Alrighty, sorry it took me a couple of days longer than expected (seems as if I am always apologizing for this), but unfortunately I lost my internet connection for a couple of days, something that happens quite regularly on this island, altthough Im lucky to say i have never lost my power as of yet (knock on wood)..........
Darn it, there goes my power. Just kidding :P
So this week has been going well so far, have been concentrating on learning my Anatomy, which I truly believe is one of the most important classes for me right now. I want to learn my anatomical features like the back of my hand, or the front, because honestly how often do you really look at the back of your hand? Okay, maybe not even my hands at all, maybe know them as well as I know my ABCs :P
At the moment, most of it is sinking in pretty well, although that darn Omotransversarius is being the bane of my existance, i do not know why, I just cant seem to remember it. We joke that Ill get it finally on the exam, and Ill be like "In your face -Omotransversarius, booooyaaah!" Although I would probably be asked to leave the exam room for calling out an answer :P Who knows maybe typing about it, Ill finally remember it hehe :)
As for my other classes, I am not to worried really at the moment, I have done quite a bit of Nutrition before hand and the information is being assimilated really well. The other class Into to Vet Med, is pretty much an ethics and get to know the profession class, so it should be easy marks as long as i do the work on time and in a proper fashion, hoping to get most of it down in the next week, hopefully have it ready by the end of the weekend. Then I have physiology, with a very amusing teacher, one of my classmates, who is quite amusing as well, said he sounds like Rafiki from the Lion King. I have to say I would agree with that assessment, although I would never tell him :P Physio should be a little harder than nutrition, but i am not to worried as well, especially since the exam is around mid -February mark.
My first exam coming up, which most students are stressing about it, is Microanatomy (with a bit of development biology mixed in). I am acing the laboratory section, but the class part is a bit more challenging. Especially since the teacher tends to give information and then tell us, "but you do not need to know that right now" or "this is more than you need to know at the moment". So the exam is on January 31st, which means I really need to buckle down these next couple of days and on the weekend as to be honest I have not done much studying these last few days.
Although I do have a good reason, as I have been running around getting supplies for my car, as it has a small radiator leak and since most stores close at 5pm and I normally finish school at 4pm, that leaves me like an hour to go shopping :S
Plus yesterday I just had an absolutely lovely day, as just I was about to get into class at 13h00, I get a phone call from administration asking "are you going to pick up your animals". I was like huh? What do you mean. Apparently there were on the customs loading dock since 10h00, and how nice it was of them to call me a whole 3hrs later. So I rush to the airport to pick up my two cats, but unfortunately they forgot to remind to me bring close 700EC with me to pay the airport for shipping, to sign the paperwork, to pay the veterinarian inspection fee (which was the big one at 460EC), and then another 60EC to release them from customs.
FYI: 1US dollar = 2.70EC (Eastern Caribbean dollars).
Luckily I had enough on me to pay the airport, and the veterinarian told me I could pay him later on in the day. Unfortunately the customs agent, would not release them without payment, and the only thing accept is Cash!!! So I had to run to the ATM at the airport, which I found out that apparently it is only a banking machine, not an ATM. Meaning I could only use my debit card (I was hoping to take out the cash on my credit card initially), meaning I had to take out all the money then and there, which sucked because it used up about 3/4 of the available funds I had left over for myself. So now I am pretty much broke with only a few hundred EC dollars left (approx. like 100$ US maybe a bit more).
Then, since my cats came a day earlier than I was expecting, I was realized, Shit! I do not have a little pan, or litter, so I then spent the rest of the day running around trying to find one that wasnt ridiculously expensive, and at the same time I decided to invest in some supplies to build them a lovely scratching post, as the ones here would be very expensive to buy, close to like 200-300EC, although in retrospect, all the supplies cost me close to 200EC :S But I realized I over estimated everything and i could have easily build like 3 scratching posts out of it, perhaps a small business I can start for the future ;)
So in the end I got my cats and there are now adjusting well to there new environment. Pebbles was the first to relax a little (big surprise) and Luna soon followed. Ill try and post a couple of pics of them soon if I can, so you can all see what they look like ;)
Well thats it for now, I am off to a ZEW (Zoo Exotics Wildlife) group to see what they are all about, then time to study!!!!!
Until the next time ;)
Jonathan =D
About Me
- FutureVet
- I am fun loving, light hearted, positive and determined individual who believes that we can all help each other, whether it be something small or something grand :)
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
My first week on the island! :)
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| The first animal we helped save, and we've only been on the island for 2 days! =D |
So to start off, my plane was to depart at 17h10 from Montreal to JFK, my best friend, my bro and my dad saw me off, which was very nice. Right before leaving my dad gave me a nice card signed by himself and my step-mom Lillian, although she wrote my name JOHNathan, Grrrrr, I still do not know how many times I have to remind my own family, that there are not TWO H's in my name, but oh well, c'est la vie, maybe when I finally have a doctorate in veterinary medicine they will finally write it properly. My dad gave me a beautiful trio of gifts, one a gorgeous pen to write with, the next, a beautiful bracelet that I have worn much since getting it, and a bad ass watch, which to be honest, I would not dare wearing here in St. Kitts, as the last thing i would want to locals to think is that I actually have some money.
Apparently Kittitians have this view of white people that we are all rich, and have lots of money, which is understandable as that is all they see on tv, and that is all they normally see when a bunch of white people come off of those massive cruise ships and dock here for a couple of days. What they do not realize is that most students, have ZERO money, so its hard trying to bargain with them sometimes, but if there is one thing I will be extrememely good at by the time I leave, it is bargaining. As it seems you can pretty much bargain over anything over here ;)
So back to my initial departure, well I can of overestimated the amount of time needed to get through baggage claims, and we arrived way to early at the airport, so I then spent the next 2hrs and a half lounging around the airport, waiting for my plane to leave. Finally the time comes, and I get boarded onto my plane, and take a nice little flight to JFK which at night is not very impressive, but it was nice to fly over the city and see all the lights as we landed. Then as I land, and this is what I see.........
