Lately I've taken to playing chess on Yahoo!. The problem is, I've really been getting my butt kicked an awful lot (and badly too). I suppose that happens when you haven't really played for a few years, but I could have swore I was a better player.
Just need to play more games.

This morning I added a guestbook (over to the right, under my links)
Feel free to sign in!!

In the mail today I recieved a letter from the Medical College of Wisconsin,
A big letter!!!
I'm accepted to MCW, the class of 2008.
I can't tell you how great I feel right now. I'm smiling ear to ear, and just can't stop.
It's been such a long road, and finally getting to the point where I know is such a relief. Can't say enough good things about the Early Decision Program.
So now we have the end of one journey, and the start of another.
I only have to wait another year to start it.

I've been thinking about addig a guest book for this blog. I'm not sure how yet though.
I've been getting quite a few hits lately, but I've no idea who from.
I'd love to hear from you, and what you think about this blog (like, dislike, indifferent), so follow my email link to the right.
I'm still pretty new at this, so any suggestions would be appreciated.

A good friend of mine is back early from his deployment overseas. During his time in the Middle East, I would always cringe when I heard of new casualties; wondering if it was him, hoping it was not.
Brother, I'm glad your back, safe and sound. It's good to have you home.

Have you ever had the feeling that you put the wrong thing in the wrong envelope? It happened to me today when I sent thank you cards to my interviewers. I'm sure I put them in the right ones, but I was just uneasy about putting them into the mail.
It would suck to look like a total idiot that doesn't pay attention to detail, especially over a thank you note.
Oh well, I guess that's just me being neurotic.

Well, I had my interview on Friday. I was a little nervous going in, there's no denying that. However, I had a great time at MCW. My interviewers were great. They were super-friendly, and totally put me at ease. It was a much more laid back experience than I had anticipated. In fact, I like the college even more now than before I went.
I'd like to think I made a pretty good impression, and I left the interviews with a good feeling about the whole process.
Now I just have to wait and see.
All I keep thinking is "Big envelope, big envelope...."

Off to MCW for my interview this afternoon. Still a little nervous, but that is a good thing, I think.
Wish me luck.

What a beautiful day it was today in Southern Wisconsin. Much better that other parts of the country.
I needed to relax a little this afternoon, so I took out the kayak.
To me, there's just nothing better than being in the middle of a river in the country. Me, my boat, and nothing else.
Perfect.

This guy rules. Angle grinder man is apparently on a crusade of sorts to liberate the autos of merry ol' England from the oppressive boot (sorry) of the law.

I was reading Slashdot tonight, and found something pretty interesting. It seems that you are able to read scrambled words so long as the first two letters of the word are in place.

From the languagehat site: 'Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe. ceehiro.'

How cool is that.

Please note, I found this on slashdot, which found this on another blog, which found this on another blog, etc, etc.
Gotta love the internet.

This weekend I found the ultimate gadget for coffee lovers.
I was at Williams-Sonoma, looking at the espresso machines. A salesperson came up to help out. We started talking about the machines, and she took us over to a demonstration unit.
The machine she showed us was the Jura Capresso F9.
This is a fully automatic espresso machine. You put the beans in one side and the water on the other, press a couple of buttons, and you get a perfect cup of espresso. All you have to clean up is the little tray that collects the grounds.
It's sweet, if you love coffee. But it also comes with quite the price tag, and unfortunately I don't forsee myself getting one all too soon.
I really want one though.

So right now, I'm at my old stomping grounds on the UW-Whitewater campus. I came to do a little research for next week's interview. I ended up stopping by the coffee shop I used to hang out at daily.
I discovered two things:
1) They have Krispy Kreme doughnuts now!!! It's a good thing they didn't have them while I was there, or else I'd have weighed a ton.
2) The coffee still sucks.

I can't believe it has already been two years. The things that happened that day are still so fresh to me.
I became so glued to the TV, I could not turn it off. I don't know why, but I just couldn't stop watching what was happening.
As they say: "All gave some, some gave all"
Here's to the heroes.

I've spent some time now reading up on interviewing for medical school.
I have to say, part of me feels more at ease, and part of me feels more nervous.
Everything I've read about MCW gives me the impression that the interviews there are pretty laid back. People seem to have ranked it low stress for the most part. Which is good, that puts me a little more at ease.

The more I read about MCW, the more excited I am about it. It seems that everyone who is a student there loves it, and the attitude of the faculty and staff is really great. They really seem to want to educate well rounded doctors.
The curriculum seems to be laid out really well, and the combination of Lecture and Problem Based Learning is very attractive. The integration of clinical skills into the first two years really seems cool, as does working with a mentor.
Combine all this with the fact that they are ranked highly for research and are located in the 17th largest urban center in America, and you end up with a great package.

I suppose I could rant on this for a while, but I won't. Needless to say, I think MCW is the perfect place for me.

Anyway...

In other news, the 12 year old the RIAA sued this week has settled with them for $2000. Quite a sum for a young girl.

I'm sitting down this evening and starting to prepare for my interview with the Medical College of Wisconsin. I know I shouldn't psych myself out, but it's easy to do. I was looking at some statistics, and saw that there were 4000 applicants last year. Out of those 4000, 600 or so were interviewed. Out of that, only 204 can be accepted.
Now I realize that even getting an interview is a good thing, but those are still some daunting numbers.
I guess I just have to relax and be myself, and hope that takes me through. Deep breaths and no coffee beforehand should do the trick.

In the mail today I received a letter from the Medical College of Wisconsin. It was an offer to interview for with the admissions committee.
Needless to say, I'm really excited right now.
I know it's only an interview, but still, it is one step closer to my goal of becoming a physician.

I just checked my Hotmail account, and for the first time in who knows how long, I haven't recieved any SPAM for over 24 hours. I never changed anything, so I'm assuming that it's the Hotmail people who changed something.
This is great, because after the first fifteen ads or so, I really stopped losing interest in penis enlargement.

A great weekend at High Cliff State Park.
Not a very spectacular place, but it has a nice camping area in the woods. There are also some good hiking trails through some abandoned lime factory buildings and the quarry that supplied them.
Mosquitos were pretty bad though.
I probably have West Nile Virus for sure.