3:30am Wednesday morning. After seeing patients non-stop since midnight, I've hit a tally of 32 cases with 4 1/2 more hours to go. The good news is, I'm now stationed in resus, which is completely empty, woohoo! The nurses tell me it's been quiet so far, so I hope I'll get a breather before my rest-time's due at five.

I went to the pantry a few minutes ago to get a snack, but found that our usual supply had been snapped up by other people -- likely non -night shift staff. What gives!? This has been happening a lot lately, and although we have a short list of suspects, nothing's been proven as yet. I like to call this "The Curious Incident Of The ER Doctors' Snacks In The Night-Time" ( a play on the title of this year's Whitbread Award winner ). Haha. Some dry humour for you there. :)
Anyhow, I had to resort to buying some Milo ( ie. hot chocolate ) from the nearby vending machine. To my distress, the machine selling biscuits and assorted crackers / peanuts was out of order! Now I'm tired and hungry, which doesn't bode well for my mood. And it seems I'm attracting patients like moths to a flame. I spoke too soon AGAIN! The ambulances are now driving up one after another, argh! :(

So the pilot episode of "Survivor: All-Stars" was really interesting. ( I think changing the subject will do me some good here. :))
Tina Wesson, winner of Survivor: Australian Outback, was the first to get booted off. The obvious strategy is: Vote off anyone who's already won the $1 million prize, which makes perfect sense to me. I mean, who's going to let you bag another million when s/he hasn't even tasted the dough yet? So it didn't surprise me in the least when Rupert ( an overall good guy ) formed an alliance with the underdogs ( including renowned bitch Jerri ) to oust Tina despite an overture from another winner ( Ethan from Survivor: Africa ). The way I see it, the show will be a lot more watchable without any of the winners, some of whom aren't crafty enough to hold viewers' attention. I still have my eye on Rob Cesternino, who's laying low at the moment. Go, Rob!

One other person I'd like to mention is Richard Hatch, the original Survivor from the first series located in Borneo. Openly homosexual and famous for baring it all on television, he does it again in the current season, regularly stripping for dips in the ocean, or worse, immunity challenges. His fellow tribe members weren't amused when he removed his shorts then proceeded to haul a heavy raft during a rough obstacle course. But heck, the team won, so no-one's going to fault him for it. Still, Hatch is basically a motor-mouth with a major attitude problem. He struts around like a peacock, refuses to help with any chores, and keeps saying he's superior to everyone else. I'm just waiting for that moment when he has to eat his words, or even better, gets voted off, hah!

There's a recruitment exercise going on in the department, as one of the locums gathers doctor-musicians for a band. This came about after a fellow MO emailed to tell us about his piano recital at The Esplanade last Sunday. I replied to say that I also play the instrument, then an ER registrar mentioned he's a drummer, and so forth. We're considering a jam session, with maybe an attempt at Evanescence's "Bring Me To Life" ( I was asked if I could play the opening chords just by listening to the music -- the answer is yes, but I don't have perfect pitch, so if it isn't in C major, I have to think a little harder :P ). Anyhow, it's something fun to do, and I'm asking some guitarist friends if they'd like to join in as well. A band comprising doctors - sounds pretty cool eh? :)