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So I did end up asking today, which in retrospect was not really a scary thing to do ’cause I can’t imagine how he would have a negative reaction to my asking (actually I can imagine, in which he would laugh and say something to the effect of, Haha ya right you’re not ready). He was all for it, but then he said he didn’t know how it would work out with the charting. I mentioned that I could write notes with my log-in and then he would co-sign, but he seemed to think that wouldn’t work so I didn’t want to push it. He has a system down and is particular about how his notes are written, so I’m formulating a way to make it as easily transferrable as possible, at least for certain encounter types (like initial ob visits).

At one point in the day some administrators came to the office. There was a big fuss about them coming and the MAs even made my attending hide or throw out his can of iced coffee because I guess it wasn’t a good look. Just as they were walking in he chugged the rest of it and tossed it in the trash under his desk. But he recognized the MD and they started having a pretty banterful conversation. Turns out he isn’t only savage when it comes to patients and med students. If anything he was even more ruthless when it came to his admin.

I did get to talk to her briefly. Turns out she’s the director of medical education at the hospital. While we were talking, I was shockingly given props by my attending. He said that he was impressed because I was his first student in maybe five rotations that asked to see patients on my own. I thought it would be the expectation, but I guess that historically is not the case here. Still felt good though.

He is slowing having me do more though. At this point it’s the expectation that I will be the one to place the speculum if we are doing a physical exam that requires it. At one point, he even had me give the ER protocols spiel.

“<insert name of patient> four things should worry you. First, the baby should be moving at all times. If you feel the baby is moving less, you count. If the baby moves less than ten times in two hours go to the hospital. (2) Bleeding, (3) leaking, (4) cramping, you go to the hospital. Anything unusual, just go to the hospital.”

Tomorrow, I think he is scheduled for some surgeries so hopefully I’ll get a chance to see something cool.

For lunch I went to A&W, like the root beer place, and got some chicken sliders. I keep forgetting to prepare lunch before I go/ the night before. I’ll be prepared tomorrow though with the leftovers from dinner tonight. I used the veggies, which I’m almost through with, and stir fried them with some jalapeno-pepper jack sausages. It was pretty good, but there are some ingredients you can’t go wrong with. That and I feel like I have a pretty low bar for the things I will tolerate in terms of items that are consumed for sustenance.

Much love to anyone who actually reads these ❤

Little by little I’m becoming more and more confident in being able to handle the more routine OB appointments. Tomorrow I’m going to come in with a plan for all the patients and then ask if I could start handling some on my own. We’ll see if I can muster up the courage come tomorrow. But something happened today that kinda motivated me more towards this.

We had an encounter in which the subject was pretty delicate and tragic. While we were talking to the patient, I couldn’t help but think about how I would approach the conversation if I were to do it by myself. How would I have let the patient know that I hear her and that I care? What would I do? Where would I sit? What would I say? My attending tried to normalize the situation and was very direct about ways we can address what she was experiencing, but I couldn’t help but think that this approach, while perhaps valid, was a little cold and maybe not what the patient was quite looking for in that moment. I am still just a medical student, but I came into medicine partially because I want to be with patients in these vulnerable moments and support them through those moments at their own pace, and I am a strong believer that part of the art of medicine is know when to be a problem-solving scientist and when to be just a regular human being.

I don’t blame my attending for this and obviously he knows more about clinical medicine than I probably can even conceive of right now. But he seems also somewhat burnt-out, and I’m not surprised why. The way the health system here is set-up is not super friendly for Ob’s. He works super hard for ungodly long hours, with what seems like little respite. I can tell he cares and that at the end of the day he finds joy in what he does; in working with patients, with the staff, and with students, which it what makes me sympathize with him more and also makes me concerned for my own future.

Anyways, my opportunity came. My attending left the room to find the MA and it was just me and the patient. I was trying to find some words of comfort after what seemed to me a reductive encounter for a sensitive situation. However also I was also thinking that I didn’t want to overstep my bounds, or worse, say something that would somehow cause more distress. I ended up standing there awkwardly for a little longer, then (not-so) stealthily slunked out of the room when an MA came in with some paperwork. I still keep going over it in my head and tell myself that if I started that encounter on my own, I definitely would have had no problems addressing the situation as I normally would, which is partially why I feel so bad. Why couldn’t I say anything? Should I have said something even while my attending was in the room? I didn’t want to interrupt him or say things that contradicted what he said or that invalidated his approach, but I also felt like I should have tried to open an opportunity for the patient to speak freely and express her thoughts without feeling like she was being rushed or like we were just trying to treat her and send her on her way.

