I have a dream

I have a dream when.....

iPhone has a keyboard
Blackberry has mutilingual input system include Japanese ( at least display)
Blackberry has as good texts handling system as palm has
New york has faster internet access
Every single car has a navigation system
T mobile has as good coverage as verizon in new york city
iPhone is available on T mobile
New york city has more free hotspots
United States start using kg / meter / celcius system instead of lbs / mile / fahrenheit
Subway has a little more punctual timetable

low tech city

Is the words "high tech" engrish? We use it in Japan frequently meaning "technologically advanced" or simply "geeky"

Is New York "high tech" city? Well, hell no from geeky japanese point of view. First of all, internet traffic is SO SLOW!! Do you know in japan half of internet access is now on optical cable basis ( 100 Mbs per second)

10Mbs and you call it fast? So you can imagine how disappointed I was when I first came to the city more than 5 years ago. I saw cars equipped with cassette tape audio system. Cassette tape!!! My god!! We are in 21st century. Right? no navigation system incorporated in car audio!? Why there is no TV in trains or subway?

I am getting used to this low tech city and am not as disappointed and frustrated as I used to be. But sometimes I am nostalgic about the high tech city ( yes I mean Tokyo) where I am from.

Speech input system for Engrishman

Just curious about speech input system like dragon speech. I have seen radiologists using them quite frequently and looks pretty convenient. It might not be, though, practical for Engrishman like me who has a strong accent. Might be useful for correcting my pronunciation as they may not recognize strong accent.

Why I am NOT using iPhone for now

I think two major smartphones here in the new york city are blackberry and iPhone. Every morning I ride in the subway, I see 4 types of people who are either 1) Doing something with blackberry 2) Doing something with iphone ipod 3) Reading books 4) Doing nothing By the way, despite of many attractions iPhone has, such as multi touch function and friendly UI, I am not using it for now as it lacks the actual keyboard which is a crucial part for me. I once tried pocket pc without keyboard and I really hated it with this single reason. (I love SONY Clie TG 50 and the main reason is same - the device has a keyboard. Why they stopped creating Clie!!) I am using blackberry curve and I totally love it because..... 1) It has a nice keyboard (easy to type with my big fingers, better than clie) 2) It's sound email system. Blackberry is by far I think the best mobile device for handling emails. 3) Google map enables it to serve as mini navigator 4) Google sync - you can sync google calendar and blackberry. This is absolutely fantastic!!! Are you in favor for blackberry ? Or you like iPhone?

Blogging in the subway

Monday as usual is a bit crazy, and even more after my long weekend (I took last Friday off) as I have to adjust myself from "off" mode to "on" mode. As I have to start my day with the clinic in the morning, starting is always a bit chaotic on Monday. I spent almost my entire day in the clinic as I also have the specialty clinic in the afternoon.

Always thinking about how to adjust myself from "on" to "off" smoothly. Anyone has any good ideas?

T in New York City

My first BBQ

My very first BBQ (well I was invited to several BBQ parties but this is the first BBQ I hosted) in the United States took place in one of the state park in Long Island.

(Problem)

It was very hard to ignite charcoal. I did not know the "charcoal lighting chimney" nor light starter liquid. I almost gave up BBQ when finally charcoals were warming up.

Top of the rock

We are now enjoying the beautiful scenery from the top of the Rockefeller center building.

Flat iron building

You may laugh at these sightseeing busride in the city but it was a quite fun actually. If you have not tried in the past, I highly recommend you to do so (Yes even if you are new yorker.)

Taking a day off

And riding this double decker bus in NYC for the first time for my more than 5 years stay in the US.

