The Perfect Guy/Girl?!

My cousin sis sent me this pic a while back...actually the original e-mail had 4 pictures above this one of 4 'perfect guys' doing chores, giving their wives massages etc etc. You can imagine that this pic following those 4 would've had a bit more impact than this one on it's own...

So what is a guy's perspective on all this???

Well I guess just like most girls, most guys probably fantasise about their 'perfect gal'. And whilst girls may fantasise about perfect guys who will be attentive to their every need and do all the housework etc, I think it'd be fair to say that most guys fantasise about probably just one thing...

Now sure you may argue that guys' and girls' fantasies are different and girls' fantasies are generally more innocent, whilst guys' fantasies are generally lustful... I think the point is though, that fantasies are nothing more than self-indulgences. If I were a girl, I'd be abhorred to imagine every guy I walked past fantasising about me. Being a guy, I'm abhorred to think that girls could ever expect their perfect guy to be just that...perfect!

I guess it's not really realistic to go around with a checklist of pre-requisites and criteria that define your perfect guy/gal. Looking for a partner isn't like shopping for a car or house! I've always thought that when you do find the right partner, all those criteria and pre-requisites (bar some) would go out the window anyhow.

But on the other hand I think you do need to assess a person's character, attitudes and personality to decide if he/she is appropriate to pursue a relationship with. This I think is different to ticking boxes off a checklist of pre-requisites. It's spending time with the person to see if they share similar goals and attitudes with you, and if they are, dare I say for lack of a better word, "compatible". And being a guy, I'm ashamed of it, but I can be the first to admit that I do struggle with giving a girl's character/attitudes/personality a higher priority than her looks.

At the end of the day, surely searching for a partner isn't about what you get out of it yourself but how you can serve and care for the other person? And I think that is the core problem when we go about looking for Mr/Miss Right. We go about looking for who's best for ME, rather than what I can offer and how I can serve the other person. We think about how it'd be nice to have someone to snuggle with ME, someone to comfort ME when I feel all alone... That person should actually be called Mr/Miss Right-for-ME...

But sure, as I go to more and more weddings, see my friends all with partners, and keep on hearing my parents ask me "So have you met any nice girls lately?", I do wonder impatiently...when will my turn come to meet the girl God has planned for me? But then I think about it and remember that yes, God does have a plan for me and I have to trust that plan. In the meantime, my job is to work on my character, attitudes and bad habits and to look for ways to serve my sisters in Christ. It is no small thing to ask a girl to accompany me through life. I pray that one day God will grant me the responsibility and privilege of caring for and serving a girl for the rest of my life...

We were robbed I tell you...ROBBED!!!

What a tragedy! What a cruel way to exit the World Cup! After what was a super performance by Australia in the group round, once again the FIFA referees have robbed us of the chance to make it to the next round! Can they not get anything right? The refereeing of the Australia vs Croatia match was an absolute disgrace! We should've easily won that match if ref Graham Poll had had his eyes checked before the match so that he would've seen the clear foul on Viduka in the penalty box and later the obvious hand ball by a Croatian defender in their box! Then last night - oh my gosh! It was the dying seconds of the match and this time the ref was a mere couple of metres away and he STILL got it wrong!!! Lucas Neill was clearly on the ground having missed his tackle and that Italian guy obviously tripped purposely over Neill hoping to be awarded the penalty! And the ref obliged... Australia, I don't think I have to tell you that a great injustice was done... I guess at the end of the day, you win some and you lose some...

But credit has to be given where it is due and the Socceroos really did exceed all expectations after being given a lousy draw in the first place having to play Brazil and then Italy in the round of 16! All I can say is that they put all their heart and soul and effort into each of their performances and are true Aussie champions! We can now be recognised as a force to be reckoned with and this World Cup has done wonders to lift the status of soccer in Australia!

Watch out! South Africa 2010 - here we come...

New Term, New Instrument!

"Why are there so many guitars in the house?!!!" yells my mum, complaining that they are cluttering up the house...

My bass guitar arrived yesterday!!! Bought it off Ebay from a guy in Brisbane and it arrived here nicely packaged and in one piece yesterday arvo whilst I was at work. It's a really nice Fender (Japan) Vintage '62 P-bass in a 3 tone Sunburst colour! That description probably means nothing most people so in plain english, it's a medium of the range, pretty nice sounding bass guitar!

So why did I suddenly decide I wanted to learn bass and buy a guitar? Well it all started out with a friend who wanted to learn and I thought, well hey maybe I want to learn too! Then a few weeks at church I was asked to play bass last minute...even though I didn't know how...and somehow with my limited skills in acoustic guitar, managed to figure out the notes on the bass and bumble my way through one of the songs! And I thought...hey this isn't too hard!!! So there you go...I have a bass!

