Dr. Rahul D. Gor is a podiatrist with a practice in central Maryland.
He was born in 1974, in Kenya. Shortly after, he and his mother, father, younger brother and younger sister emigrated to the United States. After seven years in the Mongomery County public school system, Rahul attended the University of Maryland as an undergrad, selecting courses in preparation for a career as a medical doctor.
Rahul attended medical school from 1997-2000, also at the University of Maryland. After his residency, Dr. Gor chose podiatry as his field, and is in practice today in Bowie, Maryland, which is in the Baltimore suburban area.
Dr. Gor is an African-Indian, born in Nairobi, Kenya. Few Americans of other ethnicities are aware of the significant number of or even existence of African-born Indians, both in Africa and in the United States.
In the days of her empire, Britain maintained colonies in both Africa and India. Some Indians served as colonial administrators in Africa, since their command of English tended to be relatively good, and their adaptation of British culture relatively thorough, since Britain's influence on the subcontinent preceded and outstripped theirs on Africa. African-Indians were also involved in the trade of East African diamonds and other precious stones.
The number of employed podiatrists in America is expected to flatten out or decrease over the next few years, according to the United States Bureau of Labor[1]. Practical application of podiatry includes surgery, preventive care, and other treatment of the foot, ankle, and often the leg. This includes the complications of the lower extremities that frequently accompany advanced diabetes.
Podiatrists' income is relatively high, compared to other medical practices [2].
Dr. Gor married in 2002, and lives just north of Baltimore, Maryland, near the water.
I've quit SDF. Here's a re-print of a post I made this morning.
What's fuckin' wrong? there are a lot of mean pricks on SDF now a days!:-(
There is a possibility that someone broke into account awhile back, but there is nothing I can do about. I don't keep very much 'personal' stuff on my SDF account, accept for private email between my girlfriend and I. I guess it my own fault for not being more "security minded" with my on-line activities.
*chesucat twitches and grimaces*
SDF is somewhat unreliable (entire domains get blocked to combat spam, accounts get randomly deleted, machines are down for days, etc), and it might be a bad idea to keep any serious work here.
But mainly, the problem is that SDF is teeming with malicious users -- I didn't log a single portscan before I started up here, whereas now I get kiddies clawing at my firewall all day, and kiddies like logo trying their pathetic attempts at "social attacks" while they sit, greasy adolescent rejects, in their parents' basements, pressing buttons.
Not to mention that I have to deal with assholes like wonko, that pathetic middle-aged imp, cackling with glee as he hunches over his keyboard and plays his idiot power-games in com like some kind of 14 year-old. Truly, a case of arrested development if I've ever seen one.
He tries to retain some iota of self-esteem by insulting and belittling others electronically, since he's done so poorly at interacting with people in "real life." here's an environment where he can strut around as alpha-geek, saying "look at me! Look at me!", displaying his "wit" and "charm" like some kind of ugly, deluded peacock.
He fantasizes about how he's regarded here: "oh wonko...you're so witty and smart -- you're really just an amazingly talented guy." he beams with pride and keeps up with the performance, encouraged by his own interpretations of others' behavior. In reality, he's only tolerated because people fear being attacked.
I wonder how many times he had his head flushed down the toilet in high school for him to behave this way; how many times he was picked on, belittled and had the self-esteem crushed out of him by childhood and adolescent peers. Here is a place where he can finally be powerful, where he can finally win. No matter -- I won't ever have to "see" him again.
He'll probably spam me now, as in his rage he did to someone when he was int80h. The internet is the only place he can be powerful, and he's not going to give that up. He'll be here forever.
I don't even want to discuss adnam or logo.
There's simply no reason to be here. I regret that I've put so much into this place. I switched email providers to gmail, and I'll transplanted my blog to my domain if necessary. I'd miss .htacccess, user-executable shell scripts, etc (I'd be migrating to a windows server - ew ;)) but it certainly won't be a disaster if I have to move my blog.
I can't think of any reason to stay here in any significant capacity. I'm not going to run `delme` or anything dramatic like that; I'll keep my ARPA-fied account for as long as I'm able, solely to luxuriously and unnecessarily keep my blog at a unix system, as well as forward any mail that's mistakenly sent to /mail/barnacle.
As far as blogging goes, I'll edit files locally, ftp-ing to SDF afterwards (i removed puTTY from my machine, since I'll no longer need it). If for some reason my account disappears (via our evil draconian sysadmin...haha), then it's certainly not a big deal. I can live without the little perks of a UNIX blog.
There are some thing about this host that I'd miss, but they're really quite insignificant -- any place can host writing and images. Custom .htaccess and user-executable shell scripts are purely masturbation.
