Secret Black Book Medical student working as a part time coffee barista Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 0 0 1 4179

Articles from Secret Black Book

Reconsidering resuming martial arts 2007-08-02 09:36:00 The past few days have gone by in a whirl. From weeks of half-hearted scanning of the literature, and excited stints in the Emergency Department that only the foolhardy and naive first timer medical students are capable of exhibiting, my research project suddenly picked up an accelerated pace. I have got a reply from the Ethics Committee (they are the big shots that tell me whether i can proceed on with my project), and they have given me conditional approval. There is basically one factor that they are not too comfortable with and i had to hastily scanned through about 200 patient records of those who had presented as Code Greys (unarmed threats) to the ED to give them a credible (hopefully) reply.They are satisfied that i am undergoing four different types of trainings in order to ensure that i would be safe and be able to manage or defuse a situation in the event the patient has a second explosive episode. They had to be more than satisfied, seeing that after i have completed all th ...

Dirty looks and troubled auras 2007-07-29 10:50:00 I reckon it is a good time to at least mention something about my ongoing Spanish lessons that i have finally resumed after a year hiatus. [Edit: This is the 4th time i am listening to Bonnie Tylor's Total Eclipse of the heart. I am hit by one of those times where i suddenly love the song so much i can listen to it MANY times before i will turn the damn thing off. Feel pity for my housemate or anyone in the vicinity at the moment.]I was late for my very first Spanish lesson. Actually i made a supreme effort to be early but as far as i see it, the harder i try, the later i become. I was actually half an hour late. The trains were delayed, and there was an accident along the tram line, so no trams were arriving. By the time i finally arrived at my destination, i was fuming because it would have been much faster if i had walked from my place to the University instead.The Spanish Tutor was very serious in her work and she was really competent. Ambivalence and i have an impressive list of ...

Beautiful, so beautiful. Do you know how preposessing you are? 2007-07-28 07:03:00 You're beautiful. You're beautiful.You're beautiful, it's true.I saw your face in a crowded place Starbucks,And I don't know what to do,'Cause I'll never be with you.James BluntI will never dream of the day i can swoon over a guy's body. Honest to God, i never thought i was that kind of girl.But today, today, i found myself staring and stealing looks at him. I startled even myself when i discovered where my gaze always seem to land. Just looking, just admiring.I worked a late shift at Starbucks today. This was the second time i met him, a fellow part-timer, a dashing guy with looks so alluring i did not know what else i could do but glance away. An athletic build, not overboard like how some guys do it, but well-proportioned and well toned. He hails from Colombia, this tall enchanting man; my supervisor caught me looking at him whilst he was cleaning the floor. I could not help it. He was right in front of me, his long sexy limbs for me to gaze at. I would be abnormal not to ha ...

Because... 2007-07-27 06:02:00 Because i am stubborn...Because i cannot believe that my best is enough, or anyone's best is not enough...Because i am confused...Because i do not want to be the one to make the inevitable decision...Because i do not want to make a mistake...Because i do not want to give up till i am dead...Because i don't want to make a decision when i don't seem to know what is happening...Because something feels not right when i do the opposite...Because i feel i can do more...Because i do not want to repeat a mistake that i made in the past...Because i tried so hard, and now i am indignant that all my efforts are going to waste...Because i cannot believe it...Because the fact that i am so appalled speaks for a lot (unless i am stupid)...Because although i see no way out anymore, i feel that we haven't yet exhaust all our options...Because so many reasons and so many turns of events keep telling me that this should not be it...Because my gut feeling says this ain't right even though my rational ...

The value of money is more than its monetary purpose 2007-07-27 04:27:00 Today at the shelter for homeless men, we had an unexpected surprise. After serving the men who were residents of the shelter, i was surprised to find another batch of hot fresh food laid out on the counter, and my fellow volunteers and workers scrambling to get the food ready."What's up?" I asked one of them in curiosity."Oh, the community centre up the road is undergoing some plumbing work, hence the people who normally eat there have been directed here," one of them, a big shot accountant, replied.The Community centre located up the road dishes out free food to homeless people or people who could not afford regular meals. They could include single mothers, elderly people or people just struggling to survive in society in general. They try to pay if they could, but most came because the standard of living has become too steep for them.When the doors opened, i started serving this new group of people. I observed them closely. They were different from the group of men i just served. T ...

