This photo is from earlier today at Drumheller Alberta
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23 December 2009
16 December 2009
Nothing says romance like ZOMBIES!!
Rob and I just celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary on Monday, Dec 14. And long ago (I think around our 6th anniversary or so) we gave ourselves permission to do (or not do) anything we wanted to commemorate the date. That means we are not stuck to any expectations of anything. Rob brought home roses, which is actually not the norm (I like flowers on occasion, but really don't need or demand them). Brownie points for Rob anyway! This year we went out to "our" Boston Pizza for supper. It became ours while we were still living on 124th street. We used to walk down to have drinks on the patio in summer, or watch the Oilers play in the lounge over pizza and a beer during the winter. Then we could walk home along the older streets with Victorian remodeled homes, or along 124th, and peer in the closed shop windows, hand in hand. Yup, it was our place. So it seemed a natural choice for the evening. After a nice dinner, we roamed Candy Cane Lane (148th Street), and then the Royal Museum and the Legislature for the Christmas lights. Last we took in Zombieland. Oh yes, it was a fun ride, and seeing as it was Monday night at the cheap theatre at -32oC, we had the theatre almost to ourselves. A great evening.
Edmonton has now had the dubious honour of being the coldest place in North America, and the 2nd coldest in the world Sunday night.
"Edmonton was the coldest place in North America yesterday morning and the second chilliest in the world. The Edmonton International Airport saw a record low of -46.1 C and -58.4 C with the windchill, outfreezing even the Arctic. 'The cold high pressure has been moving down from the Arctic over the Prairies,' said Environment Canada meteorologist John McIntyre, adding British Columbia and Saskatchewan also experienced plummeting temperatures. 'We are right now in the centre of the heaviest, coldest air.' Only Dzalinda, Siberia, appeared to be colder, with a weather station there recording temperatures of -48 C. But the coldest day ever recorded in Edmonton remains unbeaten at -48.3 C with a windchill of -61 C on Jan. 26, 1972. http://www.edmontonsun.com/news/edmonton/2009/12/13/12141366.htm.
So nice of everybody to order up the strongest dose of winter possible to remind me why I will be laughing all the way back to Brisbane in January....
Edmonton has now had the dubious honour of being the coldest place in North America, and the 2nd coldest in the world Sunday night.
"Edmonton was the coldest place in North America yesterday morning and the second chilliest in the world. The Edmonton International Airport saw a record low of -46.1 C and -58.4 C with the windchill, outfreezing even the Arctic. 'The cold high pressure has been moving down from the Arctic over the Prairies,' said Environment Canada meteorologist John McIntyre, adding British Columbia and Saskatchewan also experienced plummeting temperatures. 'We are right now in the centre of the heaviest, coldest air.' Only Dzalinda, Siberia, appeared to be colder, with a weather station there recording temperatures of -48 C. But the coldest day ever recorded in Edmonton remains unbeaten at -48.3 C with a windchill of -61 C on Jan. 26, 1972. http://www.edmontonsun.com/news/edmonton/2009/12/13/12141366.htm.
So nice of everybody to order up the strongest dose of winter possible to remind me why I will be laughing all the way back to Brisbane in January....
01 December 2009
Home -ish
My flight took off the morning of Tues, Nov 24th. My flight landed about 10:30 p.m. Tues, Nov 24th. In between was 22 hours in the air, and about 8 hours in airports in Brisbane-Auckland-LA-Calgary-Edmonton (and crossing the international dateline, which made the takeoff-landing in the same day possible).
I am back in Edmonton, back with my soulmate, back with my friends who share significant chunks of history with me. It feels great to revive "In-jokes" with people who actually get it because they were there. Now the really odd part- I now miss my Aussie mates. Friends who may not have the length of time between us; rather we have been melded together in a crucible of intense experience. It is no doubt refreshing to have non-Med buddies with actual lives around, but I do miss the sheer bio-geek-fest that is medical school. And I miss my cat already. Stupid, expensive cat.
And I am tired. It's almost 1 a.m. as I am typing. I am WIDE AWAKE.....Nuts. My brain is s...l...o...w...l...y adjusting to Mountain Standard Time, and Rob is helping by not allowing sleeping in during the week. Most of the week has just been chilling at home with jaunts out to look at the new construction around the city, which is everywhere, and to work on my new computer's case mod (I will allow Rob to expound on that some other time, as he is better at telling that kind of stuff). So nice to just hang out with my honey.
