DavidTheTan

Visited countries

2006-07-15T15:37:00.000+08:00

...

since i'm on call and i've got nothing to do (yet... fingers crossed), here's something off my sis-in-law's blog:

create your own visited country map

hmm, must say that actually looks pretty sad, but these are the countries that Ern and i have visited TOGETHER. well, suppose i'll just twerk with it to show the countries that we've visited on our own some other day.

Anyway, am in ENT now. Awaiting fish-bones to remove...

...

2006-03-09T12:45:00.000+08:00

Packrat, the new proud Uncle (face partially hidden to maintain anonymity)

2006-03-09T12:44:00.002+08:00

forgot to turn the flash off...

2006-03-09T12:44:00.001+08:00

our first family portrait

2006-03-09T12:44:00.000+08:00

a better look...

2006-03-09T12:43:00.000+08:00

in the incubator... with eyes wide open!

The return of the king

2006-03-09T12:15:00.000+08:00

...

My my, what a long time it's been. It's the first day of the IT show aka PC fair today, and i'm waiting for Fong to drop by to take some pics before going off together to the show. But before i get there, perhaps a brief wrap up of the last 6 months since i made an entry?

Made a few bucks from locuming, and refreshed a little on Paediatric Medicine for the current big project in my life.
Bought a babe of a car, a nice bright sports-red Mazda 3 (basic of course, couldn't afford the upgrades) which is registered under the wife's name, for insurance purposes. Just realised that i haven't got a picture of it, but i suppose Mandy (as i would have liked to call her) has taken a backseat to current latest developments in my life. Hmm... she has also gotten quite a few scratches already, no thanks to the silly carpark in NUH which somehow managed to get cement on poor Mandy (just doesn't catch-on, does it? unlike Janine...) from the neighboring construction site.
ORDed from National Service, with an A* of a grade for the past 2 years in the Army. This grade did go a fair bit in determining my starting pay back in NHG, so i suppose the proximity to the boss and special services afforded paid off.
Started work back in NUH Medicine. (during these past few months, a few of my colleagues did start their own medical blogs, but were sadly later shut down voluntarily in view of the stand by the clusters on blogging by doctors... so that's all i'm going to write about it. )
Had a baby. :)

Yeps, so that's baby Janine, aka Tan Kai Ning up there above. Pretty isn't she?

Anyway, since i'm having problems figuring out how to post more pictures of her in this site, i'll just have to do it manually. :)

...

test

2006-03-09T12:12:00.000+08:00

test

Now i remember...

2005-09-04T02:29:00.000+08:00

...

... why and how i used to be so consistent in my journal entries. Hmm, no one calls it a journal anymore eh, it's a BLOG.

Here i am, sitting in the Children's Emergency wondering how the heck i got convinved by CK to do these weekend night shifts. Sure enough, the money's good, and better than what i could get at an overnight GP clinic, but it just sucks not being able to be at home with the wife, in the comfort of our own bed.

And i think i'm coming down with something. Coughing a little now, just hope it doesn't develop into something more.

There's one more patient outside. A not-so-young but not-so-old pretty China mother waiting for her little boy to pee so that we can do a quick test and send him on his way home. Once this happens, i hopefully can get some sleep before another upcoming long day. Planning to go to church, have lunch with the parents, and game away with Jee and Fong on Xbox D&D.

i'm bored. Therefore i blog? haha... it's at times like these in the middle of the night when such rubbish comes out.

Oh dear. Hear the monitors beeping away. Means that they're triaging a new patient.

Drats. Oh well, better make my worth at least. Currently getting paid more per hour than the registrar in the room next to mine.

...

i break my silence...

2005-09-01T09:55:00.000+08:00

...

Haven't been blogging lately. In fact, i was thinking of stopping altogether. It's not that i'm lazy or anything (or perhaps that's partially it), but i feel it's (at least to me) lost too much of it's initial purpose already. Blogs in general are getting too rampant. Everyone's blogging nowadays, and expects this channel to be one which everyone else needs to go through to be kept updated about their lives. People expect others to have read up on their blogs already, so a usual comment when meeting up (in person, actually) would be something to the effect of:

Blogger: "I did this-and-that the other day."
You: "Oh really? How was it?"
Blogger:"So-and-so... it's on my blog, wrote all about it." (with the expectation that you'd have read all about it, or should go read all about it)

Well, of course they'll expect you to read about it, since they put in effor t typing it all in. But since that expectation naturally comes about, i decided i should keep things slow. Stick to the real world. Yeah.

