What To Do... What To Do...

I am effectively done with classes for the semester. I have one little final left, but it is nothing of consequence. Perhaps the most distressing fact is that I should be graduating today.

Damn you pharmacy school with your overly specific pre-req!

The bigger question is what the hell do I do now? It's the first time in almost three years that I haven't had a class to worry about or been studying for some big test. I literally have four weeks to do whatever the hell I want and I have no idea what I should do. Tie on the fact that the stress of needing good grades to get into pharmacy school is now gone and I'm even more lost.

Recently I've become reacquainted with the gym. I've probably put on about 30 pounds or so over the last two years seeing as I've dedicated the majority of my time to my studies. Actually I forgot how much I liked going to the gym, so I at least have something to occupy me for roughly an hour each day.

Where to go from there, though, I have no idea. Maybe it's time to actually go visit friends since I find it awkward that I haven't really seen my main circle of friends in almost six months. Maybe its time to finally upgrade the hard drive on my PS3 like I have been meaning to do for almost a year.

It's very odd, I feel slightly lost. I have nothing to focus a big chunk of my time on. Is this what it's like to be a normal college student?

How I Miss The Fun

One of the items people neglect to mention to you when you choose to go into a medical profession is the fact that you have no life. I realize if I do get into pharmacy school that it will only become worse, but at least you have a hundred others in a similar situation.

Friday night I went out with friends for bowling and drinks. I made my first venture to one of the most popular bars in the city even though I have been of age for more than three years now. That show's how often I go out.

And it was a damned good time. Probably the most fun I've had in months. The somewhat depressing part is the realization that that will most likely not happen again for quite some time.

I have become used to seeing my friends be able to do such things on a weekly basis. I have been lucky to enjoy this type of thing once a month. One of the perks of being pre-pharm with a full time job. And the fact I haven't had longer than a 3 week break from school in 2 1/2 years. And those breaks were filled with either PCAT or wedding stuff.

I think I'm gonna celebrate the hell out of my summer break this next year... just because I can.

Pharmacy School Admissions Interview Attire

I figure everyone who has read this blog (all 41,104 visitors as of the writing of this post) has been with me on my journey towards becoming a pharmacist. Due to this fact, I feel as if I should share at least part of the experience with you guys.

I know right now you're thinking either, A) Holy shit is he fucking crazy! or B) Holy shit what the fuck is he talking about?!?

And in either case it is perfectly understandable, but let me digress. Yesterday I went out and picked me up a spiffy suit for the interviews. I have since begun the process of attempting to pick out what precisely to wear with the suit.

Now herein lies the dilemma I have tons of dress shirts and ties as I generally wear those to work. Many of them, however, are not in consideration for the interview. Together they all sob and drink Jack Daniels in my closet. Why is this you ask? Because, from everything I have read, most pharmacy schools prefer that you dress conservatively for your interview.

That is a problem for my dress clothes because they are not conservative. I like bold colors which is why my shirts are colored Fuchsia and Copper and True Blue and Hunter Green and Blood Red and Chocolate Brown and etc etc with ties to go with. I do not like wearing pastel like colors and I will not wear a white shirt.

Therein lies the problem. I am left with two options in my closet and I went to the store today and picked up a 'conservative' shirt and tie. I know ask for honest and constructive criticism as to which to wear.

Now let's start with the 'conservative' shirt and tie. Of course all pictures are click-able to scale to a large size... if for some god awful reason you want to do that.


I will admit this does not look near as bad as I thought with the suit. The tie seems very Harry Potter-esq, but its decent. Now I could go with a pink tie, which I have and the wife loves to torture me about, but I figured that my scare the admissions people. Because, as well all know, pink is EXTREMELY threatening.

Let's carry on to my personal favorite.


This is probably my favorite shirt/tie combo I have at the moment. It helps that the shirt is like wearing the skin of a baby sheep against your body... ya know without all the blood and such. I have the fear that it is too fancy for the admissions folk. Not sure if that is the best way to phrase that, but I am genuinely not sure if this would be the correct way to go. The flash made the tie look quite a bit more shiny and silver than it actually is.

