Today was mostly just chests and feet again. I did one hip and observed a facial bone projection done by the chief radiographer. She completed all three projections in the time it takes me to do a normal chest! O.o" Pretty impressive! The patient for one of the feet I had to do was a beefy guy who had extremely SWEATY SOCKS. I had to move his foot to position it and it was like...totally damp! Eww...=S When I finished the procedure I washed my hands immediately with the antibacterial handwash.
It's a little awkward sometimes when we're all just standing around and chatting -especially when the other people are talking about get-togethers after work for farewell parties and what not. There's going to be a farewell party for the chief radiographer in two weeks, and as much as I wouldn't mind going (since she's been really nice to me and I have nothing to do). I haven't been invited by anyone yet. =/
At lunch we shared stories about close encounters with spiders and other pests. Apparently there's this huge tree in Kambah near the shops which practically RAINS spiders. Then there were also tales of how some woman got bitten by a white-tail and had to get her leg amputated, and how some grown man felt an itch on the side of his neck and screamed when he saw it was a huge spider.
Another one of the receptionists told us of how she spent her childhood in Queensland tormenting and killing cane toads. She also used to play cricket and football with them. Once her father chucked his still-lit cigarette on the ground, and she picked it up and shoved it in a cane toad's mouth. Apparently it just kept on inhaling, and inhaling, until it inevitably exploded! =O
It stormed last night. The wind was cool and refreshing. We opened all the windows to let the wind into the house and even though the rain pelted down the feeling was so calm and relaxing. Ahh...I've missed this kind of feeling. XD I also managed to get in touch with my friend's mother yesterday. My friend had gone out so I chatted with her mother and she invited me over on Saturday for tea and also said I could sleepover. I was touched that she was so open and inviting, and happy that she remembers me. =)
Hmm. Uncle has gone out fishing with his friends, so I'm dining by myself tonight.
Frozen lasagne from Woolies. Yay.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Early Day
Stumbled out of bed this morning after getting roughly 4 hours of sleep and once again my lack of sleep was clearly evident. I hit my leg on the desk and almost applied facial wash to my toothbrush. O.o" Though the most embarrassing thing to happen today was when I was doing a foot x-ray. I had been positioning the patient's foot and gently rotating it, while apologising for any pain, when I straightened up and hit my head on the x-ray tube. This elicited a cry from the patient: "Oh goodness! Are you alright there?"
Today was nothing but chests and feet. The CSU student kept coming down to General when he was supposed to be in Screening, which meant he kept taking stuff I was supposed to do. Bleh. The other radiographers found it annoying and also unfair for me so the chief radiographer talked to him about it. Hopefully I'll be able to do more now. ^^
For the first time ever I got let off before 5:05pm! The chief radiographer let me go at 3:50pm with the PDY girl who was kind enough to give me a lift home. =) She accidentally took the long way around but it was alright~ I found out that she's thinking of getting either a dirt bike or another horse haha. She's really nice and is always willing to help me out. This morning when there was a lull I practised positioning for a shoulder series on her. Over here they do FIVE shots. O.o" The fifth one is a soft tissue one which I reckon is kinda pointless -it's just an extra dose of radiation that the patient doesn't need. They don't follow the ALARA principle *tsk tsk* ahahaha...
I called Sarah today but she wasn't home and I think she's changed her mobile number T_T Anyway I shall get in touch with her later tonight and hopefully we'll get to meet up sometime during the next few weeks. She's been a really, really good friend of mine ever since playschool hehe~ haven't seen her in ages!! XD
Today is a very sad day you know? *sigh* Haven't seen him in a week, can't see or talk to him for at least two weeks, and I wasn't able to see him off. Stoopid clinical! Argh! >_<
Missing him already. =(
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Quiet Day
Not much happened today either:
- I observed a small bowel enema which involved the patient drinking two cups of a barium sulfate mixture. Looked like liquid chalk. Eww... =S
- A school leaver came for the day to check things out because she had been accepted into Charles Sturt but wasn't sure if it was something she'd be interested in.
- The resident doctor for today also gave me 'homework' to research the different types of ways to view the small bowel.
Yeah...that's about it. =/
Public Holiday =)
Nothing really happened on Monday besides discovering that you could see things on my auntie's webcam during the day. Had quite a lot of fun with that haha. XD
Oh, and I found this big spider sitting on the floor in 'my' room as I was about to go to sleep. We stared at each other without moving a muscle, for who knows how long, as I thought of ways to get rid of it. Eventually got the bin and put a new plastic bag in before placing it upside-down on top of the spider.
It was dead in the morning. I don't know how. O.o"
Oh, and I found this big spider sitting on the floor in 'my' room as I was about to go to sleep. We stared at each other without moving a muscle, for who knows how long, as I thought of ways to get rid of it. Eventually got the bin and put a new plastic bag in before placing it upside-down on top of the spider.
