Work Psychology Week 5

I wasn't able to attend Tuesday's lecture on account of a doctor's appointment. Gosh, don't get me started on that appointment. OK, I'll tell you anyway before I jump into today's Psychology lecture (I'll be posting about Tuesday's lecture tomorrow when I would normally post about today's).

Right, so I've got a rather large and, frankly, ugly mole right in the center of my back. I've had it for as long as I can remember and when I hit puberty it raised. When I first noticed it raised I've had checked out every couple of years. At every appointment they've said that it's completely normal and to come back in a couple of years or if I notice any change. At one appointment they even said they needed to remove a different mole because it looked cancerous. Anyway, I've started catching this mole on bra straps and my fingers when I put lotion on and if I toss and turn in the middle of the night I will sometimes wake up with blood on my sleep shirt. So, in December I went to my GP and asked for it to be removed. They said that since it wasn't cancerous they couldn't make it a priority but they would make an appointment for me in a couple of months for the dermatology clinic and they would remove it. Made the appointment for this past Tuesday and went in expecting for them to remove it. I took off the whole day. I went in and spent 5 minutes in the office where they went, "Oh it's not cancerous." Yes! I know that! Grr...they said that they couldn't get an appointment for me for another five months and that it would be quicker for my GP to do it! ARGH! Annoyed.

Anyway...on to today's Psychology lecture:

Occupational Stress

Occupational stress is focused on stress due to the conditions of the workplace instead of personal stress. Personal stress can add to occupational stress, but it shouldn't be the absolute cause. It is the emplyer's job to monitor the workplace and watch over the employees. There were three key terms that we discussed today.

Stressors: the physical or psychological demands that are responded to
Strains: the responses to these stressors
Stress: psychological reaction when there is a perceived imbalance between the task demands and the individual's capabilities

It is important to note that this is only a perceived imbalance. There might not actually be an imbalance but the individual believes that there is one. It is all about how an individual perceives themself.

Some people are more resilient to occupational stress than others. There is research to suggest that it has to do with the specific person's personality.

I would like to say that I have more, but I haven't had a chance to read the chapter yet and the lecturer isn't the best out there. She tends to put a lot on the slide show that she doesn't go into and doesn't really talk about. And then she goes on random rants of nothing.

Busy Day

Such a busy day planned. I have to go turn in the report I spent a week writing. I don't know how good it is. I didn't understand the experiment as well as I did the last one, but I know that all the sections are in the right order and that I've put what I need in each. So, at least I know I'll get a passing grade. I am also going to bug the English office about where my last essay is. I do want to know what mark I got, but my tutor isn't emailed me back. Hopefully he finally submitted the essays to the office so I can pick mine up before the final next Friday (YIKES!). Then I'm going to make a doctor's appointment.

Why do I need a doctor's appointment? Well, it's nothing serious (at least I hope it's not) but my right leg has been swelling for quite a while now. It swells for a few hours then goes down so I've never bothered making a doctor's appointment because the swelling always goes down, but yesterday it was swollen from about 10am to well...it must have gone down when I went to sleep because it was still swollen when I tried to get to sleep. That's over 12 hours of my leg being swollen. Means that Erin should go see the doctor about it. I hate doctor's, but my mom might kill me if I don't make an appointment now and she finds out over the summer.

Really, the doctor's appointment is most important today. I have a few other things that I need to do, but they take a back seat to making the appointment.

Hey! You know what would be a fun game? Let's guess why Erin's leg has been swelling for the past few months. Is it a stress reaction? Or could I be retaining water? Is a blood vessel not working properly? Oh gosh! This is fun!

Yesterday

So, I felt so accomplished form yesterday that I decided to sleep in and be lazy this morning.

Yesterday, I finally got a UK telephone number which means today I can finally set up my bank account which means that I'll have a local bank card which means I won't have to worry about ALWAYS having cash on hand.

