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Friday, September 29, 2006

Tiredness is killing

Ah, it's Friday once again, the end of the week! Thank God for that! I guess everyone is fed-up of me going on about being tired all the time, so from now on, assume I am tired unless I write otherwise! Following on from that, I've just got time to write a couple of things before I sign out for the weekend - I'm too tired to write anymore! At uni, such was the lazy life I led, that whenever I had to get up early (which was extremely rare) my friends and I joked that it was all about the "thrill of feeling tired" and that is what it has been like this week! After saying I won't write about it, the first paragraph has extended to over 6 lines about it! Sorry.

Saw a patient today who I've been seeing regularly for the past month. Initially presented feeling very depressed and has just been coming back for regular chats because he has no-one else to talk to. Each time, we go through his feelings and his progress and he claims to feel better at the end of each consultation. I haven't offered any medical advice whatsoever, just been a counciller for him and he has made quite good progress. Reflecting on this, I actually feel good about that, it's feel nice to know that I've helped him get through simply by being there for him to talk to. But the one thing that nags is that anyone could've done that for him, I haven't needed to use any of my skills/knowledge to improve this patients quality of life, so what was the point?

Moving on from that, and coming back to yesterday's blog, I encountered another case which took the p*** out of the NHS system. A patient was on phenytoin (drug used to control epilepsy) for the past 3yrs and it was discovered that she had stopped it 3 months ago. You can't stop phenytoin all of a sudden, it has to be gradually reduced and that too after specialist advice. The practice spoke to the patient to ask why she had stopped taking the phenytoin. She didn't have epilepsy after all, she had made it up with a fake letter from a hospital abroad so that she could get the phenytoin for her dog! Her dog suffered epilepsy but the vet prescriptions cost £20 per month, whereas on the NHS she could get the prescription for the standard prescription fee!

I'll leave it there for this week! I'll try and talk about some important topics next week as hopefully I'll have adjusted to the fasting and hopefully would have had some proper sleep over the weekend.

Take care all and have a brilliant weekend,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Charging in the NHS

It's only been 3 days and I think I'm gonna give up the "30 topics, for 30 days" idea! My eyes are stinging and my head is pounding from attempting to do the research for today's topic! I think I'll save it for when I stop fasting later next month! For the rest of the month, I'll revert to typing about any random thoughts and go with the flow!

Briefly, following on from yesterday, I was discussing the blog with my wife and unsurprisingly she disagreed with my thoughts at the end of the blog. But, thinking about it, she actually made sense. Her point was that I shouldn't be so judgemental without having tried to interact and socialise first. At least that way, I would have tried to practice AMWNM eventually after earning their trust and respect, and then, if that didn't work, I would have every right to ignore them like I do currently! However, as always, I have thought of a potential counter-point. If people they do respect and trust can't change them, then what chance would I ever have, so why bother wasting energy in the first place?

My patients at the GP surgery have been really boring this week. the majority are coming in with some muscle ache or the other. If it's not the back, then it's the shoulder, or it's the knee or the ankle! Most of the time they can't remember what triggered it off in the first place. The history usually goes something like this: "I've had this ache in my shoulder/knee/back/etc for the past 2 weeks. Can't remember what started it off but it hasn't got any better, so I thought I'd come and see you." No-one ever takes any painkillers, which is always my first port of call! They "don't like to take tablets" or "wanted to leave it so that I could show the doctor" and when I suggest to initially try some painkillers and assess the progress, they're all happy and usually don't come back - I'm guessing the painkillers work! Why don't they ever come having tried the painkillers first? It would save so much time, energy and money!

I have a simple solution, the NHS should introduce a surcharge to see the doctor. Just a small £5 would ensure that people don't just make appointments for the sake of it! That way we would only see the proper problems that require our attention! Or maybe what would be better would be to charge a deposit of £5 and if the doctor felt they had a problem then they would be refunded the money, otherwise the surgery keeps it.

Another story comes to mind when thinking about the possibiliy of charging. After every morning session at the surgery, the GP's go on home visits to see really ill patients, generally the elderly who have no way of getting to the surgery. However, patients still try to manipulate the system. A mother rang up saying her child was poorly with a temperature and cough. She could drive to the surgery but the only reason she requested a home visit was because the washing machine repair guy was coming that morning and she didn't want to leave the house! She didn't want to rearrange her appointment with the repairer because it was easier to get a doctor to visit then it was to get the repair guy to fix the washing machine! When I asked her what was more important, her child's health or the washing machine she agreed that it was her child, but would I mind to come out and see him anyway??!! Eventually she agreed to cancel the repairer appointment and came to the surgery. Incidentally the child was not as poorly as she described, and she remained quite upset that she had been made to come in!

