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Only, it must be said, that of a Resusci-anne*, but there y’go. She was in Asystole for which the outcome from resuscitation is pretty poor – and she went straight from compromised bradycardia into asystole, so we were pretty buggered. But I did my best, and since I’ve never seen a successful resuscitation then it’s fair enough.

I’m hoping I’ve passed my ILS. They didn’t stop me and say “Good lord, what are you trying to do!?”, which is obviously a sign that things are going wrong, and they usually (or at least did last time) prompt you to get you going in the right direction, and the only thing that came up was atropine to treat her bradycardia. Since she was (notionally at least) bleeding into her abdomen there wasn’t much we could do for her in the (imaginary) A&E. I hope I’ve passed, otherwise it’ll be a bit embaressing.

I’m still really peeved about the ALS. I spoke to loads of other nurses and we all find it grating, because the trust doesn’t run many ALS days, and the problem is the Doctors rotate every 3/4/6 months, which means that we’ll potentially never get on an ALS course run by the trust. It’s about 300 quid to do it, and I’m tempted, once I’ve read the book, to see if I can do some Agency work and book myself on ALS.

I wonder if my agency give me any discount on ALS…

Anyhow.

In other news, I took the DAF in today, and she behaved impeccably. The traffic was awful, but we pootled along stopping every 8 feet or so as the accident on the motorway which closed my junction was cleared. Thankfully, just as I came up to the junction they reopened it, and I managed to get to my training on time. But the journey home was just as un-eventful. I fear the condition of the (expensive) clutch shoes when they come out – because the drum was fairly sharp edged, I suspect. And although I’d like to imagine that the friction material wore the peaks off a bit, I suspect that the peaks wore the friction material off and that those self-same peaks are in the process of destroying the shoes. I don’t want to put ridged shoes on a good drum either. Poot.

But, in super-good news, and relating to the nature of awesome which the DAF club (who I must get around to joining (and I need to renew my MMOC membership as it happens)), a member of the DAF owners’ club has offered to supply us both with a manifold that’s in better condition than our really crackedy one and a drum which is not ridged to hell and back.

But (another but, not a butt), while I’m waiting for that to come, and the other DAF to surface from the garage in which it lurketh, I must get around to preparing my Mac for sale. This means: fixing the Sony monitor semi-properly, removing the second hard-disk, and a veritable cornucopia of file-shuffling. I am debating selling my dad’s old DEC monitor. I really *love* the DEC monitor, it’s 21″ of shiny shiny trinitron goodness; but do I want to lug that all the way to Canada? At some point I need to move on from hording all the things my dad used, and perhaps it’s time to let that go and get some shiny new tech in. I can carefully remove the sticker with his name on (and my stripey apple sticker!) and it can go on a new computer…

Anyway. It’s bed time here in ChezUs. So off we toddle.

Oh, and Being Human? Excellent TV. Thank you Auntie beeb.

* I just found out something truly creepy about resusci-anne; her face is modelled on the death-mask of an unidentified 19th Century woman. That is entirely freaky. I’ll have to share that at work. *creeped out*

So, with me taking the DAF more days than not last week I had plenty of time for contemplation on my journeys – the DAF having no working Radio (she came with one, it just, somewhat unfortunately, died).

The Canada plan had been troubling me not because I’d any less desire to do it, but my cunning plan of funding the move by selling the vastly more valuable house (having done it up and added central heating and so on), and skipping all the way to Canada on tens of thousands of ill-gotten gains has somewhat vaporised. The house is probably worth more money than I/we’ve put in; or at least, it will be when it’s all finished and painted, and when the standard of finish can be shown off.

But it’s unlikely to do what I hoped, which is to give a big chunk of cash on which we’d be able to live and sort out where we want to live in Canada, and to give me those ever elusive ‘savings’ of which I’ve heard so much about.

I’ve found out that, apparently, I’m actually in-line for some inheritance from the death of my Grandparents. This is somewhat of a surprise. I’ve no idea how much; it could be £3.50, £3500, or £35,000. I don’t know whether it’ll help sort out the financial situation I find myself in; and clear the decks which’d make me feel more hopeful about fleeing this place.

It is terrifying for me though; the idea of ripping up my life, small as it is, and moving it, roots and all to another country. I know my mum did it before me, and Kathryn’s here in this foreign (to her) land. I know Kathryn will look after me, and hold my fear in a bright shiny ball that I can gaze on and see it’s beauty, but it’s still scary.

I’ve spent 30 years in this land of rain, semi-detachment and knowing how it works. Knowing that if I don’t know, I know who to ask. And suddenly I find myself with this idea of being in a land where I won’t know how any of it works. Where I’ll be the foreigner, and where my very Englishness will make me stand out.