In starting this rotation, it’s been easy to forget that I do bring to the table quite of bit of experience working with patients and working with people. I have my own style and my own approach to working with patients, and I want to be able to showcase that. Obviously learning the basic of the rotation is requisite to getting that chance, but I think I’m ready.

In other new, I did my first couple Pap smears today and was involved in a colposcopy and cervical biopsy. It’s sad that it’s taken me doing this rotation to truly appreciate all the discomfort and pain that is involved in routine care of individuals with female reproductive organs.

I brought leftover fish and veggies for lunch and after we finished up with our last patient, I went to nearby Sonic to get a corndog. Came home to change, went to the library to finish up some work, worked out in a nearby park, returned home, made a burrito with some of the leftover and then finished the rest with some rice. I also made some more progress in the pineapple I have sitting in the fridge. Then I finished off the night with a peppermint tea.

Today I was scheduled for another cryptic shift.

“LC Shift w/ Crystal”

I had no idea what LC stood for, and Google was of no help even when in combination with words that might be relevant to what I thought I might be doing. There was some indication of where to go and luckily my visit to the labor and delivery floor yesterday helped get me oriented with the hospital a bit.

After a bit of wandering and asking around I finally found the mysterious Crystal who turned out to be a lactation specialist, and LC stood for “lactation consult.” My attending texted me about a C-section that he had scheduled in the morning, that I might’ve been able to go to before the LC shift. Unfortunately, it got pushed back, but I figured I’ll get plenty of opportunities to see one before the rotation ends.

Back to lactation (backtation if you will), as soon as I met up with Crystal, we hit the ground running and started on the next scheduled consults. The day was pretty much in and out of rooms of postpartum mothers, and she would assist them with latching and provide tips and education for the whole process. I learned a lot. Breastfeeding is one of those things I guess I took for granted. Like you have the baby and then you just automatically know what to do, whether it be from TV or movies or sheer maternal instinct. I’m sure most moms would figure it out, but having someone with specialized experience definitely seems like it would be of great benefit to the baby and to mom (especially given the amount of anxiety we encountered in some of the rooms regarding breastfeeding).

I did feel a little confused about what my role was supposed to be there, besides observing and learning. Just entering the rooms, I often could feel the eyes of mom, and especially dad if present, narrow when I entered the room, so I figured no one would be comfortable with me attempting to assist. I only got asked to leave twice though.

Unlike in the clinic when I could actually somewhat know what I’m doing, in this case I was really out of my training realm. After observing several, I probably could get through a consult if I was forced, but also something about being a person who will likely never lactate giving tips on breastfeeding doesn’t feel right.

But yea that was my day. Overall, it was a great learning experience and the consultant I worked with was a pleasure to learn from and just kinda hang out with for the day. And this was also my first full day in the hospital.

For lunch I finally went to this burger place that has been on my radar since I saw it that first fateful night when I was locked out of the apartment. It’s called Wimpy’s, like the guy from Popeye, which is why I wanted to go bad. Turns out it’s close to the hospital so I went during my lunch break. I was actually quite impressed. To me it had some of the neatly tucked quality of a Habit burger, with the messy hominess of the Five Guys burger. The fries were also good, and there was something about their cheese that just hit different (and plenty of cheese paper a la Carl’s Jr commercial circa 2001).

Then for dinner I finally started using some of the chopped veggies I’ve had sitting the fridge. Cooked them up with some tilapia in like an adobo/ paksiw style sauce that I thought turned out pretty good.

I took part in my first delivery today.

The first 3 hours of my day was business as usual at the clinic. Mostly prenatal care with a few other gynecological encounters sprinkled in.

I went out to lunch and got a sandwich at this small diner close by, came back to a bit more of the same. My attending gets a call that a patient’s water broke when she got to the hospital and was pretty close to delivery. We finish up with the patient we were with and – safely – rush over to the hospital. My attending seems pretty pressed. We gown up and my attending examines the patient. False alarm. He says delivery is still a ways away.

We make the drive back to the clinic and he tells me his thought on The Power of the Dog. I was a bit disappointed, not about his cinematic review, I was just really looking forward to witnessing my first live delivery. It was good practice though. I got a chance to practice putting on boots, my gown, gloves, knowing kinda where to stand.

Back at the clinic we were a little backed up since some of the patients who were scheduled had to be put on hold or be seen by the NP who likely had her own full schedule. The rest of the day was haunted by the threat of a phone call that never came. We ended up finishing about an hour after the last scheduled appointment time and then went straight to the hospital.

