About a boy.................and a girl

Busy doing nothing

2006-11-03T08:55:00.000Z

I'm off for two weeks just now - annual leave that's put into our rota so we dont' really get to choose when we get it. And while i'm extremely grateful for the rest and the chance to do a bit of extra sleeping, i find myself at a bit of a loose end with frances still at uni and studying hard for finals.

i'm trying to catch up with a few friends, and do fun things like go climbing and finish the book that i started in april (war & peace - fantastic book, well worth the effort of reading) which is great to do, but i'm a person who is used to being busy, and i tend to function best when i'm going at full tilt, so to have time on my hands like this always comes as a bit of a shock to the system when it happens! although given how hard i'm finding it to get up in the morning, i think i just need to rest a bit!

today's plan is to fix my bicycle, which has a wonky back wheel, and if i can't fix it, take it to the bike shop. and then shopping for some nice food to cook for a little 3rd anniversary dinner for us. might go to the amazing Fish Plaice, a tiny fishmongers near tollcross.

but in the meantime to help me fill my day, here's a few pics from the honeymoon for your viewing pleasure

one of the very cool buildings in tavira, portugal

on safari in south africa

lots of lions

Mozambique - unbelievably beautiful

collecting shells

and here's a big fish wot i caught for dinner!

Oops

2006-10-26T05:41:00.000+01:00

So it turns out that i'm actually quite forgetful, and the pictures that i promised many months ago have never made it onto the blog. there are probably very few people who bother to check this blog now anyway seeing as i haven't updated in so long!

but just for you PK, here's a couple of pics.

by the way - it's 5:30 am and i'm on nightshift - how fun for me!

all the boys

the happy us!

Long overdue

2006-08-21T20:25:00.000+01:00

My humble apologies to all of you out there who regularly check the blog for updates, things have been rather hectic, and this is honestly the first occasion i've had to sit down and write a bit.

it's been an exciting couple of months, our wedding day was incredible! we couldn't have asked for it to be any better, wonderful to have all of our family and friends there, and truly the happiest day imaginable for us. i think the highlight for many people was seeing me blub my eyes out at the altar!

It was wonderful to be able to share the day with so many family and friends, all of whom bring something unique to our lives. so thanks to all of you who made it - and we can't wait to catch up again sometime soon.

the honeymoon was fantastic too! i've been trying to post a few pictures, but it's not working too well - will try again another day. we were in portugal for a week, then back for andy and julie ashworth's wedding (which also was fantastic) and then we disappeared again off to south africa and mozambique for two weeks! paradise! the nicest holiday that we'll have for years i think.

and now i'm well and truly stuck into working life - been at it for a month now. still pretty unnerving at times, and still seem to spend a lot of the day running around like a headless chicken!! but on the whole it's going well. needless to say the weekends have become extremely precious.

and our new flat is working out really well too - we've been busy with painting and decorating, and it's quite amazing how much we've managed to fit in here - we're having people round as often as possible just so we can show it off!!

anyway, i'd better go and put the oven on for dinner

It's finally arrived...........

2006-07-02T13:25:00.000+01:00

.........the single most exciting week of my life so far! I just cannot believe how fast it's come around in the end. It seems that no matter how much you try to prepare for something like this, it still comes as a slight shock in the end! And this time next week i'll be a married man - crazy.

I think it will only really hit me on thursday when i travel south with mum and dad, because at the moment i still have so many other things on my mind. i finish my work shadow in the hospital tomorrow, which has been a very valuable experience. I've found it totally exhausting though (to my shame!) not because it's been particularly demanding but more that i've had to get back in to a routine of getting up the morning after 5 weeks holiday! Then wednesday is graduation - another surreal thought that my five years of university are now over - and then it will be thursday!

Church this morning was wonderful, and i'm so thankful for it. So many people were passing on their prayers and best wishes for the wedding - and it was wonderful to feel the love and support of the folks in the church. Funny to think as well that the next time we make it to church we'll be a married couple. wow! And the sermon this morning could not have been more appropriate. David speaking on 1 Peter 3, highlighting the roles of men and women within marriage, and emphasising the fact that men and women have different, but equally important parts to play, and an equal responsibility to make the marriage work. A lot of people when they read this passage don't get beyond the first line "wives submit to your husbands" before judging it and deciding that it's out of date and not worth reading - but in fact, the responsibility placed on husbands "Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect" carries as much emphasis. And indeed when placed in the context of other teachings from the bible, "submit to one another out of reverence for Christ" (Eph5:21) and "husbands love your wives just as Christ loved the church (Eph5:25) it can be seen that the responsibility lies very much with both husband and wife.

And i cannot wait for saturday! I've been looking forward to it for so long, and i hope and pray that the Lord will bless us richly as we embark on our life together.

Chaos

2006-06-08T10:46:00.000+01:00

So much for the restful post-exam period! this last few weeks have seemed busier than ever! My bedroom is an absolute tip as i try to get all packed up ready for moving to the new flat on monday - very excited about that, can't wait. However, the downside is that i have to finish packing today (thursday) because tomorrow we head to Dunblane for my graduation ball, and then on saturday we have an early start to drive up towards Aberdeen for John and Ruth's wedding.

And on top of that, i'm playing in the band for the service, so myself and a couple of others have been practising away for that. busy busy busy.......

it's sad to be dismantling the room which i have so enjoyed living in over the last 3 years, and i'm certainly not looking forward to unpacking at the other end, trying to find new nooks and crannies to stash all my junk in! a few trips to ikea are most definitely in order over the next wee while.

so wish us luck!!

oh, and it's only 4 weeks and 2 days until the wedding - amazing!

I'VE PASSED MY EXAMS!

2006-05-23T14:26:00.000+01:00

Ever so slightly happy!

Now to start getting stressed about starting work.....

Fond memories

2006-05-18T11:20:00.000+01:00

Last friday my aunt passed away, she had been ill for a long time, and was in great suffering towards the end, so in some ways - especially for her we feel a sense of relief. We will all miss her enormously though. She was truly one of life's most wonderful characters, someone who radiated joy and integrity wherever she went.

I was home for the funeral, and it was lovely to see so many of the family, albeit under awful circumstances. I think the reading that summed up best how we all felt about her was from Proverbs 31, chosen by dad to be read during the thanksgiving service following the burial.

"A Wife of Noble Character"
Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is worth more than precious rubies. Her husband can trust her, and she will greatly enrich his life. She will not hinder him but help him all her life.

She finds wool and flax and busily spins it. She is like a merchant's ship; she brings her food from afar. She gets up before dawn to prepare breakfast for her household and plan the day's work for her servant girls. Shegoes out to inspect a field and buys it; with her earnings she plants a vineyard.

She is energetic and strong, a hard worker. She watches for bargains; her lights burn late into the night. Her hands are busy spinning thread, her fingers twisting fiber.

She extends a helping hand to the poor and opens her arms to the needy.

She has no fear of winter for her household because all of them have warm clothes. She quilts her own bedspreads. She dresses like royalty in gowns of finest cloth.

Her husband is well known, for he sits in the council meeting with the other civic leaders.

She makes belted linen garments and sashes to sell to the merchants.

She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs with no fear of the future. When she speaks, her words are wise, and kindness is the rule when she gives instructions. She carefully watches all that goes on in her household and does not have to bear the consequences of laziness.

Her children stand and bless her. Her husband praises her: "There are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you surpass them all!"

Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the LORD will be greatly praised. Reward her for all she has done. Let her deeds publicly declare her praise."

The first day of the rest of my life

2006-05-12T11:35:00.000+01:00

I woke up this morning, and just knew it instantly.................i don't have to study today.

Finals are over

Amazing - the summer has begun!

More Climbing

2006-05-10T00:53:00.000+01:00

Monday was a lot of fun, beautiful sunshine, dry rock and three days until our last exam, so a day's climbing at Auchinstarry Quarry was warranted.
It was a very satisfying day for me as i lead my first HS (hard severe) and VS (very severe) climbs, taking me two grades higher in one day than i've managed so far!! It seems that i only get scared when i start thinking about falling - ignorance is bliss after all.
This is me on "Slinky Lizard," a short but very nice Hard Severe.

Second route of the day was the lovely "Red Lead" which starts above the water pool in the quarry, and ascends a very nice slab. This is a VS (very severe) climb, and the hardest i've done yet, so i was really pleased to make it up
thought this was quite a cool pic courtesy of Pete, quite nice getting the sun rays in.

finally here's pete looking heroic at the top of Trundle, another very nice VS, and our last climb of the day. Very good fun!

Regular readers of the blog may have noticed that i've had to switch on comment moderation, this is because of a few extremely unpleasant comments from an anonymous individual. He/she has never heard the saying "if you haven't anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all." So for those of you with nice things to say, please continue to leave your comments, they are most welcome, and i really enjoy the interaction that the blog generates.

Enjoy the sunshine!

