New Boss

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Sounds like the opening for the next level for an arcade game. But no, it's not.

20th of January was CARMO's Change of Command Ceremony. With it, perhaps one of the greatest bosses that one can work with has left the organisation, to be replaced by his former deputy.

As TKJ (the new guy) mentioned in a meeting (one of his many) today, things will not be the same, and we cannot expect to have the same level of comfort as we had pre-20th.

Yes, i must admit, that perhaps i've been getting a little soft, but things were already getting busy for me, with HL on his way out. People from other agencies and branches of the Ministry have been directing their queries and arrows to me instead, although i must admit there ARE perks involved, such as more communication with the SO (SD)'s, who probably have to undergo some strict selection process, of which one requirement is to sound sweet and impossibly gorgeous over the phone.

But i digress.

TKJ is a tough man. When i first came in, he was already getting ready to leave in a few months. The seniors did admit that this was one chap who would work his subordinates hard and not pardon any laziness, but everyone shared the consensus that he paired this work-horse attitude with a care and concern that he rarely showed. He would give dinner treats (it had to be dinner, since everyone would work for him till late) to encourage and reward his staff.

The terrifying thing, is that as he came into power, he decided to implement a lot of changes as the new CARMO. This was done with a slight disregard for the personal side of the staff involved in the many shifts and movements in the office, both in physical space and work portfolio. As such, there are some who are already questioning his intentions and methods. i for one, am still reminding myself that he is a good man at heart, and has the best for the Army and AMS in mind. i just wonder how much i'll have to keep on defending him to others and myself.

hmm...

Well, the wife is chasing me to bed. Probably will update this on Sat when i'm on call. Tmw should be a good day. It's the AMS aniversary, and we're all going to Downtown East for some fun and games. Hurrah.

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Handphone blues

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i've been meaning to upgrade my handphone. Well, my 2 year (or rather, 21 month) contract with Singtel is up, and i'm eligible for one of those extension contracts which allows me to get a brand-new phone at a low price (which come to think of it, is pretty much like the price of our cars and houses in this sunny little island, overly inflated, but occasionally discounted to give the false impression of a good offer).

Was looking at a Siemens, Motorola, (and as of yesterday) or Panasonic handphone, but hadn't quite decided yet, since none of them were going for less than my ideal price of $50.

However, sitting here, munching on my night snack (yes, i'm on call again), i just replied to an SMS, and realised how badly scratched my current Nokia 6100 is. i went for a jog just now, and being my clumsy self, dropped the phone (again), and it took a good 4 or 5 bounces along the asphalt road. i didn't really have a good look at the damage then, as i wasn't wearing my specs, but now i can see that it definitely ain't as pretty as it was when i first got it.

If i do actually get a new phone, and a nice one at that, i'm not sure if i'm going to be able to take as good care of it as i should, or whether i'll be able to take the heartache of new scratches and cracks appearing everytime my fumbling fingers lose grip of the contraption.

hmm... maybe i should just fork out another 38 bucks and get a new 6100, since it works for me.

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P!$$ED

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Sailed at Pari last evening. Thought it was going to be a good night, as there weren't that many patients. Well, that was until 2050 (i was supposed to finish at 2100), when Anna the CA informed me that there were still 4 (?!?) patients sitting outside, and kindly asked me to "see faster".

Well, that really got to me. i suppose i wasn't very happy since:

1) i was hoping to get back early to eat dinner and catch CSI
2) i wasn't even aware that there were anymore patients, as clever Anna didn't put the patient cards in the window
3) She told me to "see faster", hence implying that i was slow and holding up the clinic.

Would actually have liked to speed up the consultations and get out on time, but as things would have it, the last few patients weren't exactly the simplest of the lot. One was a dehydrated 10 year old girl who i was afraid had pneumonia (turned out that she probably didn't, but i still had to ausculate her chest really carefully, for which her dad was very grateful), one was a middle-aged Tamil (only)-speaking lady who turned up again for persistent nausea and vomiting and insisted on an injection, which didn't just hold up the queue cos she had to undress to get it jabbed on her buttocks, but also because she was so FAT that her butt cheeks just swallowed up the entire length of the 23G, and the last significant one was a Malay boy with a rash for (get this...) 2 months over his chest and who didn't think better to seek medical treatment earlier. This Malay guy had EXTENSIVE Tinea Corporis, involving his abdomen, groin, upper thighs and buttocks. He was still well, so i decided to give him a 2 week course of oral ketoconazole (after taking some blood for LFTs of course). i instructed him and his uncle to return a week later (since i'll be on again) for me to review his condition. Interesting case indeed, but frustrating because of what happened later on.

