I wanted to insert a picture of a door opening here, but decided cliches are best served sparingly.
It's getting pretty cold in Hobart now, and I'm counting my blessings (and my socks, thanks Val!) in between submitting abstracts, keeping up with the work rush and making sure I meet deadlines and get the most out of this year away from Melbourne as possible.
I always say I like the cold and that Hobart reminds me of the UK (though not as windy) but honestly, its a bit of a struggle to be my usual productive self when all I want to do is keep my hands and legs as close to my torso as possible and curl up to enjoy a good movie after each day at work.
So this Sunday morning, church was a nice surprise - always to be counted upon for a friendly greeting, catching up with the latest news of the week and worshipping in a corporate setting. A nice surprise today, too, as I came away with the message of this DOOR of opportunity.
You'll have heard of this before, these doors - often a gateway to a hidden promise, a portal to another dimension, and the finding and unlocking of these doors - such an adventure! Nevertheless, it was brought home to me today again, in the context of Ezra (which I'll be reading during the week!)
At the start of the book, King Cyrus of Persia (always thought that was one of the cooler names in the Bible for some reason) gets an epiphany from God. This non-Jewish king, responsible for one of the great empires in the 'olden' days, is moved to action by a foreign god, whom his exiled slaves worship. This move is compelling, so much so that he decides to release his slaves to go back to the land that his predecessors conquered - to allow them to return to their homeland and even to offer them assistance along the way!
Definitely not an everyday occurrence; and the distinctive point also being that not only was the door of opportunity thus presented (in a really odd fashion) to the Israelites, but that the Bible gives us exact numbers of those who did make the return trip. Stuart made the point this morning that the numbers of the returning Israelites, down to the last donkey were recorded, but were only a fraction of the entire Israelite population who were in exile.
He suggests that maybe this is because those that were left behind did so because they were comfortable with their circumstances, that uprooting and travelling to unknown territory (70 years they were in exile - time enough for a new generation who had never known their homeland to arise) presented more uncomfortableness that they could handle. And that only a fraction recognised the door of opportunity and took it.
As for myself, doors of opportunity are being flung wide open, it seems. Opportunities to expand my professional know-how and my future as a nephrologist, opportunities to settle down, to grow in faith with a new group of people in Hobart, to grow closer to Penny and to mature in my walk with God - these are not wanting in numbers.
It is cold and as much as I would like to curl up and be cosy by the electric heater, now is the time for stepping through some doors!
Showing posts with label thoughts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thoughts. Show all posts
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Saturday, June 07, 2014
Friday, September 27, 2013
Hello Ethiopia!
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.Heb 11:1
I often employ faith unknowingly in life - whether it is believing a patient will get better with augmentin duo forte when in fact I have no more detailed understanding of the underlying mechanisms than the knowledge that it is an antibiotic that can get into the cell wall of bacteria and inactivate its' functions (by some in-itself-near-mythical unknowable biochemical process).
However I often have no idea if the patient is indeed, harbouring that particular bacteria, or if he is, whether the bacteria is in fact, the cause of the patient's chest infection. And even if the bacteria is present, whether it is harbouring resistance to that particular medication.
Why is it, then, that a stepdown to augmentin is often taken after a few days' worth of intravenous antibiotics in hospital?
I believe it is because:
- we've seen it work before in other patients.
- we believe the doctors who taught us to do it in medical school/ward rounds know what they are doing.
- we are so used to prescribing it that we feel we know what we're doing (the common side effects ie liver function derangement, interstitial nephritis, clostridium difficile associated diarrhoea, resistance etc)
Isn't faith in God much the same?
We believe in God and His Son's resurrection work and the Holy Spirit in us because:
- we've seen Him work before in other people, and in ourselves.
- we believe the Bible and its' authority as the Word of God (2 Tim)
And the more we trust God, the more it feels almost natural to run to him - more natural to praise Him for the good, and rely in His guidance during the trials.
And no, I didn't prescribe augmentin to anyone today! But I'm trusting in God and His provision and guidance for Ethiopia Part 2!
Saturday, March 31, 2012
I like
Waking in near-darkness to the sound of rain pattering outside, rolling over to check my phone and finding its only 0445. And its a Saturday morning. Bliss.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Status quo-ing
I've gotten comfortable. Time to get my feet wet again.
