Last week

Eh get very distracted from writing my blog by blogs of note beautiful the hermitige by artist english travellers which is funny cause I downloaded The Incredible String Band a few weeks ago, which I used to love, to see how they have held up and I really like them still. They are in that 60's communal hippie back to the earth and medieval thing before it all got shot down in drugs and not being able to live together. Maybe we are too rich to live together. Most of our ward is 2 bed rooms and they barely speak to each other and we have a fair no of problems theatening visitors, snoring of course. Mostly through people are not used to sharing. Says something about treading lighly on the earth.The eco houses make me laugh they show you around these huge spaces which house on a big day 4 people and tell you how eco friendly they are and how it cost heaps. Of course there are the school worm farm organisers growing a tomato and driving a four wheel tank.
Oh well I think about living like aboriginals or american indians did, it isnt that long ago it would be nice to be a nomad, all this luxury gets a bit boring.
It is our yearly big rubbish collection very exciting then all the people drive around the streets picking stuff up, good way to recycle I am not going to be tempted to pick anything up. There should be a cut off age in accumulation where you are not allowed to buy any more (in my case books, magazines or wool). We watch the Collectors on the ABC too much thru and are now collecting kinder surprise toys I hope I get over that.
Only worked one day this week, they loved me because I got one of our recidivists home ranting and raving but out, some pregnancies are spent being discharged and readmitted in the same day then we get a breather while they have sex and get pregnant again. Two other admissions with previous sick children, joy of the baby much less as they are so much more anxious then other mothers. They have learnt there is no certainty.

This is the flatist rainbow I remenber, then it came up more and more. We were having coffee at the beach, watching rainbows very nice soaking up the negative ions. Wave watching should be a meditation.
We were watching a documentory about Yellowstone national park and I bought the video it was so beautiful. They had stories about Yellowstone people, one guy was the snowman, he spends all winter taking the snow off the roofs and another group of people are geyser gazers they sit and wait for the geysers to go off, they were a very jolly group. Yellowstone is an amazing place, the whole park is the caldera of a super volcano. They didn know that till they saw it from space. If it goes off it will made all human problems seem very small, I find that puts things in perspective.

Sydney eastern suburb beaches

I am practicing putting photos on blog. Yesterday we went to Sydney to drop sister at airport and went to Bondi via Maroubra, Coogee, Thompsons Bay (Gordons Bay), Tamarama and Bondi, We should have done the walk but we drove it, next time we will go up when the sculptures are up and walk along there, It is very beautiful. I forgot how big Bondi is 1km round its circle. We had lunch at the icebergs with my brother who works there, pretty good work place. I put on pictures of Thompsons Bay because this is were I learnt to dive a long time ago, it is a lovely place, hidden between Coogee and Clovelly. It was hard work carrying the tanks down and up the path to the bay but worth it. It was a nude beach in those days and the instructors had to keep the male members on task, while their eyes were glued to the nudes, Well I've done 2 images to a post. What a good night i've actually learnt to do what i wanted to learn. I said to myself it cant be harder than knitting.

Red dust on wednesday

It was weird to wake up and see the world is all red coloured. Big winds had brought dust from inland and dumped it over everything. Still windy with a little bit of rain. I hadnt posted for ages then did but cause my sister is home for a holiday. she is nursing in the middle east so i write to her first then I dont blog so much. She got sick yesterday but travelling when rammadam and eid is on so many people mixed together, like a big germ fest. Or I could have given it to her, nursed a girl with DnotV and lots of wards affected at work. I havent felt too flash either but that could be just night duty. Better go check the ASX it kind of flat after the big run ups that I missed of course.

