It's Crunchtime!

Playing Contract Killer on my Android phone...just taking a few minutes to relax before heading to the deep end of the pool!

It's the last push for the semester. Formal instruction has ended, so we're down to finals week. It seems that everything gets squished and crowded into the very end. Last week, I had a quiz and a positioning lab midterm on Monday, a midterm in my positioning class on Wednesday, and a big physics paper due yesterday, while I'm still trying to get all my position competencies signed off in clinical. (I'm also trying to make-up all the missed clinical hours I've accrued over the semester, so I'm doing an extra two hours per shift till the end of the semester!) This upcoming week, I've got my positioning lab final on Monday, an image analysis in clinic on Tuesday, and my positioning final on Friday!

I've actually escaped my physics final exam. I've done so well over the semester, that I've elected to drop the final as my test grade to drop, since I've scored 90+ marks for the other three midterms. My first two midterm scores were 92% and 96%. The professor actually physically lost my third midterm exam, but offered me a 91%, since he was confident that I would've achieved an A anyway. I thought that was pretty fair, since I knew for certain that I answered the last question wrong. So I was excused from taking the final, which sits fantastically with me! More time to study for the other stuffs.

For the positioning lab final, there's over 120 possible positions I could be asked to demonstrate (within a six-minute time frame), plus I have to know all the evaluation criteria accompanying each position, but I'll actually only draw two exams out of a hat. I've got my Thermarest mattress pad set up on my coffee table and a stack of re-purposed X-ray cassettes ready to help me practice the different exams on my wife this weekend! Once I'm done with Monday, the rest of the week should be cake!

My last test is Friday morning. I'll be headed out for a beer and a phat lunch afterward to shake off the nerves and to congratulate myself on a semester well executed!

It's Getting Better All The Time

This semester is just flying by! Only a couple more weeks and I'm on break- and not a minute too soon! It's actually pretty cool, as I look back on the progression that took place over the past few months.

When I first started working at the "home" hospital, I was totally not digging it- the techs were aggressive, rude and intimidating. It was difficult to work with any of them. In general, they don't like [new] students, because they don't know anything, make lots of mistakes and take up a lot of valuable time. I dreaded having to go to my shift. Hand-holding is part of their job, but they hate it. As time went on, I learned more in class, things started making more sense in clinical and I got better. The techs since really warmed up to me. Maybe it's because I'm getting proficient and require little supervision. Perhaps it's that silly goatee that I've got going on my chin that's getting me respect as a real person (instead of a faceless student). (Side note- the beard is my prayer to the snow gods to bring BIG snow in Tahoe. Once the season is underway, the beard goes.) Nowadays, I'm actually looking forward to my shifts! I'm really feeling like part of the staff now.

Come January, it'll be time for my first rotation. I'll be headed to a Kaiser facility in the South Bay for two months. It should be interesting putting my knowledge from County to the test. The big difference will be that Kaiser doesn't run film- everything is digital- either CR or DR. But positioning is positioning. I'm confident I should do fine. On the flip side, another student will be filling my shoes at County for two months, and she is not very good. At her home hospital, she doesn't get to do much, since their volume is low. Plus she suffers from a lack of confidence, always unsure of her positioning and constantly fiddling with the settings of the X-ray tube. I'm worried that the techs at my hospital are going to make her cry. For sure, they're going to expect her to be able to perform some exams on her own, since she's already had a few months of experience somewhere else. If she can survive County, it will be an excellent opportunity for her to get back on track and get her learning curve caught up with the rest of the class.

Other news. I just took my third physics midterm. I'm fairly certain that I got another A on the test, which means that I won't have to show up for the final, since we get to drop our lowest exam score, which means that I don't have to show up for class anymore. Yay! So my physics class is effectively done for the semester, except for one last paper I have to write within the next week. That extra time will be useful, as I will need extra time to study for my positioning final.

It's December and we still haven't had a big dump in Tahoe yet! My wife is really hating this beard! But I vowed to keep it on till I get my first day of snowboarding in. Actually, it's nice to have the extra time for my foot to heal. I can't believe it still hurts from that motorcycle spill that happened like six weeks ago! I must've injured it more than I realized.

Retrospection

I often reflect on how weird it is, my path, how I got here. The other day, I was working my clinical shift, standing in an operating room, watching some getting a permcath installed in his chest, waiting to take an X-ray, so the doctor could visualize final placement. It wasn't too long ago that I was in a cath lab, having an cardio angio done, in preparation for my heart surgery that would follow within the next week.

What peaked my interest in radiography? It probably started when I was getting kicked out of the Navy. I had enlisted to be in the SEAL program and was sent to Orlando, Florida for boot camp. Before I graduated, they sent me to undergo repeated testing of my heart. They knew before they even shipped me off to basic training that I had a pretty severe heart murmur- why they let me in will always be one of the world's greatest mysteries to me. Perhaps, the government just needs to burn up some budget cash and to keep the head count up for military enrollment? I don't know. Every day I was sent to the hospital for testing. I had EKG's and lots of X-rays done, some even with contrast. I remember falling asleep to the sounds of my own heart during my echo-cardiogram sessions. All this imaging was really intriguing to me- I didn't know much about it, but found it fascinating nonetheless. In the end, the Navy found me unsuitable for service, so they sent me home. At that point, I had considered pursuing an education as an X-ray tech, but after further investigating, the commitment was just too much to fathom at the time, so I ended up in the technology sector.

Over the following years, I had to keep an eye on my enlarging heart with yearly checkups. We all knew that a valve replacement was inevitable- it was just a matter of when it would be. Meanwhile, I was busy getting kicked around in the tech world, watching the economy go sour. I eventually ended up in a thankless network job, where I was traveling 80% of the time- it was not satisfying. Then I had a revelation- I realized that although my wife and I had done every [conventional] thing we were supposed to do to have a descent retirement (which might've worked twenty years earlier), it wasn't going to be enough. And having ongoing health issues, it's a guarantee that I will need further heart surgery in the future. With the economy in the shitter, there's no good place to put your money to make your retirement grow. Very few companies give out pensions anymore- everyone just wants to contribute to your 401k, which probably benefits them more than you, or they want you to reinvest your pre-tax dollars in an employee stock purchase plan to pump up the value of their company, while reducing your overall salary. And when they're not exceeding their forecast of their bottom line, they'll cut you, all the while, your retirement didn't get much bigger than when you first started. So in hopes of a better life in my older age, I quit my job. Back to school I went.

