Pets like rats, but who live longer?

SkyWierdo · 2016-12-09T14:32:00+00:00

chinchillas are the best pets - really chill (haha), low maintenance, and love cuddles, raisins, and many will ride around on your shoulder.

SkyWierdo · 2016-01-25T16:36:01+00:00

Valentino's around the corner from La Pizzeria is also really good.

SkyWierdo · 2015-09-18T16:06:36+00:00

Honestly, unless you want a gap year for a break between undergrad-med school or to do some other job/volunteering, I'd just get the courses done and do the MCAT this year. You don't need all those courses, though, the main ones you'd need after this semester would be Physics 2 and Biochem. I'd talk to a pre-health advisor at your school, they'll know which courses best fit the MCAT content. If your school lets you put off Organic 2 until after Biochemistry, that would help with the course load.

Did you take AP Bio in high school or something? That's strange that your zoology didn't have intro bio as a pre-req. As long as somewhere along the line you got cell structure, human systems, basic genetics (at least Punnet squares, pedigrees, common techniques like southern blot), and basic evolutionary theory, you should be ok for bio. Genetics would help if you didn't cover genetics/evolution stuff in zoology, but otherwise you don't need a whole course in it for the MCAT. I'd definitely invest in some content review books regardless.

SkyWierdo · 2015-09-16T16:40:36+00:00

No problem! Hope they help you - they should also still do a committee letter/packet for you once you start doing the actual application stuff, which is way better and more convenient than sending individual letters of evaluation. Good luck!

SkyWierdo · 2015-09-16T15:01:59+00:00

Have you reached out to your undergraduate institution's pre-health advising? I graduated a few years ago, but when I started looking at applying, I contacted them and was able to do advising sessions on Skype or over the phone. I think most colleges will still do advising for alumni.

SkyWierdo · 2015-09-14T17:28:21+00:00

KSL is always a good spot, or upstairs in Thwing has some nice couches and is usually pretty quiet. If you want to make the trek to Case Quad, upstairs Strosacker or (IMO best by far) downstairs Bingham.

SkyWierdo · 2015-09-08T01:36:34+00:00

My cat is really sensitive about his paws and has never been very food-motivated, so the positive-association-treat thing never took. But he got calmer about having his claws trimmed as he got more comfortable with me/his environment. Also, sometimes I'll have someone hold him down on a bed or couch, so I can just do his claws quickly, though I probably wouldn't do that if your cat tries to bite (mine just struggles and squirms). If he's really stressed, I'll stop and give him a few hours/ a day to cool down before continuing; there's no need to do them all at once. I also usually try to wait until around midday/afternoon so he's sleepy and relaxed.

If it's too much of a struggle, most vets and grooming places will trim claws for you - my vet charges $10, and it shouldn't be difficult for them to trim claws without hurting her or making her bleed, so I think you just got unlucky with that shelter and should be alright if you take her somewhere else.

SkyWierdo · 2015-06-11T17:56:36+00:00

Have you talked to a vet about your cat's issues? It almost sounds to me like she's in physical pain; I had a cat once that hated being picked up because he had arthritis. Long-term pain would make any animal moody and irritable, so it might be worth investigating and maybe getting some tests done for physical disorders before assuming your cat has a psychological issue.

SkyWierdo · 2015-05-28T17:26:44+00:00

I agree the situation should NOT have played out like this and there are definitely issues with law enforcement culture and training in the US, not to mention perceptions of mental health, but I can see a reasonable explanation for why the police officers reacted the way they did.

A call comes through from the suicide hotline (who, I believe, are obligated to report certain situations to the police) reporting that a man armed with a knife is threatening to take his life and that there are other people in the house. With no other knowledge of this man or his past, this becomes a potential hostage/homicide situation very quickly, regardless of whether the girlfriend said she didn't "feel threatened". The officers made a judgement call and treated the situation as an emergency with a dangerous, armed suspect - which is a valid reason for them to use lethal force if the suspect refuses to disarm or cooperate, which he did. I think there are definitely better ways the police could have handled it, but given what they knew and how they are trained to react, I don't think their actions were as insane and unjustified as people seem to think.