It was dead in the morning. I don't know how. O.o"
Monday, January 28, 2008
SUNDAY~
My day was quite simple and mundane: I slept in again (yay!), had brunch, did my laundry, went grocery shopping with my uncle and ate hot pies for lunch. At around 3pm uncle went with two of his friends to go fishing at Cotter Dam -one of his friends managed to catch two fish! =O
Meanwhile I bludged around online and tried Donkey Kongo and Star Wars Lego. Donkey Kongo is so addictive... it's a good stress reliever ahahaha. Especially if you feel like hitting someone or something. XD
Alan and Jia picked me up at 7pm and we met up with uncle and his two friends for dinner at the Iron Chef place again. It was pretty empty but the food was good! =]
Meh, that's about all I can think of. Totally bludgy day ahahaha.
Meanwhile I bludged around online and tried Donkey Kongo and Star Wars Lego. Donkey Kongo is so addictive... it's a good stress reliever ahahaha. Especially if you feel like hitting someone or something. XD
Alan and Jia picked me up at 7pm and we met up with uncle and his two friends for dinner at the Iron Chef place again. It was pretty empty but the food was good! =]
Meh, that's about all I can think of. Totally bludgy day ahahaha.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Australia Day
A tad late, but anyway:
My Country
The love of field and coppice
Of green and shaded lanes,
Of ordered woods and gardens
Is running in your veins.
Strong love of grey-blue distance,
Brown streams and soft, dim skies
I know, but cannot share it,
My love is otherwise.
I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror
The wide brown land for me!
The stark white ring-barked forests,
All tragic to the moon,
The sapphire-misted mountains,
The hot gold hush of noon,
Green tangle of the brushes
Where lithe lianas coil,
And orchids deck the tree-tops,
And ferns the warm dark soil.
Core of my heart, my country!
Her pitiless blue sky,
When, sick at heart, around us
We see the cattle die
But then the grey clouds gather,
And we can bless again
The drumming of an army,
The steady soaking rain.
Core of my heart, my country!
Land of the rainbow gold,
For flood and fire and famine
She pays us back threefold.
Over the thirsty paddocks,
Watch, after many days,
The filmy veil of greenness
That thickens as we gaze…
An opal-hearted country,
A wilful, lavish land
All you who have not loved her,
You will not understand
though Earth holds many splendours,
Wherever I may die,
I know to what brown country
My homing thoughts will fly.
Dorothea Mackellar
My Country
The love of field and coppice
Of green and shaded lanes,
Of ordered woods and gardens
Is running in your veins.
Strong love of grey-blue distance,
Brown streams and soft, dim skies
I know, but cannot share it,
My love is otherwise.
I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror
The wide brown land for me!
The stark white ring-barked forests,
All tragic to the moon,
The sapphire-misted mountains,
The hot gold hush of noon,
Green tangle of the brushes
Where lithe lianas coil,
And orchids deck the tree-tops,
And ferns the warm dark soil.
Core of my heart, my country!
Her pitiless blue sky,
When, sick at heart, around us
We see the cattle die
But then the grey clouds gather,
And we can bless again
The drumming of an army,
The steady soaking rain.
Core of my heart, my country!
Land of the rainbow gold,
For flood and fire and famine
She pays us back threefold.
Over the thirsty paddocks,
Watch, after many days,
The filmy veil of greenness
That thickens as we gaze…
An opal-hearted country,
A wilful, lavish land
All you who have not loved her,
You will not understand
though Earth holds many splendours,
Wherever I may die,
I know to what brown country
My homing thoughts will fly.
Dorothea Mackellar
SATURDAY! =D
Yay, I slept in until 9:30am~ Only ended up getting 6 hours of sleep though ahaha... xD My lack of sleep was clearly evident when I sat up and hit my head on the top bunk and then hit my hand a few seconds later. After breakfast Uncle and I went to his office at the ANU to wait for Alan and Jia to come around and pick me up. We passed by Commonwealth Park and it seemed like there were a lot of people there for the Australia Day events.
Alan and Jia came by at 10:40am and we drove to CANCUN which was at Exhibition Park In Canberra (EPIC). As we drove around looking for a parking space Alan spotted a Computer Fair, which only meant double the amount of geeks. I'd like to make a note here that it was mainly Alan and Jia who wanted to go to CANCUN -I was just tagging along because I had nothing better to do -_-"
Anyway, CANCUN is basically this once a year games convention where people come from interstate to buy, browse and sell games and the like. There were a whole lot of really, really cheap Final Fantasy models, (set of 5 plus a duplicate model for $60 or a set of 3 for $30) which Jia went crazy buying. She ended up buying two sets of 6 (they were different, but she now has two duplicates) for $100 and got another model for free! It was a pretty good deal, but since I haven't seen FF and don't know anything about it I didn't get anything. I did end up getting a Domo kun shirt though ahahaha...
