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Published: February 9th 2009
Chemist revision, downtown Sumner
Here is a chemist's shop which has gone from the idea of physician directed medication to self-medication, a la ETOH.Last weekend, we went to Christchurch. We spent a lazy couple of days walking on the beach at the beach resort in Sumner, where we stayed at the Mariner Backpackers Hostel (beware of the rooms next to the kitchen or any other public area), and went downtown to take in some of the action at the Buskers' Festival. We saw some very good acts, as well as some that left us cold on what was otherwise a very hot day. Thank God for Starbuck's!!! Actually, I had my standard summer iced vente Americano latte with sugar free flavoring. Forgot to bring my Starbuck's card so I had to pay for the syrup. There are now at least two Starbuck's in Christchurch, plus the one in Dunedin makes three of the four on the South Island that we have seen. We'll get to the one in Queenstown when out boys come out.
The portion of the Buskers we went to see was only a small number of the hundreds of shows around town during the week long international celebration. We took in what we could, slept in when we wanted and generally had a relaxing time. The hostel was fun as
Amateur Busker
Approaching Cathedral Square in Christchurch we found a young lady demonstrating her Suzuki skills. Buskers actually get paid the same way. They were invited here from thousands of applications. They ask the audience to vote via text message, and the best ones get invited back next year. we met some very interesting folks there...an African American woman who has just spent a few months working for Raytheon (of Englewood, CO) in Antartica, and is considering whether she wants to winter there (did you hear about the "jelly" wrestling scandal that came out in the local press last week?). We also met a psychologist from the UK who is working here for a few months while she decides what she wants to do with her life. Very interesting. The common areas, particularly the kitchen put you in contact with random people and make for great conversations.
Since I have some space, I'll comment a bit more about my practice here. I leave for the hospital at around 0735, arriving about 0737. I wander into the day surgery area and check the schedule (if I have a list) to see whether I have seen and consented all my cases for the morning. If I don't have a list, I will check to see if I have any preop patients to see in the surgery admission clinic for the AM or PM. After taking care of this, I change into scrubs, which is basically a white polo shirt or
Look what I found!!!
Nahid's nose is usually the one that sniffs out the Starbuck's, but this time it was me...maybe she had a cold. blue scrub and blue or white pants. If I am on call, I will wander into the office and see if there are any add ons for me to do (seizers, etc). If I have a list, I wander to the room to get set up for an 0830 start, confirming with the anesthesia tech the PLAN. The lists are generally done by 1230, lunch is from 1230 to 1330 when the afternoon lists start. I finally did my first labor epidural today (02/09), so it took me over a month to get tagged. Went in nicely, great help from the nurse midwife. (No tech there). Going home time is variable depending whether I am on call, have a list or just some pre-ops to see. I am getting the hang of this thing.
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