Wallpaper extravaganza

2006-05-03T12:17:00.000+01:00

Hellooo,

It's been a while since I last posted a comment on this blog...but now I am back with a very important task. Adam and I would like to know who has better taste...me or him. We'd like to know what you think about this wallpaper - not for an entire wall but just for a small section of one in our new flat.

Soo, let us know...and may the best (wo)man win :-)
Love Frances x

Premature sense of relief!

2006-05-02T09:53:00.000+01:00

So the second paper on friday was a good bit harder than thursdays. Lots of pretty ambiguious and vague questions, often not sure what the questions were getting at, and a lot of multiple choice questions where 2 or 3 of the answers could have been correct. The problem with them is that you don't get the opportunity to explain your thinking. Everyone found it the same i think, so as long as the markers are open minded and prepared to accept a wide range of answers then i think it'll be fine.

The best thing is that the writtens are out of the way, and with that comes the wonderful sense of relief - premature however because the practicals (OSCEs) are still to come this thursday, friday, and next thursday. So a few days this week will be spent practising examinations and consultations with pete and david in the flat. any of our neighbours watching through the windows will be wondering what the heck is going on!!

The weekend was fantastic, had a great couple of days climbing, friday afternoon at Auchinsterry quarry and saturday at Dumbarton Rock. See Pete's blog for a couple of pictures. I love climbing, but on more than one occasion over these couple of days i found myself thinking "what on earth am i doing this for!?" It's both mentally and physically tough, and hard to learn to trust the ropes and my ability to hold on! Hopefully more experience outdoors will bring more confidence, and until then i'll just keep crapping my pants every once in a while!!!

Thanks to everyone who's been praying for all of us taking our exams, it's much appreciated, and we've definitely been aware of God looking out for us, keeping us calm, and helping us to focus and work. Not long now til it's all over once and for all!

It's also less than 10 weeks now until the wedding - can't wait!

1 down, 1 to go

2006-04-27T20:53:00.000+01:00

Today was the first of our written exams. After a seemingly eternal time of hardcore studying it felt good to finally make it to this point, to the point where you just have to say 'i've done all the work that i can, now just get on with it!'

It was my first experience of an afternoon exam like this - not something i'd like to do again in a hurry! the morning seemed to last forever, and my jittery tummy just kept getting more and more jittery as the morning went on!

It was a sobering and frightening experience to sit down to the exam - to see the title of "Medicine - Final Professional Examinations" written on the papers made my heart skip a beat (or three!) Thankfully the exam itself was fine, a few tricky questions, and a few slightly ambiguous ones where i wasn't quite sure what they were looking for. On the whole, I'm quite happy with how that one went, and hope that tomorrow's goes as well.

Yesterday evening, my flatmate Pete received a phone call from the faculty informing him that unless he could produce written evidence that he had passed his last placement he would not be permitted to sit finals!! Now, pete had given his assessment form to his supervisor to fill in almost 2 weeks ago, and had made numerous phone calls to chase it up - so needless to say, the news that the form had not reached faculty, with such drastic consequences was something of a shock for him, not to mention ever-so-slightly stressful to find out 20 hours before finals.

So to cut a long story short - last night we prayed for pete at housegroup that God would intervene, and get the assessment in this morning so that he could sit the exams this afternoon - and He answered! The faculty were able to get a hold of his supervisor who assured them that he had passed the block, and could therefore take the exams. God is good!

And in other news, it looks like Frances and I have been successful in purchasing a lovely flat in the New Gorbals. it's not fully finalised yet, but hopefully hopefully that's sorted! Very exciting!

And now, back to the books, have to try and guess now what will be asked tomorrow based on what wasn't asked today!

7 days til finals

2006-04-20T16:17:00.000+01:00

Nuff said.

House Hunting

2006-04-03T23:09:00.000+01:00

Fun.................but scary....................especially when finals are in 3 weeks.

eeeeeeeeeeeeeek!

Kids are cool

2006-03-27T14:17:00.000+01:00

That's right folks, they are. I'm loving paediatrics! getting to play with and look after lots of very cute kids is such a privilege, and makes me smile a lot. Like i said, kids are cool!

two concerns arise from this - 1) i am extremely broody (in the manliest sense of the word possible) and 2) i am being tempted by a career in paeds. which isn't such a bad thing except that it's really really competitive, a lot of hard work, and also what frances might want to do, in which case we'd never see each other!!

not that any of that will matter if i don't pass finals - so i'd better get on with it

Looking forward to praise and prayer at church tonight, hopefully another really fantastic opportunity to be in God's presence and listening for His voice.

A week or so later

2006-03-10T13:38:00.000Z

It seems that rising to challenges like these is more difficult than i would have anticipated. perhaps its tiredness, perhaps its stress, perhaps its any number of excuses that i could come up with - i guess the point remains that challenges are challenging and require some action in order to address them.

I've been reminded this week of the importance of trying to include God in everything, every minute of every day, no matter what we're doing or how we're feeling. It's not enough to allocate Him to 10 minutes of the day (though 10 minutes may be better than 0 minutes) and hope that that will do. we must be "living sacrifices holy and pleasing to God" (Romans 12:1).

so i've been trying to do my studying with that in mind, trying to do the best i can, not for my own pride and ambition, but rather in gratitude for the fact that i've been given an amazing gift, and a tremendous opportunity to show God's love through medicine. And i hope that by working hard now, i'll be able to take more time to care for patients, and be human with them (radical thinking i know) rather than always having to concentrate on what might be happening to their internal organs.

it's hard work, there are now 7 weeks until the exams - i'm pretty knackered most (all?) of the time, and there's still a lot of work to be done. but i pray that i'll be able to do it with a glad and thankful heart.

and thanks to judy for stopping by - it was really encouraging to hear from you! it's wonderful how God can bring people together from all across the world using traditional things like marriage, and modern technology like blogs and the internet!

Challenges

2006-02-27T21:54:00.000Z

God has been challenging me over the last few weeks, which on the one hand is wonderful - knowing that He is alive and present in my life is encouraging beyond words. But on the other hand, challenges are exactly that - challenging.

He's been challenging me to pay more attention to Him, to make Him a priority again in my life. It's been too easy recently to put studying, wedding plans, my own recreation and relaxation ahead of Him, leaving me with little or no time to be in His presence, reading His word, and listening to what He might have to say.

Which leads me very nicely to the second challenge - this evening at church was the monthly praise and prayer meeting. Typically a smaller meeting, where the focus is on 'space' - not planning too much, or trying to be ultra clever or organised, but just being a group of believers coming together in God's presence to listen for what He might want to say.

We believe that God speaks to His people in many ways, through verses of scripture, through pictures, images or words - all kinds of things. The trick for us is to learn to recognise His voice, and when we hear it, to be bold and share it with our brothers and sisters in order that they can be encouraged, and perhaps empowered to share something that they feel God is saying to them. The challenge is therefore two-fold - to hear God's voice, and then to share it.

And i certainly feel that in order for us to hear God's voice, we must be listening for it, and be tuned in, much like a radio must be tuned in to the right frequency to pick up the signal. The more we listen for God, and the more we act on what He then says, the closer to the right tuning we get. The more we ignore God, and the more we shut Him out, the farther from the right frequency we go. God is a gentleman, if He knows that we don't want to listen, often He will respect that - it's part of the freewill that He created us with. There are of course other times when He shouts so loud that we cannot escape. Nothing is impossible for God.

The third challenge has been to be braver and bolder about sharing Him and the gospel of His Son Jesus with the people around me. And He provided a great opportunity for me to do that, in the Transfusion events that have been happening around the medschool and hospitals in Glasgow. Today we had a stall in the canteen at the Royal Infirmary, and tomorrow there will be a talk on "Intelligent Design," which we hope will open the floor to questions, and give us the chance to share God with the staff who come along.

And tied in with that challenge is the news that my blog has been added to a list of 'Scottish Christian bloggers.' When i started the blog, my main purpose had been to use it as a way of keeping in touch with people over the summer when Frances and I were in Malaysia. After the summer i intended to post regularly about verses or thoughts or songs that God was using to speak to me. In practice, i haven't really been doing that - largely to do with the fact that I have not been making Him enough of a priority.

So, with God's help and by His grace I hope to rise to these challenges - to make Him a priority, to listen to His voice and to share His love with friends, family and random folks who find themselves reading this.

Jesus loves you, He was born as a baby - God incarnate in human flesh, lived a life of example, taught us how to love and worship God, and he died a horrible death on the cross of crucifixion in order that the penalty for your sin could be removed and you could be restored to your created purpose - to be in relationship with God the Father.

"In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognise him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God - children born not of natural descent nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

John 1, verses 1-5 and 10-14

Agh, what am i doing?

2006-02-24T21:15:00.000Z

It's a friday night, and i'm in the medschool library trying to concentrate on doing some studying. Cardiac dysrhythmias - not the most interesting subject in the world (apologies to the cardiologists out there!)

