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27th
July
2004
Today’s Cool Site of The Day is Stephen Hawking’s website www.hawking.org.uk – very interesting info there about the man, his achievements, and his struggles with motor neurone disease. I’ve been meaning to look into his books for a while now, all the more since I’ve been reading that Bill Bryson book. I guess it’s just another book to add to my growing pile of reading material. Anyway for now the snippets on the website will have to do.
[Current Music: Nirvana - On a Plain]
Categories : Science |
27th
July
2004
This is what Al Gore had to say at the opening of the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. I thought this was quite ironic :
“I had hoped to be back here this week under different circumstances, running for re-election. But you know the old saying: you win some, you lose some. And then there’s that little-known third category.”
I’d imagine that would have brought the house down. Nice to see someone who can make fun of their own failed ambitions. (taken from Slate News)
[Current Music: 1 Giant Leap - My Culture ft Maxi Jazz & Robb]
Categories : Politics |
27th
July
2004
Just went out and had a Chinese lunch with a couple of doctors from the opposition practice across the road who are also doing there country stint here. A lot of GP registrars come here because it’s counted as country, yet so close to Perth. All of the others are staying down here at least part of the week and heading back to Perth on the weekends, unlike me for whom it is just a daily half hour commute. Anyway it’s nice to have some company again – reminds me a bit of the social atmosphere back when I used to work in public hospitals, when we would often go out and get lunch at the nearest Chinese place.
Staying on the topic of GP, I got the results back today from a survey I did of 50 of my patients from my last practice while I was there. I was a bit retiscent to do the survey at the time – who likes the thought of someone filling out a form to rate you? But now I’ve got the results back and they were pretty encouraging.
Read the rest of this entry »
Categories : General Practice |
27th
July
2004
Just came across this great review of one of my all time favourite books, Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. The author (Andrew, from e-vangelism.com) is envious about how cool Don Miller comes across, and how uncool it made him feel, sentiments with which I sympathise. He makes some valid criticisms about excessive “Gen-X-speak” but overall seems as impressed by the book as I was. I found Miller’s personal, anecdotal style refreshing and honest and found it often hit me right where I needed it. Though I often appreciate a good quote from a respected source I like the way this book is almost entirely devoid of that kind of thing, drawing more on Don’s (I like to think I can call him Don) cool life experiences. Andrew mentions one quote from C.S Lewis, which I thought was actually incredibly appropriate and powerful (it’s a poem “As The Ruin Falls”) I don’t have a C.S. Lewis book handy in the surgery (in fact I think the doctor whose room I am using today is a JW?) so I can’t impress you with it, other than the aforementioned link to that poem. Anyway I’m waffling now, presumably due to lack of food – a Chinese lunch awaits me shortly. So I’ll cut to the point – if you haven’t read Blue Like Jazz – read it! And give Andrew’s review a look as well – it helps too clarify some of the reasons why this book is so good. Makes me want to re-read it for the third time (just got it back from someone I loaned it to last week) but my pile of books to be read is getting higher and higher, so it might have to wait awhile.
Categories : books |
27th
July
2004
You meet some interesting characters in my job. Yesterday I saw a guy who was fishing 3 weeks ago when the spine of a fish penetrated his palm after it was knocked by another fish. He came to see me yesterday complaining that his hand was still sore and he could feel the spine under the skin. Persuaded I could feel it also, I (perhaps a bit to cavalierly) decided to cut open his palm to try and fish it out. Half an hour later, with a big open cut on his palm, I still couldn’t find anything. So I stitched him up and sent him for an X-ray which showed the elusive spine still in there somewhere. Packed him off to the local general surgeon who’s opinion is that he’s gonna need microsurgery to get the thing out (after the wound I inflicted has healed up) So my ‘fishing’ expedition ended up being no better than my patient’s.
[Current Music: The Tea Party - Halcyon Days]
Categories : General Practice |
