10.6 shifts down, 12.4 shifts to go.
it has actually been a lot better the second time around. as a resident, the ed consultants seem more likely to believe you when you tell them your patient doesn't look like they're on the brink of death. and the ed nurses even do ecg's and put in iv cannulas when you ask them to. even the patients appear less twitchy when you see them and actually trust you enough to go home when you tell them to bugger off because there's nothing wrong with them.
perhaps i have changed somewhat over the last 12 months... but how?
still, the ten hour shifts are pretty long and intense; and weekend night shifts still suck. and i still hate the lack of continuity of care. can't wait until i move on to oncology. oh sure it's not all doom and gloom. im learn a lot of paeds and acute medicine and general practice stuff. it's good to get back into the swing of things: actually using my brain to diagnose instead of just institute knee-jerk management; seeing interesting, baffling medical problems instead of just grappling with frustrating psychosocial issues that can never be solved. the joy of it all.
9.8.07
home sweet home
my first ed shift fizzed before it began. i had rocked up at ten, ready to rumble, my guts in a knot of anxiety, only to be told they had expected me to be at work earlier that day, where had i been, etc. turned out they'd changed the roster without telling me. so all i could do was trudge home, wide awake, trying to wind down, get some sleep. at least i caught the end of er. abby is so hot. even if she doesn't have an uterus any more.
madly planning my travels next year. so restless. but i know it won't be long before im consumed by work. then i'll have no energy to do or think about anything other than getting home and slumping on the couch.
back in the frozen grey landscape of ballarat. picked up a cold from someone already. how wonderful it is to be home.
madly planning my travels next year. so restless. but i know it won't be long before im consumed by work. then i'll have no energy to do or think about anything other than getting home and slumping on the couch.
back in the frozen grey landscape of ballarat. picked up a cold from someone already. how wonderful it is to be home.
25.7.07
homeward bound
had a couple of drinks with two randoms my last night in boston. richard, 27, from switzerland, ran a business offering overseas language courses. his mannerisms reminded me of dunno. tania, 22, from chile, is a teacher here on a booking buying spree. we had a good three hours, drinking, smoking, talking about the state of the universe.
i have been mostly vege-ing out this time around nyc, being a blob on the couches at the hostel, reading a tom clancy thriller, thinking, dozing. went on a walking tour of greenwich and east villiage yesterday. the guide, evan, is a middle-aged bronx native with a goatee and ponytail. very trippy.
white stripes at madison square garden was 4/5. could hardly have been further away from the stage, but at least i was dead in front and had a clear view, luckily with no tall dicks standing in front of me. meg's singing was off, the intriguing turns of her voice missing, as if she was too tired/drunk/sick to try. jack was manic, red, glorious. their use of colour, lights and shadow on the stage was magnificent as expected, and the disco light was out of this world. they took a ten minute interval, and the audience cheered through the whole thing, flicking little blue glowsticks across the darkness. it was surreal.
flying out today. willing be a long twenty-four hours. sigh. i hate flying.
i have been mostly vege-ing out this time around nyc, being a blob on the couches at the hostel, reading a tom clancy thriller, thinking, dozing. went on a walking tour of greenwich and east villiage yesterday. the guide, evan, is a middle-aged bronx native with a goatee and ponytail. very trippy.
white stripes at madison square garden was 4/5. could hardly have been further away from the stage, but at least i was dead in front and had a clear view, luckily with no tall dicks standing in front of me. meg's singing was off, the intriguing turns of her voice missing, as if she was too tired/drunk/sick to try. jack was manic, red, glorious. their use of colour, lights and shadow on the stage was magnificent as expected, and the disco light was out of this world. they took a ten minute interval, and the audience cheered through the whole thing, flicking little blue glowsticks across the darkness. it was surreal.
flying out today. willing be a long twenty-four hours. sigh. i hate flying.
22.7.07
boston
jfk museum
this turned out to be a very inspiring place. jfk's story was inherently magnetic, of course, and there is no question at all that jackie was the most beautiful woman of her time. the exhibits were well set-up, and the architecture was interesting, too. the wonderful view of the water from the glass pavillion, at the end of the exhibits, was perfect. it left me in a contemplative and peaceful mood. im glad they didnt sink to the level of the conspiracy theorists and dwell on the assassination.
museum of fine art, boston
another place being renovated. to be honest, i expected a bit more from the experience. perhaps im a bit spoilt after the wonderful collections in the previous three cities. the edward hopper exhibition was very crowded. but without a doubt he is a real master: i love how his watercolours look like oils, and his oils look like watercolours. they are incredible.