Alan purchased Munchkin Cthulu, Munchkin Bites and some other game before heading over to the Warhammer corner to greet his friend who was entering a competition for Best Painted Army or something like that. Apparently he's won quite a few awards before, and I guess his models were quite well painted but meh, I'm not into that kinda stuff. There were also all these tables set out where people would just take out a game and start playing. What was even scarier was that Warhammer had an entire corner for people who wanted to battle each other. There was even a Warhammer competition! O.o"
CANCUN really draws out a whole bunch of geeks into the open. There were people dressed up, and some guy in the carpark was trying to look cool by wearing a huge trenchcoat underneath the big glaring sun. =/ At one point Alan said the other stall was selling [insert game name] for cheaper, and the guy serving him looked over his shoulder to the other guy running the stall and said "Hey, Phil's selling it for $40, do we give it to him?"
They all know each other. O.o"
Afterwards Alan took me to see the indoor rockclimbing centre before we headed to Belconnen for lunch and shopping~ =) I ate Ali Baba while Alan and Jia shared a fish and salad. Alan and Jia sat opposite each other and I sat next to Jia trying to mind my own business. -_-"
Had a look at the pet shop (the puppies and kittens were so cute!) and then went shopping muhaha. I feel sorry for Alan because all he wanted to do was go to Dymocks and check out GAME, so he ended up having to wait for both Jia and I as we shopped. I did my best to be quick though and I'm quite happy with my purchases. Heh. XD
Then I crashed at Alan and Jia's place for a couple of hours. I played Munchkin: Impossible, Super Munchkin, Munchkin Cthulu and Munchkin Bites! with Alan and won ahahaha...we were playing nicely though. I had a go at Donkey Kongo and Star Wars Lego on the Gamecube which was pretty fun. Donkey Kongo is essentially the same as Taiko Drums except you use bongos and you also have to clap (but you can cheat by simply tapping the sides of the drum hehe). I really like the selection of songs on Donkey Kongo, they're classic oldies but goldies like Louie Louie, 99 Red Balloons, All The Small Things etc.
For dinner we got pizza and chicken wings and watched the first Pirates movie, because it's the only one worth watching. I only watched the other two for Johnny Depp -Capt'n Jack is the best! =) Anyway I got home at around 11:30pm and Alan help me set up the Gamecube downstairs so I can play it if I'm bored ahaha.
All in all it was a pretty good day, despite the fact that I was lightbulb for the whole day. >_<"
Alan and Jia came by at 10:40am and we drove to CANCUN which was at Exhibition Park In Canberra (EPIC). As we drove around looking for a parking space Alan spotted a Computer Fair, which only meant double the amount of geeks. I'd like to make a note here that it was mainly Alan and Jia who wanted to go to CANCUN -I was just tagging along because I had nothing better to do -_-"
Anyway, CANCUN is basically this once a year games convention where people come from interstate to buy, browse and sell games and the like. There were a whole lot of really, really cheap Final Fantasy models, (set of 5 plus a duplicate model for $60 or a set of 3 for $30) which Jia went crazy buying. She ended up buying two sets of 6 (they were different, but she now has two duplicates) for $100 and got another model for free! It was a pretty good deal, but since I haven't seen FF and don't know anything about it I didn't get anything. I did end up getting a Domo kun shirt though ahahaha...
Alan purchased Munchkin Cthulu, Munchkin Bites and some other game before heading over to the Warhammer corner to greet his friend who was entering a competition for Best Painted Army or something like that. Apparently he's won quite a few awards before, and I guess his models were quite well painted but meh, I'm not into that kinda stuff. There were also all these tables set out where people would just take out a game and start playing. What was even scarier was that Warhammer had an entire corner for people who wanted to battle each other. There was even a Warhammer competition! O.o"
CANCUN really draws out a whole bunch of geeks into the open. There were people dressed up, and some guy in the carpark was trying to look cool by wearing a huge trenchcoat underneath the big glaring sun. =/ At one point Alan said the other stall was selling [insert game name] for cheaper, and the guy serving him looked over his shoulder to the other guy running the stall and said "Hey, Phil's selling it for $40, do we give it to him?"
