Dear optometrist (at a chain store which shall not be named),
I do not need to be told that "here in Australia, we need to do this" after telling you my last eye exam was 3 years ago in Taiwan. Repeatedly. Throughout 2 of my 3 visits.
You don't need to explain to me, completely unsolicited, that "we optometrists are like doctors you know" and that "we go to university for 5 years". That's nice to know. Good for you. Would you like a gold star?
You might want to learn how to listen. Instead of chiding me for starting the session late (while I was waiting for you to finish talking to your staff for 5 minutes, watching through your open door as I arrived 5 minutes late myself), and then rushing through your spiel, maybe slow down. Maybe try listening to your "patient". I do not enjoy being talked at, let alone having to endure a mini-tutorial on the structure of the eye and the definition of the cornea. Especially when you're talking a mile a minute without pausing for breath and lamenting that you have no time. So please try to listen when I pipe up sheepishly that I'm actually a doctor, so it's ok to use medical terminology. Don't tell me that "frankly, if you were a lawyer, I'd be telling you the exact same thing. Because here in Australia, we have to tell all our patients ..." Try not to assume a person is fresh off the boat from sub-standard country.
Please don't assume that all doctors are automatically general practitioners. Or that "to be honest, hospital doctors and optometrists would know more about the eye than you."
I also don't need you to exclaim in unabashed joy that you'd like to shake my hand, then proceed to grab my hands on my lap, as I tell you I'd rather wear my glasses and forgo the contact lens exam. (Mostly because I didn't want to come back for a 4th visit.)
Nor do I need you to continuously praise me about the remarkably good health of my eyes. I didn't ask for your opinion. And I have enough self-esteem, thank you. Unlike you, perhaps?
Oh. And maybe brush up on your optometry skills? Prescribing me lenses that are way too strong is probably a problem. Plus, I saw a different optometrist shortly afterwards, and he said you most likely mixed up my glasses and contact lens prescriptions. 30 minutes of supermarket shopping left me with a 3 hours bilateral headache at my temples. Yet, you told me to persist because people always get that with a new prescription. Funny how you commended your sales staff on giving the right advice - for me to stop wearing the said lenses - when I showed up to the last appointment in glasses instead. What was that you told me before? I only kept going back to get a copy of my retinal scan. The one I didn't really want but found myself doing because I was ushered in, and then asked to pay for. Talk about informed consent.
And really, try reading some journals. Or maybe paying more attention during your 5-year university course. Like you mentioned, I may not know much about opthalmology, but I certainly know that in a pregnant person, the cornea can swell and change someone's visual acuity. You commended me on choosing to wear glasses during this time, explaining repeatedly (again, unsolicited) that the cornea becomes more sensitive during pregnancy and you wouldn't have proceeded with the contact lens examination had you known I was pregnant. Um, lady? According to a whole host of journals and Medscape, the cornea actually gets LESS sensitive during pregnancy.
Oh, and speaking of pregnancy. You saw me 3 times. I was there for 15 - 30 mins each time. Yet, you had no clue until I mentioned maternity leave at the end of the last session. You then had the nerve to imply that I didn't tell you that I was pregnant when asked if I had any health problems, and then chuckle that you guess most people wouldn't consider pregnancy a health problem. I could only just stare back in disbelief at that one.
I sincerely hope you won't scar (definitely not literally, I hope!) more "patients" of yours with your condescending, unprofessional attitude. Luckily, your branch sent me an automated feedback email. Hope you learn some better "bedside" matters and professionalism.
- Amy
Showing posts with label d'oh. Show all posts
Showing posts with label d'oh. Show all posts
12.13.2015
12.21.2014
Listening and Hearing are two very different things
I've often stressed that Listening and Hearing are completely different things.
You can hear something, but not be listening. You know, like white noise or that background chatter in a restaurant that you tune out. On the other hand, you can also listen to something or someone, but not hear the message because you've got a preconceived notion or assumption sitting there inside your head already. To truly process something and respond meaningfully, you really got to both hear and listen.
I wish I had the time, energy and strength to tell that to someone at work who was coordinating things today. I was so, so pissed off at the whole thing and quickly gave up trying to be logical with her. She simply wasn't listening. Or hearing for that matter. It was like she was in her own little bubble.
Despite the short time I had to be in the same room as her, let alone the even scantier times I interacted, I think that she's got some sort of commitment issues. Seriously! When one is sitting there with the patient asleep on the operating table and the bones showing, and the surgeon is asking for the drill attachment so he can drill holes into the bones for the screws and plate, the last thing you want to hear is "I can't find it." That in itself would have been fine and we would have gone to Plan B or C.. but the woman couldn't commit and kept coming up with excuses.
"They moved everything, I can't find it."
"What do you mean, you can't find it? Did they throw out all the orthopedic stuff??"
"No, they just moved the store room. I can't find it" she says as she disappears through the door to look for it again.
She comes back and the conversation repeats itself.
By then, I was getting the shits. This was exactly like MY conversation with her...
"What time does the case start?"
"You can come now"
"Ok, but what time does it start?"
"Dialtone..."
Back to the surgeon.. HE was getting the shits too with this vagueness.
"Ok, you can't find it. Can you get me the part somehow though?"
"Well, they moved everything so I can't find it but I can if I have more time"
"Ok, so you can get me the part?"
"I can't find it, they moved everything"
"Look, CAN you or CAN'T you get me the part?"
"They moved everything. I can't find it. I can find it but it will take a long time"
FFS!!!
She couldn't get us the damn part in the end and by the time she came back to tell us that, we were done. The surgeon manually drilled the holes with a drill bit. I have NEVER seen anyone do that in the modern world in my 6 years of orthopedics. The surgeon was muttering about not remembering when the last time he had to do this was. He still couldn't get over it, made obvious by him leaning over and whispering in an incredulous manner about not having access to a drill for such a routine case.
Sigh.
That woman really shouldn't be allowed to coordinate things like this if she can't commit to concrete answers and stick to facts. She also makes assumptions, which is dangerous in any circumstance, but especially when dealing with lives and medicine. The gall! She berated me for not knowing that all emergency cases only happen in one operating theater and asked if it was my first shift. She later muttered it again when I said it was basic information to tell me when to show up and where to show up to, but then added that either one of two theaters were always used after hours. Riiigghttt. Next time I ask, will she be adding another "routine" theater to the list and expecting me to know?
I just needed to get this off my chest. I have half a mind to lodge a complaint about her, but it's not worth my energy to pursue this unless it happens again with the same person. So for now, it's something that I'm just going to have to get over and cool down.
Happy holidays indeed.
You can hear something, but not be listening. You know, like white noise or that background chatter in a restaurant that you tune out. On the other hand, you can also listen to something or someone, but not hear the message because you've got a preconceived notion or assumption sitting there inside your head already. To truly process something and respond meaningfully, you really got to both hear and listen.
I wish I had the time, energy and strength to tell that to someone at work who was coordinating things today. I was so, so pissed off at the whole thing and quickly gave up trying to be logical with her. She simply wasn't listening. Or hearing for that matter. It was like she was in her own little bubble.
Despite the short time I had to be in the same room as her, let alone the even scantier times I interacted, I think that she's got some sort of commitment issues. Seriously! When one is sitting there with the patient asleep on the operating table and the bones showing, and the surgeon is asking for the drill attachment so he can drill holes into the bones for the screws and plate, the last thing you want to hear is "I can't find it." That in itself would have been fine and we would have gone to Plan B or C.. but the woman couldn't commit and kept coming up with excuses.
"They moved everything, I can't find it."
"What do you mean, you can't find it? Did they throw out all the orthopedic stuff??"
"No, they just moved the store room. I can't find it" she says as she disappears through the door to look for it again.
She comes back and the conversation repeats itself.
By then, I was getting the shits. This was exactly like MY conversation with her...
"What time does the case start?"
"You can come now"
"Ok, but what time does it start?"
"Dialtone..."
Back to the surgeon.. HE was getting the shits too with this vagueness.
"Ok, you can't find it. Can you get me the part somehow though?"
"Well, they moved everything so I can't find it but I can if I have more time"
"Ok, so you can get me the part?"
"I can't find it, they moved everything"
"Look, CAN you or CAN'T you get me the part?"
"They moved everything. I can't find it. I can find it but it will take a long time"
FFS!!!
She couldn't get us the damn part in the end and by the time she came back to tell us that, we were done. The surgeon manually drilled the holes with a drill bit. I have NEVER seen anyone do that in the modern world in my 6 years of orthopedics. The surgeon was muttering about not remembering when the last time he had to do this was. He still couldn't get over it, made obvious by him leaning over and whispering in an incredulous manner about not having access to a drill for such a routine case.
Sigh.
That woman really shouldn't be allowed to coordinate things like this if she can't commit to concrete answers and stick to facts. She also makes assumptions, which is dangerous in any circumstance, but especially when dealing with lives and medicine. The gall! She berated me for not knowing that all emergency cases only happen in one operating theater and asked if it was my first shift. She later muttered it again when I said it was basic information to tell me when to show up and where to show up to, but then added that either one of two theaters were always used after hours. Riiigghttt. Next time I ask, will she be adding another "routine" theater to the list and expecting me to know?
I just needed to get this off my chest. I have half a mind to lodge a complaint about her, but it's not worth my energy to pursue this unless it happens again with the same person. So for now, it's something that I'm just going to have to get over and cool down.
Happy holidays indeed.
