the social network is a great film. I saw it last night and was not only blown away by the performance of Jessie, who plays Mark Zuckaberg, the inventer of facebook, but watched one particular scene with such awe, I may have stopped breathing momentarily.
I speak of the scene where Mark is on the phone to co-founder, Edwardo. He speaks of the risk of the facebook site crashing due to inadequate infrastructure. In itself, the line was inocuous, merely establishing the characters intimate understanding of his product. But it pulled at my heartstrings mainly due to the situation I currently find myself in.
Basically, the ConDitioNs at work are what sprang to mind during that scene. As a radiographer, it has become increasingly Critical to have a good Digital Network. In the abscenCe of a reliable system, a Department could literally be brought to it's kNees. Patient care CoulD be Negatively effected. Of even greater conCern, any Department without a deceNt system is now basically unreliable as a referral centre.
A poor paCs/ris system creates such a negative atmosphere within a raDiology departmeNt that it could potentially self destruct.
The next line in the movie was even more inspiring.
ZuCkaberg suggested that any Downtime of the site could have dire coNsequences. The idea that poor performanCe woulD be detrimeNtal to the company was quite refreshing. I pity any radiographer having to work under any other ConDitioNs.
I am inCredibly grateful that I am surrounDed by such a great team of radiographers that I don't believe aNything could break us.
Time CoulD prove me wroNg.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
CHASING MY OWN TAIL
It was inevitable that being a newly crowned father of two, that my experiences in parenting would someday be the focus of an entry. Today is that day.
Some back story.
It was a beautiful spring day in 2007. I was working on a Sunday and, as was our tradition, Lisa picked me up to take me out for lunch. I'm not too sure how it came up, but I commented to Lisa that perhaps I should ring my Dad and talk to him. I just wanted to get a feel for where his head was at in the moments before trying to start a family. I expressed genuine concern to Lisa that I couldn't imagine ever wanting to have children. How was I to know that moments earlier, Lisa had returned a positive pregnancy test only half an hour earlier?
Since the arrival of our second boy, I have come to realise that fatherhood is a lot like slavery, except you have to pay for the privilege. You wake up, look after your children's every need, go to work, come home, look after your children's every need, and go to bed. And much like the slaves of ancient times, many conversations centre around some distant time where we will no longer feel the sting of our master's whips at every waking moment. When we will have earnt our freedom through 20 years of faithful servitude.
Nevertheless, fatherhood is full of the most heart-warming, and often hilarious, moments which somehow cushion the blows. Like when my 2 year old won't allow the toilet to be flushed until both Mum and Dad have inspected his most wonderful creation. Perhaps sanity prevails because every day when I put the key in the front door I hear him yelling 'Daddy's home!' on the other side of the door.
Then there are the moments where an act of sheer naughtiness is so amusing that instead of smacking the back of my sons hand, I almost feel that turning his palm up and giving him a low five would be more appropriate. Like when whilst trying to ride a push along car through long grass, he dismounts, kicks the bike over, and mutters two words. 'Fucking Car'.
There are also little moments which are disproportionately devastating. Like when I leave home for work, knowing that both my boys will be a day older the next time I see them. My 2 year old so disappointed I could cry. That I guess is the curse of the working parent. Sleepless nights reduce performance at work. Long hours reducing quality time with family. I know this is nothing new for working parents. But that doesn't make it any easier to bear.
I have become something to everybody, and everything to nobody.
That notion got me thinking...
If you believe Hollywood movies, (and lets face it, we do all too readily), the next steps in human evolution are a range of wonderful super powers. Mind control, instant healing powers, and incredible strength are the future of the human race. This of course totally ignores the basic principle of the purpose of evolution. To adapt a species to the environment, and to assist in the survival of that species.
So, in a world where men and women are equal and ideally interchangable, where will the next step in evolution take us?
As I helplessly soothe my 8 week old child who is starving hungry, waiting for his mother to come home, I can only imagine, the evolutionary process will not create the fierce, hairy, monster we know as BEASTMAN! No, it will be the mammary wielding poor bastard, BREASTMAN! With the ability to feed young in a world where husbands are more hands on than ever. Tragically, career women with a desperate desire to have children, will find the male of the species with huge cans irresistible.