There are some flavours you just can't duplicate outside of Canada. We went out for BP's pizza and Molson Canadian Beer Tuesday night (Carlton Draft in Aus comes close, but not quite). Tim Horton's was the first stop Wednesday morning, where 2 XL coffees warmed my insides. Gee, I missed my Timmy's. And Burger King on Saturday, for "Celebratory Whoppers". So I've had my quota for starch, fat, salt and sugar until next week now.
Rob (the introvert) obviously loves me a whole bunch, as he planned a party for me (the extrovert) on Sunday afternoon. About 25 people dropped by throughout the afternoon to welcome me back and enjoy some time hanging out at Barbra D's place (also introvert, and I am grateful for her willingness to host). Through the process, Rob has perfected the Pina Colada (with Bundaberg Rum, of course). Yum!
So we are ecstatically happy to be in the same place at the same time, as well as re-learning how to live like a functional couple again. Thanks again for reading, and all your support for us over the last year.
I am back in Edmonton, back with my soulmate, back with my friends who share significant chunks of history with me. It feels great to revive "In-jokes" with people who actually get it because they were there. Now the really odd part- I now miss my Aussie mates. Friends who may not have the length of time between us; rather we have been melded together in a crucible of intense experience. It is no doubt refreshing to have non-Med buddies with actual lives around, but I do miss the sheer bio-geek-fest that is medical school. And I miss my cat already. Stupid, expensive cat.
And I am tired. It's almost 1 a.m. as I am typing. I am WIDE AWAKE.....Nuts. My brain is s...l...o...w...l...y adjusting to Mountain Standard Time, and Rob is helping by not allowing sleeping in during the week. Most of the week has just been chilling at home with jaunts out to look at the new construction around the city, which is everywhere, and to work on my new computer's case mod (I will allow Rob to expound on that some other time, as he is better at telling that kind of stuff). So nice to just hang out with my honey.
There are some flavours you just can't duplicate outside of Canada. We went out for BP's pizza and Molson Canadian Beer Tuesday night (Carlton Draft in Aus comes close, but not quite). Tim Horton's was the first stop Wednesday morning, where 2 XL coffees warmed my insides. Gee, I missed my Timmy's. And Burger King on Saturday, for "Celebratory Whoppers". So I've had my quota for starch, fat, salt and sugar until next week now.
Rob (the introvert) obviously loves me a whole bunch, as he planned a party for me (the extrovert) on Sunday afternoon. About 25 people dropped by throughout the afternoon to welcome me back and enjoy some time hanging out at Barbra D's place (also introvert, and I am grateful for her willingness to host). Through the process, Rob has perfected the Pina Colada (with Bundaberg Rum, of course). Yum!
So we are ecstatically happy to be in the same place at the same time, as well as re-learning how to live like a functional couple again. Thanks again for reading, and all your support for us over the last year.
22 November 2009
Elective Week Four and Eddie is Destroyed
I am almost finished my elective here in Bundaberg. Both Rob and I are counting down the hours...70 to go.....
I have finished working with the Palliative Care team, and I spent a week in the Emergency Department. Most of what you see in emergency is NON-Emergencies. But some of the cases are quite exciting. We've had a few car crash victims, a few drug overdoses, and more than a few alcohol intoxications. They have a very slick system to bring people in from all over the Wide Bay area (it would take 3-4 hours to drive from one end to the other of the area this hospital services). They have a helicopter pad right next to the emergency department, and the Royal Flying Doctors uses the airstrip next door.
A lot of people have the same problem they have back in Alberta- no family doc, or can't get in to be seen in a timely manner. So we deal with a number of things that could be taken care of by a GP, but if ignored could become very serious, like bladder infections, debris in eyeballs, stitches, etc. Today I learned to use a slit lamp (to look for things stuck to the surface of the eye. We had 5 cases Thursday morning of sore left eyes. Weird.) I have had a good run here, but I am finding it increasingly difficult to stay in the moment. I just want to be off that plane and back with my sweetie and family and friends.
