Real-time Misery!

This is DT, live-posting from the Charlotte airport, where I've been since about 12:30 p.m. today. Currently, it is 8:33 p.m., so my "stay" here has lasted as long as a full work day. Joyous!

Today has a been a transportation disaster, and I've had to conclude that getting to med school is about as hard as getting into med school. Upon arriving in Charlotte from Augusta, I boarded my plane at 12:45 p.m. And then I sat in seat 8C, awaiting my 1:10 pm departure. And then I sat some more. And then I sat some more. And then I sat some more. Then, thanks to modern intercom technology, a disembodied voice from the cockpit announced that there was a minor error that US Airways was dilligently working to remedy; we would be on our way in 5 minutes. (Thanks for your patience!) And then 45 minutes passed. And I sat some more. And finally, after about an hour, they announced that this "minor" error was far more grave than previously anticipated and that we would have to obtain another aircraft for this flight.

Ok, I'm going to dispense with the suspense. The second airplane didn't work, either. There was something-or-other wrong with the air conditioning, and multiple crew members were huddled around the cockpit area. At one point, somone wearing a bright orange vest came in, poked around at some things, and left. The new time of departure was 2:30 p.m., but it was clearly 3:45 p.m., and nothing was happening. And then at about 4:00 p.m., all parties involved threw up their respective white flags as everyone involved realized that our efforts were in vain. Not only was aviation technology being non-cooperative, Gaia decided to mix things up and have a light and sound show (complete with boomin' soundtrack) in the Greater Boston Area. So after more than 3 hours of mechical errors, 2 gates, and 2 airplanes, a weather delay was the nail in the coffin. So we all disembarked from our assigned aircraft. Again.

But this time -- because it was a weather delay -- US Airways wasn't obligated to do anything to accomodate the travelers. So I spent 45 minutes on hold with customer service. I was seated near baggage claim (they kicked us out of the airport proper and made me pick up my luggage). I could see my two 50-pound suitcases going 'round and 'round, making their own vicious cycles in a journey to nowhere. However, my cell phone didn't get reception by the actual claim area. And because I wasn't about to lose my spot on the phone queue, I was forced to stare as US Airways employees were about to cart my bags off to some nether region located across a bureaucratic event horizon. So, I actually had to ask a random woman sitting next to me to hold my phone and monitor the hold status as I scurried across the tiled floor to fetch my belongings. This effort proved fruitful, bucking the trend of the rest of the day. And soon after that, I was gratified to discover that I had snagged the last seat on a 7:50 p.m. flight to Boston. But since it wasn't yet 5:30 p.m., I had quite the wait ahead of me.

Well, that was more than 3 hours ago. I've since re-checked my bags (which almost cost me another "extra bags" charge -- even though I'd already checked my bags earlier that day) and made my way to gate D7.

Guess what? My flight was delayed until 8:30 p.m. And then it was delayed until 10:00 p.m. And for visual learners such as myself, here's a little morsel for your retinas:



Folks, we've somehow managed to reach a new nadir. We are now so low-tech that we can't even update the LED signs at the gate. Yes, those are pieces of paper that they've now taped over the previously [and falsely] advertised departure time of 8:30 p.m. And now I'm sitting here, listening to Sufjan Stevens' "Flint" from Greetings from Michigan. This is uplifting stuff, y'all. It's like watching Glitter while having unanesthetized surgery.

So for those of you with a knack for the sadistic, this has been your Schadenfreude Source of the Day! Disfrútenlo!

Flashback: The Energy Debate

For some reason, I decided to look back at an old journal I kept. In August 2005, I had the following to say about drilling in currently protected areas:

Wrong Way.

Ok, Republicans in Congress. Stop being stupid. The short-term answer to rising energy prices is not to open up more protected land for drilling. Energy prices are up 90% this winter from last year. Do you think that opening coastlands up for development is going to do an iota of good for people this winter?! The answer is NO; it has always been NO, and it will continue to be NO despite how you want to spin it.

I truly don't understand why some people think that we can simply drill our way out of oil dependency in the short term. Not only is this position environmentally reckless, it is simply not a solution with tangible results for the immediate future. Construction itself would take years, but we need to find a solution this winter.

