Crow's Nest...

It has been quite some days since I updated my droid x to gingerbread. My experience with the update has been anything but optimal. I think the battery life has been decreased on the phone easily by twenty percent or so. The battery prior to this update used to last for about twenty four hours or so with very mediocre use. I mostly use my phone for web and data usage rather than as a phone. I am not that famous as you can tell. The battery on the new version of android has gone terribly low. This is unlike what I had expected or read. However I am pretty sure that the phone is not lasting as long as it did prior to the update. Also my phone is relatively new so I do not think that this is a problem with the phone battery itself. I have also noticed that the phone is running much hotter on the backside as compared to before. If the gps is turned on for a little bit it heats the phone to an extent that it can not be held in the hand. This is a serious issue in my mind. Just returning fr...

I was away on vacation to NY for the past few days. The purpose of the trip, mainly was to acquire a new passport in face of the current one expiring soon. In any case I used Expedia to search for a place to stay and was directed to a place in Queens area. This was perfect since there is a lot of Pakistani community living in Queens and one can feel at home in such a place. I landed in NY and got to the hotel. To my amazement it was nothing close to the one in the pictures. Small cornered building and even smaller corridors and rooms. It reminded me of out dorms in the medical school. The room was smaller than out apartment bedroom and it was crowded with furniture. Flat screen TV had some channels that did not work and the channel line up was very limited. Towels were old and not very clean. I guess they were washed but still had some stains on them. The good thing about the hotel was that it was about 10 minute walk from the subway and the walk was safe even in late night ...

It is a strange day today. I got to sleep for 3 hours in the night with minimal interruptions. That is not usually the way it happens on call. I was really groggy in the morning and missed Farmingham risk score on the rounds. So not very impressive rounds. Then I cleaned up my post call work. It was almost one by the time I was done. Then I sat in the resident's lounge and watched the Viking's game which they lost by the way. Its four in the evening and I don't feel like sleeping at all. Strange very strange!

I have a new Dell Studio 1535. It was delivered just today and I like the way this computer looks and the way the keyboard feels. I think it will be sufficient to fulfill my needs for the next three years. Will write the full review after I have used the computer a little more. One thing though, Dell promised to send a $75 gift card with it and they didn't. This computer is a complete copy of HP dv series notebooks. The exterior atleast is an effort to capture the HP market that was lost to style and sleek design. The screen is better than the HP notebook. The speakers aren't designed so well in the system and the sound is not as good in quality as I expected. I like it that the power outlet is on the side and not on the back. This gives this notebook more mobility while it is attached to the power cord. The power cord is rather smaller than the Inspiron series. The synaptic touch pad is made of different material than the usual stuff. It is coarser in feel. It is a litt...

the progress has slowed down a whole lot. Anyways I-35 bridge will be opening tomorrow for the first time since i have come here. It should ease the traffic woes of the morning commute for me. rush hour commute is about 30 minutes to 45 minutes for me and that is a pain on the floor months. It was particularly light traffic on 280 in the morning for some odd reason. For a while i thought that the bridge had been opened for traffic today as the latest updates talked about the announcement of the opening date in the beginning of this week. Anyhoo... the bridge has been completed atleast 100 days ahead of time. This is some solid progress. since the time I have come here the whole length of my commute has been under construction and repair. Right from MN-36 to 701 park everything is being put into better shpae for the preperation of the winters. let us hope that the work is completed before the season changes. It was unusually cold over the past weekend. it was overcast and rain...

I have achieved another milestone in the process of settling down here. After having bought and driven my car without a MN License for a while i completed the process of acquiring a new license today. I had already passed my written component of the test earlier but just today i took my driving test. It was the usual 15 minute affair and then the feedback up until when i felt i had failed the test and will have to come back another day. But surprisingly i passed and have been issued a MN driver's license. The driving test station was about 25 miles from the place where i live and i had no appointment for the test. Luckily there weren't many people to take the test and i was done by 11 am. Unlike Junaid and others who had to wait for more than four hours to take the test i had to wait for about an hour. The issuance of the license is important in bringing down my car insurance which at the moment is unbearably high. Once the insurance goes down i will be able to manage m...

I have finished configuring my home network for the notebook and the all in one printer machine. It was a cumbersome process involving more than one software but everything worked out just fine. I was out buying a wireless router yesterday and the Best Buy guy wanted to sell me a Linksys G router with Geek Squad installation support for 108 bucks. I opted for a cheaper alternative instead. It is a wireless Linksys G router with no Geek Squad support. I am my own Geek Squad. Configuring the network took me sometime but saved me quite a lot of money. I mean connecting the router and enabling wireless access for the notebook was a walkthrough process which is self explanatory and that is what most of the home users use their networks for. Why on earth anyone would pay an extra 70 bucks for connecting a computer to the network. Connecting printers to the network is a bit complicated but not very difficult. If I can do it anyone can do it. So there is no point in paying any Geek ...

The orientation week is almost over. Just a few nitty gritty stuff left to do and then I am all set to go and launch in the world of medicine. Looking forward to the coming Monday. The system here is pretty different and that is something not very unexpected. But its all the technology that is taking it away. The system is paperless and thus very new for me. I am used to our very own and old tried and tested way of writing down everything about the patient on the paper and then making sure there are a million copies of each thing floating around in the air. Kind of messy but that's something I am used to back home. Here everything has to be done through computers or if possible at all through COWs (Computers on Wheels). These cows do not moo but move and this is something unlike all the cows we know of back in Pakistan. Anyhoo I am starting my rotation in ED and that should be fun to work in.

I plan to march out and march on to the land of opportunity before the long march of the lawyers reaches the capital and upsets the mundane routine of the bureaucracy . There are a few last minute things to be done before all is set to fly off.

I have finally been able to match for a post graduate training position here. It has been a long winding road with a seemingly good end. I have to thank Allah for all His infinite mercy. Thank you for all the valuable prayers. My 'Where did I match?" question will be answered soon enough now. Infact these statistics will be announced on March 20th at 12 noon EST. I will have to take quick note and try and get my contract delivered at my present address. If this happens then my process will be expediated and help me secure a visa eventually. Residency Training will mean a huge change in my life and quite a welcome change after a long long time. Some of my friends have not been able to secure a position in the match. I hope and pray that tomorrow brings good news for them too. This process is so uncertain that the little the better and the shorter the time period the better. I think it is more a test of emotional and psychological endurance than actual meaningful testing o...

I have been a Sportingo follower for the past 2 years at least. All that time i had been meaning to write and be published at that portal but could not find enough momentum to get the work done. There were ideas floating here and there but nothing concrete could set in. But things have changed and i have my first work appearing on the website. It is about the decline of hockey in Pakistan. My initial draft was around 1200 words and talked about the topic in some detail but it was sent back for review and trimming down. After trimming and a very dedicated review by the editors the article is now on the website. I must remark that the team at sportingo has been very helpful all through the process and their attitude has really motivated me to write more. I plan to do so soon. Mean while you can read my article here or alternatively browse to more sports section and read it from there. Technorati Tags: Sportingo , Sports , Pakistan , Hockey

The Pakistani Spectator is doing a good job at looking at things and then commenting on the affairs related to Pakistan. They are running a series of interviews within the blogosphere. I am lucky to have been counted in . I have also taken up writing on the same portal. I go by the same nick, MK. Technorati Tags: TPS , The Pakistani Spectator , Interview , Blogosphere