School-Girl Fight

Another article on CNN describes girls fighting at school, and some idiot stabbed and KILLED another student in Boston the other day. All that got me thinking about how Youtube.com always gets fingered for having fight videos.

How many? Lots. Tons. That kinda surprised me, but i guess it shouldn't. However, in comparison with these fights we've just heard about, hear's a video of a girl fight in Vietnam--similar to one's I've seen, and much better, in my opinion.

(Plus I get to try out Youtube's blog posting stuff and see if it's worth it).

The Wonders of MRIs

My professor started off our second neurology lecture today by saying:

"Today we just heard a description of CT, and MRI, and PET, and how they are useful. A couple years ago, a senator and a president ran against each other for office in this country. After the election was over, both were incredibly tired and got routine physicals from their GPs. The muscle fatigue was serious, so both got MRIs. After the results came back, the senator and president asked what they were.

'Well, you can see both the left brain and the right brain in these scans,' replied the doctor. 'We know that the Left has got nothing right, and the Right has nothing left!'"

Well, I thought it was funny.

The cold of Utah...The Universal Problem of New Labbies

Ouch, is it cold. I cannot even ride my bike outside. Well, who in their right mind would want to ride in Lycra in a single digit wind chill? Not I.

But I cannot explain why people who sign up to be part of a science lab do not commit more time to the lab when the weather is horrible outside? Shouldn't they enjoy the heat of an autoclave or a hot water bath? I say nay. They (the labbies) do not take the time to hibernate in the lab. Maybe they are in the library or cuddling up with a good read such as a biochemistry textook or a book on evolutionary biology. I think my thoughts deceive me. The labbies are not looking up journal articles. They are not studying. They are wandering through the mists of darkness of not understanding that they are not alone in the process of research! Each labbie may "own" a project, but they do not understand that the only way to come to a knowledge of the truth of research is by performing it. It is time for them to step into the unknown, the darkness of the lab and turn on the light to see that the pathway is lighted that much more after they make the initial step.

Till next time.

Old Man Winter...

The last two days have been amazing. The cold front sweeping through the nation finally hit Houston, and we've had winter for the first time. When living in Utah I wasn't a huge fan of the snow and cold, but it was beautiful and did give variation to the year. It was such a pain to drive in though.

I was beginning to be afraid that we might get three seasons here but not four

Now I'm in Houston and December was warm--50s and 60s warm. I was beginning to be afraid that we might get three seasons here but not four. However, it's finally into the 30s, and although it's not likely to stay there for long, it'll be in the 40s for the next week or so. At the very least, I'll get two weeks of winter.

It's funny to see everyone react to the cold. People have no experience driving--living--in cold weather. It hit 31, 32 degrees, with a little ice on the roads, and about two-thirds of the school districts closed. The other one-third opened late. I drove my wife to work and there was no ice on the roads at all except for a little patch on an entry ramp to the 59 freeway. I hit it, skidded a little, and kept going--nothing major at all--but it had caught someone inexperienced because there was a wheel laying in the middle of the ramp--not a tire, but the metal wheel of a car.

It's too bad I have exams next week, or I might be able to spend some time outside in the refreshing cold air. As it is, I have to make due with breathing it in while waiting for the bus, and trying to warm my feet on my cold, cold hardwood floor.

A Crazy Day

Monday was a crazy day. I looked up trying to find a full moon--since full moons often are harbringers of disaster--but to no avail.

I was at the bus stop when my wife called me. The car was smoking. Quick change of plans. I hopped another bus and eventually reached my poor wife, sitting in our car, late for work, and found the radiator busted. The metal "T" that connects the radiator to the hose was snapped clean off. Old radiators suck. After getting my wife on another bus and off to work, I grabbed a tow truck, took it to a shop, and went to school.

I want to highlight how awesome the public transportation in Houston is. People think that Houston is so large a city, that you MUST have a car. Well, I have been able to go anywhere with minimal planning because the routes are so well done.

Now, at the end of the day I picked up my car. $500. Sucks. But that's not the big deal. Well, it is big, but not the deal. On my way home, I'm stopped at a light, and I see a college-age girl jogging in place as the light turns from yellow to red. I thought to myself, "Gee, she looks like she wants to run."

