I know nothing about football, but my dad was in hospice for 6 months before he died from brain cancer while I was an undergrad, and I subsequently was a hospice volunteer for 6 years until I started med school. AND, I’m just about recovered from my 6th surgery for colon cancer (along with earlier chemo and radiation).
so go, but:
- do it for him and not for you
- don’t expect too much from your friend. He’ll likely be sick, weak, and depressed. I was, although my dad was pretty heroic. Let your friend set the agenda, don’t force him to be cheerful or contemplative or anything. Sitting there quietly is an option.
- please google things NOT to say to a cancer patient (anything I can do? It’s god’s will. You’re not fighting hard enough)
- although some of the best talks I’ve had with dying patients started with me saying something like “You’re dying. That sucks. I’ll miss you.” Sometimes the patient gets tired of being pitied and is thankful to have a “real” conversation about what they’re feeling.
- if you have the time, do something concrete for your friend or his family: buy them dinner, take care of their pets, mow their lawn, clean their house, offer to put together a phone list of people to call after your friend dies (and make those calls if they want), or anything else you can think of. It really makes a big difference to the family
Just one guy’s opinion. Sorry for your impending loss, he must have been a great friend
Many, many jobs. One summer I had to wake up super early and go to West Quad to prepare and serve breakfast to the high school summer campers. Only remarkable thing was that everyone, guys and girls, dressed like crap, didn't shower, and could eat a ton. Except for cheerleader week, when they all had on full makeup, talked super loud, and didn't eat anything.
Oh, and I was a guinea pig for lots of drug tests at what was then Parke-Davis (30 years ago). I seriously have tract marks and "blown" veins in both arms from all the blood draws. I should have gotten an explaination letter or something from them to help me with all the "skeptics" later on.
Good quick read. He was interviewed on Slate.com a few weeks ago. Nothing very controversial, but an interesting account of the 40-45 relatively faceless (to the average fan) non-superstars who are fighting for playing time and roster spots. I can't believe that he played again after his muscle detachment.
I remember reading Dave Meggyesy's "Out of their League" as a (too young) kid; that's much more scandalous. Or even the articles (Miami Herald? SI?) about Miami and the money, drugs, strip clubs, etc, but I can't believe that's "typical."
We are a little worried about pig-rustling/roasting. Hopefully it'll be more of a Beyond Thunderdome situation, with Tina Turner and MasterBlaster around to help manage the pig poop shovelers.
My vegan, animal loving wife and I just got our first house last week. She's wanted to keep pot-belly pigs, but we had trouble finding a place because of zoning. The pig raising books and websites we've looked at all say to check your local zoning laws first. Our experience in rural PA was that pigs were typically in a grey zone, sometimes pets (dogs, cats) and sometimes farm animals (cows, horses, sheep), and sometime it depended on how many pot-belly pigs you had (>2 = farm animals, for zoning purposes). Some fancy neighborhoods allowed up to 2 pigs, and some more rural areas didn't; it was almost random. But we found a small farmette in a sort of MadMax-type area that doesn't have any rules at all, so we can get all the pigs, sheep, goats, etc we want. (Our new neighbor has chickens, goats, 2 sheep, a peacock, and an alpaca).
It's not the same, but: In medical school a lot of academic superstars had a very hard time not being at the top of the class, not being perfect. They'd study very hard and, for the first time in their life, they'd be "below average" (for med school). It's also a widespread practice for the doctors in charge to "pimp" you by asking you continuous questions until you don't know any more answers. Some kids would literally be in tears at the end of the day. (Fortunately I learn best by shame and humiliation, so I was OK). Everyone was wrong. A lot.
I've always kind of thought this is what seperated pro players - their ability to respond positively to criticism or failure. Tom Brady did; Ryan Leaf didn't. I guess that and the general mental toughness to perfect their technique, stay in shape, study film, etc.
Certainly everyone can achieve more and reach their fulless potential by being pushed by a good mentor. I'm really excited to see Craig and the rest of the defense improve week by week with Mattison as their sensi.
I worked in a biochem lab for 8 years, contemplated a PhD, but discovered that the further you get then less fun it was (more grant and paper writing, less bench work). And it was boring. I like problem solving, but needed more immediate gratification than waiting months or years for experiments to work themselves out. I then went to med school at age 33.