In the meantime, some shots of what's been going on.
Some loose ends to tie up before I head out to the wilderness of Wodonga for my rural medical rotation.
Things to look forward to include getting back in the portfolio game; Aussie style, restarting prep for June/July PACES, maintaining a study group ethic, continually sampling the delights of Melbourne's foodie delights, awaiting my outpatient clinic appointment, catching up with long-lost friends; Mass-Effect-ing, yus the list goes on and it Has been a while since a last update.
So bye comfortable-ness and hello the vastness of unsure-ty!
'Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.'
Ps 34:5
In the meantime, some shots of what's been going on.
Some loose ends to tie up before I head out to the wilderness of Wodonga for my rural medical rotation.
Things to look forward to include getting back in the portfolio game; Aussie style, restarting prep for June/July PACES, maintaining a study group ethic, continually sampling the delights of Melbourne's foodie delights, awaiting my outpatient clinic appointment, catching up with long-lost friends; Mass-Effect-ing, yus the list goes on and it Has been a while since a last update.
So bye comfortable-ness and hello the vastness of unsure-ty!
'Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.'
Ps 34:5
Sunday, December 04, 2011
Lists
According to this list, I'm living in the 153rd most liveable suburb in Melbourne. Oddly, my hospital is a ten minute walk away from where I live and its in the 37th most liveable suburb. Apparently house prices where I live are roughly 400-600K Aussie, which is supposedly good value-for-money.
And thats out of 314 suburbs in total!
I think I need to go order some takeaway pizza now. Menulog - what a great discovery.
And thats out of 314 suburbs in total!
I think I need to go order some takeaway pizza now. Menulog - what a great discovery.
Thursday, November 03, 2011
How I prepared for PACES
I had thought about writing this post for a while, if only to serve as a reminder to myself because I'll likely be needing to repeat the exam next year. But also I guess I'm hoping to give other first-timers to the PACES bit of the MRCP some idea of what to expect. Most of the following can actually be found on the PACES bit of the MRCP UK website as well.
First up, the format:
PACES is 5 stations of 20 mins with 5 mins break in between each station.
Station 1 is Abdo Exam (10 mins) and Respi Exam (10 mins)
Station 2 is History taking (20 mins)
Station 3 is CVS Exam (10 mins) and Neuro Exam (10 mins)
Station 4 is Comm Skills (20 mins)
Station 5 is 2 cases of either skin, eyes, locomotor or endocrine (10 mins each)
For the examination stations (1 and 3) you'll get 6 mins to examine and 4 mins to present your findings and be questioned by the invigilators (there'll be 2 in each station with one doing the talking).
For the history/comm skills station you'll get 14 mins to either take a history or resolve a comm skills situation (eg breaking bad news or calming a patient after a prescribing error), 1 min to put everything together and 5 mins to present to the examiners.
For station 5, you'll have 8 mins to take a history/examine each patient and 2 mins to present and be questioned by the examiner.
At the start of the exam you'll be ushered into a room with your other 4 candidates (5 to a stream) and have to fill out your name and examination/center number on 16 marksheets. These, togetherwith your steth, and a pencil are all you have to bring around as you go (though people have also brought their own opthalmoscope/pen torch etc - all these are provided).
You'll then be brought to your stations and have to wait for the bell to ring, signifying the start of the first 5 min break. When the bell rings again, the door opens, a friendly examiner's head pokes out and the exam begins!
In terms of preparation, the key books that I've been told about are Ryder's Aid to the MRCP PACES, Cases for Paces and Baliga's 250 Cases in Clinical Medicine. Certainly most people I've spoken tohave read through the first 2 of these. The other key is to form up a practice group with other PACES candidates and start compiling a list of patients with signs to practice on 2-3 months before the exam and testing each other(trying to get consultants/regs to supervise whenever possible).
A PACES course is a good idea just because of the sheer amount of patients with signs to see - there is always some practical advice worth gleaning from these courses as well (some of which I will try to reproduce here) and to get an idea of how you stand with other candidates in terms of preparation.
