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.