05 January 23:26 -05:00 GMT

Rachel Paisley was kind enough to give me a ride to school today, in the context of my new car (!) being in the shop for repairs to make it optimally roadworthy. And tomorrow I will receive the car, and experience the luxurious joy of having a new car to call my own and to get me here to there whenever I like. This is an aspect of American culture that I do sorely appreciate.

Had a two hour session learning how to perform a neurological exam in its entirety, and that was interesting and valuable. I learn a lot in these small group session, and it reinforces our current lecture material nicely. Bravo to the organizers.

Then at lunch I snapped open a SlimFast as I listened to two of our Associate Deans discuss the contents of the package that the UASOM will send to our prospective residency programs in 18 months. That was informative, and with the help of Matthew Purcell, that information will be disseminated to all who could not attend.

Attended two more lectures in the afternoon, on the different infectious diseases that can lead to meningitis and encephalitis. These are bacterial, viral, fungal, and prions, the latter of which are fascinating from a scientific point of view. An example is "Mad Cow Disease." Consumption of some aberrant proteins in brain tissue can somehow transfer to one's own brain, and through similarly murky mechanisms, signal more proteins to flip into a conformation that is destructive to the brain. It may be passed on as described, or it can also be passed on genetically, which is a dichotomous transmission characteristic of this disease.

A couple of hours of break, and I was on the phone, getting condoms and safe-sex packets organized for AIDS Awareness week in February. Then an impromptu meeting with Charles Khoury and Katrina Julian to talk about the distribution of proceeds from a World AIDS Day fundraising campaign. Half of our modest efforts will go to a local community-based organization that serves HIV+ community members in Birmingham, and half will go to meet a need in an orphanage in Zambia.

I read with familiarity a third of the transcripts of yesterday's lectures, then decided I was hungry and went to Taco Bell, collected some fatty food, and carried it back to UAB's Center for Psychiatric Medicine where Dr. Kinney graciously and generously donated nearly two hours of his time to review neuroanatomy that is critical for understanding the pathologies we are studying in our core course for this term. He has a spectacular command of the anatomy of the human nervous system. The hours were filled with moments of Oh yeah, and Oh no, depending on how much I remembered.

Maggie and Estelle took time out of their full days to pick me up and get me home. We listened to Congolese Rhumba during the ride home.

I took care of about ten outstanding class officer issues since coming home, little stuff that adds up when it's ignored. If email will get through, then I'll be able to tick off some of my to do list.

I tried to call my biological father, Paul Hennessey, but didn't get through. I'm way overdue for a conversation.