Booo, one of my bags missing....waited a good 30mins, did they ever show up? Nah ah! So one 2hr flight, and one 75lbs giant blue bag missing :S
So after spending the next 13hrs here!!! annoyed by the fact that I was missing a bag, not able to really sleep on the UNCOMFORTABLE chairs in the airport, plus the few cots they did leave out were being monopolized by people who were not even sleeping. Then after a few hours, I finally asked, excuse me, will you be using that, as I could get some rest, they decide to finally lie down, and sleep....grrrr. Finally, tired as shit, I got boarded onto my plane to St. Kitts; which I have to say thankfully, I had my Ipod, because the music helped in passing the time, plus I brought the Cleric Quintet, a series of books I have been wanting to read for quite some time, but never had the chance. Although I think the rest of the book may have to wait until after this semester :P
Once on the plane, i pretty much pass out, for like 3hrs, and then spent the rest of the time staring out of the window. Which I have to say the view was beautiful, this was view as we were intially coming in, what a nice way to greet me to the island.
The view of the island as we approached.
Us landing!
We landed!!!!!!! A small airport, but I guess it does the job!
I get off the plane, and it takes about a good hour and a bit to get the 200 something people through customs, which they warned us about, everything here on the island moves veeeeery slowly. You will just have to get used to it they say, which I have say, I am quite thoroughly enjoying the pace of things over here.
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| Our bitchen OL! |
So once through baggage claims, with one bag still missing, I met up with a group of Ross OLs (orientation leaders) and a bunch of other students, and they greeted us very warmly and began to show us around. They had a lovely pre-programmed schedule for all of us, with some free spots for us to do as we wished with our OLs. We got grouped together according to living areas, and I have to say our Orientation group rocked!!! Not to mention, I have to say our OL was probably one of the better ones around. He infomed us thoroughly of everything, allowed us to discuss and make decisions as a group as to which activities we felt like doine, although of course some of them were mandatory. Which I have to say, our first week here was a real pleasure, they took excellent care of us, and made sure we at least felt somewhat comfortable in getting to know our surroundings, so that way when the first week of school hit we did not feel lost or too lonely. Not to mention the groups helped build some minor
friendships which Im sure will last til we leave this island :)
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| My first real picture of the island :) |
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| My OL group!!! =D |
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| Trying on our white coats, so what size we needed. |
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| One of the group of turtles kept at school, one of them is a bully :P |
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| An Egret, there are lots of them awesome birds! |
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| Mmmm subway anyone? There is also a Dominos! :O |
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| The lovely pink Insurance building |
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| The local police |
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| A local dog, there are soooo many just roaming the streets! :S |
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| A lovely garden in the middle of the city. |
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| One of the many churches on the island more per capita than any other state! |
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| The volcano!! Bah Bah Baaaaah! |
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| The boat we spent the day on for our first saturday on the island, a beautiful catamaran trip! Plus I got to go snorkeling!!! :) |
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| A sign telling people about Diabetes and HIV |
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| Black Rock - made by volcano! |
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| One of the many goats roaming around |
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| I liked the positive nature of it! |
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| Brimstone - this bad boy sunk close to 500 naval ships |
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| View from Brimstone to the ocean |
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| Our day of ziplinning, was a lot of fun, but I think tourists are getting giped; $85 US = Dang! |
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| Our cool ass Taxi driver that we had for the week......SHOWTIME!!!!! |
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| A cute monkey, there are more monkeys than people on the island :S |
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| The oldest tree on the island, close to 250yrs old |
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| A couple of buddies of our OL, I have to say they made the week, all that much more interesting, plus they enjoyed giving out free beer!!! Thanks Jimbo; thanks Whin! =D |
There you have it, my/our first week on the island in a nut shell. I have to say that first week was awesome!!!
Hopefully from this point on, I can post daily to help keep things flowing a little better, although I will post some pics of my kicking house later on ;)
Cheers! =D
Getting up to date........
The last time I left off, I was finishing off the last of the little details before my departure.
In the end I was able to sublet my apartment to a lovely couple who were very friendly and who also decided to buy my appliances from me for $1500. Although sadly, even though we had an agreement between us, that they were supposed to have paid me most of it before the end of 2010, I never received a payment. Then right before leaving, they told me they would have all of my money by mid-January, but most unfortunately they just gave a small payment to my brother of $300, which just sucks, because I calculate their money into my total income, so its making my life a little more difficult over here, as I can barely afford to cover my expenses at the moment.
I am going to give them a call most likely today, to discuss what is happen. Albeit that there were some complications before I left, but these were unforeseen complications and I gave my apologies before leaving, and apparently they told me they understood. Now it seems they were actually quite upset about the whole charade.
The day i was supposed to be moving out of my apartment, I got hit with another kidney stone (for those of you who do not know me, Ive had multiple episodes since 2000 with multiple stones, although the last episode was over a year at that point). I personally believe it was the stress involved with the move, my animals, finding someone to sublet, getting financial aide, worrying about my personal finances, packing, and so on. So the night before, I got slammed with a kidney stone and ended up staying in the hospital until about 5pm, I was supposed to be out of my apartment by midnight. Although the new tenant began moving in some of his stuff at around 7pm, which just added another little kink in the smooth plan I had, since initially when I meant I would be moved out by the 28th of December it did not mean, they were to be moved in by the 28th, but meant I was supposed to be out by the 28th of December at midnight. I agree I was not totally clear, but when the new tenants called to say they rented a truck for the 28th in the morning, I was like shit! at the point there was nothing I could do, as they reserved their vehicule and it seemed like it was quite difficult to get one at that time of the year apparently.
So while I was in the hospital jacked up on morphine, my brother and a good friend began moving stuff from my apartment, but to add to the dilemma the truck we were supposed to get, never came, which meant we had to move everything in a car, which would not have been so horrible if I was a healthy individual for most of the day. So finally I get out of the hospital and still with the remnants of the catheter I just had in me, I begin to aide my brother and my friend to move whats left of my stuff, initially I wanted the salvation army to come and pick up most of my stuff, but because of the holidays it seems they had quite the back log and did not get back to me until after I left, which was thoroughly disappointing. In reflection I guess I should have called them a couple of months in advance, but I was so preoccupied by everything else, that it did not really occur to me; plus I was always under the assumption that we were getting a truck and Id have a couple more of helping hands.