5.05.2013
Enticed by a devil called social media
So, this Etsy venture has kicked off and we've even got our first sale from a complete stranger somewhere in the the USA. Not bad for a shop a few days old, knowing that some people only get their first sale a few weeks or months down the line!
Am pretty excited about that! But the irony was.. I've been learning so much about this whole online shop thing, about Etsy, joining teams, promoting and such and yet, our first customer came from nowhere. Not from facebook, twitter, wanelo, etsy discussions.. nada. In the process of getting acquainted with all the social media available, I'm having second thoughts less than a week in.
THEY CREATE SO MUCH NOISE!! Noise as in spam, superfluous pixels.. color static. I want to stick to my guns and prove my mettle "the right way," knowing that that means everything and nothing to different people. As much as I appreciate having a certain item of mine being "liked" on Etsy and elsewhere by complete strangers to "help" me promote, I also dislike that feeling that those "likes" are artificial. Random, thoughtless clicking by strangers compelled to do so for the promise that other strangers will do the same for their products.
That's the crux of it, I suppose. I don't like the fact that it's artificial, mindless and there's a motive involved that isn't a bit more altruistic. What have gotten myself into? Dare I ditch them to strike out alone? Do I want to risk the next three months without a single sale? Is it even practical? So many questions to answer! Time for my thinking cap..
Am pretty excited about that! But the irony was.. I've been learning so much about this whole online shop thing, about Etsy, joining teams, promoting and such and yet, our first customer came from nowhere. Not from facebook, twitter, wanelo, etsy discussions.. nada. In the process of getting acquainted with all the social media available, I'm having second thoughts less than a week in.
THEY CREATE SO MUCH NOISE!! Noise as in spam, superfluous pixels.. color static. I want to stick to my guns and prove my mettle "the right way," knowing that that means everything and nothing to different people. As much as I appreciate having a certain item of mine being "liked" on Etsy and elsewhere by complete strangers to "help" me promote, I also dislike that feeling that those "likes" are artificial. Random, thoughtless clicking by strangers compelled to do so for the promise that other strangers will do the same for their products.
That's the crux of it, I suppose. I don't like the fact that it's artificial, mindless and there's a motive involved that isn't a bit more altruistic. What have gotten myself into? Dare I ditch them to strike out alone? Do I want to risk the next three months without a single sale? Is it even practical? So many questions to answer! Time for my thinking cap..
3.06.2013
It's Already March!
Holy moly!
I can't believe it's already March. Autumn. First quarter of the year, gone. Just like that. I haven't even gotten a chance to DO anything yet!
Time, please slow down. By a lot. With a cherry on top.
I can't believe it's already March. Autumn. First quarter of the year, gone. Just like that. I haven't even gotten a chance to DO anything yet!
Time, please slow down. By a lot. With a cherry on top.
10.07.2012
The Numnut Patient
So, in order to vent my frustrations and be completely unprofessional (for I'm too gutless say these things aloud at the time), here is where I'll be collating a list of numnuts I encounter at work. Live, learn, and don't repeat!
Patient is about to undergo a total hip replacement. We find out just before wheeling him into the OR that his xray bag only contains a film of his chest. He makes a complaint about the admissions process, stating it was unclear and he was never explicitly told to bring his hip xrays too.
Patient shows up to ED with a fifth metacarpal (finger) fracture. Why? He punched his friend.
Patient's son requests rehab for his elderly mother who is 5 days post-hemiarthroplasty (half a joint replacement) of her hip. Sounds fair enough right? Not for a demented lady from a nursing home!
Patient cuts her finger a a tin can. Shows up in the ER with her employer (she's an au paire). Everytime someone approached her to do anything (like look at her cut, insert a cannula, etc), she screams like a moron with a litany of "no no noooooo!" in that flat, obnoxious way a two year old would as a tantrum erupted.
Patient complains incessantly of lower back pain. He's had it for over ten years, ever since he injured his back during a football tackle. Immediately after being introduced by the nurse, he straightens up from the pool table and clutches his hip, complaining of hip pain and proceeds to limp towards the examination room. Three steps later, he's walking with normal gait and hops onto the examination bed. Crosses his legs, takes off his shoes and proceeds to crack his toes. One by one. Inches from my face.
Patient cuts her thumb whilst gardening. That was four months ago. She shows up to the ER today because the base of the thumb looks a bit black with cellulitis and has a bit of ooze seeping out from two little puncture wounds. She now wants something done about it.
Did it not occur to you that something was not quite right when the base of your thumb started to develop this black patch that kept growing bigger? Was it not unusual to have redness and swelling and pain there too? Did you not think of seeking a second opinion when your general practitioner started to DIG at the black hole and make it worse? and last of all, WTF were you doing for the past four months?!?!
Patient stubs little toe on an outdoor sign in front of a liquor store. Aforementioned patient gets brought in BY AMBULANCE, but walks in. Superficial laceration seen at the little toe, not actively bleeding. Decided that it would be a good idea to argue with the triage nurse about how soon he should be seen, demanding to be seen by a doctor straight away. Leaves the emergency department without being seen by a doctor. First of all, it's a little fricking cut ON THE LITTLE TOE. Why the hell would you waste a few hundred dollars to call an ambulance, especially when you could have walked with the injury in the first place? And secondly, you selfish moron... your little cut on your little toe is just that. A Little Cut. What gall you have, to insist on a doctor seeing you immediately and ditch the pregnant lady who is bleeding from down there to attend to your little cut on your little toe?! Fuckwit.
Kid falls off his bike and is CARRIED into the emergency department by his parents. Said kid is screaming the house down with his swollen ankle in tow. Said kid isn't such a small kid. Twelve years old. A prepubescent teen. One that refused the ice pack to the ankle. One that is now waiting for xrays. Still snivelling. Still complaining of pain.
Look kid, unless you are Doogie Howser MD, shut up, stop screaming, take your painkillers and let the nurses put ice on your swollen ankle. Otherwise, get out of the emergency department and stop wasting everyone's time and resources. Walk out. I dare you.
♥ ♥ ♥
Patient is about to undergo a total hip replacement. We find out just before wheeling him into the OR that his xray bag only contains a film of his chest. He makes a complaint about the admissions process, stating it was unclear and he was never explicitly told to bring his hip xrays too.
Dude. Hip replacement. Wouldn't hip xrays be logical here? Not the sharpest tack in the barrel..
Patient shows up to ED with a fifth metacarpal (finger) fracture. Why? He punched his friend.
Dude. Stop punching people. Especially friends. People with anger management problems, especially at 16 years old, should not have the luxury to access free medical services to fix up self-inflicted injuries. Like someone once pointed out.. the guy who punched someone else's window gets his hand fixed for free whilst the window's owner needs to call out a repairman and fork out money to fix the damaged window even though it wasn't their fault. now how is that fair?!
Patient's son requests rehab for his elderly mother who is 5 days post-hemiarthroplasty (half a joint replacement) of her hip. Sounds fair enough right? Not for a demented lady from a nursing home!
Ok, so this might be the numnut son but still vexed me to no end. A few more days in hospital getting physiotherapy once a day is NOT gonna help your mother walk better. Are you mental? Rehab means following directions and doing self-exercises. You, of all people, should know as you've got a physiotherapist of a daughter and been through rehab yourself. You seriously think your demented mother who can't speak a word of english and cutely woots like an owl will be able to benefit from rehab!? Get real.
Patient cuts her finger a a tin can. Shows up in the ER with her employer (she's an au paire). Everytime someone approached her to do anything (like look at her cut, insert a cannula, etc), she screams like a moron with a litany of "no no noooooo!" in that flat, obnoxious way a two year old would as a tantrum erupted.
FFS, grow up. I don't have time to deal with an immature little brat like you close to midnight. your tendon is visible and we're doing this for your own good so shut up and deal with it. If you don't want anything done, feel free to leave the department and risk infection or functional damage to your finger. Plus, do you really want to be throwing a tantrum in front of the guy whose kids you're minding as their au paire? Idiot.
Patient complains incessantly of lower back pain. He's had it for over ten years, ever since he injured his back during a football tackle. Immediately after being introduced by the nurse, he straightens up from the pool table and clutches his hip, complaining of hip pain and proceeds to limp towards the examination room. Three steps later, he's walking with normal gait and hops onto the examination bed. Crosses his legs, takes off his shoes and proceeds to crack his toes. One by one. Inches from my face.
First of all, EWWW!! Second of all, if you're going to lie about random body parts being in pain, at least play the part more thoroughly. You must think I'm dumb, or you must not be the brightest bulb in the room, if you think I haven't done my background checks and realized you're dependent on opiods, have a history of aggression, on a detox program and is still craving your drugs. And as for the idiot registrar that asked me to see the guy in the first place, AT LEAST PUT HIM ON REGULAR PAIN RELIEF AND GET A BLOODY XRAY BEFORE YOU CALL FOR AN ORTHO CONSULT NEXT TIME!!
Patient cuts her thumb whilst gardening. That was four months ago. She shows up to the ER today because the base of the thumb looks a bit black with cellulitis and has a bit of ooze seeping out from two little puncture wounds. She now wants something done about it.
Did it not occur to you that something was not quite right when the base of your thumb started to develop this black patch that kept growing bigger? Was it not unusual to have redness and swelling and pain there too? Did you not think of seeking a second opinion when your general practitioner started to DIG at the black hole and make it worse? and last of all, WTF were you doing for the past four months?!?!