(of course, it seems like sort of a contradiction that i'm typing it in, but i suppose it's more for closure)

Anyway, was just impressed by an article that i read in the recent issue of SMA News, that i thought i should put in an excerpt for myself. A reminder about how Medicine should really be, not the un-noble profession that it may seem to have become. Of course, it can be amusing too (sgdr.blogspot.com , cheers to my friends blogging there...), but perhaps there should always be some reflection of how it used to be.

The article i was reading was entitled "dollars & sense in medical care", a reprint of the original printed in 1975. One point which the author Dr Koh Eng Kheng impressed upon me was the fact that Medicine used to be a profession restricted to the 'rich' who could afford it. You would think that this was elitist, and overly exclusive, but Dr Koh made a point which seemed the contrary:

"Are doctors getting more mercenary these days? While having my hair cut at the barber, I read an article which says that in Britain a new class of people are taking to the medical profession. In the past the British upper crust used to consider only three professions worth following: the clergy, doctoring and the army. Being in the profession was that which counts. Earning a living was of less consequence as these people had private incomes of their own. With higher education being made available now to everyone rich or poor, medicine as a career is now being looked upon as a profession like any other profession - banking, accountancy, engineering. There is no longer any talk of "nobility" in the calling. If you work overtime, you ask for overtime pay. A doctor's patients are no longer patients or friends, they are his clients. With medicine becoming more of a science rather than an art, can you blame our new doctors for being cold and calculating?"

Impactful, at least to me. That'll be a challenge though, to keep "noble" and above the calling of pure monetary rewards, EVEN as the general public looks to you no longer as a "noble" practitioner, but a service, a commodity, that they buy, pay for, and can make a flippant switch to another.

...

Free journal entry...

2005-04-22T16:30:00.000+08:00

...

Today was really tiring.
I got out of bed because I had to throw up. I'm really sick. I mean REALLY sick.

I'm so sad. My kitten got run over this afternoon. I found him when I was coming home from school. His head was all squished. I took some photos. I'll miss him. Poor kitty.

Last night I had to shave my entire body. Apparently, the lice that I caught from Amanda's friend are really hard to get rid of. I look quite strange with no hair and eyebrows. I'd post pictures, but my webcam is broken.

I want to tell the world that my girlfriend Amy is the bomb! She made pizza last night, and even though I burnt my lips on the cheese, it was awesome!!!

I am updating this journal for the first time in ages, because I've been in prison.

Today, I got a digital camera! Yes! Here's ten thousand photographs of my cat.

I went to the doctor yesterday, and he said I have a terrible skin disease which prevents me from coming into contact with other human beings. And bipolar disorder.

That's enough for now. But I'll leave you with some naked photos of myself. (Not safe for work - teehee).

Created with the Gregor's Semi-Automatic LiveJournal Updater™. Update your journal today!
Powered by Rum and Monkey

...

V-day

2005-02-14T23:46:00.000+08:00

...

i love Da Paulo's. Ok, well, not exactly LOVE it, but it makes cooking all the more easier. Today was V-day, and in our spirit of thriftiness, we decided not to contribute to the economy (coupled with the fact that our credit card bills were sky-high the last month) and chose to eat in. We had rented Shallow Hal the day before (despite the fact that it screened on channel 5 last night), but decided to go with Five as it was showing The Fugitive.

i finished the DB inspection early, and hence had time to pop by Holland V to pick up some pasta, pasta sauce, a chicken riscotti and salad from DP, as well as the Awfully Chocalate ice-cream from Dan which he forgot to bring to a party. The chicken was simple enough to reheat in the microwave, but the pasta needed REAL cooking. Boiling water, a tea-spoon of salt, and boil for a minute (though i tailored it to 2, after much hesitation and timing with my Nokia stopwatch). Simple enough not to screw up. Add in some dim lights, white wine, air-con from the bedroom-converted-to-dining-room at full blast, and an aroma-therapy burner with Lavender oil, and the stage was set for our very first candle-(cum TV)-light dinner. It wasn't too bad, though she took a little longer than i expected in coming home, hence the pasta was a little clumped, but still yummy. Still have some wine left though...

