I swear, I am a relatively intelligent person

At the risk of losing the respect of all of my "Britt Goes to Pitt" readers, I must share with you a story.

On my way back to Pittsburgh following a fabulous Thanksgiving weekend, I stopped at the Flying J, a gas station that lies just outside of the Columbus eastern suburbs and is notoriously much cheaper than all others.  I pulled up to a pump, popped open my gas cap, and swiped my credit card.

My stingy VW Beetle requires that I use the 89 gas instead of the standard 87 gas.  So, when the machine prompted me to "LIFT NOZZLE AND SELECT PRODUCT," I lifted the nozzle and pushed "89."  Nothing happend.  I pushed 89 harder.  Still nothing happened.  Thinking (for really no good reason), that maybe my freezing hands were the cause of the problem, I rubbed them together and blew some warm air on them and tried again.  Once again, nothing.

I was feeling frustrated, and decided that another machine would probably be better.  Giving up, I pushed the cancel button.  Nothing happened.

Antsy, I locked my car and headed into the gas station.  There, I encountered a friendly young gas station attendant who could sense my palpable frustration.

Here's how our conversation went:
Friendly clerk - Can you I help you ma'am? (Note - I HATE being called ma'am.  I am 22, not 42.)
Me (for some reason I talked even faster than normal) - I-think-there's-a-problem-with-my-pump-because-I-can't-push-89-and-I-can't-push-cancel.
Friendly clerk - Which pump is giving you trouble?
Me - I-don't-know-exactly-but-my-car-is-that-blue-one-right-there.
Friendly clerk - OK, let's go take a look.

We walked to my car

Friendly clerk - Can you show me what you tried to do.
Me - OK, sure.

I lifted the pump and tried pushing the button.  Nothing happened him.  I looked at him triumphantly, practically proclaiming "See, it's not working!"

The friendly clerk chuckled a little big, and said, "Ma'am that's the diesel pump, you want this one."  He pointed from the green pump that I was holding that CLEARLY said DIESEL, to a black one that did not.

All I could manage was a thank you.  I pumped my gas in shame and got the heck out of there.  Even though the gas is cheap, I may not be able to show my face at the Flying J for awhile.

Motivation Tank = Drained

I can practically smell the turkey.  Why won't Thanksgiving break just get here already?!

I have spent the last 5 days avoiding my genetics studying.  On Thursday, I made a few flashcards, but then I went to talent show (solo went well, btw :-D)  On Friday, I studied for a few hours, but then I went downtown to see the Christmas Tree Lighting.  On Saturday, I finally started to crackdown with only a minor break for Ohio State, and on Sunday, I was able to continue the streak until dinner when I just gave in and succumbed to the internet/email/TV/phone calls.

Today, though, it just isn't happening.  I keep trying, but it's like my brain has put a mental lock on the door to successful studying.  I've come to the conclusion that the only way to unlock the door is to feed it delicious corn casserole and cranberry sauce and let it spend lots of time with its friends and family.  At least, I hope that's a viable solution because a girl has got to start feeling productive at some point, right?
 

Pitt Med Talent Show Tonight!

My nerves are solely mounting because tonight I am singing a solo at the annual Pitt Med Talent show!  Eek!

I will post updates on how it goes afterward - wish me luck!

Britt (and the PalPITTations) go to Washington!

As many of you may remember, I'm the Pitt health sciences graduate student acapella group, more commonly known as the PalPITTations!

We had the incredible opportunity to sing at the national conference for the American Association of Medical Colleges (all of the medical schools get together and talk about very medical-school-ish things) in Washington, DC.  On Saturday, we arrived at our hotel in Dupont Circle in the early afternoon.  I was a very good little medical student and finished up a paper that was due in my ethics class on informed consent in emergency situations (riveting, I know).  In the early evening, we trekked out as big group for dinner at delicious Mediterranean/Italian/Greek/Turkish restaurant.   

Half of the group at dinner 

After dinner, a number of us went out.  We ended up at the most bizarre bar in Adams Morgan (younger, somewhat hipster area of DC).  The bar was an homage to Toledo, Ohio.  And when I say homage, I mean homage.  The walls were covered in Ohio license plates, Toledo jerseys, maps of Toledo.  If that wasn't surreal enough, they were two TVs - one showing The Karate Kid and the other showing Rocky III both without sound.  People were packed around the bar watching these soundless movies, and adding their own commentary.  

A fews hours went by and we moved on a bar with music and dancing.  Again, we had somewhat peculiar encounter: one of the kids dancing next to us was fist pumping with a SHAKE WEIGHT.  Joke? Or legitimate way to build arm muscle? The world may never know...

Sunday morning, we got into the city a bit more and visited the National Gallery.  I saw a Monet painting of Venice that I had never seen before and instantly fell in love.  

