Retirement Planning: One day at a time

Goodbye cruise, hello February

2012-02-02T16:11:00.096-04:00

Did you enjoy yourself? Was it a good cruise? What kind of questions are those? Posed by someone who hasn’t cruised for sure. We had a wonderful time on the Emerald Princess where our every wish was anticipated and granted. Details as follows:

Day 1 – Uneventful flight to Philadelphia (rocking chairs in the airport if you can believe it) and then on to Florida and milder temperatures. Over to Brazil, a café in a mall for a surprisingly good supper and across to the Bank Atlantic Center for the Bruins/Panthers game which runs to an overtime period and shootout. We have great seats (thanks to the shore captain) just five rows behind the players benches at center ice.

Day 2 – Get caught up on email and then off to board the Emerald Princess which is fairly efficient so we find ourselves in our stateroom and meet Saul our Mexican cabin steward who spoils us. A quick planning meeting with the Australian (very young) Asst. Cruise Director who is pleased to find out I’m low maintenance. A great meal of prime rib with flourless chocolate cake for dessert in the DaVinci dining room and life is good.

Princess Cays

Day 3 – Princess Cays so we book a snorkel excursion with Capt. Jimmy out to the reef and the visibility and numbers of new fish do not disappoint. The water temperature is coolish and explains why some of the passengers are wearing wet suits. The shore captain is already discussing procuring ‘tommy johns’ as the short sleeved, legged suits are known. Rita the assistant gets us each a 'sea biscut' which are sand dollaresque like creatures. We check out the beach, delicious BBQ, stalls and catch a tender back to the ship. Another great supper and we collapse.

Day 4 – Up early for the 9 am Blog 101 presentation which is eagerly received by a small audience without technical or presentation issues so a good feeling. The remainder of the sea day to enjoy so tie in the sun on the deck, tea at 4 pm (for me). We get gussied up for formal night and a stop at Vines, the wine bar for tapas (me) and sushi (he) before supper at the Crown Grille. The steak house is amazing, the service fantastic and we are waddling by the time we leave. We take in the late show of Motor City Musical and the singers and dancers are good.

Day 5 – Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. Driving on the left side of the road, right sided steering and wild senior female drivers) we share a van with a young couple crewing on an expensive yacht who get dropped at Kmart and we head over to Coki Beach. Great visibility, schools of fish (many new to us) and a beautiful beach. Then we wander over to Coral Gardens to visit the underwater aquarium, stingray, mangrove, turtle and shark displays. There is even a sea lion show and wonderful reef exhibits. A great way to spend the afternoon before we check out the duty free, buy a book from a retired mariner and head back on board. Vines to enjoy some rose, and a wonderful dinner in the Michelangelo dining room with great staff.

Champagne Reef

Day 6 – Roseau, Dominica. A full day spent with Benjamin our cab driver who takes us snorkeling on Champagne Reef where it feels as if you’re swimming in a glass of sprite and there are large schools of many different kinds of fish. Off to Trafalgar Falls where Naithan our intrepid guide takes us on a hike up through the hot and cold springs. We shop the craft stalls, check out the fruit/vegetable market and decide that this island is a place we’d like to spend more time. The drink of the day is a 24K margarita and life is good.

Day 7 – St. Geroges, Grenada where we’ve visited before, it’s showering and we only have a partial day so we opt for a cab and head over to Morne Rouge beach. We attempt snorkeling but the shore captain only sees one fish so we summon our cabbie back early and head to the waterfalls. Here we see some jumping displays, buy some spices and have some photo ops. We check out the International Café for treats (highly recommended) and veg for the afternoon. A wonderful Italian meal with other Canadian guests.

Day 8 – Kralendyk, Bonaire – arrive at noontime and it’s a breezy day with showers. We catch a ride over to Klein Bonaire with Capt. Mike (after he gets the speedboat started) and enjoy a different area of the reef than we saw last time. The visibility isn’t great with the roughness but we still see lots of large and different fishes. We grab a cab and head out for the southern part of the island, visiting slave huts and the solar salt flats with Cargill Salt Co, then Lac Bay to see the windsurfers before heading back through a tropical downpour to the ship. We make a quick decision to see if we can get reservations at Sabattinis and are graciously invited in to enjoy a sumptuous five course Italian meal. Very elegant and highly recommended.

Day 9 – Oranjestad, Aruba - we check out the wi-fi outside of Dunkin Donuts and get caught up on the news then head back to plan adventures. It’s apparently not easy to visit the southern end of the island as cabs are $45 per hour per person so we opt instead to catch the bus to the beach to snorkel. A British couple from the P&O ship Azura is docked next to us and we spend a great afternoon snorkeling in the rain and seeing large schools of fish with decent visibility. We catch the bus back, grab some drinks and nachos, say goodbye to our new friends and even get a chance to shop the craft stalls as we make our sailaway deadline.

Day 10 – another 9 a.m. presentation this one The Art of Blogging and it’s a bit better attended with more interaction. Sun deck and e-books for the afternoon. Final formal night and lots of great conversation at a wonderful supper.

Day 11 – a final presentataion on Creative Writing and this one is held in the conference room as the theatre is being readied for the culinary show. A small but loyal group and the topic goes very well. Watch the movie Bridesmaids in the afternoon – hilarious, my daughter was right – and give Saul his birthday gift of an Aruba t-shirt. Final supper and then the crew show where our wine steward Dragan is an amazing drummer it turns out as we watch is drum solo.

Day 12 – disembarkation and over to the Premiere Hotel which is a small family owned facility that lived up to its 950 positive Trip Advisor reviews. We make our way to the grocery store as we have an efficiency room – large, looking over the beach – to stock up. Lounge chairs by the pool after the walk.

Day 13 – start the day with a stroll to Starbucks and then check out the beach for a while. An early supper at Greek Islands Taverna – it did not disappoint from last year – where we share some portions and YES the lamb chops ARE that good, Greek salad, calamari, pita and dips with a bottle of Greek wine and even baklava for dessert. Ahh, crash early that night.

Le Tub for supper

Day 14 – over to Port Everglades to retrieve the snorkel gear bag which didn’t get picked up when we disembarked and that was quite the adventure. Lots of security issues, entry through the crew check in etc. but we escaped and made it back to the hotel to plan our excursion. Take the water taxi down to Hollywood – think beach blanket movies – which is a 60s time warp complete with boardwalk, kitschy stores and lots of eateries. We opt for supper at Le Tub which apparently Oprah says has the best burgers in the world – excellent and huge portions – with great margaritas and then we catch the boat back. It’s late and chilly by the time we are deposited back near the hotel at 8 p.m. but what a great time.

Day 15 – a final morning in Ft. Lauderdale to do some swimsuit shopping at the stores, have some dermabrasion at the beach – it’s really windy and the surf is up before heading out to pack. A very intense security clearance which includes a full body scan, shoes off and barked directions and uneventful (which is good) flights to Philadelphia with a slight delay and then back to the land of snow. A wintery drive home arriving by 3 a.m. to be greeted by the fur children and collapse into bed.

What a great time was had by all, now to adjust to cooler climes.

Emerald Princess Here We Come

2012-01-15T21:50:00.000-04:00

So...we're into the countdown now and I'm talking hours not days for the vacation. We're headed out to the airport for a 7 a.m. flight to Philadelphia and on to Fort Lauderdale to see the Bruins play the Panthers tomorrow night. Then Tuesday it's off to the Emerald Princess for all the fun there is to have. We're at the teacher daughter's this evening and she asked her father if he was excited yet? He denied this stating "I don't get excited" but we think he's either not being completely truthfull or too cool to get excited.

And no, we 're not worried about advertising the fact we're not home. We've left the boy captain looking after the fort, critter sitting, lobstering when the weather allows and putting in a $30,000 engine in the boat. That should keep him out of trouble or at least I'll convince myself it will be fine and deal with reality upon my return.

So we're keeping fishermen's hours in the a.m. and I am NOT a big fan of these early hours so it's off to catch a nap. Next update will be from the land of sun. Later.

Decadent

2012-01-13T05:02:00.000-04:00

Definition of decadence...packing for a southern Caribbean cruise yesterday while a major blizzard howled outside. Ahhh. Into the countdown now - only three more days. Can't count sleeps as that would be too complicated what with one night shift and half a sleep day thrown in there. And I certainly appreciated being able to take off two of my shifts this set of four - may just get ready in time to leave after all. Hard to believe that a few years ago, packing for vacation didn't involve charging the e-book reader. However, the usual pre-vacation flurry of activity, described by a friend as "everything breaks down, needs to be replaced or comes home just as you're trying to get away" is in usual form. As I have been leaping up out of bed to record items I've remembered for the 'to-do list' I have discovered I have a talent for writing in the dark as my handwriting is the same as in full light. Must come from all those night shifts and dim lighting.

I got up on snapping cold Wednesday to find (after a thorough premises search) the only cat in the house was Klyde. Apparently (it was later revealed) the shore captain had made quite a production of leaving the door open while he used the remote vehicle starter so Gary and his shadow Stanley absconded without his knowledge. Since we were out of catfood and treats (shore captain forgot to pick those up as well) there was nothing to tempt them with. I was concerned that I would find two carcasses on the road. I called them and checked the yard to no avail but when I approached the deck I found a rodent corpse so I knew I was on the right track - apparently they had felt the need to catch their own breakfast but unfortunately lacking street skills had sacrificed an inedible mole! When I approached the woods at the edge of the yard I heard rustling, frantic yowling and two hysterical cats burst through the brush. There is no honor amongst thieves (or felines it seems) as Gary lend the charge - legs do your duty - galloping towards me, panting with dilated pupils as if on street drugs and was quickly scooped up and deposited into the house. Stanley proved a bit trickier to capture as he was having a full blown anxiety attack which included frantic pacing back and forth in the frozen ditch just out of my reach, hyperventilating and yowling. I managed to snag him and deposit him inside as well. I had to sacrifice a can of tuna for their breakfast and promise them I would return with cat food. Too much excitement for early morning.

New year so new benefits which meant a massage appointment - ahhh. Too much computer work is bad for the back. Scored well at Frenchy's with lots of baby clothes for a friend of the western daughter (daughter will have to purchase the Ivory Snow to wash them in as part of the arrangement) which a grandmother shall take out for me. I picked up some southern wear for both of us old folks heading cruiseward and some neat gifts. Had a good visit with a neighbour who is also awaiting a first grandchild. Apparently teenaged babysitting of our brood did not discourage her daughter from starting a family of her own. Also chatted with a friend of a friend about cruising and the plans are in the works for a female cruise next year - now THAT would be fun. Groceries and home to walk the dog before starting supper. Full day.

use for paper books now

Have you heard of de-constructed and re-imagined books? Thought that was what a book report was hmmm. It does seem to be a use for all those traditional books now that e-book readers are so popular. That is if you can bring yourself to destroy the tomes. Speaking of artists in the newspaper, I found an ad for Tommy Hunter - One Last Time tour. Made me think how much my mother would've have loved this as she thoroughly enjoyed Friday evenings spent with Tommy. When I showed the ad to the life partner he said "last time, I should think so, he must be 100 by now". And while on the topic of recording artists I heard on CBC radio that Joel Plaskett is releasing a song per week out of his new album - Scrappy Happiness - through CBC. You can find the first track called 'You're Mine' on the site here:

http://exclaim.ca/MusicVideo/ClickHear/joel_plaskett-youre_mine

Memories of all those good summer concerts. Ah. Still waiting for Jimmy Buffett to cooperate and put on a concert when I can make it. Shall have to content ourselves with the Bruins vs Panthers hockey game in Fort Lauderdale instead - won't be seeing native son Brad Marchand as he's out for five games suspension though.

Had a phone call from the baby daughter about one of her nursing courses in university. She had a question about the formula for calculation of gravity infusion of IV fluids. I couldn't believe this was being taught! I managed to drag from the depths of my memory that 25 drops/minute was 100 ml/hr. and advised that:

we don't use the formula now as we use IV infusion pumps
we never did use the formula even 35 yrs ago, we counted drops and 6 per 15 sec. was it
we had a card with doses/drops = volume for calculation for other rates
why would this be taught when there is so much info required that could be useful?

And to close, just a note (should you find yourself fortunate enough to live in Nova Scotia) to mark June 8 and 9th on your calendar as it will be clean sweep dates.

Appreciate

2012-01-07T23:46:00.000-04:00

When I arose from my slumber after my last night shift and attempted to gather my senses to get to my hair cut appointment I decided to use the luxury coffee maker the children got the shore captain for Christmas. Not to make coffee for myself as those close to me know that although I love the aroma of brewing coffee, I don't (can't) drink it. I perused the offerings of specialty teas the children had so thoughtfully included for me and chose sweet peach black tea. It smelled lovely as it made its way to the mug but I had not been fully awake so didn't notice the ICED tea on the cover. Not sure what method you use to make iced tea or coffee in the fancy machine but it sure wasn't just pressing brew. The result didn't look right in the cup and it left small brown bits on my lips and tongue. Another one of those hazards of post night shift operating equipment.

The following day was spent in union meetings on the phone from 9 a.m. to 4:15 pm. with only a short break for lunch. I used this break to head to the Dollar Store and purchase a bag of school supplies for a local chef who is heading to Belize for three months. When I expressed my envy at his trip, he reminded me of my two week vacation and all the wonderful meals I'd have while he was eating rice and beans, beans and rice, rice and beans.One of these days that will be me with the envious onlookers as I head out for three months. Sigh.

Speaking of trips to underdeveloped countries....a colleague and myself are attending a tropical health conference at McGill in May and we're really looking forward to it having taken it in about six years ago. I have already surrendered my annual education premium which was deposited in December for the registration - foregoing the most popular use for holiday shopping. The latest WestJet sale sent me scurrying online to see if a decent airfare could be had and with a $392 round trip Halifax to Montreal, taxes in price (minus a $100 travel credit) - it's booked.

The hair cut is one in a series of appointments to make me presentable for vacation. I also scanned the LL Bean catalogue and selected a skirt to pull over my swimsuit - for making my way to the buffet without changing. Feeling very brave about the selection I checked out the large lady swimsuits, I mean swimsuit dresses. Having difficulty deciding on the style I asked the boy captain his thoughts. He pointed to one in bright blue with deep v neck and crossed straps. "Do you think I can wear that?" I asked. He looked surprised and said "why not?" So, I thought to myself 'why not, indeed?' and ordered the swimsuit as well. Now, apparently the moral of this tale is to NOT take your fashion advice from a 24 year old male who was wearing a t-shirt which reads 'date me before I'm famous' and is used to looking at much younger, slimmer female physiques.When the order arrived I'm happy to report the skirt is a great fit and idea, the swimsuit was a miss as it squished my boobs out under my armpits and made my back stick out through the straps. Yuck! When I offered to show the fashion adviser how it fit he adopted a look of horror and declined. So now I'm stuck with paying the postage to the shipper and waiting for the refund through customs. My first negative encounter with LLBean so far.

The past few days have been spent polishing my presentations for the cruise and they are almost ready for a dress rehearsal with my self described "not very computer savvy" friend on Monday. I've not heard from my clinical placement and will likely require an extension as the days are numbered before our departure. I did take two shifts off in anticipation of such a last minute rush so at any rate will be able to use the time for packing.

Although it's been very mild lately, and not at all winter like - it's sure not tropical and a break away from the yell phone which has pretty much grown to the shore captain's ear is in order. Low lobster prices, angry fishermen, the boy captain needing to replace the engine in the boat and getting ready for vacation all at the same time. Glad I'm busy myself!

If you noticed the title of this post - appreciate - that's my word for 2012 - driven in part by the obituary for a class of 76 nursing school classmate which I found in Monday's newspaper. We are so lucky to have our health. Here are some instructions:

CHOOSING YOUR WORD
Can you identify a single word that sums up what you want for yourself
in 2012? It can be something tangible or intangible. It could be a
thought, or a feeling, or an emotion. It can be singular or plural.
The key is to find something that has personal meaning for you. This
is not your mother's word or your spouse's word or your child's word -
this is YOUR word.

One little word can have big meaning in your life if you allow
yourself to be open to the possibilities. And here's one thing that is
totally interesting: sometimes a word will pop into your brain and it
will not make any sense to you right now. Give it some time. Let it
percolate a bit. I have often found that our hearts speak to us in
very unique ways. Maybe this is a word you need to hear but just
aren't ready for it yet.

Again, be open to the possibilities.

Which nicely corresponds with the quote of the day:

"We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day."
Edith Lovejoy Pierce

in days to come,we will reread- turn the pages, and call it History..

With those profound thoughts, I'm off to boot the dog off the couch and out into the mudroom and head to bed myself.

Bringing in 2012 in Style

2012-01-02T00:28:00.000-04:00

As I walked to the door at 1 a.m.with our Cape Breton friend who had been the life of the New Years Eve house party we’d just left, regaling attendees with tales from his Catholic school upbringing, I was carrying the decorative plate which had held the cherry loaf his wife had made for a previous evening at our place. It was Pinky (no, not Pinky and the Brain) but the classic portrait which is the mate for Gainsborough's Blue Boy. As I placed it on the bench (neither of us wanting to anger the owner - who had already had to forgo partying to spend the evening at work - by breaking it) he said “oh yeah, the holy plate”. Now he is visually impaired and has on occasion referred to himself as illegally blind as his sight’s been stolen but I stopped and looked again at the plate saying “it’s Pinky”. He was undeterred and said “oh yeah, but it reminds me of the holy plate Mom was given when I was a kid. It was a decorative plate of one of the saints or someone and looked like Marie Antoinette on a swing. My younger sister always called it the holy plate – as in Ma, Ma Joey’s eating off the holy plate again.” It was the perfect ending to such an evening.

Today has been spent sleeping in, eating leftovers, napping, playing on the computer, drinking tea, reading, walking the dog, researching and booking a hotel for our post cruise stay in Fort Lauderdale while NOT doing any housework. A lovely start to 2012! The return to work (and reality) with a night shift is another matter.

Saying Goodbye to 2011

2011-12-31T15:45:00.000-04:00

This evening we'll be toasting goodbye to the year 2011 and in the true spirit of growing older the years do seem to be accelerating! We'll spend New Years Eve as we have for most of the past 37 we've been together - together, this year attending but not hosting a house party. I've only worked for a few and that's been by intent as there is NOTHING sadder than working New Years Eve as you can't celebrate it another time, when it's over, it's over and you've missed it. Christmas can be celebrated at any time you choose - as evidenced by this year's on December 26th.

The two Maritime daughters were home previous to the big day to help with holiday preparations - tree purchased, up and decorated, baking, visiting, wrapping and other last minute errands which are even more important when the woman of the house is working shifts and living with a very busy Grinch involved in the lobster industry.

Speaking of lobstering, this gives me the opportunity to insert a link to a video here which has gone viral online. It's a lobster fisherman who has a bit of time on his hands as they steam over to a next string and that he's not the usual scantily clad, anorexic dancer in a music video makes it's even more hilarious. It's tough, cold, dangerous work and you have to have a bit of fun to keep you going (or so the Boy Captain tells me while he regales at 8 p.m. suppers with yarns of buffalos - the industry name for a clawless lobster pantomimed as a flip phone by the bander who holds it to his ear, laughs and says to the hired man "it's for you", or the hired man doing the quick draw with two 'pistols' on his hips) as he is the oldest of the three on his boat. But as his mother I try NOT to think of their under 25 status:

Lobster Fisherman Is Sexy And He Knows It Viduba - Video Download

The Boy Captain has been having another dental emergency situation at the holidays where a wisdom tooth erupted and cracked (he has a pain tolerance which allows for leaving these things) on the opposite side of his jaw from last year this time. This necessitated a trip to the local dentist, antibiotics and referral for dental surgery as the root was too close to the sinuses. A week later he had severe nerve root pain which caused a trip to the ER (after EVERYTHING we had in the house didn't touch the pain) which his older sister chauffeured and it was reassuring to know that although the hydromorphone he was given beat the pain he was not a fan of the 'good drugs' and managed with the toradol instead. An appointment with a specialist in the city two days ago was the final solution where he had the surgery under a local and was held down by the assistant after instructing "just get it done" and he is recovering well. So well in fact that he went lobstering yesterday and managed with tylenol # 3s and only a slightly swollen face - after a good night's sleep he is himself again and working away in the barn. Good to have such a strong constitution for such things.And of course it did give us a chance to descend on Costco, buy more Kcups for the shore captain's coffee maker Christmas gift and visit the urban sister/daughter,

The holidays (wisdom teeth aside) were busy as I worked but went well - except for the western daughter who we miss especially at this time of year. We were pleased that she had a friend (and his family) to spend it with though and some time off from her new electrical apprentice position. We shipped out some crustaceans with her gifts and they arrived in good shape for a proper Nova Scotian Christmas. I worked days on Dec 24 and 25 which were manageable as sometimes they can be wild! We called Boxing Day Christmas, put the turkey in to roast and had eggs benedict before opening gifts, a big meal and just barely time to clean up a bit before company arrived while I rushed off for a night shift. I usually do fine on nights but fought the sleep monster after midnight and was sure glad to crawl into bed for the day. A quick to-do list and then off to work again as the last daughter packed up to go back to work. So, you can see that making my way through six days off is bliss. Still enjoying the tree - which is one of the benefits of getting it up late. The very thoughtful gifts we all received means that not one of us in standing in line to return/exchange anything this week.

