skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Aaah, that's more like it! I've been meaning to transfer my blog for a while, and finally I've done it.Quick update on my life:- I passed the supplementary Barrier exam in December, so now I'm in third year! Such a relief.
- I moved house in December too, and I'm loving it in the new place. I especially love the organic market down the road (every Saturday).
- I went to South Australia in January - first to Kangaroo Island with my Mum, which was brilliant, and then to my rural placement on the Fleurieu Peninsula. I had a good time there too.
- When I returned from SA it was straight back to uni!
- And I've been working lots of hours, writing and editing. Whenever I'm at home, I'm working on the computer. I'm very tired, but I need the money.
Third year consists of 8 four-week clinical placements. I've just completed my time in Emergency and Anaesthetics - loved both of them, but especially Anaesthetics, which I'm very interested in as a possible career. On Monday I start my next placement in ENT (ear, nose and throat) and ophthalmology (eyes), which I'm looking forward to (especially ophthalmology).That's it for now - more soon...One more thing - the name of my new blog comes from the title of one of my med textbooks, "Robbins and Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease" (also known as "Robbins").
Let's start with the bad news.
As some of my readers know, I had a bit of a setback with my exam results, which means that instead of being on holidays with my med mates from 22 November, I have to keep studying for the supplementary Barrier exam (to be held on 13 and 14 December). [If I fail, I have to repeat second year, so obviously I have plenty to motivate me.] Very upsetting - I cried for a day, but then I gave myself a stern talking-to and started studying again.
That meant I had to put my grand plans of finding a place to live on the backburner. I can't spare the time to research online, and then inspect units all day Saturday (and other days), and then pack up and move out. I was resigned to living here until early next year, when I'll have time to look again.
Time for some good news.
Enter my knight in shining armour, otherwise known as my sister's fiancé. He lives with my sister in London, and he recently bought a house in the inner west with his best mate. His mate is moving in, and is looking for a housemate.
That's where I come in! The rent is great, the location is great, and it's a house - not a bloody unit. Yay!!
And I'm also very excited because my new housemate has a dog! I haven't had a dog since my beautiful Snowy died over 10 years ago.
So now I need to focus on these exams, then move into the new place a week later - just before Christmas. Looking forward to celebratory Christmas drinks...
A few days ago, I went speed dating again.
This time went by myself, and I did it with a different company. It was much better - better organised, better host, all drinks provided (and filled up as soon as they were empty), and lovely food provided too.
It was slightly different to standard speed dating - this one had a theme. The theme was "university educated". I don't care if the man of my dreams is university educated or not (as long as he can spell!), but the deal with this theme is that you receive a trivia question to answer with each guy you meet, and the winner gets a prize at the end. I love trivia, so it was the obvious choice for me.
The trivia was fun - quite hard actually - and I didn't win the prize.
What surprised me was that everyone took the "university educated" theme quite seriously, so I had to explain my current and past university history to each guy. I suppose it was the obvious thing to talk about, but it was quite different to last time, where I only revealed my career details to about half of the guys.
I met 11 blokes (there was one no-show), and they were all nice and fairly normal. No scary/strange stories - in fact I didn't find myself praying for the 8 minutes to be up all night.
Despite that, I wasn't particularly into anyone. Like last time, I put "yes" beside 2 guys, just because I was admonishing myself for being too picky. Neither of them picked me, so no matches again! Unlike the previous speed dating company, this one doesn't tell you how many other men picked you - they just say "other people expressed an interest in seeing you again". So it could've been one, or it could've been 9! Who knows...
I think that'll be my last foray into the world of speed dating (for a while at least). Time to come up with a better idea. To quote Charlotte from Sex and the City: "I've been dating since I was fifteen! I'm exhausted! Where is he?"
*sigh*
In February I moved into a unit in Sydney's inner west. The circumstances of my moving were stressful - I returned from an overseas trip needing to move quickly, so I didn't have time to be picky. I ended up doing well to get a 2-bedroom place with laundry, balcony and garage for $250 a week (it's about 15-20 mins from the hospital by bus). I live alone, so the second bedroom is a study, which is very handy for this med student!
However there is a problem - I HATE it here. I'm so unhappy here. And so I think it's time to move.