Practicing comm skills and history taking with your PACES buddies is also a good idea to get an idea of time (so you have a sense of how long 14 mins is in an exam situation) and the comm skills in particular are worth working through as there are some points to be gained from practice (eg remembering to ask how a patient is going home after breaking bad news - ideally someone at home with her and not driving alone)
Paces Tips I Should Remember:
1. When presenting after each case, its a good idea to take the steth off and put my hands behind my back and to NOT look back at the patient while presenting to the examiners.
2. When presenting a CVS patient, always a good idea to mention the presence/absence of 'peripheral stigmata of infective endocarditis and/or heart failure'
3. When presenting a Respi patient, always good to mention the presence/absence of 'pulmonary hypertension'
4. When presenting a renal transplant patient (in the Abdo station) always good to mention the presence/abscence of 'modes of renal replacement therapy eg AV fistulas and whether they are working or not, signs of immunosuppression'
5. Always good to give an idea of the diagnosis of why the patient has had a renal transplant, or an enlarged liver, or pulmonary fibrosis etc
6. Always mention the key phrases 'I would like to complete my examination by...' (differs according to each system eg CVS - doing an ECG, checking the urine for haematuria and checking the BP / Respi - checking the bedside obs incl O2 sats, looking at the sputum pot, doing peak flows and checking for signs of heart failure / Abdo - checking the hernial orifices, checking for inguinal lymphadenopathy and doing a PR / Neuro - doing a full upper/lower limb neuro exam and checking for cerebellar signs)
7. So a complete presentation might sound like 'I've examined Mr X who looks tachypnoeic at rest with a RR of 22 breaths per min. He has evidence of clubbing and central cyanosis and has a productive cough. His positive findings on his chest were coarse crepitations on both lung bases which changed in nature with coughing. He had no evidence of pulmonary hypertension or pitting oedema to suggest heartfailure. My diagnosis for this patient would be that of bronchiectasis. I would like to finish my exam by checking the sputum pot, checking his bedside obs incl O2 sats and confirm my findings by doing bld tests to exclude infection as well as a CXR to look for evidence of basal consolidation. I would also send the sputum off for culture/sensitivity.'
8.Cases for Paces should really be the baseline reading book I think - its a good springboard to more xomplex stuff however Ryder is also well worth a read, if only for the pictures and the comm skills/history taking scenarios in Book 2.
9. I also used the Pastest Online website which is not, as you might imagine, an ideal way to practice for this exam - but it does give some idea of what to expect as well as some good pictures/spot diagnoses to look at.
10. Do a mock exam - useful to get an idea of what to expect and to gauge where you stand with other candidates - its useful after you'vedone some work, but even if you're not fully prepped, its good for that figurative kick in the butt! Also those who've done one don't seem to have that fear of the unknown on the day of their actual PACES.
All the best if you're prepping forit and if you're prepping from Australia, specifically Melbourne Australia, let me know and we can buddy up!
First up, the format:
PACES is 5 stations of 20 mins with 5 mins break in between each station.
Station 1 is Abdo Exam (10 mins) and Respi Exam (10 mins)
Station 2 is History taking (20 mins)
Station 3 is CVS Exam (10 mins) and Neuro Exam (10 mins)
Station 4 is Comm Skills (20 mins)
Station 5 is 2 cases of either skin, eyes, locomotor or endocrine (10 mins each)
For the examination stations (1 and 3) you'll get 6 mins to examine and 4 mins to present your findings and be questioned by the invigilators (there'll be 2 in each station with one doing the talking).
For the history/comm skills station you'll get 14 mins to either take a history or resolve a comm skills situation (eg breaking bad news or calming a patient after a prescribing error), 1 min to put everything together and 5 mins to present to the examiners.
For station 5, you'll have 8 mins to take a history/examine each patient and 2 mins to present and be questioned by the examiner.
At the start of the exam you'll be ushered into a room with your other 4 candidates (5 to a stream) and have to fill out your name and examination/center number on 16 marksheets. These, togetherwith your steth, and a pencil are all you have to bring around as you go (though people have also brought their own opthalmoscope/pen torch etc - all these are provided).
You'll then be brought to your stations and have to wait for the bell to ring, signifying the start of the first 5 min break. When the bell rings again, the door opens, a friendly examiner's head pokes out and the exam begins!