Now just gotta learn how to play it... =P

On a less exciting note, have done 2 shifts of ED so far and have surprisingly settled in really quick into my new role. Everyone's been really nice so far and really helpful in getting me orientated as to how things are done in the hectic ED! Saw about 4 patients on my first shift, and 6 yesterday so, so far, so good!

Next set of shifts is days this Sat-Mon...

A side, B side, Seaside

YAY!!! My week of nights is finally OVER!!! So glad to get back to normal routine and eating patterns. I have to say though, this time round the week of nights seemed to go quicker and was more bearable than my first lot. Don't know whether it was because I took a different approach to my sleeping pattern, or because I did a proper ward round at the start of my shift meaning that I didn't get paged as much, or simply cause the World Cup was on and I had something to watch all through the night! I really think the latter was a major factor now that I think about it...something I won't be able to enjoy next time around. 9 hrs is a long time to kill and this time around I didn't want to sleep during my shift cause last time I found it to be not really refreshing and meant I couldn't sleep properly during the day. So anyhow...just really glad second lot is over!

Went out yesterday with Jimbo, Carmen and her friend Frankie to see a Honkie movie at George St called 'A side, B side, Seaside'! It was one of two sessions of that movie being played as part of the 53rd Sydney Film Festival. It was not your typical honkie movie and was rather thoughtfully produced. Many of the scenes felt familiar even to one who hadn't grown up in Hong Kong and there were several memorably funny scenes! Cause I can't be bothered to write a spiel about what the film's all about, I'll just copy paste the one from the Sydney Film Festival website:

"The story of two girls' farewell to their 17 years of youth. In two parts, just like two sides of a movie disk, the film tells the separate but intertwined stories of Chen Tian and Ah Mel. Chen Tian is a schoolgirl about to leave for Beijing for college, who decides to spend an unforgettable trip with her best friends in the fishing village of Cheung Chau, where she discovers love for the first time. Ah Mei, a girl who's had a tough time in the big city, returns to the village to revisit her past. She finds herself reuniting with two boys from her childhood. The fresh performances from the young actors, combined with Ah Chiu's deft direction, perfectly capture the fun, enthusiasm and romance in this enjoyable coming of age movie."

So there you have it! If you wanna check it out, the second screening is on this Wednesday at 6:40pm George St Cinemas. Go see it!

Socceroos - Australia salutes you!!!!!

Got to work excited and on time for the first time out of all my night shifts ever! The reason - to see the Socceroos take on Japan!!! Forget about handover. Forget about the wards. Ignore the pager. Nothing was gonna stop me watching this game to the very end. And how glad I am that I watched right to the end!

After that dodgy goal by Japan in the 26th minute when they blatantly fouled our goalie Schwarzer, I thought I'd be happy if they could just draw. What happened in the 83rd, 89th and 92nd minutes were beyond belief and had myself, the night med reg, and the night surg reg jumping off the couches and hugging each other dancing wildly around the common room! Amazing how many feelings a 90min game of soccer can evoke and I could almost feel the nation celebrating as one after each goal! Man I was even crying tears of joy by the end...such was my disbelief at the almost magical ending!

Some people may laugh and wonder what all the fuss is about and how others can get so emotionally involved in what is just a sport, just a game. But what happened tonight was not just a game...it was a defining moment in Australian history. A moment when we burst onto the world soccer scene as a nation and announced in typical gutsy Australian fashion to the rest of the world "BRING IT ON!!!"

Came home this morning and watched my taped replay of the match and the goals at least 10 times! The first goal may have been a fluke but Timmy Cahill's second and Aloisi's third were quality! Pure quality! And who can forget our mate and honorary Australian, Guus! He may have buggered up the first half but his tactics and substitions in the second half were pure genius! Guus mate - you're a legend!

Next stop, world champions Brazil. No worries! We can DO IT!

Socceroos - I salute you!

Empty corridors...

Sitting at home watching the clock tick away...40 mins till I have to leave home for my second night of nights!

Last night was really busy - took me 3 hrs just to do one round of all 8 wards before I finally got to have a few hours rest. In amongst the chest pains, febrile patients, and absconders in the middle of the night, I actually got to watch some of the World Cup! Didn't feel too sleepy at all, courtesy of a 4 hr sleep yesterday afternoon. Gonna try staying awake after each shift and sleeping between 1pm and 9pm or something like that. Will then try staying awake throughout most of my shift rather than trying to scrap together a few hrs of sleep here and there which won't be effective and refreshing anyway. Somehow I have a feeling this approach to this second set of nights will mean I don't find it as bad as my first ever set of nights.

