Thank You: Dr. Travis Grimes

I had two friends in undergrad at CSUSB, my wife and Travis.  When and where we meet is lost in an undergrad haze.  I know that we started having classes together doing our sophomore year.  Eventually we started studying together for Organic Chemistry.  There was a lot of smart people in that class but Travis and I would get the top, or near top grades in the class.  We always had a friendly competition with the scores on the quizzes and tests but our scores were always close.  Since we were two of only about 10 Chemistry Majors for our year we had basically all our classes together from then on.  As the quarters rolled on and the classes became harder and harder (Physical Chemistry and Linear Algebra were by far the hardest classes I have ever had) I started to depend on Travis.  He was/is very focused on what ever task is at hand.  He would often be at the library hours before I showed up studying.  I of course would show up about an hour before a big test, having not studied at all.  He would then go up to the chalk board and go through everything that I needed to know.  Sometimes (not often) I would actually score better then him because his review was so good (he would get a little mad about that).  There is not doubt in my mind that I would not have received that grades that I did and passed the classes that I did without Dr. Travis Grimes pushing me to the limits of my intelligence and providing me with a solid work ethic.  Through out the years anytime we would see each other in the morning for the first time we would call each other Doctor (Good Morning Dr. Grimes).  We would chuckle and dream about the future.  After undergrad I went to Pharmacy school and he went to Washington University (the one in Pullman) to get a PH.D.  So in a few weeks we will actually get to call each other Doctor, for real!!! Thank you Travis and good luck with everything that you do.

Thankful: This is Me

I am only three weeks away from the end of pharmacy school.  It has been a journey, rough at times, stressful, boring, exciting, heartbreaking.  There are many adjectives that I could use to describe the experience of pharmacy school.  Right know I feel extremely happy and profoundly thankful.  So I would like to spends the next few weeks and post my thanks to specific people that, without there help and support I would not be 3 weeks away from a doctorate degree.

Thought on a Fathers Day

Simplified:
Since school has ended my life has been perfectly simple.  Wake up hang with the kids.  Go to work.  Come home and hang with the family....repeat.  It is a great feeling to have a clear mind in the evening and really be able to enjoy myself.  I know this next year will have it's challenges but I can't help but feel relief and excitement knowing that I will be judged by how hard I work and not by how much time I have to study.

Satisfied:
The Lakers are the 2010 NBA Champions.  That was a tough gritty game seven, and all the more enjoyable because of it.  I always say that I would rather watch a blowout so that I can relax and enjoy.  This was far from relaxing but there is exciting to see the Celtics get their hearts ripped from their chests. Satisfied to say the least.

Justified:
Ron Artest 2nd quarter Game 7 NBA finals
Ron Artest 3 pointer with 1 min left Game 7 NBA finals
Kobe Bryant  2010 NBA Finals MVP
Kobe Byrant more rings then Shaq
Kobe Bryant best basketball player on the planet

Nullified:
The Celtics and all their fans.  All the laker hating I had to endure for the last two months

Gratified:
To all my family and friend that have been there to support me and help me over the last 3 years of pharmacy school.  What would I do without all of you.

Vilified:
That ref that totally blew the call that caused the USA to not win their second World Cup game.  It was a horrible call that could cost the US a spot in the 16

Be Careful What You Wish For

So last week I was complaining about not doing much here at the diabetes clinic and about how ineffective my communication was with these patients. It looks like the pharmacist in charge noticed the same thing I did. So he decided to recruit patients for some MTM (medication therapy managment). I have been busy all morning with patients reviewing their medication, making some recommendations, and talking about diet and excerise. I even have a list of pt's who are coming back next week (hopefully with their labs) so I can review further with them.

Since the theme of this post is being careful what you wish for I would like to talk about the Lakers. I have been saying over the last few weeks how boring this years NBA playoffs have been and how there needs to be more drama. We'll the Lakers must have heard because they lost on Saturday which extend the series and added a little drama. I have decided that the Lakers do not need to have drama. I would rather seem them win every game (by a blowout if possible).

I am glad to say that we have finally picked up the last bit of our stuff from our old rental. It took a few weeks and several truck loads but we are finally out of the old place. My daughter admitted that she was a bit sad about leaving the house. I told her that we were as well but moving on is a good thing. She also wanted to see the apartment that we lived in when she was born so I drove her by. We have been lucky looking back, to always be able to move into a bigger and nicer place. I have to say this is the first house that we have lived in that I would actually want to buy.

I have approximately 2 weeks remaining in the quarter!!!. The last quarter of didactic study ever. I can't wait. It is really and truly becoming a struggle to study for anything. Wether it is a quiz midterm of final, so the sooner I'm done the better. Our midterm yesterday is a prime example...I reviewed all the material several time but completely blanked on over half the questions. Why? Because I just don't care. I am very ready to move on. I think actually being on rotations will challenge me in a different way and hopefully put some excitement into my last year of pharmacy school.

In case you are wondering I have typed this post on my iPad. Once you get used to the keyboard it is not any slower then a regular keyboard and I am at the point where i prefer the touch keyboard to the standard. As of late I have been reaching toward regular computer monitors instead of using the mouse. It's crazy how just a few months ago I was perfectly happy with the technology and know I am wondering how long it will be before all monitors have touch capabilities.

Time to finish up my lunch and get ready for some more MTM

A Waste of Time

I wonder what I am doing sometimes. Today is s complete waste of time. I have been sent to this site to educate people about diabetes and test there blood sugar. I have had two people in four hours talk to me and I think it was because they were lonely. At least I have this iPad to keep me busy.

