1st & last, do no harm

part the waters

doc1s1n@yahoo.co.uk (doc) — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 06:53:00 +0000

this was the message i shared with the congregation on sunday, one essentially of faith & mercy. i included a clip from the movie 10 Commandments where Moses, played by Charlton Heston, led the israelites across the red sea. the obvious miracle in that scene was, of course, the parting of the waters which provided the escape from the pursuing egyptian army. what's barely noticeable was that they crossed on dry ground.

But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. exodus 14:29

unbelieveable, isn't it? after a downpour, the ground is usually wet & soggy, but here the sea bed is DRY & the isrealites could flee without getting bogged down!! & this is mentioned FOUR times in this chapter. God loves & cares for us. although we often only notice the significant mercies in our lives, we overlook the little nitty gritty, eg. food on the table, roof over our heads & good health, which are no less a blessing.

to emphasise the faith of the israelites & grace of God, i recounted the woman with a bleeding disorder who remained ceremonially unclean by levitical laws, & was a social outcast for 24 years. but in faith, she stretched out her hand to Jesus for a cure, & although the healing was immediate, it wasn't complete till she confessed & the Lord replied:

"Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace." luke 8:48

nowhere else in the scriptures has Jesus addressed anyone this intimately. it just shows that despite our wavering faith, like the israelites, & diseased state, like the woman, God the loving Father, will continue to care, heal & show mercy.

if only we are prepared to reach out to Him.

BLESSED CHRISTMAS , ONE & ALL!!

**song of praise in response was Part The Waters, originally sung by Evie**

hong kong (conclusion)

doc1s1n@yahoo.co.uk (doc) — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:49:00 +0000

a unique drink i savoured was coconut milk with sago - had 5 cups in total & the cholesterols must have swarmed my coronaries.

after having gone thru avian flu, SARS & now H1N1 scare, they take personal hygiene seriously. dispensers for hand sanitizer....

were placed prominently at malls & other public places & tourist attractions. & like this cable car we took at Ngong Ping 360 at lantau island..

...this lady cleaned every car that has just been vacated.

there's a light display at harbour front each nite at 8pm....

...touted to be a "must-see" but i'm not convinced.

we stayed at disney hollywood hotel for 2 nites. 2 offers we made use of were (1) we got a 2nd day free entry to the theme park because we stayed at it's hotel for at least 1 nite, & (2) the hotel room was 25% less if booked at least 21 days in advance. check here.

what caught our attention at the entrance was this make-shift tent used to house luggages of incoming as well as outgoing guests....

....because check-in is at 3pm & check-out at 11am, so people early in the morning to leave their luggage before proceeding to the theme park which opens at 10am, while departing guests check-out early & again leave their luggage here to get into the theme park for a 2nd time.

check-in was a breeze & the reception staff were not only very efficient but also trained well to drum up more business for the hotel by offering room upgrades for a special price. however, what she said went in 1 ear & out the other, because even at early-bird offer of HKD1050 a nite, it's the most expensive room i've stayed all my life!! an upgrade to a room on a higher floor & facing the theme park (to view fireworks) costs at least another HKD200 a nite.

a regular shuttle bus service operates between the 2 disney hotels & theme park. also the MTR operates a special stop just outside the theme park. i think this station & line may have been paid for by Disney.

the trademark mickey shapes are everywhere on the train.

a reminder as you enter the Magic Kingdom...

besides the rides....

.....photo shoots....

& interactive games...

the stage shows....

parades........

& fireworks were very well choreographed & performed. you have to go to youtube for a better look at the fireworks because my camera battery ran out just as it started!!

even after the theme park rides were officially closed at 8pm, people still thronged the shops selling merchandise, like it's free.....

despite the huge crowd, i noticed there weren't any CCTVs anywhere.

i wonder if shoplifters, if any, were having a field day!!

life in HK is not much different from ours. take away the high-rise buildings & chinese govt, they also flout traffic rules....

have a sense of humour...

(this is a shop selling ladies' undergarments)

succumb to diseases...

& believe in God.

one TV channel they have which we will never experience here is a christian channel called Daystar - 24/7 of messages, sermons & testimonies.

