State of Entropy

Gaps with gaps

2009-07-20T20:06:00.002+10:00

With the end of my last clinical block, I very privately wished that it went on for a little longer. Just a little. Because there is still heaps to learn, even about the basic stuff.Especially about exposure factors. I tend not to memorise them since I just use the preset numbers, but what if you a special projection that's not preset? What if you're doing mobile radiography on ICU patients where

Long time between drinks

2009-06-05T22:03:00.002+10:00

Massive void of not posting since life has been just been more interesting. You start to know your friends better, you start spending the occassional late night out, and have 3 drink too many. Good times been rolling.Exams was the usual fuss and mess and sweat, except for our very first exam when the power went out. I'd finish the mcq by then and there was barely enough natural light to see the

Preparing for a new start

2009-03-11T11:09:00.003+11:00

So just finished the first week of uni and now well into the second week. I wouldn't say its a total grind at the moment, but they definitely don't muck around anymore getting on to third year.The hardest subject, for me at least, is probably the ultrasound unit. Partly because of the massive amounts of reading just to grasp the subject, partly because it just feel completely different. US is a

Lava Reef Zone

2009-02-08T22:14:00.002+11:00

So on Tuesday I'm off down south to Culburra Beach to relax before the beginning of my final year of uni and to forget about the current financial tsunami that is still sweeping the world. I'll be gone for 5 days to enjoy surf, sun and sand, then straight after I come back I have a wedding reception to go to at Maxims. It seems to be an unspoken rule that if you're Viet and you need a wedding

It's Gone Now

2009-02-01T12:24:00.002+11:00

So I spent most of the last days of January, mulling around my room, with capped internet and no money. Boredom starting to creep around, and I missed a few outing with friends due to what you could call 'a series of unfortunate events'. So when a message appeared whether I was up for some paintball, I couldn't refuse. Of course, I had no money, but some scrouging and borrowing, I had a small

Good Times

2009-01-18T20:07:00.003+11:00

Recently celebrated a friend's birthday in the city. I didn't know that the Sydney Festival thingo was on and there was this movie screening thingo at Darling Harbour. Unfortunately, we went to Hyde Park where there was nothing on. All that walk for nothing.Vaguely looking forward to uni, when it starts in March. It's my last year, and that in itself is something special. More groupwork though,

Blue Ridge Mountains

2009-01-07T23:22:00.002+11:00

Men kick friendship around like a football and it doesn't seem to crack. Women treat it like glass and it falls to pieces. - Anne LindberghJust seems strangely appropriate quote to a situation I know.Nothing much happening so far. I'm busy organising a trip with uni friends. Seems a little messy this time around, probably because there was more democracy involved.

A Fleeting Dream

2009-01-02T09:36:00.004+11:00

Happy New Year everybody! Here's hoping that 2009 will be a better year than 2008.I actually journeyed to the city (well Balmain) to watch the fireworks with friends. There was a lot of waiting for and between fireworks. The midnight fireworks started out pretty meh, but picked up in the middle and ended pretty well. I still say that 2000 had the best fireworks and have yet to be matched.Even

I'm Out of Your Life

2008-12-24T21:14:00.003+11:00

Well Christmas is upon us and clinicals are well and truly behind me.Nothing much to report on, except I'm loving my new computer. Well, boys will be boys right?I don't think I'll be leaving the house unless I have a real good reason to lol. There's still a NYE party with friends, and I might just venture out on Boxing Day. I do need some new books. I could probably get copies of the net, but

Nothing Too Much Just Out Of Sight

2008-12-13T11:15:00.003+11:00

4 DAYS OF CLINICALS REMAINING!So I took the plunge and ordered a new computer. I was playing around my different builds, trying to squeeze an component here and there. It was made a bit easier when when my dad offered to get me a 22inch LCD monitor for Christmas. Dunno which one to get yet. I'll probably be hitting the net for reviews and maybe a quick visit to MSY to see their pricelist.Computer

The Fear

2008-12-06T11:01:00.003+11:00

With the end of clinicals in sight, all I'm trying to do is to survive and get all my stuff signed off. A mere 10 days remain, and then I'll truly get a break.So I started reading Twilight by Stephanie Meyer, the first book in the series. I was browsing on the internet, and read a lot of good things about it, even though it was a young adult romance novel. There was a comment somewhere that

She's So High

2008-11-21T22:18:00.002+11:00

Second week down, four more terrible weeks left.@Nam: Clinical work keeps me from being bored. It just tires me out.Clinical is falling into a somewhat familiar routine now. Wake up, go clinical, work for free, go home, check email then sleep. Rinse and repeat for another 20 days. I've still got assignments to do this, but it still doesn't change the tediousness of clinical.6 weeks is a fairly

Streetlights

2008-11-14T21:02:00.007+11:00

So first week of clinical has finished, and it felt like 6 weeks already.That's the bad thing about doing your clinical at private practice is that you end up doing more work than learning. After a week or two you know how to fill the paperwork, what projections and where to put stuff, so the last 3 to 4 weeks is just grinding through the work. So for the past 2 days I've pretty much been going

