our bras to the wind, but everything else must be covered. Do they really have to tell us this?

The Funeral

2008-09-27T23:25:00.012-04:00

I went to Gary's funeral today. Made Jossie come with me (since she is my best bud and fellow tenant)... actually we have 5 tests so I really had to twist her arm and drag her kicking and screaming in the rain.

It poured most of the day. The viewing started at 1:30pm, so we got there a bit after 2pm, assuming the services would start at 2:30 and last and hour. Big mistake. We were one of the first to arrive due to the rain (the island stops turning when it rains here). We sat patiently in the pew for an hour and a half as people trickled in, but we had great seats-- the 3rd pew. The family (Mom Brooks, Gary's mother) was thrilled to see me. Keep in mind that this is the 'pre-funeral services.'

We were there for about 30 minutes when the concert started. One person came up and introduced himself as Gary's cousin and middle school teacher. Then he passed the microphone off the a man with a goatee. I have never heard such a voice! We were TOO CLOSE to the speaker (remember 3rd pew). The building shook. I think he was in tune, but I really have no idea. Jossie and I looked at each other.

When this man finished belting out his song or two, he passed the microphone to a woman with equally strong lungs. Then as more people trickled in, a group, I assume family?, joined her on stage. It was like church karaoke without the teleprompter... or like the out takes of American Idol.

As the church filled and the microphone was handed to more newcomers, those seated were overcome with Tourette syndrome. We heard all sorts of vocalizations like "Hallelujah!, JEEEESUS!, Oh lord!, Oh JEEEESUS!, That's right!, Yes JEEESUS!, Oh God!" For a moment we thought someone one in the back was having some really great sex.

An hour and a half went by. Jossie looked at me. I looked at her and replied "I know I owe you big time." She said "No shit! But I have to get back to studying. Have you looked at the program? They haven't even started. There are 8 pages of this stuff. This will take hours. HOURS!"

I looked at the program, and indeed she was right. What had I gotten myself into? What had I gotten us into?! We have 5 exams in a row starting Wednesday. I decided to release her from the never ending funeral concert, "Do you want t take my car?" "No, you are going to need it to get to the cemetery, or if you need to escape, I'll take the bus." "Okay."

It was decided, she would leave and I would stay and represent [all of] the tenants of the house. She got up to leave, and EXACTLY at that moment when she was scurrying toward the door of escape, the cousin/teacher guy announced to all 200 people crammed in the building who we were. I suppose everyone was wondering who the two white chicks were, since everyone had been staring and pointing and not sitting near us. I absolutely love that I look so different here, but it's a smidge uncomfortable being asked if they can touch my hair.

Jossie waved and kept walking. I stood half way up, waved, and sunk back into my pew. I was on my own. The concert continued for another hour and a half with everyone saying and singing something, except for quiet little ole me. When the services finally did start, Gary's father, a preacher, led the prayers, more speakers, more songs, more reading of the Bible, more songs, and more prayers. Toward the end, the group that was having sex with Jesus in the back became far more vocal. One woman came to take Jossie's seat and almost went into a fit screaming to Jesus! Anyone who knows me can guess how bewildered I was. Now multiply that by 10 and you're getting close.

At sunset we drove Gary's body to the cemetery. There two men proceeded to dig a hole, put the coffee colored coffin in the ground, and bury it. A pair of dogs looked on with interest. The program had an insert of graveside hymns to be sung. Everyone huddled around the men digging, some standing on tombstones (not the flat kind), and sung as loud as possible. Then I apparently missed the memo that said we were to repeat the 4 lines of chorus until the grave was filled, but I caught on after the 5th repeat.

When it was done, I went up to Des, Gary's widow, and gave her another hug. I'd given her one earlier when she arrived in tears. Sad. She thanked me for coming and told me she'd be by tomorrow to meet the new tenants in the building. As we were talking, a VERY handsome black man walked up to us. He looked so familiar, since I'd gone through 3000 family pictures with Mom Brooks. I chimed "You look familiar, I've seen your wedding photos. What's you're name?" FYI to all other socially inept persons like me, never say that.

He puffed up "I'm not married! I'm single! Never been married! No kids! I'm an architect! Not married! Single!" I shuddered. So I said "But I thought I saw your wedding picture at Mom Brook's house on the left next to the sofa." "Oh that was probably my dad, we look alike. Are you a vet student? I'm single, here's my card, email me, I come to this island often." Oh and this was said loud enough so that everyone heard. I took the card, gave Des another hug, and retreated into the pitch black cemetery, hiding behind a gravestone, and making my way back to my car without completely breaking my ankle in the divets.

This funeral would have made Gary very happy. I cam almost see him hunched over giggling and saying "Are you serious! Wow man!" He was a great guy, and I'm glad I decided to stay for all 6+ hours of his funeral-concert. It was definitely an experience!

Room Schedules

2008-09-24T20:00:00.009-04:00

So as it turns out, in the logic that is Ross, that a make-up lecture trumps a regularly scheduled class.

Our schedule is such:

So here goes, we left room 2 to go to room 3 for Tox. We had Friday, Sept 19th off for Kittitian Independence Day, so the 6th semester's profs decided to make up those classes (6 hours worth from what I hear). We piled outside room 3 as 7th semester filed into room 2 and prepared for class. Since 6th would not budge from room 3, our class rep (political liaison) was volunteered to out the rival class. She approached their prof and told him flatly to leave and 5th had jurisdiction over the room.

It is never good to piss off a prof. I don't think I've ever seen him snipy until today either. It was kinda funny because he does have the ego that most male profs here do. Well he decided it was his room gosh darn it, and we needed to amscray.

Our good natured (and frequently late) Tox prof relented and Tox was canceled. I suppose when the planets align and the stars are just right, the room scheduling will be in order. Until then, yikes!

And for some reason my esnips at the bottom isn't working (and lost 40 of my songs!) so whenever I have time (ha!) and energy (HA!) I'll get it working again.

Brown Widow Spiders

2008-09-14T21:25:00.014-04:00

I'm infamous! (But we already knew that.)