One year ago, I was struggling through my physiology class, trying to muster enough prerequisite courses together, so I could even just apply to local radiography programs- my path was so uncertain as to where I might end up. At the end of the school year, I took enough courses to apply to seven programs around the Bay Area, achieving a 4.0 GPA. I had a great plan, but I would still need luck on my side, during the selection process.

After jumping through all the hoops, somehow I was lucky enough to get into this program. Twice a week, I show up at the hospital and X-ray patients. It's just so weird to think about it sometimes- two years ago, I was hating my tech job, installing Cisco equipment in hospitals and schools, and now, I'm actively radiographing sick patients. Hopefully, two years from now, I'll be licensed and gainfully employed.

Life In The (Not So Fast) Lane

There is absolutely no way I would possibly be able to do this program without my trusty motorcycle. With an 80-mile commute to school and a 76-mile commute to the hospital twice a week, if it weren't for the bike, I would be late every day for everything! Seriously, every morning I head to the hospital, somebody has to drive his car head on into the meridian of the freeway or take out three cars in the middle of the freeway- that is exactly what I saw this Tuesday and Thursday of this week. If I had taken my car, it would've easily have taken me two hours to get to work! Even coming home today was tough on the bike. It started to sprinkle, and if you don't know California drivers (most of which aren't from California), with any sign of rain, they completely forget how to drive! More accidents on the way home today! Geez!! I could easily estimate that I had to split lanes for more than twenty miles of traffic this afternoon! And that was tough!

Anyway, I am very thankful that I do have a way to address the traffic problem in my area. It's not easy, but it is a working solution. I just pray that I don't get whacked one day in the rain!

The Wear is Beginning to Show

We're six weeks into our hospital rotations. The wear and tear is starting to show on some of my fellow students now. A couple of weeks ago, my classmate quit the program by walking out of the hospital and now others are starting to voice complaints about how difficult the RT work really is.

One gal, who weighs about 100 pounds is wondering if she has the ability to actually perform the job after she had to work with a 300 lb. patient. Of course she didn't have to work with the patient alone, but the assistance she got was from two other females of about the same stature, who kept yelling at her, asking her if she was even putting any muscle into getting the patient out of the gurney! She's already talking about a switch to mammography or ultrasound, once she completes the base rad license, but she doesn't realize that you have to work in the field for a year first, before you can switch to mammo! Another student is also complaining about how tough the work is and she's even a big strong female! She has concerns about how long she's going to last as a rad tech. My question is...umm...didn't you know what you were getting yourselves into? You did do the volunteer hours for the prerequisite requirements to get into the program, didn't you??

Others are coming unraveled in the classroom. We just got done with another round of midterms. Me? I fared pretty well. For not studying much (due to a crazy exam schedule, plus having to take care of my wife and having to take care of her mother, who's taking care of my wife after her abdominal surgery), I received an 80% on my positioning written exam (75% is passing for the class), a score of 93% for my positioning practical exam, and a 96% on my physics midterm. Now I can coast for a little while. Daryl, one of my closest classmates didn't do so hot with scores of 65%, 88% and a 65% for the same exams I mentioned above. Even JP, my super-student buddy, who we used to call Mr. 100% is letting his grades wane. Shit. This is just the first semester! We got miles to cover! No doubt that this is a tough program, but you had to be sure that you wanted it, when you accepted the invitation into the program.

For this weekend, I've finally got a little break. No real exams or image analyses to speak of, just one teeny-weany quiz for Monday. This Saturday is the big CSRT annual conference and it's coming to the Stanford Hospital campus. Most of the students in my class will be attending. It'll be a nice change of pace, not to be held responsible for what we're listening to, but rather to just get a real-life perspective on the industry, rubbing elbows with the big boys. I plan to thoroughly enjoy this weekend, doing the conference, catching up on TV and playing video games. Time to recharge my batteries!

First Man Out

This was an interesting week, to say the least. Already on my agenda was an image analysis set for Tuesday (which I prepared so diligently) and a midterm in my positioning class set for Wednesday. My home life has been jostled around a bit, since my wife had some much needed surgery, so her mother moved in to help. For the meanwhile, my wife is disabled, so that means that I have two women to take care of! The great part is that Mom has mad cooking skills and that I always have food waiting for me! The downside is that there is an endless stream of pots and pans to wash :( C'est la vie.

I showed up for my hospital shift on Tuesday, image analysis all set and ready to go. While walking in to the hospital with my co-student, we had an interesting chat about how he wasn't sure that he was going to be able to continue with the program, since the commute was killing him. If he was looking for sympathy, he was talking to the wrong guy- my commute is just as long, but on an even worse series of freeways. Then the conversation switched to the lousy job market and how hard it was going to be to find an entry-level X-ray tech position. I told him that in two years, the whole thing could be turned around and that if you're good, you'll be able to land a position. I had heard through the grapevine that he was considering dropping the program, so this conversation wasn't really a surprise to me.

After getting settled down for my shift, I tried to hunt down my image analysis X-ray from the file room, but the patient file had gone AWOL. I asked the most knowledgeable office person I knew to help me, and still we came up with squat. Great...now I had to come up with plan B. My original analysis was going to be on a hand, so I figured that I could just find another hand X-ray and I could use my narrative analysis for the proxie X-ray. Well, later on in the day, when my clinical coordinator showed up for the analysis, that was a no-go and she was not very happy about it- in fact, I had actually caused her to waste a trip out to the hospital. Now I get to do two analyses on my next due date!