Then, right as the light turns green (for the cross traffic), she takes off. Now, it's not a large street. The car in the turn lane almost goes, but sees her and stops just short of hitting her. The car in the fast lane sees her and stops. The car in the slow lane goes before she gets there, causing the car behind it to go and never see her, until it hits her and she flips over the car hitting the ground.

All i could think of was "ooooo..." Evidently she was trying to reach her father/older man waiting for her on the other side. She got up and was crying on his shoulder as the man who hit her got out to see what had happened and how bad she was hurt. A couple people pulled over to help also.

How dumb are you to cross a full street at a green light? I just feel bad for her.

But that's not the end--I get home and there's an ambulance outside my building. Some old lady was in the back. Dunno why. I talk to two guys waiting for it to leave so they could get to there car, and find out one of the two had his $400 bike stolen a couple hours previous.

At least after that all i did was study.

What a crazy day.

First Semester in Review

It's been two months since I've written a post on TBE. I must say, it's been a loooonnnngggg two months. Not a week--no--not a day has gone by that I haven't thought about posting. Countless reasons to post have came and went, but one reason not to post trumped them all: school.

I never imagined medical school would be this hard. My sentiments have been echoed countless times by most of my classmates. Every one of us did well at our undergraduate institution. Some did remarkably well. We all expected to come into medical school and do what we always did--studying and what not--and get the grades.

The first semester was divided into three blocks. Each block was about six weeks long. Block exams then lasted one week. At the end of the semester we had Thanksgiving, then third block exams, and then finals. All in all, I was studying exams for the first two and a half weeks of December.

After finals, I spent the next week before Christmas playing tour guide, translator, and shopper. My father-in-law came in town and spent Christmas with us. It was great, but busy. While my wife worked, I got to drive all over Houston, pointing out interesting sites, translating things into Vietnamese, and trying to find Christmas gifts.

After Christmas, we all (wife, father-in-law, myself) went to San Jose, CA for a wedding. I love California. Now, I'd never want to live in San Francisco, but I was impressed. It was my first time going there, and it was fun, interesting, delicious (the food), and expensive. I'll talk more about that later.

But now I'm back. It's a new year, a new semester, new classes, new experiences, a new blogger (if you have a blogger blog you understand), and new posts. Here's to a great 2006 and a better 2007.

Second Anniversary

Today is my wife and my's second anniversary. I can't believe two years has gone by since we got married, and about four since we met. This means a couple things:

I truly am the luckiest guy in the world

1. I am getting old. Don't laugh. Yes, I know I am still in my twenties, but I am older than 98% of my medical school class, and it tells.

2. I am the luckiest guy in the world. My wife loves me and keeps reaffirming how great my decision was to marry her.

I'm not sure how I won her heart. You see, she didn't like me at first. She thought I was stuck up. I thought she was stuck up. Obviously looks can be deceiving. We met briefly at a Vietnamese Student Association thing, I gave her my email address so I could be informed about upcoming meetings, and we both took away those first impressions.

Little did I know I'd marry her about two years later.

[She] slipped her her hand into mine, and my heart fluttered

A month after that fateful email delivery, I went down to Orange County, CA to visit old friends and attend the Tet festival (Chinese New Year) in Garden Grove. By this time we had talked, and things were generally confusing. She wasn't sure how she felt about me. I wasn't sure where things were headed. I went down with some friends of mine, and invited her to take the second car down. She said she'd think about it, but needed to stay and study.

The next night she met me at the Tet festival and slipped her hand into mine, and my heart fluttered, and the train was off.

Two years later she slipped her hand into mine, this time wearing a diamond ring, and we drove away from the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in Salt Lake City a married couple ... and my heart fluttered.

Last night, with stuff nose and headache, I went to bed. I have a cold. I feel horrible. You know the feeling--your head pounds, you can't breathe out of your nose, and generally you just feel like drilling a hole in your head to let out the pressure, and hopefully allow you to breathe better. A little while later I felt my wife slip under the covers, kiss me on the forehead, and slip her hand into mine as I fell back asleep ... and my heart fluttered.

I truly am the luckiest guy in the world.

