Smoking

Unlike many Med students, I am not a zealot about smoking - for starters, I would have had few friends in high school, sixth form, scouts, Uni or work if I hadn't frequented with those who smoked. As long as they know the risks, I honest;y fail to see the problem. After all drinking, eating and not exercising are more likely to kill you, and anyway sick people = more work in the future - I call it 'security of employment'. I have never smoked and don't see the attraction of it, and never want to smoke, but as long as my friends realise the damage they are causing, I don't feel the need to endanger my friendship with them by going on about the issue.

Tonight I have had a horrendous flashback to the days before Sunday 26th March 2006. That wonderful day was the day when smoking in enclosed public places was banned in Scotland. Since then, trips to the pub and coffee shops, stations, hotels and trains have all been refreshingly smoke free. Today I was round at Little Miss P's along with Butcher Boy, the Tattooed Drinker, and others. Little Miss P smokes, and since it is her flat, no one can stop her, but we had 3 smokers there and I have just got home with my throat hurting, eyes watering and red, nose blocked, and having to febreeze my jeans before I can wear them again.

At least when my friends drink in an antisocial manner, when you leave them you don;t bring the problem home with you and the health problems are restricted to you avoiding them when they fall over, and making sure they don't puke on your shoes....

Ah the sacrifices of Friendship.

Cat Alarm Clock

I have never had a cat of my own, but friends with cats tell me that the above is true.

Colour?

Ok, I gave the blog a coat of paint and sorted some of the bits in the sidebar, ditching some of them, and updating others. feel free to comment on the new colours or a better scheme if you think of one!

Resurrecting the piano-a-tron

You may remember the piano-a-tron that I helped Butcher Boy construct for his old flat. Well, following their flat move in early August, the Piano was a little ill. The electronics had been ripped out, and the piano itself needed some structural work to make it work again (there are still a few sticky keys, and the tuning is interesting - more honky tonk than perfect pitch).

Today I went round to Butcher Boy's flat to work on a replacement control mechanism for the piano-a-tron. We went for a solder-less alternative, since we had no drill to drill through the circuit board. Thus we ended up with a second rate solution of LX tape and bulldog clips. I am currently working on a hopefully better solution to be implemented soon.

Big hole.

When I was down at Mum & Dad's at the weekend, my dad decided to take me to see North Tyneside's newest tourist attraction - the hole under the metro track.

The story goes something like this:

A hole opened up under the tracks at Northumberland Park on the Tyne & wear metro last week. The hole is into the top of the old mineshafts that litter the area. The local estimates for stabilisation and track re-opening were December.The issue seems to have been exacerbated by the 2005 opening of Northumberland park station (an island) which required the inner circle of track to be realigned around the island platform, and thus on this new alignment ran on an area previously not used for track.

The new Sainsbury's has a car park which gives a nice elevated vantage point over the hole, as can be seen from this picture.

Given that my sister's job is surveying the ground before people build on it, and spends her life either finding holes / mineshafts / soft rock, or pumping concrete in to fill up old mineworkings, my dad was getting rather excited that she might be sent to supervise the filling of this hole. Unlikely given she works in Dunfermline me thinks.

Christmas Decorations

They have been putting up the Christmas decorations in George Square for quite a few weeks now, and are almost complete. they have also been putting up my favourite bit - the lights over Royal Exchange Square which produce the "ceiling of light effect". The lights officially get turned on in mid November, just before the "Radiance Festival of light" starts.

I had never realised just how big the lights are, until I saw some of them on the ground today - see pictures.

Open wide

I need to see a dentist.

Why?
I've not seen one in over 3 years, because I used to go to my childhood one, but then he wet private and Mum & dad only registered themselves. Also, being 250 miles from your dentist isn't good. More immediately I need one as I have worn down one of my fillings so now very hot or cold food result in pain.

What is the issue?
I can't afford private dental care, so I need to find a dentist with an NHS list. Call me snobby, but more NHS dentists tend to be in less nice areas of town, and miles from home and/or Uni. The ones near Uni are expensive private ones. And the ones near home in the city centre are mostly also expensive and private.
What's wrong with the free NHS dental hospital?
Firstly i should let you know that I hate injections in my mouth - I smashed my front 2 teeth as a wee kid, and had 3 years of root canal treatment and caps so I had hundreds of injection in my upper gums and hate it.
Secondly I like dentists who a) know what they are doing and b) have only ever had one dentist from the age of 2-22, so i feel nervous about finding a new one. Also i know what state Med students are in in the morning, and I worry that dental students will be the same.

