I've got that Friday feeling... and it's G-O-O-D

And I think to myself, what a wonderful world...

There is something about a Friday that just seems to make everything better. I don't have to get up tomorrow (well, not early), I don't have to go to the hospital, or answer to anyone else's timetable. Lovely.

And the last couple of days have been pretty fab actually... Thursday involved a delicious carrot cake, free (scrummy) soup for lunch, a meeting with my absolutely lovely tutees (I am a college tutor! This is terrifying!), a bbq to celebrate finishing the pedometer 10,000 steps/day challenge, a pub quiz, and a long chat with fantastic housemates. All in all a very very good day.

Today, I presented some cases - and the notoriously harsh doctor who supervises us was almost nice :o) As in, he actually signed my cases off rather than telling me to redo them three or four times to get them to "fourth year standard". So hooray!

And I went on the ward - on my DAY OFF. Blimey. Dedication at it's best eh?!

And now it is Friday evening, Alfie has had a bath, and been cleaned out, and I am watching Shrek 2, and cleaning my room. I mean, life just doesn't get better!

What a wonderful world...

Just a catalogue of disasters...

Well, one disaster to be more specific. And actually, not so much a disaster as an amusing anecdote... for you. Not for me. For me, a painful reminder of why our dog is so rubbish.

I was home this weekend, and like a good daughter (and 1/3-owner) I walked the dog morning and evening every day I was back. Once my beloved boyfriend was back, he was dragged out as well, much as he tried to look disapproving (he loves walking her really, he just doesn't know it).

Anyway... Sunday morning was my last chance to walk the lovely puppy for an entire two weeks, so of course I agreed to a nice long walk over the Down's with beloved & the puppy. This was my first mistake. What I should have said was "no, no, mum, you take her, I will be wrestling with gorillas" - or any other excuse.

So off we went, in a bit of a manic rush... got to the Down's, and realised we hadn't brought a lead. How smooth. Oh well, the dog mostly comes back when she's called (unless, of course, there is something moving/breathing/generally being there, which she finds more interesting), so never mind. Off we went.

Of course, she did a poo within seconds, and as best beloved refuses to pick this up, I was on dog poo duty. Which isn't a massive issue, you have to take the rough with the smooth, blah blah blah. Oh, and I do medicine, so I see far more grim things literally every day.

Anyway. We carried on, the dog chased the ball, we walked, it was sunny, fantastic. Until we got to the bit near the dog poo bin, when I "would just pop over there to the bin, back in a sec-----". For ----- you need to imagine yours truly going flying when foot gets caught in a rabbit hole. Even as I fell I remembered how many times I have broken my wrist, and so tucked it out of harms way. Consequently landing on my shoulder. OW. Ow ow ow ow ow.

But it seemed ok. So eventually we got up (best beloved came over and gave me a cuddle, the dog ignored me for 5 minutes then brought the ball over so I could carry on playing), and walked back, arm still a bit achy, but nothing awful. Finished our day at home (yummy fajitas for lunch), got the train back (lots of idiots with loud music), and walked home. Arm still painful... but you know.

Unfortunately, my arm has now changed it's mind. And it HURTS. So, I can't move it forwards, backwards, sideways, or up. And that's pretty much all the options for arms, exhausted. I have a torn supraspinatous muscle, which will "improve with rest". My right arm (the injured one) doesn't understand this concept, particularly as I still need to write, brush my teeth, cook, get dressed, you know... live.

So in summary, don't get a dog.

Or make someone else pick up the poo.

Almost four weeks in...

I can't actually believe I've been back for, well, certainly 3 1/2 weeks. I have been running around in the hospital, taking blood, taking more blood, and, well, taking even more blood. And I've only got one patient! (That, people, was a joke. A poor joke, it's true, but I'm very tired. And not a comedian).

