The Adventure Continues...

Rants, raves and random observations from an itinerant epidemiologist.

 
100 in 1000
  1. Spend a week up a mountain learning to ski
  2. Visit Karoline's place in Moravia
  3. Hold a conversation in Czech (only)
  4. Drink 500ml of each of the following beers:
    1. Pilsner
    2. Staroprammen
    3. Budvar
    4. Velke Popovice
    5. U Fleku
    6. Gambrinus
    7. Krusovice
  5. Respond to at least one GOARN request (WHO and MSF are also acceptable)
  6. Travel across the Atlantic
  7. Return to South America
  8. Read a book to, or with, an impressionably aged child
  9. Participate in one NanoWriMo Challenge and come within at least 10,000 words of the goal length
  10. Have my nose pierced
  11. Have my next tattoo drawn
  12. Purchase the perfect jeans (x 2 pairs)
  13. Attend a spin class 3 times a week for 8 consecutive weeks
  14. Bake Viv's cheesecake
  15. Make David's casserole
  16. Make David's Chicken Cashew-nut Stirfry
  17. Invite 4 people who don't know one another too well to dinner
  18. Ride from Vienna to Venice on a motorbike (pillion acceptable, those less desirable)
  19. Attend a book group for at least two books
  20. Go on a choir weekend (learn and perform difficult piece in two/three days)
  21. Visit Madame Tussaud's (in London)
  22. Take an architecture appreciation course
  23. Join an all-girl group and sing a solo
  24. Publish in a scientific journal (top two authors)
  25. Cook a duck or other 'waterfowl'.
  26. Locate the Al-Timimi's from Doha Veterinary Practise
  27. Have a pedicure
  28. Maintain a Brazilian (ouch) for three months.
  29. Find a trustworthy Czech hairdresser
  30. Treat my inner-6-year-old twice a week (at least)
  31. Do the liver-cleansing diet properly (12 weeks)
  32. Don't eat out for one month
  33. Find a flat and flatmate
  34. Purchase one Joseph sweater
  35. Purchase one of the following pairs of designer shoes (they MUST also be COMFORTABLE, and be able to be worn with 4 different outfits and 2 types of occasion): Jimmy Choos, Manolo Blahniks, Christian Louboutin (Ebay or 2nd hand are acceptable)