Oil company and energy company profits are at record levels, yet the average American is feeling the crunch when he/she can't get to work as easily due to skyrocketing fuel prices. There is something fundamentally wrong when energy companies make higher profits by charging higher prices while hardworking people will not be able to heat their homes this winter.

Come on, people. Let's do something about this now as opposed to later. Put price caps on skyrocketing energy prices; charge a higher tax on corporate windfalls. Make it possible for people to avoid freezing this winter. And if you want to invest money into the future, how about raising federal funding for renewable energy initiatives? One wind-driven energy device can power 100 homes if the conditions are correct, and the technology will only get better if we create a market for it. The oil way to truly escape the demand for fossil fuels is to lower the need for it, and nothing that the GOP has thrown out would come close to doing this.

The funny thing is that I don't even know enough about this issue anymore to put such opinions in writing! But it seems that not much as changed in this debate since 2005. Be it ANWR then or offshore drilling now, the talking points are still the same...

A Leader We Can Believe In!

Ok. This post isn't about McCain's rip of Obama's campaign motto, but it's about someone near and dear to McCain's heart (aka pocketbook): Dubya. Warren sent me a link to the this Telegraph article, which documents just how tactful our Commander in Chief is:

The American leader, who has been condemned throughout his presidency for failing to tackle climate change, ended a private meeting with the words: "Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter."

He then punched the air while grinning widely, as the rest of those present including Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy looked on in shock.

Mr Bush, whose second and final term as President ends at the end of the year, then left the meeting at the Windsor Hotel in Hokkaido where the leaders of the world's richest nations had been discussing new targets to cut carbon emissions.

That's some fancy verbal strategery. It even came with some gesticulation. I'm glad that the world respects us so much. Thanks, Dubs and Dubser.

One month, one day

In one month and one day, I'm moving to Boston.

Eight days later, my med school classes will begin.

And on June 12, 2009, I will complete my first year of school.

This is kind of scary.

Etch a DTIP

Yahhh Trick Yahhh

(And for you haterz out there, this was done manually!

You can do it, too.)

Wall-E

Last weekend, I saw Pixar's new movie Wall-E. Wall-E has gotten great reviews -- and deservedly so. Despite being about robots, the movie's real strength is the relatability in its portrayal of human experiences. Surely, every adult in the audience could identify with the day-to-day monotony (and perhaps emptiness) of work life. Also, Wall-E's timidness and awkwardness towards E.V.E. (its robotic love interest) were humorous and endearing. Overall, Wall-E was probably the best movie I've seen a long time. This statement isn't necessarily significant since my last movie-going experience was Indiana Jones 4. However, Wall-E easily soared over this very low bar.

But wait! There's another, albeit indirect, reason to like Wall-E. Perhaps due to summertime ennui, some members of the right wing have decided to deem Wall-E "leftist propaganda." As the NYT's Opinionator blog documents, this is a pretty puzzling stance. I personally find this contention humorous (isn't moderation... "conservative?"). One commentor on the Opinionator phrased my view well:

"The fact that it now has prompted the ire of some on the Right has now made it a must see for this writer. Anything they dislike has to be very good."

Update: Frank Rich wrote about Wall-E in his Sunday column.

I am one of those.

As I was trying to squeeze every last drop of juice out of a ripe lemon, a man named Dave chatted me up. A little distracted with keeping seeds out of my lemonade pitcher, I made polite small talk interspersed with emphatic “mmm hmms” and “uh huhs.” Dave was a guest at my house, albeit a tangentially invited one. The occasion was "A Cookout We Can Believe In," an event with dual (sometimes dueling) purposes. First, it was intended to provide a chance for us to get to know our neighbors, and my house invited the whole block over for burgers and hot dogs. Second, it was meant to cultivate unity for Barack Obama's presidential campaign. (Something like 3,000 such “house parties” were being held on June 28, 2008, throughout the country.) Honestly, I was more excited about the former goal, as campaign organizing sometimes feels coercive to me. However, my roommate Cody somehow manages to muster enough excitement about the electoral process to work occasionally for Obama’s campaign, and who was I to rain on his parade? (I left that to Mother Nature.)