I attempted to use the computer a few days ago and was blocked from my email etc by 'outdated security certificates' so after a bit of troubleshooting with the computer tech on the phone he suggested that the date on the computer might not be correct. He knows his stuff as it was July 2010 as it turned out. Gremlins. Just a heads up should it happen to yourselves.

And speaking of all things tech some of the newest job descriptions are for green collar workers, nano surgeons and cyber soldiers - I'll leave it to you to figure out which are which.

So as we look forward to our next vacation and in keeping with the last post to include more travel info here is an article on packing from a professional traveler from the sounds:

Packing—What Stays and What Goes?
I have a love/hate relationship with packing. Filling a suitcase tends to mean I’m headed somewhere fun, but trying to decide what to put in it can cause some serious anxiety.
After 10 months of travel this year (and 10 packing sessions), I’ve come up with the Top 3 things to pack and Top 3 things to leave at home.

What to bring:
•	Sunscreen—you wouldn’t believe how many people forget it
•	Power adapter—to power up that hair dryer, battery charger or computer
•	Rain gear—it’s no fun being hindered by the weather

What to leave:
•	Your fifth book—this is what hotel book swaps are for
•	Your step counter or anything else that will make you conscious of things other than having fun
•	The shirt you’ve never worn—and isn’t new

Rule of thumb: If you were to get to your destination and realize you forgot your [insert object here], how upset would you be? Anything less than mildly devastated and it should be left at home.

And a selection of sites/articles for your armchair traveling pleasure follow:

http://www.uncorneredmarket.com/2009/09/7-habits-of-highly-effective-travelers

http://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/now-is-the-best-time-to-travel

New Years Resolution for 2012:
To work less and travel more

I'd like to say that I'll do less housework but that would be a hard one to keep as I'm just doing enough to keep ahead of the weekly cleaning lady now.

Now where did I put that.....life?

2011-12-13T22:59:00.000-04:00

Hello? Hello? Anyone there? I wouldn’t be surprised if I were typing into a black hole after the lengthy silence but I am thrilled to be able to report that I have my life (or some semblance of it) back again after my final exam. And yes 83 is a perfectly respectable mark if I do say so myself. Now, just a few clinical shifts and it will all be over except for the certificate. Yeehaw! One of the new graduates at work said “there aren’t you glad you did it?” and I replied “no, at this point I’m just glad it’s over”. It has been a major commitment of time and energy for the past year. Apparently the program is being revamped and will be shortened to 10 months from 12, one exam instead of three, one clinical instead of three and all the irrelevant to rural emergency RNs material – as in mechanical vents, arterial lines etc. will be made electives for the tertiary centers and rural folks will get to choose palliative electives etc. Makes me (yet again) feel like a woman ahead of my time.

“Having more joy does not necessarily require a life overhaul—you may just need to create more space in your life for moments of joy.”
— Debrena Jackson Gandy

Speaking of free spirited women as I was announcing my mark to a coworker (who unfortunately is a widow) we were discussing her upcoming first cruise and she said “I’ve been checking out the spa, it looks really good” Couldn’t argue with that. She confided that she’d been going to the tanning bed as her former partner hadn’t approved of that. Now, I can’t imagine him forbidding her or in fact her heeding such an admonition but sometimes it is easier just not to argue. So she said “now I’m doing all those things he didn’t agree with” and I countered with “well I’m doing all the things I want to do now and he’s still around” so we both chuckled at that.

Speaking of freedom and the ‘freedom 55’ way of thinking, a coworker the other night (who actually IS a pension prisoner) was moaning about the fact that she’d likely be participating in the ‘freedom 75’ plan and would be living in the Manor attached to the hospital and the staff would change her depends and send her over to work a 12 hour shift with her walker saying “see you at 7”. In the way of nurses black humor at 3 a.m. we found that hysterically funny. In fact when I think of it - the following logo is pretty apt as well. So much for that "age is just a number" way of thinking eh?Reminds me of my Dad telling my mother-in-law on his birthday when she had dropped our kids off for his birthday celebration, while we were vacationing, that "there's been a mix-up, the numbers are reversed I'm really 18 not 81 you know" and those who knew him would certainly believe that.

I was reminded early this morning though that no matter how much things change, they stay the same when I checked out FaceBook to find another old nurse online at 7 a.m. and when I questioned the reason for this she said “checking out an online tutorial for making bows”. That would be the change; the same would be the fact that we’d both been driven out of bed by our lobstering families. She by her husband and daughter who is going this fall to band lobsters (another change in the demographic of young men heading west to work in the oil patch) and moi by the ringing of the cell phone which the shore captain left home for the second time in four days.

The shore captain has been officially put ashore this fall and he’s grieving a bit although he’s been much too busy for several years to do it justice. It makes me feel as if I’m working as a UN negotiator when the two generations are under the same roof at the same time. The senior male has letting go issues and thinks the boy doesn’t want him to help - the junior one feels as if his father is telling him what to do (he is) although as I advised him “it isn’t always about you, he’s struggling with the succession planning you know”. With the hours they are keeping and my shift work, sharing a house with them is like caring for feral cats. You leave food out for them and it disappears, sometimes there’s a mess you have to clean up and occasionally you have to go looking for them or coax them to eat.

My early start got me underway to town for a Frenchy’s shop – and you know you’ve scored well when you spend $62 and the bag is bigger than groceries of the same cost. When I was in line at the checkout for groceries actually the man ahead of me turned and said “do you have an Air Miles card?” and I wasn’t long stuttering yes, producing it and thanking him. He said “Merry Christmas” and was off so I asked the cashier if it was a big order as I was still recovering from the gift and she said “over $180” so I was very pleased, as well as shocked that someone WOULDN'T have an Air Miles card????

Sunset in paradise

So while waiting for the men folk to come home this evening I enjoyed the beautiful sunset of the unseasonably warm day and a cup of Lady Hannah tea which always make me think of the western daughter as that is where I’ve purchased the tea. Although according to my online search it is widely available. http://bit.ly/s0tPPi The electrician daughter is beginning her apprenticeship this week. Memo to self to call and see how that is going. She’s been working in the oil patch but if you’ve studied, you really want to work in your field. She even had an invite to the Christmas party before starting with the new company – a company box to watch the Edmonton Oilers – woohoo! Much better than what nurses get for sure - carols in the front lobby just don't come close.

Speaking of Christmas music, the teacher daughter has been making her way through Christmas concerts with her grade 3/4 class and it has been fraught with all kinds of drama. Projectile barfing on the way to the stage, yowls from struck elbows, and tears of fear of disappointing a parent. Oh the trials of an elementary school teacher.

The nursing student wrote her final midterm in Microbiology today and pronounced it “tough” but had marks to ensure a pass before writing. She pulled off an A- in Community Nursing and scored a reference from her clinical instructor so all is good in the academic world. Her crisis du jour was a breadmaker question – that I can handle.

So, now it's back to work in the morning but at least my 'days off' from here will be filled with holiday preparations versus studying trauma algorithms. I may just go wild and crazy and read a novel if I feel like it. And of course getting in to the cruise planning swing of things. Woohoo! Or perhaps I'll just simplify my life as per this Huffington Post article http://huff.to/tRIBNN. Actually, life is pretty good when the only complaint you can make is that you didn't get Air Miles on your L.L. Bean order eh? More travel info in a next post.

Gingerbread pancakes

2011-11-23T06:47:00.000-04:00

I will use these few moments at the end of a looonnnnnggg night shift to update you as I'm struggling against the post carbohydrate I NEED A NAP feeling of having eaten pancakes - the boiler man had brought pancake mix (a poor substitute for the real thing as the texture isn't the same) but used gingerbread eggnog to mix it up and it was yummy! Apparently the vanilla eggnog works well too. Will have to try that with the real recipe at home.

Cheaper than a lawyer

Speaking of home I must tell you that I've found a solution to the TV volume vs studying problems I've been encountering. The life partner (he of noise induced hearing loss) is a compulsive channel changer with the remote and some channels are louder than others so it causes marital discord. I've found a much cheaper solution than a divorce....wireless headphones. He looks like a pilot wearing them, can retrieve a cold beverage from the fridge or put the cats out without missing a moment of the game, says they're a bit warm on his ears when he falls asleep in the La-z-boy with them on and of course is only allowed / required to wear them when I'm home to monitor the phones for him. They actually required that he (and the son) read the directions to get them operational so you can see how pleased he was with them. They were on sale for half price and I earned Aeroplan points for them - what is not to like?

The shore captain was collecting newspapers out of the recycling and when I asked the reason (we don't require wood fire starter) he informed me that the secretary apparently has been left as parrot keeper for her son's birds as he's been sent to Ireland for some kind of IT job and was asking for the papers for the cages. When I phoned the plant for some reason this week and she answered I asked "is this the parrot whisperer?" but I found it a lot more amusing than she did. However, I did consider myself fortunate to only have been left with an extra cat from kids moving out - not parrots, horses or dogs as others have reported.

Sounds like it's going to be a great day for sleeping as there's a whopper of a storm predicted with heavy snowfall, heavy rainful and a mixture for some places in the forecast. As long as we can make it home in the a.m. it is nice to not have to think of driving in it after that.

The quote for the day is.....
Life engenders life. Energy creates energy. It is by spending oneself that one becomes rich. -
Sarah Bernhardt

So on that note I shall summon up some life energy and go help out with the morning work of awakening, prodding, measuring and scrubbing unsuspecting souls. Don't bother to do that with me unless you want to lose a limb when I get to be old!

And speaking of getting old...this piece sent to me from a friend:
Written by Regina Brett, 90 years old. This is something we should all read at least once a week!!!!!
"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most requested column I've ever written.

My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Change the way you think.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and family will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. Release your children when they become adults, its their life now
9. Save for retirement starting with your first pay cheque.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye.
16. Take a deep breath It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Just because you believe you are right, doesn't mean you are. Keep an open mind.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does
33. Believe in miracles.
34. Your job is to love your children, not choose who they should love.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come... (Can’t wait to find out what! )
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield..
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

It's decided then -- white and black

2011-11-09T23:33:00.001-04:00

When I gave up the afternoon of a beautiful, mild Tuesday off to meet with the NSNU provincial president about the state of the union we were informed that.....the poll regarding which color uniforms nurses will wear was decided. To review the choices were... white top and bottom, red, teal, brown, grey and white top with black bottoms. Apparently white top with black pants won a resounding majority. So now we can get over ourselves. I could give a rat's arse what I wear to work as long as I get paid. There is however a problem with RNs wearing Lulu Lemon, t shirts, pajamas, hoodies etc to work so.... the intent is to give nurses back some identity and a bonus would be some respect. The request for proposals is out to uniform companies, there will be several styles to choose from and the employer is funding $100 to start. It's sounding as if the winter will see us standardized.

Speaking of winter (not that I'd like to think about it let alone speak of it) I heard a piece on CBC radio today as I was making my way home from my physio appointment. And actually I was discharged from my physio program as my back problem is completely resolved. I am the poster nurse for positive improvement from the injections it seems. I've been kicked out of better places than that. But I digress. The piece was regarding something called the Long John Index . Here's the link http://longjohnindex.ca/ and you really must check out the bar on the top which outlines how the LJI works. Made me think of our western daughter as I read the index.

Have had a couple of morning phone calls the past few weeks as she heads off early in the a.m. for her day and I'm just contemplating mine (at a more socially acceptable - to me - hour) so we can get caught up on the news. It's sounding like the index is already in use in Alberta.

Speaking of offspring I was forwarded a link from a proud mother. Her son has always been very bright and pushed the envelope (in many ways from athletics, music to academics) and the last I'd heard of the guy from Sydney Mines he was a PhD in Kinesiology and doing something with mice muscles. http://www.sickkidsfoundation.com/together/ It appears he's involved in research to regrow limbs - only starfish could do that until now eh? Nova Scotians are creative!

Today I shopped at the dollar store and Frenchy's and managed to pack Samaritan's Purse shoe boxes for shipment. I also put together some baby clothes/Snugli/blankets for a schoolmate of the daughter's who has relocated to Dominican Republic. Found a good home for all those 'can't leave them here, they're brand new' baby things from Frenchy's for her parents to take next week.

The other evening the cell phone rang and the shore captain had an extensive conversation with someone which somehow didn't sound like the usual fish/crustacean chats he has. When I inquired as to who it was on the phone, he answers "Rachel who thinks I can answer all her questions". Apparently a couple (sound like left over hippies to me - but of course that's not a bad thing - with a menagerie of goats, dogs, cats, hens and more) of indeterminate age, she has a British accent, have moved to the community where the shore captain's fish plant is. They were directed to him by the lady they bought their place from to purchase fresh fish and so she had been calling daily (as unaware of the comings and goings of the fleet) about buying fish. The most recent call had begun with "well you seem really friendly, we don't know many people here and I thought you could help as we need a rooster killed". As the shore captain pointed out "well roosters do have a habit of being territorial" but it seems that the rooster had attacked the dogs, Rachel and some of the other critters so a contract was out on him. The life partner referred Rachel to a neighbourhood teenager who is a hunter and commented to me afterwards "it's a bit of stretch from being sociable to being a rooster murderer!"

At work on a recent shift I was chatting with one of our new graduates who commented on my pin on watch. I told her it was my nursing school graduation present from the (then boyfriend now husband) in 1976 and she said "that was before I was born". I could handle that part but when I wound the watch and she said "what are you doing?" I was gobsmacked and said "that's how it runs, you wind it up" but she was more amazed herself saying "how does it work without a battery?" And to think they'll be looking after us in the nursing home. Sigh.

No matter what kind of day you're having remember it's got to be better than the poor guy holding up traffic on the Bi-Hi outside the city on the traffic report one afternoon last week. It seems his car was rear ended and in the ensuing commotion he locked himself out of his damaged vehicle. Each traffic report expanded on the situation as in "there are two policemen on site attempting to help him break into his car with a coat hanger" etc. FINALLY the poor soul was released from his 15 minutes of fame as the traffic was clear in that area on the final report. CBC usually provides a more documentary approach to information such as the piece I heard on Nance Ackerman and her cousin who are doing photo tours which 'give back' to developing nations. http://www.cousinsphototours.com/

luggage boxes are fun

Atlantic - looking for deer mission

view from the veranda

My photography is not so exotic I'm afraid it runs more to fat cats and shore sunsets at this point in my retirement planning.

In closing I will advise that a really good read is the latest novel by Guy Vanderhauge who is a Saskatchewan writer - this one is called A Good Man. I downloaded it to my e-reader and finished it when I got home from vacation. It was worth spazzing about not studying but reading a novel instead. Enough ramblings.

Life is short...smile while you still have teeth

2011-10-31T23:19:00.000-04:00

Almost three weeks since an update here but still not my personal best for bloggers block. And it's certainly not because there's been so little to report on. Lots of activity so here's the synopsis:

Having a set of four shifts off resulted in 13 days off. Whee! This enabled me to get ourselves, the pets and the house ready for our absence as the shore captain was working until he stepped out the door with the luggage. It's always a bit more complicated to visit Cuba as we pack gifts and donated supplies in addition to a few changes of clothes. We elected to head down to overnight with the daughter and son-in-law who conveniently reside about 20 minutes from the airport. Our flights were uneventful (thankfully) as we connected through Toronto and arrived in Varadero by mid afternoon to our very excited friends.

Rooms of priceless pharmacy artifacts

Bellemare Caves

How old is he? Me or the bull?

Cuban tourists

Early morning view

The predicted weather was WET which was for the most part accurate but we certainly enjoyed our visit. As the travel partner said "it was like taking four kids to Disney World" to see our friends experience a 'once in a lifetime event'. We did excursions to Havana (not to be missed) and Matanzas (excellent) and a great time was had by all. In Havana on the bus we traveled through a tunnel under the harbour and what a look on our friends faces! The caves we visited were amazing and a wonderful chance to visit them up close. We had a delicious Cuban lunch at a ranch and there was an elderly man holding the bull for the tourists to ride. Our friend Javier asked him in Spanish "how old is he?" and the old guy replied "do you mean me or the bull?" which was a belly laugh every time our friend thought of it for days. In case you're wondering the bull was 18 and I'm sure the farmer with one tooth was 81! The Pharmacy Museum in Matanzas which was used from the 1860s to 1962 and is a priceless collection - made this nurse who loves to collect old time medical equipment on eBay just drool! Needless to say the resort was fun enough and our friends chose not to miss one single moment, such as paddle boat trips, water slide, night show, basketball and the pool until they were wrinkly. We sometimes enjoyed life in the slow lane with an early morning stroll and there were lots of other resorts to check out and people watching for sure. Had to do something to keep ahead of the buffet and mojitos. It was unfortunately a losing battle - although not as bad as a cruise in that aspect. It was tough to climb on the shuttle bus back to the airport and leave our friends to make their way home on a 20 hr. bus ride.

While we were away the boy wonder apparently left the door wide open while he got in the shower one evening and exited the bathroom to cool air and no felines. After an extensive search and tempting with treats Gary returned, when it started to rain Klyde gave it up and came in but poor Stanley panicked. So...he left the veranda door open and went to bed, only to be awoken by yowling at 3 a.m. when Stanley plucked up enough courage to enter the veranda and yell for entry to the house.No wonder he was so skittish when we arrived home.

It was nice to have a couple of days to get the laundry under control and reaccustomed to having to make meals again before heading in to work. There has been more than the usual angst and change at work the past few months and the four shifts I did were no exception. The second day shift resulted in my coming homeand having a large glass of Cuban pineapple liquer with mineral water (only mixer in house) which made things look much better.

This past week saw the boy have a 24th birthday and the birthday card I gave him with his cake as I left for a night shift was the best pack rat score of two decades. It must've been a card which I had for this 4th birthday which said "Happy 4th Birthday Cowboy" so I altered it to 24th with a red marker and put it in the envelope. I'm sure that life was so frantic 20 years ago that his card was overlooked!

Lots of social life the past few days with a union meeting - Black Forest cake from Lothars for the refreshment - yum! Oktoberfest at the same establishment with another couple - beer glazed pork ribs - the next night. And tonight only five little trick or treaters. Boxes of chips left now which is what I feared! A much quieter holiday than those of the past with the last minute frantic costumes, shore captain chauffeuring the kids around to the neighbours and collecting his own goodies (fudge at one, cookies at another) and my job of giving out treats to the groups of neighbour urchins.

Although I haven't been particularly diligent - and will be squealing at some point in the not too distant future - about studying.... the quote of the day is....Life is short, smile while you still have teeth

Feline basketball

2011-10-11T04:56:00.000-04:00

Another one of those quick updates before it's time to start the work postings. Now that I've decided I'm going to live from the rotten cold bug I had the beginning of the week. Had way too much to do to be sick of course and that's how those things usually go. I even ended up missing my second night shift and that is certainly unusual that I call in sick for work, but I needed to get rested up for my busy week.

I had an Emergency Department education day to attend on Wednesday so was up early and in to attend only to find that the presenters coming from our regional center were late and then had depended on accessing the network to present the information instead of copying it to a USB drive for example. Lunch was spent arranging to have my car repaired and although it wasn't done when I finished the session, a short stop at Frenchy's while I waited and it was ready to go. Off to the city for two more days, the third week in a row for that schedule.

Although the ACLS courses are now very informal and relaxed (in keeping with adult education principals) this one was pretty intense. The group I found myself in had a drill sargent instructor which made me realize that I've now been to boot camp. I gave serious thought to simply driving home on the second morning instead of even going to the class. The participants were from the critical care and emergency nursing programs and we breathed a collective sigh of relief when we were released. Although most were keen young grads working in busy departments I'd like to report that this old nurse still has the stuff as I not only passed the megacode but made 100% on my test. I distracted myself after the first day by a trip to Frenchy's (a very good one near my daughter's place) and then Bulk Barn so as not to think about the algorithms.

