It feels weird to be moving to a new city for a year.  It’s almost like college in that I’m moving backward from owning my own place to renting an apartment.  However, it’s a very nice apartment and should look better once I get some furniture in it tomorrow!

However, this week I will finish packing and head off to Cincinnati to begin my year of fellowship.  Today my parents and I have spent much of the day packing books and belongings in preparation for the move, and I bequeathed my collection of 3rd year medical student clerkship books to the fresh 3rd year students on the surgery rotation.  Even with books that are approaching (if not already) 10 years of age, the students grabbed them like sharks in a feeding frenzy.   I also dropped off my old college and med school computers and printers at the Indiana Tox Drop for recycling and picked up a frame for my new diploma.  In the evening, Traci joined my parents and me for dinner, where she gave me a personalized halogen pen light and a cake shaped like a castle, and afterwards came home to meet Franklin (the dog).  Tomorrow I’ll continue to pack and otherwise prepare for the move.

I’m sad to be leaving Indianapolis because this has become my home.  I’ve grown to love this city and its people, and would very much like to come back after fellowship is over.  When I matched here six years ago I couldn’t fathom living in Indiana, of all places, and now I can’t imagine living anywhere else.   I don’t know where my career will take me, but I’ll always have fond memories of my time here as a resident.

This provides a good segue into reunions in that I also took the opportunity to go to my 10th year Yale reunion! Originally I hadn’t planned on going, but with the Covidien course happening the same week, I was able to make it a long weekend and take the train up to New Haven. Thursday night I skipped the SAGES dinner in favor of a trip to Mory’s, the private club/restaurant that is a tradition at Yale. I met up with fellow ‘98ers and even a few from other classes and got to meet the current dean of Yale College, Peter Salovey (with the mustache) and his wonderful wife Marta. The food was great, the company was even better, and we finished the night with the traditional trophy cup full of alcohol which we shared (it was essentially a mimosa, and very tasty). I enjoyed it tremendously.

So, after the course finished on Friday, I traveled back up to New Haven for the weekend festivities. I met up with lots of familiar faces, snacked on cheese and crackers at the wine tasting, and did a little window shopping. Traci flew in to join me, but as her plane was delayed, we didn’t make the dinner at Mory’s that we had planned on, but at least were able to enjoy dessert and wine there, followed by a tasty pizza at Yorkside (they just don’t make pizza like that out here!). We stayed at the Omni Hotel, basking in 5-star comfort at a 3-star price.

Saturday was the big day. I showed Traci around campus, thoroughly exhausting her and pummeling her feet into bloody stumps while marveling in all the changes and improvements that have changed my alma mater for the better. We hit all the high points - the renovated and stunning new Cross Campus Library (now called the Bass Library), my stomping grounds at Sterling Memorial Library, Old Campus, the “tombs” of Skull and Bones, Scroll and Key, Book and Snake, and Elihu, and even the Grove Street Cemetery. We attended a lecture by Judith Ann Schiff of the Yale Libraries, who gave an entertaining review of Yale’s history, accomplishments, and illustrious alumni. Since I’m a Directed Studies alumnus, we attended the DS alumni reunion and talked to Professor Jane Levin, one of my DS professors who now heads the program and is also married to the President of Yale. Following this, we went to President Richard Levin’s address, which updated us on the announcement of the creation of two more residential colleges, and saw a performance by the singing group alumni, many of whom were coming back for their 50th (or more!) reunions. The day concluded with dinner and mingling on Old Campus. The meals were far better than anything we had as students - lunch was from Yale’s own farms (which didn’t exist 10 years ago), and the dinner was a New York strip with “organic decadence chocolate cake.” Through the day, I reconnected with lots of friends and had a great time, and I think Traci enjoyed it too - despite her legs being turned into swollen tree trunks from walking miles in uncomfortable shoes.