The DB inspection this afternoon was a good respite from the busy morning that i had. 4 straight hours of meeting with the boss and some of the Brigade MOs over the Medical Support Plan for this year's NDP. No joke. It had earlier been approved by SMO before going through our office, hence the boss wasn't really pleased, especially since most of the assets requested were from Army, and were pretty excessive, not to say the least. The boss also had a good time shooting out arrows as the meeting went along, many totally unrelated to my job scope. Sigh... times have changed indeed. My afternoon before starting the cooking was also marred by a call from one of the Majors, with another arrow which i don't think i should be doing. Or rather, i guess he's got no choice since he needs a doctor to get information about electrolyte imbalance in marathons, but there already IS a guidebook on this previously published by LIFE, hence the replication of work is in my opinion unnecessary. My gut feel is that the boss either is not aware of the existing publication and Maj R doesn't dare or didn't think to bring it up to his attention, or that the boss just wants to create work for his subordinates, which totally goes against the line of the old management. That's the problem with the SAF. It's a military organisation which is run in a way which over-emphasises on the fact that it IS a military organisation. Many of the commanders think they can get their way because of their rank, and this management style is unfortunately not quite effective in getting things done, especially with a whole bunch of youths who have been enlisted against their will. i try to defy the urge to use this reason to slack off, as i have a moral calling higher than the organisation or the nation, but sometimes it's hard.

...

DB was just like what prison is portrayed in the media. Cold hard cells with metal bars, and a little corner for doing one's business. The security was tight as well, albeit run by NSFs. The inspection basically is a form of audit, to ensure that the inmates are in no way being mistreated or abused by the others, or by the soldiers looking over them. Wouldn't want a repeat of the Iraqi prison scandal hitting us now, would we?

We examined all 163 of them from the outside of the cells, walking past each cell and getting the inmates to strip and do the DB dance. Now, the DB dance is basically an improvised Macarena, where the inmates (as previously mentioned) strip to their birthday suits, stand with palms out, then in, then raise their hands up palms facing the examiner, at the same time sticking out their tongues, then turning around and lifting up one sole after the other for inspection. Each inmate can be inspected within a matter of seconds (if they dance correctly, that is), so it doesn't really take that long to complete the few accomodation blocks.

There were also some Jehovah Witnesses, who all go straight to DB anyway. They had to dance as well.

i guess that's it for now... later.

...

2005-02-13T23:50:00.000+08:00

bunnies

Constantine

2005-02-12T14:53:00.000+08:00

...

We watched Constantine last night at Tiong Bahru, and the movie did raise quite a few interesting points, although i thought it seemed more of a Sunday School "what do you think?" lesson.

The movie was based on the Hellblazer series of comics, and is about a guy called John Constantine (Keanu... the object of my wife's fantasies) who has the ability to "see" entities from the spiritual realm. He's also apparently condemned for having attempted to take his life previously, and thus is burdened with the foreknowledge that he will go to hell after he dies, as he has committed the "ultimate" sin. Oh, and he's dying from lung Ca as well, with all the vegetable sticks he's been lighting up over the years.

The movie basically covers him casting demons back to hell, and helping another cop (Angie played by Rachel Weisz) stop the birth of Satan's son into the world to start his dominion of "hell on earth". Kim apparently had told En that she was disgusted that i wanted to watch the show, as it was supposed to be blasphemous. Well, i just wanted an action show with some shocks here and there, but i guess i got a little more out of it that just that.

Perhaps the only blasphemous bit in this show was to Catholics, as it painted a rather demeaning picture of Archangel Gabriel, who's supposed to be the super-good angel who has plenty plenty power, and leads God's army in defeating the evil one eventually. Here, Gabriel, played by an actress in a male role, akin to the devil in "The Passion of the Christ", turns out to be the one who's masterminding the scheme, as he feels that Man doesn't deserve so freely God's love and grace, and wants the years of tribulation on earth to sieve out only those who are truly worthy of His love and redemption. Gabriel, in this movie, eventually "loses" God's protection, and gets his wings burnt off by Satan in a rather comical scene.

Also, Constantine, in offering to give his life in exchange for the soul of Angie's dead twin sister to be released to heaven, gets redemption form God and a chance to get to heaven, which is incidentally taken away when Satan removes the cancer from John's lungs hence giving him a chance to live and screw up his time on earth so that he'll go back to hell.

