Here I am, sitting here in the middle of the outback, watching the start of the Vancouver Olympics.  I see the Canadiana on the TV, but when I look outside it’s a completely different vista.  I went for a walk today, just to get out of the house.  I walked for about 10 minutes north of where I’m staying, and was already out of town.  The town I’m in is maybe a kilometer across.  The crazy thing is that there were kangaroos just chilling in the grass out there.  It just highlights how different my experience is here today than it would be if I lived in Canada still.  Anyways, missing home big time today.

Tags: Australia, Canada, Life by David Graff
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While I didn’t actually write the post when I started, this is the time I woke up, at Matt’s house, to get ready to leave Canada.  I didn’t get back in bed until the post above.

Tags: Australia, Canada by David Graff
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Olds, Alberta is a snowy snowy place right now, but it’s home and I made it, after all the flying. Five different flights between Brisbane and Calgary.  It’s good to be home.

PS - Results were released and now I am officially done second year.

Tags: Canada by David Graff
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A half world away, lives most of the ~100 people with whom I graduated high school.  Except one of them lives here.  I met her, randomly, at the gym tonight.  It was good to see someone from so far back in my past.  So far back that when I think about that time I feel like it (I) was a different person living then.  At the same time, she was not surprised at all to hear that I was studying medicine, or the course of life I have taken.  It goes well with the feeling that I am being more true to who I am now than ever before.  Having someone else recognize that after all this time and distance was really great.

Tags: Australia, Canada, Life by David Graff
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Recently I started getting the Canadian Medical Association Journal.  It is striking to see the amount and directness of the pharmaceutical ads in there.  I suppose I don’t really want them to mess around with weird messages anyway.  Indication and efficacy is good enough for me.  And it’s pretty handy to start getting exposed to the trade names and full names and doses of things.  Maybe I’ll learn something by osmosis.  I received the whole year of back issues so I will flick through them.  Seeing them here reminded me of a fixture of my childhood memories, a stack of water soaked journals.  I think it will be good to get me up to speed, keep me in touch with the Canadian medical climate and hopefully make me better at what I’m tryi to do.

Tags: Canada, Medicine by David Graff
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Compared to most people, I have a rather complicated, if not sophisticated phone system. I won’t go into all the details now, except to say that one of the features is time based control of my calls. If you are calling me from Canada at 5 am my time, your call usually goes straight to voicemail. This is designed so people don’t have to worry about time when they call, but also to stop callers that don’t know from waking me up.

Just recently, there was a 5 day window where that system wasn’t working, and calls were put straight through (I knew about it, but needed to have it that way to make the calls work). After months of the system diligently blocking nobody, three callers decided to jump through the temporary loophole to wake me up. Two of them were related to the recent election in BC, but they don’t know me, so it’s tough to blame. One was from a person who clearly knew I was in Australia, and needed my credit card number for a medical journal subscription. So she rang me up at 3:30 am! Anyway, phone is back in order and that can’t happen any more! Helps me sleep a little better. And no, I don’t need a ride to the polling station.

So… Feel free to call anytime. If you don’t know what time it is here, don’t worry about it, you can’t call at a bad time.

Tags: Australia, Canada, Life by David Graff
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My sister and her husband had a baby today (March 13 North America time). I’m so excited about him. He is my third nephew, and Jenn and James’s first baby. Born early in the morning, he is a happy and welcome blessing. I can’t wait to meet him. I have seen a few photos and he looks great. My prayers are with you three!

Tags: Canada, Life by David Graff
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Here it is!  2009…  Hopefully people are having a good new year, whish has already started in the City of Brisbane, but not here yet.

Each year the date always sounds so futuristic, and the old one sounds so commonplace.  It’s that weird feeling that the furniture finance companies take advantage of to make a date that is actually 13 months away, sound like forever away.  January, 2010.  Sounds far, but it’s really only 13 months.  November 2011 sounds a lot further still… it’s 35 months, but will be a good 35 months, that I’m looking forward to.

It’s not long now till I’m back in Vancouver, then on to Brisbane once again.  But until then, it’s good Alberta fun and family!

Tags: Canada, Life, Medicine by David Graff
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It’s Christmas morning downunder, but it’s only Christmas Eve afternoon for me here in Olds, Alberta!
I hope everyone is enjoying the break and having a great holiday. I am looking forward to seeing those that are soon to visit and also seeing those I am soon to visit myself.

Blessings!
Dave

Tags: Canada, Life by David Graff
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My world is very icy these days.

Tags: Canada, Life by David Graff
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