Survivor: Pearl Islands Debacle

I can't believe it! Rupert was voted out!!! How could this happen?!?!
Okay, I'm officially disgusted with Burton. How he turned traitor, and formed an alliance with, major yuck, Jon the slimy, smirky, lazy, scrawny, nasty, foul-mouthed bum.

Yes, it's just a TV show, but I like Rupert. He's always been a gracious player, winning on his own merits ( strength, speed, smarts ) rather than double- or triple-crossing people. Sure, Rob Cesternino from Survivor: Amazon did the betrayal routine like a pro many times over, but Rob was essentially manipulating gently ( those who fell for his tricks weren't the brightest -- admit it! ) while Burton is being a flat-out ingrate. His "friendship" with Jon serves only to ensure that, once they're the final two, he will win by a landslide, 'cos the jury hates Jon a lot more than they do Burton. With Rupert out, there aren't any strong contenders left -- the other 5 are all gals, aaargh! So Burton might win every single reward and immune challenge from now on, then choose Jon the weasle to join him in the final two. NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! Sigh. Poor Rupert. He looked absolutely defeated. It never pays to be nice in this game.

Church service was really enjoyable today. Yeah, I've never mentioned church specifically on my blog before, but we had the semi-retired Bishop Revd. John Tan visiting because of confirmation, so he gave the sermon as well. And what a terrific sermon it was! He discussed a chapter from Romans, and used a few interesting examples to illustrate his points.

He had us laughing till our sides hurt with the following: (let me try to reproduce it as closely as possible)

"I know we have doctors here in the congregation, so you'll probably agree with what I say about how corpses behave after death.

Did you know that the nails and hair continue to grow even when the person is already dead? So if you don't cremate quickly... ( laughter from the audience )

Some corpses quiver! You can imagine what this is like at night! Economic downturn or no economic downturn, you will never find me working as a mortician. ( loud guffaws throughout the church )

Others have muscle contractions strong enough to catapult them off the table! ( audible gasps heard -- :P ) If this were to happen with me sitting beside the corpse, you'll end up with two dead bodies instead of one."

He really is an excellent speaker. I served as the confirmation service pianist today, so it was an honour to play for him. :)

Sunday afternoon has been quiet so far. *touches wood frantically just in case* Where are all the NS boys? They're usually swarming our ER by now, but maybe they'll show up later. Anyway, our department has an ongoing active discussion on the different tactics employed by national servicemen in their ongoing quest to get medical leave. I've had fellows come to me claiming that they have to come to the A&E because they have no camp MOs, or that they're not allowed to see the polyclinic or GP, blah blah blah. Being an ignorant Singaporean female with no close male relatives to educate me on the finer points of army medical cover, I've been duped many times, darn it! But let me tell you I've been taught well these past few days, so NO MORE MCs UNLESS CLEARLY NEEDED. We've got quite a lot of soft, girl MOs in this batch, so the early lesson is extremely useful. In particular:

1) Every single NSF in Singapore has an assigned army medical centre, with, yes, an SAF MO. No crap about "not having an MO at my particular post"!?

2) All NSFs are allowed to see the polyclinics and GPs. First-line is the camp MO, but after office hours, the polyclinics and some private clinics stay open, so NO EXCUSES. Some guys try to tell you their superior at the army TOLD them to come to the A&E. NONSENSE. ( sorry about all the capital letters -- I'm FED UP, can you tell? ;) )

3) Of course, as doctors, we're committed to our most important task -- do no harm. If the NS boy's condition warrants an MC, sure, we'll issue one (I've already given 2 today, despite my new stringent criteria ). But if the guy clearly doesn't require medical leave, and tries to korek some ( usually with a poor-thing-stray/starving-animal look, and the "Errr, can I have one day's MC please?" request ), just give him light duty and refer him back to the camp MO.

I have nothing against NS guys in general, but seeing the bulk of the black sheep in the ER wears you down, especially when the real emergencies are stacked on top of, say, 5 army boys with an assortment of problems such as backache for 2 months, a mild runny nose, or a sprained finger ( *&#%$@! ).

Anyway, I shall end with some Clay Aiken news :)

Airplay Central

Go to the link to get WRAL's video of the Raleigh X'mas Parade. I don't have the opportunity to check it out right now, so have fun. :D