Patient stubs little toe on an outdoor sign in front of a liquor store. Aforementioned patient gets brought in BY AMBULANCE, but walks in. Superficial laceration seen at the little toe, not actively bleeding. Decided that it would be a good idea to argue with the triage nurse about how soon he should be seen, demanding to be seen by a doctor straight away. Leaves the emergency department without being seen by a doctor. First of all, it's a little fricking cut ON THE LITTLE TOE. Why the hell would you waste a few hundred dollars to call an ambulance, especially when you could have walked with the injury in the first place? And secondly, you selfish moron... your little cut on your little toe is just that. A Little Cut. What gall you have, to insist on a doctor seeing you immediately and ditch the pregnant lady who is bleeding from down there to attend to your little cut on your little toe?! Fuckwit.
Kid falls off his bike and is CARRIED into the emergency department by his parents. Said kid is screaming the house down with his swollen ankle in tow. Said kid isn't such a small kid. Twelve years old. A prepubescent teen. One that refused the ice pack to the ankle. One that is now waiting for xrays. Still snivelling. Still complaining of pain.
Look kid, unless you are Doogie Howser MD, shut up, stop screaming, take your painkillers and let the nurses put ice on your swollen ankle. Otherwise, get out of the emergency department and stop wasting everyone's time and resources. Walk out. I dare you.
8.25.2012
Bloody Hell
I don't like alcohol. There are very VERY few wines I'll drink. These are all either dessert wines or red wines. Maybe I'm picky. Maybe I'm snooty. Call it what you want. I don't like alcohol.
Especially not tonight.
I don't appreciate being called at 11.35PM to be asked to drive an hour into hospital to review some drunk guy in his late 30s who decided it would be a great idea to stick his arm through a window and give himself a cut that hasn't stopped bleeding somewhere near his elbow.
WHAT DO THEY EXPECT ME TO DO? There's nothing major near the cut so I know it's eventually gonna stop bleeding if they put enough pressure on it and elevate it for long enough. I'm not calling a whole theater crew plus an anesthesiologist back after midnight to dig around someone's arm to burn off some idiot blood vessel that wouldn't stop oozing when I know it's gonna stop.
If I could translate all my angst about the whole situation, and my severe annoyance at having to drive all that way for some idiot fuelled by alcohol, into death stare beams ala Cyclops from the X-Men, I would GLADLY drive all that way to stare first at the stupid laceration and congeal the bleeding blood vessel, shrinking it to oblivion so it will never ever ever dare bleed again. And then, I would set my gaze on the owner of the aforementioned blood vessel and stare HIM into oblivion.
Bloody hell. Literally.
Times like this.. makes it so crystal clear to me what an idiot I am to persist and willingly subject myself to all this. A few more of these to confirm my biased beliefs, and soon, I may be outta here for good. C'mon universe, you know I've already got one foot out the door. Stop trying to hurry me along.
8.10.2012
blown away
What a day today has been
It is my destiny as I have been
I had to get at the Crowne g'day
You can meeting the press my you are
David
There's no point in continuing
Send a direct let you know get it right
Oh no
You have to get any of it and I get out
----
So much for trying to dictate through the Tab..
Let's try again, with fingers on a solid keyboard this time. The gibberish above translates to:
What a day today has been
It's one of the shittiest I have seen
I had to get up at the crack of dawn
To attend my meeting and suppress my yawn.
Oh this is hopeless
There's no point in continuing
Oh, so now you get it right
Or not.
I'm gonna have to continue this at home.
-----
So..
I get home after the meeting
I manage to fit in some shopping even - yay Ikea!
I plod off to work, sleepy
The radio warns of gale force winds up to 100km/hr today
*shrug*
So I drive along and wonder why traffic is especially bad
Things start to click when I encounter about 4 -5 different fire trucks, sirens blazing, during my commute
The radio was reporting havoc throughout Sydney, with a school having to be evacuated because its roof had been blown away.
Then I hit the hill leading up to the hospital and there's traffic.
Something clicked again. Oh no..
Could it be..
!@#$%$@$%
Of all the schools, it had to be the one right next to the hospital.
Of all the intersections they could block, it had to be the choke point where beyond that, there was only one way in and out of the hospital.
The policewoman didn't care that I worked at the hospital.
I should've said I was a DOCTOR and ask if she would take responsibility for poor patient care by not letting me pass. DAMN. My one and only chance to flaunt it and I missed it.
She couldn't care less and made me park down a side road somewhere and said I would just have to walk up the hill to the hospital. Because it wasn't safe to drive, she said.
So I was lucky enough to find a parking spot because the rest of the world was looking for one too. And then I got out of the car and walked. In gale force winds. In rain pouring down sideways because of the wind. With debris. Making my eyes bloodshot and watery. Hard to walk straight. Nearly blew me away. Hard enough as it is without the painful eyes. But with my luck, I had the painful eyes to deal with too. Was basically walking blindly up the road to the hospital, head ducked down, one hand on my hood to keep it from blowing off.
I looked like I had come from a heavy duty session of serious crying by the time I reached the hospital.
I think I would've been a lot safer INSIDE my car than unprotected and walking along the pavement if the winds were blowing and they were worried about injuries from flying debris. Especially when they were still trying to tack remaining roof back on at the school at that stage.
So I get into ED.
Funny how the boys avoided eye contact even though they were in my line of sight. Funny how they suddenly veered off to my right or left. WTF?! Can't deal with a girl who's been crying?
The clincher was that one of them decided to ignore the "crying" completely and proceeded to tell me about his patient he wanted me to review.
I was cranky by then. That didn't help. So I snapped that I already knew about his patient, hence my presence in ED in the first place and that yes, I know about the other patient too but could he please let me at least put my bag down and get the crap outta my eyes first before he continues? Geez.
I still had fluid pouring outta my eyes and was non-stop sniffling throughout his monologue. Guess it wasn't obvious.
Saline did the trick. Eyes better. Bloodshot though. Stupid hard contact lenses. At least I could see again without searing pain shooting through the eyeballs everytime I blinked. Was still sniffling. Went to see a patient. Was happy I had a plan. Was typing it on the computer. THE POWER WENT OUT. !@#$#!#$%#
Lost my progress notes. Computers were rebooting. Mine remained dead. Couldn't be bothered to reboot. Scribbled on paper. Should've stayed with paper I tell you. All this computerized notes stuff is clunky, time-consuming and useless during natural disasters.. when hospitals tend to be busiest. Go figure.
Anyway, the misadventures continue.
The ultrasound machine got killed during the power outage - wasn't hooked to the backup generator and we think the power surge killed it. Fingers crossed for the CT machine. All theater cases except absolute life-threatening emergencies were cancelled for the rest of the day.
I went to catch up with my intern. Put it out there straight up that I was cranky and summarized what had happened, be snappy with the handover. Halfway through, she stopped and asked if I ok because she realized I was sniffling every few seconds. WTF?! What on earth did she think I was telling her right at the beginning?!
Eventually got through the day and got home in one piece.
Now, time for bed so I can face the backlog of cancelled cases in theaters tomorrow.. *Groan*
It is my destiny as I have been
I had to get at the Crowne g'day
You can meeting the press my you are
David
There's no point in continuing
Send a direct let you know get it right
Oh no
You have to get any of it and I get out
----
So much for trying to dictate through the Tab..
Let's try again, with fingers on a solid keyboard this time. The gibberish above translates to:
What a day today has been
It's one of the shittiest I have seen
I had to get up at the crack of dawn
To attend my meeting and suppress my yawn.
Oh this is hopeless
There's no point in continuing
Oh, so now you get it right
Or not.
I'm gonna have to continue this at home.
-----
So..
I get home after the meeting
I manage to fit in some shopping even - yay Ikea!
I plod off to work, sleepy
The radio warns of gale force winds up to 100km/hr today
*shrug*
So I drive along and wonder why traffic is especially bad
Things start to click when I encounter about 4 -5 different fire trucks, sirens blazing, during my commute
The radio was reporting havoc throughout Sydney, with a school having to be evacuated because its roof had been blown away.
Then I hit the hill leading up to the hospital and there's traffic.
Something clicked again. Oh no..
Could it be..
!@#$%$@$%
Of all the schools, it had to be the one right next to the hospital.
Of all the intersections they could block, it had to be the choke point where beyond that, there was only one way in and out of the hospital.
The policewoman didn't care that I worked at the hospital.
I should've said I was a DOCTOR and ask if she would take responsibility for poor patient care by not letting me pass. DAMN. My one and only chance to flaunt it and I missed it.
She couldn't care less and made me park down a side road somewhere and said I would just have to walk up the hill to the hospital. Because it wasn't safe to drive, she said.
So I was lucky enough to find a parking spot because the rest of the world was looking for one too. And then I got out of the car and walked. In gale force winds. In rain pouring down sideways because of the wind. With debris. Making my eyes bloodshot and watery. Hard to walk straight. Nearly blew me away. Hard enough as it is without the painful eyes. But with my luck, I had the painful eyes to deal with too. Was basically walking blindly up the road to the hospital, head ducked down, one hand on my hood to keep it from blowing off.
I looked like I had come from a heavy duty session of serious crying by the time I reached the hospital.
I think I would've been a lot safer INSIDE my car than unprotected and walking along the pavement if the winds were blowing and they were worried about injuries from flying debris. Especially when they were still trying to tack remaining roof back on at the school at that stage.
So I get into ED.
Funny how the boys avoided eye contact even though they were in my line of sight. Funny how they suddenly veered off to my right or left. WTF?! Can't deal with a girl who's been crying?
The clincher was that one of them decided to ignore the "crying" completely and proceeded to tell me about his patient he wanted me to review.
