Tag: Hobbies

Med School Pros #1

August 5, 2020 / Jacob Brown

There are a lot of things going on in medical school that stresses the students and their families. I don’t want to paint a picture for current and upcoming students that medical school is just a terrible time where you are stressed and have a hard time living your life. It’s not that way. Yes it is hard, from my wife’s experiences and what I observe, but there are pros for being in this stage of life. This will be a continuous thread that I want to keep adding to as they come up, but here are a few of them right now.

Make new friends. Just like every school experience we have had so far, there are other people attending that share our interests. We are not the kind of people that need a lot of friends to feel content, but a few good friends to fill that void in our lives. It can be hard to manage having a lot of friends anyway, but some people can do it. Making new friends has allowed us to find people that share our interests. This is important for us because by finding people we can hang out with, we are able to discuss deeper topics or just have fun with other couples. I know that my wife has enjoyed making new friends because it allows her to get to relate to someone. I know that I am her husband, but there are things that I can’t and won’t ever totally understand. She has made some female friends that she can relate to and have good conversations.

If you haven’t ever tried, join a group of people with similar interests. School sanctioned groups exist in the graduate school level just as they do in undergrad. We have had the opportunity to make friends and have some good times with the people as well.

Experience a work environment. If you are a medical student, more than likely you have not had a true experience in the workforce. I know some of the medical students have had a job before going back to school to become an MD or DO, but it is not very common. Summer jobs allow a person to gain some experience of what it is like to be in the hierarchy of a business, but it can also be misleading. A lot of time the “summer help” roles are not very serious, and have little responsibility. Most of the work is little things that businesses need done on the side, but have not had a lot of time to complete. This is not true for every summer job, but I have found it relevant. It is impossible for medical students to have summer jobs while in school, which is all year. Without being able to have a summer job, they can not procure money to live during the school year either.

During school this summer my wife has been able to work in hospitals with doctors to get experience of what it is like to be on the job. She is now working with an Orthopedic Surgeon, which has also been a great experience. This cycle of her school year is in a rural location, which has been a change from being in a larger more urban hospital.

Create lifelong experiences. This is probably a little cliche, but it is true. The time that the medical students spend in school will impact them for the rest of their lives. The relationships that are made, the experiences, and the time to grow in this environment are all important. This time is hard, and will shape the student into a doctor.

Start to find your stride in life. For some students this is the first time that they are truly away from their parents and family. It can be hard for them to cope with the change. This might be the first time that they are “adulting” and being self-sufficient. During this time they really get to find how they want to live life, and what path they will go down for their career. There are a lot of choices they have to make during this time as well. They have to choose how much to take on loans, where to live, who to hang out with and much more. All of these decisions make them who they are, and allow them to make their life their own.

Try new things. Medical School in general is a big change for the student. They have never taken classes in medical school before, and don’t really have an idea of what is ahead when they first start school. I remember my wife’s first week of school. She had just spent the entire summer, the last real summer vacation, relaxing and getting settled into the area. When classes started she realized they were much different than the classes in undergrad. This isn’t a bad thing, but it is a change and is something to learn. She told me quite often how much more independent the student has to be in medical school compared to undergrad. There is very little assistance from the professors, or doctors, and a lot of the work is just left up to the student to accomplish.

Take the time during medical school to try new things. Whether it be food, trips, hobbies, or making friends, it is a good time to take on new challenges.

Make Time Together

June 24, 2020 / Jacob Brown

Now that my wife is in medical school we have really grown to appreciate the time that we have together. With free time being limited, we have to make choices on what we want to do together in advance. Now, not everything that we decide to do together is super extravagant, or extremely time consuming, but it doesn’t need to be. We have found that it is fun to do bigger things together, but we get more quality time together when we are laid back.

There are a lot of reasons that we don’t get to spend as much time with each other as we would like. We have found that most of the reasons we do not get to spend time together are good reasons. We have things going on in our lives and can’t always put them on hold. I have put together a list of some reasons, and whether or not I think they are legitimate reasons for not making time together. Some of them are more serious than others, but all of them eat up time.

