Was That Even Necessary?

Why do people need to act like a complete arsehole?


I had a few encounters with my work colleagues recently during my weekend on call. I am a pretty easy going person. But I really could not tolerate those who are irrational.

I received a referral from the A & E department about an elderly gentleman who is now having difficulty swallowing and persistent vomiting. As a result, I was told he looked quite dehydrated. I said, "That's fine...just send him up to our medical ward for further assessment." Later, I received a phone call from the managers that his admission was highly inappropriate. First of all, I was told by this colleague of mine that I do now know this patient at all (which is very true...I have never met him before...so therefore, assessment is even more imperative, no?). Then, our conversation went on like this:


Colleague X: What are you going to do about his swallowing problem over the weekend?


ME: Well, there isn't much we could do over the weekend, until he comes extremely unwell, he which he may require an urgent endoscopy. Otherwise, we should give him IV fluids and make sure he hasn't aspirated."


Colleague X: Exactly. You can't do anything for him over the weekend. If he were to get a scope...you can only do it on Monday, so why bother admitting him?


Again, I had to repeat myself.


Colleague X: I find it really hard to understand why someone with your capabilities would want to admit that patient from A&E.

I was utterly shocked and speechless.


ME: OK, look. If you think this patient is well enough to go home, why don't you document that in his notes, and discharge him from A&E. From my point of view, as I haven't laid my eyes on the patient, I would not know if he is fit for discharge. If anything happens to him, I am the one responsible because I am the person on-call.


I was arguing over the telephone! It was embarassing because I was speaking in the medical assessment bay where new patients were waiting to be seen. After a good 10 mins worth of arguement, we both put the phone down. I felt that it was complete unneccessary. I mean, I know we were verging on being short of beds, but I honestly could not simply discharge a patient without seeing him first. And I hate to say this, but, you are only in charge of the beds....you are not trained to assess whether the patient is fit enough to go home!!!

Urgh...I felt so frustrated after that.

Then, the next day, I received another mouthful from another colleague. This time it was because she thinks the patient has no comprehension of what was going on. She was unhappy that I told the patient about her diagnosis of cancer, and that she her prognosis was poor.

The thing is, this poor elderly patient of mine was clearly living the last few days of her life....and she hasn't been told what was causing her to feel so unwell. When I first assessed her, she could tell me the events leading to her hospital admission, she was well orientated to time, place and person! So on that basis, I felt she was able to understand what was going on.

This fellow colleague of mine, (lets name her Colleague G), was again being inappropriate.

Colleague G: Look, I find it shocking that you think she has even the slightest understanding of what is going on. She is completely off her head. She mumbles all the time! And you told her she has cancer?

Me: I completely respect that. But when I saw her, she was orientated, and was able to tell me her history. And she is my patient, she has the right to know....especially when she is so ill.

Colleague G: Well, I find that hard to believe. I have been a nurse for more than 20 years...and I know for a fact that she is utterly confused and has no comprehension.

Me: Ok...I know you have the experience. But even if she is that confused, she still has to be told.

I left the scene....and about 1 hour later, I received a phonecall from Colleague G. Mind you, I was on-call that day.

Colleague G: Ling, just for your information, I went back to ask the patient if she remembered talking to you. She said, she recalled that a doctor saw her, and she said something was wrong with my tummy. But she couldn't remember what was wrong with it. So there you go, for your information, she has NO CLUE what is wrong with her!

I was like WHAT?!!! Do you actually need to purposely call me to just prove a point?? Is there any need to do so??

No there isnt! Even she doesnt remember, I am still responsible for her, and she has the right to know.

Me: Ok then. Thank you for letting me know. (I was gritting my teeth while saying that). bye.

Man....what is wrong with these people?!

OR,

Maybe I have lousy clinical judgement. I dunno. This is so frustrating.

The Best Gig Ever!

Today this will be
the greatest day of our livesbefore it all ends
before we run out of time

I LOVE TAKE THAT!!!!
They were my childhood favourite boyband! =D

It was my first time seeing them LIVE...and their CIRCUS tour 2009 was simple fantastic, extravagant, colourful....and simply mesmerising! They were supported by Gary Go and James Morrison.

