Baggas’ Blog

I feel a bit like Robinson Crusoe or Gilligan at work at the moment - cut off from the rest of the world. Since Thursday we have had no internet access and it’s driving me crazy being unable to check my email, blog, or browse the net between patients (though I’m keeping even better to time than I usually do). We got a call from head office saying there’s a virus and to unplug the net on Thursday and they have not done anything to fix it since. This is quite typical of the company that owns our practice - nothing ever gets done in a hurry, especially IT stuff. Any time we need anything sorted out we have to wait for ages. There’s been plenty of negative aspects to having had our practice bought out a couple of years ago but I struggle to think of a single positive. They haven’t improved the place at all. If it wasn’t for the brilliant location next to the hospital I think I would have given serious thought to moving by now… Anyway we’ll see if they get their act together when I get to work today. I’m not holding my breath.

Well yesterday, if my rough adding up is correct, I attended my 100th birth for the year. My previous best was about 98 last year so cracking the century in September is a pretty good effort, especially considering I was away for 5 weeks in July/August. This level of obstetrical busyness is quite a good place to be. Between two and four births a week but I still probably only get called to the hospital after hours an average of one time a week which means not too many sleepless nights or interrupted dinners (like last night’s). But delivering babies is not only a great and rewarding job in itself, it also has the added bonus of filling my GP clinic days with lots of pregnant mums and their kids, which is a quicker, more efficient, and more enjoyable sort of medicine than the geriatric patients the average GP’s case load would be comprised of. This allows me to stay mostly on time and get home to my kids at a decent hour. It’s all good

Number 101 is on it’s way today also, sometime later this evening probably…

Senator proposes $10,000 baby bonus | NEWS.com.au

This is purely self interest, but I like this proposal that Family First Senator Steve Fielding is taking to John Howard tomorrow - a government bonus of $10,000 on the birth of your third child. I just hope they implement it before February / March next year

Had a great day on Saturday with my brothers and dad and our kids. We went up to Dwellingup and went 4 wheel driving in the state forest. There was a little bit of rain which was just enough to create some big puddles for us to splash through and get the cars nice and dirty.

On the way home we had some technical problems with one of the cars, and we limped into Pinjarra where we waited for the other car to return after rescuing someone else, and Jen to arrive with our Honda to give the kids a lift home (she’d just finished at a Women’s conference thing). But the kids enjoyed playing in the park by the Murray river in Pinjarra and exploring the local graveyard. Some of the graves date as far back as 1844, which is pretty old by Western Australian standards (the first settlers arrived in 1829) .

(from Left : Dylan, Kaylee, Alexa, Ethan, Luke, Owen & Rohan)

For those who aren’t familiar with the clan, my two boys are Luke and Owen (in orange and green) - the others are my brother’s kids. Dylan and Kaylee belong to Kyle; and Alexa, Ethan and Rohan belong to Scott.  The only cousin missing here is Scott’s new baby Tobias, who was born in August and therefore still a little young to come 4 wheel driving. With two more babies due next year (making a grand total of ten) these family photos are only going to get more tricky - it’s impossible to get them all smiling at the same time :) 

Anyway, I’ve uploaded a few more photos from the day onto my Flickr account.

LIVENEWS.com.au > > Led Zeppelin reunite after 19 years

I must confess, there have been moments since I heard this news that I’ve seriously considered booking a flight to London in November! A one off Led Zep reunion concert would be an awesome show to see. But considering that I’m already leaving Jen on her own with the kids for nearly 3 weeks in October, and also that the concert tickets will be allocated by a lottery, it’s probably a sensible move to stay home. I’ll catch the concert on the inevitable DVD release next year (hopefully it comes out in HD). Another one of those moments where living so far away from the rest of the world is a bit frustrating. If I lived anywhere near there I would be entering that lottery in a second!

I’m reading a very interesting book at the moment. It’s a travel book, which is a genre that I have a growing enjoyment of, being well and truly infected with the travel bug (my case of travel bug continues to grow, although Jenni is well and truly over it, no doubt in part due to the rigours of early pregnancy…)

Anyway, it’s a travel book with a difference - Tony Wheeler’s Badlands. In this book Tony, the founder of Lonely Planet, describes some of his experiences in some of the world’s dodgiest countries - Afghanistan, Iraq, Cuba, Libya, and North Korea, among others. It’s a fascinating read that describes some of the problems he saw in these countries, but also many of the lesser known tourist delights to be found there. I’ve just read the chapter on Iran and it comes across as being a really great place to visit, with heaps to see and very welcoming people, quite different to the scary image we see in the media all the time. I must say all the Iranians/Persians I’ve ever met here in Australia have always been very friendly. This book makes me really want to go there (though I can’t see that happening any time soon) - it also makes me hope even more that Bush & Co don’t embark on another crazy military misadventure by bombing or invading Iran - political disasters aside, it would be a shame to see the people of that country (which is relatively stable internally) be drawn into a mess like we have in Iraq.