In terms of preparation, the key books that I've been told about are Ryder's Aid to the MRCP PACES, Cases for Paces and Baliga's 250 Cases in Clinical Medicine. Certainly most people I've spoken tohave read through the first 2 of these. The other key is to form up a practice group with other PACES candidates and start compiling a list of patients with signs to practice on 2-3 months before the exam and testing each other(trying to get consultants/regs to supervise whenever possible).
A PACES course is a good idea just because of the sheer amount of patients with signs to see - there is always some practical advice worth gleaning from these courses as well (some of which I will try to reproduce here) and to get an idea of how you stand with other candidates in terms of preparation.
Practicing comm skills and history taking with your PACES buddies is also a good idea to get an idea of time (so you have a sense of how long 14 mins is in an exam situation) and the comm skills in particular are worth working through as there are some points to be gained from practice (eg remembering to ask how a patient is going home after breaking bad news - ideally someone at home with her and not driving alone)
Paces Tips I Should Remember:
1. When presenting after each case, its a good idea to take the steth off and put my hands behind my back and to NOT look back at the patient while presenting to the examiners.
2. When presenting a CVS patient, always a good idea to mention the presence/absence of 'peripheral stigmata of infective endocarditis and/or heart failure'
3. When presenting a Respi patient, always good to mention the presence/absence of 'pulmonary hypertension'
4. When presenting a renal transplant patient (in the Abdo station) always good to mention the presence/abscence of 'modes of renal replacement therapy eg AV fistulas and whether they are working or not, signs of immunosuppression'
5. Always good to give an idea of the diagnosis of why the patient has had a renal transplant, or an enlarged liver, or pulmonary fibrosis etc
6. Always mention the key phrases 'I would like to complete my examination by...' (differs according to each system eg CVS - doing an ECG, checking the urine for haematuria and checking the BP / Respi - checking the bedside obs incl O2 sats, looking at the sputum pot, doing peak flows and checking for signs of heart failure / Abdo - checking the hernial orifices, checking for inguinal lymphadenopathy and doing a PR / Neuro - doing a full upper/lower limb neuro exam and checking for cerebellar signs)
7. So a complete presentation might sound like 'I've examined Mr X who looks tachypnoeic at rest with a RR of 22 breaths per min. He has evidence of clubbing and central cyanosis and has a productive cough. His positive findings on his chest were coarse crepitations on both lung bases which changed in nature with coughing. He had no evidence of pulmonary hypertension or pitting oedema to suggest heartfailure. My diagnosis for this patient would be that of bronchiectasis. I would like to finish my exam by checking the sputum pot, checking his bedside obs incl O2 sats and confirm my findings by doing bld tests to exclude infection as well as a CXR to look for evidence of basal consolidation. I would also send the sputum off for culture/sensitivity.'
8.Cases for Paces should really be the baseline reading book I think - its a good springboard to more xomplex stuff however Ryder is also well worth a read, if only for the pictures and the comm skills/history taking scenarios in Book 2.
9. I also used the Pastest Online website which is not, as you might imagine, an ideal way to practice for this exam - but it does give some idea of what to expect as well as some good pictures/spot diagnoses to look at.
10. Do a mock exam - useful to get an idea of what to expect and to gauge where you stand with other candidates - its useful after you'vedone some work, but even if you're not fully prepped, its good for that figurative kick in the butt! Also those who've done one don't seem to have that fear of the unknown on the day of their actual PACES.
All the best if you're prepping forit and if you're prepping from Australia, specifically Melbourne Australia, let me know and we can buddy up!
Friday, October 14, 2011
UK Part 1
Arrived safely am and installed in 84 Cleveland Road where the landlady keeps a typical establishment reflecting a cosy London townhouse lifestyle. Plush carpets, old bookshelves (self restraint!), leather armchairs sitting beside polished wooden bureaus and an upright piano which I'm also tempted to try out.
Am not looking forward to the course this weekend but am resigned to the fact that I DO need the practice and that I'll probably be the noobiest of all PACES candidates ever to be involved this late in the process, but never mind. I'll be as thick-skinned as I can and put in as much work as possible these next two weeks and we'll see how it goes. Hopefully the fat lady will leave her song till the very end.