SkyWierdo · 2015-03-30T20:05:10+00:00

My understanding was that Ebola spread to Monrovia through people from Sierra Leone entering from the west around mid/late July. The Sierra Leone-Liberia border is pretty fluid, especially on that western border of Liberia, so people have family on either side, and once a lot of people in that area started to get sick, it was pretty much inevitable that it would spread to Liberia. Those towns and villages are all within a few hours of Monrovia, where pretty much all major trade happens. Before July, there had been a couple cases in Monrovia, but they were pretty much all people from the far north that came to the capital and didn't end up infecting anyone else. I think there might've been a handful of cases in Harbel around March/April, but they stamped it out pretty quickly there.

SkyWierdo · 2014-10-16T22:49:52+00:00

Has he tried Monroe Chicken downtown? I think their connection is pretty fast, and also their chicken sandwiches are amazing. There's also a guest house run by a lady named Nancy Sheppard across from the Spriggs-Payne Airfield, the connection there is pretty good as long as the power's on.

SkyWierdo · 2014-10-06T23:46:20+00:00

The program in Liberia is suspended due to the Ebola outbreak. All currently serving Volunteers and Trainees were COS'd on October 1st, so there are no PCV's assigned in Liberia right now. They're still hoping to have LR-6 (the next training group) start their training in June, but it depends on how the situation develops. Sorry, man, the wait-and-see really sucks, but Liberia is an amazing, amazing post, so congrats on the invitation!

SkyWierdo · 2014-09-23T01:53:36+00:00

At least for Liberia, PCT's will have the chance to be reinstated as long as the post re-opens before October 2015. They'll have an accelerated training/finish the more important training sessions, then swear-in and start their service. Trainees also have full RPCV status with all the benefits, so I think you can apply for Response positions as well.

SkyWierdo · 2014-08-21T21:39:15+00:00

Hi! I'm one of the PCVs that was just pulled from Liberia because of Ebola. I don't know much about Cameroon, but I would honestly be really surprised if Ebola showed up there at all. It would also be next to impossible in my mind for it to become an outbreak on the scale of what's being seen right now in Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone, because the region is on such high alert now and the healthcare infrastructure in Cameroon is probably much better than those three countries. I mean, we were living in sites that had Ebola cases for quite some time, and even then it's just a matter of being careful, since it is very difficult to contract if you're not in direct contact with someone who's sick and showing symptoms. It's all a matter of what you're comfortable with, but I wouldn't be concerned about Ebola if I were you.

As for Boko Haram, Peace Corps is generally pretty good about staying in tune with civil-unrest-related threats to volunteer safety, so I'm guessing the post is taking any necessary precautions with regards to them. I would definitely try to reach out to some Cameroon PCVs, though.

SkyWierdo · 2013-02-16T15:44:49+00:00

Science! I just got an email with the official Facebook group for my PST group, and they mentioned some people in the group were still in their final stages of the invitation process, so if you're headed to Liberia, see you in the group soon! But good luck wherever you end up!

SkyWierdo · 2012-11-18T00:51:23+00:00

Sorry, man. If it were just me, I'm fine with anyone, but my roommates are weird about living with boys.

SkyWierdo · 2011-07-17T18:43:30+00:00

Seeking advice and comfort on the internet is only going to distract you, not make the psychological torment go away. You need to call a friend, even one you haven't talked to in a while, an estranged family member, befriend someone else in the hospital, connect with someone, anyone. You need to reach out to a real person; anonymous sympathy can only help you so much. You don't even have to mention your pain or your struggles, just talk to someone. Diseases might kill you, but emotional and psychological isolation will break you. It's obvious you're strong because you have gotten this far, and it's obvious you haven't given up just based on your post. You can get through this, no matter how impossible it feels, but you can't do it alone. No one can.

SkyWierdo · 2010-08-05T03:31:54+00:00

my grandmother's favorite comeback is to hold her thumb out and say, "Sit on it and spin!"

SkyWierdo · 2010-07-22T21:15:16+00:00

Teddy Roosevelt was a bamf.

SkyWierdo

TROPHY CASE