We got there and things seemed like they were a little further a long, but it still wasn’t time yet. So my attending and I just stood behind the nursing desk twiddling our thumbs for a bit.

“You hungry?”

“A lil.”

“Let’s get something to eat.”

We head down to the physician lounge and look inside one of those fridges with the clear door like in a supermarket.

“Grab whatever you want.”

I browse the tantalizing selection of veggie hummus sandwiches and turkey hummus wraps and opt for the turkey.

There we are sitting at the table eating in silence and taking turns sifting through the headlines of the newspaper like an old married couple. I eavesdrop a bit on the drama of the other physicians and then settle in with the crossword. I’ve got 7 across; the missus, informally, on the tip of my tongue when he’s says it’s time to go back.

We head up do a bit more standing and then a swarm of nurse come to our side of the unit, and I’m not exactly clear on what’s going on, but it felt kind of bizarre. Shift change is my best guess. My attending’s phone rings. It’s time. He answers the phone, and I follow him 20 feet into the delivery room.

It all happened very fast, and I had zero idea how involved I was expected to be in this whole thing. I’m struggling to put on all my PPE, and next thing I know my attending me is urgently waving me over to the splash zone. He guides my hands onto this thing that looks like a hairy turnip, which apparently was the head. It starts to come out slowly and I am able to confirm that it is indeed a human baby head. With his hands over mine we continue to coerce the being into the world, and in half the time it took for us to get the head out, the rest of the baby makes its debut. The feeling of that moment is hard to describe. A bit of panic mixed with excitement. A part of me just wanted to burst out in like a maniacal laughter, while another part of me wanted to start crying. I probably would have given into one of those urges if I wasn’t tethered to lucidity by instructions from the doctor. We moved the baby up onto mom’s lap and I was instructed to select amongst the various clamp-looking tools on the cart, the one that looked most like a clamp. I made my selection, and we clamped the cord, I had to make a couple other tool selections, including the scissors to hand to dad to cut the cord.

With the cord cut we took a blood sample and it was time to deliver the placenta. I was ready to get pimped on the 3 signs of placental separation/ delivery. Uterine contraction, cord lengthening, gush of blood. I was ready to get a question right.

He never asked (for obvious reasons). He placed my hands on mom’s belly and showed me how to use the uterine massage to help facilitate delivery of the placenta. It came out. That’s all I care to say about tfhat.

We did some checks on the placenta and on mom to make sure everything was ok, and then it was time to clean up. After leaving the delivery room we had a small debrief and then he sent me home.

Good night.

Today was a good reminder of how much more I like being in the clinic than sitting in the classroom. This morning of didactics was pretty tortuous, but the more I think about it, the more I think about how it doesn’t have to be that way. The culture that has been created around didactic learning/ teaching and the expectations that said culture sets-up in the minds of the students and teachers is what makes it so utterly unbearable. I feel for teachers, because even when done well, getting students to engage with enthusiasm is like pulling teeth. Students are afraid to get the wrong answer or just tell themselves that class should be boring and lame, so they refuse to participate. Teachers know that despite their best efforts, students aren’t going to be excited about whatever it is they are teaching so why even try.

End mini rant.

There were a lot less ob encounters when I was in clinic this afternoon. I don’t think I did a single doppler. It was mostly different health concerns, that may even come up in a regular primary care visit. I did get to help out in the removal of a Nexplanon, but that was also a very simple task I was given.

Sometimes, I’m not sure how involved I can be in the encounters. Sometimes when we are talking to the patient, I want to ask the patient questions about their condition that my attending doesn’t ask. Moreso out of curiosity, but also sometimes to illicit more of their perspective and feelings towards whatever they are experiencing. But I don’t want to impede the doc in his flow or be out of line.

My attending did have to induce a labor in the evening, so I was hoping to get called for the delivery, but I never heard anything.

I ate lunch at home since I had the didactic session, just leftover sinigang. And then I ate that for dinner as well.

I’m looking forward to being off on the weekend, though there are some responsibilities I do need to take care of, but otherwise I’ll try to do more exploration of the town and see what cool spots I can find.

I lost my streak today. I was dopplering the wrong side to find the fetal heart rate. Though now that I think about it, maybe I wasn’t really doing it right before. I just learned today how to distinguish between listening to the cord and listening to the heart itself, and there were definitely times before when I was just listening to the cord and thought that was enough, which in a way it is for the purpose of just getting an FHR reading, but it’s not as satisfying. At one point when I got the heart itself right away my attending said, “I’m so proud of you.” Which may have had a tinge of sarcasm to it (if you met if you’d get what I’m sayin), but it still felt good.

