pavandeep

In October it began its life. It was looking good in November. Four months later:

My tree doesn't look so good. He gets enough light and water, but maybe he needs new soil?

I've been kind of busy lately with two jobs and working on starting my own dental clinic. Here's what it looks like now:

It needs a little work still.

I was trying to gradually reduce my days at one of my jobs, and was only going in one day a week. I don't know what happened, but now I'm there 3 days a week, and 5 days at the other clinic (some days I go to both). I'm not complaining. It's good to be employed.

The patients at one of the clinics are almost all Punjabi. In dental school, (and at the other clinic too) we called most patients by their first name. Even if the patient was 80+ we would call him "Bob". Imagine calling an elderly Punjabi man by his first name! Not only that, but I can't bring myself to introduce myself as a "Doctor" to the older Punjabi patients, so I usually don't introduce myself at all. It seems a little rude to not introduce yourself, but I know that the receptionist has already told the patient who they're going to see.

One other thing I've come to realize while working with Punjabi patients is that my spoken Punjabi is terrible! When I'm trying to explain something to a patient, and I see a look of confusion on their poor faces I try to listen to what I'm saying. It really doesn't sound very good. My Punjabi is littered with English words, but I think I have improved quite a bit since I started. One of the assistants told me that my Punjabi was really good compared to some of the other dentists who have been there. That's pretty scary.

click on the picture for a clearer image.

Pardeep and I went to Dairy Queen for Blizzards. Mine was Cookie Dough, and it was so gross. There were so many pieces of Cookie Dough. After 3 spoonfuls I ate only the ice cream, leaving the Cookie Dough pieces in the cup, or spitting them back into the cup (yeah, I know, gross!). Then I wondered if it would be possible to actually make miniature cookies with the pieces of dough. Probably not, I thought. But there would be no harm in trying...


First we washed the pieces of Cookie Dough. They were washed mainly because they still had ice cream on them. I had no intention of eating any possible cookies that might be the result of this project. I didn't really like the idea of putting them into the toaster oven after they had been in my mouth, but I figured it was okay since they would be on tin foil, and they had been rinsed.

Here I'm dropping them onto the "cookie sheet".

In they go...

At this point they actually seem cookie-like!

About now, the kitchen started smelling like freshly baked cookies. My cousin asked what kind of cookies we were making. "Chocolate chip?" she asked. We told her that these cookies were not for eating. She didn't seem satisfied with my answer. "They're jhootay" I said. Then I remembered that she doesn't really care about jhoot. "They've been in my mouth, and it's an experiment." I think at this point she was a little confused, but realized she wouldn't be getting any cookies.

I looked back at the cookies and see this...

This was the end of the experiment, the cookie dough rose and then fell flat and became a runny mess.

I'm so glad I didn't eat this in it's raw form.

Now that Christmas is over, it's time to get rid of the tree. Combine the best of two holidays by torching your tree with some fireworks.

Before:

After:

Link.

My dad's brother, Surjit Kooner, is running for the Liberals in Surrey:

Surjit Kooner is proud to be the Liberal candidate for Surrey North.

Mr. Kooner is a recently retired teacher who has taught in Surrey and Langley. He was elected to the Surrey School Board in 1999 and proudly served his community as a School Board Trustee from 1999 to 2002.

Mr. Kooner has also has had a successful career in business in the construction industry.

Mr. Kooner is a member of the British Columbia College of Teachers; and has represented BC on a National Multicultural Council.

A long time resident of Surrey, he has a wife, two daughters, and two sons.

We went to a rally at his campaign office (171-8138 128th street) yesterday. Here's Chanpreet making a phone call:

Here's a map of the riding:

If you're in this riding please go and vote for Surjit Kooner on January 23!

I wonder where they're going now.

ਕਈ ਜਨਮ ਸਾਖ ਕਰਿ ਉਪਾਇਆ ॥
In so many incarnations, you developed branches and leaves