This old email stirred up memories, although not about work. I had sent with it an article my daughter had written for her school newsletter, a sort of faux agony aunt column, that was hilarious. Unfortunately, when I tried to have another look at it a couple of years later, it had vanished from existence. Google had made it disappear, and we had no other copies. I thought whatever was put on the internet was recoverable, but apparently that only refers to drunken naked selfies posted to social media in the middle of the night (and that’s not personal experience talking, I hasten to add). I try to get her to write the odd thing about her new life in Canada but it’s like getting blood from a stone. Not sure what better things she could possibly be doing with her time but there you go. In fact she’s coming home for a fortnight’s visit with her boyfriend this weekend, so I may get better results with nagging in person rather than via messenger. Wish me luck.
From: Kirsty Jordan
Sent: Friday, 4 September 2015 12:32 PM
To: Wellington Anaesthesia All Staff
Subject: explanatory email
Hi All,
As per Chris’ email, this time last week I was a martyr to hayfever. Not long after the schedule came out I fled home and gave myself an IM injection of kenacort; by the next day I was cured: the living embodiment of my motto “better living through chemistry”. This may in part explain my choice of specialty: anaesthesia – the only branch of medicine where polypharmacy is not only tolerated but encouraged. My daughter was horrified when I said I’d injected myself with steroids: “is that even legal??”. Speaking of which, because this weeks email is so short (I’m a little hard of thinking this week)(?drug side effect), I thought I’d attach her school magazine article as proud mother spam which you are welcome to ignore. You can see where she gets her sense of humour from – her father, clearly – from whom she also inherits her idiosyncratic approach to spelling. It’s gratifying to think that if her career aspirations (engineering, astrophysics, historian, or whatever it is this week) don’t pan out, at least she can scratch a living as an unemployed writer on the dole.
(Eds note: I’ve chopped out all the work related stuff as it was technical and mostly dull).
Kirsty