Since, i needed to be out by midnight, my only option was to chuck everything that was not salvageable onto the grass, so the new tenants could get their belongings into the apartment, as their truck was showing up at 9am, although it seems like it did not show up until much later, as I forced myself to come back in the morning to pick up the little odds and ends; even though the new tenant was adamant that his truck and his movers would be at the new place by 9am!
I then spent the next couple of days immobilized pretty much, nauseous, popping hydromorphone every 4-6hrs along with some powerful NSAIDs and a medication meant to relieve swelling in my prostate, which I guess aides in passing all that grit in the urinary system and in aiding to make the individual feel a little more comfortable. Luckily all of my bags were packed already so I pretty much just laid on my brothers couch trying to rest as much as I could. Although the morning I had to leave, I decided hmmm perhaps I should weight my bags, and unfortunately to my surprise my bags both weighed in at about 90lbs, 20lbs over the allotted limit, so in a last minute storm, I chuck out a bunch of stuff from my bags and got them down to about 75lbs. Luckily for me the airlines let the extra 5lbs slide, as they were supposed to charge me an extra $100 per bag if over 70lbs, the lady was kind enough to say it was at 70lbs exactly, so thank you to the lovely lady at AA ;)
Even though I mentioned this to my new tenants, and apparently according the wife she was very understanding, saying "no worries, we understand", apparently they did not, as they started having a back and forth with my brother, saying they were going to withhold my money until we came and threw out all of the junk left on the grass. Which I find ridiculous, because if I was in that situation, and it happened to someone else, I would have said, I understand, and truly understood and would have taking care of the job of slowly putting things to the curb on a bi-weekly basis. Not to mention on the first of every month the city would come and pick up heavy objects, and if you called them, they would give you an exact date when they would come and pick up everything. Did the new tenants do this? No! They left EVERYTHING on the grass, and had a back and forth with my brother and my ex-landlord. My ex-landlord saying he would get a fine if we put everything on the curve, which may be true, but the city never does it, as I have personally done it on many occasions. Then my new tenants, telling my brother it was not their responsibility and until I picked up the trash I wouldnt get any money. I agree my junk is my responsibility, but what ever happened to come kindness in this world. I swear sometimes I believe my brother and I are one of the only truly kind hearts out their, I was leaving to a new country, I got kidney stones, and yet they couldnt even move one piece of broken ass furniture to the curve once every 3-4days. They actually had to have multiple conversations with my brother and ex-landlord about the junk. Just ridiculous I think.
So in the end, I ended up using 1-800-GOTJUNK, to come and pick up the rest of the junk, which apparently cost me close to 500$ and since my budget is very tight and I have not received any money from my new tenants, this makes my life all the much more difficult at this point :S
As for my cats, well finally I decided to use a professional shipping company which would ship my animals for me and make sure they arrive safely to island, although that cost me a pretty penny of about $3000, which to be honest is something I really couldnt afford, but I really did not have a choice. So hopefully my cats will be arriving in the next couple of weeks...yay! :) On a side note, I thought my work was going to make a very generous donation to the shipping company I was going to use, but I just found out today that apparently all that was donated was $200, which I am still very appreciative for, but when you were initially hearing rumours that it would be well over a $1000, well, it was quite disappointing to hear that only $200 was given. Although I am double checking with work, just to make sure, who knows, maybe the rest of the credit just never reached Manoir Kanisha yet, or perhaps their is an evelope sitting at work, maked Manoir Kanisha....hope hope hope. If not, well atleast i can slap this bill onto a credit card, and worry about the payment slowly over time, or just let my credit card close my account at some point :P
Well I think that pretty much puts everything up to date, Ill be posting a new one very shortly, about my initial week on the lovely island of St. Kitt and my first week of school here, then hopefully I can finally post on a regular day to day basis, which is something I have been wanting to do for a bit.
Thank y'all for ready, Cheers!
Jonathan =D
In the end I was able to sublet my apartment to a lovely couple who were very friendly and who also decided to buy my appliances from me for $1500. Although sadly, even though we had an agreement between us, that they were supposed to have paid me most of it before the end of 2010, I never received a payment. Then right before leaving, they told me they would have all of my money by mid-January, but most unfortunately they just gave a small payment to my brother of $300, which just sucks, because I calculate their money into my total income, so its making my life a little more difficult over here, as I can barely afford to cover my expenses at the moment.
I am going to give them a call most likely today, to discuss what is happen. Albeit that there were some complications before I left, but these were unforeseen complications and I gave my apologies before leaving, and apparently they told me they understood. Now it seems they were actually quite upset about the whole charade.
The day i was supposed to be moving out of my apartment, I got hit with another kidney stone (for those of you who do not know me, Ive had multiple episodes since 2000 with multiple stones, although the last episode was over a year at that point). I personally believe it was the stress involved with the move, my animals, finding someone to sublet, getting financial aide, worrying about my personal finances, packing, and so on. So the night before, I got slammed with a kidney stone and ended up staying in the hospital until about 5pm, I was supposed to be out of my apartment by midnight. Although the new tenant began moving in some of his stuff at around 7pm, which just added another little kink in the smooth plan I had, since initially when I meant I would be moved out by the 28th of December it did not mean, they were to be moved in by the 28th, but meant I was supposed to be out by the 28th of December at midnight. I agree I was not totally clear, but when the new tenants called to say they rented a truck for the 28th in the morning, I was like shit! at the point there was nothing I could do, as they reserved their vehicule and it seemed like it was quite difficult to get one at that time of the year apparently.
So while I was in the hospital jacked up on morphine, my brother and a good friend began moving stuff from my apartment, but to add to the dilemma the truck we were supposed to get, never came, which meant we had to move everything in a car, which would not have been so horrible if I was a healthy individual for most of the day. So finally I get out of the hospital and still with the remnants of the catheter I just had in me, I begin to aide my brother and my friend to move whats left of my stuff, initially I wanted the salvation army to come and pick up most of my stuff, but because of the holidays it seems they had quite the back log and did not get back to me until after I left, which was thoroughly disappointing. In reflection I guess I should have called them a couple of months in advance, but I was so preoccupied by everything else, that it did not really occur to me; plus I was always under the assumption that we were getting a truck and Id have a couple more of helping hands.
