so i set out for work early to beat the tube strike this morning. found a rarely used train route that would take me to the hospital by train alone, without the need for the tube. arrived at my usual time, having left home only 20 minutes earlier than usual. smart or what! tube drivers... they get £35k a year, the most highly paid public sector workers in britain. i get less than they do for way more hours and responsibility happily without uttering even a single word, yet these fuckers still strike for a four day working week. bastards.

pretty easy day. did a whole laparoscopic cholecystectomy on my own. had lunch with valentina, told her all about the job on the unit. she has been given that job next, starting august, and is all ecstatic about it. she still works cardiac at the moment.

i see that saddam has been transferred to iraqi legal custody today and has appeared before judge salem chalabi, head of the special tribunal in charge of the trial in baghdad, charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. let us see what happens...

what else? oh, tim henman fucks up at wimbledon yet again, this time killed off by unseeded croatian mario ancic 7-6 6-4 6-2 in 2 hours and 12 minutes. what a surprise, he just still cannot get past that quarterfinal stage. he wont ever win wimbledon now, not that he ever could before. sorry tim.

got home in time for the first euro 2004 semifinal. portugal looked much better this game, with figo more like his usual self. highlights for me were figo hitting the post and that simply awesome maniche goal.

final score: portugal 2-1 holland

all in all, quite an eventful day. =)

food of the day:

chicken kiev

posted by Chas at 22:18
go ahead, roll the donut!

 
"Let Freedom Reign!" [george w bush, 28 june 2004]

historic day today...

at istanbuls ritz carlton hotel, condoleezza rice hands a scribbled note to president bush during this mornings nato summit breakfast meeting:

"Mr President,
Iraq is sovereign. Letter was passed from Bremer at 10:26 AM Iraq time -
Condi"

bush hands the note back with that ambitiously simple line added. he looks at blair, who is sitting next to him at the conference table... they discretely shake hands.

at that same moment in time, the us formally handed over power in iraq to the new iraqi interim government, two days ahead of schedule, to spoof out iraqi insurgents. exadministrator of the coalition provisional authority paul bremer presented the legal document to an iraqi judge during a surprise but lowkey ceremony in baghdads heavily guarded green zone, in front of interim prime minister iyad allawi and president ghazi yawar.

momentous.

listened to (yet again!):

"we are", ana johnsson. been hearing this one for months now, cant get it outta my head... this debut track has been selected as lead single off the "spider-man 2" (sam raimi dir, columbia tristar, usa, 2004) soundtrack. catchy. uk release 26/7/04. uk release for the movie 16/7/04.

posted by Chas at 23:47
go ahead, roll the donut!

 
so i went to the sport show at earls court this afternoon...

it was shit. a load of bollox basically. wont go again next year. just as well i went this time on a free ticket (£14!). earls court 2 was empty, hardly any visitors at all and exhibitors hardly occupying much space in the vast hall. not many freebies nor competition giveaways either. in fact, just about the only thing i was able to do for free was to tank up on lame sports drinks... after a genuine first free drink for all visitors courtesy of the sports cafe, you can only have so much nutritional supplement sample after nutritional supplement sample...

and then there was restructured water. yes, restructured water. wtf? apparently, penta has been patented as a new type of water and is better absorbed by cells, making it the biggest selling bottled water in health food stores in the states last year or something. they were even giving out a cd explaining this great new water. so i cracked open a bottle and took a swig. hmm...

literally a bellyful of fluid later, rushed home to catch the czech republic/denmark quarterfinal. as i had thought right from early on in the tournament, i still think the same... the czechs will win.

food of the day:

penta® water. yeah right.

the sport show
the sports cafe
penta h2o - be fluid

posted by Chas at 23:13
go ahead, roll the donut!

 
omg... got to touch the olympic flame today! awesome or what!

day 28 of the athens 2004 olympic torch relay saw london hosting the 23rd leg. the whirlwind international route passes through 34 cities over 36 days, uniting all five continents for the first time, with all previous summer games host cities being included (plus certain others of importance).

so 140 torchbearers took the olympic flame around 11 london boroughs, culminating in the olympic torch concert for 70000 in the mall in the evening with rod stewart and james brown.

we saw the flame in greenwich park, where three exchanges took place. noone famous unfortunately, all four torchbearers being from the pool selected by the gla or by sponsors coca-cola and samsung i guess. the gusty wind blew out the torches twice while in the park! i was thinking how awesome a photo it would be to capture me sticking my hand out with a lighter in front of an extinguished olympic flame... as well as wind, there was also light rain, but not enough to put local kids off from crowding round the torchbearers with banners and flags. cute. managed to grab hold of one torch, albeit momentarily, before she ran off again! hope the pics turn out good...