& they proudly announce who they are to the world...

the world's top economic power in the making??

hong kong (2)

doc1s1n@yahoo.co.uk (doc) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 04:03:00 +0000

staying in kowloon means you're never far away from a marketplace where cheap stuff can be purchased if you search hard enough.
i've always wonder why HKers are fascinated with jade?
there's usually a crowd where it is sold. food is also cheaper here.

using the Mass Transit Railway was a piece of cake. even the boy knows how to purchase tickets from the self-service booth...
....& unlike in KL, all the lines are integrated & so you'll never have to exit & walk in the open to another station to change lines. also its passenger info system with litted route indicator is slightly more advanced than s'pore's MRT

if you're an avid fan of HK serials, you know this place often chosen for important meetings, eg. lovers, long-lost relatives & feuding parties.
it's the Avenue of Stars where bronze figurines of the local film industry stand, the most famous being that of Bruce Lee..

...& where palm imprints of movie stars are cast in concrete.

....an idea probably taken from hollywood's Walk of Fame. you'd never think those posh shopping malls would offer anything cheap. usually not, but try this for a real bargain - a couple of reeboks for just under HKD200 (RM89) a pair.....

according to my brand-conscious daughter, reeboks rank behind adidas & nike, but it didn't matter to me because you can NEVER get it at that price back home. she chosed a pair of skechers herself...
apparently, these cost RM250 back home while she got them here for HKD250.

i'm certain there's one place your regular tour guide would NEVER bring you to, neither would you consider visiting while in HK. how about the Science Museum?

in fact, we thought we'd just spend a couple of hours there to kill some time but it turned out to be a half-day excursion!! FYI, museum entrance fees are waived on wednesdays (normally, HKD25 for adults) & we were fortunate that on that particular week, the museum showcased the works of Nobel laureate Prof Charles Kao, the pioneer for fibreoptics communications. i was personally fascinated by this as well as the other exhibits, taking up 3 floors of the building....

kids have plenty to keep them occupied with activities...

....& mind games.

one dish that is a must-try is the roast goose.
i'm no food connoisseur but it tasted just like duck, except more fleshy with a thicker layer of fat.... .

also don't forget peking duck with the crispy, roasted skin..

you can't say you've been shopping in HK unless you've been to the ladies' market in mongkok. one thing i noticed the moment we step off the MTR station here was the strong police presence...
there were at least 3 patrol cars like this one in the area alone.
it was still crowded when we got there at 9pm & here you CAN bargain without being told off. besides, just walking off is sometimes enough to get you the stuff you want....

....like these T-shirts at 5 for HKD100 (RM9 each).

next: magic kingdom & why we're all humans

hong kong (1)

doc1s1n@yahoo.co.uk (doc) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:53:00 +0000

(the title suggests this vacation is too long to share in just 1 post)

we had originally wanted to fly AirAsia because it was only 3hours plus flight time, but shockingly, at that time (end-sept), the price of their tickets was almost the same as MAS when the latter had promotonal rates. so we took MAS but i was not impressed with the A320s that were used for the hong kong route. they looked & felt old, & didn't have individual video screens.

i had surfed the net for suitable (read: affordable) accomodation when i chanced upon some serviced apartments - i didn't know they had these in HK, did you? finally settled on Olympic Terrace in kowloon at (a giveaway rate of) HKD600 a nite for a 2 bedroom apartment. it's just 5 mins walk to 2 MTR stations on 2 diffrent lines. is that convenient or what?

the day after we landed, i called up a bosom buddy who has been working there for many years & we met up at a restaurant at Times Square. you know it's a posh place when some etiquette is expected, like these pairs of black & white chopsticks.

the (clean?) black pair is used to take food from the common plates unto your own, while the white pair is used to move food from your own plate into your mouth. classy but tedious, huh? (i wonder how clean are the chopsticks themselves??) later, he took us up to victoria peak for a view of the city at nite....

& then down via the famous tram ala penang hill.

dinner was at his favourite wan tan noodle shop at causeway bay....

....the specialty being the prawn wan tan....
....unfortunately the portions are just too small for us guys & so, we ended with a 2nd bowl each.....

