One Hundred and Ninety-two, Death of 'Ole Blue

Around eight years ago the four of them came into our lives as brothers of the same factory.  The gentle blue with a glowing insignia were soothing to our sense, the ergonomic shape eased into our palms.  We four had found our mice.  Lord Chaos, the Beatnik, the Engineer, and myself revelled in our gameplay for many years with these mice.  Switching to each other's computers was simple with the same peripherals.  Orcs, dwarves, trolls, gnomes, terrorists, scientists, Gordon Freemans, robots, Soviets, Allies, GDI, NOD, pyros, engineers, Psilons, Silicoids, roller coasters, trains, Civilization(s), Tribes vehicles, mutalisks, carriers, seige tanks, Jedi, Sith, smugglers, bounty hunters, augmented UNATCO operatives, Ylloj - my frost sorceress, a red Boba Fett-lokalike named Silencer, fantasy warriors, X-COM operatives, cities, evil minions and mistresses who you could slap, Kabuto, and Meccs are but a few of the creatures and races under the sway of our mice at one time or another.  

'Ole Blue has travelled a lot too between three different cities and almost 10 houses/apartments.  He provided my thumb a gentle gel-filled pad on which to rest.  He outlived two of his three brothers in regular usage.  One got lost to the annals of "old equipment" while another hemorrhaged out gel fluid.  One sibling remains who still feels the love of a human daily.  The Beatnik has just built himself a new computer and his mouse will hopefully get to experience it for many years to come.  Mine decided six months was what it could last on my new PC.  Today the years of rough use and the cord's weight to the ground finally pulled some connection loose inside the mouse.  I tried a splint with tape but it can't hold with the pressure needed.

Today I went out and found the great-great-great-great grandson of my Mouseman Wheel, the G5 Laser Mouse.  

It's been hard with it because it is unruly and different.  My thumb sits slightly differently, there are a few extra buttons, and the slide is smoother than I'm used to.  I'm sure I'll get used to it though.  Already today I've gotten to like the slide and messed around with the extra buttons.

But I'll still miss that blue glowing symbol on my first real mouse.

One Hundred and Eighty-seven, Seven Rocks!

It's still the 10th!  So there!  Nothing here though.  Check back another day!

One Hundred and Seventy-two, Day 2

I glanced over at the dog wondering how long his flesh would keep me sated. Then I remembered that I am a vegetarian. [le sigh] Hurricane Ike has struck! These varied entries will log my travails through the land of the powerless.

One Hundred and Twenty-seven, Glass Houses and Match Days

Some days the muse just isn't with me. Ok, so usually the muse isn't with me but at least the thought-god/dess is. I briefly considered writing about this great speaker we had today who gave us practical advice on working in the hospitals and impressing our elders. He also changed from his professional-wear into a Superman suit during his presentation. But I just didn't know where to go with it despite the interesting point he made about all doctors living in a Glass House and professional manners and perception meaning a great deal. So eventually I threw that aside. A friend suggested talking about the awkward moments created by Tucker's red rocket. I haven't really encountered them personally so I'd have no stories to write about it plus in my mind, it's just a dog with his proper biology working. It wasn't like he was doing anything, it was just there. So that didn't grab my mental thought stream for proper writing. My last attempt was going to be about Match Day (which was yesterday). This magical day is the day in March when all fourth year medical students around the country find out where they were placed for their residencies. In case that was confusing, it's where they get their job assignments as freshly minted doctors. The place where they'll slave away their first couple years as the bottom of the totem poles again. While many got placed at my school, I saw a few far-flung ones associated with names I recognized on the list. My high school valedictorian is off to Dallas and the University of Texas. Other fourth years I know are heading to Portland, Maine and Chapel Hill, NC. And many other places elsewhere. But beyond mentioning that, there was no thought going on about my future with Match Day or where I'd like to be placed. Hopefully you'll be reading more about that in a year and a half.

So I leave you with apologies on the lack of content here. Then again, I did write something, didn't I? And it did give you an idea of what is important enough to me to mention: Third & Fourth Year, my friend's suggestion, Residency Decisions.