I also did my first real bimanual exam today. That’s all I have to say about that.

What I keep getting tested on though, and keep failing is being able to say what kind of follow-up/ next step is needed for different Pap smear results. I think I’ve gotten close to covering them all (by getting them all wrong) though so, we’ll see how I do tomorrow.

Honestly though I know it’s only day 4, and really only day 3 of actually seeing patients, but I’m still able to stay pretty motivated throughout the day. When patients don’t want a medical student to come in on the visit, the MA will put a little sticky not on the door that says, “NO STUDENT :'(” and while I understand it also makes me a bit sad and I go sulk at my computer pretending to be productive. I hope by next week I maybe can start to be a bit more independent and maybe see some patients on my own. At least for the simple, uncomplicated prenatal visits I pretty much have his script down pat. We’ll see though, I still have a lot to learn.

I had breakfast this morning, which is unusual for me, but it was because I was meeting an old DWW friend who is from the area before heading to clinic. It was nice being able to catch up and get the low-down on Visalia and Tulare County in general. I had the eggs benedict and a coffee. It was good.

I skipped lunch cause of breakfast but did go to another coffeeshop close to the clinic. For dinner I made sinigang after I got home.

Tomorrow we are back to didactics with the school in the morning; back to COVID Zoom school yaaay.

Today was my first full day in clinic. This clinic was a little further out, but the routine and flow was pretty much the same. Same patient population as well, at least from what I’ve been able to observe so far. We had more further along pregnancies this time, so I was able to get practice feeling which side of the belly to listen to the fetal heart rate on (in younger gestations I was told mostly to be searching along the midline). I think I’m batting 100 with it so far, not that it’s super difficult.

Today I learned what a pessary is, I did a breast exam on an actual patient, and otherwise mostly did the same ol’ measuring fundal heights and listening to fetal heart rates. I am getting a good feel for the different recommendation at given gestational ages, and I think I probably could probably see a patient and select the right orders and do the proper patient education. As long as it’s a relatively uncomplicated case.

I do need to work on my Spanish more. It definitely has improved, and when a Spanish-speaking patient comes to clinic I can for the most part follow the conversation (though it also helps that I have a pretty good idea of what my attending would be saying if he was speaking in English). I know the phrases that I could say for my little parts of the visit, but I always get scared and chicken out. Gotta get over that.

For lunch I went to this little local cafe/ diner place and had a club sandwich. Had a chance to video call Mom and also eavesdrop (they were basically yelling) on these guys at different tables talk about their experiences at a “gentleman’s” club and their favorite performers.

I went back to clinic we finished a bit early, so I came back to the apartment and went across the street to a nearby park for a workout. The suburbs here are quiet and mellow. Parents and their kids playing in the playground. A little league team practicing on the field. High schoolers with baggy pants and long curly hair riding around on these weird tiny gas-powered motorcycles, while the ones in tank tops but the same hair held up by bandanas were playing basketball.

I got back home ate some leftovers and made some smashed potatoes (more unused items from the barbeque) while knocking off some to-do list stuff intermittently.

I’m starting to get a sense of how hard it may be in the future to devote time to keeping up with other hobbies and activities while working as a physician, and I my schedule right now is still pretty chill. I don’t have any charting to do at home. I’m not on call. I don’t have any dependents. All I wanna do when I get home is sleep, but there are also things that I want to do but have a much higher activation energy. I guess in the coming weeks we’ll see if my post-work endurance increases, or if I will succumb to the muted siren of my bed.

0900-0930: Zoom Orientation
0930-1030: Electronic Medical Record Orientation
1100-1130: Badge Pick-up
Clinic PM

Those were essentially the instructions I was given today (with some details omitted). I wasn’t sure exactly what time I was supposed to show up to clinic nor did I know how long I was supposed to be there. All I knew was “PM.” I assumed that meant after a lunch hour from 1200-1300, but I just headed to the clinic ASAP after grabbing my badge (and after scarfing down a pad thai). I got to the clinic right around 1200 hundred and turns out everyone was indeed out on lunch break and my attending would be back at 1300. So, I decided to use the rest of the hour to check out what is around this even smaller town adjacent to were I’m currently staying. I found a cute little coffee shop, met a barista who just moved back to the area from LA, sat down with an iced americano and listed to my OB/GYN podcast.