It's the pits, i can think of at least a dozen other things i'd much rather be doing, none of them involving textbooks, computers or being indoors

Only 9 weeks to go, and it'll all be over

I can't wait

There and back again

2006-02-19T22:47:00.000Z

Well, it was a lovely weekend, too short by far both for seeing frances and my parents. was great to see them all and go for a few nice walks and a nice meal on saturday night.

It was not without its downsides however - this afternoon one of our neighbours came rushing over to say that another neighbour, an elderly lady, had fallen down her front step and needed some help to get up. On arriving, i saw that her left leg looked a bit suspicious - a textbook 'shortened and externally rotated' appearance of a broken hip. I thought it better not to try and move her, but called an ambulance instead and wrapped her up in a few blankets until it arrived.

so my thoughts and prayers are with her this evening, hoping that my diagnosis was incorrect, and that she's actually just had a bump and a bash and will be back on her feet tomorrow.

it's very odd to feel the sense of expectation from others at a situation like that - being expected to 'do something' useful and helpful. thankfully in that situation i was able to help a bit, but needless to say i've since thought of at least 20 other things that i should have done! doesn't hurt to be a bit self critical, in the hope that next time i'll do better!

Looking forward to the weekend

2006-02-13T14:54:00.000Z

Why? Two very significant reasons:
1. I'm going home for a couple of days, so i get to see my lovely mum and dad, for the first time since Christmas. Home cooking here i come!
2. I get to see my lovely lady again! She's been down in cambridge for the last couple of weeks, doing a placement in papworth hospital in Respiratory and sleep medicine - tres intelligent!

Two weeks doesn't sound like a lot, and i'm fully prepared to be ridiculed for this post, but i don't care I MISS HER LOADS!! Two weeks is a really long time to be not seeing her, especially when i'm spending most of each day studying and getting a bit stressed and needing my chief head-scratcher-stress soother!

and how is it that mothers are so insightful? within a minute of me chatting to mum on the phone last night she asked "what's the matter? you don't sound yourself. are you missing frances?" um, yes..despite my best efforts to hide it!!

and yes i know i'm a wuss, a bit soft (in the head) and should stop gushing all over the net.

AND it's valentine's day tomorrow.......

New Music..........

2006-01-25T17:53:00.000Z

If you're a fan of heavy music, lots of big phat (the 'ph' is very important here!) guitars and drums, combined with a dose of rap, and a hint of reggae, then may i recommend P.O.D's new album to you......it's FANTASTIC!
this is the kind of music i'd love to be playing - at heart i'm a bit of a metal-head!!

so i commend this album to you, and thoroughly recommend it!! probably not for your grannie though!

Stomach growling..........

2006-01-13T19:54:00.000Z

......Pete's cooking dinner, i'm not eating til later

my stomach is grumbling and growling and the smells of food are driving me up the walls

feed me please......someone.....anyone?

Happy New Year (at least that's what i'm hoping for!)

2006-01-04T16:09:00.000Z

For a whole variety of reasons, new year's eve this year was a mixed experience. on the one hand, it was great - being with family, looking forward to the excitment that this year will bring - namely getting married, graduating and starting work. I can't wait to get married! I'm looking forward to it so much - the thought of being able to start life with frances in only 6 months' time is just amazing!

and yet, on the other hand, 2006 means stress, a lot of hard work and finals in 4 months. it means starting real life and being an adult (eeeeek) and it means that i no longer can enjoy the benefits of student life (council tax exemption being on my mind today as i've had to fill out the forms AGAIN! grrrr)

on a more serious note, this could be a very sad year for my family - three increasingly frail relatives - one of whom will almost certainly not see 2007 - makes for some very mixed feelings. and it's hard to know what to think about it - death is the natural conclusion to life, and something that all of us must face - and yet......knowing that doesn't make it any easier to see someone you love deteriorating. so continue to pray for my family, for strength, for faith and for courage.

I'm having to place a lot of trust in the Big Man today. as i start my final university term the little panic gremlin that lives in my brain is eager to break out and wreck havoc. i still feel like i have a ridiculous amount to learn - and not a whole lot of of time to do it. thankfully He's helping me to keep perspective, and break things down into smaller chunks that i can process in a more calm and efficient manner.

Oh, and the skiing holiday was fantastic! 6 days of glorious sunshine, good snow and the final day was easily the best day's skiing i've ever had - 2 and a half feet of fresh powder - over knee deep in places - and hardly a soul on the mountain!! it's not often that i get to ski virgin powder, but on saturday morning mark and i had vast areas of the mountain all to ourselves!! absolutely incredible.

right, time for me to stop procrastinating (again) and do some work.

The Queen's Christmas message........

2005-12-23T19:26:00.000Z

...........will not be transmitted to Argentiere next week, so i thought i'd write my own little version.
actually, i can't really be bothered to think that much right now!!
having spent this last week in cambridge with frances and her family, i am now preparing to go join mine in france for a weeks skiing - can't wait - there's over a metre of snow on the upper slopes just now! and more forecast for next week! woo hoo.

it's been a really great week here in cambridge, lovely to spend time with fran's family, and good to organise a few more bits and bobs for the wedding. we've managed to make 80 or so little decorations for our invitations, very pretty - my artistic side hadn't seen so much activity in quite a few years!

tonight all the duncan's will be back in the family home, for the first time in a while i think, and certainly the first time that i will have been there with them - dad mike, mum liz, sister ali, her boyfriend dan, brother pete and the two of us - should make for a fun dinner, and a few beers at the pub later!

so all that's left to say is Merry Christmas to all of you, i hope that you enjoy the time with family and friends, and find some peace and quiet to reflect on what it's all about - that God in His infinite wisdom and power, came up with a way to save all mankind from certain death and destruction - He sent His only Son, Jesus to earth, as a baby. Entirely God, and yet entirely human with all the frailties of man, and yet he lived a sinless life. He died at the age of 30 or so, and raised himself from death, and in doing so defeated death and sin forever, so that we could once again be able to have a relationship with God the Father, as He intended when He first created us.

that's a lot of information to cram into one small paragraph - but it's true, and it changed history - and my life forever

A new record!

2005-12-16T17:32:00.000Z

It seems that last post really rang true with a lot of people, and i'm sure that henry and russell weren't the only ones to spot the irony in that i was probably encouraging others to join me in my procrastination, as they posted comments to that last post.

did that make any sense at all? it did in my head anyway. and the new record is that there were 7 comments left for that last post, which is i think a record for this blog. i'm so proud - and to you my regular readers i say thank you - and surely you must have something better to do with your time?!

today has been a day of cleaning, tidying and packing in preparation for the holidays. frances and i head to cambridge tomorrow for a week, and then on Christmas eve i'll be flying to geneva to join my mammie, daddie and wee bro for a week's skiing in france - and i can't wait! although in saying that i am a bit apprehensive - i dislocated my elbow last year, and have no desire whatsoever to repeat that experience. just remember, if ever given the choice of crashing into the little lady in the pink one-piece suit or falling over to avoid her - go for the lady, at least she'll be a softer landing

Happy holidays!!

Procrastination

2005-12-14T10:36:00.000Z

It's such a great word. even as i sit here knowing that i should have started studying about an hour ago, i'm trying to see how many ways i can say the word and which sounds most impressive - prOcrastination - procrAstination - prOcrastinAAAAAtion etc

it's amazing what my brain can do when it comes to thinking up ways to waste time, and how little it can do when it comes to studying neurology. now that's a word that makes me feel queasy and gives me a nervous tick. i'd been putting off studying any neurology for weeks, but alas it's caught up with me, and so i now sit, coffee in hand (although i did just get told off for bringing in into the library) ready to go

i can't wait for the holidays

A valuable lesson learned

2005-12-05T10:37:00.000Z

last night at church Cathy continued the series on "The Fruits of the Spirit" preaching on self control. this was a tremendously challenging message, highlighting the trouble that we can get ourselves into by not being disciplined and not having the ability to resist temptation when it comes up against us.

the key verse mentioned last night, which spoke so clearly to me is proverbs 25:28, which says, "Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control."

we must build our defences against sin, keep our walls secure, and ensure that only Godly things are inside us. only then can we be the "city on a hill" with a light that clearly shines to the world around us.

Something else to be thankul for!!!

2005-12-01T18:32:00.000Z

i got my job!!! and i am delighted! my first choice of rotation!

so that means that i'll be working in glasgow royal for 8 months, yorkhill for 4 months and then year two in wishaw.

a major relief and a real blessing

not to mention a bit of a reality check that i now have my first job offer in medicine - eeeek. i will be expected to know stuff, and i'll no longer be able to say "don't ask me anything i'm just a student"

the next two years of my life .....decided.......just like that.....................unbelievable!

