Look What I Got From Amazon!

Wordless Wednesday – Here Hides The Sun

Getting Ready For Swine Flu

Today was spent getting ready for swine flu. (I work in a Dr’s surgery)

Ordering extra supplies of gloves, aprons and facemasks, hand sanitisers and surface disinfectants.

Reading through and discussing the algorithm and flowcharts sent to us by various health agencies including HPA for dealing with suspect patients.

In some ways it seems all a bit too much, but then I guess it’s better to be safe than sorry, to be equipped not only with the means of protecting ourselves but also knowing what on earth to do when faced with a possibly infected patient.

We were all a little bemused, thinking it some kind of scene from the start of a movie, then..

In walked a young guy, feeling very unwell, arrived from Mexico a few days ago. It was quickly established he wasn’t registered at our clinic or any other in this country, so he was told to go home and immediately call NHS Direct for advice… I have no idea what happened next.

I just hope it wasn’t anything serious..

Mellow Yellow Monday – A Clucky Job

This guy stands in the street trying to pull in trade for a local shop. He wears different costumes depending on the time of year.. Nice job huh? lol

Britain Has Even More Talent

Now, will Susan Boyle fade into obscurity?

 

Sign Petition For Struck Off Nurse

A nurse was struck off recently for secretly filming in a hospital for a BBC Panorama programme that exposed the neglect of elderly patients.

Margaret Haywood, 58, of Liverpool, argued that she had acted in the public interest but a panel found that in recording patients at the Royal Sussex hospital for the July 2005 documentary she was guilty of misconduct and "it would not be in the public interest for her to be able to practise as a nurse".

Haywood told a hearing of the Nursing and Midwifery Council in central London: "I was convinced that it was the right thing to do. I had reported the issues and nothing had been done. I felt I owed it to the people on the ward."

From Guardian

So, in future staff will be too afraid to say anything about the abuse and neglect of the elderly going on in some hospitals in case they too lose their jobs and then nothing will be done to rectify this appalling situation.

And don’t forget, that elderly person could be a member of your family, or in future even YOU!

A petition has been started in support of Margaret Haywood, which can be viewed and signed HERE – and you don’t have to have your name displayed!

Camera Critters (10)

Not taken part in CC for ages now, but I took this shot of Mabel this morning and I like it, so just had to post it!

Lose Weight And Your Dignity With One Small Pill?

Working in a Dr’s surgery I come across a lot of people wishing to lose weight and often a great deal of weight.

Some have been taking Orlistat on prescription with the guidance and careful attention of the Dr with varying degrees of success.

Now it’s available over the counter in any pharmacy as Alli

 (I think it’s been available in US for a while?)

It’s not particularly cheap, but I feel rather concerned that people will just buy this drug hoping it will be a quick fix to their weight problem, no Dr’s to fuss with, just a do it yourself thing..

Hmm, well they might be in for a bit of a shock if they read the information before taking it, and if they don’t read the info they will be in for an even bigger shock:

Side-effects

oily leakage from rectum, flatulence, faecal urgency, liquid or oily stools, faecal incontinence, abdominal distension and pain (gastro-intestinal effects minimised by reduced fat intake), tooth and gingival disorders; respiratory infections; fatigue, anxiety, headache; menstrual disturbances, urinary-tract infection; hypoglycaemia; rarely rectal bleeding; very rarely diverticulitis, cholelithiasis, hepatitis, and bullous eruptions.

Now the way to avoid these extremely nasty side effects is to eat no fat, or at least the smallest amount possible, so it’s seems to me it might be easier and a lot cheaper to just have a fat free diet and lose weight naturally, with no embarrassing accidents at all!

So, I’d say, don’t waste your money, don’t ruin all your pants, eat less and what you do eat keep it healthy and do more exercise!

Entrecard - Who Knows, Who Cares...

I was messing about with the Entrecard post that was here as a sticky post for a few days and I lost it...I was a pee'd off for 5 minutes but never mind, it wasn't that exciting anyway, pity though as it was the post the most comments ever! In any case I'm sick and tired of hearing about the thing and am tempted to just take it all off and forget about it.