Since, i needed to be out by midnight, my only option was to chuck everything that was not salvageable onto the grass, so the new tenants could get their belongings into the apartment, as their truck was showing up at 9am, although it seems like it did not show up until much later, as I forced myself to come back in the morning to pick up the little odds and ends; even though the new tenant was adamant that his truck and his movers would be at the new place by 9am!
I then spent the next couple of days immobilized pretty much, nauseous, popping hydromorphone every 4-6hrs along with some powerful NSAIDs and a medication meant to relieve swelling in my prostate, which I guess aides in passing all that grit in the urinary system and in aiding to make the individual feel a little more comfortable. Luckily all of my bags were packed already so I pretty much just laid on my brothers couch trying to rest as much as I could. Although the morning I had to leave, I decided hmmm perhaps I should weight my bags, and unfortunately to my surprise my bags both weighed in at about 90lbs, 20lbs over the allotted limit, so in a last minute storm, I chuck out a bunch of stuff from my bags and got them down to about 75lbs. Luckily for me the airlines let the extra 5lbs slide, as they were supposed to charge me an extra $100 per bag if over 70lbs, the lady was kind enough to say it was at 70lbs exactly, so thank you to the lovely lady at AA ;)
Even though I mentioned this to my new tenants, and apparently according the wife she was very understanding, saying "no worries, we understand", apparently they did not, as they started having a back and forth with my brother, saying they were going to withhold my money until we came and threw out all of the junk left on the grass. Which I find ridiculous, because if I was in that situation, and it happened to someone else, I would have said, I understand, and truly understood and would have taking care of the job of slowly putting things to the curb on a bi-weekly basis. Not to mention on the first of every month the city would come and pick up heavy objects, and if you called them, they would give you an exact date when they would come and pick up everything. Did the new tenants do this? No! They left EVERYTHING on the grass, and had a back and forth with my brother and my ex-landlord. My ex-landlord saying he would get a fine if we put everything on the curve, which may be true, but the city never does it, as I have personally done it on many occasions. Then my new tenants, telling my brother it was not their responsibility and until I picked up the trash I wouldnt get any money. I agree my junk is my responsibility, but what ever happened to come kindness in this world. I swear sometimes I believe my brother and I are one of the only truly kind hearts out their, I was leaving to a new country, I got kidney stones, and yet they couldnt even move one piece of broken ass furniture to the curve once every 3-4days. They actually had to have multiple conversations with my brother and ex-landlord about the junk. Just ridiculous I think.
So in the end, I ended up using 1-800-GOTJUNK, to come and pick up the rest of the junk, which apparently cost me close to 500$ and since my budget is very tight and I have not received any money from my new tenants, this makes my life all the much more difficult at this point :S
As for my cats, well finally I decided to use a professional shipping company which would ship my animals for me and make sure they arrive safely to island, although that cost me a pretty penny of about $3000, which to be honest is something I really couldnt afford, but I really did not have a choice. So hopefully my cats will be arriving in the next couple of weeks...yay! :) On a side note, I thought my work was going to make a very generous donation to the shipping company I was going to use, but I just found out today that apparently all that was donated was $200, which I am still very appreciative for, but when you were initially hearing rumours that it would be well over a $1000, well, it was quite disappointing to hear that only $200 was given. Although I am double checking with work, just to make sure, who knows, maybe the rest of the credit just never reached Manoir Kanisha yet, or perhaps their is an evelope sitting at work, maked Manoir Kanisha....hope hope hope. If not, well atleast i can slap this bill onto a credit card, and worry about the payment slowly over time, or just let my credit card close my account at some point :P
Well I think that pretty much puts everything up to date, Ill be posting a new one very shortly, about my initial week on the lovely island of St. Kitt and my first week of school here, then hopefully I can finally post on a regular day to day basis, which is something I have been wanting to do for a bit.
Thank y'all for ready, Cheers!
Jonathan =D
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Wow, a lot has happened! =D
First thing off, sorry that it has taken me so long to post something. I did not realize my last post was at the beginning of September. Time sure does fly when you are keeping yourself busy :P
My my my where to start.......lets start with the developments with my roommate, things are very good with him. He is a good guy and havent had any problems with him. Unfortunately as he is a masters student his budget is very limited, meaning that he can't afford to buy my appliances from me and hence cannot stay in my apartment when I leave January 1st. So now onto trying to find someone to take over my place before I leave, another minor stress but I figure it really shouldnt be a problem considering the location and the price.
As for the rest of all my stuff, well I have to say I did a pretty good job liquidating most of my stuff over the last couple of weekends. I had two garage sales and over all minus expenses I made close to $700, plus a few people still want to buy a few things for me. In the end it should top off at around $800, which I think is pretty good. I was expecting perhaps around $500 and no more than $1000, so we landed pretty much in the middle =D
I would like to personally thank the personal donations of particular individuals, most were family, some were friends and a couple were complete strangers, so thank you for much, every dollar, every penny helps a little and is very much appreciated!
On to the rest of my current financial situation. Thanks to the aide of my mom and her good credit score, I was able to consolidate all of my debts and was accepted for a student line of credit. According to my bank advisor, they should dispense around $45K for the first year then, $15K a year till a maximum of $100K. Unfortunately this does not even cover half of my total expenses as you may know if you read my earlier posts. I am hoping to limit use of my credit line for personal expenses while on the island, such living expenses, travel, blah blah blah, anything but school related really.
Obviously with that in mind I needed to find other means of financial support. I have sent out, or should I say will be sending out shortly a letter to my family asking for any donations they can spare, plus I am still hoping for some random generous donations to my PayPal account. Anything is appreciated! :) Secondly Im cutting down on my living expenses and trying to put aside as much as I can right now. Thirdly applying for financial aide from the provincial government of Quebec.
Initially i thought it was going to be another headache all over, but after an intial rejection because they did not apparently recognize my program; they have now recognized my program and will be reviewing my file as to the amount of funds will be available to me. Obviously since I have been a full time employee for all of 2010 I will most likely not get much support for 2011, but my situation and file will be review every year come August or September.
