Musings on Infinity

So, today was my first day at the hospital. I made sure I was prepared, and I was ready and waiting at the bus-stop with all my things...and then the bus didn't stop. I forgot that Israeli buses require flags and whistles and possibly cannons to signal a need to stop. Fortunately I knew people who were going to the city where I was working, so it wasn't a disaster. It just meant I didn't have too much time to get my staff card and find my way to the Neurology ward.

So today was a first for a couple of things:
The first time I took blood using a latex glove as a tourniquet
The first time I saw status epilepticus
The first time I ate a lunch that I bought off the shelf (it was far more interesting as a novelty than food)

Today I also:
found out that the only thing more boring than rounds is rounds when you don't understand most of what's happening
made a new friend from Canada!
stayed until 9:30pm in the hope that it'd make me look keen and stuff and no-one would notice if I take Tuesday off

and stuff. I'm tired and sore now, so anything else I'll add later.

The fact that 'llama' sounds a lot like the Hebrew word for why (lamah) makes for hilarious ads.

The second you try and speak a little of a foreign language, the native speakers assume that means you can follow them at speeds of >100 words/min.

There are many eucalypts and bottle-brushes dotting the desert landscape here. This makes it somewhat home-like.

I have two freshly-laundered white coats.

The stray cats here are some combination of wild and tame: rather like Israelis.

The Power of One is a fantastic book, I'm very glad I read it.

I have now had two people suggest I might meet someone/get engaged/get married over the next eight weeks. I'm trying not to take it too seriously.

The desert here is not a story-book desert of sand, nor the harsh scrub of the Australian outback; rather it's a desert of dust and rock, punctuated by houses and fences and wire. The desert is blooming in patches, in greenhouses and fields. The houses are square and white, the gardens dying since the government restricted the water supply following three years of low rainfall. All the houses have bars on the windows. Barbed wire is far more prevalent than in Australia, and this makes me sad while at the same time I can understand the reasons. Driving into Beersheva we see the Bedouin settlements, which range from shacks to mansion-like houses, and always cause a frisson of tension in my companions, who explain that they have not paid for the land nor obtained any of the permits non-Bedouins must, which invariably leads to a discussion of the socio-politics of demography in Israel. And I'm constantly reminded of how much I love this country, and how difficult I would find it to live here.

The hospital's nice, built around a big open area, with all the signs in Hebrew and Arabic and barely a hint o English. I'm going to have to allocate a large amount of time for getting lost.

So, it's my first day on elective.

I slept until after 12, thinking that the weak light coming through the slats in the window was from the early hour, rather than the winter sun.

And I got my results, which were satisfying.

I arrived in Israel last night and was picked up from the airport by friends and driven all the way to Beersheva. Then fed. Then I was taken to the family down the road where I would be staying...and was fed again. After re-establishing my acquaintance with everyone in the family, I decided to shower. And as I was getting ready, the power died in that end of the house, including the bathroom. I didn't want to risk going to bed without a shower though, so I showered by plug-in fluorescent light in the cold. Which wouldn't have been too bad, if it wasn't a desert winter-night. Also, when I was getting out gifts, I accidentally presented the wife of the family I was staying with the present for the one who picked me up. The confusion was quickly sorted out, since mum had told me she'd discussed the gifts before and she had no idea what I was talking about with this present. The embarrassment was a lot slower to fade away, though. And the fact that the husband wandered in and got excited at something I think was the jar of whiskey on my desk for the other family's upcoming wedding was also a bit cringe-worthy.

Welp, it's time for me to get moving. Not much planned for today, but I think it would be a good idea to get started on it, so I can at least give a vague impression of efficiency on the first day of this time away!

edit: Oh, and I forgot to mention; something interesting happened on the plane to Singapore. There was a girl sitting next to me who got up to go the bathroom, and didn't come back for some time. Knowing how long you have to wait, I wasn't worried...until a steward came up to me and asked if she had appeared unwell, cause she'd fainted. Suppressing the urge to jump up and say 'Can I see?', I simply said she hadn't when we'd talked earlier and he went away. Not long after, a call when out for a doctor (she'd hit her head when she fell and had started bleeding from her nose) and again I didn't jump up...until the steward actually approached someone sitting in front of me, at which point I offered my stethoscope and tendon hammer to them, since I figured it wasn't the sort of thing most doctors carried on holiday. But he didn't end up seeing her cause someone else had beat him to it, and I saw her as I was getting off the plane and she looked pale but ok, and that's the end of the story!