Buoyed by the pass I rewarded myself as I headed home with a quick stop at MicMac Mall where I purchased a pair of sneakers for a Cuban friend and found some great boots for myself which I looked for all last winter. Here's the website to check them out:

http://www.bogsfootwear.com/shop/index.html

The BOGS are good to -40 and although I felt as if I'd be judged an eccentric old lady if I wore the patterned ones the solid black are more in keeping with my mature years and will keep me just as warm and dry as the more fashionable models.

The holiday weekend (or at least the one non working day I had of it) brought two daughters and their significant others home for a visit. Since the son-in-law only lives with one very non intrustive cat (Hank) he asked his wife in the morning if she'd heard all the racket during the night as he thought the cats must've been opening Christmas presents and playing basketball! We had our turkey dinner on Saturday evening and then I headed back to work on Sunday - whew, not ready for that.

The past few days have been balmy and warmer than the 'summer' we supposedly had. Spent the afternoon on the deck studying my next section of the course. Back to torturing myself I told the shore captain. "Into the home stretch now" he told me, "you're over 2/3 of the way there". I am sure when I'm into those final few weeks in December of studies, exam and skill day that I won't be so pleased with myself. Off to wake some poor unsuspecting souls. It's been a full moon night here in ER so you know how that unfolds. Later.

A successful road trip

2011-10-03T20:03:00.000-04:00

Firstly, just let me assure you that the girl's day out (unsurprisingly) was a resounding success.Although transportation was a bit of an issue with my friend needing to pick me up and deliver me home as my poor car is still in the shop. The mechanic found a used air conditioner for $125 but of course now has to source a belt to fit it, but at any rate it is palliative not terminal and hopefully able to be retrieved on Wed. I shared the chauffeuring duties with the friend's Hyundai and all car problems were forgotten for the day. The quote of the day reminds me of something the friend would say as she's been known to say "common sense isn't all that common" but relating to using a newer model of car..."When you go on a trip,the firstthing to pack is your common sense."

Bees working hard

Never thought of it this way....

They smelled as good as they look

With an early start we made our way first to Annapolis Royal as the weather forecast was for a sunny a.m. and possible showers in the p.m. We enjoyed the historic gardens fully as there were few visitors this time of year, the fall colors were in the beginning stages, the bees were doing their thing and the roses were still even blooming. We enjoyed the experience more as the Groupons which were to have been 1/2 price covered the total cost of admission for both of us. This allowed us to indulge in the gift shop as we'd 'saved' all that money and there were some great local crafts and books. If the pics make you think you'd like a good link for photography check this one out:

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1jvVx6/www.lightandcomposition.com/light-composition-volume-three-available-today/

Since the friend had done all the online research for lunch we deferred to her suggestion and tried The Bistro East on St. George St. (which is the main thoroughfare if you can call this quiet one way street such a name). We were NOT disappointed as it lived up to its positive Trip Advisor ratings and then some. I had homemade pasta with alfredo sauce and seared scallops with a side salad followed by dessert of flourless chocolate cake with a cup of tea. Heaven. And my thoughtful friend made the lunch my birthday gift. Ahhh.
Speaking of happiness and heavenly stuff a good link to happy living:

http://www.marcandangel.com/2011/09/18/27-healthy-habits-of-happiness/

We ambled over to Charade Gifts on our way back to the car and checked out what this lovely little boutique had to offer. Brought back great memories of heading over to Annapolis Royal from camping at Kedge and shopping with the girls when they were younger for unusual finds. It has only gotten better. As we approached the vehicle we noticed a new shop called Lucky Lou's and ambled in, immersing ourselves in finds from the 50s and 60s and great gag gifts. Strange to think of our childhood stuff as retro (certainly not ready to call them antiques yet). As we stuffed our purchases in the car the first few drops of rain began to fall. What timing! Not sure if we followed all the guidelines for staying healthy on the road but we sure enjoyed ourselves.

http://www.uncorneredmarket.com/2009/08/ten-tips-for-staying-healthy-on-the-road/

As we headed down the French Shore we hit Frenchy's at Church Point, Saulnierville and Meteghan resulting in wonderful finds. Dishes, linens, sweaters, swimsuits and more. The lights had to be flashed for us at our last stop as the poor teenaged clerks struggled to kick us out and head home.

Arriving at a Subway for a late supper my (slightly older) friend reminded the Subway sandwich artist of the senior discount which it turned out was for those 55+ and whaddayaknow....that now describes me. I was tickled to receive the same % off. So aging does have some benefits it seems.

The weekend shifts were pretty frantic and it was a relief to head home after each one. Although I had the best of intentions to study for the ACLS course I'll be attending on Thursday and Friday I instead spent my day in domestic chores. That should tell you how desperate I was to avoid the books. Last night was manageable but I've contracted a nasty sore throat so did not make it in for work this evening as I'm just too tightly scheduled to allow myself to become really ill. Have an ER education day on Wednesday, and off to city to the Advanced Cardiac Life Support course the two days following. So off to make use of the extra hours for rest and recuperation.And to close some advice a friend forwarded:

OldFarmer's Advice

“Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.”
“Keep skunks and bankers at a distance.”
“Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.”
“A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.”
“Meanness don't just happen overnight.”
“Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.”
“You cannot unsay a cruel word.”
“The best sermons are lived, not preached.”
“Don't judge folks by their relatives.
“Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.”
“Live a good and honorable life, then when you get older and think back, you'llenjoy it a second time.”
“Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in.”

“Live simply,love generously,care deeply,
Speak kindly,and leave the rest to God.”

“Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll just killyou.”

55 and loving it

2011-09-28T22:50:00.000-04:00

As I put fingers to the keyboard just let me open by saying that you're reading the post of a newly turned 55 year old woman. And if that doesn't impress you let me share some info from a radio program I was listening to this morning on my drive home from the clinical shifts I did this week. Gloria Steinham was being interviewed on being a 'game changer' and you can check out the interview with the link below:

http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/episode/2011/09/28/game-changer-gloria-steinem/#.ToPQI2OP8TQ.blogger

For those without the time or interest to invest in clicking the url let me just summarize by the overview she gave of 'women of a certain age' which is certainly relative this birthday girl. She explained the traditional feminine role as being from age 12 - 50 but when women reach the age of 50 they return to thinking like 10 year old girls (except they have their own apartment, can reach the light switch etc) and they dream of doing all the things they imagined when they were younger. In fact the older you get the more important it is to do things as you have less time remaining. Her thoughts were that men are younger they are more powerful and loose that power when they age. Women are conservative when younger and get radical and gain power as they get older. Ah what a feminist!

I have had a very nice birthday actually. Birthday wishes from all the daughters and "oops I forgot" from the males of the house. I made my way home from the city this morning and it was a beautiful day so I took advantage of the sunshine on the deck while catching up on the news. Made my way over to visit the remaining summer neighbour and her nurse friend who is visiting. They were out on the deck enjoying Templetons rye (it had been a favorite of her spouse) in the sunshine. I joined them for a visit and we polished off some wine, green onion hummus, pita chips and wonderful cheese while we compared healthcare in the US and Canada. I floated home, got the laundry in and took the dog for a walk. All in day a great day.

I've made several trips recently to the city to do the clinical shifts for the emergency nursing program and the extra mileage has likely contributed to the palliative condition of the car. It started making noises as I headed down on Sunday and they increased in volume. By the time I made it back to the local garage the mechanic diagnosed something major with the air conditioner, apparently the 'burny smell' wasn't a good sign and he spoke of it costing $1500 for a new one to be installed. This is more than the vehicle is worth so if this turns out to be the problem....decisions will have to be made. At least this trip home I wasn't stalled for almost 40 minutes on the approach to one of the city bridges as a motorcyclist lay in the middle of the road getting attention from the paramedics while traffic was diverted. He was scraped up but at least was conscious.

My clinical shifts went well but it is a bit grating to have to contribute four 12 hr. shifts to another facility on my days off. I had hoped to be able to escape with only three shifts and get prior learning credit for the other two but the instructor 'allowed me' to drop one 12 hr.shift as the new grads have to do five. So, let's see I have 35 yrs of RN experience, a good deal of it in Emerg and I manage to get one shift for credit - oh yeah, that sounds fair - NOT! I did manage to find my way around the department and get a few items of my skills checklist ticked off. I also learned (from a classmate who works there) that there had been several dropouts who fell too far behind to catch up so we are down to a group of eight of us now. The only equipment in the clinical which was the same from my facility was the IV pumps and the catheter tray so most of it was a huge learning curve of new processes and equipment. This is helpful if you're going to be working in the new spot at some point but a lot of that info just has to be deleted from the short term memory if not. This Monday was frantic in the way that I'm used to in my workplace as we are chronically short staffed and I have to say we handle it much better than those bigger hospital RNs - just sayin.

I was glad to have escaped the accreditation review of last week in my facility though - I still have flashbacks to my interrogation when I was the Infection Control Practitioner the last round. One of my coworkers emailed to say that just when it seemed safe to go back in the water one of the accreditors was wandering in the ER and she had approached him (as we do all wandering persons there) and he attempted to extract information from her. I almost felt sorry for him as I've seen her in action and divulging such info freely is not something she's known for. It does call for the statement about not speaking to strangers though.

The first set of clinical shifts I met up with a nursing colleague and we headed to the Garrison Grounds for an educational display by Medicin sans Frontier (Doctors without Borders) which was excellent. They were most interested in two old-nurses who are mission groupies and so we left smiling.

http://www.msf.ca/

We headed down the street and around the corner to grab some supper at Turkish Delight which is highly recommended:

http://www.turkishdelighthalifax.ca/

Great food, reasonably priced and lots of Turkish diners so you know it's authentic. I had a Groupon which was about to expire so it was put to good use as well.

Well, time to hit the hay as tomorrow is a girl's day as we head to see the gardens in Annapolis Royal. Got to charge my camera batteries as well as my own.

http://www.historicgardens.com/

Pictures to follow.

Not a bad mark for an older student

2011-09-12T22:28:00.001-04:00

To ease the suspense I shall just start by saying that I DID make the required 75% on my second exam. I had it figured down to being able to have 18 questions wrong as they were worth 1.3 marks each. When I dropped an email with my grade to the shore captain (in Portland on business) his cryptic reply was - Not a bad mark for an older studentwith lots off spare time on her hands.......and yes that is how he spelled of - just wanted you to see where three of the four offspring got their spelling genes from. Needless to say I was thrilled to score such a mark and relieved to not have to undergo such torture again until December.

In the week leading up to the exam there was a frantic set of shifts, a brief visit from the daughter and her husband, supper with neighbours, a quick stop at a yard sale (great Cuba suitcase and a lovely small crock) and a delicious meal at Lothars Cafe making it a trio of ladies who lunch. Hard to believe that our brief summer is slipping away as we head towards fall.

I received a phone call from neighbours across the harbour as he shared that there was a "gannet show at 3 p.m. off the nubble buoy and over to the point". They are avid birdwatchers (read leftover hippies) and have donated some of their property to the NS Conservancy Trust so he was telling me that the birds were filling up on their way to over winter in the Gulf of Mexico, that they were earlier than usual and had been taking turns for hours diving into the ocean for bait fish. Apparently they usually visit only in twos or threes so this was quite a show. These across the harbour neighbours have been employed in the film industry for several decades (since one of the original movies was filmed in our area) and have traveled extensively doing props (he) and location work (she) although now they are choosing their projects carefully. He told me that he'd replied via fax to a director in Philadelphia stating that 'he couldn't work now as the peas are ready for harvest'. Ah! Their philosophy fits with the quote of the day:

The best advice I ever came across onthe subject of concentration is: Wherever you are, be there - Jim Rohn

As the shore captain had industry talks and meetings with seafood buyers he supplies in Maine and I had to stay home to write my exam I was left to enjoy having rappie pie for supper (an Acadien delicacy) while watching the remnants of hurricane Katia where the seabirds rode out the storm surge. Although the dog looked at them with much interest - in her senior years (she will be 12 in the spring) she has developed a phobia of shooting. The neighbours suddenly began an impromptu skeet shooting session so a gunning dog who is gun shy and hid behind my chair isn't a good thing. Quite a change from her youth.

During a particularly frantic night shift last week I told my coworker "I'm going to run away" to which she replies "where?" and I say "to join the circus". She matter of factly states "this is the circus" and there is no arguing with that! Reminded me of a quote in the business section of the newspaper today where an entrepreneur is quoted as saying "if you can't ride two horses and juggle plates at the same time, then you shouldn't be in the circus" Hard to argue with that either. So, should you be thinking of running away here is some 'how to' information from Lonely Planet:

http://bit.ly/oSy7Lc

Or perhaps you're just looking to relax for a shorter period. The advice does seem geared towards someone a tad bit younger than myself however the Words to Watch out for are worth checking out the link:

http://bit.ly/o40OOd

Speaking of younger folks we were visited by the baby daughter and her main squeeze on the weekend so got caught up on the news as it's been four months since that happened. I took advantage of her fearless self to groom Klyde and that isn't a job for the faint of heart. Whew. Had my shifts switched around to accommodate a course others were taking and so really only had today to be productive - managed all my domestic chores in style and I'm heading in to an all day union meeting tomorrow so must hit the hay. Later.

Do you know how much Miami Heat tickets cost?

2011-08-30T05:36:00.000-04:00

Although I should be studying for my exam - and the urgency of this need is intensified by the fact that my exam is only 7 days away and I have to work 3 of those days - I am catching up on the coverage of the hurricane that wasn't. Irene gave us a miss (thankfully) in our area although she caused lots of problems to the south and west of us. And in fact the baby daughter who had traveled to Las Vegas for quick getaway before heading back to school experienced it first hand. Apparently they were unable to return home as planned and were rerouted a couple of times and finally made it to Ohio. After being told it would be three or four days until they could fly out (there were 8500+ flights cancelled out of NY alone) they were driving and were outside of Boston this afternoon. That should make for some interesting travel stories.

As the travel planning continues and we look forward to heading to Florida, I mentioned to the travel partner that we might have some days before or after the cruise to take in a sporting event. He (who is a sports nut to put it kindly) quickly agreed. When I (in an attempt to prove that I knew something about sports) mentioned about Miami Heat basketball tickets and we could travel down on the tri-rail etc. he supported the idea of me looking for tickets. Do you know how much Miami Heat tickets cost? They were $700 + tickets and he says "oh they must be up in the nosebleed section, they're really expensive" He was sure correct as there were floor tickets for $7000 or more. I was flabbergasted! As the sports nuts said "that's why you see Jack Nicholson and people like that sitting in those seats". That quickly lead to research on a different set of tickets. He mentioned the Pathers (apparently they are a NHL team) and not only are they in Ft. Lauderdale the tickets are $48 - $80, so much more in tune with our budget. They are hosting the Bruins the evening before we cruise so it should be a good game.

Had a nice chat with two of the daughters today. The electrician daughter called to say she has a job interview on Wednesday morning so it sounds like the projects are moving again out west. We had chatted on my previous days off and she was telling me that she'd passed her provincial instrumentation exam - no surprise there - with a mark that I would be thrilled to claim on September 7th in my own. The teacher daughter was in the final stages of preparing for her grade 3/4 French Immersion classroom which - as she pointed out to me - is her first very own classroom as she has just previously 'borrowed' a classroom and students for a period of time. She is looking for floor cushions for her classroom reading area so (following in her mother's footsteps has made a trek to Frenchy's) but should anyone know of any such things, they will find a good home.

The prodigal son has found his way home after disappearing for a few days. Apparently had gone fishing with someone about 45 min. away for cash and neglected to tell anyone about it. The first night he didn't make it home I thought 'he's at a friends place' and then the second day his father said "haven't seen him at the plant or around the boat" by the third day we'd decided he had gone fishing. Wouldn't have been nice to know perhaps.

Did give me the chance on my 'days off' to complete 19 (yep you read that correctly 19) posting for my course. I received an email from the instructor today giving me the name of my preceptor for my clinical shifts in Emergency (so I will be dropping in to stay with the teacher daughter again) and you can be assured that I will be negotiating for 3 - 12 hr. shifts instead of the 5 which are listed in my letter! Fitting even three shifts into a full time schedule within five weeks is no small feat. At least these shifts will be a bit more applicable to my (present) workplace. After I have survived the exam and the clinical it will be a treat to be putting these toes in the warm sands of a vacation. The travel quote of the day supports this kind of thinking.

"Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe." ~Anatole France

And of course these links as well - the first re: wanderlust:

http://bit.ly/qLC0OO

And if you're going to travel you might as well take good photos of those travels:

http://bit.ly/mTKu8e

I shall dream of such things while I sleep the day away. Enjoy the sunshine!

Not enough nurses

2011-08-19T05:28:00.007-04:00

It seems that the critical shortage of nurses extends to many areas. I was chatting online with my buddy working in the north and asking what his plans were for employment? He's working on a contract now and thinking of traveling to Cambodia possibly with a friend in the fall. He told me one of the 'older' nurses was asking him to "come down and work in Emerg" and I suggested that might not be so bad. He replied that if he'd been willing to leave the Legion on wing night last Wednesday they would have promised him the world as one of the RNs had worked a 17 hour shift because her replacement had called in drunk. I told him to "stop talking like that - you know that I dream of that".

On Monday night as I was just starting in to my days off the phone rang at 9 p.m. and it was a co-worker who pitifully said "I need help!" and I was thinking it was a consult for infection control (from my former life) but no she says "can you come work as a CCA (Continuing Care Assistant - or the entry level nursing assistant) tonight?" I chuckled into the phone and she said "don't laugh! I'm serious" So of course I agreed as RN pay and time and a half at that wasn't going to be a problem. "I can be there in 45 minutes" I said and made my preparations. The shore captain didn't have a problem when I said "do you mind if I go to work tonight?" because he said I had kicked and and jumped all night the night before. He was right - I had been having a horrible nightmare about working in a sauerkraut factory and I HATE sauerkraut so I was really suffering. The laugh was on me though as the RN on shift was ill almost as soon as I arrived and we ended up putting her to bed with a shot of gravol, threatening her with IV fluids and she ended up having bloodwork done before the physician on call would allow her to leave in the a.m. So I got to be the RN and CCA while working short - you'd think I'd learn not to gloat. I felt so sorry for the fallen comrade as I had been struck with the same bug and been cared for by a co-worker myself on the Friday of my night shifts.

I had been dreaming of a winter vacation and especially so this year to celebrate the surviving of my Emergency Nursing Course and checking out some cruises but....the cheapest I could find was about $1000 each. I had been asking some of the girls at work in case they should be interested to make it a 'girls getaway' and one of them said "can't I have to pay for my divorce" and when I expressed my sympathy she said "oh no, don't worry we get along much better now that we're not married". So without any takers in the female department I made myself have a look at the cruise speaker situation again so the life partner and I could swing it. And long story short I negotiated a gig doing creative writing, blogging and other such fun stuff on the Emerald Princess as below - my apologies for the misalignment it is 5 a.m.

Emerald Princess us and 3000+ passengers

10 days Southern Caribbean Medley Roundtrip from Ft. Lauderdale

Port                                                     Arrival                       Departure


1 Ft. Lauderdale, Florida                                                     4:00 PM

2 Princess Cays, Bahamas                  9:00 AM                   4:00 PM

3 At Sea

4 St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands  8:00 AM                   5:00 PM

5 Dominica                                           9:00 AM                   6:00 PM

6 Grenada                                            7:00 AM                  2:00 PM

7 Bonaire                                            12:00 PM                  7:00 PM

8 Aruba                                               7:00 AM                   5:00 PM

9 At Sea

10 At Sea

11 Ft. Lauderdale, Florida               7:00 AM

Not a bad itinerary if I do say so myself - snorkeling, sun, ah

So now I'm looking forward to the vacation and the topic. I spent yesterday morning going through some of my materials, had the shore captain fax the agreement and release form and so am really anticipating this kind of 'teaching'. I must polish up this blog if I'm to use it for an example.

And as for why I'm typing this at 5 a.m. well the short answer is that I answered my phone at suppertime and was offered the chance of doing 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. this morning instead of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. today and for the same pay as the time and a half makes it equal. What is not to like? The only wrinkle is that the cleaning lady will be attempting to put the house in order when I get home - not that I mind or will hear her but I may get under her feet and distract her and that should NOT be happening.

