1) Graduated from pharmacy school - yipee!!!!!!!!!! thanks all of you who came out and made the day extra special for me. check out my graduation photos on www.photos.dtwang.net.

2) Moved out to West Los Angeles (only 10 min biking distance to Santa Monica Pier)

3) Started residency in VA West Los Angeles

I gotta say, I had no idea what I was missing until I moved out to west LA. It is so nice here! I'm blocks away from great shopping places and there's an endless variety of good-great food! And oh, the weather is always excellent! Throughout the whole summer, there was only 1 weekend that I had to turn on the AC. Yeah, now I understand why LA dwellers would rather pay so much more to live in such small quarters and deal with horrendous traffic than move anywhere else! I don't need a big mansion with lots of land, I think I can deal with small condos and hours of traffic just to stay here. ^_^

Now, all I'm waiting for is to get my pharmacist license...the wait seriously seems like forever! I took the tests already so wish me luck!

I've side-tracked a little, but back to this blog. I just want to share with all of you that I've been accepted into the residency program offered at VA greater LA area. The main hospital is on Wilshire Blvd in Westwood by Beverly Hills. What an awesome place to be! And more, one of their other hospitals is where Grey's Anatomy is shot! I guess that now I really have to start watching the show and find out the deal about Mr. McDreamy.

Having said all that, I'm ready to finally graduate in May of 2007! No more finals ever!

Tim and Mike preparing before rounds:

Me enjoying Fox coffee that the guys got

Tim starting his final case presentation

Ending the last day with a trip to Mimi's Cafe with our preceptor Dr. Jones

FDA Statement on Foodborne E.coli O157:H7 Outbreak in Spinach

Updated 9/15/06

As part of the agency's continued commitment to keep the public informed of food safety issues, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is providing this update on the outbreak involving spinach.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is continuing to alert consumers about an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 in multiple states that may be associated with the consumption of fresh spinach and fresh spinach containing-products.

Based on current information, FDA advises that people not eat fresh spinach or fresh spinach containing-products that are consumed raw. Individuals who believe they may have experienced symptoms of illness after consuming pre-packaged spinach are urged to contact their health care provider.

At this time, Natural Selection Foods, LLC, of San Juan Bautista, California, is recalling all of its products that contain spinach in all the brands they pack with "Best if Used by Dates" of August 17, 2006 through October 1, 2006.

FDA continues to investigate whether other companies and brands are involved.

Natural Selection Foods, LLC brands include: Natural Selection Foods, Pride of San Juan, Earthbound Farm, Bellissima, Dole, Rave Spinach, Emeril, Sysco, O Organic, Fresh Point, River Ranch, Superior, Nature's Basket, Pro-Mark, Compliments, Trader Joe's, Ready Pac, Jansal Valley, Cheney Brothers, Coastline, D'Arrigo Brothers, Green Harvest, Mann, Mills Family Farm, Pro*Act, Premium Fresh, Snoboy, The Farmer's Market, Tanimura & Antle, President's Choice, Cross Valley, and Riverside Farms. These products include spinach and any salad with spinach in a blend, both retail and food service products. Products that do not contain spinach are not part of this recall.

E. coli O157:H7 causes diarrhea, often with bloody stools. Although most healthy adults can recover completely within a week, some people can develop a form of kidney failure called Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS). HUS is most likely to occur in young children and the elderly. The condition can lead to serious kidney damage and even death. To date, 94 cases of illness have been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), including 14 cases of HUS and one death.

At this time, the investigation is ongoing and states that have reported illnesses to date include: California, Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. The affected products were also distributed to Canada and Mexico.

FDA continues to work closely with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state and local agencies to determine the cause and scope of the problem. As part of our investigation, we will test packages of spinach from confirmed cases of E. coli infection.

FDA will provide daily updates on its investigation. Please check this site for updated information.

Now, all I have to do is simply reach for the valve on my shoulder, stick it in my mouth, and suck and I'm hydrated! Easy enough. My next challenge now is to build up my endurance so I can ride all the way to the top of the mountains here in San Bernardino with David. So far, I've only been able to ride about 1/3rd of the trails then I poop out. :( Check out David's blog under snapshots for pix at the top of the mountains.

I've been using my Pentax Optio S for more than 3 years now. David gave this camera to me as a gift back in 2003 when it first came out. At that time, this was the smallest camera that I was aware of out in the market. If fact, David gave it to me in the regular sized Altoid tin box. This mini camera comes with a 3X optical zoom and 3.2MP. It definitely met my needs. The only complaint I had was that the LCD window was a little too small. Over time, a lot of smaller and sleeker cameras with bigger LCD screens came out. All the new products tempted me but I still loved my Optio S so I stuck with this camera.

Today, David took me to Sharper Image in Victoria Gardens to check out some gadgets. After walking around the store for a bit, something caught my eye, the Pentax Optio T10.

This camera came with everything that my Optio S had plus more! This camera has 6MP and 3X optical zoom capabilities. Even though the camera was slightly bigger than my Optio S, it is still small and compact. Plus, it has a gigantic LCD screen . In fact, the LCD screen is just as big as the Optio S camera. And the best thing about this is that this camera is equipped with a touch display menu system. Check out the Optio T10 review for detailed specs.

It is super user friendly and the fact that I'm already familiar with Pentax menu really helps. Even though it was practically love at first site, I still had a hard time purchasing it since there was nothing wrong with my Optio S. Then guess what? I left David at the store for about 10 minutes to do a coffee run. When I came back, he surprised me with the Optio T10! Wow, he definitely made my day! The only agreement we had was that he wanted me to give him my Optio S in exchange for this camera. What a bargain! Besides, he bought me that camera too. So sweet huh? And, I found out that the Optio T10 and Optio S use the same battery which means I don't have to buy another spare. ^_^

Anyway, tomorrow I'm going to test my camera out a little and I'll be sure to blog the results once I take some pix.

for you kitty lovers. Go visit Target and you just might be surprised at what you'll find. The best thing about shopping there? You can find anything else you might need there so that's the perfect excuse! ^_^ Thanks Sarah for sharing this with me!