Primark

I've been feeling really homesick this week. Have been hating life and feeling pretty mis. So today I dragged The Boyf to Kingston for some retail therapy. There is nothing like a bit shopping to put a smile on your face! Having only just started working, the cash flow is still pretty small, so my destination ended up being.....

Primark is the place for anyone who loves a bargain. It is a great place for finding common staples, like long sleeved T-shirt tops, pumps and accessories. But beware. You will sweat. You will push. You will have to try on garments in the middle of the shop. This is what I picked up for a mere 150 quid -

some work shirts

                                                                     I heart shoes

I now have a big grin on my face and am feeling much better!

What did you do this weekend?

xoxo

Grumpy Bum

I've been working this week in a hospital that isn't exactly close. I've had to commute on public transport for 5 hours each day. This is why I haven't been posting anything and why I look and feel like this...........

Are you grumpy this week?


xoxo

7 uses for URINE

Urine - the usually foul-smelling liquid, that seeps into your nostrils as you walk through a subway. Have no idea why, but it has been on my mind the last few days, so I decided to do a post about it, and its uses. Whilst googling urine I found many weird and wonderful things about it, but these were the 7 most useful.

1. Drinking one's first stream of the day is said to cure many ailments and is known to bleach your teeth. Drinking your own urine is called urophagia. Mix it with juice or drink it fresh and warm..........YUCK! Actually all of us have tasted our own urine- amniotic fluid. It is produced as urine by the fetus. The fetus then continously swallows it.

2. Bathing in your own urine is supposedly good for your skin, keeping it hydrated and youthful looking, so to all you gross boys that pee in the bath- you are on your way to skin rejuvenation. I think I'll stick with my normal cleansing routine thanks. Although I have used a heel cream that had urea in it!

3. Hangover cure - again involves drinking your own urine, a large percentage of which will be alcohol :)

4. If you have an annoying neighbourhood cat or dog that leaves its mark in your garden, get your man to spray his pee all over the garden to mark his territory and keep these pesky pets away.........not a bad option! and it makes your man feel MANLY

5. Urine can be used as a fertiliser..............note to all you green fingers.

6. Cures jelly fish or bluebottle stings........works like a charm

7. In Singapore, scientists have gotten a battery to produce electricity by running it on urine......WOW, gateway to the future.


Any other uses you can think of?

xoxo

Charlie bit me

Bit of a lazy Sunday, I'm in bed with a cold :(

Hope this cheers you up, I love it!


xoxo

Flashback Fridays

I want to take a moment to introduce you to some of my favourite patients of all time. These are the pearlers that I remember. For whatever rhyme or reason, they had an influence on me. I will be introducing a new one each Friday.

Firstly, may I introduce............

Gogo Grace.

Gogo is a term used to describe an African grandmother. We often call patients Gogo. In the Zulu culture, it is a term of respect and even one of endearment. Gogo Grace looked like she was 102, but was probably more along the lines of 86. She didn't know her birth date, a common finding amongst the elderly Black population. This particular Gogo was in a surgical ward and wasn't quite mentally "all there".
She hated me from the first day I met her. I had to take blood from Gogo Grace, and she despised me for this. Elderly people often have the most terrible veins and it is a truly frustrating experience trying to get enough blood to even fill 2 tubes. Eventually I had resorted to taking femoral blood (blood from the femoral vein). This involved sticking a needle into Gogo Grace's groin. She really despised this. She shrieked and groaned, whilst being held down by 2 nurses. People behind the curtain must've thought I was killing her. Gogo Grace definitely thought I was killing her. I had to continue to work in that ward for another 2 months, and Gogo Grace, made it a living hell.

Everyday she would sit up in her cot bed and wait for me to walk past. She would then have some food (rice, carrot, potatoe....whatever they were serving) in her clawed hand, which she then proceeded to hurl at my head. Come rain or shine, each day, some edible thing would be lobbed at me. I even avoided meal times, but she would keep these morsels, hidden away, until I eventually came to the ward, and always had precision aim. I would arrive at the cafeteria for lunch, with bits of rice with gravy in my hair, that I had missed. Colleagues would point and say, "Did Grace get you again?"

Gogo Grace never spoke one word to me in 2 months. All I ever got was a grunt, or on a bad day, a scream. I eventually only filled out forms for her and left the procedures, like taking blood, to some poor other member of my team.

The last time I saw Gogo Grace, was about 3 years ago, but I will never forget her!

xoxo

First days at work

I missed this weeks Tuesday's tips as I have been working. Yes! I got a J-O-B.
Well, not technically a full time job, but I had some locum shifts. Let me fill you in on my first day

Day 1

03:30am Wake up

05:00am Catch train from Somerset to London

06:10am Train in front of us breaks down

06:30am My train goes back in opposite direction

08:20am Arrive at Waterloo, 30 min late

08:30am Work starts. I am on a bus in heaven knows where.

09:20am Arrive at work

09:30am - 10:30am Ward round with a consultant

10:30am - 11:30am Do ward work

11:30am- 17:00pm Twiddle thumbs

17:00pm - 19:30pm Travel home


So that was Day 1. I had ten patients and not much to do. My youngest patient was 76, so it was a ward filled with decrepit geriatrics. My favourite!..........................................NOT!

Day 2:

08:30am Arrive at work on time

10:00am Have finished all my work

10:00am - 17:00pm Twiddle my thumbs

17:30pm Train breaks down..........seriously.....AGAIN.

20:10pm Get home, very grumpy


Am hoping that my next few shifts will go better, but beggars can't be choosers!


xoxo

X-factor

Having been in England for only 4 weeks, I have been swept up in the excitement and drama that is the X-factor. For those of you not living in the UK, X-factor is combination of Idols and Popstars. There are 4 judges: Simon Cowell, Dannii Minogue (Kylie's younger sister), Sheryl Cole (previous Girls Aloud member and Ashley Cole's ex-wife) and some Larry called Louis, who I don't have the time of day for.