Dave found out about our cookout from Barack Obama’s campaign website, so he was one of the 5 people who showed up out of pure Obamamania, not by virtue of living on this block or having a personal connection to me or a housemate. I was stirring an absurd quantity of sugar into the lemonade when Dave asked me what I was doing after my Fellowship. I explained to him that I was going to medical school at Harvard, which prompted him to ask me where I went to college. I told him that I graduated from Yale in 2007 and was about to betray the alma mater in moving closer to Lamebridge.

“Oh,” Dave said to me, “I know who you are. You’re one of those.”
“What do you mean?” I asked him in response, half-surprised, yet still half-disinterested.
“My ex-wife graduated from Berkeley,” he explained, “and she told me that 40% of the students were Asians.”

At this point, he had my full attention. But I didn’t know what to say. Here I was, just trying to make lemonade, and this random person had pigeonholed me as an overachieving Asian American whose cadre was taking over American post-secondary education. (So beware, y'all, of Yellow Peril in the Ivy League.) Had his wife had a negative college experience because of Asian Americans? And what did I have to do with it? I think that I managed to respond with a chilly “Heh,” which was sufficient to send Dave a signal that I was not happy with what he had said. Moments later, he left me to my business after making an abrupt about-face.

Interactions like this upset me because they make me dislike myself--not because I am not happy with my life choices and plans but because I seem to be playing into several convenient stereotypes. Yeah, I'm going to be a doctor. Yes, I majored in a science in college. Yes, your random guess about my ethnicity was correct. And yes, I like tofu. (How did you know?!)

But then I remember my hopes and dreams. They are so vast in comparison to these stereotypes. And quite frankly, they defy them markedly. So yes, Dave, I am one of those--if you choose to define me within this narrow framework. Now watch me go.

Children

I've spent a lot of time watching spoken word on Youtube during the last few days, and I wanted to share two great poems that speak to the wonder of youth. The first one, "Frank Sinatra," is a touching piece by Katie Wirsing that made me cry when I first heard it. The second, "For Those Who Can Ride in an Airplane For the First Time," is a less mournful poem by Anis Mojgani. Both pieces are great reminders of the promise that young people hold -- and the need to help make sure that such promise is given the chance to flourish.

Killing me softly with his punctuation.

Tonight, I went to an event at Campus Progress called "Protest Through Poetry," and I had the great fortune of hearing Alvin Lau perform. Lau is a spoken word poet from Chicago, and simply stated, he is amazing.

Lau performed three major pieces, including "What Tiger Said" (directed a Tiger Woods) and a choreographed number called "For the Breakdancers." But my favorite piece of the night was "Anniversary Poem":

This poem was penned in anticipation of the third anniversary of Lau's relationship with his girlfriend. On that night, he planned to read her this piece and propose to her. However, the relationship ended before this opportunity arrived, situating a beautiful poem a plaintive context.

The images in this poem are elegant and stunning. The way that Lau gives substance to punctuation and weaves them throughout this piece gave this grammar fiend's heart a jolt of excitement. For the less geeky, I'll let you judge for yourself.

Somebody shoot me [up].

For the last 2.5 weeks, I've been fighting with my insurance company (CareFirst, a real class act) to get a meningitis vaccine for medical school. It turns out that even though all "routine" preventive care is covered in my benefits plan, meningitis vaccinations are decidedly not routine by CareFirst's standards for anyone older than 18 years old. Now, I did get a meningitis vaccination exactly 5 years ago when I was 18. However, Massachusetts law requires that all students attending any post-secondary educational facility with dormitories have the shot within the last 5 years as of matriculation, which is on August 18 this year. So for me, it's injection or rejection. And I refuse to fill out AMCAS yet again.

For all of the policy work that I've been doing with private health insurance, I have realized just how sheltered I have been from the day-to-day struggles with insurers. Basically, the "medical" aspect of my insurance would cover most services rendered by a doctor, including shots and immunizations. However, the doctor is not reimbursed highly for these services, meaning that some procedures may acually result in financial loss for the practice. This was certainly the case with this meningitis shot, which costs $140. If the insurance company provides the doctor $60 for the visit, then s/he would lose $80. For this reason, few doctors would provide the service without charging the patient for the cost of the vaccine. My physician asked me to purchase the vaccine myself from the pharmacy, bring it back to the office, and have a nurse administer the shot. This would have worked, except my pharmacy benefits cover neither injectables nor biologics. Crap.