Anyway I digress. This book is an enjoyable, easy read and well worth checking out if you have an interest in out of the way places. Just be warned, the dreaded travel bug is definitely lurking within these pages too…

Battle of ‘Young Howards’ : The Australian

Could this be true? Paradoxically after all the recent leadership turmoil, the liberals may in the end come out of it with a bit of a “fresh start,” even without switching leaders. Instead of one PM fighting against Kevin Rudd, the Liberals now have two candidates with Peter Costello likely to play a much bigger role in the campaign. I’ve always thought Costello was better at articulating a vision for the future than John Howard (which is just what the Libs need now - not just past successes but a plan for the future), and he’s already come out doing it. After days of silence, he looks like a man on a mission, and indeed the whole party seems a lot more positive and energized. Keeping Howard, but being honest and up-front about a future transition to Costello, is probably the best move they could have made, allowing them to play both the experience and ‘youth’ cards at the same time (and Costello can lay claim to both those attributes, unlike Rudd, who lacks the experience of Government.)

So now we have three Howards - the original, the younger Labor version, and the younger Liberal version (Costello just needs to get some glasses and a tracksuit, and eyebrow implants) - whether this is enough to save the coalition I doubt, but it’s probably the best strategy for them to take under the circumstances. How the electorate responds we will have to wait and see…

Edit : here’s another good opinion piece on the same subject, which expresses similar ideas : Is the Treasurer Howard’s Rabbit?

Founder of Whirlpool discussion forum being sued | NEWS.com.au

This is a slightly disturbing story. A software company are suing the founder of the Australian broadband forum Whirlpool, for negative comments about it’s software posted by users on the site. Now I’ve consulted Whirlpool many times and found it to be a very useful site. Though there will usually be a range of differing opinions on virtually any topic, it is still valuable for advice and recommendations. This lawsuit is not a god thing for a number of reasons. Firstly it’s censoring the ability of people to make their opinions known on a site like this (which therefore might impede the ability of the rest of us to find opinions and advice on the net), and secondly it’s making the owners of the site responsible for the opinions of others which are posted there. If this suit is successful, does that mean I could be held responsible legally for what I say here, or even worse, for what commenters say? It takes us down a very tricky road. I sincerely hope this case gets laughed out of court.

Slow afternoon today. Every time I walk out and check my box there’s no patients waiting. I haven’t checked the appointment book but I don’t think it’s because of no-shows - rather a couple of families where they book 4 appointments for all their kids but it only takes 5 minutes each. Oh, and my 2:20 appointment didn’t show up but I’ll let her off because she was in hospital delivering her baby at almost exactly that time - pretty impressive timing!

So I’ve been keeping busy with miscellaneous things, paying bills, reading blogs, updating my medical board registration, reading the latest political news, and drinking far too much coffee and Coke. Yesterday I was in Perth attending a course on Neonatal Resucitation - it was actually a pretty worthwhile course and I feel my confidence in this area boosted, although I hope I don’t have to put these skills into practice. Fortunately, today’s baby came out screaming, so not much resus required there

“Why on earth did God create weeds?”

I know, as far as deep theological questions go it’s a long way from “why does God allow pain and suffering in the world?” but it’s the question I was asking myself on Sunday afternoon, confronted with a front lawn full of weeds that had sprouted up while we were away on our trip.

Now I’m not the most avid gardener at the best of times, and lawn weeds are the worst, trying to extricate them from amidst the grass. And there are so many that after working in a spot for a while, it looks like you have achieved nothing. After half an hour I was about ready to give up. I went inside grabbed a drink, and then in a flash of inspiration grabbed my iPod - which could be subtitled “the gardener’s best friend.” I put on some awesome music by Angra, a Brazillian power metal band (thanks to Shaggy & Joel for another spot-on music recommendation), and was able to continue the incredibly boring job of weeding for another good hour or so. It was actually reasonably relaxing out in the sun listening to some good music in my own little coocoon of sound. I may even do the same thing again next weekend (and get rid of another 5% of the weeds…)

PS : if anyone has a good answer to my theological poser above, please share…

vitum medicinus ::: Beginner’s Guide to Reading Medical Blogs

I don’t know if I’d classify my blog as being a “medical blog” per se - since I blog a lot more on religion, politics, travel, my family etc than I ever do on medical topics. Truth be told, I don’t have a burning interest in reading or exploring much about medicine at the moment - 12 years of medical study has pretty much exhuasted my desire for reading anything related to medicine, at least for the time being. Plus I’ve never quite known how to walk the fine line of confidential blogging - I might have some interesting stories to tell, but what if one of my patients stumbled across the blog? The recent story of “Barbados Butterfly,” a Melbourne surgical registrar who was suspended because of what she wrote on her blog, is enough to make us all pause.

But anyway, for those who are interested in medical blogging (and for my own future reference), the above link from the excellent med student blog vitum medicinus, is well worth reading. A worthy introduction to the medical blogosphere. Check it out.