I also figured out (sort of) the bus schedules and how much I need to pay and all that. 1 pound 70p for a one way ride to the city centre and 3 pound 50p for a day pass. I might get a day pass today if I think I'll go back into to town. Yes! I actually went into the city centre yesterday too. That's how I got my "Pay as You Go Phone". You know what else I found there?

An H&M!!!!! I have yet to find one of these in the States but that might just be because I live in California. But I love H&M. I have a pair of jeans from there but that's only because I stole them from my brother's girlfriend when she came for a visit. What did I find at H&M you ask? I rain jacket! I very pretty rain jacket. Now, most girls love shopping, I personally have to be in the right mood for it and yesterday I really wasn't. But I figured since I was there and since I had just pulled money out of my account I might as well try and find one that I liked. I did, but it took a while. I have no idea what size I am here. I know I'm a Small to a Medium in the States. I'm only a Medium sometimes because of my gosh darn broad shoulders. I settled for a size 10 here. The 6 fit me perfectly around the waist and bust, but apparently Europeans don't have broad shoulders or long arms...or maybe I just have really long arms. 2 Sizes up and the shoulders fit "OK" but not ideal, but any larger and it would have been WAY too big for my waist and bust instead of just a little too big. But it's a nice rain coat and I love it.

Now, time to talk about the bus schedule. I held up the line a little both times because I'm still trying to figure out what to do here and you could tell the bus drivers were both a little annoyed. But that didn't bother me because if he couldn't tell by my accent (yes, I have an accent here) that I wasn't a native then they can just kiss my...feet, and deal with it. On the ride home I accidentally got off a little too early. I'm still not too sure where all the stops are and I didn't want to end up on a street I didn't know. Because of this I had to walk a ways before I got home. I don't mind walking, I actually really like it. But it was raining pretty hard and my feet were cold so I was hurrying to get home. As I was walking another bus came by and went through a big puddle right next to me. You can guess what happened. I looked like I had gone down to the harbour and taken a dip in the North Sea. What did I do? I started giggling uncontrollably because I thought it was the funniest thing in the world. So there I am, soaked from water that has God knows what in it, and I'm laughing.

When I got home I quickly stripped out of the dirty, wet clothes and slipped into over sized sweat pants and a long sleeve T-shirt and then immediately did laundry. Even then, my room kind of smelled like a wet dog all night. Now I normally wear "real" clothing when going down to the wash room, but I really didn't care at that point. I had been out for hours and was wet and dirty and tired so if people have a problem with my comfy clothes then, to quote Madeline ( yes, Madeline use to be my favourite cartoon ever!) the smallest of all, Poo Poo to them.

Oh, another reason I was so tired and wet is because I went to register with my GP (general practitioner) yesterday. For those of you who don't know what that is exactly, it's just my doctor. As an international student I am entitled to FREE consolations, Free Check Ups, and FREE registration. The only thing I have to pay is 3 pound for any medications prescribed to me if I get sick. I'm ok with that. Ah, Socialism. Everyone else is paying for my medical care and I really don't care at all because I'm paying an arm and a leg to go to school and learn stuff so I can be a functioning member of society when I'm all grown up. Then I will gladly pay some some other kid's medical care because I want them to be able to buy food and not have to worry about what happens if they get sick while they're studying at the University. Call me a Socialist, but I am glad I don't have to worry about what would happen if I got really sick in a strange country all alone while I'm paying $10,000+ to go to school so I can get a job and not mooch off of my parents or others when I'm older.

That was my adventure yesterday. I deserved a little R&R after that so I did take it easy this morning. I talked to Ryan for quite a while and didn't have to worry about getting out at a certain time which was nice. And now, I'm going to tell you my plan for the afternoon. I joined the Aberdeen University Roleplaying Society. Yes, I know, nerdy. But I've always been interested and what a better time to try it? Hey, if I want to unwind on Sundays by make believing I'm an elf why not right? Haha! Ok, so now that you all have a different opinion of me, I'm going to finish getting ready so I can go to the first Roleplaying Association meeting in two hours. :)