New Job a Dead End

Greetings all,

Well, to those of you who don't already know, I have managed to get a new job. Still within QH in the hospital, but moving towards a speciality, you might say. I've taken up a permanent role in Oncology and Palliative Care!

Hence the title of my blog, which I realise is slightly dark, but I've decided that a good sense of humour (though used with discretion, depending on the audience) will be paramount to doing well in the job.

So starting end of Feb, after my much-needed break, I'll be an HP4, working half-time in Pall Care, and half-time in Oncology.

The job took my interest for a few reasons, I think.

1) I've always been interested in Oncology and Haematology, though both very difficult and challenging areas.

2) I've been in acute medical so long that I needed a change, and perhaps what it highlighted to me was that due to the high patient turnover, you're very much admitting patients, sorting out issues, then discharging them. There is very little time to build rapport with individual patients, many of whom you don't see again. Being permanently in Onc and Pall Care will be very different. Patients come in and out of clinics and hospital, as the disease progresses. You get to know each patient, their illnesses, their social issues, and see them more over the longer term. Hence, you get to form a relationship with these patients, and a trust, which may lead to being able to have more of an influence over their treatment; not only their physical health but their coping skills.

Of course, this will make it difficult when they finally come to the terminal palliative phase, and finally die, but I hope that in that, too, I can make a difference to not only ease their death, but also share my faith (though on my personal time) should there be an opportunity to do so. I think being a Christian in this setting, where the staff are constantly surrounded by death, there would be many opportunities for evangelism to them also.

For example, in the last week, we had about 8 patients die. Quite a lot for a week, I think, even in a Pall Care unit. The nursing staff were quite fragile, so what an opportunity to love.

I think I will have the emotional strength (mostly due to the perspective that comes from being a Christian) to deal with this, but please pray that God may strengthen me to this end.

So I am looking forward to this job. I hope I do well. The feedback I had from my interview said that the panel were convinced that I would be able to do the job and do it well, so I am very encouraged by that!

I hope that God is leading me in a planned direction, and will use this job not only to grow my faith in, trust in, and dependence on Him, but also on my love for Him, my confidence in Him for my salvation, and my love for others to the extent that I can share the hope that I have in Jesus Christ.

Scott

I write when I'm inspired

Dear all,

While I love your commitment and dedication (nearly to the point of holding a gun at my head) to get me to keep writing and updating my blog, I should inform you that I write when,

a) I'm inspired; and,

b) I have the time

Unfortunately those two things don't always occur simultaneously, so you'll just have to deal with it.

Having said that, I have now been blessed with three glorious weeks of holidays! Praise God, and the benevolence of QH, such as it is.

Hopefully time and inspiration will come a-flocking.

Love to all,

Scoot

Anything is worth a thousand words in a blog

Once again, with yet another not-s0-subtle hint from Mr Campbell, I'm feeling somewhat obliged to contribute another worthless perspective to the world of blogging.

And yet, as I look around my bedroom for inspiration, I can see nothing worth writing about.

But that won't stop me, as it hasn't stopped the millions of bloggers around the world, many of whom can easily ramble on for a page or two on the most obscure and inane topics.

Fortunately though, I don't have as much spare time as the creators of this piece of interestingness which I stumbled over hunting through the depths of YouTube.

Have a look. At first it's quite fascinating. Then after a few seconds you figure out how they did it. Then you spend the rest of the clip trying to figure out why they did it.

Here is something just as clever:

One guy, five parts, great voice.

Thus ends my contribution to society.

Goodnight all.

'User-Friendly' only a Buzz-Word

Long ago, some short-sighted individuals held their hands across their hearts and sincerely promised that technology would make our lives easier. Then they gathered around the tribal campfire and together tried to figure out how to put this hot, orange stuff out.

When technology was born, it was followed almost instantaneously by the birth of something sinister; something which would become an eternal struggle, as man tried to tame and manipulate his surrounds to his own gain, much to his own folly.

To this day, crusty grey-haired men in oversized lab coats work tirelessly in spotless, white labs all around the world, striving to come up with smaller (such is the trend) and better ways to make our lives easier, more convenient, faster, quicker, more productive, less stressed, fat-free, and carbon neutral. And to a great degree, their efforts are to be commended. Science and progressive thought has produced everything from gadgets to ways of thinking, which reach these lofty goals.

Of course, there's a lot of crap too.

But recently it seems we have become saturated in all the latest 'must-haves' and their promises, and we are now looking for more multi-functional, cooperative, all-in-one means of taming our lives, to try and reduce the amount of clutter we have to carry around, as we strain our backs and harbour an almost instinctual fear of magnetic devices.

We've seen the 'all-in-one' remote, which with the push of a button can which between controlling your TV, your DVD, your stereo, your airconditioner, your microwave and your neighbours' pet rottweiler (that day flew, I can tell you). For Harry Potter fans out there, it has to be the closest we'll ever come to a magic wand.

We've also moved to Internet-powered refrigerators. I'm sorry, but.. 'Why?'

I have no idea what this was about, but surely it deserves a mention.

And now we come to the magnificent Apple iPhone. You can make phone calls (receive them, too) check email, send texts, listen to music, watch TV, surf the internet, order a pizza, book cardiac surgery, take photos, navigate cities (with some great, half-hour exceptions), notify you when you have appointments, tell you the temperature in Romania, calculate the square root of Pi, play games, manage your finances, buzz incessantly when you hold it too close to any kind of speaker, make your decisions and generally make your friends feel inferior and envious.

Yup. It's pretty much everything I want in life.

If it could find me the perfect relationship I'd buy two. (Not because I'm looking for polygamy, but because I'm a realist and I'd probably screw the first one up.)

That said, this last week has handed me a basket-load of technological quandries and dilemmas, which I intend to discuss in my next post as an attempt to maintain my sanity, and save Mrs Jones from next door from a bloody, sadistic encounter with a Rottweiler at my hands.

To be continued.

An Untimely Revival

Good morning all and sundry.

Long has the mangled corpse of this blog been lying static on the gurney. The medics have long since departed, the defibrillator is lying on the flood in what looks like coagulated inspiration, and an unpleasant smell has started to fill the air (although that might be the orderly). But not even death is convincing to some; certainly not to those who believe that one dismal attempt at a blog can't be regenerated to bring new life and a fresh perspective to an age already saturated with so many opinions (most of which are best suited to lining the bottom of your bird cage).

To synopsise, I'm giving blogging another go. So stay tuned.

After all, in this post-modern age where Truth seems little more than a five letter word beginning with 'T' (if indeed it's spelt that way at all), who could insist that my opinions, reflections and other digestations should stay captive in the cold, bitter recesses of my brain-box?

Well actually I took a poll. The results were quite interesting, and are discussed below.

When asked about the potential revival of Scott's Realm of Perpetual Ignorance,

• 100% of participants raised no objection;
• 100% of participants had no comment at all; and,
• 100% of participants were a lamp-shade.

Clearly a resounding chorus of approval.

So, with a new coat of paint, here's to an old blog getting a new start - new content, new sarcasm, cynicism, maybe even vandalism - here's hoping we can prompt ponderance, brew brainstorming and captivate comment.

I expect some opposition. There are those among of us who have already voiced negative opinions. If you're particularly interested you can find them at the bottom of your bird cage.

Thanks for your support.