Ok, so why be picky?
I acted as hand-holder to the blu one when she needed dental treatment last year (she is scared of dentists beyond belief) and saw that some dentists are friendly, let you watch TV etc, and all on the NHS. In fact if I thought having a dentist in Edinburgh was a good idea, i would have gone along with her choice of dentist.
So have you any hopefuls?
Well after a google search and consulting the NHS lists from the health board I have found a possible dentists on the Southside, in Burnside. So I;m gonna phone them in the morning.

Rugby World Cup Final (2)

The World Cup Final was a disappointment. We played well, tried hard but couldn't score a try. the Ref's decision in the case of the "Try that never was" was an interesting one, but you have to trust the judgement of the 4th official, and England had done well to even make the World Cup Final, so as ever, there is always next time, and at least I have seen us be World Champions in my lifetime.

Are nurses the problem?

As the dust settles on the C.diff argument down in Kent, and the Government, opposition and patients join up in the "Something must be done" lobby, the Spectator (not a magazine I normally read, but I left my book at Mum & Dad's and had a long train journey yesterday) had a comment piece by Charles Moore (formerly Editor of the Daily Telegraph). Mr Moore is clearly (as the Spectator is) slightly to the right of Centre in Politics (rather like some of my blog readers).

I quote part of his comment column below - I think his opinions are harsh, but have some justification, which I will explain below.

Charles Moore in the Spectator wrote:
Perhaps you cannot blame the media for hounding James Lee, the chairman of the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells hospital trust, who has resigned after the deaths from C.difficile. But it is nevertheless possible that he is right — that central government denies power to the board and subjects the executives to ludicrous micro-management. He tried to be fair, but he said, in effect, that lots of nurses are useless and very little can be done to improve or get rid of them. This is visibly true. Far from being the ‘angels’ of popular mythology, nurses have become too grand and ‘professional’ to make sure that patients are healthy. They have actually killed people. If they were bus drivers or building workers, they would have been sacked. But because they work for the sacred NHS, the media considers them beyond criticism.

Well it is a tricky case. The nurses are the victims of nu Labour as much as Junior Doctors are. Over the past 10 years, more have degrees, and are being trained further into areas such as being Nurse Practicioners, and prescribing. These areas tend to occupy some of the space left by the reduction in Junior Doctor's working hours. Hence they are now operating at a higher level than they did before.

The problem is that there are fewer auxilliaries than before, and thus a gap has opened at the bottom of the scale. If there are fewer nurses to help clean up patients, and fewer auxilliaries (or Healthcare Assistants) to help with personal care, and fewer cleaners to clean the wards, and fewer matrons to check on the cleaning, then the current situation of dirty hospitals happen.

My Mum (who used to be in charge of domestic cleaning services for a large teaching hospital) was commenting at the weekend that she had heard an Interview with Aggie McKenzie (from How Clean is your House) where the presenter had asked Aggie "Do you think Alan Johnson's idea of doing an intensive clean of hospitals will help?" Her reply was along the lines of "Until the first visitors come in, and the first dirt enters the building, until the first patient soils a bed, or there is a spillage. "

Basically a one-off blast clean will work for a short time.However, spending the same amount on cleaners to clean the Wards properly, including additional staff to deal with spills etc, and having cleaning cover morning til night 7 days a week, in addition to visitor and staff hand washing etc will be the only way to clean up hospitals long term. As my Mum said "I have yet to see a government initiative clean a floor".

A second quiz

I was recently accused of being friends with people yet they didn't know much about me - so here is a quiz i was sent of umpteen random facts that you may / may not want to know.

What is your favorite song of all time?

hmm not sure....

Do you own any pets, and if so what do you have?

I had some fish, but they died.

Who do you admire most?

Famos people: Nelson Mandella, Desmond Tutu, CE Koop;
Non Famous: My Grandpa;

Do you have any tattoos, and if so what and where?

No (don't like needles going into me)

When do you plan on getting married?

After I meet someone I want to spend my life with.

Get the number or give the number?

not sure, it depends

How do you feel?

ok, bit hungry

What size shoe do you wear?

7 I think

Water or 100% Juice?

juice/water

T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular, Cingular/AT&T, or Sprint/Nextel

O2

Would you rather be hot or cold?

cold

Would you rather lose an arm or a leg?

leg

Favorite Place to Eat?

at a table

Opera, Musical, Concert, Play, Performance, or Other?

Performance or a gig

What is your favorite clothing brand?

