7/10/2012

Days at school seem so much longer than days off! I went into school early this morning to swim before class. I can't actually swim yet but I kick boarded for about a kilometer. Then I walked into the city to pick up the rest of the manuals. I have sold all my extras, well all but one. I have 2 offers. Whoever brings me money first gets it. On my walk i found a fantastic store where you can become a ninja!
Our lesson for today was small learning. As a group of 9 we have 2 questions to research and answer in a page and a half essay. It is particularly irritating because it isn't graded. If you don't show up you will lose points from your overall grade after the exams at the end of the semester but we don't actually get any marks for the work that we are doing. Kinda like negative extra credit. The questions were difficult and we encountered computer problems so we had to work through half of lunch. After we finally finished we took a break to play around the world table tennis. If you aren't familiar with this game you play with an infinite number of people. Once you have hit the ball you run to the line on the opposite side of the table. Each person gets 3 lives after that you're out. As you get down close to the last few people it becomes quite intense. in the afternoon we "learned" stretching techniques. They are doing a terrible job at actually teaching us and we are expected to find the appropriate positioning ourselves. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the therapists at Allegheny Chesapeake physical therapy for teaching me good techniques without them I would be lost. After class we practiced for another hour. Then I headed home and prepared for tomorrow on my way.
We have no food in the house. There a couple things but too moldy to salvage. I had an apple with peanut butter for dinner because I found myself too lazy to go out to the store. Additionally Katie has decided to take on 2 more students. I hope she doesn't expect help from me because I have work to do. I'm already at Uni from 7a-6:30p but I could stay longer for a quiet place to study. Which leads me to news on the housing front: Kat is moving at the end of August and needs a roomie. Yay! I don't think she has a place in mind yet. I have had very little time to talk to her even though we are both at uni all day every day. I will keep you apprised as we get more solid arrangements. But I have a new buddy since Tory ditched me and a definite moving date since Kat has to move before the end of August. Yay!

7/9/2012

First day back! Somehow today seemed at least 4x longer than yesterday. I headed into my first practical of the semester. We fitted gait aids and demonstrates how to use them. I had the privilege of getting up in front of the class and explaining crutches while everyone critiqued my instructions.
Next we had a lecture on ultra sound and then a lecture on manipulations. I feel like things are moving a bit quickly here. After lecture we went to lunch at a Thai restaurant. It was quite good. Although we were probably the worst patrons ever as we ordered drinks and then ate the lunches that we had brought with us.
Next we went into the city to have our practical manuals printed and bound. This ended up being quite the drama as we accidentally gave them two of one file. Now we have six extra copies of the cardio manual but are still missing the neuro one.
While I was waiting for the manuals to be printed(before I knew about the mistake) I did a stair workout in preparation for the 80 story stair climb. I walked up and down the tallest open building on campus(9 stories) 9 times. You might think that walking stairs is easy but I beg to differ. It was enough work to give me a cardio workout.
I studied a bit before picking up the manuals and heading home. I found myself in bed by 7:30. Yikes! I read a chapter of my book but I'm really ready for bed now and it's 8:10pm. I would complain but on the bright side the jet lag makes 6am look much better than it otherwise would.

7/8/2012

Somehow I had more time than expected today. I had been trying to decide how to spend my day and ended up doing everything. I started out by being lazy and lounging around reading Game of Thrones. After I felt like a sloth I did the pre-reading for tomorrow. Then I walked down to the movie theatre and saw Ted. It had fart jokes so I liked it. Then I hoped onto a train and went to the game masters exhibit. I thought it was going to be more of an educational museum but instead I found that it was an arcade for old, new, and yet to be released video games. It was fun but I tired I each game quickly. They seemed to be in the wrong place so that you could play but you couldn't accomplish Ang objectives. I also really don't like using the wii controller for classic games. The buttons seem to be in the wrong place, or at least they did in the exhibit. It was a really cool exhibit organized by creator with everything from old PAC man machines to Mickey mouse to rock band to a new game that you need 3d glasses to play. Unfortunately there is no photography so I didn't get many pictures while pretending to text. When the museum closed at 6 I headed home to get ready for tomorrow. Unfortunately I got some bad news on the housing front. Tori who I was supposed to move in with decided to move back home instead of buying a place here. I'm a bit sad and back to searching for apartments. Hopefully I find something good soon Katie has decided that she wants more money so she has rented out two more bedrooms for next month. It's going to be an absolute mad house here. Plus she's back to getting on my case about being a loser. Somehow I don't care. I had a lovely day and school starts tomorrow. :) !