I arrived back in Brisbane on Friday. I ran a few errands and gave myself the night off. Saturday had a few more errands to run: pick up some ebay purchases, pick up my lost mobile phone, drop the cat off at the kennel in Logan (about 30 km away) and get down to packing. Life had other plans. Rounding the corner from Ann St to Brunswick street, I braked to meet the red light. Nothing happened. NOTHING! Eddie's brakes had failed. I did not want to hit the car in front of me and give him or myself whiplash. The sidewalk next to me was clear, so I figured jumping the curb and hitting the signpost would slow me down, as I reefed on the handbrake for dear life. Scariest 10 seconds ever. The car did stop, with no one hurt, and the only casualties being Eddie's driver's side light and a flattened no parking sign. The irony. Royal Auto Club of Queensland (RACQ) to the rescue again. The tow truck driver agreed with my conclusion that there were no brakes when he loaded the car up. I found out that it is only illegal to leave the scene of an accident if someone is hurt. If no one is hurt, and they come to the scene of your accident, they charge you a $370 on the spot fine, 3 points against your licence, charge you the towing to their holding facility and $44 a day to keep the vehicle there. Hence the tow truck driver got me out of there as soon as possible. Then I told him that I had just had the front and back brakes redone before I left for Bundy. At this he became irate on my behalf at the mechanic, and insisted on towing the car there, and that the mechanic reimburse me the Q transport fine of $272, fix the car and the damage free. He was very convincing to the garage staff....He also then gave me a free lift back to my flat. Very kind of him!
So on to the next problem: cat to the kennel. I phoned Translink to see if I could take her caged on the train. No dice. So I had to call a cab. The driver got lost twice (for which he still charged me) and by the time we got to the kennel the fee was $100. YIKES!! I didn't have another $100 to go home with, and he was being a jerk, so I just asked him to drop me off at the nearest bus stop. I was now sans cat, so it was a much cheaper, friendlier option. So he dropped me off at a shelter on the side of the road. Turned out it was merely a sun shelter, and had nothing to do with transit. Great- I'm now in the country (I can hear the sheep and cows) in the middle of nowhere, not even sure where I am. So I start walking in the general direction of Brisbane, in 30 degree weather with no hat or water. About 5 km later, I came to a school zone. I figured a cab could probably now find me. Whipped out the Vodaphone. got on the line with the cab company..and the prepay ran out! AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH! OK, calm down, just use your credit card to buy more time. Except it would not accept a credit card that had not already been set up, and as it was Saturday, no one was available to do this for me until Monday. I have to admit, at this point I had an arm flailing, screaming tantrum in the middle of nowhere. Once that tension had been released, I started walking again, until I found a house, where a nice person let me borrow their phone and call a cab. The cab took me to the nearest REAL bus stop. And I was on my way back into the city. I was supposed to meet my friend Anne at LaDolceVita (again, the irony) at 7 pm. I thought this place was on the 199 bus route, so I switched buses at the appropriate spot and was only a smidgen late. LaDolceVita is not on the 199 route. At this point, I was holding back tears as the driver came to the end of his route and stopped the bus to wait before turning around. So I just rode the bus home. I felt like all I needed now was to find a poisonous snake in the toilet to make the misery complete. Once at home, I grabbed my (now charged) Optus phone to see Anne had called 5 times. I felt like a heel, and called her back. She had had an equally challenging day, with her car being hit on Brunswick Street that afternoon. So I invited her over for supper, with (Bundaberg) Rum and Cokes. We talked geek about our electives and commiserated on the day. She agrees My day wins. But we had such a good conversation, the time flew until midnight. Aaaahhhhh, thank goodness for friends. And thank you, friends, for letting me rant online about it.
I have finished working with the Palliative Care team, and I spent a week in the Emergency Department. Most of what you see in emergency is NON-Emergencies. But some of the cases are quite exciting. We've had a few car crash victims, a few drug overdoses, and more than a few alcohol intoxications. They have a very slick system to bring people in from all over the Wide Bay area (it would take 3-4 hours to drive from one end to the other of the area this hospital services). They have a helicopter pad right next to the emergency department, and the Royal Flying Doctors uses the airstrip next door.
A lot of people have the same problem they have back in Alberta- no family doc, or can't get in to be seen in a timely manner. So we deal with a number of things that could be taken care of by a GP, but if ignored could become very serious, like bladder infections, debris in eyeballs, stitches, etc. Today I learned to use a slit lamp (to look for things stuck to the surface of the eye. We had 5 cases Thursday morning of sore left eyes. Weird.) I have had a good run here, but I am finding it increasingly difficult to stay in the moment. I just want to be off that plane and back with my sweetie and family and friends.