I have no other use for SDF. The bbs and com are really the heart and soul of this place -- the "community." SDF was a bbs before it was much else, and that'll always be the core of it. Programming tools, software and email can be found elsewhere, most practically on one's home machine. The only reason to be here is to interact with other users.
If I were smj, I'd at the very least stop participating in the community, so people would quit blaming me for everything, just because I'm a visible persona. I don't see why he comes into com or reads bboard -- I guess he feels he has to post to ANNOUNCE and read REQUESTS, like he has some obligation to the users who choose to infect his alphas like some kind of virulent rash.
I feel really bad for the guy -- he's the only one of us who can't leave this place. He's stuck here. If I were him, I'd have pulled the plug a long time ago, and devote more time on my wife/band/job/friends. I don't want to know how little free time he has -- I'd probably get depressed.
17 years of malicious users will make any sysadmin seem like a jerk -- smj simply can't trust anyone. Sdf has been with him for x years; it's a part of him now, and he can't leave it.
Anyway, some people are nice (including ~*~*THE CAT*~*~), I've made some friends here (to the degree to which this is possible electronically), and I'm sure users will know if I'm not including them in my community-bashing. To those folks, I say "goodbye".
Goodbye chesucat, wazb, sgrant, djm62, newtype, eamonnw, smj, sjhs, wm, wliao, anime (the former anime?) and others I'm not thinking of (sorry). Y'all drop a line sometime.
--
matt
I was about to delete the picture of my old 65-watt "music man 112" tube-combo guitar amplifier that I took for my craigslist post, but then I realized it's all I have left of it (along with several twenty-dollar bills). From now on, its ghost will live in cyberspace.
Note the "apple computer" sticker on the side. Also note that the photo is a bit blurry. This might be taken to have all sorts of metaphoric meaning, but in fact my hand slipped and I was too lazy to take another pic.
I know it's getting a good home; the man who bought it was a friendly, upstanding fellow, and was really good on the guitar. He'll definitely take more advantage of the luxuriously smooth tube-distortion than I did or would have, just because his playing is bluesy while mine is robotic jazz-fusion-world-new age, and doesn't marry well with distortion. It's just not my sound.
I've decided to become a "transistor amp guy," just as I decided to become a "commuter bike guy." it's fun to engineer these aesthetic convictions.
Determining one's own aesthetic with language and contrivance is not only acceptable, but necessary and good. The knowledge that one can (and must) "decide to like something," if you will, is a potent asset. I'm reminded of punk-rockers, who dress in leather, pierce their lips with safety pinks, and wear mohawks. Clearly, this "uniqueness" is an affectation -- effort is put into being "different." is this a bad thing? Why? Along with any aesthetic-determination, it's unavoidable.
While there is a small element of things one "naturally likes" or "naturally does," in large part all of our behavior -- aesthetics included -- is intellectually, or at least subconsciously, determined. There's no "realm of ideas" state where an absolute ideal exists. Maybe we like sweet things because they're high in quick energy, and maybe we like the same kind of pretty face on a woman because particular features indicate fertility, but that's about as far as it goes.
That said, I like transistor amps. I don't need distortion, which is the primary (only?) advantage of tube-amplification. I run my guitar through effects, and I want those and my pickups to determine my sound -- not the amplifier. The amplifier should be cold, clean and transparent. Ergo, transistor amplifiers are best for me. I have a small, 10-watt "peavy" now, which I bought used for $40 in california, but I'd like to get a higher-end transistor amp, or at least one that's a little louder and looks a little bit nicer.
That's my bike. It's frankenbike, or a punk-rock bike, if you will -- all sorts of parts: some new, some salvaged from other bikes. For instance, it has one grip-shifter and one trigger-shifter, and the chain-rings and crank-arms were taken from an abandoned security patrol bike.
Parts are built around a steel "trek" frame (they're either carbon or aluminum now), I believe which was made sometime in the 80's. The "trek" logo has been seamlessly blanked out with black electrical tape, partly because it was ugly, and partly because I don't like advertising for trek.
I like commuter bikes in part because they're practical, and in part so I can sneer at the EXTREME SPORTS people with their fully-suspended $1,500 mountain bikes and glow-in-the-dark spandex outfits. When I put groceries on my rack, the moral superiority simply oozes out of me. Similarly, when I turn on my headlight and tail-light at night, and ding my little bell.
I made my first craigslist post! It's gone now, or I would have linked you to it.
Within six hours of posting the ad, I had six interested people email me. So, I upped the price from $149 to $199 on my ad, and mailed everyone back with the new price. I immediately got two offers at that price, so I wrote those two back asking for $230.
I finally sold it for $220 to someone with cash in hand, offering to drive over here within the next hour. Not bad -- I recovered 88% of my cost, long ago. I'm reasonably sure I undersold the amp initially, and that's why I had so many frantic-sounding inquiries. Or, maybe it's just my marketing genius at work; I did a nice job on the ad.