harvard
both the museum of natural history and the art museums were very good collections of manageable size that i could get through without becoming bored or exhausted. for an hour or so i wandered around the harvard yard and getting semi-lost in the winding streets. there were teenagers arriving with their parents in tow and luggage: isn't a bit early for new students to be arriving? the place reminds me a lot of parkville. obviously the buildings were a bit older and, well, it is harvard, after all...
freedom trail
a good walk around historic boston. once again, the architecture is what entertained me the most. so many different colours! why is melbourne and ballarat so grey? the narrow and winding streets was a very welcome change after the rigid grids of the previous three cities.
this turned out to be a very inspiring place. jfk's story was inherently magnetic, of course, and there is no question at all that jackie was the most beautiful woman of her time. the exhibits were well set-up, and the architecture was interesting, too. the wonderful view of the water from the glass pavillion, at the end of the exhibits, was perfect. it left me in a contemplative and peaceful mood. im glad they didnt sink to the level of the conspiracy theorists and dwell on the assassination.
museum of fine art, boston
another place being renovated. to be honest, i expected a bit more from the experience. perhaps im a bit spoilt after the wonderful collections in the previous three cities. the edward hopper exhibition was very crowded. but without a doubt he is a real master: i love how his watercolours look like oils, and his oils look like watercolours. they are incredible.
harvard
both the museum of natural history and the art museums were very good collections of manageable size that i could get through without becoming bored or exhausted. for an hour or so i wandered around the harvard yard and getting semi-lost in the winding streets. there were teenagers arriving with their parents in tow and luggage: isn't a bit early for new students to be arriving? the place reminds me a lot of parkville. obviously the buildings were a bit older and, well, it is harvard, after all...
freedom trail
a good walk around historic boston. once again, the architecture is what entertained me the most. so many different colours! why is melbourne and ballarat so grey? the narrow and winding streets was a very welcome change after the rigid grids of the previous three cities.
19.7.07
philadelphia
the streets of philadelphia are unlike those of new york (exhaust-choked jungle of steel and glass) or dc (neoclassical marbled monoliths). the beautiful two-hundred odd-years-old buildings are juxtaposed against modern skyscrapers, but instead of competing, they seem to complement each other. even the condition of the roads is better (however, the traffic continues to be disgusting). i feel much more at ease in this town. nevertheless, i remain undeniably in america. the droves of homeless in parks, for one, are just as prominent as nyc and dc.
the rodin museum houses a collection of his sculptures. i think the gates of hell would've been much more impressive if it had been cast two or three times bigger. rodin certain does beautiful hands. more rodin sculptures are found in the nearby philadelphia museum of arts. this place is somewhere between brooklyn museum of arts and the met. van gogh's sunflowers is here. the real thing seems less vibrant as the prints, somehow. but the host of cezannes, renoirs and monets are fabulous. upstairs are various rooms beautifully decorated: a japanese tea garden, a hindu temple, a chinese temple, a qing-dynasty room, fransciscan monastery, 16th/17th/18th/19th century european interiors etc. a marvellous few hours.
also interesting was the eastern state penitentiary (ie prison), a decaying ruin abandoned after 141 years of holding prisoners in solitary confinement. even in the 30-degree heat it felt damp and eerie. the thirty foot walls seemed silent and solemn, as if reluctant to speak of the suffering they have witnessed.
before i left dc, somehow, bec and i managed to catch up for dinner. it was another instance when shit just comes together. it was wonderful, sitting in the mild breeze by the potomac, talking, listening, just being.
the rodin museum houses a collection of his sculptures. i think the gates of hell would've been much more impressive if it had been cast two or three times bigger. rodin certain does beautiful hands. more rodin sculptures are found in the nearby philadelphia museum of arts. this place is somewhere between brooklyn museum of arts and the met. van gogh's sunflowers is here. the real thing seems less vibrant as the prints, somehow. but the host of cezannes, renoirs and monets are fabulous. upstairs are various rooms beautifully decorated: a japanese tea garden, a hindu temple, a chinese temple, a qing-dynasty room, fransciscan monastery, 16th/17th/18th/19th century european interiors etc. a marvellous few hours.
also interesting was the eastern state penitentiary (ie prison), a decaying ruin abandoned after 141 years of holding prisoners in solitary confinement. even in the 30-degree heat it felt damp and eerie. the thirty foot walls seemed silent and solemn, as if reluctant to speak of the suffering they have witnessed.
before i left dc, somehow, bec and i managed to catch up for dinner. it was another instance when shit just comes together. it was wonderful, sitting in the mild breeze by the potomac, talking, listening, just being.
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