2008-11-04T18:29:00.002+11:00

“Life isn’t divided into genres. It’s a horrifying, romantic, tragic, comical, science-fiction cowboy detective novel. You know, with a bit of pornography if you’re lucky” - Alan Moore

Advice for the Young at Heart

2008-10-24T21:49:00.003+11:00

Finally, my OSCE is over. Basically a practical exam. It was tough in its own way, having to remember quite a bit of stuff.The areas that I had to know the projections and pathologies were facial bones, including mandible and TMJs, cervical, thoracic, lumber spine and hip and pelvis. I'm pretty fine with everything except the facial bones part. I didn't do many facial bones, simply because it was

Back on the Rocks

2008-10-17T22:35:00.002+11:00

I tried to study for my upcoming MCQ exam but it just got too boring. Couldn't bear to read through the bloody notes, so it was back to the old stand-by of procrastination.Friends have been bugging me about the next road trip, although you could argue that it's not really a road trip since we're never really travel that far, so with the free time I had I decided to some pre-preliminary planning.

Shoddy weather

2008-10-04T11:30:00.007+10:00

Spring is probably the season I hate the most. Well maybe not hate, that's a bit too harsh. But one moment, it's as hot as summer, then out of the blue rain pours down and the weather goes chilly. However, luckily the weather held up every time I went out.There was my friend's 21st where the theme was iconic figures from music or film, but generally any fictional character worked. My costume of

Run before you can walk

2008-09-18T16:10:00.005+10:00

So basically I thought I was going to Nepean Hospital. Then I get an email from the coordinator, saying that due to overlap of students from Charles Sturt University (damn you!) there were too many students at Nepean and someone had to pull the short straw and that was me. I raged a bit here, calmed down and read on to find that for now I would be in limbo with no clinical placement until he

Get Ready to divide by zero

2008-09-11T21:10:00.002+10:00

Been back at uni for 2 weeks now, and have nicely settled back into old routine. Being back with friends, there's nothing better that that I reckon.New clinical placements have been released and this time I'm being shipping off to Nepean Hospital. Not that far away, but still a bit of a train trip. I don't really mind though since I can still commute there every day and not have to worry about

The Fire Still Burns

2008-08-24T19:18:00.002+10:00

So basically I have 5 days of clinicals left, before going back to uni. I like to refer to the whole uni experience as the 'uni grind', but I've never been happier to get back to it. Maybe because this time I was alone for this clinical. There's no one else at my place and I hardly run into the other students at Gosford Hospital. Meh...Right now I'm typing up a case study. It about one procedure

I listen to my mp3s at 100 kVp

2008-08-19T19:29:00.005+10:00

So it was my 20th birthday around a week ago. It didn't really register with me until I was out with dinner with uni friends celebrating someone else's 20th. That's not to say I forgot my own birthday, but it was more in the back of my head rather than hammering about in my mind. Basically, I get myself a cake, take a few shots of a suitably strong alcoholic beverage and celebrate the fact that

International Dateline

2008-08-08T22:55:00.004+10:00

Been watching the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony, but bloody channel Seven ruins it, by putting ads in the way, so we're not getting an uncut, full version. I doubt other countries are any better off. It's definitely very good looking, I mean China has thousands of years of history to draw on, so plenty of source material so to speak. But I'm skipping the rest of the opening ceremony now. It

Still Marching that Turkish March

2008-08-01T19:26:00.003+10:00

To Phu: Yeah, I'm much better now. Thankfully, I got better just before clinicals. Having diarrhoea during clinicals would be pretty tough. Doctor Who season 4 was pretty awesome I enjoyed it heaps. The crappy thing is that next year there's no season 5, just 4 specials, cos Tennant is off doing Hamlet or something Shakespeare. Road trip was awesome fun, but I was pretty much the only heavy

The Beginning Is the End Is the Beginning

2008-07-22T18:25:00.002+10:00

Clinicals has started and I've recovered from my sickness just in time as well. In hindsight, it probably wasn't the flu or cold, probably more likely to be food poisoning. Let's recap.Last Sunday, ate some KFC and was the only one to touch the coleslaw (I love KFC coleslaw). An hour later, I started feeling really cold, couldn't stop shivering. So I do the sensible thing and put on my thermals

Spin the Wheel

2008-07-14T17:54:00.002+10:00

Tragedy strikes! I've been struck down with the cold (or flu) for the first time in a several years, and clinical is only a week away. Bugger. Also some of my uni friends are watching Dark Knight followed by some dinner, and I might not be able to attend. Double bugger.Seriously it's been so long since I had the cold or flu that I don't remember how shitty it can be. I'm tired, aches and pain.

Are You With Me?

