at 4:12pm on July 22nd, 2008No, but that's just how I roll, motherflosser.
at 5:05pm yesterday
at 5:05pm yesterday
my teeth are on fire
at 5:22pm yesterday
at 5:22pm yesterday
^ I hear that's more effective than Listerine.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Sunday, July 20, 2008
U-Mass
Confessions I need to make:
1. I spent 20 minutes watching the hawk that sat on a neighboring roof, hoping to watch it catch something.
2. I really like the sound of dentist drills. The high speed drill sounds like a micro jet engine and whirrs in your hand for several seconds after you cut the power, the slow speed drill is like a mini jack hammer. I really like the sound of both.
3. I stand in front of our wall heaters naked after taking a shower- its like a full length fireplace.
4. My butt is getting firm and round from riding my bike to and from school.
5. My butt hairs are getting irritated and pulled out from riding my bike to and from school.
6. I'm becoming known as "calendar guy" by my dental class for making my own Google calendar and sharing it with the whole class.
7. Naturally introverted, the reasons for being an extrovert have dominated my consciousness for the past week and now I know at least 50 of the 142 names of my classmates.
8. An old roommate signed a record deal and has an album coming out this week in all major retail stores, and I can't help but throw my own little "claim to fame" around. Check them out: Faded Paper Figures. I really like it. It's the sound that Postal Service started with "Such Great Heights" but never perpetuated, with a bit of Death Cab for Cutie and Peter Schilling mixed in. Excellent music.
9. I'm excited to live in a day when I can see the finale of such a great show like Avatar: The Last Airbender.
10. I still can't believe I'm actually in dental school.
11. I can't believe it's the middle of summer. The San Francisco weather completely obscures this little detail.
12. I haven't paid much attention in my classes yet for two reasons: They're mostly review, and I've been working on my calendar.
13. I torrent lesser known music and movies, and a few tv shows.
14. I love it when Emily and I talk about breaking from the norm of our peers, especially to shun things like materialism and status symbols. I hope we can live up to our talk.
15. I feel some arrogance and pride when the sales rep who shows us students how to use our drills and handpieces says, "I visit 34 other dental schools, and this is the only one that starts students on these during their first quarter."
16. I also feel some arrogance and pride when I make a delicious veggie stir fry using at least three "gross" vegetables among other things.
16. I still can't believe I'm in dental school.
17. The owner of Capurro's came and schmoozed with us the other night when we went to his place on Fisherman's Wharf for clam chowder with some friends. He introduced us to the house Foccacia bread and their specially imported olive oil from Sicily. He warned us it would ruin us for olive oil forever. He was right. I can still taste it in my mouth three days later and I am still in heaven over it. My mission ruined me for salmon; Capurro's ruined me for olive oil and focaccia bread. Mmmmm. (Later, we saw the owner don some gloves and spend 20 minutes helping an old woman crack open her crab legs, what a guy!)
18. I enjoy passing other cyclists all decked out in cycling gear on $2,000 bikes in my slacks, shirt, and tie on a $500 Motobecane Fantom CX.
19. I feel really bad passing my classmates on their mountain bikes they've only been riding for a week, so I've probably pissed off quite a few drivers by riding alongside my friends.
This confessions list is a lot longer than I anticipated it would be. I'm a terrible person.
1. I spent 20 minutes watching the hawk that sat on a neighboring roof, hoping to watch it catch something.
2. I really like the sound of dentist drills. The high speed drill sounds like a micro jet engine and whirrs in your hand for several seconds after you cut the power, the slow speed drill is like a mini jack hammer. I really like the sound of both.
3. I stand in front of our wall heaters naked after taking a shower- its like a full length fireplace.
4. My butt is getting firm and round from riding my bike to and from school.
5. My butt hairs are getting irritated and pulled out from riding my bike to and from school.
6. I'm becoming known as "calendar guy" by my dental class for making my own Google calendar and sharing it with the whole class.
7. Naturally introverted, the reasons for being an extrovert have dominated my consciousness for the past week and now I know at least 50 of the 142 names of my classmates.
8. An old roommate signed a record deal and has an album coming out this week in all major retail stores, and I can't help but throw my own little "claim to fame" around. Check them out: Faded Paper Figures. I really like it. It's the sound that Postal Service started with "Such Great Heights" but never perpetuated, with a bit of Death Cab for Cutie and Peter Schilling mixed in. Excellent music.
9. I'm excited to live in a day when I can see the finale of such a great show like Avatar: The Last Airbender.
10. I still can't believe I'm actually in dental school.
11. I can't believe it's the middle of summer. The San Francisco weather completely obscures this little detail.
12. I haven't paid much attention in my classes yet for two reasons: They're mostly review, and I've been working on my calendar.
13. I torrent lesser known music and movies, and a few tv shows.
14. I love it when Emily and I talk about breaking from the norm of our peers, especially to shun things like materialism and status symbols. I hope we can live up to our talk.
15. I feel some arrogance and pride when the sales rep who shows us students how to use our drills and handpieces says, "I visit 34 other dental schools, and this is the only one that starts students on these during their first quarter."