And last, but certainly not least;


This is actually the very first shirt/tie combo I ever bought (although this is a 2nd gen shirt) and I always thought I looked pretty snazzy in it. My problem is I think I look a bit like mint chocolate chip ice cream, but without the ice cream. And really, I don't need the admissions people salivating while they look at me. Well, salivating from hunger at least.

So there are your choices oh loyal blog readers. For those of you who are of the quiet type, I have placed a poll on the top right side for your clicking pleasure.

Now... lay it on me!

One Step Closer...

Today started off as a normal Monday. I literally had to drag my ass out of bed in time for Genetics. I was rather apathetic as I doodled aimlessly while being taught regulation factors in gene expression. For some reason the term Operon caused me to imagine some sort of monster destroying the city I live in. It was... perplexing.

Next I sat through my Race and Ethnicity class where I learn every day that you can be a racist even when you're not a racist. Or some crazy shit like that. This time I imagined the monster eating my professor. Such a lovely thought this was.

As I left this class to head home for lunch my phone rang; it was my manager. Already knowing what she was going to say, I answered it. She pleaded with me to go fill in for a sick co-worker on my day off at a store that is 30 minutes away from where I live. Being that I'm an overly nice son of a bitch, I agreed.

In essence, it was another dreary Monday.

Until I checked my emails.... and I found out the following:

On Friday, October 23rd, I have an interview at a pharmacy school.

Dear God, did I read that right? Am I losing my mind? After busting my ass to the point of exhaustion for the past three years could it possibly be true?

Those of you who have read this blog over the last two years, ya know all four of you, may understand how utterly monumental this is. Three years ago I thought I had no chance in hell of even being eligible to apply, yet alone be admissions worthy.

Yet here I am, booking plane tickets, searching for hotels and plotting to buy a suit on Wednesday.

The whole thing is very surreal. I read the e-mail about five times just to make sure I was reading it correctly. Hell I might frame the freakin' thing and hang it up in my living room.

Previously I said my PCAT scores were the achievement I was most proud of in my life. Today, it was supplanted with this e-mail.

So for all of you who read this blog, all of you who think you have made too many mistakes along the way and have no chance of reaching your dream, I am proof that you can climb out of that wretched hole. That no matter how bad it gets, no matter how much you may want to quit, retribution is possible.

Next Thursday I leave to take the next step in this epic journey. Next Thursday I leave to take the next step towards my future.

And damn is it sweet.

Pull Your Head Out of your Ass

The last few days I've been reading up on the various pre-pharmacy/pharmacy support forums out there. I first stumbled upon them when looking for advice on the PCAT last fall and have been following them ever since. Rarely do I post at any of them as I just like to sift through them from time to time.

I decided to take a few days off from pumping out applications to get caught up on a few of the larger forums out there. After a while I realized I was rather disgusted with most of them. A lot of the individuals there are extremely conceited and full of themselves.

And I see a lot of you guys come to this blog, so I'll give you a little word of advice.

Pull your fucking head out of your damned ass.

You are not the greatest person in the world because you got a 98 on your PCAT. Just because you chose pharmacy as a career does not justify the fact you think you are better than everyone else. You're really no different than anyone else in the medical fields.

And don't talk down to someone with a lower GPA than yourself. Sure, you got a 4.0, but that doesn't mean you're smarter than the kid who got a 3.0. There are extenuating circumstances that prevents some from reaching their full potential in college. Many don't have mommy and daddy's money to fall back on when times are rough.

The cockiness needs to go as well. So you have your 98 PCAT score, your 4.0 GPA and you worked at Wal-Mart for a year as a tech or clerk. Whoopdy fuckin' do. I'll give you a little word of advice, you don't learn shit at a place like Wal-Mart. Anyone that has ever transferred to our stores from Wal-Mart could count and that was really about it.

Granted the Tier 2 techs are slightly better, but you still don't know shit. You may be certified, but that test is a fucking joke today anyways (future post coming on that) and it really doesn't mean anything now. A drunk monkey with one eye could pass the exam.

For some reason these people seem to be mainly located in the California region of the country. Damn good thing I'm not applying to any school in that state.