But earlier in the day, my co-student (who was already uncertain about his future) decided to quit the program right there on the spot. He performed a bad chest X-ray exam (already double-exposing the same film cassette and was on his way to making another exposure) and got royally landed on by the "supervising" technologist. Yeah, after doing the same routine X-ray for five weeks, you would think that the guy would know what he was doing by now, but nope. After getting reprimanded, it only took about five minutes before he came back and said that he was leaving. And sure enough, he did. He walked right over to our clinical instructor and handed in his hospital badge. He stopped by the X-ray suite to say "good luck" to everyone, then walked. Well, without clinical hours, your classroom hours don't mean shit, so it was indeed the end for that poor chap. But from what I saw from him over the past five weeks in the hospital, he wasn't cut out for that kind of work anyway, and I'm pretty doubtful that he would've made it anyway.

Everything happens for a reason, or so they say.

Rainy Day Motorcycle Crash

So it was bound to happen. It was raining out off and one all morning. Classes were done for the day. I put on all my gear- jacket, pants, boots, gloves and helmet. I got on my bike and headed for the freeway. The road seemed dry, but still I was cautious. The on-ramp to the highway 280 begins with a tighter than 90 degrees turn to the left.I took it slow and easy until I cleared the turn, then as the ramp curved to the left and climbed up to the freeway I rolled the throttle on responsibly. Well, even though the pavement didn't seem wet (maybe a little damp), the two days of rain probably washed a lot of oil to the surface. I had thought that the oil would've been gone by now, but things took a turn for the worst.

Just as I started to get on the gas, the rear tire began to spin and the back of the bike started to whip around. I cut the throttle and tried to do a correction, but the bike fishtailed and high-sided me off the bike! I landed on my stomach and slid to a stop. The bike slid on it's left side and stopped in the middle of the on-ramp. I ran over to the bike to pick it up. Luckily there weren't any cars right behind me. But fortunately, the first car to come up behind me was my classmate, JP! I rolled the bike to the side of the road and gave it a quick assessment. The front signal had been ground off. My CRG clutch lever got the ball ground a little, as well as the left fairing. My Givi case got some abrasions too. But my Woodcraft rearset took a beating! Half of the peg had been ground off, the toe peg got way ground off and the shift arm was bent back. (I later found that the left plate was distorted too! I must say that I'm pretty disappointed with how little an accident could totally destroy that rearset!) As for me, I was intact. My helmet didn't even hit the ground. I got some light abrasions on my Joe Rocket cordura suit and my BRAND NEW gloves (only used them twice!) got wasted! but they did their job. By looking at the markings on the pavement, I would say that the bike probably slid about 25 yards before coming to a stop- and that's going uphill! I would guess that I went down at about 30-35 MPH.

I tried to start the bike, but the carbs were flooded, so repeated tries eventually killed my battery. I put a lock on the front wheel. JP was able to give me a ride to the nearest AutoZone, where I picked up some jumper cables and an allen wrench set. Before heading back to the bike, I took JP out for lunch, since he was so generous in giving me a hand.

We headed back to the bike, where we successfully jumped the bike and got the motor warmed up. The foot controls on the left side were a little mangled, but it was ridable. My right ankle was starting to get sore and stiff, but I was able to ride home.

After looking over my bike, it's going to be okay. It's probably going to cost a couple of hundred dollars in replacement parts (not including the road rash on the fairing), plus a new pair of gloves. I'm glad that all my safety equipment kept me safe. I will definitely have to be more careful when riding during the rainy season- I totally misjudged the wetness on the road, the incline of the on-ramp, the torque of my motor. Will it stop me from commuting in the rain? I doubt it. I just need more practice.

Dear Diary

Today was a tough day. It started out where I didn't even feel like making that 50 minute morning trek through that East Bay traffic. For a fleeting moment, I had considered calling in sick, but then I had to get some paperwork signed by my Clinical Instructor, so I could turn in my monthly time sheet on Monday to school. I realized that all new jobs are tough- the learning curve just sucks. And everyday, things would get a little easier, then one day, everything will just make sense and flow- kind of like learning math!

The day began pretty nicely. My fellow rad student called in sick, so I wouldn't have to be competing for any cases today. I managed to work with a few techs that have been stand-offish for the past few days. I was even able to impress them! On top of that, they even said "please" and "thank you" to me!

Later, while I was trying to be helpful by restocking the darkroom bins with film, I accidentally stocked one of the sizes with the wrong type film- I put duplicating film in place of the regular stuff, so when x-rays were taken, the exposures didn't come out at all. Luckily only a few x-rays were taken, before we figured out what was going on, but I felt so bad and so small. That was a bad way to end my day.

Next week will be better. Every day, I learn a little more and get more comfortable with the techs I'm working with. They're warming up to me, so they're starting to teach me more. In time, in the not so distant future, things will seem a lot better. I can't wait for that day to arrive!

First Day of Clinical

It was a nice Labor Day weekend. I got a little caught up with my physics homework, did a little more reading on positioning and did some major relaxation action (played some Battlefield: Bad Company 2, changed the differential fluids on the 4Runner, saw the Family at a gathering and did some barbecuing).

I got my assignment and already did my new employee orientation at San Mateo Medical Center- all my legal papers have been signed and I'm ready to go! My uniform is all laid out. Got my clinical binder and notebook on standby. I believe that I'll be doing the observation thing for the first two weeks, then I get to start X-raying real live patients!! Finally, we're getting to the good stuff!

TGIF!!! Another Week Sneaks By!

School is back under way again. I just finished my first full week, as we actually began on a Wednesday the week prior- a short week indeed. Things are moving so fast (I'm suddenly slammed with reading and I've got a shit ton of physics review problems to muscle through), I'm still trying to get a rhythm and find my footing! My schedule is constantly changing. I missed my first lab day for my positioning class, due to the sudden need for my presence at a new employee orientation meeting at the San Mateo Medical Center. My truancy in the lab class got me, as I had a meeting at another hospital on Thursday, where I had to demonstrate my knowledge of how to operate the X-ray tube over a table! Things really aren't that bad. I'm just about caught up with everything. After a weekend of reading, I'll be back up to snuff again.