I was in a bind, despite having good health insurance. Based on my research and experiences, I have the following advice to offer if you find yourself in a similar situation:

• Call your insurance company to make sure that your pharmacy benefits will not cover the cost of the shot. If they do, buy the shot (paying your co-pay or co-insurance) and take it to your doctor to administer. Keep in mind that a lot of vaccines need to be refrigerated.
• If your pharmacy benefits leave you high and dry (or broke and vulnerable to disease...), call the medical benefits department of your insurance plan and ask about the process of prior authorization. The goal here is to find a way to have your medical benefits cover the costs of the shot even if your pharmacy benefits will not.
• Have your doctor put in a request for prior authorization, which will result in the delivery of the drug to his/her office for administration. Your doctor's office will have to make the request, which will also entail their sending a prescription to a distributor.
• If all else fails, try asking your local department of health to see if it has immunization options for underinsured individuals. Washington, D.C., has such a program that provides standard immunizations for free.

Ringing Endorsement of HMS

The Harvard Medical School is surely a magical place. Here's my conversation with a friend, who just finished his first year there:

Friend: it's no news that the HMS curriculum sucks at preparing for boards
Me: ugh. what is it good for?

Friend: umm. [an] excuse for party[ing]?

Me: heh, i'm fine with that

Friend: i mean, you learn some stuff. it's not completely useless.

Who needs medical attention? Any takers?

Swiss 'Betes

There are plenty of reasons to hate McDonald's. Things that I'm definitely not lovin' include the scary clown and 365Black (seriously, wtf?).

However, I must admit that I've dropped a lot of dollar bills at Mickey D's recently. Why else? It's because of the sweet tea. McDonald's is one of the few places around my workplace that offers my favorite southern beverage, and it only comes in one size: huge. There's a special cup used only for the sweet tea product; it's 32 ounces. In each of these cup-tub servings, there are almost 60 grams of sugar and 230 calories.

One of the Fellows refers to it as my "'betes juice" -- as in "diabetes juice." Impaired glucose tolerance, anyone?

Chris Dispatches the LSAT

Fancy moves there, Chun Lapinig.

Not-so-dim Sum

So I was planning to go to dim sum this morning, but no one else ended up wanting to go. The original plan was to arrive in Silver Spring at about 1:00 pm, so I didn't eat anything until 12:45 pm. By then, it was exceedingly obvious that I'd either have to go eat dim sum alone (lame!) or develop alternate plans. So I did the latter.

I've been watching Top Chef, so I decided to cook something more legitimate than the usual brunch fare of two eggs and toast. Looking at my mini-pantry (which is strangely located at my bedside), I saw that I had a can of peas and some canned crab meat. In the fridge, I had 4 plum tomatoes. So I decided to make what's now a favorite: Cajun crab cakes. For a starch, I made a pasta sauté that included the tomatoes. I oven-roasted the tomatoes with olive oil, salt, peper, and garlic. I then mimicked a recipe from Yale's dining halls and added the peas to the pasta and tomato mixture, topping everything with some salt and lemon juice. All-in-all, it was pretty good, although I need to learn how to add flavor without overdosing on sodium!

And -- the best part -- I made more than enough for lunch tomorrow. Beautiful.

Representative Conversation with Warren

This is basically how we roll:

Warren: 3:50:20 PM: im'ago
Warren: 3:50:22 PM: baibaiabi
Me: 3:50:23 PM: ok
Me: 3:50:23 PM: adios
Warren: 3:50:26 PM: you may hate me
Warren: 3:50:27 PM: aint no lie
Me: 3:50:27 PM: le pido
Warren: 3:50:28 PM: baibiabai
Warren: 3:50:34 PM: ...
Warren: 3:50:36 PM: we are so sad
Me: 3:50:38 PM: lol
Me: 3:50:39 PM: ...

Right.

Legitimacy?

So as I embark on what could be called my career (yikes!) in health and health policy, I had a few milestones today.