  36. Send 5 books to the booksphere and track them.
  37. Go hanggliding
  38. Read 10 'classic' books (from 1001 Books to Read before you Die)
    1. Moll Flanders
    2. Everything is illuminated
    3. Madam Bovary
    4. Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintainance
    5. Catch-22
    6. Odysseus
    7. On the Road
  1. Run (non-stop!) for 5kms outside (preferably in a street race thingy)
  2. Send Christmas Cards on time
  3. Make a collage/mural out of street lights on my wall
  4. Buy a bed, build it, and sleep soundly in it
  5. Go to Africa
  6. Host an 'event' (classified as and when)
  7. Organise a 30th Birthday Party
  8. Wear a costume
  9. Sing on stage
  10. Buy a painting that evokes memories of Prague (cannot involve queues!)
  11. Learn a god-damned card game that stays in my memory (other than fish/snap)
  12. See sunrise. Be sober. Have woken for it. Excludes months Nov-Mar
  13. Take a walk and flip coins at each intersection
  14. Win something
  15. Draft a will
  16. Take a roadtrip
  17. Go to Italy already
  18. Sea Kayak around Abel Tasman Park (NZ)
  19. Get plants
  20. Take a train to another Eastern European Destination (accession countries are acceptable) alone preferably.
  21. Get UK to give me a provisional motorcyclists license and simultaneously get a 'card' license.
  22. Go SCUBA diving again - at least two dives lasting 30mins each.
  23. Go to a dentist. *sigh*
  24. Do a Czech Wine Trail. And live to tell the tale
  25. Make an 'outbreak emergency kit'.
  26. Go to bed prior to 11pm every night (inc weekends) for four consecutive weeks.
  27. Marvel over lack of tiredness
  28. Dine at a Gordon Ramsey restaurant (or Nobu)- preferably for free.
  29. Bet on the nags
  30. Do something for charity (applying and getting a 'red card' will count)
  31. Walk along the Champs Elysee
  32. Do 100 sit ups in a row
  33. Do 50 pressups (arms in tight)
  34. Make branston pickle (or nearest substitute)
  35. Cook something 'new' and 'adventurous' at least once a month
  36. Find a mentor
  37. Be a mentor
  38. Learn what mentoring is all about
  39. Meet an online person in real life
  40. Resist the flirt. Once. Just one night. It's okay if people don't immediately succumb to my natural charm. Really it is.
  41. Spend time at a spa (spa towns in the CR don't count)
  42. Send a care package to someone
  43. Get a Tata Bojs CD
  44. Take a French/German/Dutch course and SPEAK THE DAMNED LANGUAGE WHEN I HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY EVEN THOUGH IT MAKES ME SOUND LIKE AN IDIOT!
  45. Order new contact lenses.
  46. Make a list of things I take with me when I pack for different occasions
  47. Eat lobster. Prepared by someone else.
  48. Back up the blog
  49. Put everything onto an external hard drive
  50. Find a DDR mat and console and 'dance, I say dance!'�
  51. Go to the beach and lie on the warm sand. For an hour. (with sunscreen on, natch)
  52. Take and complete a course in either: Tango, Salsa or Flamenco
  53. Join the Municipal Library of Prague
  54. Move to another country
  55. Go to a live concert of a band I actually like
  56. Pay off debts (student loan excl.)
  57. Send thank you cards for every gift I receive (other than the gift of happiness, blah blah blah).
  58. Get an agent (literary or theatre)
  59. Go to a sports bar without cringing, by personal choice
  60. Ride a rollercoaster
  61. Hold a snake
  62. Spend a day wandering around a museum (not art gallery!)
Overload...
Sunday 16 October 2005
So...the conference has been completely exhausting. We arrived in Mahon (yay...a ´city´ at long last) on Wednesday evening, and after checking in and having a bath (fresh water is unbelievably delicious) we (you know who by now) went and found Casa Nova, an italian restaurant on the waterfront that served the most delicious food. A few bottles of wine, water and much pasta sampling later (so, we won't see each other naked yet, but we'll feed each other instead...) we strolled back up to our (comparatively) luxurious hotel. I spoke to my new boss along the way (he had eaten with the other facilitators of the course) and informed him that I may have troubles getting into work at 7:15am on Monday. He told me I could get in at 9! Ha ha. What a scream.
The following day, we were all there bright and early. Well. Early at least. Some of us sat in the stalls - boxes around hte outside of this gorgeously renovated theatre, as they afforded us more legroom. Moreover, the opportunity to look out over the rest of the audience and judge how boring the talks were by how many other attendees had fallen asleep.