However, until I decide what to do the list of your blogs who do not accept paid ads is still in the right sidebar and will remain so for the time being.. How long the "time being" is who knows, who cares...

Can Cooliris Get Any Cooler?!

Way back in 2007 I blogged about Cooliris,  HERE and HERE.

I really can’t believe it’s been that long!

I loved it then and now they’ve updated it yet again with some major new improvements!

 

In the past, Cooliris has allowed you to browse and search popular websites like Google Images and Youtube, as well scan images from the latest news headlines. Now, check out these new additions:

View Photos from Your Computer

Up until now Cooliris has been an almost exclusively online experience. Now you can search through the My Computer icon and be able to access any of your image galleries in Cooliris, wherever they’re hiding – your Hard Drive, Desktop, iPhoto, My Pictures, et cetera!

Get the Full Facebook Album Experience

We’ve completely rewritten how we interact with Facebook. Now when you’re browsing your friends’ photos on the streaming 3D Wall, they’ll be complete with title, tags, and more. When someone’s tagged in a photo, you can click through to visit all their tagged photos. Now your Facebook image navigation is every bit as versatile as the browser experience, with a more fluid interface.

Context Is Everything - Get the Whole Story

Cooliris now supplements your multimedia experience with rich metadata optimized to enhance the wall. View shutter, aperture and ISO of Picasa Photos, see image size and source of Google images, view ratings and related videos on YouTube, and view more product descriptions in Shopping.

Taken from the official blog of cooliris where you can also see screenshots and download it.. It’s clever stuff!

Ryanair, The Robbers

One of my girls called me last night to excitedly tell me she was off to Sweden for a holiday.

A group of girls are going and one dropped out so there was space for her.

Just one problem, she would need to change the name on the ticket, we knew there would be a fee for this but what we found out was SHOCKING!

The return ticket cost £67.25 and was fully paid up by the girl who had to drop out.

We made enquires and were told we could change the name in one of two ways – online for £100 or on the phone for £150!!

This is unbelievably ridiculous, how can they possibly justify this outrageous fee!

Needless to say the girl who dropped out loses her money and my daughter will have to buy an entirely new ticket.

Ryanair, you commit daylight robbery!

When you look at their site you think you are in for a great deal, fights for a £1 etc, but don’t be fooled..

The return flight to Sweden was only £14.99 but just look at all the add-ons they don’t quite mention at the start.

PAYMENT DETAILS
********14.99 GBP Total Fare
********18.86 GBP Taxes, Fees & Charges
********20.00 GBP Passenger Fee: Checked Bag(s)
********10.00 GBP Passenger Fee: Web Check in
********10.00 GBP Passenger Fee: Handling Fee
********67.25 GBP Total Paid

This is the airline which is considering charging passengers to use the toilet during the flight – BBC story HERE

I’m surprised they are allowed to continue trading like this!

Sunburn In Ghana And Safe Tanning

The weather has been rather nice the past couple of days. I’ve sat out in the sun on my balcony and actually gone a little pink! Amazing for April!

Makes you think how strong the sun is and how important it is to protect the skin by using some kind of suntan lotion.

 

I have suffered in the past from severe sunburn. It was back in 1995 when I visited Ghana in West Africa. I had applied the lotion but hadn't reapplied it after swimming in the warm sea where it washed off.

Both my legs were burnt, they first were very red and agonisingly painful. Shooting pains ran up and down them, they swelled up and I couldn’t walk or bear weight on them at all for about 4 days. They blistered, huge water filled nasties that no sooner went down then more came up.

After a few days when I could just about bear weight on my legs they began to smell funny, in fact they smelt rotten. The flesh was a total mess and it seemed to be going mouldy. There were lots of flies around which because of the rotting smell, seemed to be attracted to my revolting legs. I had to sit with a very lightweight sheet over them to stop them landing on me.

I felt so ill, upset and fed up with the pain and the way they just didn’t seem to get better. I should have gone to see a Dr, but for some reason I didn’t. I think I was scared of what they might do to me.