Blue Harbour?

Most Memorable Past?

My degree results

Most embarrassing moment?

can't think of any.... my therapy is clearly working!

If you had to pick one car, which would it be?

at the moment, a ford Ka would do

Your favorite Disney Films?

Lilo & Stitch

Why did the chicken cross the road?

to get to the other side

Do you support Paris?

No

Where is Waldo?

eh?

Favorite element?

Boron

What was your last thought?

How many more questions are there?

Firefox, Internet Explorer, Netscape, or other?

Firefox

Who are you going to vote for in 2008?

They won't let me; I voted Green 3 times in 2007 though.

Juice and crackers or milk and cookies?

juice & cookies

Favorite fruit?

apple or pineapple or blackcurrant

Which is worse? A bad laugh or a bad cough?

bad cough

Are you a cat or a dog person?

neither

Would you rather be blind or deaf?

deaf

Define yourself in 3 words...

logical, sporadic, me!

Do you eat cold cereal at night?

Sometimes

What is your favorite TV show?

Scrubs

Kill the spider or let it out?

Let it go free

Do you shower every single day?

yes

Walking past a beggar, spare change or ignore?

ignore normally

Boat or bus?

Boat if the bus would sink... bus if the boat doesn't have wheels.

What is your favourite Pj Fabric

Cotton

Where do you want to travel next?

Going to Newcastle tomorrow, Edinburgh on Wednesday.... beyond that few plans or even ideas. Would love to visit the Antarctic, but that's not gonna happen soon.

What would you do if Michael Jackson asked you out?

Scream / run away, or politely decline and say I was busy that night

What is your favorite food?

Raw carrots

Do you read harry potter books?

Yes

What is your favorite place?

On top of a big hill, looking down a valley at a loch

If you could have one super human power what would you choose?

the chance to wind back time and do things differently

Have you had a beer in the last week?

No

Vitamin Water or Gatorade?

Water, or lucozade sport

brain

Flip flops or sandels?

Steelies? Flip flops if I had to choose

What do you do on fridays?

Go to Uni?

Do you like bananas?

not really

How tall are you?

5ft 3 and a half

World Cup Final

I am escaping Scotland this weekend, to the land of the current World Cup Champions. I really hope that we (England) are still World Cup champions when I get back to Glasgow on Sunday night. At least at Rugby we are more successful than we are at Football.

Dawkins & Atheism

Richard Dawkins is on 'The Late Edition' on BBC4 tonight. Richard Dawkins is always someone I have felt torn over. Whilst I agree with his views on the importance of science, and the crucial role that Science plays in the world today, as well as the importance of the public understanding of science. His views on the importance of curiosity and scientific investigation is reflected in his 2003 collection of essays 'A Devil's Chaplain'. I especially enjoy his essays about postmodernism (debunking much of the arts) , his schooldays at Oundle. His response to the death of his close friend Douglas Adams is also a deep insight into the lives of both men.

I do however have major issues with his views on Religion - his recent comment that "People like Rowan Williams are in a minority - religious and educated. the majority of religious people believe in miracles and the virgin birth."

I find it alarming that a man who relies so much on theories in his scientific career, has ended up criticising people who believe other theories. He may not choose to believe in anything himself, but he should accept the right for Christians, Muslims and Sikhs to each believe in what they choose. His final essay, a letter to his daughter is particularly guilty of that which he claims to argue against. It seems to be indoctrination and the start of a tradition as much as (he claims) other religions are.

Integration

We have now had our term dates etc for this year. Integration week starts on Mon 19th October. It is quite relaxed, with only 15 hours of contact time through the week, and that includes Integration afternoon and also the Elective evening, both of which include circulation time and refreshments.

The earliest start is a dawn breaking 9.30am! But we do have a 9pm finish on Tuesday 30th, which is a bit late.

Latest health crisis to hit the NHS

My Day Out

Yesterday (Tuesday) I got up early, and went by train to Inverness, then changed and caught a train along Loch Carron to Kyle of Lochalsh. The journey down along Loch Carron was amazing, and the sun came out over the rain at some points. After lunch and a short time to walk around Kyle (and see the bridge "over the sea to Skye") I hopped on the train back to Inverness and then Glasgow. Again the scenery was amazing as the setting sun shone up Loch Carron, giving the mountains a totally different colour and personality to the ominous grey they had under the rain clouds. i also saw several rainbows.
A great day out, even if it did involves 11 hours on trains!