The sleep deprivation that is becoming a way of life in our 24 hour a day culture will create the next mutation of the human genome, in the form of the ever-alert INSOMNIATOR. The blood-shot eyes, the mark of the creature that never sleeps. Essential to employers, this new sub-species will become the top echelon of high society.
Lastly, due to the exponential increase in the morbidly obese over the next 500 years, CARDIOMAN will be spawned. Born at normal size, this human will have a beachball sized heart, pumping 5 litres per beat, at a resting heart rate of 2bpm.
But until that day, we will all continue to wander the earth, exhausted.
Some back story.
It was a beautiful spring day in 2007. I was working on a Sunday and, as was our tradition, Lisa picked me up to take me out for lunch. I'm not too sure how it came up, but I commented to Lisa that perhaps I should ring my Dad and talk to him. I just wanted to get a feel for where his head was at in the moments before trying to start a family. I expressed genuine concern to Lisa that I couldn't imagine ever wanting to have children. How was I to know that moments earlier, Lisa had returned a positive pregnancy test only half an hour earlier?
Since the arrival of our second boy, I have come to realise that fatherhood is a lot like slavery, except you have to pay for the privilege. You wake up, look after your children's every need, go to work, come home, look after your children's every need, and go to bed. And much like the slaves of ancient times, many conversations centre around some distant time where we will no longer feel the sting of our master's whips at every waking moment. When we will have earnt our freedom through 20 years of faithful servitude.
Nevertheless, fatherhood is full of the most heart-warming, and often hilarious, moments which somehow cushion the blows. Like when my 2 year old won't allow the toilet to be flushed until both Mum and Dad have inspected his most wonderful creation. Perhaps sanity prevails because every day when I put the key in the front door I hear him yelling 'Daddy's home!' on the other side of the door.
Then there are the moments where an act of sheer naughtiness is so amusing that instead of smacking the back of my sons hand, I almost feel that turning his palm up and giving him a low five would be more appropriate. Like when whilst trying to ride a push along car through long grass, he dismounts, kicks the bike over, and mutters two words. 'Fucking Car'.
There are also little moments which are disproportionately devastating. Like when I leave home for work, knowing that both my boys will be a day older the next time I see them. My 2 year old so disappointed I could cry. That I guess is the curse of the working parent. Sleepless nights reduce performance at work. Long hours reducing quality time with family. I know this is nothing new for working parents. But that doesn't make it any easier to bear.
I have become something to everybody, and everything to nobody.
That notion got me thinking...
If you believe Hollywood movies, (and lets face it, we do all too readily), the next steps in human evolution are a range of wonderful super powers. Mind control, instant healing powers, and incredible strength are the future of the human race. This of course totally ignores the basic principle of the purpose of evolution. To adapt a species to the environment, and to assist in the survival of that species.
So, in a world where men and women are equal and ideally interchangable, where will the next step in evolution take us?
As I helplessly soothe my 8 week old child who is starving hungry, waiting for his mother to come home, I can only imagine, the evolutionary process will not create the fierce, hairy, monster we know as BEASTMAN! No, it will be the mammary wielding poor bastard, BREASTMAN! With the ability to feed young in a world where husbands are more hands on than ever. Tragically, career women with a desperate desire to have children, will find the male of the species with huge cans irresistible.
The sleep deprivation that is becoming a way of life in our 24 hour a day culture will create the next mutation of the human genome, in the form of the ever-alert INSOMNIATOR. The blood-shot eyes, the mark of the creature that never sleeps. Essential to employers, this new sub-species will become the top echelon of high society.
Lastly, due to the exponential increase in the morbidly obese over the next 500 years, CARDIOMAN will be spawned. Born at normal size, this human will have a beachball sized heart, pumping 5 litres per beat, at a resting heart rate of 2bpm.
But until that day, we will all continue to wander the earth, exhausted.
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