If you've got a passion for research, and can't imagine doing anything else, then go for it. But consider giving a residency in neurology or pathology a try. Medicine gets more and more fun/satisfying the further you go. It's too early to judge it by your med school experience - you don't know anything and the attendings/ nurses/ patients don't take you seriously. Residency is where you learn "real" medicine. It's 3-4 tough years, but you'll learn so much and be able to ask better clinical questions.
If nothing else you can moonlight as a MD to make money to supplement the meager grad school paycheck, like one of my friends did.
I agree that the GRE is easy (no offense anyone).
And no decision you make is ever really final. You can always change your mind latter on and do something else. But you'll have more options if you do a residency.
I called this AM and upgraded from my basic Comcast package to one that included ESPNU. It was explained to me that it would cost my $4 for just the day ($1.99 sign-on and then another $1.99 sign-off fee, or I could get it for the month for $7 with the option of cancelling early it which case the fee would be prorated. So: pretty cheap for my fix; I'm not sure I really want to know how much I would have paid if I needed to.
From one non-insider to another: Please do not get involved in any way with a potential recruit, no matter how well-intentioned you are (and I'm sure you have the kid's best interest at heart). Have his high school coach contact the UM staff to express interest, send tapes, get walk-on info, etc.
I hope the coaches have better things to do then to read about our unrealistic expectations about our defense and why our recruits aren't higher ranked. Although everyone enjoys CRex's and Mathlete's posts.
I'd like to think that the better TEAM would still beat better individual talent. That is, the team with better teamwork - players who put the work in to be in superlative physical condition, know their assignments and reads, and trust that their teammates are doing the same - would be competitive with/beat a team with better individual talent.
I'm actually excited by the "family" atmosphere and the reports of hard work, although I do admit to a non-gay crush on Barwis. I'd also be very disappointed (as I suspect many of the players might) if Turner was being pampered and "given" playing time.
Do any of the coaches think better teamwork would beat better talent? it's sort of a rephrasing of Misopogon's question.
P.S. I didn't go to the gym today b/c I was tired. And I should be studying for a test but instead I'm watching TV reruns and reading MGoBlog.
Nice find on the quote. I know DFW hated giving interviews b/c he didn't feel he expressed himself as exactly as he wanted to (or at least up to his exacting standards), but I think that quote pretty much comes close to summarizing his "point/goal" of all of his writing. I think I remember reading somewhere that DFW, if forced to give himself a title, would label himself as "post-post-modern", meaning that he wanted to distinguish himself from the post-moderns (nothing means anything). He wanted his writing to Say Something, to Mean Something, to Address Real Emotions (all the while using many of the post-modernists literary tricks/gimmicks (to profound effect IMO)).
As always, great diary! You're one of the main reasons I love this blog.
1) Maybe there's something interesting about size vs speed for offense (high scoring ninja football vs 3 yds and a cloud of dust? more upsets/mistakes for speedy higher scoring teams?) or defense (smaller speedier defenses giving up more time consuming scoring drives? bigger slower defenses doing better against running offenses?).
2) I've always thought that a big part of being a big-time athlete is shaking off mistakes and performing on the next play. My anecdotal example is that Ryan Leaf is a big crybaby and Tom Brady is a play making machine. I don't have a specific question, but maybe there's something testable about "momentum" or teams recovering after a turnover or a lost lead or certain teams (coaches?) being "better" at this then others?
I agree that this is a stupid question that doesn't make sense.
When I explain lightheadedness (orthostatic hypotension) to my patients, I just use the understandable "for a split second, until your body can adjust, gravity cause the blood to pool in youe legs when you first stand up, so you don't get enough blood to your head, so you feel a little woozy." You can actually save a few lives when patients are septic - their vessels are leaky and they can't really regulate their BP - by lowering the head of their bed so their head is below their body so it increases the blood/oxygen flow to their brain.
Finally! Something I can post intelligently about.
Noroviruses are the new trendy term for Norwalk-type viruses, the leading cause of viral gastroenteritis or "stomach flu", and first detected from an outbreak in the early 1970s in Norwalk, Ohio. It's the cause of outbreaks in military camps, schools, cruise ships, etc. Tough to diagnosis outside of research labs, so usually we just say "viral gastroenteritis" and give the following speech;
In short: fecal-oral transmission from something you ate in the past 1-2 days, viral shedding from stools/vomitus lasts about 2 days, immunity might last maybe 2-3 yrs, you'll get better in 3 days no matter what you do, but go a ER if you feel lightheaded or your heart is racing as that's a sign you're dehydrated and you would benefit from IV fluid. If you're not better in 3 days, or if there's blood in your stools, you've probably got something else (bacterial).