They all know each other. O.o"
Afterwards Alan took me to see the indoor rockclimbing centre before we headed to Belconnen for lunch and shopping~ =) I ate Ali Baba while Alan and Jia shared a fish and salad. Alan and Jia sat opposite each other and I sat next to Jia trying to mind my own business. -_-"
Had a look at the pet shop (the puppies and kittens were so cute!) and then went shopping muhaha. I feel sorry for Alan because all he wanted to do was go to Dymocks and check out GAME, so he ended up having to wait for both Jia and I as we shopped. I did my best to be quick though and I'm quite happy with my purchases. Heh. XD
Then I crashed at Alan and Jia's place for a couple of hours. I played Munchkin: Impossible, Super Munchkin, Munchkin Cthulu and Munchkin Bites! with Alan and won ahahaha...we were playing nicely though. I had a go at Donkey Kongo and Star Wars Lego on the Gamecube which was pretty fun. Donkey Kongo is essentially the same as Taiko Drums except you use bongos and you also have to clap (but you can cheat by simply tapping the sides of the drum hehe). I really like the selection of songs on Donkey Kongo, they're classic oldies but goldies like Louie Louie, 99 Red Balloons, All The Small Things etc.
For dinner we got pizza and chicken wings and watched the first Pirates movie, because it's the only one worth watching. I only watched the other two for Johnny Depp -Capt'n Jack is the best! =) Anyway I got home at around 11:30pm and Alan help me set up the Gamecube downstairs so I can play it if I'm bored ahaha.
All in all it was a pretty good day, despite the fact that I was lightbulb for the whole day. >_<"
Friday, January 25, 2008
Day Five
Today was a pretty quiet day, which was good because my feet hurt and I'm so tired. The only interesting thing I got to do today was a hand and finger projection for a MVA patient who had foreign body query. Also had a Korean girl and a Japanese girl come for CXR and both were really pretty and drama-stereotype ahaha... I've generally found that HSA people are all in their early 20's. Sometimes we have a flick through their passports if we have time, and it's interesting to see how much they've travelled. xD
Besides that I did the normal OPGs and chests and cleaned the rooms down because I had absolutely nothing to do. I watched the chief radiographer do a CT scan on a patient and then watch her do some reconstruction on the computer. It was so boring. I had to stand up while I was observing, and because my feet hurt and I was really sleepy I kinda swayed a bit and almost lost my balance. O.o"
It was the last day for one of the radiologists at our department, so we had a morning tea for her. The chief radiographer bought this delicious creation called a Jaffa Bomb along with an assortment of crackers and dip. The base of the cake was really nice -it was exactly like the shell of a Ferrero Rocher!! xD Minus the bits of nut on the outside though haha.
Heard some interesting stories from some of the radiographers and office ladies during lunch. One lady said that when she was still in uni, she and 4 of her friends rented a place in Harris Park which came down to about $40 each. Apparently the first time they walked in they noticed the carpet crunched under their feet. Turns out they were cockroach eggs. Eww... =S
Saw a group of people all dressed up with the Australian Flag heading off towards the celebrations this evening. I think there's supposed to be fireworks or something, and apparently The Veronicas are going to be performing at a free concert outside Old Parliament House. Not sure if that's today or tommorow though haha.
I realised that I can chuck my mp3 in the computer and listen to it. Haha...err don't ask why I didn't think of doing that before. I have 5hours and 43mins worth of Jay Chou songs and the Goong OST...hopefully I won't get too sick of it anytime soon... ^^" Though at the moment I'm like, worshiping Jay Chou haha. It's saved me from listening to ABC Classic FM all day (my uncle always listens to it and plays it all over the house, and I had no music of my own to listen to). ><
So far I have listened to my favourites 晴天 and 七里香~ =]
Yay long weekend! I get to sleep in tommorow at long last!!! XD
Besides that I did the normal OPGs and chests and cleaned the rooms down because I had absolutely nothing to do. I watched the chief radiographer do a CT scan on a patient and then watch her do some reconstruction on the computer. It was so boring. I had to stand up while I was observing, and because my feet hurt and I was really sleepy I kinda swayed a bit and almost lost my balance. O.o"
It was the last day for one of the radiologists at our department, so we had a morning tea for her. The chief radiographer bought this delicious creation called a Jaffa Bomb along with an assortment of crackers and dip. The base of the cake was really nice -it was exactly like the shell of a Ferrero Rocher!! xD Minus the bits of nut on the outside though haha.
Heard some interesting stories from some of the radiographers and office ladies during lunch. One lady said that when she was still in uni, she and 4 of her friends rented a place in Harris Park which came down to about $40 each. Apparently the first time they walked in they noticed the carpet crunched under their feet. Turns out they were cockroach eggs. Eww... =S
Saw a group of people all dressed up with the Australian Flag heading off towards the celebrations this evening. I think there's supposed to be fireworks or something, and apparently The Veronicas are going to be performing at a free concert outside Old Parliament House. Not sure if that's today or tommorow though haha.