.....this time beef noodles. after that, it dessert time at another shop. we had milk curd...

....something quite similar to soya bean curd except that it's made from fresh milk. the waitress wasn't all that friendly when we took some time to ponder what to order, an attitude that reflected the shop's money-grabbing practice.

(roughly translated to mean every customer will be charged HKD10 whether they made an order or not!!). that was a fitting end to a day of feasting.

the next day, we took a boat ride to Ma Wan island where the world's only life-sized Noah's Ark was located & had opened just this year.
the story even came up in the iconic Wall St Journal (read here).

in addition to the display of life-like pairs of animals,

it also has a museum elaborating the creation story as well as the big bang/evolution story. how odd!! there are also many rooms catering to children's activities. definitely worth a look.

next: shopping at causeway bay & mongkok

back home.

doc1s1n@yahoo.co.uk (doc) — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 13:26:00 +0000

just got back. lots of photos to go thru - 4G plus! will post some in due time. a brief prelude though:

1) food is EXPENSIVE, even compared to KL;

2) you definitely can't do disneyland in ONE day, and;

3) we're NOT that much different from them.

M.I.C.K.E.Y

doc1s1n@yahoo.co.uk (doc) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 02:21:00 +0000

M...I...C.....see you real soon!

K....E.....Y......why? because we love you!

M....O....U...S....E....

yeah, call us slaves to american commercialism....

or, unpatriotic to our own cuti-cuti malaysia tourism appeal....

but, how can you have children & (if you can afford) not let them experience the Magic Kingdom at least once in their lives??

back in a week!

vacation bible school

doc1s1n@yahoo.co.uk (doc) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:56:00 +0000

the church is particularly ambitious this year. while previous attendance for the VBS has been around 60 children, this year we aimed for about 100 & the final count is 120!!

the theme is "kingdom of the Son" & the church premise has been painstakingly decorated to look like a safari - the animal kingdom, get it?

lions...

...giraffes...

.....cheetahs....

....& tents...we have them all!

kudos to JC & his team for the hard work!!

activities for the participants include games......

.......for kids of different ages......

........story-telling

....& crafts....

currently the kids are practising for their group presentation on saturday.

we all pray that the seeds fall on fertile ground.

51

doc1s1n@yahoo.co.uk (doc) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:59:00 +0000

for me, it just means i have to....

consume less salt...

....less sugar....

.........less fat......

..............exercise more & ........

...................go for that dreaded.............

...colonoscopic examination! (ouch!)

the perfect camera

doc1s1n@yahoo.co.uk (doc) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:40:00 +0000

to all camera devotees who want :

1) the brightest F2 lens,

2) the sharpest defination,

3) the widest dynamic range,

4) AND the FASTEST AUTO FOCUS.....................

here is the PERFECT CAMERA with it all.....
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
THE MALE EYE.

(click to enlarge)

**this image is taken from promotional material for the olympus E3**

free medical check-up?

doc1s1n@yahoo.co.uk (doc) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 09:18:00 +0000

i just received a strange call 5 mins ago. someone from Pantai Medical Centre in bangsar called to ask if i'm interested in a free no-obligation check-up tomorrow, sunday 29th nov.

i imagined she was red-faced when i told her i myself could give her a free no-obligation medical. heh, heh! she did apologise profusely & admitted that she got my name & number from an outsourcing company.

anyway, i asked if i could refer some people who might be interested in her offer & she readily agreed. so if you're in the KL/PJ area, call Shy (that's her name & she spoke with a strange accent) at 012-2617290 from the Preventive Health Centre at PMC. if you call now, she might be able to arrange for tomorrow. if not, there will be further sessions next week.

as a disclaimer, i can't tell for sure if this is a truly genuine offer or if it's conditional, or even a sales gimmick, but call to find out for yourself.

good health to all!!

a hazard of air pollution

doc1s1n@yahoo.co.uk (doc) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 16:17:00 +0000

i was naive when i thought the problem with air pollution is that it affects only the lungs - aggravating asthma, causing breathing difficulties or even lung cancer (read here). now, a new German study has shown a link (read here) with early dementia, & in new zealand, it seems that more people died from emission fumes than from motor vehicle accidents. (read here)

what prompted me to write this is that recently i read in someone's blog where he posted a picture of the view from his condo & it was obvious the condo was located just next to a major highway. others who may be affected by the pollution from motor vehicle fumes include highway, car park & petrol station workers.