It's attitudes like that, that really take the p***. Because it was easier to get a doctor to visit, the mother tried to manipulate the system! If there was a charging system perhaps people like her wouldn't be so keen to take advantage! In the end, even though she agreed, as her doctor, if she refused to come andI refused to see her, if something serious was to happen to her child, I would be responsible and potentially accused of neglecting my duty as a doctor!

Ok, that's all I think, my head is just getting worse and worse and I've got a surgery in a couple of hours! Better end there.

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Family politics

This is getting difficult. I've been researching todays topic for some time now and just getting bogged down with information. I've been thinking about what to write and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger and my headache gets worse and worse! I still haven't adjusted to fasting. Every morning I get up at approximately 4.30am to eat some food before dawn and then I can't get back to sleep and have to get up at 7.00am. Needless to say I am suffering from a severe lack of sleep and I don't know whether I'll be able to complete today's topic. Thinking about this topic, it might prove to be quite controversial - I'll give it a go, maybe I'll need to split it into two parts, let's see!

No faffing about today, straight into the topic! In Islam there is a convention called "Amr-bil-Maroof wa Nahi-anil-Munkar (AMWNM)" which translates too "enjoining the good and forbidding evil." The Quran states "You are the best of peoples, evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in Allah." (Quran Surah 3, Verse 110 [scroll down]). On a day-to-day basis we are engulfed with information telling us what to do and what to avoid. In essence, Islam seizes on this very concept and guides society by recommending good acts and forbidding wrong acts. It gives society a purpose.

Doing AMWNM is seen as an attribute of a true muslim, whereas the opposite could be seen as a quality of the non-believers. The Quran states "The believers, men and women, are protectors of each other: they enjoin what is right and forbid what is evil." (Quran Surah 9, Verse 71) and also "The hypocrites, both men and women, proceed one from another. They enjoin the wrong and forbid the right." (Quran Surah 9 Verse 67) I think the God explains it fairly clearly. To engage in AMWNM is a a duty on all muslims and the opposite brings punishment.

Being fallible, means that we will make mistakes. Practising AMWNM ensures that any mistake or wrong act commited by a muslim will not then be forced onto others, and similarly any good action that is not performed does not lead to muslims preventing others from doing the same act. It all sounds fairly straightforward. You personal sins and good deeds should not prevent you from engaging in AMWNM in the correct manner. Ayatullah Sistani offers further guidance by stating "you should enjoin the good and forbid the evil by applying the first two methods: that is, expressing your displeasure at the situation, and then speaking about it. If these two methods do not work, then apply the third method... ...adopting practical [or physical] measures moving from softer to harsher ones. If that person is ignorant of the religious rules, it is your duty to teach them, if they have the intention of learning and acting accordingly." (Ayatullah Sistani's website: select "Interaction in Social Life">"General Rules" and scroll down). However, given all this information and advice, I find that it is not as simple as it appears.

Practiacally, it sounds easy. All the good deeds I don't do, I shouldn't prevent others from doing so and any mistakes I make, I should make sure I don't help others do similar mistakes. Similarly, if anyone is doing wrong deeds, I should help them by stopping the wrong deeds and helping promoting the good deeds instead - AMWNM. The first part is easy, I don't try to promote any wrong ideals and make sure I don't prevent others from doing good acts. The second part is much harder!

In my family, there are a fair few issues and AMWNM is almost impossible. In order to elaborate further, I must also explain an additional part of AMWNM; it should start at home, i.e. with yourself. Every muslim must ensure that they engage in AMWNM on themselves. I must make sure that I cut down on my bad deeds and try and do more and more good deeds. Obviously I make mistakes and practicing AMWNM on myself is not always successful, just ask my wife!

However, the concept of AMWNM is also targetted at the larger community, the family, extended family, muslim community, muslim society at large. The idea being it should transmit through out the population. Each person should be invloved in AMWNM within their own family so that it can spread across society. This is extremely difficult in my family.

There are mulitple problems, mulitple issues. Whenever anyone tries to confront these issues, everyone and their dog goes on the defensive. No-one in my family can tolerate any criticism. I know that mulitple techniques have been tried, but whenever there is a hint of some criticism, people pull their guards up and mount a counter-arguement, counter-criticism (often completely unrelated) and the whole point of the discussion is lost. The moment people suggest that there is a problem that needs sorting, the accused just respond with their own criticisms, missing the point entirely.