16. I also feel some arrogance and pride when I make a delicious veggie stir fry using at least three "gross" vegetables among other things.
16. I still can't believe I'm in dental school.
17. The owner of Capurro's came and schmoozed with us the other night when we went to his place on Fisherman's Wharf for clam chowder with some friends. He introduced us to the house Foccacia bread and their specially imported olive oil from Sicily. He warned us it would ruin us for olive oil forever. He was right. I can still taste it in my mouth three days later and I am still in heaven over it. My mission ruined me for salmon; Capurro's ruined me for olive oil and focaccia bread. Mmmmm. (Later, we saw the owner don some gloves and spend 20 minutes helping an old woman crack open her crab legs, what a guy!)
18. I enjoy passing other cyclists all decked out in cycling gear on $2,000 bikes in my slacks, shirt, and tie on a $500 Motobecane Fantom CX.
19. I feel really bad passing my classmates on their mountain bikes they've only been riding for a week, so I've probably pissed off quite a few drivers by riding alongside my friends.
This confessions list is a lot longer than I anticipated it would be. I'm a terrible person.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Havalina
The last couple days have been fairly long. After camping up at Calaveras Big Trees State Park for a few days with my parents and a couple siblings and their families, we drove back just in time to get ready for Matriculation Day at University of the Pacific's Dental School. I highly recommend camping there for anybody. It's a really nice campground with a few towns just minutes away. There are great facilities, and lots of big trees (they should use that in their name). I've seen the Mariposa Sequoia grove in Yosemite and I remember going to Sequoia National Park as a kid. This one is just as impressive (if not more) without nearly the crowds. Lake Alpine about 20 miles up the road (and 4000 feet further up the mountains) is really nice, too. Beautiful quiet lake. The tree line is not far above the lake and you feel like you're at the top of the world. Swimming was nice and we rented a canoe for the afternoon. No waterskiing is allowed, so the lake is really calm and quiet.
On Friday, I took two other students to our first day at UOP. We parked at the church just a half-mile from the school and prayed it wouldn't get towed. It was a long day of talking, introductions, and organizing our $13000 dental kits into our Pre-Clinical Simulation Lab stations. Got the drills and pieces and everything now. This week, we start working on plastic teeth while also starting the science classes. I'm actually pretty excited about the classes: anatomy, biochemistry, etc.
On Saturday we had the Computer Orientation where they gave us our school laptops and walked us through the set up for various school registrations and websites. The computers are Dell Latitude D630's. Nothing special, but nice and new.
There was also a family orientation where the dean and other faculty/staff spoke to parents and families of the new students. I caught up with Emily and Grace just after lunch and right before they started the tour of the school.
That afternoon, my parents, Hans, Kirsten, and her kids, made it to our place to visit before driving back to Camarillo on their way down from the Sierras. We hung out for a bit and went to Mel's Drive-In on Geary St. a few miles away.
Afterwards we went to the Sports Basement in the Presidio. It is inside what used to be the Commissary and the large signs for the various food departments are still there. It's a really neat sports store, but they're seriously lacking in surf equipment. I bought my supertough Kryptonite Evolution Series 4 LS bike lock ("level 9 security").
That night I went for a bike ride before it got dark. Rode to the school and back and then around the Presidio exploring a bit. Took about an hour and the sun was just setting as I got back to our place. It was a fun ride. I'll give my review of my new bike in the next post. Here's the route I took as seen from Google Earth.
I even found a website that lets you figure out the elevation profile of a route in Google Maps. Here's that.
Wow, I even tipped below sea-level on that ride. How's that for EXTREME RIDING!!?? It was a fun ride anyway and can see how so many people just ride around the Presidio for hours at a time. My ride was just 10.5 miles with some good climbs and good hills.
At church, in our ward there are 7 first-year dental students. We've also met a couple living in UOP's housing (they don't have kids) who are in the Bay Ward (in the same church building). There's another couple we know of living in San Rafael, and a couple single guys all starting their first year at UOP. The 7 of us are here in the Baker Beach apartments. There's also a handful of 2nd and 3rd year students in the ward, too.
Our dental class is 143 students. 51% male, 49% female. 35 students came from UOP in Stockton. Other large feeder schools are UC Davis, BYU, UC Berkley, and a few others. 67% of our class is from California.
On Friday, I took two other students to our first day at UOP. We parked at the church just a half-mile from the school and prayed it wouldn't get towed. It was a long day of talking, introductions, and organizing our $13000 dental kits into our Pre-Clinical Simulation Lab stations. Got the drills and pieces and everything now. This week, we start working on plastic teeth while also starting the science classes. I'm actually pretty excited about the classes: anatomy, biochemistry, etc.
On Saturday we had the Computer Orientation where they gave us our school laptops and walked us through the set up for various school registrations and websites. The computers are Dell Latitude D630's. Nothing special, but nice and new.
There was also a family orientation where the dean and other faculty/staff spoke to parents and families of the new students. I caught up with Emily and Grace just after lunch and right before they started the tour of the school.