I arrived back in Brisbane on Friday. I ran a few errands and gave myself the night off. Saturday had a few more errands to run: pick up some ebay purchases, pick up my lost mobile phone, drop the cat off at the kennel in Logan (about 30 km away) and get down to packing. Life had other plans. Rounding the corner from Ann St to Brunswick street, I braked to meet the red light. Nothing happened. NOTHING! Eddie's brakes had failed. I did not want to hit the car in front of me and give him or myself whiplash. The sidewalk next to me was clear, so I figured jumping the curb and hitting the signpost would slow me down, as I reefed on the handbrake for dear life. Scariest 10 seconds ever. The car did stop, with no one hurt, and the only casualties being Eddie's driver's side light and a flattened no parking sign. The irony. Royal Auto Club of Queensland (RACQ) to the rescue again. The tow truck driver agreed with my conclusion that there were no brakes when he loaded the car up. I found out that it is only illegal to leave the scene of an accident if someone is hurt. If no one is hurt, and they come to the scene of your accident, they charge you a $370 on the spot fine, 3 points against your licence, charge you the towing to their holding facility and $44 a day to keep the vehicle there. Hence the tow truck driver got me out of there as soon as possible. Then I told him that I had just had the front and back brakes redone before I left for Bundy. At this he became irate on my behalf at the mechanic, and insisted on towing the car there, and that the mechanic reimburse me the Q transport fine of $272, fix the car and the damage free. He was very convincing to the garage staff....He also then gave me a free lift back to my flat. Very kind of him!
So on to the next problem: cat to the kennel. I phoned Translink to see if I could take her caged on the train. No dice. So I had to call a cab. The driver got lost twice (for which he still charged me) and by the time we got to the kennel the fee was $100. YIKES!! I didn't have another $100 to go home with, and he was being a jerk, so I just asked him to drop me off at the nearest bus stop. I was now sans cat, so it was a much cheaper, friendlier option. So he dropped me off at a shelter on the side of the road. Turned out it was merely a sun shelter, and had nothing to do with transit. Great- I'm now in the country (I can hear the sheep and cows) in the middle of nowhere, not even sure where I am. So I start walking in the general direction of Brisbane, in 30 degree weather with no hat or water. About 5 km later, I came to a school zone. I figured a cab could probably now find me. Whipped out the Vodaphone. got on the line with the cab company..and the prepay ran out! AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH! OK, calm down, just use your credit card to buy more time. Except it would not accept a credit card that had not already been set up, and as it was Saturday, no one was available to do this for me until Monday. I have to admit, at this point I had an arm flailing, screaming tantrum in the middle of nowhere. Once that tension had been released, I started walking again, until I found a house, where a nice person let me borrow their phone and call a cab. The cab took me to the nearest REAL bus stop. And I was on my way back into the city. I was supposed to meet my friend Anne at LaDolceVita (again, the irony) at 7 pm. I thought this place was on the 199 bus route, so I switched buses at the appropriate spot and was only a smidgen late. LaDolceVita is not on the 199 route. At this point, I was holding back tears as the driver came to the end of his route and stopped the bus to wait before turning around. So I just rode the bus home. I felt like all I needed now was to find a poisonous snake in the toilet to make the misery complete. Once at home, I grabbed my (now charged) Optus phone to see Anne had called 5 times. I felt like a heel, and called her back. She had had an equally challenging day, with her car being hit on Brunswick Street that afternoon. So I invited her over for supper, with (Bundaberg) Rum and Cokes. We talked geek about our electives and commiserated on the day. She agrees My day wins. But we had such a good conversation, the time flew until midnight. Aaaahhhhh, thank goodness for friends. And thank you, friends, for letting me rant online about it.
16 November 2009
Elective Week Three
The days are passing...only 9 more sleeps until I get on that plane!
This week I spent with the Palliative Care group, as I can help ease the burden while Jenny Crane (one of the docs) is away, and I still felt I had more I could get out of it. A highlight was sitting in with Dr. Melissa Eastgate, an oncologist who comes to Bundaberg once a month from Brisbane. I also got to connect with a number of my palliative care patients again. Over the last three weeks, I have walked with ten people who finished their journey during my time there. Very special.