How can a blow have such an impact when we could see it coming all along? 2007-07-26 03:23:00 Sometimes in Life, we are dealt a hand we think is good. We try so hard, we sacrifice so much, but it still never works. I will probably never understand what went wrong and when it went all wrong; but i can vouch for you and i that we have been trying so damn hard all these months to make it work, but maybe it just ain't so. This is one of those instances that i sincerely believe that there is a Higher Being up there, because his word is law. No matter how hard you want something to work, if He says No, then it will not happen. This is what we humans usually say accompanied with shakes of our heads, "It's Life," or "Tough luck." And if you think that it is impossible for something to happen, and yet it does because He says so, we label it a miracle.I don't know whether these indescribable feelings i am currently experiencing comes from the shock that our friendship comes to this in the end, or whether i am frustrated that we have put in so much effort but yet nothing seemed to mate ...

Bin runs, a humbling experience 2007-07-20 13:16:00 Because i am a trainee, and because the outlet i work at is very busy, one of the first tasks i was taught to do was cafe clean-up. Making espressos and ice-blended beverages needs time to teach; i will only learn them next week. Hence, i was needed to bus tables, sweep the floors, mop any spills, wash and sanitize used items and putting them back into their respective places, ensure the condiments are always available, replenish dwindling supplies and clean the bins.Bin runs. Oh boy.Wheeling a massive bin piled high with black rubbish bags (i needed to balance the bin with one hand and hold the over-spilling rubbish bags perched precariously on top of one another, with my other hand) and navigating my way nimbly through throngs of people is quite a feat. That ain't the problem. The thing is, the outlet where i am working at is based in a major departmental store, branded stores. Rich kids and their parents frequent the area. Rich Chinese Indonesians are often sighted. I can't emphas ...

Let's unite for the trains 2007-07-17 18:01:00 I took the train to the hospital today because it was threatening to rain. I left my house 15 minutes earlier than i would have, if i had been riding my bike, because i have a lasting impression of how unpredictable and unreliable the public transport system is around here. I went to the train interchange near my house; i always forget how many people there would be at the station in the morning.I validated my ticket, checked which platform i should head onto (because the train does not go to the same platform all the time!) and strolled there. I had 3 minutes to wait. I glanced periodically, but not obsessively at the screen to find out how long more to go. Suddenly i saw the throngs of people waiting with me at the platform running up the slope. I stared. I heard someone swore beside me, something about the station. I looked up at the screen and to my utmost disbelief, discovered that the train had changed its route at the last possible instant. And everyone was now running to the ne ...

Environmentally friendly 2007-07-16 19:29:00 It is freezing. The wind is howling outside, and the rain is lashing the windows mercilessly. I am huddled over my laptop in the hospital, trying to read the medical literature and trying not to feel the cold seep insidiously into my bones.Ariel has set the heater to a maximum of 20 degrees. Joy was exclaiming in shock, but Ariel solemnly proclaimed that if we raised the temperature any higher, we would be killing the Earth due to the emission of greenhouse gases."But 20 degrees is considered air-conditioning back in Singapore," Joy spluttered."20 degrees is warm. You don't want to kill the earth," Ariel replied calmly."21 degrees? Can we raise it up to 21 degrees?" i asked helpfully. A one degree increase in temperature is as good as any.Ariel shook her head.We did not contest Ariel's decision because we were just too amused. But now we are freezing. I think Yasmin is going to urge Ariel to change her mind soon. Haha. ...

