Waves!

The sea was angry that day my friends. March 19, 2008 there was an alert put out for the eastern Caribbean islands. A low pressure system over the Atlantic Ocean had prompted an alert for large sea swells in our area. The waves were forecast to be 12-16 feet high! Now obviously the photo above is fake even though it was a good effort in photoshop. However, the damage caused by these swells were very real. There was a little cement wall I liked to sit on to watch the ocean at sunset. Since these waves were coming in higher than normal the sand around its base was washed away. Since there was no longer a base for the cement to sit on it fell! I sang that primary song, "the wise man built his house upon the rock, the foolish man built his house upon the sand" in my mind on the way home. Crazy stuff, but really interesting to watch the sea change so dramatically. It is normally quite calm in our little bay. So I learned my lesson, do not build a house on the beach. There goes my retirement to Fiji idea.

The BBC

I love the BBC. I remember watching such shows as "Mr. Bean", "The Black Adder", and of course "Red Dwarf". I enjoyed British humor then and appreciated it that much more when I served a mission in England. Funny how one of my favorite broadcasting stations also matches my grades for midterms! I got a B in both Histology and Anatomy. Technically, I actually failed my Biochemistry test by just 1%. I know huh!? Lucky for me there are also online quizzes and group session attendance points that have helped me have a C overall. I plan on doing much better on the final so we can make sure to pass my classes. If not I might just have to get a job swabbing the deck aboard the Red Dwarf!

My "D" Boards

I thought an image of a fence sitter would be appropriate to represent the midpoint of my first semester here at St. George's University. I am not sure what side is greener. Is it the innocence of the first half where grades did not come into play and I could get away with saying, "I don't know", when asked a question. Or could it be the maturity of having my first set of exams under my belt but running the risk of not getting straight A's? To help put my mind at ease I was reminded of an old neighbor of mine. He had built fences along his property and was very protective of them. My brothers and I all loved baseball as kids and would often hit the fence from a foul ball or errant pitch. If our neighbor heard anything hit the fence he would angrily yell, "quit knocking on my d@#% boards!" I guess it worked because the fence is still standing to this day. I think the lesson I can learn from that and apply here at med school is just stay away from the fence all together and enjoy! Who knew such wisdom could come from a couple of wooden slats with multiple baseball sized dents in them?