later in the afternoon, i decided to head to the mall anyway, despite the fact that i had missed the ballot for tickets last month. even if there was no way at all, at least i could still see some more of the flame in chinatown or piccadilly circus. actually ended up at admiralty arch, looking up the mall at the big screens erected down its length. the stage was at the palace end, with the mall packed with people. apparently, no umbrellas were allowed in (security precautions) even though it had been raining all day, but everyone was given a plastic rain cape, which was just as well, cuz it started to bucket down towards the close of the concert. heather smalls sydney 2000 anthem "proud" provided a neat finale.

food of the day:

kfc minifillet, 99p, limited period instore promotion

athens 2004 olympic torch relay - pass the flame, unite the world
the official website of the athens 2004 olympic and paralympic games

posted by Chas at 23:17
go ahead, roll the donut!

 
another milestone reached today!

ive just put a lady to sleep for her total knee to be manipulated all by myself, with the boss not close by, but distant. woke her up smoothly too. excellent. =)

need to get some lunch now. plastics list this afternoon. only one (big!) abdominoplasty, probably no chance of getting away early...

posted by Chas at 12:11
go ahead, roll the donut!

 
here we go again...

england fuck up another penalty shootout. frank lampards extra time goal was probably the most notable event for me. beckham missed the first penalty and didnt really play at all all game.

was feeling pretty good too all day, rushed home in time to see the game. even got to do my first spinal today, went in slick (just like a sitting lumbar puncture in fact, only with a smaller needle) and didnt cause any of the usual sympathetic problems at all. even the patient felt fine with it, during and after.

and then i come home to this...

=|

final score: portugal 2-2 england, 6-5 penalties (portugal)

food of the day:

marks & spencer reduced fat crinkle cut crisps, sour cream and chive flavour, during the game

posted by Chas at 23:56
go ahead, roll the donut!

 
felt shit this morning when i got up, all nauseous kinda. possibly something i ate last night, dunno... settled quite quickly though, was able to get down a box of sushi, a box of chicken pasta and a tub of bioyogurt for lunch. hey, it was a drug lunch and i was hungry... free food overrides any stomach upset! =)

two rants for today:

1. so wayne rooney gets four goals in two games and people are now starting to compare him to pele... WTF? so he scores a few goals, we knew he could do this anyway... so what? sheesh...

2. flipflops. now that the weather has been improving in general, these have rapidly appeared again for the summer season. very in the last couple of summers. hmm... brace yourselves...
- flipflops are NOT WORK SHOES people! geez... its a hospital ffs, not a beach! youd think that health professionals would know better... after all, would you want your doctors and pharmacists and so on approaching you in beachwear?
- and if you must wear them, at least wear them WITH CLEAN FEET! is that too much to ask? sheesh...

hmm... two rants in a day. guess im still not completely over that stomach bug? either that or the sushi for lunch was crap. the drug rep had gone to marks & spencer, so the food should have been relatively good. but no. just goes to show... sushi should only ever be ordered in a restaurant. supermarket sushi to go, dont.

news from euro 2004 tonight:

watched germany get trashed 2-1 by a czech team resting their first team players and putting on only their second team. how funny is that! the czechs are on fire! three wins out of three in the group stage, including one of the best games i have ever seen... as i had thought from very early on in this tournament, they will win the tournament. simple as that.

marks & spencer

posted by Chas at 23:43
go ahead, roll the donut!

 
better. rooney got another two, certainly more entertaining than the switzerland game. moreover, the drought has finally ended for paul scholes, after three years without an international goal!

so now a quarterfinal with portugal beckons. i think it will be tight. we will win 2-1.

final score: croatia 2-4 england

the other major event of today... i did my first gas induction alone! woohoo! gassed down this kid for orif* of his loose cell mandibular ramus fracture. he initially didnt like the sevo, so had to calm him down with a bit of propofol. then, using a north rae nasal tube, needed two attempts to put it down, not getting back a good endtidal tracing the first time.

after transfer to the table, i suddenly got a circle leak alarm and lost pressure in my bag... a quick check all the way along the circle showed a disconnection under the wide headstrap. *phew*

so yeah, two hairy moments, but another milestone reached. =)

----
* orif = open reduction & internal fixation

posted by Chas at 22:13
go ahead, roll the donut!

 
fucking hell... just finished watching the holland/czech republic game... man... ONE OF THE BEST GAMES I HAVE EVER SEEN OR WHAT.

nonstop action right from the outset, two attacking teams... ok, so both the defences were crap, but even so...