I was a little anxious to meet my attending because I was told earlier that day by someone who works with him that she affectionately calls him Dr. Grumpy. But I was also excited because most everyone I’ve talked to who has something to say about him said he was a good teacher.

I got back to the clinic a little before 1:00 to make sure I wasn’t late and hopefully get there before my attending, which I did. I sat in the waiting room and chatted a bit with an LVN and MA there to get a quick crash course on the operations of the break room. Everything in the middle of the table is up for grabs, got it. Just as I was about to grab a slice of communal pizza, a new MA came to the doorway and told me that my attending was back at the clinic. I wiped the trail of saliva from my chin, re-dawned my mask and followed the MA to meet the man who would decide my fate for this rotation.

First impression confirmed some of my fears. He kinda took a look at me, sizing me up, and read my name badge with minimal enthusiasm, “Victoria”

“Yes, Ni—”

“What are you?” He paused for an answer. I assumed he was asking about my ethnicity, “Flip?*”

“Yup” I chuckled.

“Your last name gives it away.”

I agreed.

He went on to ask if I had any interest in the field, and I told him I was keeping an open mind, which he may have thought was a bullshit answer (which is reasonable, since I’m guessing a lot of students who come through say that and don’t really mean it just ’cause they want to make a good [ok neutral] first impression), and said that he’s not going to make me do anything I don’t want to do. That some students come through just to get through the rotation and that’s it. I told him that I would try to take advantage of this opportunity as much as possible, but he didn’t seem convinced.

We started seeing patients and I quickly started getting a feel for the flow of the clinic. It was fast, but systematic and organized. By the second patient he was already expecting me to measure fundal heights and measure fetal heart rates without being told. Greet patient, gloves, fundal height, doppler, paper towel, help patient up, deglove. Attending talks to patient, yadda yadda (important yaddas), send the patient on her way, little charting, pull up next chart, see next patient.

I thought overall it was a good way to start the rotation. I got to see a variety of stuff (though mostly OB), was able to get a bit more comfortable with the whole situation, and I felt like I was doing something as part of the team, as basic as it was.

As the day went on, it definitely felt like my attending was warming up to me… or maybe I was just getting used to his sense of humor. We bonded over his recent trip to my hometown, and I answered a couple pimping questions right (and some wrong) which probably helped. He opened up an email I sent the day before in which I said I was excited for this rotation in Visalia. “You have low standards,” he teased.

“I’m from Santa Barbara, LA is too busy for me,” which he seemed satisfied with. I liked working with him though, and it seemed like he had a strong rapport with all of his patients.

The afternoon flew by, and I got sent home with some homework to learn some stuff that he’s going ask me about tomorrow. I’m still holding out hope though that I’m gonna get a call about a delivery before then.

Back at home I made a mushroom, tomato, salad, quesadilla and started on some of that homework. I washed up then went out to a nearby park for a quick workout while listening to more of the podcast. Came back, made a quick pork and beans, and mushroom and tomato dinner (I had a lot of leftover stuff from a barbeque I hosted over the weekend) and did a bit more studying.

Tomorrow is going to be my first full day. I’m not really sure what I expected coming into this rotation, but so far I’m having a blast and I’m looking forward to what tomorrow brings.

*If you look up flip in Urban Dictionary it’ll tell you it’s derogatory/ a slur. I’ve never known it to be used in this way, nor has any Filipino I’ve talked to about it. Just thought I’d make that clear before anyone gets up in arms about it.

Maybe it’s me. I had another hiccup today. Apparently, my orientation with the school today was supposed to be in-person. I was supposed to attend hands-on workshop training, which in hindsight obviously could only be done in-person, and then move out here later today. Part of me wanted to believe that those of us placed outside of the LA area (which is only really myself and maybe one or two others for this rotation) would either for some reason be exempted from the workshop parts and part of me just was again over-eager to come out here and begin my first real clinical experience (and leave LA). In conjunction with feeling rushed about only being given moving information 3 days (I guess 4) prior to when I was supposed to move and also being given a Zoom link for a later portion of the orientation, there were just a lot of moving parts.

Enough excuses though. I could have been more diligent with checking the information and verifying with the appropriate staff that my understanding of the situation was correct (I’m seeing a pattern here). However, one of the MDs in charge of this clerkship was lovely enough to stay on Zoom with me for a little bit after the part I was able to attend to give me a quick run-down of the stuff they covered in the morning.