2008-07-04T17:56:00.002+10:00

Got back from Anna Bay yesterday, spending most of today packing stuff away, cleaning out the boot of the car and uploading photos to facebook.Trying to give a synopsis for the entire trip is pretty much impossible. There were so many moments, so many details and some emotions that words can't describe adequately. Overall though, it was an awesome trip. My friend Mike D bought some much

This isn't the end

2008-06-29T19:38:00.001+10:00

Blogging has changedIt's no longer about original content, user interaction, and epic winIt's an endless series of reposts, perpetuated by frauds and failureConformity - and its consumption of blogging - has become an unstoppable cancer.Blogging has changedThis is my final message. This blog must die, to erase the meme.Gone fishin'...Forever...LOL JUST KIDDINGNah, this blog isn't going to die

Everything is Everything

2008-06-23T15:22:00.002+10:00

OMG! It's the ultimate bear fight. Check it out!Youtube prevents me from embedding it, but it's basically a fight between two grizzly bears. It was filmed in the wild by this couple who were sadly killed by grizzlies in Alaska in 2003.My musical tastes float around alot. I don't like any particular genre and if the song sounds good to me, then it's added to my playlist.Just an example of a song

THE ULTIMATE MARTIAL ART

2008-06-15T18:31:00.001+10:00

...well against guys maybe.Also, a hilarious dialogue about physics. Only on the internets.omega> i like star trek because it's actually pretty realistic. the technology is fiction, but it follows real physicskuiper> In Star Trek, whenever there are torpedoes or phaser fire hitting a ship, you can hear the explosions even though they're in space. How is that "real physics?"omega> in space,

I may not be the most downloaded, but I've downloaded the most.

2008-06-06T20:07:00.003+10:00

Exams are soon, soon enough to have me vaguely worried. So probably no posts for most of June. But then again nothing much to say. Its been revision week so far and getting some administrative stuff done in readiness for my next block of clinical.So instead of 4 weeks holiday, I get 3 weeks and the first 5 weeks of semester 2 are devoted to clinical. So in all for semester 2 I have 7 weeks of uni

Flashing Lights

2008-05-26T14:04:00.003+10:00

This will be a quick one, since I have an anatomy exam and the rest of my research journal due on the same day. First off, yeah, I can order books from other campuses, but that takes time and at the time, there was not enough time to get the book from main campus to Cumbo. Usually I just find the book and put it in a totally different section of the library. That way, the system shows it as "on

Pruit Igoe

2008-05-17T22:44:00.002+10:00

Urrgh, an asssignment and exam in one day. The assignment wasn't too bad, it was the exam that had me bothered.The oral viva exam basically has us read a request form for an x-ray, decipher its meaning, deduce the likely patient condition and justify what x-ray series to perform. It meant a lot of worrying about pathology and exposure factors (how penetrating and how much x-rays). Luckily for me

Grand Theft Auto 4

2008-05-12T19:46:00.001+10:00

Explains everything.And the 6th Doctor Who ep? Pretty awesome.

The truth is...

2008-05-02T12:58:00.006+10:00

Man, the assignments kept coming in. I have like 3 assignments and 1 exam due on the same day in a fortnight. But it's not that bad. I'm really enjoying radiography so the burden is that bad.Watched Iron Man last night in Burwood with some uni friends. That movie is fucking gold. Seriously. You think Robocop's armour was cool, wait til you see Tony Stark's sleek Iron Man armour. There were a few

Waltz into the Moonlight

2008-04-19T15:24:00.006+10:00

Another week deeper into the uni grind. Again nothing exciting happening. Geez I'd probably suck the life out at parties.Anyway, I think I mentioned before that one of units of study is "Research Methods for Health Science". Its basically statistics and how to do proper research like in all those medical journals that we've read. It has been pretty meh so far. It's split into two branches/streams

This Heart Attack

2008-04-12T19:12:00.003+10:00

First post in the month of April. Nothing really going on. Just the usual uni grind and what not, so this post will be short but hopefully sweet.In one of my lectures (Research Methods for Health Science) the lecturer is talking about gathering information and the different techniques that a researcher could use. Along the way she showed a video on the life of uni students in the US, where the

Ladder to the Sky

2008-03-31T18:43:00.003+11:00

Back to the uni grind, although it wasn't that much of a grind. I had a one hour lecture, when it was supposed to be two hours and thus ended up paying $3 for an hour or so of parking. Meh, the parking is cheap compared to other unis and I can always park for free in those side roads.I actually drove to uni in the Daihatsu Terios today, a big achievement since its a manual car. Driving with the

Long Reef Beach

2008-03-27T21:40:00.005+11:00

Just when the long Easter holidays threatened with boredom, a well-timed trip to the beach washed it all away. Well, it wasn't that spontaneous. The beach outing had been planned before quite well by Andy and Michael K, two good uni friends of mine, so when the long weekend came around everything was planned out and we only had to worry about the weather.I ended driving four people there and

