Amsterdam

Today, after a 9-day-in-a-row stint, I am finally off for a few days and The Boyf and I are heading to Amsterdam.

The cafes, the cheese, the tulips, the Van Gogh Museum.................

My last shift yesterday, proved to be a big send off. I had the worst patients ever, but the cherry on top was when a blue call came in. This usually means the patient is extremely sick or injured and a few doctors are available to deal with the patient. The patient was so drunk his GCS was 3/15 ie he was literally not conscious AT ALL! This guy comes in at least once a week and was only discharged 2 days earlier. He is always so drunk that he often ends up having a brain scan, because we can't be sure its just due to alcohol (he has had over 200 brain scans and will probably get cancer from all the radiation). When we started undressing him, we saw that he had delightfully shat himself. He then vomited and starting coughing up copious amounts of brown crap that went everywhere. After 3 hours of dealing with this guy, I felt like I was covered in shit from head to toe. It was disgusting! I had to become an obligate mouth breather and when I got home, I threw my scrubs in the bin and had the longest shower ever! Alot of wine was consumed last night and as I am packing my suitcase, which will be carry on luggage!!!!!, I am nursing a slight headache thanks to unknown white male.

LMM

xoxo

Doggie Love

I miss my dogs at home in South Africa so much! A friend, Jo, just posted this on FB and it reminded me of how naughty little doggies can be! Just look at how sheepish the culprit looks at the end!

Happy Friday!



LMM

xoxo

Noisy Neighbours

Living in a flat in London is not quite the same as living in a flat in Cape Town. You literally end up knowing your neighbours quite well, their showering habits, when they go to bed and what they get up to on a Saturday night. I have gotten quite used to the constant noise, but some things can just not be ignored!

We have a 60-something man living above us. He is never noisy, keeps his TV down and never stays awake late. His bed seems to be directly above ours, as I can hear him getting into and out of bed sometimes. For the last 2 nights, while The Boyf has been away doing night shifts, I have gotten into bed to enjoy the sanctuary of reading my book in peace and quiet. The first night, I heard what sounded like a large fart from above! Yip, a fart. I thought I must be imagining it, but last night I heard it again. Mr 60-something is doing something most people can do in the privacy of their own home, only, I can hear him. Hearing flatus being emitted from the anal ring, whilst trying to fall asleep, is in no way soothing, relaxing or undisturbing. It's just plain GROSS!

          

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Yet another reason why I can't wait till I am back home!



LMM

xoxo

The Crazy Continues...

The last few days have been filled with crazy patients, crazy people on the tube, basically crazy people everywhere. It reminded me of Tom Cruise when he went really crazy on Oprah....gotta love this!

It almost looks like he is attacking Oprah at one stage, and poor Katie doesn't look like she actually wants to be on Oprah sans hair and make-up!

Stay tuned for more crazy...



LMM

xoxo

The Elegance of the Hedgehog

"Madame Michel has the elegance of a hedgehog: on the outside, she's covered in quills, a real fortress, but my gut feeling is that on the inside, she has the same simple refinement as the hedgehog: a deceptively indolent little creature, fiercely solitary- and terribly elegant."

    
I have just finished reading this literary gem. I bought it knowing nothing about the book or author. It was originally written in French and sold more than a million copies in France, whilst winning many awards.

The story follows the lives of two people, a 50-something year old concierge of luxury Parisan apartments, Renee Michel and Paloma Josse, a 12-year-old girl, who is planning to commit suicide on her 13th birthday. These two characters meet when a Japanese man moves into one of the apartments and binds them together through his love for music, literature and intellectual conversation.

Initially I was slightly bored with the book, as the characters were unfolding, it seemed nothing was happening, but by the end I was in love with Renee Michel's character and am left longing for more.

7/10

Can you recommend any good reads?

LMM

xoxo

Crazy

Why are there so many crazy people in this world?

Last week I saw 8 crazy patients in one day. When I say crazy, what I actually mean is properly F*%ked in the head!


Patient 1:

He decided to OD on paracetamol....AGAIN! It is probably his 20th attempt to kill himself. Funny thing is he never quite takes enough tablets to do it, but enough that the ambulance brings him in.


Patient 2:

Sees aeroplanes flying into buildings.


Patient 3:

Has "fake" seizures. Most amusing to watch. Her whole body shakes when doctors are around. Disappear and they stop.