Sunday August 17th over break I was cleaning my porch when I found a bunch of brown spiders with messy webs. I was brushing them away when one flipped over and there was a bright orange hour glass. I froze!

When you see an hour glass on a spider, you automatically think of one thing-- a Black Widow. But these were brown? I remember, as a kid, reading about Widow spiders and the variations between them. They can have red, orange, or white hour glasses, or triangles rather than an hourglass, or an hour glass or triangle and a spot, or no markings at all.

Then, taking a study break late at school, I was boasting about my find to a friend, who pointed to a spider web on the picnic table we were sitting at. I, to my friend's dismay, crawled under the bench with my trusty pen light to examine them. When I came back up for air I exclaimed in excitement, "more brown widows!" We decided to get off the bench before were were bitten and had to be care-flighted to San Juan.

I contacted a few Widow spider experts and naturalists specializing in the local flora and fauna of St Kitts. I learned that no one on St Kitts (ie the hospital, the head of medicine, the naturalists, and the locals) had any idea that these poisonous spiders were on St Kitts! I did run across a spider lady on Trinidad who came here in ealy 2007 for a survey of St Kitts spiders. She mentions finding the spiders in an article (Sewlal 2008) that came out this week, but didn't mention it to anyone here. (Why?!?)

A spider expert in Florida explained "But their reputation as venomous is overblown. Although brown widows are 2x more potent, drop for drop, than southern black widows, the black widows inject approximately 3x as much venom, therefore are more dangerous. And black widows are more aggressive and will defend their webs, unlike brown widows. They are in fact very timid spiders toward people, and rarely bite. And black widows are more aggressive and will defend their webs, unlike brown widows."

I was excited anyway. The media center guy on campus helped me take pictures of the brown widows on campus and load them on to Wikipedia. I didn't change any of the wording.

My landlord died.

2008-09-11T23:24:00.004-04:00

I saw my landlord on Saturday when he was on his way to the airport to return to Anguilla (where he lives). He looked okay, but tired. Gary had throat cancer several years ago and constantly had 'the sniffles' and the worst snoring on the planet.

I gave him a hard time about his health and selling our apts since he's just had a rush to insure the house. He said he was fine, that he'd developed sleep apnea, and he'd already gone to the doctor. He also had a black eye and busted lip from where he fell out of a chair while he slept. I thought that was an unlikely store, but who am I to judge.

What he didn't tell me was that he was having severe pain all over his body, especially his left arm, and he was having black outs. He went to the hospital on Anguilla for a CT scan, and this is an excellent example of island medicine, but rather than interpret the CT on a patient with neurological issues, they sent him home! He died a little more than 24hrs later.

Apparently, when Des, his wife, woke up she started to make breakfast when she noticed he wasn't snoring like a freight train (really his snoring was that bad), so she shook him, but he wouldn't wake up. The ambulance came around 6:30am and then a doctor to pronounce him dead. Gary's mother, Mom Brooks, called me about 7:15am hysterical. I wasn't sure what the matter was, but I knew it was something with Gary being sick.

I sorted the out the details with housing and the neighbors today, then realized I must have been on the A List in terms of priority of who to call. I had no idea his mother even liked me! She really hates Rudder and Salty... then on Saturday when the guinea pigs ran out of my house and into the garden, I thought she was going to absolutely kill me.

I decided to drive out to Sandy Point (a village) to visit. I brought with me a loaf of banana nut bread and dug up a Tamarind tree with mint planted at its base in the pot. She lived in a modest block home, but poverty of the area was evident in the shacks across the street. She told me about when Gary was growing up, who was the last of eight, a man from the Peace Corps came and adopted one her sons, taking him back to the states. Talking with her was very interesting.

Back to the point, she told me that it would be about a week and a half to two week for the funeral because they were going to do an autopsy and then had to ship him back here. Des will be moving back to St Kitts permanently with her daughter Terese to be close to family. Gary was only 40 years old, and a good landlord, what a shame.

I have a telephone!

2008-08-21T19:13:00.002-04:00

That's right folks, I've moved into the 20th Century... er, make that the 21st Century?

The brand is Magic Jack and it is basically a USB with a phone jack in it. It hooks up to my computer and then you just plug the phone in! How great!

Even better is the price! It was $40USD for the device and a year of service. If I keep it, it's $20USD/yr after that. Much cheaper than Vonage which is $25USD/mo.

It is a states number, a Dallas 214, so everyone could call and pester me, but the battery in the phone my mother brough me only lasts for 38min, so my class may be limited. Email me if you want my new number or send me your number.

My computer has to be on to accept calls, but the Magic Jack emails me digital voice messages, which I can check anywhere, even at school.

Trip to Texas booked

2008-08-15T20:43:00.008-04:00

For the first time in what seems like years, I'll be coming back to Texas! It's all Eric's fault-- he's getting married and stuck me in his wedding as a bridesmaid or something.

So parentally funded, for 60,000 AA miles and $39.50, I got this reservation:

SAT 13DEC
Flight 2280 SKB (3:45 PM) to MIA (6:05 PM)
Flight 1724 MIA (9:15 PM) to DFW (11:25 PM)

FRI 02JAN
Flight 919 DFW (6:00 AM) to MIA (9:30 AM)
Flight 2299 MIA (10:50 AM) to SKB (2:50 PM)

So I have the following dates available:

Dec 13 (S) - SKB to DFW arrive at 11:25pm
Dec 14 (N) - Visit my favorite niece and nephew (Selina/Dallas)
Dec 15 (M) - Dentist appointment 9:45am (Dallas)
Dec 16 (T)
Dec 17 (W)
Dec 18 (R)
Dec 19 (F) - Wedding Rehearsal (Plano/Dallas)
Dec 20 (S) - Wedding Murder Mystery Party (Plano/Dallas)
Dec 21 (N) - Eric's Wedding!!! (Plano/Dallas)
Dec 22 (M) - My favorite niece and nephew are out of school!
Dec 23 (T)
Dec 24 (W)
Dec 25 (R)
Dec 26 (F)
Dec 27 (S)
Dec 28 (N)
Dec 29 (M)
Dec 30 (T)
Dec 31 (W)
Jan 1 (R)
Jan 2 (F) - DFW to SKB departing at 6am

Visiting the horses that I miss so much are floating around the list, but haven't made exact plans. I'd also like to get my eyes lazered (preferable the first Monday or Tuesday that I'm there). Need to get a tooth fixed at the dentist (which will probably be a cavity by December). Email me if you want to book a specific day, otherwise I'll meander about Texas.