Birthday nights out

Monday was the tattooed drinker's 22nd Birthday - what do you mean you thought he looked older!? Thus he , me, Butcher Boy etc went to the QM for a quiet night the out properly last night to celebrate his Birthday properly.

Rugby

After France surprising New Zealand yesterday, Scotland and Fiji both has spirited poerformances today which were in the end just not quite enough to get through.

Argentina vs South Africa is an interesting tie, as on paper you expect the Springboks to win...but Argentina have had some good performances in this World cup. It also presents me with too problems - which would I like in the final (bearing in mind that at the moment, England still have a chance to reach the final) and also, who to support. I think despite my not supporting Southern hemisphere teams, that in this case I have to support South Africa, since I don't have anything against them, except the fact that they are Southern Hemisphere, whereas I'm not keen on Argentina at all....

New Scottish blood advert

I really quite like the new "Give Blood" advert. So here it is.

Biopic soundtrack

IF YOUR LIFE WAS A MOVIE, WHAT WOULD THE SOUNDTRACK BE?
So, here's how it works:

1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)*
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie

opening credits;
Relient K: We Wish You A Merry Christmas

waking up;
Kirsty McColl: My Affair

first day of high school;
Queen: Don't Stop me Now

falling in love;
Semisonic: Secret Smile

fight song;
Nickelback: How You remind Me

breaking up;
MXPX: Here With Me

prom;
Joy Division: Every day I Love You Less And Less

life;
Sandi Thom: When Horsepower Meant What It Said

mental breakdown;
Nervous Passenger: Drift Away

driving;
S Club 7: The Colour Of Blue

flashback;
Goo Goo Dolls: Acoustic #3

getting back together;
Jewel: I'm Sensitive

wedding;
The Blanks: Testy Tiger

birth of child;
Dido: All You Want

final battle;
The Blanks: Superman

death song;
Five Iron Frenzy: My Evil Plan To Save The World

funeral song;
Catatonia: Why I Can't Stand One Night Stands

Rugby dilema

The dilema is simple.

Do I want France or New Zealand to win... England have to play the winners next week.

As an English person, who is delighted that we beat Australia today (though slightly embarrassed that we didn't even manage to score a try all match, and also at our appalling performance in defence of our title), I used to have intrinsic issues supporting Scotland. However having moved up here, my default is to support Scotland except in Calcutta Cup matches.

However, I also support Northern Hemisphere teams (with the exception of France) against Southern Hemisphere teams.

I'd like Scotland to get through to the Semi's (if only for the positive effect on the Scottish rugby scene), and an England vs Scotland final would be great.........

Only 3 teams now stand in the way of that happening.

Listening to the France - New Zealand match at the moment, it's sounding a very tight match now, so who can tell who England will play in the Semi. Neither team is an easy match, but I really hope that England could make the final........

Anyway, I'm off to support France as they are losing and the tighter the match the more it will take out of both teams so whoever wins will be tired before next weeks match (well thats my hope!)

I'm Spinning Around

I was interested in this blog post from Nick Robinson:

Finding myself without my asthma inhaler when I needed it in the middle of the night I ring NHS Direct for advice on how to get another. Having answered a dozen form-filling questions (none of which include the basic "what do you think you need?") I am then advised to call another number for an out-of-hours doctors service.

Not wishing to waste a doctor's time in the middle of night I decide to wait till the morning. I go to the local chemist and wave my empty inhaler and wheeze loudly. You need a prescription they say. So I go to the doctor's surgery who say they can get me a prescription if I can wait till three o'clock, or I can go the NHS walk-in centre. Off I go only to be told they don't issue prescriptions there and I need to go somewhere else. Everyone I've spoken to has been pleasant but yet ultimately not helpful.

It is interesting how Journalists think that the world works in the way that the Government says it does. Most of the world would assume that a Walk-in centre would be for precisely this kind of service.......ah well. Serves them right for believing Government spin.

The Factors are at it again

Today brought another missive of joy from the factors. They are to install a new gate opening system on the gate for the backyard to my block. we share it with 3 other blocks and 3 businesses. the businesses have the right to park there, whereas we can only use it for the bins and deliveries. Recently it has been left open, resulting in people breaking into the flats and getting at the post (see here) and breaking into one flat. thus the factors have decided that our block must pay for the new system, a sum of £400 (my share being about £10) For this we get the right to open the gate from the inside only, and not to park in the yard etc.

Sometimes i wonder why it never rains, but it pours in terms of money leaving my account!

