Work Update: Relaxing but Boring

I've posted the details of my repeat trip to Gros Morne and the Western Brook Pond. I filed the post here with the rest of my road trip so it can stay in context.

I can finally say that I've finished unpacking. I dragged it out over a month because I hated doing it but it's finally done. My bike has also been reassembled as well which is good because I think I only have a month or so left of good biking weather.

Speaking of the weather, we had a good amount of sunshine this past week and nice summer weather as well -- Temps in the 25-26C range is considered sweltering by the locals. When it's that warm outside it can get fairly warm in my apartment which is good news for the winter.

Work, unfortunately, has slowed to a crawl. Not only did we have 4 anesthetists with only 2 OR lists per day but starting this week we had shut down half the OR for 3 weeks because sprinklers were being installed. Things were so slow, we were "sharing" lists (more like poaching patients from each other) just so we could each do something during the day. I suppose I should enjoy the break because in October one colleague will be going an extended leave (8 weeks) and one of us may be forced north to do locum for the month. Nonetheless, I'm starting to worry about getting rusty.

Fortunately, we have some med students out here and they have requested some Anesthesia teaching. What's amazing is that St. Anthony is actually a popular spot for German medical students to do electives! Apparently there's a website where they can share experiences and St. Anthony has had rave reviews. Teaching is learning twice so this, along with CME, should prevent my brain from atrophying.

Aside from that, I have the Mid-Autumn Festival to look forward to and I'll be returning to Toronto Sept. 12-15th for that. Along with moon cakes I'm sure I'll be picking up a number of non-perishable chinese ingredients and I'll be eating out as much as I can.

My father will be coming back to St. Anthony with me for 2 days on my way back. I'm sort of dreading it because it sounds like it's going to be an inspection and not a friendly visit. Worse case scenario, I think, is for him to decide that I can't live here. Well, at least he's not coming in the middle of winter...

Lastly, I've decided to commit myself to getting a gym membership. It's inexpensive, I have so much free time, and it is the one activity I can do even when it's -40C outside.

So far so good.

Almost Settled and Ready for Work

Just a brief update for today. My stuff arrived in a tractor trailer today! It was in the same truck that was delivering supplies to the hospital. Interestingly, it looked half empty and my things easily accounted for 75% of the total weight of the cargo. I had some guys from the hospital help me move stuff off the truck. The expression "many hands make light work" is so true -- I could not believe how long it took me to pack by myself and yet unloading the truck with 4 guys (myself included) took less than half an hour.

It's also interesting how quickly basic services can be arranged in a small town. I had my phone line set up the same day (which I think is still faster than Toronto) and I'll have my internet ready by the end of the week (definitely faster than Toronto).

So, I'm hoping nothing was damaged during the trip and I'll be spending all night unpacking.

Tomorrow: My first real day at work!