Medical School is Crazy

Nobody understands what doctors go through until they are there. I just finished my first round of exams, and as you might have noticed, have blogged little as of late. I have a blog on medical school, but even that is hard to find time for, let alone my passion on Vietnam and international politics that use TBE as a forum.

Let me just tell you that doctors do not make nearly as much as the effort that is exerted. People think doctors make a ton of money, and most are compensated far better than average (i.e. top 5% of the country) but compare that with law, business, or another profession, and a doctor's time is cheap, pennies-on-the-dollar cheap, in comparison.

So, next time you visit your doctor, thank him for surviving, yes, surviving medical school, so he can keep you healthy enough to bill your clients $100 an hour to do their legal stuff.

Ode to a Great One

Photo taken from NY Times

Goodbye. Farewell. Today I saw the end of an era. I still don't believe it ... well, I believe it, but my consciousness has yet to accept it. Andre Agassi is done. My family is a tennis family. Since my earliest days I remember sitting on Saturdays and Sundays watching two or four people hit a green felt ball back and forth, "click, clock! click clock! click clock!" the crowd silent, until some incredible angle was attempted and hit or a line painted. Then came deafening roars and cheers from my living room.

To me, the only planet to live on was Planet Agassi

By 10 years old the world revolved around two people -- no, not Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev -- Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi. Sure, there were others. Who can forget the memorable French open run of Chang? Or the Wimbledon of Malivai Washington a little later? But the Galaxy was determined. There were two planets: Planet Sampras and Planet Agassi. Everyone else were at best moons revolving around these two.


Sure there were older players. I remember Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Boris Becker. But every brightly burning star eventually bloats to a red gas giant and then cools to a black dwarf. These great stars had no more light. The two that remained, revolving around each other, could not be any more different. To my young mind, Planet Sampras was pure power. Lightning serves rained down from his serene skies, points finishing quickly. I could hear a point: "ugh, pop! *grunt!* thunk!" and the ball had hit the wall behind the returner.

Ace.

Planet Sampras was always clean cut. His orbit was round and he stuck to it, never deviating. His private life stayed private, and people loved him for his mastery of the game.

But I never could. To me, the only planet to live on was Planet Agassi. Whereas Sampras lived by a legendary serve, Agassi redefined returning serve. Agassi took serves so fast you couldn't help but say "ouch!" and laugh. Yes, it's impressive to throw a huge punch, ut how much more impressive is it to just stand there, take the punch without flinching, and rip one back so fast and hard that the other guy is on his back before he knows it? That was Agassi.

"ugh, pop! *grunt* clock! thunk!"

and the ball was in the wall behind the server.

Planet Agassi had no appreciable standard orbit. As a kid I loved a player finally not wearing tennis whites with short, clean cut hair. Agassi was the youthful freedom we all sought. His long hair and flamboyant clothes defined his personality, the pirate, bucking against tradition and form. He was The Rebel. Even in commercials, it was the EOS Powershot Rebel. We all wanted to rebel.

As the years rolled on I would cheer him in the great Sampras:Agassi matches. I mourned him when he hit bottom in the late 1990s. I thanked God for an answer to my prayers during his resurgence. My highschool days were marked by long hair too, hoping for the same statement I saw out of him a few years earlier.

Agassi the rebel had returned from the dead as Agassi the Sage

McEnroe was a firebrand, a misfit of sorts. Agassi was different. He was a phoenix. He lived a burning hot life, and when it ended, he arose back out of the ashes, reformed. After a year in the minor leagues Agassi returned, different. Everything I loved about him as a kid was gone, and everything I didn't like then I respected now. He and I had grown up. The hair was gone. Fashion cannot conquer genetics, and Agassi's pate had nothing on it. Bald. His clothes were white. Agassi the rebel had returned from the dead as Agassi the Sage.

Planet Agassi's orbit became as regular as ever. He became the Monk of Tennis with his shaved head and all white ensemble. And more than his clothes, his words and actions spoke nirvana. As he won, Agassi relected on the greatness of tennis, its fans, and humanity. As he won, he put more and more money into charities such as his charter school for economically dsiadvantaged children in Las Vegas, NV. As he won, he became even more respected for that return, especially as his back continued to fail on him.

