The Best Day of 2005

Here is my entry for 14th June:-

Merthyr Tydfil. At Mrs.Pugh's site at Grawen Farm. Not cold in the night and slept well. After tea and porridge out at 07:50 and up to the Storey Arms. Into basic jogging kit for another quick go at Pen-y-Fan and Corn Du. Anti-clockwise this time. 08:10-09:15. So that's 1 hour 5 minutes. A bit dissapointed not to break the hour barrier. Difficult to see how I can do better unless I can run up farther! Or follow the new track back down. So that's my eighth trip over Pen-y-Fan these last two weeks. After tea and a bacon roll went back to the Farm for a shower. At 10:50 went the 4 miles into Merthyr Tydfil. Got a haircut. Found an internet place and had a go for an hour. Bought a couple of back-packs from a market stall. Took my stuff back to the van and found a parking ticket stuck to the window! The parking slip had fallen off the dash and into my bag. Went back into town and had a bit of grub. Did not hang about due to the smoke-filled atmosphere! Back at the van wrote a note to the Parking Section of Merthyr Council. Mailed this later. Headed back up to the Storey Arms. This time had a go on the opposite side of the road. Carried the new pack. Up around Fan Fawr and to the trig point beyond. Still windy. Did a bit of map and compass work. 15:10-17:15. About 2 hours. Then headed back into Merthyr. Had to wander around a far amount to find a place for grub. Finally got a couple of sausages and some chips. Not very impressed by Merthyr Tydfil. Better off with Brecon or Abergavenny. Back at Mrs.Pugh's at 19:10. 44 miles in the Rascal today. Text from Mum. She warns of rain tomorrow. Two German motor-cyclists disturbed the peace a bit at about 21:00. But it rained quite heavily during the night, and I almost felt sorry for those guys when I left early the next morning, and headed back up to Monmouth.

Putting in the Hours

A message to all biomeds who are working today – Rejoice (you are not alone)!

Not only is today a Sunday, but it is also Christmas Day. The perfect time, then, for catching up with those PM’s up in the Operating Theatres. With only one of the theatres on standby, and with the staff at a minimum, it is one of the few times during the year when access (and a period of time to get on with the work) is not a problem. And this will be the case for the next couple of days.

Of course, the chance to do PM is rarely a problem if you are flexible enough, and are willing and able, to work at weekends, night-time or any other so-called “un-social hours”. If any place out there needs people like that from time to time, better get in touch.

Here in London it is mild out (as far as I can tell down in the bowels of the hospital), with the promise of another cold spell (and, perhaps, some snow) coming up.

Peace on Earth, and Goodwill to All Men? By all means. But not only today. Let’s have it every day of the year.

Thought for the Day

It's a nice bright sunny day here in Harrow, N.W. London, and I've jogged in for an hour’s quiet catching up on a few things. Came over Harrow-on-the-Hill and through to our magnificent architectural wonder of a hospital. Now I can at least claim to have been on the “playing fields of Harrow” (if not, as yet, Eton).

I walked through nearby Wealdstone yesterday, where I first learned of the 1952 train disaster. On 8th October 1952, the Perth to Euston express ran a red signal and collided with a stationary commuter train. The locomotive of the express was derailed into the path of a northbound express, causing a second collision. 122 passengers lost their lives. Apparently, this was one of two high-profile incidents in the 1950’s where signals were passed at danger, the other being Lewisham in 1957. Another notable point about the Wealdstone incident, is that it was reported to be the first time that the “triage” system of casualty management was used with civilians in the UK, prioritising cases according to their urgency and expectancy for survival! Sobering stuff.

Looking Forward

These days, I can’t shake off the feeling that I’m hanging back waiting for “something big” to happen. This is one of the reasons that I’m happy for the time being just to continue to “keep my hand in” where I am. How many times have I “drawn a veil" over medical equipment work, only to come creeping back under the blanket, as it were? Well, sometimes, I quite enjoy it – and, truth be told, I’m probably too long in the tooth now to make a go at anything else.

However, I hear that Alberta is the place to be – the next oil boom, apparently, with reserves on the Saudi scale of things. They don’t drill, but steam it out of the soil (or sand) near the surface, apparently. I reckon they’ll be having new hospitals and clinics there, to support a rapidly increasing population. Might be a tad cooler than Saudi, though! Yes, Fort McMurray could be the place to be.

In the spirit of “following the money”, perhaps the business model for the “new venture” should be to service clinics in oil and gas industry (...yes, I know that others have/are already done/doing that, but maybe they need a bit of competition)!

Yes, Fort McMurray could well be the place to be. And probably a bit less volatile than Kazakhstan (or even Saudi, and certainly Iraq)! But I've got to get on and do something worthwhile before it's too late - otherwise what else am I to do (...simply grow old in England)?