The gig was at the Hampden stadium. I was glad I managed to get seating tickets, because the standing ones were so packed! The entire stage was designed to look like a circus. There were acrobats, a giant silver robotic elephant, fireworks, fire....... it was simply amazing!

They kicked off by singing "The Greatest Day." Then, when they started to dance their usual routine for Pray!!! It was really nice to see them reunited again. Every member of the band had the chance to take the lead vocals.

I love their outfits...they wore smart suits...and then, dressed up in clown uniforms, and painted their face in front of the audience. They each had a go at the unicycle too!

Also, when they sang my favourite song, "Back for Good," they created rain to resemble the music video. Take That sang most of their hit songs and songs from their current album "Circus."

This was certainly the greatest GIG so far!! The ticket was pricey...but I can understand why. 230 people were involved in it! Here are a few pics I took! And, I can't believe I spent some money buying their merchandise! I am really a big FAN!!!!

Bring on more good music, Gary, Howard, Jason and Mark!!! =)

The Greatest Night!

At the merchandise store....I got myself 2 Take That baby Tees!!

The tour trucks!

James Morrison

Let the circus begins!

Mark

Take That in clown outfits.

Simple, yet Memorable

A lovely homemade Japanese cheese cake...baked by Jaclyn. It was moist and tasty. Thank you so much doll!! hugs!

My birthday was pretty simple this year...and I, personally, like to keep it simple. We all had a simple homecooked meal, followed by the cake. Then, I opened my pressies....very pleased with them. I received a cute little ladybird pendant and also Bobbi Brown's eye make up palette! =D I was, and still am, beaming from ear to ear. In addition to that, I received more earrings and a pretty bracelet. Guess, a girl can never get enough of accessories, eh?

Yet Another Year

whoa.. thank god, i'm still here!

Yeap, its my birthday today. I can't believe how fast time has flown by! I am just glad that I'm still the same, apart from the worsening eye bags and wrinkly face. =P

I did not run any marathon or 5k or 10k last year. I did not travel to any EU country either, surprisingly! The year was filled with work most of the time, and moaning about the stresses at work. I spent alot of time sorting out paperwork for job interviews and also to allow my supervisor to gauge whether I'm fit enough to pass this year.

However, I did manage to get some time off to go back home, which was lovely!

Also, I've noticed that my immune system has been super low. I have been ill, again and again. Glad to say that my sore throat and cough are both away....but I am now bothered with Hay Fever! sigh....the pollen levels are quite high these days.... I have been sneezing my nose off so much....scratching my eyes too.

This year, I will be faced with a new challenge. I will be moving down south, working a brand new environment, and coping with living by myself. Excited? I don't know actually. I'm having mixed feelings about it all. I am pretty excited about the new hospital, but not too excited about moving here on my own. The fact that the town has been rated as the worst place to live in UK, is not helping either. Guess I have to just get on with it. Will see how it goes. I am quite stressed now just having to look for a place to live!

Anyway, Happy Birthday to me. Here's wishing me the best of health and luck this year!
CHEERS!

Hello!

I haven't blogged for ages!

I've been ill....AGAIN! Then, busy with work and on-calls.

Now, I have recovered alot....but still have this tickly cough, which is worse at night, when I try to sleep. As a result, I don't get much sleep! =(

Anyway, work has been tiring...and I really HATE (maybe this word is too powerful), or rather, I DISLIKE CARDIOLOGY!

Help! I'm drowing in the sea of ECGs, ETTs, and echocardiograms! The clinics are just too outrageously overbooked for 2 person....the new patient clinics are total chaos....just because on the same day, I have to arrange various tests for the patients, and following these tests, they will see me again to get the results. So the coordination goes haywire ...and the waiting time stretches...patients become unhappy....and the vicious cycle carries on!

sigh. On a brighter note, I have managed to get all my paperwork sorted...and my educational supervisor has signed me off! yay!

have a good day everyone.

