Denver, CO....a long post

As many of you know (and I know that because only family and friends read this site), I spent the past weekend in Denver, CO for my interview/recruitment to the University of Colorado Health Science Center, specifically the Department of Pharmacology. Let me give you a rundown of my weekend, then I will give you my thoughts on the place.

Fly out of Indy at 8:20 pm on Frontier Airlines and arrive in Denver at 9 pm. I am supposed to be met by a greeter for a Limo company, so I follow the signs for "Limo/Taxi" and look for a guy holding a sign. I do not see anyone and get out to the pick-up place. I ask the attendant who doesn't know anything but is helpful. He gets me the number to the Limo company. After a call or two, I find the guy standing at the other end with a couple of other students. No biggie, I'm picked up and get to experience my first limo ride (sad, but true). We stayed at the Warwick Hotel in downtown Denver. It was late and I was tired. So I head off to bed for a rough night of sleep (a bit of anxiousness and hotel bed issues).

Get up and head to the school. A breakfast and overview of the program, then off to interviews. I had meetings with 4 faculty in the morning, then lunch, then 3 more meetings with faculty, followed by a couple of lab demonstrations. Back to the hotel. An hour or two in my room resting, then a cocktail hour followed by dinner with students, recruits, and faculty from all programs. Reasonable food and I was in minority of non-drinkers. The students planned a night out at a bar, but I declined in order to rest up.

Saturday, consisted of seeing some sights. Several recruits and students went up to Red Rocks Ampitheatre. After a climb to the top, I was sucking some serious wind (combination of out of shape, high altitude, and asthma). It was a really neat place though. Up next was Buffalo Bills grave on Lookout Mtn. followed by the scenic windy road down the mountain. Lunch at a Subway in downtown. Then back to the hotel for a few hours rest before a night on the town. Up first was a tour of a microbrewery in downtown Denver. Then it was supper at Rock Bottom (another microbrewery/restaurant). They actually have a RockBottom here in Indy, so it was not my first experience. I ordered a sirlion steak and it was pretty tastey (but it's been awhile since my last steak, so a bad steak would've tasted decent to me). Then it was out to a tavern for more hanging out. Played a couple of games of foosball and just chatted with some students and recruits. Then back to the hotel for some sleep.

Up the next morning, watched some TV, then off to the airport. I had quite the long time to kill in the airport (got there about 10:45 am and my plane left at 3:10 pm). I had an Auntie Anne's pretzel. Read for a little while, then to McD's, then some more reading, then some ice cream (Airport food is expensive). Got on the plane and flew back to Indy. Arrived here around 7:30 pm, my brother picked me up at 8 pm, and back to my place by 8:30 pm where I rested, watched TV, then went to sleep.

My thoughts: I really liked the program. Everyone seemed really awesome. The students especially where nice and got along really well. I got along with the other recruits and enjoyed my time. The department really seems to have a sense of commraderie (spelling?). Each faculty/student has their own research, but still work with others to improve it. Lots of cooperation, instead of secrecy and one-upsmanship. They just finished a new research building and are working on another one, so the facility is top notch. Plus they have a 900 something or other magnet NMR machine (1 of only 5 in the country). It is used for determining the structure of proteins and the like. I also enjoyed Denver, but I feel it is similar to Indianapolis. Both are large cities and have nearly everything one could want. I believe the transition would be easy from a city perspective. The weather is nice, cooler than I generally like, but no humidity.

Now, I am keeping in mind that everyone in the department was trying to get me to put on rose colored glasses. They only focused on the good and did not mention any bad. In the end however, I was still impressed, and firmly believe it to be my number 1 choice. Now I will await a letter (one way or another) and keep an open mind going to my other interviews (Dartmouth this weekend and UAB in April).

There you have it. Thanks for reading...sorry for being long winded, but it was a busy weekend.

I'm going to grad school...

starting today actually. I have my interview at the University of Colorado Health Science Center this weekend. I fly out of Indy tonight at 8 PM and arrive at 8:40 PM (Denver time...in case you didn't figure it out). I'm a bit nervous about it, but I also know it will be perfectly fine and even fun. I just got some advice on how appropriate dress (I had a clue, but thought to check with a female...you know, someone with better sense about that sort of thing). I will go pack after getting off of my rotation today and then have my brother +/- my sister-in-law get me to the airport. I will report on my thoughts on Monday...or some time next week.

I will also be going to grad school starting next year. Now I know this was the game plan, but it is now official. The final spot has not been decided, but I did recieve my letter of acceptance from IU school of medicine (IUPUI) yesterday. At the very least, I will be pursuing my PhD here in Indy. Now it is possible that I will not like the other sites and still end up at IUPUI regardless of other acceptances. Only time will tell that much. It does feel good to have something set up. There was no offical date listed for when I have to let the school know, but I will drop an e-mail after this weekend to find out.

Yahoo!

Comments on Daytona

Even though I had to be in at Riley on Sunday, I did get off in time to watch the Daytona 500. A pretty good race and they never had "the Big One". As a Stewart fan, let me state my position on his driving during the race.

Incident #1 w/ Jeff Gordon - Gordon got a run and tried to pass, then came up the track into Stewart. Gordon slid up and never fully cleard Tony. Stewart could have backed off and made it a moot point, but Stewart rarely to never backs off. If the roles were reversed, Gordon fans would have said it was all Stewarts fault for sliding up the track (a bit of a double standard). My view: the incident was Gordon's fault, but Stewart didn't try to avoid it and made a dumb comment afterward toward Gordon.

Incident #2 w/ Matt Kenseth - Plan and simple, Stewart was an idiot. I never saw the Kennseth bump of Stewart a few laps before. Stewart simply ran Kennseth off the track. It was dumb and inexcusable. No room for argument. My view: A very sad move by Stewart.