Things to be thankful for:

2005-11-30T22:41:00.000Z

1. My Granda got out of hospital today - doing well now, and on strict instructions to put his feet up for a while
2. Good Bible study tonight - 1 Samuel 25, valuable lessons in patience, forgiveness, grace and allowing God to be the one to bring justice to situations, rather than us trying to do it ourselves
3. Finding out about jobs at the weekend - i'm really looking forward to seeing what's happened, and thankful that i haven't been stressed about it thus far
4. Safety when driving - i've been struck at times recently just how dangerous driving can be. nothing has happened to me, sometimes i'm just a bit ...........awestruck when i watch cars weaving and moving and missing each other, and i'm amazed that i haven't been in an accident yet.
5. Bed - looking forward to that lots, it's a refuge!!

Comeback chat....

2005-11-22T17:56:00.000Z

Having been accused of being a big-time-bore, and told to relinquish my control over this blog i have decided to defy my critics (dave nelson - you are top of my hit list) and come back with something brilliant.

only, nothing brilliant is springing to mind! d'oh

so instead i'll tell you about what i did yesterday evening. i read most of Dan Brown's Angels and Demons in one sitting. i did absolutely no studying, and for about 4 hours i sat on the sofa and was totally absorbed in this book. i'll admit that it's not a great book, the plot is almost identical to that of Da Vinci code, and most of the content is factually-flimsy at the best of times, however all that said it is a great 'page-turner' as my dad would say.

so good in fact, that i read solidly for 4 hours before the phone rang, and i discovered it was 11:30pm!! nevermind.

the success of dan brown's books is quite an interesting phenomenon, as is the range of spin-off books that have appeared as a result. it seems that the public at large cannot get enough of conspiracy theories - particularly those that involve the church! the numbers of people i have talked with about stuff from da vinci code is amazing. folk are so willing to embrace the 'facts' they read in a fictional novel, yet not willing to entertain the thought that the Bible, which has lasted for what, about 3000 years (i'm guessing) might actually be an accurate, and valid historical document.

the experience frances and i had this summer when we visited the Louvre museum in Paris really was quite entertaining - watching dozens of people practically jogging through the museum - copy of da vinci code in hand - past hundreds of the world's most beautiful and valuable art treasures - straight to the (rather overrated in my opinion) mona lisa. and when they got there, they pushed and shoved to get close to the painting to see it? no, to take a photo of it!! most people didn't actually see the painting except through the lens of their camera.

and then they left the museum and got on with following the rest of the da vinci trail across paris

nought as queer as folk i say.

i'd love to hear other's thoughts on this

Loadsa chat...

2005-11-18T19:00:00.000Z

Helloooo blogedy blog readers...
Here's my chat
(a) I've escaped from Dumfries
(b) It's fr-fr-fr-eezing
(c) Adam has developed a habit of taking me to very random gigs
Comments...
(a) Due to a severe dislike of ENT and multidisciplinary meetings, myself and 2 others escaped from Dumfries yesterday avo...currently my active conscience is regretting this decision because; (1) I am unable to lie so will not be able to reasonably defend myself next week (2)Umm, no other reasons...suggestions?!?

(b)Am loving this, woke up this morning and it felt like Christmas, but alas I had no presents. My friend Anna also woke up feeling like it was Christmas, and again, surprisingly she had no presents either. Cunningly the two of us came up with a plan, soo we got onto the underground, emerged at Cowcaddens and crazily found ourselves in town. The coincidence of this combined with the Christmassy vibes gave us no choice but to enter shops and buy ourselves some presents. Significantly worse off, we have now fulfilled the reason for this bitter cold, tis great - I suggest you do the same :-)
Ooh, we also went to try on my wedding dress again and took some photos of it...canny wait to wear it properly...

(c) Rules for going to a gig with Adam; 1. Bring earphones 2. Practice your best screaming first so you can sing along 3. Don't look bored
Adam has decided that I'm rubbish to go to gigs with :-( this is very distressing as I did actually enjoy the one last night! However I am not yet skilled at the jumping up and down thing, nor do I have a proper 'rocker face', hmmm

Anywhoo, we're off to see Harry Potter now - yay

Ta ta love Frances x

Nae chat

2005-11-14T20:22:00.000Z

that's glaswegian for 'my life is boring right now, and i've got nothing interesting to talk about.'

this may be a recurring theme this year.

not that life is boring per say, just that blogging about medicine, studying, going to the gym, eating and sleeping (not enough) doesn't make for great reading.

Christmas is coming though, and that will bring a holiday, a break in studying, and some peace and goodwill to all mankind!!

if anything exciting does happen, you'll be the first to know

Happy times

2005-11-04T11:20:00.000Z

I made someone very happy yesterday, and in the midst of a reasonably stressful week it brightened up my day to no end!
chris gaston and i have been friends since we were 4 years old, and having come up through primary and secondary school together, we have now lived together in glasgow for the last 2 and a half years.
i asked chris if he wanted to be one of my groomsmen for the wedding - and he was so delighted!! he didn't stop smiling for the rest of the day.
i think i may be in trouble though, him and pete (my other flatmate and also a groomsman for the big day) have already started planning the stag night - think i might run away!!
moral of the story - make someone smile today, it is one of the greatest gifts we have to give

The saga continues

2005-10-28T10:28:00.000+01:00

Turns out that the email address i was given for the person 'higher up' didn't work. so i sent it again to someone else in the same department, and asked her to forward it on to the boss.

got a reply today (closing day for applications) to say that he's away on annual leave until tuesday.

brilliant

this guy is supposedly the coordinator for this whole process in the west of scotland, and when does he take his leave? over the deadline for applications, when people like myself will be asking questions, seeking advice, and needing to contact him.

methinks he's run for the hills in anticipation of a barrage of questions, knowing how much of a disaster the system is.

nevermind, i now have absolutely no option but to trust in the Lord!!!! He has a funny way of bringing that upon us every once in a while.

frances and i are off to cambridge (again!!) for the weekend, this time it's a mighty gathering of the two clans - my mum and dad are gonna be there too! should be fun

Gripe of the day - Job applications

2005-10-25T16:15:00.000+01:00

To all of you outside of 'medic-dom' i apologise, this post may not be very interesting for you. feel free to read on anyway.

All of us in final year have been consumed over the last couple of weeks with filling out our job application forms for beginning foundation programs (formerly known as JHO) in august of next year. This is a horrendously complex procedure, involving 7 copies of CV, 9 copies of application form and various other random bits of paper. whole rainforests will perish by this process.

One of the forms is filled out by the medical school - this one is to verify that the applicant is in fact a bona fide medical student who is fit to be let loose on the unsuspecting public (in theory anyway.....). On this form, there is a little box, which can be ticked by the faculty if they "BELIEVE THE APPLICANT HAS PARTICULAR HEALTH, PERSONAL OR EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS WHICH NEED TO BE CONSIDERED WHEN ARRANGING THEIR F1 PLACEMENT" Now i thought i'd contact the faculty, let them know about my upcoming marriage, and hope that they would consider this a significant enough personal reason to justify ticking the box. let's face it, if i don't get a job in scotland, it ain't gonna be much of a marriage!

so the faculty got back to me, apparently NES (the people who process the applications) dont' feel that marriage is important enough a personal reason for consideration - "WHAT!!!!!?" i cry, in total disbelief.

next step is to contact NES directly, where i'm informed that only those applicants with ' dependent first degree relatives' are eligible for this, fair enough - they should definitely be supported, but what about me?? once married, i'll have a dependent first degree relative given that frances will still be a student. but no, this doesn't count apparently.
so i've now emailed someone higher up to voice my discontent. and my frustration grows as i realise that no amount of protesting is likely to make any difference as the deadline for applications is this friday.

am i being unreasonable? or is my frustration at the system justified? what's the point in having a box for 'significant personal reasons' if only one kind of personal reason counts?

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!

we'll see what happens, and leave the final outcome in God's hands.

Cambridge weddings

2005-10-16T16:34:00.000+01:00

we're just back from a wedding-tastic weekend in cambridge. anne, a friend of frances', married sam on saturday in the very church that we'll be tying the knot in, and frances was acting as one of her bridesmaids. all in all it was a really wonderful day, and great to see frances' mum and dad too - needless to say we talked a lot about weddings too, and took notes to help with the plans for our own!
so here's a wee pic of us in all our finery!

Burning the candle at both ends

2005-10-13T20:32:00.000+01:00

The last 6 weeks have felt like a non-stop whirlwind! between studying (lots), thinking and planning for the wedding, and the honeymoon, and starting to investigate moving house next year - i'm feeling pretty strung out at times!
it's not that bad though, i guess most days i just feel like there are simply not enough hours for all the things that i want to get done.
frances and i are heading down to cambridge this weekend for her friend ann's wedding - very excited about that! frances is a bridesmaid again, which is great! and a nice excuse for me to take loads of photos. ALSO it'll be the first outing for my new argyl and bute jacket and waistcoat with my kilt - tis very nice methinks!
job applications are all on the go just now - scary as! not helped by the fact that it is the most complicated job application in the world. the big worry is that there is a chance i may not get a job in scotland - and that would not be so good for the first year of married life. thankfully it seems that this is more of a theoretical risk than an actual one.
ummm, that's about it. sorry this isn't more entertaining.
i should get back to studying *sigh*

Wasting time.........

