The Fall

no, this is not my equivalent of "Despair" on Nip/Fuct (he's ok by the way) but actually a reference to it officially being autumn!

i LOVE this time of year! it's really cold but it's bright and sunny, the leaves are crunchy on the ground and everyone seems so cosy in their hats, gloves and scarves. well, as cosy as you can get on the tube at rush hour.

and as you can tell i survived my week of nights. the last night was horrifically busy and i had a very ill man indeed. he had suddenly deteriorated about an hour into my shift to what we call peri-arrest (about to arrest ie. stop breathing/heart stops/both.) there were a lot of hairy moments overnight but we managed to keep him this side of alive and in the morning he was much better, sitting up, off his oxygen mask and asking for breakfast. i was pretty happy and left work feeling content. that's the first time that i've felt like that in ages.

i've spent the weekend enjoying myself. no studying, no medicine, just some fun times (and sleeping). got to see some old friends, some of whom had lots of news (i tink you know who you are) and there was of course the England game. what an awesome match! though i have overdone the beer. lucky...

i am now off work till friday (when i work the weekend again) but at a course. it's funny sitting in a lecture theatre again and it's a little irritating being surrounded by annoying doctors who ask inappropriate questions of the lecturers.

"oh yes. i have a question. no over here. look at me. it's got nothing to do with your talk and isn't going to benefit anyone else in here - in fact it's going to have dubious benefit for me but i'm still going to ask it because frankly isn't the sound of my voice great? look at me. me baby."

it's in the middle of town, in an area where several university colleges are clustered. i was looking around at all these 18/19 year old freshers (not in a pervy way - well maybe for a few minutes) coming in and out of all these grand old historic buildings and was wondering what it would have been like to go to college round there, instead of having spent my uni years around hospitals.

i'm quite upset by all the trouble in France. (not putting a link as it's on the front page of everything) so much of the media seems to concentrate on putting the blame on someone/something (eg. ineffectual measures by successive governments to address their most impoverished, ghetto-ised communities) without coming up with any solutions. and as much as we'd like to think we're cultures apart from the French, from a social structure frame of reference a lot of British cities are VERY similar. you only have to take a walk around my hospital's catchment area to see that. there is undeniably tension.

all of which means i am SO disinterested in the Tory leadership campaigns of the two davids. they should both be put on lithium (perhaps they could get Patricia Hewitt some too. just a thought.) i am pleased that (Dr) Liam Fox is out because he's quite quite toxic (as one of my lecturers once said) and feel the same of Kenneth Clarke. that tosser has already screwed up the NHS once as health secretary AND he's deputy chairman of British American Tobacco. Blatant hypocrisy? Fucking nuts more like.

finally i am excited because firstly someone i have missed immensely over the past two months comes back to london next week. hooray.

and also another buddy of mine from across the pond is visiting just before Xmas. he has recently got married (though sadly i don't think his charming wife is coming along) and i was well chuffed to have been invited to the wedding in Sept in Vancouver. you should have a look at his record label Copperspine Records.

good times :)

[i am listening to Lovely Day by Bill Withers. awwww!]