Personal Dork Assistant

Owies

The GF took a hard spill on the rain-slicked pavement on the way to work. She was still feeling pains in her backside and lower back after a day, and sitting in an office chair all day didn't help. She wanted to go see a doctor to get it checked out. At first I was inclined to disagree since it was just a fall and it's not as if she's 80, and seeing a doctor just feels like such a hassle. Nevertheless, it is her health we're talking about, so I suggested going to a hospital rather than clinic since clinics won't have the X-ray equipment so all they'd be able to do is to feel up her ass.

So she made the appointment and we went to the hospital with her after work to get her checked out. I was used to American healthcare with all the insurance hassles and ridiculously high walk-in costs. But she got registered, saw the ortho on-duty, went to Radiology get an X-ray, with the image electronically transmitted back to the ortho's desk. The doc took a look, no fractures or breaks, and sent us on our way with a prescription of acetaminophen (pain reliever) and chlorzoxazone (muscle relaxant). All for a few hundred NTD and under an hour. Even had time to go get dinner afterwards. Efficient, cost-effective health care. What a concept!

Stupid Frosh

It's that time of year again, when the best and brightest young people across the land step cross the threshold of adulthood and embark upon their journey of self-discovery by deciding on the college they will attend. I was naive and lazy so I committed to Early Decision without doing much research. Nowadays kids have this thing called the Internet where they can talk to complete strangers handing out anonymous advice on what they should do with their life for the next four (or five, or six) years.

It's a difficult challenge to decide whether a person is the right fit for a specialized school like Caltech. Luckily, various Techers have been hanging out on the College Confidential discussion boards to offer the pre-frosh sage advice. You have the brilliant genius who cruises through his classes, conducts award-winning research, post long essays on the Internet, and still manages seven hours of sleep per night. Then there's the guy who actually tries to have a life, gets involved in student government and academic committees, possibly at the expense of his grades. But hey, in the end he'll still have a degree from Caltech so why not enjoy it in the meantime?

Then there are the Bitter Ones. They represent the west-side version of the IHTFP spirit. They're usually kept away from the impressionable kids during pre-frosh weekend, but it's probably a good thing the prospective Techers get a splash of cold water via the Internet.

Caltech is not a place for fun. It is a place for work. Yes, you get amazing experience in science and meet wonderful people. But, this place also breaks a lot of people. The number of techers who graduate from here turned off to math and science for the rest of their lives is not an insignificant one. I am fortunately not one of the many people I know who have turned to therapy and anti-depressants to handle the pressure and the pain of a Caltech education...

If I had known what I know now about science and research, I may have gone to another university. However, I could never have gotten this same knowledge and experience anywhere else so despite the pain Caltech has been worthwhile to me. I'm not saying that Caltech can't be worthwhile but you have to be prepared to lose yourself in this pursuit and know that you would not be alone in your struggle to just survive until graduation day.

Three cheers to Bitter Person for a job well done! (Hip-hip-hooray)³!

PDA Eats

I am proud to introduce 吃飯了嗎? ("Have You Eaten Yet", a.k.a. the most common opening query upon meeting any Chinese relative), the latest addition to the Personal Dork media empire. You can check out the Eats page itself, or just check the Latest Eats sidebar entry on the PDA main page.

Foodie blogs does seem to be the latest thing, and since eating is the most common interest between the GF and I, we've had plenty of chances to sample the offerings around Taipei, among other places. One can certainly survive in Taiwan without cooking at all, with all the options from roadside carts to fancy n-star establishments, and I'll be covering the spectrum. I should get over my aversion to snapping photos in restaurants, though.

Cannonball Run

Personally I figured they should've just left it where it was, but as usual the Flems had to get all pissy and run out to get their precious cannon back. Of course, they had to figure out that the Mudders weren't the ones who did it this time. Hey, somebody had to do it, and other Techers couldn't because of Interhouse rules.

Sure, it was totally weak that Fleming let the MIT geeks get away with the cannon in the first place, but there were extenuating circumstances.

1. The South Houses were being renovated, so the cannon had been moved off-campus rather than sitting right outside Fleming Hovse.
2. The cannon couldn't be seriously locked down because it was sitting on grass.
3. The cannon was located along the street, making the getaway a heck of a lot easier.
4. They outsmarted Caltech security. Hardly takes a genius to do that.

Not that I'm biased or anything, but the MIT Prefrosh Weekend prank was a lot more clever than moving a large object cross-country. Although it's about the only way either school would ever get noticed on ESPN.

—Ruddock '97