We don’t get to spend as much time together because I have to:

Work at my job. This is a good thing. It is good to have time away from each other because it helps us find ourselves. I work from 6:30-5pm on weekdays so that we have income, which is kind of important.

Mow the lawn. When living in a house with a yard this is inevitable. At some point the grass will have to be cut, the question is by who. I could pay someone to come to my house and mow my yard (which takes about 15-20 minutes) or I can just do it myself.

Work on house projects. I do a fairly significant amount of work on our house to maintain it and increase the functionality and appearance. Some of the work is a requirement, but some of it is additional tasks that I have chosen to do. Lately, I have been remodeling our basement to bring it a little bit more up to date. This is not a requirement. There was nothing in the basement of our house that was damaging or going to cause major problems.

Watch tv and play on my phone. This is something that I think is the least beneficial to our relationship. That being said, watching tv and playing on my phone has a time and place. There are times where my wife is busy with school, and I have completed everything else on my to-do list.

We don’t get to spend as much time together because my wife has to:

Study for class. This is a legitimate reason not to spend time together. This is the reason we moved and are doing what we do. She needs time to study without me needing to bother her.

Attending class or other learning centers. This is another big reason we don’t get to spend time together. I am not upset about either of these reasons because this is why we are here. I want her to excel as much as she can, and that can only be done by attending school and doing her best.

There are some different chores or tasks that we try to work on together that gives us more time. Some of them are washing dishes, doing laundry, or cleaning the house. Not only do we get to spend time doing these, they go faster. When we help each other it opens up both of ours time so that we can do more together.

Biggest tip for the reader.

If your spouse is busy, be busy too. If your spouse is working and has a time that they will be done. Try to get your work done at the same time. Don’t push off working on projects, chores, or work. If you can get everything done while they are working, you will have a nice window to spend time together. It’s not super fun to have one person done with what they are working on while the other person still have an hour of work to complete because they were watching tv. I have experienced this (and still do).

4th Wedding Anniversary

June 17, 2020 / Jacob Brown

My wife and I just celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary. We got married between our sophomore and junior year of undergrad, in 2016. It has been an awesome experience being married while in college, and I think we have been able to answer quite a few questions for other couples. We enjoy talking with couples that are looking at getting married or are dating while in college.

When your spouse is in medical school there are times that you have to squeeze fun activities into small windows. As an example, we chose to celebrate our anniversary together by going on a day trip. We also looked at the cost to stay somewhere, and decided that we could do a day trip and be satisfied with our time together.

We left our house and headed toward Cleveland, OH to visit Cuyahoga National Park. Neither of us had been there, and it seemed like it would be a nice place to visit together. The weather forecast was good, and walking on the trails and riding in the car together would give us a lot of time to talk to each other. We are both fairly busy, and getting busier, so we decided this would be a nice trip. Our goal for the trip was to get out in nature and spend time together. We don’t get to talk to each other enough, and this was a great opportunity to do so.

We were also able to drive around the Cleveland area to see what it has to offer. Cleveland is a potential residency location, so we decided to drive around the neighborhoods just to see what they looked like. We visited the West Side Market as well. It was a cool experience having vendors selling goods in a bustling building. I can see how it would be filled with people buying meats, vegetables, breads, and confections later in the summer. Due to COVID-19 limiting people in buildings, it was not too busy.

We ended up eating at a nearby restaurant for lunch, then headed to Brandywine Falls, our first stop on the trip. For me, this was the most memorable location. The view of the falls is calming, and I’m pretty sure it was my wife’s favorite.

We ended up not staying in the Cleveland area for dinner and headed home. This worked out well. We went to the store and bought crab legs and some bread and planned to have our Anniversary Feast at our house the next day. This also allowed us to save some money, and get to spend more time together.