Coffee cult 2007-07-16 09:13:00 I had my first Starbucks training today. It was very interesting, very different from what i expected, and incredibly valuable. I am glad that Starbucks hold such trainings for new recruits. I had 2 coffee appreciation classes whereby i literally flooded my olfactory nerves with a deep generous inhalation of the aroma followed by a good slurp of the coffee. I learnt terms to describe a coffee - the aroma, the flavour, the acidity and the body of the coffee. Warren was trying to impress the shift supervisor who was leading the coffee appreciation class by bragging about the location of the olfactory nerve. I did not have the heart to correct him (nor did i want to ruin the cordial managerial relationship i still enjoy by embarrassing him in front of his co-staff).Before i joined Starbucks, and even up till this morning, i just dismissed Starbucks as one of those rapidly expanding commercial beverage providers who was only hell bent on making profits. I thought i would merely be given a ...

Research, spanish and more 2007-07-13 17:43:00 Emo. Also representing emotional, emotions, and people to stay the hell away from.I was introduced to this word not too long ago, and already i wonder how did i not learn of this word earlier. There are so many emo people out there! And it seems, the older one gets, the more emo the person is. How strange. Suffice to say, the best way to deal with emo people is to give them as much space as possible till they are drowning in the vastness of it. Listening to emo people brood all the time can wear one down, and honestly i am not a very emo person. I do get down in the dumps at points of time but i don't dwell on such periods for long. Moving on saves yourself and the nervous people around you, a fair bit of trouble. Sometimes being ignored would knock some sense into the person.Just a note, i'm not referring to anyone in particular, but it is just an observation i have made, and a very tough lesson to learn. I don't regret it however.I have so many things to update that i have forgott ...

Not yet dead, just swamped 2007-07-12 20:25:00 Hi guys, i have been missing for a long time. I haven't had a real proper chance to update my blog since i commerced my research on Monday. It has been busy. Hospital V truly lives up to its name - we (me, and 2 other fellow researchers (both doing separate projects of their own), Yasmin and Ariel) have been thoroughly worked. Other med students have 2 hour days for this week and next, but we have been clocking full 8 hour days. Also i have already successfully completed a 1 hour tutorial conducted by Hospital V's clinical school's library on my third day here. It was a brilliant tutorial, as i learnt how to utilize Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane and AUSHealth databases. Previously, the University held 3 tutorials each spanning 2 hours just for Medline, and i learnt shat from them.Anyhow, i am at the hospital now, but it is pretty quiet. My supervisor ain't here on Fridays, only Ariel and i are present, and honestly we are bored out of our freaking minds. Not that we have nothing to do, ...

The Cadaver Calculator 2007-07-06 22:05:00 $4675.00The Cadaver Calculator - Find out how much your body is worth. From Mingle2 - Free Online DatingSome of the questions are quite discriminatory.Ok, i am bored and i refused to get started on my biostatistics. Shall stop spamming my blog and go in search of food. ...

Blog rating 2007-07-06 22:02:00 This rating was determined based on the presence of the following words: hell (5x)pain (4x)dead (3x)death (2x)pissed (1x)I would have expected more vulgarities to be screened, haha.From Keagirl. ...

Hear me roar purr 2007-07-06 20:10:00 Ambivalence and i went to have a look at speakers yesterday.We saw this baby (Ferguson Hill 007) whose designed surpassed that of the Soundsticks. Quality is obviously better too since everything about this set is so open.Design is sleek and classy. Music produced was beautiful to the ears.Definitely the set to get if one is a swinging single professional. Definitely the set to up my standards and set the benchmark for when i decide to live by myself.But totally bad if you have skittish dogs running in the house or curious kids everywhere. My Soundsticks have already survived 3 falls, courtesy of my dogs. Fortunately, they are hardy.Oh and my iPod? It has got 2 scratches on it and acts up every 2 minutes. I am preparing 'burial' money - that is to get a new one soon, maybe next year hopefully.Ok, i should go drink some hot instant soup and Milo to calm my famished gut and warm up my freezing extremities. Then maybe some clearing of my desk, some studying? a shower, and to the park wi ...