So what have I been up to in these past few weeks? Well, I have been to TWO shows, at TWO separate theatres! Dave Gorman, at the Lancaster Grand was absolutely superb. Unfortunately, he (quite rightly) requested that we didn't leak any details of his show on the internet, so that those who haven't seen it don't have it ruined. Suffice to say, it was absolutely fantastic, and I laughed and laughed.

The second show that I went to see was booked on an absolute whim (Dave Gorman having been booked in about May)... whilst looking on Ticketmaster for various other things, I ended up finding that "I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue" was playing in a) Manchester and b) Bristol. Now, when we were little, my parents used to listen to ISIHAC in the car, and I'll be honest, I never understood it. Or not much of it anyway (other than the end bit - the Doctors ball/the mechanics film club, etc). However, when searching for tapes to play in my car (I know, I am the only person with the exceptionally old school tape player), I found some of these tapes. And they are fantastic. Crash-the-car-laughing funny... and so I've been listening ever since.

So of COURSE I couldn't pass over an opportunity to see them live! And although it was tempting to pop back to Bristol for the weekend, I had plans, and so instead I found myself on a train to Manchester last Friday evening, ready to see ISIHAC stage tour. It was hilarious. Again, I laughed, and laughed, but this time, I also played the kazoo! This was so very exciting... I hasten to add that it wasn't JUST me playing kazoo, but that the rest of the audience were able to play along too.

What else? Ah yes, the infamous pub quiz. Three of us went merrily along to our local to participate in the good old pub quiz. Knowing that it's not really a student pub, and that the average age of participants is, well, significantly higher than ours, we weren't expecting to do well. And yet... and yet at the end, we appeared to have tied with another team... in FIRST PLACE.

Unfortunately, the other team are well-known as the pedantic, annoying people who contest everything (and as a result, always win)... but this fact we only found out when we went to the bar and found them arguing about not only their (clearly correct) but also our (obviously wrong) answers. *note brackets denote their beliefs, not mine*. Long story short, we finally were allowed to win (!!!)the tiebreaker with some dignity - at which point the other team 'graciously' stormed out. Ooops. We can't go back now - we think they might break our legs.

And I have just realised, that it is dark, and a certain tortoise needs some cress soon, so I must pop upto Spar and get some. Unfortunately, it IS dark, and I have to go right past the pub where our murderous competitors spend their time. I may wear a mask...

If you've not heard from me in, say, three weeks... maybe send out a search party...

I might as well be writing by candlelight...

Before I commence on my main, bitter, angry theme for the day, a brief reflection on the joys of a first day back.

Well, busy, really. MAU (Medical Admissions, the next logical step after A&E for a lot of patients) is always full, and crazy. Lots of poorly people, lots of tests, lots of histories to be taken. But I bravely plunged in, and had a surprisingly good day, although rather exhausting – a VERY long ward round was followed by a lot of clerkings, and the day was rounded off by a reminder of how much I hate cannulae.

Anyway! On to my reflection for the day…

I live in a house I love, in a nice neighbourhood, with friendly neighbours, and I have a gorgeous garden (with a rhubarb patch!). The house is cosy, my room is beautiful, and I am very happy here.

Unfortunately, la mouche in la ointment is the unbelievably annoying people who take my rent. This is not my wonderful landlord, who is always helpful (and very accepting of the tortoise). No, this is the so-called “housing service” for the university (naming no names, you understand). They insisted that this year, we go all-inclusive for bills; i.e. rather than organising our own energy, internet, etc, we would pay them more and they would deal with the bills.

Fine.

Bills last year were not really an issue. Annoying when we had to pay them, even more annoying when we had to fight with the various companies because they’d overcharged us, but still. Just the way life is. Internet was set up, the phone was set up, everything was fine.

After arguing (to no avail) with the housing people, we finally accepted that we had to go all-inclusive, but with one condition. As medical students, we were going to be back early, and we therefore needed the internet to be ready when we moved in. This was to allow us the chance to work of an evening.