In comparison to ohter conferences I´ve been to (2 intl ones), this one had 10min talks followed by 10mins of questions. I surprised myself by staying awake during all of the morning talks......and through the afternoon. I feel overloaded and overwhelmed with information, and very tired following three weeks of non-stop alcohol imbibing (I know, I´ve lost my touch!) following more excesses in the name of 'leaving NZ', but the talks were all surprisingly interesting, so it wasn't too difficult to remain focused. A brief summary of all I learnt:Do not have a baby in France or CanadaDo not eat a kebab in LondonDo not swim in Swedish lakes
Do not eat roasted chicken in SpainDo not take blood from migratory birds in GermanyDo not shop in supermarkets in the Netherlands and most importantlyNEVER go on a cruise ship.I think if I follow all of the above, I´ll be safe. The first night wehad dinner and we were instructed to sit with the previous yearscohort. This was good, though we seriously had to psyche ourselves upinto being éxtroverted again (seriously, it takes it´s toll whenyou´re doing it for weeks at a time with no down time). Thankfully,it´s not so long since cohort 10 were in our position, consequentlymost could remember the exhausted feeling, and were content just toblather at us rather than expecting sense from us. Met some v. coolpeople...but they don´t seem anywhere near as much fun as our cohort.Yay us!Next day...more talks. Again, I stayed awake (where is this energycoming from?) despite closing the dinner the previous night at about1am. We checked out the poster session in the morning tea break sothat we could head back to the hotel during the scheduled posterwalkabout after lunch, for jacuzzi, swim, sauna and sleep. Three outof four ain´t bad. Slightly more restored, some of us went back forthe afternoon session, which was REALLY interesting, so I´m glad thatmy conscience kicked in.Back to the hotel for our 1hour of scheduled free time, to dress fordinner. I loaned Lisanne my blue sparkly top (you know, the one withthe windows down the arms) and she looked fabulous. Grr. Hate when Iloan my clothes and the loanee wears it better than me! Still...madeit to the dinner feeling a little more revived. Dancing started at11.30, and we kinda left at 3am. Went back to Lísá´s room and crashedout on the bed, chatting till 5ish. Went to own room......for 2hours of sleep. After which I sprung (ha bloody ha) from my",1]
);
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Do not eat frozen Polish raspberriesDo not eat roasted chicken in SpainDo not take blood from migratory birds in GermanyDo not shop in supermarkets in the Netherlands and most importantlyNEVER go on a cruise ship.I think if I follow all of the above, I´ll be safe. The first night we had dinner and we were instructed to sit with the previous years cohort. This was good, though we seriously had to psyche ourselves up into being éxtroverted again (seriously, it takes it´s toll when you´re doing it for weeks at a time with no down time). Thankfully, it´s not so long since cohort 10 were in our position, consequently most could remember the exhausted feeling, and were content just to talk at us rather than expecting sense from us. Met some cool people...but they don´t seem anywhere near as much fun as our cohort. Yay us! The best thing was asking them how their first years had gone (most had problems with their contracts) and what they enjoyed (hmm, let's see, the travel, the work, the travel, the excitement, the work, the travel...) and getting the salacious gossip from their 'temptation island' (Lazareto: locked down each night with 40 males and females between 25 and 60yrs. You'd think there'd be something going on wouldn't you? Sadly, epidemiology seems to be a field populated by females and gay men. Great times...but no gossip damnit!). Again, the usual crew closed the bar. Some went back to Lisa's jacuzzi (jammy cow got one of the 5 best rooms in the hotel...but since she's living in a parisian shoebox with one burner to cook on and her kitchen and bathroom sink are the one and the same, she deserved it!) while the rest went to sleep. For a few hours at least...Next day...more talks. Again, I stayed awake (where is this energy coming from, when there are no pharmaceuticals involved!?). We checked out the poster session in the morning tea break so that we could head back to the hotel during the scheduled poster walkabout after lunch, for jacuzzi, swim, sauna and sleep. Three out of four ain´t bad. Slightly more restored, some of us went back for the afternoon session, which was REALLY interesting, so I´m glad that my conscience kicked in.Back to the hotel for our 1hour of scheduled "free time", to dress for dinner. I loaned Lisanne my blue sparkly top (you know, the one with the windows down the arms) and she looked fabulous. Grr. Hate when I loan my clothes and the loanee wears it better than me! Still...made it to the dinner feeling a little more revived. Dancing started at 11.30, and we kinda left at 3am. Went back to Lísá´s room and crashed out on the bed, chatting till 5ish. Went to own room......for 2hours of sleep. After which I sprung (ha ha) from my
