Thanksgiving is just two days away, and I've got a lot to be thankful for. For instance, compared to last year, I've got my health! I've had another wonderful year with Ted and I have a loving, caring family. I've grown closer to my labmates and advisors, which I'm going to mark in the win column. I've been incredibly (I would almost go so far as to say "unbelievably") successful with my work, between my Sigcomm, HotNets, PAM, and IMC papers (holy crap, were those all this year?), the Best Student Paper Award for Persona, and the fact that two of those papers will be going towards my thesis. Sony and Obama are pairing up to get LittleBigPlanet in libraries across the nation, so I even have hope for the future of America.
Seriously, the game is that amazing. I only wish that I had more time to play it! Sadly, the slow and steady march of progress moves me on to other games, but LittleBigPlanet will always hold a special place in my heart, along with Super Smash Brothers Melee and Disgaea.
In any case, tomorrow I go to the doctor for a check-up, from which I'll leave to go to my cousin's place for Thanksgiving. The check-up should be pretty interesting; I think I'm getting the results from my PCR, which should be interesting on way or another. I also need to see what's going on with my next shipment of Gleevec. It should be here by now, I would think, though I do still have about two weeks worth of Gleevec, so I'm not too concerned yet.
I'm sure my family will enjoy my mo tomorrow. I facebooked (shush, spellchecker, it is a word if I say it is, and so is "spellchecker") Anika today to ask about getting dye for it, and it sounds like she'll be able to give me some. I'm thinking of going with a dark blue, and depending on my mood at the time and the quantity of hair dye she can give me, I'll dye my hair, too. Look forward to a picture of that! I may also have a mo-shaving party. Dave suggested that I serve mojitos and mogaritas (with coconut shavings instead of salt).
Showing posts with label Movember. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Movember. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Not a Bill
Today, I almost thought I got my bill for my hospital stay over two months ago. It turns out that it's not a bill though, and just a statement of what I'm being charged. After about a 90% reduction thanks to insurance, I'm left with exactly $2561.28 in expenses.
I'm not going to lie; it is a lot of money. Fortunately, I've always made sure that I kept some money in savings, so I will be able to afford it. It's just... after 9 years of college and grad school, I've only managed to save up about $7000, and now over a third of that might go to this one expense. I say "might" because I probably won't actually have to pay that much. The statement (which is "not a bill") came with an insert that says the following:
I'm 100% certain that I'm under 500% of the poverty level, since that's what's necessary to get Gleevec for free from Novartis. Thanks again for that, by the way, Novartis. I'm pretty certain that I'm under 400% as well. If I'm not under 200%, I'm not much higher than it. Such is the life of a grad student. I guess, though, that I should be grateful for what I have rather than regretful of what I don't. Besides, I can't complain, because I think that in the end my education will be worth far more than what I've had to pay for it, even if you factor in costs such as missed opportunities. As much as I complain, my education is really going to be worth something when I finally get out of here.
Speaking of my education, our Sigcomm plans are starting to come together. I'm pretty sure we'll have a decent submission. I almost regret my paper last year about a distributed, privacy-preserving online social network called Persona; while I certainly don't regret winning Best Student Paper, it's almost impossible to follow-up on the paper because it solves so much! Every time we think we have a problem, we realize that Persona solves it almost trivially... almost so much that we couldn't possibly get an entire paper out of it. It's a little frustrating because I feel that there's a bit less to do in the area of privacy in social networks, but that's most likely going to be my thesis topic so I need to come up with something. Our current idea feels a little weak, but that's probably only because I've always set my bar too high. I just get tired of reading papers that design a system exactly as you'd expect if you were to just sit down with the problem for a few minutes.
In other Carmichael news, I've been having some trouble socially. Some of the people involved either do read this blog, might read this blog, or have a reputation that I wouldn't want to tarnish with my minor annoyances. My problems are two-fold. First, I'm supposed to drink in moderation, so even if I'm out having fun I only have one or two drinks, not enough to even really get me buzzed. Ordinarily I wouldn't really care, since I don't really enjoy drinking that much. However, I really don't like being out with a bunch of people who are drinking without me, because I think the social dynamic gets thrown totally off-kilter. Plus, since I don't really drive anywhere, I'm not even able to be the designated driver, so I can't even do some good by being sober. I'll just say thanks, Bender, for driving on Saturday, and leave it at that.
My second problem is that, as much as I would like to, I can't forget about Carmichael. It's bad enough that my alarm goes off at noon every day reminding me to take my pill and that I almost have a side effect of some sort (currently it's back muscle aches, joint pain in my legs and feet, and occasional numbness in my right big toe). Tangent: I wonder if I can deal with side effects better if I think of them more like status effects in an RPG? Anyway, the thing that really gets to me is that someone who shall remain nameless is having an even harder time with Carmichael than I am. That, and I can often tell that when he looks at me. That, and when he's drunk, his inner monologue becomes an outer monologue.
And now, before I finish off this post, I figured everyone might want to see how my Mo is doing! Enjoy the pictures.
And don't forget to check out my Movember page if you want to donate some money for the fight against testicular and prostate cancer!