I realised that I can chuck my mp3 in the computer and listen to it. Haha...err don't ask why I didn't think of doing that before. I have 5hours and 43mins worth of Jay Chou songs and the Goong OST...hopefully I won't get too sick of it anytime soon... ^^" Though at the moment I'm like, worshiping Jay Chou haha. It's saved me from listening to ABC Classic FM all day (my uncle always listens to it and plays it all over the house, and I had no music of my own to listen to). ><
So far I have listened to my favourites 晴天 and 七里香~ =]
Yay long weekend! I get to sleep in tommorow at long last!!! XD
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Day Four
Couldn't wake up this morning. Dead tired. xD I was getting picked up at 8:00am so I hurriedly brushed my teeth, changed, ate my breakfast and packed my bag. Again I started off the morning going over my rejects with the chief radiographer. Turns out that some of my rejects were actually passable and that my supervisor at the time was just being too picky. Bleh. =S
Did some more OPGs, HSA CXRs and observed some interesting things like a cervical spine and lumbar spine. Both had to be redone several times to open up the joint spaces. Looks hard, but one of the radiographers said that next time I should have a go at positioning the patient. =O I am getting pro at CXRs haha...and I'm getting better at coning too muhaha xD
Sometime during the day the CSU student showed me and the PDY girl his technique of doing a CXR. He sounded so pro man! I wonder what impression I give patients. Definitely can't be as pro as him... >.<
Hmm... I'm starting to realise how disadvantaged I am because I'm short. Several times I've had patients who are way taller than me and I can barely see what I'm doing. It's even worse when I get tall patients for OPGs because I have to reach up and tighten the forehead clamp. Geh, and today I had to carry a full length lead apron all the way from screening to the OPG room on a patient's request. It was so long and heavy I almost tripped over it. -_-"
Heard from a radiographer called Mei that apparently there is this type of Japanese soap which makes you slimmer. She says it costs $70 and she's already starting to slim down. O.o" We were guessing that it probably absorbs the water and oil out of your skin of something like that haha...
I missed out on a barium meal today. =(
Did some more OPGs, HSA CXRs and observed some interesting things like a cervical spine and lumbar spine. Both had to be redone several times to open up the joint spaces. Looks hard, but one of the radiographers said that next time I should have a go at positioning the patient. =O I am getting pro at CXRs haha...and I'm getting better at coning too muhaha xD
Sometime during the day the CSU student showed me and the PDY girl his technique of doing a CXR. He sounded so pro man! I wonder what impression I give patients. Definitely can't be as pro as him... >.<
Hmm... I'm starting to realise how disadvantaged I am because I'm short. Several times I've had patients who are way taller than me and I can barely see what I'm doing. It's even worse when I get tall patients for OPGs because I have to reach up and tighten the forehead clamp. Geh, and today I had to carry a full length lead apron all the way from screening to the OPG room on a patient's request. It was so long and heavy I almost tripped over it. -_-"
Heard from a radiographer called Mei that apparently there is this type of Japanese soap which makes you slimmer. She says it costs $70 and she's already starting to slim down. O.o" We were guessing that it probably absorbs the water and oil out of your skin of something like that haha...
I missed out on a barium meal today. =(
Day Three
Was picked up at 8:15am and did some reject analysis with the Chief Radiographer in the doctor's office haha. xD Also participated in Infection Control (cleaning rooms after use) and some Quality Control which involved putting cleaners through the processor in Screening (apparently the films have been coming out brownish-grey -not that I can tell the difference). So hopefully I can use two of these activities for my SCIA! Yay!=D
I took a great bilateral hip shot [muhaha] and observed some scoliosis projections which looked quite tricky. Oh and I also did a whole lot of HSA CXRs. I think I'm getting the hang of it. Heh.
During my lunch break I went to the library to print off my competency sheets which I had forgotten to bring with me >.< Also picked up the bus timetable so I can get to clinical myself if for some reason I am unable to get a lift.
Slept at 1:30am. xD
I took a great bilateral hip shot [muhaha] and observed some scoliosis projections which looked quite tricky. Oh and I also did a whole lot of HSA CXRs. I think I'm getting the hang of it. Heh.
During my lunch break I went to the library to print off my competency sheets which I had forgotten to bring with me >.< Also picked up the bus timetable so I can get to clinical myself if for some reason I am unable to get a lift.
Slept at 1:30am. xD
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Day Two
Got picked up at 8:10am by a radiographer and got to NCDI by 8:30am. The chief radiographer signed my objectives off for me and apologised for the mess that was yesterday hehe. I turned out to be the only student there for the day which was pretty good because I ended up learning quite a lot of things. Took a few HSAs, ankles and observed some shoulders and OPGs.
Made quite a few mistakes though:
1) I accidentally put regular film in an extremity cassette. As a result we had to re-take the shot.