doing the business

Feel very virtuous have filled in the forms written the cheques and done the business. Suddenly you end up trying to be Warren Buffet all too late. Oh well at least the stock market is back thru not today. i am playing the ASX game again but cant do anything today, sometimes you just have to hold your bets and wait. At least its only pretend money, wish it felt like that. I am going to pot up an azalea as a Bonsai, seeing I knocked off the last lot from lack of watering.
We have been doing some travelling to the country and to Adelaide. I lived in Adelaide for a while and my mother grew up there. I realised when we were driving out of Hay a part of me (the irrational part) was going to look for her in Adelaide so i was crying across the Hay plain. We went to look at the house she grew up in but nothing helps with grief except time, love for the earth and realising that we will all die, the grateful dead. There really is no time to grieve but I miss her. They were bigger than other people to me her brothers and her, they always thought they were right, like monuments. It is a year since she died. I thought I knew what grief felt like but I had no idea.
Work is crazy as usual. They knock off one beast in charge and another one pops up like the hydra. The casual pool percentage of staff gets bigger and bigger. They are pleasant mostly but often seem there for a social life, much confidence but little knowledge. The madness of the staff rivalled only by the patients and the social prpblems. I try not to read the social work reports that way I can treat them as normal, anyway they dont stay long enough to get involved or resolve anything. We are not a ward but a referral agency. I used to be really interested in health systems, comparing different countries, if I'd done my honours year I was going to do a thesis on the health systems of north and south vietnam during the Vietnam war, bet the world missed that one. I guess I am still a bit interested but very dis-illusioned and past imagining how you would fix the maddness of our health system. Their mission statement: if it works destroy it. Put that all over the walls along with the dreadful photos of the NUMs in the corridors. I only go for the money and the laughs.

There must be some way outa here said the joker to the thief theres too much confusion I cant get no relief

Well the pneumonias turned out to be swine flu probably. One is on ecmo at another hospital, i dont think they do ecmo here. Another ventilated. We are barrier nursing in the ward. The response from on high seems to be mainly about coughing and handwashing no real guidance they are still discussing the response. If i were a pregant woman with a flu I'd be on the anti virals quick. They had an article from the CDC that said there were issues with pregnant woman so this should have been seen coming but there is such a disconnect between the sayers and the doers in the system.
eg funny story from my husbands work nursing home one RN on shift 120 patients and a few carers. They loaded all patient documents onto computer so you pick which one. There are over a hundred documents with no index and some very odd descriptions of what they are. Why so many because instead of rationalising the documents of different facilities they put the lot of them on. The office people thought that was a good idea.
The design of our paperwork is terrible the patients history is a three page list you have to seach thru for info no one has time to read or find stuff now. To be fair there are some good things we can print off name stickers on the ward and the docs can generate a path form at any terminal. Pity they cant sign meds orders from any terminal but I wonder if thats a good thing they would probably never come near the ward. I bought some shares in a medical tech company but when i realised what a mess it is I got rid of them, we had a occ therapist training us bit of a joke. The designated expert users are a good laugh.
The stock market game is starting soon my husband is playing too I hope he is good at trading.
The patients are interesting we had a intelligent lady from Lybia so we had a good chat about Islam and woman. I would like to go to that area of Africa she said it is very beautiful. We have some interesting people from all over the world as we are near the uni.
Better do some gardening while its warm.

Ahh I've got the cold. Its a bad winter this when we are seeing pneumonias in midwifery thats bad. I dont remember so many woman coming in with pneumonia. I guess being pregnant with reduced lung space they are more vulnerable plus if they have PIH (pregnancy induced hypertension) then their kidney function is off. I have to learn more about PIH catch up on the latest its a bit of a mystery of a condition.
I have been painting the house portland stone and royal blue. Its nice I am only doing the bits i can reach then we will have to get a painter for the 2nd story I'm no good with heights. Had a lovely 2 days away golf trip down the coast with the friday golf ladies the pros came and we had lessons and 9 holes at 2 different courses. I think I learnt something, if I remember it. I am trying to play a natural relaxed game then its enjoyable even if you are not going well but if you do relax you play better. I got nearest the pin which was exciting. Well back to the garden, its so cold this weather i dont have long in the day to do things.