Never Gonna Give You Up

2008-03-22T18:50:00.002+11:00

Spent some time on yesterday and today getting used to driving a manual car. It's not difficult per se, mainly just another layer of interactions. Getting used to driving and using a clutch to change gears is somewhat tiring, since I have to consciously think about changing gears. Meh, I have an entire week off, so I'll probably do some driving to get better. I've gotten better today, only

The Fragrance of Dark Coffee

2008-03-15T16:24:00.005+11:00

Second Week of uni over and I've gotten back into the hang of things. Some people bitch about the "uni grind" but to be perfectly honest I'm having a lot of fun. It's nice to be back at uni and meeting good friends.Got my green Ps on Friday. Wasn't really that difficult, but I played it safe most of the time. The RTA handbook and other info scream that turning right isn't possible because a car

Apollo Justice Impressions

2008-03-09T09:21:00.002+11:00

Just when I thought that I would spend the weekend doing not much and lazing around I remembered that I had Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney on my DS. Shame on me for not remembering! I'm about 75% through the game, so here is my impressions so far.First recap, I've played the last 3 Ace Attorney games and was struck by the wit and charm that it displayed. It was an awesome series and when I first

Our Velocity

2008-03-04T17:40:00.003+11:00

Wanted to post earlier but with the end of clinicals I had to take care of all the paperwork and administrative shit.So yes, clinicals ended last week and it was a little sad. After working there for six weeks you get so sued to it, so ingrained in its culture and everything and now you suddenly walking away from it all. I really liked it there and I have been thinking about working there after I

Unforeseen Consequences

2008-02-20T16:49:00.002+11:00

And so continues the ongoing saga that is my clinical (hah! I wish...)This week I'm up in Operating Theatre (or better known as OPSuite). There is a whole bunch of operating rooms where doctors work their magic in cutting up the human body and fixing it with the most advanced techniques known to humanity. Actually, it's a lot more primitive than I thought.Having read many a sci-fi book and watch

The Lost Coast

2008-02-16T16:11:00.002+11:00

I not suggesting that after last week's rant that you have a lack of common sense Land. Maybe you just suffered a brief lapse. When it happened to me, I was like, put my money in, see it rejected, sign says "insufficient change sale canceled", recheck display, see "exact fare only", take money and move to counter. Altogether maybe 20 seconds? Not over a minute of putting money in again and again.

Memories from the Wind Scene

2008-02-06T21:12:00.001+11:00

Entering the third week of clinicals. Halfway there and it feels as if I've been working for so long. Just a little bit more to go then back to the uni grind.One of the myriad of groups on Facebook that catch my attention is one whose name is something along the lines of "When I walk behind slow moving people, I want to punch them in the back of the head". Because walking slow is a bad thing

Escape from Westmead

2008-02-01T21:20:00.000+11:00

Another week of clinical is done. For the past week I've been working Emergency and while there are days where it was tiring, there were also days where it was downright boring. The weekends have never looked so good.On Thursday I went out for dinner with some friends mainly to discuss our differing clinical experiences. We went to this awesome restaurant called Sahara at Parramatta near the bus

One Thousand Years of Pain

2008-01-27T09:03:00.000+11:00

End of the first week of clinical and it has been pretty bludgey so far. That changes next week since I'll be going to Accident and Emergency, which will require me to actually carry out certain x-ray projections.Last day of fluoroscopy was alright. Nothing to exciting. The only procedure that was interesting/disgusting/shitacular was a double contrast barium enema. Basically the doctor shoves a

My eyes are burned by the fluoro

2008-01-22T17:23:00.000+11:00

Finally, something happened that was worthwhile to blog about. My clinical placement at Westmead started yesterday.There are six guys altogether at Westmead, including me. We're all in the same awkward position; technically, we're second-years, but we really only have first-year knowledge. Plus the assignments that we have to do really screws things up a little bit.It was the usual show and dance

The odds against me

2008-01-12T21:04:00.000+11:00

Nothing much to report. The holidays are beginning to draw to a close, and with clinical looming ahead, I actually feel glad about it, despite my nervousness. There is a whole bunch of assignments and evaluations that I have to do during clinical and its got me a little overwhelmed. Still, it'll be a interesting challenge.There is a new little show that I'm having fun with. Since that writers'

All the little sparkly things

2008-01-01T22:52:00.000+11:00

Happy new year for 2008 everybody! And belatedly, a Merry Christmas. I was capped in the leadup to Christmas, but the new year brings uncapped internet once again.Because of the capped internet, I spent NYE with a whole bunch of friends in the city to watch the fireworks. Lesley was the organiser and he did a bang up job of getting hold of the hotel room. The room itself was small. It was meant

Tonight, tonight, tonight

2007-12-21T11:24:00.000+11:00

Ever since I bought my Xbox 360, I've kept a somewhat wary eye on it. Its reputation for loudness, overheating and failure often weighed on my mind and sometimes I ask myself: Why did I buy an Xbox 360 in the first place? I now have the answer: Mass Effect. Mass Effect is a sci-fi role playing game from Bioware, who made other excellent RPGs like the Neverwinter