unfortunately, for most of us, we don't have much choice to the place of work or stay. most times, the job pays well or the dwelling is affordable, or it's just a matter of convenience.

what can we do if we are constantly exposed to exhaust fumes? well, nothing much, short of changing jobs or shifting out. using face masks daily at work is not practical & ineffective, & leaving the air-con on for long hours at home is expensive, not to mention also environmentally unfriendly. the only other option for damage control would therefore to maintain an otherwise healthy lifestyle, eg. balanced diet, enough sleep & regular exercise away from those fumes!!

(sigh!) the bane of city living.

prelude to an empty nest

doc1s1n@yahoo.co.uk (doc) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:55:00 +0000

the girl has gone for a youth leadership camp for a week. so it's just the 3 of us at home. i don't feel it so much as i'm at work most of the day but the girl's absence is beginning to affect the wife. she's stopped working the day the girl was born & has looked after her from day 1. so that reaction is understandable but i reminded the wife of the verse that the girl herself quoted the day the decision was made to study in singapore.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jer 29:11

life still has to go on but we trust the Lord will teach her & instruct her in the way that she should go. amen.

why adults need to be IT-savvy.

doc1s1n@yahoo.co.uk (doc) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:49:00 +0000

I was having trouble with my computer so I called Richard, the 11 year old next door whose bedroom looks like Mission Control, and asked him to come over.

Richard clicked a couple of buttons and solved the problem.

As he was walking away, I called after him, 'So, what was wrong?'

He replied, 'It was an ID ten T error.'

I didn't want to appear stupid, but nonetheless inquired, 'An, ID ten T error? What's that? In case I need to fix it again.'

Richard grinned. 'Haven't you ever heard of an ID ten T error before?'

'No,' I replied.

'Write it down,' he said, 'and I think you'll figure it out.'

So I wrote down: I D 1 0 T

I used to like the little @#%&!! rascal!

**thanks, YO, for the email**

he pulled through!

doc1s1n@yahoo.co.uk (doc) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:29:00 +0000

you know the school year is ending because the SPM & STPM exams start this week. the UPSR results will also be announced on thursday.

for the rest, it's report book time.

when we made the decision to send the boy to a chinese-medium school, we recognised that as non-native mandarin speakers, we couldn't help him in the language except to send him for tuition classes. as the main objective for the enrollment is for him to learn to converse, read & write mandarin, we readily accept that he may not excel in school overall, & should he find it difficult to cope, we will re-enroll him into a national-type school.

however, we were pleasantly surprised that he handled the language much better than expected. no tantrums & certainly no i-hate-school tussles. now, he even reads & writes better than us, & we could get a decent conversation going.

oh yes, he was 12th in class in mid-year & improved 2 places for the end-year.

and he thinks he deserves a vacation!

2012

doc1s1n@yahoo.co.uk (doc) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:38:00 +0000

this must be the most anticipated disaster movie of the year.

let's face it - we are curious to foresee what the future holds, even calamities & events that will cause untold misery & perhaps destroy the world as we know it.

but the irony is that we do not heed the warning signs, least of all from an outdated mayan calendar. celebrated evangelist billy graham's daughter, anne, was interviewed on The Early Show some years back, & jane clayson asked her, how could God let something like hurricane katrina happen?

anne graham gave an extremely profound & insightful response. she said,"i believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are. but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, get out of our government & get out of our lives. & being the gentleman that He is, i believe He has calmly backed out. how can we expect God to give us His blessings & His protection if we demand He leave us alone?"

hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis & diseases all have left a trail of human suffering but no one knows for sure when the world will actually end.

certainly not Dec 21, 2012.

however, the apostle peter has cautioned us:

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives. 2 Pet 3:10-11

now, we HAVE been warned.

free private healthcare?