For all you island internet stalkers, the dogs will still be guarding my house (with a house sitter) so it will be futile to try to break in. Besides, I wouldn't leave anything valuable there anyway (like my laptop, rice cooker, or car), and I'm broke, so there isn't any money, and all the jewlry that I have on island, I wear every day... and what else? oh you can steal the tv, it's not mine.

If anyone wants to house sit for me let me know! All you'd have to do is feed the dogs, which is easy and would save me $300USD.

Done With 4th!

2008-08-13T20:58:00.004-04:00

My last final was today-- Path. It was as hard as I expected, but I think most expected it to be easier. I don't care, it's over and I needed a 33% to pass. (I needed a whopping 23% to pass Clin Path.)

So into 5th semester I go... after the next 18 days of glorious summer break!

I'm going to start reading The Third Chimpanzee by Jared Diamond, author of Guns, Germs, and Steel. Although I found the subject matter facinating, I only got half way through Guns, Germs, and Steel because I found the writing style a bit annoying. I suppose that's how popular writers are these days. We'll see how it goes.

Twas the weekend before finals...

2008-08-09T14:42:00.004-04:00

And my landlord's brother just came by with a tax/building inspector to look at our apartments without notice. Riiight. Any other weekend would have been fine, but they decided this would throw us off the most. I'm at home, studying, only because I couldn't brave the frigid cold of the library any longer! One other girl in my apt came home for a quick bite of lunch. She and I looked at each other, then looked at them, and with an incredulous chuckle, we, in unison, declined. Besides, they’d have to come back to see the other apartments anyway.

Meanwhile, I’ve been tackling a long list of poisonous plants for Ross’s Toxic Plant Garden with quite a bit of success. With only a bit more than a handful left to go, I’ve been able to secure scary things like Poison Hemlock, Belladonna, Henbane, and Foxglove, along with the not so scary Tiger Lily, St John’s Wart, and lucky Four Leaf Clovers. In my search, I met a very nice lady on ebay who rescues herding dogs and shows Chinese Cresteds. She and a friend of hers are going out of their way to help locate the remaining plants I need, like the nut of a Tung Oil Tree. (As if I wasn’t nuts already!)

I also decided that I needed to invest in some Gladiola bulbs as a present to myself, so I ordered 50 pastel pink and 50 lavender-blue. The gardening should keep me plenty entertained over the next few weeks of break until the next semester starts on September 1st. Until then, I really should unplug my ever so distracting internet so I can continue to cram for finals!

Already taken --> Epidemiology and Poultry
Monday --> Clinical Pathology
Tuesday --> Pharmacology 2
Wednesday --> Pathology 2
Thursday --> FUN FUN FUN!!!

Preparing for 4th Finals & Sidetracked in Dubai

2008-08-04T15:17:00.019-04:00

I'm trying to study... surfing the net mainly. Up at school in my hot pink leggings and army green sweatshirt.

Watched 60 Minutes yesterday? Maybe the day before, I can't remember. It was about Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and the dramatic changes in Dubai. If you don't have Google Earth, download it here, just to look. It's really amazing; maybe a modern day Babylon. Two of my profs have urged me to check it out because, let's face it, I'm in love with my horse. The royally owned Godolphin Stables, seems to only have the fast TB's rather than the magnificent Arabian horses though.

So I've had some concerns, like I'm female and stick out like a sore thumb with my blue eyes and sun-bleached blonde hair, but then I spoke with a 3rd prof, who acts as a consultant to the Godolphin breeding program (lucky!), and he said it's relatively safe and I'd have a blast! (Without being required to dress like a black ghost of course!) And a British friend of mine (at Ross) lived there, and her daughter (my age) was trying to move back to Dubai!

I checked with the US Travel/State Dept and it seems I wouldn't need a Visa to enter the UAE either. I've found a hostel to stay at for $25US/night, and flights starting at $1200US round trip. So this is my new plan, maybe in April 2009 if i don't go to Africa to tag wildlife or to St Croix to spay puppies and kitties or sit at home and study for the PAVE, then I'd really like to go to Dubai... or Egypt too (some of Zaldi's relatives are still in Giza at Albadeia).

My profs said that if I contacted Shiekh Maktoum, as a student (ie now) then I'd be far more likely to be invited to see his collection world-class champion horses than if I'd already graduated and was job hunting. While I doubt I'd want job there because I still plan on specializing in poultry, it would be amazing to watch some of the desert endurance races/rides. Gosh, I'd love to travel.

Back to studying for finals... look at this amazing photo of a cycloptic calf from a cow that ate False Hellebore (Veratrum californicum). I think I love all my classes this semester (definitely have had great profs).

(Man-made waste isn't always to blame for mutants!!!)

2008 edition of getting to know your friends

2008-07-26T21:02:00.015-04:00

My very good friend, Terah (and keeper of the horses), sends me those silly chain emails about yourself. Since I have nothing better to do (besdides study) I thought I’d post one. She sent this a month ago and it’s been sitting in my drafts box waiting to go back to her:

1. What time did you get up this morning? 5:30 am, dang cat!

2. Diamonds or pearls? Tiffany & Co or Mikimoto, depends on the function (click Tiffany link to see my engagement ring-- all I need is the man of my dreams to buy it!)

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? wow I don't know. That was over a year ago.