Tips for the reader.

Value the little things. Every trip or vacation you take with your spouse doesn’t need to be extravagant. Making a day trip to a scenic location is simple and cheap. Spending time together getting to talk can help you deepen your relationship, and get to know each other more.

Support your spouse. Your relationship will be way better if you can support your spouse in their life goals. I am finding new ways all the time to support my wife. A recent one is finding ways to take day trips or go to parks. It really helps her keep her stress levels down.

Take a cheap trip. Trips don’t have to be expensive in order to be entertaining or fun. As an example, the parks we went to were free, our lunch was $15, and we spent about $20 on gas for the entire trip. Not too bad for visiting a new city and going on a new adventure together.

Passing Time

June 3, 2020 / Jacob Brown

Something that I think Americans are generally bad at is passing time while keeping themselves busy. I know that as I have gotten older the number of young kids that go outside to play has lessened. There are a lot more activities for them indoors within television and video games. I grew up with just the “farmer 5” tv stations and did not have internet at my house until I was about 15 years old. When I was bored, I went outside and got dirty. I played games like kickball, volleyball, and basketball. I constructed stuff out of wood that didn’t make any sense, and I built stuff out of LEGO’s. There seems to be a disconnect with people today in all of these activities.

Being patient is one of the hardest things that we can do, and it shows. Most of us are terrible at being patient. There are events in life, big or small, that will make us wait. We are trained from a young age that we don’t need to wait for anything here in the US. We have fast food, fast internet, immediate results on tests, and much more. Our culture is fast paced and it can be a challenge to be patient.

My wife spends a lot of time studying, and I have found that passing time is easiest if my mind is busy. Keeping myself busy is not an easy task, there are a lot of times where I just want to do nothing but sit and watch tv. It can be a challenge to get up and get something done when I don’t have to. The motivation to keep busy mostly just my wanting. I want to build projects, hunt, fish, home remodeling, and work on cars. I don’t have to do any of those things.

Food. We have plenty of money to buy our food. I don’t need to hunt and fish in order for us to survive, but I want to do these things for the challenge. I enjoy the reward that come with these kinds of activities. If you were to go ask hunters the main reasons while they hunt, a lot of them will say that it is for the food, fun, and the challenge. In my opinion, stating that you hunt and fish for food is the most “politically correct” statement. The other reasons have to accompany the food aspect otherwise it is much more difficult to want to do it. If you’re not having fun, it may not be for you.

Construction. I have been remodeling our basement at our house. I could pay someone to do the work for me, it would make it faster. I do the work myself because I have time and need something to do after work. Some other benefits are we get to have a layout that fits our needs. We also get to make it our space and have the pride of doing the work ourselves.

Auto work. I don’t need to work on my car and perform my own maintenance. For me, if I don’t do it I feel lazy. I have the ability and the time, so why not. I also gain the experience and am more in tune with the stuff that I own.

Exercise. Now that the weather is warm I have been looking to get back into riding my bike. My wife and I like to take strolls in the metro parks when she is available. Otherwise, I take my bike to parks or ride through town when the weather is good. Not only does this provide some exercise, but it allows me to have more time to think.

TV. Definitely something that I think we should give ourselves in moderation. Most of what I watch on TV is not cable or any network of television stations. I usually stick to online video services and watch tv show episodes or movies that I haven’t seen in a while. Along with this, video games should be played in moderation. They are certainly fun, but a lot of it can drive a person into a hole of solitude. It can be a little bit hard to have friends or get out of the house if I’m sitting on the couch watching tv or playing video games for hours.

There are a lot more things that people can and should be doing to occupy their time. It is important to me to try to be productive, though it doesn’t always happen. So try to get out and find something new, or find a group of people that are doing what you want to try.

Learn Basic Car Maintenance

April 26, 2020 / Jacob Brown

I enjoy finding ways to save money and learn new skills. Having enough money to pay for certain things while a spouse is in medical school can be difficult. After all, the easiest way to have more money, is not to spend it. I will outline some things that make a positive impact for me in our budget.