2005-10-03T13:17:00.000+01:00

....when i could be studying. but where's the fun in that?
i don't actually have anything to write about today, which is a shame coz i'd really like to have an excuse to not do any studying right now. any suggestions??
i've started a new block today, in the western, which is actually the scabbiest hospital in the world. maybe i could write about all the scabby things that i find during the course of a day. then i might have a secret NHS undercover taskforce after me to stop me revealing the truth............man, i really am bored!

Relief!!

2005-09-29T16:07:00.000+01:00

Ahhhh, the sweet sense of a job well done! this morning i had to present my case study and evidence-based treatment review to the staff at the hospital. i was a bit stressed about this - i put a lot of work and hours into writing the essay first of all (about 4,600 words - which is a lot for a five -week module!) and then the powerpoint presentation. particularly stressing was the fact that i knew 4 or 5 consultants would be listening, and they like to ask difficult questions!! but thankfully, prayers were answered and it went well. phew! i can now relax a little for a couple of days before starting a new placement next week.
in other news, i am very excited at the prospect of soon having a CD writer! sad i know, but there you have it. my laptop's CD-rom is rubbish, and doesn't even really work at all any more - CD's always skip and never load, and if i ever want to write a CD, i have to borrow one of my flatmates more snazzy computers. SO, a couple of weeks ago flatmate pete acquired a broken desktop tower from him mum - pete salvaged a few bits of RAM etc, and the rest was destined for the bin - until i came to the rescue!! i noticed the tower had a CD writer, and i gallantly saved it from certain death.
of course i then had to find a way of connecting this internal CD drive to my laptop - ebay to the rescue as i found a cable that would convert the IDE on the internal drive to a very handy USB port, which will plug in just beautifully to my laptop. and the best bit? i get the cable, and a power supply for the drive for a whopping £3.50 (plus postage - a total of £11)!!!!
so i'm a happy bunny - and i love ebay.
nuff said - i'm not usually so much of a nerd
i'm off to do cool stuff now, like play guitar, or onsight a narly V8 boulder problem (for those in the know - V8 might be a little ambitious - but it sounds good!
later

Apologies

2005-09-23T17:29:00.000+01:00

My humble apologies to 'anonymous' who left a comment under my last post, and quite rightly pointed out that my experience of the NICU is entirely different from that of a parent whose child is there. I don't know if you will get to read this apology - i hope that you do, i was careless with my remarks and for that i am sorry - i never intended any offense.
A lesson to be learned from this experience - to be careful about what i blog and comments that i make so as not to upset those who have lived through much more difficult times than i. i hope that you forgive me, and please feel free to contact me and we can discuss this further if needs be.

It's 2:40am...............

2005-09-16T02:42:00.000+01:00

........and i am working hard....not!! i'm doing a couple of night shifts this week in the neonatal ICU, which is great, because it's not busy at all, and i'm getting loads of time to work on my essay and do a bit of other studying too. the remarkable thing though is that this morning i woke up at 7:15am just as always, and did a full day before coming to the hospital this evening. this begs the question of why, every other night, do i crash and become completely useless as soon as 11pm hits?? right now i'm feeling more awake than i usually do in the middle of the afternoon!
i wonder could i wean myself from the amount of sleep i normally have (7 and a half hours) down to about 4 hours a night, i'd get so much more done each day, it would be great! anyone that complains about having to do night shifts, it's really not that bad.
hospitals are actually quite pleasant places at night, especially baby wards, very peaceful - with nothing but the hum of ventilators and syringe drivers to relax and soothe the mind.

Trouble at home

2005-09-12T14:06:00.000+01:00

Many of you will have witnessed the trouble in northern ireland over the weekend between the Orange order with the help of Loyalist paramilitaries and the security forces over a rerouted parade. Needless to say i have found this very distressing to watch on the news and in the papers. it's been a while since we had riots as bad as these, and it's certainly very worrying to learn that live ammunition was fired from both paramilitaries and police as the trouble went on. the news this morning showed armoured police vans riddled with bullet holes.
More than anything it angers me that this is all supposedly in the name of religion. Anyone who is under the impression that the conflict in NI is over religion is very much mistaken - God is not represented by this kind of hatred. I still cannot think of myself as a 'protestant' because the word carries so many negative associations of northern irish nonsense.
the riots over the weekend reflect the true nature of the conflict - hatred bred into people from the day they are born. children told how 'evil' and wrong the other side are. Their whole identity becomes centered on their belonging to one side, and hating the other. until this cycle of indoctrination is broken, then the divide will continue to exist.
it's at times like these that i'm glad i'm not living at home any more, but then perhaps i've made myself part of the problem by moving away. many of those who leave the country are those of similar political 'middle of the road' persuasion as myself, and so our departure means that those of more extreme views are left behind to cast their votes and have their voice heard all the more clearly.
it is time that significant action is taken to prevent this sort of thing happening again in the future. Orange parades are touted as being a celebration of culture - it is clear that they are nothing more than bigoted triumphalism. imagine if english men marched in Berlin every year to celebrate the defeat of Hitler and the Nazis - it's so horrifying that it's unthinkable!
northern ireland has so much to offer the world, and at the moment it's completely stuck and wallowing in its own misery. its time that decent, law abiding citizens did something to rise above the hatred and strive on, together towards a better future.

How's your weather??

2005-09-06T17:15:00.000+01:00

Because it's a BEEEEAAAAUUUUTIFUL day here in glasgow, and in fact it's been pretty nice for a few days now. summer came late i guess.
life is good at the moment, neonates is going well, unfortunately one of the wee premature babies died yesterday after a long struggle - but most of the others are doing pretty well. it's nice not to be too busy with the placement just now, it's giving me a chance to get into a bit of revision and study. helps to put my mind at ease!
I’m finally getting through the summer’s mail etc, still trying to sort out the infamous gas situation – but hopefully slow progress will continue and all will be well soon, watch this space. There will be great celebration and rejoicing once it’s all over.
God really blessed me yesterday – I had a great conversation with the girl I’m on placement with about God, Christianity and my own faith. I’m not the boldest in the world when it comes to sharing my faith, if anyone asks, I’ll tell them all they want to know, and I’ll always try to live my life according to Christ – but I’m not the sort of person who will start a conversation with, “I’m reminded of a passage of scripture that I was studying this morning…..” I tend to go by what St Francis of Assisi said “Preach the Gospel to all the world, and if necessary use words.”
So this conversation came out of nowhere, and it was really cool. And why was it such a blessing? Because in general I don’t feel like much of an ambassador for God at the moment. I’m struggling to make time for Him, and finding serving and obeying Him a daily challenge, so to be used yesterday like that – was very exciting and very humbling at the same time. It is when we at our weakest that God can use us most. Once our egos, pride and ambitions are out of the way He can wield His power through us. and that’s infinitely better than what we can offer by ourselves.I’m really hoping that I’ll get the chance to share a bit more with this girl, and hopefully I won’t have scared her too much just yet!
better go, frances and i are off to premarital counselling this evening - very exciting! wish me luck! not that i believe in luck of course

Back to the grind stone

2005-09-01T11:07:00.000+01:00

Well folks, the holiday is well and truly over, and monday marked the return to uni. more significantly it marked the beginning of 5th year. this is scary, it means that i have only 10 more months to plead "i'm only a student, it's ok that i don't know how to work my stethoscope" or when someone asks for something i can say "i'll just get someone else" no, in fact once august hits, i (and the rest of us) have to take responsibility for sick people and not to mention (horror of horrors in the adolescent generation) ourselves.
why is that when we're kids we can't wait to grow up? if i had known that being an adult means spending a whole sunday afternoon sorting through 2 months worth of post and bills (this of course being the day after we drove the length of the UK to return to glasgow) i would have happily plonked for the peter pan approach - and remained a kid forever.
and then there's other little things that the remaining child-like parts of my brain struggle with, like insurance. i hate septembers, because it means that once again i will pay out a large amount of money in car, possessions and musical instruments policies, money that at the moment i'd really like to still have in my bank account, just to ease the panic when i see the balance. now, the adult bit of my brain says "this is a good and sensible use of money, you might crash, your flat might burn down etc etc, and just think where'd you'd be then" but then the naive kiddie part says "what a waste!! it's never going to happen to you."
if you pay insurance long enough on stuff, then you actually end up spending more on insurance for the stuff than the initial cost of buying the stuff itself - and i'm not sure how that makes sense at all, but there you have it.
and for any of you that remember my little crisis with the gas companies in july (see Gripe of the day in July archives for details) it's still going on. hopefully sorted soon.

this week i started a placement in Neonatal medicine - lots of tiny premature babies. amazing stuff, pretty distressing at times, especially seeing the fear in the eyes of the parents every time an alarm or pager sounds.
part of the team i'm with is involved in the neonatal transport service, so yesterday i flew to the isle of mann to pick up a baby, to then fly to liverpool to drop off said baby. and then back to glasgow. i didn't get to bed until nearly 3am - it was a long day given that i went in to hospital at 9am yesterday morning planning to return home at 4:30-5ish. hopefully not a forewarning of what's to come next year.
oh and i still owe you some pictures from france, i'll get round to that soon. please keep praying for my auntie Bet and family.