Marine emergencies and more

2011-08-14T23:04:00.000-04:00

I am always surprised when I check the date of the last posting and find it is weeks old - in this case over three weeks. I have made several attempts to update as I worked my way through my night shifts but am suffering from unfinished task syndrome.

The social life has been active beginning with a housewarming for the teacher daughter and son-in-law. A BBQ at their new suburban home with family and friends was a good time. We used a Groupon and picked up some appetizers, Greek salad and dessert at The Athens restaurant before heading over and the shore captain barbequed the lamb a summer neighbour had so generously gifted us with and we made a pitcher of sangria - both of which my Spanish sister-in-law pronounced delicious! My great nephew (who at that time hadn't even had his first birthday) was running everywhere, had to be watched closely on the stairs and was very taken with both the cat Hank (he squatted down and peered at him in wonderment as their only pet is a large chocolate lab who answers to the name Howie) and the cat toy which he batted for some time. We were home past the shore captain's bedtime but it was worth it. Nice to have the Sunday to relax before heading back to work.

Worked my two LDs and LNs and they were all eventful and frantic - what else is new? On Friday morning I did some laundry and got it out on the line and caught a few z z z z s before arising at noon. Time to pack a few things, walk the dog, straighten out the house and head off in the direction of Moncton. I snoozed off and on and we stopped to pick up a friend of the son-in-law who was going to Sackville for Sappyfest, and no it isn't maple syrup but a music festival. We arrived at Universite de Moncton and checked into residence, found a Shoppers Drugstore to buy $10 bracelets to get on the shuttle bus to Magnetic Hill, picked up some supplies such as granola bars and Gatorade and headed out to find the Moncton Coliseum where the shuttle buses left from. With our route mapped out we found Montanas and had a late supper. Unconscious before hitting the mattress is the only description.

Awoke the next morning to pouring rain and wind, how discouraging. Off to Canadian Tire to pick up a stadium seat to use as a back rest (no chairs, umbrellas or tents allowed on the concert grounds) and purchased some extra garbage bags just for good measure. Brunch at Wendy's was a Cobb salad and BLT wrap for moi and the shore captain enjoyed a baconator while winning a free cheeseburger (but of course we lost the tab in the monsoon). Rain gear on, check, extra garbage bags, check, snacks, check and off to catch the shuttle. A quick run to Magnetic Hill and a soggy walk up to the gate for an over two hour wait. A no nonsense trot down to the front of the stage in the drizzle to wait on the metal platform. The 360 stage had a walkway across the front and we were three people back from the fence. The precipitation finally slowed when the first act - Carney - came on stage. They are a part of the orchestra in the Spiderman musical which Bono and The Edge have written. A slight delay and then Arcade Fire who were fantastic!

Carney via the jumbotron

Arcade Fire

Yes Bono was singing only to me

U2s social conscience

Two hour + wait for a bus!

Then it was U2. And what electricity with the 75,000 of us enjoying the show. There were lots of photo ops and Bono is a fine looking man for his age but...the logistics of the Magnetic Hill site are such that there is no band that will tempt me to ever go back there. After trudging carefully in the mud down the hill we shuffled along the side of the road as we waited to be loaded onto buses - in the mist, with all the tired faces and rounded shoulders it reminded me of the trains on their way to Auschwitz.

Felt like Woodstock!

We finally made it to a transit bus at 3 a.m., too tired to eat we headed back to rez and collapsed into bed at 25 to 4. Certainly glad I saw U2 but not to be repeated. Up the next morning to grab a breakfast sandwich and on the road. When it takes three days to see a concert, you've got to be really committed to the event!

Made a stop at the daughter and son-in-laws place to do a house inspection as they had noticed a dark spot under the siding on the garage. A sharp screwdriver inserted by the house inspector aka shore captain yielded a line of angry ants. Instructions on which kind of ant terminator to purchase and need to reside in the spring eased some of the angst as well as measuring for a new door, checking out the chimney flashing on the roof and a closer assessment of the deck didn't produce any major crises so we headed out for home. Glad to find a message asking me if I wanted to have Tuesday off as well due to extra staff. Yes please!!!

Monday (no surprise) was sacrificed to doing laundry, scrubbing footwear and unloading the car. When I was awakened Tuesday morning by a coworker asking me to come in to work as someone had phoned in sick I didn't in the end have extra time off. I did however get time and a half for the shift worked instead of using holiday time. Penny wise and pound foolish to try to cancel nurses when the patient census is down - you would think this quote might sink in to administration but no...So I made my way to the appointment to have my interspinous ligaments injected - the rhuematologist is very pleased with how quickly it is coming along considering that T3 to T9 were unstable - and learn the correct term is prolotherapy which is used frequently for athletes and apparently aging nurses as well. The night shifts were actually not too bad.

Saturday was a short nap and then a Greek evening with our summer neighbours and a local couple who may as well be for as often as we've seen them lately. We had seafood kabobs on the grill then BBQ lamb, grilled veggies, Greek salad and potatoes, pita bread, and a large pitcher of sangria with fruit salad for dessert. My buddy and I tried out a margarita recipe so as not to waste the tequila brought back from Mexico last spring as well. So needless to say I slept well when the crowd dispersed. And Sunday was a day to put the house back in order after being the hostess with the mostest, get the boy Captain underway fishing. When I called as he was heading to get his 'grub order' and told him the brown bread I'd made him wasn't sliced he said "oh never mind we have a rope knife aboard the boat anyway" so I wished him luck and told him I'd see him on Wednesday.

After shopping for the next social event - a family BBQ in honor of my sister's 51st birthday - Monday is when everything broke loose! The 2nd daughter and her teacher friend came down from the city for a first aid re-certification and we included a local lad who is heading off to do carpentry in the fall.

Just before the ladies arrived for an overnight visit the shore captain came through the door with the news of the day. It seems the leased boat the boy captain had been taking and was fishing in the gully (between Georges and Browns Banks) had been located by it's EPIRB (emergency locator beacon) a Hercules aircraft was scrambled from Greenwood but wasn't able to locate them in the fog and the Capt and crewmember had eventually abandoned ship and been picked up by a vessel in the area and transferred to the Coast Guard cutter when it arrived and were on their way in. A later call to the Air Search and Rescue confirmed they were fine, but the boat had been floated with over three hours of pump work and they were being towed in to Coast Guard station. A friend of the boy Capt. picked him up in the a.m. as the shore captain was unloading fish. It appears the through hull broke off and water rushed in below the water line filling the engine room, hold and even the cud (living quarters) as they were hauling gear. It had been rough in the a.m. and about noon there was different motion to the boat and the engine struggled and made a banging noise so when he lifted the engine hatch cover the water was almost to the top - no high water alarm had sounded and there was no power as everything shorted out. This meant no VHF to make an emergency call and even the panic button didn't work (although there is supposed to be battery backup) so the only solution was to reach up on top of the wheelhouse and activate the EPIRB, get out the survival suits and put them on and sit on the stern of the boat which was the only part above water. The nonswimmer crewmember wasn't too impressed with this and it is hard to believe that 85% of the inshore fishing fleet don't swim. So after a few hours a dragger from Pubnico arrived and the lads climbed into the liferaft and paddled their way over, after a close call with a stabilizer almost punching through the top of the raft. After attempting to feed them "um no thanks, not really hungry right now" the boy Capt is quoted as saying, the Coast Guard rescue craft the Clarks Harbour arrived to pick them up as the dragger headed back to Georges Bank to continue fishing. Although Air Search and Rescue insisted they wouldn't do anything with the submerged vessel the Coast Guard Capt. decided they were going to do their best to raise it as he would be responding to all the calls when local fishermen ran it down as it was in a busy fishing area. So with three pumps working and three and a half hours later the vessel bobs to the surface and is readied for towing. The Coast Guard required that someone go back aboard the boat and needless to say the crewmember was NOT getting out of the Coast Guard chair so as the lad says "I'm the Capt and responsible so what do you do?" It was a cold, wet, dark night spent trying to sleep on the table in the cud as there was no power, everything was soaked and there wasn't anything left that was safe to eat. His sister was reassured when she was discussing the marine emergency with her husband who said "you know that he knows what he's doing on the water" and granted he has a bit of experience in these matters. That boy, the reason mothers go gray! Not really sure how this vessel managed to 'pass' steamship inspection in May as there were multiple maintenance issues all summer and it is a tribute to the boy Capt's mechanical skills that something hadn't happened earlier.

So, this week is being spent in readying the lobster boat to go fishing (which had been the boy Capt wish all along) as well as picking all the bait off the trawl which had knocked around in the hold, picking up the rest of the gear which someone had hauled for him and generally working 12 hr days.

Tuesday evening was a BBQ for my sister's birthday as her two daughters were home for a visit with the great nieces and nephew who combined to be the approximate ages of our four - so the life partner and I had a few deja vu moments. Can't beat burgers, smokies, potato and pasta salads and Dan's ice cream cake for dessert. A good time was had by all! The daughter and friend headed back to the city on Wednesday as I headed out for an appointment. Picked up my resoled Birkenstocks at the cobblers and 'memo to self - to ask for an approximate price first the next time' as they were $55!!! Mind you I will get lots more miles on them but...that's half of what I paid for them new. Sigh.

Back to work on Thursday, so not much studying done as you can see by the schedule. It worked out to be a good day after a busy morning. But when I got up Friday I was frantic with pain and very discouraged my back was out again - called the physio clinic and of course couldn't even get a message to the physio till Monday, took all the meds I had left and by the time I had to go to work it was manageable. The Dr. on call checked and said it was my hip this time (I'm falling apart) but that the original problem is much better and this is the way things resolve and go back in line so I cheered up a bit.We didn't have a bad night shift but I was struck by some kind of stomach bug about 11 p.m. and had to crawl up on a stretcher before I passed out. My coworker came to find me with the stretcher up in the air, put it down because she was afraid I would gall off, offered me a pillow and blanket (no please don't touch me) and turned out the light. I came too about 1 a.m. and decided I was going to live so muddled around and got myself upright. It has completely cleared by 3 a.m. and I've been fine since. A couple of co-workers had the same sort of event so it must be something circulating (oh great) in the community.

So, that was life in the fast lane this week. I told my coworkers I had to go to work to get a rest. Errands and some studying tomorrow as there is precipitation predicted so I might get back on track towards that September 7th exam date.

Been looking at some cruise ideas to work as an incentive reward for when I've finished the course and there are some possibilities and even good airfare sales so that must be a sign. In that spirit I'm including some travel links here:

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/greece/travel-tips-and-articles/76746?affil=twit

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/africa/travel-tips-and-articles/76741?affil=twit

Safe travels.

No unlived lives here

2011-07-21T10:13:00.001-04:00

When I look at the date of the last post and realize that it's been over a week since I updated I thought 'that can't be correct, it must've been longer than that' but no that is life in the fast lane. Reminded me of a quote someone had posted on their Facebook wall:

"Don't be afraid of death; be afraid of an unlived life. You don't have to live forever, you just have to live."
- Natalie Babbit (Tuck Everlasting)

To begin with on my last set of days off I had to head back in to town after sleeping a few hours after my night shift (never a good idea - always good to stay home, not do anything too complicated like baking and keep yourself away from breakables - one of my coworkers told me the day before that she was staying up for the day with her grandson "like we used to do when we had to when our kids were small" and I replied "it wasn't a good idea then and still isn't") for a prescription fill. The reason was finding one of those nasty little black legged (Lyme disease carrying) ticks between my index and middle finger and several days later having an angry itchy infected spot there. So the physician on call decreed that I should start antibiotics. Ten days later it has completely disappeared. But I digress. I made the stop at the pharmacy, the post office for the eBay parcel and then Frenchy's for a quick shop so since the doors in the 'other' car don't lock I put my parcels and purse in the trunk. As I was at the cash register trying to locate the car keys I comment they must have been left in the car but the Frenchy's clerk says "oh dear, maybe we'll have to look in every one of the bins". This certainly sounded like it had been done before. When I approached the car there were the keys still in the trunk. Nice to live rurally I thought. A trunk full of groceries and home to crash.

Also on the last set of days off, the shore captain headed in to the city to assist the new homeowners with a plumbing project and deliver a ladder so the split level entry could be painted as those are the only minor changes they are making. You can imagine that he was well and truly lost in the Dartmouth wilderness before he gave in and called for directions, likely driving a large 4 wheel drive truck with a ladder tied on the back wasn't helpful. But as I informed him "it's a lot easier to give the original directions than try to figure out where you are now" however after about 15 min. of coaching he arrived at his destination.

While the cats (who as you can see with these photos of Gary on the left as he fell asleep on his water dish after coming inside from small game hunting on his run and on the right napping in the veranda room) with Klyde in the center guarding the catnip I have since planted for him the only distractions here (other than the weather) I worked along in my course materials. I managed to score a 48% on my renal quiz which prompted the question "48% of what? 50?" when I shared my mark with others - so I should consider that a compliment I guess. The only learning from these computer generated quizzes is teaching you to write down all the questions/answers when the auto corrections are given so there is a 96% next time. It appears there was generalized angst within the class as the instructor offered up her own notes for review after checking our scores. Next week is our 'study break' which apparently means the instructor is going camping not that any of us are taking a break.

The weekend of working days in the heat meant I almost melted! The in patient unit is over the boiler room, the multimillion dollar refit of a few years ago hasn't helped and we are forbidden from opening the windows. Good test of being able to work in the tropics not just vacation there. The night shifts were not only cooler but much more manageable. And on the day in between it wasn't sunny meaning I got my course work done and am track.

Had a quick email from the electrician daughter saying that she'd been sought out by a tradesman and was working after school and on weekends a few days so that is wonderful news to be getting experience even before graduating and of course a local reference if needed. She is finishing up her exam studying for the instrumentation course and will be glad to be out of the classroom and on her way. Not long now.

Determined to have bratwurst

The teacher daughter and son-in-law are visiting this week at his family cottage so we headed up to have them feed us supper last evening from the barbeque. Enjoyed grilled chicken, sausage, veggies and potato salad finished up with grilled peaches and ice cream - yum and left them the dishes to do. Beautiful evening on the lake as well. Not like the evening the shore captain decided rain or not to barbeque bratwurst for supper - I told him he looked like the little Morton salt girl and since the precipitation has been so infrequent it's not a grilling hazard on a regular basis, in fact the swordfish steaks and bacon wrapped scallops of two evenings ago were delicious. Ahh, summertime and the grilling is easy.

Last night I stopped at the post office and picked up the Blurb photobook I'd made and the quality was really good. The spelling and desktop publishing required a bit of polish but it was my first attempt and I managed to somewhat fix the typos so they don't bug me too badly. Kind of like reading blog postings if I've rushed and not proof read diligently. Memo to self: do not attempt such a project on the day your Groupon will expire so you have to rush. Mind you....it's a coffee table book and how closely do people look at such things? Made most of my mistakes in learning how to do the first one I've told myself.

Well, enough procrastinating...off to hit the books as this afternoon there are appointments to have all the felines vaccinated - now there's an exercise in patience.

Turtle delays and travel tips

2011-07-12T01:58:00.000-04:00

I am always so amazed when I check the projections / expectations for the coming week or set of shifts when I sign off the blog. How can such wonderfully optimistic plans dissolve? Well....the first step was that I answered the phone on Thursday to hear my Nurse Manager asking me to do 12 hr night shift, then sleep a bit on Friday and do a 12 hr day shift on Saturday and now my night shifts on Sunday and Monday. And you would wonder why shift workers are confused? It meant that I couldn't ask the cleaning lady as I needed to sleep Friday morning and didn't want to be in bed/underfoot when she made her inaugural visit. However this enabled me to enjoy a sunny afternoon on Friday which I would have missed and nights are almost always guaranteed to be more manageable than days. I am considering asking for a rotation of one day, three night shifts which would work on many levels.

I was less than impressed to find that the car (which the shore captain had insisted on taking to the garage where his trucks are maintained) had a very loud clunking sound as if something was going to come up through the passenger side. At the risk of looking a gifthorse in the mouth I complained that although a bit more pricey MY garage would have never let me leave in a car making that noise as they would have test driven it. So...while I was sleeping on Friday morning my car disappeared and since we aren't talking about it, and I'm driving the 'additional' car which is in the yard, I have no idea when it will be repaired by them, returned by him.

I caught a ride in to work with a coworker on Saturday and after the day shift the life partner and I had a great supper at Lothar's Cafe:

http://www.lothars-cafe.com/Home.html

which included (for moi) a large spinach, chicken, almond and strawberry salad with honey dressing, stuffed chicken, rice and veggies for the main and panna cotta with strawberry sauce for dessert. The shore captain had scallop cakes then beef roulade, spaetzle and veggies and a lot of self control as he passed on dessert. Lovely spot for lunch or dinner if you find yourself in town.

It seems that I may just find myself in town during my days off as I have to run some errands as the goodies purchased on eBay are finding their way to me in the mail now that it is moving again. Almost as good as the gift dropped off by a summer neighbour on my way to work this evening. At any rate I shall refrain from making extravagant projections of plans for my days off - I shall simply work on my course as after the email peptalk from the instructor all of the material has been posted.

Well, time to read back to help out with the work but I leave you with some travel stories.
I just loved the headlines recently about turtle delays at JFK airport in New York - nature vs technology:

http://bit.ly/jlEXs9

In my research for something else (isn't that the way all great discoveries are made) I found a website for Dr. Ivor Mendez. He's a neurosurgeon who does wonderful research, remote robotics, brain repair etc. He is originally from Bolivia and he does worldwide projects (there was a great photo of him taking a dentist chair into a remote Andean village in the paper once). I was particularly impressed with the laptop sections here:

http://imihf.org/what/

His way of approaching the world made me think of the quote of the day........
We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same. ~ Carlos Castaneda

And (again) speaking of traveling here are some great Girl Guide (I mean MacGyver) tips:

http://alittleadrift.com/2011/06/how-to-travel-macgver-gear/

So here's hoping you're able to enjoy some of our all too short summer weather! Later.

What I did on my summer days off

2011-07-06T21:50:00.000-04:00

Do you remember those first essays you were instructed to write upon returning to school in September? They were invariably entitled "What I did on my Summer Vacation" and were a real pain for anyone who had a rather unproductive summer - nothing to write about as nothing happened or a rather productive summer - nothing to write about as all you did was work and sleep. I feel as if I'm writing about 'what I did on my mini summer vacation' as I'm winding down the final day tomorrow of five beautiful days off. So much better than just weekends off, especially if we have one of those summers where it rains every weekend of the eight or so we call summer here. There had been talk of heading to the city to visit / do plumbing with the teacher daughter but the shore captain is caught up in all things nautical this week, so that will have to be for another set of days off.

My last set of four shifts was modified as I attended my physio appointment in the morning (happy to report the facet is still in alignment, the pop in the night was it attempting to displace itself but not possible with the angry shortened ligament) so that was reassuring. The physio is away until July 18th so I'm hopeful it behaves itself. I stopped along the way at Canadian Tire and picked up the grinder (for him) and cast iron cooking pot (for me) which were on special. I also popped next door to Marks Work Wearhouse and invested in some 3/4 sleeve tops to wear under my posture support - if I'm going to have to suffer it might as well be in style and with something that is meant for working in. I made a stop at the Post Office as they are now moving the mail and retrieved one of my eBay purchases before heading in to gainful employment. The abbreviated shift was manageable and I headed out to pick up groceries afterwards so it did make for a long day. Not as long as the next one mind you. It's hard to conceive of how hectic a 12 hr day shift is before a long weekend with no Team Leader and only a new graduate nurse to assist you, but you get the idea. Canada Day here was a quiet one as I caught up on sleep, laundry and cooking before heading in. The first night was manageable but although I slept soundly in between the second one was by any measurement a doozy of emergencies - the kind a long weekend in summer would begat - leading me to post non-identifying case studies on the web-board for my course they were so spectacular.

A few hours nap on Sunday and then up to prep for being the hostess with the mostest as we entertained both our summer neighbours, and one of their grandson for a BBQ. The life partner outdid himself with his new toy, I mean BBQ, for the steaks and grilled asparagus and we had potato salad, warm herb bread and strawberry shortcake for dessert. Yum. Always good to have good friends, good conversation and good times.

