Update

So after various thing have happened at work, I now feel compelled to blog again. I think I blog when I have some free time, feel strongly about stuff and most likely when unsure of the future, some or all of which are coming into play together at the moment.

Basically, I have been pondering work and such like and lloking at some fine blog posts by other medical / para-medical professionals online and pondering about stuff. Also this week I have had 5 week nights in the flat in one week for the first time since some time back in March....maybe even February.

In that time I have changed hospital, twice, changed specialty, completed the FY1 e-portfolio of CPD learning, and decided to take the plunge and apply for an MSc in Internal medicine (online distance learning) so I may get a student card again, but hopefully no student loan.

It's fair to say that I have found surgery challenging. The consultants seem more remote a lot of the time, and senior support on the wards is often spartan - but often contactable by Pager.....the ward rounds happen whenever, but daily and are usually as brief as can be, even in HDU. So I think part of me misses the support of Medicine and the ease of contacting a senior. Also working for only one or at most 2 consultants made life easier and 2-3 days between ward rounds did allow some time for completing tasks rather than the 24hr time periods.

Weekend

I had a nice weekend back in Newcastle (thanks all of you who asked). Vast amounts of the weekend were spent listening to, o being dragged into discussions about my sister's wedding. However the plus side of this was the chance to go on Sunday for a tasting of the options for the meal. It was all very nice, especially the ............ which was very nice and a touch surprising.

The weekend did have its downsides though.

The Rugby...........less said the better. I am still not sure how we threw our half time lead away, but if we continue to play like that, we deserve to lose to Italy next week. Ireland played with lots of mistakes, but also some nice moves (like the cross field kick) to beat Italy, but I'm not sure if that tactic will work as well against stronger opposition. I was eating during the Scotland France match so didn't see any of it, but judging by the comments of the Scotland fans on my train back to Glasgow, they deserved to lose as France were the better team.

A line of red lights....

On our way back from the DIME weekend, we came round a corner on the A9 to see a line of red lights winding across the valley as far as we could see. These roadworks, to do with the construction of anew roundabout, had delayed us about 20 minutes coming north, but this queue looked much much longer.

Half the traffic seemed to be heading up a narrow road up the hillside to our left, so after looking at a map, Rachel decided to give it a go. We followed as part of a constant line of traffic down this single track road (the drivers coming the other way were pulled over and looking very bored with it all), before coming to a junction and choosing to rejoin the main road at the new roundabout, with only a short (15 minute) queue to get through the traffic lights at the contraflow.

All in all we had saved about 75 minutes, and were not far behind the bus with the kids on by the time we reached Perth.

DIME Weekend

This weekend was also the DIME weekend up at Aviemore. We had great weather- a bit damp on the Saturday, but not enough to stop the activities, and clear cold weather on Sunday. I managed to escape having to go on the bus, and instead met two otehr Leaders at Perth, and went up by car.

I was with the S1's as a Dorm leader, which we knew would always be slightly challenging as they are youngest, and not so acquainted with being away from home. They were, as expected, a wee bit hyper when they arrived, and despite best efforts to run the energy out of them, they still were a bit disruptive at bed time, so much so they didn't get their bedtime story.

Saturday was despite the rain, a good day. I was running the craft bay and we made stress balls, using salt and balloons. this was a great idea and I wish it had been mine! The kids also had options to decorate photo frames or make Hama bead creations, so all in all it was more of a quiet hour amidst the adventurous activities outside.

On my free session, I went with the S5-6's on the ropes course, and was beaten in the forward rolls game and probably most of the others, but we had a laugh with the Leaders looking almost as silly as the kids at times. However, Rachel and the blu one videoing me crawling through a net tunnel wasn't very nice, as I hardly look my usual composed sophisticated self! Then they went off into Aviemore for a coffee and I stayed on site with the younger ones.

Our Saturday night film was Monsters Inc, which I haven't seen before. The Tattooed drinker recommended it by text when i asked him what it was like. Given that he is a gore / horror fan, i did wonder what we were about to unleash, but was pleasantly surprised - it is a great film, though I do worry about agreeing with the Tattooed Drinker on anything!

The Sunday was a nice clear day, and while the kids played games, we tidied the centre, so that just after the kids left, we were finished and on our way. We stopped for a nice coffee at House of Bruar on the way and looked at the necessities of 'country living'. In hindsight, I think the main necessity is money.