The flight was really a bit long, even for me. 12 hours in a plane - 4 movies and 2 longish naps plus 2 meals - perfect DVT-genic material. No way I could do this for any length of time, UK, as much as I love coming back to you, I'm glad I'm that much nearer home nowadays.
Am not looking forward to the course this weekend but am resigned to the fact that I DO need the practice and that I'll probably be the noobiest of all PACES candidates ever to be involved this late in the process, but never mind. I'll be as thick-skinned as I can and put in as much work as possible these next two weeks and we'll see how it goes. Hopefully the fat lady will leave her song till the very end.
The flight was really a bit long, even for me. 12 hours in a plane - 4 movies and 2 longish naps plus 2 meals - perfect DVT-genic material. No way I could do this for any length of time, UK, as much as I love coming back to you, I'm glad I'm that much nearer home nowadays.
Sunday, October 02, 2011
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
What's better than Glee?
The clips I enjoyed the most from the Youtube selections off Season 2 of Sing Off!
Thursday, March 03, 2011
Every small step/-
Funny how we sometimes expect things to change overnight and the next day - the sun rises as usual, we are our usual grumpy selves as we shuffle towards our morning coffee. Small steps.
What I've done this week so far:
Supervise a knee aspiration on a patient with septic arthritis.
Realise that I need to make more effort to chase patients up after they've been discharged under my care - just to see if I'm doing the right things.
Done a load of discharge summaries - felt good at the time but the cupboard will soon be full again.
Took my first look at the hospitals on offer in Melbourne.
Reminded that before resisting, I need to submit (James 4:7).
Bored out of my head prepping for Part 2 - though I do feel it IS making me more confident clinically.
Intermittently spending time on Battlefield Heroes - lvl 26 never seemed so far off before.
Spent an hour reading through the Junior Doctor's blog - and laughing about people mouthing off in the comments section (seriously Jon, get a life!)
First long distance landline call to Squeaks, wish Skype would work better.
KFC for lunch! Seriously tempted to eat the other 2 pieces (got a repeat order for free off a coupon) but decided not to have too much of a good thing.
Btw, if anyone is up for 15 mins to spare, have a gander at The Lost Thing. The trailer looks pretty good, and it won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the Oscars just gone.
Also, Bethany Dillon rocks.
What I've done this week so far:
Supervise a knee aspiration on a patient with septic arthritis.
Realise that I need to make more effort to chase patients up after they've been discharged under my care - just to see if I'm doing the right things.
Done a load of discharge summaries - felt good at the time but the cupboard will soon be full again.
Took my first look at the hospitals on offer in Melbourne.
Reminded that before resisting, I need to submit (James 4:7).
Bored out of my head prepping for Part 2 - though I do feel it IS making me more confident clinically.
Intermittently spending time on Battlefield Heroes - lvl 26 never seemed so far off before.
Spent an hour reading through the Junior Doctor's blog - and laughing about people mouthing off in the comments section (seriously Jon, get a life!)
First long distance landline call to Squeaks, wish Skype would work better.
KFC for lunch! Seriously tempted to eat the other 2 pieces (got a repeat order for free off a coupon) but decided not to have too much of a good thing.
Btw, if anyone is up for 15 mins to spare, have a gander at The Lost Thing. The trailer looks pretty good, and it won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the Oscars just gone.
Also, Bethany Dillon rocks.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Am I a gamer? Part 1
While SOME PEOPLE may find it hard to believe I didn't go in for all night DOTA and wake up at 3pm the next day, I definitely dabbled in my fair share of games growing up. Here's some that I'm looking forward to this year (if I get time to play them that is):
Friday, December 31, 2010
Saturday, December 25, 2010
It's here.
Happy Christmas everyone!
Growing up Pa used to play this all the time (think he still has the cassette!) - to this day it isn't really Christmas until I hear this playing somewhere.
A MYF classic - we used to sing this to death every year - still remember the first time I heard it though.
Growing up Pa used to play this all the time (think he still has the cassette!) - to this day it isn't really Christmas until I hear this playing somewhere.
A MYF classic - we used to sing this to death every year - still remember the first time I heard it though.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Often quoted 1
And we know that in all things
God works
for the good
of those who love him,
who have been
called according to his purpose.
God works
for the good
of those who love him,
who have been
called according to his purpose.