cant think of anything more to add. another alltime memorable game, following the few already mentioned in the last week or so. SIMPLY AWESOME.

final score: holland 2-3 czech republic

posted by Chas at 21:56
go ahead, roll the donut!

 
excellent. handled two cases virtually on my own today, including a big laparoscopic bso*. feeling pretty damn good. =)

going home early now, as there was only one case to do on my afternoon list and the consultant in charge basically told me to. woohoo!

food of the day:

lamb and flageolet bean casserole, mash, peas

----
* bso = bilateral salpingooophorectomy

posted by Chas at 14:48
go ahead, roll the donut!

 
hmm... so england had to win today to get through to the quarterfinals. just finished watching. in a scrappy match, we won 3-0, two from rooney. wasnt that great to watch. almost fell asleep early in the second half. anyhow, we got the result, thats what matters. can just see tomorrows papers all proclaiming wayne rooney as the new england wonderkid.

croatia will be tougher on monday. for most of the 90s, croatia were my favourite international team. i had (and still have) a lot of respect for them and they were an exciting team to watch. davor suker lobbing peter schmeichel in the 90th minute to crush denmark 3-0 in euro 96, awesome. reached third place at their first ever attempt in world cup france 98. theyve lost it a bit now, but still a strong force nevertheless.

final score: england 3-0 switzerland

right, gonna head home now.

food of the day:

accompanying the game, just the usual biscuits left out for the anaesthetic department lounge, nothing big

posted by Chas at 19:29
go ahead, roll the donut!

 
so we were all sitting in the unit coffee room this afternoon and someone mentions nandos... never seen so many eyes light up!

i know that i like nandos, but who would have thought that talk of periperi chicken could suddenly gain everybodys attention? turns out that sheila gets regular emails cuz she is even a member of the nandos periperi club... hilarious! this humble chain of chicken restaurants seems to be deeply incorporated into so many peoples lives. touching.

in a major development today... finally managed to get hold of a supply of terfenadine! was running out with not enough to last me through to the end of this summer, so needed an urgent replenishment, especially as the last couple weeks have been really bad. but with generic manufacturers no longer making it, i had to settle for imported terfenadine made by a german company... and guess how much that cost? omfg... the 100 tablet pack cost me £20.21! never mind. the relief will be worth every penny. it better had...

listened to:

"bad ass strippa", jentina. uk release 21/6/04.

food of the day:

hmm... guess i should go past nandos on my way home from work? might even get a bunch of chicken livers too...

nandos life

posted by Chas at 18:30
go ahead, roll the donut!

 
gutted!

man, what a twist at the end! not seen such a climax since the 1999 manchester united/bayern munich champions league final, when sheringham and solskjaer hit two in extra time to win from 1-0 down. before that of course, there was that awesome micky thomas last gasp effort on goal for arsenal against liverpool in the final game of the season to clinch the 1989 league title. boy, all great memories...

anyhow, thats why zidane is the best player on the planet i guess. truly perfect free kick. but final moment frustration from gerrard (who really should have known better) to give away the penalty?

such a shame. unlucky start to euro 2004 for england. =(

final score: france 2-1 england

food of the day:

got through a large bag of japanese rice crackers during the game. =)

posted by Chas at 21:56
go ahead, roll the donut!

 
thanks to jelena for getting everyone together for tonights little gathering. its often good to just relax with a bunch of work colleagues after shift is over. it was a very pleasant evening and after a couple of drinks in the medical school bar (for a choice of venue, dont ask!) and a leisurely stroll up the road, a table booked by niven awaited us at the restaurant. he had suggested north indian, which was fine by me.

restaurant review:

mirch masala
213 upper tooting road, london sw17 7tg
also branches in norbury (original) and southall (latest)

starters of chicken wings (butter and jeera styles), nonvegetarian samosas, seekh kebabs... all pretty chilli! signature karahi dishes were rather plain in contrast (karahi butter chicken and karahi kebab egg). pillau rice, ok and big. methi paratha good. masala paratha good too. no falooda available today. fresh mango lassi was really thin. ugh... otherwise, pretty standard salad and yogurt/pickle on the side.

basically, a cheap and cheerful place, nothing special, not fancy, reasonable food, reasonable prices. good for quick and easy meals after work. which is what we went there for. =)

£12 total each including tip. no alcohol on menu.

mirch masala

posted by Chas at 23:58
go ahead, roll the donut!