I must admit that in the past I have been pretty poor with my family. I haven't really interacted, communicated or got involved. Kept myself to myself. Whenever I've tried advising my siblings, no matter what techniques I've tried, often the only response I get is that I'm rubbish with interacting with the family, I'm not perfect, I don't understand the situation etc, etc. Similarly, when my parents attempt to deal with rather serious issues , all they face is criticism of themselves and us (i.e. me and my siblings) and nothing ever gets sorted out.

Flipping it around, when I face criticism from people, it boils down to respect. If I respect the person, I listen to what they have to say. What I try to avoid is criticising them back and going on the defensive. Admittedly this was not always the case, but I've tried harder and harder to make sure I don't just reply with a load of criticism about them. If it's related to the discussion then I bring it in, but with a view of helping each other. I am no saint, and the person I respect the most, my wife, is always on my case in an attempt to better myself. She might not agree, but I always try to take her views on board and in most cases try to improve myself. The changes that result from this are down to her, and the changes that don't happen, I either don't agree with (and we have further discussions!) or I'm too stubborn to change! Needless to say, I am a working progress.

As a result of this, I find myself interacting less and less with those family members who won't take any advice on board. I just don't respect them. They haven't showed any inclination to change things for the better. This all makes me sound extremely judgemental, but I just find it difficult to interact with these people. I can't ignore it. My wife constantly goes on about how I should at least be civil and interact with them. I should ignore that side of them and carry on as normal, as if nothing is wrong. But I just can't bring myself to do so. This creates further problems. People (namely uncles and aunts) are constantly on my case and accusing me of being a social recluse! I keep my mouth shut, because if they found out what I know and why I am the way I am, it would create even more problems. I can't even begin to engage in AMWNM because of the tensions that it would cause.

So where does this leave me. Maybe I should start by following my wife's advice and being civil and engaging in conversation with everyone. Maybe it is a respect issue, these people don't respect me and hence won't listen to me. I don't entirely believe that, because the people they should respect, can't even change them, so what chance do I have, if and when they begin to respect me?

The policy of AMWNM is practically impossible. People don't like to hear bad things about themselves to the point where all they can do is reply with bad things about others, turning it into a vicious circle. Instead, maybe I should look at the positive and focus on that, talk about people's good points, but sometimes they are hard to find! I really don't know where to go from here. Am I being too stubborn? Should I just ignore all the issues and at least interact with everyone and see where it goes - do I even have the patience for that? The act of AMWNM is much harder than it appears. It feels like you have to be faultless yourself to have any chance of having an impression on others. So where do I go from here?

Managed to finish the topic in one go! Not bad! Even my headache isn't too bad!
Take care all,

Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

PS For better, perhaps more practical advice, check out Food for thought: AMWNM

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Feeling hungry? Allow me to explain why.

Man did I feel ill yesterday. All the research I was attempting to do just made me feel very ill. By the time I finished yesterday's blog I was feeling nauseous, light-headed and my eyes were stinging! The obvious conclusion is not to spend so much time on this blog. At least on the positive side it helped to kill the time, but the after effects were really difficult to manage. By the time I was seeing my last patient I could barely concentrate on what was going on. I think I called the patient 'maam' at one point, even though it was a guy! Oops!

With this in mind, I think I will have to modify my ambition for the next few days whilst I adjust to fasting. My initial ambition was to talk about various topics in Islam during the month of Ramadhan. I wanted to talk about one topic per day, relevant to the religion. Yesterday was about the moon sighting and I obviously bit off more than I could chew, so even though I hope to stick to the same idea, the topics won't be as detailed as I first hoped. A friend of mine hopes to write a book titled "50 things you didn't know about Islam," but he is a great procrastinator, and who knows when that book will see the light of day. So taking my inspiration from that, I will attempt to write about 30 topics over the 30 days of Ramadhan relevant to Islam. It's easier than writing a book, and hopefully some people will read it!

Before I go on to today's topic, I would like to digress. Working in a GP surgery, the main thing I have picked up on is that patients don't really have any problems. A vast amount of patients I see (at least 40%), don't have any major medical problems but wish to see a doctor for a chat. They talk about their home life, work life, stresses and tensions and are just looking for reassurance. My trainer summed it up by describing GPs as "parents, listeners, advisors and doctors - in that order."

