Not a bad mark for an older student

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 student with 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 on the 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?

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

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

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

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

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

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.