I must say I was relieved when I got on the plane to come home, away from the heat, the unbelievable humidity which hadn’t helped and those darned flies!

When I got home it was amazingly only a matter of a few days before my legs were healing, I never did see a Dr. I think the dry air of the long flight helped and the fact that I wasn’t wet with perspiration all the time.

Needless to say it ruined the last week of my holiday, so I am a lot more careful nowadays although I must admit to having had burnt shoulders a few times since!

Now the safest way to get a tan these days is actually through your computer, painless and easy and free!

Try it HERE!

Recovering, Relaxing And Mabel

The past 2 weeks have been rather busy for me, looking after my partner Robert as he recovers from his surgery and going to work.

A couple of evenings last week I was so shattered I had to go to bed just after 8pm!

In fact I began to feel decidedly crap and felt in a really difficult situation, being relied upon and wanting to curl up and hibernate myself as well.

However that peculiar unwell feeling has gone now, thankfully and I’ve got a lot more energy – fingers crossed it will last as we enter a hectic new week at work!

I’ve done just about nothing to blog about. Not been out taking any photos, nothing.

The weather is very nice today and I’ve sat out in the sun for a while with Mabel as she tries to catch any bug that flies past, was peaceful and relaxing

Hope the nice weather will stay for a long time so that when Rob is able to get up and out again we can go and do something different.

Although sometimes nothing going on can be good, because all too often it goes the other way and it becomes hard to deal with.

 

 

Just leaving you with a couple of vids I took of Mabel yesterday.

See how big she is now, only seems a few weeks since she was that teeny tiny kitten!

 

I Know It's The Lighting But..

Don't you just wonder why how in some mirrors you look FAB and others
just DRAB? :( Just a thought I had in the hairdressers this
evening.... (sent from my phone)

Wordless Wednesday – Now Where’s My Toys?

Four Days Already Gone

Somehow the last 4 days have disappeared in a flash. I was so looking forward to a lovely long weekend and now it feels like it was no longer than usual – seems my perception of time is a bit messed up.

So, Easter is done with me cooking and cleaning and washing up lots and lots, then spending silly amounts of time online imagining it to be a good way of relaxing when in fact it just seems to shrink time and then make me cross as I feel I have wasted all that precious time.

Ahh well, up at 6.30 am tomorrow. Not good, I really do not feel in the right frame of mind to get back to work, to deal with those very needy people who in the absence of a Dr for 4 whole days are going to be rolling through the door in droves.

I wonder if it will ever happen that we may only get a handful of patients turn up as opposed to the 200 or so we get each morning and each afternoon? I doubt it, well not until the government brings in some kind of payment system for appointments, then that might deter a good number of those who really do come in with minor coughs, colds and sneezes expecting some magical cure.

My partner Rob is doing well (he has a good nurse here after all! lol) and tomorrow he gets his clips out. In total there are about 16 to come out from the 3 wounds, so I hope it won’t be too much of an uncomfortable experience for him!

Not the most exciting post, as it’s not been the most exciting of times recently – blahhhhh….

If Only…..

Point Of View From The Past

Something reminded me of this song this evening and I was so pleased to find it on YouTube.

I love the cardboard animations, and of course, the song!

Am I Bonkers?

My daughter is always playing this track and although it’s not really my type of music there is something I like about it:

Britain Has Got Talent!!

This evening I was watching Britain's Got Talent, it was very entertaining... Below are 3 of the most memorable acts!

EDIT: Since posting these videos, embedding has been disabled, so just click them to be taken to the YouTube site itself.

The Big Gap And My Dried Up Brain

I know it’s been several days since I (a normally very regular blogger) have posted anything.

I’ve been very busy, working all day then coming home to change into my role as personal nurse to Rob.

Not had time for anything more than the occasional Tweet.

Now, at last, this being the long Easter weekend I have a little time for myself and my beloved computer!

But, guess what, I’ve nothing really to blog about – my brain has just about dried up and I can’t think of anything interesting to say.