My clinical rotations start right after Labor Day and I am psyched! My wife just purchase a second pair of white shoes for me, thinking that it might be nice to switch off every few days, so my shoes won't stink so bad. I got a pair of Crocs Bowen sneakers and I must say, they are pretty darned nice! They are soooo light! They're claimed to be less than 10 oz. per pair! Nice and simple. Very comfortable! Plus they're cheap!! We got them on sale for $30! I'll give it two thumbs up!!

Let's talk beer! I couldn't wait, so I opened a couple of the beers to see how they're coming along. Just shy of two weeks in the fridge, the beer tasted great! Nice IPA hoppy flavor, but not too strong. It's got nice color and texture, and just a hint of orange- just the way I wanted it! Right now, the only real detraction is that there's too much carbonation. When I opened the beer, it foamed out of the bottle for a few minutes before settling down. Ironically, the name of the beer is the IPA Orange Hop Bomb. Funny! I think that a little more time in the fridge should serve it well and the foaming will be averted. I'll check it out in another week.

Come On, Get Happy!!

My Summer recess is quickly coming to a close. I'm still wrapping up projects- for the most part, I've got my project SV650 finished and I'm getting it ready to sell. There's still a few small details I need to take care of, as I'm test riding it and working out the bugs.

I made my way to school earlier this week and met with a counselor. I was having a problem registering for a physics class, because they claim that I don't have the proper prerequisites- bonehead math and English. Funny. How was it that I got into this radiography program if I didn't have those prereqs? I went armed with some opened and sealed transcripts, so I could definitively clear up this snafu. When I saw the counselor, he immediately recognized the problem and removed the flags. He didn't even think it was necessary for me to have to cough up another set of transcripts. What a silly problem. I hope that others in my class don't have to deal with the same thing.

I paid my $422 tuition bill tonight online. I also found out that my books for this semester are going to cost me about $750! It's about 50 pounds worth of books, but I believe some of those books will be used in subsequent classes.

Even with school coming under way, I've still got my eye on snowboard season. I'm buying my Snowbomb card tomorrow and I'll probably pick up a few ski bus tickets as well. With all the weird weather we're having out here in California this Summer, I have a feeling we're in for a winter with BIG SNOW!! And I can't wait!!!

Republicans, You Got Your Wish.

So for the first time since 1917 (according to Michele Bachmann), the United States lost its 3-star credit rating. Now you can blame President Obama. That was a dirty trick!

Yes, I Can Sew! Dammit!

I'm getting all excited about starting the bulk of the program, come next semester. A few things that need to get done before the clinical rotations begin- sew the patches on the tops and hem the pants up a little, since they're pretty much "one size fits all". I borrowed my mom's sewing machine last weekend and finally got busy with it last night. (Yes, on a Friday night- because I have no life.) I might do the pants tonight- they shouldn't take long.

I got my new white K-Swiss non-marking hospital-looking shoes. My health records are all up to snuff, documented and signed by the right people. I just need my grades to tell me that I'm not doing this all for not!

Until then, I'm bottling beer tomorrow or Monday. Then I'm finally putting that motorcycle back together, so I can get it sold and I can reclaim my garage space back again!!

Time to Bottle

I just put the finishing touches on the beer label. I'm pretty excited to taste how this one turned out, since I've never made an IPA before. I did the bottle count this morning and for the first time every, I don't have to peel labels off of bottles! Normally, there's a few bottles that I might have to do, mainly because we hand out beers and the bottles don't come back. For the last batch, most everyone returned the bottles for a refill. This time around, I'll be capping some larger 22 oz. bottles, as well as the standard 12 oz. jobbers, so there will actually be a little less work to do. Me happy :)

No Rest For the Wicked

So I'm all ready to have a nice four weeks off from school, relaxing, playing Starcraft 2, watch movies, surfing the web. Literally the day after my final, my desktop computer went on the fritz. My video card just suddenly died. Well, the upshot is that now I can upgrade the card, so the machine will be ready for Diablo 3, when it finally gets released.

After shopping online for a couple of days, looking around for what I might want, I decided to take a stroll to my local Fry's Electronics store. While I was cruising the memory aisle, I found an awesome deal on RAM! After the mail-in rebate, a 2GB stick of RAM would only cost me $9.99!! I just couldn't resist, so I bought two sticks. I also found a reasonable 1GB ATI Radeon video card for a reasonable price.

So far, since Friday, I've built an FTP server for my class, reinstalled Windows 7 on a Linux version Asus netbook for a classmate, troubleshot and installed a new video card, a new CMOS battery and 4GB of RAM in my main desktop PC. I'm totally in PC tech mode now, when I really should be in motorcycle mechanic mode! Still next week, I have to build up another PC for my wife, so she won't have to keep using laptops to log into work. (I'll let you in on a secret- Apple laptops ain't all that great- they have problems just like all other computers. But if I paid twice as much for a laptop, I wouldn't admit to anyone that my shit broke too. In their defense, they do have that cool Apple logo on the back and that's got to be worth a few hundred dollars.)

This week should be fun. More computer stuff, some school counseling stuff and lots of motorcycle building. Then my sister and her family blows into town from Los Angeles! I love seeing those little rugrats!

Time to Crack Open a Beer

The Summer session is over. Eighteen chapters in three and a half weeks. All I can say is WOW! I went into the final with a 90%, but that's not good enough for an A. In order to get an A, I need to get a 92%. Since the final exam is only worth 30% of my overall grade, unless I absolutely aced the test, I'm pretty well locked in the B range. The good news is that there's no way that I got less than a 75% in the class.

The test wasn't too bad- 91 questions. Raphael tested us on some medical terminology, which was in his last lecture. Unfortunately, he neglected to post the Power Point notes for that section and it wasn't in the book- it was his own special concoction. Fortunately for me, I have taken medical terminology before, so it was a snap. Others didn't fare quite as well. I'm feeling like I scored in the low 90% range, but you never know...