Reasons for moving
Too much information: It's a ground floor unit. I can hear everything that goes on in the unit above, and by that I mean I can hear every time they use the toilet. Not just the flushing - the actual USING of the toilet.
Other noise: Being on the ground floor, there's a fair amount of noise from outside too - for example, when people come home late at night, I get woken by them talking as they walk past my place to the main doors.
Traffic noise: The street didn't seem that busy to begin with, but because my place is opposite another street, I get the cars that turn the corner and then accelerate, loudly. Hoons with doof doof music and WRXs seem to love my street, as do motorcyclists.
Earplugs: Since moving in, there are very few nights where I haven't worn earplugs to bed. That is no way to live! (And they don't even work that well anyway.)
Smoker: Someone in the unit next door is a smoker. They smoke on their balcony. Their balcony is beside my laundry, which is beside my kitchen. When this idiot smokes, it wafts in through my laundry and kitchen windows, and my whole unit stinks of smoke. I'm not kidding. It's disgusting.
Mental health: The second bedroom, or study, is beside the main entry doors to the unit block. People are constantly coming and going. The room also looks out on the driveway, so I get cars going up and down. It's noisy and distracting, and I find it impossible to study here. In the 2 weeks before my recent exams, I relocated to Mum's place while she was overseas, so that I could study in peace and quiet. If that option hadn't been available, I think I may have had a nervous breakdown prior to the exams. (Hey, maybe I should've done that and gone for special consideration!)
Wildlife: I had major exams last week, over 2 full days. On the night in between, I was preparing for bed when I heard a scratching, banging sound on my bedroom window. I have security screens, and the window was closed. I opened the blinds and let my eyes adjust to the darkness. First, I saw a bogong moth caught between the window and the screen, flying up and down. But that couldn't have been making the noise. My eyes adjusted further, and I saw it - a RAT outside, chasing the moth up and down the security screen. OH MY GOD. (Most people I've told this story to have had the same reaction: MOVE. NOW.) I banged on the window and the rat fell off into the bushes. Strangely, I didn't freak out, although I couldn't sleep straight away, so I kept studying. (I don't think the extra study made a difference to my exam performance, unfortunately.)
Dodgy neighbours: Last week I was sitting at the computer in the afternoon, about 4pm. I heard something smash in the stairwell. I had a look through the peephole in my front door and saw the 30-something guy from the unit upstairs picking up something that he'd dropped. I thought nothing of it and sat back at my desk. Next thing, I saw the guy walk past my window, on his way to the garbage bins. Except he wasn't walking - he was stumbling, and obviously completely pissed. About half an hour later I went outside to get the mail. As soon as I opened my front door, I got a big whiff of alcohol (bourbon I think), and then I spotted massive shards of glass all over the stairwell. The drunken moron hadn't picked up most of the broken glass! I was furious, but didn't want to confront him if he was drunk. And I didn't want to hurt myself picking it up. So I wrote a note and stuck it to the front door, warning other residents about the glass, and asking for "whoever did this" to clean it up immediately before someone hurt themselves. It was never cleaned up, and my note had disappeared by the next morning. Ugh. Yesterday (one week later), the cleaners were there, and they were not at all impressed to be cleaning up broken glass. Thankfully it's all gone now. Dodgy bastard.
Strange sound: Every day, at various times during the day, but mostly in the early evening, I hear a strange sound emanating from a unit upstairs (can't work out which one it is). It sounds like someone is releasing pressured air from a tyre. It's very loud, and it drives me insane because I don't know what it is, why it's happening, and why I have to hear it every day. My rare moments of peace and quiet here are often shattered by this incredibly loud sound. Oh - there it goes again. How's the serenity?
Memories: It hasn't been a happy year for me (for several reasons - not just because of this place), so I'd love to get out of here and make a fresh start.
Short lease: When I moved in, the agents insisted on a 32-week lease, for some bullshit financial records reason that I will not attempt to understand. I was worried because I thought they might raise the rent at the first opportunity. The lease was up nearly 4 weeks ago, and I haven't heard a peep from them. So the ball's in my court now - I can look for somewhere new to live, and I can afford to be picky.
