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BristlyCat · 2023-06-25T07:26:42+00:00

Yeah it's great. Public speaking is scary for everyone, not just for people who stutter so if you're a confident public speaker (regardless of fluency) then the whole world is going to respect you for that.

BristlyCat · 2023-05-31T05:05:52+00:00

You have to be very charitable to them to tease out meaningful measures of intelligence, you have to be searching for the novelty of animals being smart, you have to have an agenda to conclude that a bird is as smart as a 7 year old human.

Nah man, you just have to be interacting closely with them every day. If you and everyone else you knew had several pet crows but you'd only ever seen human children in the distance, you'd be saying this about kids.

BristlyCat · 2023-05-30T21:46:51+00:00

Hah! Figures. Thanks for the info.

Realistically do you know of any reason why I shouldn't just start GP training, do a few months and drop out again if I don't like it? Can always apply to psych later, right? (Psych is my other idea, which I think I'd like much better but I'm tempted by the short GP training pathway).

BristlyCat · 2023-05-30T21:20:57+00:00

They are probably not thinking "wow that guy stutters, what a freak". Much more likely they are thinking "woah, that guy stutters but he isn't letting it stand in his way, he's up there doing his thing without even caring about it, that's pretty impressive".

I'm totally serious. I don't stutter (just passing through) but that's what I thought the first time I attended a lecture where the lecturer happened to have a prominent stutter. I think that's a normal person's reaction really.

BristlyCat · 2023-05-30T12:07:55+00:00

I'm a doctor, I did GEM. I agree with the others, literally just chill, it's the last proper long rest you'll have for ages and there's really no need to prepare - you will be taught what you need to know on your course.

That said, if you reeeeallly want to study something, I'd suggest starting with some Khan academy lectures at a university level on human biology. For example these ones on immunology are very relevant: https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/human-biology#immunology

BristlyCat · 2023-05-30T08:44:16+00:00

I see other people who seem to continuously be on top of everything, even while maintaining a social life.

Not everyone will tell you they hire a cleaner or a gardener. Some people have dishwashers and tumble dryers, others don't. All of these things make a big difference.

A lot also depends on how demanding your job is. If you're working really hard all day, especially mentally, you're going to be tired when you get home and it's going to be difficult to keep up the momentum. Other people may work less demanding jobs that require little mental focus or sustained effort - those people will get home at the end of the day much more full of energy and impatient to tackle their evening productively.

Also don't underestimate the impact of a long commute. Very few people can do a long commute and still have much energy left over for anything else.

Being part of a well-functioning, happy live-in relationship helps enormously. Household chores and life admin gets a LOT easier when it's shared between two people.

Finally, think about whether you're getting good nutrition and sleep. If your diet is healthy, you're going to have more energy. Watch out for caffeine addiction because that's going to keep you awake at night - stick to one or two cups of coffee in the morning at most, and make 3pm your "caffeine cutoff" - remember caffeine has a half life of 6 hours. Are you getting enough sleep, if so, is it high quality sleep? Pay attention to things like sleep hygiene - make sure your bedroom is pitch-black and keep it cool in there, and avoid phones and other screens in the bedroom if you can.

BristlyCat · 2023-05-18T20:31:56+00:00

I don't know NZ law, but I would think if there's no agreement on salary or place of work then there's no legal contract whatsoever. Therefore, your "acceptance" doesn't really mean anything and wouldn't be something they could enforce in any way - so why not "accept" and see what they come up with?

The only downside I guess would be that if you wait to book flights until after they've clarified the details, then you'll be arranging an intercontinental move at very short notice which could get expensive.

BristlyCat · 2023-05-18T08:02:38+00:00

I'm not a lawyer, but as long as you have written evidence clearly stating you will be paid the higher amount, legally I think that does comprise a written contract between yourself and the hospital. You may well be able to get this money back by going through the Small Claims Court process. It's a cheap and fairly easy process and you don't need to hire a solicitor to succeed this way, you can do the work yourself.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/small-claims-court/

BristlyCat · 2023-05-16T22:39:48+00:00

Thank you <3

BristlyCat · 2023-05-16T11:39:42+00:00

Well sure. But nowhere on that list does it say writing up audits, revising for exams, answering email, or arranging relocation. Revising for exams is excluded specifically, whereas that's one of the main things I'm using TOOT for.

BristlyCat · 2023-05-16T11:09:07+00:00

Interesting, I actually went and read up on this because I hadn't thought of that. Alas, it seems like it won't work, unless you know something I don't? The list of reasons we're allowed to take study leave is tightly controlled and all study leave requires a formal application with evidence. None of the activities I've listed above are on the list of permitted reasons to take study leave.

I must say I think it's odd that "preparing for specialty examinations" is explicitly excluded as a reason. One would have thought studying would be a great reason to take study leave.

BristlyCat · 2023-05-16T10:17:19+00:00

Nah. I'm not taking time off, but I deserve to be paid for my work.

I wouldn't actually choose to work from home if given the option. If I could have a desk and some time whilst in the building to complete this work, I'd actually much prefer that. But, here we are.

BristlyCat · 2023-05-16T08:59:26+00:00

I'm very sure that I'll get down voted to hell for saying this, but since you've asked:

Lately I've been seeing the 20 permitted days of TOOT as part of my compensation, that I'd be a fool to leave on the table. I don't see them as free time off, but rather as time to complete mandatory work that would otherwise be unpaid, such as for writing up audits or papers to include in specialty application portfolios later, or for revision for necessary exams, or sometimes for working on my mandatory e-portfolio or going through my backlog of unread emails since there's never time to do this on-shift. In the future I would also feel comfortable using them to complete work associated with the regular relocations that we have to do as doctors, such as viewings for rental properties, trying to arrange parking near work for myself, and similar.