I'm an Infectious Disease doctor. Who still doesn't understand what a 4-3 under is. Hope you feel better.
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I know nothing about…
Go.
I know nothing about football, but my dad was in hospice for 6 months before he died from brain cancer while I was an undergrad, and I subsequently was a hospice volunteer for 6 years until I started med school. AND, I’m just about recovered from my 6th surgery for colon cancer (along with earlier chemo and radiation).
so go, but:
- do it for him and not for you
- don’t expect too much from your friend. He’ll likely be sick, weak, and depressed. I was, although my dad was pretty heroic. Let your friend set the agenda, don’t force him to be cheerful or contemplative or anything. Sitting there quietly is an option.
- please google things NOT to say to a cancer patient (anything I can do? It’s god’s will. You’re not fighting hard enough)
- although some of the best talks I’ve had with dying patients started with me saying something like “You’re dying. That sucks. I’ll miss you.” Sometimes the patient gets tired of being pitied and is thankful to have a “real” conversation about what they’re feeling.
- if you have the time, do something concrete for your friend or his family: buy them dinner, take care of their pets, mow their lawn, clean their house, offer to put together a phone list of people to call after your friend dies (and make those calls if they want), or anything else you can think of. It really makes a big difference to the family
Just one guy’s opinion. Sorry for your impending loss, he must have been a great friend
Many, many jobs. One summer I had to wake up super early and go to West Quad to prepare and serve breakfast to the high school summer campers. Only remarkable thing was that everyone, guys and girls, dressed like crap, didn't shower, and could eat a ton. Except for cheerleader week, when they all had on full makeup, talked super loud, and didn't eat anything.
Oh, and I was a guinea pig for lots of drug tests at what was then Parke-Davis (30 years ago). I seriously have tract marks and "blown" veins in both arms from all the blood draws. I should have gotten an explaination letter or something from them to help me with all the "skeptics" later on.
Good quick read. He was interviewed on Slate.com a few weeks ago. Nothing very controversial, but an interesting account of the 40-45 relatively faceless (to the average fan) non-superstars who are fighting for playing time and roster spots. I can't believe that he played again after his muscle detachment.
I remember reading Dave Meggyesy's "Out of their League" as a (too young) kid; that's much more scandalous. Or even the articles (Miami Herald? SI?) about Miami and the money, drugs, strip clubs, etc, but I can't believe that's "typical."
We are a little worried about pig-rustling/roasting. Hopefully it'll be more of a Beyond Thunderdome situation, with Tina Turner and MasterBlaster around to help manage the pig poop shovelers.
My vegan, animal loving wife and I just got our first house last week. She's wanted to keep pot-belly pigs, but we had trouble finding a place because of zoning. The pig raising books and websites we've looked at all say to check your local zoning laws first. Our experience in rural PA was that pigs were typically in a grey zone, sometimes pets (dogs, cats) and sometimes farm animals (cows, horses, sheep), and sometime it depended on how many pot-belly pigs you had (>2 = farm animals, for zoning purposes). Some fancy neighborhoods allowed up to 2 pigs, and some more rural areas didn't; it was almost random. But we found a small farmette in a sort of MadMax-type area that doesn't have any rules at all, so we can get all the pigs, sheep, goats, etc we want. (Our new neighbor has chickens, goats, 2 sheep, a peacock, and an alpaca).
It's not the same, but: In medical school a lot of academic superstars had a very hard time not being at the top of the class, not being perfect. They'd study very hard and, for the first time in their life, they'd be "below average" (for med school). It's also a widespread practice for the doctors in charge to "pimp" you by asking you continuous questions until you don't know any more answers. Some kids would literally be in tears at the end of the day. (Fortunately I learn best by shame and humiliation, so I was OK). Everyone was wrong. A lot.
I've always kind of thought this is what seperated pro players - their ability to respond positively to criticism or failure. Tom Brady did; Ryan Leaf didn't. I guess that and the general mental toughness to perfect their technique, stay in shape, study film, etc.
