I arrived in Brisbane today, a little disoriented and a lot tired. My flights were good, but very long. It was insanely hot on the plane and I was dying of thirst for a good chunk of it.
To start things off, I fell asleep with orange juice on my tray, only to wake up an hour later and try to slam my tray shut, orange juice and all. the cup broke, and dumped all over my lap and legs. I tried to drink the rest out of the cup, but since it was broken, I only ended up pouring it all over my shirt. Then I lifted the tray again, to find the little cup dip was full of juice and dumped more on my lap. I sat there soaking wet, looking like I peed my pants, waiting for it to get sticky and gross.
I’m sick, so I was coughing the whole flight, and now I feel like I did 1000 situps.
All that said, the good thing is that things look fairly familiar, and hopefully I’ll get up to speed again soon.
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!
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
Back in Alberta now, which is where I grew up. It’s cold and snowy here and perfect for Christmas. There have been some accidents on the highways, which is an aspect of life here that I kinda forgot about. There are times that the road gets so dangerous, it’s best just not to drive.
It’s funny to think back to Brisbane, where temperatures are mid thirties. We’re scheduled for mid thirties too… so to speak! Right now we’re just in the twenties tho. I hope all the Aussies are enjoying their breaks too, all in the heat!
I am done my elective here in Vancouver, and have been for over a week already. The time has flown by leaving me feeling like I am getting nothing done. I am doing things really, and it’s good to get around a bit here and see everyone.
I think I’m trying to squeeze a month’s worth of social expectations into a week and a half, since there was practically no time for socialness during the elective.
I’m leaving Vancity on Wednesday, and am Alberta bound to see the rest of my family in the town where I grew up, which I’m looking forward to.
I hopefully will be able to grab some time to describe what my elective was like, since I haven’t had the time to write all month. For now I’m just running from one thing to the next!
I saw a lot on Friday. It was a fairly busy day and included ward rounds, which I found really fun. I know it wasn’t actually that exciting, but it just was for me.
I’m not certain what I should or shouldn’t write on here, so I won’t write anything for now. I keep a list of procedures I have observed though.
Or electrocautery… I always get those two mixed up. But only when cutting muscle, when you cut guts it just smells like burnt hair.
I spent the day in surgery finally, and it was pretty fun. The day was pretty long, especially considering it was only a single procedure. It is called “Whipple” or pancreatoduodenectomy, and it is the resection of the head of the pancreas and first and second parts of the duodenum. Today it also involved cholecystectomy, but I’m not certain it always does.
Anatomy lab had nothing on this, it was really cool to see it live. When they said “live specimens are slightly different” they weren’t kidding!
Anyways, glad to be at it and looking forward to more. Rounds start tomorrow at 0645.
On a side note, I had lunch with Sanah yesterday, it was great to see her here!
Finally… After two weeks of trying to sort things out, I have got my Blackberry back and going, and it’s set up the way I had originally planned… Bell Mobility seems to have a call-30-times-and-then-you-get-what-you-need program.
This post is in fact even written with the berry… So nice to have a full keyboard on the phone.
So my regular number, 778 773 0728 still rings here, but the number of the phone is actually 403 559 6767 because hopefully my dad will be able to get use out of it while I’m gone again.
The only thing left to find out is what kind of nightmare the billing will actually be…
So, the day hasn’t really done much to be all that great, but have the sun come out, the traffic be clear, the air be cool and clean and the sky blue. Tomorrow is of course Remembrance Day, so there’s no work, so today is not only Monday, but it’s also kinda like Friday! The sun is shining, which is a rarity here and I’m back at VGH doin my “backgrounds” :). Not to mention a huge Tim’s by my side. I hope things keep going well.
Isn’t that the way it always goes, when you’re late, you can’t get on the bus (it’s full), it’s dark, it’s rainy, the skytrain stops in the middle of the tracks. The traffic is slow. You wake up tired. But this morning… I woke up by natural impulse, was easy to get out of the house and the commute went smoothly. I think I’m finally adjusting to the time change.
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