Going wild

When I am at home, particularly when I'm doing medical-related things (like study), I like to do things that are verboten at work. These aren't things that a non-medical person would realise are particularly exciting, but when you aren't allowed to do them all day, sometimes it is fun to go a bit wild at home.

These days I like writing in coloured ink. Yes, I like blues normally, but since starting work as a junior doctor, I like to branch out and go wild at home, occasionally taking leave of all common sense and writing in pinks and green.

(It is compulsory to write in black ball-point pen in medical documentation where I work.)

I like to use white-out. I always avoided the stuff in the past. Now that I am not allowed to use it, it is liberating.

It is nice not having to sign and date every single time I write something down.

One day I will be senior and hopefully in private practice. I will either use a computer all day (and the notes won't go missing after they are printed out because somebody does not realise that all information about a patient's admission is slightly important) and/or I will go wild and write in dark green fountain pen. I can dream.

When I start writing in red crayon at work, it will be time to retire. Unless I'm in a paediatric therapy session. Actually, this is another reason to work in paediatric psych - the promise of using coloured pencils or crayons for work-related activities. ;)

How To Have An Afternoon Nap, TGWTBS-Style

1. Lie down after lunch on your bed in a semi-dark room and read a book. It doesn't matter how interesting the book is, if you have had a long and draining week, it will work. Within ten minutes, you will have put the book to the side, turned off the reading light and gone to the land of nod.
2. You are disturbed by the sound of your own snore, which scares you as much as unexpected bodily noises can, and wake up and roll sideways, going back to sleep immediately.
3. Twenty minutes into your sleep, your parents call. "I knew you would be asleep," they say. Way to use your psychic powers for evil instead of good, Mum and Dad.
4. Get back to sleep after a blurry conversation about the rain and somethingorother about school meetings.
5. Get woken up by a marketing person who demands to talk about marketing and advertising to somebody over twenty and working. Telling them that your number is unlisted and you are on the Do Not Call registry is beyond you, so you just say "No" and hang up. Marketing people have the Gift and will call during dinner or naps. Evil.
6. Doze off.
7. Get woken up by a kid next door playing trumpet. Must be a visitor, as I have never heard him before. Why? Perhaps he, too, has psychic powers for evil.
8. Doze off again.
9. Get woken up by remote-husband's text message, telling me that he is going to see a movie. 2000km away. Awesome.
10. Get woken even more by a second text telling me that he also got a haircut. I won't see it before it all grows back again. Even better. Sweetness and evil together are the most fun combination.
11. Try to doze off but am now surrounded by hungry cats who are obviously confused as it is a good two hours before their dinner time. They take turns purring and miaowing. Cats never try to hide the evil.
12. I give up, get up to finish Saturday chores and resolve to not feed cats for another two hours. Evil rubs off.

The end.

The Girl and The Very Empty Weekend

Once upon a time there was a girl who had a blue stethoscope, and nearly 3/4 of a medical degree. She had a nice house in the suburbs, a handsome husband and three loyal and talented cats.

Then one day, she was sent far, far away by the Big, Bad School of Medicine. With her on this adventure were three other brave souls who had been plucked from their homes and plopped into the same dusty, smelly land as The Girl. They pottered along until, two weeks in, they suddenly arrived at A Very Empty Weekend.

One of The Girl's companions found herself a Magic Ticket that took her home, saving her from this wasteland and the weekend.

The two boys went off on An Adventure into the town, to see what local jewels they could discover in the dusty night time air (in a bar somewhere), and how much the local Magic Water cost.

The Girl found herself all alone, in an empty flat. She thought that she could fill the day with pottering and cleaning. However, with only herself to clean up after, and living in such a little place, there really wasn't that much to do.

So she went off on a Shopping Adventure, in which she discovered the final series of Battlestar Galactica was out on DVD. This, combined with two bottles of  Corona that had been left by friendly fairies who had been stranded prior to The Girl's visit made for a long afternoon and entertaining evening. Hopefully, wishing away the soapy aftertaste of the Corona did not use up any of her Magic Wishes. 

Thus, half of The Very Empty Weekend was filled with things that could have taken valuable time at home normally. The next challenge was filling the second half of The Very Empty Weekend. 

Should she wander off to The Emergency Department of Mystery? Or should she stay at home and attempt to explore the wonders of the Giant Pile of Books? 

One thing was for sure - there would be no adventures to the local Shopping Hole - it was firmly closed on Sundays.