A full day at work today, and another extra session on Thursday, with the same next week to cover partner's holidays, make it the busiest work schedule for me since my retirement. And to add to the strain, this morning I was told that as patients learn I am in work more often at the moment, literally dozens have been queuing up to see me specifically. Obviously this is a personal compliment, though somewhat of a mixed blessing as it only adds to the length of already packed surgeries.
And of course Murphy's Law also applies: namely, that the busier a surgery becomes, the more complex and difficult-to-solve problems occur with it. Like the man this morning complaining of sudden reduction of vision in 1 eye. Something about him makes me think he is lying; that he is fabricating his story in order to hustle his routine appointment at the eye clinic to investigate his allergic conjunctivitis. But you can't just sit there and accuse a patient of lying, so I arranged (with some difficulty) his emergency appointment. If he is making it up, they will work it out soon enough and send him packing. If not, then I will have done a good job.
Tuesday, 23 August 2011
Saturday, 20 August 2011
london: prospects changeable
Just home from 24 hours in the Great Wen with our Palestinian friend Issa in tow, who did a very good impression of the wide-eyed tourist. Carefully arranged to catch the sunrise, we rode the full circle in the London Eye, something we never would have contemplated without a guest. To be fair, it was actually a highly enjoyable touristic experience, especially when the dying sun caught the sides of several skyscrapers and set them aflame in a divine crimson hue.
One of his greatest fascinations in the week he has spent with us is the (for him) incredible variabilty in the weather, changing, as it has been doing, from brilliant sunshine to heavy rain as often as 4 times in an hour. Where he hails from, the weather is so predictable that it is rarely a subject for discussion and no one ever feels the need to catch a weather forecast.
Today, in sultry conditions, we visited at his specific request, London Zoo, a place I have not visited for nearly 50 years. My highlights: an incredible ant-lion in the insect house, and then, after the heavens opened and drenched animals and humans alike, a group of zebras sheltering shoulder to shoulder under a tiny lean-to. Sensible...
One of his greatest fascinations in the week he has spent with us is the (for him) incredible variabilty in the weather, changing, as it has been doing, from brilliant sunshine to heavy rain as often as 4 times in an hour. Where he hails from, the weather is so predictable that it is rarely a subject for discussion and no one ever feels the need to catch a weather forecast.
Today, in sultry conditions, we visited at his specific request, London Zoo, a place I have not visited for nearly 50 years. My highlights: an incredible ant-lion in the insect house, and then, after the heavens opened and drenched animals and humans alike, a group of zebras sheltering shoulder to shoulder under a tiny lean-to. Sensible...
Tuesday, 16 August 2011
pelagius defeats palestinian champion!
In a stunning display of controlled power, or outrageous luck at least, I actually succeeded in taking a frame off my friend Issa. I should probably mention that he gives me 4 blacks start, he was breaking in a brand-new cue at the time, and I scored several quite remarkable flukes. Nonetheless, a win is a win, and I can feel justifiably proud of my minor achievement. In all fairness I should say that I played at my (miserable) best, scoring several breaks in the teens and playing some good safety shots too. So it wasn't a totally sham victory. I feel now, however, that he won't be giving me any more easy wins. He has his face to think of, after all, and we all know how important that is to an Arab...
Sunday, 14 August 2011
we're number 1!
Off to Heathrow yesterday to pick up our friend Issa who comes from Bethlehem on his first trip to Europe.
Today I enrolled him at our local snooker hall where he demonstrated why he has won the Palestinian Open 3 times. There is no doubting it; he is a class act, holing pots I would normally deem impossible. Roald Dahl once observed that he played snooker "for 30 years and got worse", and although I was a useful player in my youth, I haven't hit a shot in anger since my son, with whom I often played, died, nearly 5 years ago. Obviously I was rusty, but it was a highly enjoyable experience. And as he is due to stay with us for 3 weeks, it is one, I anticipate, that we shall repeat several times before he departs.
COMMENT
England's latest and decisive victory over India has placed us at the top of the world rankings, a first in my lifetime. I rate this as one of most illustrious sporting performances ever. How did we pull it off?
