Shortly after the end of the Civil War a Georgia pharmacist named Pemberton invented a carbonated concoction in his back yard.
Somwhere along the way, Coca Cola marketed itself with the phrase: "Nothin' like the real thing." Or is that a clause?
Anyhow, there really ain't nothing like the real thing. I got by during my Harding years on cheap Sam's Cola and various other bottom of the barrel knockoffs. But fake coke has now taken a back seat to the real stuff because the real stuff tastes better.
Amber and I went to the Mt. Pleasant La Hacienda today and splurged on some caffeinated goodness--but it just didn't taste right. After sipping down a full glass (and making a sour face after each sip and slurp) I finally pinned down what it was that I was choking down through a plastic straw--Cheap coke knock-off.
I'm through with La Ha...
The Best $50 I ever made
I turned 25 in March. On that wonderful day, I got to celebrate joining the rest of the world with reasonable car insurance rates. Unfortunately, 25 is also the age that Mom and Dad's health insurance gave me the boot. It was nice while it lasted. I signed up for my own, and I got a message that my premium was going up 10% because I'm getting older. (Correction: I procrastinated until Amber got so frustrated with me that she signed me up for some health insurance. I just signed the paperwork)
I've started attending lunch lectures on topics such as the two kinds of disability insurance
and financial solutions for starting your practice.
It hit me just the other day. I've never earned a real paycheck. Sure I've had a few summer flings with employment here and there, but I've never worked a real job.
I had an opportunity to bring in the big bucks Friday and today. One of the regional dental licensure testing agencies came to town to offer their "services" to the senior class. To say that those students were a little tense would be an understatement. Failure means that they loose an exorbitant test fee, and more importantly, they have take the test in another state before graduating.
The whole set-up was pretty controlled. Obscure paperwork flows from room to room. Examiners are not permitted to see the dental student who performs the work. I and my fellow minions escorted patients from the operatories to the examiner's secluded floor where they poked, prodded, and scrutinized each student's work.
In the meantime, I prodded and scrutinized how each examiner did his diligent duty. At some point, somebody asked why I'd do the such a monotonous job on my three day weekend. "It's simple" I told her. "I'm getting paid to gather intelligence." The testing agency offered me $50 per day to assist the examiners in the scoring area and watch exactly how they did their job.
The money won't go far, but at least I got to know the "enemy."
The Bachelor
Amber left me and left town to stay with her parents for a while. That leaves me to hold down the pad. Suddenly, the couch feels bigger, and dinner is a lot lonelier.
I'm going to watch TV shows with lots of explosions and not cuddle and then I'll play video games all night.
Then I'll get fast food for dinner, and eat junk food until my stomach hurts.
Oh man do I hate spring break when it's not my spring break.
March Madness
My 2008 bracket isn't looking so good....
PBC
It's official. Amber and I are going to camp this year. I had to beat our dean of clinical affairs in a jello wrestling match in order to get the time off, but I'm free for a week and we're off to PBC. Now... what to do with all this jello...
Home Alone in a Flat World
For one of the first times since we've been married, I'm home alone for the weekend. As much as I'm enjoying not fighting for the covers, I can't wait until Josh comes home tomorrow. 
Anyway, while he's been gone, I've been catching up on some reading. I've been hearing about Friedman's The World is Flat for a while now, but with the job situation last semester I didn't have time to sit down and read the book.
I've only made it through a couple of chapters, but the premise of the book is that technology is leveling the playing field. My biggest question as I read is what does this mean for me and my students? Though we teach our students to use Word and remind them to never use Wikipedia (ha!), I'm not sure we're really teaching them the skills they need to make it in the world. In fact, many of my students know little about computers other than how to get around the firewall!
I'd love to get some input from others on what our students need to know when they enter college and the "real" world:
1) Should we be blocking technologies like Skype in our schools? We could be talking to experts around the world, but instead we block any type of chat or webconferencing tool for the safety of our students.
2) Which software programs (including web-based apps) are most important for our students?
3) What was most useful for you in high school? Which skills do you still actually use?
4) What are the essentials students need to know to get a job (and keep it)?
Color Pencil Gazebo
I like this version better. Color pencil filter everywhere but the gazebo.
Gazebo at White Point Gardens
I'm on Spring Break, so I thought I'd take some time to learn a little photoshop. This is my first attempt. I wanted to partially turn a picture into a line drawing. I'm not entirely happy.
FedEx Stinks
Fedex sent my goodies from Texas to California. Wrong way, geniuses. Now I don't like them.