I saw one patient last week who came in with abdomnal pains for the past week. The patient was eating properly and not sleeping well. I asked whether stress was causing difficulty with sleep and diet and then I got to the real problem. The patient literally broke down in a matter of seconds. They talked about being extremely stressed, describing in detail what was causing the stress. When the conversation finished, the inital problem was forgotten, the patient felt much better after talking about all the stress and there was no medical problem! Numerous patients present in a similar fashion, they want someone to talk to and often, the GP is the only person who will - mainly cause they have to! It's completely different to what hospital work was like. People had medical problems which needed to be dealt with as fast as possible so that they could go home again, no time for anything else, to busy for anything else.

Anyway, moving on, today I would like to talk about fasting. Most people (muslim and non-muslim) associate Ramadhan with fasting and only fasting. It is much more than that (and I hope to go into it in more detail), but today I would like to address that point. Why do muslims fast? Do we just like to punish ourselves? The Quran descirbes it quite simply: "O Believers! Fast is prescribed for you as it was for those before you so that you may ward off evil" (
Quran Chapter 2, Verse 183), fasting is therefore commanded by God to ward of evil.

Fasting in practical terms means to abstain from all food, drink, vain talk, and sexual intercourse for married couples from the time before dawn until after sunset. Some people are not to able to fast due to age, health, child-bearing conditions, etc., and instead give charity, and/or make up the days of fast they missed at a later time. The practical aspects go against our natural instincts and this inevitably helps to build and strengthen our self-control bringing us closer to God.

Spritually however, the reasons for fasting are numerous. It is a time of sustained and amplified effort toward spiritual perfection. The Holy Prophet states that “Thirst and hunger you undergo, feel and live through, here and now, bring to your mind the severity and sharpness of the drought and starvation that will be the order of the day on the Day of Judgment.
  • Give alms to the poor and destitute.
  • Treat your parents and elders with respect.
  • Be kind and loving to your children and juniors.
  • Take care of and look after your relatives.
  • Keep from giving tongue to that which should not even be whispered.
  • Shut your eyes to that which is indecent to have an eye for.
  • Turn a deaf ear to that which is too slanderous to be all ears to.
  • Be compassionate, gentle and benign unto orphans so that after you, your children, if need be, receive the same treatment from others.
  • Turn repentant to God and seek His nearness.”

This is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to looking at the spiritual reasons for fasting. The Quran also states that “And men who fast and women who fast…God has prepared for them forgiveness and a vast reward.” (Quran Chapter 33, Verse 35 [scroll down to point 35]) Beyond this, it is also prescribed in other faiths. Moses observed a fast of forty days at time of the revelation of the Ten Commandments. Most Jews fast on the Day of Atonement and Christians still observe the Lent period before Easter, although now it includes abstention from only certain food items, rather than all food and drink.

Fasting is prescribed in the month of Ramadhan because it is the holiest of the Islamic months. It is a month when God revealed a number of sacred texts including the book of Abraham, book of Moses and the Holy Quran. It is also considered sacred because it contains the Night of Power (Laylatul Qadr). “Qadr” literally means destiny, and on this night God determines each and every event to occur during the next year to any and all of His creation. Put simply, it is a month when the Satan is locked away and the gates of heaven are open. The satan is unable to interefere with our thoughts and actions, and our actions help us reach heaven after our deaths.

In conclusion, muslims fast, to seek nearness to God, seek His pleasure and Forgiveness, and generate a spirit of piety. Fasting in this month honors the revelation of God’s word and purifies one in preparation for the night of destiny and in hope of forgiveness. Fasting is a yearly spiritual renewal, given abundant reward in this month of God’s Mercy. So next time you think about why muslims fast, the reason is not simply just to punish ourselves, but to seek improvement in our faith and to get closer to God.

Take care all, I promise the topics will improve as time goes on!
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Monday, September 25, 2006

Have you seen the moon lately?

Welcome back to you all. Hope you had a nice weekend! Who 'all' are, remains to be seen. Absolutely no hits over the weekend apart from me and my wife. That too, only to check on the hits counter!! Maybe I should advertise it a bit more! My wife has a simple explanation for this, she suggests that my blog is boring! Infact she's shocked that I manage to write so much about such boring subjects. She claims that it's interesting how much I manage to write - faint praise or what?

