Now she's ready to go sailing

Too small a hat for my "brainy" guinea pig

That's how Scooters will look when she gets older

Let's be all girly

That's my slipper

Cute ain't she?

I hope Scooters like flowers

Dolling up my guinea pig

Next, I wanted to use the remaining battery life to take some photographs of my own guinea pigs. So I picked Scooters to be my subject.

Chimes and Toci

Toci

Chimes and Toci

Chimes

Chimes and Toci

Chimes and Toci

Chimes

Chimes

Chimes

Chimes in our dead *ahem* backyard

Irresistible Chimes :)

In the mood for ANIMALS

Perhaps it's because I've been spending the last few days sorting out my old photographs from the past 5 years, but I suddenly felt like pursuing an old dream of mine - to shoot photographs of animals. That is why, when I learnt that Kelvin will bringing his dog Chimes for a socialization activity with Brian's friend's dog Toci, I knew I wanted to tag along and take pictures of the dogs at play.

I'll be putting some of my favourite pictures up here :)

It's a lifestyle, not a career

Yesterday during our break, there was a career talk "Life of an equine surgeon" given by Dave Murphy. Talks like these are rare, so off we went to listen to what he had to say. Man, was he humorous, especially when he gave us an account of one of his first few disastrous consultations with strange animals like gerbils. Meanwhile, I've always known that as vet students, what we learn in school is nothing compared to the valuable experiences gained during the first few months of practice immediately following graduation. Yet, everytime I attend these talks, the magnitude of our inexperience and "vulnerability" just hits me, and it's scary to realize that we're so poorly equipped even after studying for 5 years in this school. I was shocked to learn from my friend today that we're not going to be practising much surgery even in our 4th and 5th years, because there just aren't anything much for us to practise on, other than dead material. A minority of us might have friends who conveniently have pets requiring a free castration/spay when the time comes, but not many of us are going to be that lucky, I think.

Back to the topic of the career talk yesterday. I thought he was probably going to tell us what it's like to be an equine surgeon. But what we got out of it exceeded my expectations, for, in general, he tried to convey to us what we can expect out of our careers, be it equine or small animal or something else. His ideas are VERY inspiring. Some valuable words that I remember in particular was that, to be a vet is "a lifestyle, not a career". Which means that if we expect a 9 to 5 job, we can't be more wrong. That doesn't particularly bother me, because I guess I had always known that, and I don't seem to place much emphasis on a stimulating personal life as of now. Some student in the audience then asked him a question which was on our minds, as to how relationships and family commitments fit into the whole picture of being a vet. I can't recall what his exact reply was, other than the idea that we'll be lucky if we can find someone who's willing to travel with us to the other end of the world! To put simply, relationships can be difficult, till one has really settled down. Upon graduation, due to our inexperience and lack of exposure, we really need all the time and opportunities to "play around" with till we are sure of what it is that we exactly want to do. Research? small, mixed or large animal practice? Specialization in a particular type of animal or a certain expertise in a body part? Wildlife? Production systems of farm animals? Drugs? The opportunities are limitless. I have to thank Dave for once again opening our eyes to the multitude of possibilities awaiting us, especially those of us who have not quite decided yet. Oh wait, what was I talking about? That's right, relationships. I'm sure that Dave didn't mean to be discouraging, but the implications cannot be denied... it DOES matter to most people who want the best of both worlds... a family AND a career. Can we really have both and still excel in what we do? Not only is the matter of time and commitment a problem, but can we find others who truly accept what we do without the slightest bit of deterrance? Yesterday, Val and I were talking to a guy we met at our Lindy Hop class, and it was just as plain as day to me how disturbed he was when we were discussing some of the tasks that faced the vet students. His whole body literally went into spasm in order to exaggerate his disgust for the dissections that we have to do. Hopefully he's just an exception, but I seriously doubt it cuz I've had similar reactions from friends before. Some people can tolerate a clear distinction between work and relationships, but not me. If I work with animals whom I love, then how will I be able to live my life with someone who sees it merely as a job and doesn't show an appreciation for what I love?