water, gum, smints and cafe con leche!!! - I miss Kelburn cafe...) andwas present for the important session (well, one of them) oninternational health. These had a bit of an effect on me (through theglazed brain) as one of the talks was about niger, where 63% of peopleare living on less than US$1/day and they´re dying of malnutrition.despite having requested international aid twice in the last weewhile, they´re not receiving any. I think this is sad. To top it off,the next talk was about cluster sampling methods used to analysemortality, and the fact that of 67 studies that were conducted duringa particular time period, by 10 NGO´s, only 6 had valid and precisedata, because they had been conducted using flawed sampling frames.ARGH!Not only that but of all the talks presented in this session, whererecommendations had been made (to the UN, to NGÓ´s etc...) forimprovement (of water quality for displaced persons in Darfur, forfood in Niger) none of hte actions had been taken. It´s an ESRMOHreport on a global scale. So what´s the point? And why is it that whenyou do a study properly, and come up with a recommendation no onewants to hear, they tear apart your methodology, but if you do itpoorly, and come up with something they DO want to hear, then therecommendations are actioned!? Grr. Such a waste of valuable time andmoney.Anyway. Then we had a roundtable discussion and I not only managed tostay awake, listen to the presentations preceeding the discussion, butI also managed to compile what was later described as a good question(which received a crap answer as there were too many politicians onthe stage) and impress someone I´m hoping will be my future boss. YAYfor Nomes. All in all, it was a bit of a strategic decision to get outof bed this morning: I figured there are too many people in the roomby whom I may want to be employed in the future not to a) stay up allnight oartying with them and b) still maage to turn up in the morningand c) display an interest in an important topic and d) appear to havethe capacity for rational thought despite the previous nightsexcesses. Hell, I´d employ me. :)So...yeah. The conference has now finished. Posters are down. I´m offto the symphony orchestra tonigth after tapas, and then an early sleepI hope.",0]
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bed, made my way to the venue again (stopping to collect croissant,water, gum, smints and cafe con leche!!! - I miss Kelburn cafe...) and was present for the important session (well, one of them) oninternational health. These had a bit of an effect on me (through the glazed brain) as one of the talks was about niger, where 63% of people are living on less than US$1/day and they´re dying of malnutrition. despite having requested international aid twice in the last wee while, they´re not receiving any. I think this is sad. To top it off, the next talk was about cluster sampling methods used to analyse mortality, and the fact that of 67 studies that were conducted during a particular time period, by 10 NGO´s, only 6 had valid and precise data, because they had been conducted using flawed sampling frames. ARGH!Not only that but of all the talks presented in this session, whererecommendations had been made (to the UN, to NGÓ´s etc...) for improvement (of water quality for displaced persons in Darfur, for food in Niger) none of hte actions had been taken. It´s an ESRMOH report on a global scale. So what´s the point? And why is it that when you do a study properly, and come up with a recommendation no one wants to hear, they tear apart your methodology, but if you do it poorly, and come up with something they DO want to hear, then the recommendations are actioned!? Grr. Such a waste of valuable resource.Anyway. Then we had a roundtable discussion and I not only managed to stay awake, listen to the presentations preceeding the discussion, but I also managed to compile what was later described as a good question (which received a crap answer as there were too many politicians on the stage) and impress someone I´m hoping will be my future boss. YAY for Nomes. All in all, it was a bit of a strategic decision to get out of bed this morning: I figured there are too many people in the room by whom I may want to be employed in the future not to a) stay up all night oartying with them and b) still maage to turn up in the morning and c) display an interest in an important topic and d) appear to have the capacity for rational thought despite the previous nights excesses. Hell, I´d employ me. Then I'd tell me to stop being such a goody two shoes and get a life! :)So...yeah. The conference has now finished. Posters are down. Went home for a few hours of kip, but ended up translating a movie from spanish (ah yes...of course I can translate a rom com from anything...) so that Morten could follow it. Went and had indian dinner (*sob* come back Tulsi...) and watched the Balaeric Philharmonic play a Beethoven overture, a violin concerto by Tchaikovsky and finish with Beethovens Ist. It was magical (though potentially soporific) and throughout, I'm sure my shoulders came down. Went to a bar for a drink on the way home, before saying cheerio to those leaving excessively early in the morning. Charged iPod and put photos on it...(wait a moment for heaven's sake) and packed bag. Had a leisurely brunch with Luise in the am, grabbed taxi to airport and a few hours later, here I am, unpacked and prepared for the week.
And I'm NOT going in at 7:15 damnit!
posted by Nomes @ Sunday, October 16, 2005  
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