Am I being cruel? No, I'm not. Leave your egos at the door. Stop talking as if you're Superman. Act human for Christ's sake. Is that too much to ask?

Make Up Your Damned Mind

I have been, since about May, emailing the pharmacy schools I'm interested regarding my situation and seeing if I will encounter any problems. Basically I don't want to apply to a school if I don't meet the requirements or stand any chance. Seemed like the prudent thing to do in my case.

After a bunch of emailing, I had my four schools picked out.

Last week I emailed one of these schools asking for clarification on a portion of their supplemental application. I received my answer and then the advisor mentioned that I was no longer eligible to apply. They had 'tightened' up their requirements and I would be forced to apply next year. It had to do with ACPE standards.

Huh?

Couldn't they have told this to me when we were emailing each other a few weeks ago? Obviously someone would have known that this change was occurring. I had already sent out my PharmCAS application, so there goes a chunk of change there.

Then a few hours later I got another e-mail from this university, from the same guy, thanking me for applying and stating what else I needed to do. How cute.

So naturally I went into a bit of hysteria trying to find a school to replace it. I e-mailed another school in the general area with the same statements as before. Their reply?

"Well it appears that you may need to take a year of Post-Bac biology or chemistry to show that you are really determined to become a pharmacist because that appears to be lacking at the moment?

Huh?

I'm lacking the determination to become a pharmacist? I shoulda just sent them a damned link to this blog. Seeing as it was late at night, and I was at my wits end, I fired back a length e-mail questioning this person's statement.

By the next morning I received a reply from the dean of the school apologizing for the advisers statement and saying that "... given what you have stated in your e-mails you would be an excellent candidate for admission into our program."

Yeah... maybe not.

I have since added two schools to replace that one, but neither one were my first choices. At this point I can't afford to be too picky.

Oh well, it's Friday and you know what that means... it's Amber Bock time!

Studying for the PCAT

I have had some inquires as to how I studied for the PCAT considering the sizable change in my scores the second time around. I shall describe my method, but first I must offer a disclaimer.

I'm a science geek. When I learn something interesting in class, it sticks with me. Thus can tell you to use a Lindlar catalyst to go from an alkyne to an alkene and to use H2 and a palladium catalyst to go from an alkyne to an alkane. I remember vividly viral replication and the fact it can follow a lytic or lysogenic path. I remember how and what the kidney filters and replaces at its various stages.

Again, I am a nerd. All I need is a very brief refresher and it all comes pouring back out of my brain. I know not everyone is like this, thus why I am offering this disclaimer.

I used mainly the Kaplan 2008-2009 PCAT prep book. The book is quite good, but it does have some faults. For one, there are some incorrect answers in the back off the book which will drive you nuts at times. It only glances over O Chem and I felt it under prepared me for the quant portion of the test.

That being said it is a great reference for all the other sections of the test. If you're comfortable with what you know, you may only need this book. Personally I like to cover every single base and then some before I go into a test like this.

Therefore I went to Barnes and Noble and picked up a couple of Spark Notes book. First I picked up a book on biology found here. It covers virtually everything you'd cover in general biology and A&P. I never really had a class on plants, due to falling into a crack in our bio dept, so I used this heavily to prep for that. It's not detailed by any means, but it covers a good deal of information.

Next I picked up these two books, one on Pre-calc and the other on stats. In reality I probably did not need these (although I needed to brush up on trig) but it provided good practice for the test. Part of the challenge of the Quant portion is being able to quickly do calculations and being able to distinguish which answers are illogical. You should be able to do trig, division and basic stats problems very very quickly. In reality you do not have much time to spend on a particular problem.

I brought those three books with me virtually everywhere I went for two weeks reading through them and quizzing myself. At night, I would come home and hit up the Kaplan book to cap off the night.

Generally I would go section by section in the Kaplan book being slow and methodical. If there was a concept I vaguely remember or didn't understand when I remember it initially, I made note of it and after the section researched it further. I have kept virtually all of my pre-pharmacy course books which greatly helped with this part.

