what's up super-penel? not much wolfman

I believe every human has a finite number of heart-beats.
-Buzz Aldrich

It's been a great week back in Vancouver. The sunshine held out and it was a full-on faux february spring here. We had lots of time to catch up with friends and get outside to enjoy the mild weather. I hate to think of myself as a Weekend Warrior, but that is more or less what I've become. I was almost entirely sedentary during my interview tour. Except for lugging my bags and a short stint on a treadmill, I did zero physical activity for 3 weeks. Upon my return to Vancouver, I started riding my bike every day to UBC, and then Yoga or Soccer or Ultimate in the afternoon/evenings. It was fun to get back into everything, but as I've posted earlier, this sort of behaviour leaves me more or less crippled. I'm going to try and play squash tomorrow, but I'm a little bit afraid....usually my first squash game after a rest makes me wish I had a wheelchair and a parking pass for the next couple of days. I'm not sure if I'm ready for that kind of pain again so soon.

Also, we have our OSCE (clinical exam with actors playing patients) next weekend and I should probably start exercising the old noggin a little as well.

benign familial macrocephaly

Whatever, I don't really know
Flows like an immaculate goat.... what up....whatever
-Man I Used To Be, k-os

Oh goodness, exams go on. Trevor is thinking about medical school so I've been talking to him about my application days (oh my youth!) and even dug out my MED SCHOOL APPLICATIONS 2004 folder. Read through my rejection letters and what not and tried to recapture my youthful optimism. Actually I remembered that I was never that youthful, or optimistic...but you know, it's exams and I'm getting knowledge fatigue and it was good to remember how bad I wanted to be here.

Comments from my 1st (unsuccessful) UBC interview attempt:

- spoke well, direct, succinct
- confident, down to earth
- comfortable with panel
- very brief and non-descriptive answers
- did not listen to question

So I think my problem is that I get really anxious, but I'm good at not showing it. We just had our clinical exams (OSCE's) a week ago and I was quite nervous. These exams involve actors portraying patients that you have to evaluate, and physicians marking your performance. I do things to try and control it, but I always tend to get pretty worked up and forget simple things (like on one station I forgot that blood pressure was considered a vital sign). Anyhow, I think if I ACTED like how I was feeling, the examiner might think- 'hey this guy's nervous and forgot a few things, whatever', rather than 'wow, med students really are dumb nowadays'

I'm not really worried that I failed the exam, it's just embarrassing.