Immune System @ Its Lowest

I haven't been ill for a long time. Interestingly, the past 3 weeks or so, I've been a viral target. It first started off with me developing bodyaches, fever, and abdominal pain. This soon (no surprises) led on to the development of diarrhoea.

Having recovered from that, I developed a really bad sore throat 5 days later. The following morning, my throat was so painful that it was difficult to even swallow..... and then, my nose started to run.

Lucky for me that I am on my annual leave. So I could take the time to recuperate. However, I would also like to use my days off to enjoy the sun and do things I like! But, sadly, the weather has been miserable. And, my nose was completely blocked over the past 3 days. It is alot better now, thanks to the antihistamine and pseudoephidrine tablets. I literally could not taste or smell anything.

My kind housemate even made me an aromatherapy steam inhalation thingy....and I could not even smell the scent!!! But the inhalation was great....it did help to decongest my nose a wee bit.

Now that I am much better, guess what? Today, I had a really bad splitting headache. I thought it was because I was hungry...so I had some sugary stuff. But the headache persisted. I took some paracetamol to no effect. Dehydration? Probably not, as I have been at home all day, and definitely drinking plenty of fluids. Therefore, I decided that I needed to rest. I hid under my covers for a few minutes...but my head continued to ache..

Guess it must be some really bad viral illness I have been suffering from over the past weeks. I do hope I get better soon.... my immune system is absolutely rubbish at the moment. I better infuse myself with more Vit C.

Anywho, time to go to bed now. Hopefully my sleep will put an end to my headache. Shoooo schleeppy.....yyawwwnnn...... Nite nite.

The Best X-Men Ever!

I decided to share my germs (sore throat & cold) with the other cinema-goers yesterday.

I went to watch X-Men Origins: Wolverine!

This is the best X-Men movie so far! Loved it! Thumbs up!

The story was fantastic.....the casts were great...and for once, at least, I understood what they were fighting for...rather than the previous X-Men series. And, I didn't really like Jean Gray.

In this series, there were plenty hot casts. One of them was Gambit. I was just a little disappointed that he didn't perform much. Also, Wade was really cool. Hugh Jackman was being his usual charming self. His girlfriend (Lynn Collins) was gorgeous....and her sister, was superbly cool! I wished I have skin like hers!

hehe....so yes, please go watch it! I am so looking forward to Transformers and Terminator!

ps....my sincere apologies to those who heard me snuffling in the cinema!

I Hate Hospitals!

I know I have probably blogged about this more than 10 times. But, I hate hospitals when the atmosphere is so unpleasant.

Yeap. I am talking about dying patients. I know, I know, I have repeated myself so many times about how much I am saddened seeing patients die in front of my eyes. I am going to blog about the same thing again today....coz I AM gutted! I know hospitals are pretty unpleasant to be in anyway.

Sigh. There is a pleasant lady in the hospital who is only in her mid 50s. She suffered so many complications from this abnormal mass in her abdomen. It was only 4 months later that we finally got to the bottom of her problem. We found out that she has cancer. Unfortunately, I think her illness is rather extensive, ie, the mass is pretty big, and her general well being does not allow for a surgical operation. Chemo would not be much benefit either.

In simple words, she is dying. It is very upsetting. She is such a lovely lady. Her family are all so nice. I hate seeing them, crying away in another room, and then, to enter their mother's room, putting on a brave front. I highly respect them for being so supportive. My heart goes out to them.

I mean, looking at her today, she looked awful.....extremely pale and green. It is certainly not a good sign. I could just feel myself welling up when I saw her. She just went downhill so quickly. Sigh. I hate hospitals when it comes to things like this. =( Booo....

Highly Inappropriate

Can anybody please tell me whether or not parenterally feeding a terminally ill cancer patient is appropriate??

Hands down who agree that it is INAPPROPRIATE to do so.

hmmm......

Recently, I was treating a patient with widespread cancer to the lungs, liver and also, the bones. He was ill. We initially gave him a course of antibiotics to treat his sepsis. He did improve a little.... but after that, he never picked up again. He became increasingly dehydrated, lethargic and more unresponsive.