英語学習 筋トレ

ちまたには「短期間で英語がぺらぺら」なる本があふれているようですが、私にいわせればかなり眉唾です！というかそりゃ詐欺に近いぜよ！といいたくなります。英語の成績にはそれなりに自信があって、5年以上アメリカにいて、一日のほとんどを英語を使って暮らしている私が言うのだから間違いはありません！って強い声で言いたいのですが、それはおまえの才能がないからだろうが！とつっこまれると反論ができないのが悲しいところです。あーあ、いつになったら英語はぺらぺらに使えるのだろう。

筋トレも同じようなものなのでしょうね。短期間で体の改造はできない。地道にこつこつ続けるのがよろしいようで・・・・・

人生における残り時間 探し物と忘れ物

なにやら深刻なタイトルをつけてしまいましたが、要は仕事場から帰る際にまた忘れ物をしてあーあまた無駄なロスをしたなあ、と思ったということです。忘れ物や探し物に費やす時間や心的損失は馬鹿にならない、というか人生における純粋な消耗なので減らしていきたい、と強く思った次第です。強く思っても結果になかなか反映されないのが悲しいところですね。日本でも、アメリカでも忘れ物や探し物をしてはよく大騒ぎしています。アメリカに来たらちょっとはましになるかなあ、と思ったんですけどねえ。根拠はなし！というわけで、皆様良い週末をお過ごしくださいませ。

言葉を失う

先ほどニューヨークの地下鉄の広告を載せました。あまりにも内容が衝撃的だったので思わず通勤途中の混雑しているニューヨークの地下鉄で写真まで撮ってしまいました。結構恥ずかしかったです。どうやら薬の広告のようなのですが、それが謳うところによるとこの錠剤を水に溶かして飲めばあなたも有名なミュージシャンのKanye　Westに変身・・・・ただし効果は数時間しか続かない！？

TVコマーシャルまでありましたよ。

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=PtFUCGFFzRM&feature=related

きわ物好きな方はご覧ください。しかし、いったいなんなんですかねえ、これは・・・・

What the..........

Someone PLEASE explain the meaning of the ads. One of the most weird ads in NYC subway I have ever seen.

At the subway station

On my way to work, at the subway station. Very hot and muddy today.

お久しぶりです NYは暑い、暑い

皆様、お久しぶりです。久しぶりの更新となってしまいました。前のブログでは寒い寒いと書いたNYの気候も、７月となった今となっては暑い暑い！半袖に短パンの格好で過ごしています。個人的に夏は大好きなのでNYの夏を過ごすのが嬉しくて仕方ありません。NYの冬はきついもんなあ。 さて、私のアメリカでの内科医としての生活も６年目に突入しました。７月はアメリカでは医師にとって新学期です。右も左もわからないインターンが入ってきて我々としては非常に気を遣う時期でもあるのですが、個人的には３人の直接の後輩フェローができたのが嬉しいです（これで奴隷のようにこきつかえるのが増えた＞おい！冗談です、はは）。３者３様なのがニューヨークらしくて楽しいのですが、一人はニューヨーク、一人はベネズエラ、一人はフィリピン出身です。後輩を偉そうに？指導しながら私もさらに修行しなきゃなあ、と思い返す次第です。 皆様はいかがお過ごしですか？暑さ厳しき折、くれぐれもご自愛くださいませ。

Chilly Saturday, Nice sunny Sunday

Saturday was so chilly as if we got back to march. We went to the chinatown in manhattan after a while, and to surprise found a couple of my favorite restaurants were closed.

In the morning it was rather chilly but afternoon turned out to be a beautiful weather. We went to the east village and enjoyed the last part of the weekend.

At the subway station

Five borough bike tour poster. On my way to work

in service examination

Today I took an in service examination. Kind of once a year national unified exam for the fellows in each specific fields. I have been taking this since I was an intern (of course I took a different type of exam as a medicine house staff)

It is a 3 hour computerized exam contains more than 100 questions. It is really good to take this as it always reminds me that I know little about medicine and really have to study harder.

Deadline 2

Yesterday was quite busy as it was the deadline for our abstract submission. Deadline was 11:59pm ct which means 0:59am in new york. We worked until the last minutes and finally submit the abstract 5 minutes prior to the deadline.

Deadline

As tomorrow is the deadline for the abstract of the research I have
been involved in, I am still up working on it (well you may say 10pm
is not late at all but for me it is like midnight). Deadline is really
pain in the butt and I have never felt easy processing my tasks to be
done when facing the deadlines. Getting things done surely is a skill
I always try to acquire. You could say time management skill is very
close to the GTD skill.