Now onto my biggest stress and headache. The situation of my cats. Apparently I may have been misinformed about the ability to bring my cats on as carry on. I called the airline to check, and they told me that my animals could not exceed a total weight of 20lbs. My two cats weigh, 10lbs & 13lbs, the average carrier for two cats weighs about 4lbs, bringing the total weight at around 27lbs. Meaning Im 7lbs in excess :S The airlines option, put them in cargo.........but! You cannot transport an animal in temperatures below 45oF / 7oC and well the average temperature in Montreal in January is at around -15oC / 5oF, so that is out of the question. So at the moment I am checking with my travel agent seeing if there is anything they can do about it or to see how strict the airline is regarding this policy. According to the people on the phone, it seems pretty stringent as that was all they were trained to regurgitate.
So I think that pretty much covers it as of right now. Work is going well as always, although for those interested we performed an enucleation (removal of an eyeball) on a 5yr Basset hound. The poor dog had a nasty glaucoma and the eye was this nasty swollen red eyeball. Im happy to say the surgery went very well and at the moment Maggie is doing well too.
Oh and Halloween was great! My brother & I, along with a close friend helped scare the little kids of the neighbourhood before taking all the candy they dropped and left behind....Mu ha ha ha ha!!! Okay totally kidding, we scared them, then gave them delicious candy candy candy. Mmmm I love Halloween!
Sorry, side tracked a little, anyways the next steps are to finish going through my stuff and giving away the clothes I do not need or want to the local charity shelter, then onto the mission of selling all of my lovely appliances, which I should bring in close to $2000 for everything, which would be great right now. Then just finalize all these documents that i need to send to RossU & St. Kitt authorities, get some luggage, pack my bags, party before I leave and then off I go :P
Anyways, sorry to my reads for the delay in my post, Ill try and update you all a little more often from now on.
Stay Cool! =D
This
My my my where to start.......lets start with the developments with my roommate, things are very good with him. He is a good guy and havent had any problems with him. Unfortunately as he is a masters student his budget is very limited, meaning that he can't afford to buy my appliances from me and hence cannot stay in my apartment when I leave January 1st. So now onto trying to find someone to take over my place before I leave, another minor stress but I figure it really shouldnt be a problem considering the location and the price.
As for the rest of all my stuff, well I have to say I did a pretty good job liquidating most of my stuff over the last couple of weekends. I had two garage sales and over all minus expenses I made close to $700, plus a few people still want to buy a few things for me. In the end it should top off at around $800, which I think is pretty good. I was expecting perhaps around $500 and no more than $1000, so we landed pretty much in the middle =D
I would like to personally thank the personal donations of particular individuals, most were family, some were friends and a couple were complete strangers, so thank you for much, every dollar, every penny helps a little and is very much appreciated!
On to the rest of my current financial situation. Thanks to the aide of my mom and her good credit score, I was able to consolidate all of my debts and was accepted for a student line of credit. According to my bank advisor, they should dispense around $45K for the first year then, $15K a year till a maximum of $100K. Unfortunately this does not even cover half of my total expenses as you may know if you read my earlier posts. I am hoping to limit use of my credit line for personal expenses while on the island, such living expenses, travel, blah blah blah, anything but school related really.
Obviously with that in mind I needed to find other means of financial support. I have sent out, or should I say will be sending out shortly a letter to my family asking for any donations they can spare, plus I am still hoping for some random generous donations to my PayPal account. Anything is appreciated! :) Secondly Im cutting down on my living expenses and trying to put aside as much as I can right now. Thirdly applying for financial aide from the provincial government of Quebec.
Initially i thought it was going to be another headache all over, but after an intial rejection because they did not apparently recognize my program; they have now recognized my program and will be reviewing my file as to the amount of funds will be available to me. Obviously since I have been a full time employee for all of 2010 I will most likely not get much support for 2011, but my situation and file will be review every year come August or September.
Now onto my biggest stress and headache. The situation of my cats. Apparently I may have been misinformed about the ability to bring my cats on as carry on. I called the airline to check, and they told me that my animals could not exceed a total weight of 20lbs. My two cats weigh, 10lbs & 13lbs, the average carrier for two cats weighs about 4lbs, bringing the total weight at around 27lbs. Meaning Im 7lbs in excess :S The airlines option, put them in cargo.........but! You cannot transport an animal in temperatures below 45oF / 7oC and well the average temperature in Montreal in January is at around -15oC / 5oF, so that is out of the question. So at the moment I am checking with my travel agent seeing if there is anything they can do about it or to see how strict the airline is regarding this policy. According to the people on the phone, it seems pretty stringent as that was all they were trained to regurgitate.
So I think that pretty much covers it as of right now. Work is going well as always, although for those interested we performed an enucleation (removal of an eyeball) on a 5yr Basset hound. The poor dog had a nasty glaucoma and the eye was this nasty swollen red eyeball. Im happy to say the surgery went very well and at the moment Maggie is doing well too.
Oh and Halloween was great! My brother & I, along with a close friend helped scare the little kids of the neighbourhood before taking all the candy they dropped and left behind....Mu ha ha ha ha!!! Okay totally kidding, we scared them, then gave them delicious candy candy candy. Mmmm I love Halloween!
Sorry, side tracked a little, anyways the next steps are to finish going through my stuff and giving away the clothes I do not need or want to the local charity shelter, then onto the mission of selling all of my lovely appliances, which I should bring in close to $2000 for everything, which would be great right now. Then just finalize all these documents that i need to send to RossU & St. Kitt authorities, get some luggage, pack my bags, party before I leave and then off I go :P
Anyways, sorry to my reads for the delay in my post, Ill try and update you all a little more often from now on.
Stay Cool! =D
This
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Oooof let the headaches and stress begin.....