I was cranky by then. That didn't help. So I snapped that I already knew about his patient, hence my presence in ED in the first place and that yes, I know about the other patient too but could he please let me at least put my bag down and get the crap outta my eyes first before he continues? Geez.
I still had fluid pouring outta my eyes and was non-stop sniffling throughout his monologue. Guess it wasn't obvious.
Saline did the trick. Eyes better. Bloodshot though. Stupid hard contact lenses. At least I could see again without searing pain shooting through the eyeballs everytime I blinked. Was still sniffling. Went to see a patient. Was happy I had a plan. Was typing it on the computer. THE POWER WENT OUT. !@#$#!#$%#
Lost my progress notes. Computers were rebooting. Mine remained dead. Couldn't be bothered to reboot. Scribbled on paper. Should've stayed with paper I tell you. All this computerized notes stuff is clunky, time-consuming and useless during natural disasters.. when hospitals tend to be busiest. Go figure.
Anyway, the misadventures continue.
The ultrasound machine got killed during the power outage - wasn't hooked to the backup generator and we think the power surge killed it. Fingers crossed for the CT machine. All theater cases except absolute life-threatening emergencies were cancelled for the rest of the day.
I went to catch up with my intern. Put it out there straight up that I was cranky and summarized what had happened, be snappy with the handover. Halfway through, she stopped and asked if I ok because she realized I was sniffling every few seconds. WTF?! What on earth did she think I was telling her right at the beginning?!
Eventually got through the day and got home in one piece.
Now, time for bed so I can face the backlog of cancelled cases in theaters tomorrow.. *Groan*
5.27.2012
o.0
Came across this patient late one night this past week. She was mere hours after having an anesthetic for her 2-hour elbow operation. She was 94 years old. Standing at the foot of her bed. With the hospital light dimly shining from one side, highlighting all those nooks and crannies. Had to do a double take.
Couldn't help but share the awkwardness...
Couldn't help but share the awkwardness...
1.01.2012
and the tone has been set
Two thousand and twelve.
You've only been here for 23 minutes and you already suck!!
Am stuck in Canberra. Was hoping to catch the Sydney fireworks on TV. Please enlighten me... which of the local channels actually showed live coverage of new years' fireworks, let alone the Sydney ones? All I could find were reruns of some Barbra Streisand movie, an episode of That 70s Show, some sci-fi thing called Paranormal talking about alternate universes and gravitons (interesting stuff tho!), some Star Trek episode where some Trekkie looking like Data was making out with some Elvira-like female and Van Helsing, amongst the numerous SBS channels that included Bollywood movies. I had to search through Youtube to watch the fireworks that I could've seen from our apartment, had I been in Sydney. So, I watched the fireworks belatedly on my laptop, alone. Without the hubby. WHEN I COULD HAVE SEEN IT LIVE, even if it was via TV. Pathetically sad, even for my standards.
Spent the rest of it since I started this post talking to my parents. Lovely as they are, I had wanted to call up my grandma's place to catch up with all my aunts and uncles and cousins. I thought they'd all be there, but nobody tells me anything as usual. Turns out, everyone had left for their respective homes in different countries around the world by today. Ended up yakking to my parents for nearly an hour instead. Was kinda nice to be able to tell them I had thoughts of leaving medicine completely. Again, I blame two thousand and eleven for that change of heart.
Two thousand and twelve. You better shape up and get your act together. Don't you dare emulate two thousand and eleven or I'll kick your butt so far, you'll end up in some parallel universe. *roar*
You've only been here for 23 minutes and you already suck!!
Am stuck in Canberra. Was hoping to catch the Sydney fireworks on TV. Please enlighten me... which of the local channels actually showed live coverage of new years' fireworks, let alone the Sydney ones? All I could find were reruns of some Barbra Streisand movie, an episode of That 70s Show, some sci-fi thing called Paranormal talking about alternate universes and gravitons (interesting stuff tho!), some Star Trek episode where some Trekkie looking like Data was making out with some Elvira-like female and Van Helsing, amongst the numerous SBS channels that included Bollywood movies. I had to search through Youtube to watch the fireworks that I could've seen from our apartment, had I been in Sydney. So, I watched the fireworks belatedly on my laptop, alone. Without the hubby. WHEN I COULD HAVE SEEN IT LIVE, even if it was via TV. Pathetically sad, even for my standards.
Spent the rest of it since I started this post talking to my parents. Lovely as they are, I had wanted to call up my grandma's place to catch up with all my aunts and uncles and cousins. I thought they'd all be there, but nobody tells me anything as usual. Turns out, everyone had left for their respective homes in different countries around the world by today. Ended up yakking to my parents for nearly an hour instead. Was kinda nice to be able to tell them I had thoughts of leaving medicine completely. Again, I blame two thousand and eleven for that change of heart.
Two thousand and twelve. You better shape up and get your act together. Don't you dare emulate two thousand and eleven or I'll kick your butt so far, you'll end up in some parallel universe. *roar*
10.02.2011
oh chute!
uncouth neighbors with no manners irk me to bits. just had to get that off my chest..
out of curiosity, what's the worst "payback" anyone's given to their unruly neighbors? sadly, or not.. mine haven't been too creative. they mostly involved poking a broom or bouncing a ball up at the ceiling to coincide and drown out stomping from upstairs.. or sarcastic passive-aggressive letters. the latest of which had photographic evidence of the oodles of garbage left in front of our garbage chute. seriously, who does that?! they bothered to take the trash all the way to the chute but couldn't be bothered opening the door to dump it in! they're either really stupid, or really lazy.. or both. some people, honestly! *huffs*
out of curiosity, what's the worst "payback" anyone's given to their unruly neighbors? sadly, or not.. mine haven't been too creative. they mostly involved poking a broom or bouncing a ball up at the ceiling to coincide and drown out stomping from upstairs.. or sarcastic passive-aggressive letters. the latest of which had photographic evidence of the oodles of garbage left in front of our garbage chute. seriously, who does that?! they bothered to take the trash all the way to the chute but couldn't be bothered opening the door to dump it in! they're either really stupid, or really lazy.. or both. some people, honestly! *huffs*
8.12.2011
workplace d'ohs
dear patient,
please find your common sense, or just a brain cell or two. please don't show up to clinics six months after your last appointment to whine about having to wait 1+ hours when i raise the possibility of an xray when you had all that time to get your mri done. after all, you were last told to get your mri so we could review further surgical options and unless you think we have xray vision, i don't see how else we could have helped you this time around without your scan.
*****
dear colleague,
please stop screwing us over. especially me. if you were truly sick yesterday evening, then at least have the courtesy to inform the rest of us so we could scramble around and come up with a contingency plan to cover your 7am - 9pm shift today. we are already short-staffed and i've already had to relinquish my precious theater days to help out at clinics. it's not very nice to send us an sms at 6.11 the morning of your sick day if you had known you were sick last night already. unless of course, you are just playing hooky.
*****
dear interns,
please tell your registrars sooner rather than later, if you're having problems with each other. we do not need to find out first from our head of department, asking us to sort you guys out because "your interns are fighting." it's hard not to laugh at the mental picture of a bunch of 20-something year old professionals with the responsibility over a many someone's life in a punch-out on the ward. i'm sure you guys were more civilized than that, but it's not nice to shout at each other either.
*****
dear patient,
please stop being such an attention-seeker by constantly threatening us with legal action. it is not our fault that you alleged your injuries were from your boyfriend throwing you out the window, and that you no longer have a home to go to. please get it through your head that the hospital is not a hotel, that you are not allowed to be drinking bottles of wine and smoking, especially with broken bones that will be keeping you off your feet for a total of 6 weeks. you cannot decide to "visit" home and abscond from the hospital willy-nilly. we're not letting you back in the next time you pull a stunt like that. please do not even try to claim that nobody has taken the time to explain anything to you, including what injuries you have. utter bullshit. you had a fricking operation. you were shown your pre- and post-op xrays. hello? anyone home? how stupid do you think we all are, to not realize you're lying through your teeth?
*****
*sigh*
there were a few more moronic patients, especially at clinic. every other one would be either called "that loser" or "that moron"..
what a day.
glad to be back home with the hubbs for the weekend =)
please find your common sense, or just a brain cell or two. please don't show up to clinics six months after your last appointment to whine about having to wait 1+ hours when i raise the possibility of an xray when you had all that time to get your mri done. after all, you were last told to get your mri so we could review further surgical options and unless you think we have xray vision, i don't see how else we could have helped you this time around without your scan.
*****
dear colleague,
please stop screwing us over. especially me. if you were truly sick yesterday evening, then at least have the courtesy to inform the rest of us so we could scramble around and come up with a contingency plan to cover your 7am - 9pm shift today. we are already short-staffed and i've already had to relinquish my precious theater days to help out at clinics. it's not very nice to send us an sms at 6.11 the morning of your sick day if you had known you were sick last night already. unless of course, you are just playing hooky.
*****
dear interns,
please tell your registrars sooner rather than later, if you're having problems with each other. we do not need to find out first from our head of department, asking us to sort you guys out because "your interns are fighting." it's hard not to laugh at the mental picture of a bunch of 20-something year old professionals with the responsibility over a many someone's life in a punch-out on the ward. i'm sure you guys were more civilized than that, but it's not nice to shout at each other either.