Yesterday I had a call from the shore captain advising that if I brought the car out to the garage he uses for his truck repairs that they will repair and safety inspect my vehicle if I leave it and he will drive me home. That's an offer I can't refuse so I head out. Needing to stop to order a rechargeable camera battery at the hardware store he decides that we should investigate the garden center. This is something that a person who is struggling with 'back issues' wants to do as she hasn't weeded the plants she's got!! He falls in love with two tall plants which look like purple cattails and I pick up some zinnias and coleus for the front planters. It was VERY painful to supervise him being Farmer Clem and reminded me why there were weeds in the flowerbeds and nothing in the planters.

I am playing hookey from my studies today but I am working on this week's scheduled lesson and according to the pointed email all students received today I am in the distinct minority:

I know it is summer but please try to keep up with the lessons. We do see the lesson status of everyone (!!) – so we do know what has been done. There should now be Webboards for all lessons if you are asked to post something, or perhaps share some info or story or reflection with the class. There is a break in the lessons from July 31- Aug 7^th. And there is study time for Exam 2 built into the program that runs from Aug 28 to Sept 7^th. If you are struggling with anything please contact one of us – if there is a problem we can help with program material and/or help problem solve.

My scholastic procrastination although is not really intentional. I stayed up too late - went to bed at 1:40 a.m. after working on my photobook (more on that later) so wasn't very focused this morning. I read the paper, the boy captain was back and forth - bringing home lobster traps and stacking them, attempting to get fuel for the boat he is leasing, picking up the other captain and crew when their pickup broke down and they were headed out fishing at 5 p.m., needing lunch - you get the picture. I made sure I got my vitamin D requirement this afternoon, then walked the dog, I prepared and fry clams for the shore captain while he barbequed hamburgers, and baked jam cookies and herb bread for the FV Major Expense - which the boy captain says is aptly named. Busy but productive/nonproductive day off. Still have to make supper for the boy captain when he shows home (it's now 10:45 p.m.) as at last report he was "building a coiling bench" which apparently involved lumber, an old foam mattress piece for padding and oilclothes as a waterproof covering. Hmmm.

This description doesn't include the excitement which ensued when I had been allowing Klyde (as per the shore captain's example) amble in and out of the open front door of the house with the hallway french door closed, he periodically jumped up onto the bench or sprawled on the front step. At some point this afternoon I realized that he was looking at something on the floor of the front hallway and when I went to investigate realized that it was the carcass of a small dark mouse, thankfully beyond running away into the house. These cats!

As I mentioned previously I was working on a photobook. I had a Groupon to use which expired today (I am Mrs Procrastination and work better under tight deadlines) and so I made a Blurb photobook - here is the website link:

http://ca.blurb.com/?ce=google_can_brand_blurb&gclid=CJyZ4paI7qkCFQEKKgod4nfVXQ

I certainly learned a LOT about making a photobook, it took much more time than I thought and the first one is rather basic but my father (printer) would have been impressed with the process. In order to redeem my coupon I had to make two phone calls for assistance which resulted in my discovering that 'when in doubt read the computer screen' really is true and that sometimes it's not best to leave projects until the last moment in case there is a glitch in the process. But no worries they were very helpful and I would certainly use Blurb again as well.

Time tomorrow to get a haircut, organize the new cleaning lady - the original one is going to orientate her for Friday when I'm not here, saving me from having to prepare a job description / task list, and perhaps.....work on my course tomorrow before I head back for another set of shifts.

Electrolytes and Irises

2011-06-27T23:14:00.000-04:00

Well, having given up on fluid and electrolyte balance this evening - and can you blame me? I will spend a few moments updating. To begin where I left off I had a rather uncomfortable 36 hrs after the back injection but it settled and I was beginning to think I was completely cured. However I simply rolled over in bed during the night on the weekend, and the pop in my back woke me up and I've been grumbling and downing Tylenol ever since. We shall see what Wednesday's check up brings for news.

I did have a chance to visit with the summer neighbour in between the night shifts and we enjoyed strawberry muffins and got caught up on the news. I readied the boy captain to go fishing and so packed up bread, goulash and brownies. As I walked the dog the shore captain arrived home - again, apparently he had crawled onto the sofa at 5 a.m. for a couple of hours nap in the morning after traveling home from NB. Then as I attempted to get out the door for work that night the son arrived for supper and his 'stuff'. I described it to the Dr. on call as being similar to preparing a camping / fishing trip and going to work round the clock for a couple of days.

The second LN was busier than the first, although I felt more nimble, and we were very pleased to see the workplace in the rear view mirror. As we headed out of town in the drizzle, we were ambushed by a Kamikaze deer which jumped out of the ditch and almost directly on my co-workers SUV. We both saw it at the same time and she slammed on the brakes as it bolted for the other side of the highway. Wide awake now! As we approached a sharp curve in the road about 10 minutes later we were dismayed to see a white pickup truck imbedded a long distance into the swamp as it appeared to have not negotiated the corner. So, we parked the vehicle and headed down into the ditch to see if anyone was in the half ton needing assistance. As we slogged along the wheel ruts became deeper, the vegetation spongier and the water deeper. Squelch, squelch, squelch "oh look, nice pitcher plants". My co-worker lost her shoe and had to retrieve it while I trudged on in my Crocs. We approached the crew cab truck with tinted rear windows and discovered a booster seat which sent a chill down the spine. No signs of anyone in the truck so that was a relief and we turned to retrace our sloppy steps. As we looked up at the roadside there were several trucks stopped with men standing beside them - likely originally trying to find out if one of us was the truck driver and one the rescuer. "Anyone there, anyone hurt?" one of them called out so we reassured them "no" as we slurped our way back to the SUV. Must've made an interesting sight in our uniforms wet to the knees with swamp water and covered in leaves and brush. One of the men described seeing "a young fellow in a t-shirt walking down the road talking on a cell phone" who must've been the absent driver. We were quite hysterical by the time we drove the 2 minutes to my car and as I got out to transfer one of the men from the roadside appeared with the driver of the truck announcing "he fell asleep". Must've had cruise control on was our conclusion due to the straight and far distance the truck traveled.

Enjoying all Cape Negro Harbour has to offer

This has been our second, count em, second beautiful sunny day in a row. We hardly know how to act after the extremely wet spring we've just suffered through. Last evening we looked out at the harbour to see this sailboat heading in to shelter for the night - still early in the cruising season yet. They left when the breeze picked up a bit this morning. The summer neighbours, with the arrival of the second sister, are scrubbing and cleaning even more than usual required as the damp wasn't good in closed up houses. They were taking a well earned break in the screened veranda room when I walked the dog and called out to me with an invitation for a glass of wine. I think I showed remarkable restraint to politely decline and finish the section on on IVs.

As big as your head

Mind you due to the back and the books... I've been ignoring my flower beds and they seem the better for it. Or maybe those which are thriving as those who really enjoy wet springs.Neither the shore captain or myself remember this giant iris blooming before and it certainly wasn't something I planted last season so.....it must've just been getting good and settled and ready to be beautiful and just popped open yesterday. The quote of the day sure matched the subject:

There are always flowers for those who want to see them - Henri Matisse

The flowers last year this time were.....hydrangeas. It's almost impossible to think that the teacher daughter has celebrated her first wedding anniversary. She is wrapping up her first full year of teaching and applying for positions for the fall with fingers crossed.

And speaking of daughters we were thrilled to hear that the first daughter has (no surprise) passed her second year electrician apprentice exam with flying colors. She is making her way through the instrumentation course and will write that exam the end of next month. Lots of choices in so many areas with those qualifications.

Strawberries - cat's best friend

After a hard day at the office

Considering flowers, strawberries and all things summery I am including a photo of Gary with his latest interest. Yes, that is a strawberry you see him chasing across the kitchen there on the left. When I came home with the box of them he was rubbing his face on the box (making me think it smelled of field mouse perhaps) but no....it was the berries he was in love with. And this is a feline who doesn't eat people food. When given the berry he amused himself for hours and glared at the other two cats if they looked at it. He is 'special' for sure. Yesterday I noticed Gary on the back steps with something small and brown and rushed out to find a small field mouse twitching so I banished him inside and attempted to pick up the mouse to dispose of it when.......it revived and ran for cover.Imagine what a mouser he'd be if he wasn't on a run eh? The relaxing pose on top of the office chair box on the right reminds me that he IS the manager here.

Now if I had more time for crafting and less spent studying I would follow up on this article I found in Creative Woman (which I like to think I am):

http://bit.ly/mjuVho

Mind you, if I want to be creative, this recipe should fit the bill:

Cold Avocado Soup: Puree1½avocado/½shallot/peeldcuke/3c buttrmilk/s+p; chill. Top w pulse-blended ½avocado&shallot/tom/2T lime&yogurt&basil.

Spent some time this weekend researching Greek Island cruises - apparently smaller local cruises are a better way to go (according to a retired teacher who has done so) and the vacation exchange program we're enrolled in to see what deposits and exchanges we could dream of. What better way to spend days off? And since there is so much talk of vacations and trips I offer the following link to boomerang crusing:

http://bit.ly/kt6uJF

Itinerary for round the world cruise

Now just so you'll have an idea of what the boomerang itinerary looks like here is the visual in the form of a map. Oh to dream. Mind you this tongue in cheek list may may you think twice about talking about your travel bug:

http://seattlestravels.com/40-signs-you%E2%80%99re-a-true-traveler/

I must go investigate as a stray cat sitting on the rock wall is causing some posturing (Stanley) and growling (Gary) in the veranda and anxious pacing in the dining room(Klyde).

It's really summer now

2011-06-23T00:38:00.000-04:00

And yes, the title is not just a teaser, today was the first full day of summer and the weather was appropriate to the season. Good for cheering the soul. I was supposed to have worked today so that would account for the sunshine and comfortable temperatures likely. Got up at 8:15 a.m. instead of three hours earlier and puttered a bit until the cleaning lady arrived. She advised that she's been burning the candle at both ends and is giving up her housecleaning jobs as she has moved her mother from the city to live with her, listed her mother's condo in the city and is really just dragged out. It doesn't help that she's a multi tasking community volunteer and spent about seven hours yesterday at a major fire trying to keep the volunteer firefighters hydrated. More on that later. Rest assured her position WILL be filled, this is not a government agency here.

It is worth about $180 too

As I await the middle of the night return of the shore captain from several days of fishing industry/marine biologist meetings in St. Andrews bye the Sea, New Brunswick I was reminded of his recent luck. He apparently had filled in a raffle ticket being sold in the entryway of the local hardware store a week or so ago and was called with the good news of his win. When I asked what he'd won he couldn't remember and didn't want to admit to the caller that he has no memory so was going to claim his prize and be surprised he said. It reminded me of last week when the internal medicine specialist was conducting a weekly clinic in the ER and he told me that the local pharmacy was celebrating 'national memory awareness week' by conducting memory testing. I told him that my husband shouldn't partake as he has no memory and he corrected me (although he's never met the life partner but must know this as 'man' information) saying "he doesn't have a memory problem he has a concentration problem". Oh, very difficult to argue with that as mister gets a numb thumb from 'flicking' through the TV channels with the remote. It was even funnier when he arrived home with a bucket of car cleaning products. Well, I guess you'd have to actually SEE his truck to get that joke, but you can use your imagination. He also won a lovely white Makita cordless drill (yes I said white - refer to the truck joke) in a zippered case like this one above. Ahhh, he is good entertainment sometimes.

Highway 103 - June 21, 2011

And we can always use a smile with all sorts of grim news. I worked a LD on Tuesday which consisted of a number of 'interesting' situations until about 2:30 p.m. when things went bad in a big hurry. There was apparently a serious MVC (motor vehicle collision - no longer called MVA as there is no such thing as an accident, that infers bad luck not root cause analysis) on the main highway involving a car and a full tanker truck with extrication required, fire and the road blocked as you can see to the left. Calls from EHS stating a female in the car was seriously injured which caused us to ramp up planning in our small Emergency Department first by clearing it out (the LPN working with us was seen sprinting at a good speed towards the elevator behind a wheelchair with arms waving from it in protest) as she headed for the inpatient unit to drop off the human cargo. With adrenaline pumping we quickly began preparing supplies and alerting the x-ray and lab techs. As we worked several of the staff phoned family to ensure all were safe. Thinking all of mine were accounted for I busied myself setting up IVs when the phone rang yet again and the ward clerk answered it, then called my name saying "phone for you". Thinking it was another nurse I said "who is it?". She said "I don't know, they asked for you by both of your names". My legs would hardly carry me to the phone as my knees were weak, I identified myself to the female caller and she said "this is Nova Functional Assessments you have an appointment tomorrow at 3 p.m." I grunted my confirmation and hung up. I later told the internal medicine specialist that I did not require a cardiac stress test as I had passed it! In the end our preparations were not required as EHS transported to another center but it was a tense while until we were advised. So with the highway closed we took the scenic route home after work as well as all the heavy traffic rerouted through the coastal road. By this evening the road was fully opened and the environmental assessment and cleanup under way. Apparently the tanker contained 31,000 liters of gasoline and 9,000 liters of diesel fuel so the gas burned the trees at an extreme temperature and the diesel still smelled really strong over 24 hours later. It was an eerie view.

Manger of what chair?

Today on my way to the physio appointment I stopped at Staples and laid down some cash for a new computer chair. Especially important as I've been spending time in it staring at my online course and it's not good for the back. The boy captain (who is in the process of getting ready to go fishing) cheerfully offered to assemble it (saving me the $10 cost) and was thrilled when I jokingly offered the original as he pronounced it "great for a coiling trawl seat". I won on both fronts. I also made a stop a Wal-Mart and scored a great deal on memory cards for the camera I purchased on eBay. I've been having good luck with my bidding lately (to the point that I've been sent 35 cents U.S. through PayPal) having also scored some neat medical collectables, a cocktail dress and an iPod Shuffle as a grad gift for my Cuban nurse friend. My main beef is with Canada Post and the strike/lock out that is presently going on. How is a gal supposed to get her parcels? The Purolator courier arrived the other evening with the iPod and of course rang the doorbell (or as we say the dogbell) setting Keely off in a frenzy of announcing we were being invaded.

I spent three hours at the physio appointment today, well actually the first hour of it was waiting as it was a very busy clinic. After the physio put my back in alignment again (I had leaned over to straighten sofa cushions the day after my last visit and popped it out - proving that housework of course can hurt you) the rheumatologist arrived to do the injection. There were discussions about the size of the area requiring treatment (with the physio advising it was 'much better') and then they drifted away and talked quietly about how long these treatments would be needed. Hmmmm. I've done that maneuver myself as you wander out of the patients range of hearing when you don't want to upset/depress them with the treatment plan. The injections weren't particularly painful and I had a nap with the ice pack afterwards so we shall see what the next few days bring. The physio advises that this is fixable and I keep focusing on that. In the meantime I am wearing a less than comfortable brace, am taped up securely, have to go for a recheck next week and am booked again for August. Enough whining, I shall pretend I am Xena the Princess Warrior with my armor on. At least I'm not dealing with dental extractions as a friend is... if this affected my ability to eat that would be really terrible!

One of the summer neighbours has arrived and is conducting her 'opening the summer estate' rituals which this year includes some mold and mildew thanks to the very damp spring we've endured. Plans for a cup of tea tomorrow to catch up on all the news. Heading in for two night shifts after that so will perhaps get some work done on the course as we move from chest tubes to fluid/electrolyte balance - what a great way to spend your summer eh? Off to bed so I shall sleep in adequately. I leave you with this travel article on being a visitor not a tourist:

http://bit.ly/iZRRN0

Of backs and outings

2011-06-17T03:56:00.001-04:00

A few stolen moments at quarter to three a.m. to fill you in on all the news that I print. The eight days since I last posted have been as usual full ones.

The quote of the day is...

"The real measure of your wealth is how much you'd be worth if you lost all your money." ~Unknown

Yesterday was the baby daughter's 22nd birthday and I have no idea where those twenty something years have gone - they are a blur. I had sent along a small birthday gift with her main squeeze so assume that she received it. Managed to have a nice catch up chat with the oldest daughter tonight as she is making her way through her course - got another certificate to add to the portfolio this week - on pipe fitting and bending. She always was the crafty one. Says she's getting her scrapbooking materials organized this weekend, oh that I could be so crafty instead of studious. The boy captain is readying to go fishing shortly and the gear which came with the leased vessel is atrocious (he uses some stronger language to describe) so is hoping to be on the water by next week. He has been applying himself very diligently to the process as he is being prodded by his crewmember who has twins. The theory being you need to have someone hired who needs to go more than you do - this sure is the case here. The teacher daughter and son-in-law are heading down for the weekend, the first since Christmas as they visit their respective families so hopefully they bring some of the nicer weather which they have been having in the city which has missed us. Sigh.

On a technology note here is a website for bitly which is a site that shortens, tracks and analyzes your links. Meaning you don’t have to look at two lines of url now:

http://bit.ly/

I've used the link to shorten a couple of urls such as this one to the posture s'pport brace which I'm wearing now but more on that story below:

http://bit.ly/kYpXUG

As I headed into my days off last week I caught up on my sleep quotient and then got myself disciplined enough to begin the next section of my course - arggh. Friday morning I spent giving the garage $650 for my car repair and a quick shop at Frenchy's where I scored some wonderful finds. Then I headed to physio for (again) myofascial release but I was less than impressed as I told the therapist that "I'm right back to where I was when I first came here" he replied that he couldn't remember what it was like when I first came in so I told him "it's my back and I can assure you that this isn't fixing it!". To add to the angst when I approached the desk the receptionist told me that my benefits had been completely used and so I needed to pay the diference of this visit of $27.41, that each visit now costs $67.41 and that there were no appointments until the 29th. My huff arrived and I left in it. As I got into the car a call from the life partner stating he was at home and we'd head out soon. I laid the law down with the "and I don't want to spend the afternoon with you with that cellphone stuck on the side of your head as that's not getting away" and headed out.

The shore captain had come home early (his suggestion) and offered to drive to Lunenburg for my physio appointment. He was trying to make it a little outing but I was not very good company as I'd gotten myself in a state wondering if my back was ever going to be okay, would I be able to work full time or do day shifts, what about all those plans I had for running away to work up north or on a cruise ship ??? It was a beautiful sunny (for once) afternoon and we took the scenic coastal route, including the LaHave Ferry which caused their father to reminisce about how the kids had really enjoyed the adventure of the 5 minute cable ferry across years ago. This appointment was much more satisfactory than the morning one as the physio immediately said "your back is exactly as it was when you first came here" then proceeded to pop it back in place after having heat treatments, taped me up again, insisted that I needed to have my back injected by the rhuematologist (sugar and water she says as it's inflames the ligament and makes it shorten to hold the facet in) and advised that I needed to get the posture brace and wear it 24/7. So a stop at the local drugstore (which carries what she recommends) for the brace - they unfortunately did not take Air Miles as my local drugstore does, the home health employee wasn't there to do the fitting so the cashier trainee and I struggled with it and it was $75 - which thankfully my benefits will pay for. So after all that it was clear that we needed to have some supper. Large Marge's was not open and The Fish Cake had closed so we headed to Magnolias Grill which is a funky little place you'd expect to see Elvis eating in. Had a wonderful supper of caeser salad and fresh tomato / cheddar soup (me) and calamari and greek salad (him) which greatly cheered us up.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sminor/2615991507/

A quick stop at Bob and the Boys Farm Market:

http://bobandtheboys.com/

on the way where we managed to pick up new strawberries, veggies and have an ice cream for dessert before continuing home. So the outing was actually a success after all.

Saturday and Sunday were rather low key days as I adjusted to my 'truss' as I named it. Discovering that although it probably fits right it's not likely made to be comfortable and it's better to wear 3/4 sleeve shirts under it as they don't bunch up as much as t-shirts. I did manage to fit in making a strawberry/rhubarb pie and some meals. Saturday the shore captain took the afternoon to paint the 'floor' of the deck and I tried to catch some rays but the wind was so chilly that I resorted to positioning my chair in the crushed stone between the two vehicles as a wind break for a few minutes. I took Monday off as I really didn't feel able to handle both LDs and when I arranged to have the appointment days that I needed for June and August I just added that on. It did result in my getting a good ways in my course material. I worked Tuesday and it was a very reasonable shift but....was back to it on Wednesday morning with + + back pain. I put a call in to the physio asking if I needed to wear the uncomfortable brace if my back was out again anyway? The response was "if it makes your back worse - don't but if it's just the same as it was - wear it" so now I'm back to having my back out of line AND wearing the brace. Sigh.