But enough about my inadequacy. Later on, I went out to get a haircut so I don’t look like a Survivor contestant going to his 34th tribal council, and right after I parked and got out of the car, I saw what I could only guess was an urban wolf trotting down the sidewalk carry the limp body of a whole-ass rooster in its mouth. Pics to come. Haircut was excellent by the way, shout out to Adan at Los Primos barbershop in Visalia.

I also went to the groceries and Target to get a knife cause the one that was already in the apartment could barely cut tomatoes and onions and made making my lunch unnecessarily hazardous.

Got back did some more studying up and then went out to dinner with my flat mate at a nearby brewery restaurant where we met this lovely older couple and just got into talking about what we were doing in the area, about LA which is where the woman grew up and lived for a long time, and some of the changes to LA and the county hospital that happened since she left.

All in all, “Day 1” was pretty good and I am all the more eager to actually start working with local staff tomorrow.

I just moved into my new home for the next 5/6 weeks in Visalia. Tomorrow is my first day of orientation with the OBY/GYN staff from the school and then on Tuesday I have orientation with the local hospital and then I head to a clinic in the afternoon.

Today was a bit of a doozy. Most of my packing was done today, but that all went pretty smoothly. The drive was nice. Very little traffic and I was able to ward off any sleepiness for the most part with little help from the Freakonomics MD podcast.

After a long drive, I arrive a bit earlier than expected, park, and grab a few easily accessible items and my little welcome packet from my carefully stuffed Honda Civic and head straight toward my assigned apartment, eager to unpack and unwind.

When I get to the door, I start pulling out items from the packet and matched them with the list stickered on the front of it. Apartment key? Check. White keycard? Check. Garage remote? Check. Key fob? Check, it was attached to the key. Mailbox key? Wait, there are supposed to be two keys? I examine the bowels of the mysterious yellow envelope further, and the only thing remaining inside was a red carabiner with a one of those ring things (those things that usually have key on them) attached to it. I remember seeing the carabiner when I first received the packet and thought it was strange that they just gave me a carabiner with nothing attached to it, but I didn’t really think anything of it. At that time, I saw a key attached to the key fob and assumed those were the important stuff, and maybe the carabiner was just for convenience.

A little confused, but slightly relieved that at least I had the apartment key, I turn over the envelope packet just to check that the other key wasn’t somehow stowed in a hidden compartment embedded in the paper. No luck. It was probably supposed to be attached to the carabiner, but it’s fine, I probably won’t even be getting mail in the short amount of time I’m here.

I try the key in the door, and the key is immediately rejected. Not a single millimeter of this key is able to be inserted into the keyhole. Puzzled and maybe a little panicked with a scary thought creeping in the back of my mind, I flip the key. No good. I then flip it back and try again ’cause I must have just missed the hole. Nope. For some reason, I then start trying all the keys from my car keys. Maybe in my excitement, maybe I immediately took the key out of the envelope the day I got the packet and put it on my car keys. How silly of me, though you’d think I’d remember that. As I work through my keys, including the specially marked key for my childhood home, that creeping thought is upgraded to a strong likelihood. I run over to the mailboxes near where I parked my car to test my hypothesis. I find the box associated with my apartment and try the key associated with the fob. It slides in smooth like butter and I am able to turn the key open the box which in turn greets me with a collection of uncollected mail from probably the last 6 months.

Ok so the key that I have is definitely for the mailbox. I call my classmate who is going to be living with me to see if he also got a carabiner. Turns out he did, except his had a key on it… and he was still in LA, a whole three hours away. Welp. I start calling numbers, kinda getting the run around from all the different numbers listed as afterhours contacts for the apartment complex.

Long story a little bit shorter, I would have to wait for my classmate to get here with this key and get new key from management on Monday (tomorrow).

I took the chance to explore the downtown a teeny bit and just see what was close by. Ended up at a bar where I was able to chill with a beer and catch up on some flashcards and practice questions from the now historical Step 1 exam. I eventually go back to the apartment and start unloading things by the door to the apartment, and my classmate shows up pretty much around my 3rd to last trip. We are able to get inside, and I finally start to get situated in the new digs.

So that’s how my day went. Not exactly how I imagined it would go, yet here we are. I don’t want to be bitter or upset about what happened, nor do I blame anyone because shit happens, and also I probably should have double checked about the empty carabiner thing. It was stressful and frustrating at times, but ultimately, I’m just glad things worked out (kind of) and at the end of the day (literally), I’m here, I’m safe, and right now I won’t let this hiccup get in the way of me making the most of my experience here. See you tomorrow (today).