Asking a knowledgeable friend this question, he was reluctant to name individuals, preferring instead to pay tribute to the team as a whole, and how magnificently they have worked together. When pushed, he nominated Stauss's captaincy (reminding me that a cricket captain's job is far more crucial than that of almost any other team game)as being critical. Other players "mentioned in dispatches" included Alistair Cook, Jimmy Adamson and that extraordinary match-winner, Stuart Broad. But he also wanted to cite the vital role played by the coach Andy Flowers.
All I know is that the boys done us proud, and there should be knighthoods etc in the offing, and in abundance- I say you chaps: well done!
Today I enrolled him at our local snooker hall where he demonstrated why he has won the Palestinian Open 3 times. There is no doubting it; he is a class act, holing pots I would normally deem impossible. Roald Dahl once observed that he played snooker "for 30 years and got worse", and although I was a useful player in my youth, I haven't hit a shot in anger since my son, with whom I often played, died, nearly 5 years ago. Obviously I was rusty, but it was a highly enjoyable experience. And as he is due to stay with us for 3 weeks, it is one, I anticipate, that we shall repeat several times before he departs.
COMMENT
England's latest and decisive victory over India has placed us at the top of the world rankings, a first in my lifetime. I rate this as one of most illustrious sporting performances ever. How did we pull it off?
Asking a knowledgeable friend this question, he was reluctant to name individuals, preferring instead to pay tribute to the team as a whole, and how magnificently they have worked together. When pushed, he nominated Stauss's captaincy (reminding me that a cricket captain's job is far more crucial than that of almost any other team game)as being critical. Other players "mentioned in dispatches" included Alistair Cook, Jimmy Adamson and that extraordinary match-winner, Stuart Broad. But he also wanted to cite the vital role played by the coach Andy Flowers.
All I know is that the boys done us proud, and there should be knighthoods etc in the offing, and in abundance- I say you chaps: well done!
Tuesday, 9 August 2011
I predict a(nother) riot
COMMENT
If there was anything more revolting than seeing children looting JJB outlets before setting fire to them, it was Theresa May endlessly parroting the line devised by her masters, namely: "it's criminality, pure and simple, and these criminals will face the consequences of their actions."
I swear I heard her say this 9 times in a single 3 minute interview on radio 5.
In fact, she and the government have been so anxious to sell this line that I begin to feel they do not actually believe it themselves, and that the real cause is indeed the revenge of a disaffected youth railing against the further privations the latest round of Tory cuts has brought about in their lives. In which case I can only stand with them, at least in a moral sense, as they torch the emblems of a capitalist establishment that cares little for them or their kind.
If there was anything more revolting than seeing children looting JJB outlets before setting fire to them, it was Theresa May endlessly parroting the line devised by her masters, namely: "it's criminality, pure and simple, and these criminals will face the consequences of their actions."
I swear I heard her say this 9 times in a single 3 minute interview on radio 5.
In fact, she and the government have been so anxious to sell this line that I begin to feel they do not actually believe it themselves, and that the real cause is indeed the revenge of a disaffected youth railing against the further privations the latest round of Tory cuts has brought about in their lives. In which case I can only stand with them, at least in a moral sense, as they torch the emblems of a capitalist establishment that cares little for them or their kind.
Saturday, 6 August 2011
tragedy on Svalbard
COMMENT
Yesterday on Svalbard, a remote island north of the Arctic Circle, a hapless outward bound student was attacked and killed by a polar bear. It succeeded in badly mauling 4 other young people before it was eventually dispatched with a bullet.
The dead boy was 17. That's a rotten age to leave the world: you haven't really had a chance to live yet. And the parents, inconsolable in their loss.. "Who'd a thought he'd go that way", they must be puzzling.
But what happened really there? A party of young people, more or less a tourist group, is taken into the domain one of the most naturally aggressive animals in the world, and one who looks upon human beings as food sources. And at the height of the summer, when the sea ice is all but gone, the bears are nearing starvation. They must abandon the sea which is their normal habitat, and eke out their meagre existence on the unfamiliar, and in this one's case, dangerous, land.