Reasons for not moving
Rental market: The market is worse now than it was at the beginning of the year. There's no way I'll find somewhere with the same features as this place, for the same price. But that's OK. I'll pay a bit more to move closer to the hospital, to a place with everything I want and need.
Moving sucks: Packing is horrible, and the whole thing takes time. And money.
Money: I'm a poor student, earning OK money but generally just getting by. Moving can be expensive, and I'll definitely feel the pinch if I have to pay significantly higher rent.
Gym: I currently live less than a 5 minute walk from my gym. If I move, I'll have to drive there (or find a new gym), which will require a LOT of motivation. I do love the gym though, so I think I can handle it.
Time: Finding somewhere to live, and then moving, takes time. I'm currently studying for more exams, and trying to work. Do I really need to add something else to my busy schedule?
Party: I'm having a "housewarming" party next weekend - ha! It took me long enough! Hopefully it'll be a party celebrating the fact that I'm moving out.
**********************************************************************************
There are definitely more reasons for moving, so it's time to get started. I've found about 15 places to inspect tomorrow. And I've got up until the end of November to find somewhere, so that I can give notice and then move before Christmas. After that, I'll have to wait until late January to start looking, by which time I'll be back at uni 5 days a week.
Wish me luck!
Every five years or so, I succumb to "music guilt". This phenomenon is the realisation that I own a hell of a lot of music that I never listen to.
My solution for this is to force myself to listen to all of my music.
Last time I did this, my music was all on CDs. My CDs are sorted alphabetically by artist (and soundtrack name), so I started with "About A Boy" and finished with You Am I.
This time it's all in iTunes, and there's a lot more of it (over 30 GB). To ensure I wouldn't be listening to the same artist over and over again, I sorted iTunes by album, so there was a good mix of artists and styles. I started listening in February ("1" by The Beatles), and finished today ("9" by Damien Rice).
Part-way through this experiment, iTunes changed the way it orders items alphabetically, which threw me off a bit. In February, numbered titles appeared at the beginning (before A), and now they appear at the end (after Z) - hence why I started and ended with numbered titles. Also, titles starting with The originally appeared under T, but now the The is ignored and they're sorted alphabetically by the next word.
Annoyingly, these changes were applied to iTunes, but not to the iPod software, so the album order is different between the two.
I always play music when I've got my computer on (yes, I study while listening to music - always have, always will), and otherwise I listen to my iPod - either on the way to and from uni, or in the car.
I was quite strict about listening to the albums in order, although I did allow some to jump the queue, e.g. if I bought/acquired a new album, or if I was going to see a specific band in concert (Dave Matthews Band, My Friend The Chocolate Cake) or on the big screen (Dixie Chicks), or if I just felt like it for some reason.
There are 4 albums that I haven't listened to for a good reason - I don't feel like listening to Christmas albums when Christmas is so far away!
This experiment has reminded me of how much I love my music collection! It was great to hear some of the stuff that I don't listen to very often (e.g. albums that I've acquired from friends) - none of it's bad music, but it's just not my favourite thing to listen to.
I have many, many soundtracks in my collection (71 according to iTunes). I'm a sucker for a soundtrack - they're often wonderful mixes of unusual/popular songs. I love: "About A Boy", "The Beach", "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", "Garden State", "High Fidelity", "Kill Bill Vol. 1", "Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels", "Lost In Translation", "Northern Exposure", "The Piano", "Pulp Fiction", "SeaChange", "Singles", "Twin Peaks", "The Virgin Suicides", and so on...
The bands/artists I have the most albums for are: R.E.M. (21), U2 (13), My Friend The Chocolate Cake (7), Chris Isaak (7), Dave Matthews Band (6), Crowded House (6), Counting Crows (5), INXS (5), Powderfinger (5), Stereophonics (5), Smashing Pumpkins (4), The Whitlams (4), Eva Cassidy (4), Dixie Chicks (4), k.d. lang (4), Things of Stone and Wood (4). I also have a lot of "Best of" collections (over 30), several of the Ministry of Sound collections, and various 80s collections.
So now that's done, I can get back to listening to my favourite tunes! First up is "Give Up" by The Postal Service - haven't listened to it since 18 April (according to iTunes)...