So I am at a standstill and heading down for another tune up with the physio in the afternoon I am allowing myself to think of those escapist thoughts such as the running away to join the circus...oh I mean to work somewhere else. I offer the following quote:

"If you want something you never had, you gotta do something you never did."

A link to the cruise ship nursing with some blogs to peruse:

http://onlinelpntorn.org/2010/top-25-cruise-ship-nursing-blogs/

And if you're just into general travel the following collection:

http://www.ytravelblog.com/meet-travel-blogger-john-luth/

http://www.travelwithamate.com/travel-around-latin-america-brendan-von-son/

http://www.uncorneredmarket.com/2009/09/7-habits-of-highly-effective-travelers/

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/asia/travel-tips-and-articles/76104

http://bit.ly/mzPlZy

Here's a project I'm working on my 100 Gratitudes exercise:

http://bit.ly/ishvkR

Had a message from one of the summer neighbours saying she'll be along the end of the month and her sister is in the province and making her way down any day now. Always good to see those summer folks. Well, off to wash faces and bottoms as it's that time of the morning. Hasta.

The past ten days

2011-06-08T01:13:00.000-04:00

Have been having a pretty full life lately, full enough that I haven't found a few minutes to update the blog until now, so here goes..

The appointment with the Rhuematologist was fine - she told me that I have osteoarthritis and that is good because it will flare up and burn itself out and to take tylenol as I'm doing. The back was a locked facet and the physio put it back in place (instant wonderful relief) and taped me up like an athlete to help it stay it in place. She was amazed that I was able to work, let alone function at home - I told her it was because I'm old.

Took the daughter and son-in-law to supper a the Palladium Family Restaurant which is a nice family spot in their area. Just a disclaimer - it is partly owned by my oldest brother's stepson and his daughter (who is leaving this week to travel Europe) was waiting tables the night we visited. For those who may visit here is the link to some reviews:

http://www.yelp.ca/biz/palladium-family-restaurant-dartmouth

While the human house occupants were away I slept in and then headed out to run to Mic Mall and used my Groupon for Body Shop and really cleaned up, checked out Zellers and got wardrobe malfunction tape and a top. Stopped by Stokes got a great bag which will be good for a lunch. Headed over to the Frenchy's on Tacoma Drive and it is fantastic!!! Really scored big there. Off to Atlantic Fabrics just off Portland St. and got some netting for doing those crocheted scrubbies and black fabric for napkins (less showing of stains). Back to clean up the kitchen, make lobster sandwiches for the night crew then enjoy the sun on the deck with the kids. Had a quick supper, shower and dressed for work.

Did my final clinical shift a LN at the Dartmouth General ICU with great staff and of course a little less formal on nights. I slept for a few hours in the a.m. and then stopped back for an appt with the physio to recheck my back. She advised I not work Saturday but okayed Sunday. I spent Saturday catching up at home from being away and felt like a new person.

Sunday at work was very heavy and after I slept in Monday to prepare for my night shift....I was really struggling to stay upright! Slept well today and woke up without the crick in the back so not sure what's going on but I have another appointment with the physio on Friday to reassess. Since this is my five day off stretch I just may get myself sorted out. We have had a couple of very pleasant days this week but with the sunshine have come the biting insects and we've seen a lot of 'bug bites' in ED lately.

Had a conversation with the shore captain at breakfast/supper tonight, when we were finally in the same place at the same time and he was saying he'd woken this morning to see a deer walk out on the flats on the point and swim across the harbour to the other shore. Apparently the local lobster fishermen often come across deer making their way two or fro islands in the area. Then he noticed ears behind the rock wall and saw a large deer with prong horns and two smaller ones tasting the green grass at the edge of the cobble before they wandered off.

Instead of focusing on gainful employment tonight I have located a a great blog which helps a running away plan:

http://www.1yearsabbatical.com/how-to-finance-a-sabbatical/

And in the process of researching crafts (yes I am being remunerated for this time) here is a neat (at least for someone allowed to hang anything on their walls) craft project - sorry for the length of the url:

http://links.instaright.com/a947824b599193b3/?web=058421&dst=http://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/home-improvement/create-book-shelves-00000000035586/index.html

Oh well, time to print off the readings for the course and get myself organized for this semester.

Birthday surprise!

2011-05-27T22:31:00.000-04:00

The weekend has come around quickly again and with it a return to paid employment. Mind you that also requires arising at 5:15 a.m. Sigh

On Monday the birthday boy was surprised by.....the oldest daughter who had hopped a flight east from Alberta to help with the celebration. I was just as amazed when she pulled up in the rental car that afternoon after I had rubbed the day sleep from my eyes. We had a BBQ for supper finished off with an ice cream cake - doesn't get much better than that for an old guy!

On Tuesday as I was running last minute errands before heading out to the city to do my two 12 hr shifts for clinical.....the battery light came on in the car. I turned around and headed to the garage where the mechanic pronounced that my alternator was ailing and that "you need a new car you know". He has been babying it along and warning me that I should start looking for a replacement as this one will require "some work like brakes, body work and more to pass safety inspection next month" so this was not a good development. Instead of arranging for a rental - which was my first instinct - I called the shore captain who suggested that I drive the car home and take his truck to the city and he would get the car in to the shop for repairs when the alternator arrived from Montreal in two days. I headed out again for home and the battery light came on before I made it through town.

Dans Ice Cream Shop yumm!

We had lobsters for supper on our lobster plates and were joined by a long time friend of the oldest daughter since elementary school. Just like old times. Sorry I had to rush away but what can you do? I headed out on the road for a drizzly drive to the city as I transported the newly serviced lawn mower to the daughter with a lawn as we're past all that. Crashed for the night and up early to head over to the hospital with my driving directions in hand. I was not impressed to find the parking lot had very narrow lanes to get through the bar especially as I was driving such a large and new 4 x 4 truck.

I made my way through the Dartmouth General to the ICU and followed a staff member who kept looking at me like she knew me. When I was introduced after report she said "I used to work with you in 1988" and so we caught up on all the news. My preceptor was very kind and helpful which really made me feel at home. She has been working in intensive care units since she graduated from nursing school in Beijing in 1985 so was very knowledgeable. I struggled with her accent a bit as she told me that our patient was on the wentilator though. The staffing ratio and pace were very much to my liking with all breaks taken and a lot of autonomy. In the afternoon I was surprised to find my instructor come for a visit (she lives about 10 minutes away though so I shouldn't have been) and we discussed the course, exam etc. Apparently there were several questions which "didn't perform well" meaning in my opinion that they were poorly written which brought my total grade up to 80%. The suggestion was that I "might like that number better" but my only thought to that was 'it's only a number that you've decided on and it only means something to you' however I simply thanked her for the reassessment of grades.

After I made my way back from the hospital by retracing my morning route the daughter and I checked out the yard and garden -nice hostas and shrubs- and all that the previous owners had left from hoses to chiminea to a ladder. After supper I was treated to a photo tour of the west coast honeymoon of the daughter and son-in-law which was almost a year ago now. Hard to believe they're heading for their first anniversary in a few weeks. Somehow the travel alarm didn't go off and I overslept until 6:15 a.m. but still made it for report at 6:30 so I haven't lost my touch!

I felt much more comfortable in the ICU the second shift and my only 'situation' was when I attempted to print articles from the course (which the instructor had forwarded to allow us to work ahead as the strike is looming) which managed to crash the printer in the ICU and necessitated the ward clerk spend a long time on the phone with IT and then a dude in ball cap and brand name shirt arrived to reset it. I told them all that it was a sign of the negative karma associated with that course. I went directly home after the shift and it was very close to 3 hrs drive in total. Mental note to self to negotiate a reduction of the five (count em five) 12 hour shifts for next semester which I may get prior learning credit for as I work in Emerg - you bet I'll be looking for that! Mind you that included a stop at the farm market for rhubarb, apple/maple butter, tomatoes and a grizzly tracks frozen yogurt for the road. I found some time to catch up on the newspaper, email and sleep in that order.

Had a call from the daughter who had made her way out west despite delayed flights and a rush through Pearson airport to connect then circling for almost an hour in Calgary etc. Glad to hear she'd arrived safely and was headed in to her instrumentation course today. This runs for the next nine weeks as she's completed both levels of the electrical course and written her second provincial exam. Will be on the hunt for gainful employment come August.

Today I received a call from the mechanic telling me amongst other information that they had had to tow the car from Blanche where it had quit on Wednesday (a little detail the shore captain had neglected to share) and would likely have to replace the battery and that although they'd replaced the alternator it 'wasn't putting out like it was supposed to' and he was concerned that the problem 'might be the computer or the alternator was a bad part'. As you might guess the computer would cost $800 + labour to replace so not a decision I wanted to make on an ailing 2004 Sebring. However, when I called the salesman at the garage I felt as if I was betraying an old friend (as the car owes me nothing) when I asked him to look for a small, standard transmission vehicle. I didn't care about the make, model or color and since I am going to be 55 in a few months didn't want a really expensive one so it didn't have to be new but just as faithful as this one I was replacing. I did however, insist that this ride was going to be in my name as I explained to him that I had paid for a number of cars and vans over the years and they were all registered in the man of the house name but NOT this one. I assured him that women over 50 had a different 'take no prisoners' attitude and he quickly agreed telling me that his wife had turned 50 this year and he knew exactly what I meant.

Picture of determination

The weather has been abysmal here this spring, we are all so soggy we are likely moldy. The only bright spot of color is the pansy that was so determined it self spread and grew up through the crushed stone in the driveway. I have hesitated to purchase anything from the garden centers for fear of having to babysit them by bringing them inside at night as I would have to run the june bug gauntlet. Ick.

So tomorrow I'm back to my real job and hopefully able to carpool with someone as my wheels won't be available until Monday on my way to work. It turns out that the problem was a wire which had shorted out causing my alternator to melt and not the computer and the battery didn't need to be changed but a replacement is still being sought as this reprieve is likely short lived. The carefree days of no car payments are likely numbered.

Freedom 55

2011-05-23T04:55:00.001-04:00

As I complete the last of my three 12 hour night shifts of this long weekend I am glad to have survived! Since this was the first weekend of the 'summer' season there were lots of beverage induced visits to the Emergency Department. My co-worker called it a 2-4 weekend. One of the hazards of working Emergency night weekend shifts. Mind you for at least seven of the hours of this very long night we are being paid holiday time.

Tomorrow is the shore captain's 55th birthday. So this means we'll be officially offered seniors discounts. He had shaved this p.m. before I was leaving for work so I asked if he had a meeting scheduled (usually it's a CFIA - food inspection agency inspection) for tomorrow? "No" he says "I was starting to feel scruffy even to myself". But I'm thinking it was the white face full of whiskers + birthday which brought that on. Not sure where the freedom 55 comes in though. This is the only day this week to forecast some possible sunshine. Sigh.

I have been recovering from the Emergency Nursing Course and focusing on getting in my clinical hours next week but I was disturbed by an email from one of the instructors notifying us that since they were in the nursing union (not us) which has voted to strike that our course may be affected. Apparently they will try to work ahead and get as many lessons online for us as possible, but clinical may need to have dates extended as we will not be crossing picket lines. I will be able to get my clinical in as I have chosen a hospital in 'our' union. There has been much discontent from our membership after cooperating with the province and taking raises of 1% and 1% for the two years - which doesn't keep up with the 3% inflation (we will renegotiate in October again) we have been hit with a $20/month parking fee with one of the reasons quoted as 'increase in salaries' This does not bode well for the next round of negotiations. Grrr.

In keeping with the travel theme of late - even if it's only dreaming I offer this link to two of my favorite activities...scrapbooking and travel:

http://www.kaisercraft.com.au/blog/travel-the-world-with-kaisercraft/

As well as a link to a self proclaimed adventurer:

http://www.adventuresofagoodman.com/photography/

And saving the best for last - work vs travel. That would be a no brainer to answer eh? :

http://inside-digital.blog.lonelyplanet.com/2011/01/12/travel-vs-career-does-it-have-to-be-all-or-nothing/?

As for travels or vacation the farthest we are likely to wander this summer is to New Brunswick. We received confirmation of our reservation at the University of Moncton residence for the weekend when U2 is playing at Magnetic Hill. Think we could make a profit offering up 1/2 our space to those who are accomodation challenged. The baby daughter will likely be the most pleased as we had been promising (or threatening) to come stay with her if nothing opened up.

Vacations are always too short, even if they are someone elses

2011-05-20T13:34:00.001-04:00

Well, the friends from Saskatchewan have gone and we're missing them already. We had a wonderful less than 48 hour visit and hope the next time we see them it's not measured in years but rather months. They certainly arrived in style as they pulled up in a white Mercedes Benz. Apparently a Chev Impala had been reserved at the airport by the wife but she picked up the luggage and he the car so.... The weather wasn't particularly nice, it just continued on as it has this entire month of May. And to think they left warm sunny weather out west. Sigh.

Please, please can't I go too?

We had a great feed of stuffed lobsters the first evening and lots of catching up on the news so a late bedtime. Fortunately they had their wits about them and barricaded themselves in the spare room at night and so were able to get some sleep - you know how that goes when cats want to see what's inside a closed door eh? They made the rounds to visit during the day and the next evening we were invited to supper at mutual friends which was very much like the 'old days'. A great time was had by all. As they sorted themselves out to leave I showed them this photo of Gary who was attempting to accompany them or at least try their luggage on for size. They made their way to the city to overnight before heading westward ho today and will continue with some vacation time. Ahhh.

Larger than actual size

Opens to a watch

I took in a 'purse party' last night at one of the neighbours but.....buying my handbags at Frenchy's does not make me want to spend $75 on one purse! I did however pick up a cute watch ring that will do nicely for vacationing. I found one in sapphire, my birthstone, and with the expansion bracelet style it will fit even in warmer climes. Apparently contestants were wearing these on American Idol but that wasn't what sold it to me, it was the cute factor and.....the price. Of course this was supporting Asian sweatshops but sometimes you just have to suspend those rules.

So now I am heading back to work for three LNs over this holiday weekend and of course sunshine is predicted for sleeping Sunday. Nothing left to do but dream/plan for vacations. So in that spirit I offer the following links:

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/india/travel-tips-and-articles/76514?affil=lpemail

http://cruisesource.us/2011/05/james-willamor-cruise-photography/

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/6maCCr/suzyguese.com/for-love-of-travel-not-destinations/

http://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/how-to-overcome-your-fears/

http://lifehacker.com/5803020/pack-multi%20use-items-to-reduce-baggage-while-traveling

Travel planning is part of the fun

2011-05-16T19:43:00.000-04:00

As I was 'chatting' online with my buddy home from the great white north today he forwarded the following article about Iqaluit and bragged he knew all of the players profiled in Iqaluit – quirky Arctic frontier town

San Francisco Chronicle | May 15, 2011 | by Margo Pfeiff :

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/05/13/TR0E1IT2KR.DTL&type=travel

He heads back in June for another four months of northern life and is in the preliminary stages of planning to run away to Cambodia with a friend for November. Both of which sound much more appealing than finishing up that Emergency Nursing Course!

And of course, speaking of travel gets us thinking of the next vacation so I was somewhat heartened to see that the airfare for October had dropped about $100 since I last checked. We may be able to swing a 10 day escape somewhere warm after all. And of course Lonely Planet would like us to do just that so they are always tempting me with websites such as this:

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/usa/travel-tips-and-articles/76617?affil=twit

I received an email from the Red Cross today stating that a TMR – trunk mobile radio course would be held this month and the presenter's agency is.....Nova Scotia Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal Public Safety and Field Communications. Wow, he must feel pretty important when he answers the phone eh? Always looking for courses to add to the resume as I market myself to volunteer perhaps for the ICRC.

And speaking of bureaucracies...the College of Registered Nurses of NS sent the following email today:

What you need to know before you renew your licence this year!

The process will be totally ELECTRONIC – and totally convenient!
Paper application forms will NOT be mailed out – pre-formatted application forms will be completed online.
Paper licences will NOT be issued - proof of your licence status will be available at www.crnns.ca as soon as your renewal is complete

Guess I will have to scrapbook my last 'paper' RN license but of course the $450.80 price tag will be the same if it's an electronic RN or not.

Just had a call from friends who are 'home' visiting from Saskatchewan and they will head over tomorrow afternoon. We are planning a crustacean supper which as you might expect will be a bit hit for Prairie folks. So despite the atrocious weather we've welcomed them with, it will be great to see them. And it is a wonderful excuse to have those day shifts off!!!

2011-05-15T20:13:00.000-04:00

I'm not finished yet, leave me alone

What are you looking at anyway?

Today when I headed up to the pick the paper out of the tube at the end of the driveway...Klyde 'asked' to go out by screeching at the front door. Apparently the shore captain has been letting him out in the morning as he feeds the dog and puts Gary on his run, then he trots back to the door. If you forget him he yells loud enough you can hear him inside and rescue him. So I put him out to 'graze' and headed up the driveway and he was still mowing down when I returned. This is as close as he gets to being an outdoors cat.

Thinking of photos I'm including this link:

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2jgTSX/www.uncorneredmarket.com/2010/01/10-tips-for-taking-great-food-photos/

And of course should you be thinking of vacations (it's hard not to eh?) here is a link for vacation pics:

http://www.vagabondish.com/5-tips-unique-vacation-photos/

As well as vacation topics since the planning is on for a fall vacation with airfare going to be the part that is painful:

http://www.uncorneredmarket.com/2010/08/how-to-travel-outside-your-comfort-zone/

http://www.singleoccupancyblog.com/2011/05/15/reservations-about-eating-alone/

http://cruises101.blogspot.com/2010/01/how-much-do-cruises-cost.html

I enjoyed my day off today and really had very little to show for not being employed for pay. Those are the best kind of days off I think which include reading the paper, french toast for brunch, a dog walk, downloaded a travel guide to Morocco (it's on the bucket list) to my Kindle and catching up on the news/gossip online through email, Twitter (did you know it was 21c in Yellowknife today?) and Facebook. I'm a little lost (in an exceptionally good way) with no course to work on so spent the day playing. Since I'll have had six days off before I head back to work I best be accomplishing something. Friends arrive on Tuesday for a couple of days so it will be fun to play hostess and taking my two day shifts off is really a bonus as these shifts have been very unfun lately.

Nurses Week - be nice to us!

2011-05-11T19:48:00.002-04:00

What? Another post so soon? I ended up coming home from work as soon as I got there - really shouldn't have gone but didn't realize until it was too late to do so that I had woken up with a back spasm. I'm sure it's related to the low pressure system which has been dumping us with rain, wind and fog for over a week now and causing 'my rheumatics' as the old people used to say to act up. I stopped on the way home at a friend's and borrowed the good drugs as that was better than waiting for the drugstore to open. Crashed for a nap and felt MUCH better when I was awakened by the shore captain provisioning himself with lunch. I called to the specialist to see where I am on the list (there is hope) and put myself on a cancellation list for the local physio either today or tomorrow where I've been exercising masochist tendencies by letting them do myofascial release on my back which as the Dr. stated "will fix this but you won't like it" that being an understatement! It is a great relief this evening to not have to stand like an orangutang. I am looking forward to tomorrow being a better day but if not here is the quote of the day sent by a long suffering friend:

Life is not the way it's supposed to be.. It's the way it is.

The way we cope with it is what makes the difference.

Now since I had more time on my hands today than anticipated what with no work and part one of the course completed (I gained one mark for my assignments so ended with a mark of 79% which if I were younger would have me saying that it's so close to an 80 but in reality is just a relief that it's over), I was able to check out the travel sites and discovered this helpful link for those of us planning that around the world trip. Of the two styles listed suffice to say that the shore captain and myself are one of each and I WAS a Girl Guide so you can take it from there.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/usa/travel-tips-and-articles/76439?affil=twit#

Of course travel can be related to this travel writer's site which is aptly named:

http://www.theprofessionalhobo.com/

When I mentioned that the baby daughter usually arrived with a Honda Civic full of dirty clothes to be washed and I was thrilled that the teacher daughter had bought a house with washer and dryer...a friend mentioned that her daughter-in-law had discouraged her son from the car full of laundry arrival as she said "it makes us look like hobos" I am assuming the non professional variety, you know the ones with their clothes tied in a handkerchief on the end of a stick over the shoulder.

Speaking of the youngest offspring who enjoys all things organizational and crafty I shall post a link which has her written all over it:

http://www.homemadesimple.com/en-CA/HomeOrganization/Pages/Repurposed-Organizers-Jars.aspx?utm_source

And to think her grandmother was an expert at repurposing eh?