Do basic auto maintenance yourself or find a friend that can. I perform nearly all of my own maintenance on my cars, and for any of my medical school friends. From my experience, a normal shop fee is anywhere from $85-$125 per hour. At this rate, most simple tasks are worth the small amount of time learning how to do them. The tool investment is also small, and pays for itself quickly due to the cost of a professional shop. Some simple tasks are changing your battery, changing oil, checking all of your fluids, replacing brakes, and replacing spark plugs. Oil changes usually include an oil check, coolant, power steering, and washer fluid. Having brakes replaced, spark plugs, or any work not included in an oil change will be put on an hourly rate. Instead of paying a shop to replace your battery, take it upon yourself to go to a store that sells auto parts and make the battery purchase yourself. The shop will be buying a similar (or the same) battery and marking it up. In addition to that, most of the large chain stores will replace your battery for you at no charge. This is dependent on your make and model, but most vehicles are simple to replace.

How I justify doing the work myself. If you’ve ever taken a car to a shop you will know that it is extremely expensive. The billing is based on the “book” time for completion of the task. So if the job will take 2 hrs of shop time, the bill could be anywhere from $170-$250 for the work (excluding parts). I look at this number and see that if this is work I can manage, I could save this money. Not only could I save money, but with the approximate cost between $170-$250, I could purchase the tools for the job. This sets me up for future work or if I know somebody that needs help with similar maintenance. As an example, most vehicles with gasoline engines have spark plugs that are relatively easy to replace. A shop will charge about 1 hr for most vehicles, resulting in a cost of $85-$125 without parts. So, a car owner could spend $85-$125 on the tools (and their time) to complete the job themselves and it would cost the same.

Why I use full synthetic engine oil. Saving money on small maintenance tasks adds up. I drive about 22,000 miles/year. I use full synthetic oil and run it for about 12,000 miles between oil changes. Running full synthetic costs about 25% of conventional oil, and I have had a lot of success with it. An oil change usually costs me about $36 for 12,000 miles, while conventional would cost me about $32 for 3,000 miles. From information, I show that for 12,000 miles of conventional, it would cost about $128. This is almost 4 times the cost of full synthetic oil for the same distance. I understand that full synthetic engine oil is not the beat choice for every vehicle (especially brand new vehicles) but it works well for me. Having a shop change your oil for you can still save a lot of money. If you’re car is not made to handle full synthetic oil, don’t use it. Look in the manual or contact the manufacturer to find out if it’s okay to use.

My recent work. I was getting some odd feelings in the steering when driving and when I checked out my car I had quite a few components that needed to be replaced. I prices out parts from some aftermarket vendors and ordered them to my house. I had to replace a lot of the steering, bearings, and suspension components, which cost me about $500 in parts. The approximate labor cost for a shop to replace these parts would have been about $750-$1,250. So, looking at that kind of price, I chose to purchase a few tools for myself and completed the work at my house. This kind of work is not within everyone’s abilities, but it is within mine.

“Renting” Tools. If you don’t want to purchase any tools, there are auto parts stores that sell parts, and rent tools. One of the greatest things about their tool rental is that it is “free.” When renting tools the store will charge you the cost of the tool, which means that you have purchased it. After you are done with the work, they allow you to return the tool in good working condition and refund you all of the money. As long as you don’t want to keep the tools for yourself, just return them for a full refund.

Tips for the reader.

Do what you feel comfortable doing. If you don’t feel comfortable doing work on your car, don’t. It’s better to have someone help you, or pay someone if you feel uncomfortable. I do not condone performing work outside your abilities or comfort zone, it can be dangerous.

Learn how to tell when you have a problem. If you don’t want to do your own work, try to get good at finding upcoming problems before they become big problems.

Learn online. I find it best to look up how other people are doing the work. This can make it a lot easier and get an idea on how long it will take and how much it will cost.