2) I didn't close the darkroom door properly, so it creaked open when the film was half-way through and fogged up the picture.
3) I put a film through that was slightly bent, which then jammed the machine. The chief radiographer had to come and dismantle the machine until she found my film. >.<
4) I accidentally labelled the film wrongly when we took a CXR for a father and son together.
5) I forgot to label the film.
Made quite a few mistakes though:
1) I accidentally put regular film in an extremity cassette. As a result we had to re-take the shot.
2) I didn't close the darkroom door properly, so it creaked open when the film was half-way through and fogged up the picture.
3) I put a film through that was slightly bent, which then jammed the machine. The chief radiographer had to come and dismantle the machine until she found my film. >.<
4) I accidentally labelled the film wrongly when we took a CXR for a father and son together.
5) I forgot to label the film.
*sigh* =[
Went to Westfield for lunch again and decided to eat at Hungry Jacks. I had no appetite though and the smell of the food somehow just put me off. =S After eating half-heartedly, I dropped into Cotton On and bought a much-needed long sleeve top. Yay! =)
In the afternoon it was pretty much the same as in the morning: observing, assisting and occasionally completeing the procedure by myself. We also had quite a few Asians come in for HSAs. Once I was doing a CXR for a Korean guy who kept quietly laughing at me... =( Anyway I also got to do another OPG and watch one of the PDYs perform a calibrated ball OPG. It involved trying to coreectly position a paddlepop stick with a calibrated ball stuck on the end between the patient's gums.
Looked like great fun.
Was pretty tired when I got home. Took a shower, had dinner then hopped on msn until it was time to sleep. Noo study... xD
Monday, January 21, 2008
And so it Begins...
Somehow I awoke a few minutes before my alarm clock was set to go at 7am. Realising how I had underestimated Canberran weather, I put on a jacket and trudged to the bathroom to brush my teeth. Changed and feeling hungry, I ventured upstairs where uncle had already set out everything for brekkie.
Celine came to pick me up at around 8:10am and she drove us to our placement at National Capital Diagnostic Imaging Corinna Chambers. The place is quite interesting, it's a very compact little place which has a lot of facilities. After being briefly shown around I was told to observe some mammography followed by some ultrasound. It was not quite what I had been expecting to start the day off with. A real eye opener...O.o"
Afterwards I had a look at some DEXAs and OPGs, both of which I had never seen before and were pretty interesting. Oh, and at my placement, they use FILM. No CR or DR system. >.<>
+"Can you see the notch here on the edge of the film?"
+"Err..no?"
+*takes my hand* "Here can you feel it with your fingers?"
+*blindly feeling for the notch* "Ah! Yes."
+"Ok, now the other way to tell if the film is in the correct way, is to look to see which side is facing up. If you look closely you'll see that one side is purple and the other side is black"
+"Err..they both look black to me..." ^^"
As you can see, I made quite the impression.
After a few hours of alternating between observing procedures and standing around doing nothing, it was lunch time. Celine and I decided to head to the Eatery in Westfield, and as we walked through the shopping centre, I began to recognise the shops and the layout.
+"Hey! I know where we are now!"
+"Yeah, it hasn't really changed much."
Celine went to get something healthy to eat while I immediately chose to get something from... *drumroll*
KINGSLEY'S! Unbelievable Value, Awesome Chips! Heh.
When our hour lunch break was up we headed back for some more observation of procedures and standing around. There were some small improvements though, such as being asked to put the film through or go fetch the patient from the waiting room. All in all, I didn't really end up doing that much the whole day, and I felt I was more in the way than anything else. =S
At around 5:10pm one of the radiographers (who shall remain annoymous just in case), drove me home to my aunt's house. After finding and greeting my uncle I had a shower just in time for dinner.
Oh, by the way. have I mentioned that neither my uncle or I can cook? It's very sad. And so is the tale of our dinner of which I will not write about. -_-"
After dinner I hopped online again and chatted for a while before logging off, supposedly to "study". In the end, I spent at least an hour talking on the phone (Oops!). Though in my opinion, it was an hour well spent.
Hehehe... xD
Celine came to pick me up at around 8:10am and she drove us to our placement at National Capital Diagnostic Imaging Corinna Chambers. The place is quite interesting, it's a very compact little place which has a lot of facilities. After being briefly shown around I was told to observe some mammography followed by some ultrasound. It was not quite what I had been expecting to start the day off with. A real eye opener...O.o"
Afterwards I had a look at some DEXAs and OPGs, both of which I had never seen before and were pretty interesting. Oh, and at my placement, they use FILM. No CR or DR system. >.<>
+"Can you see the notch here on the edge of the film?"
+"Err..no?"
+*takes my hand* "Here can you feel it with your fingers?"
+*blindly feeling for the notch* "Ah! Yes."