I leave for my elective on Monday. Approximately two months of study and family and weddings, one month of travelling. I haven't organised (or planned) the travelling month yet. I'm freaking out a little over that. I've been busy this week getting stuff sorted, seeing a few people, and trying to relax before I leave. I'm doing well on some fronts, not so well on others.

Last night I went to a karaoke bar in the city where they do a monthly musical theatre night - and it was great fun. Everyone there was really into it (think about randoms all over the bar piping up to sing the names in 'Nicest Kids in Town' from Hairspray) and although there were some sad limitations to the options, there were also awesome ones - such as the entire Avenue Q soundtrack. I wanted to sing 'The Internet is for Porn', but was thankfully beaten to the punch by a couple who did it so well they sounded like the production! Good times.

I also made a new friend! Everyone wave and say hi to eruvadhril.

Also, this night made me realise that geeks have a certain subtle plumage and mating calls that we use to identify ourselves to others. For example, i met eruvadhril because she commented on my Spamalot shirt. (Thinkgeek, Threadless, webcomic-related, etc clothes function in much the same way). And a guy at the bar reached past me for his drink with a cry of 'Ninja!'. I wish I'd had a chance to talk to him too, he had a great voice.

Anyway, it's time to eat and get back to the grindstone...

...because SBS seems to be making Monday night a regular Night of the Living Dead. And I'm becoming more and more convinced of the rightness of the theory that if/when there is a zombie apocalypse, the best set up people (other than possibly army officers and doomsday nuts who have and know how to use lots of guns) will be geeks. Because it seems to me that most of the casualties/spread happens because people panic and scream, and run around saying stuff like 'it's not possible!' until they've been bitten. At which point they cry and beg people to help until they themselves start with the biting.

Whereas geeks, on the other hand, have read the Zombie Survival Handbook. World War Z. All those other books by that guy who's kinda odd in his obsession. Etc. I know some people with pretty much definite 'In Case of Zombie Emergency' plans (my personal one is to go hang out with them). If people's eyes start turning weird and they moan and have an odd tendency to eat people, geeks don't go 'Huh, that's strange, are you ok?', they get out the baseball/cricket bat and start smashing. Geeks know to go for the head - no wasted body shots. Geeks know to avoid fire - then you just have the walking dead on fire, which makes it even harder to stop. Geeks know there's no cure, so if you're bitten, no matter who you are - it's you or the group. Do the right thing by them.

This post is totally not brought to you by my desire not to have nightmares about an hour or so long Portuguese zombie movie I watched instead of concentrating studying.

So yeah. Study. Sucks. Getting some, lots, whatever, done. But it all just feels like chipping away at a huge pile of granite with a plastic aeroplane-meal spoon. Just want it to be over.

Sleep time now.

ps: my parents just came back from Melbourne with a bottle of kosher vermouth and banana liqueur. I really wish I had time to make cocktails right now. But we don't have any pickled onions, and I really want to try a vodka martini!

I'm currently on an anaesthetics option. I decided that I was going to use this opportunity to get as much practical experience as I could. Thus, today I:

- Placed a 16 gauge cannula in a wrist vein

- Put in a laryngeal mask airway

- SUCCESSFULLY INTUBATED A PATIENT

...I'm still excited about that. I've had a couple of looks with a laryngoscope and a couple of attempts which both ended up in the oesophagus, but today was the first time I really did it properly, and it feels pretty awesome.

Something else which is awesome is Chuck - I'm up to the last episode of season 2, and I love this show.

I'd write more, but I have to go study for exams, even though they're a month away *makes puking sounds*

I'd like to write for Nano too, but... *points to above time consuming event*...I have a really good idea, too!

I hear that this Thursday there's going to be a zombie march through Leederville. And by march, I mean lurch. With makeup and groans and much awesome. Anyone interested? Preferably someone with lots of makeup?

I have a bunch of assignments due and overdue. I have exams coming up way too soon. I'm still in sleep-debt from my ambulance rotation, and the 6:30 wake-ups (at the latest) for Gen Med are starting to get to me...in the first week. But regardless, I dropped it all to see Up! tonight.

And I'm really glad I did. Aside from seeing people in a social context (always a nice change of pace), it was a brilliant movie. In all ways. The animation is beautiful and detailed. The characters are so identifiable and realistic I cried three times during the movie. And in typical Pixar style, they often had you laughing (in a totally understandable way) five minutes later. I'm still feeling emotionally drained. I want to see it again already. Possibly not in 3D this time, just for the sake of comparison. I could go on for ages about how great it was and how it even made me think about my own life in some ways, but I hate spoilers, and...


