And back to work

Holy cow!

Thanks to Hurricane Katrina, gas prices in the US have gone through the roof. Here in little old Rochester, it's 3 bucks a gallon (it was $2 a few months ago). Nick tells me it's $3.50 in Chicago. Veronica takes 17 gallons... so that would be $59.50!!

With the prices of gas these days, soon you'd expect the drug dealers to be out tugging plastic gas tanks and dealing petroleum.

And, like the coke they sell, it's probably diluted down too, with kerosene or whatever it is that they use.

Makes the people who drive big-ass cars like Hummers and Jeep wanna shoot themselves. It's almost like everytime you step on the gas, ka-chink, there goes 50 cents' worth of gas. Then again, they probably could afford it.

If I could invent a car that runs on fart, or dirty laundry, or something else that I have plenty of, I'd be rich enough to retire and buy my own desert island and stock it up with belly-dancers, beer and candy. Yea, I'm daydreaming, I know.

Anyway. At work, I had the most fascinating case. Lady with spells of hypoglycemia, and the work-up is hinting at NIPHS (Noninsulinoma Pancreatogenous Hypoglycemic Syndrome). Even rarer than insulinomas. The thing that had me in awe, was this lady travelled half the continent to see my supervisor, this world expert on the subject. The patient and her doctors found this guy through one of his recent publications in NEJM. Kinda made me wanted to ask him for his autograph.

We'll see how the case goes. I'm still waiting for some CT and ultrasound results. But, this is so rare that I may never see another one of these cases in my career. Then again, this place being what it is, attracts enough of these rarities that I might just get lucky again.

Addendum:

The full impact of Katrina is only becoming clear now. With the devastation they're having down south, the cost of gas hardly seems to be a big issue now. Last I heard, people were rioting, some out of sheer hunger. Hundred dead thus far, likely to go up. I wonder how my friend Gilbert is doing down there; had met up with him when I visited New Orleans earlier this year.

I hope they survivors there get the aid they need soon. Sometimes, I wish the programs here allow us to participate more in crisis aid and humanitarian work.