On Wednesday, after rounds, I jumped in my car and ran back to Brisbane (~4.5 hr drive) to view a potential place for Rob and myself once we get back in January. I spent the night in my old flat, and was up and on the road at 3:30 am to make it back in time for Thursday's rounds. Ugh. Not recommended.
I also went to Mon Repos turtle rookery on Saturday night, and watched a gigantic loggerhead turtle lay 155 eggs. Also pretty cool. The pictures are on my facebook page.
This next week will be spent in the emergency department. I'm hoping for some interesting cases, and it would be nice to suture someone up, or start puncturing people (for therapeutic reasons only). I'll let you know!
This week I spent with the Palliative Care group, as I can help ease the burden while Jenny Crane (one of the docs) is away, and I still felt I had more I could get out of it. A highlight was sitting in with Dr. Melissa Eastgate, an oncologist who comes to Bundaberg once a month from Brisbane. I also got to connect with a number of my palliative care patients again. Over the last three weeks, I have walked with ten people who finished their journey during my time there. Very special.
On Wednesday, after rounds, I jumped in my car and ran back to Brisbane (~4.5 hr drive) to view a potential place for Rob and myself once we get back in January. I spent the night in my old flat, and was up and on the road at 3:30 am to make it back in time for Thursday's rounds. Ugh. Not recommended.
I also went to Mon Repos turtle rookery on Saturday night, and watched a gigantic loggerhead turtle lay 155 eggs. Also pretty cool. The pictures are on my facebook page.
This next week will be spent in the emergency department. I'm hoping for some interesting cases, and it would be nice to suture someone up, or start puncturing people (for therapeutic reasons only). I'll let you know!
08 November 2009
Elective Week Two
Everyone with us last Friday was still here on Monday. Plus some new admits. So I am kept hopping. Dr. Crane has gone to Ipswich, and Dr. Chapman can only be on 12 hours per week. This means I look in on all the patients that he cannot get to in his 2 1/2 hours every morning. As such I am learning lots. We always conference on everybody, so it's not like I'm high and dry. Tuesday we went to GinGin and Mount Perry (1 hr and 1 1/2 hours away from Bundaberg, respectively)to do home visits. I went with Dr. Whan, a Palliative Specialist who does outreach from Brisbane, and Carolyn a clinical nurse. I have his contact details, and so will be harassing him next year. He is fine with that, as he informs me there is (of course!) a shortage in Palliative Care specialists.
My 1st year colleagues in Emerg and Paeds unfortunately got to share an experience. There was a highway crash near Childers, leaving a mother dead, and 2 yr old in critical, and 4 yr old less seriously injured. So they are decompressing from that. The helicopter pictures I got were of the chopper leaving for Brisbane with the 2 yr old and his father, who was not in the vehicle at the time. I feel so bad for that poor man right now.... (I am not divulging anything more than was already reported in the local paper, and thus I am not breaching confidentiality, just in case anyone was concerned).
Wednesday afternoon I began to feel very tired. So much so that when I was give two hours off during their admin meeting, I chose to go home and nap, returning to check up on the last of my patients. Thursday morning I was full blown sick. So Thursday and Friday were spent recovering, and staying away from the immunocompromised cancer and palliative patients. It is not advisable to hasten the inevitable, especially by being too boneheaded to know when to stay home!
My 1st year colleagues in Emerg and Paeds unfortunately got to share an experience. There was a highway crash near Childers, leaving a mother dead, and 2 yr old in critical, and 4 yr old less seriously injured. So they are decompressing from that. The helicopter pictures I got were of the chopper leaving for Brisbane with the 2 yr old and his father, who was not in the vehicle at the time. I feel so bad for that poor man right now.... (I am not divulging anything more than was already reported in the local paper, and thus I am not breaching confidentiality, just in case anyone was concerned).
Wednesday afternoon I began to feel very tired. So much so that when I was give two hours off during their admin meeting, I chose to go home and nap, returning to check up on the last of my patients. Thursday morning I was full blown sick. So Thursday and Friday were spent recovering, and staying away from the immunocompromised cancer and palliative patients. It is not advisable to hasten the inevitable, especially by being too boneheaded to know when to stay home!
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