• First, a report that I worked on for weeks was released this morning.
  Failing Grades is a "scorecard" that analyzes state regulations of the private individual market. The "Wild, Wild West" of health insurance, the individual market is one of the most poorly regulated segments of private health coverage. Currently, only about 5% of Americans own individual health insurance policies. However, John McCain's proposal to eliminate the tax exemption for employer spending on health insurance would undoubtedly shift more Americans into the individual market. The gist of the report is simple: the unregulated individual health insurance market leaves unacceptable room for consumer abuse. For details, take a peek at the key findings.

• Second, I gave a presentation on primary research at a national conference.
  Today, Lindsey and I presented our research at Food & Friends at the annual conference of the Association of Nutrition Services Agencies. Specifically, we gave short talks on our two projects: (1) a program model for diabetes prevention in Washington, D.C. and (2) service improvements for people with comorbid diabetes (in addition to either HIV/AIDS or cancer). Here's the rather serious-sounding blurb:
  
  Addressing Diabetes in Our Communities
  1:45 pm – 3:15 pm
  
  Diabetes is a burgeoning epidemic in the United States and will be diagnosed in more than 48 million Americans by the year 2050. As diabetes prevalence increases, a growing number of clients of ANSA member organizations will develop comorbid diabetes in addition to other life-challenging illness such as HIV/AIDS and cancer. This session explores the important role that nutrition services organizations can play in alleviating diabetes in our communities.
  
  First, this workshop will cover best practices in medical nutrition therapy for diabetes. Presenting data from a new collaborative study from ANSA and Food & Friends, the speakers will outline current approaches towards diabetes among ANSA member organizations. Further, a novel study from Food & Friends will be used as a case study in diabetes program evaluation. Second, this session will explore the role of nutrition services organizations in the prevention of diabetes in high-risk populations.

Add two notches to the belt, haha.

Clinton's Speech

Hillary Clinton just gave her concession speech in D.C., and I found it deeply moving.

During my junior year of college, Senator Clinton came to campus to speak about Brown v. Board and the state of education in the United States. Knowing that she was a politician, I expected a sugar-coated "look how far we've come" oratory. Instead, Clinton gave a very impassioned critique of how far we had strayed from the vision of Brown. Rather than engaging self-congratulatory back-patting, Clinton charged the audience (which primarily consisted of Yale law students) to continue the fight for educational equality in America. I left the auditorium very impressed.

I saw the same strong, resolute Hillary Clinton today. In simple terms – she’s a badass, and that’s what I love about her. She’s willing to go the distance, and when she comes up short, she figures out how to forge ahead. That kind of fortitude is something that I hope to develop during my lifetime.Summing up this election, she stated, “Life is too short, time is too precious, and the stakes are too high to dwell on what might have been.” Damn right. And onward we go, together, towards universal health care.

SP1...

So I updgraded to Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1). The process took hours, and I went out with friends to a bar after I started the upgrade. After I got back, the process was still in phase 1 of 3, at 27%! I woke up this morning and was pleased to see that the upgrade had finally installed. However, I then noticed that my laptop speakers were no longer recognized as a device and that my touchpad driver had stopped functioning. Thanks, Microsoft!

All of this was fixed quickly, but still, what exactly is this service pack going to do for me? Apparently... not much.

Sick and tired of hearin'...

I've been reading political blogs a lot this election season, and I have to say that some arguments advanced by the Clinton campaign have just been silly. My chief complaint is that all of these arguments are divisive for the Democratic party. As such, their wisdom should be reevaluated.

1. The "Commander-in-Chief threshold"
What exactly is this threshold, and how in the world would this concept help either Democratic candidate against Mister Experience himself, John McCain? Also, since when is it wise to proclaim that the Republican candidate is a better choice than the person who may quite likely be your party's nominee? Talk about party loyalty and strategy. It's like Joe Lieberman just walked into the room or something.

2. "Important states" (aka Size Matters)
New York and California are, indeed, important states for the Democratic candidate to win. But I am sick and tired of hearing about how Barack Obama's candidacy doesn't pass muster because he didn't win those states' primaries. First, the Democrats are royally screwed if either candidate's supporters are unwilling to vote for the other, period. It's not as if the large majority of Clinton's supporters won't vote for Obama if he's the nominee, and vice versa. There are those die-hard individuals, but intra-party crossover surely isn't our biggest battle! (That is, it won't be if we don't' cannibalize ourselves into a state of disrepair...)