What does scare me is I don’t fit in here. I am quirky and strange, and I don’t think people quite know what to do with me. Apart from my friends. I don’t readily fit into a pigoen hole, and I don’t want to end up without the freindships I managed to make here.

Anyway. Thoughts.

In other news: the Ent Mac contained more dust than it should’ve. I spent some time with the Air Duster cleaning it out, it’s now substantially less dusty. It’s open, at the moment, as it’s copying the contents of the drive ‘Baird’ to the new drive ‘Baird’ (can y’guess where the TV/Videos are stored?). I didn’t realise it boots of a PATA drive.

Incidentally, PCWorld: No SATA cables?! WTF? They are a PC shop. *rolls eyes*. Did play with a MacBook though. It was shiny. I think I’d want a matt screen though, which is a bugger. I find it hard to imagine spending the cash on such a thing. But there y’go.

Continuing to enjoy Danielle ate the sandwich and have added the Ting Tings and VV Brown to the list.

So I was booked on an ALS course, it’s one of the things missing from my repertoire. I’m trauma trained, ILS trained and so forth, but I’ve not got Critical Care or ALS. They’re the two things I’d really like to have got on my CV.

I got on the ALS course by dint of the fact that people ahead of me in the queue are doing Critical Care, and thus don’t have time to study for and do the ALS course. Unfortunately, I just lost my place to junior doctors. Now that Hospital at night’s running, the junior doctors have to do it. Which means that all the ‘nurse’ places have been taken by junior doctors.

While I see the point, I can’t help but be frustrated. I was complaining about it, and nervous about doing the ALS course, but now I can’t do it, well, *feh*.

So, I spent much of the week with this vague intention that I’d make a post. It started early in the week when, as one of the nurses trained to take the head during log rolls (having done the trauma course), I put gloves and an apron on and we log-rolled this chap to get him into our CT scanner. Then back again to get him off. Halfway down the corridor he vomited.
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I don’t know if it’s the nights, or the terrible habit of not drinking any water, or the contact with sick people when I’m exhausted, but I’m sick again. This is ridiculous. I went through a whole year without being sick, more or less, and now every flipping time I do nights I get sick. This time it’s very vague, though. My stomach’s not happy, I’m pyrexial, and just feel a bit under the weather.

I first really noticed it at work; I was just feeling a bit rough and checked my temperature (38.6C / 101.5F) – and having whined a bit downed some paracetamol and ‘brufen.

It quickly came down again, and I didn’t really think about it again until I got home, downing my night-nurse which I reckoned would give me a better day’s sleep and keep my temperature down, but when I got up yesterday I still felt rough and ended up cancelling my night shift (much to my agency’s annoyance).

I hoped I’d feel better today – as proof to myself that I’m ill I slept most of the night despite sleeping all day. But I do, in fact, still feel pretty awful. I gave in at 6am and came and took more paracetamol and ‘brufen, ‘cos I can feel I’ve got a good-going high temperature (without resorting to my thermometer).

I’ve got to do one errand today, but that’s it, apart from probably stopping off to pick up lots more paracetamol and ‘brufen. Hopefully when I’m feeling a bit better I can have some breakfast. The only other thing that needs doing today is studying, and that’s fairly low impact, but I need to be better for my ILS training tomorrow.

So, apparently it’s the most snow the south’s seen for 18 years. It certainly feels that way, with 3 or 4 inches kicking around the place when I got up, and it’s been snowing on and off (quite reasonable amounts of snow, too) all day. It is the-pretty. We went out for a wander down to the store and the sound of snow crunching under foot accompanied us.

I do, however, have to drive to work. A task which I’m certain will be entertaining in the ’69 minor. A shovel’s already made its way into the car, and I’ll be taking other proper essentials, a blanket lives in the boot, so that’s fine, but there’s going to be a camping stove and some drinking water going with me. Not ‘cos I imagine I’ll be stuck for days, but hours in the cold can be a pretty effective chiller.

I dun’ mind though. ‘cos it’s the Pretty.

I was going to upgrade the ent-mac today. I got as far as taking the case off and then discovered that there’s no spare SATA cable in there. I thought I had one, but I guess I used it either in the G5 or in the Hackintosh that is at my mum’s. I’ll have to pick up a new SATA cable. Thankfully there’s a spare SATA powersupply cable, so that shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Lots to copy across and then we’ll be able to continue much as before :)

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to sleep very late today, and thus am feeling a bit groggy. I didn’t get the DAF to the windscreen place, because they’re all going “Ack! It’s snowing!” so… yeah.

Anyway, I’m thinking I might have a little kipplet. There’s pictures of Mogs in the Snow here.

So, it’s that time again – and it’s going to be happening pretty frequently over the next couple of months, it’s time for Kate to switch her body clock around to nights.