Howdy Ho!!!! Just thought Id start with something up lifting. I always liked that expression :P
So where to start with the whole new dilemma that has developed. First off, after waiting close to three weeks to get a response, I was rejected for my student line of credit. The reason stated "I currently have too much debt accumulated to be granted a line of credit". Pretty much, you owe everyone too much money so we do not feel comfortable giving you a line of credit because we are not sure if you could make the payments. I understand a bit from there perspective, but I have been a customer of the CIBC since I was like 2 years old, I have never really missed any payments, and plus dumping everything into one lump sum would be ideal. Not good enough for them!
Their suggestion: Consolidate your debt first, although you will need a co-signer to have the loan accepted and then once we consolidate your entire debt, then we can think about applying for a line of credit. Which personally doesnt make to much sense, as then I would have a loan and a line of credit to make minimum payments on, instead of just having one minimum payment to make for everything. Quite silly.
So that is what I am off to do today actually. Off to the bank to see what i can do about this whole dilemma.
To add to all of this, I am still wracking my brain about what to do with all of my appliances and all the crap I have in my house. I am still planning on doing a garage sale or putting stuff on Craig's list or Kijiji, but honestly how much could I expect to get out of all of this? If I could raise another 1K, that would be amazing, but I hardly doubt it. So is it worth the headache or just toss everything or give it to the needy??
Plus Ross University is acting a bit sketch in my opinion which doesnt really calm my nerve all to much. I am not one to stress to much but when you get an officially letter that says this is the list of things you need to get done before arriving to St. Kitt and it should be done ASAP. That to me means, do it ASAP, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. This to me, does not mean wait till mid-September before bothering with anything. I found this out unfortunately the hard way. I started to get my animals ready, brought them in for there annual health exam along with all of there vaccines not to mention having to re-microhip them since apparently Ross U only accepts AVID or Home Again microchips. Initially I email the veterinarian authrorities there to discuss if it was really needed as my cats were already microchipped with chips from another company which were the exact same type of chip than the AVID or Home Again ones. After a day I got a response, saying, you absolutely require the ones suggested. After checking with all three companies, all three said they do not comprehend why my cats would have to be re-chipped since the microchips and readers should be able to detect any of those microchips. So I email the authorities again, asking for clarification, if not for me, but then atleast for our clients that we recommend a specific type of microchip because it is supposed to be read and recognized by the international community. After a couple of days, no response, so i send another email, still no response, another email and yet still no response.
So after a week and a half of waiting, I contact my student coordinator, who was a bit blunt and rude I found on the phone. I asked him if there was any way to get in touch with the authorities over there responsible for the travel of domestic animals, as I needed some clarification. His response "why? you should not be doing anything before September 15th". Which was a bit of a surprise to me, as I mentioned previously ASAP, does not mean wait a two months after being accepted. Which I mentioned to my coordinator, I said "I have spoken to the import authorities, I have corresponded with you via email on multiple occasions, asking about travelling to the islands, my animals, things I needed to get ready and not once, not once did you ever mention please wait till mid-September before doing anything." His response, which was the kicker for me was "Well I am your student coordinator and I am telling you now, do not do anything till September 15th." At the moment, I started to have some doubts, I just found it odd from a professional stand point. To add to my minor stress of professionalism, a week before I receive an email saying, "your second $500 deposit is due by September 1st, if, however, you have not paid the full amount by the established due date, your file will be deactivated and your place in the class will be offered to another qualified applicant who is anxious to join us for the January 2011 term." Now none of that sentence bothered me, except for the fact the note about giving the place to a qualified anxious applicant. Meaning what? That I am not anxious to join them because I may not make the $500 payment on time. Why not just say your seat will be giving to another qualified applicant. Why bring emotions into it? When they asked me why i want to become a veterinarian, I did not say because it makes me happy. Anyways, perhaps it was just the build up of stress, but I personally would that whole scenario a bit unprofessional and not a way a recognized university should be acting.
Opinions? Just me? :P
So, now........................I wait!!!! :S Rah! Atleast Ill find out about my finances by the end of next week, everything should work out on that front, but it is a bit stressfull.
I have to say the only positive thing as of late, is the fact that I have finally found a room mate for the next few months. At least it will help free up a bit more money before I leave, not much, but any amount really helps.
So that is it for now, hope you enjoyed the read and thank you to all who are being so positive and supportive at the moment. It is nice to know that so many people care and that so many believe in me and in what I want to do.
Take care =)
So where to start with the whole new dilemma that has developed. First off, after waiting close to three weeks to get a response, I was rejected for my student line of credit. The reason stated "I currently have too much debt accumulated to be granted a line of credit". Pretty much, you owe everyone too much money so we do not feel comfortable giving you a line of credit because we are not sure if you could make the payments. I understand a bit from there perspective, but I have been a customer of the CIBC since I was like 2 years old, I have never really missed any payments, and plus dumping everything into one lump sum would be ideal. Not good enough for them!
Their suggestion: Consolidate your debt first, although you will need a co-signer to have the loan accepted and then once we consolidate your entire debt, then we can think about applying for a line of credit. Which personally doesnt make to much sense, as then I would have a loan and a line of credit to make minimum payments on, instead of just having one minimum payment to make for everything. Quite silly.
So that is what I am off to do today actually. Off to the bank to see what i can do about this whole dilemma.
To add to all of this, I am still wracking my brain about what to do with all of my appliances and all the crap I have in my house. I am still planning on doing a garage sale or putting stuff on Craig's list or Kijiji, but honestly how much could I expect to get out of all of this? If I could raise another 1K, that would be amazing, but I hardly doubt it. So is it worth the headache or just toss everything or give it to the needy??
Plus Ross University is acting a bit sketch in my opinion which doesnt really calm my nerve all to much. I am not one to stress to much but when you get an officially letter that says this is the list of things you need to get done before arriving to St. Kitt and it should be done ASAP. That to me means, do it ASAP, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. This to me, does not mean wait till mid-September before bothering with anything. I found this out unfortunately the hard way. I started to get my animals ready, brought them in for there annual health exam along with all of there vaccines not to mention having to re-microhip them since apparently Ross U only accepts AVID or Home Again microchips. Initially I email the veterinarian authrorities there to discuss if it was really needed as my cats were already microchipped with chips from another company which were the exact same type of chip than the AVID or Home Again ones. After a day I got a response, saying, you absolutely require the ones suggested. After checking with all three companies, all three said they do not comprehend why my cats would have to be re-chipped since the microchips and readers should be able to detect any of those microchips. So I email the authorities again, asking for clarification, if not for me, but then atleast for our clients that we recommend a specific type of microchip because it is supposed to be read and recognized by the international community. After a couple of days, no response, so i send another email, still no response, another email and yet still no response.
