Parasites

My next challenge, apart from evil equids, is parasitology. It's been a while since I last looked over this stuff, but most of it seems to be in my brain somewhere. Revision seems to be working in this case, now I just need to get on with it. Today was mites, fleas and ticks. Fairly easy stuff to remember, these parasites are pretty boring apart from the diseases they can transmit. Lyme's disease, Yersinia pestis, tapeworms etc etc. All great fun.

After parasites comes viruses and bacteria. I may have the upper hand in these exams though. More about that at a later date. Then finally on May 31st comes "Body System 2" with the joy and excitement that is reproduction, large animal anatomy, neurology and something else I've possibly forgotten. This is possibly not the best of starts.

Work

I have escaped work, yay! I am a member of the bar staff (some say senior bar staff) here in Edinburgh. It's a really fun job. We pride ourselves on being the best of the chain of pubs in the area. Where other bars have 4 bar staff on, we have 2. We do not only work bar, we cook food, tend to the building, be security for the building and other things besides. To put it blunty we are great. We do however finish earlier than the other pubs so we do get a chance at going out for a pint. For 2 years now we have been saying we would visit other pubs post-shift. Tonight it happened. It was fun but tiring. I'm due back in a few hours and am mildly inebriated. Whoops!

Horses

Today was the horse revision session before the practical exam next week. There is so much stuff to remember! We spent over an hour going through various bits and pieces ranging from breeds to aging by teeth to bedding and feeding. I'm feeling more confident about this resit and I'm beginning to feel more comfortable around horses in general, although they are still evil evil creatures, unlike turtles. We like turtles.

Climbing!

I finally got to go climbing today and really really enjoyed it. Managed a few 6a's and even a 6b which is bloody amazing considering how sore I was from my run last night. I got slightly bored and ran up the Crags here in Edinburgh, then around various other bits before struggling up a big bloody hill into a pub. It was great fun!

It's not all fun though. I spend some hours today looking over some neuro stuff. I also need to revise reproduction. And arrange EMS for horses and check on the chicken EMS I have planned. So much to do and almost no time.

Work

I just finished work for the night. I'm back again in a few hours too. Yay! It was fairly busy, but not too bad. My crazy colleagues made it all fine for me. I'm now watching Eddie Izzard and slowing down post-work and pre-bed. It may only leave me with 4 hours sleep, but thats all I need. Although I do hope to climb tomorrow after work. We shall see.

Results

Results from the practical exams from last week are out already. I managed to pass everything (sheep, cattle, cat & dog, and exotics) except for horses. I pretty much knew I had failed horses due to some very silly mistakes. This next week we are learning neurology so not much time to practice before the resit. I may have to hunt horses to play with over the weekend.

All done

Finished for now. Today was my large animal anatomy oral exam, and it went suprisingly ok. I was shocked to realise that I do actually know some anatomy, especially concerning the abdomen. I'm not so hot on my cranial nerves, but we have neurology lectures starting next week.

I'm not too sure what to do with myself now. I was fairly near the start of the orals, so most people I know haven't finished yet. It's too early to have a celebratory pint, and I can't go climbing as no partner. I'm just going to sit in and watch All Creatures Great And Small I think.