Thank Goodness and How Ridiculous?

This first article appeared in the Des Moines newspaper on Nov. 23 and of course I freaked out because I live very near this area.

A Drake University student was robbed and then kidnapped as he walked to his car near his residence early today.

Michael Thaden, 21, was approached by a man in the 2900 block of Brattleboro Avenue about 1:15 a.m. Police said the man opened his heavy coat and displayed a silver handgun. He ordered Thaden to get in the vehicle.

After robbing him of $50, the gunman climbed in the passenger side and ordered him to drive. Police said the man did not say much, just barked orders, like, “Turn here,” and “Turn right.” They ended up near Valley West Mall. The gunman told Thaden to wait. He said a friend would be joining them.

When the gunman got out of the car, Thaden drove away. He called police shortly thereafter.
No arrests have been reported, and police have not identified a suspect.

Then this article appeared on Nov. 24 and became relieved but also dumfounded by why would someone do this?

Detectives on Wednesday determined that another reported kidnapping was a lie.

Drake University junior Michael Thaden, 21, told police he was kidnapped and robbed as he walked to his car near his residence early Tuesday. Wednesday, Polk County prosecutors charged and arrested Thaden with making a false police report. No motive for the alleged crime was given...

In a press release Police Sgt. Jeff Edwards said, “In the subsequent investigation follow-up, it has been determined that the kidnapping and robbery reported in this case did not occur.”
Thaden was charged with making a false police report.

"Significant time is put into every case that is made," Sgt. Jeff Edwards, Des Moines police spokesman, said in a news release. Police encourage people to report possible crimes, but Edwards emphasized that deliberately making a false report is a crime.

Got nothing better to do with your time??

Encouraging to know that the police keep the Drake area safe, too bad they cannot protect us from everything!

Comparing Prices Over the Years

Although today was Black Friday, I did not do any shopping. I have gone out before for 'black Friday deals' only to leave the store without the product I wanted (because they only had 5 models), with some product I never knew I needed but bought because it was on sale and frustrated at all humans because of the amount of people shopping or complaining all at the same stores.

This year Black Friday made me think about how prices of products have changed over the years as well as the variety of products available. For example, I remember paying about $150 for a printer which now can be bought for about $40. Also, my mom always remembers how she paid $480 for her first VHS player which now cannot even be bought in stores. Other fun cost comparisons:

Gallon of Gas:
1930 10 cents , 1960 25 cents , 1990 $1.34 , 2010 $2.80

Cost of a New Car:
1930 $600.00 , 1960 $2,600.00 , 1990 $16,950.00 , 2010 $28,958

Cost of a New House:
1930 $3,845.00 , 1960 $12,700.00 , 1990 $123,000.00 , 2008 $238,880

My First Discman:
1996: $60.00, 2010: People do not know what a disc man is anymore

Who Knew a Turkey Could Be So Funny?

While I was shopping this morning, I not only found a Christmas gift for my niece but I also got some good laughs in.

I was standing behind a sweet old lady waiting to get my purchases rung up. The lady began telling the cashier how she wanted to pick up a frozen turkey at the store, but couldn't find one big enough for her family.

She asked the boy at the register, "Do these turkeys get any bigger?"
The cashier replied, "No ma'am, they're dead."

I burst out laughing as did the old lady. The young cashier then realized what the old lady meant, turned red and also started laughing.

Just a funny story to start off your Thanksgiving week with some fun!

T-Shirts, T-Shirts Everywhere!

I know I am not the only person who has an overwhelming collection of t-shirts as I have seen the t-shirt quilts ideas on the Internet and have seen my mom make one from my sister's collection.
After sorting through the over 100 t-shirts that I have, I began to ask myself....Where did they all come from?

Sports, band, organizations, clubs, fundraisers, groups, committees, conferences....being way too involved!

Upon remembering the source of most of the shirts, I began to get very nostalgic about all that I did with memories flowing back immediately as if I had pictures in front of me. There is no way I can wear all of these shirts even in an entire year. So what to do with all these memories?

Ask my mom to make me a t-shirt quilt! Thanks MOM!

Free Beer Tour...WHERE?

While in St. Louis visiting, my family makes it a point to visit the Anheuser Busch plant and take the Budweiser Tour. Today, I went on my sixth or seventh tour or the facility and feel like I could almost give the tour myself. The whole beer making process is explained and you get to see the facilities were all the beer is made, fermented and packed. The Clydesdale horses and dalmatian are also on site to visit. The tour is fascinating, fun, interesting, historical and great with samples at the end!

Vacation Block, Here I Am!

Finally....Enjoying my one and only vacation time for the year!

Wish I could say that I was going on an adventurous trip across the world. Instead I have interviews, presentations and job searches filling up my few weeks. I have to start all this planning in order to potentially have a job in May after graduation.

However, this weekend I am doing something almost as fun as a world adventure...I am visiting my sister, brother in law and my cutest, most favorite niece in St. Louis!

Pharmacy Residencies and Fellowships

So what does all this verbage about residencies, fellowships, PhD work, that you may hear pharmacy students talking really mean?

The purpose of the residency (general or specialized) is to further develop you expertise as a clinician. The PGY1 is a more broader focus and the PGY2 has evolved into specialty practice to further develop skills to specialize in a particular field (i.e. psych, neuro, critical care, cardiovascular, etc).

A fellowship is meant to develop the skills of the individual as a researcher. Typically they market the capacity of developing you into a skill set necessary to be a principal investigator. Fellowships provide specialized training and experience within the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries while enhancing the role of pharmacists within industry.

Otherwise the PhD route gives you time to develop that skill set over the 1st 2 yrs and you have the remaining 2-3yrs to continue development and apply your work.

Iowa Pharmacy Board Says Marijuana is Medicine

The Iowa Board of Pharmacy Tuesday declared that marijuana is a drug with medicinal purposes. In doing so, it agreed to reclassify marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II under Iowa law.

The board found that while marijuana has a high potential for abuse, it is now considered to have accepted medical uses. Schedule I drugs are those that have no proven or accepted medical use.

But the board denied a request from petitioner Carl Olson of Des Moines that it promulgate rules on the medical use of marijuana. That is beyond the scope of the board's authority, chairman Vernon Benjamin said.

While the board can regulate drugs and pharmacists, it is up to the legislature to approve the medicinal use of marijuana, he said."We can't set any penalties. We can't set any guidelines on how marijuana's going to be produced, what standards are going to be. And I think all those kind of things are things the legislature's going to have the ultimate say-so about anyway," said Benjamin in remarks reported by local media.

The ball is now in the hands of the legislature, which so far has failed to act to pass a medical marijuana bill.

(by Phillip Smith, November 02, 2010)

GOOD or BAD?

-As a human, I could care less if people want to harm their own bodies as long as they are not harming me.

-As a pharmacist, this adds to the liability, regulation and monitoring responsibilities of our job.