I know some of you are going, he started studying with two weeks to go? He's nuts! Hear me out.

I have studied for every single test in college in this manner. And I cannot sit and study for hours and hours on end. You know those kids who go to the library when it opens and leaves when it closes? That's not me.

I have learned to study in spurts. Hit the books really hard for 45 min to an hour and then leave them. Go screw around on the internet, go to the store, but do not touch the books. I try not to even think about it. Usually this break lasts for a half or so and then I go back to studying. I repeat this method again and again until I'm comfortable with the material.

And since I usually remember about 3/4ths of the material from the first time around, I don't study until it gets closer to the test date. I will get test anxiety and wind up burnt out if I start studying sooner. I simply cannot study for a test in that manner.

Finally purchase at least one of the practice tests from Pearson. Next to the Kaplan book, they are the best thing you can use to study. They generally reflect the type of questions of the test and will give you a really good ballpark for how prepared you.

As for the test make sure you're well-rested, eat breakfast and at the break time (this was my undoing the first time) and above all remain calm. I am lucky in that I am a fast test taker. Usually I am the first one done at a test and, in this instance, it allowed me to go over the whole section twice to check for errors. In taking it the second time I learned how to properly pace myself and I was able to whip out answers more quickly due to, I think, being more relaxed.

I know I probably study in an atypical manner, but I figure this should help answer some questions. If anyone has anymore either shoot me an email or leave a reply in the comments field and I will do my best to answer it.

PCAT Scores Are Back... Part 2

Before anyone asks, I will make a post or two about my wedding. As is the case with many adventures in my life it was hilarious, frustrating and a damn lot of fun all at the same time.

When I picked up the mail yesterday upon returning home, I found my PCAT scores awaiting my arrival. They actually had arrived in less than five weeks which is fairly impressive.

I have had a couple people ask about these so I will post them much like I did for my first PCAT.

The format goes as follows:

Scaled Score (Change from 1st PCAT) - Percentile (Change from 1st PCAT)

Multiple Choice Scores

Verbal Ability - 431 (+9) - 89th (+7)
Biology - 455 (+37) - 98th (+22)
Reading Comp - 410 (-13) - 62nd (-18)
Quantitative Ability - 433 (+39) - 88th (+57)
Chemistry - 439 (+23) - 91st (14)

Composite - 434 (+18) - 94th (+20)

Writing Scores

Conventions of Language - My Score - 3.0, Avg Score - 2.84
Problem Solving - My Score - 3.0, Avg Score - 2.87

The main reason for retaking the test was my Quant scores which were due to the migraine I developed after the second essay. That is why eating in between tests is a damn good idea.

I thought I had done well when I finished, but not quite this well. I knew the reading comp would go down because I had grown bored by the last two readings.

As such I am quite happy with the results. Now I just need to finish up those damned essays...

PCAT... Round 2!

I take the PCAT again on June 20th. I am still slightly bitter about my damned headache which screwed up my first one, but there's not much I can do about it now.

If anything I am far better prepared for it this time. Still don't want to take it though. Between taking this stupid chem class again, studying for the PCAT, getting stuff ready for pharmacy school apps and my upcoming wedding I feel like I'm being tugged in twenty directions.

I'm pretty sure when I'm done at about 1pm this Saturday, I will skip out of the building, happy with the notion that I can finally start enjoying this summer.

I went to visit some friends in another city the other just to relax. Going to a Dave and Busters (perhaps the greatest place ever created) and chill out for a night. Then it's back for a week of studying.

At least I can see the light at the end of the tunnel...

I'm Bored

That really sums up where I've been the last few weeks. School has bored the shit out of me. This is my first semester where I do not have a science course. Four out of five of my classes are all business courses. And I dread going to them each day.

Not to come across cocky, but my business classes are not that hard. I have yet to even be challenged this semester in the slightest area. My finance course is somewhat intriguing, but the math in it is relatively simple and unchallenging.

As a result I've started to become rather lazy in my course work. Not a good thing. I've also become somewhat apathetic to other things and as such I have not had that much to write about. I will say that everyone should own Mario Kart Wii and House of Dead: Overkill. My fiance and I enjoy the hell out of playing those games. She's the only thing that keeps my sanity as of late.