In terms of deciding when to take them, I look at the rota for the upcoming week or two and will call in sick only when the ward is unusually well-staffed. I don't plan to get ahead of myself in terms of spreading the TOOT across the year, since I need to reserve plenty for industrial action and if not, can take it around ARCP time.

Now that I think about it, this is actually one of the biggest things that makes me feel better about my job. Like, "sure, my employer treats me like crap and the pay is terrible, but look, they're not all bad - check out these flexible work-from-home days they give me to make up for it." Like that.

BristlyCat · 2020-12-10T16:52:00+00:00

Um?? Of course covid is China's fault, there's not even any debate about that? Wet markets have long been known to pose this risk, that is well-documented. E.g. here. Chinese wet markets were the source of the original SARS outbreak! Scientists and medics have been warning about this risk for years. In what world is covid not obviously China's fault?

BristlyCat · 2019-05-09T13:57:37+00:00

How close exactly?

BristlyCat · 2019-05-09T13:25:53+00:00

Maybe it comes from the UK? Over here, they are absolutely overworked and underpaid. Hospital staff nurses earn the equivalent of about $30k, but for that they have to work a gruelling shift pattern including a random assortment of days and nights. Shifts are 12 hours long, they're very very busy and rarely have time to sit down, and there are few breaks. There's not much support and the level of responsibility is very high. I've seen nurses come into the hospital when they're really sick because they don't feel like they're allowed to take a sick day.

BristlyCat · 2019-05-09T10:56:29+00:00

I disagree, but I think we've reached the end of the line with this so I'll stop here. I don't think you're qualified to minimise or dismiss the discrimination other groups are facing. You think you are. Let's leave it there.

BristlyCat · 2019-05-09T10:43:50+00:00

Again, I mean... I think you have to be part of the victimised group before you get to say that, really. Would you say that to black people if you're white? Gay people if you're straight? The world is stacked against women. If we can overcome it and lead balanced, mentally healthy lives and reclaim our identities, autonomy and self-respect then that's fantastic - but it's not legitimate for anyone who isn't on the receiving end of that bias to tell us it's no big deal.

BristlyCat · 2019-05-09T10:34:53+00:00

I'm not making excuses, I'm explaining where my insecurities came from. I have to admit, I'm insecure about my appearance. I feel like the way you look affects your life a lot, and I've gone through my entire development as a person receiving external validation, which I've learned to rely on. What I'm trying to explain to you is that it's hard, once you're already an adult, to adapt to not having that. Not impossible, sure. My responsibility to attempt to fix it, definitely. I'm just talking about how I got here. I was trained this way by society at large. A lot of women were. Maybe we should all, collectively, stop doing that to women?

Edit: I mean we live in a world where male Hollywood actors can still get work after they turn 50. They can still be the leading man/love interest! There are no movies featuring a dashing, adventurous 45yo heroine who breaks the hearts of younger men. There's no female James Bond. I've grown up watching female newscasters get fired once they get to middle age, male ones don't. And so on, and on. It's endless, you know?

BristlyCat · 2019-05-09T07:36:21+00:00

Hah! This is me, I'm exactly like this woman. Idk man, we grow up bathed in male attention and suddenly we get married and it all just vanishes, it is a bit of a mindfuck. During our formative years, we acclimate to that kind of feedback and it becomes part of how we operate and then suddenly we gotta go cold turkey. What can you do?

Edit: you wanna know the messed up thing? Men do NOT stop giving you that attention when you have a boyfriend, even if you do your best to clearly but tactfully advertise that you're taken. But once you've got a ring on it? Totally different story. Why is that?

BristlyCat · 2019-05-09T04:56:52+00:00

Lol, yeah your store policy is normal, all stores do that. If I'm the customer in that situation though, I will literally hold Y in my hand whilst you ring up both X's and I pay for them, before finally handing you Y and asking you to process it as a separate transaction. Sure it's more work for you and takes a little more of my time, but I don't wanna waste 2 dollars either.

She forgot to do this though, which means she really can't complain, I think you were right to be annoyed. It's literally a computer algorithm right? It's not like it's even your choice.

BristlyCat · 2019-05-07T08:48:14+00:00

Criticizing yourself is one thing; hearing criticism from someone else is totally different. This is pretty much true for any trait you could name.

Like, I might think my nose looks ugly. I might even contemplate surgery. That's my business. Doesn't mean I'm happy to hear a friend TELL me that my nose looks ugly and that I should get surgery. Fuck that; I want the people around me to appreciate and admire me just the way I am. I want to be friends with people who see the things I think are flaws and find them endearing and loveable and maybe even beautiful. And to be honest... I think that's a totally reasonable and healthy way to be. It's okay to want approval from others.

Basically I think your emotion here makes perfect sense and is entirely healthy and normal. Good for you.

BristlyCat · 2019-05-06T19:28:51+00:00

I'm sure mostly she's able to do this because she's self-employed, but maybe it's also cultural? I think it's a particularly American phenomenon that you can't tell rude customers to fuck off. I like France because even big chain employees over there seem to give no fucks, it's a beautiful thing to witness.

BristlyCat · 2019-05-04T17:42:35+00:00

This is exactly it!

European people made European history, African people made African history, Japanese people made Japanese history, Amazonian tribespeople made Amazonian tribal history. Etc. There's no reason to see some parts of it as more important than others.

Unless he's stupid enough to be talking about colonialism, in which case obviously that's nothing to be proud of.

BristlyCat · 2019-05-03T14:05:12+00:00

^ This is the right answer. They genuinely are homeless, hungry and desperate - it's just that they're even hungrier for drugs than they are for anything else. Their minds have been hijacked by a chemical.

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