Sunday we joined some of my friends for breakfast and then shopped for Yale merchandise. I got a new baseball cap, polo shirt, and full-zip sweater while Traci got herself a sweater and flip-flops. We left New Haven in the afternoon, briefly shopped at the Kenneth Cole store at Grand Central Terminal while waiting for the shuttle to La Guardia airport, and spent the rest of the day miserably waiting for our flight back to Indy. While the traveling was tedious, I was still very happy to have spent a wonderful weekend seeing my old friends and showing off my old haunts to Traci. And to my great surprise, despite my feelings of awe at the accomplishments of my classmates, they similarly were fascinated by my career path as well, which made me realize that, hey, I’ve got a really good job.

Speaking of which, I have only 10 more days until graduation! Yay!

I took a bath in the morning since I didn’t have the shower rod up.  After emptying the tub, I came downstairs for some breakfast and Traci used the shower.  To my horror, there was a huge leak of water from the ceiling vent in the downstairs bathroom!  Now I have to get my home remodeler to come back and check out what went wrong, because now I suspect there’s going to be a lot more painful, expensive work involved to fix this leak.  And all this after I painted the room and retiled.  I HATE HOME IMPROVEMENT!

After choosing a suitable replacement unit (a tub with a 3-piece wall set) from Home Depot, I hired a handyman to do the installation. Replacing the tub is a big job - the old tub had to be cut into small pieces and the drywall around it also had to be cut, since there is a lip of fiberglass behind the drywall which is nailed to the studs. It wasn’t an easy job, and I’m glad I hired someone who knew what he was doing. Interestingly, the old tub had two layers - the eggshell-thin inner layer that cracked, and a thicker fiberglass layer outside which were separated by corrugated cardboard! So despite the cracks, there was no water damage. However, the drain pipe for the tub had to be replaced since the old pipe didn’t fit, and that of course added to the cost of the install. My handyman had to return the next day to finish the drywall spackling, but I had to do final sanding and patching of any imperfections. Waiting for the drywall to cure took another day, but it was ready to prime and paint today. I got everything primed and painted this morning, but not without a few problems. Caulking the tub was initially unsuccessful, as I masked the tub and wall with painter’s tape to give me a straight line, but when I removed the tape, the caulk came with it! The next time I did it, I removed the tape immediately; the caulk stayed on but the tape ripped off areas of new paint, which I then had to touch up.

Also, my tub fixtures are scratched up and need to be replaced. I went on eBay to find new Delta fixtures, but the one I ordered would have required me to hire a plumber and possibly tear out some drywall or fiberglass, and I can’t afford that. All I wanted were trim pieces, so I got some Danco replacements for Delta fixtures at Lowe’s, and not surprisingly they didn’t fit. So it looks like I have to return those fixtures and get genuine Delta parts, which are going to be more expensive. Plus I either have to return the eBay fixtures and eat the shipping costs, or sell them myself.

At any rate, I should be done with tub install today - but then I have to replace the flooring with new vinyl tiles. Oy vey.

On top of all that, I have to get my house fixed up so it can go on the market or be worth renting out.  Obviously, that’s not cheap either.  I wish the housing market were better so I could sell this place for a lot more than I paid for it, but I doubt that’s going to happen.  And, to reserve a spot to get a new apartment, I’ve put down a payment of $400.  All in all, this is causing a lot of stress over all the stuff that needs to get done in time I don’t have to do it, and just to make ends meet I’m trying to get additional moonlighting shifts in.

On the bright side, I now have an eBay account.  I wonder how much I can earn by selling my old crap?

Even though K.I.T.T. is now a Mustang, which seems a travesty since the original one was a Pontiac Trans Am, I didn’t mind the new body so much. Actually, the GT500KR is a pretty kick-ass car. However, I miss the original voice of K.I.T.T., and Val Kilmer’s voiceover work lacks the soul that William Daniels brought to the role. The over-the-top Attack Mode K.I.T.T., with all its spoilers and scoops, wasn’t too far removed from the Super Pursuit Mode K.I.T.T. from the 3rd season. And of course, we were all waiting for The Hoff to show up, and weren’t disappointed by that. But as a whole, for this show to survive, it really has to get better writing and less obnoxious product placement.

During the show, I read Autoblog’s live blog, which was hilarious and really made the show bearable. We car guys want a Knight Rider that has smarter writing and is *less* cheesy than the original. You listening, NBC?