*****
dear patient,
please stop being such an attention-seeker by constantly threatening us with legal action. it is not our fault that you alleged your injuries were from your boyfriend throwing you out the window, and that you no longer have a home to go to. please get it through your head that the hospital is not a hotel, that you are not allowed to be drinking bottles of wine and smoking, especially with broken bones that will be keeping you off your feet for a total of 6 weeks. you cannot decide to "visit" home and abscond from the hospital willy-nilly. we're not letting you back in the next time you pull a stunt like that. please do not even try to claim that nobody has taken the time to explain anything to you, including what injuries you have. utter bullshit. you had a fricking operation. you were shown your pre- and post-op xrays. hello? anyone home? how stupid do you think we all are, to not realize you're lying through your teeth?
*****
*sigh*
there were a few more moronic patients, especially at clinic. every other one would be either called "that loser" or "that moron"..
what a day.
glad to be back home with the hubbs for the weekend =)
2.23.2011
double-crossed
how many ways can you screw a person over, over the same issue?
i whinged and whined about how i got screwed over regarding Bega not even two weeks ago.
well, it appears that i am in the process of getting screwed over again. over Bega. by the same person. such awesomeness!
i had initially wanted to send this out as an email to the consultant organizing the Bega roster, and cc: the Screwer-upper but in the end, i think it was more of a therapeutic exercise. i could organize my thoughts better after typing it all out and i feel less angry.
here we go:
I didn't feel the need to justify or further elaborate on my personal reasons for not going to Bega in April. One of which was just based on the principle of the matter!! Such nerve! Let's not mention that we've already booked and paid for plane tickets from Bega to Sydney for the hubby this Sunday. Or the fact that I was lucky enough to have expressions of interests in this unit for this odd time period (I have an wonderful agent!). Or the fact that my orthodontic treatment has been changed due to the unexpected secondment happening more than a month earlier than planned. Will S reimburse the extra costs entailed? Will S find me accommodation for the 10 week period where I will be homeless if she insists on remaining at Bega while other tenants stay at my apartment unit? I could go on, but I'm tired of harping on the issue. I just needed to get it out of my system once and for all, and pray to any and every sentient being out there that S doesn't succeed in screwing me over again.
i whinged and whined about how i got screwed over regarding Bega not even two weeks ago.
well, it appears that i am in the process of getting screwed over again. over Bega. by the same person. such awesomeness!
i had initially wanted to send this out as an email to the consultant organizing the Bega roster, and cc: the Screwer-upper but in the end, i think it was more of a therapeutic exercise. i could organize my thoughts better after typing it all out and i feel less angry.
here we go:
Dear Consultant and Screwer-upper (we shall call you S from now on - Screwer-upper is too long to type every time),
This is a follow-up to our conversations today to ensure there is no miscommunication.
As discussed with Consultant, the roster for secondment to Bega will remain as it currently is and I will be going to Bega this coming Sunday in preparation for commencing work Monday, February 28th.
As discussed with S, I do not agree to commence my secondment to Bega in April for various reasons. These include:
- Other registrars being affected with a new Bega roster, as they have made plans according to the current roster. This includes a three-way swap between S and two other registrars over several weekends in the coming months that has been agreed upon, and the changes reflected in the current main hospital roster sent out to the group. It is above and beyond my role to be responsible for shifts accepted by my colleagues based on their personal reasons when it was not allocated on the original roster.
- I have made new plans, on short notice as well, to accommodate the current Bega roster, as I was under the impression 1+ week ago that I was originally allocated to go to Bega in April. Some of these plans are irreversible, especially on short notice again. One of these plans, as mentioned, involves my unit being sub-leased for the time I have been rostered to work in Bega. I feel that it would be highly unprofessional to break my agreement and ask my tenants to vacate on such short notice, potentially leaving them homeless or in temporary accommodation so I can remain in my current unit if I was to stay at the main hospital as S suggested for me to do.
- S feels that S has just settled in at Bega and would like to remain, rather than move back to Canberra after two weeks. I acknowledged that everyone requires time to settle in, and it would have been easier for everyone involved, both hospitals and registrars, if we had followed the original plan of going to Bega in 10-week blocks. However, the current Bega roster was drawn up to coincide with the wishes of S as S had discussed with Consultant less than two weeks ago. This was after two long conversations prior to this decision stating that I did not agree to the arrangements as stated on the Bega roster, and that if arrangements could be made to stay for two weeks on short notice, why not remain for the next 8 weeks? The rest of the group have now planned rostering and personal activities around the current Bega roster. Everyone in the group has been inconvinienced in some way due to the changes, including a restructured main hospital roster with more overtime shifts per week and no theater days for unaccredited registrars.
- The main hospital roster has undergone a major restructuring, with some shifts being removed altogether. This is mostly because of the lack of registrars and recent emergency events that have resulted in registrars unable to work their rostered shifts. Given that the restructured roster is only one week old, it would be detrimental to the functioning of the subspecialty team to need to review the main hospital roster again to accommodate for any changes caused by a new Bega roster.
I have suggested once again to S, that if she is unhappy regarding the current working roster, that she should speak to Consultant about possible alternatives like she had previously done.
I have stated that I do not, and cannot speak on behalf of my other colleagues at the main hospital but I do not agree to further changes to the Bega roster given the above reasons.
S has stated that S will speak to the other unaccredited registrars to find alternative arrangements if possible to allow S to stay at Bega.
I didn't feel the need to justify or further elaborate on my personal reasons for not going to Bega in April. One of which was just based on the principle of the matter!! Such nerve! Let's not mention that we've already booked and paid for plane tickets from Bega to Sydney for the hubby this Sunday. Or the fact that I was lucky enough to have expressions of interests in this unit for this odd time period (I have an wonderful agent!). Or the fact that my orthodontic treatment has been changed due to the unexpected secondment happening more than a month earlier than planned. Will S reimburse the extra costs entailed? Will S find me accommodation for the 10 week period where I will be homeless if she insists on remaining at Bega while other tenants stay at my apartment unit? I could go on, but I'm tired of harping on the issue. I just needed to get it out of my system once and for all, and pray to any and every sentient being out there that S doesn't succeed in screwing me over again.
1.06.2011
I didn't study IT but still...
In the Life of Amy, there are always WTF moments. Some are blips while others have a lot more impact. The new year didn't waste much time in throwing me one of them.
The phone rings.
*drumroll*
I don't know if you've had bad experiences with phone cards, where one party can't hear a thing and the other party's shouting "hello" until their face turns blue but when I picked up the phone, it was kinda like that. There wasn't a dial tone or static.. just silence. Nobody said hello back. It was kind of annoying after the third time it happened, not to mention a tad creepy at that stage. But then, this voice answers back. A voice with Indian-accented English telling me it belonged to John Smith and he was asking for a Mrs. Lee.
*keep your mind open, keep it open. don't judge too fast, don't jump to any conclusions. be nice to the telemarketer and then hang up soon*
So John Smith tells me he's returning a call for a technical assistance request coming from my computer. I told him I've never lodged such a request before and asked how he got my number. He misunderstood, or misheard me and was incredulous that I had no computer. *shrug* What the heck, why not? I went along with that and said he must have gotten the wrong number because I didn't have a computer, so why would I lodge a technical assistance request?
The scary part was that he was able to read out my phone number, initial and last name, and my street address. Now that got my attention. I had to find out where he got my info. I knew they were shady because a lot of things didn't make sense, telling me to run programs because I had spyware on my computer that couldn't be eradicated via anti-spyware software or deletion of the files - that only specialized people could remove it. Bullshit. Alarm bells were having a field day in my head. The long and short of it was that I had fun driving them insane but I was still a tad freaked after the call. If they were really legit, which I highly doubt, then they really need to work on establishing their credibility quick smart.
So all these things didn't add up. I pushed all their buttons and John eventually got fed up, put me on hold and the next thing I knew, there was another guy with Indian-accented English on the phone with me who introduced himself as the supervisor.
John had wanted me to type in "prefetch spyware" in my Windows start menu run prompt. He treated me like an idiot and spelt it all out - "peter robert echo flow-.." you get the point. I was feeling a tad mean.. and I did tune out halfway through because I got bored. So I got John to repeat it all again halfway through. Googled it at the same time mind you, but I wasn't about to go run some program - legit or not - just because some stranger calls up and tells me to. Who knows if it's gonna trigger some remote-access thing, or if reading whatever pops up on my screen to them will give them further information about my system at the very least.
And I just keep saying yes, I got what he spelt out. He asked what operating system I'm using and I refused to answer that too. Shouldn't he know what OS I'm using if he indeed received an error report from my computer? I asked him that, and he wouldn't answer my question and just kept repeating his question. (Granted, I appreciate that some error messages don't specify OS and other information but I was very loathe to reveal any information to the guy anyway).
Seeing that we were going around in circles, I bluntly told him I refuse to run any program until he tells me what the program is supposed to do, and what I'm supposed to see. The guy kept asking me to read out what was on my screen! This is when he got fed up and the "supervisor" got called in.
The guy was a lot more fun to talk to. So much so, that he got really agitated and tried to intimidate me. Professional.
me: What am I supposed to see on my screen when I run the program?
I forget how the conversation went exactly but here's the gist of it...At some point in the conversation, we get back to how they ended up with my details again. He revealed that they apparently received these error reports and will randomly chase a customer up sporadically, getting their contact details off the white pages. (As for that, it's utter crap. I went to look myself up on the white pages - they got my address correct, which creeps me out because my details are wrongly listed on the white pages.)
S: You think you can just delete it and that's the end of your problem. You think that your antivirus software will find it? (I was thinking to myself - well, Microsoft Security Essentials has deemed my computer safe and if you're calling from any branch of Microsoft, you would think you wouldn't rat out your own anti-virus program...) They can't find these spyware. You think you update the anti-virus program and you'll be fine but you're also downloading new virus files into your computer.