His swallowing was impaired, just because of his decreased consciousness. The SALT (Speech & Language Therapist) also asked to review, and she, too, was in agreement that he should not be allowed to swallow as he would be at a very high risk of aspiration.

Funnily enough, the nursing staff decided to refer this poor patient onto the dietitian. This dietitian, then, wrote in the notes the following:

" Note patient is unable to swallow. Patient would not be able to meet nutritional requirements. Consider parenteral feeding (such as via nasogastric tube or intravenously)."

I was appalled when I read that. Why would somebody attempt to force feed a dying patient? Should we not let the patient die peaceful, rather than, jamming a NG tube down his nose or poking him numerous times to gain IV access?? And, what benefit would he get by feeding him? I mean, honestly, why do you want to feed him and prolong his suffering??

I really did not get that at all.....and I felt that it was a highly inappropriate suggestion! Anyone beg to differ?

My Rotations are Out!

My rotations for the next 2 years are out!

And I am pleased to say that I am very glad to have been allocated my top rotations! =D

I will be based in JCH at Middlesbrough for 8 months, then, I will move to North Tees for another 8 months, and finally finishing my last 8 months back at JCH. My rotations include the usual core medical stuff, ie, cardiology, respiratory, gastroenterology, diabetes and endocrinology....but they also include infectious diseases and ITU! yay! I really wanted to do both of them..and I will be!

Now, the flat hunting begins!

The Best I've Felt for The Week!

I can't remember when was the last time I was ill. I think it was during Christmas last year. I was down with a cold. Since then, I've managed to build resistance against all the evil winter bacteria/virus......until last Saturday, that is.

I felt so miserable. I was acutally having a lovely dinner at this nice Italian restaurant, called Battlefield Rest, when it all started. My body started to ache all over. My beef lasagne tasted really good, but I was struggling to finish it. When I got back, I was so tired and sleepy....not long after that, my tummy started to hurt. It felt bloated and uncomfortable. I also felt feverish.

This lasted all day Saturday. On Sunday, I felt alittle better. But, again, could not master the appetite to eat anything! I dragged myself through 2 long days of calls on Monday and Tuesday....and by Wed, I was absolutely done in.

I slept really early that night....and guess what? I was feeling nearly 100% on Thursday morning...and now, I'm back to my usual self! My tummy is rumbling because of hunger...and I could actually finish my meals! Its certainly the best I've felt all week!

I'm really gonna take it slow and easy this weekend...but I have managed to sneak in a few little choc pieces today at work...keke... I know, I know, I should really keep off the chocolate...but, but, but, they were dark chocolate...and they are meant to be good for you! :o)


Have a good weekend!

Congratulations!

My heartiest congratulations to my photographer extraordinaire, Kevin, on obtaining his diploma in photography!! Not to forget that you were top 2 in the class! What can I say, you absolutely deserved it!!! After all that hardwork you have put in, the sleepless nights, the long hours of looking at the screen trying to get the pictures right....man, I am extremely proud of you my dear.

Lets go get some champagne!

Could I Have a G & T Please?

Medicine can be pretty boring, especially when all your patients are stable. No cardiac arrest calls, no sound of the emergency buzzer in the wards, no patients acutely deteriorating. I would review my patients, change management plans as neccessary, and hope that they will get better.

So at times like this...we, doctors, need to humour ourselves.


Cancer patients who receive chemotherapy are at risk of developing neutropaenic sepsis. For those without a medical background, neutropaenic means having a low white cell count (white cells are important to fight infection), while sepsis, means infection. So, when your body is low in white cells, you have low immunity, therefore, would be prone to develop different types of infections.

Different hospitals have different hospital protocols for treating neutropaenic sepsis. In my hospital, we like to give our patients G & T!

Yeah, G & T.....Gin & Tonic.

Gin is a spirit which is flavoured with juniper berries. Apparently, juniper berries have medicinal values. They act as a diuretic and also an appetite stimulant. The latter being extremely important in patients with cancer, as their appetite is normally quite poor. I mean, if you think about it, when your appetite is poor, your nutritional intake would be inadequate, and as a result, your body would not have the energy to resist infections....don't you agree??