Interesting concepts and questions brought up in the show, though the movie did make some theological errors.

1) Gabriel's misconception about God's love and grace being misplaced can be well understood. As he is supposed to be the "right-hand" angel of God, one can understand the frustration that he feels in seeing his master's creation squandering His love and mercy, and the 'injustice' that murderers and rapists can get "away with it" just by repenting and seeking forgiveness. But indeed, it IS that simple. A simplicity that is too... er, simple to sometimes fully comprehend.

2) Constantine's eventual success at being redeemed was based on his self-sacrificing behaviour, in exchanging his life for Angie's sister. Well, you don't really get salvation by this kind of works, though this should arise from one's belief and faith in God.

Ok, this entry has become a tad bit too long.

So there.

...

Is there a doctor in the house?

2005-02-11T01:00:00.000+08:00

...

Second day of the lunar new year. The year of the rooster.

We didn't go out today, or well, at least i didn't, after i got back from Nee Soon. Dad and Mom came over this morning, after which we had a late lunch at the house opposite (aka the in-law's), and then waited for the CG guyzzz to come over. It was a pretty good turnout, with only SF (as usual) not around. SM did come, and as incestuous as it may sound, she looked real hot in the top she was wearing. Shan't elaborate more on that. She is a good friend, and a good fellow Christian to have had in the group during the clinical years, so it's weird looking at her that way, but well... i should get her out for lunch before she gets married, and return the treat that she gave me before mine.

En's sister-gang came over as the remnant of the guyzzz were on the Xbox, and i joined them for a gossip session after they finally left. Nothing much there, though i just do remember feeling very sleepy, and thinking that the house had gotten too hot. It would be good to install an air-conditioning unit in the hall, but i don't think that'll be very cost-effective.

En's father's side of brothers and sisters came over to their house in the evening after dinner, with kids and all in tow. i spent most of the time playing with Zilun and his jie jie Charmaine, and it was pretty fun. i really do enjoy playing with kids, and holding them, and cuddling them (not to sound like a paedophile or anything), and some of En's aunties did see that as well, and went into the usual routine of asking us when we were going to have some of our own. "Perhaps the end of the year?" would be our usual reply. i can't even say for myself when we'll have kids of our own. It's fun to play with them, indeed, but to take on the responsibility of becoming parents is a whole different matter. Am i (or are we) willing to give up my free time, and sense of callousness to mature into one responsible for another's life? Toughie.

And i was called to play doctor twice tonight. The first was baby Joshua, who kept walking with a limp. His parents said that he had fallen down today, and had been walking like that since. i tried (not that i was called upon, but the overwhelming sense of responsibility kicked in...) to examine him, but he started crying (ok, i didn't make him cry. He had already started crying when his parents pointed out that i was a doctor and was NOT going to give him an injection... thanks a lot). i did advise them that it didn't look like much, but that if it continued to hurt and he continued to limp, they should go get an Xray done. i suppose that must have struck a chord, as they soon left when he refused to walk and bear weight.

The second occasion came later. Earlier on, leng jai (li bei's son) had asked what blood in the urine could indicate. Apparently his father had been passing gross haematuria throughout the day, associated with clots. Painless gross haematuria. A red flag indeed. Well, li bei did have many risk factors, of which years of smoking was probably the biggest. As we were taking some of the latecomers on another obligated tour of our house opposite, i was desperately summoned to go back to the other side to examine li bei's urine. He had taken a plastic bag with him to pee pee, and collected a big bag full when he pissed out blood again. It was warm (yes, i held the bag and sloshed it around to see if there were clots), dark, and looked like old blood. My money's on a lesion in the bladder, possibly a Ca. i hope i'm wrong though. i hope it's a stone in the bladder which they'll pick up on Xray at the A&E tonight. Or a kidney stone, though that's less likely.

Sigh... the hazards of being a doctor at family functions. Being called to examine people. i suppose i don't really mind giving the occasional medical advice or taking part in medical-related debates, especially if it's something simple enough, but being asked to examine someone (or someone's urine for that matter) on the spot is kind of a drag. But i guess (and En will probably gladly affirm that) this comes with quite a bit of respect, however misplaced.