It's out of my hands now. I just got up from a nap. I already walked the dog. I'm opening up a bottle of home brewed beer and I'm going to kick my feet up and enjoy my month off!

Just Shoot Me Now

Okay, right about now, I think my head is going to explode from the rush of all the material that's building up in my little pea-brain. I survived a quiz yesterday with a score of 9/10 (not bad) and I'm desperately trying to prepare for tomorrow's exam #3. I spent four hours with an impromptu study group in the library today. I hardly feel like going over the chapters in the book again. Ugh!! The upshot is that I won't have to study this material for the following day's final exam!

The Final Push! (No, I'm not having a baby)

Okay, here it is. The final week of my Summer course is coming. Our class got behind in the syllabus, so we're cramming for point now. Here's my class itinerary for this week:

Monday- Quiz #3
Tuesday- Exam #3
Thursday- Final Exam

Brutal, yeah, I know. Apparently, four people didn't pass this class last Summer and this is just the "orientation" class. They were ejected from the Rad program before the real classes even started! (The passing grade is 75%.) Needless to say, students are freaking out. The stress is intense, especially for those who didn't do well on the first two exams.

Me? I got an 89 on the first exam and I'm betting that I got a 93 on this past Thursday's exam. I've got a little room for wiggle, but I would never bet that things are in the bag. This weekend, I read three chapters already, and still have another two chapters to read today. I don't want to feel like I'm reading this stuff for the first time come Wednesday.

I've already got my scrubs and they've been washed. I'm committed. I didn't get in this program to fail.

I'm Feeling More Official Every Day!

Oh, happy day! Today, all my uniforms arrived in the mail! I bought my patches from the school last week at a cost of $9.95 per patch!! It's a good thing that I was able to save so much on the scrubs. Now all I have to do is pass this Summer class! I've got my second exam on Thursday, so I've got to make sure that I put in some quality study time, since Raphael can be a little tricky with his questions- all his answers always look so good!!

Check That Off My List

So Far, So Good

Another week has come and gone. I got my score back for my first exam. Although an 89% is a respectable score, there's still room for improvement. Actually, I do believe that Raphael is going to grant me one more point on Monday, because I believe that one of the questions was incorrectly graded. The real importance of the test was finding out how he writes the tests. I did put in some good quality study time- I read each chapter twice and reviewed the class notes and lecture slides three times for the test. I just need to do a better job of focusing on what the instructor sees is more important.

We're behind on the class syllabus. That's going to make things more difficult, being that we've got the same amount of quizzes and tests to take, but less lecture time to go over the chapters. I've got another exam coming up this Wednesday. I've got six chapters to read over the weekend, so that I won't be reading the material for the first time, while preparing for the test.

Cram Time!!

Well, the first exam is upon us tomorrow. It came so quickly. As always, I'm doing my last day cramming with my 101 point to do list This is actually an easy survey class, so I don't even think the test is going to be that hard. Sometimes I think I just make more work for myself. But I'd rather be over-prepared than under-prepared.

I spent part of my 4th of July weekend studying my notes and re-reading some of the chapters. Today, we got our first quizzes back. I received a 7/10. Not too bad, not too good. One of the questions I just circled the false instead of true, even though I knew the answer! This sleep deprivation thing is going to bite me in the ass! But now I know the types of questions the instructor (Raphael, the Program Director) is capable of asking. At least I have a slight feel for his style.

Today after class, I met up with a few classmates to do a crash study session before tomorrow's exam. One of the guys, Brian, has actually already finished his first year of the program, but is just now circling back to take this class. (Most rad tech students take this class first, before starting the meat & potatoes of the program, but last Summer, a couple of the program candidates flunked this class, so it was over for them before they even got started!! Bummer! But a wake-up call for me- DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS LIGHTLY!) He was instrumental in our study pow-wow, since he has so much more knowledge of how the physics and equipment work. We claimed a study room in the library. It was great to have a whiteboard, so we could draw pictures and formulas, so everyone could more easily understand. I'm glad I was there.

I'm just finishing re-reading the chapters. Next is glossaries, then lecture notes again. I hope I can get to bed at a decent hour, so I can feel rested before the test! Wish me luck!

Time to Rest

Well, I've officially survived my first week of school. Every morning, I've had to wake up just after 5am, since my commute is almost an hour long. The motorcycle is a godsend. I can't even imagine having to face the morning traffic in a car! I filled up the motorcycle today and checked the gas mileage. Even with the luggage rack flying high on the back of the bike, I'm still getting over 50 MPG. To me, that actually blows my mind, since I've tricked out that motor so much for racing performance.

Yesterday morning, we had a quiz. I've been reading 3-4 chapters per day, since class started. That's pretty much par for the course, taking a Summer class- still brutal nonetheless. We've got our first exam scheduled for Wednesday. I'll be ready. I can't wait!

For now, it's time to take a few days off to slow down and enjoy the 4th of July weekend :)

One Step Closer

A few days ago I finally purchased the beer ingredients. The local store I usually frequent in Livermore had a nice IPA that I wanted to try. When I had visited them a few days beforehand, they were out of some of the hops, so I had to make another trip. Also the recipe kit they had was in extract form, so they were going to convert the recipe to all-grain for me. Unfortunately, when I showed up to make the purchase, the store owner, who I had been working with, was out at the Giants game! Luckily, his "helper" had a solution for me. He had developed his own secret IPA recipe and he was willing to share it with me! He also taught me a few more techniques and terms I wasn't yet familiar with, so it was a win-win-win for me! He told me that it was his "Old Rad Lab Maris Otter IPA", his label named because he was one of the old timers at the Lawrence Liver Lab- he worked in the "old rad lab", as they all called it. He has since retired, but he's working part time at the beer store to share his love of brewing. Just my luck! Hopefully, we'll be brewing on Sunday.

Behind the 8-Ball

Wow! Just had my first day of lecture and I'm already four chapters behind!! Need to get some reading done TONIGHT!!!

Free HDTV!!

