+ Zenarian Sky + + + My Fellow Star-catchers +
+ Sugargal + Hint Me +
designed by lonelyger |
Monday, October 17, 2005 Working.... ... is a blast. I love working. Not to say that I am mad. I usually am, but this takes the icing on the cake. The patients are lovely. Well, most are. My team is a godsend, a team which only happens in miracles. Something you cannot complain about - extremely supportive, lets me do lots of procedures, very encouraging, lets me know if there's anything which I need to do/did wrongly. My work colleagues are good to work with, well, most if not all of them, and all of us have good and bad days, but we have mostly good days, and help one another out lots. The work atmosphere is not competitive at all. If you want to be, so be it. If you want to be chilled, that's good as well. People are so friendly and helpful that you feel as if we are one big family. Absolutely a joy to be here. =) I've been working here for over 2 months now, close to 3 months. I've had ups and downs. I could tell you many stories about the variety of patients that pass through our doors, but you'll probably be too bored by it all. I've been on-call, sometimes loving it, sometimes hating the busy-ness of it all. Sometimes wondering why is my bleep going ever so often. Sometimes wondering if the day will ever end, especially if it is at the beginning of the week. I've covered for 2 teams (including my team) so many times that I can't count it. Being oncall every week is ok, but not when you're thinking about your patients day and night. Having had to do audits was a huge shock and took a bit of adjusting. Having had to do a presentation, when the consultant has only given you 1 day's notice (actually, only the evening before), when all that's left of both of mine and my buddy's teams is just me and the buddy Reg. [The presentation is supposed to be a combination of the PRHO, SHO and Reg's efforts].... although I must say that people have complimented me for the presentation, prepared last minute (thank goodness for people's kindness. =p) By the time I had finished being on call 3 weeks in a row (it's once a week lah...) plus a weekend oncall, I almost wanted to 'plop' down on the bed and disappear from the face of the earth. The highlight of those few weeks were when Dee came down to London, all the way from Singapore! My dear old friend, even though we were in the same JC and had the same piano teacher for a year or so, we never knew each other till we each came over to the UK, and I met her during HCN 2002. We hit it off then, and have been close friends ever since. One of the few people who shares the same values as I do, and holds on to them strongly. Went to explore Cantebury on Sunday with her. We went to the Cantebury Cathedral (which was pretty amazing, and there were some stories behind some of the sculptures, and what's with bishops being buried in the crpyt under the church itself?!). We also went to have a peek at Cantebury Tales. I can't remember the specific tales, but there were 6, one of two knights falling in love with a fair lady, but who will win her heart, another with the miller commiting adultery with the carpenter's wife, another with the wife of Bath's tale (What do women most desire?), another regarding the clever wit of a fox (The nun's Priest's tale) , and the last one is the pardoner's tale, where three men were led to their downfall by greed. The day before, we had gone to Bluewater, one of the largest shopping malls in the whole of Europe, which supposedly was cheaper than the high street or London prices, and plus, it was around my area as well. Guess what? I ended up buying boots, which was one of the indulgences of my first pay check! (The second one was eating out!) :+: Almost every week, I've been popping down to Tooting. To meet juniors, chill out, and be in a familiar surrounding. I love being able to walk around, and just go into shops, without having to walk too far or having a limited number of shops if I don't travel, i.e. taking the bus or driving. :+: On call on Gerry's wedding day. Sorry, Gerry! Really tried swapping my leave, but since it was fixed, and I was on-call that weekend, it just wasn't possible! Will be back to see your photos in Dec! Who knows... there might even be a 'little Gerry' running around?? *wink* After that weekend oncall, I worked for another week, and then I left! Couldn't wait to get out of Medway. Not because I hate the place (I really honestly like the place), but it sometimes get to you if you're stuck working in a place too long. :+: You know what I found out? That my SHO has exactly the same birthdate as me, only 2 years older! Freaky thought... :+: Annual Leave Went to Prague, Poland and Budapest. More later. Actually, I have yet to write about my US trip, which was awesome. That will come gradually. In time. =) :+: Alas, after 2 weeks of no work and absolute freedom, I came back to work, refreshed and raring to go. Had to crash-do an audit for the next day, after I came back, but all went well. That evening, I had a cosy sit-down dinner with my SHO, where we chatted and chilled and actually got to be friends! That was a great night out, which should have been done earlier. The next night, we went out again, only that this was more of a surgical dinner. The surgical people had booked a table to celebrate my SHO and 2 other SHOs who had passed the MRCS Part 2 exams. We had a great time, as the SHOs and HOs who were there were hilarious! Had great fun trying on various expressions, exchanging stories about patients and consultants, but surprisingly, not colleagues at all. =) And yet the next night, I had dinner with Kiran after Bluewater, after I had promised her the previous night that I would accompany her to return some clothes at Mango. Went over to her place, where we had microwavable stuff, coz we were both too pazy to cook or order take-away and to wait for it. On Sat, we (Asanga & I) went to Canary Wharf, where Kiran 'introduced' a concept to us. I cna't say exactly what it is,till much later. But hope it works out. |