4. What is your favorite TV show? House, but Law & Order comes on more often

5. What do you usually have for breakfast? mangos (‘tis the season)

6. What is your middle name? Amalie

7. What food do you dislike? Liver, egags!

8. What is your favorite CD at the moment? none (I don't even think I one with music on it that I didn't make myself.)

9. What time is it right now? 3:57pm EST July 7... 9:08pm EST July 26

10. Favorite sandwich? Pastrami from A&M's deli.

11. What characteristic do you dislike in people? liars

12. Favorite item of clothing? pj's

13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? Mediterranean

14. Where would you retire to? I have no idea

15. What was your most recent memorable birthday? 16th-- I got a car!

16. Furthest place you are sending this? Texas

17. Person you expect to send it back first? either Eric, who are both hooked on my blog

18. When is your birthday? August 23, I’ll be 26. (Terah said her’s is Groundhog’s Day—have to remember that!)

19. Morning person or a night person? Night owl for sure!

20. Pets? Oh god.

21. Exciting news? Ross built a fence to keep our cars from rolling out of the parking lot into the Caribbean Sea!

22. What did you want to be when you were little? A veterinarian.

23. How are you today? Super

24. What is your favorite flower? Stargazer lilies

25. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? Sometime in Aug 2010 when I graduate.

26. What are you listening to right now? Strauss- Blue Danube

27. What was the last thing you ate? Chicken Tortilla ‘de Soup

28. Do you wish on stars? Yes!

29. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Strawberry Red

30. How is the weather right now? Raining

31. Last person you spoke to on the phone? A friend asking me if I wanted a ride to campus, and thus, I’m on campus. (My car is wet.)

32. Favorite soft drink? Cherry-Vanilla Dr Pepper, Cherry Coke, A&W Rootbeer

33. Favorite restaurant? Café Eccel in College Station, TX

34. Hair color? Naturally-light brown, but it’s bleached blonde with the sun down here. If I dye it- red!

35. What was your favorite toy as a child? Baby Doll (who I think is 44 yrs old now) and the Breyer horses I inherited from my older sister

36. Summer or winter?

37. Chocolate or Vanilla?

38. Coffee or Tea? But I’m getting slowly hooked on Godiva hazelnut coffee.

39. Do you want your friends to email you back? Of course!

40. What is your favorite color? Pastels, red, purple, or blue. I don’t like Orange

41. What is under your bed? My suitcase and the cat.

42. What did you do last night? Studied

43. What are you afraid of? Failing out of vet school

44. Salty or sweet? Sour

45. How many keys on your key ring? A lot: my apt, the laundry room, my car, lab, 3 spare keys to several of my friend’s apts, and a friend’s car (they have mine too, I’m good at locking myself out and our landlord is off island).

46. How many years at your current job? Vet school >1yr, the research project I acquired once I got here, <1yr

47. Favorite day of the week? Sunday because if I sleep all day Saturday then by Sunday I’m well rested enough to have fun and go to the beach! (or study)

48. Do you make friends easily? No.

49. How many people will you send this to? Back to Terah to let her know I’m sticking this on my blog

50. How many will respond? No idea, but I think it would be cool if you copy and pasted it with your name under 'Comment.'

51. Do you like finding out all this stuff about your friends? Yes! (esp the birthdays, because I can’t always keep them straight)

Happy 57th Birthday MOM!

2008-07-19T21:52:00.019-04:00

Mom has aged yet again! How exciting! (LOL, but she probably doesn't think so.)

For a vacation this year, she's decided to come visit me! (And bring goodies!) I have a 2+ week break in August starting the 14th going to the 31st.

She's confirmed to leave from DFW at 6 a.m. on August 20, Wednesday (Flight 2175) with a 40 minute layover in Miami arriving in St. Kitts (SKB) at 1:50 p.m

She will be leaving SKB on Wednesday, August 27 at 2:55 p.m. with a 3 hr layover in Miami getting back to DFW at 11:30 p.m.

I've decided that the easiest way to wear her out is to hike the volcano! We also plan on going to Nevis for a day, maybe SCUBA dive a wreck another day. It should be interesting.

Yesterday I heard a strange sound, like a chirp, or an injured Guinea Pig. Since the dogs looked like they were up to no good, I panicked and and ran to save my poor little pig! (Remember, they run loose in and out of the house with the dogs.)

When I checked, the pigs were fine, happily munching the weeds in my garden. Rudder was sleeping, but Salty was at the gate whining. I looked and didn't see anything-- she usually barks and snarls at Kittitians, and whimpers at cats. Then something moved! It was a monkey not 3 feet from my car!

This is the best pict I got before it ran off, but how cool?! A huge monkey on the other side of the street fom my apt! It's like one of those Priceless commercials: $150,000 for vet school tuition, $550 for an apartment close to campus, $1000 for an old beat up car, seeing a Green Vervet Monkey outside your apartment next to your car while in vet school-- PRICELESS!

Half Done

2008-07-16T21:49:00.005-04:00

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! Exams are over! (Until finals.) Over half of my 28-month term is over.

I didn't do spectacular on my Pharm2 exam, but I passed with plenty of room to spare. As long as I don't screw up the final, I foresee clear sailing into Semester 5.

Then one more year, and I'll be back in the states-- the land of exorbitant gas prices and gourmet food. How exciting! Meanwhile, I'm going to go back to the tv and get sucked in by cable.

No good deed goes unpunished

2008-07-14T20:40:00.014-04:00

Ross has a low cost (free) spay/neuter program for locals. Over a month ago I passed the sign up sheet around on a Friday night when the Chicken Lady cooks. I got 2 takers, plus my apartment’s handyman (Spoose) who has 2 dogs.

Last week, Spoose was supposed to bring his dogs in for a pre-surgery checkup, but he forgot. We made another appointment (for today), but his transportation failed him.

Additionally over the weekend, to prevent a no-show, I spoke with one of the local dog owners and we decided I’d take her dog in to make things easier. At 7am this morning I got a call from her, panicked. Her dog had gotten wind of what was in for him so he took off to visit his lady friends and would not come back. Happens to all of us.

So I rearranged the appointments so that the other locally owned dog could come in. I got in the car to fetch this second, spare dog to drag in for his pre-surgery workup. Low and behold when I drove up, there was dog #1 thrilled to see me! I still took dog #2 just because I’d already switched their appointments.

I drag this poor guy to the clinic and put in him a cage. There’s a flea study going on, so I run to tell a professor that he has fleas, as I pick one off my neck. On my 20 min break, I rush back to the dog, who is wildly thumping his tail happy to see me. A friend and I start combing the fleas off him, putting them in a tube. We got quite a bit, and one tick, and then I rushed back to class.

