I'm Gonna Muster Every Ounce Of Confidence I Have And Cannonball Into The Water

It's taken me about a month, but I've determined that a large part of being successful at medical school is realizing what not to learn, in addition to what you should learn. For example, right now, there is some guy showing us how to do a field test to check on cranial nerve damage. It's somewhat interesting, but mostly irrelevant at this juncture. We have studied the cranial nerves, and do need to know their purpose, however, we don't need to know how to verify functionality. Hence, I've taken the time to run this post up, especially considering it has been almost a month since last updating.

A lot has happened in the past month. We've already taken one mid-term and are getting ready for the second one in about a week and a half. I've dissected more muscles and structures than a lot people could handle hearing about before lunch. (You never look at a face the same way again after peeling the skin off, yanking the brain out, and then cutting the skull into quarters like and apple. Same with arms. I don't see forearms, I see a group of muscles and how they interact to flex the fingers.) I've learned that the church can function relatively normally, even when there are only active 30 members. I've dealt with not having vehicular transportation at my fingertips. And I've missed The Girlfriend dearly.

Beyond that, life has been great. I'm enjoying my time here (as much as you can while studying ridiculous amounts). Right now, I'm getting ready to sign a lease for the upcoming year. I found a place that is really safe, nice and new, and only a six minute walk away. Pretty ideal. However, I was talking with an agent and they said they had one for $300 less a month in an area called Point Pirouette. This area is beautiful as it is surrounded by the lagoon on three sides and a the golf course on the other. But it's that golf course that is a problem. Around here, that is the most dangerous place to be at night. In orientation meetings, we were told that the first, second and seventh rules about going to school here were to avoid the golf course at night.

So living there would be a big problem if I had to walk through there. However, it is only about a 100 yards by water between the tip of the area and the school. I was genuinely debating whether it would be worth it to get a canoe and row back and forth between class, or spending a little extra for a motor. You figure saving $300 a month should offset those costs quickly. And worse comes to worse, I can swim that distance in a matter of minutes. Sure, I would need to bring a change of clothes as well as my books in a water proof container, but $300 a month?
It was very tempting, but I just didn't want to have to deal with that hassle. So I'll go to the nicer
place down the road.

Also, ask me how excited I am about the new RW/RR challenge "The Ruins" that premiered on Wednesday? Tremendously. My love for these shows is well documented, and this season does not seem likely to disappoint. I do have a dilemma with this one. I've been an Evan fan ever since he and Coral were dominating Fresh Meat. I still am, but part of me, the part I don't like to talk about at parties, secretly enjoys watching Wes try to wrest control from him and the others. And the fact that Kenny stole his fiancee (or is it fiance? What's the rule on this?) adds a whole new layer of awesome to everything. I'm very excited to watch this.

Well, that was all over the place.

Word.