My Auntie Bet

2005-08-26T21:34:00.000+01:00

I'm not quite sure how to go about writing this post, or indeed whether or not i should be writing it at all. Some things are difficult to talk about, and even more so in cyberspace.
My Auntie Bet (short for elizabeth) is currently very unwell, and its been quite a shock, and very difficult to see how suddenly her health has deteriorated over the last few months.
Actually, i can't really write about this now - having just spoken to my dad i've too much going on in my head. please think of and pray for my auntie Bet, firstly for a miracle that she might be well again, and then that she would be free of pain and sickness. please pray for her husband robin, her son alan and daughter Joanne and their families. and please pray for my dad and his brother mervyn, that God would comfort and strengthen them during this agony of a dear sister's illness.
thanks

Sorry bout the wait!

2005-08-19T12:02:00.000+01:00

my apologies to those of you who check the blog regularly and have not had any new stuff to read for the last week or so, we've been pretty busy having all kinds of adventures!
we arrived back to london safely on sunday after a delay of 3 hours in dubai, and to be honest we were just thankful that we had checked in early enough to avoid being bumped over to the next flight coz ours was overbooked. no amount of freebies, grand hotel offers or whatever could have compensated for the delay we would have experienced, with the week being as busy as it was, we had the scheduling down to perfection!!
Tuesday was Clare and Tom's wedding in cambridge, which frances was bridesmaiding for. it was an absolutely wonderful day, everyone looked amazing, and most importantly two young Christians were giving themselves to one another in God's sight and with His approval - a truly beautiful thing to witness.
It did of course give us a few ideas for our day!! i was practically sitting with a notebook and pen all day!! i'll put up some pics from the zedding as soon as i get the chance.
On Thursday then we flew across to norn irn for a few days with my family and my Grannie's 80th birthday party. it was great to see everyone and catch up a bit. seeing mark's (my brother) pictures of his holiday in greece with 'the lads' was hilarious "here's the lads, here's the lads with beer, here's the lads with beer on the balcony, here's the pool from the balcony, here's the balcony from the pool"!!!! we started to wonder if they ever made it out of their apartment!! the time at home was just a bit too short unfortunately, and we both felt that we had been a bit overambitious in trying to 'do home' in a couple of days. So my apologies to mum and dad, we'll try to get back again soon and make it up to you.

and now we're in the french alps! two weeks with car and tent to finish off the summer. we're staying on lac d'annecy which the nelson clan has visited several times in the past and is one of my favourite places in the world. and it's just wonderful to be back here again. more to follow soon as my time is running out. talk soon! enjoy the rest of the summer.

Certain disaster averted

2005-08-06T11:24:00.000+01:00

Greetings from KL international airport, where frances and i now have the joy of killing 9 hours before our flight back to london! thank goodness for internet cafes and food.
so i thought i'd send a wee pic to show how frances' hair turned out in the end. after going through varying shades of blonde, yellow, orange, light and then darkish brown, this is the final result. not too bad i'd say!

i'm planning to submit this picture to a modelling agency when i get back home, i think frances may find a whole new career for herself. oh how lucky a man am i!!!

be sure to continue checking in on us here to find out how we get on in cambridge, then NI and then in our little two week trip to france at the end of august.

i shall leave you with my attempt at being a model. ciao

Our last day

2005-08-05T04:03:00.000+01:00

that's right folks, it's our last day in Kuching, amazing how fast 4 weeks has gone by, can't quite believe it. we've had such a great time here, and are looking forward to someday getting the chance to come back.
not too much has happened this week, we got all finished up in the hospital, i saw my supervisor for the first time in 2 weeks so that he could sign my assessment form!! electives are always a bit of a joke when it comes to assessment, but you know you're really taking the piss when the supervisor asks "do you want a pass or a merit?" i said a pass would do just fine thanks, not least because the faculty tend to be a bit suspicious of anyone who gets a merit. they just don't expect that from glasgow students...

last night frances went to the hairdresser to have her roots rehighlighted for claires wedding - unfortunately they made a complete mess of it, so she's back there again this morning to try and get it fixed. all you ladies can appreciate how stressful this is for her, all you blokes can appreciate how stressful this is for me..........wish her luck!

we fly out from here tomorrow afternoon, and then from KL at midnight, so it'll be a long couple of days travelling, but it'll be nice to be back home - to not be sweating 24/7, and to know what it being ordered from menus!!

and here's a few more photos, coz i know you like them, and you need some proof that we actually did a bit of work here! ciao

here's frances with one of the many cute babies she encountered, is it any wonder she's the broodiest girl i've ever encountered!?!
and here we are auditioning for the next series of ER!

Our Friend Grace

2005-08-02T02:50:00.000+01:00

pictured with the delicious red snapper that shortly became her dinner! It's been a lot of fun having her visit this week, and it's given us a great excuse to do some of the super-touristy things that we've held back on so far, such as ..............
a day trip to an iban longhouse. the iban are the largest native group in sarawak, and the village consists of one 'longhouse' literally, in which as many as 25 families live, all with their own little apartment type room. we had a go at some blow-dart hunting too, our prey was dangerous, evasive, and an immense amount of skill was required to catch it.

frances made sure the papaya had no chance of escape.

and then last night, a pretty boat cruise on the river through kuching with our dundee friends, and some glasgow students who had finished their elective in another part of malaysia, and then travelled to our area for a couple of days. the sunset was absolutely spectacular.

with only 5 days to go now before the end of the trip, it feels like its been a really really fast 5 weeks in malaysia. we've seen and done a huge amount, although the hospital placement really wasn't what i was expecting at all. being with the other students all the time has been great, as i've said before the quality of the teaching here is fantastic - but it's meant that i've had much less time available to go to theatre, or do the more clinical work-side of things, ward rounds, outpatients etc. i had hoped to scrub in a lot and get to be a bit more hands on - in saying all that however, i have had the chance to learn a lot, which will stand me in good stead come january when i next have surgical postings.

the old finances are running a bit thin now - too many nice meals out i think! and i'm quite looking forward to getting home now. it will be good to have some home cooked goodness from the mummys!! not to mention their wonderful company!

and just in case any of you are still concerned for my health, i am 100% fully recovered from my illness of last week. i think pete made the correct diagnosis - good to see you're learning something out there bro!

An eventful week.

2005-07-31T06:44:00.000+01:00

Ever had one of those weeks that has just passed you by, and you're not quite sure where the days have gone, or what has happened? that was this week for me. largely due to the fact that from tuesday morning until...........hmmmm thursday evening i was tucked up in bed while my guts tried to turn me inside out!
dont' think it was food poisoning, dont' think i caught it from anyone else, this mystery infection came from nowhere and absolutely floored me! i wish i had acces to a thermometer to know what my temperature was on tuesday night, coz my skin was properly hot, like, so hot you couldn't touch it for that long - and there was not a drop of sweat to be seen anywhere. for those that are interested - remember the four signs of sepsis - tachycardia, tachypnoea, pyrexia and high WCC?? i had the first three in abundance!! i was quite scared - sepsis is bad right? so several days of headache, fever, vomiting and diarrhoea ensued, and like i said, a couple of days seemed to just pass me by!

and before my poor mother suffers a cardiovascular event - i am better again! a course of antibiotics and lots of bed rest and TLC (that's tissues, laxatives and coke - just kidding) had meant that i am fully recovered and enjoying a new lease of life.

in other news, frances' friend Grace arrived from australia this week. the poor girl arrived at 4am on wednesday to be greeted by me in my death-like state. this is a girl that lived in cambridge and went to primary school with frances for a bit, then moved to oz. frances visited her again on her gap year, and they've just kept in touch over the years. so it's been a lot of fun to meet her, and show her the local sights.
yesterday we went to a tribal longhouse, i'll update a bit more on that when i have pictures to show you.
and now it's time to go to the swimming pool, it's hot, and beautiful outside, and we're only here for another 6 days - crazy - so we have to enjoy it while we can!
later!

And a picture of us...........

2005-07-26T11:57:00.000+01:00

......in Kuching last week
and the dundee folks at Bako (with frances of course)

Intrepid jungle explorers!