With that constructive criticism in mind, I shall attempt to make this blog more interesting! First up, before I talk about the subject title, I'd just like to write a bit about my wife! Let's see how interesting she finds this - can't accuse me of being boring now! My wife is easily the most amazing person I've met. She has numerous qualities, all of which seem to combine to make me a better person, or at least try to make me a better person. She doesn't always succeed, mainly due to my own stubborness but she has been extremely patient with me and I am always grateful for that. I'm truly lucky to have her and I want to be a better person for her, become her identikit husband. I'm constantly striving to achieve that, when my stubborness doesn't get in the way and hopefully I am succeeding! She'll have to comment on that after she reads this! I'll add more about my wife as the blog develops, but that's it for now.

Moving on, the month of Ramadhan has started which means millions of muslims are fasting between dawn and dusk. In the UK that amounts to about 14hrs of fasting, from 5am to 7pm - tough to say the least. But when did Ramadhan start? Some started fasting on Saturday, others on Sunday and other (including myself), stated today. The Islamic calendar is based on the moon - a lunar calendar. The first day of the month occurs on the first day of the new moon. Each month is 29-30 days in length. Every year there is a disagreement in the muslim community about when the new moon exists. This results in people starting the fast on different days, and hence celebrating Eid at the end of the month on different days as well.

Getting a bit scientific here, the new moon is technically 'no moon'. It is defined as the time when the moon is exactly parellel with the earth and hence the sun's light cannot reflect off the moon onto the earth, the moon is invisible (New Moon sightings). The crescent that appears shortly after, is the first sighting of the new moon and that day represents the start of a new month.

Obviously, there is only one moon, and therefore there should be only one new moon date. Physics states that the earth is round, revolves on it's own axis and the moon orbits around the earth. Such is the size of the moon in comparison to the Earth, the difference in time is minimal. As a result there should only be one day declared as the new moon and that day is the start of a new Islamic month. Therefore, surely in the UK the new moon occurred on one day, so the start date should be the same, but that is not the case. Very few websties state that the new moon was on the 23rd September and hence the month started on the 24th (when the crescent became visible), however majority of websites state the new moon was on the 22nd and the month started on the 23rd (new moon date, another new moon date)!

And yet, people have started on 3 different dates! Scientifically and astronomically it seems that the new moon was on the 22nd and therefore the new month should have commenced on the 23rd of September. I believe that the differing dates arise because not all muslims follow scientific data, but instead follow the teachings of scholars. The differences arise because different muslims follow different scholars who preach different rules and theories.

For example, I follow the teaching of Ayatullah Sistani. He states that:
The 1st day of a month is established in the following four ways:
1. If a person himself sights the moon.
2. If a number of persons confirm to have sighted the moon and their words assure or satisfy a person. Similarly, every other thing which assures or satisfies him about moon having being sighted.
3. If two just (Adil) persons say that they have sighted the moon at night. The first day of the month will not be established if they differ about the details of the new moon. This difference can be either explicit or even implied. For example, when a group of people goes out in search of a new moon and only two Adils claim to have seen the new moon, even though there were other Adils equally capable and knowledgeable, then the testimony by the first two Adils will not prove the advent of a new month.
4. If 30 days pass from the first of Sha'ban , the 1st of Ramadhan will be established, and if 30 days pass from the 1st of Ramadhan the 1st of Shawwal will be established

The above simple rules seem straightforward, but the dates still differ. I feel that it's become too technical. So much so, that it's doing my head in! I've been trying to research this for the past 2hrs and my head is pounding. I need some food! The screen is really hurting my eyes! I think I better conclude!

Apologies, but my conclusion is going to sound half baked, mainly because it is! I haven't written enough information, and now it's getting boring! Shit! But I better finish..... There shouldn't be differeing dates for the start of any motnh. This problem only seems to arise in the month of Ramadhan. The start and end dates of other months prove to be no problem whatsoever. The first of Zilhaj (month of Hajj) is the same all the time throughout the country, even the world and yet there is always a hitch in Ramadhan. Maybe people don't want to fast sooner or later than they need to!

We need more clarity on the subject. A potential solution would be to follow the muslim capital of the world, Mecca. When the new moon is sighted there, the rest of the world should follow accordingly. Hence countries in time zones ahead of Mecca should start the same day and countries behind Mecca should start the following day. Is it really that simple? I don't think so, and if I get a chance I'll find some more information about it. In the meantime I have got to get away from the screen, my eyes are burning! How am I gonna see my patients!