Guess who doesn’t have internet. And who had to wait in all evening because “our engineer is coming round after 5.30 to sort it out”. And guess who is absolutely FOAMING at the mouth because she can’t research her essay. Oh, and one final guess who… guess who is going to make a huge fuss at the housing company tomorrow.

If you said “why, Liv, it is, of course, you”… you would be right.

Incidentally, when I rang the housing office today to confirm that the engineer was coming this evening, they referred to me on FOUR separate occasions as Jodie. Despite introducing myself, correcting them every single time, and explaining that noone in the house was called anything even approaching the name Jodie. (Oh, and I know the people who have lived in the house for the last 6 years. None of them have been called Jodie).

So I am angry. And “disappointed”. And debating which side to show tomorrow, when I go to the housing people and demand the internet…

Rant over.

It’ll be a better day tomorrow.

** Update on the internet situation... not for the faint hearted...

New estimate for getting internet at our house... 14th September. I hate them, I hate them. Oh, but it's ok, because "we can use the library on campus if we're desperate". Except that it's shut on Sundays. Because it's not term-time.

So we are reduced to crouching in the little room, laptop precariously balanced on the windowsill, pilfering the unsecured internet in the street.

It's quite challenging to research diabetes when your back feels like it might fall off because you're in such a terrible position (and manual handling lady from the other day would be APPALLED).

Going home next weekend. Can't wait.

Ah, Lancaster, we meet again...

Yes, I am once more back in the bosom of Lancaster, awaiting a bright and early start tomorrow. Well, 9.00. But that's pretty bright and early.

It rained as I came up the motorway, and since then we've had impressively heavy rain and thunder and lightening. But I'm not here to talk about the weather... instead I shall tell you about the last few weeks...

With swine flu over and done with, mum and I started painting yet another room. We now have a beautiful deep cherry pink study. It's absolutely gorgeous (and has 3 cream walls so isn't as overpowering as you'd think!) We also sorted a lot of paperwork out. It's frankly terrifying how much paper you need to lead a normal life... car insurance, house insurance, banks, mortgages, student finance, everything.

My wonderful boyfriend and I spent a hilarious week camping in Cornwall, near Perranporth, at a wonderful little campsite. We slept at a very strange angle, the campsite being on a hill and all... and enjoyed the main delights of Cornwall: cream teas, pasties, icecream and beaches. All pretty delicious if you ask me. Peanutbutter & chocolate orange icecream has definitely hit an all-time pudding high as far as I'm concerned. We didn't JUST eat, you understand. Really. Ahem. We did, however, get the chance to resurrect our brilliant camping pudding from last year - melted chocolate (due to hot sun + lack of fridge) with tinned fruit. Scrummy yummy.

Then one last, emotional week at home. Coming back was extremely hard, and I sobbed for a significant part of Sunday morning before leaving. I wasn't alone in this, either... mum had more than a couple of tears in her eye (you'd almost think they were going to miss me!). However, my glorious exit was one of laughter... when I realised (halfway to the motorway, thank goodness!) that I'd managed to pinch Dad's Blue Badge. Cue frantic turn around in petrol station...

And here I am now, back in Lancaster. My room is unpacked, my lovely housemate (ONE of my three lovely housemates) has moved in, and the energy company sent us chocolates! And I am released from dog-walking duties. Incidentally, our wonderful puppy who we have now had for an entire year (!!!) and who has given us NO trouble inside the house, got herself into trouble a couple of days ago. She has graduated over the year from sleeping in her basket to carte blanche on the sofas (i.e. we now get told off for disturbing her if we want to sit down, I'm sure there's something not right there...). I came downstairs one morning to find a certain young lady having jumped off the sofa most guiltily... only to notice that our sofa cushion was now, well, not entirely in existence. She has torn about half of it to shreds. So we have turned it over and not bothered to tell dad.

Oh, and delightful other half and I went and saw Bill Bailey on Friday, a slightly belated celebration of our year anniversary! Happy, happy days. Unfortunately beloved boyfriend heckled during the performance, prompting the unhappy nickname "massive dong guy". It's very hard to pretend you're not with someone when they've got their arm around you...