7/7/2012

Well I was going to go to the footie games and work today, but I had scheduled myself off and I had a bit more economics homework to do than I had previously realized.  I spent almost the entire day working on homework, studying and writing a paper.  My final project is on the microeconomic effect of Obama can on a private practice.  If anyone has any ideas, concerns, or insight into Obamacare please let me know.   Otherwise I'll be working on it all week and I'll be happy to share the impact on supply and demand, the effect of the changing patient profile, and why this isn't really socialized medicine(see England).  More on the school work front, I have my schedule and assignment list for next semester.  I am in class all day every day, I continue to work with the footie team, and we add in a hospital.  Then 80% of my grade for the semester is made up of the essay exams and practicals in the last week.  One day left till I go back.  I'm trying to decide how to spend it.  Sleeping all day? Working on my paper? Doing some prereading? or Going to the video game exhibit and maybe a movie? hmmmm...

7/6/2012

Today I started with banking and then went back to the gym for more biking while reading Game of Thrones. I was there for 2 hours but I still felt thoroughly unproductive. On my way back home i looked into the video game exhibit at federation square. Fed square is know for art and free shows. This was not one of them.
Entrance is $22 thus I plan to come back when I have more time to enjoy the exhibit. By the time I got home it was time to start getting ready for dinner. Man I hate public transit! I went out with Angela and her husband Dave. We started by devouring $50 worth of curry, naan, and rice. 
Then we went to the dessert story for a fruit avalanche with ice cream on top.  was so good. 
 Unfortunately my jet lag started to kick in after dinner and I barely made it home awake.

7/5/2012

Well I have officially found myself on the 7p-4a sleep schedule. i woke up this morning much to early but I didn't fight it because it will only make things easier when I need to wake up for class next week. I was pretty useless today. I read Game of Thrones and went exploring. Simultaneously. I started by going to breakfast at melbourne central. They have huge chairs that can engulf even a large person. I enjoyed coffee and a cupcake as I read. It was a bit drafty as I read about Jon snow and his adventures guarding the wall of ice. I was able to sympathize with the chilliness. Next I took my book to the gym and spent several chapters on the recumbent bike. At 1p I set of to explore Melbourne's near western suburbs. I made a video that I will hopefully be able to put up soon. May of the places I meant to go we're closed or not what I expected. I my first kabab in Melbourne. It's much like a gyro on different bread. I enjoyed the flavor but my jaw kept getting stuck so eventually I gave up trying to eat.
I had been talking to a few people while I was home about Melbourne's skyline. I had said that it was unimpressive. I just didn't know where to look. From fitzroy the skyline is quite nice. Not as good as coming through the fort Pitt tunnel but it's not bad. Exploring took 5 hours but I was able to read on the train. I was wide awake until the sun set at 530. I've been struggling to keep my eyes open ever since. Bed time at 7:17pm. Yay!

7/4/2012

Happy 4th of July!
Sorry I've been slacking on the blog.  I had a fantastic visit home.  I was ecstatic to see some of my favorite people.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see everyone I'll have to plan better next time.  I also enjoyed my favorite foods, the sunshine, shopping, and driving.  With one trip to Charlottesville, 4 trips to Pittsburgh, and driving around Morgantown the total comes to 1,243 miles.   As nice as my flight home was, the flight back to Melbourne was equally as bad.  We ran into traffic jams at every airport.  The plane would arrive on time but we were unable to park.  I ran between gate at every airport, luckily the plane waited for me at each stop but since I was one of the last passengers on the plane in LA they made me check my carry on.  All I wanted on my 14 hour flight was deodorant and pants.  I slept for most of the flight.  I am getting better at eating airplane food though they have not gotten better at making options that I am not allergic to.  Since I am now considered an Australian resident going to the USA on holiday the customs process is much easier, in both directions actually.  I left home at 1pm on Monday and got to the house here at 1pm on Wednesday.  That's  34 hours of travel. Yay! Duty free gave me the first reminder that I wasn't in Kansas anymore.  Good thing I brought my own stash back with me. Stan was kind enough to pick me up from the airport and bring me to Katie's.  I celebrated being back in Melbourne with a latte.
I find that I'm a bit homesick.  I dealt with it by listening to the I<3 radio party pod and going to the beach.
It was nice but cold, it's about 40F here.  I spent 4 hours doing a Belle impression(from beauty and the beast-head in book while walking).  On my way home I bought me flowers.
They're pretty.  I am also jet lagged so I'm calling it a night early.  Aside from my airport pickup, I have not seen Katie's family.  The house stinks but my room is clean and smells fresh as I left it.  My bike is back and looks good.  Hopefully it won't be too long until I can ride again.