A Pain in the Eye

My wife had to get a benign growth removed from her eye last week. The Dr had to cut it out and stitch her eye back up. If you look closely you can see the four stitches. She has been in pain all week and is taking steroids to keep the inflammation down.

As for school it was actually a bit abnormal as I actually learned a little bit today
1. CCB's (med chem)
2. Statins (IPDM)

The stress this quarter is building and we have our first test on Friday. Up to this point I have "failed" all three of the quizzes we have had. Sadly our class lost 5 members due to a horrific test during the fall quarter.

Is it Summer Yet?

I just logged onto my school email for the first time in about a week and I received an email that said our Medicinal Chemistry books are a must for next quarter. So they went ahead and bought the books for us and they will just charge our student accounts once next quarter starts. How nice force us to buy a book we will probably never look at. They did the same thing to us with Pharmacy Law and I never cracked the book and still was able to get an A...imagine that

I'm also a little irritated that my school just had to send us an email about next quarter less then a week after our end of the year assesment

Give us a break

MIA: This is me

I have been gone for a long time so let me recap the last 9 months

1. Started Pharm School
2. Found out we are having another kid
3. Finished 1st quarter of Pharm school (barely)
4. Holiday Vacation
5. Started 2nd quarter of pharm school
6. Found out the baby is a Boy
7. Finishing up midterms
8. Preparing for daughters 3rd Birthday
9. Hoping to pass 2nd quarter of pharm school

The Beginning

It has started! My first day of Pharmacy school has finally ended... Well it was orientation but long none the less. It was cool to see all of my future classmates and to see what is going to be expected of me over the next four years. The day was completely planned out so I thought I could give a rundown of the day and what I thought of each part of the schedule.

9-915: Welcome; this was the most awkward part of the day as we all found a place to sit and checked out the class. The class sponsor was very nice and seemed like she knew each of us very well.
915-930: Devotional; Same old SDA propaganda, although the pastor did a good job of catching my attention by talking about the NFL opening weekend. The Pastor talked about new beginnings and seeing things through to the end. I think his point was that we as humans aren't capable of seeing challenges to the end without God's help.
930-1000: Message from the Dean; Mostly he talked about his life and how he ended up the Dean of Pharmacy. He was interesting and it was good to know where he was coming from.
1000-1030; Welcome from upperclassmen; Basically, they introduced themselves and told us too hold on for the wild ride ahead
1030-1045 Break; After a summer with no school I was not used to sitting at a desk for hours at a time, this break was needed
1045-1130; History of LLU; The LLU historian gave a lecture, it was boring and long
1130-1200; Introduction of Faculty and Staff; They all came up and introduced themselves and gave a brief history. There was a lot more then I expected, and I think its going to be several years before I can sort them all out in my head
1200-130; Lunch; We had some sort of mexican dish with beans and chips. Of course I spilled my drink all over the ground and my desk. There was also a Q and A session with all the faculty and staff
130-145; Finacial Aid; Nothing new they just rehashed FinAid stuff that every undergrad should have learned years ago
145-215 Uncovering the mysteries of IPPE; Basically they explained to us What IPPE was and how it works. They are like mini rounds that should help us get ready for our fourth year.
215-300 Professional Organizations 101; They explain all the different organizations that we can join and told us that we need to join at least three.
300-345 Blackboard Tutorial; Since I've been using this system in undergrad for the last four years it was nothing new
345-400 Break
400-430 Elective Info; they just gave us a rundown of electives available for PY1
430-500 Some final thoughts from the instructors and gave us the game plan for the rest of the week

Even though there was no offical classes there was still tons of info to digest. Tomorrow we are going on a retreat sounds interesting but we shall see.

T-3335 Hours and Counting

So I'm looking at my countdown to Pharmacy School, it is currently at 140 days. When I first added the counter to my blog it was at 167 days, I can't believe that it has already been 27 days since then. I haven't really paid much attention to the count down until today. I pulled out my check list of things to get done before pharmacy school starts and now I think that 140 days might not be enough.

List of things to get done in the next 140 days

1. hep C shots
2. Get Financial Aid taken care of
3. Find a new place to live
4. Graduate from CSUSB
5. Go to Hawaii for three weeks
6. Find a decent day care for my daughter
7. Pay off the credit cards
8. Pass A&P
9. Move into new place
10. Get my finger prints done

There is a lot more but I'd rather not rewrite the whole list

Unfortunately for some of my classes I am heading to Las Vegas this weekend. I have several midterms coming up next week so I guess that means that I have to study during the week before I go. This however is almost impossible, because I have roulette on my brain and I can't get is out


Between watching my wife play or playing myself I can usually spend about 80% of the time I'm in Vegas at the table. To anybody who has not had the chance to go to Las Vegas I suggest going. It is well worth the trip and the cost. We like to go for short 24 hour trips since we only live three hours away. The drive is nice with little traffic, we get a lot of talking and catching up done on the way out which is nice. Sometimes during the middle of the quarter we are so busy the only time we see each other is when we pass Ava off

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The Lakers almost pulled off an upset win yesterday, I was very stressed. I couldn't even watch the last few minutes of the game because I the Lakers jut fell apart and Kobe became ice cold and was make very poor choices on his shot attempts. I have not lost hope, actually I think I have gained hope. I think they could pull this off in 7 games and finally repay the dept from last year
Good Luck Guys