I am now halfway done with Step 3 of the USMLE. I've come to realize that I truly do enjoy standardized tests. Although I do admit that 16 hours is way too long. But I love the construction of multiple choice questions, the wording of choices, identifying distractors, finding the educational points slipped in subtly, and the dry humor that test writers often use. Call me weird, but during a marathon test taking session like this, I'm often smilling, laughing, or cursing under my breath. I don't think I ever use profanity (in my head) quite so creatively as when I'm mulling over set of answers that are all carefully-crafted distractors and Joe Bloggs answers.

I was also amused by the noise-dampening earmuffs the Sylvan Learning center gave me. I tried putting them on during the break. The room was filled with nothing but the hum of 14 computers, typing, and mouse clicking. With the earmuffs on, all of these sounds were 75% quieter, but still perfectly audible.  But now these sounds were 10 times annoying because I had headphones on. These things make sense if you're using a firearm or playing the drums, but not for taking a test.

Anyway, to add weirdness to my day, I was driving down the road to Firehouse Subs for my lunch break. Across 3 lanes of traffic, I could hear a commotion. A guy was riding his bicycle down the sidewalk at a moderate speed while SHOUTING AT THE TOP OF HIS LUNGS into a cell-phone in Spanish.

I just realized I never posted a recap of day 4 of SXSW.