Incident #3 w/ Kyle Busch - Same situation above only flipped. Busch ran Stewart off the track to the apron. Stewart came back unto the banking and slid up the track (as one is inclined to do when going from a flat surface to a banked one at high speed) and bumped back into Busch. The bump might have been more forceful than needed, but this was plainly Busch's fault. My view: Busch was an idiot and Stewart did a great job not to spin out.

I believe that Jimmie Johnson should send a "thank you" note to Casey Mears. I truly believe that if Mears follows Newman on the last lap, Johnson doesn't win, but Mears pulled out and then dropped right back behind Johnson. It was a good race and Johnson ran up front all day. I know we are going to hear about Stewart's miscues, but only the Kennseth incident holds much water in my book. Stewart is much better when he drives smart and doesn't open his mouth. Kasey Kahne (my other guy) had a good run, but got shuffled a bit at the end (finished ~12).

There you have it. Only 33 races left until a champion is crowned. With racing and bowling, my Sunday afternoons just got busy.

Some True BS...

I'm a bit perturbed (well, really perturbed on Monday, but have since normalized...well, as normal as I get anyway) at the league secretary for the league I bowl in on Mondays. Here's the scenario:

A team has a problem come up and needs to pre-bowl. They call the secretary and get permission on Sunday afternoon. They bowl. Monday night rolls around and the pre-bowl team is bowling the league secretary's team (therefore, they notified a officer and opposing team captain). After 8 full frames into game 1, the secretary calls a captain's meeting to see if the scores should be allowed. Official league rules state pre-bowls must be set up 1 week in advance, but the secretary has allowed others to prebowl on short notice and he gave permission again this time. After the meeting, it was voted to not allow those scores, but to let the team post-bowl. If the pre-bowl scores were allowed, the secretary's team would have lost 25 points (only won 5). Keep in mind his team is currently in first place too.

Here's my problem with this crap. The secretary approved the pre-bowl on Sunday. He knew the schedule. He knew the issue prior to game 1 ever starting, but did not call a meeting until nearly the end of game 1 when it was clear his team was getting pounded. There were no other league officers in the center that night. The secretary has allowed short notice prebowls in the past (when they weren't against his team). All of this adds up to me like the secretary was attempting to cheat. It is absolutely ridiculous. I know several people were upset about it and at least 1 is going to inform the USBC about the situation. I for one am just pulling for a vote at the banquet to get a new secretary, because this one is awful.

That's all. That's my rant. Enjoy your day.

A Historic Sunday...

Here's the quick rundown of my Sunday. Church, lunch, PBA on ESPN, put in a movie, helped my brother out with youth group, then TV. Sounds relatively normal, huh? Nothing historic there...or wait...what's that...yes, I guess I did leave something out. I played video games before watching TV. And not just any video game, I played Resident Evil 4...and I beat it!!! That's right, clocking in at just under 18 1/2 hours of gameplay, I won (70% accuracy, 917 kills, and 46 deaths). It was soundly the greatest single-player video game ever. After 18.5 hours, there really was not a dull moment, I was never bored...in fact, I was often on the edge of my seat (literally). Keep in mind, this does not mean I am forever finished with the game. After beating it for the first time, you unlock 3 mini/side games. In addition, I can replay the regular game with the same character (ie. with all of my cool guns and increased health). I predict that RE4 will give me numerous more hours of fun and enjoyment. I might have to loan it to my brother though (so he too can experience the awesomeness that is RE4). Short of sport games (Madden and March Madness), I have never played a single player game for that many hours. Now if you throw multi-player in the mix, then Star Wars Battlefront I & II, TimeSplitters 3, and Killzone are right up there in number of hours played.

In short, I beat RE4 and was very excited about it. I look forward to playing the new side-games and replaying the main game with better weaponary to start. Video games rule!!!

7 1/2 weeks left

Not that I'm counting or anything, but I only have 7 1/2 weeks of rotations left. Now, it sounds like a short time, but I am busy throughout those weeks. In addition to normal rotation things, I have to finish up my PharmD project, I have grad school interviews (starting with IUPUI tomorrow), and I have to continue my normal social life (aka, bowl and play video games). There is a light at the end of this tunnel, but it does have a few obstacles yet in front of me. I have this feeling though that this tunnel only leads into another and then another and then another. In other words, life is a series of tunnels, each with their own light at the end. The moral is you have to enjoy the brief gulp of fresh air before entering the next tunnel. If I hit powerball though, I will probably just stay out in the fresh air and not fool with any more tunnels. If wishing made is so....

That's all for now, I believe it is lunch time (yeah, hot pockets, chips, water, and a Twinkie).

A night with some Friends

Yeah, yeah, I know, you think, He has friends? Yep, I do. And these are real friends that everyone can see. Ha! It all started because I had to work on a project at Butler. Whenever I have to go to BU, I call my friends in the area to see if they want to get some supper and hang out a bit. Tonight I got lucky and hit them up for both. First, I called and Benson said yes to food. So we hit up Penn Station...muy bueno. I had to return to her place to get a textbook that I never bought. Back at her place I met up with another friend, Brooke. I have not seen Brooke in awhile, so it was good to chat. I was then going to leave when I offerred to let them do my project while I watched TV. The counter offer of letting me stay and use their laptop (with hi-speed internet) and work on my project was made. How could I refuse? So I didn't. There you have it. I graced them with my presence and got to work on my project. It was phenomonal (for them...yeah, for me...sure thing).

OK, I believe I'm close to wearing out my welcome though...plus, I'm tired...so I'm going to leave. Thanks Benson and Brooke!