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4.07.2005

Workin' for the British Man Part Deux

Yeh man...FINALLY[english], FINALEMENT[french],[I dunno how you say it in spanish but finally], I went to "work" on Monday....and by 'work' I meant I went in and looked on the internet all fricken day, something I already do at home.

Apparently, nobody knew we were coming. GREEEAAATT! What a way to start off the day. Some sort of "miscommunication" it seems...that was the word thrown about. I could see the contempt in my classmates eyes lol. He wasn't too pleased. He already thinks Dr. Moss lives on another planet and this is another reason to think the man might be loco because apparently, he'd been telling him about it for weeks. He later told me, though, that he doesnt think it's Dr. Moss's fault, but the guy who's supposed to be in charge of us here, Mr. Alaster Rutherford. He wasn't even there when we got there! Probably in Egypt or some shit because I guess that's where the English like to go based on the plethor-uh of ads for Egypt Ive seen!! Seems they LOVE florida too cuz about 90% of the people Ive met and talked to have been to FL, of course, orlando. Disney IS a huge monstrosity. Cali is another big one...san fran and san diego and hollywood, I've heard so far. Anway, his assistant scrambles for what to do with us and eventually puts us in Rutherford's office where another pharmacist, BethAnn is doing her work. Talk about RED HAIR!! Lindsay Lohan aint even close. She will tell me she's involved in writing clinical guidelines for the government..and apparently guidelines are a new thing for the british!!

Another new thing for them.....REFILLS!!! aka "repeat dispensing" I had to choke back saying "what the EFF do u mean you don't do refills?" when I heard that. There's a new 'contract' starting now where people wont need to go back to their doctor everytime they need a new prescription, but instead the DR can write for prescriptions for up to a year...ummmmmm...I dunno any other way to do it! but I guess each country is different. There are some other stuff in the contract but that's the 'biggest thing.' So yeh, we basically chill in the office, eventually go to get lunch, come back, get back on the computer and then go home. FUN! But for the next day, there's actual stuff to do, even though it was put together in about an hour.

The next day started with me going to a health centre to follow around a 'district nurse,' a woman named Renata, as she drove around to see patients. This would also be the first time in the day, out of a total of 5 times, that I would offered tea or coffee. She would be very helpful cuz she explained A LOT about the british health care system. The not-having-the-dentist-as-part-of-the-health-care-plan thing STILL trips me out...um your teeth are in your body aren't they?? But yeh, being with her was an interesting experience, seeing as how i've never seen so many bed sores in my life!! HOLY CRAP!! Three..... I saw...THREE. The first two were actually healing and fine, but the last one....[gulp] my stomach. lol It wasn't that bad actually, but man....hmm, nevermind, it WAS pretty bad. I cannot BELIEVE something like that can happen just from sitting on your ass all day, and Renata told me it could even develop within a DAY! [jesus, please don't let me get old..thanx a bunch] jk...it all depends on a bunch of stuff, so it might now even happen in some people. But it really did LOOK sore. poor old lady. Plus as we were inspecting her sore, a bird flew straight into the window and got knocked the fuck out...HAHAHAHAHA so that made the sore less traumatic. guess they use Windex in that nursing home. She also told me the area we were in was not as glamorous as the rest of Bristol and that actually a lot of Somalian refugees have been coming into the area. I can TOTALLY tell what a Somalian looks like now...they have very characteristic features: 1. the burka[well, their whole FACE was visible but I dunno what u call that one] 2. chubby cheeks and 3. dark lips.

After getting back to the centre, I was told a taxi would be coming to pick me up and take me to a hospice to meet Rutherford's wife. I was AGAIN offered tea or coffee, but refused[they love the liquid] Waited downstairs, saw more Somalians and was then picked up by a Sudanese! The Africans just keep coming! lol. Thank God they sent a cab cuz that place was WAAAYYY on the other side of town and if I had to find it by myself, I would have seriously said 'eff it' and gone home. During the long ride, began talking with the gentleman and asked him some stuff about his people, about Islam, and told him how I've been meeting and hearing about many different african people here. Got to the hospice, told the receptionists who I was here to see, and she basically didn't have a clue who the Eff I was talking about. Dont you know the people who work here lady?? obviously, NOT. I asked for Dr. Margaret Rutherford, but I would come to find out she goes by Maggie Hook, so no wonder the broads were confused. Id been sitting there for a good while, and she said she felt sorry for me so AGAIN offered up tea/coffee. I had also previously mentioned I aint had nothing to eat, so she offered biscuits too, another staple!! They turned out to be off the chain. I ended up waiting an hour and a half for this woman to come.

Finally got to their pharmacy where she was bombarded by people. She was a very nice woman...I could tell she was well liked. She then told me about how the hospice worked [apparently, they aint only for the dying! who knew!], gave me info about drugs[they use HEROIN as an analgesic in hospices...HEROIN!! I almost had an epileptic seizure when she told me that], among other things. I also ended up talking to the DR on duty that day, and she told me some interesting stuff. Seemlingly, being a health professional is not as LUCRATIVE a career as it is in the US...huuuhhhh? Yes, you are well respected but you aint making the big bucks like you would here. And apparently, not only are there a shortage of dentists, there are a shortage of DR's too!! They even import them from other countries in Europe and elsewhere! weird. But I think all this stems from the fact that 1. MOST health professionals in this country are basically government employees and we know how govt's dont like to pay they people. So unless you go into private practice for yourself, you can't equate being a doctor here with being richer than most people. And 2. healthcare in the US is a treated as a BUSINESS not a social service like how they treat it here. Most people aren't govt employees and a large amount go into practice for themselves.

We then left there and went to the second location for that hospice..ALSO on the other side of town, but closer to where I would need to take the train. I followed her as she counselled patients who were being released. She was a very good practioner and I was very impressed. I discussed with her some of my fears, including how I think DR's dont respect pharmacists. She gave me some good advice: be confident, just know what your talking about, and offer suggestions if you are gonna contradict a doctor. Ive heard that before, but I never really believed it until she said it, so she was very helpful. Anyway, she was gonna be taking too long and had other patients to see so she asked me if I just wanted to go home. I said sure and left at 6.

All in all it was a good day. I like working tho, or basically getting out of my house cuz it means the time goes by soooo much faster...I cant believe it's thursday already!! Cant wait for Saturday...that's when some reggae thing is supposed to happen at a pub. Hmmmm sounds FISHY and I hope by REGGAE they dont just mean Bob Marley, but if not...Ill just get drunk and have a good time. Cuz I really havent been drunk since Ive been there and I think once I do, Ill feel more English than ever! Ive been by an told by an Englishman that the Scottish drink liquor like it's water and are twice as bad as the English. TWICE. Man...I cannot even IMAGINE how that's possible.

Le fin.

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