So it’s been a long time since I updated this blog in regards to anything relevant to me and my life thusfar, so let me start this by wishing y’all a Happy Holiday. A great deal of my absence in writing this year stems from the fact that this has been a CRAZY month in regards to work.
Last November, we had lots of turnover and it was all up to me, my P.I. and my Research Nurse to steer our clinical research ship in the right direction while we searched for new staff members. It was a tough year filled with lots of mishaps and lessons. I got schooled in Phase 1 research, regulatory submissions and Phase 1 enrollments. All good things of course, but this was while I was overwhelmed with my own Phase 2-3 research, so let me be clear: this was NOT easy. I can safely say that as of this year, we are now fully staffed with 2 awesome and talented individuals who are riding the reigns of Phase 1 with an awesome manager, and I’m now back to my old workload. It’s still lots of research related stuff that I’ve been catching up with again, but I’ve come away from this experience with so much under my belt in the CRC (Clinical Research Coordinator) realm. Also, I survived my first research audit, and, to me, that’s even more ammo on the shelf. Lastly, I can safely cap off this year with a certification that, I hope, can go a long way. It’s been a brutal year in terms of work, but yes….I survived it!
An old photo of Byron’s Hot Dogs from Chicago. Miss this place so much!
Another highlight for me to reminisce about was that my Wife and I finally got a chance to go back to Chicago after a six-year absence. She was presenting at a conference over there in April, and we had a chance to enjoy the food and scenery with snow! I even got to introduce her to Byron’s, my neighborhood Hot Dog joint, which, I am proud to say, is the only one to serve their fare in the White House in 2009 since Barack Obama is a huge fan of the place. She also got a chance to try Al’s Italian Beef in Downtown, and even my local taco place, Taco & Burrito House. However, the place she pointed out that was super awesome was the Chicago French Market, where you get BBQ chicken, banh mi and even pastrami under one roof. For those that haven’t been to Chi-town, if there’s nothing that interests you there, then go and focus on the food. I’m biased of course, but for good reason. I swear Chicago, we WILL be back!
As a few of you know, I spend a lot of time here reviewing movies and such when time permits. Although 2018 wasn’t a great year for that, it WAS a great year for movies in general. In terms of Superhero films, 2 stand out for me: Black Panther and Aquaman. Not sure if I’m going to do reviews on them in the future, but those two had EVERYTHING a Superhero film needed: a good story, excellent background for our protagonists, imaginative backdrops, decent fight scenes, forty scoops of diversity and tons of entertainment. You can totally see Black Panther on Netflix (you should….you REALLY should) and revel at history in the making while Aquaman should totally be enjoyed at your local IMAX theater TODAY. And speaking of diversity, this was a BANNER year for diversity in film. Crazy Rich Asians? Black Panther? Into the Spider-verse? Roma? And what about TV? Yes, it’s still a LONG way to go in that front folks, but can’t we celebrate that for 2018, we at least had a small glimpse of how diverse the world really is on the silver screen?
And lastly, the only other goofy thing I can chat about myself for this year is that, yeah, I’m finally playing something on my PS4. We purchased a few retro mini consoles over the year, like the NES mini and the Neo Geo mini, but the Missus gave me this really awesome birthday gift: Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise. I’ve been jamming on that whenever time permits and it’s been soooooo cool. If you haven’t seen the anime, or the comics for that matter, then the game might seem a bit weird for ya. However, for fans like me, it’s a dream come true. This is especially the case when I get the chance to slug somebody a hundred times a minute.
So yeah, that’s the lowdown on me. It’s been a wild year and hopefully, I’ll write my year-end review sometime soon. Until then, enjoy your Holidays folks!
Naika's Lounge 