Aaaagggghhhhh!

I have a shiny new laptop!
It is very shiny and it is very new!
Its also very different from any laptop I have ever had before, to the extent I nearly launched it through the nearest window!
Grateful for litlun coming round in her lunch break to pick up her post, she managed to show me how to do a few things!
Now all I have to do is remember all my log ins and pass words which were automatically saved to my old laptop which has died and gone to cyber heaven!

December already, in more ways than one!

December already! It's just started to be cold! I hope it kills off the darn midge's which make Mouse itch so badly! Her sweet itch has been bad again this year to the extent that she is still on 6 antihistamine a day.
I woke this morning to the news of yet another of my friends passing away! Very shocking, she was younger than me! We were both pregnant at the same time 25 years ago, I remember walking into town with her and going for coffee, we then got our baby bumps out to see who's was the biggest! When our babies were born her's three weeks older was half the size of mine! The last time we met up was to ride together, it was frosty and slippery under foot, she rode one of my horses whilst I rode the other, even then the talk went back to when our first born's were babies. Sleep well lovely lady, you can rest now.

STRIKE! Part Deux.

I wonder what my boss would say if I went in to work an hour and a half late and said "Sorry I'm late my life had an over run", I can put money on him not being as accepting as my husband, when almost every shift I call him or text him and say "Going to be late home, sorry, I have another over run!" I'm just not feeling the love right now! The reason for all the over runs is people calling an ambulance for ridiculous things, ever heard of pharmacists and GPs? Well have you? And a lack of staff!
There is another strike on Monday morning, Ambulance staff have not had a pay rise for over 4 years, the Politicians get one every year amounting to 10% per year I believe, or there about! They set unrealistic goals for us to attain, but take away the money required to be able to reach those goals. Is it any wonder Paramedics, Technicians and ECA's are jumping from the sinking ship? (That was a rhetorical question, the answer is blatantly obvious!) Some of the best Para's and Tech's I have worked with have either gone or are going. The government is succeeding in its challenge to break the service if not the whole NHS.
Very sad!

Anniversary.

Today is my Wedding Anniversary, the weather is very much as it was the day we married, it was maybe a little dryer that day. We had a vintage fire appliance to take Myself and the bridesmaids to the ceremony it was a Dennis F8! My mum made our wedding cake and my dress had been in a wedding dress sale. The best thing though was that our families and friends were there! Looking back at the day, so many have passed away since, including my Dad and my husbands Mom!
Today we exchanged cards and went out for lunch, this evening we are going to have cheese, biscuits and port and watch a film.
Today has been a good day.

ILLICIT CANDYFLOSS AND SMUGGLED PETS.

Sometimes you just have one of those days, you know the sort, thunderbolts and lightening, fever, flood and famine, and 999 calls which make you wonder how some people manage to make it into adulthood at all. I read on a social network site that a woman had called 999 for trapped wind! I have been called out on 999 calls to someone who forgot to pick up their prescription...for a month! And needed medication, I once had to climb to the 6 floor of a block of flats on a 999 call to someone who had run out of sanitary towels (The lift wasn't working! Of course!) Someone who wanted their blanket pulled up higher, this person became a frequent caller and had to be dealt with by other agencies in the end! I know all my Ambulance service colleagues have countless similar tales to tell...
Then there are the days where you attend a multi car pile up, a coach crash, a "One under" a sick child, a teenage resus days you would rather forget even if they are the real reason for the job, real emergencies. They can still make the day feel Meh!
So when little things happen to brighten up your day,and make you proper laugh out loud it puts everything right even if its just for a few moments... When it goes on for over an hour, well you know its been worth whatever the day threw at you, on that note I would like to thank the 2200 hour finishers, the single manned Night vehicle and my crewmate on the midnight finish, it was worth it. That is all!

The Last Post - RBL2012 - 720p HD

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

My Chains Are Gone..

When my daughters 18 year old friend died suddenly with no warning, everyone was stunned and upset, such a young life on the verge of scooting off to uni. Who knows when our last day, hour minute might be! This year has been a particularly bad one for us with people passing away, My Aunt died earlier in the year of cancer, and although she was in her eighty's it still cut her life short! Another Two deaths we have had were the sudden passing of my old crewmate, who went home from work one day, went to bed and literally didn't get up in the morning. This was a huge shock to me as we had worked together for the first 18 months of my ambulance service career. He wasn't everybody's cup of tea but he was a loyal crewmate and a good friend, we kept in contact even though I have transferred into another NHS trust area, all be it, mainly random phone calls. The other a friend who had tumours on his brain and decided to take his own life rather than have his family watch him slowly regress!

