Category: Miscellaneous babble

Took another step towards PhD-dom yesterday when I registered for 3 courses and paid up tuition for them (ouch). Started with two courses for 4 credits, and then ended up adding a third 2 credit course when I learned that it was a required course only offered in the fall. I was originally only going to start with one class this fall to ease my way back into student-hood, but I figured since it’s only offered once a year, I might as well get it over with and add the third course.

First courses on the docket: BIOE 800 (Seminars in Bioengineering), BIOE 801 (Biomaterials) and CGS 710 (Responsible Conduct of Research). I’ve heard CGS 710 (offered by MUSC) doesn’t require a lot of work, so BIOE 801 is probably the one that I’ll end up spending the most time working on.

Now to find the textbooks for the classes.

For a while now, I’ve been pondering getting some kind of gaming console, because I’ve never had one before. Do I want a Wii? Maybe a PS3. Xbox is kinda cool.

This past week, I borrowed an Xbox 360 and a few games from a friend while he was on vacation. Started playing Fallout 3 and promptly got sucked into the game. The first day I played for about 4 hours without realizing how much time had gone by. The rest of the week would go pretty much the same way (thus the lack of blog entries).

So now I’m thinking maybe a gaming console might not be such a good idea, especially with school starting next month. Then again, if I get one now, the novelty aspect of it will probably wear off by the time classes start and I probably won’t be quite as into it by then.

Actually, getting one now would take a significant chunk out of my new computer fund, so I think I’ll wait a while on the console system. Or maybe I’ll just build a kick-ass gaming system.

This blog is 6 years old today!

In the world of the interwebs, that’s pretty old.

1990 entries (including 4 drafts I never got around to finishing) and 765 comments.
I think this deserves a blog birthday celebration. Conveniently, the next Lowcountry BBQ meatup is scheduled for Friday at Duke’s BBQ up in Ridgeville. Blog birthday, BBQ – perfect!

See you there.

In the meantime, I think I’ll walk across the street for dinner at Zia, because their beef barbacoa enchiladas are just awesome.

As part of the admission requirements at Clemson, I have to provide them with a record of my immunizations. The last time I saw my immunization record I had sent to me from Alberta Health was 10 years and 3 moves ago, when I started working at MUSC and had to provide them to Employee Health.

A trip to Employee Health yielded some questionable results. It shows that I received the immunizations they’re interested in, but it’s not clear if EH just recorded the date that I provided my records to them, or if I got a whole new set of shots. One of the sheets they provided suggests the former, the other suggests the latter. Aside from the initial TB test, I don’t remember getting stuck with any other needles during my pre-employment screening.

Somewhere in the house (I hope) is a box containing a folder with a fax of a photocopy of my shot records from 35+ years ago. Haven’t managed to track it down yet but the search continues.

Next step: Contact Alberta Health and see if I can get another copy of my shot records sent to me.