real life

i had the entire day off today, but i went in to hospital anyway. it's because i'm participating in this laparoscopic study, where the authors are trying to assess students' ability to learn surgical skills from a laparoscopic box trainer.

so there i was, doing my daily 'practice', when one of the anaesthetists came up behind me and asked me what i was doing. i explained, and he watched. after a while, he said 'this arm doesn't look very clever, it looks like it's doing *this*'. he then proceeded to demonstrate some spastic motions.

how depressing. if i were the protagonist in one of my fantasy books, (drizzt do'urden or sonea) i'd have displayed exceptional natural digital dexterity. a crowd of surgeons would have gathered behind me. i'd be offered direct entry into the college of surgeons because my laparoscopic skills were simply too dangerous to be unleashed onto the community without proper training.

but i am no protagonist, and this is real life.