Well, no, as much as I would like to think that Gin & Tonic could heal infections.....actually G & T stands for Gentamicin and Tazocin...which is a good combination of antibiotics to treat neutropaenic sepsis. =P

See...it is quite pathetic, I know...but at least it lifts the spirits of our patients up, when you joke with them about their antibiotics.

Having said that, I've heard that in certain special circumstances (ie, where conscious patients who are nearing their end of life or around christmas period), a small dose of alcohol has been prescribed on their drug chart, if it was requested by the patients, and if the doctors were given the green light by their boss. Being in hospital is pretty miserable...so we like to keep some of them happy! Cheers!

Unhelpful Surgeons

Surgeons - All they are interested in is to cut your body open and fix things. If nothing can be fixed, then, it would be a medical problem. This really frustrates me.

Yesterday, a cardiac arrest call was put out. We were directed to the acute surgical admission ward, where, an elderly man was extremely breathless....his face was blue....his heart rate went up to 160 beats per minute. He was admitted for problems with per rectal bleeding. I wondered whether he may have developed a pulmonary embolism (a blood clot in his lungs), or became very short of breath because of anaemia.

At the scene, the surgical reg was standing....asking for an anesthetist....who eventually arrived after a few minutes. Having examined the patient, I told him my thoughts and actions. He said "ok." While I was busy asking the nurses to give me a few medications, I soon realised that suddenly, no one from the surgical team was there with the patient. I didn't think much about it initially. The patient settled down alittle, but was still not well. I tried to look around for the surgical reg...and I later found out that he has left to go to A&E! I was like, WHAT?!

He left me to sort his patient out.....by myself?! I mean, honestly, I can understand that you have a sick patient down in A&E, but you should not just leave without even informing me! That is very unthoughtful and down right rude. The problem was I do not know what his plans were for this elderly gentleman from his surgical side. It became difficult for me to make up a plan too. I was appalled by his behaviour.

I dunno about other docs. But I have honestly admit that I do find surgeons extremely difficult to work with. I mean I can understand that they would lack experience in managing medical problems...and I would struggle to manage surgical problems. However, more often than not, we, medical people, do not hesitate to say, "yes we will take over the patient's care." Unfortunately, this is not the same for the surgeons. For example, I have found patients with Ischaemic bowels who is not fit for surgery, being left in the medical wards....or patients with acute pancreatitis. They are just very unhelpful. Imagine, if we leave a patient with fast AF in their surgical wards...they will be screaming at us to take the patient over. Anyway, think I have ranted enough.

There are a minority of surgeons who are really good....but as I said, MINORITY.

Marley & Me - John Grogan

If you haven't seen the book before, here it is! Please do read it...THUMBS UP!!!!

In the movie, they used 22 different labs to act! =)

I Love You Too, Marley

Marley. What can I say about this extremely naughty labrador?

I read the book "Marley & Me" by John Grogan a few years ago.....and I absolutely LOVED it! The book is about the life of the author, with his dog, wife and children. It potrayed the ups and downs of marriage, and the outrageous behaviour of Marley, the WORST dog in the world. I laughed alot when I read it, but also cried towards the end of it, when Marley left to go to doggie heaven.

I was really excited when I found out that the book was made into a movie. Both Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson did well. I felt that they had good chemistry on screen. And the dogs were so so cute. The movie had the same effect on me. I cried when I watched the movie. It was really sad seeing how Marley grew older and finally, put to sleep. In fact, most people in the cinema were sobbing too. I think, unless you have the heart of a stone, or you just do not like dogs, it is impossible to hold back the tears.

I highly recommend this movie, although, I know that most people would rather watch a feel good movie...but honestly, this movie did give me a nice warm feeling. Having said that, it made me miss my little wee Kiki at home (who is 9 human years old, but in dog age, she is 49 years old!).....and Pecan, my other little doggie who does not belong to me anymore...

Addisonian Crisis

It was an extremely interesting on-call yesterday.