So with one semester remaining what am I going to do about this boredom? I signed up for Genetics. I am such a fucking nerd. But I realized I need a challenging course to keep me on my toes throughout a semester. Kinda the same problem I had in high school.

Perhaps I'll get some inspiration soon to write a tasty little rant. I'm sure someone misses my musings.

PCAT Scores Are Back...

I got my PCAT scores back about a week ago, just haven't gotten around to posting the results.

I'll give the test name, followed by the scaled score and the percentile score first

Multiple Choice Segments:
Verbal Ability - 423 - 82nd
Biology - 418 - 76th
Reading Comprehension - 423 - 80th
Quantitative Ability - 394 - 31st
Chemistry - 422 - 77th
Composite - 416 - 74th

Writing Scores:
Conventions of Language: My Score - 3.0, Mean - 2.8
Problem Solving: My Score - 3.0, Mean - 2.8

So y'all are probably looking at that quant score and going, holy shit!, just like I did. If you remember that I mentioned that was the final test and by that point I had developed a splitting headache. Not an excuse by any means, but it did offer some explanation. Also it's strange considering mathematics has always been my strong suit and I had no problem on the practice tests.

What this means is that I am taking it again in June. Was hoping to simply be done with it and, if it wasn't for the Quant score, I would call it good. I guess the only benefit is that I'll know more what to expect for the next test.

That and I really didn't start studying hardcore until the week before test. Not bad considering I haven't had a Quant (despite the score) or Gen Chem course in five years though. I take comfort in that at least.

Pre-Pharmacy... Old School

One of our pharmacists retired recently... wait, let me rephrase that. The best pharmacist I have worked with retired recently and is in the process of cleaning out her house so she may move far away from this cold and dreary place.

Earlier this week she brought some of us in things that she had discovered while cleaning. My gift? The Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 44th Edition, 1963

I'm a science geek and I'm a history geek, so I find this utterly fascinating. To learn the material we are learning today without the internet, graphic calculators or any of our modern conveniences must have been staggering.

I've attached a few pics of the book, as I am still leafing through it, just to show off how damned cool it is. Yes, I'm a nerd, sue me.

A Bunch of Hens

Ever heard that phrase before? Often in class there is a section of students whom are always talking. Always kissing up to the prof. Always being an annoyance to the class. To me, that is a bunch of hens. It annoys the hell out of me.

I switched from a science related major to a business major because, in the long run, I know it will suit me better. The problem with that notion is that I generally cannot stand the classmates in my major. The vast majority of the them, to me, are nothing more than a bunch of hens.

Do you know what it's like to sit in an upper level business course? Generally people talk all the time, interrupt the prof and ask so many questions that little progress is actually made. It is mindless, it is tedious and it drives me nuts. And these are the upper level courses.

I am used to science courses where the students pay attention and take notes. Yes there is random discussion and fun involved, but everyone is respectful and much is accomplished. That does not happen in my business courses. Do you know that in three years not once, not ONCE, have I been intellectually challenged? That used to happen weekly in microbiology, biochemistry and the likes. I'm not trying to brag about intelligence, I'm referring to how little is accomplished in these classes.

Earlier today, prior to my finance class, I was chatting with the person sitting next to me. I asked him what he was going to do after his B.S. (he is an accounting major) and he goes "I'm gonna make lots of money!" When he asked me and I responded he had a dumbfounded look on his face. "You mean you're going to go to school for at least another four years? Why?" I mentioned that I found it interesting and that it is my passion to which he responded "... but don't you want to make money now? I mean you'll be almost 30 by the time you're done!"

Perhaps that is my problem with the department. Everyone is so set on making money yesterday. I like learning, no scratch that, I love learning. I love having my mind challenged. And I am especially fond of learning about the human body and chemistry. And, on many levels, I really want to have an impact on my field. Sure I want to make money, but I want much more than that.

I'm not any older than most of my classmates, but I feel as if I'm on another level from them. It's awkward at times, especially when I see how much harder I am working for something while they coast their way to a C. I cannot comprehend living like that.

