Another Day Ends, Another Day Starts...

It's been a while.

I'm fulfilling a "fist-bump" promise that I made with Fi a few months ago to try to update the blog at least once a month; kinda failed for April...sorry Fi...

Tonight is the second night and last shift of the current four day run, and I'm looking forward to the one and a half days off that I have after this...time's now 0243, and in six hours time I'll be sitting with a dozen others doing a Fire Marshall course, then in about 12 hours time will be on my way to Miri to sleep and eat copious amounts of seafood...:D

Past two nights, though, have been pretty busy. Probably not as busy as other ambulance crews around the place, but interesting cases all the same. Tonight's was rougher than normal (for me anyhow), but more on that later...

So, just a quick run down on what's been happening for the past few months:

December 2010: transferred from the wards to the Outpatient Department, and involved with the modification of the new Company ambulance, based on the Ford Transit van. 2.4L turbo diesel engine, pretty meaty...

January 2011: the ambulance is commissioned and I get my Class 5 license, meaning I can legally drive any vehicle over 6720 pounds (3055 kg), or the equivalent of a HR license...also endorsed for a Class 4 (MR) license. I also start with the JPMC Emergency Ambulance Service.

February 2011: went to Singapore and met up with the Indonesian cousins to celebrate our Grandma's 80th birthday. Had an absolute blast. Steph also gets engaged.

March 2011: made my fist bump with Fi. Also finally finished my extended probation period with the company, and got a pay raise...:D

April 2011: Start working on the new ambulance project, but with so many bosses to work under, it's getting a little hectic at times...got a new supervisor too, but have to wait until he finishes his probation period for things to start happening...gearing up to -hopefully- be sent to Poland for the project...

May 2011: TURNED 25! Was one of the MC's for the International Nursing Day Gala Dinner on the 14th, and had a relatively good night. And also here we are...

So, there you have it, the past six months since November...with some pictures...:p

For the ambulance project, I've gotten pretty good thanks to the information provided by Ambulance Visibility regarding what are the industry standards on how to mark out an ambulance without being too distracting...also, if anyone's interested, this is the company building our new ambulances in Poland...

Tonight's case was bad. Young mother. Five month old foetus. Spontaneous. We managed to save the mother, but unfortunately not the baby...just hope that Whoever's Upstairs holds and keeps that poor child...:(

I understand that I work in an industry that deals with life and death. We regularly transport the recently deceased from the hospital to their homes for funeral preparations, and I normally don't feel anything; clinical detachment. The case earlier really did get to me, and it still is...

May your soul, and all the souls of the Faithfully Departed, rest in Eternal Peace. Amen.

Sigh...it's now 0323, and I'm getting sleepy...might just go outside and watch the movie I got earlier..."I Am Number Four"...should be interesting...

So, finally, got a dilemma; do I save up for a new laptop, or a new iPhone (and do I go with the iPhone 4, or wait for the iPhone 5)?...

Be safe.

Lest We Forget

Thanks to Lar DeSouza, of LICD fame, for sharing with the rest of the ether the following link. It's EPIC. :D Our Valued Customers

That site is great. It's about the snippets of conversations that the guy hears while working at a comic book store. I wonder what one would look like if it were of the bouncers or staff in a hospital ward..........

Just sitting here at the hospital on a rainy night. Only three of us on shift at the moment (the fourth nurse is upstairs with a neonate patient), and as usual, when one patient called us about 30 minutes ago, the other patients at either end of the ward called too, so while the two nurses were dealing with the original call, I was running from one end to the other answering the other calls and finding out what was required; luckily, nothing major. Just a fellow who needed to pee and a kid who had a stuffed nose. The usual.

News to me: we're apparently getting a night differential now! Better start getting some more night shifts...

During the drive to work earlier, it got interesting at one point; it's raining, a bit misty, and no streetlights. There was this red Lancer that was coming in hot behind me along a single carriage section of the highway, and nearly caused me to hit the side guardrails by cutting in front of me just before a corner. Other cars were coming towards us too at that time. After this corner, it widens to a dual carriage section for another 15 or so kilometres, with a U-turn facility about a kilometre in. After this facility, there are no more street lights again. There are two other cars in front of me on the slow lane, and I'm behind the Lancer on the fast lane. Lots of water is being blasted onto my windscreen by the guy. He's still going hot, and it looked like he was going into the slow lane in front of the other cars, and doing it dangerously too. I said a little prayer along the lines of, "May God have mercy on your passenger's and the other driver's souls if you continue driving like that." Just then, we hit the dark area, and the FREAKING LIGHTS VANISH! I looked into the mirror to see if there was the Lancer doing a U-turn or something, but there were no cars on the opposite side, and just the lights of the two cars that were there before. There was also no lights (or cars) on the side of the road, and I can only assume that if the red Lancer did lose it and fly off the side of the highway into the trees, the cars would have stopped (due to the distance from what I observed). The next car was already about four kilometres ahead about to go around a corner, and even if the guy was travelling at triple the speed limit, I doubt that he would have reached there while I travelled 200m. Immediate prayers were said.

It's not the first time, and it more than likely won't be the last time either. I can only hope that whoever (or whatever) it is/was, that they can rest peacefully.......

Speaking of resting peacefully, I just realised that it's the 11th of November. 96 years since the start of The Great War, The War To End All Wars. How wrong they were, and we still are now.

They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them. Lest We Forget.

Thank a Veteran, and all those in the Armed Forces, past, present, and future.

Be safe out there.

Free Writing On The Past Few Months

I have absolutely no idea what to write, but it has been a while since I last wrote something, so, for the heck of it, here's something.

I'm working now at a private hospital in Brunei. Started there in September, and it's getting interesting. Lots of egos going around, and always interesting to see the interactions between people and how they change so drastically so quickly.

Also just finished a PreHospital Trauma Life Support (PHTLS) course on Monday; scored 90% in the written and passed the practical component. It was interesting to get back into it after a few years out of it.

With that in mind, the hospital is reopening their Emergency Department, and once that occurs (which is planned for the next few weeks) I'll be transferring into it. So, let's see what happens next.

Another thing I'm wondering is if anyone is really ready to say that "goodbye"? Is one of the reasons I was reluctant to come back to Brunei to work because of the possibility of seeing someone I grew up with die slowly? Living and working overseas in new places without ties reduces the possibility of seeing someone you know do that last journey, and you're just stopping the pain of those other poor souls...

I miss Australia. I miss the people there. I miss being me.

One last note:

1. Go to Google maps. 2. Go to maps and then directions 3. Type Japan as the start location. 4. Type China as the end location. 5. Go to direction #43. 6. Laugh, and repost!!

Peace out.

So, If It Was Meant To Happen, It'll Happen...

Trying to update this blog using the iPod.

Now, it definitely has been a while since the last update...was just thinking how this blog has been the constant in my life for nearly a decade as well...this time next week I'll be getting ready to finish up in Australia...

The past two years have been quite an adventure, to say the least...fell in (what I highly assumed to be) love, found an interesting career path (and all the characters that came with it), and more or less felt like the Prodigal Son...lost some old friends, some to the ravages of distance, some to the Great Journey...met multitudes of interesting characters too...shared good times and bad, with friends and enemies alike...experienced unforgettable moments; Big Day Out, World Youth Day, providing security for the Prime Minister, Good Vibrations, and so many concerts, Screaming Jets, Hoodoogurus, British India, 28 Days...

The move back to Brunei after ten years over here in Oz was a relatively easy one to make. A variety of issues were considered. Ten years is a long time for anything.