SQUIRREL!!!

So, as I mentioned a post or two ago, I'm doing two weeks work with the ambulance service. I'm about to start the first night shift which you may or may not have noticed will be a Friday night. It's all been okayed with the rabbi, and I'm doing everything in my power to do things the right way, but this is the first time since I was in the Netherlands 6 years ago that I've knowinglyn transgressed the Sabbath...and I'm a bit on edge. And the paramedics who just turned up now after their day shift have pointed out that not only is it a Friday night, not only is it a wet-ish night...but it's a footy night.

I've enjoyed the last two days - I'm getting to do more each day, so I might even get to do some real stuff by the end of this. And it's always exciting to scream along with sirens going and lights flashing, as I tell everyone who'll stop for long enough for me to tell them. Nothing too exciting yet, but there's always tonight...and tomorrow night... *gulp*

I can't think of much else to write right now. I'm sure there's more, but ...meh.

To sort out a bit of confusion in past comments, I'll clarify. I'm currently entering in stories into a 12-word short story competition. They don't have to be stories, they can also be - moments, descriptions. Each 'story' has to be 12 words or less. You can enter one story per week until the competition closes. People vote on the stories, and the best most popular are professionally judged. So if you wanted, you could make a login and vote too! And write your own, of course. My stories are under my username Tarpy.

( Here are some I've already written - the ones in italics are posted )

You can tell me which ones you'd like me to post next. But I won't guarantee I will listen to you!

I wrote a poem in a lj entry. Then I lost it. This makes me a little sad, but not too much, I guess.

Ohhhh fuck you producers of Dexter. Fuck you so hard. You do this every fucking season. So happy that the first episode is leaked. Then willing to kill because it's over a month until the next episode is released.

AAARGH

In other news, apparently I can draw (I still disagree), and tomorrow marks the start of my ambulance attachment. Interesting times. More later

I have a friend with an essay on the topic:

"The role of genetic testing to avoid having a baby with a disability is controversial. A minority of deaf people would consider testing to ENSURE that they had a deaf child. Discuss the ethical issues that are raised by these two statements"

Can anyone suggest resources for her?

Thankee!

I have been adamantly refusing to go and see the sixth Harry Potter movie. I thought it was the worst of the books; two thirds fanfic and one third backed by the Indiana Jones theme. And if it was a bad book, I reasoned, it'll be a bad movie.

But everyone keeps saying it's good and I should go and see it.

So I came to a decision. If someone can come up with a good drinking game for the movie, I'll go see it. With a hip flask. Heh.

I can't stand the new UWA e-mail setup. It's clumsy, unintuitive, and I have to enter my password far more times than the old system which it was apparently streamlining. If they were going to add webct resources to it I might forgive them, but NOOOO, they like it when we have to use two retarded systems, not just one.

Ben's been racing ahead with Gilmore Girls, which is fair enough, considering I'm watching it with my mum, who watches tv on an average of once a fortnight, and Ilana, who's off to Collie for five weeks tomorrow. But he leaves the dvds in assorted drives around the house, which means that when Ilana came over tonight I thought the fifth disc was the second disc, and got somewhat majorly spoilt for the end of the season. AND I HATE SPOILERS.

As I mentioned earlier, Ilana came over tonight as a last hurrah and Gilmore Girls screening before she left. And as is somewhat obligatory, we whipped out the junk-food. Toasted marshmallows in front of the fire, Hamishe cookies (chocolate covered macaroons which are kept in the freezer for maximum deliciousness for those who don't know) and very strong french vanilla coffee. So now it's several hours later, my stomach's questioning the clearly superior wisdom of my brain in a somewhat uncomfortable fashion and I'm not so certain I'm going to be able to get to sleep before 3am tonight, which is bad, cause that's when I went to sleep last night, and I then got up at 7am, something I have to do again tomorrow.

And I've had a really good day otherwise! But I haven't managed to do much work, cause there were classes until 3:30, then I went to my great-aunt Bess's cause it's her 101st b-day today, and then it was time for dinner and Ilana AND I'M STILL HYPERACTIVE BUT I CAN'T GO FOR A RUN CAUSE THERE'S AN AWESOME STORM OUTSIDE BUT IT MIGHT KILL ME OR SOMETHING.

*breathes*

I'm done now. May be more later.

So...update time. Since it's been a while, according to the lj counter.

Well, there was holidays. Holidays kinda sucked for me, don't ask for details cause you won't get. I spent most of it at home, feeling lousy, and didn't get around to even half the stuff I'd planned to do. Such is life, moving on is best.