I’d say it was about 15 min of me sitting in class when I first felt it—the flea. It was running through my hair. Around and around it went, first on the right then on the left, going from my scalp to the nape of my neck. I started to itch.

My classes dragged on for hours, plus a review, then more class. It still itched under my tight ponytail. During a break between classes, I had Jossie start picking through my hair like a monkey. Two others joined her. I could feel it running, hiding, evading them. They couldn’t find it and decided it was a psychogenic response.

I can still feel it rushing through my hair. Bugs, bugs, bugs everywhere. Last night I couldn’t sleep because I felt like there were ants all over me. Eventually I got up, thinking that I’m crazy. When I flipped on the light, my bed was covered in ants. Covered! I opted to relocate to the couch.

I guess it could be worse—the malaria-ridden mosquitoes have vanished. Three dogs to go, lets hope my flea really is psychogenic. I still itch all over.

Hurricane Bertha

2008-07-08T09:25:00.024-04:00

Oh joy, another hurricane. It's going to miss us though.

Hurricane Bertha is now a category 3 storm with winds at 129 mph. I've been watching it inch across the Atlantic Ocean from Africa for several days now. It just didn't have the same look that Hurricane Dean did last year-- too high.

Remember Dean? (You might have to scroll down a bit since that's the August 2007 archive link.)

It's started to rain already. The Ross admin has started to try to panic the students by sending out hurricane warnings. As of 5AM, Bertha was 675 miles east-northeast of the northern Leeward islands (where I am; c.f. Windward islands) and about 1035 miles southeast of Bermuda. It's heading northwest at about 10 mph (which means it could hit Florida).

So long as the crabs don't start migrating out of the ocean to the mountains, I'm not going to worry. (Besides, I have a Clin Path test on Thursday, and Epi Final on Friday, and a Pharm test next Wednesday. Busy, busy!)

Cable!

2008-07-07T19:52:00.001-04:00

To ameliorate my gloom, I got CABLE! I’m so excited; I’ve never had cable before! There are 60 or so channels, and guess what?! There’s still nothing on!

Actually, there are lots of movies. I watched E.T. over the weekend.

So how did I get cable? Gary (my landlord) arrived for a surprise visit. As we chatted, I showed him the guinea piglets and how big the puppy had grown. The next day I asked him about cable. He was shocked. Apparently not only am I the only one without cable in the building, but he thought I’ve had it since I moved in!

Now all I need to do is get my eyes done so I can watch the darn thing. Oh, and back to studying...

Return of the Pup

2008-07-05T22:24:00.001-04:00

I gave up the pup today. He was fat, clean, parasite free, vaccinated, and even knew a few commands (sit, come, and NO!!!). The 7-week-old stinker sat in some fire ants and has about 15 bites on his butt though.

I drove out to the pup’s owner. He led me to the back of his poverty stricken yard (which I’d seen before), and untied another pitbull male on a chain. It was black and had many wounds from living a hard life, and a goopy eye. In another yard, he had 2 more pit bulls chained and 2 more in boxes. One in a box was a beautiful pregnant chocolate pitbull. They were all adults.

I know the guy is trying. He’s getting them vaccinated, he does take them to the vet, and he feeds them Science Diet. Everyone has to start somewhere, and no one’s standards are the same.

(I’ve even been berated by classmates for leaving my dogs in my un-air-conditioned apartment. The heat here might be different from those northern states, but sure doesn’t compare to a Texas summer. I think the temperature in my basement apartment is ideal, sometimes too cool which makes me break the heater out. I’m still the only one on island with a heater.)

I scolded the owner for not having a water and food bowl set up. He has his wife bring a bowl of water for the pup. Then the guy put him in a wooden box in the yard with no window. That’s where my poor little pup will grow up, and when he’s large enough, he’ll be chained to a tree until death finds him.

It really makes me sick, but I upheld my end of the bargain (to return a healthy pup) and ensured that Ross vet students would have a good reputation. I don’t know what’s ethical or not, but at least the pup won’t be fought. (I have a good evil eye and a threatening voice.) It’s really heart breaking to know that he won’t be alright from today on.

Mid Semester Break 4

2008-06-23T16:11:00.009-04:00

I climbed the volcano. Yes, made it up the 3,792 feet to the to the summit. I don’t know how I can still walk. Actually, I don’t know how I even got up to the summit! Kudos to me for not having a heart attack!

Over two hours up and and almost two hours down. I burned 1800 calories. We started at 9am and were back down the mountain around 2pm. These picts/video was taken at high noon. It was really dark under the canopy.

A fellow student died in a car crash this morning

2008-06-22T15:34:00.017-04:00

Tragedy has struck. Matthew James Willis succumbed to injuries he sustained in a fatal automobile accident at approximately 12:30 am on the island main road. He was returning from a fellow student's birthday party catamaran trip.

Matt was from Las Vegas, Nevada. It's really sad, I've been sitting next to Matt in class for the past 2 semesters and we were group partners once. I didn't hang out with him outside of class, but he was a pretty great guy in class. He had some pretty fantastic tattoos too. I think it's safe to say that our entire class will miss Matt.

The accident was almost in front of campus and from the looks of it, it was pretty sudden. This is the news report and a photo of his car:

One dead, one injured in early morning collision By Ryan Haas Reporter-SKNVibes.com

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - MATTHEW Willis, a student of the Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine (RUSVM) was killed around 12:30 a.m. this morning when the vehicle he was driving collided head-on with another on the Island Main Road between RUSVM and the International University of Nursing.

Willis was thrown from his vehicle and killed when his westbound car collided with a white Ford Explorer [P2145] driven by Austin Gumbs of Shadwell Housing, who was travelling towards Basseterre from Old Road. The fourth-semester student was pronounced dead on the scene by the District Medical Doctor.

SKNVibes spoke with the Head of the Traffic Department, Inspector Vynetta Henry, at the scene of the accident and she confirmed that the deceased driver of the gray Nissan Sentra [PA552] was indeed a student of the RUSVM.On arrival at the scene, a unit of the Emergency Medical Services rushed Gumbs to the Joseph N France General Hospital where he was treated for minor injuries and discharged.