The advantage of this, and there are few advantages* is that I get to see this:

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So, yesterday, as the sun blazed (well, in winter-terms) and the clear blue sky sat above my head I spent the day working on the laptops. They’re both now working, and shall both be photographed and whisked onto e-bay (along with my mum’s old pashley trike, in need of some renovation, but she’s got a multi-geared beastie now).

Of course, to do this requires batteries in my camera. My camera, as we’ve discussed eats batteries for breakfast. In fact, oh internets, should I get it a decent set of batteries? It killed the Uniross ones in fairly short order, so I’m not sure it’s worth forking out for decent batteries. It took about the same amount of time to kill the (alledgedly 3000mAh) MultiplePower batteries (about 1/2 the cost of the Unirosses) but they were new, whereas the Uniross batteries were quite old when I started to put them in the camera.

It does say in the manual “This camera will stomp all over the batteries you put in it, sucking out every last ounce of power before ritually disemboweling them” (or words to that effect). Since I can’t afford a new, a second hand, or any sort of camera (specifically a Micro 4/3s Lumix would be nice, I imagine, although I’ve not played with one and may hate their UI) I’m thinking I need to get a new set of batteries. If anyone requires batteries for low power usage these are fine, they run my CDPlayer and the TV’s remote control absolutely fine.

Or does anyone have a way of reviving NiMH batteries?

Anyway, off topic. So I’ve only just remembered to put them on charge so that I can photograph the PowerBook and the iBook. What I wanted to to put my mind to today was sorting out the DAF. It is, therefore, misty and cold today. The sky is a pale shade of grey and I can’t see the houses at the other end of the street ‘cos it’s so misty / foggy. If it hasn’t cleared up by lunch time I’ll go out there anyhow :-/

So I’m kind of at a loose end at the moment…

So yesterday, after getting very down and frustrated I finally sat down and spent the afternoon fixing laptops. The G3/Wallstreet now has a 6Gig Hdd, and the G3/Clamshell now sports an 80 gig drive *and* a fixed power connector (the soldered joint had broken). I thought the wallstreet was a pig to take apart, but the clamshell is whole new levels of pigness.

What really left me in a rotten mood though was that having finally got it all back together I couldn’t find the powersupply. Something which I, thankfully, found today.

I had hoped that I would be spending the day doing animation, but I’ve been struggling somewhat with the interface of the software in question. In fact, nothing works the way I expect it to, and after a full morning of working (well, playing) with the software I can safely say that I can do no more than I could ten minutes in.

I think I need to sit and read some destructions.

I also want to get the second screen up and running, because at the moment it’s far too hard flicking back and forth between the interface I barely follow and the instructions. I can’t get any kind of flow going. It is, unsurprisingly, frustrating. I’ve been a user of Photoshop for a while now, and can kind of do what I want with it. I’m certainly no genius with it, but I can get about. But this is just, well, hard. 30 day trials are all very well, but I’ll never get it finished in 30 days.

Either that or buy it, which ain’t cheap.

Although it’s not quite so unreasonable if I end up doing some course at work and thus being a student again.

Instead of animating my afternoon away, I’ve spent the ‘noon doing work on the laptops. I’ve got absolutely no-where. It turns out my 10.0 CD went walkies about the same time that the dinosaurs disappeared. The 10.1 CD won’t install without the 10.0 CD.

The 10.4 CD won’t install because it’s evil, and both the laptops predate firewire. I need to locate a 10.2CD, I’ve feelers out. All this just to get them prepped so I can sell them. Having fixed the Clamshell and sorted the PowerBook (it’ll be sold with it’s upgrades, even if I can’t make them work) I just want to get an OS on each so I can make sure they’re both actually working properly, and then they can go on e-bay with my mum’s trike. Once that’s done I’ll stick the Dell on there, cleaned up and running Win2k or somesuch, and then we’ll see what we can afford. I’m thinking 2 postage stamps and a bag of crisps.

They seem to vary from about 10 quid to 100. The latter would, obviously, be more handy.

I must admit to currently having a strong desire to clear out all the computer stuff, more or less, and land up with a shiny laptop. A new Apple intel laptop seems like a better solution to me, than the current state of affairs. It’d not really be fair though, ‘cos Nikki gave me the G5 (on which I’m typing this), and while I organised getting it fixed and sticking drives in I’ve always had a bit of guilt about the fact it was still under warranty.

I suspect the status-quo will remain, at least for the time being. The G5 for serious work and some shonky laptop from e-bay to replace the Dell.

In general I’m having a ‘clear out’ urge. Which is always interesting. Especially since I’ve got rid of a lot of the stuff I didn’t need. I don’t know what I want to clear out. But stuff needs clearing out from somewhere in my head.