Patient 4:

Drunk. Looks homeless. Thinks the water in his flat is poisonous so he comes to the hospital to drink the water from the water cooler.


Patient 5,6, 7:

Just your normal crazy


Patient 8:

Swallows things. She deserves her own post and I will tell you more about her later this week!





LMM

xoxo




Giveaway ends today and the winner is......me! (nobody entered so I will welcome these espadrilles to my growing collection of 3 pairs!)

I have my suitcase back!!!

For those of you who follow my blog, you will know that my suitcase went missing in Greece. 8 days later and I went to go fetch it from Heathrow Airport.

I am so thrilled to have all my stuff back. It is like rediscovering how cool are your clothes and toiletries are and appreciating them fully. I think I will wear all my jewellery at once and NEVER take it off...

Happy Friday!!!



LMM

xoxo

First day back at work

After my harrowing experience of eventally getting home from Greece sans luggage, I arrived at work the next day hoping for a relaxed day, so that I could ease myself back into work. NO SUCH LUCK!

My first patient was slightly psychotic and decided to throw her mobile at me (being assaulted on the first day back is never a good omen of things to come). Luckily I managed to duck the approaching missile and it hit the wall, shattering into pieces.

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I am hoping the rest of the week is slightly better!



LMM

xoxo




P.S: don't forget to enter this week's giveaway!!!

Pics from Greece

Here are a  few photos to show you what Greece was like...

                                                                          Athens

                                                                  The Acropolis

                                                        The blue domes of Santorini

                                                                          Donkey!!!!!

                                           From the top of my donkey - Fira, Santorini

                                                                 Gyros - yum!

                                                                      Church in Ios

                                                           Little Venice - Mykonos

The Windmills of Mykonos

                                                              Kitties of Greece

What a wonderful country!




LMM

xoxo

October Giveaway

Today I am starting a new giveaway. This is the perfect addition to your Summer wardrobe and if you are in the Northern hemisphere, for around the house and when its not raining.

These espadrilles are a size 4/37.

The giveaway starts today and ends on the 24th October 2011, winner will be announced the following day. To enter you need to become a follower and leave a comment below telling me a story about shoes. It can be funny, why you are obsessed with shoes, or even why you need to win this giveaway.

Good Luck!



LMM

xoxo

I'm back.........finally!

Karma is a bitch!

I must admit I have been very lucky this year, with all the trips I have done. I do work very hard when I am not off, often working over 2 weeks straight, day and night. Karma must not have noticed this, because she decided to bite me in a big way on my final trip of the Summer, in Greece.

Greece was amazing. Here is a quick low down!

Athens - Acropolis is beautiful, the rest is very dirty.

Santorini - this island is my heaven. From beaches, to quadbikes, to donkeys.

Ios - not very happening as Summer has died down and not much to see.

Mykonos - Little Venice, giant pelicans and winding white-washed walls.

Basically Greece was amazing, except when I wanted to leave. See the people of Greece are very unhappy and unfortunately had been striking throughout my holiday, but it only really affected me on departure day.

Departure Day:

- pack bags (stupidly for the first time ever! decide to put my jewellery in my suitcase)
- wish friends goodbye
- head to airport
- check in luggage
- flight gets cancelled
- everyone rushes like mad to the ticket office to get a new flight
- unbeknown to passengers, luggage gets dumped in the middle of the depature room.
- am next in queue hoping to get on next flight to Athens, where connecting flight takes me home to London
- get on next flight
- run to collect my suitcase as I have 10 minutes to board
- cannot find suitcase
- inform police and airline, who laugh at me in Greek
- have mini-cry
- pull myself together
- go to back of ticket office queue
- get told there are no more flights today
..........
- say hello to friends again
- buy cheap bikini and spend rest of the day at the hotel pool sulking
- go out for dinner in wonderful attire I was wearing for plane ride

Day 2 of being stranded:

- put on my wonderful "clean" clothes
- do not pack bags as I have no bags
- wish friends goodbye...again
- head to airport
- check-in sans luggage
- hold thumbs flight is not cancelled
- board plane and am so excited Greek people are not striking in Athens
- arrive in Athens
- check-in for next flight...sans luggage
- wait 5 hours for connection
- buy food with my last 4 euros
- flight is delayed by one hour due to knock-on delay of previous day's flights
- start to get hungry
- flight is delayed by 90 minutes
- start to get ravenous
- flight eventually boards
- sit in plane for an hour before take off
- plane takes off (woo hoo)
- make mental list of all the things I have lost (ghd, 5 rings, 2 bracelets, 3 necklaces, sand from all the beaches in Greece, souvenirs for loved ones, favourite skirt from Thailand, ring from Croatia, travel journal, perfume..........and the list goes on)


So all in all a wonderful holiday with a super shit ending!