The wounded warrior who falls to a great foe after a strong fight is more revered than the strong warrior who dispatches him. And so it was with Andre. Even down to his last tournament, I watched in awe as he took Baghdatis to five sets, winning in the end, and then Becker to four sets, losing close each set. It conjured up dreams of what he would be like, even at 36, with a good back. A couple more majors, Andre?

21 years are over. The wise monk has finally retired to his mountain home. The bright star has burnt out with fury, not slowly. The stormy planet that grew calm has finally grown silent. I sat and watched his last match. I stood for points on ending hoping that the cosmos would align because of my superstitious actions and will him to victory. I screamed at the tv as an obviously tired Becker got lucky with big serves against an ailing Agassi.

I cried when Agassi broke down in his chair, and again when he thanked the fans and people of New York for 21 great years. And I too said "Thank you, Andre."

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Categories:

• America
• sports
• Triet
• tennis

Vuelta a Espania

Have you ever riden a 10 to 12% grade on a bicycle at a speed over 10 mph? If you haven't, let me give you a clue about how it feels. Imagine someone has a meat tenderizer hammer and pounds your thighs until they look like hamburger. The riders in the Vuelta a Espania (Tour of Spain, one of the three Grand Tours) experienced this today. Ouch. Imagine your thighs hurting like that and then someone passes you. What do you have to do? Attack, of course. So, that means putting the pain aside and putting all of your effort and sanity to catch up to and pass your opponent. I respect those guys for the effort and skill they have gained in their cycling careers.

On to the doping stuff again. It looks like the doping news has settled down a little. For all of you Tyler Hamilton supporters, he will end his ban for blood doping in the month of September. The current president of the UCI (http://www.uci.ch) or International Cyclists Union is trying to get Hamilton banned for life due to the current doping mess. His name some how appeared in documents of the charged doping doctor. Who knows?

Well, I'm upgrading my bike. I am using new components from the SRAM corporation. These parts move into a market dominated by two makers: Shimano and Campy. SRAM gives me light weight parts at a fraction of the price of either. However, the parts I am buying with SRAM pasted all over them are for my road bike, not my time trial bike. For instance, the gear/brake levers built by SRAM (model Rival) weigh in at 335 g. Shimano's Dura Ace, their top of the line shifters, weigh a staggering 420g. For a climber, those numbers are huge. Next, look at the brakes, SRAM Rival (SRAM's number 2 model, their Dura Ace model is called FORCE) brakes weigh 290 g while DA brakes weigh 305 g. When you add up the components, RIVAL only lacks in their crankset which is 30g heavier than DA's crank. Give SRAM a few more years, and they will break up the Shimano/Campy domination.

Till next time! Keep on riding! and Studying!



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Iraq and the Melia, addendum

Consul-at-arms made a good comment in my first post, prompting my reply and study.

"The Belgians went into the colony and separated the people according to physical features that looked European vs. Non-european."

Huh? Where'd you hear that? And if it were true, how is that several neighboring countries, where the Belgians weren't the colonial power, have the same two tribes?

I replied,

Well, I took your question and ran with it. First, I made the statement based on admittedly little knowledge on the subject, and what I had seen on Sometimes in April.

So, after reading your comment, I wanted to see if I was wrong. Yes and no. The Belgians did separate people into the groups Hutu and Tutsi based on physical features. But I was wrong in the insinuation that they were exactly one people before this.

The Hutu and Tutsi were one people for years. They lived in tribes, intermarried, etc. For most of this time, Hutu designated farmers and Tutsi designated rulers or people not doing rural work. Therefore, the indentifier could change as you changed class, work, etc.

However, by the time the Europeans arrived the Hutu and Tutsi designations were starting to congeal in a Tutsi=non-farm-worker and Hutu=farm-worker identity, making most societal leaders Tutsi. Their work indoors and a different genetic origin for many of them, gave them lighter skin, and more European features generally.

Hence, when the Belgians came, it was easy to see the Tutsi's as more European, already versed in ruling a society, and easy candidates to run the colony.

Since this is becoming longer than expected, I am going to put quotes in another post.

