The Incredibles

I am a huge fan of the superhero genre as a result of my cravings for action, that is, over-the-top action that is not normally found in realistic-type movies. Movies such as Spiderman 2 and X-Men 2 as well as Smallville have come a long way in their special effects compared to similar movies/shows of the past to make the action look cool and impressive.

The Incredibles is a superhero animation by Pixar Studios, the same company that produced Finding Nemo which currently has a domestic gross of over $300 millions dollars and if The Incredibles stays strong at the box office in the coming weeks, it may reach that figure as well.

The Incredibles is about a superhero family forced to live a normal way of life as a result of all the frivolous lawsuits claiming that their superpowers did more harm than good. Mr. Incredible, the main character of the movie, still wants to use his superhuman abilities to help people but he is unable to until one day, a mysterious benefactor contacts him and requests his services.

The film is definitely well-made and entertaining, even to adults IMHO. The storyline, action, and humor kept me interested throughout the whole film. My main complaint is that the superhuman feats in animation form appeared somewhat ordinary when compared to similar action sequences in non-animation scenes and I just wasn't that impressed. For instance, I was much more impressed by the action scenes in Smallville when Clark uses his superspeed to do something while everything around him stops moving. Overall, I highly recommend this film and I give it an A-.

Looking forward to moving out

If all goes well, I should be moving into my new place in the next couple weeks. Here are 5 reasons why I'm looking forward to moving out:

1. I can sleep during the day without being waken up by noises around the house.
2. I can regulate the thermostat to attain normal room temperature so I no longer have to freeze in the winter or boil in the summer.
3. I don't have to worry anymore about sudden water temperature changes in the shower when someone flushes the toilet or uses the sink.
4. I no longer have to stare at a week's worth of leftovers in the refrigerator that my family has a habit of accumulating.
5. I can walk around in my babysuit whenever I want :-)

Deep down though, I'll miss living with my family.

Rx laugh

A young man goes into a drug store to buy condoms. The pharmacist says the condoms come in packs of 3, 9 or 12 and asks which the young man wants. "Well," he said, "I've been seeing this girl for a while and she's really hot. I want the condoms because I think tonight's "the" night. We're having dinner with her parents, and then we're going out. And I've got a feeling I'm gonna get lucky after that. Once she's had me, she'll want me all the time, so you'd better give me the 12 pack." The young man makes his purchase and leaves. Later that evening, he sits down to dinner with his girlfriend and her parents. He asks if he might give the blessing, and they agree. He begins the prayer, but continues praying for several minutes. The girl leans over and says, "You never told me that you were such a religious person." He leans over to her and says, "You never told me that your father is a pharmacist."

Another Pharmacist Joke
A man walks into a pharmacy, buys a condom, then walks out of the store laughing hysterically. The pharmacist thinks this is weird, but, hey, there's no law preventing weird people from buying condoms. Who knows, maybe it's a good thing. The next day, the same man comes back to the store, purchases yet another condom, and once again he leaves the store laughing wildly. This piques the interest of the pharmacist. "What's could be so funny about buying a condom, anyway?" So he tells his clerk "If this guy ever comes back, I want you to follow him to see where he goes." Sure enough, the next day the same man is back, he buys the condom, and again starts cracking up with laughter, then leaves. The pharmacist tells his clerk, go follow the guy. About an hour later, the clerk comes back to the store. "Did you follow him? Where did he go?" asks the pharmacist. The clerk replies "Your house."

No perfect world

Before I started my psychiatric rotation, I've always thought there is existence of perfect situations and perfect world. I still believe, but not everyone is so lucky. After getting to know these patients, I'm thankful to be alive and healthy. It's so depressing and stressful to work in that kind of environment,it makes me wanting to go home every week. well, I don't work there,I'm just there to learn.

An impossibility

How can this be possible? Are my eyes playing tricks on me? Are the laws of mathematics being defied here? Count the squares and see for yourself...

Funny but not funny

In the pharmacy, my manager likes to print out stats to indicate how we're doing. She printed out the phone stats for one day and they were not very good at all. The numbers were down the tube and we had missed nearly a hundred calls that day. The phone must be picked up before the 3rd ring or else it counts as a missed call.

So I asked one of the techs if it was really busy that day and she said it was nothing unusual except that the RPH floater was worthless and he was the main reason for the poor stats. She explained that as it got busier and busier, he went slower and slower (the key is to work faster without sacrificing accuracy). She said that he made no attempts to answer the phone as they were ringing off the hooks. He also left the pharmacy numerous times for extended periods. One time, a tech caught him using his cell phone in the bathroom and another time, he was gone so long that the other pharmacist had to leave the pharmacy to look for him.

And when she told me this last thing, I started practically cracking up. He came back to the pharmacy without his smock. That's kinda odd... so the techs asked him what happened to it and he didn't really know. Later, one of the female techs found it... guess where it was? In the women's restroom. Hahaha....