I'm not going to lie; it is a lot of money. Fortunately, I've always made sure that I kept some money in savings, so I will be able to afford it. It's just... after 9 years of college and grad school, I've only managed to save up about $7000, and now over a third of that might go to this one expense. I say "might" because I probably won't actually have to pay that much. The statement (which is "not a bill") came with an insert that says the following:
University of Maryland Medical Center meets or exceeds the legal requirements by providing financial assistance to those individuals in households below 200% of the federal poverty level and reduced cost-care up to 400% of the federal poverty level.
I'm 100% certain that I'm under 500% of the poverty level, since that's what's necessary to get Gleevec for free from Novartis. Thanks again for that, by the way, Novartis. I'm pretty certain that I'm under 400% as well. If I'm not under 200%, I'm not much higher than it. Such is the life of a grad student. I guess, though, that I should be grateful for what I have rather than regretful of what I don't. Besides, I can't complain, because I think that in the end my education will be worth far more than what I've had to pay for it, even if you factor in costs such as missed opportunities. As much as I complain, my education is really going to be worth something when I finally get out of here.
Speaking of my education, our Sigcomm plans are starting to come together. I'm pretty sure we'll have a decent submission. I almost regret my paper last year about a distributed, privacy-preserving online social network called Persona; while I certainly don't regret winning Best Student Paper, it's almost impossible to follow-up on the paper because it solves so much! Every time we think we have a problem, we realize that Persona solves it almost trivially... almost so much that we couldn't possibly get an entire paper out of it. It's a little frustrating because I feel that there's a bit less to do in the area of privacy in social networks, but that's most likely going to be my thesis topic so I need to come up with something. Our current idea feels a little weak, but that's probably only because I've always set my bar too high. I just get tired of reading papers that design a system exactly as you'd expect if you were to just sit down with the problem for a few minutes.
In other Carmichael news, I've been having some trouble socially. Some of the people involved either do read this blog, might read this blog, or have a reputation that I wouldn't want to tarnish with my minor annoyances. My problems are two-fold. First, I'm supposed to drink in moderation, so even if I'm out having fun I only have one or two drinks, not enough to even really get me buzzed. Ordinarily I wouldn't really care, since I don't really enjoy drinking that much. However, I really don't like being out with a bunch of people who are drinking without me, because I think the social dynamic gets thrown totally off-kilter. Plus, since I don't really drive anywhere, I'm not even able to be the designated driver, so I can't even do some good by being sober. I'll just say thanks, Bender, for driving on Saturday, and leave it at that.
My second problem is that, as much as I would like to, I can't forget about Carmichael. It's bad enough that my alarm goes off at noon every day reminding me to take my pill and that I almost have a side effect of some sort (currently it's back muscle aches, joint pain in my legs and feet, and occasional numbness in my right big toe). Tangent: I wonder if I can deal with side effects better if I think of them more like status effects in an RPG? Anyway, the thing that really gets to me is that someone who shall remain nameless is having an even harder time with Carmichael than I am. That, and I can often tell that when he looks at me. That, and when he's drunk, his inner monologue becomes an outer monologue.
And now, before I finish off this post, I figured everyone might want to see how my Mo is doing! Enjoy the pictures.
And don't forget to check out my Movember page if you want to donate some money for the fight against testicular and prostate cancer!
Saturday, November 07, 2009
Odds and Ends
Sorry for the delay between posts, but I'm engrossed in a video game at the moment. Demon's Souls is a very addictive game, and I initially thought I would dislike it due to the difficulty. It turns out, though, that the difficulty is deceptive, since the game is very hard in the beginning and gets much easier as you get a handle of things. I still have quite a bit to do to get the platinum trophy, but I'm well on my way.
I promised to post the picture from the Bodies exhibit in New York, but forgot... so here it is:
Speaking of pictures, here are two more. I've decided to participate in Movember to raise awareness and maybe money for the fights against testicular and prostate cancer. I'm not really the type of person to fund raise, but Carmichael is making me think twice about it. Besides... I think the concept of Movember is brilliant.
Side effects lately have been pretty mild. My stomach hurts for a few minutes when I wake up in the morning, and my muscles have been aching quite a bit but that didn't stop me from going to the gym on Monday and Tuesday. It did on Thursday and Friday, but now that I no longer think my expanding spleen is my expanding fat belly I'm willing to take it easier on myself in terms of working out. Other than that, there was one day where I was a space cadet and had a headache, but those effects seem to have passed.
I promised to post the picture from the Bodies exhibit in New York, but forgot... so here it is:
Speaking of pictures, here are two more. I've decided to participate in Movember to raise awareness and maybe money for the fights against testicular and prostate cancer. I'm not really the type of person to fund raise, but Carmichael is making me think twice about it. Besides... I think the concept of Movember is brilliant.
Side effects lately have been pretty mild. My stomach hurts for a few minutes when I wake up in the morning, and my muscles have been aching quite a bit but that didn't stop me from going to the gym on Monday and Tuesday. It did on Thursday and Friday, but now that I no longer think my expanding spleen is my expanding fat belly I'm willing to take it easier on myself in terms of working out. Other than that, there was one day where I was a space cadet and had a headache, but those effects seem to have passed.
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