Sunday, November 28, 2004
Hungry and Employed
I am rather upset today.
Checking my online bank balance reveals that I haven't been paid. I am fifty dollars away from being officially bankrupt.(discounting my swissbank accounts, and the private jet, and the... just kidding)
Spare change, anyone?
To add injury to insult, my HSBC bank card is next to worthless. It doesn't have NETs, which is apparently the Singaporean equivalent of Switch / Delta - the ONLY equivalent. Everything is off limits to me, from topping up my car parking cashcard to paying bills at SAMs. (Self Automated Machines.)
I know I've already done this one before, but I just have to rant some more. Sue me, I haven't had dinner yet and am hungry, and spent most of this morning asleep day 3 post-call because I'm STILL knackered from the experience. And I went to SITEC (an annual comp fair where tons of vendors display products at a discounted rate, and hordes of tall leggy models parade around in very little clothing shoving flyers into your hands. Power 98 couldn't stop ranting about the beautiful women. I thought they were... okay. Not quite as wonderful as the hype made out, and the discounts of $10-$20 for $400 products weren't quite as awesome as I'd expected. To make things worse, I couldn't afford to buy anything (see above) making me feel even grumpier than usual. Sort of like being in the garden of eden. See no touch. :(
Anyway, the bloke who fell down from a height of 1.3 m came back in again after "falling down backwards from standing" and hitting the back of his head. His (new onset) symptoms, funnily enough, were the same as the first time around, giddiness, nausea - and his first question to the house officer was "how much MC you give me?"
He got another CT head. That's two CTs in the span of less than three weeks. Everytime I see him (sitting up in bed looking perfectly well) I get this strange desire to start going "tick tick tick tick DING!!!" but I don't think anyone on the team, or the patient for that matter, will get it.
The AGVs still amuse me (they're the robotic cockroach-looking things that deliver dinner trolleys to all the wards). Apparently their counterparts in America don't have TLA (three lettered abbreviation) names, and they wander around saying "Excuse me, please!"
Ours wander around the hospital intoning "AGV approaching! AGV approaching!" and when they reach the wards, a large sign lights up that says "AGV APPROACHING". It's great, if I ever get run over by one of these things I can say "It was an AGV wot done it!!"
I can't help but wonder what it is about Singaporeans and this compulsion to give everything a name.
Our national libraries have slots in the wall for you to return books - sort of like glorified postboxes. I think it's a great idea, except for the big letters above them proudly declaring "BOOKDROP POINT".
It's like the first thing the Planners did was sit down and ask "But what shall we call them??"
Same as the guys who built the AGVs.
I mean, who the **** cares what the slot is called, and why do we have to invent some stupid snazzy new word for it. Like who the !%!* cares what an AGV is anyhow? If something wanders up behind me and says AGV APPROACHING! I'll probably pause for a second while it runs me down and chews me up wondering... what did it say... oh. and what's an AGV?"
Whereas if it drove up behind me and said "GEDDAHELLOUTTAMYWAY" I'd move. Or, if you're in civil society, then "Excuse me, please."
I reckon the "bookdrop points" should be labelled "Return your books here". It'd serve the same function, and it wouldn't sound quite as ridiculously... ... ... I can't find a term for it. Anal comes to mind.
*****
Inappropriate
Heh heh heh. Gotta love this one... it's so shameless it's pretty dang funny.
Checking my online bank balance reveals that I haven't been paid. I am fifty dollars away from being officially bankrupt.(discounting my swissbank accounts, and the private jet, and the... just kidding)
Spare change, anyone?
To add injury to insult, my HSBC bank card is next to worthless. It doesn't have NETs, which is apparently the Singaporean equivalent of Switch / Delta - the ONLY equivalent. Everything is off limits to me, from topping up my car parking cashcard to paying bills at SAMs. (Self Automated Machines.)
I know I've already done this one before, but I just have to rant some more. Sue me, I haven't had dinner yet and am hungry, and spent most of this morning asleep day 3 post-call because I'm STILL knackered from the experience. And I went to SITEC (an annual comp fair where tons of vendors display products at a discounted rate, and hordes of tall leggy models parade around in very little clothing shoving flyers into your hands. Power 98 couldn't stop ranting about the beautiful women. I thought they were... okay. Not quite as wonderful as the hype made out, and the discounts of $10-$20 for $400 products weren't quite as awesome as I'd expected. To make things worse, I couldn't afford to buy anything (see above) making me feel even grumpier than usual. Sort of like being in the garden of eden. See no touch. :(
Anyway, the bloke who fell down from a height of 1.3 m came back in again after "falling down backwards from standing" and hitting the back of his head. His (new onset) symptoms, funnily enough, were the same as the first time around, giddiness, nausea - and his first question to the house officer was "how much MC you give me?"
He got another CT head. That's two CTs in the span of less than three weeks. Everytime I see him (sitting up in bed looking perfectly well) I get this strange desire to start going "tick tick tick tick DING!!!" but I don't think anyone on the team, or the patient for that matter, will get it.
The AGVs still amuse me (they're the robotic cockroach-looking things that deliver dinner trolleys to all the wards). Apparently their counterparts in America don't have TLA (three lettered abbreviation) names, and they wander around saying "Excuse me, please!"
Ours wander around the hospital intoning "AGV approaching! AGV approaching!" and when they reach the wards, a large sign lights up that says "AGV APPROACHING". It's great, if I ever get run over by one of these things I can say "It was an AGV wot done it!!"
I can't help but wonder what it is about Singaporeans and this compulsion to give everything a name.
Our national libraries have slots in the wall for you to return books - sort of like glorified postboxes. I think it's a great idea, except for the big letters above them proudly declaring "BOOKDROP POINT".
It's like the first thing the Planners did was sit down and ask "But what shall we call them??"
Same as the guys who built the AGVs.
I mean, who the **** cares what the slot is called, and why do we have to invent some stupid snazzy new word for it. Like who the !%!* cares what an AGV is anyhow? If something wanders up behind me and says AGV APPROACHING! I'll probably pause for a second while it runs me down and chews me up wondering... what did it say... oh. and what's an AGV?"
Whereas if it drove up behind me and said "GEDDAHELLOUTTAMYWAY" I'd move. Or, if you're in civil society, then "Excuse me, please."
I reckon the "bookdrop points" should be labelled "Return your books here". It'd serve the same function, and it wouldn't sound quite as ridiculously... ... ... I can't find a term for it. Anal comes to mind.
*****
Inappropriate
Heh heh heh. Gotta love this one... it's so shameless it's pretty dang funny.