I want to add some to that.

Wikipedia--not always the most reliable source, but good--says

The Belgian government continued to rely on the Tutsi power structure for administering the country. It also consistently favoured the Tutsis where education was concerned, leading to a situation where many Tutsis were literate, while the majority of Hutus were not. Belgians educated the Tutsis in Catholic schools, which widened the ethnic rift between Hutu and Tutsi.

...Current academic thought is that the European emphasis on racial division led to many of the difficulties between Hutu and Tutsi in the latter part of the 20th century.

from Wikipedia:History of Rwanda

Here it talks about Hutu and Tutsi denominations, saying,

The word "Tutsi," which apparently first described the status of an individual—a person rich in cattle—became the term that referred to the elite group as a whole and the word "Hutu"—meaning originally a subordinate or follower of a more powerful person—came to refer to the mass of the ordinary people.

...Because Europeans thought that the Tutsi looked more like themselves than did other Rwandans, they found it reasonable to suppose them closer to Europeans in the evolutionary hierarchy and hence closer to them in ability. Believing the Tutsi to be more capable, they found it logical for the Tutsi to rule Hutu and Twa just as it was reasonable for Europeans to rule Africans. Unaware of the "Hutu" contribution to building Rwanda, the Europeans saw only that the ruler of this impressive state and many of his immediate entourage were Tutsi, which led them to assume that the complex institutions had been created exclusively by Tutsi.

Not surprisingly, Tutsi welcomed these ideas about their superiority...

(found in Rwandan History)

Although my reference towards the origin of the Hutu and Tutsi was not entirely clear, and generalizations are never entirely accurate, I still think the Hutu vs. Tutsi conflict has some bonafide similarities with the Shi'a/Sunni situation I wrote about in the first post, including the repercussions still today of Europeans arbitrarily outlining colonies.




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Chinese Censorship and Tour Guides

Yesterday, my family had a little get-together with some relatives to celebrate my brother's return from Italy. As talk moved to everyone's recent travels (Vietnam, Italy, Denmark, Germany, Thailand, Cambodia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia, Malaysia, China, Korea, and the Philippines), my aunt recounted her favorite times in China--the Great Wall and the Terracotta warriors.

Did you know he had concubines?

Then the topic turned to Mao.

The tour guide happily explained about Chairman Mao and all the great and wonderful things he did for China. Then he said, "he had a wife and a couple kids and was a great family man."

"Did you know he had concubines?" my cousin, fleunt in Mandarin and who graduated with a degree in Asian Studies, queried.

"No, that is not true," retorted the tour guide. "I have never heard such things."

"Oh but it is," she responded. "He had over one hundred concubines, and stopped brushing his teeth about 20 years before he died."

The tour guide's eyes widened. "Really? What more about Mao have we not been told?"

They don't have weapons now but watch out

My cousin proceeded to explain a few points to him. My aunt, relating the story, then said,

"Everywhere we went, we stood in long lines of tourists. With capitalism, China is embracing tourism, and where tourists go, people talk. Eventually, the aggregate sum of these encounters will lead to something big. Shanghai is an amazing city. In my opinion, it's more amazing than New York City. But you go 10 miles outside of Shanghai and people have mud floors in their huts. Right now, the government controls the media, but eventually this knowledge will spread, and you will have millions of angry citizens. They don't have weapons now, but watch out. It'll be big."

Iraq and the Melia

I was listening to NPR yesterday evening and couldnt help connecting the current conflict in Iraq with one in Africa that was the subject of two great movies: Hotel Rwanda and Sometimes in April.

What in the world could Baghdad have with the Hotel Melia?? Small bastions of solace amid a storm of sectarian violence spiraling out of control.

If you haven't seen Sometimes in April, I highly reccomend it. I think it is better than Hotel Rwanda, which is a great movie. Something running through both movies is the theme of international indifference while people slaughter each other over a name.

"What's in a name?? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."
(Who wrote that line?)

The Hutu and Tutsi sects that massacred each other in the movies above really were one people. The Belgians went into the colony and separated the people according to physical features that looked European vs. Non-european. The Tutsi, or European group became rulers over the more numerous Hutu group. When the Hutu regained power, tension spiraled towards genocide.