+"Ok, now the other way to tell if the film is in the correct way, is to look to see which side is facing up. If you look closely you'll see that one side is purple and the other side is black"
+"Err..they both look black to me..." ^^"
As you can see, I made quite the impression.
After a few hours of alternating between observing procedures and standing around doing nothing, it was lunch time. Celine and I decided to head to the Eatery in Westfield, and as we walked through the shopping centre, I began to recognise the shops and the layout.
+"Hey! I know where we are now!"
+"Yeah, it hasn't really changed much."
Celine went to get something healthy to eat while I immediately chose to get something from... *drumroll*
KINGSLEY'S! Unbelievable Value, Awesome Chips! Heh.
When our hour lunch break was up we headed back for some more observation of procedures and standing around. There were some small improvements though, such as being asked to put the film through or go fetch the patient from the waiting room. All in all, I didn't really end up doing that much the whole day, and I felt I was more in the way than anything else. =S
At around 5:10pm one of the radiographers (who shall remain annoymous just in case), drove me home to my aunt's house. After finding and greeting my uncle I had a shower just in time for dinner.
Oh, by the way. have I mentioned that neither my uncle or I can cook? It's very sad. And so is the tale of our dinner of which I will not write about. -_-"
After dinner I hopped online again and chatted for a while before logging off, supposedly to "study". In the end, I spent at least an hour talking on the phone (Oops!). Though in my opinion, it was an hour well spent.
Hehehe... xD
A Trip Down Memory Lane...
Yesterday I got up at 6am and did some last-minute packing and checking to make sure I had everything. Satisfied, I went to wake my brother up and at 7:40am we left home. The drive was smooth with almost no traffic and we listened to various Eurovision and Jay Chou songs. I complained of the stuffiness inside the car which prompted my brother to turn around and say with a grin, "GM is suffering."
We arrived at Central at 8:15am and went down to the coach terminal to check in and wait until they let us start boarding the coach. Shortly after William arrived and we all greeted each other, my brother and sister decided to leave. I think they just wanted to go home and couldn't be bothered waiting around with me now that I had company. Bleh. -_-
But, then again, I did get to spend some quality time with the only person who came to see me off. Keke~ xD
The Journey ["couldn't resist mate"] was quite uneventful and I managed to get an hour or so of shut-eye. After leaving Central at 9:00am we stopped over to pick up passengers from the International Airport and Liverpool. I sat in the aisle next to a Korean guy who was sitting in my original window seat..grr.. There was a whole group of the Koreans and I suspect that they were all uni students here in Australia for a vacation. I also tried reading up on Femur projections but for some strange reason that didn't really work out...ahaha...
On the way I got a few text messages from people and was feeling very loved and missed hehe. I also remembered to open Bumbo's card and had to stop myself squealing in delight when I saw the "HOT pic" muhaha... I started to recognise the surroundings once we got up to "Lake George" which has actually dried up over the years and is now just grassland with patches of water and wild sheep. O.o"
Arrived at the Jolimont Centre in Canberra a few minutes before 1pm and did not have to wait long before I saw two familiar-looking people walking towards me hand-in-hand...it was Alan and his wife Jia! Gave Alan a big hug and said hello to Jia before we made our way to Alan's car. Later I found out that he had accidentally scratched a bit of paint off his car which was going to cost around $800 to repair...eeek! ><"
As we drove to my Aunty's place I couldn't help gawking at all the changes and excitedly pointing out the places I remembered. We arrived at my Aunty's house and was welcomed by my uncle who showed me where I would be sleeping, what I could use etc. Then all four of us went for lunch at "Iron Chef" in Mawson before dropping into Woolies and picking up some supplies for me. We then headed back to my Aunty's house and dropped off a few things before Alan, Jia and I were off again.
We drove by my old house in Fadden and I was overcome with nostalgia and almost felt like crying. Just seeing my old house again brought back a lot of wonderful memories and mixed feelings of happiness and sadness. Just telling Lynette about it later on msn made me start tearing. And no, I am not emotional, I am just easily moved. Heh.
We went to Hoyts at Woden Plaza to see "Cloverfield". Not a movie I was keen on seeing, but since my cousin insisted on shouting us and even asked a friend to come, I had no choice.
Ugh. It was the worst movie EVER!! +_+
When it started it was a hand held camera and I thought to myself, "Don't tell me the whole movie is going to be like this...". But indeed it was. -_- I started feeling dizzy after the first few minutes. For the entire length of the movie you could not see anything unless the camera stopped moving, which was only when it 'landed' sideways on the ground facing a pile of rubble.
