Ok. So the blog-a-day thing didn't work out. Anyway, here's a summary of the last 3 weeks...

Driving.


Cooking.

Barista-ing.

Sleeping.

Watching too much The Office-ing.


Winery-ing.


Tennis-ing.

Guitar-ing.


Accounting.


Dentistry-ing.

Sightseeing.


Anyhoo...Shepp was nice, but all the people and things I love are in Melbourne. I'm glad I'm back.

PS. I'm also glad Arsenal and Cesc Fabulous are back.

Thursday

Couldn't wake up early enough for the Arsenal v Roma match; slept through my alarm, and was woken up by someone in the next room telling me how boring my alarm tone was :S
Clinic day at Rumbalara (an Aboriginal Co-operative with an attached dental clinic) - another full day of some eye-opening clinical stuff that you just don't see in Melbourne. Worked through lunch, was starving at the end but it was more worth it than working through lunch at Camp Panch (that's what me and Michael are now calling Panch community clinic, since it's like a concentration camp...stopping short of making jokes about motivational slogans over the doorway).

Dinner: Crumbed Pork Cutlets with sage & apple sauce, potato mash and corn.




This was followed by a 'Pod Crawl' at one of the other pods that the Med students were staying at. No pictures and few memories of the rest of that, apart from the vague feeling that my 'friends' drew all over my face when I fell asleep on the couch. Thanks guys!

Friday

Since all our demonstrators are off getting 'educated' at the ADA conference in Perth, all clinics were cancelled for the day. So we took the opportunity to do some shopping and sightseeing before heading back to Melbourne.
Greater Shepp is a bulk buy grocery shopping paradise:

1. Campbell's factory outlet - 4 100g bags Kettle Chilli chips $2.50
2. SPC factory outlet - 6 bottles Ocean Spray cranberry juice $6
I don't see what else Andrew would need to survive, that sounds like his daily diet anyway. Winner.


Went out of town a little bit for Victoria's second best vanilla slices (previously best...apparently)



Icing was really sweet, custard was really soft and melt in your mouth, pastry was nice and flaky and a little crispy as well...yum...Ok I'm terrible at describing foods, so you'd probably have to go there to try it.

Lunch was at some olive farm...where I had soup of the day (French onion) and come to think of it, I don't remember any olives or anything in mine. Maybe the onions were sautee'd in olive oil.

The drive from Shepparton to Wheelers Hill is 210km, and takes about 3 hours. And I really needed to pee for about half of that trip. Hope I didn't ruin my bladder somehow...then in my room was this:


Thanks Kak.

The first day of dental stuff @ Shepp. Hooray!

Woke up at 6.30am to watch the CL match (Liverpool ripped up Real Madrid so badly...) then clinic at 9am. Was just assisting for the morning, but pulled a few teeth in the afternoon. The patients and staff and facilities are really nice down here; everything's a lot more laid back and more pleasant, it's a nice environment.

Went swimming at the local pool with the girls. Learnt one thing - I can't swim laps for shit. Mangers does 2 laps in the time I do one. And my arms and legs killed afterwards. Still went and threw the gridiron ball around with Michael when I got back though.

Dinner - fried rice with the leftover stirfry from last night, egg and ham. I think there's still leftovers of the leftover. We're terrible with portions.

Watched a bit of TV, played a bit of Wii, and now I need a nap; Arsenal is playing at 6.30am :D

Huphup is online, so hooray!


This is my room. It's the smallest out of all the rooms, only has a single bed and doesn't have a balcony. However, it is next to the bathroom and it is umm...cosy...







Monday: The drive. Picked up Sam and went to Debbie's, then met up with Manyee and Irene (one of the BOHs) at one of the huge BP/KFC/Subway/Maccas stops along the Hume Highway. Tower burger for lunch (mmmm....) and then continued the long drive up to Shepp. There's a long stretch of burnt land along the Hume for about 20 minutes where the bushfires were; it really gives the bushfires a lot more significance (and we're told we'll deal with people who might have even been impacted directly); it's not just a newspaper headline anymore.

Lots of boring paperwork, told the laptops wouldn't be set up until the next day. Zzz. Did the grocery shopping (food, more food, some booze, more food...) then dinner time!



Michael's balls (they're big and salty and brown)




Pasta and meatballs - Master Chef M Nguyen, Sous Chef Tron


Ok I lied on the last bit, the girls made the garlic bread. Did some ironing after dinner while watching TV, then watched 2 eps of The Office before bed.

Tuesday: Woke up at 7.15am to this.



Not the most inspirational sight ever, but we'll make do. Did some exercise, had a shower before all the girls got to it (then there'd be trouble). Breakfast (for the first time in a long time) and morning coffee!!!

Lots of boring admin and 'this is where the gowns are kept' crap during the day, at least we got to finish at 3pm to go shopping. The SPC factory is the bomb-dig(gitty). $10 for 6 bottles of Ocean Spray cranberry juice - how could you say no! Did more shopping, refilled the car, then went back to cook.


Tron's Butter Chicken. Hooray for premade sauce!




'Family' dinner. Quite a dysfunctional family if I do say so myself.


Anyway, watched TV after dinner, ran a load of washing (Mum and sisters would be proud), drank some hot chocolate, fired a Happy Birthday video off to Tiff (HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIFF!) and did the budget/accounts.

Gotta sleep, early wakeup tomorrow; watching the Champions League with Michael at 6.30 and first patients in Shepp...more to come tomorrow!

In Shepparton at the moment, but HupHup (my MBP) doesn't have internet connection until tomorrow, so I don't get my blogging software and stuff. Looks like it's going to be a long 4 weeks, with long clinical days, driving and nights with next to nothing to do...oh well, let's see how it goes hey? And I think my room is the smallest out of everyone's...and I only got a single bed (most other ppl got a double :(

Previous week recap:
Tues/Wed: Horse. Boring. Went home early both days, can't remember what I did when I got home.
Thurs: Panch. AKA Prison/Slavery/Something against the Geneva convention. Didn't get to eat lunch, so had to work through from 9-4. Traffic was shit too, so I was late getting to Panch, and took even longer getting home. Hooray.

Fri: RDHM, no patient. But we had lunch at Bistro de Vue (sp?) thanks to the fancy accountants at DPM. Had a ridiculous lunch (snails, oysters, steak, polenta with sardines, some tart thing, and tart tetane (definitely incorrect spelling)...redefined the definition of fine dining for me. Ok, maybe not redefined, but at least I know what the hell it's about now.

Sat: Fixed and cleaned the coffee machine in preparation for Shepp. Played 2 hours of tennis and about 3 hours of soccer...damn sore afterwards. Couldn't sleep on my pillow properly and also couldn't watch Iron Chef in comfort. Also couldn't headcheck when picking Holland up from the station. Hmm.

Sunday: Church (awesome message re. Passover meal), lunch @ Ashley's, car detailing for hours, then only started packing at 11pm or so. I'm an idiot.

Further update(s) daily once I get HupHup online.