Now, in Iraq, we have the start of a similar situation. Shi'a and Sunni are both Arab, however, due to differences in religious belief, stemming from hundreds of years ago (i.e. who should rule after Mohammad, his grandson or someone else), numerous wars and sectarian violence has bred mutual animosity and distrust in --not all but-- a number of people who now work towards cleansing towns and suburbs of Baghdad of the "other" group. I fear it may have hit critical mass. The government there and here cannot stop the course of events without seriously stepping up manpower, and that will only put the lid on things until the "police" leave. How can you stop and change hundreds of years of pride and animosity?

I blame the Brits for arbitrarily creating Iraq from a mish-mash of ethnic and religious groups that weren't getting along then and don't now. The road to peace will be long and hard, changing the habits and prejudices of parents and children, and could start by having mandatory study of enlightenment philosophers in schools (for the young...when they can go to school). Obviously much more needs to be done, but I don't profess to have all the answers, if any.

Categories:

• America
• colonialism
• democracy
• government
• history
• human_rights
• Imperialism
• Iraq
• Locke
• religion
• terrorism
• Triet
• war

My First Day of Medical School

Today was my first day of medical school. On that note, I am taking the advice of a blogging master, Virtual Doug, and I am starting a one-post-a-day blog about medical school. It will consist only of my thoughts and experiences while in medical school or my life as it directly pertains to medical school (possibly alot, since that's all I'm doing for the next four years). I hope people find it interesting.

Welcome to A Med Student's Life.

Categories:

• medicine
• Texas
• Triet

Texas Drivers

I'm eating crow. Lots of it. Every day my wife ribs me as we drive around Houston looking for houses or taking her to tennis lessons.

"I thought you said Texas drivers were good?"

"I did."

"Well, I don't see that," she replies. "Nobody here is courteous. They're worse than Utah drivers."

"Now, don't say that! They haven't stooped that low!" I retort.

What's this world coming to when a smoking grandma tries to get you to rear-end her

But the truth is, they're coming close. Why? When I grew up here, drivers were courteous. They stopped with room to spare at lights to let merge out of parking lots and into traffic. They drove at that general lackadaisical pace found on the farms that "farm roads" are supposed to lead to (FM 529--farm road 529--is NOT a farm road anymore!). Sure, driving wasn't perfect--drivers weren't perfect--but people generally were nice, and after being helped out once, you typically returned the favor, spawning this viral good deed driving atmosphere.

Today things are different. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only driver on the road still doing the things listed above. Drivers drive fast, the ride bumpers to make a Southern Californian jealous. When I first got into town, my mother drove the family to the Museum of Natural Science. Someone tried to get over, put on his or her blinker, and my mother sped up.

"I can't let them in. They'll put me farther behind."

WHAT!? Then she proceeded to speed up, forcing the car to merge farther back, and then slammed on her brakes because she was riding the rear bumper of a SUV that was slowing. My heart leapt into my throat.

Driving has been hard for my wife. She has almost no experience driving in traffic like this, and our old car was a 1990 Toyota Camry held together by duct tape and chewing gum. It leaked more oil than it burned, and burned more than it used. Hopefully, she can take backroads as she gets used to a new car and roads.

For me, I still have the roads memorized. There are some new street lights where we used to have stopsigns, and stores where there was cow pastures, but generally the layout is the same. I've driven in Utah and SoCal, so I can manage the cutthroat practices here. The impetus for this rant came two days ago, when I almost got in an accident.

I was traveling down West Road, after dropping my wife off at tennis class. This area of West Rd. is four lanes, divided by a marge median with trees and grass. So two lanes one way, two the other. The oncoming two lanes were packed, as people returned home from work during rush hour. My lanes were generally empty because I'm driving east, into town.

I'm driving along at the speed limit, 40mph, left lane, with one silver car in front of me in the right lane. West Rd cuts through subdivisions in

If the lane I just came from wasn't empty, I'd be in that car's back bumper right now

this area, so there is a light at the intersection into one subdvision with my old elementary school, Fiest, and then another light maybe 200 ft past because of a blind turn into the intersection on the left. My entrance is on the right just past the second light.