The actual performance took place Sunday night.  Our audience wasn't huge, but they seemed to really enjoy our song selection.  We did "Moon River," and I could see one audience member mouthing along with the soloist.  We also did "Mercy" by Duffy, which is one of my favorites. 

Our next performance will be next week at the Pitt Med talent show.  I'm pretty nervous about that one though, because I am singing a SOLO!  Exciting and scary! :-)

Oh! Also - Andrew gets in tonight, so it will be another fun weekend!

Until next time,

Britt

Stand back, or you might get sprayed with Lysol...

I am a cleaning madwoman right now.  I have a prospective student coming to stay with me tonight, and Andrew will be here this weekend.  As a result, every surface of my apartment is getting dusted/swiffered/Febreezed.

Watch out dirt, I'm coming for you!

I forgot some things.

1. I was supposed to see John Williams conduct the Pittsburgh Symphony tonight.  However, John Williams hurt his back and the show subsequently got cancelled.  This is not unlike the luck the usually have.

2. I went to DC this weekend! Stories to ensue.

3. Pictures!

Happy Halloween from the girls of Pitt Med!

Is it just me or do they actually look like Grey's Anatomy characters? 

 Chilean Miners :-)

I have med school friends!  And we have fun!

OK - time for bed :-)

Amy comes home. Brittany is happy.

My best friend Amy lives in L.A.  I live in Pittsburgh.  Once, I actually google-mapped how long it would take to walk from Pittsburgh to L.A., and google told me around 33 days.  This is extremely unfortunate because back in high school, when Amy and I lived a backyard apart, the distance was considerably more manageable.

Following her move to L.A., we went a grueling 4 months without seeing each other - the longest we've ever gone.  Imagine my excitement when she made a triumphant return to the Buckeye State and our drought was over!!

No Amy-Brittany reunion would be complete with out a trip to the mall.  Literally we just walked around Easton for hours.  I bought one thing (A Christmas present!) in three hours.  All who know my ability to shop (I'm talking to you, Mom), should be very proud of my restraint.  Afterward, we reconnected with our roots and cheered on the Pickerington North Marching Panther Band at state band contest.  The band show was amazing (no surprise there!), and they played Rhapsody in Blue, which was one of  my personal favorites to play when I was in high school.

I think that the weekend turned into some kind of "timeline of my life" because our next was OSU for a Halloween party.  The best part of the party was easily a group of guys that all dressed like traffic cones and literally stopped a car in the middle of the street.  I stole a pic from Amy's blog.

She walked into the street to capture this picture as people were yelling, "Cones! Mobilize!"  To be honest, it really made me miss undergrad.

Seeing the marching band and visiting campus, I think Amy and I both realized how weird it feels that it we now not just past the high school phase of life, but we are also past the next one.  We're mostly grown-ups and to deal with things like the real world/med school.  It's a lot easier making those transitions when you have fabulous friends to support you :-)

Until tomorrow,
Brittany

"Is that kid dressed up like alcohol dehydrogenase?"

To kick off this post: I passed biochem!!  The best consequence of passing is that biochem is now behind me and I am deep into the world of genetics.  Finally, I am studying a subject that I know things about and really enjoy. Woo-hoo :-)

To celebrate surviving the biochem exam, I had a group of my med school girl friends over for a yummy dinner of chicken and stuffing (I know how to use a crockpot!)  Then, we all got dressed up for a med school Halloween bash at a fellow student's house.  Some of my favorite costumes:

1. A group of Chilean miners

2. Alcohol dehydrogenase (an enzyme important in fuel metabolism)

3. A postal worker complete with a stuffed dog attached to the back of the leg

4. "Peer pressure"

5. Rubix cube

6. Genie from Aladdin 

7. Barbie

8. An Indian "Where's Waldo?"

This weekend included another fabulous trip home.  I've decided to create a vacant position for a "Columbus-based personal assistant."  I have so many wonderful people to visit in Columbus, that I always try to figure out creative ways to fit everyone in.  If you would like the job, let me know :-)

On Friday, I drove straight to Andrew's apartment to hang out.  We played Dr. Mario for Super Nintendo (old school, I know).  Andrew beat me and proceeded to say, "Brittany, you may be med school, but I'm only doctor in the room right now."

Next, I got dinner with my old roomies at Cap City Diner.  We did what we ALWAYS do and all embarrassingly ordered the exact same thing.  Once at Cazuela's, a Mexican place up by campus, six of ordered the Chimichangas Supremas.  Ridiculous.

Friday night I also made it to a Halloween party with a bunch of high school friends.  Andrew was dressed as Antoine Dodson (google him if you don't recognize the name - you won't be sorry!)

Part two of the weekend, entitled "Amy comes home. Brittany is happy" will be posted ASAP!

Britt