God works - not by accident or left to the vagaries of fate nor left to chance
but
a force with purpose and a will stronger than steel behind it, directing and guiding every movement, each action carefully gauged and measured to have maximum impact in every life involved.
For every time I've taken this verse to mean God blessing my efforts/attempts at various projects, I've failed to realise that it's God who's been working and using me
Hence when things don't go how I expected them to, its less of God not coming through, but more of God changing my poor and often wayward efforts into something worthwhile in the end.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Things I'm looking forward to 3
Something else I remember about Christmas back home was carolling around the homes and hotels in Sitiawan with the church youth group. The run up to Christmas would be filled with morning practices - normally preceded by a coffeeshop breakfast as school holidays had begun. Bass, tenor, alto and soprano singers would be magically discovered within each batch of secondary school students, many of us not having any musical knowledge haphazardly separated by a pianist trying out our individual pitches.
Once slotted into our groups, we'd break up and learn the parts from indivisual songsheets with either a pianist or guitarist showing each group the melody. It was an exercise in memory as we'd learn the bassline, for example, down by heart and try to exorcise all memory of the actual melody of the song. An exercise that invariably broke down when all the groups regathered to try out the 4-part harmony together as the soprano singers (who always seemed to be the most numerous) ended up dragging everyone into their melody.
There were the staples from the Methodist Hymnal: Joy To The World, Silent Night (both of whom had their distinctive guitar intros that were reused year after year), We Wish You A Merry Christmas, which would invariably be sung repeatedly in an ever-faster tempo, O Come All Ye Faithful, Hark The Herald Angels Sing and Angels We Have Heard On High. On occasion, someone would produce new songs and arrangements, which after a year or two, became staples of their own.
While the practices were going on, the youth group committee would be gathering invitations from homes (mainly church members) to which we would then go on the nights of the 24th and 25th. On the nights themselves, we'd start off at Pastor's manse - always as a dry run where mistakes would be giggled at. After a final prayer, we'd split into 2 groups to cover more ground. And as the night went on, the singing became more and more boisterous as people grew more tired. The climax would normally occur at a house where both groups planned to meet up at - the singing would then increase exponentially in volume as both the musicians and singers doubled in volume and soloists found themselves dueting instead.
The real challenge of course, was waking up for Christmas morning service in church after a late night carol session on the 24th!
Once slotted into our groups, we'd break up and learn the parts from indivisual songsheets with either a pianist or guitarist showing each group the melody. It was an exercise in memory as we'd learn the bassline, for example, down by heart and try to exorcise all memory of the actual melody of the song. An exercise that invariably broke down when all the groups regathered to try out the 4-part harmony together as the soprano singers (who always seemed to be the most numerous) ended up dragging everyone into their melody.
There were the staples from the Methodist Hymnal: Joy To The World, Silent Night (both of whom had their distinctive guitar intros that were reused year after year), We Wish You A Merry Christmas, which would invariably be sung repeatedly in an ever-faster tempo, O Come All Ye Faithful, Hark The Herald Angels Sing and Angels We Have Heard On High. On occasion, someone would produce new songs and arrangements, which after a year or two, became staples of their own.
While the practices were going on, the youth group committee would be gathering invitations from homes (mainly church members) to which we would then go on the nights of the 24th and 25th. On the nights themselves, we'd start off at Pastor's manse - always as a dry run where mistakes would be giggled at. After a final prayer, we'd split into 2 groups to cover more ground. And as the night went on, the singing became more and more boisterous as people grew more tired. The climax would normally occur at a house where both groups planned to meet up at - the singing would then increase exponentially in volume as both the musicians and singers doubled in volume and soloists found themselves dueting instead.
The real challenge of course, was waking up for Christmas morning service in church after a late night carol session on the 24th!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Things I'm looking forward to 1
Happy pre-Christmas to anyone still reading this sorry collection of words and disjointed sentences!
My 4th Christmas in the UK and due to work am getting caught up in the swing of things a bit later than usual. The perpetual cold, tree branches sticking bare at all angles, moving shopfront displays (nope not actually IN southport!), christmas markets and carol songs blaring from every shop all add a festive mood to the air. The hospital wards with christmas trees are the good ones i think.