Starting the ball rolling

Today I had a meeting with the head of year 3. It was a quite unusual meeting. It started normally but then became unusual.

I was at the med school, at the correct time, having had lunch with butcher Boy and joined the mature students/post-grad club. I met the head of year and we went down to one of the interview rooms. She started off explaining about the year, and how my exam performance had been - the weak areas, but also my strengths (Atheroma & Cardiology) in the exam.

We then got onto the structure of the year - my not having to do SSM's, but that I had to do an OSCE in a formative manner. We then got onto the LCP (see here, here, here and here), which the Uni say I don't have to do. however, as much for my interest, and also to make life fair for my GP partner next year, I made the suggestion that I should do it, and submit it but my prior mark (B) would stand. The Head of Year then said that the Director of Clinical Skills had sugegsted that I could do a series of portfolio cases, for him to mark, as this would be good practice for 4th year, whilst not a repeat of the LCP I have already completed. This sounds like a better idea as I should get to cover a wider variety of topics (who knew the Uni ever listened / took ideas on board, or was even capable of thinking outside the box?). She suggested that I email the Director of Clinical Skills to establish a task / written guidelines.

I also raised my point about going to different hospitals / GP if possible this year. She said that she/ the administrator would see what they could do, but were making no promises.

Finally we moved onto summer electives next year. I asked that although i do not have to do an SSM or elective next summer, whether I would have Uni support for doing another elective, to fill in my summer and give me additional experience on wards etc. She said this seemed like a good idea, and to email herself, the SSM convenor and the Electives convenor as appropriate when I had a project in mind.

At this point the meeting got more odd. The Uni allowing me to suggest my own projects and assessments was unusual in itself, but then she asked what I knew about sound and why the system linking the 3 seminar rooms together didn't work... I kind of offered an idea, but ducked out of anything else. the system seems very odd and hardly fit for purpose!

She then apologised for not being able to answer an email I had sent her after the resit results, explaining that the Uni procedure insists that students transfer from Year Directors to Administration once they fall foul of the regulations. Apparently several academics feel it is ubfair, as that s when students are most in need of some support from year Directors etc. This was the most unusual bit, a Year Director daring to challenge the status quo in the med School, in fact she called herself a heretic for even suggesting it!

It's just another manic Monday

After my exciting weekend in Edinburgh, and the end of my 2 weeks of being a vidiot, sound etch and general madness, today I had a day off. this morning I met up with Ashurr and his owner and we went for coffee and stuff and chatted about stuff and then I got the train back from Stirling, only falling asleep 3 times. It was handy that I had been to Al & Sara's wedding on Saturday as I had an extra bag to fall asleep over.

The wedding was great - good singing, a real sense of happiness, and they both looked so happy and awww loveliness, it even warmed my cold heart! They also had a police visit as the parked cars outside the church had narrowed the (normally busy) road to one lane for about half a mile, and traffic was meeting in the middle......

Today, when I got back, I fell asleep again, the met Butcher Boy for a coffee, before he headed off to his postgrad stuff about criminals, then I went to tesco, came home and fell asleep again.

Also at the wedding, I saw Dr Tiddlywinks, who was a medic doing my Honours year as his Intercalated. Was good to see him (I was at his wedding last year) and we (again) made a promise to meet up sometime soon for dinner, maybe with Dr A as well.

Factors, electricty and post

Today I got a letter from my beloved Factors (who take vast quantities (in my opinion) of my money every 3 months for (apparently) cleaning the communal areas, keeping them painted, insuring the building, keeping the lift working, and keeping the door entry system working. They are at best reactive, since there are some issues which they haven't resolved in three years (see later...)

Anyway, today's letter was about electricity. It seems that the developers of my flats were rather lax about transferring the 'common' electricity supply for lights and lift, over to the factors. This has resulted in the factor not charging us for the electricity. So today we got a bill for the common electricity usage from Sept '04 - May '06 of (in my case £201.40).

So handily, in the month where I have no income, I get a bill for £201.40... and thats only up until 2006!

The factors are also useless at dealing with other issues, like post. Our mail is classed as being a 'commercial building' by the Post Office, so we only get mail on business days (not Saturday's) and only in a big sack, not sorted. It is also just left on a table at the bottom of the stair and not delivered to our flats. We do have a 'pigeon hole' style arrangement for letters in the bottom of the stair, but these are totally open, and due to the great 'SERVICE' button on the door entry system, stuff goes missing occasionally. I am now cheesed off enough about this to complain to the Post Office that they are not delivering my post properly.....wish me luck.