A while later after li bei was sent off, Ah Mm called me over to see if Thomas' growth at the submandibular region was of any concern. Thomas obviously didn't want to draw attention to this small lump (perhaps a lymph node?), so it became awkward when she kept asking me to take a look at it. So i politely turned away. sigh.

Can't save the world, can you?

The Bachelor was on just now, and it was the episode where they bring together all the women who had been kicked out up to this point, and allow them to grill the lucky guy with questions. One impressionable segment was the part showing him on 3 individual dates and making out with all of them. On of the scenes showed him talking to the gal, with his arm around her and his hand on her butt/thigh. This was really a Club KBK scene indeed, and i couldn't help thinking how this was so similar to the KTV scene that one can easily get access to. Is that what girls in America are so willingly throwing themselves into? Gladly taking the roles of KTV lounge hostesses just to snag some guy? Sheesh... even the KTV girls have more self-respect than that.

Stupid americans.

But it does make good entertainment, and that's one of the 2 things they're good for isn't it, the other being sports?
...

Gong Xi Fa Cai

2005-02-10T01:21:00.000+08:00

...

It's Chinese New Year again, and i'm on call (again). It's been a tiring day, and i suppose i should be getting to sleep soon, seeing how i was nodding off the whole day, at 6th Ave and the other places that we visited.

CNY began a few days ago, in fact, when we first visited Chinatown's roadside stalls. i think we first visited Temple Street et al last week, but did it a second time last Saturday, and then a third time last night after the reunion dinner. What to do... got a wife who watns good bargains and stuff.

But the 3 trips weren't exactly a waste of time. We managed to pick up a bunch of "chun lians" and some table runners, as well as a few containers of CNY goodies. sigh... fattening.

Probably the reason why i was so sleep the whole day today was the fact that we stayed out at Chinatown till about 3am this morning (ok, yesterday morning, since it's past 12 already). We had hung around 6th Avenue after reunion dinner, watching Rat Race on Channel 5. It still was funny watching it a second time, and Amy Smart was still as hot as ever, though not as hot as she was in Road trip. But well, can't complain.

Once the movie was over, we (me and En) then drove down and parked just out of SGH. We initially thought of walking to Chinatown from the carpark, but passed by Outram Station and thus decided to take the MRT a stop down to Chinatown station. My first time on the North-East line ever, and my first time taking PUBLIC TRANSPORT in over a year and a half. Sheesh... what a spoilt brat i must sound like. What i would give to get back to taking public transport regularly, instead of driving places, but unfortunately the nature of my current job demands otherwise. Well, the train-ride was nice...

Chinatown was it's usual crowded state, even at about 1-2 am in the morning. We had to jostle our way through the streets, but i was surprisingly good-natured through it all, and didn't get frustrated or upset with anyone. In fact, it was a bunch of other people that lost their cool. As we were walking towards Kreta Ayer Street(i think), we suddenly heard a commotion, and the crowd in front so neatly dissipated to give way to a bunch of middle-aged men, shoving and punching each other. Could have been some stallowners or shoppers who lost their cool with each other. The annoying thing was that the moment this started, no one wanted to walk their direction, but yet everyone was just standing and looking at the drama unfold. i couldn't even get closer to get a better look... haha.

After deciding that craning my neck wouldn't help me get a better picture of the fight, we made a detour out of the area, to pass by that scuffle. And being the dog in the manger, i loudly commented (falsely of course) that "it was terrible, the sight... so much blood... so much blood!!" and a woman carrying her young child apparently got squimish and covered her son's eyes. tee hee...

We finally got home and into bed at 4am. So obviously we couldn't wake in time to get to Mandai Columbarium this morning.

well well...

And i'm tired now. So i shan't write anymore. Perhaps i'll play a bit of Crimsonland before knocking off...

...

New Boss

2005-01-28T01:29:00.000+08:00

...

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.

...

Handphone blues

2005-01-23T19:40:00.000+08:00

...

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.

...

P!$$ED

2005-01-19T15:30:00.000+08:00

...

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?

...

Gay neighbours

2005-01-17T23:48:00.000+08:00

...

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...

...

Kinsey...

2005-01-17T23:17:00.000+08:00

...

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.

...

a new home for my thoughts...

2005-01-12T00:06:00.000+08:00

...

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...

...