Well, I passed the first light and switched over to the right lane because i will turn just after the second light. It turns yellow.

"Man, I just got into this lane behind the silver car," I thought. "I guess I'll move back because there's not a lot of room to stop and I'll be first at the light."

There were no other cars.

As I start to shift back to the left lane, the silver car in front of me slams on its breaks forcing me to cut over quickly so I don't hit it.

"What the heck?" I think to myself. "If the lane I just came from wasn't empty, I'd be in that car's back bumper right now."

I wasn't following inordinately close, the car just stopped really quickly. Whipping into the left lane, I look over and see an old gray-haired woman, about 70, lighting a cigarette. Her car comes to a complete stop a full 2 car lengths before the light. There's only about 200 ft or so between lights!

Gathering my wits before me, I moved back into the right hand lane since I needed to turn right. Mind you, I'm not cutting this smoking grandma off. Even with me in the right hand lane, there's still a good 12 feet between us. The light turns green, I take off, and the grandma speeds up, cuts into the left lane behind a car that caught up to us, and proceeds to give me the evilest glare as she passes me.

What's this world coming to when a smoking grandma tries to get you to rear-end her, stops multiple car lengths from the light, the gives you the evil-eye as she passes?? Beware Houston drivers.

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Landis in question for doping??!?!?!?!?

Phonak confirms Landis rider in question

The Phonak Cycling Team confirmed Thursday that Tour de France winner Floyd Landis is the rider who submitted a positive "A" sample following the 17th stage of this year's Tour de France. The UCI revealed Wednesday that the anti-doping laboratory at Châtenay-Malabry in Paris discovered an "adverse analytical finding" in a doping control taken during the 93rd Tour. "The adverse analytical finding received on Wednesday morning relates to the first analysis and will have to be confirmed either by a counter-analysis required by the rider, or by the fact that the rider renounces to that counter analysis," the UCI statement said. A positive "A" sample is only the first step in the process and does not constitute proof of any rider's use of performance-enhancing substances.

The Phonak Cycling Team issued the following statement Thursday, confirming Landis as the rider in question:

The Phonak Cycling Team was notified yesterday by the UCI of an unusual level of Testosteron/Epitestosteron ratio in the test made on Floyd Landis after stage 17 of the Tour de France.

The Team Management and the rider were both totally surprised of this physiological result. The rider will ask in the upcoming days for the counter analysis to prove either that this result is coming from a natural process or that this is resulting from a mistake in the confirmation. In application of the Pro Tour Ethical Code, the rider will not race anymore until this problem is totally clear.

If the result of the B sample analysis confirms the result of the A sample the rider will be dismissed and will then pass the corresponding endocrinological examinations. Please understand that we cannot at this time give you more detailed comments.

Categories:

• AnonCyclist
• corruption
• bicycle
• Tour_de_France
• sports

More about doping in the 2006 Tour DAY France.

The UCI revealed Wednesday that the anti-doping laboratory at Châtenay-Malabry in Paris discovered an "adverse analytical finding" in a doping control taken during the 93rd Tour.

<---- Is it one of these guys?
Please no. The European press loves a scandel as much as any news agency. Once a decade, they try to derail the tour on doping. Other reports show that the Astana-Wurth team which had five riders implicated in Operacion Puerto was cleared. That means that Vino's chance at taking the tour was derailed for NOTHING! This guy should have placed on the podium! --->

Categories:

• AnonCyclist
• bicycle
• corruption
• Tour_de_France
• sports

The Next Lance?

This guy, Levi may be Discovery Channel's next Lance. If no one knows, Levi used to be on the old US Postal Squad that became Disco.

Next years Tour de France will be another shocker. With people like Jan Ullrich trying to get cleared of doping problems, Vino who will be as combative as possible, and now Levi and Discovery, get ready to be on the edge of your seat again.

Today, word was released that one of the cyclists at the Tour had one of their blood samples test positive for some banned substance. Wow. Could a tour that was already rocked due to drugs be rocked even more? Well, in the next few days we will know who had to cheat to compete. These guys are at the top of their game and are driven at times to maintain their high placing or level of competition. Why dope?

