Sometimes I feel like I don’t get up to a great deal on a day-to-day basis. At other times (for instance, when I haven’t updated my blog for ages) it would seem that loads of interesting things have happened!
The first big thing I want to talk about is that I am no longer a Surgical trainee. This is a good thing in many ways. My last shift at work was on Friday – I’m now on annual leave until my Radiology job starts on the 5th August (well, really the 4th but that’s just Trust Induction that I’m not planning on going to). My last week in Vascular was great to be honest. It’s a firm that I’ve really enjoyed (despite being over-worked as the team was one SHO down for the entire 6 months). I managed to get to the operating theatre quite a bit over the last week which I really enjoyed. I also got on well with my two Registrars – Alex and Vik. Even though Vik can be demanding at times – he has the patient’s best interests at heart and I respect him for that. On Friday, Vik insisted that we all go out for a leisurely team lunch to Zero Degrees. It was great to chat, eat mussels and (shock, horror) have a beer on my last day.
Having said that I’m no longer a Surgical trainee does not mean that I won’t be in that guise ever again. I’ve just worked a night shift for the ENT department as a locum (and have another one tonight). Locums are a necessary evil given that I am due to take a 30% pay cut for at least 18 months when I start Radiology! Probably not the best time to be ordered a new bathroom then… Fi is also working nights this weekend as a locum at the Kids Hospital (although she is in bed at present and I’m not because I got 6 1/2 hours sleep at work!).
Is there a specific reason why we’re doing locums at the moment given that we haven’t yet had my pay cut? Well, we’re going to New York in September – woot! By working this weekend and a couple of other shifts in a week’s time, we can pay for our accomodation and flights. It really doesn’t seem that bad being up at work when you know that every hour is netting you a nice meal somewhere…
In other news, Fiona passed her MRCPCH clinical examination (well done honey!). She found out last Thursday but managed to wind me up by making me think that she had failed. She’s normally rubbish at keeping secrets but she performed well with that one! Passing that exam is a big deal for Fiona. It will be really useful when it comes to applying for GP posts when she finishes her GP training in three years time, but it also means that she can function at a junior Registrar level in Paediatrics. I’m really proud of my wife although it has made me realise the woeful lack of postgraduate examinations that I have under my belt…
Friday was Fi’s birthday too. I had to work (but I did finish early) and we had Jo, Sam, Katie and Pauli over for a BBQ. It was a great night. Fi had asked that I not spend too much money on her birthday present (since we’re saving for New York) but I did manage to buy her a ‘retro’ phone for the lounge (something she has wanted for a while). It’s an original 1950s Bakelite phone with a circular dialler that’s been converted to run on a modern phone line. She loves it!
No post would be complete without something geeky to talk about and this is no different. I’ve been (re-)experimenting with Linux again. I’ve installed Ubuntu 10.04 LTS on my MacBook Pro (dual booting with Mac OS X). I have to say that it’s quite fun to play with. It’s not as polished as OS X (obviously) but it is a geek’s heaven to tinker with. I’m going to try to learn Python as that seems to be the most widely used language on Linux for developing apps. We’ll see how long this fascination lasts…
We’re both off to Guernsey on Wednesday for Katie P’s wedding on Saturday. I’m hoping the weather improves but, even if it doesn’t, I’m quite looking forwards to visiting Fi’s family and enjoying some nice food.