After all the talk of a journey, we spent a few minutes looking over the possibility of a get away in the fall - which would have to be carefully organized in between exam, clinical and work. There are many possibilities and the dreaming is a large part of the fun.Airfare prices will be the challenge. The link here is for photography in foreign lands. Ahh to dream:

http://grrrltraveler.com/2011/05/taking-photos-mailing-them/

There are no shortcuts to any place worth going. ~ Beverly Sills

And right now the shortcut is to bed. Night all.

Yes, I passed the exam, now what?

2011-05-09T23:10:00.001-04:00

Well, here I am post exam and finally getting a few moments at 11 p.m. to update the blog. Part of the late hour is that I'm just in from a union meeting.Attempted to bring the membership up to speed but that's hard to do when only five of them show up, considering we only schedule two meetings per year. As well three of us there are working in the morning, one worked today and one worked last night so where were all those union sistas who are quick to seek me out when they'd like me to fight a battle for them? Oh yeah, enjoying their days off - think I'll remind them of that when I'm next approached. Oh well, the lobster dip was good and it was a fine start to Nurses Week.

The exam today was absolutely brutal and I am amazed that I actually passed. The pass mark was 70% and I couldn't have predicted that I made it or not. It took over half an hour to get my exam sent to me this morning (apparently the instructor was troubleshooting for other students across the province in the same situation as me) and almost as long to figure out how to log back on and input the answers - it was like you needed the secret decoder ring to figure out the instructions. As I told the admin assistant who kindly proctored my exam "I don't do cryptoquotes so I have no idea how to figure this out" these folks put the fun in dysfunctional. When the mark was posted after a few minutes I was ecstatic to find a 78! By the time I got home and called my preceptor Shihua (pronounced Sheewah) and arranged to work two LDs and one LN with her in the city on my days off over the next few weeks, I had lost all enthusiasm for finishing up the final postings due for the semester. That is for another day. When I shared my mark with the life partner he looked kind of surprised and said "you usually do better than that" and so I thanked him for being his usual supportive self. When we discussed it further he says "well you weren't doing it in a classroom I guess" so I reviewed that I've done distance ed over the past 15 years from Alberta, Australia and Ontario, NONE of it in the classroom. Think this comes under the 'not really paying attention to the spouse category' myself.

The saddest part of the entire course, exam must be written today debacle was that I would be in Boston attending a tropical health conference this week if not torturing myself with this bunch. Had an email from the would have been travel mate who had been having quite a diverse day at work herself from billionaire to bum families. Also had another email from a friend who had just made it through her first Mothers Day after her mother passed away this winter and she wrote of her brother-in-law having cancer, a MVC while traveling for work for which she was still having physio and more. I promised her that we WOULD be getting together this summer even if the price of gas required me 'borrowing' the company gas card from the plant truck and making my way up to see her. Reminding me of the quote of the day:

If we could sell our experiences for what they cost us, we'd all be millionaires. ~ Abigail Van Buren

Well, I've wound down enough from my day to be able to sleep now. As I am sleep deprived from my exam anxiety of last night I should soon be unconscious. As I am planning to run away this winter and for more than a vacation I'm thinking the following packing info may come in handy:

http://www.adventurebimbling.com/travel-articles/packing-light-without-being-a-minimalist/

I am being heavily influenced by my buddy who is home visiting from Iqaluit who tells me that ER nurses there make more than he does and that's $50 per hour. He counsels that I should go with an agency as that way they will put the airline ticket in my hand and accommodation will be provided free. He is such a bad influence on me, telling me that there are five positions open there right now and some for a long time. We had a nice cup of tea and chocolate danish chat with him before my friend and I headed off to Frenchy's shop. I found a great pair of Faded Glory jeans that fit me perfectly, a walking jacket, capris, t-shirts and more.

I have been researching the possibility of being a cruise nurse - at least I'll be able to add the Emergency certificate to my resume - and it's sounding like the most possible way to do a world cruise before I'm 80. Hmmm. Got to get my resume together on my days off - always fun to see what's out there.

Course, course, course

2011-04-29T22:23:00.000-04:00

It has only been a little over three weeks since we returned home, back to reality and now I'm finally getting to the blog. I have intended on several occasions to put fingers to keyboard to update you but have instead ended up working on my course. This is the paying the piper part of the two lovely vacations. My goal is to make it through all the material once and hopefully a bit of time for review. The first exam will be May 9th and I have one section and a half yet to complete and it's respiratory as in acid/base balance, arterial blood gases, ventilators etc. Arggh.

I jumped back into the swing of things at work and things sure were swinging. We've had a full house for so long that we wouldn't know what to do if we had a bed to admit a patient to instead of warehousing them on a stretcher in the Emergency Dept. The last night I worked we had four ambulance deliveries of really ill folks and there's no way to get caught up with that kind of pace. The friend who has been accepted into the Continuing Care Assistant course can likely handle what health care will throw at her and she (and myself) are pretty excited that she'll be a student in the fall. We'll need new blood as the expansion of one of the local nursing homes is depleting our staff.

We've had the added excitement of our union voting on a contract which passed with only 30% casting ballots and a 55% acceptance. The main point of contention was not the 1% and 1% we were given for each of the years but....standardized uniforms so that patients can tell the Registered Nurses (and in some facilities - not ours - the Licensed Practical Nurses) from the kitchen staff and cleaners. The only problem with voting NOT to accept the collective agreement would have been the strike vote which came next. I can't really see myself or others standing on the picket line because they don't want to wear black pants and a white top. Those who were opposed were RNs who had graduated wearing white polyester uniforms, white pantyhose, white shoes without another line of color on them and a starched white cap - so that part of the equation really puzzled me. There were technical and logistical problems as well with voting online or by phone and only 72 hours in which to do so. Glad that the VP, not myself, is headed to the union AGM next month. There will be lots of chatter about it for sure!

I got my act together and voted in the advance poll last week for the federal election as I'm scheduled to work a LD on Monday. The coworker who I took with me said "how dumb are we? everyone else but us is getting a few hours off to go vote" But at least I know I've exercised my right.

I worked part of Easter weekend but at least it was the part which gave me some overtime as I did a LD on Easter Sunday and it was worth being paid for 18 hrs and a LN on Easter Monday which wasn't much better. We were graced with the presence of the baby daughter for an Easter Sunday visit and so the Easter Bunny didn't get to retire just yet - the one time that getting up at 5:15 a.m. is a bonus. The boy Capt. who has found himself in a relationship which includes a three year old told me that he did something he hadn't done before this Easter and when I dared to ask "what was that?" he says "hide Easter eggs instead of look for them, you know you have to hide them low because she's kind of short".

Last week the lad managed to hit a deer on his way to go lobstering and took the front end out of his vehicle. Now the tussle with the insurance company to cover the costs. It apparently was a $6,000 deer. He is driving a loaner (a Dodge so he's not impressed) and dealing with autobody shops, adjusters et al. He and his lady friend dropped in for a visit last evening as she has horses in a local barn and that was a nice surprise.

I had word from the tropical medicine course I applied for in Peru and was not accepted. I did have my name placed on a waiting list but was not on the short list. Sigh. The colleague who I hope to attend with has been doing some research and there is a three week course held in Liverpool, England which looks promising for 2013. It would afford the chance to go to the Beatles Museum as well which would be a nice diversion:

http://www.beatlesstory.com/visitor-information.html

We opted not to try for Tulane which was $10,000 tuition for four months as we'd be 85 before we paid that off. She is attempting to lure me to Amsterdam or South Africa as possibilities. When it comes to travel I could be persuaded I think.
Last week on April 20th was not just the birthday of a good friend but.....National Pineapple Upside Down Cake Day, in the USA that is. Not only did we not have that kind of a cake, we had to wait until a week later to celebrate her birthday as we were all so busy. The shore captain saved lobsters and we had them with herb bread and chocolate cake for dessert which was kindly provided by a guest. We had a wonderful evening catching up on the news, until the shore captain fell sound asleep in the rocking chair at 11 p.m. so it was the cue for the guests to head home.

Part of the reason I was too over scheduled to celebrate the week before was that I had to travel to the city to do my skills lab for the Emergency Nursing Course I'm taking. It turned out that we weren't tested on the skills, it was just a review and although I had only six items on my list which weren't signed off I was the last one out of the room. Organization is not these folks strong point. I did get to stay over with the daughter and son-in-law in their new place and they are all settled in very cozily.

Had a nice chat with the oldest daughter yesterday and she is doing well with her electrical course. She's passed her first provincial exam and will be finished with the second part by August. Apparently female tradespeople are a growing segment of the industry.

Well, time to close as I agreed to switch a shift with a coworker who is moving her daughter from one apartment to another this weekend. Been there and done that so completely understand about the need to be off. Speaking of days off I've requested a couple of days in May when friends from Saskatchewan will be 'home' for a few days to visit. Quite a few changes since they've moved on five years ago.

And the quote of the day is...One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries......A.A. Milne

We did it all!

2011-04-04T10:42:00.000-04:00

As another wonderful trip (in less than a month) draws to a close it’s time to update you all. And yes the title is correct - we did it all - and more. The plans for snorkeling, rain forest, canals and more did all work out. And yes I did manage to fit into my going home clothes which is a good thing as the shorts with the legs which zip back on come in handy with the 6c temperatures we encountered. This will not be an easy transition. Spring please head our way.

Holland America was a wonderful (if very senior) cruise experience. I haven't seen as many wheelchairs since I worked in long term care. The staff (for the most part Phillipino) were fantastic and we were suprised to find that there were only 35 countries respresented by staff - only three Romanians on the whole ship. The pace was a little slower - the bars were absolutely deserted after 7 p.m. and there were pleas for passengers to attend the 10 p.m. show. We’ve traveled with some rather antique Brits on Princess Cruises before but those are pretty spry – must come from all that hiking across the moors and such. We were quite surprised to find that almost half of the passengers were from Canada though as our expectation had been for a predominantly American demographic.

Looking back over the past two weeks will require some fine tuning of the brain as it’s been a packed trip. Hard to believe we’re already home. We started out on the CanJet charter two Sundays ago after an uneventful early morning drive down and picking up the ‘moving into the new home daughter’ and having her drop us at the airport. The truck being used in our absence for the moving from the apartment last weekend.

After finding the check in counter we discovered that we had to schlep our luggage to the other end of the terminal and upstairs to check in and clear customs to the USA. We quickly discovered why the three hour pre-boarding time as it took us over two hours to get through. We also discovered that we were only two of about 12 passengers NOT heading directly to a Carnival cruise off the plane so we got bright tags for our luggage proclaiming us as ‘special’ Time to grab a quick hand held breakfast and we were jammed on the plane. We’ve been spoiled for a while with WestJet and acceptable leg room it seems. Never mind, a direct flight that in a little over four hours transported us to the sun of Fort Lauderdale. Ahh. We caught a taxi with the usual Haitian cab driver downtown to the hotel and he regaled us with stories of the city – “Did you know that condo has 13 and a half bathrooms? How many people live there do you think? One! You’re right” We checked in to find the Ocean Sky Resort is a repeat vacation destination and although a bit older was very friendly with lots of activities. We were even close to a Walgreens and able to provision ourselves for a couple of meals quite nicely. The pool, hot tub and deck chairs got lots of use and there were cabanas to rent by the pool and we indulged ourselves on our final day. Every room had a veranda as well so we didn’t have to miss many warm breezes.

On Sunday evening we followed our noses back to a restaurant we had passed in the taxi on the way in called Greek Islands and it was without question the BEST Greek meal we’ve had and we have had a number of those in the past. The lamb chops were amazing and everything was such large servings we actually had to take food back to the room with us and NOT eat dessert. Highly recommended for anyone cruising out of Ft Lauderdale and we would definitely revisit it. Nice little tavern which was very popular and known as the best Greek food in southern Florida.

We spent Monday enjoying the city which is known as the Venice of America because of its canals on the Water Taxis. For $20 for the day you can hop on and off as you wish and there is commentary from the staff about what you’re seeing in the way of homes and watercraft of the rich and famous, the history of the city and various attractions. Beautiful warm weather, lots of great photos and very relaxing. We checked out Las Olas Boulevard which is Ft Lauderdale’s version of South Beach – but we didn’t buy any $450 shirts here either! We did find a nice shop which provisioned yachts and picked up some wine, bread, cherry tomatoes and Muenster cheese for a lunch. Met a nursing student from Denver and encouraged her to push through with the studies as her career will enable her to do anything she wants.

We booked an Everglades tour for Tuesday and fully enjoyed it. Had a great van driver for the 90 minute driver each way who was a retired Vietnam war vet who had lived most of his life in St. Thomas/St. Croix (American Virgin Islands) working in marinas etc. Found he couldn’t’ afford to live there on a fixed income and so worked in tourism now in Ft Lauderdale. First view of the everglades would make you think you’d traveled to the midwest as it appeared to be prairie. The Sawgrass National Park was a great place with animal exhibits, air boat rides and even a souvenir photo. I felt just like Dennis Weaver’s assistant as we headed out on the airboat where we saw an alligator, herons, osprey and other birds courtesy of Captain Chuck who conducted gator school. We were surprised to learn how large and diverse the everglades are. Wonderful way to spend the day and the travel partner who had stated he was indulging my airboat fantasy asked “oh, is it over?” when we headed back to the dock so a good time was apparently had by all.

Funky elevator doors

Wednesday was a day to sleep in, hang out by the pool and leisurely head over to the cruise port. We were able to arrange for both the everglades tour and the transfer to Port Everglades Cruise Port through the hotel and we had the same driver for the trip. Very busy cruise port and apparently more so on Sunday when the seven day cruises are going and coming. The Zuiderdam was waiting for us and we headed over to arrive by 1 p.m. so as to enjoy every minute of the cruise. Having express checked in we only spent about 10 min. getting our photos taken, the cards issued and certifying we didn’t have gastroenteritis before being escorted onto the ship. It was our first glimpse of the very senior passengers and the life partner says “wow, this a much older crowd than before” to which I reassured him they’d likely all arrived at once….I am wrong once in a while it seems. We had a wonderful cabin steward named Mary (from Philippines of course) who kept the stateroom immaculate although he was almost completely invisible. The bar staff was great and the drink of the day was a pretty decent mojito so poolside was the place to be. The ship was easier than some others to find your way around on – none of that ‘you can see it but you can’t get there from here stuff’ although the décor was over the top just as it had been described and as you can see on the left. There was a great sail away BBQ next to the pool, Tina and the HALcats provided get live music and we watched the Ft Lauderdale skyline and beaches receding. Indulged ourselves in a premium wine tasting afternoon for the second sea day and also purchased the premium wine package which was seven wines at quite a savings. A nice warm evening with calm seas and off to our stateroom.

Thursday morning found us off Half Moon Cay, Bahamas which is Holland America’s private island. The tenders came out from the island as they were converted boats and we were transported to paradise. Beautiful white sandy beach, waterslides etc for children, shops, bars and restaurants. We spent a while on the loungers but the life guard confirmed our suspicions that the best snorkeling would be on the excursion out in the boat. A quick trip to the booth to book and we were on for 10:30 although when we settled in the captain’s suggestion that “anyone who is not an experienced snorkeler and good swimmer can leave now before we start and not be charged” cleared about ½ of the would-be tour participants. It was a rough steam out so some people were seasick and didn’t get out of the boat and a few more only lasted several minutes in the water. It wasn’t ideal conditions but we did manage some underwater photos and there were different and larger fish than we’d seen in some places. Three different reefs to explore in about 16 feet of water so a nice view.

Friday was our first sea day so after breakfast we headed to the Culinary Arts Center and were entertained by the chef from the Pinnacle Grill who demonstrated how to make lobster salad and crème brulee as per the Cirque de Soleil which is NOT the circus but an upscale restaurant in New York. We explored the ship and found that an older crowd means there’s no problem getting a deck chair though. The pool was great and there was a ledge around it with about 4 inches of water to just lay like rhinos in. Ahh. We reserved supper at the Pinnacle Grill which is the specialty restaurant on this ship and it did not disappoint. The meal was fantastic, the service flawless and the décor was very elegant. It was especially special as we got all gussied up for formal night. The experience was so positive the travel partner headed over to the maitre d’ and booked the final two sea days at the Pinnacle as well. A great deal at $20 each as the meal would easily be $80 each on land.

Saturday found us heading in to Aruba and we docked about 1 p.m. and headed out to catch the local bus to Arishi Beach. The Aruban bus system is a very good deal with round trip for the two of us on the 20 minute ride costing a total of less than $5. Although conditions were a bit breezy we managed some good underwater shots here with some puffer fish and other not previously seen varieties. The beach was a very coral one with a view of the lighthouse. We headed back to the ship to clean up and head out again to explore Oranjstad for the evening. We started with Dunkin Donutes as there was wi-fi available there to catch up and then wandered a bit to check out the downtown. The stores had removed ALL the jewelry and security guards were highly visible. We stopped at Iguana Joes and finished off the tour with ½ pitcher of sangria then headed back to the ship accounting for us not being on deck for the night time sailaway at 11 p.m.

Puffer fish and more

Sunday found us docking early in Willemstad, Curacao and we headed off the ship early to find a taxi so we could check out the snorkeling. Most passengers were taking tours, wandering the city or just staying on the ship. Cabs were expensive and the leeward side of the island was about 40 minutes away on rough roads but we found a driver to agree to $80 return and he’d leave us at Playa Porto Marie for two hours. It was a good choice as the beach although small was beautiful, with a small restaurant/bar, lots of cabanas and trees for shade and amazing snorkeling off the beach. It is a dive area and we snorkeled in crystal clear waters to the edge of the reef and looked down on the scuba divers below us. We saw large schools of fish, new varieties and good sized ones as well. Time for refreshments before the cabbie arrived and taking us back giving us the tour of the area and the city. We asked him to drop us off by the pontoon bridge and headed over to the other side of the city with cafes, boutiques, street art , musicians and craft stalls. Found a few souvenirs, bought some blue curacao, checked out Fort Rico and wandered back to the ship.

Monday was the second sea day and we got into the groove with the ebooks and sunscreen with a tropical drink. Ah. The BBQ on deck for seadays even included a pig roast - can you believe it? The afternoon brought the wine tasting and the Cellar Master Alvin lead us through how to smell, swirl and swish the offerings of champagne, two white and two red wines which were wonderful. We had reservations (no cost) at the Italian restaurant called the Canneletto which is one end of the Lido buffett converted for the evening. Great antipasto to start then seafood bisque, I had wonderful lasagna, the travel partner had seafood linguine and we finished off with limoncello dessert. Great conversation with passengers who retired to Georgia but had lived/worked in Singapore and Wales.

Heading in to the canal

Tuesday brought us to the Panama Canal and it was everything you imagine it to be. Up early to head out to the bow to see the engineering marvel and listen to the history, culture and geography being narrated. Great photos as we followed the Silver Cloud as we headed through three locks and into Lake Gatun with many freighters. No words to describe the experience. Tenders took about 1,000 passengers off the ship as they headed out on shore excursions to Panama City and area. Left lots of space for photo taking on the return trip as we lounged by the pool. Supper in the dining room was great, meals were very good and the service excellent as expected – Holland America sure knows how to feed people.

Three toed sloth on the canal

In the rain forest

Wednesday found us docked at Puerto Limon, Costa Rica which is an industrial port which is a major shipping center for bananas as Dole, Del Monte and Chiquita all have plants here. The major export of Costa Rica however is…..computer chips! We were lucky (although practical as we had packed the rain jackets) that we didn’t get rained on in either Panama or Costa Rica as apparently it is more usual than not. The only shower we had was during the night before Costa Rica. We headed out through the dock and arranged a private tour to see the Tortagera Canals and the rain forest. We had a taxi driver who had worked for NCL in the past and had very good English. He told us all about his country and culture and was a great resource for the day. We managed to see sloths, herons, howler monkeys, lizards and more on our tour. The Veracura rain forest sanctuary was a research station, had an aerial tram and animal exhibits. We had a wonderful guide named Orville who was a fountain of information and a great sport – saw leaf cutter ants, all sorts of reptiles and butterflies and more. Rainforest that looked as if it had all been administered steroids viewed from the aerial tram. Wow

Sea days ahhhh

Thursday and Friday were sea days which meant sun, food, drinks and pure relaxation. And of course both evenings spent at the Pinnacle Grill. The last evening the maitre d’ rewarded us for our faithfulness by giving us a window booth in the interior dining room. Caesar salad and lobster bisque prepared table side, seafood kabobs for him and stuffed chicken for moi and chocolate soufflé with grand marnier sauce for dessert. Can you say decadent? Luggage outside the stateroom door by 1 a.m. how sad.

