Pre-Inauguration/Pre-Spring Semester

Tomorrow was supposed to be the first day of the spring semester. However, there is kind of a big deal historic event going on tomorrow in the D.C. area (where I live, actually Northern Virginia), the inauguration of our 44th President, Barack Obama. The actual oath of office is pretty short, "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States," and is mandated by the Constitution, Article 2, Clause 8, and historically the President-elect adds "so help me God," even though it's not in the Constitution. I'm excited for a few reasons, I voted for Obama, I'm looking forward to his inaugural address even though I think a lot of people may have overly high expectations of it, and I'm also looking forward to see how he pays off his campaign promises.

The weather is supposed to be in the lower 30s, and they're expecting about millions of people on the mall, in the ticketed area in front of the western side of the Capitol, and all along the parade route between the Capitol and White House in the general vicinity. Here's a picture of the layout, courtesy of the Washington Post, for anyone unfamiliar with D.C. I will be watching from my warm couch.


I had a dentist appointment today for my semi-annual (is that the correct word for twice a year?) cleaning. On the dental front, everything is a-ok, even though after I left my job with the intellectual property law firm, I lost my insurance. To continue the work insurance, via COBRA, it would have been around $400+ a month for my health insurance and dental insurance. That seemed like a rip-off to me, and I know that when you leave an employer, they are no longer required to subsidize the cost of your insurance, so you get to bear full freight for it. I have no pre-existing conditions, and I'm generally healthy so I figured I wouldn't be denied. I thought I could get a better deal elsewhere, so I got insurance on my own and it's about $151/month and includes a dental rider. I can't complain.

Due to the inauguration, and the gridlock & congestion they are predicting, tomorrow's first day of classes were canceled, so the first day of class will now be Wednesday the 21st. This semester I'm taking the second half of anatomy & physiology, animal biology, general chemistry II, and microbiology. I have the same professors for gen chem II, and the a & p lecture and lab. I'm excited, but I also am taking 4 labs, versus the 3 labs I took last semester. I think I'll be able to handle it, and do well, and after the spring semester the only prerequisites I will have left to finish are organic chemistry I & II and physics I & II, and I will be ready to apply to medical school. One of the gifts I got for Christmas was a whiteboard/dry-erase board from my sister, which will come in handy this semester, I will be able to do practice problems, draw diagrams, etc. on it which can only help in reinforcing and consolidating what I'm learning, and it's plenty big enough to keep track of a bunch of things. I guess that's pretty adorkable of me to get so excited over a whiteboard, but hey that's me!

In another note, there are a few internships I'm interested in applying in, one in particular is nearby, has a $3500 stipend, and the deadline for filing an application is February 1, so I better get on it if I'm going to do it.