But for now, back to normality and reality. My room is tidy, my folder & notebook lie waiting for me, and, oh joy of joys, a student British Medical Journal was waiting for me on the doormat when I arrived. Welcome home.

Boating

A most enjoyable weekend, all in all.

Despite the tail end of swine flu (or something equally vile), we managed a lovely lovely weekend. Two "lovely"'s will tell you just how good it was.

My uncle, aunt and one cousin headed down to Bristol, and together with my parents, brother, fantastic boyfriend, and other aunt and uncle, spent some quality time "messing about in boats".

My uncle has a RIB (inflatable but with solid base) with a big engine so we spent Saturday evening pootling around Bristol harbour, watching the balloons launch over Bristol, checking out the locks for Sunday, and laughing at our daft dog who went bananas at the sight of so much water, and spent a good hour swimming in the end. And then got so overexcited in the boat we had to take her out before she combusted.

Saturday evening was spent in a wonderful, if chaotic, family meal at our house, with much laughter, beer, cheese, and noisiness. This was cut somewhat short by the thoughts of the next morning (not so much excitement as dread, really, with a 7.30 start. That's 7.30 IN THE BOAT)

But we managed it. Leaving the dog behind (she glowered at us from her basket), we spent the day cruising up the Avon to the river Severn and the Bristol Channel, passing under the suspension bridge with the balloons rising up around us, and reaching some pretty decent speeds, which made picture taking a challenge, at best.

THEN we went for breakfast. Yes, I know. But it was only about 10.00 by the time we'd been up and down the river. And going to Lockside really is a treat. For me, a cup of hot chocolate (more cream than chocolate, and more mini marshmallows than cream may have given me my entire days calories. But having not eaten with flu, I deserved it) and Eggs benedict with bubble and squeak. Delicious.

Then back to pack the boat up. It is amazing how much work packing a boat away is. Literally ages of faffing around and sorting and tidying and stuff. I remembered why I don't sail (other than lack of money, boat, ability, time, etc).

So, as I said, a lovely lovely weekend.

I like boats.

Birthdays, Swine flu, rain...

Well, it's been a (long) while since I posted, poor effort entirely on my part. So here goes...

France was lovely, very hot (except when it rained!) and full of delicious food. Unbelievably expensive however, due to the poor pound - euro exchange rate. There was a time when I didn't understand quite how this would affect us, it scares me a little to realise that I now completely understand just how rubbish it is when sterling is weak.

Anyway! After France I popped back down to Dorset for the weekend, and went to a fantastic street fair, everyone was dressed up in "olde tyme" clothes, and there were loads of fab stalls, and awesome displays. Came back for mum's birthday on the Monday, which involved a walk on Brandon Hill in the centre of Bristol... and so a VERY wet dog who swam without stopping for 20 minutes, oblivious to the rest of us!

We redecorated a room that week, and it looks absolutely beautiful, I am soo pleased we made ourselves do it! It's now cream with reds and yellows in it, and an American/boat theme to the decorations. And it still smells of fresh paint which is just delicious!

A week after mum's birthday is my birthday... and following a 21st where none of the family (barring parents and brother) bothered to show up (!!!) I decided a tea party for the relations would be rather nice, so on Sunday we had a lovely day full of cake and scones and cream, which was just fantastic, and I was more than spoilt with some lovely presents.

Monday, my actual birthday, was a very quiet day, relaxed and easy, spent with family and best friends (or "fuzzies"), and opening more presents, how nice. And finishing with several games of German rummy - our new favourite form of entertainment.

And now... it is Wednesday... and I appear to have swine flu. This is not a particularly pleasant experience, but I am far from death's door, so life could be worse. And I hope to be getting it out the way (and becoming immune) before I go back to uni and need to treat all the patients with swine flu... and maybe, maybe this will make me slightly more sympathetic to those with it?!

We shall see.

So, a brief run-down of the last month. Busy, but very nice...