Back to Levi. With an entire team behind him, his chances of standing on top of the podium in Paris next year skyrockets. However, look at the horrible time trial that Levi rode. This next season, he definately needs to spend a little more time on the TT bike and get rid of all excuses to lose eight minutes to the first place finisher of the ITT stages.


On other news... I am interested in getting the new SRAM Force/Rival components for my bike. Right now, two major companies control ALL of the high end cycling market: Shimano and Campy. I have been a Shimano rider for a long time...ever since I started racing bikes. However, I am displeased with the cost of the components and sometimes the weight of the components. SRAM is moving into the arena with two groupos that offer better pricing and usage together.


I AM A STUDENT FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! CHEAPER... lighter... stronger parts are what I call for my bike!

Categories:

• AnonCyclist
• bicycle
• corruption
• sports
• Tour_de_France

Americans Dominate French Tour

As you know, I love the Tour de France. I like cycling, but I'm not good at it, and I love watching the tour. Dunno why. This year, with the moving and all, I haven't posted about it, but hopefully AnonCyclist will stop worrying about my great Texas/Vietnam logo or med school applications and fill us in on the state of cycling (since he is a cyclist).

Floyd Landis was not the race favorite in May. He wasn't the race favorite in June. Only after Ivan Basso, Jan Ullrich, and some other big names were barred from competing because of the blood doping scandal, and some bad accidents at the beginning of the race dashed the hopes of one or two others, did Landis move from a potential top 10 finisher to a potential winner--and he didn't disappoint.

That makes 11 in 21 years ... They're probably sick to death of the Star Spangled Banner

In fact, there's a theme here. Americans don't like cycling nearly as much as europeans, but we can kick their trash IF we are NOT healthy. There have been three winners of the tour--Greg LeMond, Lance Armstrong, and Floyd Landis. Greg was shot and nearly killed right after winning his first Tour de France.

Over forty shotgun pellets ripped through Greg's body, lodging not only in his back and legs, but more critically in his small intestine, liver, diaphragm, and heart lining. While waiting for rescue, his right lung collapsed and he lost three quarters of his blood supply. A cell phone, a police helicopter and nearby hospital that specialized in gun shot wounds saved his life. Because of the dangerous locations, surgeons were forced to leave over thirty of the pellets imbedded in his body.

He came back from this adversity to win the Tour in 1989 and 1990 before retiring.

Armstrong's saga is well-known, and provides a great springboard for politics which many people predict he will get into. Maybe we will see a Governor Armstrong in Texas. Anyway, his fight and victory over cancer, return to cycling, and domination of the world's toughest race and most talented racers, turned into seven consequtive yellow jerseys and an explosion of cycling interest in America.

But then he retired and the French breathed a sigh of relief that an uncouth American would not win their tour again. Boy were they wrong. Out pops Landis, who rides on an arthritic hip that will be replaced in the next month or two. He bonks, is in 11th place and 8:08 back entering the final mountain stage, and proceeds to go for broke--ending up third, 30 seconds behind Oscar Pereio, who he beat during the time trial to win the Tour de France.

That makes 11 in 21 years. Those Frenchies have gotta hate us. They're probably sick to death of the Star Spangled Banner.

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Categories:

• Triet
• bicycle
• corruption
• Tour_de_France
• sports
• America

What's up with Texas? Does it now have....

What's up with the Texas picture in the upper right hand corner? It looks like it has a massive gastrointestinal tract. I can see it now in the headlines:

"Texas eats up all of the resources of Oklahoma.

Sends the trash into Mexico."

Well, who really knows? I think I have used more question marks in this post than I have in the last 4 weeks of filling out medical school secondaries. HA HA.

Next headline for Texas. In the latest magazine stand at the Wal-Mart grocery side of the store you find this headline:

"Keep energy costs down, fry on the hood of your car and use the inside for an oven!"

Well, I don't really know if the temperatures are as high in Texas as they are in Houston. With 100% humidity, you should be able to see the moisture move out of the way of your hand as you try to fan yourself in the middle of the day.

Have fun. And keep the ear bleeding!

Categories:

• AnonCyclist
• Texas
• Mexico
• medicine
• TheBleedingEar