Apologies to you all, namely my wife!
Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Friday, September 22, 2006

Half-day Friday

'Anon' came back! Left another comment! It could be someone completely different. 2 comments, sad to say this, but it feels wonderful! Someone other than me is reading this blog! Ok, enough is enough, I discovered that 'Anon' is my wife, i.e. the only person I've actually told about this blog and therefore, it seems, the only person who has read this blog! It's only been 5 days. Give it time.

Today's blog is going to be brief (if possible), because it's Friday - arguably the best day of the week! What is your favourite day, what is your worst day? My week at work involves me having to get up at 7am! I get to sleep between midnight and 1am every night, despite all my efforts to get to sleep earlier, I just can't manage it, so I average 6-7hrs of sleep every night on weekdays. By the time I get to Thursday, Friday, I am so shattered in the morning, and by the time I get home, even moreso, so much so that I can barely function by the time I get home. Half-days on Friday are a blessing! I get home by 1.30pm and can then relax the rest of the day.

The best days of the week are Friday, Saturday and Sunday, offering me the best time to recuperate and ready to start the week again come the Monday. Monday is actually ok. I don't suffer from the 'Monday Blues' simply because after the weekend, I'm refreshed and ready to go and it spills over onto Tuesday, so that's not too bad either. Wednesday is the worst day of the week. I'm beginning to get tired, the day is actually busy and the end of the week just seems miles away. Thursday is almost as bad, but at least the end is in sight, get through it and only half-day Friday is left, so that keeps the motivation going and almost overrides the tiredness.

So there is my weekday theory on the best and worst days of the week. What about yours? First I need someone to read this, before they can comment, but hopefully someone will! That's it for this week, I'll be back after the weekend.

Take care all, have a brilliant weekend,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Spying on your children

Still no-one here! Hit counter says 11, but 9 have been by me! Not even my wife has read these blogs! I should give up, but I won't! I will soldier on...
What a goal!!! Alonso, inside his own half, amazing 70yrd shot into the net! What accuracy, what skill, the man is a genius! If you don't know what I'm going on about then allow me to explain. Liverpool played Newcastle yesterday evening and the Liverpool midfielder, Xavi Alonso, scored from inside his own half, a shoot 70yrds away from the goal - it was absolute quality! (See the video below for more details!)
Liverpool's start to the season has not been good. Already 8 points behind Chelsea and Man Utd, they had to win last night, and what a goal to seal the win! If that doesn't inspire confidence throughout the team, then what will??
I often wonder how players manage to play for different clubs whilst stating that they supported one team when growing up. How can Ashley Cole leave Arsenal and play against them with Chelsea? How can Wayne Rooney leave Everton? These players claimed to be avid supporters of the clubs they played for. To them, it was a dream come true, something that others can only dream of, and yet they all move rather too freely! The only constant at any club seems to be the supporters!
When Liverpool we're going through a particularly poor patch through 2002-2004, I thought I'd try changing my alliegance! If players can do it, so can I. I wanted to support a club that were the regularly challenging for honours. My options were limited. Having supported Liverpool for so long, there was no way I could support Man Utd - too much hatred there, I couldn't support Arsenal, too many people I knew supported them already. There was only one team to consider - Chelsea. Infact it was perfect, they hadn't won anything (but it was blatantly obvious they were going to), and I didn't know anyone else who supported them - it was perfect!
In December 2002, after one defeat too many, I tried to support Chelsea. It was easy for the first 3 games, Liverpool happened to lose all 3, and Chelsea were winning and top of the table. In early January, Liverpool visited Chelsea and won. It was an amazing game - not so much in terms of performance or quality, but for me it revealed my true feelings. I was ecstatic by the result! So what if we then lost the next game and continued having a poor season? I was so delighted by that result, there was no way I could stop supporting Liverpool, no way I could support another team.
It happened again. In the summer of 2005, after the remarkable Champions League triumph, my support was put to the test again! This time it was over the transfer saga of Steven Gerrard, the captain of Liverpool. The year before he claimed that he just could not leave Liverpool, the club he supported as a boy, to him playing for Liverpool was the best thing in the world. At one point he announced he wanted to leave! I couldn't believe it, if he could leave to play for someone else, then I could definitely stop supporting the team. I knew I couldn't support another team, but I would stop supporting Liverpool altogether, become a passionless neutral. My wife was ecstatic, delighted that I was going to stop following football. But then came the news that Steven Gerrard had decided to stay! He couldn't leave the club that was in his heart! Needless to say I was a very happy man. Steven Gerrard was a true supporter of the club and could not change his support to any other team!
Therefore, maybe this incident means that Gerrard is true supporter, just like the rest of the Liverpool fans and that Cole and Rooney were never as loyal as they claimed to be. They only supported their teams whilst the team could benefit them, when that stopped happening, it was time to change tune and jump ship!
After all this, I must apologise. What I've just been typing about is not even my thoughts for today's blog! As you may have worked out, loyalty towards a football team has nothing to do with the title of the blog! I can't explain why I went down this tangent, but now that I've typed it all, I can't bring myself to delete it! I think I'll just move on to the main title as if nothing happened!!
Yesterday the British Home Secretary addressed a gathering of mainly muslims in a very muslim area of East London. He spoke about the ways to handle terrorism and extremism in Islam. On the one hand he went on about how Islam and the West co-exist peacefully and what a peaceful religion it is, whilst on the other hand he spoke about the need to keep an eye on radicals in the community and to clamp down on it. He spoke of how parents should keep an eye on their children to ensure that they are not being radicalised!
Instead of speaking about the cause of this radicalism and the role the British government has played in creating these, he purely spoke about how parents should control it! What he said was pretty obvious! Most parents would be concerned if their children were becoming brainwashed or radicalised. Most parents would try to put a stop to it. But why would children be exposed to radicalisation in the first place? There was no mention of that.
It's similar to saying that climate change exists, the planet is getting warmer due to global warming and therefore take extra precaution in the sun. All this is useful advice, but it is very self-explanatory and ignores the cause of the global warming and climate change. Where is the advice on how to stop the radicalisation? Where is the acknowledgement that government policy has contributed to its existence? Where are the government plans on what they hope to do about it and what policies to change? There was none of that.
It actually felt extremely condesending. As if all muslim parents are bad at raising their children and could benefit from a bit of guidance! The advice he said was useful, but because it was being stated and lectured on by a government person, it felt pretty useless! The overiding feeling was that the blame was being laid at the door of all muslim parents in failing to control their children in the past. Absolutely ridiculous!
In the end, I've only written 4 paragraphs on the main topic of the blog! I've written more about the football! Oops! If your still reading, then an even bigger pat on the back to you! But I guess I shouldn't worry too much, since apart from 'Anon', no one else is interested! Oh well!
Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