2005-07-26T11:35:00.000+01:00

That's right folks, this weekend we ventured into the heart of the borneo rainforest, to the spectacular Bako National Park. Along with the 7 students from Dundee also doing their electives here, we had a very hot, very sweaty but most of all very rewarding couple of days.
The park is located on a small peninsula not too far from Kuching, and it is inaccessible by road. only a boat trip can get you to the small HQ, with wooden dorms, a small outdoor cafe and an information centre, and from there it's on foot all the way!
i've always wanted to walk in a proper rainforest, so this was a bit of a dream come true for me. the damp visible in the air, thousands of shades of green all around, and amazing wildlife - thrown in with beautiful beaches and sea just for good measure!

this was certainly an experience in getting over inhibitions and social niceties with our new friends (the dundee students) as we very quickly found ourselves soaked through with sweat! with the humidity preventing any evaporation from the skin, we were all like living rivers! we soon stopped caring what we looked like, and just had an amazing time.

and there were monkeys - everywhere! they seemed particularly fond of the HQ and cafe area, this was an easy source of food for them after all. clever wee sods they are too, one will bare its teeth and distract you, while another sneaks up behind you and steals an entire packet of chocolate chip cookies!

i could go on for hours about this place, it was truly wonderful. so instead i shall just put up a few more pics for you!

Stunning sunset, with swimmers.

spectacular view of the beach from the cliff top, only accessible by boat, or an hour's walk.

that's it for now!!

Half way through

2005-07-22T02:49:00.000+01:00

CRAZY! two weeks down and two to go! these electives pass by so quickly, it's crazy! not to mention the fact that we're well over halfway through our 5 weeks in total, and sadly will be returning home in just two weeks. oh well.
things have been going so well this week, we've both been kept busy with pretty full timetables, and i have to say that the quality of teaching in the hospital here is fantastic, and the students really do know a lot. when the docs ask "describe to me the anatomy of bla bla bla, this is really basic stuff" i feel the ground opening up to swallow me in shame! oh well, a chance to learn!

we've tried to go to the cinema a couple of times this week, but unfortunately (more for her ladyship than myself) the only films showing are batman, unleashed and other aggressive, testosterone fuelled action blockbusters! so at risk of sending the poor girl to sleep (or giving her nightmares, she's a delicate soul!) we've stayed away. unleashed deserves a mention - starring jet li (martial arts legend in the making) morgan freeman (legend in his own right) and........danny devito i think, it is a tale of gangs, underworld urban violence and lawbreaking set in............wait for it...........GLASGOW!!! what a claim to fame! i have to see this film, just to see the glasgowness of it. i wonder how jet li manages weegian, 'aw'right baw bag! gonnae no pull yer flyin dragon o'erheed kick oan me!' so instead of filling our evenings with watching movies (ah the palmerston north days) we are partaking of the fabulous local cuisine and eating out, as you may have guessed by now! there are SO many places and types of food here, it's unbelievable. i can feel myself putting on weight as i think about it!

we got some great news this week, frances' parents have successfully negotiated the use of Emmanuel College in Cambridge for our wedding reception. normally this is reserved only for use by former students, or people otherwise connected with the college, but a beautifully written letter from frances' dad, combined with a reference from his uncle who studied there in the 1930s did the trick!!! we are ridiculously happy about this, and it seems that we're attracting a few stares as we skip down the street!

ummmmmmm, i think that's enough for now. be sure to check out keira's blog, newly added to the links here and see how she's getting on in holland. if you know her, all the better! and thanks to the new visitors to this blog, it's lovely to hear from you. y'all come back soon now ya hear!?!

more from the boat trip...

2005-07-21T10:24:00.000+01:00

Apes and beaches

2005-07-21T10:17:00.000+01:00

One mama of an Ape!
The most beautiful monkey in borneo!

A taste of cuba!

2005-07-21T10:11:00.000+01:00

Frances being a good Cuban woman and Adam being the ideal Cuban man...

Cuban night

2005-07-21T04:07:00.000+01:00

check out that tasty morsel, and the food looks pretty amazing too!

More pics

2005-07-21T03:50:00.000+01:00

beautiful trees and houses from the river boat

Promised pics

2005-07-20T03:19:00.000+01:00

here we are on our fabulous boat cruise up the river that runs through kuching. these hats were provided, we weren't taking the piss........

Monkey Business!

2005-07-19T05:53:00.000+01:00

Helloo, well seeing as this is from me I thought a girly colour was in order!

We're very well, had a great weekend, spent saturday gatecrashing a resort beach (after a hot two hour long battle with our consciences!), went to a place called Damai where they have a 'residents only' beach at the Holiday Inn, (we didn't know this before!)...oops! Was a lovely day though, got some well needed sunbathing and swimming done :-)

Then on Sunday we went to an Orang Utan sanctuary, was brilliant. We saw five Orang Utans, 2 really close up. They're such cool animals, it was in a rainforest so we got to wander around and see some more wildlife - including a flying squirrel. Loadsa fun!

This week at hospital is going well, feeling much more settled (tho I'm still feeling a little bit daunted!), spent this morning on the Paediatrics ward and was able to take a history from a patient who spoke English, also got to examine a gorgeous little boy with TB. We've met some elective students from Dundee who're luvly - 3 of the girls are on my ward.

Yesterday avo Adam was still in hospital so I decided to go exploring. I went to a couple of amazing art galleries and consequently have come up with a design for the perfect house!! the art here is very different to a lot of the stuff I've seen before, they had some gorgeous paintings done on 'Elephant Dung' paper...crazy!

Had a wonderful meal last night, gigantic tiger prawns, fried rice and weird and wonderful veg. Think we're going a bit over budget on food...ooh well :-)

Anywhoo shall shurrup and let other people use the computer. Hope everyone's doing well xxx

Week 1 draws to a close

2005-07-15T03:45:00.000+01:00

It's good to feel as if i'm getting properly into the elective now, although this week has not been without its frustrations. thankfully, all is now sorted out, and we are fully legal and allowed to join in here with whatever is going on.
it's been great getting to know a few of the local students, and they're doing a great job of looking after us, even acting as translators at the bedside! most of the patients dont' speak any english, which is a slight problem, especially for us 'touchy feely' glasgow docs who like to chat away to patients, finding out all about them, their relatives, children, pets......... it feels a bit weird not being able to say to a patient, "tell me if anythings hurts" when examining them, i think that this placement will be a great lesson in 'non-verbal' communication!
it's also interesting to see the variation in presentations here, and the different patterns of disease compared with glasgow. a lot less alcohol related stuff, but a lot more infections (amoebic liver abscess for example - what the heck is that?!!?) and a lot of late cancer presentations, which is pretty sad. people don't seem to access (or indeed have access to) healthcare until much later.

boring medispeak over. frances and i have been making the most of our evenings ha ha! (needless to say) we've gone a little over budget this week on a couple of really nice meals out. last night was a cuban themed evening at a local hotel, all you can eat buffet of AMAZING food! more seafood than strangford lough, more lamb and beef than Corrie's (dad's favourite butcher and ex-regent classmate) and more rice than..............a lot anyway! accompanied by excellent wine (cuban temperillo - thoroughly recommended) and wait for it - freshly rolled - right in front of my eyes - havanna cigar!!! bliss. the whole thing cost us about 45 quid, which isn't a lot at home i guess, but here, thats a week's accomodation! oops. photos to follow of that and also a fantastic little boat ride that we took yesterday along the river that flows through Kuching. its' such a beautiful country.

the plan for the weekend is to visit Bako national park, and also move from our lovely hostel to a holiday inn-type place right next to the hospital. its a shame to have to move, but it's just too hot to walk any distance at all in a shirt and trousers. having to wear a white coat on wards that are not air-conditioned doesn't help much either. i think i've mentioned that in an earlier post -it's quite an issue for me!! not to worry.

better go just now, frances had a lazy morning (grrr) so i'd better get back to make sure she's out of her bed! cheerio

More Beach

2005-07-12T11:31:00.000+01:00

More from last week - just cos it's pretty!

more food!

2005-07-12T11:27:00.000+01:00

This is just the starter, went to the nicest restaurant ever last night - the food was delicious...think our eyes are a bit bigger than our stomachs (very surprising!)

Toilets...

2005-07-12T11:20:00.000+01:00

helloo again, well we've finally managed to sort out the hospital situation - and apart from me nearly fainting today I think it's going to be a fab learning experience (won't explain the fainting reasons unless peeps wanna know...tis a bit gross!)

Had quite an amusing trip to the loo earlier, (Laura if u read this I know you'll understand!). Most of the loo's here are squatty ones though at the hospital there are more Western toilets...soo earlier i popped along...only to find big black foot prints on EVERY toilet seat, seems Malaysians dislike seats as much as we dislikle squats!

Today's been fun, after hospital we wandered over to China town and spent the avo eating and looking around the shops. Found a fabulous shop that sells wooden furniture and ornaments, also went to a Malay weaving centre - the products were gorgeous.

right, shall pop on some more piccies and then let u be, ta ta for now x

Yummy!

2005-07-12T11:14:00.000+01:00

Managed to eat this entire pineapple in 5 mins flat! (that's wot I'm cutting!)

