A Tale of Misfortune

I have decided that every time I meet with a misfortune, I shall blog about an unrelated incident that exemplifies my foolish, yet laughable self. I shall start now as I've kinda faced a lot of misfortunes recently.

One day, on my home, it being pretty late (around 7pm), I was on one of my never ending bus routes. The bus stopped at High Street Kensington, as it should do, naturally. But it had stopped for an unnaturally long time, and I had not noticed the time passing or that all the people had left and I was the only one left sitting there, staring out of the window.

When... all of a sudden! The oddest thing started happening: the pedestrians outside the bus started making eye contact with me, and it wasn't just one, it was quite a few! 3-4 I think. to make things even stranger, a few of them started waving at me in an odd way, not like a wave to a friend, but more of a wave to 'come away' as it were.

Faster than a lightning bolt cascading with a firework did I realised that the bus had terminated, and that I was the only person left inside the large double decker.

Without further ado, I grab my bag and make like the wind as I hurled myself out of the bus, where the waving pedestrians stood, smiling bemusedly at me, I smiled awkwardly back and thanked them incoherently, walking away at the same time lest they should realise how embarrassed I was.

Well, that's the end. I have a new work of fiction coming up! It's called The Saima Story, I'll try and make it the next post. But if another misfortune should happen to turn up, I'll have to report you upon that instead.

Manga of the Month- November

Thought I forgot eh!? Thought you escaped EH?! Well, I simply haven't had time, but NOW! Now I can finally do a manga of the month hehehehehe *sinister laughter*

I'm sorry I'm like 2 weeks late for this, but I know you're all waiting eagerly so I won't waste anymore time.

This month I have grown mixed feelings towards a certain Manga called 'Team Medical Dragon', it is one of the few surgery-related mangas, I think it's well written and drawn, the problem is, that it has some rather controversial views of the Japanese healthcare system that I would personally have to see with my own eyes to actually believe.

This manga is drawn by a well known mangaka, but written by a surgeon, the aim of the manga to my 'reader' point of view is just to slag off the healthcare system in japan, particularly the University (i.e. Research) based hospitals in Tokyo. It is described as a 'Feudal age' run by incompetent lords (professors) governing over peasants (patients). Among discussed roles of nurses as surgeons, framed negligence charges, avoidance to treat foreigners and corruption at the height of the hospital governors, there is also a strong disdain towards drug and clinical trials tested on patients.

I can't really say 'we shouldn't test on humans' because otherwise we would have no development of medicine and the pitiful form of treatment that we have for some major diseases just won't ever evolved. But this manga made me realise that it is on humans, not just the sick that we test drugs with unknown effects on. The manga also made me remember that drug trials are only part of a commercial game for pharmaceutical companies, I kinda forgot about that.

The series might seem to say 'Hate research' or 'Stop drug trials' but what it really is trying to say is 'think of the patients, their pain and suffering' and 'stop using humans as numbers in your sample group'. I guess being in such a research orientated atmosphere made me forget about the humane side to life, and this manga was quite a 'science shock' to me.

Team medical Dragon also sympathises with the horror of being a junior doctor and the naive medical student that will soon bend to the corrupted ways of the system. So I think it is a well rounded manga. However, the one thing that I HATE is that there is occasional pointless sex and nudity which tags the manga as slightly trashy. My only explanation for these unnecessary themes, is that this manga has a lot of medical terminology and hence makes it targeted for those within the field, adding nudity would enhance the number of sales. URGH!

Despite this I do recommend this manga, but I find some of the topics too controversial to believe completely as it could just be controversial to raise sales.

A series of Unfortunate events

After being rejected from yet another career open day this afternoon I thought I was in the mood to write about some unfortunate events that has happened to me lately.

1. It was a good morning, I woke up early and left the house with plenty of time to spare, I get to Wood Lane station and walk to the bus stop, despite the rain, I was okay. Then some idiot car driver drove quickly over this ultimately huge puddle and a wave of dirty rain water cascaded over this poor young woman, she just carried on walking looking drenched and thoroughly miffed. I on the other hand was proud of myself for getting to the bus stop 25 minutes earlier than usual, the annoying thing was that I had to wait 25 minutes for the bus to talk me to the hospital, for a rout that would only require 10 minutes to walk. Anyway, I get to the hospital and remember that I forgot which room I would be in, so I open my diary in a hurry as I'm already 5 minutes late, and in my diary, in red writing, it says: Charing's Cross Hospital. Oh dear.... so I call my friend. and yes she gives me directions for the computer room at the Charings Cross library, so I turn on my heel and go. I got there and hour late.

2. I bought my travel card on Monday morning, well I thought I did, and somehow got onto the bus, the driver let me pass through (nice chap). Then half way to my local station I remember that I did not finalise buying my travel card by touching my oyster card on the receiver again. So I thought i had lost about 44 pounds, this is entirely against my nature and in a frenzy I enquired about the money at the ticket office at my local station, and alhamdulillah, she confirmed I didn't lose anything.

3. I've had some of the most boring monotonous lecturers for the most harrowing diseases known to man, all of which are 3 hours long, it's been such a long time since I've had 6 hours of lectures in a day.

Corruption by Money or by the System?

It is 1.58, and I'm reading some manga till I get sleepy, and I when I read a particular page, I was so impressed by the message that I think it out to have some mention on this rather low profile blog, Click to enlarge:
For people's interest, the 'system' is the Japanese Healthcare System. I don't know if I entirely agree with the message, but it's pretty strong all the same.

URGH applications!

The only time you will ever feel like you can't speak English is when you're trying to write down answers in an application form. I don't know how, but the power of this patronising form has the ability to make you sit down for hours trying to write down what you need to say in the shortest most succinct way.

that's all I'll say for now.

