Flush It Friday: Creeping Debt
Raise your tankard to celebrate what’s good. Gulp it down and wash the bad out. Drink enough until the ugly is no more – beer goggles be praised. This is Flush It Friday.
Subverting the usual order we go about our Friday tradition, I will start by flushing the bad.
SOMEWHAT BAD: As some of you know, I am very close to becoming a medical doctor. By January 2016 I will receive my license to practice, but my main goal is to get straight into a good residency program to specialize in Radiology; the exams will be held throughout November and December of 2015, with January and February reserved for interviews and practical exams in case everything goes well during the first step. This week I took a simulated test and I was terrified after I left. A lot of the shit I studied some time ago I forgot, and at least one third of the content is yet to be studied this year. I have roughly 17 weeks until exam time. I never get nervous during tests, but I am conscious that I need to up my game if I want to reach late year with solid chances.
REALLY BAD: My family is going through financial problems. I still live with my parents – in Brasil it’s common to go to college in the same state/city you grew up in. They try to act like everything is ok but I know it’s not. I was fortunate enough that my folks worked their asses off and from when I was born to 3-4 years ago our income was either steady or growing. Right now, they have sold a lot of the property we had, but debt keeps rising. A lot of the pressure that comes with the debt will come unto myself, with the doctor thing and all that. My older sister does not make a lot of money and doesn’t have perspective to start doing so; my younger siblings (who are actually my cousins – crazy convoluted family shenanigans) are far from finishing their studies; a lot of not-so-close relatives and other people depend on our family. My mom and dad pay for education, health insurance, help with grocery costs and similar stuff for A LOT of people, some of them I don’t even know. I am also scared that I may or may not have to help these people, I know for a fact that during residency I won’t have the means to even if I wanted to do it.
Besides, as I’ve talked about on a previous Friday, my grandma is fighting colon cancer. Her insurance will cover, but it’s taking a long time for them to give the hospital a greenlight so that chemo starts rolling. The clock is ticking and those metastatic lesions aren’t sitting pretty just waiting. This is stressful.
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Not all is bad, though. I am grateful for a lot of amazing stuff that is happening to me. Or just regular stuff that feels better than contemplating bankruptcy.
GOOD: The best that I have going on is my relationship with my grandmother. We crack jokes, I listen to hear talk shit, we drink coffee every afternoon. It’s a sweet deal, and I am very thankful that I can do this almost everyday.
After the previously mentioned test, I went out for a few drinks with my friends and while we discussed the exam and shared answers I stopped feeling so bad. We’re either dying together or we’re going to do better than I anticipated. Some of the disparities actually went my way, like nailing that membranous nephropathy was the answer to a hard lupus question and taking a succesful guess that cholera is a disease worthy of immediate notification.
Resumed my lifting after almost 2 weeks off the gym. Feels painful and good. Music is also good. Have you guys listened to the new High On Fire? It’s amazing!
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UGLY: My addiction to Fallout Shelter has become crippling. I can’t stay away from it.
What about you, my friend? Pull up a stool and tell me all about your problems. We’ll then proceed to forget about yours and mine by posting several dickbutt gifs on the comments section below.