That afternoon, my parents, Hans, Kirsten, and her kids, made it to our place to visit before driving back to Camarillo on their way down from the Sierras. We hung out for a bit and went to Mel's Drive-In on Geary St. a few miles away.
Afterwards we went to the Sports Basement in the Presidio. It is inside what used to be the Commissary and the large signs for the various food departments are still there. It's a really neat sports store, but they're seriously lacking in surf equipment. I bought my supertough Kryptonite Evolution Series 4 LS bike lock ("level 9 security").
That night I went for a bike ride before it got dark. Rode to the school and back and then around the Presidio exploring a bit. Took about an hour and the sun was just setting as I got back to our place. It was a fun ride. I'll give my review of my new bike in the next post. Here's the route I took as seen from Google Earth.
I even found a website that lets you figure out the elevation profile of a route in Google Maps. Here's that.
Wow, I even tipped below sea-level on that ride. How's that for EXTREME RIDING!!?? It was a fun ride anyway and can see how so many people just ride around the Presidio for hours at a time. My ride was just 10.5 miles with some good climbs and good hills.At church, in our ward there are 7 first-year dental students. We've also met a couple living in UOP's housing (they don't have kids) who are in the Bay Ward (in the same church building). There's another couple we know of living in San Rafael, and a couple single guys all starting their first year at UOP. The 7 of us are here in the Baker Beach apartments. There's also a handful of 2nd and 3rd year students in the ward, too.
Our dental class is 143 students. 51% male, 49% female. 35 students came from UOP in Stockton. Other large feeder schools are UC Davis, BYU, UC Berkley, and a few others. 67% of our class is from California.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Down to the Well
The cluster of housing in the distance on the right is the Baker Beach Housing, where our apartment is. We're near the bottom. The funny skinny thing on the right is known as the Golden Gate Bridge.
There's a better shot of the bridge, taken from Land's End trail area in Lincoln Park. This is where Mike and Kitye Robbins were when their car window was smashed by a thief who stole Kitye's purse. We even parked on top of the broken glass that was still there. (I think we were pushing our luck with the latest jinx that's been hanging over our heads lately)
Here's the view out our window. I kept laughing through dinner every time I looked out the window. Just one of the most photographed sites in the world right outside our window! It's actually better than the picture shows. You can see both towers real well.
Here's our kitchen, just for kicks.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Letter To Memphis
I am writing from San Francisco now. I made it. It only took 6 1/2 hours, a speeding ticket, and a 40 minute traffic jam (a semi had jackknifed and rolled its trailer onto its side igniting something and blocking both lanes of traffic on the 101). I got here just after it got completely dark so I didn't get to enjoy the scenery.
As for this morning, it's foggy here in the Presidio. Our apartment has a really nice light feel to it with all of its windows. We're on the 3rd floor which gives us a commanding view of some empty dirt space, the parking lot, lots of fog, the ocean, and more fog. I love it. On the way to church we got onto the 101 just twenty feet past the toll booths for the Golden Gate Bridge, and we could not see the bridge! Not even one speck of red paint. You would never have known it was there.
We met some other first-year students and their wives at church today and invited them over tonight after dinner. One couple is from T.O., the other is from Washington/American Fork. On the way home from church, we drove around the Presidio for a short tour. Where the church is- real close to downtown S.F.- it was sunny, while the Presidio is still shrouded in fog. Pretty neat. Lincoln Blvd, the road that runs by our apartments and above the coastline has fog rolling over your head like it's blowing out of some giant machine. You can watch it just pour over the road, just out of reach above you. The G.G. Bridge was clear on its underbelly. You could see the water, the supports, and the underside of the bridge's deck, but that was all. No towers, no cables. Not even "oh, I see it, but it's really hazy." Just not there. Coooooool.
I'm looking forward to exploring the city. Lots of weird, eccentric, unique, and majestic stuff to see.
Thank you Mom and Dad for the tremendous amount of help and your generosity and hospitality.
As for this morning, it's foggy here in the Presidio. Our apartment has a really nice light feel to it with all of its windows. We're on the 3rd floor which gives us a commanding view of some empty dirt space, the parking lot, lots of fog, the ocean, and more fog. I love it. On the way to church we got onto the 101 just twenty feet past the toll booths for the Golden Gate Bridge, and we could not see the bridge! Not even one speck of red paint. You would never have known it was there.
We met some other first-year students and their wives at church today and invited them over tonight after dinner. One couple is from T.O., the other is from Washington/American Fork. On the way home from church, we drove around the Presidio for a short tour. Where the church is- real close to downtown S.F.- it was sunny, while the Presidio is still shrouded in fog. Pretty neat. Lincoln Blvd, the road that runs by our apartments and above the coastline has fog rolling over your head like it's blowing out of some giant machine. You can watch it just pour over the road, just out of reach above you. The G.G. Bridge was clear on its underbelly. You could see the water, the supports, and the underside of the bridge's deck, but that was all. No towers, no cables. Not even "oh, I see it, but it's really hazy." Just not there. Coooooool.
I'm looking forward to exploring the city. Lots of weird, eccentric, unique, and majestic stuff to see.
Thank you Mom and Dad for the tremendous amount of help and your generosity and hospitality.
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