Traffic in the area was blocked for three hours, with dozens of cars lined up on both sides of the cordoned scene, as emergency workers cleared the mangled wreckage. Onlookers had no choice but to watch the clean-up efforts as they waited patiently to reach their destinations.

The car was extensively damaged while the front right side of the Ford Explorer was badly damaged. This marks the second head-on collision in the area in 15 days with the last occurring on June 7, no more than 30 yards away and sending three young men to the hospital for serious injuries.

Police officials continue to investigate the incident and SKNVibes will provide further updates as information becomes available.

I wish I had something more to post about Matt (or even a good pict of him), but I'm just at a loss for words.

Nevis today!

2008-06-21T22:04:00.046-04:00

Michael and I went to Nevis today (Jossie chose to run a Behaviour Clinic instead). We walked around for hours! Good thing too, because I had a slice of cheese cake right off the ferry that a kids charity was selling. I haven't had cheese cake... in well, since I've been here, and it was topped with fresh fruit. I haven't had blueberries in a really really long time too.

Nevis has a hot springs (sorta) within walking distance of the ferry. The water was pretty scuzzy and there were naked people bathing in it! They said it was the 'Nevian way' to bathe naked with ye' ole melons hanging. I was too shy to get a pict of it (that and I didn't want to have to give them money). The water was very hot, as hot as a spa (110.F), and had no fish. Did I mention it was really scuzzy?

We then walked to a nearby gas station and caught a bus. It has Bob Marley stickers all over it. Hmmm, suspicious? The driver dropped us off along a dirt road and pointed us toward the botanical gardens. He said it was a bit of a walk, but he didn't mention we'd be walking for over an hour! By this time it was getting close to mid day, and mid day in the Caribbean is pretty hot. We stopped to rest several times, walked through road construction, and finally found our destination.

As you can see, the botanical gardens were worth the walk. They had orchids everywhere-- on in the dirt, in the palm trees, on the walls. The orchid garden was probably an acre in size. There were all colors: red, purple, blue, green, yellow, and some with brown spots.

There was also a huge rain forest thingy complete with a fake Aztec/Inca temple and screaming green Amazon parrots. We found the overpriced gift shop after that and went upstairs for lunch. Unfortunately, they wanted to charge an arm and two legs for lunch, so we had a snack.

The snack was really good. It was 3 chicken strips, 3 jerk chicken wings, and blue cheese dip for $12US (plus 20% tax and tip). Way over priced, but it was really good.

Next we wandered over to the cactus garden and found some really huge awesome caterpillars! They were so cool and I have no idea what they were, but they were really cool. I think I'm going to give them bonus points for eating cactus.

I hate cacti. I love kitty-a-pillars.

As we left we asked the guard which direction to the main road would be quicker: left from where we came, or right a new adventure of walking. We chose the path not traveled yet: right.

We walked and the path was fairly level, then it got hilly. It was like a mountain. I'm not sure which was further, the left or the right, but there was a food hut on the walk toward the right. We stopped briefly to grab a bite of coconut cake, and continued on.

The road snaked thru the shacks of Nevis. It felt like we walked forever until we finally found a bus stop. We hopped in a bus, but the guy wanted to charge us way too much. I eventually haggled him down to something more reasonable (even though there are supposed to be set prices, which he still exceeded) and he drove us to the Four Seasons Resort.

The Four Seasons was nice, but I think the Marriott is nicer. The Marriott is definitely larger, but the Four Seasons definitely has a nicer beach. As we walked around we got looks as though he was a really rich old guy and I was the big boobied blonde trophy wife. I thought it was funny since i get the same looks when Dad and I go places. People have dirty minds these days.

We walked down the beach until we found a more affordable bar to partake in adult beverages and settled on some crummy lounge chairs. I covered my face and took a nap on the beach. Sure is nice to be in vet school in the Caribbean... or earning my DVM while I'm on vacation.

We were awoken by a screaming local woman asking to know if we were "the archaeologists." I was unbelievably ticked, but held it in quite well. We checked out the bar for food, and since it was so overpriced, we decided to hike to the main road to catch a bus back to town.

A rasta man stopped to pick up up and he asked where we were from. We told him we lived over on St Kitts and that everyone kept trying to over charge us. As we got out he said the ride was on the house, but I paid him anyway. He recommended a few Jamaican restaurants for us too (we were hungry).

On the way, we swung by Alexander Hamilton's birthplace, which was closed, and we continued to search for food. We found the Jamaican restaurants , which were closed too, and we continued to wander in circles. We found another food hut and had some fabulous home cookin.'

By 7pm we were back at the port ready to catch the 7:30pm ferry back home. And and and, I didn't get sick and vomit on the ferry ride there or back!!! (I think that's a first.)

Response from the Big Bad Wolf

2008-06-19T11:17:00.013-04:00

Here’s the Big Bad Wolf (ie Salty). She looks really threatening.

Mama pig (a.k.a. Patches, a.k.a. SQUEAK!) has been leaving the dog to pi sit for her. Yes, Salty, the dog. The monkey killing dog. The dog that bit her previous foster mom. The dog that beats up all other dogs ('cept Rudder cuz he's bigger and sits on her).

I'm so amused. Patches just crawls over Salty then runs over to my fridge. Jossie has termed the sound the fridge door makes as it opens as the "universal guinea pig call." It works every time! She puts her two little hands up on the lip of the fridge and squeak squeak squeaks for some yummy fruit treat. Pretty soon I'm going to have 4 pigs in my fridge begging!

I decided to name the tri colored baby "Hog" even though no one voted for it.

Just kidding, I really don't care what they're named, so my new little handsome will be "Squeaker." He's getting cuter by the day. He's the little stinker at the green food bowl.

On occasion, Patches will lead her brood out to wander (poop in) the apartment. She also makes a V line for my front door whenever I open it. She's been doing a great job eating my weeds.

