Quick test post

This is a quick test of my new laptop.  I am writing this post using the pen based interface that is part of the tablet. So far, so good!

Internal Rumblings

I sit and think about my insides.  Today, they are well behaved but six days ago they rebelled.

Friday was the last Eskimos game of the season at their home in the Commonwealth Stadium, and to celebrate, I took my team of awesome volunteer medics out for a drink and snack at a local eatery.  We told stories, shared experiences, and generally cleared the surrounding tables of patrons – as we often do.  I had some potato skins with barbeque chicken.  They were yummy.

The next morning I woke feeling funny. I couldn’t settle back to sleep, and I couldn’t work out why.  I played some WoW and tried to work out what was going on.  Then it hit me – toads upset tummage, dude.  I remember laying in bed, feeling so weak I could not move.  No, really.  I was laying there, dehydrated, wiling my body to get up so I could have some water – but I couldn’t.  I simply was too weak.  Such an odd sensation.

I had protested to a friend that I didn’t need anything, but they came by later in the day to drop off some supplies and check up on me, and I was mighty glad they did.  The sheer mental boost I received really helped turn this around.  Work was informed, and told that this probably wasn’t H1N1.   Sunday and Monday was still the same situation, but by Tuesday everything had stopped.  Literally everything, as my body appeared to have gone into shock.  No appetite, nothing.

Of course, that’s when my phone beeped at 8am to remind me that I was supposed to be at Canada Place to sign documents in front of witnesses that prescribed me as a fresh-faced Permanent Resident of this fine country, so I had to haul myself off there.  I managed to sign the forms, request a new SIN (that starts with a 6 not a 9!) and then renew my Alberta Health Care details in the space of about two hours – so much faster than I would ever have been able to do the similar bureaucratic activities in the UK.

Now I am seemingly back to normal, with a still-suppressed appetite for food – but an increased appetite for blogging, it seems.

Missing

I met a really good friend last year, and he went back to Vancouver once his time here was done.  I miss him.

My room mate went to Ottawa to study.  I really miss her.

Her boyfriend got made redundant.  He’s going to Ottawa to be with her. I’m going to miss him, too. More than I think I know, now.

I found some photos of my ex-wife on the web, pictures of her and her new husband and their new baby.  Funnily enough, the thing I focused on was how my ex-mother-in-law just looks disapproving in all the shots.

All of these things might make me sad, but they just made me reflective.  I need to hold on to the experiences I have, and make sure I stay close to my friends, near and far.

Jazz Hands

Last night at my St. John Ambulance Volunteer First Aid Response Services meeting we had some good training on Scene Survey and Primary Survey protocols.

One of the general questions was “What are the names given to certain types of abnormal posturing you may see as a result of a serious head injury?”.  I replied “Decorticate and decerebrate!”.

“Good!” said our instructor, “But which is which?”.  “Decorticate is flexing inwards, decerebrate is extending outwards!” I said.

“Wow”, asked another member, “How do you you remember all of these things?”.  “Oh, he’s a medical geek for that kind of stuff” said another.

“No no, that’s not it at all! It took me a long time to get a mnemonic for this!  Decorticate is inwards to the core, decerebrate is outwards in celebration!” I explained.

Our instructor continued, “You will rarely see these types of posturing, and usually because of a really bad head injury”.

I chimed in, “Of course, the way you can tell if it’s a serious neurological insult is if they’re doing jazz hands.  Anyone who does that has a definite brain injury”.

I swear if they had bread rolls they’d have pelted me with them.

The Difference

Working downtown you get used to seeing two main types of people - the homeless, and office workers.  So far the office workers outnumber the other kind, but it seems to be shifting as time goes on...  Generally you can tell which type someone is by the building pass they had strapped to their waist or worn around their neck.

Recently though a few post-secondary institutions, such as the University of Alberta, have opened locations downtown.  Now we've got a load of younger scruffy types with no building passes.  However are we going to tell them apart from the homeless?

I noticed something else - you can subtly tell the difference between types of people by what they have on themselves.  If they are using or carrying a mobile phone they are probably not homeless.  If they have headphones on, they are probably not homeless.  A lot of student-types have mp3 players!  Not many homeless people have them!

Finally, a way to tell the great unwashed apart from the homeless.  Welcome back to school.  :)

How Ducks Must Feel

I got soaked last night.

We were watching Richard III at Shakespeare In The Park, sitting on a park bench at the back with all our gear in front of us. Radios, Oxygen Bag, Trauma Bag, Defibrillator, our bags, the usual gear. I didn't bring an ambulance this time to save on all the hassle of picking one up.

Then the thunder and lightning started. No rain. Each flash was bright, each crack was loud. We eventually turned around and watched it rather than the play.

Next we saw two freaky cloud formations swirl towards us, from the South and South West. They seemed to be UNDER the thunderheads. Then the wind picked up. Then the wind REALLY picked up. It was blowing the mesh curtains at the back of the stage around. Finally it knocked an actors hat off. They announced a break and told all the actors to head under the stage.

Then the rain started. Wow. So much rain. We ran to cover, grabbing as much of our stuff as we could. We threw the gear under an overhang but the wind was blowing the rain into the amphitheater so we moved deeper in. The rain then turned to hail. I put my partner into my car and turned back to deal with the situation. This way, at least only one of us would be wet.

Everyone was fully under the huge amphitheater awning now. Many were standing on the stage. The staff had pulled open all the drains and were sweeping as much of the torrents of water into them as possible. The noise was insane, and the hail was falling directly on all of our stuff. As I looked up I also realised the downpour was hitting the roof and sliding to the edge until it built up critical mass, then it would fall down in sheets. I had to go under this to get the gear, and each time I did it was like stepping into a shower of ice pellets. Mainly because it was a shower of ice pellets.

I managed to grab everything, including our hi-vis vests. It took about five trips, the last one to grab my partners cell phone which was covered with hail and rain - and still works! After that, I shook myself off and made sure everyone was okay by patrolling around the edges of the auditorium.

A little while later it stopped and the skies were blue. Everything started steaming slightly, including me. The staff swished out the last of the hail and water, and started wiping down the stage. Everyone moved back to their seats - but some went home as they were so wet.

I made sure my partner was okay and sat in the car to warm up for a bit. Soon the windows were steamed up. When I got out to look around, there was steam everywhere - a fog had risen from the ground across the lake, and all the open grass areas. The twilight was shrouded in mist, but the sky was as clear as can be.

We eventually left at around 11. I had started to shiver by then and needed a warm shower. Every part of me was soaked. We drove once around the park to look at the mist swirling around then drove up out of the river valley and into clear night-scented air.

This morning I checked my wallet and all my cash is soggy. What an awesome night!

Poking Sticks

I was at an Oilers game the other day and we were talking about how many ambulance calls are for people in the street, not moving, possibly dead. No one ever tries to wake them up, and they generally end up as intoxicated itinerant individuals who are asked to move on by the crew. This seems to happen a lot in big cities, less so in smaller towns - but it still happens. Even in Canada, in winter.


What I suggested was a special Poking Stick. Much like the concept of 'Heart Safe', where AEDs are available to members of the public in case someone collapses, these special "Poke Safe" sticks would be available behind plastic fronted cabinets in high occurrence areas. That way, members of the public could safely poke collapsed drunks without fear of being attacked, or more importantly, of getting ickiness on them. Eww.

I'm sure it'll catch on. I'll write to the regional director of health services. The budget should be a lot cheaper than those $5,000 AED units!