I do miss Christmas at home though, the staple of the season was the big Christmas dinner at the grandparents house where for one day of the year the big sitting-room tablecloth would be whisked away to reveal a dark polished wood surface. The kitchen would be occupied from early afternoon to dinnertime while the tabletop would be covered with large bouquets of flowers/fruits and the fancy dinner service would be placed next to wineglasses.
The family would gather at dinnertime and presents would be put on the sideboard. Uncles and aunts would bustle in and out of the kitchen bearing plates loaded with cuts of meat, pots of steaming gravy and bowls of peas and potatoes. The uncle in charge of the main bird for the night would be standingby the oven, forehead brimming with sweat, checking to see if the meat was cooked through.
And when everything was ready - the first course began - with everyone eating except the uncle in charge of the food who had to be continuously entreated to sit down and have a bite instead of running to and fro from the kitchen. Dessert usually consisted of christmas pudding set alight with all the lights off, after which the presents were exchanged - always the best part of the evening for us small fry.
And then followed a nice sit-down time with drinks where the cooks would be congratulated on their cooking, and various family members would put aside their differences and recall memories of childhood pranks and the doings of family members and friends long-gone.
And after that the food distribution which would last everyone at least till the new year..ahh Christmas at home.
My 4th Christmas in the UK and due to work am getting caught up in the swing of things a bit later than usual. The perpetual cold, tree branches sticking bare at all angles, moving shopfront displays (nope not actually IN southport!), christmas markets and carol songs blaring from every shop all add a festive mood to the air. The hospital wards with christmas trees are the good ones i think.
I do miss Christmas at home though, the staple of the season was the big Christmas dinner at the grandparents house where for one day of the year the big sitting-room tablecloth would be whisked away to reveal a dark polished wood surface. The kitchen would be occupied from early afternoon to dinnertime while the tabletop would be covered with large bouquets of flowers/fruits and the fancy dinner service would be placed next to wineglasses.
The family would gather at dinnertime and presents would be put on the sideboard. Uncles and aunts would bustle in and out of the kitchen bearing plates loaded with cuts of meat, pots of steaming gravy and bowls of peas and potatoes. The uncle in charge of the main bird for the night would be standingby the oven, forehead brimming with sweat, checking to see if the meat was cooked through.
And when everything was ready - the first course began - with everyone eating except the uncle in charge of the food who had to be continuously entreated to sit down and have a bite instead of running to and fro from the kitchen. Dessert usually consisted of christmas pudding set alight with all the lights off, after which the presents were exchanged - always the best part of the evening for us small fry.
And then followed a nice sit-down time with drinks where the cooks would be congratulated on their cooking, and various family members would put aside their differences and recall memories of childhood pranks and the doings of family members and friends long-gone.
And after that the food distribution which would last everyone at least till the new year..ahh Christmas at home.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
How random
Met a person on Battlefield Heroes going by the nick of Mabthera - lo and behold, a doctor from Hungary. Sparked off a conversation which took place while we weaved in and out of the ruins of Midnight Mayhem where everyone chatted about where they were from while complaining about the lag.
I've been playing this for a while on and off - still nice to interact with players like this rather than the usual noob-jeering and player taunting and crass language that normally goes on.
I've been playing this for a while on and off - still nice to interact with players like this rather than the usual noob-jeering and player taunting and crass language that normally goes on.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
To those who say I don't bathe for long enough.
So I was thinking in the shower:
So who among us is good, really? The long-quoted phrase 'no-one is perfect' - how many of us would challenge this? Granted, being 'good' is different to being 'perfect' - we may be considered 'good' despite making mistakes. But even so, what is the definition of 'good'?
Oxford Dictionary lists the definitions (as an adjective) thus:
1. To be desired and approved of.
2. Having the required qualities; of a high standard
3. Possessing or displaying moral values
4. Giving pleasure; enjoyable or satisfying
5. Attributive; being thorough
6. Valid
7. Used in conjunction with the name of God or related expression as an expression of extreme surprise or anger
We can discard 4,5,6,7 from this discussion.
1. To be desired and approved of - whose desires/approval are we talking about? Each individual has different desires/ppl they seek approval from - therefore what is good differs from person to person. And this is where influence of people, for good or bad, is able to change the fate of nations eg apartheid in Africa, the Dalits in India, Nazism in WW2, 9/11 etc.