So after a week and a half of waiting, I contact my student coordinator, who was a bit blunt and rude I found on the phone. I asked him if there was any way to get in touch with the authorities over there responsible for the travel of domestic animals, as I needed some clarification. His response "why? you should not be doing anything before September 15th". Which was a bit of a surprise to me, as I mentioned previously ASAP, does not mean wait a two months after being accepted. Which I mentioned to my coordinator, I said "I have spoken to the import authorities, I have corresponded with you via email on multiple occasions, asking about travelling to the islands, my animals, things I needed to get ready and not once, not once did you ever mention please wait till mid-September before doing anything." His response, which was the kicker for me was "Well I am your student coordinator and I am telling you now, do not do anything till September 15th." At the moment, I started to have some doubts, I just found it odd from a professional stand point. To add to my minor stress of professionalism, a week before I receive an email saying, "your second $500 deposit is due by September 1st, if, however, you have not paid the full amount by the established due date, your file will be deactivated and your place in the class will be offered to another qualified applicant who is anxious to join us for the January 2011 term." Now none of that sentence bothered me, except for the fact the note about giving the place to a qualified anxious applicant. Meaning what? That I am not anxious to join them because I may not make the $500 payment on time. Why not just say your seat will be giving to another qualified applicant. Why bring emotions into it? When they asked me why i want to become a veterinarian, I did not say because it makes me happy. Anyways, perhaps it was just the build up of stress, but I personally would that whole scenario a bit unprofessional and not a way a recognized university should be acting.
Opinions? Just me? :P
So, now........................I wait!!!! :S Rah! Atleast Ill find out about my finances by the end of next week, everything should work out on that front, but it is a bit stressfull.
I have to say the only positive thing as of late, is the fact that I have finally found a room mate for the next few months. At least it will help free up a bit more money before I leave, not much, but any amount really helps.
So that is it for now, hope you enjoyed the read and thank you to all who are being so positive and supportive at the moment. It is nice to know that so many people care and that so many believe in me and in what I want to do.
Take care =)
Monday, August 9, 2010
The Hassels of International Travel.....
Hmmmph! Is what I have to say to start. Boy is it complicated to go and study in another country. Or atleast it has been complicated further by the fact that I need to be there by certain dates, versus my own personal wants of wanting to be home at certain times of the year.
Luckily for me, I did not have to deal with calling the travel company back and forth, as my mother lovingly offered to do that for me.
Initially I has was hoping to leave Montreal on January 4th to be their on the 5th. This way, I could have spent New Year`s with my family along with my birthday which is on January 3rd. Unfortunately after verifying with the school, my arrival dates were pretty much, December 29th/30th or January 1st/2nd as they want us to be there for the beginning of orientation which begins on the morning of January 3rd. Luckily for me, Ill be enjoying my birthday while getting a tour of my new school and its facilities, although to be honest I would have much preferred to spend it with my brother, friend and family. On the upside atleast I get to spend New Year`s although I always have the possibility of coming back for New Year`s in the future, as school is normally off during that time. Although i was planning on making my first return trip at the end of the summer semester, which would be around August 16th, so if that were the case i do not think i could afford t come back again 3 months later. As each round ticket is costing about $1000.
So back to my travel plans, I inform my mother who informs the travel agent, that I need to be there for January 2nd. She gives me the information, so pretty much the options were to leave on the 1st at 5pm and arrive on the island of St. Kitt on January 2nd at 1pm, which includes a 12hr lay over in N.Y. The second option was to leave on the 1st at 7 and arrive in St. Kitt at noon. Since I know I do not feel like leaving super early on the 1st, as I know I will most likely be a little bit tired from New Year`s, I am going with option 2. Even if it includes a 12hr delay, which could be an interesting 12hr stop, as long as I don`t lose everything I have. :P I may just post up inside the airport and kill some time. :) Id rather leave Montreal a bit later, than having to worry about, oh crap I have a plain that leaves at 9 in the morning, which is in like 3 hours :P Plus Id rather have a few hours to set-up in my place before orientation, than an entire day to kill.
Finally we booked the plane ticket, and now I realize we forgot to double check regarding the transport of my two cats, plus the fact that we made the initial return date for 30days post. Unfortunately I noticed a nice big bold sentence on my travel plans that said: "Please ensure that your dated tickets are extended through at least the end of the semester." :S Apparently it has something to do with visa requirements needed to study on the island. So now I am verifying if this will pose a problem for me with the people at St. Kitt, and if it does then I have to look into changing my already booked plane ticket.
Hopefully it should not cause me any problems. Wish me luck
Jonathan =D
PS: Still no news from the bank regarding my application for my student line of credit, will let you know if anything ;)
Luckily for me, I did not have to deal with calling the travel company back and forth, as my mother lovingly offered to do that for me.
Initially I has was hoping to leave Montreal on January 4th to be their on the 5th. This way, I could have spent New Year`s with my family along with my birthday which is on January 3rd. Unfortunately after verifying with the school, my arrival dates were pretty much, December 29th/30th or January 1st/2nd as they want us to be there for the beginning of orientation which begins on the morning of January 3rd. Luckily for me, Ill be enjoying my birthday while getting a tour of my new school and its facilities, although to be honest I would have much preferred to spend it with my brother, friend and family. On the upside atleast I get to spend New Year`s although I always have the possibility of coming back for New Year`s in the future, as school is normally off during that time. Although i was planning on making my first return trip at the end of the summer semester, which would be around August 16th, so if that were the case i do not think i could afford t come back again 3 months later. As each round ticket is costing about $1000.