Mind you, I was getting more and more amused as his voice got louder and higher the more he ranted. So I let him go on for a bit. I stayed firmly obstinate but polite and kept thanking him, and that I'll fix the problem. It irritated him to no end.. to the point where he challenged me, asking if I worked in the IT industry, lol. I denied that, and man, you should've heard him go off! He ranted that if I thought all computer problems could be fixed by the user, then what did I think tech support was for. I reminded him that I didn't solicit this call, but thank you for alerting me to my problem and I will deal with it.
He gave up and hung up.
I must admit, I would have sounded like a horrible little prat but to my defence, I did explain my attitude to the guy. I know I didn't need to but I did. Did they think I would willy-nilly run things on my computer based on what they told me? In all the years (we're talking since Windows 3.1 here) that Windows has failed me with errors and BSODs, not to mention the numerous error reports automatically sent (no, didn't disable it after my most recent reformat and install), why would I suddenly get a phone call from tech support now? Or that their tech support customer database is reliant on http://whitepages.com.au. Now, really. The guy just talked over me when I brought up all these points in my attempt to tell him I don't trust him. Ah well. Live and learn.
My only regret is that I didn't take down their phone number. It's the only thing I always forget to do until hindsight kicks in. Poo.
The phone rings.
*drumroll*
I don't know if you've had bad experiences with phone cards, where one party can't hear a thing and the other party's shouting "hello" until their face turns blue but when I picked up the phone, it was kinda like that. There wasn't a dial tone or static.. just silence. Nobody said hello back. It was kind of annoying after the third time it happened, not to mention a tad creepy at that stage. But then, this voice answers back. A voice with Indian-accented English telling me it belonged to John Smith and he was asking for a Mrs. Lee.
*keep your mind open, keep it open. don't judge too fast, don't jump to any conclusions. be nice to the telemarketer and then hang up soon*
So John Smith tells me he's returning a call for a technical assistance request coming from my computer. I told him I've never lodged such a request before and asked how he got my number. He misunderstood, or misheard me and was incredulous that I had no computer. *shrug* What the heck, why not? I went along with that and said he must have gotten the wrong number because I didn't have a computer, so why would I lodge a technical assistance request?
The scary part was that he was able to read out my phone number, initial and last name, and my street address. Now that got my attention. I had to find out where he got my info. I knew they were shady because a lot of things didn't make sense, telling me to run programs because I had spyware on my computer that couldn't be eradicated via anti-spyware software or deletion of the files - that only specialized people could remove it. Bullshit. Alarm bells were having a field day in my head. The long and short of it was that I had fun driving them insane but I was still a tad freaked after the call. If they were really legit, which I highly doubt, then they really need to work on establishing their credibility quick smart.
So all these things didn't add up. I pushed all their buttons and John eventually got fed up, put me on hold and the next thing I knew, there was another guy with Indian-accented English on the phone with me who introduced himself as the supervisor.
John had wanted me to type in "prefetch spyware" in my Windows start menu run prompt. He treated me like an idiot and spelt it all out - "peter robert echo flow-.." you get the point. I was feeling a tad mean.. and I did tune out halfway through because I got bored. So I got John to repeat it all again halfway through. Googled it at the same time mind you, but I wasn't about to go run some program - legit or not - just because some stranger calls up and tells me to. Who knows if it's gonna trigger some remote-access thing, or if reading whatever pops up on my screen to them will give them further information about my system at the very least.
And I just keep saying yes, I got what he spelt out. He asked what operating system I'm using and I refused to answer that too. Shouldn't he know what OS I'm using if he indeed received an error report from my computer? I asked him that, and he wouldn't answer my question and just kept repeating his question. (Granted, I appreciate that some error messages don't specify OS and other information but I was very loathe to reveal any information to the guy anyway).
Seeing that we were going around in circles, I bluntly told him I refuse to run any program until he tells me what the program is supposed to do, and what I'm supposed to see. The guy kept asking me to read out what was on my screen! This is when he got fed up and the "supervisor" got called in.
The guy was a lot more fun to talk to. So much so, that he got really agitated and tried to intimidate me. Professional.
Supervisor (S): What do you see on your screen?
me: What do you mean?
S: What do you see on your screen?
me: What do you mean? I don't see anything unusual.S: What do you see on your screen?
me: I'm sorry, I don't understand. Am I supposed to see anything?
S: What do you see on your screen?
me: (grinning by now) I don't see anything! I don't understand. What am I supposed to see? I haven't done anything yet.
S: silence. The previous guy told you to type in prefetch spyware. Did you not do that?
me: No. I told him I wouldn't do it until he told me what I was supposed to see, and what the program is supposed to do.
S: Why didn't you do what he said? Run the program!me: What am I supposed to see on my screen when I run the program?
S: Type in prefetch spyware and tell me what you see in the window that pops up
I forget how the conversation went exactly but here's the gist of it...At some point in the conversation, we get back to how they ended up with my details again. He revealed that they apparently received these error reports and will randomly chase a customer up sporadically, getting their contact details off the white pages. (As for that, it's utter crap. I went to look myself up on the white pages - they got my address correct, which creeps me out because my details are wrongly listed on the white pages.)
me: So you're telling me I have spyware and you want to get rid of it for me. So what kind of file names am I looking for after I run the prefetch?
S: Any sort of programs. Exe files, PDFs..
me: So if you received a technical error report saying that spyware caused my Windows error, can you tell me what the spyware is so I can deal with it?
S: You need to run the program and then tell me what you see on your screen!
me: So you're telling me that my problem is that I have spyware on my computer and you want to tell me how to fix it.S: You have spyware on your computer. Now do you think this is a good thing? It may contain all your credit card numbers, passwords and other information about you. Now, you you think it is a good idea to have this on your computer so hackers can extract the information at any time?
me: So you're telling me that my problem is that I have spyware on my computer and you want to tell me how to fix it, right? Then can you please tell me what spyware I need to look for and I'll deal with it. I have anti-virus protection that is up to date and am very aware of what is on my computer.S: You think you can just delete it and that's the end of your problem. You think that your antivirus software will find it? (I was thinking to myself - well, Microsoft Security Essentials has deemed my computer safe and if you're calling from any branch of Microsoft, you would think you wouldn't rat out your own anti-virus program...) They can't find these spyware. You think you update the anti-virus program and you'll be fine but you're also downloading new virus files into your computer.
Mind you, I was getting more and more amused as his voice got louder and higher the more he ranted. So I let him go on for a bit. I stayed firmly obstinate but polite and kept thanking him, and that I'll fix the problem. It irritated him to no end.. to the point where he challenged me, asking if I worked in the IT industry, lol. I denied that, and man, you should've heard him go off! He ranted that if I thought all computer problems could be fixed by the user, then what did I think tech support was for. I reminded him that I didn't solicit this call, but thank you for alerting me to my problem and I will deal with it.
He gave up and hung up.
I must admit, I would have sounded like a horrible little prat but to my defence, I did explain my attitude to the guy. I know I didn't need to but I did. Did they think I would willy-nilly run things on my computer based on what they told me? In all the years (we're talking since Windows 3.1 here) that Windows has failed me with errors and BSODs, not to mention the numerous error reports automatically sent (no, didn't disable it after my most recent reformat and install), why would I suddenly get a phone call from tech support now? Or that their tech support customer database is reliant on http://whitepages.com.au. Now, really. The guy just talked over me when I brought up all these points in my attempt to tell him I don't trust him. Ah well. Live and learn.
My only regret is that I didn't take down their phone number. It's the only thing I always forget to do until hindsight kicks in. Poo.
1.03.2011
the ghost of christmas past came late this year
So I get sidetracked easily, contrary to popular belief although hG would contest that. He's seen the other side of me. The one I keep locked up so the rest of the world can continue to believe that I'm all grown up. Anyway, I came across a facebook update by a classmate of mine from junior high, warning people about this people-searcher called spokeo.
Curiosity got the better of me, and despite freaking out not just five minutes before at the horrible thought of having to know enough anatomy of the abdomen to "tutor" third year medical students for tomorrow, my fingers took me to the spokeo site. It's not like typing your own name into google you know. It's a tad more personal, a tad more nail-bitingish given that you have the option of searching for your online presence by username. So, I did. And a zillion things came up. Thankfully, I have an uber-common name. Yay! And, apparently, my choices of online usernames are a tad humdrum.. or so odd that nobody else in their right mind would be able to look me up. Yay!
And so, I'm sitting there clicking on everyone else's page, curious to see what my dopplegangers-by-name have put on their pages, what they look like and so forth. And then, I click on this one link that took me to my own site - a 2006 version. Was expecting to be pleasantly surprised by one of my dopplegangers-by-name, so imagine my surprise when I realized I was reading my entries of old. An odd feeling, I tell you - half spooky, half familiar. I don't recall creating it and worst of all, I don't recall why I came up with some of the pages I did. My old self in 2006 wasn't very precise either, so I didn't leave myself many clues to piece together my questions although I think I had every plan to continue my cyberspace presence there for a long long while.
How many plots of cyberspace have you claimed? How much information have you let loose for all to grab? Enough for some of 'em deep-crawlers like spokeo, intelius, or pipl to aggregate it all into a tidy little package that someone else could use to create a profile page on your behalf? Just think about it a little, and if you need to, buff up your privacy settings for your various online profiles. (Unless you actually like the prospect of acquiring a potential stalker, or two. Personally, I've been through it and it was scary as hell. I'll pass.)