Well, it's been tested and confirmed. If you already pay for a Comcast Cable internet connection, you can get HDTV on your flat screen TV for FREE!! I just called Dish Network and canceled my contract with them. Of course, they're going to make me pay the $15 to send back the DVR. Bastards!

I've been wondering about it for a couple of months now. For the past week, I've been crawling under the house, hooking up my LCD to see what kinds of channels it can actually "see". The verdict- I can get a over 100 digital channels, but most of them are just the same channels in various formats. But I did get all the major TV networks, including NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox in high definition in a full screen (and not stretched) format. The pictures are crystal clear. Of course, your selection isn't going to have all the bells and whistles compared to if you are paying a provider. But you can get all the basic channels, plus a bunch of Chinese, Latin and Korean channels. I'm also able to get PBS, HSN and a bunch of other stations. I'm still figuring things out- it's still a work in progress for me. Yes, I am going to miss the free movie channels, ESPN, Food Network and the Travel Channels on Dish, but if I'm going to save $43 a month, I think I can deal with it. With my "new" life about to get moving in high gear, I doubt that I will have much time to watch TV anyway.

The next step is to build a DVR out of a Vista/Win7 box. I was shopping around the Web earlier and it looks like it's going to cost me about $60 to put in a card. Media Center is built into all the latest editions of Windows, so it should just be a drop-in operation!

I'm so happy!!

Odds and Ends

So I've been shopping for beer ingredients. Hmmm...turns out that there's been a run on certain types of hops this year, creating a shortage. All the local stores are completely out of some hops (in whole leaf form), leaving the only other option to use pellets, which they might not even have those in stock! I could possibly buy my stuff online. But even many of the online stores are sold out of what I need. Plus there's the added shipping costs, a real disincentive. Okay. Time to rethink my plan. Might have to switch to a different recipe. It might not be all that big of a deal, since I'm going to do some citrus dry-hopping later anyway. Hmmm...decisions, decisions.

I've got just over a week, before classes start. I'm trying to address the fact that my daily commute is going to be long and (when on the motorcycle) dangerous. I just ordered a pair of motorcycle kevlar riding jeans, so I can add more safety to my commute. I know that I should probably ride in full motorcycle garb every day, but I'm being realistic, knowing that's not going to happen. So the next best thing is to outfit myself with comfortable safety gear. A couple of months back, I was lucky enough to find a screaming deal on some Sidi Doha riding boots, a nice alternative to wearing the full-blown racing Sidis I also own.

Since I'll be spending a good part of my waking hours on a motorcycle, I'm looking into buying a Bluetooth headset for the helmet, so I don't miss important phone calls. That is usually one of the big disadvantages of riding a motorcycle, but with this solution, I've got just about all basis covered.

And finally, as totally uncool as it might be, I'm probably going to have to mount that Givi top case back on the back of my bike. That way, I can store my helmet and jacket away, after I get to school, because I doubt they have lockers available on campus.Wow! so many logistics involved!!

It's Almost Beer O'Clock

Okay, it's time for me to do good on a promise I made at the beginning of the year. One of my letters of recommendation came from my chemistry professor, who wrote me a glowing recommendation, which I sent out to four schools. She's a beer lover, like me, as I have shared some of my home brews with her before. I told her that when I get accepted into rad school, I would brew up a special batch of beer for her, the flavor of her choosing. Looks like I'm making some IPA! I'll be shopping for ingredients early this week, hopefully brewing by Friday. It should only take about eight weeks from start to finish, just in time for a nice Summer Bash!

Dotting My I's, Crossing My T's

Things are moving along. I enrolled in my two Summer classes, bought my book and paid my tuition. I bought a parking permit, which is transferable between vehicles. It's nice that they don't have a problem with this, as I had to purchase a permit for my car and my motorcycle, while attending Merritt College. I later discovered that Cañada College lets motorcycles park for free! Hmmm...I'm wondering if I can get a refund on that permit. I doubt I'll be driving a car that often during the summer.

Don't Give Up the Ship!

I was just reflecting back on when I actually took real action to get this drive toward X-ray school began. In the Fall of 2009, I was pretty ill from some mysterious virus that got into my central nervous system. By the end of November, I had taken a sick leave from work, which they did not like, since we were always short on engineers in the first place. My sick leave lasted six weeks, before they decided to replace me permanently.

But I had a feeling that they would let me go, because that's the kind of business-minded imbeciles my company was made of. Realizing my probable outcome, rather than having to sit around, feeling sorry for myself, looking for a job, I took preemptive measures by enrolling in some science classes. Yup, and sure enough, the ax came down on me.

But right from the start, it wasn't an easy road. By the time I had realized the fate with my employer and had made the decision to move towards a new career, the Spring semesters were going to in less than two weeks! I had to review and scrutinize all the prerequisites of all the local rad tech programs in my area and cook up a plan of execution, if I was to complete all my course work before the end of the calendar year! It was going to be tight, but it could be done.

After checking 4-5 times a day on their registration website, I was finally able to enroll at Merritt College, in Oakland, for an anatomy and a chemistry class- horrible time slots, but at least I was in! I got on the wait list for an anatomy class at the community college that's just around the block from my house, but when I sat in on the first day of class, there were thirty other students waiting to get in. I had NO chance of enrolling in that class. Leading up to the first day of instruction, I kept checking on the Merritt registration page, sometimes checking up to ten times per day. As the first day of class got closer and closer, sure enough, students began dropping their classes and shuffling their schedules. With much luck, I was able to massage my schedule to exactly the way I wanted it, but it took an immense amount of effort!!

The struggle to get my Summer schedule was no different. As I was becoming more familiar with what each rad school wanted, I was adding more classes to my list of prerequisites. I suddenly decided that I didn't feel like taking five math placement tests (to apply for five different schools) with questions ranging through to calculus. I had already been through the business calculus and the math calculus series, but that was over ten years ago! I figured it would just be easier to take a bonehead algebra 2 class and get my A. I found the math class I needed at a different JC, but it was like pulling teeth to get the instructor to email me back to let me into her class! At that same school, I found a medical terminology class that I figured would help my chances for applying, but the same went for getting into that class- it was so hard to get the prof to admit me into her class!! After a couple of weeks of desperately trying to email these instructors, I got my classes!!

