Can't wait for this to end!

I know i was supposed to write about married life - but thesedays there's more of student life than any other life happening! (Wait -- do i have a life??)

My typical schedule thesedays:

10 AM: Wake up (Yea..CS people can't get out of bed early)
10.45 AM: Cycle like a maniac & reach SMI (that's the place i'm a RA at...)
11.00 - 3.00 PM: Code, code & code more. In between, send emails, complete asgns etc etc..And, 2 cups of coffee to keep my eyes open!
3.00 - 5.00 PM: Attend classes
5.00 - 6.00 PM: Gym, Bath, Figure out how much more work needs to be completed over a cup of tea
6.00 - 8.00 PM: Study again!
8.00 PM: Eat Bhawna Patel's food - the gujju lady who delivers Indian food to the Stanford campus - Thanks to her atleast the meals don't get monotonous
8.30 PM - 4.00 AM: Work on asgns, complete projects, try to catch up with classes...
4.00 AM: Hit the sack hoping the craziness ends soon!

I love Garfield!

Loved this one - i wish i could use it as an excuse for all the weight gain :)

My favourite pics from the wedding

I have been married for more than 10 months now, but people still keep asking me for pictures! I've forgotten my Webshots password & so i'm putting up a few of my favourite pics here :)
(Besides the Webshots interface has changed & it looks really SAD now)

One of these days, i'm going to write a post answering the question i'm asked most often thesedays - "How is married life?" But till then, enjoy the pictures :)

Back to student life!

Stanford University


After spending an amazing summer in beautiful Seattle, I'm finally back to the hectic, crazy life at Stanford - back to the world of classes, assignments, projects & never-ending 'to-do' lists!

But unlike last year, i'm actually enjoying the pressure & not cribbing at all :). I've become a whole lot more organized & am managing my time pretty well. I've been cooking regularly, exercising daily & i also manage to set aside an hour or two every night to do something other than study (like i'm writing this entry now :D)! And i should mention, this happens to be my toughest quarter (in terms of coursework) here.

Should say - the MS program at Stanford has paid off in more ways than one! No, i don't have a job yet ...haha...but its only after coming here that I've developed a genuine interest in Computer Science. I'm finally confident that this is the field i want to pursue!

Contact lenses - Am i risking my eyes to look better?

I have been in this country, namely, the U.S. of A, for almost an year now. I've also been one of those unfortunate people who's had the weirdest of health problems ever since i came here and had to deal with the most hopeless health care system - the incompetent doctors, the medical insurance woes and yeah, the big fat bills as well (Its amazing how you can pay thousands of dollars on medical insurance & yet have problems that they don't pay anything for).

My latest problem revolves around an eye inflammation that i developed coz of my contact lenses. The reason - well, you know the doctors here (And you are really lucky if you don't!) - he gave me a lot of 'might be this' or 'might be that'.
Some of them:

• my lenses might have been tight for my eye, dug into my cornea gradually and caused an inflammation
• the contact lens + solution combo didn't suit me
  
• I was over-wearing my lenses
• Not taking proper care of my lenses

And a couple of others that i don't even remember. To make things worse, the doctor gave me samples of daily disposable lenses that were 'tighter' than my previous ones & also had a 0.5 diopter higher power in both eyes - I tried them on yesterday & it felt like i was going blind - My eyes felt horrid, everything around me looked blurred and sitting in front of the computer was impossible.
I called up the doctor - well, tried reaching him - here's the conversation that i had with his secretary:

Abhita: I need to talk to doctor - my prescription doesn't feel right
Sec: Should i make an appointment?
Abhita: Yeah..umm..sure
Sec: Can i know what insurance you have?
Abhita: My insurance doesn't cover vision ..but does it matter...this is a follow up..Will he charge me?
Sec: Yes Mam, if you come into the office, we have to charge consultation fees.
Abhita: I've already paid you thrice & i still don't know the problem with my eyes. To make things worse, you've given me lenses that i can barely see through. How many more appointments will i have to make?

So i finally did make the appointment - But i doubt its going to help - another big bill with no assurance that my eye is fine.

I finally had to resort to Dr. "Google" yesterday. I dread doing it - simply because of all the horrific stories out there & the panic i go thru after i read them. Well, thats exactly what happened. I read of all kinds of infections people get because of contact lenses - Corneal abscesses ..ummm..i don't remember the other names ..lol..But yeah, pretty scary stuff.

So i finally had to go international - Called up parents, in-laws - told them to contact optometrists in their parts of the world and give me advice.

Rote to my optometrist in Delhi - who's this amazing doctor - and he's sending me samples of lenses - all the way from Delhi to California!

Anyways, i drifted away from the topic of this post - the bottom line is: Contacts aren't the best thing for your eyes. They don't let your eyes breathe, the fit of the lens, the way you maintain it and how long you wear the lens is extremely important. These are the tips most contact lens specialists give thesedays:

• NEVER over wear your lenses
• Use lenses only when you go out, don't use them at home
• Use only spectacles while studying late at night or while spending continuous hrs in front of the computer
• Stay without your lenses - atleast 1 day of the week
• Do not sleep with your lenses - even for short naps
• Do not wear lenses on flights - even if its an hour long flight!!
• If you are prone to allergies/infections, spend long hrs in front of the computer or lead a very hectic lifestyle - wear only daily disposable lenses. Even otherwise, they are the healthiest for your eye.
  

I have been wearing contact lenses for more than 10 years now & never had a problem. But apparently, my eyes have started rejecting them now :-( And so here i am, back to the look i had 10 years back. The only good thing is: my hubby thinks the geeky look suits me :-)

Long way to go ..

Visited 7 countries (3%)

Visited 4 states in the United States (7%)


I keep telling my hubby that i'd like to visit all the countries in the world. This post is to help him plan future vacations ..lol

Finally ..

..after months of laziness, I did start my own blog :D It all started coz i wanted to write a comment on my hubby's blog & this darn thing wud'nt let me do it without creating a login! Now i only hope i can get myself to write regularly (or to write at all..lol)
For today though, i've spent enough time trying to figure out how to put my picture up ...I better go cook myself some food now!