Curiosity got the better of me, and despite freaking out not just five minutes before at the horrible thought of having to know enough anatomy of the abdomen to "tutor" third year medical students for tomorrow, my fingers took me to the spokeo site. It's not like typing your own name into google you know. It's a tad more personal, a tad more nail-bitingish given that you have the option of searching for your online presence by username. So, I did. And a zillion things came up. Thankfully, I have an uber-common name. Yay! And, apparently, my choices of online usernames are a tad humdrum.. or so odd that nobody else in their right mind would be able to look me up. Yay!
And so, I'm sitting there clicking on everyone else's page, curious to see what my dopplegangers-by-name have put on their pages, what they look like and so forth. And then, I click on this one link that took me to my own site - a 2006 version. Was expecting to be pleasantly surprised by one of my dopplegangers-by-name, so imagine my surprise when I realized I was reading my entries of old. An odd feeling, I tell you - half spooky, half familiar. I don't recall creating it and worst of all, I don't recall why I came up with some of the pages I did. My old self in 2006 wasn't very precise either, so I didn't leave myself many clues to piece together my questions although I think I had every plan to continue my cyberspace presence there for a long long while.
How many plots of cyberspace have you claimed? How much information have you let loose for all to grab? Enough for some of 'em deep-crawlers like spokeo, intelius, or pipl to aggregate it all into a tidy little package that someone else could use to create a profile page on your behalf? Just think about it a little, and if you need to, buff up your privacy settings for your various online profiles. (Unless you actually like the prospect of acquiring a potential stalker, or two. Personally, I've been through it and it was scary as hell. I'll pass.)
9.01.2010
you're on
you're on.
as simple as that.
one phone call. two and a half words. the best words ever.
and with that, next year's career and financial stability sorted.
now comes the hard part..
moving again.
this time, i'll be a missus.
hmm.
wouldn't have ever imagined to have the need to quote my alma mater's motto but this is as good a time as any... "i look ahead"
goes to show, yet again as it usually happens in the life of amy.. never say never.
as simple as that.
one phone call. two and a half words. the best words ever.
and with that, next year's career and financial stability sorted.
now comes the hard part..
moving again.
this time, i'll be a missus.
hmm.
wouldn't have ever imagined to have the need to quote my alma mater's motto but this is as good a time as any... "i look ahead"
goes to show, yet again as it usually happens in the life of amy.. never say never.
5.22.2010
all in a day's work
what's the oddest thing that's happened to you lately?
i vaguely remember a time when these randoms would happen on a more frequent, regular basis and i must admit, i kind of miss my misadventures. the boy.. now upgraded to the fiance.. would most likely be shaking his head, glad that my magnetism for the oddballs is waning but i beg to differ. gone are the days of random people sending me their resumes (nice to know they were once blueberry pickers proficient with microsoft word.. but hell if that'll be the clincher to the date they were after!!).
but that being said.. i seem to be attracting same-sex oddballs nowadays. a funny thing happened on the way to the bathroom just the other day during fracture clinic. sick, sniffly, tired, sleep-deprived with a headache knowing there were 57 patients waiting to see you/your registrar was not an ideal state to be in, but sick, sniffly, tired, sleep-deprived with a headache with 57 patients waiting to see you/your registrar and desperately needing to pee was even worse. dashed off to the bathroom and barely had time to arrange myself and do my stuff when i hear a knocking on the door not 3 seconds into utter bliss. "someone's in hereeee!!" i called out. i didn't expect to hear "i have a question to ask you" as the reply. i was so utterly perplexed i forgot what i was doing for a bit in an attempt to make sense of the reply. failed to do so and took my time. imagine my horror when i walked out of the bathroom.. the one-cubicle bathroom with walls so thin i could hear the waiting room tv whilst inside.. yes, that bathroom. imagine the horror when i got accosted by an elderly lady who promptly asked "do you remember me?" my brain was more like "omgomgomgsheheardmepee.omgomgeew!" took me a few more seconds to focus on what the lady was saying and she eventually lifted up her skirt to show me her week-old bandaged knee from her knee replacement surgery to ask when her dressings should be changed. i managed to splutter out a reasonable response and she happily hobbled away to her physiotherapy appointment, leaving me gobsmacked in the middle of the corridor with the realization that i had just encountered my first stalker patient.
i vaguely remember a time when these randoms would happen on a more frequent, regular basis and i must admit, i kind of miss my misadventures. the boy.. now upgraded to the fiance.. would most likely be shaking his head, glad that my magnetism for the oddballs is waning but i beg to differ. gone are the days of random people sending me their resumes (nice to know they were once blueberry pickers proficient with microsoft word.. but hell if that'll be the clincher to the date they were after!!).
but that being said.. i seem to be attracting same-sex oddballs nowadays. a funny thing happened on the way to the bathroom just the other day during fracture clinic. sick, sniffly, tired, sleep-deprived with a headache knowing there were 57 patients waiting to see you/your registrar was not an ideal state to be in, but sick, sniffly, tired, sleep-deprived with a headache with 57 patients waiting to see you/your registrar and desperately needing to pee was even worse. dashed off to the bathroom and barely had time to arrange myself and do my stuff when i hear a knocking on the door not 3 seconds into utter bliss. "someone's in hereeee!!" i called out. i didn't expect to hear "i have a question to ask you" as the reply. i was so utterly perplexed i forgot what i was doing for a bit in an attempt to make sense of the reply. failed to do so and took my time. imagine my horror when i walked out of the bathroom.. the one-cubicle bathroom with walls so thin i could hear the waiting room tv whilst inside.. yes, that bathroom. imagine the horror when i got accosted by an elderly lady who promptly asked "do you remember me?" my brain was more like "omgomgomgsheheardmepee.omgomgeew!" took me a few more seconds to focus on what the lady was saying and she eventually lifted up her skirt to show me her week-old bandaged knee from her knee replacement surgery to ask when her dressings should be changed. i managed to splutter out a reasonable response and she happily hobbled away to her physiotherapy appointment, leaving me gobsmacked in the middle of the corridor with the realization that i had just encountered my first stalker patient.
4.23.2010
tragicomedy
today was tragic. truly.
in two months' time, in another two years' time.. i'll be laughing about this. hell, this might even make it as a wedding story as an example of the story of my life, but at the present moment, i'm only laughing because it's so tragic i don't know whether i should laugh or cry.
so here goes the saga of amy trying to get her aussie driver's license. i have to convert from my international one i've been driving on for the past eight years ever since i got permanent residency this year.
part one: the knowledge test
strike one - i book one friday, take time off work and miss my appointment because i took a ticket instead of just approaching the counter. by the time i got there, i was half an hour past my appointed time and they told me they turned off all computers by 4pm. i'm thinking in my head - can't you just boot it up? it's just an imac after all. but... i don't contest it and rebook for the next week.
strike two - managed to get another block of time off and then comes the debacle regarding my name. it turned the flavor of "your name on your taiwanese driver's licence despite the sanctioned translation doesn't match your name on your photo ID we issued even though both names are in our system.. but how can we prove that you are the same person if you have different names?" it took another half hour and the involvement of the branch manager to explain that the taiwanese license has no english characters to input my english name and therefore, the translation service cannot add my english name to their translation. i showed them my healthcare card, my credit card, atm card and my international driver's licence all showing both chinese and english names and they still were asking how they could prove i was me. "look at the frickin' photo, does that not help?" no.. they wanted my passport. i asked them how (the f@#$) that would help, given that it shows the same name as my credit card and has a picture of me, just like my license has!
no strike three - i pass my test, third appointment lucky and book in for an on-road driving test. they were surprised and looked at me like an idiot when i refused my learner's license after they tell me i wouldn't be able to drive without a fully-licensed passenger with me. i asked them how i would get home from the test then - they repeated the above. i thought it was kind of warped and asked if there was an alternative. so they issued me a new photo id with a crazy bad photo instead of returning the one i just handed in half an hour ago because that one was "void" ... wtf. can't you just give me the card sitting there on your desk!? so i drove home on my international licence.
part two: the driving test
so i arrive after leaving my team on a busy afternoon with two concurrent theaters running. i get everyone's blessings, including my head of department's even though i had just bailed on his elective surgery list this afternoon. i turn up to the driving test center and realize i forgot my wallet at the hospital. there goes my photo id, my credit cards... so i have other documents plus passport to lodge my application. i approach the window instead of taking a number (i'm learning!!) and get greeted by a surly asian dude with a true blue aussie accent. his name was phil. i'll remember that for a while, after what happened today. i have half a mind to lodge a complaint about phil. phil who was rude - when i asked if i could just explain to my friend that we just started the test and could he please wait for us, phil deadpanned "there is no need, proceed ahead" while completely ignoring my friend who was by the passenger's window next to phil's head by this time. i drove off leaving my friend a tad bewildered but he was a smartie and figured it out eventually. phil, the phil whom i resent for marking me wrongly. do you not think i would know if i had been driving in the middle of the road? do you not think other cars would have honked at me then? do you not think that my stopping the car with a soft jerk at the stop signs would erase all doubt of a rolling stop but i ended up getting marked down for a rolling stop? phil who was unprofessional - tapping impatiently while i was crawling through the 40k/h school zones as required. oh, this phil picked on other things during my test but what really gets my blood boiling is that i see him as a hypocrite. if you dare to fail me by nitpicking and not being able to back up your marks with the evidence, like tell me which stop sign i failed to stop completely at.. then i dare you to drive up to your own "exacting standards" and i'd like to see you pass your driving test. asshole.