Wicked Game

2007-12-15T16:11:00.000+11:00

Bought the Xbox 360 a few days ago and I've been playing a lot ever since. Got it at GAME for $499 plus 2 games (Viva Pinata and Forza 2) and I was damn lucky since I got the very last unit left. I'm hoping that's a good sign.It is a lot bigger than I thought. I have a slim PlayStation 2 and compared to the Xbox 360, it's tiny. The first thing I did was to plug it in, turn it on and stare at it

On Occasion

2007-12-09T16:00:00.000+11:00

I've basically decided to bite the bullet and buy an Xbox 360. Despite my fun experiences with the Nintendo Wii and the now less expensive PlayStation 3, the games I really want to play are on the Xbox.Knowing Jimmy, he'll probably drop a comment noting that I am mistaken in my choice, the Xbox 360 is shit, and with a month I will curled in a fetal position, sobbing, because I got screwed over.

Eyes are at the Billion

2007-12-02T21:19:00.000+11:00

I've settled somewhat into a comfortable routine of waking up, checking my downloads, then spending my time catching up on reading. It's been a long time since I read for pleasure, but I've hit up some goood books, so this post will be more like a review.First book that I'm currently reading is The Age of Turbulence by Alan Greenspan, who is the former Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve for

There is a reckoning...a Crysis...

2007-11-29T03:07:00.000+11:00

Why am I blogging at past 3am? Woke up to muscular pain due to playing a Wii. I've rubbed some of this oil thingymabob and now instead of pain there is a stinging warmness that takes the pain away.First of all, to the reason of muscular pain. There was a Wii Party at Dorothy's place, a uni friend of mine. Everyone bought a dish for the dinner while a light lunch and nibbles were provided. I came

Long Odds

2007-11-19T14:14:00.000+11:00

Woah, haven't updated in a while. Got capped along the way but that's been fixed now so I'm back on the net again. So updates.Paintball was mad fun last Wednesday. It was quite hot but a beautiful day for some paintball action. Drove to Rouse Hill for Action Paintball. I came prepared to spend lots of money, but actually didn't spend that much at all. I went for a $40 gun upgrade and boy that was

In Mass Transit

2007-11-11T11:55:00.000+11:00

So the new computer order is in, and all I have to do is wait a week or so until its ready. Until then, I don't really have much to do, except some Neverwinter Nights and CounterStrike Source.Actually it's mainly CS. There are a few mods out there that spice things up, instead of the old 24/7 dust/office servers. My favourite at the moment is called Gun Game and the Deathmatch mods. Gun Game

My eyes are bleeding...interesting

2007-11-06T20:27:00.000+11:00

Exam period, where I cram everything I need to know into the few hours or so before the actual exam, as opposed to actually taking the time to study. I'll pass. No HDs or even Ds but I'll make it.Brother is getting a new computer, and I'm a bit jealous but its his turn. Being the second child he seems to get all the hand-me-downs over these past few years. So this will probably cheer him up. The

Djobi Djoba

2007-10-26T20:50:00.000+10:00

End semester exams are two weeks off, so serious (*cough*) study mode. That said I do have a little this and that to do.Found a possible job just a few days ago. It's in a warehouse, decorating Christmas trees and then shipping it off to the customers. Sent my CV in and dude emailed back wondering if I could work today and the weekend before the official interviews. Couldn't work today, but told

Sorry, please try again

2007-10-20T22:39:00.000+10:00

With my brother having much more free time due to holidays and HSC, he has been hitting up the net a little harder than usual, so right now I'm capped and it is ten long painful days before I'm uncapped again.To alleviate the pain, I tried to strike a deal with my dad. Upgrade to the next level of the plan (20gigs) for the remainder of the month and then downgrade back to the old plan next month.

Sorry, were you in the middle of something?

2007-10-17T16:56:00.000+10:00

Awesome. My David Attenborough DVD The Private Life of Plants just arrived moments ago. Can't wait to pop that into the DVD player and finally watch it.That was my first docu that I ever watched. My aunt had a VHS copy of it, and I was so fascinated, not only by the info but with the video techniques and presenter who gave off this radiant aura of knowledge, that I watched it whenever I could and

The Right Stuff

2007-10-09T20:13:00.000+10:00

I have a little rant coming up, but let's get the little stuff out of the way first, yes?House season 4 has started. I've seen the first two episodes direct from the US and it's proving to be exciting watching. House used to be about the strange and weird medical cases that no one could solve, but it later became more about the interaction between House and his three assistants, Chase, Foreman

There Was A Hole Here

2007-10-02T16:00:00.000+10:00

Long time no post. I spent the dying days of September being capped, and there was a bunch of uni work I had to plough through. So updates.I've managed to locate Bokbunjajoo, the Korean raspberry wine. My friend Sheung discovered a liquor store that sold it in Stratfield and bought three bottles of the stuff. Very nice. I still have 1.5 bottles left, and I'm saving one for...well...that

