What a day

Today was… well, to say insane would be putting it mildly.

This morning, we wrote a one hour Physiology paper on the cardiovascular system. Then my group, the second group that is, would be on lockdown for the following two hours, while group 1 wrote the ECG test in Gergs. I say lockdown because we were pretty much being treated as prisoners: No electronic devices, the noise level had to be kept down and even bathroom breaks were supervised. I kid you not; one of the invigilators accompany you.

That was the plan. But we all know that plans don’t work out the way we want.

Shortly after 12, Prof Paige walks in, asking us not to crucify him- it’s not his fault and he’s mighty upset about it too. Well hell, we thought, what now?

Gergs double-booked. And we had to wait another 2 hours before we could head up and write our ECG test. At that point, it felt too late to study, I was hungry, and went way past angry and straight into I-actually-don’t-give-a territory.

In short, group 2 spent 4 hours on lockdown. All because the Gergs staff didn’t have their admin straight, and they wanted to prevent us from obtaining inside info about the test.

So yeah, all in all, a fantastic day. [Picture me rolling my eyes and then pulling a gag face.]

Lastly, I’d like to wish Mazzie a very happy birthday. Or, as Kayla so aptly put it, “Happy second decade!”

2014/03/24

Close Shave

Not too long ago, I had a chat with a sixteen year old. And oh my, I feel old.

One of her friends walked by and she made the comment that she’d rather he shaved his beard. Curious as ever, I turned around to catch a glimpse of this fella. I kid you not, he was barely rocking stubble.

Needless to say, we argued back and forth about whether males should shave or not. Personally, I reckon a beard increases a male’s handsomeness at least tenfold. She completely disagrees. To be totally honest, I didn’t understand it at first. But then I remembered that, back when I was in grade 10- as she currently is- I felt the same way: Males look better clean-shaven.

Wrong. There’s just something extremely attractive about a male with a beard. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking a mile long or unkempt and unruly. I’m talking about a well-groomed, neatly trimmed beard. Decent.

It seems one’s taste and what one perceives as attractive or not, changes as one matures. But perhaps there’s more to it. My closing argument [I swear I felt like an old person] was that she’d understand when she was older. Of course, she denied it. Duh. What was I expecting? My mother readily agreed with me, though that shouldn’t have been news- my dad’s had a beard since… before my time. J But what really surprise me was the fact that her own mother agreed.

I prefer a male with a beard, rather than without it. Quite a few [pretty much all] of my [female] friends agree. Is it just us, or is it a thing? Does one naturally tend toward the more rugged, manly appearance as one grows older? Or are we, and by ‘we’ I mean me, just strange creatures?

I’d love to hear your input on this. Just for interest’s sake. Be sure to comment! J

2014/03/11

Resolve

I’ve finally figured out my New Year’s resolutions. J

Okay, so they’re more like March resolutions for the rest of the year. Buuut the point is I’ve made them.

This year, I resolve to:

©      Read at least of Mark Twain’s works.

©      Get active, get fit, and get those abs I’ve been wishing for.

©      As far as academics go; don’t fail.

©      Play guitar more often, and actually learn new songs.

Yeah, I think that about covers it for now.

I’ve actually gotten off to a great start on all accounts, except the first. I’m hunting for his stuff. Desperately.

Oooh, a quick aside: I broke a personal record this weekend, when I read Divergent, by Veronica Roth, in less than 3 days. Yeah, I am proud of that admission. J

I’m off to another lecture now. Have a great day, y’all!

2014/03/05

This and that

Since the end of my Resp block, many things have happened.

I suppose I should start off by mentioning my end-of-block weekend. Mine was a really chilled. Back when Resp started, we made huge plans to go out and have fun and just not be at home. But when the time came, I kept my plans simple: Play guitar, write, work out, and sleep, sleep, sleep.

Baby 2.0
Photograph taken by myself

While I spent some quality time with Baby 2.0 [I swear he really needs a new name. suggestions may or may not be appreciated- depending on how I feel at the time.], I admittedly wrote less than I’d have liked. I did, however, mange to get in tons of sleep and two solid work outs.

I also spent some time working, where I decided to bust out my Xhosa-speaking skills. Needless to say I was met with many amused and smiling faces. However, there was one woman in particular who insisted in responding in English. Yeah, I needed a moment to recover from that one. >.<

Name badge, Cardio study guide, laptop and phone.
I'm totally prepared.
Psssht, yeah right. >.<

Monday morning we were back at the grindstone once again. Cardio started last week, and let me tell you, it’s been hectic. Between dissections, lectures and more hospital visits, I’m just about worn through. As I mentioned before, going to hospital is amazing, albeit semi-depressing, but lectures are boring. Also, I’d always assumed I’d enjoy dissections, but it’s completely lost its allure. It takes a lot out of you, but it can still be fun. I recall our very first cardio dissection: Chris, Haley [yes, the same Haley from my hospital group], and Ofentse were opening up and unpacking our cadaver, the lovely Mrs Jones. [The name has been changed to protect the identity of the deceased. I’ve always wanted to say something to that effect, although, in all seriousness, we don’t know her real name.] Leendert and I were watching this, while a very unsuspecting Kathleen read the instructions for that day’s dissection. Unsuspecting, you ask. Not two minutes in and both lungs go flying at her. For no particular reason. Of course, I began laughing almost hysterically- out of pure shock. It was as if the lungs just flew at her. In hindsight, it was slightly creepy…

Doctor's coat- I feel legit.
[Yeah, that's Baby in the background.]

Study, study, study.
Fun, fun, fun. >.<

That’s basically what I’ve been up to these past few days. Well, that and studying. >.<

Jadri Conradie, with his adorable nephew.

Today is also Osler’s awesome Primarius’ birthday, so I’d like to wish Jadri Conradie [one of the awesomest- yes, I just said that- males I know] a very happy birthday. Have a great one, buddy. J

Well, folks, I’m afraid that’s all we have time for. Tune in again next week for another episode of *cue dramatic music* Thoughts of a mentally unstable medical student. J

2014/03/04