Pixel portrait of us

Using the Portrait Illustration Maker link from kenfoon.com, here's how our pixel portrait came out:



Here's another one I really like when my honey had short hair (she's so cute!):



It's a little time consuming but it's fun once you get into it.

Olympic Ping-Pong

I missed it. After reading about the intense final match between China's Wang vs. Korea's Ryu, I want to see it. It was a showcase of spin vs. power. It was a close match, but in the end power prevailed. Not surprisingly, the match was a big thing over in Asia and was broadcasted during primetime, but guess what time it was shown in the U.S? At 7am today when everyone was asleep! Man, I should have Tivo'd it >:-<

yummy...

I like to have soup with dinner, especially in the winter. I found this recipe in one of our Chinese cook books for corn soup. I made it last week and it actually turned out pretty good. The whole cooking process take less than an hour and it's very simple to cook. Here's the recipe~Sherry

Ingredients:6 servings
1 slice of chicken breast chopped fine
2 cans of chicken broth
1 egg white
1 tablespoon of dry sherry
1 tablespoon of cornstarch
1 can of creamed corn
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white or black pepper and adjust according to taste
1 egg,beaten
2 tablespoon corn starched dissolved in 2 tablespoon water
green onions,chopped
chopped ham(optional)

How to make:
1.combine chopped chicken breast,egg white,wine and cornstarch. set aside
2.combine chicken broth,creamed corn,salt and black pepper. bring to boil,adding chicken mixture,stir to break up chicken and cook for 1-2 minutes
3. add beaten egg in low heat and stir slowly in one direction. then thicken with cornstarch and water mixture.
4. add green onions and ham if desired

Lethal Combination

I thought my head was gonna explode. Fully aware of my beef allergy diagnosis but not entirely convinced of it, I had teriyaki beef for lunch with my honey, a LOT of teriyaki beef. Within 30 minutes, my head started hurting and I thought it was from the MSG in the beef. Progressively, my headache became one of the worst I ever experienced that it couldn't have been just the MSG causing it. Thinking back, I remembered one of my coworkers telling me that when she had the worst headache ever, the doctor from the emergency room told her she was experiencing an allergic reaction, most likely to some seeds in the Indian food she had eaten earlier. Great, this must be what I'm experiencing due to the beef. I discussed with my honey about getting some ipecac syrup from the pharmacy but it may be too late by the time we get it. Well, we thought of an alternative and needless to say, it worked like a charm. I'm all better now :-)

My Results

Courtesy of inside my noggin, I guess I'm pretty normal per the results of the personality disorder test:

Disorder	Rating
Paranoid:	Low
Schizoid:	Low
Schizotypal:	Low
Antisocial:	Low
Borderline:	Low
Histrionic:	Moderate
Narcissistic:	Low
Avoidant:	Low
Dependent:	Low
Obsessive-Compulsive:	Low
-- Personality Disorder Test - Take It! --

-Cecil aka "Fierce Tiger"

simple things in Life!

The happiness of life is made of little things-a smile,a hug,a moment of shared laughter,love, gratitude and appreciation. I'm happy when I'm with you, because there is no one like you. I'm happy when I'm home because there is no place like home!

All Work, No Play

Yesterday, my honey and I went to dinner with one of my friends from pharmacy school, whom I haven't seen in over half a year, to chat, laugh, and enjoy the good old times. We also tried inviting another classmate to come along, but she couldn't make it because she was busy working. I really wished she could have made it since it's been at least a year since we all last hung out. Sometimes I wonder why she works all the time (7 days a week). Is is because she's a workaholic or is it because she likes the money? To me, life is at its best when it's well balanced between work and play. I just hope she has no regrets in the end. Towards the end of the evening, I asked my friend when he thinks all of us can hang out next, and he said "probably in 10 years." A moment later, we both laughed knowing that he's probably right.

ID rotation

I'm currently on my Infectious Disease rotation. I thought it would be interesting to learn more about "bugs & Drugs" but it's not so fun after all! The first week was nice, I only had to show up for 3 days. My preceptor was intimidating at the beginning. I had to give him credit for it cuz he's really good at what he's doing and very knowledgeable, but I hate it when he ugh.. me when I don't have an answer for him and he'll have me look it up the next day. now, I know what he expects and he starts to back off a little. so far it's going okay and it's getting better!

I'm spending at least 12 hours a day for this rotation- 7 hrs at the hospital,2 hrs commuting,and 3 hrs reading the articles assigned each day on the different types of Infections. since my preceptor has high expectation,I'm also worried about being prepared for the next day, to be quizzed. If you ask any pharmacy student that's probably the avg. hr of work for a clinical rotation. yeah, I'm stressed, just 3 more weeks. I'll make it and I'll take his job ha ha...

Thanx honey for looking up-Mucormycosis for me, you're a big help!