Purchase parts for the shop. If you are not going to do the work yourself, buy the parts and take them to the shop. This makes it so that you get the parts you want, and there are less overhead costs. The shop will still charge the same on an hourly basis, and you will have more money in your pocket. Make sure to do research on exactly which parts you need and they will fit before ordering.

Finding Hobbies

April 7, 2020 / Jacob Brown

Medical students spend a lot time completing classwork. My wife typically studies for 8-16 hours per day. This is dependent on what class she is taking, but the heavier class loads are more toward the 16 hour mark.

When I get home from work, she is studying.

When I get ready for bed, she is studying.

While she is studying, I have a lot of time for myself. I work a full time job from 6:30 am – 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday, but have every other Friday and weekends off. I usually get home around 5:30 pm, which is about 3-4 hours before she is done studying for the day. I try to fill this time that I have by myself with hobbies.

Why are hobbies so crucial to my life? If I didn’t have hobbies, what would I do? Probably just sit on the couch and stare at my phone, which is not the greatest use of my time. Hobbies are important to me because I don’t get to spend as much time with my wife since she is in school, and I am working. I am not upset with her or disappointed in her about not having as much time together, but it is different for me spending less time with her. So, hobbies are a way for me to get out of my head and into a job or task. Instead of lounging or relaxing (which is also important), I have chosen to make more use of my time.

For me, there are a couple different kinds of hobbies that I enjoy, some by myself and some with others. I tend to do a lot more hobbies by myself, but I enjoy the occasional hangout with friends.

One of the categories encompasses activities like riding bikes, running, and general exercise. There is no tangible return on the investment, but it is fun and healthy. I think that these are useful to everyone and tend to have short amounts of dedication (for short periods of time) to complete. Tasks do not usually carry over from one day to the next, but if they get interrupted, it can set certain goals back. One key feature of these types of hobbies is there are few tangible products from the effort. Most of the resulting achievements are times, physique, distances, or reps. These hobbies tend to be cheap. Some common items to purchase might be shoes, a subscription, a membership, or a bike. My wife and I try to enjoy this type of activity together when the weather is good. We spend nearly every evening during the summer riding bikes together or going for walks for 30-60 minutes.

Another category includes activities like home remodeling, knife making, automotive repair, woodworking, cooking, and construction projects. There is a task at hand, and I can gain a tangible reward for my efforts. These tasks have less impact when interrupted and can be completed in small steps. This also tends to be the best way to do them. A downside to these types of hobbies is they tend to be more expensive than the other category. Buying items like tools and supplies can cost quite a bit, but the reward is greater for me. There are ways that these types of hobbies can save money as well. I have made a few different items around my house instead of buying them, which has been cheaper and more fun than just purchasing at a store.

There are activities that merge both of these types. A good example for me is fishing from a kayak. I enjoy fishing, and being in a kayak makes the event exercise. I am able to have the leisure of being out on a river or lake and catch fish (which has a material reward). This activity requires a 1 time payment, then it does not cost hardly anything (usually just fuel to get to the water). My wife usually just paddles around while I am fishing out in the summer sun, reading her book every now and then.

I know that these sound pretty simple to accomplish, but a key component is self motivation. I regularly have to motivate myself (with the help from my wife) to get up and work on projects. As humans, we tend to take the easiest route, and it’s easy to be lazy and watch tv or play on my phone. It’s hard to get up and go, but being active is important. Set goals in your hobbies and chase them.

Useful tips for the reader.

Put together a list of interests. I like to find about how much it will cost as well. That way I can weigh the cost against my interest. Some things could be long running hobbies, but cost a lot.
Rank the hobbies. Find what interests you and something that has a return that you seek. If you don’t find something that you are really interested in, it will be hard to continue over the long run.
Find activities you can do together, and alone. I like to have a few hobbies for myself, and a few that I can do with my wife. This way, we can spend time together.