The Blog Effect?

One comment! One person has actually read my blog and left a comment! He/she signed off as 'Anon' so it still doesn't count! It's only day three of this blog, I'll just keep writing and see what happens. You may notice that I've also set up a hit counter at the bottom of the page, 6 hits and counting so far - but I know that 4 of them have been by me!

Although this blog has existed for a very short period of time, it's already had an interesting effect on me! Had a usual uneventful surgery this morning (I think from now on I will only mention my work if it turns out to be interesting - can't keep saying 'uneventful' all the time) and in between patients I sat at my screen thinking about what thoughts to type about on my blog. So far, I can't come up with anything!

What route to go down? I was thinking about the latest news, perhaps I should comment on them? Or perhaps talk about Liverpool Football Club - just cause I can talk about that all the time - but then that would bore everyone (not that this isn't boring already, but you know what I mean). Maybe I should comment on some political issue that is in the news? But, isn't that even more boring??

In between patients all these thoughts were going through my head - I was thinking about what to think about! Bizarre! I guess I can't really come up with anything at the moment. That's not good! Day 3, and I'm already running out of things to say. I didn't predict this. Before I started this blog, I had so many random thoughts, but now they've all dried up! It's just as well, since I actually don't have much time today! Wednesday is pretty much the only day when I'm actually busy throughout the day, so probably best that I have no thoughts to talk about.

However, before I go, I'll quickly comment on the latest news, just cause I can...
  • Thailand Coup: So what? It's a tiny country run by a billionaire PM who probably isn't serving the public and instead making money out of them, what else was going to happen? I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often - what about a coup in Singapore? That doesn't seem a nice country to live in!
  • Football Bungs: Predictable to say the least! A bit unfair that they focused purely on the manager of Bolton, Sam Allardyce and choose to bleep out other names and clubs - somewhat convenient
  • Lib Dems Party Conference: New tax rules. Will they ever govern the country? I think not, so a non-issue really!

I'll end there, bored you enough already. Congratulations if your still reading. Pat yourself on the back!

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

PS. Look out for a grammatical imperfection in this blog.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Petrol prices

So I see no one has yet seen this blog! I've spent the last hour or so researching how to advertise my blog and changed various settings etc, so lets wait and see - who will be the first person to read my blog??? I've decided not to tell family/friends about the blog (except my wife of course), I'm interested to see how long it takes anyone I know to find it!