Most people hope for a long prosperous and healthy life but how many actually get that? 

I for one am hoping that next year brings less heartache and more peace and happiness!

***

 *

           MY CHAINS ARE GONE, I'VE BEEN SET FREE

             MY GOD, MY SAVIOUR HAS RANSOMED ME

                                                    AND LIKE A FLOOD HIS  MERCY REIGNS                                                           UNENDING LOVE, AMAZING GRACE.    

Strike!

No one wants to strike! No one wants to loose money, or put peoples life/property at risk!
Why to the government see fit to take a 40% pay rise (on top of their free second home, massive expenses budget, enforced summer leave and already bulging pay packets oh and its on a sedentary lifestyle which they may retire at any time and still get their full pension when the time comes!)... But I digress, where was I oh yes 40% pay rise, when they won't allow a 1% pay rise (did I mention they get an annual pay rise and for the last 4 years the NHS has had a pay freeze!) And if you leave the fire service before you are 60 or fail the fitness tests (non sedentary lifestyle) you will have your pension cut by the amount of years you cant work! Having been a firefighter I know that at 60, I for one could not carry (at a walk) half the kit that they are expected to carry at a run! let alone carry someone down a ladder from a second storey window (and the population continues to get fatter!) so how is it fair to penalise someone for what nature does to everyone! MAKES THEM OLDER AND NOT SO FIT! If fire fighters only had to push paper round a desk, and swear at each other across a table (I don't mean the mess table here boys!) and shout" here here" together with the odd insulting snide comment, then yes fair enough, but its a physical job heavy dirty and sometimes dangerous! Back to the Ambulance service, the job is heavy, dirty and sometimes dangerous too and we are not worth a 1% pay rise?? Shame on you Government, you fail to keep promises you fail to support your troops, you sit in your comfy seats and bitch at each other, the most dangerous thing you do is pass a  file! Perish the thought you might get a paper cut! And when your paper mountain catches fire YOU KNOW WHO WILL BE THERE! And when you have a heart attack from all that arguing and eating of rich fatty foods YOU KNOW WHO WILL BE THERE! (Oh and that last sentence, I WAS THERE! When one of you had an MI, and you asked my crewmate and I to use the trades entrance to your huge house, I know my place, I know I am worth more than to be treated like that, Tepic and I went in through the front door!
Fair Pay, Fair Pension for the work we do Mr Prime Minister!

FRIENDS

At school I had one or two friends. I wasn't part of the in crowd and never got chosen first for sports teams. That didn't bother me then and still doesn't today.
Now I' m well beyond school days I am still not part of the in crowd. I don't have dozens of friends, but what I do have are a few really good friends who I trust and confide in and a great number of aquaintances who I like and have a laugh with.
Anybody who thinks that I can be used to get to my friends can think again. Today I have had one such thing happen. I am not about to be used by anyone to get one of my friends to do something they do not wish to do. Who do they think they are? Also to have the nerve to thank me for being a friend to this person as if its some kind of favour or chore is also laughable. I knew my friend long before you did and have no intention of being manipulated for your purpose.
That is all.

Slacker....(or writers block)

Father forgive me for I have sinned... it has been months since my last blog update!
I must try harder!
Today I have mainly spent in the warm snugglyness of my bed I am not sick, and I don't consider myself lazy...I just had a hellish night shift. I was always under the impression you could only have one job at a time in the ambulance service! Multiple casualties yes but just one job. Sadly people this is not the case as last night I was given (together with my crewmate...) two genuine jobs. We have six jobs stacking and no vehicle to send sorry! Well what can I say.. Chaos ( utter confusion.utterly without order. Formless welter of matter conceived as preceding creation.....the choice is yours!) An hour and fifteen minutes overtime, well thanks but after the night I just had I would have prefered to finish on time!
Still a fried egg sandwich three cups of tea and three hours sleep later I think I'm good to go!
So the battle plan is this... feed hay water muck out the horse, walk the dog, cook and eat dinner then and only then shall I be off out for a drink with one of my friends... and a well deserved drink it will be too!
Amen.