Salty doesn't mind when Patches is gone because the babies are so fun to watch! One of them walked up and bit her back toe, but Salty didn't move a muscle! It's like they're her babies! When they separate and get lost, Satly freaks out and tries to get them back together. When the cat mistakes them for tail-less rats, Salty transforms into a monster. She's even snipped at Rudder for getting too close to them.

The piglets are getting old enough now that I let Salty watch them during the day. I can't believe she hasn't eaten one yet, although I don't see much meat on them.

Pig roast for one, any takers?

Three Little Pigs!

2008-06-11T19:53:00.027-04:00

Mother Pig sends her three little piglets out into the world to "seek their fortune."

The first pig builds a house of straw. One day the big bad wolf came and knocks on the first little pig's door and said, "Little pig, little pig, let me come in." And the little pig answered, "No, no, I won't let you come in, not by the hair on my chinny chin chin." "Well," said the wolf, "then I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in." So he huffed and he puffed and he blew the house down and swallowed the first pig (or the first little pig ran to the second little pig's house depending on the version you go by).

The second pig builds a house of sticks. The big bad wolf came and knocks on the second little pig's door and said, "Little pig, little pig, let me come in." And the little pig answered, "No, no, I won't let you come in, not by the hair on my chinny chin chin." "Well," said the wolf, "then I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in." So he huffed and he puffed and he blew the house down and swallowed the second pig (or the first and second little pigs run to the third little pig's house, again, depending on the version) .

The third pig builds a house of bricks. The big bad wolf came and knocks on the third little pig's door and said, "Little pig, little pig, let me come in." And the little pig answered, "No, no, I won't let you come in, not by the hair on my chinny chin chin." "Well," said the wolf, "then I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in." So he huffed and he puffed but he couldn't blow the thrid little pig's house down.

So he attempts to trick the third little pig out of his house, but the pig outsmarts him at every turn. Finally, the wolf threatens to come down the chimney, whereupon the third little pig boils a pot of water into which the wolf plunges.

The End.

(3 Little Pig Story from Wiki)

Patches, around 6pm today, had three little pigs! They are too cute! One looks just like Patches too! Two are mostly black, but have her white blaze. (You can hear Patches squeek and Jossie talking in the background.) They are one hour old here.

So what pray tell does one do with so many piglets? A pig roast! What?! Well my grill is too small for a normal sized pig, which is why there are guinea pigs!

(Just kidding!)

Sutured Sandal

2008-06-08T21:28:00.002-04:00

Friday one of my green leather flip-flops broke. This, of course, had to happen 10 minutes after I arrived on campus on a day when I’m stuck in class until 5pm.

As I walked about with one shoe on and one shoe off, a few laughed, but no one had anything I could sew it back with. Thinking on my feet (pun intended) I went to the nurse’s office for some bandage wrap. The nurse must have thought that I was nuts for wanting to bandage my flip-flop, but I taped it up anyway.

Several more laughed and thought I should toss my broken shoe, but I hobbled about campus for the rest of the day. Today, as I lounged by my pool, it occurred to me that I could fix my shoe.

I called upstairs to Jossie, who brought down part of our surgery pack (that we’ve gotten in preparation for 6th semester). I selected a suture pack thingy with black thread then went into my pack to search for my needle holder.

Keep in mind, I haven’t sutured since the break, and even when I did, I was terrible… little animals beware! I started to sew my shoe back to it’s base. First a square knot to hold it in place, then loop after loop to get it fixed. Great idea since the needle was curved and the leather was rough, as I would never have been able to complete such a task with a standard needle and thread.

So I tied the mess off and it seems to be holding quite nicely. In retrospect, I should have paid more attention to the writing on the packet; I hope I didn’t use dissolving suture!

And then there was one

2008-06-02T20:55:00.023-04:00

On Thursday May 22, the pups' vitals crashed and I rushed them in. After several hours the larger one went into seizures. We were able to stabilize him for a few hours but he eventually died. The next day we did a necropsy on him. He had severe pneumonia and only had half of his brain (which was the consistency of not quite ready Jello). Never seen anything like it. We've narrowed what we think they have down to Canine Distemper or Canine Herpes.

The smaller pup didn't look much better. I wouldn't move and the IV he was on didn't seem to be helping. After 3 days in ICU, he started to seem alive again and I was able to take him home (to my house, not the owner's). For the next week I tube fed him his formula every two hours around the clock (that's 12x/day). I also was given permission to take the week old pup to class every day. Having a puppy in class makes me the popular kid. He's really cute.

There was a Parvo outbreak on campus too. Half a dozen students' puppies had to be euthanized, so I've been really protective about who touches the pup. His owner calls me about 8x a day to ask how he is. He's really a fat little pup, and the owner always seems happy when I give him updates or sees him.
Now he's 18 days old (born May 15) and he's doing much better. His eyes are open, he's off antibiotics, he's drinking ravenously from the bottle about 5x a day, and he's starting to walk. Salty has been pretending he's her puppy.

In other news, Patches has been renamed SQUEAK! This was her decision, as that's what she answers to... either that or the fridge door opening. She is so fat I think she's going to explode any day now. I've been keeping Mango the Mouser out at night because I think he'll kill her babies (if she ever has them). I can feel them in her, their noses and their little feet feel well formed. I think there are four, but definitely three.
She's been very demanding these past few days, but not noisy like she typically is. She has the run of the house minus my bedroom, where even the dogs are excluded. I set up a big pen for her in anticipation to her pups/piglets coming. Should be an experience!

Even better is that they already have homes. I'd like to keep one female baby so Patches has a buddy and quits following the dog. Jossie wants a male baby so her WeeBee has a friend, and another friend at school wants one. You can see her in the video running around, and in the pict she's checking out the basket I keep the puppy in.

New Tyres!

2008-05-27T09:26:00.007-04:00

Ever since I picked up the pups, my car has sounded, well, a bit off. The back left tire (spelled tyre here) had begin to shake while I drove. I thought that maybe it was low, so I checked the air, but it was fine. I looked for a balancing weight which might have fallen off, but again no luck. This started to worry me, combined with my cars other quirks (stalling out after 5 feet of reversing or driving slow, the rattle sound from its seemingly empty trunk, the roof leak, the door that doesn't quite shut, the window that doesn't quite roll up, not to mention the oil leak/gush if I park on an incline).

