An hour to go before my afternoon shift ends officially at 12 midnight. And I'm on morning shift tomorrow!? You know how it is when you get home after covering the ER -- you CANNOT sleep, at least for 30 minutes or so. So I'll probably be up like an owl till 1am, before having to wake up before 7 tomorrow. Sigh.

Am also having a mysterious toothache. Wisdom tooth causing some of it, but most of the pain is from an upper molar. It's one of those mild throbs that don't really cause much problem when you eat, but constantly nags at you like a pesky mosquito. I just hope it goes away by itself. Had this a couple of times before, and the dentist said nothing was wrong. Some nerve problem, perhaps? Ouch...

Anyhow, just thought I'd post this, though I hope my inbox won't get swamped! I've also written on the forum at ClaytonAiken.com, with responses from quite a few people, one of whom is in my hospital! Here is the gist of it:

I will be mailing a package over to Clay's home in a couple of weeks' time. It will include gifts for him and his mom, and these will be representative of Singapore. I'm looking for something they can wear, so that if it shows up on TV or in some publicity shot, we'll have confirmation that they got the presents.

Also, I'm collecting greetings from any well-wishers here, in the form of short cards or letters. I would also like to put in photos of the fans. These will, of course, have to come from you guys, but I strongly suggest you grab any fellow Clay fans you know of and take group shots. Be sure to pose with Clay CDs or pictures ( e.g. the Rolling Stone magazine ), or any other Clay paraphernalia you may have.

Due to postage concerns, I can only take 1 card / letter, plus 1-2 photos per person. You can send more if you want, but if the parcel gets too bulky, I'll have to be more discerning.

I will include a birthday card ( a little early, I know, but there's going to be a huge rush nearer the day itself, so I'm trying to avoid that ), signing the names / board nicknames of all the fans who send their wishes.

This package will be relayed to Clay's home in Raleigh, care of a very, very nice lady who lives in the same area, and who knows Clay's friends from the YMCA. She's helped me forward my emails before -- remember the interviews where Clay and his mom mentioned fan mail from Singapore? :D

Some of the respondents who've contacted me want to send cheques to the newly set up Bubel-Aiken Foundation. I will gladly forward these as well.

My email address is ojj75@yahoo.com, if you don't already know! Inform me early if you want to join in, so I'll keep you updated and wait for your additions before I finally mail the gifts.

Will post a review of Jake Simpson's CD ( he's the guy who won the Star Search competition in February this year ), and talk about a HILARIOUS Dave Barry book a fellow ER MO lent me ( I haven't laughed this hard over a book in eons! ) some other time, when I'm not so busy ( in resus again today -- a steady stream so far ).