The final semester was the easiest to enroll in. The only class I had issues with was trying to get into a physics class- no class fit my schedule. I was finally able to find an online class that the instructor let me in to.

By the end of December, I had all the classes I needed to apply to the five X-ray programs I wanted to apply to. It was tough trying to get all the classes, but if I wanted to increase my chances of getting into a school, it had to be done! With a lot of studying, worrying and stress, I was able to get straight A's for that entire year.
But if I had let the first signs of difficultly stop me at the beginning of the year, there's no way I would be where I am right now. If you want something badly, don't take no for an answer! Just be persistent and keep your eye on the goal and you can make it happen!!

Insert Fist Here

According to Spike TV's MANswers TV show, this is the best place to be hit in the head, if you're going to get punched. They claim that in this area of the skull, the average bone thickness is 2.9 mm, so you might actually have a chance of surviving the blow, and then some! Have at it!

Wow! That was quick! The markers arrived in the mail today! I had my reservations about how they were going to turn out, but they completed my order to perfection- they got my initials right, the colors on the right sides and the emblems just where I asked for them to be! Kudos! Now, I just need something to X-ray :)

Farewell, My Friends

Not you guys! After volunteering at Kaiser Hospital in Walnut Creek for thirteen months, I turned in my badge. It was a sweet gig that was actually gifted to me...well, kind of. I accidentally found a year old ad for a Kaiser volunteering job in Livermore in ambulatory services. When I finally got the chance to speak with Jill, the Volunteer Coordinator, she offered me the position in the X-ray department after I told her I was studying to be an X-ray tech! Every Thursday evening, that was my thing, either working with the techs in the ED, X-ray or CT departments. They were a great bunch of people! They were all very helpful and I will miss them fondly.

Monkey Wrench

Wow! How quickly plans can change. I just found out this morning that the place I was hoping to move into wouldn't be available till later on, like August or September. That's really going to throw a wrench into my plans!

I guess for now, we'll just stay put, while we find another suitable dwelling to move to down there. Until then, I'll be dealing with the LONG commute and the daily bridge toll. It kind of sucks that they don't give free toll to motorcycles anymore, because California is BROKE! Even with the motorcycle advantage, there's still traffic, although it still beats driving the cars. The bike gets 50+ MPG.

I'm just thinking about when it's really time to move, it'll probably be in the most inopportune time. But maybe I'll be able to hold it off till I get a break between semesters. Still, I'll need time to clean up this house and get it ready to rent out. Being short on time, I might even have to hire a property management company to find me some tenants. But if that's what we'll have to do, so be it. So for the time being, I'll just hunker down and enjoy living in beautiful Pleasanton while I can.

Suddenly Things Are Getting Crazy

Well, we've made the decision to move down to the South Bay in order to cut my commute basically in half. From Pleasanton, the drive to campus is 40 miles one way, plus the bridge toll. I would estimate a 75-minute commute, even on a motorcycle, since it's during the morning commute. We've got the green light to move into Emmy's sister's rental in Sunnyvale- from there, it's an easy 20-mile commute to campus.

Suddenly, I'm in a mad scramble to try and organize and make moving arrangements, plus at the same time, I'm having to fix things around the house, trying to prepare the Pleasanton house to rent out! There are so many little things to get done and some fairly major things to do too, like stain the deck and repair the blisters at the bottom of the hot tub!

I'm hoping to be moved into Sunnyvale before the middle of the month, so I can have almost a full two weeks to clean and prepare the Pleasanton house before classes get under way. CRAZY!!! Hope I can hold it together!!

Bought Some Markers

I've been shopping around on the web for a couple of weeks now for some X-ray markers. Most of the markers I found looked pretty standard are were fairly pricey, in the $12-20 range, plus shipping. I decided to cruise my favorite shopping venue, Ebay, and found some pretty cool markers there!

They come in the two initial or three initial variety. For both sets including shipping, the total came to just under $22! Can't beat that!!

Good-Bye, Gurnick!

Today I took a trip to Concord to drop off my books and uniforms to Gurnick. I swear it must've been 40 pounds of textbooks! As always, there was no one manning the receptionists desk- I probably waited almost five minutes, before someone finally arrived. I explained that I was retracting my acceptance to their rad tech program. I was armed with a letter of withdrawal. The receptionist went to the back offices to speak with Anna, who was apparently at lunch at 4PM and didn't want to speak to me. She told me just to leave the books and that's all I needed to do. I asked if she might be able to provide me with a sign-off sheet or something recording the event that I actually dropped off the books. She went to the back, again, to talk with Anna. She showed up a minute later informing me that the main Gurnick campus, in San Mateo, will be mailing me a letter within thirty days to finalize things. I mentioned that I was a little nervous about just leaving the books and that I was thinking of taking a picture as proof, but I didn't end up doing that.

Later that night, I realized that between all the back and forth communication and confusion that I had forgotten to drop off the issued uniforms. Shit! Do I really have to go back? But then again, when I was originally issued the books and scrubs during the "orientation" meeting, I never actually checked anything out! I guess they're pretty loose about things around there. Maybe they won't notice that I didn't drop off the scrubs? I dunno.

Good News- I've Been Saved!!!

Well, not in the religious sense, but I have been waiting for a month for this to arrive.... Every day, I wait with baited breath for a fat envelope in the mailbox. I didn't matter to me if the envelope said Kaiser-Allied or Cañada College, it just had to be fat and substantial.

Today, when I heard the mailman leave my porch, I ran to the mailbox. There was a whole bunch of mail, which was a good sign! Quickly I sifted through the mail only to find that every single piece of mail was addressed to my next door neighbor, the house on my right! Argh!! I walked it over and dropped it in their mailbox, but started thinking that maybe the mailman just got all the mail one house off, so I dropped by the house on my left, hoping that perhaps they got my mail.