What sparked this? A post by the Old Md Girl discussing her age difference from her classmates.

I thoroughly look forward to the day when I can sit in class with my peers. Perhaps then I won't be so tempted to smack the hell outta all of them.

I survived the PCAT

Never before, in all of my schooling years, have I finished a test and been physically exhausted. Not to mention I enjoyed a splitting headache once I was done. One of my review books called the PCAT, "a test of endurance as much as it is a test of your knowledge." Ain't that the fuckin' truth?

All in all it went pretty well. Everyone I talked to was in agreement that the chemistry portion was by far the hardest. Otherwise I breezed through everything else.

One note for those who are going to take it. It is good to practice under timed conditions so you learn how to budget your time. When you take the actual test, however, you do not get to see the clock. You also are only given a 5 minute warning. There is no one minute morning. Which means when I found that out I had two blank answers I was debating over and quickly had to fill them in. Just a word of advice for future takers.

In any case I feel much better today, like I have this elephant that's been removed from my shoulders. Tis a damn good feeling.

The Last Test

Five years of sleepless nights, five years of endless studying, five years of brutal classes is leading up to my PCAT this coming Saturday. After this test, providing I do well enough, the rest of college will be smooth sailing. No more microbiologies or organic chemistries to keep me on my toes 24/7 studying.

The problem with that thought is, it's a lot of fuckin stress. I am having to go over material I haven't seen in four years in some cases. I don't really remember too much about calculus, but I have to become proficient in it in six days. I have been studying off and on all throughout break, only to discover the practice book I have been using is one of the worst. Go figure.

So for the next six days (including the start of a new semester) I shall probably be the only one engrossed in textbooks in the library. The only thing I keep telling myself is that this is the last test. Goddamn does that sound like a good thought...

Good End to a Bad Day

You know when you're having a real shitty day? Like you would love nothing more than to plant a small nuclear warhead in the corner of a drug bay before you leave? And then watch gleefully as it explodes into a beautiful mushroom cloud? I had one of those days today. Then I was blessed with having to visit the local grocery store for some dinner. I was truly and utterly thrilled with that proposition as well. Perhaps they would receive their own warhead in produce. Until I saw something which completely changed my mood and made my day....



Nothing like a new variation of Leinie's to turn a shitty day and into a glorious one. Now if only the Titans hadn't choked this weekend...

MRSA shall be defeated!

A few months ago the major public presses were going wild with a rise in MRSA infections. For those who don't remember, MRSA, methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, is an infection which is resistant to most forms of treatment. There are several strains which have been isolated which are resistant to virtually all known forms of treatment. Essentially if are infected with MRSA, which usually happens in communal settings (mainly a hospital), chances are the docs may have a hell of a time getting rid of it.

It is a very serious problem which will only becoming worse over the coming years. Over prescribing of antibiotics and generally lack of understanding of bacteria has effectively left only the strongest of the strains remaining. Most of these are gram negative bacteria, which are even harder to fight due to their double membranes.

In recent years the mechanism behind resistance in bacteria has begun to be understood. There are several factors regarding it, the permeability of the outer membrane, side chains of the antibiotics, polarity, etc, but the big bad boy have been the efflux pumps. Efflux pumps remove antibiotics from the cell once they finally make their way in. Think of them like a bilge pump on a ship. Except that these pumps, in the most resistant strains, move EVERYTHING out. It's like the mother of all shop vacs in a cell. And it's a huge pain in the ass when trying to kill it.

There are several options on how to combat this, none of which are viable at the moment. You can increase the permeability of the bacteria (basically let the antibiotics in faster than they can be pumped out), bind a substrate to the pump (pretty much put a plug in it) and the last option is to alter what the pumps push out. While reading through all these studies, most of which read like a thick ass pound cake, I came across a treatment in the later option that was rather intriguing. They have found that Verapmil and Reserpine inhibit the pumps and allow antibiotic concentrations to rise.

Think about that now. How long have those drugs existed? How many people the world over have been on such a regiment? That's pretty damn cool if you ask me, that something which has been used for years and years has yet another viable function.