Afterwards we parted ways with Alan's friend and went to crash at the place he and Jia are renting in Downer. I had a go at Guitar Hero 2 and I must say I prefer Taiko drums on DS ahahaha...Anyway. then we went to pick my uncle up from the ANU and we went for dinner at the small Chinese place in Dickson which kinda goes underground and has the Great Wall of China painted on one of its walls. That brought back some memories too -being there again. *sigh*
Oh yeah. nearly forgot. Since uncle knows the manager of the place we got complimentary Prawn Toast. O.o" Everyone was surprised that I've NEVER heard of it before but it tasted pretty good haha.
After dinner Alan dropped uncle and I off at the ANU where uncle had parked his car and then we drove home in the cold Canberran evening rain. I really miss that -driving at night in Canberra in the rain~ ^^
Once we got home I hopped online (YAY!) and chatted with peeps (aww felt so loved again hehe) before wearily tumbling into bed at around 12am. I feel so happy being back here in Canberra again, and being here makes me realised just how much I've missed it. I honestly don't know how many times I've said 'Thankyou" in the past 24hours.
We arrived at Central at 8:15am and went down to the coach terminal to check in and wait until they let us start boarding the coach. Shortly after William arrived and we all greeted each other, my brother and sister decided to leave. I think they just wanted to go home and couldn't be bothered waiting around with me now that I had company. Bleh. -_-
But, then again, I did get to spend some quality time with the only person who came to see me off. Keke~ xD
The Journey ["couldn't resist mate"] was quite uneventful and I managed to get an hour or so of shut-eye. After leaving Central at 9:00am we stopped over to pick up passengers from the International Airport and Liverpool. I sat in the aisle next to a Korean guy who was sitting in my original window seat..grr.. There was a whole group of the Koreans and I suspect that they were all uni students here in Australia for a vacation. I also tried reading up on Femur projections but for some strange reason that didn't really work out...ahaha...
On the way I got a few text messages from people and was feeling very loved and missed hehe. I also remembered to open Bumbo's card and had to stop myself squealing in delight when I saw the "HOT pic" muhaha... I started to recognise the surroundings once we got up to "Lake George" which has actually dried up over the years and is now just grassland with patches of water and wild sheep. O.o"
Arrived at the Jolimont Centre in Canberra a few minutes before 1pm and did not have to wait long before I saw two familiar-looking people walking towards me hand-in-hand...it was Alan and his wife Jia! Gave Alan a big hug and said hello to Jia before we made our way to Alan's car. Later I found out that he had accidentally scratched a bit of paint off his car which was going to cost around $800 to repair...eeek! ><"
As we drove to my Aunty's place I couldn't help gawking at all the changes and excitedly pointing out the places I remembered. We arrived at my Aunty's house and was welcomed by my uncle who showed me where I would be sleeping, what I could use etc. Then all four of us went for lunch at "Iron Chef" in Mawson before dropping into Woolies and picking up some supplies for me. We then headed back to my Aunty's house and dropped off a few things before Alan, Jia and I were off again.
We drove by my old house in Fadden and I was overcome with nostalgia and almost felt like crying. Just seeing my old house again brought back a lot of wonderful memories and mixed feelings of happiness and sadness. Just telling Lynette about it later on msn made me start tearing. And no, I am not emotional, I am just easily moved. Heh.
We went to Hoyts at Woden Plaza to see "Cloverfield". Not a movie I was keen on seeing, but since my cousin insisted on shouting us and even asked a friend to come, I had no choice.
Ugh. It was the worst movie EVER!! +_+
When it started it was a hand held camera and I thought to myself, "Don't tell me the whole movie is going to be like this...". But indeed it was. -_- I started feeling dizzy after the first few minutes. For the entire length of the movie you could not see anything unless the camera stopped moving, which was only when it 'landed' sideways on the ground facing a pile of rubble.
Afterwards we parted ways with Alan's friend and went to crash at the place he and Jia are renting in Downer. I had a go at Guitar Hero 2 and I must say I prefer Taiko drums on DS ahahaha...Anyway. then we went to pick my uncle up from the ANU and we went for dinner at the small Chinese place in Dickson which kinda goes underground and has the Great Wall of China painted on one of its walls. That brought back some memories too -being there again. *sigh*
Oh yeah. nearly forgot. Since uncle knows the manager of the place we got complimentary Prawn Toast. O.o" Everyone was surprised that I've NEVER heard of it before but it tasted pretty good haha.
After dinner Alan dropped uncle and I off at the ANU where uncle had parked his car and then we drove home in the cold Canberran evening rain. I really miss that -driving at night in Canberra in the rain~ ^^
Once we got home I hopped online (YAY!) and chatted with peeps (aww felt so loved again hehe) before wearily tumbling into bed at around 12am. I feel so happy being back here in Canberra again, and being here makes me realised just how much I've missed it. I honestly don't know how many times I've said 'Thankyou" in the past 24hours.
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