2. Again, whose standards are these? We may say we 'aspire to high standards' yet to others, our standards may be woefully low. What is impressive to me on the tennis court, is peanuts to Roger Federer for example.
3. Moral values, ah. This is the crux. To go back to Oxford, moral is defined as:
a.concerned with principles of right and wrong behaviour.
b.holding or manifesting high principles for proper conduct.
This is contentious; on one hand, everyone's right or wrong code is different. Someone may agree with cheating to get ahead as long as no one's hurt however others feel this is wrong. However we do consider some things that definitely are bad. eg. rape/murder/incest/abuse. Surely there can be no question of that? So, surely if we do not perform these 'morally condemnable' actions, we must be good, or at least, good-er than people who DID perform these actions.
But then again, is there a scale of goodness? Where we are ranked 6 above Hitler who is probably a minus something? And who decides this scale? Santa Claus?
Where am I going with this?
I put it to you, that the term 'good' is something relative, not absolute. And that all of us who compare ourselves to others do so on an individual code of morality (that is, unless you are of a faith that says differently, in whatever way).
And so the conclusion is, none of us are really 'good' or 'bad'. The closest we can come to deciding that (without outside help) is by judging each other, rather pointlessly in fact when we think about it (but which we are really, really good at). For good people do bad things, and vice-versa, despite the labels we give each other.
And I also put it to you, that this often-quoted question 'Why do bad things happen to good people?' is thus rendered inaccurate.
As in, bad things happen, there's no denying that. But the people that they happen to, are neither good, nor bad. Indeed (if I may be allowed to use an expression from what I believe), we are all sinners in need of grace.
What do you think?
So who among us is good, really? The long-quoted phrase 'no-one is perfect' - how many of us would challenge this? Granted, being 'good' is different to being 'perfect' - we may be considered 'good' despite making mistakes. But even so, what is the definition of 'good'?
Oxford Dictionary lists the definitions (as an adjective) thus:
1. To be desired and approved of.
2. Having the required qualities; of a high standard
3. Possessing or displaying moral values
4. Giving pleasure; enjoyable or satisfying
5. Attributive; being thorough
6. Valid
7. Used in conjunction with the name of God or related expression as an expression of extreme surprise or anger
We can discard 4,5,6,7 from this discussion.
1. To be desired and approved of - whose desires/approval are we talking about? Each individual has different desires/ppl they seek approval from - therefore what is good differs from person to person. And this is where influence of people, for good or bad, is able to change the fate of nations eg apartheid in Africa, the Dalits in India, Nazism in WW2, 9/11 etc.
2. Again, whose standards are these? We may say we 'aspire to high standards' yet to others, our standards may be woefully low. What is impressive to me on the tennis court, is peanuts to Roger Federer for example.
3. Moral values, ah. This is the crux. To go back to Oxford, moral is defined as:
a.concerned with principles of right and wrong behaviour.
b.holding or manifesting high principles for proper conduct.
This is contentious; on one hand, everyone's right or wrong code is different. Someone may agree with cheating to get ahead as long as no one's hurt however others feel this is wrong. However we do consider some things that definitely are bad. eg. rape/murder/incest/abuse. Surely there can be no question of that? So, surely if we do not perform these 'morally condemnable' actions, we must be good, or at least, good-er than people who DID perform these actions.
But then again, is there a scale of goodness? Where we are ranked 6 above Hitler who is probably a minus something? And who decides this scale? Santa Claus?
Where am I going with this?
I put it to you, that the term 'good' is something relative, not absolute. And that all of us who compare ourselves to others do so on an individual code of morality (that is, unless you are of a faith that says differently, in whatever way).
And so the conclusion is, none of us are really 'good' or 'bad'. The closest we can come to deciding that (without outside help) is by judging each other, rather pointlessly in fact when we think about it (but which we are really, really good at). For good people do bad things, and vice-versa, despite the labels we give each other.
And I also put it to you, that this often-quoted question 'Why do bad things happen to good people?' is thus rendered inaccurate.
As in, bad things happen, there's no denying that. But the people that they happen to, are neither good, nor bad. Indeed (if I may be allowed to use an expression from what I believe), we are all sinners in need of grace.
What do you think?
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