Is this any way to spend a weekend?

I have had a busy day what with teaching first aid in the local fire hall and all. It was a glorious spring day, in between absolute white out conditions, what weird weather. By the afternoon the sun was out and it was tough to go back after lunch. I managed to have 15 students by the time they were all gathered up this morning, which are only 3 off of a full roster. As the shore captain suggested, you really have to have a list of at least 20 to make sure you get a full crew. Self-employed fishermen are a tough bunch to round up much like herding cats. This despite regulations, which require them to all, have marine first aid to keep their certification current. Tomorrow we will start a bit later as there is a Fireman’s breakfast in the adjacent hall the last Sunday of the month so this will allow for a well-fed group. Most of these guys have taken first aid a few times and many volunteer with the fire department so an easy bunch to deal with overall. Good to know they’ll be able to deal with medical calls as well as rescue me should I require it.

This afternoon’s news included a call from daughter # 2 saying that she and her partner had found a great apartment in the city and were filling out a rental application - they were pumped. I had a chat with daughter # 1 about her sorting stuff and moving plans and a brief visit from the prodigal son as he accessed the public shower we run here. But no news or photos of the head shaving have appeared as yet.

Speaking of the nursing student there was a good article in the Chronicle today about the provincial nursing shortage where 500 RNs will be required by 2010 so obviously a graduate’s market:

Website aims to attract RNsJanuary report projected nursing shortage of 500 by 2010By JOHN GILLIS Health ReporterSat. Mar 29 - 6:04 AM
A review of Nova Scotia's health-care system released in January said the province would have a shortage of 500 registered nurses by 2010. (ANDREW VAUGHAN / CP)

Nova Scotia needs nurses and won’t be able to produce enough in the province to meet growing demand and fill the spots of retirees.
The province is reaching out to nurses across Canada and around the world with a new website that provides information in 13 languages about what they need to know to work in Nova Scotia.
The site, www.atlanticcanadahealthcare.com, went online in January with promotional videos on living and working in the region.
Languages offered include English, French, Mandarin, German, Dutch, Arabic, Tagalog, Russian, Spanish, Hungarian, Persian, Japanese and Poshtu.
The site expands on a successful one created by the College of Registered Nurses of Nova Scotia, said Sara Telfer, professional conduct review co-ordinator with the College of Licensed Practical Nurses of Nova Scotia.
Those two organizations and their counterparts in the other Atlantic provinces developed the site with $70,000 in funding from Health Canada.
A review of the provincial health-care system released in January said the province would have a shortage of 500 registered nurses by 2010.
The province needs to hire 175 to 225 licensed practical nurses and 150 to 200 registered nurses to staff the more than 1,000 new long-term-care beds it plans to open by 2010.
Ms. Telfer said some foreign-trained nurses who are already working in Nova Scotia or completing the licensing process have given the site a good review.
"They all thought it was fantastic and wished that they had the same type of an informational tool prior to coming," she said. "They knew that they wanted to come here and (heard) what a great area of Canada this is to live in. But there are so many different avenues to go get the information they needed that it was hard to make sure they had it all."
Taras Matveev, a licensed practical nurse who emigrated from Russia and now lives in Halifax said it can be stressful moving to a new country.
"Having access to information in your own language simplifies the process and enhances understanding," he said in a news release. "Hearing and seeing someone from your own country is reassuring and encouraging."
The colleges hope people like Mr. Matveev will pass on the link to friends or family who may be considering a move to Canada. The site also uses software to rank it prominently in search engines in various languages for international nurses looking for jobs.
Nova Scotia Nurses Union president Janet Hazelton was also impressed with the site.
She said the union often hears from nurses in other parts of Canada seeking information on working in this province.
"To direct them to this website is going to be very useful," she said.
Ms. Hazelton said it’s unfortunate that Nova Scotia faces such a shortage, and she has reservations about actively recruiting nurses from developing nations that have their own needs.
"If the nurses are coming, we need to make it as easy as we can to get re-gistered and be able to practise," she said.
Ms. Telfer said the site will expand to include information about other health professions. She said the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia is preparing material to add to the site.

The Team Leader at work was telling me on Friday that one of our Drs daughter is graduating from the BN program and has been hired by the Annapolis Valley Health Authority which sent a stretch limo to pick up the Dal students, gave them a tour, list of accommodations, sponsored them a nice lunch and generally courted them like rock stars when they were choosing their jobs.

This brings me to the Boomer news of the season that the Magnetic Hill concert, which has been rumored for the first part of August, will announce on Monday whether it will feature…The Eagles. Now for a couple that loved them since we were all young not just young at heart this is great news. Will I be hitting redial when the ticket sales open? You bet! This has spawned talk of a week’s vacation to head in that direction in a camping way. Gotta have your dreams.

I’ve just finished up my library book, which is entitled, The Travel Detective by Peter Greenberg. Some of you might recognize his name from NBCs Today Show. He has some good tips but he is pretty intense…. just reading about him is exhausting, I can’t imagine traveling or living with him. Come to think of it he doesn’t mention anyone but occasional friends so likely no one else can imagine it either.

Must go get myself together for the morning, as I’m all broke up from using unfamiliar muscles to do CPR and crawl around on a cement floor. Getting too old for that game. Now if we were talking about standing in the outdoors for hours waiting for a middle aged group of rockers that would be different.