At about 7 pm, I was called down to Resus in A&E. When I arrived, I saw this extremely drowsy but rousable girl. Her fingers were icy cold with mildly cyanosed fingers. Her blood pressure was in her boots; it was barely recordable! She was also tachycardic and tachypnoeic. Luckily her mother was around to provide us with some background information.


We soon found out that she was recently diagnosed with Addison's disease. She has been vomiting for nearly 1 week. She did not have any diarrhoea. Her mother insisted that the patient has been compliant with her daily steroid tablets. Addison's disease is a rare illness in which the adrenal gland fails to produce adequate steroid hormones. Steroid hormones are important to enable the body to function efficiently, especially at times of stress. Treatment for the illness would include replacing the steroid hormones by taking life long steroid tablets.


It was obvious that she was in Addisonian Crisis!! It is a potentially fatal illness. Immediately, she was given a dose of IV steroid, broad spectrum antibiotic to cover for possible sepsis (although I could not find a source of infection at that time), and fast fluids. Despite all the fluid challenges, her BP hardly responded.....at best, the reading was 40 systolic!!! I could hardly palpate her brachial or radial pulses. To make matters worse, she hardly passed any urine after 4L of fluid!! I understand that those with Addison's will have hypotension......but I was not sure whether her low BP was purely due to her Addison's, septic shock or simply dehydration.


At the end, I had to contact ITU for assistance, and subsequently, she was started on an infusion of noradrenaline to improve her BP. Fortunately, she responded well to this. Today, she was sitting up on her bed, happily chatting away, when I went to check on her. Her BP was 120/60 (obviously with help from noradrenaline).

The interesting thing about her was actually her chest x-ray. Her first chest x-ray when she was in resus was actually normal. There was no focal consolidation. However, after having a central inserted, another chest x-ray was requested in order to exclude a pneumothorax and check position of the central line. It was in this second x-ray that finally we saw the source of infection. She had severe bibasal consolidation! So, she definitely had a really bad pneumonia. Fortunately, she already received a dose of ceftriaxone, which is good in pneumonias.

However, I really do not understand why there was no consolidation in her first x-ray. I mean, it was only 2 hours difference between the 2 of them. One of the anaesthetics SHO believed that patients are too dehydrated and shock when they first arrive in the hospital. As fluids are provided, the body starts to fill up and as a result, the mucus pluggings in the chest start to loosen up, and hence, that's when the abnormality shows. I don't know how true this is....but it sounds a reasonable answer.

Anywho, she was a good case. She was my first Addisonian Crisis patient. The other interesting patient was an elderly gentleman who I believe presented with urinary sepsis. He was in acute renal failure, with a creatine of 786!! And he was profoundly metabolic acidotic with H+ of 80, bicarbonate of only 5! Also, he had amazing ECG changes due to his hyperkalaemia! There were wide QRS complexes and tall tented T waves. His potassium was 7.8. He must also be extremely septic. His urine looked like pus....it was thick, turbid and smelled horrible! urgh... never seen such a yucky looking urine ever!

It was a really busy on-call but surely exciting. On-call again tomorrow...hope it's a little better.

Brew...ha ha, anyone?

It was a lovely weekend. It hardly rained. The sun was shining brightly, but the wind was extremely icy. So, it was quite cold, to be honest.

I woke up very early on Saturday morning, and managed to catch the qualifying round for the Australian F1. I haven't been to the gym all week because I was busy at work, so I decided to head to the gym to do my usual 5k run. I felt refreshed after that. My endorphin levels were starting to rise.....and I felt like doing something in town, ie shopping or catching a movie.

Jaclyn, Kevin's sis, invited me to catch a movie at the cinema. Before the movie, we went to this cafe called "Brewhaha." Yes, funky name, eh? I do wonder why it is called Brewhaha. It is a specialised tea shop, that also sells yummy cakes and sandiwches. It must be that upon drinking the tea, you'll be happy.....therefore, the "ha ha" bit of the name.