doc1s1n@yahoo.co.uk (doc) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:30:00 +0000

the operation theatres at the district hospital are undergoing repair works. so all emergency surgical cases seen at the hospital are sent to, & will be managed at, the private medical centre i'm attached to, under an agreement with the min of health.

that's why of late, we have had a sharp spike in the volume of surgeries - painful abdomens, broken bones, lacerated tissues, etc. the govt will foot the whole bill while the patients pay the usual govt hospital rates.

so, if you're in or around the segamat district & in need of urgent medical care, you now know how you could actually get (almost) free private healthcare.

but this is for a limited time only.

double duty

doc1s1n@yahoo.co.uk (doc) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:56:00 +0000

it had been a hectic time. my colleague had on leave with his family & i covered his duty for a whole week. naturally, it was good for the pocket but the stress level also went up a few notches.

he just came back from the gold coast. he flew by air asia X & found the 8-hr flight bearable despite the seats not being able to recline. he probably could bear it, given his small physical stature. however, a few of the taller passengers found the seats uncomfortable, also because of the narrow knee space.

yes, now everyone can fly but i wonder if flying air asia X to london would be torture??

Dec 20

doc1s1n@yahoo.co.uk (doc) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:37:00 +0000

out of the blue, the pastor asked me last week if i would like to give a message to the church on a sunday. i knew a day like this would arrive but it was just too sudden. he was going on leave with his family & preferred someone from within the church to speak. i felt like Moses when he was tasked to speak to the Israelites:

Moses said to the LORD, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue." ex 4:10

like Moses, i had a hundred excuses at the tip of my tongue but lest His anger burned against me, i deliberated on His reassurance:

"Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say." v 12

at one fell swoop, He also inspired a message - the crossing of the red sea.

watch this space.

A+ is a G-grade idea.

doc1s1n@yahoo.co.uk (doc) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:01:00 +0000

hasn't it been said that if it ain't broke, don't fix it?

can anyone elaborate the advantage(s) of the move by the ministry of education to overhaul the grading for the SPM exams? read here

from next year, an A could be an A+, A or A-. why do we require an extra A-grade? why the need to attach merit points to the grades? what was wrong with 1A & 2A? or, during my time, A1 & A2?

if there are just too many straight As students, just increase the cut-off mark for the 1A grade, which was set at 87 & above when i sat for the MCE (predecessor of today's SPM). when my results were released, there were less than 10 students who achieved straight A1s. err, no, i wasn't one of them ;)

& you know what? in order to help students pass, a retired teacher friend who used to mark SPM papers revealed the pass mark was lowered to 20 for the maths paper. 20 MARKS!! now you know our current standard of education. so, isn't this regrading a G-grade (ie zero merit point) idea by the ministry of un-education?

unless there's an agenda we are all not aware of.

an apple a day

doc1s1n@yahoo.co.uk (doc) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:31:00 +0000

i did something uncharacteristic this week. i ventured out of my comfort zone & made an enquiry for teaching job at IMU.

i met a few members of the faculty & they seemed keen to take me on. except they can't understand why i would give up a better paying job to teach medical students.

actually, i thought maybe i'll just do it on a part-time basis, just so i can still keep in touch with recent changes & advances in medicine, & perhaps impart some useful knowledge along the way. after all, it's been said that:

"those who can, teach. those who can't, make bad teachers."

hmm....i wonder if my students would bring me apples.

and i also found it amusing that in Paul's hierachy of Christian workers, teachers outrank healers!!

And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. 1 Cor 12:28

do teachers rock or what!!??

train up a child when he is young

doc1s1n@yahoo.co.uk (doc) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 03:11:00 +0000

i think the boy's going to be like me when i was younger - live football, sleep football.

recently, he started watching EPL matches with me on weekends. then he started checking the sport pages for fixtures, scores & tables. & now, i've taught him how to get into the ESPN website.

last saturday, we found out that ex-national player Wong Kou Foo conducts coaching sessions at the local field for youngsters of various ages.

although the session started with a pep talk, followed by basic skill exercises.....

it's obvious the kids were more excited about playing the actual game...

the boy's so happy, it's almost like he's found his football heaven....er...haven...

i know where we'll be spending many saturday evenings from now on.

junk food for your PC

doc1s1n@yahoo.co.uk (doc) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:23:00 +0000

some commercials strike a raw nerve, like yasmin ahmad's festival promos for petronas.

some commercials are funny, like P1 wimax's current "potong" blitz.

but i think this is one's really in bad taste (pun intended). it's Burger King's tie-up with Microsoft on the launch of windows 7 in Japan. read here & here.