Saturday was disembarkation and it was very efficiently organized by HAL. Up early to catch breakfast on deck and watch the Fort Lauderdale sunrise docked next to the Oasis of the Seas which is one of the largest cruise ships in the world. Our number was called and we were off the gangway, over to collect our baggage and through customs. A quick cab ride to the Hyatt Summerfield Suites which was new and a pretty swish place – would be a good spot to spend some time if you caught a good deal like we did on Hotwire. The full kitchen had a fridge, stove, microwave, dishwasher, dishes and all needed for a long stay, a complete living room with pull out sofa and a separate bedroom with huge bathroom and it included hot breakfast. Glad to have the extra day before heading home. Not able to check in until 3 p.m. so we stored our luggage and headed out to the pool where were first entertained by two little girls then five raucous boys who were supposedly being supervised by their fathers as their mothers headed out to shop. We headed over to the Oaklawn Mall next door and checked out the low Florida prices on just about everything then found a place to eat – Alehouse where we had shrimp and crab quesadillas with rice and beans and calamari then and a pulled pork sandwich and ribs. Yum and very reasonably priced as well. We waddled over Barnes and Noble and browsed for a bit before making our way back across the I-95 and to the hotel.

Sunday morning after a sleep in, it was breakfast then getting the luggage together and down for the shuttle to the airport. We shared a ride with two pilots for Spirit airline who had good travel stories and then in to check in with CanJet. Why should it take only ½ hour to check in when in Florida and two hours at home? Hmmm. A snack, time to check email and then the plane which means (unfortunately) the vacation is over and word has it that temperatures are 3c at home. Sigh. Two days to get things organized on the home front, caught up on the course a bit and then back to work on Wednesday for me.

That was the plan but unfortunately I answered the phone this a.m. to the pleading of the staffing clerk so I was ordered in for a shift. The guilt took over when she said "I thought you'd be all refreshed after all that time off" so I gave in. Ah to be truly retired and not pretending.

Holland America here we come!

2011-03-18T22:23:00.000-04:00

Nothing like a list of mechanical issues to really make you feel like you are back from vacation. In fairness, I left with most of them brewing and just took the Scarlett O'Hara approach of "I'll think about that tomorrow" but it is no fun when:

1. The washer wasn't working for some weeks now as supposedly a lid switch has quit, the life partner retrieved it from the innards of the machine and delivered it to the hardware store so a replacement could be ordered. The only problem with that plan was when I checked upon my return home (almost two weeks wait) the part hadn't even been ordered yet. I was very cranky with the parts manager. He suggested on Friday when I followed up to ensure the part HAD actually been ordered that it 'might' be in Wednesday or if not then it might be a couple of weeks. I phoned yesterday, the parts manager is on vacation so perhaps the part is in but not sorted, maybe I should check again tomorrow. Unimpressed? You bet! Almost as ticked as when the shore captain siphoned out the 1/3 of washer tub full of dirty water and flooded the mud room with it. When you use all the available towels to mop up the mess how do you then wash them? Hmmm. I have been imposing upon the good will of a friend who offered the services of her washer and so I did four large loads of laundry on Saturday afternoon. At least this malfunction doesn't equal the one years ago when I had a 3 1/2 yr old, 2 yr old and a 6 month old and was doing at least six loads of laundry daily (including one of cloth diapers and one of baby clothes) and the stackable washer/dryer quit during the first week of lobstering when the two oldest had a stomach bug. So I would wait every evening for the shore captain to come home exhausted, smelly and wind/salt burnt - feed him and put the two oldest to bed, taking the baby with me and traveling the neighbourhood to source a local washer/dryer. Thank goodness the girls weren't in the habit of waking after getting settled as there was no way their father would have been conscious enough to deal with them. In the debacle of waiting six weeks for a part we finally bought a new washer/dryer after two weeks as it was that or ship me off to the psyche ward and we fixed and sold the original when the part finally arrived. So troubles are all relative. However, the lid switches arrived yesterday, the shore captain was tasked with picking them up from the store (I could NOT trust myself to visit in person and was teaching first aid anyway) and returned home to install them. Only problem was.....the washer still didn't fill will water. After doggedly refusing my appeals to "call the repair man which you should have done in the first place" he finally gave in and did just that. The repair man arrived first thing this a.m. and promptly pronounced that "the fuse was blown likely from the lid switch sticking". So I guess it was likely a good thing the switches had been replaced but a bad thing that he didn't have a fuse in his bag of tricks. However, by the time I made it out to the hardware store he had located one and left it for me at the desk. I had the boy mechanic install the fuse this afternoon and put the washer back together - yeehaw- I did three loads of laundry one after the other, only to discover that it was leaking. Sigh. After going all CSI on it and much grumbling and foul language the shore captain stated that it was from twisting the machine out and back and I 'think' that after several adjustments this problem is solved.

2. The transmission in the car began clunking and grabbing when shifting just as we left on vacation. Much worse when we returned so I had the only son check the transmission fluid (down he says, needs at least a liter) but when his father was instructed to put the transmission fluid in (he says the transmission fluid is full) so I say "one of you doesn't know what he's talking about - you work it out". Although the senior male says "I've been around truck and boat engines all my life" my money was on the lad who has torn apart engines since he was in elementary school. Turns out there are lines on the dip stick for cold and hot levels of fluid but the cold level doesn't mean the engine is turned off, it means it's on (to ensure there is pressure as it is pumped through the transmission) but not warmed up yet or so the junior male educated me. There was a leak as the boy had found a puddle of fluid in the driveway to prove it (either seal or line - I don't care which it was easily and relatively cheaply repaired including cleaning the fluid off the breather as the old guy didn't know where to put the fluid either) so as you can guess I am a bigger fan of the junior male as mechanic now. After both the low and high beam headlight were replaced things are all good with the transport aspect. When I dropped the car off at the garage they were trying to tempt me by giving me a brand new Avenger to drive - ah, what a sweet ride but I am not so easily lured as my next vehicle will be a standard I've decided as I miss having one of those for some years now. All digits crossed to keep the Sebring on the road for another season. This car owes me nothing at this point! A quick switch of cars on my way to work nights and all was good with the universe.

3. The wireless internet was still acting up when I returned from vacation and as I told Eastlink "I have just spent 7 days in a country that can't even guarantee potable water and I had wonderful high speed wireless internet!" So I spent the usual hours on the phone daily, got a service appointment for Tuesday morning and was offered two free weeks of internet. I said "so you're offering me two weeks free of something that doesn't work?" to the supervisor who magnanimously suggested this. Like being asked at a restaurant if you'd like more when you return your unsatisfactory meal my friend said. On Monday morning as I lost the signal for the umpteenth time an Eastlink van drove into the yard so I assumed that they were working on something. Not so, they were responding to my troubles - obviously on their own schedule, but I'll take it - the short, stocky nerdy tech who looked as if he'd spent the night hacking into the Pentagon and I am sure has watched every Star Trek movie at least 35 times, busied himself checking out the antenna on the house, my computers, router etc. Shortly he appeared around the corner of the house with a ladder and began working on the antenna. He finally got both my computers working and pronounced that he had "changed the settings on the antenna as my jitter was too high" which surprised me that he'd know that much about me as I'd never met him before. I assured him that he was correct as far as Eastlink was concerned my jitter was extremely high! He also suggested that my router was likely needing to be replaced and they could run a wire above the ceiling due to our concrete walls as they had done in another house of this construction. So, again all digits crossed and occasionally unplugging and replugging the router and I am in contact with the outside world. Mind you this posting alone I have had to reboot the computer once and unplug and replug the router twice. Sigh.

So, I've decided that working two 12 hour night shifts is about the right schedule for me. Now if I could get paid full time and only work that much it would be all good. The two shifts passed quickly as the first was rather frantic, followed by a full sleep day and the second was spent catching up and of course knowing you're going to be off again for a few weeks doesn't lead you to be heavily invested in all the politics.

With all the returning from and leaving again for vacation in full swing - meaning laundry the hard way, small amounts of housework as I have to pace myself, and attempting to catch up a bit on my course, along with teaching two first aid courses and a community meeting for disaster planning - it has been a busy 10 days - and that's not counting what the shore captain's been up to. We had a short visit from the student nurse daughter and her main squeeze on the weekend for brunch which was nice as we got to enjoy swapping vacation stories.

So the plan for tomorrow is to finish up the household tasks and complete the packing. I was most amazed that the travel partner voluntarily began packing FIRST this evening. He did unearth a pair of dress pants (which he had inherited from the suit for the brother usher from the June wedding) needing to be hemmed. Of course since the son is 6 ft. and he is 5' 9" there is a lot of trimming and hemming needed but as he pointed out when I complained that it was last minute that "it's not really last minute as it's over 36 hrs before we leave" so hard to argue with that logic as he is usually stuffing his clothes in the suitcase as we head out the door. Bit more packing required as there are three formal nights on this 10 day cruise but we're still well below the luggage allowance as apparently we don't require a suitcase the size of a steamer trunk which seemed to be the norm in Cancun airport - we had two small bags and had seriously over packed for the week we found.

Off to Fort Lauderdale early on Sunday morning spending three days there. My main plan is to explore the canals of Ft Lauderdale the Venice of America and check out the Everglades. The resort sure looks like it won't be hard to take either. Then we will be heading out on the Holland America, Zuiderdam on Wednesday afternoon with the sail away at 5 p.m. so you can just think of us enjoying the view and me with a tall drink with an umbrella as we head towards the Bahamas, Aruba, Curaco, Panama, Costa Rica then back to Florida. I'll be the one with a huge grin on my face and the camera in my hand. Plans for snorkeling in Half Moon Cay, Bahamas, Aruba and Curaco, checking out the Panama locks and canal and in Puerto Limon the aerial tram over the rain forest and Tortugara canals with banana plantations. So photos to follow. Hasta.

All good things...

2011-03-08T21:33:00.000-04:00

Luis making our flaming volcanos

Well, as wonderful as a week at the Blue Bay Grand Esmerelda on the Mayan Riviera has been and it HAS been as we are well and truly spoiled. Take note of Luis at the Italian a la carte restaurant making our dessert for us. I had to ask "does your mother know you play with fire?" The a la carte restaurants were good with the steak house, Italian and seafood being our top three favorites. All good things must come to an end and thus we are contemplating a return to reality tomorrow. Sigh. Sounds like we have at least spring like temperatures not winter as some provinces so we'll have to take it. Flight out tomorrow afternoon but as anyone who has vacationed knows that means a morning checkout, bus ride to the airport, check in and wait before a five hour flight then three hour drive home. So close and yet so far when it will take over 12 hours to accomplish all that. But as I said to the travel partner today "we've found the solution for the post vacation let down with a second trip coming up but what are we going to do after the cruise?" His answer was that it may be close enough to warmer temperatures that we can handle it. We shall see.

The weather has been warm - high 20s and low 30s with the Mayan Riviera having high humidity so I'm surprised that I haven't had cankles this week but no I do have ankles and calves. A few tropical rainshowers one evening and Sunday afternoon it did shower for quite a while so we took in our coupon for the spa and indulged ourselves in hydrotherapy, drank iced tea, ate grapes and then had naps as if we were Greeks or Romans. All in all it has been a week of relaxation which has passed much too quickly. This place even has a large group of coatimundis who make the rounds begging for food from the guests. I tried to convince the travel partner to do some other excursions but he says we need to leave something for our next visit so I'm not going to argue with that concept.

On Thursday we were taken to Playa del Carmen by one of the resort staff for a few hours and we did the tourist thing where we checked out 5th avenue with its t-shirt shops, negotiated for jewelry I didn't buy and finally picked up some clear vanilla which I had promised a friend and some tequila because I think this summer may have some margueritas in it. It is a small seaside place which has grown over the past 20 yrs from a fishing village/backpackers haven to a tourist town. It reminded us of small towns in Cuba with the colonial designs, Spanish signs and construction.

Lighthouse at Tulum

Sea turtle Akumal reef

Manta ray who visited us snorkeling

We took an excursion to see the Mayan ruins of Tulum yesterday morning in a small group with a wonderfully informed guide named Rueben (the guides in Mexico study for four years and then intern) where you can see how beautiful it is above and then to snorkel at Akumal on the reef where we saw lots of fish and some really large ones too with the shore captain seeing a 4 ft. grouper.

Today we spent the morning on the beach and even with the SPF 30 sunblock we managed to bake ourselves just a tad bit more than we intended. The Cool Aloe I.C.E. has been procured from the hotel store which should help a bit. My excuse in part was that I was watching the wedding taking part on the beach where the bride wore a white bikini (her bouquet was bigger than her outfit) and the groom wore white Billabong embroidered shorts and no shirt (they had to put more clothes on to go in and have the wedding lunch) although the attendants were more traditionally attired in sundresses. Lots of champagne, photographs and kisses all around. That explains the resort employees struggling down the cobblestone pathway with a cart full of chairs, poles and shovel this morning - apparently this is how the gauzy gazebo and covered chairs appeared at noon time.

Well, the after sun lotion has dried so we are off to source some supper and will check out the buffet as we've tried all the a la carte restaurants we were interested in. A later post when we return to the 'real world'

That's it I'm running away....Playa del Carmen here we come

2011-03-01T22:41:00.000-04:00

I've had major internet problems over the past few weeks which ended in a showdown with Eastlink which ended with me being without internet for four days and told I would have a service call in over three weeks time to look at my problem then getting a full refund for the month of February and supposedly having someone named 'Will' a the call center disciplined and losing a days pay for being rude to me as in "I'll have to ask you to refrain from eating when you're speaking to me" as I used my 10 min. lunch break at 2 p.m. to question him as to why I was having a service call the next morning when I had a call from the wireless tech telling me the tower was fixed? It made it darn near impossible to work on my online course without internet at home as work was beyond busy. The course has begun to rule my life and I'm quite a ways behind where the overachievers are (as always) which is not helpful. At the end of each day I've said "I didn't update the blog" and so....here it is:

We leave in the morning for Playa del Carmen for a week on a direct flight from Halifax to Cancun, after we stop the car off with the son-in-law in the morning. Packed, cameras ready, e-readers charged and loaded and the house, animals, plants etc. taken care of. it has been good to be off work since Saturday and trying to wrap up the details and delicious to think that I only have two LNs to work between Feb 26 and April 6th. Yeehaw!

I can see clearly now.....

Although work has been frantic there are times that you just have to take care of the staff. I'm posting a copy of two of my coworkers. The one being operated on has a wood stove and apparently got a splinter in her foot which her husband with poor eyesight couldn't assist with. So the LPN says "shall I get the googly eyes?" and proceeds to remove the foreign body from the foot before we can get down to business.Thank goodness for magnifying glasses at times like these.

Lots of travel going on actually as the teacher daughter and her husband are returned from their cruise which of course was a wonderful time. They snorkeled extensively and enjoyed all the Caribbean had to offer. Apparently need to get back into the swing of work and the exercise program after all the great meals on the ship. The baby daughter and her main squeeze are spending a week in Dominican Republic, which is the way you should spend your spring break instead of stuck in a snow bank in Fredericton. They leave a day after us.

There had been a posting online for a great sale on airfare to South America this month of only $515 return with taxes in from Halifax to Buenos Aires (instead of $1200 usually) so I was grieving having other travel plans but it turns out that it was some sort of glitch and didn't actually work out for folks who thought they'd bought tickets from this travel consolidator as Air Canada wouldn't honor them. Whew, now I don't get to feel jealous.

Had a nice visit this evening with the prodigal son and a new female friend who he is quite smitten with - and understandably so as she is attractive, quiet, self employed and has her own place. We were quite taken with her too - did I mention she has her own place? Not his usual choice of woman - a serious upgrade - so we're all amazed and holding our breath.

Had a wonderful meal on Saturday night at Lothars in town and it was German night so I would hope he could do that proud. Great menu, friends to visit with and all close to home. Now off to catch a few z z z s before heading out and towards good meals all the specialty restaurants. I am traveling with the laptop so if there are a few moments to update and there may be with someone else doing the cooking and looking after us, I shall update you. Hasta leugo.

Caribbean Princess

2011-02-16T00:19:00.000-04:00

What? I haven't updated the blog in over 10 days what is going on? Well....to begin with I did teach the first aid course to 16 fishermen/fire department volunteers and since I was coming down sick with a cold managed to lose my voice and really feel rotten. This resulted in my calling in sick for a shift which quite alarmed my co-workers as it had been over four years since I'd done that. I had no choice as I would've crashed further into the set of shifts if not.

We traveled to the city and had a private viewing of the house which the teacher daughter and son-in-law have since bought. It's a good sized split entry which has been extensively renovated, has a nice deck and backyard in a good location with the closing date the end of March. Will post some pictures when it's all finalized. Needless to say they are pumped!

Caribbean Princess 7 day itinerary

Movies Under the Stars ahhhhh

But mind you, first they have to return from their cruise which they are currently enjoying. They flew to San Juan, Puerto Rico on Saturday and sailed away on Sunday. We've been following the bridge cam along since they left, checking out the weather in San Juan, St. Thomas, Dominica.

Sure making us look forward to the end of March as well. I am into the countdown for the first vacation - oh that sounds so good to say the 'first' vacation. Ah! I only have five shifts to work until I'm off for two weeks. Then I have one set to work before being off for another three weeks. The pace has been two notches above frantic lately so some downtime maintenance is in order. Ah, March is my favorite month this year.

Well...except for the course I'm slogging through - which I'm putting off doing at this moment by blogging. First I can't make the travel medicine course I wanted to attend in Boston (due to the first exam) and then the travel agent found a great seat sale for $475 taxes in for those dates - of course! I had a long phone chat on the weekend with my OHN colleague and she said "never mind, it's in Amsterdam next year" and as I told her "the only problem with that plan is that the shore captain will most definitely be inviting himself along to that location". We discussed the course in Peru and she's only ready to attend in 2013 as she still has a high school attending daughter home but as I told her "I'm thinking it's a real long shot from here" It's likely one of those programs you have to apply for repeatedly.

Had a good weekend off actually as we invited friends over for lobsters on Friday night and it was so nice to get together that I didn't even mind cleaning up a bit. One of our guests made bread, one made dessert and we just caught up on the news. Sunday was a price fixee menu at Lothars Cafe for Valentines Day which was wonderful! I had to make a hasty exit as I headed out to work a night shift but it was worth it. Have to make the time, no other way around it.

I slept today when I came home from night shift and had a very confused conversation about 10 a.m. with a neighbour who asked if I could give he and his wife their second Twinrix immunizations which they had in their fridge. Not a problem to do so except today wasn't a good day I kept repeating as he tried to convince me that they'd drop down. Even in my 'just fell into a deep sleep state' I realized this wasn't a good idea as they cleaning lady hasn't been here for two weeks! Finally I became so incoherent that he asked "were you sleeping?" to which I replied "yep but I'll go right back to sleep" which I promptly did. When I woke up in the afternoon I was having trouble remembering if the call happened or was a dream so I checked the phone and their number was there. I called the house to sort out a time and their preschooler answered and very brightly chirped "hello" when I said "is your Daddy there?" he said "nope, he's outside" and promptly hung up the phone. A while later we finally connected and I'll make a house call tomorrow - much easier than housecleaning. Although I did a bit of that when I woke up as it requires very little thought so why waste a day when you're awake for that eh?

Tonight as I headed out of the house to go to scrapbooking one of the local fishermen pulled into the yard in a car to pick up a cheque but since I was heading back to retrieve my glasses I thought he was the prodigal son as he was tall and thin and I called out (concerned something had happened to the boy's truck) "what are you driving?" His surprised reply was "a PT Cruiser" as I suppose he wondered why he was being interviewed about his vehicle before being allowed to approach the house. As he got closer I realized that he wasn't my offspring and scampered off leaving the shore captain to explain my brain lapse. I'm still toiling on my small album from the 2008 New England/Maritimes cruise. I'm spurred on by the fact that my travel partner has completed hers. Since my mind was a bit foggy I spent some time correcting a few mistakes of course. It is coming together and I'm just finishing up Boston pages so there is hope of it being completed.

Have plans for Saturday to head to the valley for a Disaster Team course which the Red Cross is sponsoring. Another star on my resume for overseas work. It will also exempt me from volunteering at Bingo. Life is good.