Idaho

So I have to admit, Boise is actually a pretty cool place. Very unexpected. From what I hear, it is the "New Denver" with a lot more potatoes. Jana and I saw a mound of potatoes approximately 50 feet high and larger than a football field. Big draws include Bridger Bowl, Sun Valley, 300 days of sunshine each year, and Brother Dave. Not too many negatives here, except the crime spree in nearby Caldwell (two drive by shootings this year, the end is near). The residency is very strong, allegedly in the top ten for the country, but the residents really didn't seem very happy. They also provided boxed wine at the post interview party. Boise was much higher on my list before I visited other programs.

Pocatello, not so cool. Nice people, very nice people, very very creepily nice people. Too nice. The faculty was awesome, good liberal academicians, the residents mostly of the LDS faith. In this small town it would have been a little overwhelming. On the positive side, very good feedback. I was actually taken out of an interview by the program director in order to call Jana on our cell phone and have her come to interview with the director of the pharmacy residency regarding job opportunities. Seems like they want me to come.

I will talk about Oregon tomorrow. I have to admit I had a very exhausting, yet rewarding week. It seems that the medical school process (admission, basic sciences, clinical sciences) are not so good for the ego. After being beaten down the past few years, it has been quite a serendipity to actually be wanted, recruited, and encouraged to join the residencies I have visited.

Hello, my name is Heribierto Miranda.

I got a new Bally's card today, with my picture. It seems I lost the old one (along with an Adidas knit cap and my digital watch...anyone seen any of these items?) and have been using that as an excuse to not work out. It appears they punched in the wrong number when printing out the card. Glad to be back in Tucson and returning to my hispanic roots. More on my travels/interviews to come.

Urge to kill weakening...

So, after a few days of letting the dust and demons settle via copious studying, I am finally ready to lay the recent presidential elections to rest. An aptly described "post mortem" by Kyle.

I am disappointed. Will this likely affect my personal future? No, probably not. Will I like the direction that the future of our nation is heading? No, probably not. There has been a lot of talk about how one candidate or the other was the "lesser of two evils," and while I don't think that they were quite that bad (at least Kerry wasn't that bad), I find it disheartening that our country is becoming so polarized and divided. To reach out and embrace what is considered black or white by the often hypocritical politicians and vote on single issues will be the downfall of this country. To sum my final comments on this election I would like to refute a couple of statements that have recently made headlines.

Cheney's declaration of a "mandate" for the Bush administration and it's policies: How a "mandate" can be opposed by 48% of the people in this country boggles me. I dream of seeing this administration realize that half the country disagrees with them and ceasing the enforcement of their "values" Will this happen? No, probably not.

President Bush (shudder) received more votes than any President in US history: Senator Kerry also received more votes than any President in US history. This indicates to me that the misinterpretation of data or proliferation of white lies and the view of "life-out-of-context" will continue for another four years. No surprise. Would it have been any different if Kerry won? No, probably not.

Finally, a bit of good news: Due to the worst possible planning of all time regarding the birth of our unborn child (Graduate:May 14, move to ??, Residency July 1, Due date June 20), there is a slight chance that he (Rob Jr.) or she (Jana Jr.) might be born while travelling through Canada on our way to Alaska. Does the baby get dual citizenship? A free ticket to escape GW's Orwellian Future? Any ideas from our Canadian fans (Arthur, Marsha) out there?

PS-The title of this post is purely a Simpson's reference. Please do not report me to the Office of Homeland Security

The horror...

10:25pm...election night...suspense is killing me...maybe it won't matter much...God help us all. Did you vote?