 
nice one. got to take on another couple cases today pretty much all by myself. was also involved in a big ent case this afternoon, a massive laryngeal tumour causing airway obstruction and needing debulking. couldnt see a damn thing under direct laryngoscopy after gas induction... rigid bronchoscopy failed to lay down a successful bougie either... almost had to crack open the tracheostomy tray, when a second attempt at rigid bronchoscopy managed to allow us to drop down a bougie. *phew*

hottest day of the year so far today i think, reaching a peak of 28c earlier. you could feel the heat from outside while walking up and down the hospital corridors. just as well i was in theatre all day... aircon. bliss. =)

getting ready for the transit of venus tomorrow morning. happens in pairs. after this one in 2004, the next will happen 8 years later in 2012. after that however, there will be another 105 years until the next pair of transits in 2117 and 2125, followed by 2247 and so on. unfortunately, britain will not be able to view the transit of 2012, so this time really will be it for us, the only occasion in our lifetime to see it! the timings in the morning for london will be (bst):

- internal ingress 0639
- greatest transit 0922
- internal egress 1204

better not miss it!

food of the day:

turkey schnitzel, baked beans, roast potatoes

the venus transit 2004, eso

posted by Chas at 18:03
go ahead, roll the donut!

 
so today is the 60th anniversary of the d-day normandy landings, an event that helped shape the history of the world. they say that this time will be the last time that veterans will celebrate. cant help but wonder what will happen when they all pass on...

another major world event... former american president ronald reagan died yesterday of pneumonia complicating longstanding alzheimers disease. he had a special relationship with british prime minister margaret thatcher at the time and ended the cold war with mikhail gorbachev. plus he made a few movies too. hmm...

talking of movies... wahey! one of my alltime favourite actresses is on tonight... julia stiles in "save the last dance" (thomas carter dir, uip, usa, 2001). stiles (10 things i hate about you, down to you, o) and kirsten dunst (bring it on, spider-man) are the only two out of this current batch of young hollywood starlets worthy of any respect. they are the only two that have the acting potential to really make it big, if not big already. imho. anyhow, we shall see...

food of the day:

(leftover) roast chicken, tomato and leerdammer (lots of leerdammer!) sandwich

posted by Chas at 21:22
go ahead, roll the donut!

 
went down to brighton for lunch with jonathan and sebastian. really good weather this weekend, perfect for a stroll with the boys along the seafront. shame about the consequent bad hay fever attack today. felt shit in the afternoon and just wanted to get back home. didnt even get to ask sebby properly about the pirates (of the caribbean) that i gave him for his birthday last month. *sigh*

stopped off at beckenham place park on the way home. mum used to take us there when we were kids. the main historical building there that used to house a natural history centre, which i remember visiting, now forms the clubhouse for a local public golf course there. how things change...

food of the day:

dimsum along the seafront at china garden, 89-91 preston street, brighton

listened to:

"come as you are", beverley knight. uk release 21/6/04. the first single off her new fourth studio album "affirmation", uk release 28/6/04.

posted by Chas at 23:53
go ahead, roll the donut!

 
another whole day gynae list today with another of my old cardiothoracic icu consultants. they work primarily on the unit and in cardiac theatres, but are also contracted to provide a service commitment to general theatres one day a week. is good working with them now in anaesthetics, having worked with them on the unit. they know me, my background and what training i hope to get out of my limited time in anaesthetics.

not bad, another good day. got through four pretty big cases, including one lady for tumour debulking and pelvic clearance that we took to general icu afterwards (planned of course).

tried to get free tickets after work for a preview of current venice film festival golden lion winner "vozvrashcheniye" (andrei zvyagintsev dir, ren film, russia, 2003), due for uk release soon i think under its international english title "the return". none left, all gone. never mind. =(

got home in time for the er season 10 finale at 10pm... only to find that it had been rescheduled for an hour earlier! bastards! will now just have to download it i guess, the only way to catch up.

food of the day:

cantonese roast duck, to take home from (little) lee ho fook in chinatown, as a meal idea when my consultant brought up the topic of barbecued spare ribs and other chinese roast meats

posted by Chas at 23:37
go ahead, roll the donut!

 
boy, good day today...

reached another milestone this afternoon. completed two cases on my own with the boss outside the room for most of the time. took them down and brought both back without problem. feeling good. =)

oh, couple of big sports news items today too:

- tim henman is the first british player in 41 years to make it through to the semifinals of the french open at roland garros, with a straight sets win over argentine juan ignacio chela.
- after claudio ranieris recent departure from chelsea, champions league winner jose mourinho is set to take over as coach. chelsea will formally announce this at a news conference tomorrow. there are reports of compensation of £1.7m to porto from chelsea for pinching him.

food of the day:

shrimp and pork fried rice vermicelli

posted by Chas at 21:15
go ahead, roll the donut!