sweet caroline...

While I was at the gym this morning the local news was on the radio and I heard the district health board was asking people to hold off coming to the emergency room unless it was extremely urgent because they were grossly understaffed. They said the emergency room had 3700 visits last year even though they're only able to support 2400 visits.

I don't really know what to think when I hear stats like that because I see both sides of the story and you can't really blame anyone, no matter how tempting it may be sometimes. In the end, it's an inherent often indistinguishable flaw in the system and there's no easy solution. Actually, sometimes it feels like there's no solution, period. Where do you start??

And yes, my break is almost half over and I still haven't managed to open any books. But it's all good. I'll survive... I always do. I like that in med school, because I'm surrounded by such hard-out students, it gives me a valid justification for being a semi-mediocre student in comparison. It certainly takes a lot of the pressure off. The trick is to find a balance -- you can't be (mistakenly) cocky, but you can't spend six years underestimating yourself either. And with each year that passes, I think I'm getting better at finding that balance. It definitely makes things that much more easier.

I've managed to see a few movies this break, which is awesome since it's hard to find the time to be the movie-buff I used to be. Breach was great -- Chris Cooper made it worth watching. Bourne Ultimatum -- two thumbs up. Not sure whether I'd go straight to saying it's the best of the three, but it's undoubtedly a great continuation. And Matt Damon... need I say more? Eagle vs Shark was pretty funny, though I think they gave away most of the funniest lines in the commercial. Jemaine Clement is absolutely brilliant and the Phoenix Foundation was likewise. I'm watching Michael Moore's Sicko tonight so more on that later.

I miss baseball. Even when we used to have Sky, ESPN only had baseball games on every once in a while. Watching The Perfect Catch always manages to give me a bad case of nostalgia. Especially of the Red Sox and Boston.