Certainly everyone can achieve more and reach their fulless potential by being pushed by a good mentor. I'm really excited to see Craig and the rest of the defense improve week by week with Mattison as their sensi.
I worked in a biochem lab for 8 years, contemplated a PhD, but discovered that the further you get then less fun it was (more grant and paper writing, less bench work). And it was boring. I like problem solving, but needed more immediate gratification than waiting months or years for experiments to work themselves out. I then went to med school at age 33.
If you've got a passion for research, and can't imagine doing anything else, then go for it. But consider giving a residency in neurology or pathology a try. Medicine gets more and more fun/satisfying the further you go. It's too early to judge it by your med school experience - you don't know anything and the attendings/ nurses/ patients don't take you seriously. Residency is where you learn "real" medicine. It's 3-4 tough years, but you'll learn so much and be able to ask better clinical questions.
If nothing else you can moonlight as a MD to make money to supplement the meager grad school paycheck, like one of my friends did.
I agree that the GRE is easy (no offense anyone).
And no decision you make is ever really final. You can always change your mind latter on and do something else. But you'll have more options if you do a residency.
Let's not get Tom VH involved where there are lawyers and potential criminal charges, etc. Let's let the system play itself out.
Blazefire beat me to it. He's everywhere.
I called this AM and upgraded from my basic Comcast package to one that included ESPNU. It was explained to me that it would cost my $4 for just the day ($1.99 sign-on and then another $1.99 sign-off fee, or I could get it for the month for $7 with the option of cancelling early it which case the fee would be prorated. So: pretty cheap for my fix; I'm not sure I really want to know how much I would have paid if I needed to.
From one non-insider to another: Please do not get involved in any way with a potential recruit, no matter how well-intentioned you are (and I'm sure you have the kid's best interest at heart). Have his high school coach contact the UM staff to express interest, send tapes, get walk-on info, etc.
I hope the coaches have better things to do then to read about our unrealistic expectations about our defense and why our recruits aren't higher ranked. Although everyone enjoys CRex's and Mathlete's posts.
im the one with the maize and checkered pants and thebeanie that the ladys all like.
Green tea, the Budda pose, and 72 hours of chanting "This, too, shall pass." It helped after the Illinois game last year.
Bud Light and breaking things has also helped after Iowa.
Or maybe Bud Light Lime and 72 hours of breaking things?
I'd like to think that the better TEAM would still beat better individual talent. That is, the team with better teamwork - players who put the work in to be in superlative physical condition, know their assignments and reads, and trust that their teammates are doing the same - would be competitive with/beat a team with better individual talent.
I'm actually excited by the "family" atmosphere and the reports of hard work, although I do admit to a non-gay crush on Barwis. I'd also be very disappointed (as I suspect many of the players might) if Turner was being pampered and "given" playing time.
Do any of the coaches think better teamwork would beat better talent? it's sort of a rephrasing of Misopogon's question.
P.S. I didn't go to the gym today b/c I was tired. And I should be studying for a test but instead I'm watching TV reruns and reading MGoBlog.
Anyone remember Stefan Humphries or Chris Hutchinson? Academic All-Americans back in the day and both went to medical school.
Nice find on the quote. I know DFW hated giving interviews b/c he didn't feel he expressed himself as exactly as he wanted to (or at least up to his exacting standards), but I think that quote pretty much comes close to summarizing his "point/goal" of all of his writing. I think I remember reading somewhere that DFW, if forced to give himself a title, would label himself as "post-post-modern", meaning that he wanted to distinguish himself from the post-moderns (nothing means anything). He wanted his writing to Say Something, to Mean Something, to Address Real Emotions (all the while using many of the post-modernists literary tricks/gimmicks (to profound effect IMO)).
As always, great diary! You're one of the main reasons I love this blog.
1) Maybe there's something interesting about size vs speed for offense (high scoring ninja football vs 3 yds and a cloud of dust? more upsets/mistakes for speedy higher scoring teams?) or defense (smaller speedier defenses giving up more time consuming scoring drives? bigger slower defenses doing better against running offenses?).
2) I've always thought that a big part of being a big-time athlete is shaking off mistakes and performing on the next play. My anecdotal example is that Ryan Leaf is a big crybaby and Tom Brady is a play making machine. I don't have a specific question, but maybe there's something testable about "momentum" or teams recovering after a turnover or a lost lead or certain teams (coaches?) being "better" at this then others?
Keep up the great work.