I had "Calming Tea," which was a mix of honeybush, vanilla and some flower petals....the taste was a little bland...but it was nice. Jaclyn had "Feel Good Tea," to soothe her tummy. We also had a slice of Lemon Drizzle Cake and Ginger Loaf...oooohh....yum yum. Would certainly go back...and this shop in Glasgow is the first tearoom for Brewhaha. You can check the shop out at http://www.brewhahaltd.com/

After adding more endorphins to our system (ie indulging in tasty food), we watched Duplicity. Oh...I really am so in love in Clive Owen. He is really hot. And I love the collaboration with Julia Roberts. If I have not mistaken, this is the 2nd time both of them worked together. The first movie was "Closer." The movie wasn't great....but the witty lines were funny.....and just ogling at Clive Owen was enough for me!

ahhh.....guess the nice time spent has compensated for my 1 hour less Sunday.

Please Do Not Take Me for Granted!

I was talking about moving on to a new place for my next job...and also, how much I am looking forward to the change. I spoke about my housemate....who can be so irritating at times. I have decided that, if she doesn't care about how I feel, why should I? So I am going to b**tch about her now.

Honestly, I do not think I am being picky or difficult. Think the problem is with her.

First of all, she does her dishes probably 2 -3 times per week. I mean, ok, fair enough, you are busy (when she only works from 9-3 pm daily). But, leaving your dishes in the sink, with all the food stains still stuck on it....is pretty unhygienic, don't you think? I am happy if you wanna use the pots and pans, but I am also living in the same house. And when I come back from work at 7 pm or later, I would like to prepare my dinner too. How am I going to do that if you have used them all up and not even bother cleaning them up?? I have washed them myself many times...but you know what, there is a limit to do that. I know she feels guilty sometimes about that, but she doesnt care less. If you were THAT busy, how could you be lying down on the couch from 6 pm to midnight, watching the telly? yeah...exactly.

Secondly, she has taken me for granted. Her notebook broke down TWO years ago after she spilled water onto the keyboard. I told her to get it repaired, but she only took it to her friend, who doesn't really know much about computers. Silly I thought. Anywho, she decided that she could use my notebook from time to time until she gets one. I caught her using it a few times, before even asking my permission. She must have felt awkward when I saw her in my room, clicking away at Bebo or Facebook.

I still remember what she told me, "Ling, do you mind if I use your computer to check my emails and stuff? I don't do that often...just once or twice a week....while I get myself a new computer?" I just said ok. TWO years down the road, she uses my computer everyday, she even uses it to bid for things on eBay, and other internet shopping.....and WORST of all, she has decided that the computer also belongs to her, and she has allowed her friends INTO MY ROOM and USE MY NOTEBOOK!!!

NOw now now now now......that is SO CROSSING the line. I mean, that is MY ROOM, and that is MY NOTEBOOK, who gives you the right to allow your friends to use my things?? I do not even know your friends...i know their names...and thats pretty much it.

I was so pissed off. I told her I was not happy about that. She just said "Ok." No apologies whatsoever. I thought that maybe I over reacted....but having spoke to my fellow colleagues at work, who are Caucasians as well, they agreed that my housemate has stepped on my tail.

I am not a calculative person at all. I gave her half the amount for the TV licence because she said she doesn't have much money. I hardly watch the telly because she hogs it from 6 pm to midnight, and also the weekend, watching soaps and DVDs....which is fine. I am not going to push her away just because I wanna watch a few of my interesting series. Now, she uses my internet connection and she uses my notebook DAILY....shouldn't she give me some money then?? Oh oh oh....did I forget to mention that she also uses my printer from time to time, without even asking me? How do I know, simply because she never puts things back in the same order!

URGGHH.... more recently, while she was using my notebook in my room, she felt her empty tea cup and an empty chocolate bar wrapper on my table. This is again, not the first time. She has left tissues on my bed and on the table in the past. She laughs away when I told her about it. She must have found it funny....I dont know.

She boils me up sometimes. I could go on and on about her annoying habits. I sure have some silly habits too, but I never take her for granted. She is, otherwise, ok to get along with. I have lived with her for 3 years, and I think I have tolerated her very well.....but I am losing the plot already. Oh, can't wait to get away from this flat...... although, I will surely miss the convenience and comfort of this cosy little flat.