so now, i have to resit my driving test next week.
in the meantime, they stuck me with a learner's license meaning i can't really drive to work alone anymore and will need to carpool. sux0rs. =(
in two months' time, in another two years' time.. i'll be laughing about this. hell, this might even make it as a wedding story as an example of the story of my life, but at the present moment, i'm only laughing because it's so tragic i don't know whether i should laugh or cry.
so here goes the saga of amy trying to get her aussie driver's license. i have to convert from my international one i've been driving on for the past eight years ever since i got permanent residency this year.
part one: the knowledge test
strike one - i book one friday, take time off work and miss my appointment because i took a ticket instead of just approaching the counter. by the time i got there, i was half an hour past my appointed time and they told me they turned off all computers by 4pm. i'm thinking in my head - can't you just boot it up? it's just an imac after all. but... i don't contest it and rebook for the next week.
strike two - managed to get another block of time off and then comes the debacle regarding my name. it turned the flavor of "your name on your taiwanese driver's licence despite the sanctioned translation doesn't match your name on your photo ID we issued even though both names are in our system.. but how can we prove that you are the same person if you have different names?" it took another half hour and the involvement of the branch manager to explain that the taiwanese license has no english characters to input my english name and therefore, the translation service cannot add my english name to their translation. i showed them my healthcare card, my credit card, atm card and my international driver's licence all showing both chinese and english names and they still were asking how they could prove i was me. "look at the frickin' photo, does that not help?" no.. they wanted my passport. i asked them how (the f@#$) that would help, given that it shows the same name as my credit card and has a picture of me, just like my license has!
no strike three - i pass my test, third appointment lucky and book in for an on-road driving test. they were surprised and looked at me like an idiot when i refused my learner's license after they tell me i wouldn't be able to drive without a fully-licensed passenger with me. i asked them how i would get home from the test then - they repeated the above. i thought it was kind of warped and asked if there was an alternative. so they issued me a new photo id with a crazy bad photo instead of returning the one i just handed in half an hour ago because that one was "void" ... wtf. can't you just give me the card sitting there on your desk!? so i drove home on my international licence.
part two: the driving test
so i arrive after leaving my team on a busy afternoon with two concurrent theaters running. i get everyone's blessings, including my head of department's even though i had just bailed on his elective surgery list this afternoon. i turn up to the driving test center and realize i forgot my wallet at the hospital. there goes my photo id, my credit cards... so i have other documents plus passport to lodge my application. i approach the window instead of taking a number (i'm learning!!) and get greeted by a surly asian dude with a true blue aussie accent. his name was phil. i'll remember that for a while, after what happened today. i have half a mind to lodge a complaint about phil. phil who was rude - when i asked if i could just explain to my friend that we just started the test and could he please wait for us, phil deadpanned "there is no need, proceed ahead" while completely ignoring my friend who was by the passenger's window next to phil's head by this time. i drove off leaving my friend a tad bewildered but he was a smartie and figured it out eventually. phil, the phil whom i resent for marking me wrongly. do you not think i would know if i had been driving in the middle of the road? do you not think other cars would have honked at me then? do you not think that my stopping the car with a soft jerk at the stop signs would erase all doubt of a rolling stop but i ended up getting marked down for a rolling stop? phil who was unprofessional - tapping impatiently while i was crawling through the 40k/h school zones as required. oh, this phil picked on other things during my test but what really gets my blood boiling is that i see him as a hypocrite. if you dare to fail me by nitpicking and not being able to back up your marks with the evidence, like tell me which stop sign i failed to stop completely at.. then i dare you to drive up to your own "exacting standards" and i'd like to see you pass your driving test. asshole.
so now, i have to resit my driving test next week.
in the meantime, they stuck me with a learner's license meaning i can't really drive to work alone anymore and will need to carpool. sux0rs. =(
4.21.2010
schticks and scatterbrains
and a scatterbrain i'll be
i'm sorry for all the troubles
that seem to follow me!
it sometimes feels like rainclouds
strive to do their best
to drench and soak and make me shiver
to put me to the test
but then i see that silver lining
the one that makes them rainbows
there're always lessons to be learnt
to keep me on my tippy toes
like just this past week
i've been such a dope
i've locked myself out again
should've learnt but.. nope =(
and then came the RTA
they're the Aussie DMV
they refused to see that i was me
despite my guarantee!
my driver's licence was apparently bad
for it didn't match my cards
i showed them bills and more and more
but they viewed them with disregard
i had to come back with my passport
which showed yet another name
couldn't they just look at my pic
and see that they're all the same?!
we eventually worked it through
and i passed my theory test
it starts again with part two
won't they ever just let it rest?!
in excelling, you get penalized
in failing, you get away
what kind of place am i stuck in,
i shake my head in dismay
i've been driving for the past eight years
and because i've passed my test
they treat me like a newbie driver
no more solo drives.. i protest!!
and then last week i was cornered
to get my fluvax shot
'twas my first and i kicked up a fuss
but the wiley needle lady, she heeded me not =(
there's more to whine but i shall stop
for by now, i'm sure you're all sick
i'm glad of how things are as of now
i hope there'll be no more shcticks!
3.31.2010
metal-mouth
what irony! it just hit me after watching episodes 16 and 17 of ugly betty. i was so happy for her! (spoiler alert, stop reading if it bugs you)
so yah, i was all happy that she finally got her braces off until i realized that i would be a metal-mouth in less than 24 hours and i'd stay that metal-mouth for a minimum of 6 months. it means meeting new people with braces. it means sitting for job interviews with braces. it kinda takes some getting used to, especially with all the negative vibes and jibes about braces in general.
i'm kinda nervous about it all, now that i'm actually going through with it. first, i get a haircut that came with bangs. BANGS! i haven't had bangs since i was a kid. hG wasn't too happy with the haircut... and then i told him about the braces. man, you should've seen his face. gobsmacked. when he finally found a voice, he asked me what i was trying to do, turn into ugly betty?!
terrible, terrible.
so long, last day of being able to eat nougats and all things sticky! so long, last day of being able to run my tongue over my teeth without lacerating it. hellooo to dorkdom and many more misadventures with food stuck in braces to come!
so yah, i was all happy that she finally got her braces off until i realized that i would be a metal-mouth in less than 24 hours and i'd stay that metal-mouth for a minimum of 6 months. it means meeting new people with braces. it means sitting for job interviews with braces. it kinda takes some getting used to, especially with all the negative vibes and jibes about braces in general.
i'm kinda nervous about it all, now that i'm actually going through with it. first, i get a haircut that came with bangs. BANGS! i haven't had bangs since i was a kid. hG wasn't too happy with the haircut... and then i told him about the braces. man, you should've seen his face. gobsmacked. when he finally found a voice, he asked me what i was trying to do, turn into ugly betty?!
terrible, terrible.
so long, last day of being able to eat nougats and all things sticky! so long, last day of being able to run my tongue over my teeth without lacerating it. hellooo to dorkdom and many more misadventures with food stuck in braces to come!
1.15.2010
mandatory vacations suck
this sucks. i have the rare opportunity to go aaaaaaanywhere in the world for about two weeks. anywhere i want (granted, it still depends on how deep my wallet is but still!). eh-nee-where! and i don't know where to go.
i have to get out of the country so they can give me my permanent residency visa on my "new" arrival back to australia. seriously, how messed up is that to begin with but i won't even go there. the issue at hand is to pick out a place i can bum at for at least 8 working days while they process the piece of paper called my visa and i'm quite stuck. i have to leave within 5 days to fit it all in my work schedule. urgh, the gggnargh-ness!
so let's see.
taiwan? most sensible. parents, free accommodation. angst foreseeable due to friction from too much time with the family. can take the time to study because there'd be nothing else to do though. but i just went back! =(
singapore? hot, humid, no free accommodation, was just there. can catch up with people i've missed but that's about it
new zealand? pretty, always wanted to go, nearby.. but the boy can't come and we had wanted to go explore the place together =(
japan? haven't been in a while and would be nice to go but again, the boy can't come =(
korea, greece, south america? would be fun, haven't been but again, the boy can't come =(
los angeles? nobody's left, everyone's moved on with families and careers so there's nobody to catch up with
too bad tasmania isn't officially its own country.
so there you go. a rare chance to go anywhere i want because i've got no other choice and i think i'm settling for taiwan. urrgh, how utterly sad.
i have to get out of the country so they can give me my permanent residency visa on my "new" arrival back to australia. seriously, how messed up is that to begin with but i won't even go there. the issue at hand is to pick out a place i can bum at for at least 8 working days while they process the piece of paper called my visa and i'm quite stuck. i have to leave within 5 days to fit it all in my work schedule. urgh, the gggnargh-ness!
so let's see.
taiwan? most sensible. parents, free accommodation. angst foreseeable due to friction from too much time with the family. can take the time to study because there'd be nothing else to do though. but i just went back! =(
singapore? hot, humid, no free accommodation, was just there. can catch up with people i've missed but that's about it
new zealand? pretty, always wanted to go, nearby.. but the boy can't come and we had wanted to go explore the place together =(
japan? haven't been in a while and would be nice to go but again, the boy can't come =(
korea, greece, south america? would be fun, haven't been but again, the boy can't come =(
los angeles? nobody's left, everyone's moved on with families and careers so there's nobody to catch up with
too bad tasmania isn't officially its own country.
so there you go. a rare chance to go anywhere i want because i've got no other choice and i think i'm settling for taiwan. urrgh, how utterly sad.
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