I wonder what tonight holds install for me besides empty corridors...

The end is here...*sigh*...

The day is here...the moment I've dreaded...the end of my Respiratory Medicine term...

10 weeks of mostly less than a handful of patients literally, and most of the day to surf the net, sleep in the library, and basically getting paid to bludge...alas my honeymoon is about to end!

I suppose it's about time too. I was kinda getting bored by finding things to do for 5-6 hrs a day! However, there's no way I'd want to be as busy as I was during my Aged Care term.

Got a week of nights coming up...I can honestly say the only good thing about it being next week is that it coincides with the start of the World Cup and that means I'll have something I actually want to watch in the early hours of the morning! I think I'm gonna try a new tactic this time round to minimise getting called every 15mins! Think I'll do a thorough ward round as soon as I start my shift and then one before finishing off in the morning. I figure that way, I can justifiably ask that I not be paged (except for emergencies) between say 2am and 6am. Perhaps I might be able to get some decent sleep each night or catch up on some soccer! Also thinking about maybe not going to sleep straight after going home each morning but perhaps staying up a while and sleeping from 1pm till 9 pm or so and going to work fresh each night. I guess we'll see how we go!

After that dreaded week of nights, I'll be starting my Emergency term which I can only imagine will be hell on earth! *sigh*...why'd I ever become a doctor...???

I wish...

It's midday and my stomach is rumbling...again...I wish it'd stop...

Pouring down rain today - nice to be in bed, not so nice to be outside...I wish I was in bed...

Only have 2 patients on my list today...I wish I had more...

Finished e-mailing already...I wish I had something to do for the next 5 hrs...

Working rostered overtime this evening...I wish I didn't have to...

*Sigh*...I wish...

Fully sick on my ADO!

Had an ADO yesterday but got gastro from my family!!! First mum got it, then Jon, then dad and finally myself! Had been nauseous all night and finally let it all out in the morning when I could take it no longer. Vomiting is one of those symptoms you feel equivocal about...on the one hand you want to vomit cos you know it'll make you feel better after, but on the other hand, you really don't want to cos you know it's gross and tastes disgusting! When it finally came up, it actually really hurt and I thought 'this must be what it feels like to rupture your oesophagus!' but the pain subsided so it was ok. Afterwards felt a bit better, although not 100 percent. Got up and went downstairs to lie on couch with heater on cos bed for some reason felt cold. I think I had chills and probably a fever as well. Felt really really weak and lethargic like all my energy had been sucked out of me. Pretty much spent all day sleeping on couch taking Buscopan for stomach rumbling. Come evening, had some congee for dinner and kinda felt better, less weak and lethargic.

Overnight felt slightly better and woke up this morning late with a craving for Oportos! Went to Eastgardens with Jon to have lunch. There were so many people there!!! It's like people seriously have nothing better to do on a weekend than indulge themselves on fast food and shopping! I suppose the weather was awful today and yesterday so what other place to be indoors besides home than in a shopping centre! Bought a Giordano jacket for bargain price $40 and then headed over to EB games to check out their sale. Got Halo and Star Wars KOTR 1 for bargain price of 12.50 each! Bumped into Shaun from church there and a second later spotted Siew outside the store waiting for her brother to buy a game! That was a nice surprise considering I haven't seen her since...well since last year I suppose!

Stomach's been rumbling a bit still but I think I'm almost back to normal...got an overtime shift on Monday so hope I'll be right for that...or I could take a sickie...?!

Introducing Dr Moleman...

I'd like to introduce Dr Moleman, my new reg for the next two weeks relieving my old respiratory reg. He's probably around 60 yrs old and has been a career medical officer all his life! He's asian, short with a hunchback, and has this funny asian accent. He spits all over the place when he speaks and boy does he like to speak!!! Our ward rounds this week have been nothing short of 2 hours (normally 30mins with old reg!) and on Monday it took 4 hours to see just 13 patients! Over the course of the week, I have learnt to steer Dr Moleman away from one patient to the next and sometimes I feel like a parent urging his child to follow him saying "C'mon Dr Moleman. Come along now!" When I fail, I inevitably lend myself to hearing Dr Moleman enthusiastically rehash each patient's entire history that I already know, whilst I stand there tapping my feet, trying to avoid the spit flying in my face! But aside from all that, he's a really nice guy and cos he's been around so long, absolutely everybody at Bankstown Hospital knows him on a first name basis!

I think I'll try and take an ADO tomorrow...and maybe next Friday to escape the Moleman!