I know my postings have turned a bit political of late, and I’ll try to avoid this blog being too narrowly focused, but I couldn’t resist linking this piece from The Australian :

Howard Must Go | Janet Albrechtsen Blog | The Australian - “Howard must go” - there’s been no shortage of that kind of talk recently but what makes this so notable is that it’s from the pen of Janet Albrechtsen, who is probably one of the most pro-Howard journalists in Australia. Even in this article she’s effusive in her praise of the man, calling him the finest Prime Minister we’ve ever had…

But then she goes on, with a heavy heart, to say why she thinks Howard should pass the baton to Peter Costello, which she introduces with this wonderful line “The last rabbit Howard should pull out of the hat is Peter Costello.”

What an amazing turn of events that would be! But I can’t see it happening. If nothing else Howard’s tenacity and persistence would stand in the way of him making such a move, and realistically I don’t know if it’s the best thing for Costello or the Liberals to do this right now. It’s a move that should have been made probably 6, 12, 18 months ago. The leadership now, for Costello, would be a poisoned chalice. I can’t see him, in the space of a few weeks campaigning, turning things around enough to beat Kevin Rudd. Costello’s best chance of being PM (for more than a few weeks) is for Howard to win an improbable victory and then hand over within a year of the election. His second best chance is for Rudd to win and then for Labor to stuff everything up - if the economy goes pear shaped and the unions muscle back in then in 3 years time the electorate  may well be ready to welcome back with open arms “the best treasurer Australia has ever had” to come in and straighten things out. So while a Rudd v Costello battle now would be a fascinating ride and a huge gamble, I doubt it’s gonna happen. Regardless of what happens, Australian politics is the most interesting it’s ever been right now - a PM on the ropes, an ascendant opposition leader showing off by making speeches in Mandarin, and a bunch of global heavyweights like Bush, Putin, Abe, and Hu cruising around Sydney. Hold on to your seats!

Risk of annihilation | The Australian

This is one of the better political editorial pieces I’ve seen lately. Paul Kelly, looking historically and at the current situation, discusses why John Howard does not necessarily deserve to be turfed out, and yet why he probably will. Worth a read.

Oz Politics

If you like graphs and polls and numbers and stuff, then you may find this blog site interesting, although possibly also quite depressing if you’re a coalition voter :\ However, it may be a good one to keep bookmarked in the lead-up to the election - which is looking increasingly likely that I will be in Africa for - never had to do an absentee vote before… and I will hate to miss the wall-to-wall TV coverage, which I have always enjoyed previously, but them’s the breaks.

CNET : Will ‘the beat go on’ with a new iPod?

Keep your ears open, it looks like Steve Jobs is set to make an iPod related announcement this Thursday - hopefully concerning the release of a new generation of iPods.

With all the hype around the iPhone and other products like AppleTV, the humble iPod seems to have been forgotten the last couple of years. My old 60gig one is still fine for music but in these days of video it doesn’t quite cut it. I used mine a lot on our recent trip watching TV show episodes, and it was fine but it would be great to have a larger screen.

So my wish list for the next generation iPod would include :

1. Larger, brighter screen
2. More storage - how bout a 120Gig iPod?
3. Touch-screen controls
4. More connectivity options - maybe bluetooth (for headphone and care stereo connections), ? wi-fi, or a built in FM tuner or how bout a built in FM transmitter!

I look forward to seeing what Jobs pulls out of the bag. The other thing that the article mentions is the likely iTunes release of The Beatles catalog. Long overdue, no doubt, but for any serious Beatles’ fan it shouldn’t really matter. I’ve had all The Beatles’ albums on my iPod since day one, since I already own the CDs. And I wouldn’t have it any other way - as much as I am in to iPods and downloading music etc, it still doesn’t beat having a big wall of CDs in your collection to choose from. If I really like an album, I’ll still go and buy the CD. Maybe I’m just showing my age…

September is upon us, and with it beautiful spring weather, and the beginning of the downhill run to the end of the year. Like skiing down a steep slope, from here until after Christmas life seems to pick up more and more pace. Already September is packed, and a couple of the weekends I am already having to make choices between different activities (one of which is the Quiz Nite next week - looks like I won’t be able to make it Gav - sorry.) This year is particularly full since October I am away for nearly three weeks on my next trip to Uganda, and then November into December it’s looking like there will be at least a couple of weekends away. This is where being well organized becomes very important - so I’d better get my act together.

So far this weekend has been pretty good. Just one delivery so far, which was very straightforward, and no calls in the night at all. There’s another baby on it’s way in the next few hours, but in the meantime Owen wants me to play X-box with him.

I’m still getting my head around facebook, but I must say, despite my reservations about it being too private, I’m quite liking it. I’ve been able to connect with quite a few people that I haven’t seen in a long time which has been nice. And it’s the sort of thing that, now that it’s set up, shouldn’t require a whole lot of maintenance. So I shall see how it goes. Anyway, Owen is calling - some Lego Star Wars awaits…