So back to my travel plans, I inform my mother who informs the travel agent, that I need to be there for January 2nd. She gives me the information, so pretty much the options were to leave on the 1st at 5pm and arrive on the island of St. Kitt on January 2nd at 1pm, which includes a 12hr lay over in N.Y. The second option was to leave on the 1st at 7 and arrive in St. Kitt at noon. Since I know I do not feel like leaving super early on the 1st, as I know I will most likely be a little bit tired from New Year`s, I am going with option 2. Even if it includes a 12hr delay, which could be an interesting 12hr stop, as long as I don`t lose everything I have. :P I may just post up inside the airport and kill some time. :) Id rather leave Montreal a bit later, than having to worry about, oh crap I have a plain that leaves at 9 in the morning, which is in like 3 hours :P Plus Id rather have a few hours to set-up in my place before orientation, than an entire day to kill.
Finally we booked the plane ticket, and now I realize we forgot to double check regarding the transport of my two cats, plus the fact that we made the initial return date for 30days post. Unfortunately I noticed a nice big bold sentence on my travel plans that said: "Please ensure that your dated tickets are extended through at least the end of the semester." :S Apparently it has something to do with visa requirements needed to study on the island. So now I am verifying if this will pose a problem for me with the people at St. Kitt, and if it does then I have to look into changing my already booked plane ticket.
Hopefully it should not cause me any problems. Wish me luck
Jonathan =D
PS: Still no news from the bank regarding my application for my student line of credit, will let you know if anything ;)
Monday, August 2, 2010
My First Round of Vaccines......
Today was the day, the day where I got to be injected with all kind of virus particles to help boost my immune system so I can have hopefully a proper immunization to the associated viruses. I wanted to take some pictures to show all of you all the lovely steps involved, but I luckily I forgot it at home. I say luckily, because in the end, I chose to use my ipod to video record the events that occured. :)
So I presented myself at the Montreal General Hospital, a hospital that I have passed by countless times, but I can honestly say, I have never entered before. I have more than a few friends who work there and seem to have nothing but good things to say. Overall the staff were very friendly and helpful, the hospital itself a bit confusing to walk through and they have an eight story parking garage, which can be frustrating as you drive around in circles looking for parking, only to realize that there are none available :S
Although on this day, I arrived by the good ole B.M.W (bus; metro; walk - in case you didn't know).
So as I wound my way through the hospital, I finally found the travel clinic, which was on the 10th floor located in Livingston Hall. Enjoy the walk with me ;)
In general very nice people, except for the annoying trio of ladies working next door to the clinic. I have never seen such un-professionalism, there are sick people sitting in the hall ways, some located right next to severe respiratory problems unit, and you have these three ladies, speaking, talking and laughing so loud that they block out everything else. Not to mention their reenactment of the Lord of the Dance performance, which shook the floor as I sat there, waiting, making me only think how oblivious some people are to the pain and suffering of others, and even if it were in a regular business setting, how unprofessional.
I finally get called into the nurse's office, and once again of course I have to wait a few minutes. To my joy, I get a nurse in training, so i have this nurse asking a bunch of questions as the head nurse (who was kind of cute) paced between multiple rooms as she was going away on vacation soon.
I have to say, the nurse in training, unfortunately I no longer remember her name, did her job quite well. Her injection techniques were excellent (as you will see) and she pleasant enough to talk to. My favourite to watch is the TB (tuberculosis test), if you are a bit needle shy, then perhaps this video is not for you :P
Finally, all the injections are done, I tallied up my lovely bill of $285 and headed out. Overall the experience was good, and long term, my arm was a bit sore, as if someone punched me in my shoulder a couple of times. Other than that, I felt pretty good.
I had to head back to the hospital two days later to get the results of my TB test, although you always know the results before you get there. If you have a reaction to the little stimulant they inject underneath your skin, the lesion will have grown in some shape or form. If you do not react, your skin has returned back to normal, and hence a negative reaction, and therefore you have not been exposed to TB. As for my TB results, they were negative! Yay! :)
Well that's it for now, sorry for the delay of this post, as I was having a few problems with the video recordings. Have yourself a great week!
Jonathan =D
So I presented myself at the Montreal General Hospital, a hospital that I have passed by countless times, but I can honestly say, I have never entered before. I have more than a few friends who work there and seem to have nothing but good things to say. Overall the staff were very friendly and helpful, the hospital itself a bit confusing to walk through and they have an eight story parking garage, which can be frustrating as you drive around in circles looking for parking, only to realize that there are none available :S
Although on this day, I arrived by the good ole B.M.W (bus; metro; walk - in case you didn't know).
So as I wound my way through the hospital, I finally found the travel clinic, which was on the 10th floor located in Livingston Hall. Enjoy the walk with me ;)
In general very nice people, except for the annoying trio of ladies working next door to the clinic. I have never seen such un-professionalism, there are sick people sitting in the hall ways, some located right next to severe respiratory problems unit, and you have these three ladies, speaking, talking and laughing so loud that they block out everything else. Not to mention their reenactment of the Lord of the Dance performance, which shook the floor as I sat there, waiting, making me only think how oblivious some people are to the pain and suffering of others, and even if it were in a regular business setting, how unprofessional.
I finally get called into the nurse's office, and once again of course I have to wait a few minutes. To my joy, I get a nurse in training, so i have this nurse asking a bunch of questions as the head nurse (who was kind of cute) paced between multiple rooms as she was going away on vacation soon.
I have to say, the nurse in training, unfortunately I no longer remember her name, did her job quite well. Her injection techniques were excellent (as you will see) and she pleasant enough to talk to. My favourite to watch is the TB (tuberculosis test), if you are a bit needle shy, then perhaps this video is not for you :P
Finally, all the injections are done, I tallied up my lovely bill of $285 and headed out. Overall the experience was good, and long term, my arm was a bit sore, as if someone punched me in my shoulder a couple of times. Other than that, I felt pretty good.
I had to head back to the hospital two days later to get the results of my TB test, although you always know the results before you get there. If you have a reaction to the little stimulant they inject underneath your skin, the lesion will have grown in some shape or form. If you do not react, your skin has returned back to normal, and hence a negative reaction, and therefore you have not been exposed to TB. As for my TB results, they were negative! Yay! :)
Well that's it for now, sorry for the delay of this post, as I was having a few problems with the video recordings. Have yourself a great week!
Jonathan =D
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