They will never be used in humans as a treatment as the levels needed to inhibit the pumps are highly neurotoxic. There is also issues with purification of the needed amounts of the compounds. What they are doing instead is using those two drugs as a start point to construct new, less toxic variations to inhibit pump function. It is one of the most promising fields of micro and molecular biology at the moment.

Stumbled across this while writing a paper on antibiotic resistance in bacteria for my microbiology class. Was a vastly interesting tidbit that I thought all the other pharmacy nerds would enjoy.

Now back to my macroeconomics paper on universal health care :D

They're out to get you..

I'm studying Microbio tonight in my campus's student center for a test I have on Wednesday. Amazingly wicked class by the way, anyone who has a remote interest in pharmacy should take this course even if it's not required. Anywho I was on a stretch of getting up to do research at 7:30am, did that to 10am, then class from 10-2pm, then work from 2-6pm, then studying after that. It was about 9:30pm and I was tired, but still kickin ass.

Was reading about proton motile force, ATP production, all sorts of fun stuff like that. Was kind of confused when reading a few sections because they kept mentioning words that they hadn't defined earlier (big pet peeve of mine regarding textbooks). After studying it for about 45 minutes it dawned on me.

The Citric Acid Cycle = The Krebs Cycle = the Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle (TCA Cycle)

I shit you not in the chapter they would switch off between using these terms and actually defined as The Citric Acid Cycle. Apparently the authors thought it would be fun to fuck with my exhausted mind by switching the names around. Pretty sure I'd like to send a flaming bag of dog shit in their direction.

It's now 1:30am, I've switched from Microbio to Econ since I can't sleep and felt the need to vent about that. Still gonna mail them that bag of dog shit. Just have to figure out how to light it remotely now...

Research Sucks

Since the start of this semester I have been doing research with my microbiology professor. I've always considered myself open to research at some point in my life, and I figured this would look good on pharmacy school apps. After four weeks of it do you know what I have realized?

I hate research.

This is one of the most tidious things I have ever done. The whole concept we're working on is quite interesting (we're trying to prove a factor of evolution via bacteria) but the procedure is mind-numbingly boring. The worst part is, you get pissed off at least twice a week because of it.

Example, I needed to amplify some DNA to run a gel to figure out how many kilobases this fragment of DNA has. You amplify using a PCR which takes 2-3 hours. The gel itself takes about 1-2 hours to run. All together to get the data you need, you must wait up to 5 hours, not including all the prep work. After all of this, you go to look at the gel under UV and what do you see? Absoutly nothing. Fuckin' gel did not work for some reason. All that work for jack shit.

Really doesn't help I'm doing this at 8 in the morning (I am NOT a morning person). And the fact that my day usually doesn't end until 7pm due to classes/work. As of today I have decided to give research a big ole screw you as I shall not be doing this ever again. Now to squeeze in a short nap before stats....

Fuck My School

Its finals week for me. Seven tests in five days. Four of them comprehensive. Two of the comprehensive over two semesters. Whoopdy fuckin do.

Needless to say I have been studying a lot. It has gotten to the point that I can no longer study at home. You see I tend to find other things to do like the dishes or scrubbing the kitchen floor rather than study after a while. Hell its the only time I seem to dust under the coffee table. Go figure.

Today I decided its time to go and study at the library instead. I find myself a nice little corner, plop down the iPod, the Dew, my notecards, notes and textbooks and make myself nice and comfy. I plan on being there for a while. Shoulda got a catheter in hindsight, but maybe for tomorrow night. Anywho I'm in my groove and I go to take a short ten minute break to relax and dick around on the internet. Then I hear over the PA system:

"The library will be closing in 15 minutes."

It was 9:45 PM. What fucking college library closes at 10PM during finals week? Normally its open until Midnight the last two weeks of school, but no not this year. Shit when I was in Omaha the library was open until 2AM during finals. So I pack up all my shit and grumble to some other pissed off students as I walk out the door.

Now I sit on my couch, debating if I should put Season 2 of House in the DVD player. I'll probably end up making more notecards and shit, but I feel a bit better now that I vented. Don't you?