I rang the doorbell and spoke with Lisa, my neighbor, and explained my mail conundrum, and that I was expecting a very important piece of mail, but only if I were so lucky. She checked her mail, but regretfully nothing was addressed to me. Disappointed, I went back home to accept consolation from my dog, Cookie.

Later on this evening, I heard an email arrive on my cell phone. I went to check it and to my astonishment, it was an email from Cañada College. Not really knowing what to expect from an email, I opened and read it. The email stated that I had been accepted into the Cañada College rad tech program!! That was so bizarre- I kind of felt like this notification sneaked through the back door. But I'll take it any way it comes!

What this really means is that now I don't have to start classes next week at Gurnick Academy of Medical Arts. And if I don't start classes, I don't have to pay any tuition! My bank account is feeling better already! What a relief!

Yes! I'm Going to School!!

This afternoon, I got a phone from Gurnick Academy of Medical Arts. They decided to accept me into their rad tech program. Of course, I accepted over the phone. They're going to send paperwork in a couple of days.

Now here's the weird part- they're almost two weeks in notifying applicants. Their written agenda states that candidates are supposed to officially accept by April 15, so now I have only four days to accept. Not a lot of time to think about things, if I needed time.

Funny, but this school was my "catch all"  backup plan, being that the tuition is $38k for the 2-year program. I had applied to this school thinking that if I couldn't get into any other of the schools, I would just have to suck it up and pay Gurnick and go to their school. (I was certain that I would get accepted to this school.) And as it turns out, they're the first ones to accept me! I believe that it's their strategy to get students to commit to go to their school, before they even find out if they can get into any other school. Sneaky.

In any case, if I get no other offers, I've got a school to go to this year. It's going to be hard to stomach the cost, but I'd rather pay up and get started with my rad tech schooling than wait another entire year to reapply to all the schools and hope that things turn out better the next time around! Congratulations to me! 

Digging a Little Deeper

Well, now that I've had a chance to actually see that Black Magic running, I've been able to get a better evaluation of the bike. I took it for a ride once I felt it was road-worthy. Before I left the house, I did notice that the chain was a little tight, but it would have to do for the first ride out.

Surprisingly, the bike rode quite nicely. The bike idled smoothly, throttle response was crisp and the engine mustered up power with no flat spots- I will credit my efforts in re-jetting the carbs. The hand controls felt pretty tight and responsive, but the shifting was a little soft and spongy. I would guess that the shift spring is getting a bit tired. But the clutch felt springy and tight. Someone also did a pretty nice job keeping the clutch adjusted properly.  The brakes all seemed to stop quite strongly.

Okay, now the things that need attention. The blinkers don't work properly (something tells me that it's my fault). The turn signals are always in hazard mode, but there is no hazard mode on this year. The front brakes don't activate the brake light. The seat support bar on the subframe is missing, so the saddle moves around a bit. The kickstand angle has changed, so the bike is way leaned over when parked. I'm not too crazy about the way the Trail Tech Vapor is mounted- it's on a ball-joint mount attached to the top of the headlight housing, plus it's not even centered!

Most of those issues can be corrected easily. Already I've purchased another subframe and headlight mounts off of Craigslist. Each cost me $20 and $25 respectively. I think I can fabricate another Vapor mount from a thick sheet of aluminum. The kickstand- I just have to pull off and pound back into shape. The blinkers will be a little tougher to figure out. I've already downloaded the wiring diagram, so I just have to figure out where the left and right signals could've made contact (easier said than done). Then there's all the body work that needs work.

It's Alive!!!

After slowly picking at Black Magic for about a week, with some resistance, the bike decided to start.

Over the past few days, I've been doing some real tuning on the bike. The valves are adjusted and I changed the oil to Shell Rotella-T synthetic oil, plus changed out that shitty oil filter for an K&N. The old oil was looking awful black and it looked like it was way too full!! The bike has new NGK plugs and the air filter is clean. I was careful to adjust the throttle so it was perfect! I spent two days scrubbing the bluing off the exhaust system- it's not all gone, but it's much better than it used to be.

The battery was fully charged, but the bike didn't want to run. I basically drained the battery once. I started to worry about if the fuel wasn't getting to the carbs- I was starting to thing that maybe the wiring wasn't making good contact. Maybe there wasn't enough gas in the tank? Maybe the gas was too old? When it was recharged halfway again, I tried it again. This time, it limped to life. After a minute, it was running more smoothly. That Delkevic exhaust is LOUD!!! When I jerked on the throttle, the sound actually scared me! It burned off some oil and other contaminants for the first couple of minutes, then it was fine. I'm so happy that the bike isn't a brick!

I still have to sync the carbs and adjust the idle, but I'm confident that it's going to be an awesome bike! Lastly, just for peace of mine, I'll do a compression test. It was a good da

Dear Mom,

I love you. Hang in there!

Catmanpoop- You Are the Shit!!

Once again, I'm  re-jetting another SV650. I remember the first time I broke into LB for the first time, using John's instructions. For those of you who have never seen it or don't know what I am talking about, you can find it here. His original web servers were taken down, but his content made it to another one. In my opinion, for anyone who has a hankering to rip into his/her own machine and has the right kind of DIY attitude, this is the place to start- this really is SV650 101. His tutorials should be bronzed. Thanks, John

Here Comes The Stress!!!

Okay, school just ended a few weeks ago. I got all my Fall grades and it was good! Now I have to stay on track with all the deadlines that are coming so fast!

I'm applying to five separate radiological technician programs around the San Francisco Bay Area- Kaiser-Allied in Richmond, Foothill College in Los Altos, Cañada College in Redwood City, Gurnick Academy in Concord, and Mills-Peninsula in Burlingame. They all have different application requirements. Some want letters of recommendation, some want personal essays, some want documented volunteer time, all want excellent grades from required prerequisites.

The first ones are due by the end of January, which means that I need to get on the ball and light a fire under the Merritt College administration to get my transcripts in my hands. I've also got order some transcripts from UC Santa Cruz, but I might as well just take nice drive down there and visit some friends- mixing business with pleasure has never been a problem for me :)