Kuching

2005-07-11T02:32:00.000+01:00

We arrived here on saturday evening after about 24 hours travelling - not quite as bad as the 40 of last week, but still pretty tiring! Its great to be here now, to be able to unpack and stay put more or less for the next 4 weeks.
Kuching is in south-west Sarawak, one of two malaysian provinces found on Malaysian Borneo. We spent yesterday (Sunday) walking around the city centre. it has a really lovely waterfront promenade, with all kinds of crazy markets, stalls and shops. the people are so friendly, not at all pushy or forceful "you buy you buy!!??" no, these people are wonderful. i think we're a bit of a novelty, coz they're all waving and saying hello. we hope that's a good thing. we even had an asian lady request that she have her picture taken with us!!
We're staying in a great wee backpackers hostel called the Borneo B&B. It's not fancy at all, but the two brothers that run it are amazingly friendly and helpful. Air conditioning provides a little sanctuary of cold in the room!
There's so much to do in the local area too, we're never going to have enough time to see it all, i think the weekends are gonna be well and truly filled!

so this morning we showed up to the UNIMAS medical faculty office to get started with the elective bit. up at 6:30, half hour walk from the hostel, by which time i was soaked through with sweat, it heats up really quickly in the morning, and i was not a pretty sight by the time we arrived. note to self - blue shirt plus soaking back is very unattractive!
to make matters worse, after all this effort, having reported to the faculty office at 8:30 we have been told 1) to come back to the office at 1pm to meet the elective coordinator - hence why at 9:30 we are in the library killing time - gonna be a long day and 2) that we are next due in on wednesay morning so that we can have our temporary student cards processed. Wednesday morning??? we could have had another 3 days in Perhentian islands, or done something else. so that's pretty frustrating. we don't know how long these student cards will take to process, so we may find ourselves at a loose end for most of the week. grrrrrrrr.

not to worry, a quick taxi ride will take us to the town and the tourist office so we can start planning our weekends. there is still much fun to be had amidst the work!!

Sunrise at Tok Bali

2005-07-10T10:05:00.000+01:00

this was the view we were greeted with on monday morning before heading across to the island

Broken toes

2005-07-10T10:03:00.000+01:00

at least i thought they were. in my humble orthopaedic opinion......

And this is..............

2005-07-10T10:01:00.000+01:00

.......the very happy, very hot, and a little bit surnburned couple!!! What do you think of the haircut mum???

The Promised Pictures

2005-07-10T09:56:00.000+01:00

This was our view from our hut - unbelievable!!!!

A little word from me!

2005-07-09T03:42:00.000+01:00

Just thought u'd like to know the highlight of last nights travels!!! There was a lady sitting behind us on the bus with three little children..and they were beeaauutiful! one of them sounded like Shrek, the other like Yoda from star wars and the other was tiny baby. i think I may have been staring at them a bit too much as half way through the journey their mum asked me to hold onto the little one for a while...ummmmmmmmmmm, he was so lovely - kept head butting me and trying to pull my lips off!!

Sooo, be warned - I may be stealing one from the hospital, hee hee hee

Love Frances

Ooops

2005-07-09T03:10:00.000+01:00

As my cousin Helen so kindly pointed out, i haven't actually told you properly where we are! d'oh!
we were in the Perhentian islands last week, just off the north east coast of peninsular malaysia - and not far from the large city of Kota Bharu. And this evening we're off to Kuching, in Sarawak on the island of Borneo!

Hope that's better for you Helen. be sure to point out any other key information that i might have left out. i'm still new to this blogging business after all!

On the road again

2005-07-09T02:59:00.000+01:00

The only problem with spending a week in one of the most beautiful places in the world is that it ends all too quickly! Perhentian islands will definitely go down in the memories as one of my absolute favourite places. White sandy beaches, palm trees, fresh coconut just fallen from the tree, turquoise sea and wooden beach front hut!!
Thursday saw the fulfillment of a long term ambition for me - scuba diving!! not like the time in the swimming pool in france mum and dad - as wonderful as that was - no, this was the real thing! 12 metre dive on a coral reef, with hundreds of fish (Nemos everywhere!!) and rays and WOW just wow! incredible. can't wait to do it again.
we left the island yesterday afternoon, the fast boat journey back to the mainland was a bit hairy, i think the driver only understood two speeds, stop and flat out! the little bit of swell on the water combined with the unrelenting speed had us both praying in earnest! thankfully, all is well, and we're now back in KL after another overnight bus journey.
The bus itself was great, the problem was that we arrived in KL at 4:45 (am). in adam-speak that translates as bloody-stupid-o'clock! nevermind. our bags are stowed safely in the train station, and we're killing a few hours in KL before heading to the airport to get our flight to Kuching.
Needless to say the news of the bombs in London has hit us pretty hard. both my dad and frances' family were in and around london on thursday, so for a while we were a bit worried. thankfully all are well, and we just hope and pray that all the injured will recover quickly, and that God will comfort the families of the dead.

Hopefully the posts will be a bit more regular from now on if the hospital has computers, and i'll be doing my best to get a few pics up for you soon. Hope all is well, talk to you soon! don't forget to leave a few messages for us!

A message from Paradise!

2005-07-06T13:26:00.000+01:00

So here we are, after a solid 40 hours of travelling, and two nights spent either on aeroplane or bus we have arrived in what must be one of the most beautiful places on God's green earth! it's stunning. so far this week, we have entertained ourselves with sunbathing, swimming, reading books, snorkelling, eating amazing bbq, reading books, sunbathing, kayaking, swimming etc etc etc. hard work as i'm sure you can imagine!
it has not been without it's events tho, i think i might have broken a toe or two in a nasty incident with a rock that i didn't see. pictures to follow!
the appeal of the actual elective bit of this adventure is rapidly diminishing, and i think we'd both be quite happy to pass the next four weeks here instead of in hospital.
we'll do our best to keep you posted as things progress. hope you're all well, and be sure to leave a few wee messages for us.
later taters!

Gripe of the day - Gas suppliers

2005-07-01T10:32:00.000+01:00

On a day which is stressful enough, in that this evening i set off for the summer - i have spent an hour on the phone this morning to not one, not two, not even three but four, FOUR bleeding gas companies, regulators, etc. Each with their own fabulous holding music, 'touch tone telephone' and 'voice recognition' systems - voice recognition?? you must be kidding. they obviously weren't designed for anyone living outside of buckingham palace to use. I must have spent a full five minutes repeating my address over and over and over again - to no avail. despite my best queen's english. imagine if i was from ballymena? doesn't bear thinking about.
then after holding for an age, i finally get to speak to a human (though i'm not entirely convinced) who goes on to inform me that their company "for reasons of data protection" does not keep the information i need (so why was i given your number?), and so i have to start all over again with a new company.
and why is this all happening you ask? because yesterday i received a gas bill for £516 for gas which i have already paid for to a different company - i can't even bring myself to explain it all again, suffice to say, i'm not paying for the same gas twice, the two companies can fight it out amongst themselves.
and they all laugh when i tell them i'm leaving the country this evening - ha ha, very funny i say, have you any idea how stressed i am right now??
rage. i hate gas suppliers.

in other news, i go to london this evening, get to see frances again after a long week without her. very excited about that, she brings peace, serenity and comfort to me when i'm fit to be tied (not sure how that translates outside norn irn, 'highly strung' perhaps). plus we go to malaysia tomorrow, paradise for 5 weeks!! can't wait.
now back to the packing.

A picture of .................

2005-06-30T14:21:00.000+01:00

.............my wonderful wife to be!!

Day of deliverance!

2005-06-29T13:18:00.000+01:00

Today is the day that i have been looking forward to for a very long time - 6 months in fact. Actually, it should really have been friday, but i decided to skip a few days! That's right, the longest term of my university career has come to an end, and not a moment too soon. 5th Jan until friday (or ahem..today) with no holidays. Anyone that says student life is easy - ha! think again.
It also marks the beginning of the packing process for the summer. even though i don't leave until friday i will start packing today. i'm not one of those people that can just throw stuff in a bag as i'm heading out the door - frances (my wonderfull wife-to-be) is particularly good at that. I'm a bit more neurotic - i have to have everything set out for at least a day or so, just to look over it and think continually 'there must be something i've forgotten.' i think if it was possible, i'd just take everything i owned wherever i went - as long as it fitted into a comfortable backpack of course.
I have more of an excuse this time too, dad arrives this evening to take the car back to norn irn, and with it some stuff for our trip to france at the end of august. The weather in france can be so mixed, i'll need a fleece, hat, boots, sleeping bag...............

2005-06-28T23:55:00.000+01:00

this is about as cultured as i get......

New beginnings............

2005-06-28T23:30:00.000+01:00

So i've decided to start something new, an online blog. Having seen various friends use one to great success to communicate with the masses (coz its even easier than mass emailing!) i think this could be very useful.
Hopefully this will be a place for a few family and friends to keep in touch and see what's going on with me and my lovely lady while we're abroad over the next couple of months.
we'll see how it goes!!