I’m sure something will catch my interest soon, so, keep ‘em peeled!

Mellow Yellow Monday – Northern Line

A London Underground Train.. On a quiet Sunday! It’s usually a lot more packed than this!!

 

Entrecard Ads, Approve Or Reject?

These new paid ads on Entrecard are causing more than a little confusion I think.

I liked it the way it was where we would display an ad from another blog for the whole 24 hours, now with paid ads coming in that 24 hour slot is actually shared with the paid ads.

Nice for the Entrecard Team to be making money out of it, but what’s the point in dropping cards, earning credits to have your blog ad on another blog when it won’t even show half the time, as the paid ads will.

And we don’t get a single credit for displaying these paid ads.

My blog is in no way a commercial money making site and is maintained purely for my own amusement and hopefully a few of my dear readers.

So, do I need Entrecard? do I approve these paid ads at the expense of the regular ones? or shall I just reject them all?

Shall I just leave Entrecard and forget about it all?

This morning I had over 20 ads waiting, all paid ads, not one regular ad… I rejected them all..

What do you think?

What are you doing?

Is it worth even being bothered about?

UPDATE: I have decided not to go with the paid ads for now and have added this under my EC widget:

NO PAID ADS HERE, SO IF YOU CHOOSE TO PLACE YOUR CARD HERE IT WILL NOT BE INTERRUPTED BY PAID ADS - this will remain so until further notice!

The Gallstones

So here are the offending little (well not so little) buggers that caused Rob so much pain and suffering!

To see BIGGER (if you dare) just go to my Flickr page and biggify!

Being A Nursemaid

Rob came home last evening.

I was told he wasn’t coming home but when I arrived at the hospital they removed the drips and drain and decided he was OK enough to go home.

He’s not in terrible pain but needs to keep taking the painkillers. His belly is covered in dressings, from the unsuccessful attempt at keyhole and the actual wound from the open surgery, so there’s bound to be some level of pain for a while yet.

He’s now propped up in bed, watching a little TV, browsing the net and dozing.

So, I’m being nursey, I’m knackered and my back is sore, but trying to do the best I can. Not had a proper nights sleep since Tuesday night. Now I’m having to sleep in daughters room as I was so afraid I might knock his wound. I’m going to try to nap in a while but I just can’t seem to drop off.

So just browsing the blogs, trying to relax a bit now…

Operation Update

Well, what a day it’s been. I waited nervously on tenterhooks all day for calls from the hospital but they didn’t ring – I ended up ringing them 4 times to get them to tell me anything.

So, what happened is that they tried to do the op by keyhole surgery but it was too difficult and turned out to be somewhat more complicated than expected, taking about 4 hours!

I was eventually allowed to see him for a while about 8pm, he was in recovery with a couple of drips, a morphine drip, a wound drain and oxygen – it was a bit of a shock to see him in such a state really considering we had expected him to be home early evening.

Then we (my daughter and I) had to wait in another room until they were ready to move him to the ward.

We made sure he was settled into the ward OK and then had to come home – this was now 11pm.

It has been a very long stressful day for all involved. I hope he will get some sleep and be a bit more himself tomorrow. I also hope I get some sleep…

Waiting With Mabel

This morning after taking Rob to the hospital for his op I came home to wait for a call to pick him up. 

I am not good at waiting, it makes me nervous.

So I've been keeping busy.

One way was playing with Mabel – in a bag!

I Am Pause – Not Sure About That!

You Are Pause

Compared to most people, you are reflective and thoughtful. You're always willing to take a break and digest everything that's happened. You are patient with life. You are happy to sit back and let things unfold. You're not in a hurry. You're content to take things at someone else's pace.

What Remote Button Are You?

 

Reflective and thoughtful?  More like a worrier!

 

Take a break? Yep, I procrastinate wayyy too much!

 

Patient with life? Hardly, I worry and stress over most things!

 

Not in a hurry?  Only because I am too busy worrying and procrastinating!

 

 

Found this one at Cyber Chocolate