Running Mates

2007-09-18T06:44:00.000+10:00

Nothing much to report on, although the mid semester break is soon. So a well-deserved one-week break is in order.Weekends were basically stay at home and play games and read books type. I did do some discussion with my parents on where to go for my out-of-Sydney clinical placement, and I've decided to head up to Woy Woy, near Gosford. Maybe not the most exciting place, but it's a relaxing place

Beautiful World

2007-09-12T09:21:00.000+10:00

Actually, on the whole, the world isn't that bad. It's just a few bad apples that ruin the day.I think I detailed in previous entries on how I went to a restaurant or two and had a taste of the Korean raspberry wine, which I blame Jack for getting me hooked on. So I decided to buy some bottles to sample privately. Except it was much more difficult than that. Listen well to the saga that lies

Take Aim...

2007-09-04T15:17:00.000+10:00

I've now fallen into the habit of going to sleep at 9pm and waking up 4am. I guess it was go to sleep at 9am or study for an extra hour and sleep at 10. Study or sleep? The answer is clear.Went to the city to celebrate Jack's 19th. In the email, the time to meet up was 5:30pm. And as usual, defying all the Asian genes in my body, I got there at exactly 5:30pm. Jack doesn't show up until 45

Hook It Up

2007-08-29T18:28:00.000+10:00

On Monday, my latest purchase from eBay arrived, all the way from the United States. You see as part of my course I have to do some basic psychology, and I have to get the textbook, Psychology and Life by Zimbardo and Gerrig. Instead of buying the new thing (at $104, no way!), I scoured eBay and found a second-hand 16th edition. Total price? AUD$60 including shipping which was $20. Now that I

Music to the Moon

2007-08-24T12:27:00.000+10:00

In response to the content of Tales of Mu, I'll agree with Phuong that it's adults-only and only then some people will get weirded out. That said, the characterisation and plot development is excellent. It really is that good. That's why I read it. And that will probably why I'll continue to read it.As for the Xbox 360, I'm well aware of the hardware issues that the console has. And while I'm

Canned Heat

2007-08-21T18:43:00.000+10:00

Taking stock of my financial situation, I currently have just enough to buy a Xbox 360. The Wii is fine and all, but it doesn't have the games that I want to play. Of course, my financial situation is getting better, and if my schemes work out then I'll be in a much better position.I've been looking through my clinical stuff for my course and the shitty thing is that next year I have three lots

Arrgh Motherland!

2007-08-15T16:33:00.000+10:00

Wonky weather over the past few days. It suddenly started to get hotter like summer then quickly slammed into a more wintery climate. Hate it when the weather fluctuates like that.I now live in fear. Maybe not direct "my-life-is-in-imminent-danger" fear, but more a "one-day-it's-going-to-happen" fear. One of my neighbours keeps a pair of Rottweiler dogs in his backyard. Despite the stories of dog

Can't Stop Me Now

2007-08-10T20:57:00.000+10:00

Another week is flying on by.Sociology, as far as my circle of friends are concerned, is a useless subject. That's not to say that it isn't interesting, but it seems irrelevant in regards to our actual career. It is defined as "an academic and applied discipline that studies society and human social interaction." We have spent the last fortnight getting to grips with sociology and the events that

Elokuu

2007-08-06T19:05:00.000+10:00

New month has finally arrived. We leave cold and bleak July behind and jump forth for the more promising month of August.Sophia's and Carolyn's party went well. It was some good old-fashioned fun, although it would be better if more people actually dressed up according to the them. Best wishes to Sophia and Carolyn. To be honest, these types of parties aren't really my cup of tea and so I left

Candy Pop

2007-07-31T21:00:00.000+10:00

Pretty fun second week of uni. I would have posted on Monday, but the fun made me tired. Well not really, there was a two hour practical that knocked the stuffing out of me.The practical was about using the cathode ray oscilloscope (think back to Physics). My group got the older type, so getting it to work properly was a bit finicky. We connected it to the usual suspects, a signal generator and

Cidade Sol

2007-07-27T09:22:00.001+10:00

Friday. The end of the working week Friday. My uni day off Friday. Nothing much to report except the presence of another 5 hour break. If my calculations are correct, every fortnight I have a 5 hour break on Wednesdays. Screw that, I'll probably go City Hunter or something.Having eased into the first week of Uni, I'm more or less content with all my lectures. Health physics is pretty cool, psych

Que Pena

2007-07-23T20:37:00.000+10:00

So it's back to the university grind on the first day back. It was a decent day, but the 5 hour break between my two lectures did not help. I actually kinda felt tired.First day back and we shared clinical war stories, the highs, lows and downright weird. But we all agreed that we learned a lot and became more confident in performing x-ray procedures. It only filled so much of our 5 hour gap.

