Well, after deleting everything, reuploading it, deleting it again, reuploading, and finally erasing the entire blog and retyping all 277 posts by hand (how do I find the time for this on OB/GYN, you ask†?)... Agraphia is back up and running. Comments are back on-line as well, so go ahead and post all those zingers.

And I'm off to write about OB/GYN, now that I can actually access my blog!

†Magic

Good morning, folks.

While I abhor Paris Hilton and her vapid, pointless celebrity as much as the next person, she has actually succeeded today in making legitimate news. Not "Paris is drunk driving" news. Not "Paris made a sex tape" news.

No, Paris got released from jail because of an "unspecified medical condition".

Various reports originally circulated that she had a rash; then it appreared jail food didn't agree with her... and now it seems she was simply not enjoying her stay. Interestingly enough, this is not the news that I'm talking about.

No, I'm talking about this quadriplegic man who, in 2004, died in jail due to a different "medical condition"... namely that his jailors failed to provide him with a ventilator.

Different jails, different dates, different people - but the fact is, there is a double standard here that cannot be ignored. With talks of Scooter Libby being pardoned (patsy though he may be) I think it's fairly safe to say that this is incontrovertible proof:

You can literally be rich enough - or powerful enough - to be above the law.

Alright, folks. It's time for me to get this off my chest.

Starbucks' Ethos water and Einstein's Breast Cancer Awareness Mug promotions are really, really getting to me. I bought an Einstein's bagel this morning for breakfast, and on my way out of the store I noticed this: For every $17 mug you buy, Einstein's donates $1.50 to breast cancer research.

At Starbucks, every $1.80 bottle of Ethos water contributes a whopping $.05 to "helping children around the world get clean water". For that matter, American Idol's Idol Gives Back campaign raised $60 million... while every 30 second ad spot on the show runs for over $750,000 a pop.

Look, I think it's great that some kids in Ethiopia are going to get $10 million worth of clean water from Ethos. Or that $60 million went from Idol to UNICEF and others. Or that Einstein's is giving some money to fight cancer, or whatever†. But what really gets me going is that these companies are profiting off the guilt of some yuppie who just spent $5 on a mocha-latte-frappucino-extra-foam-hold-the-cinnamon-i'm-on-a-diet and wants to "help" the wide-eyed photogenic African kid in the glossy photo.

Lets rag on Starbucks for a moment, because it's just so blatant. Current market price for a bottle of water is $1.00. If Aquafina, Dasani, or Deja Blue decided to charge $1.80 for their water, they would be laughed right in to bankruptcy. So what did Ethos do?

They realized that they could effectively charge $1.75 for the same goddamn water by claiming that it would help charity.

And then Starbucks decided it was a good PR move and sponsored Ethos in all its stores. Same goes for Einstein's. $1.50 off a $17 mug that cost you $4 to make? Charity is about giving, not recieving. Didn't your parents teach you that?

So, this is me, giving the proverbial finger to all you corporate chains that are profiting off the backs of other people's misery. And because I know corporations can't have feelings, ethics, or morals, instead I'm pointing that finger directly at the CEOs and CFOs of all three. I sincerely hope you can't sleep at night.

†Actually, I think this is what irks me the most. We med students have strong feelings about fighting breast cancer... our team raised almost $10,000 last year on our walk.

As someone who both loves to walk and is moving in about 2 years, the 2007 "most walkable cities in the US" is interesting. Right now Portland, Seattle, and San Francisco all seem pretty cool...

Top 10 most walkable cities in the US.

Any Firefox junkies like myself should know that Kaplan's QBank doesn't play well with our beloved browser. Here's the solution: IE Tab, which opens any website you specify in Internet Explorer... tabbed within Firefox.

Go to Tools>>IE Tab Options once installed to set up "blacklists" of websites that don't make nice with Firefox. For shame, Kaplan.

My email to Vikram's supervisor went unanswered and as I checked on my battery's shipment status today, I found that the service call has been CANCELLED! I pray that the worst has not happened- Vikram has been sacked for being too helpful!

I'm so sorry Vikram. Tell your starving children that I never meant for it to be this way...

So the battery in the new hottness doesn't charge unless the entire computer is turned off. This is rather a shame, since the rest of the computer is pretty sweet.

I went on Dell's support page (www.dell.com/chat) and had a nice long chat with a kind indian gentleman named Vikram. Vikram diagnosed my problem as a faulty battery and is sending me a new one via overnight shipping. In addition he fixed the pixellated screen resolution with a single file and then upgraded me to Windows Vista. Also, he granted me 3 wishes*.

I was so floored that technical support actually helped that I asked to get in touch with his manager so that I could recommend ol' Vik for a promotion. I hope he gets it. He's restored my faith in overseas technical support.

*only one of these statements is untrue. Can you guess which one?

It's scary spending money on financial aid. It's even scarier buying a laptop on financial aid.

Unfortunately my trusty old presario x1000* is about to bite the dust. Strange grinding noises keep me awake at night... even when it's turned off. I have lost my left control key. The power cord is missing large chunks of insulation (to be fair, it may be the packrats that live in my laundry pile). Wireless refuses to work. The fan blows harder than... well, that's just not polite to say. Once the computer thinks that the battery is "low" - highly subjective, in my opinion - it shuts off and decides not to turn back on. The right mouse button doesn't work, so I'm stuck control+clicking like all you silly mac users. The power key doesn't turn the computer on any more (you gotta finesse it, my friends). I will say, though, this old thing has served me extremely well. She'll sit around in a corner somewhere until I get around to building my own arcade machine. Which I very well may do.

And so, I introduce you to... the new hottness!

*I like to pretend that it's a terminator and will kick your ass if you look at it the wrong way.

DON'T CLICK THIS LINK!

She's ok! A little worse for the wear, but home and safe. Thanks for the support everyone!