I have a suggestion : in view of the environmental pressure those magnificent but beleaguered creatures are under, they should be left alone in their dwindling habitats as far as possible. And that means no more tourist groups of whatever description. It might help more people survive, and perhaps more bears too. We owe it to them, if we are to consider ourselves an advanced civilisation.
Yesterday on Svalbard, a remote island north of the Arctic Circle, a hapless outward bound student was attacked and killed by a polar bear. It succeeded in badly mauling 4 other young people before it was eventually dispatched with a bullet.
The dead boy was 17. That's a rotten age to leave the world: you haven't really had a chance to live yet. And the parents, inconsolable in their loss.. "Who'd a thought he'd go that way", they must be puzzling.
But what happened really there? A party of young people, more or less a tourist group, is taken into the domain one of the most naturally aggressive animals in the world, and one who looks upon human beings as food sources. And at the height of the summer, when the sea ice is all but gone, the bears are nearing starvation. They must abandon the sea which is their normal habitat, and eke out their meagre existence on the unfamiliar, and in this one's case, dangerous, land.
I have a suggestion : in view of the environmental pressure those magnificent but beleaguered creatures are under, they should be left alone in their dwindling habitats as far as possible. And that means no more tourist groups of whatever description. It might help more people survive, and perhaps more bears too. We owe it to them, if we are to consider ourselves an advanced civilisation.
Wednesday, 3 August 2011
beurocracy gone mad dept.
On Monday I was asked to do an urgent house call on the way into surgery. Consequently I did not have the benefit of having her notes with me. Fortunately, as I knew her well they were not really necessary. Or so I thought.
On my arrival, having been let in by an elderly neighbour, I found a confused old lady, off her feet (a doctor's expression for being unable to walk) and, as she was living alone, completely unable to look after herself. I phoned the local hospital to arrange emergency admission, something I have done literally hundreds of times in the past. I gave the patients' details, then was asked to give the postcode of her house.
"I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't know it", I responded.
"Can't the patient supply it?"
"I'm afraid not. She's rather confused, you see, as I explained earlier."
"Well I'm sorry, doctor, but I can't send an ambulance out to you until I get a postcode."
I will admit that at this point I became a little testy.
"Oh really? So if the patient simply sits here at home and dies of neglect, I can tell the coroner's inquest that although I gave you the correct address, you wouldn't send an ambulance here because I didn't give you the postcode? How do you think that's going to look?"
"There's no need for you to adopt that tone of voice with me, doctor. I'm just doing me job as I've been trained to do."
It took a lot more persuading, cajoling and, eventually, abuse, before the operator accepted the admission. But before I put the phone down, I said:
"Thank you for that. I'm now going home to memorise the postcode of all 4000 of my patients. Goodbye."
On my arrival, having been let in by an elderly neighbour, I found a confused old lady, off her feet (a doctor's expression for being unable to walk) and, as she was living alone, completely unable to look after herself. I phoned the local hospital to arrange emergency admission, something I have done literally hundreds of times in the past. I gave the patients' details, then was asked to give the postcode of her house.
"I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't know it", I responded.
"Can't the patient supply it?"
"I'm afraid not. She's rather confused, you see, as I explained earlier."
"Well I'm sorry, doctor, but I can't send an ambulance out to you until I get a postcode."
I will admit that at this point I became a little testy.
"Oh really? So if the patient simply sits here at home and dies of neglect, I can tell the coroner's inquest that although I gave you the correct address, you wouldn't send an ambulance here because I didn't give you the postcode? How do you think that's going to look?"
"There's no need for you to adopt that tone of voice with me, doctor. I'm just doing me job as I've been trained to do."
It took a lot more persuading, cajoling and, eventually, abuse, before the operator accepted the admission. But before I put the phone down, I said:
"Thank you for that. I'm now going home to memorise the postcode of all 4000 of my patients. Goodbye."
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