Confessions from the confused

I have just had my first 'timed essay' i.e. an exam. I have abosultely no idea how it went, it's like everything was so unorganised and confused, I still don't really know what the question meant.

All that I do know, is that I just wrote about absolutely everything that I could bring to mind. I have also learnt that I cannot afford to be behind any work anymore, and I think my unorganised nature came out.

What's done is done an I don't think I've failed, but I do hope I did well, though if that happens I'll be questioning how that happenned.

Quick Midnight Rant

CPG = Central Pattern generators, responsible for rhythmic locomotion like walking or swimming. No need for sensory stimulus or commands from cortex/descending tracts of the Spinal Cord.

CPGs were firstly identified in invertebrates such as the tadpole and Lamprey (what the hell is a lamprey?)

Glycinergic = inhinbitory (maintains Left-Right alternation)

Glutamatergic = excitatory (maintains Left-Right synchrony)

Blocking GABA receptors affects rythm, hence, anatgonising them will cause higher frequency of motor output.

GABA important in patterning locomotion in early embryonic life.

GABA later replaced by glycinergic inhibitory systems, and glutamatergic excitatory systems.

I'm supposed to know much more than this.

The best music you ever heard!

Because I am stressed, I tend to procrastinate, this is one of those times. I was wondering what to procrastinate on, considering how I'm rather spoilt for choice in that sector.

But then my mind wandered onto songs that I love to listen at regular intervals. and that's where I came up with a list of the best songs known to mankind in the English language (in my personal opinions).

1. Summertime by Ella Fitzgerald

2. Feeling Good by Nina Simone

3. Falling by Alecia keys

4. Golden Brown by the Stranglers

5. Come Together by The Beatles

6. Empire state of Mind by Jay Z and Alecia keys (the one I'm hooked onto atm)

7. Handlebars by The Flobots

8. Sweet Child of Mine by Guns and Roses

9. Faint by Linkin Park

10. Unwritten by Natasha Beddingfield

11. Smooth Criminal by Micheal Jackson

12. Your Song by Elton John

13. Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen

14. Tribute by Tenacious D (for a laugh)

15. Rehab by Rhianna

I can't actually remember some of the awesome classics that I usually listen to, but these are just some of them ^_^

Transport stories

Since the last time I post a lot of odd things have happened to me, mostly on my journeys home (which are really horrible might I add).

Firstly, I've noticed a lot of people spitting really randomly in the street, It really bugs me, because I, and other non-spitting citizens have the decency not to spit on the ground, and hence we should all keep our ground as clean as possible. It's like there's no respect for the ground we walk on! have some respect people! I mean, if we didn't have the ground we'd be.... groundless.

I really hate travelling home late, when I came back late from a careers event, some weirdo besuited fat Asian grey-haired man sat next to me in a 20% filled train, so there were seats far far away from me that would have been more appropriately filled, I was reading my newspaper so I didn't take much notice of it. He mumbled something like 'oh dear' and the next thing I knew his arm was on the back of my seat. HELL NO AM I LETTING THIS HAPPEN! So I get up immediately and walk away, I think he got embarrassed a lot, serves him right the creep. at least he didn't start talking to me about how I'm anti social, and I'm not living life.

While we're on the subject of creeps, a randomer added me on facebook, we had one common friend so I was afraid of rejecting him straight away, in case I had met him somewhere before, this is the message I sent him:

Dessa: Hey, I'm sorry if i've met you before, but i actually can't remember who you are. sorry if I've offended you!

This is how it turned out:

Randomer: Well im offended coz u dont remember me :( ..... so how can u fix it now ..

Dessa: Well, seeing as I've already committed offence, I don't think I'd mind inducing more. Due to the lack of any possible benefit to myself by making your acquaintance, I think I'll simply blank you out. So, bye.P.s. Stop adding random people. It's annoying.

Randomer: Easy girl :))) . Wel seeing that i have upset you. I donot mind accepting it and saying sorry! But trust me i never ment any thing like it to happen.Btw if you change your mind sumtime, will be nice to know you. May be if you are coming over for Nupsa Dinner on 20th tuesday?P.s. Life is too shot to be upset with somthing...Liv it to max and enjoy it. :)

I don't understand how talking to random people is supposed to enrich my life somehow.... I really hate that sort of behaviour. Is flirting all people ever live for? How boring.

Anyway, I really like buses, but when there's traffic, I do get pretty annoyed, cus it's not like you can read a book or pass time easily on a bus like you could do on a train, buses make you feel dizzy if you're reading something, and so, time is just soo sloooow. I think I've decided that city buses are much more fun than suburban buses.

Recently, I was on a bus on my way home, and all of a sudden I can feel something tugging on my scarf, I moved my head so that it could stop, and that's when I realised that a woman sitting next to her boyfriend had just tried to fiddle with my scarf! They didn't even say sorry or anything! In fact! they started discussing it pretty audibly! Then they started talking about how women have to put their hair in a bun and then put the scarf on top and some off spikes of hair might pop through the material. I was not some sort of object for them to discuss as though in an art exhibition... it was a really odd experience for me, for the first time in my life I sorta felt not human.

I was lost a few days ago on Fleet street, I was trying to get to Salisbury square and I ended up asking every besuited man on the street where it was, luckily for me, no one knew where it was.. was it some sort of hidden Narnia I would have to reach through a wardrobe? I think I ended up asking a high court Judge even... he sounded pretty impressive I must say. I eventually found the place but I was all red a flustered from walking quickly, so I was not really feeling too good at the time.

Well, that's about it for me. Till next time!