Harry Potter and the Franchise that Prints Money

2007-07-20T09:01:00.001+10:00

There's no doubt that the Harry Potter series has made J.K Rowling a very rich woman. Was it multi-millionaire or billionaire? Well, her total wealth is pretty damn large. Now we have the seventh and final Harry Potter book.So, HP7 kicks off this Saturday and I happen to have some spare money. I'm thinking of going to buy the book on launch day, but seriously, I'm not sure whether I sound brave

The Waiting Game

2007-07-18T20:03:00.000+10:00

Nothing to do really as I await the return of the uni grind. Mainly reading and playing my DS. And restocking and reorganising my modest comic collection. Yeah, so I read comics. They aren't updated as often as I like plus one of them is like a year behind on the third issue. No idea what's happening there.It's strange how some memories just pop out. You're doing something and all of a sudden, a

In My Skin

2007-07-14T14:11:00.000+10:00

Well, clinical placement at Westmead is now over and I have around a week of relaxation before I got back to the university grind. At first, I didn't think it would be useful. BUt I was dead wrong.Clinical gave me more confidence. Performing even basic x-rays was at first intimidating, but I got used to it. It might seem obvious but there is a big difference between a mannequin and a real person.

Work Area One

2007-07-12T17:51:00.000+10:00

New day, new place within Westmead. Work Area 1 does mainly Fracture Clinic (people with broken bones, duh) and a combination of inpatients and outpatients. Unlike Accident and Emergency, also known as Casualty, there isn't that much sense of urgency. The pace is slower, more managable and can be downright boring at times.Yesterday was my last day at A&E, and it was probably the best day yet. I

A & E

2007-07-10T16:42:00.000+10:00

Clinical placement has been pretty cool. It's quite different to learning in class. I made a mistake of going to Westmead Children's Hospital rather than Westmead, but luckily I turned up early so by the time I realised my mistake, I was still on time.Let me say this first though. The digital radiography system is fucking sexy. Two systems operate at Westmead, the CR (Computed Radiography) and DR

Sharada

2007-07-06T13:46:00.000+10:00

Yesterday was spent away from the computer and book. I met up with some old friends to go out and have some fun.Went to Burwood to watch Transformers. I was a little unsure about the movie. I've heard both good and bad things from it, and with Transformers being a rather dear childhood cartoon, I had worries that the director might butcher the film. My fears were completely unfounded. Relative to

Take it Down to the Wire

2007-07-02T20:22:00.000+10:00

Nothing much to report on. I have clinical placement next week, which apparently is the same time this camping trip is happenning. Can't do much about it.Called up Westmead Hospital this morning to get detail on my clinical. I think I spent about 10 minutes on hold before actually being transferred to the Chief Radiographer. I'm kind of pissed that it took that longer, but I have had worse and

Looking at Distant Things

2007-06-30T12:18:00.000+10:00

Exams are over. Well, it was over back on Wednesday, and I've been spending the days catching up on some reading that I had to give up.Seriously, if I had the time and the money and the means, I'd probably do nothing but buy and read books. But I don't. Still, it's my way way of relaxing. Sitting down and reading a good books or two. Right now, I'm reading this book called Life in Vietnam:

The Sound of Drums

2007-06-26T11:44:00.000+10:00

Close. So close to the end of exams. Then twelve days of holidays, then a week of clinical practice, then another week of holidays, then back to uni.Last exam is medical radiation physics. It won't go too bad. I had Radiobiology exam yesterday and sucked big time. I only knew a handful of answers and the rest were more on instinct and luck. MC questions are both a blessing and a curse in my

I put the Laughter in Slaughter

2007-06-20T20:28:00.000+10:00

Three exams down, and three left to go. I have Human Biology, Radiobiology and Medical Radiation Physics. Radiobiology is going to be the tough one. I hated all lectures, cos the lecturer was so-so. I swear the book is a better alternative.I told myself that I would start studying a month before the actual exams. Well that fucking worked. I find myself studying like a crazy man a week before the

I didn't start this fire

2007-06-16T06:02:00.000+10:00

Why am I posting this blog at 6am-ish in the morning? Because I was a moron. I fell asleep after lunch for a 2-hour sleep because I was hella tired from studying. Then I went to sleep earlier than usual at just past 10pm. Then my body kicked my awake at 4am. I tried to go back to sleep, but I couldn't. No matter how much I tossed and turned, I couldn't get any shut eye. So much for sleeping in on

The War on War

2007-06-12T20:15:00.000+10:00

Updates will become sporadic as I study up for my end of semester exams, but I'll post the occasional post maybe with a picture or Youtube video.Joined Facebook at the behest of Jimmy. His claim of 25% of Seftoners are facebooked was strong, although I'm not sure everyone is active. Well, it does seem to be more of a way to keep a thread of contact between old friends.Managed to get Halo 2 to

Sometimes even lawyers need lawyers.