Because of my THOROUGH consultation and prescribing last evening, i eventually finished the slot at 2150! Was supposed to get off at 2100 in fact. Well, as if that wasn't bad enough, Anna only paid me 140 for the whole session, which only meant there was $20 for the overtime bit, whereas i expected a full hour's pay at least. Tried reasoning with her, but she said that she had checked with Dr Judy, "my boss (sic)", and that was what she was told to give me.

i suppose, on hindsight, that i was cheesed off for 2 reasons. Firstly, the possibility that it WAS because i was slow in seeing patients that i ended so late last evening, where it may well have been avoided by skimping on the history taking and examination and blindly prescribing empirical treatment. Secondly, i was not compensated appropriately for the extra hour and effort that i put in. Well, i think, from an employer's point of view, it can only go one way, and not satisfy the other. If i (*note: the "i" here is supposed to be in bold... i somehow have lost my formatting functions) choose to be thorough, then i must pay the price of staying on late. And not be compensated for it. Aren't doctors supposed to work for free anyway? Bleagh.

Well, seems like all turned out ok in the end. Anna called me this morning, and said that she had discussed it with her boss, who agreed to pay me another 20 (she must have brought this matter up to Judy again today). Gosh, feel so cheap here, but i think it's a matter of principle, for how else can you encourage one to take pride and care in his work, if there's no acknowledgment of effort put in?

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Gay neighbours

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WL sent this link while we were chatting on ICQ just now. It's quite funny. Imagine if the SAF developed this weapon system, and we actually used it in the event of war.

It will be funny seeing a whole bunch of our northern neighbours running around being extra friendly with each other...

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Kinsey...

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Watched Kinsey 2 nights ago. It was a thought-provoking film, about the life of Alfred Kinsey, a biologist who turned his attention from gall wasps to the study of sexual behaviour, in not just humans, but animals as well.

Can't say much about the show, since i was dosing off near the end, but it did raise quite a few questions. He mentioned (Liam Neeson as Kinsey) during the show, about how if something like homosexuality is so common among the general population, it must be normal and should not be made taboo. Also interesting was a part in the film where he has a gay moment with one of his associates (sex and all, although they didn't show the sex, but the face-sucking was more than enough to draw quite a few "ewws" from the audience), and he tries to rationalise with his wife how it didn't affect how he felt about her, since he still loved her just as much. The wife later gets back at him (that's what i think) by agreeing to sleep with the associate, all this in Kinsey's full knowledge. Near the end of the show, this very associate gets pissed with another for sleeping with his wife.

i suppose if we don't bring religion/God into the picture, i could really agree with Kinsey. Sure, why not? Just act in the way you're made, and don't feel guilty about it, since you're expressing just another variation in man's nature. In fact, that's what Kinsey does throughout the whole show, that is to detatch religion from man's actions and morals. This he does because he's a scientist.

And thus the question is raised, can one detatch science from religion? Or rather, SHOULD one detatch science from religion? QW was mentioning the other day about some science textbooks in the wonderful US of A (the country with shit floating on the surface) which when mentioning evolution, bear disclaimers that "this is but a theory, and there are other theories around such as that of creation". i suppose when one is an agnostic or atheist, one then must detatch science from religion. And then it would make sense to give in (or perhaps as Kinsey would put it, "live up") to one's basic desires and wants, and not bat an eyelid at sleeping with someone other than your wife, or touching a young boy, or having sex with a person of the same sex. i'm sure some other religions would also have no qualms about some of these actions too, as long as "no one is hurt in the process".

But if you're a Christian... things are, and should be kind of different. But you can't convert or win over the world with this kind of preaching at first instance.

oh well...

on another note, html is fun. i've just inserted my first link in an entry ever. Hope it works.

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a new home for my thoughts...

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Ok, well, i can't exactly call it my "thoughts", since someone else uses that term.

Anyway, so i didn't fly. In fact, i pulled out of the 4-man team, after much thought. Not exactly sure if the superhero post was about that, but i shan't hazard a guess...

Well, i don't suppose i would have flown either way, seeing how messy the whole situation is now. i don't think i can say much about it, but there's really quite a lot of politics going into it. 2 regrets though. Firstly, i needn't have pulled out, as i wouldn't have flown. Secondly, i didn't get a chance to get some action. Not some "unreal" heroic action (as some other blog describes it), but an experience to go out in the field to see the effects of a major natural disaster, and help some starfish at the same time.

HL says, "at least you volunteered...". Yes, well, i suppose i did.

But life shouldn't be filled with regrets, so i shall move on.

i've got a new blogspot now. i must say i was inspired to create this after seeing all the id's linked to blogger, and how many of these dudes were appearing on mrbrown. But i'm not aiming towards that. Just feel that this host here might be more conducive to a template more exciting than the one i left behind at the goat place. But the rest of my previous journal entries are still there, and can be found at http://www.livejournal.com/users/davidthetan/ .

So there...

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