LMM

xoxo

Eddie Izzard

I am still in Greece and it is raining and my tan is fading fast :(

...but I am back tomorrow and will be posting regularly from Friday!

Here's a little Eddie Izzard to brighten up your day...

LMM

xoxo

Lolita

This was The Bookclub's choice for August. I had been wanting to read this for a while now, especially since it was on the BBC's Big Read Top 100 book list.

The book was first published in 1959 and I think the fame, or rather notoriety, of the book, lies more in the topic than in the actual written word.

Humbert Humbert is the main character and he becomes obsessed with Dolores (Lolita), a 12 year old girl who lives in the house where he is renting a room. His infatuation becomes so great that he even marries Charlotte (Dolores' mother), in the hope of staying close to his darling Lolita. Charlotte ends up dying in a freak accident and he become Dolores' guardian, travelling all around America with her.

Humbert Humbert is not the most reliable narrator and I often found myself thinking of Lolita as a petulant child, who instigated the whole ordeal. The foreword and afterword shed light onto the intricacy of the novel and the sheer cleverness Vladimir Nabokov's displays with some of his prose.

"Lolita, the light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul."

I raced through the first half of this book, rapt with anticipation, but was slightly disappointed with how events unravelled. I would definitely recommend this as a good, quick and very interesting read. 7.5/10



LMM

xoxo

Tattoos

I have always wanted a tattoo. For years now I have been putting it off! I haven't found anything meaningful enough to permanently ink on my skin. The area to tattoo also poses a great question. I have always thought the wrist would be awesome, but not too sure I'd like that after 10 years...

2 years ago, The Boyf and I went on holiday to Thailand. I was determined to get a tattoo there and you can literally get one at every street corner. One night I proposed a plan to The Boyf. We should both get tattoos, not matching ones though. We decided what we would each get and went for a few or a hundred cocktails beforehand. We found a tattoo joint and The Boyf decided to go first. He drew his design onto a piece of paper. It was a juvenile drawing at best. I watched as they prepared everything and was shocked as I saw they used the old method of tattooing, which involved ink in a bamboo stick attached to a blade. There was no way I would have tattoo that way! That being said, The Boyf left that night with a 3 year old's drawing on his right bum cheek and I left with none!

Now that I am in Greece, I have been pondering the following ideas....

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But I would get my tattoo here....like Hilary Duff

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What do you think?



LMM

xoxo

A Million Miles From Normal

I have been dying to read this book ever since I won this copy on Paige Nick's blog, A Million Miles from Normal. This was another one of my Croatia reads and I absolutely devoured it in 2 days.

"All Rachel Marcus wants is a cool job, a guy who has all his own teeth and a decent cup of tea. Is that too much to ask?"

Rachel Marcus is a copywriter at an advertising agency in Johannesburg, until she gets fired. She picks up and moves to New York City, where she is hired at a "different" kind of ad agency, that specialises in marketing for sanitary pads and socks. She moves into a shoe-box flat, filled with her very own rodents and bugs. What seems like a disaster is somehow transformed into a compelling series of turn of events.

I sunk my teeth into this book immediately and found it to be much more satisfying than a normal chick-lit read. It reminded me a lot of Lindsey Kelk's "I Heart New York". It is filled with hilarious incidents, magical friendships and of course the obligatory touch of romance. What more could you want?

8/10


Thanks for the giveaway Paige!



LMM

xoxo

LMM is off to Greece

Today I am leaving for Greece and by the time you read this post I will have been up since 3am and will be in the air, on my way to the lovely and sunny Athens.

Another holiday I may hear you saying?

YES! It will probably be the last sunshine holiday before the Winter sets in, and even though I definitely do not have the finances to go on another break, I did come here to travel and a BFF from South Africa is meeting me there. So the decision was easy...

I shall be living off gyros and tanning on the beaches, a real student holiday, but I cannot wait!

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Andio


LMM

xoxo