The department is officially going nuts. One poor MO ( that's medical officer for short, aka resident in American terminology ) has chronic back pain from prolapsed intervertebral discs, and has yet again gone on medical leave for an indefinite period. And another is aggressively clearing her annual leave, and disappears on and off, albeit in a rather disruptive manner -- which is understandable, and none of us grudge them their leave. But morale is low... People are going on MC in spurts, and depending on your luck, you may not get to go post-call, or worse, end up doing rounds for 50 patients by yourself, if the situation is really bad. What we need are locums! Any of you out there who are up to the task, please call our secretary Jesline at 68503560, thank you.

The Bachelor 2 is finally here, but there's no fun this time since I already know who he picked. However, Aaron Buerge is tonnes cuter than Alex Michel, and so much more eligible and accomplished. He's the heir to the First National Bank empire, and plays the piano -- I'm such a sucker for men who play musical instruments. :) But he's also very charming, with just a tinge of a Southern accent. Not to mention a certain resemblance to Ben Affleck in both body build, facial features and speech. Aaaaah, my Wednesday nights are so much more interesting now. :D

Tonight's American Idol 2 is split into 2 parts, which I don't exactly get, but who's complaining? Last week, I was totally blown away by Clay, Trenyce and Corey, and I'm rooting for Clay all the way. He's the most talented, though not Simon's favourite. Let's hope the American audience agrees with me.

And watch out for the champions' edition of Fear Factor, which is super-exciting. So far the stunts have been ho-hum, but next week, there's gonna be some swimming with alligators, and God-knows-what weird cuisine. It can be anyone's game, essentially, and with the doubling of prize money, you can bet they're all geared up to fight to the death.

The US-Iraq war has officially begun, despite millions of protests and questioning from the UN. The last battle took place when I was 16, and I didn't even bat an eyelash that time. This one's different somehow, especially in the wake of 9/11. I anticipate an uprising of Muslims all over the world, and since I live in a country that's virtually surrounded by Muslim nations ( ie. Malaysia and Indonesia ), and which has its own share of Malays, there's some tension in the air. The Singapore government isn't helping things by regularly spewing forth support for the US. I think we should just lay low and wait for the storm to blow over. In any case, I hope the good guys win. Start praying, everyone.

Latest news on the SARS scare in Asia: the name of one of the cases has been revealed, and it's someone I know, both during my med school days and after graduation. My heart goes out to his wife, who's in critical condition. They're both nice people, so let's hope they recover soon.