I think I may be getting carried away by my thoughts :P

A link to a cute picture

I bookmarked GrowABrain website a long time ago, and was just compelled to revisit it again today. Clicked on a particular link and up come this really cute picture. Try it. It's simply too adorable to be resisted. Guess it's going to be my wallpaper for a while :)

Pigs stink, so I stink

If anyone ever thought that vet students act like a stuck-up, hoity toity bunch, I would recommend the following therapy: visit the vet students at their weekly pig prac class. The only thing that would be stuck-up is the thermometer the students each have up the pigs' asses, while they waddle around on crouched legs in a desperate attempt to keep the thermometer up there. Honestly, there is no dignity left. Maybe there is a reason why there are not many accounts written by students on their vet school life. Sheer embarassment probably?

I'm not putting down the activities that we have to do for our pig prac today, however. I think it's kind of fun, in a way, if not for the time constraints. And of course it is absolutely necessary to learn how to draw blood from the pigs both from the veins in their big flappy ears and the jugular vein. Now if only they would stop screaming the shed down. It sounds just like Jurassic Park whenever they do that. Someone should seriously think about changing what most people deem to be the sound that pigs make - pigs don't OINK. They SCREAM. They GRUNT and SNORT, if they're in a more accomodating mood. There is absolutely nothing in their "speech" that remotely resemble an OINK. When I see and hear them screaming, I feel like doing the same myself.

There came a point this afternoon when we had to draw the blood from the vena cava of the weaners. Horrors never cease, when I felt my needle hitting something SOLID within the chest cavity. The initial conversation that followed:

me (to K): Did you hit something hard before you drew blood just now?
K: Yeah, I think so. At first.
me: Oh my gosh, it's disgusting....ew..Is that supposed to happen?
K is unsure. and I continued piercing the needle into something that had the feel of "cartilage".

Later did we realise, upon finally mastering the right angle at which to insert the needle, that I was probably hitting the spine or something ( hopefully it's not the trachea), and no it was not supposed to happen. I hope I haven't punctured anything serious in that little pig. I'm definitely not proud of this, but my point is that I felt we are clueless, partly because there was only one ole' Buddle guy walking around. Maybe the whole point of the exercise is to learn by trial and error. But still, couldn't the learning process be less painful for the pigs if we were given clearer instructions at least?

Exam Timetables are Out!

I must really be looking forward to the end of semester if I'm that eager to know when my exams finish! Well, the nightmare starts on the 13th and end on the 21st June. It's quite a relief to find out that they do space out our vet exams quite nicely this time round. This upcoming break holds infinite possibilities, since I don't know what I'll be doing then yet... but I shan't worry about something that is not even remotely within my control :)

First of May

First of May - BeeGees

When I was small, and christmas trees were tall,
We used to love while others used to play.
Don’t ask me why, but time has passed us by,
Some one else moved in from far away.

Now we are tall, and christmas trees are small,
And you don’t ask the time of day.
But you and i, our love will never die,
But guess we’ll cry come first of may.

The apple tree that grew for you and me,
I watched the apples falling one by one.
And I recall the moment of them all,
The day I kissed your cheek and you were mine.

When I was small, and christmas trees were tall,
Do do do do do do do do do...
Don’t ask me why, but time has passed us by,
Some one else moved in from far away.
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No, I have not waited patiently for this day so that I could post a song on the date itself.
No, the lyrics do not have any special meaning to me.
But yes, I love the tune to this song, and that sparked off my curiosity for the lyrics.

It's just a little sad, to recognize that time will continually pass us by, and it's even sadder to realize that we just have to let go of the past and live in the present instead. This month of May marks the moment when all of my friends in the US and Singapore will be graduating at last. It affects me to some extent, although there is no reason for it to.