So basically its at the stage where there are 9 contestants left.

This rant is about one person.



Wagner.

If you have watched it, you will know exactly who I am talking about.

Wagner, aka Brazilian-moustache-man-who-gives-me-the-hee-bee-jeebies. He is literally tone deaf, has long brown straigtened hair, an earring in each ear and when he opens his gold toothed mouth, I cannot understand a word he is saying. I mean, SERIOUSLY! Apparently an anti-X-factor group are the reason he is still in the competition, as they continuously vote for him. He remains there week after week, and hasn't even been in the bottom 2. It baffles me, how this hideous entertainer is still there when talented people have been kicked off already.

"I can't wait to see what will happen next week. Maybe he'll sing in tune......" says Dannii

This 54 year old man, Wagner Carillho, is known to pose in his lumo thong on a weekly basis at the local pool. He even once owned a pet lion!

Have a peek at one of his performances... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFQUzl1557M

Seriously........

Enjoy tonight's episode :)


xoxo

Poppy Day

Today is Remembrance Day in the Commonwealth countries, to mark the anniversary of the end of World War I, on the 11th of November 1918. Lots of people have been wearing poppies as a symbol of all the blood shed in the war.

Today I was at Sainsbury's, where they had 2 minutes of silence at 11.00am to mark this day. It was so weird, as everyone was not just silent, but stood there transfixed and no one moved a muscle, but stared straight ahead. I'm all for remembering everyone that lost their lives, but to become a statue for that amount of time seems a bit overboard to me. Everyone has been wearing poppies for the last month, and whilst it is a brilliant idea and well worth remembering, it all seems a bit much. What happens to all the money made from the selling of these poppies? Am I being cold hearted and unpatriotic?
One woman was shushed and everyone glared at another, whilst she quietly unpacked her trolley. A minute of silence is very appropriate at a suitable occasion, like a service, but not in a supermarket.

37 million are said to have lost their lives during the War. 35 million Black South Africans were affected by Apartheid. You don't see South Africa having vows of silence. Apartheid, was as cruel, if not more, than any war. Apartheid only officially ended in 1994, when all South Africans were allowed to vote, 16 years ago. World War I ended 92 years ago. I fully agree with remembering things that happened previously, and giving them due respect, but living in the past, for me is tedious.

Let me know what you think?

xoxo

Kegels

Yip it's that time again. Seemed that a lot of people loved my vajayjay post, so have decided to continue from there and teach you all how to do kegels exercises.

Kegels are pelvic floor exercises which you can do anywhere, anytime.

Make the most of being stuck in traffic, ad breaks during your favourite TV programme or even a boring work meeting.

A weakened pelvic floor can be due to having children, being overweight, the aging process and chronic constipation. Kegels can prevent or delay prolapse from occurring. Doing these exercises on a regular basis can also help women achieve orgasm.

How to do Kegels:

Step 1 - identify your pelvic floor muscles (the muscles that stop your stream of urine). See this to help remind you.

Step 2 - empty your bladder

Step 3 - lie down or sit

Step 4 - contract vajayjay muscles for 5 seconds

Step 5 - relax for 5 seconds

Step 6 - repeat 5 times

Step 7 - do this 3 times a day

DO NOT hold your breath, clench your butt, or tighten your thighs whilst doing these!

You can work your way up to contracting for 10 seconds and doing them 10 times a day. Expect to see results in 8-12 weeks.

TA DA! You will then look like this......

xoxo

Lastest Read

I have just read Lindsey Kelk's first book in the I Heart Series, called I Heart New York.

This book is the perfect quick, girly read. I was in the mood for a light-hearted read, but was so thrilled at how entertaining it was. It follows the story of Angela Clarke, who takes the plunge, after an unfortunate event, and moves to the Big Apple. She finds a BFF, gorgeous outfits and a dream job, writing a blog for a fashion magazine. Follow Angela's adventures, from finding love to shopping in the swanky city that never sleeps.

I heart it!


xoxo

Hospital Life

For those of you who have had the "priviledge" of working in a government hospital, you will appreciate these photos (all poached from the Doctors Only group).
For those of you who haven't, don't be shocked.

                                           Pens are the most precious item you will ever own. 

Psych patient, who continued to wander around and get lost.

Patient's forearm. The staples are from all his lacerations.

Death certificates to be filled in after a weekend.

Casualty.

Some nurses are not the brightest.

This came from a patient's pleural tap (fluid around the lung).

No wonder all the files are always "LOST".

2 psych patients, who have been sedated and handcuffed together.

xoxo



CAGE

This week is about alcohol. CAGE is something that doctors use to deduce if a patient abuses alcohol.

C - cut down. Have you ever felt like you should cut down your drinking?

A - annoyed. Do you get annoyed when poeple comment on your drinking?

G - guilty. Do you ever feel guilty when drinking?

E - eye opener. Do you ever use alcohol as an "eye-opener"? (first drink to cure a hangover, or steady your nerves)

If you answer yes to 2 or more of these questions, you have a unhealthy relationship with alcohol.

To make you feel better I'll give you my answers.

C - yes, especially after a HUGE night, "I will NEVER drink again!"

A -  yes, no one likes to be reminded that they look a bit pissed, when you are trying to appear in control.

G - yes, "should've spent the money on a new pair of shoes."

E - yes, nothing goes down better than a Savannah Light after a big razzle.


So, that settles it, I have a problem...oops. It's not to be taken too seriously, but on a serious note, alcohol abuse is a problem that affects many and if you think you do have a problem, or know someone that does, click here.


xoxo