Finished a rather quiet surgery this morning. Obviously I'm not going to go into details about the patients I see, in order to respect confidentiality etc, but it was pretty uneventful! Medicine is not as great as you might think it is (or maybe you don't think it's great, or maybe you don't even have an opinion on it). There are only a small percentage of people you can help in life saving scenarios. Admitedly there are plenty of people who need medical help, but it is all overshadowed by the dire working conditions of doctors.

Everyone is aware of the long hours, night shift, weekend etc, and although that is awful, it is not as bad as working in a hospital and having to deal with managers. These people are only interested in reaching targets and deadlines set by more 'managers' in the government. They don't have much of a clue about the individual patients and the differing needs that they have!

I don't plan on going into detail (unless anyone is interested), but the working situation in hospitals was the principal reason I left to go into the community and general practice. So far, the working conditions are excellent, it is much more humane and stress-free, but there are other problems. However, as I've only been here for a month, I will provide a better assessment on my blog at a later date.

I guess I better talk about the title of this blog. You may have noticed that recently petrol prices have taken a surprising turn, they've actually gone down!! I remember paying 96.9p per litre of unleaded at Tesco's less than a month ago and now the same store is selling it for 84.9p per litre (with a further 5p if you spend £50 in store - 79.9p).

The government always go on about raising oil prices due to various tensions in the Middle East, but tension always seems to exist in the Middle East! As the situation moves from one crisis to the other the price of oil should remain permanently high. A search on Google reveals the current price of oil to be $64.33 (Current oil price) per barrel, during the recent crisis it was quoted as $78 per barrell (Price during Lebanese crisis), why such a huge difference when the tensions still exist? I will never claim to be a financial expert so I can't even begin to understand what levels of tension result in what oil prices, but why are there such large differences?

Looking at it very crudely, war broke out between Israel and Lebanon, as far as I understand, neither country is a mass oil producer for the rest of the world, but oil prices went up. People will argue that such was the tension levels, that the war could have extended to the adjacent countries which do provide oil to the world (eg. Iran, Iraq and Saudi) and thus the prices went up. However, I get the impression that such a tension exists all the time. Even today, there is a chance that war might break out across the Middle East. There are mulitple ways that could happen, so the tension levels should always exist and therefore prices should remain high. The fluctuation in price is not simply explained by the tension levels in the Middle East, so why is there such a fluctuation?

I will stop complaining about the prices, because now the price has dropped considerably. Accepting these price differences, a difference of almost $14 per barrel has resulted in a 12p per litre drop in petrol at our filling stations. This is marvellous, and long may it continue. Unfortuanately I fully expect the prices to rise almost at any time and reports will come in that the "tension levels are rising" (or something to that effect).

But I also see a missed oppourtunity for the government. Whilst prices have been dropping, there has been minimal coverage about the role the government has played. I'm sure their role has been minimal, but I'm surprised they haven't milked it more and gone on and on about the falling prices due to Tony Blair's efforts in the Middle East etc.

I'm guessing this all sounds pretty stupid. I appear to be out of my league when explaining all the above, but they are just my thoughts, so please feel free to comment on how daft/good they are! Do you agree with the oil price fluctuations? Do you understand? Can you perhaps explain them to me (concisely please)??

Take care all.
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

PS Check out Petrol Prices for the latest prices near your area.

Monday, September 18, 2006

Introduction...

Dear All...

Hello to anyone who may be reading this! What are you doing?? Nothing better to do? Infact I'm guessing if your reading this then you don't have anything better to do, in which case welcome, you are exactly who I'm looking for!

I'm totally new to this blogging game and having read many blogs over the past few months, I thought I'd try my hand in creating my own blog and see what happens, see whether it is as good as everyone claims it to be!

As my profile states, I'm a doctor working at a GP surgery and find myself with lots of spare time during the day. I'm situated 40miles from home, and effectively stuck in my surgery. I thought it'd be cool to start a blog just to talk about whatever is going through my head on any particular day. There is only so much news/sports/information one can read on the internet, so why not spend some of the spare time writing endless amount of stuff (rubbish?) just for the sake of it!

You still reading?? I'm impressed, thanks for sticking it out! But that's it for today! After spending the last half hour creating this blog, I've actually got to see some patients, so I'll be back in my next spare slot!

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?