Next major thing: back into GP land. Our GP is nice, kinda crazy. Lets us do consults, as much as is possible when the crazy patients talk more to her than us. And she gives us stuff she scored off drug companies, which is always good. I'm slacking off majorly, while still not managing to get much of anything done. I'll get around to it. Hopefully some time before the end of rotation exam.

Then there was party. Party was awesome. Thanks to all who came, all who danced, all who ate and drank and forgave me for putting too much tequila in the Tequila Sunrises at first. I received many fantastic presents, and much apologies, but I have to put the top hat first on the list. I wore it not only all night, but all the next day (including at work). And if it hadn't been so cold on Monday, I would have worn it then, too.

So I'm just drifting now. Thinking about but mainly avoiding work. Watching my way through Bleach.
Oh! Something did happen. Cue nightmare scenario:
I was catching up with Jess before she leaves for Japan, and decided it would be a great idea to swap shows and stuff, so she dropped me off to pick up my laptop and harddrive and then I jumped in my car to follow her to her place. And her car stopped on the intersection of Pearson St and Stephenson Ave, a pretty major intersection, for those of you who don't know the area. At peak hour-ish time. There was a packed right-hand turning lane on our right (you go that way to the movies, shopping mall and free-way) and a 70km/hr left hand lane on our left. We were panicking (Jess couldn't get her hazard lights working, fortunately I was behind her and could) and trying to contact the RAC and wondering whether or not we should be pushing the car up onto the verge...through the traffic...when a guy (Forrest) pulled up in front of us, and while we were still trying to work out why, he'd pulled out a rope and suggested we tow Jess's car away (we were amazingly lucky, he was only in the area cause he'd decided to pick up a tv at a Harvey Norman sale). I ended up towing her car since mine was the only car with a decent tow-loop, and it was the most stressful driving incident of my life. If I didn't start off exceeding gently, the car would jerk like it was in the wrong gear. If I wanted to break, I had to flick on my hazard lights to let Jess know to do the breaking for both of us. There were a couple of tense moments too, like when the rope snapped as we were turning right onto a main road (we pushed Jess's car as far as we could into the intersection and waited until Forrest swung back around and retied the rope. And then there was the 11% incline hill with the 'trucks use low gear' sign that I had Jess break the whole way down. And the merging lanes where a commodore ute apparently tried to get between me and Jess. But we survived. We fell into each others arms and hoped the stench of burning rubber was her brakes and not my new clutch. Jess gave Forrest a box of Roses chocolates and his daughter Darcie a clip-on koala from her 'presents for Japan' collection.

So that's something off my 'things to do once and never again if possible in my life' list. But it was an adventure, I suppose.

Now I've been up for a couple of hours watching a crazy anime turned into insane Japanese live-action movie I taped off SBS the other night with Ben, and I'm tired. BEDTIME!

THERE IS A TRAILER FOR THE TIME TRAVELLER'S WIFE MOVIE ANDITISGORGEOUS , MY HANDS ARE SHAKING FROM OVER-CAFFEINATION, NOT EXCITEMENT, HONESTLY!!!

I wandered into my new rotation intro today, and the first thing I noticed (after where I would be spending the next eight weeks) was someone who looked awfully familiar, and turned out to be my FCP tutor from first year. HEEEE.

Such good memories.

"Everybody, SHUT UP! Brett wants to talk!

Also, Tim is an evil, evil man. I'm already one season through the 12 seasons of Bleach he gave me. *shakes fist*

So I went to see Transformers tonight. *sigh*

I told myself it was going to be crap, but I was still hopeful. And I did enjoy myself...about 90% of the time. The problem was that the other 10% was made up of sheer, openmouthed WTF?irritation. And it wasn't concentrated into easily ignorable portions, but equally spaced throughout the movie. Just in time to interrupt my enjoyment and get me frustrated again. And it wasn't irritation at what they did to my childhood memories, I actually enjoyed all the fan service while ignoring the rapine. It was irritation at the stupidity of the characters, lack of attention to geographical detail and political situation, the blatant over-sexualisation of characters (even the giant robots) and gasping disbelief at the plotholes.

Oh, and the red-shirted robot was also a black robot. And he didn't die, but it was close. *sighs again*

I can see why it reportedly was just what 'middle America' wanted.

Sheeba asked me to write something about deserts, since I haven't written anything for ages. There's no plot, it's just a desert in my head. But I don't care, that's about the limit of my attention span right now.

( The Desert )