musings of a coffee addict

Name:
Location: Adelaide, Australia

"'To confuse the issue', she often says, 'not only am I Manila-born, convent-school educated, speak English and Tagalog plus a bit of Chinese and curse fluently in Spanish, I now reside in Australia as well!' Crazy mixed-up kid!" Arlene Chai's book, "The Last Time I Saw Mother"

Saturday, December 17, 2005

I'm back...

Ok, so it's exactly 4 months since my last post. Was I just being slack? Well, not really. I was just really, really exhausted. True exhaustion, mind you, not the put-upon "i'm sooooooo tired" wail of your local colegiala. I spent most of yesterday asleep, waking only to eat and to perform my necessary ablutions. I was even too tired to read! Or to enjoy the sun + cool breeze, a combination so rare to current Adelaide weather.

So, what has happened in the last 4 months?

1. I've finally finished my nights rotation and re-entered the world of the living.

2. I've started (and finished) my emergency rotation. I've survived looking after genuine emergencies -- think brake fluid injected into an arm and a ruptured stomach (not the same patient) -- and thrived on the adranaline rush for days! I've also managed to see patients who really just wanted to get out of the house, and not yell at them for abusing the system.

3. I've read the 6th Harry Potter book and watched the 4th movie. My inner child is now eagerly awaiting the Narnia movie. (How good does it look?!)

4. I've worked 18 days in a row -- 7 of them without a registrar. Consequently...

5. ... I've realised that I can be an RMO next year.

6. I've found Adelaide's only St Cinnamon's store. And it's only Baskin and Robbin's store. (Which wasn't too hard, since they're the same one...)

7. I've realised just how expensive this time of year can be (can you say grown-up?!), what with Christmas gifts, rent, phone bills, electricity bills, car registration, car insurance renewal, medical indemnity insurance renewal, AMA membership renewal, Medical Board Registration fees... the list goes on!

And, I have survived my internship enough that I have only 3 weeks left before I become a fully registered doctor.