The VMCAS process...

I have started my VMCAS application. Actually, I started it the day it came out, but I just haven't had the desire to talk much about it, since it's making me really frustrated. I had to order another copy of my Rutgers transcript and still have yet to figure out the "prefixes" for the Rutgers classes that I have to list in addition to the actual names for the classes.

Summer classes have started. I'm taking pre-calculus over, since I got a C the first time I took it. I'll also be retaking calculus (got a D in that at Rutgers). Then there's biochem 1&2 and microbiology. This is going to be an interesting year.

In other news, I have purchased yet another orchid. This one came from Trader Joe's and Alex picked it out. I wasn't a big fan of it at first, but like any orchid I see now, I'm quite fond of it.

Pretty newbie orchid

This morning, after my first pre-calc exam, Rem and I went to the beach so he could swim and we were met with an interesting surprise.

That is a large group of dogs. This was a doggy daycare. The place is located somewhere in Manhattan and apparently, they have started bringing their daycare clients out to the beach. To Gerritsen beach. I'm not sure how I felt about this. On the one hand, the dogs were having a BLAST, being pretty obedient (for the most part), were all very friendly and polite, and only one of them had shitty recall. However, all it takes is only ONE dog to run away because it has no reliable recall, the dog could easily run into the woodsy area of the creek, and the daycare would be responsible for letting some poor person's dog go off leash in an area with no fencing. This made me wonder if they tell the owners where they bring these dogs and if they make them sign some kind of waiver that if the owners' dogs run off, they don't hold the daycare responsible. What kind of owner would sign something like that? It's pretty sketchy, to be honest, regardless of how much fun the dogs were having. Hopefully the owners are fully aware/informed of the nature of the area the dogs are being brought into.

There's my perfect angel. He loves the beach SO much. He could swim forever.

A few years ago, he had some kind of idiopathic issue with his hind leg which resolved on its own, but at the time we decided to get a ramp for him to get into the car with ease. We haven't used it since then but have recently had to start using it again. It's not beyond me, but is kind of a pain in the ass to lift nearly 100 pounds of German shepherd every time I want to put him into the car. He wasn't much of a fan of the ramp when we originally purchased it, but now he just runs right up. It's not an OLD DOG ramp, it's an ACTIVE DOG ramp!

Sully (or Cilantro..) and the Second Molt!

Pleased to announce that my hissing cockroach had his/her second molt today. I didn't get to see the clear exoskeleton phase this time, but when I opened the lid of the "tank", this bug was huge. Check it out!

Check out that bug. That's a big bug.

Almost as long as my two fingers are wide.

Orchid Fancy!

While this has nothing to do with either vet school or anything else of that nature, I've recently been fancying the idea of orchids. Alex and I bought his mother one for her birthday, a deep dark purple one that was absolutely gorgeous. For the last week I've been bugging my mom to come with me to the plant place to find an orchid. Today we found a really nice looking one.

I liked this orchid so much that I actually dug up my old camera to take photos of it. Haven't used that camera since about 2011, but luckily I managed to get a few crappy photos that do not do this flower any justice at all. Keep in mind that this flower is a million times prettier than anything any camera can depict.