I showed it to mark, and he warned me that my 'bait-n-switch' would generate a few flames. I never thought of it as such, and in fact hadn't known what this phrase meant. In my emails to my bidders, I told them that 'the laws of supply and demand' caused me to raise the price. It just didn't occur to me that this behavior was frowned-upon.
I was indeed flamed a bit -- one polite one, and one rude one, sent by a lieutenant colonel working for the pentagon. I'm defining a flame as 'a de facto electronic communique not intended to communicate practically, but rather to demonstrate the speaker's negative feelings for the audience, his words, or his actions'. Or, more simply put, just an upset email.
I can't resist a good flamewar, though, and the colonel and I exchanged a few mails. I should really seek therapy.
My lesson is learned. I don't want to appear unethical, and will follow mark's advice: start the item-price high, and then decrease the price if there's no interest. Then, sell to the first person who offers.
In fairness, 1) I had undervalued my amp, 2) I didn't realize upping the price based on interest was frowned-upon (although the words 'or best offer' seem to imply it), and 3) I used poor wording to describe that I wanted to get rid of the amp quickly (i had said 'first come, first serve'). I later amended this wording, and added 'or best offer'. Also, there aren't any rules against this sort of auctioneer behavior on craigslist -- the colonel was out of line.
The buyer has come and gone now, having given me a few sheets of paper for a 50-pound piece of musical equipment. That old amp, which I wasn't using, is gone, and I have some dough.
I can't help but be a little bit sad to see my amp go, but I'm completely crazy. When I was 5 or so, I had a great deal of anxiety about throwing away a particular banana peel. I stored it in my dresser drawer for months, because I didn't want it to be sad that I threw it away. I did the same thing with half of a coconut shell. Both lived in that top dresser drawer for a while.
I had a pop-up book that showed a picture of a garbage truck full of trash. When the pop-up lever was pulled, the trash compactor gate opened. Then, one could see a tiny image of a teddy bear that had been thrown away. It had a sad face. This upset me so much that I cut the teddy bear out of the book, and stowed it away somewhere. I later lost it, and became even more upset. I reassured myself by saying 'at least he's somewhere'. I think I even made up a song to go along with that sentiment.
Truly, early warning signs should be heeded.
The colonel told me that I should take an ethics class. He says this to me while at his desk, working in the pentagon and for the u.s. Military. He probably voted for bush. His exact words (i still have his email) were:
If your friend gave you salient business advice and you willingly posted the ad with the intention of raising the price, I would suggest you find time to take an ethics class.
What a fucking asshole. I responded with 'can you recommend one?', just to piss him off subtly.
But allow me to address his 'point': mark gave me the 'salient business advice' AFTER I posted my ad. In retrospect, I should have posted high and gone low, but it sure as fuck wasn't my 'intention' to do the opposite for the purpose of 'bait-and-switch'. Changing the price based on lots of inquiries (which indicated to me that'd I'd undervalued the amp) didn't seem wrong or bad to me.
When I posted, I didn't have any experience with craigslist, and thought the culture there allowed for auction-like behavior. There's nothing illegal about it, and maybe not even anything unethical about it. In the future I won't do it, because it's a pain in the ass to keep updating an advertisement, and I sometimes like to 'do as the romans do', if for no reason than not wanting to angering the praetoria.
God, humans piss me off. Kill em all.
Starting a new page is really a pain in the ass.
I think I fucked up my bank account. I took some money out of the ATM machine, but it didn't give me the opportunity to specify that I wanted to withdraw from savings. Or maybe it did -- I don't know. At any rate, this is moot, because when I told it to give me $20, it took it out of my checking account. I don't have a checking account.
I used to, but decided to close it. When I did, the stupid bitch behind the counter tried to hard-sell me an account, which pissed me off. I was then told that if I 'accidentally' used my ATM/visa card to purchase stuff through visa, then it would re-create a checking account with a negative balance, and then I'd be charged some fucking fee for having a deficit.
I don't understand how the ATM machine could be configured to withdraw money from a non-existent checking account. Maybe it has something to do with my card being a visa and ATM hybrid, which I don't need and can't use. Having it is like keeping a mouse-trap in your pocket that you have to be really careful not to spring on your fingers. I wish bank of america would give me a normal ATM card, but I'm sure there's some fee associated with that.
I'm going to go talk to bank of america tomorrow, and tell them that I'd better damn well not be charged a fee for creating a negative checking account. If they do, I'm going to LOUDLY close my account. I've had a series of minor bad experiences with them that are starting to add up. I think they're the only nation-wide bank, but I'm not sure. I'll have to look into this. I got so pissed off in concord once that I almost closed my account then. They brought the branch manager over to sooth me.
This is true -- they act like a bunch of grinning plastic vampire freaks, and it's sort of scary.