7 pieces of beef patties at one sitting? doesn't that just make you want to puke??

no wonder gluttony is one of the 7 deadly sins.

how the budget affects me

doc1s1n@yahoo.co.uk (doc) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 15:48:00 +0000

i actually have 7 credit cards. not that i need a lot of credit or that i collect them as a hobby. some times i get cornered at the mall & the guy gives me a sob story like he's been on his feet for hours & still hasn't got anyone to sign up his bank's credit card - free for 1st year, he will emphasise. some times i relent. some times it's because an umbrella or a shoe bag is thrown into the deal.

anyway, i only use one card, mainly to get petrol rebate. one more, i keep in case the 1st one got rejected.

as the govt will levy a RM50 charge per card annually from 2010, it makes sense to cancel the other 5. i'm ok with that. i just feel sorry for those guys & girls at the malls trying to get people to sign up.

they will be on their feet a lot longer from now on.

mission weekend

doc1s1n@yahoo.co.uk (doc) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:01:00 +0000

it's the church's yearly pilgrimage to the orang asli settlements this weekend. it was originally planned for early october but i didn't want to commit then because my daughter was sitting for her PMR. it was subsequently changed to this weekend & i was hoping to bring her along so that she, born & bred with all amenities for a comfortable living, could have a peek at the other side of the socio-economic divide.

& perhaps be grateful for what she has.

but it was not to be. as it turned out 14 people volunteered for this year's trip - 4 docs, 1 dentist, 2 pastors & 7 helpers. it's an overwhelming response as we have been getting 9 - 11 people on previous occasions. i see a few issues here:

1st, in my opinion, we don't need that many people. some settlements have only 20-30 people, so 14 visitors would appear disproportionately crowded;

2nd, transport then becomes a logistic problem because we need to bring medical supplies as well;

3rd, our regular host, though very hospitable & accomodating, would be hard-pressed to squeeze us all into her house.

since, one of the aims of the mission is to encourage new volunteers, i, having been on 3 previous trips, withdrew with much reluctance. the big loss would be my daughter's - this would have been a great lesson on blessings & contentment.

Give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.
Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say,
'Who is the LORD ?'
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God. prov 30:8,9

bad doctor?

doc1s1n@yahoo.co.uk (doc) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:07:00 +0000

no, i'm not about to spill the beans about someone else. actually, it's about me.

more than 2 decades ago, when i started training to specialise, i exposed patients to unnecessary risks.

a few times.

in the 1st instance, i was dealing with a child who was the 1st case in the morning. i later left the care of the child to a nurse while i stepped out to read the papers. it was not the 1st time i did this but on this occasion, i was caught red-handed by a visiting consultant, who came weekly to provide clinical services & conduct teaching sessions. she gently reprimanded me & i appreciated her discretion for that. since that day, i've not touched the papers till all work had been done.

in the 2nd incident, i was involved in a nasty disagreement with another doctor about how a patient should be managed. out of annoyance, i stormed out of the room, again leaving...er...or more like abandoning the patient. the other doctor complained to my boss, now deceased, God rest his soul, & he gave me a mouthful. again, i appreciated that because since then, i've not disadvantaged a patient on the account of disagreement with another doctor.

here's the thing.....

the other day, i heard a doctor did just that - left the patient in the care of nurses when he should have been responsible himself. that brought back those memories i reminisced earlier. it reminded me of how i had neglected some of the patients that had been entrusted into my care. they served as a stark admonition for me - that when i was young, impulsive & with an atrocious attitude, i was not a doctor but a irresponsible & reckless person in a white coat. it also taught me, sometimes when i have delusions of grandeur about myself, i am actually an ordinary guy & there's nothing great about being ordinary.

i feel ordinary & i just want to rant.