2007-06-08T11:46:00.000+10:00

Well, no more lectures because the first semester of university is over. Not really. There are still exams to be held. I was freaking out a minute or fifteen when I realised that I knew what day and times my exams were on, but not the exact place. Yes, I know it is held in the campus, duh, just not the exact rooms. But a quick trip to MyUni cleared it up and I can now focus even more on

Marching On

2007-06-06T16:07:00.000+10:00

Now entering the final week of the semester, the days have become more focused on study. No one wants to fail their end of semesters.Clinical briefing today for MRS. It was basically checking that you have all the required items like CPR cert, PRM, vaccination etc. It took up the better part of 2 hours almost. It really depended on what line you decided to join and when you joined it. I joined a

Ever pulled teeth out of a chicken?

2007-06-01T07:01:00.000+10:00

Sorru about the lack of updates. I've been capped for the past two weeks and you can't imagine how painfully slow it was. Plus catching up on work and revision required me to log onto USyd's WebCT which was downright slow. Moving on...I now know where I'm going for clinical practice. From the 9th to the 13th July, I'll be at Westmead Hospital, which is suprisingly close to Parramatta. While it's

Let's take it slow...

2007-05-25T17:38:00.000+10:00

I'm capped. Stop. Will post more later. Stop. Still here. Stop. Painful. Stop. Please let the pain. Stop.

Impossible Dream

2007-05-20T19:44:00.000+10:00

Here's a little quote off Serena's blogdrummer of the doors, john densmore said this (in regards to rejecting an offer by cadillac for 15 million dollars to use a doors song in their commercial): "People lost their virginity to this music, got high for the first time to this music. I've had people say kids died in Vietnam istening to this music, other people say they know someone who didn't

All Power to the Imagination!

2007-05-17T20:52:00.000+10:00

I beat Sophia in Brain Age. Granted the challenge was 30 simple calculations. Still, they can be tough stuff if you let your skills erode. I've being clocking in the 30-40 second range and the first time Sophia did the challenge she was in the minutes range. Unfortunately, Sophia can still claim the crown for Mario Kart DS, however, I'm not losing that badly. I think I have the mechanics worked

Whatever Will Be, Will Be

2007-05-14T18:20:00.000+10:00

I picked up my M3 Simply from the post office at 9am. I rushed home to test it out and it is some mad shit. Playing roms perfectly with no hitch, man, now that's $39 well spent. I just tested some video clip on it as well. It runs fine, although the sound is a bit scratched, probably to the smallish speakers. But it's pretty cool.In a quick dicussion with a friend of mine, he stated that the

I have been the dullest of stars.

2007-05-11T15:29:00.000+10:00

Just loving my DS at the moment. So it's a bit tough trying to maintain an even balance of uni work and gaming, but I've been leaning towards work more than gaming. I can save at any time, so it doesn't really matter. Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney is finished and I have to say that it is an amazing game. 4.5 out 5. It can be fiendishly difficult though, especially the last two cases and you will

Breath by breath, Death by death

2007-05-08T17:49:00.000+10:00

My copy of Advance Wars: Dual Strike arrived today! It only took 5 days, but it was kinda my fault since I transferred the money before they gave me an ID number to put on the direct deposit. My M3 Simply, which will allow we to play downloaded games, music and whatnot, is currently on the move and will land in my lap in 2 days or so I hope.I had my radiation protection test today. I say test,

Too looney for uni

2007-05-04T18:04:00.000+10:00

So after my anatomy exam, to build up some cheer (because I reckon I did crap), I dashed over to Parramatta and bought myself a Nintendo DS Lite and Pheonix Wright: Ace Attorney. The console is much better than I ever anticipated, the touch screen, the dual screen...It's pretty awesome. And Ace Attorney is a fun game. You gather clues and defend your client in court. It's so fun when you find a

The more alternatives, the more difficult the choice.

2007-05-03T17:37:00.000+10:00

The decision has been made.I will be buying a Nintendo DS Lite.Thanks, but no thanks Jimmy, I'll handle this transaction.And 17 Seftoners on Facebook? You reckon it's worth joining?

When the dagger digs too deep

2007-05-01T15:50:00.000+10:00

Funniest thing happened today during our anatomy lecture. The topic is respiratory physiology and we're talking about lung cancer. Our lecturer is saying that when smokers have a bad cough and it goes on for several months, it's a possible sign of lung cancer, someone in the room blurts out "Oh shit..." quietly but distinctly. Everyone starts laughing and even the lecturer is grinning. I mean,

MCCCXXXVII

2007-04-27T12:27:00.000+10:00

The mid-semester exams are making everyone serious. People now spend their time studying or discussing the subject. Even I have been spending some extra study time in the library. Woah!Human Biology test today, encompassing the cell homeostatis and basic chem. It's probably the easiest test, we'll ever have. Only 40 minutes and all multiple choice questions. I'm a bit worried about the anatomy