The last straw came yesterday when I drove one of my wonderful, but ancient professors home with an equally wonderful and ancient visiting histologist/embryologist from Czech. I dropped them in town at the hotel they stay at, and as I drove back home, the wobble worsened. It got so bad at one point that I was driving 20 mph (which is REALLY slow even for here). Fortunately, my car surpassed my expectations and brought me home without fail. (It really is a good car, just a little old and rusty.)

I decided it was time, time to bring the car in to be seen (I'm convinced that mechanics are just greesy car doctors). I called my car guy, but not the one I'd originally had all my work done with when I bought it. Oh no, he got attached to a girl in my class who (bless'r heart) didn't make it. He quit his job as head mechanic at the Marriott and they left the island together. My NEW car guy is always busy, but he inspected my car (let me pull the tape off to wiggle the tail light until it blinked so I'd pass), and drove out to my house when my car faked being sick the one time. 'He' is actually a bunch of guys (father, son, and their buddies), but it makes matters simpler if I just pretend he's one guy.

It was 4pm, I asked when he could see me. He said what type of car and what's the problem? I said Mitsubishi Lancer and the wheel wobbles. He said I'm too busy. I said but Ok, but PLEASE look at it, I need you to refer me, I don't know who to go to. He said Ok, come 7:30-8am and hung up. It's the thing here, to hang up when you think the conversation is over without saying goodbye.

I arrived this morning just as he said. He looked at it and must have thought I was an idiot. There was a huge bulge on the tread of my bald tire. He said I was lucky it hadn't blown! We decided that if the tire wasn't the problem and the wheel still wobbled, I'd come back, but if he didn't hear from me, my gratitudes to him for diagnosing it! Then he gave me some options on where to go to buy a new (~$160EC) or used (~$100EC) tire. I chose to buy a pair of new ones and went down the road. They ended up being a little under $400EC ($160USD) and installation and serviced was included. Even got it done in under an hour (exactly 9am when I left).

The drive home was incredible. So smooth! I always thought it was the terrible roads, but now I know it was my car! I put the new ones on the back and there's still a bit of tread on the front. I'm tempted to replace them as well, but I'd like to see how these go for now.

Wish I'd taken a picture of that bulge! As of today there are 151551 miles on my car, of those I've driven about 1600 miles since I got it in September 2007.

The Puppy Pit

2008-05-21T23:49:00.007-04:00

Rule #1: Don't pick up strays.

On Sunday I got a call from the clinic emergency line. Confused, I answered. It was the veterinarian I'd come to know fairly well (she put down the horse that was hit by a bus and the last mouse Mango mangled). She told me about a case they had of a dog with puppies and asked me if I'd be willing to foster and feed the pups.

Now, taking pups away from their mom, especially at 4 days old, is the last resort. Out of 11 born, 4 were left and fading fast, however it would be up to the owner to decide.

When I spoke with the owner, I repeated the above and told him if he wanted me to feed them he'd have to pay for milk (which is expensive here). He said 3 were left and he'd call me back.

Monday goes by without the vet nor I hearing from the owner, but then on Tuesday, I got a panicked call! There were 2 puppies left and he wanted me to pick them up right now!

After I called the clinician (the vet), Jossie, Rudder, Salty the guard dog, and I all hopped in the car to trek to the other side of the island. Literally the exact other side from where I live. It's not a big island, but my poor car clanks on the rocky roads!

The 2 remaining pups, mom, and another dog looks alright as far as island dogs go, but sometimes you can't really tell. I took the pups and explained to the owner that I would keep the pups if he didn't pay for my milk up front (ie before I drove off). The amazing part is that he cooperated and gave me milk money! I feel so persuasive.

So I have my first client under my future vet practice it seems! (If they live; one has a very serious eye infection, and both are pretty icky looking.)

They are "pure-bred" Pit Bulls and he will surely sell them upon their return. Both are brown and both are male. Jossie and I decided we should write a collection of short stories or poems of our island adventures.

Feeling Icky

2008-05-16T20:52:00.005-04:00

Jossie got me sick. I have something... a bad cold (the plague). Left school early today.

I think I could have stuck it out if we'd had lunch rather than a make-up lecture. Class started at 11am, then we're supposed to get noon to 1pm off before finishing up at 5pm. Instead we had Epidemiology at noon so I had no lunch!

Oh but I tried! The local hut had potatoes instead of macaroni and cheese. Domino's was out of pizza and chicken kickers (boneless hot wings). So then I borrowed an extra $10 to go to the Snack Shack to get the totally over priced chicken caesar salad ($18EC), but they were out too!

In the 10 minute hustle I ran (sped) home and grabbed some fruit slushy from the freezer and ate it during Epi. Oh wow. Did I mention I add an entire bottle of rum to my slushies? I do! I lasted all the way through Epi and halfway through Clinical Pathology. By then (at 2pm) I was completely soused and in great need of a nap.

This being week 2 and all, we are confined to the classroom until 5pm (even on a Friday!) much to the disdain of the professors (who would prefer to get out earlier like the rest of us). So, starving to death, I stumbled toward my car, of course passing by a professor whose class I was about to miss!

He knew I'd been sick, and I think he saw me begging my fellow classmates (ie Jossie) for money cuz I was too lazy to walk to the top of campus (6 flights of stairs) and get money legitimately out of the ATM. I confessed to him that I was terribly ill and boldly asked for my homework in advance. He was pleased that I chose to tell him that I was going to skip his class, um I mean go home sick, rather than be a no show. (I left out the adult beverage part.)

He complained about class getting out at 5pm on a Friday and how that just isn't right. I agreed, but am a bit unfeeling because we do start at near noon. I also told him (as I hacked up my lungs) that Jossie had infected me with the plague; he had noticed her absence earlier in the week.

I stumbled the rest of the way to my car and drove home. Once home I gorged myself on wonderful, thick, chunky, homemade spaghetti that I'd made earlier in the week and then passed out. To make up for missing class, I took my conch soup (from the Chicken Lady) to school and studied into the night.