Second, this line of thinking is just offensive. Yes, there are big states. Yes, they seat a lot of delegates. But there are other states, and their citizens matter! Why should Americans care more about Texas, California, and Ohio than, say, Georgia?

3. "Lifetime of Experience" v. "Speech"
"I think that I have a lifetime of experience that I will bring to the White House. I know Senator McCain has a lifetime of experience to the White House. And Senator Obama has a speech he gave in 2002." - Hillary Clinton, 3/8/2008

This characterization is just wrong. Period. Barack Obama obviously also has a "lifetime of experience." To reduce Obama's impressive set of achievements down to a "speech he gave in 2002" is ridiculous. Aside from being misleading, the Clinton campaign in this situation again frames the presidential election as a (McCain and Clinton) v. Obama contest. One would hope that Hillary's speechwriters got a little excited and got overzealous with the use of synecdoche. But this approach is horribly divisive for the party, which could seriously screw things up this November.

Disclaimers:
I know that my perspective is biased by my support of Obama. However, I have tried extremely hard during this primary season to keep a level head. During the presidential debates in Iowa and New Hampshire, I noted the stark difference between the Democratic and Republican candidates. The Republicans were downright nasty towards each other -- Fred Thompson, in particular, was a real douchebag in this regard. However, I was extremely proud that the Democrats had three amazing leading candidates who were all civil. Clinton, Edwards, and Obama were individuals who I knew I could happily endorse. As the field of contenders was whittled down to two, everyone in America has noticed how negative the campaigning has gotten. My mother pointed out the viciousness of the candidates' campaigns to me, and she by no means is a political wonk. This "war of attrition" type of campaigning isn't sustainable for the party, and I hope that it stops soon.

My life in the present

My life has changed pretty drastically since I last posted in this blog regularly. These changes are the major reasons why I didn't write frequently in February, and I'm hoping that the increased normalcy in my life will allow me (1) to sleep and (2) to write more. For the 2.5 people who keep track of my life through this sad little slice of the blogosphere, here's a little update for you.

I moved.
Geographically, I’m only one Metro stop away from my old residence in Fort Totten. I now live in by the Georgia Avenue/Petworth stop on the yellow and green lines. I have 5 roommates (all Hunger Fellows), and since six of the eight male Fellows live in this one house, we’ve deemed it the “Frat house.” Our abode has a very perplexing design and boasts 3.5 bathrooms for 4 bedrooms. Why? Who knows -- but there's never a line.

I finished my old job.
I [arguably] finished my work at Food & Friends. During the last two months, I was working rather insane hours (10 to 12-hour work days and then working more after dinner). In other words, I had absolutely no life outside of work. In fact, for two-week periods, I didn’t even leave Fort Totten. For those of you who have heard me describe Fort Totten, there is nothing there – less a KFC/Taco Bell (one establishment, mind you) and a liquor store. I finished writing two 50-page reports with Lindsey, and now they’re being edited by Food & Friends. With any luck, we’ll get the corrections back, incorporate them, and finally be done.

I have a new job.
Two Tuesdays ago, I started working at Families USA in its Health Policy department. Right now, I am working on projects that focus on private insurance markets, and especially on individual and small group plans. I had no idea that health insurance was so complicated – but it is! I’m trying to dive head-first into my new work, and I hope that I’ll get over the steep learning curve soon. Everyone at Families is really nice, and I'm excited that I get to work at a health policy organization during an election year.

I bought a bed.
And my newest accomplishment -- During my first two weeks here in Petworth, I slept on an air mattress from Target ($26). I don’t think that I’ve been particularly well-rested during the recent weeks, and my inflatable bed may be a chief reason why. On Tuesday, I finally Craigslisted a bed for $75, and I’m sleeping much better now. The mattress is a little hard, though, so I’ve ordered a memory foam pad off of Overstock. Way to splurge on a budget.

Well, that’s about it! I’ve started to enjoy happy hour culture in D.C. now that I work downtown, and my initial conclusion is that it’s definitely a coping mechanism. The pace in this city is intense, and it’s not surprising that people’s first recourse is to drink themselves into oblivion! But really, though, the happy hour circuit is extensive, and I plan to know it well by August :).