Thursday, 29 March 2007
Trawling through Youtube (again!)
I found this, it's really cool and certainly explains why alot of music sounds the same.
Wednesday, 28 March 2007
Another win, another trophy!
Yesterday was a good day, a very good day in fact. At the risk of repeating myself, the Challenge cup final was an incredible moment. After last weeks euphoria and celebrations, I didn't think it could get much better, but it sure did.
Wearing a borrowed shirt (Thanks Badger!) I really felt the part and hardly stopped cheering throughout the entire game. Although I'd had a bad feeling about the game after the disappointing knock out cup final, the result never looked in doubt after the first period. Our goalie, Trevor Koenig played a blinder and deservedly won the man of the match award.
All credit to the Sheffield Steleers though, they were real sports and let the Coventry fans enjoy the moment, their fans were great sports too. I think I've twisted my knee in the process of celebrating though. I woke up this morning and had these stabbing pains in it. So I'd thought I'd try and walk it off round Coombe Abbey. Still feels stiff though. I wish I'd had a longer lens with me as there were two herons on the opposite side of the bank.
Monday, 26 March 2007
Still not certified!
Well tonight I've been to one of the semi-regular ambulance aid training nights that we're all supposed to attend. It was fairly good, but I'm feeling really uninspired by the whole thing. I did however get a few snide comments about my ILS certificate, and how I wrote my own name on it. It's pathetic really and I'm still cross about it. When they do get conformation of it I doubt there will be any apologies forthcoming.
Other than that it's been a nothing sort of day, tomorrow I'm off to Sheffield to watch the Blaze play in the Challenge cup final which should be good.
Other than that it's been a nothing sort of day, tomorrow I'm off to Sheffield to watch the Blaze play in the Challenge cup final which should be good.
Thursday, 22 March 2007
One amazing day
This week I've been working in Ireland. It's been nice to go back over as it's been a while now. So anyway Tuesday evening the three of us are sitting in the bar discussing recent developments in the world of cardiology (or not) and we're generally having a good old chat over several pints. It gets to that point in the evening where the discussion goes along the lines of "Shall we have one more?" Now it's normally the case that the amount that is drunk the night before is directly proportional to the number of patients. With this in mind we called a halt around midnight.
Anyway next day there we all are on the unit in Sligo, with what looks like a reasonably big list ahead of us. However disaster strikes when the kit decides it's not going to play ball.
Break downs are a right pain in the neck, with everyone getting stressed about cancelling patients and things, and often the biggest problem can be no one wanting to make a decision. But I have to say that to everyone who was involved credit, a decision was made promptly and unfortunately the list was cancelled.
However this presented a very tempting opportunity. Coventry blaze were playing the Edinburgh capitals in a match that would decide the league title if Coventry were to win it. So I faced a decision. Do I race as quickly as possible to Belfast airport to try and change to an earlier flight with the hope of getting to Coventry in time for the game. The chances of making it were slim. With no idea if there even were earlier flights, and no guarantee of being able to get on an earlier flight.
I decided to give it a go, after all what did I have to loose? I hadn't planned on going to the game so the way I saw it was that getting to the skydome would of been a bonus. So off I set from Sligo hospital, some 400miles away from the Skydome. The journey was going fairly well, with those narrow Irish roads being relatively quiet. With no radio in the hire car I kept myself awake by humming some of the tunes I'd hopefully be hearing later in the evening. This quickly turned into random chants of 'PEASY PEASY' every time I overtook the assorted tractors on the roads. I soon found myself crossing the border into Northern Ireland, and with that came better roads and the chance to speed up a bit. With each passing mile, my optimism increased, I was sure I was going to make it. But I still had to change my flight.
So some three hours after leaving Sligo I pulled up at the hire car return at Belfast, oblivious the the fact that I was humming Chelsea dagger perhaps a little too loudly. I quickly found the BMI baby ticket desk and smiled sweetly at the rep. "Changing your flight? Certainly sir, let me just check. Right there's a flight to Birmingham at 16.55" A quick check in my head, and I estimated that I'd land at about 6 o'clock. Perfect. Changing the flight cost me £80, but somehow my credit card lept out of my wallet and over the desk.
Now my next worry was, what if I get to the Skydome, and it's sold out? All this would of been for nothing! So it was on to the Internet to get the number for the booking line. There it was. Done. My ticket would be waiting for me.
Everything was going to plan, could it work, would everything fall into place? I spent the next couple of hours worrying about mechanical failure, weather problems, and anything else that could scupper my chances. Then, my flight was called, early! We all boarded, early! no one was left behind, no one got lost in the bar, everything looked rosy. Captain announces over the tannoy in a slightly surprised voice that everyone is on board, and that we will be leaving EARLY! and that due to a strong tail wind, we will be arriving even earlier!!
I didn't relax until I heard the undercarriage come up and saw the rugged Ulster coastline disappearing behind us. So at 5.40 we landed at Birmingham, and by 6 I was headed down the A45 towards Coventry. Nothing was going to stop me now.
At 7pm I pulled up in the carpark and walked the short distance to the skydome. I spotted Badger, whose first words to me were "You're supposed to be in Ireland!" With that I quickly collected my tickets and stood in my usual spot, savoring the atmosphere.
The game itself was a fairly usual Blaze affair, with Coventry quickly securing an unsurmountable lead. As the clock ticked down the minutes the atmosphere inside the arena was incredible. The title was insight, the cup was in the building!
The final hooter sounded and the arena erupted into euphoria, we'd done it and I WAS THERE! To see how much the win meant to the players and fans was a moment I'll never forget. In fact the only occasion that I have to compare it with is the 1987 FA cup final.
This has been my first full season following the Coventry Blaze. I've been to Cardiff and Sheffield and followed the team through the good and bad matches. Ice hockey has been a real revelation for me, OK so I'm still learning all the technicalities, but for me it's pure entertainment. I now relish the thought of Sunday evenings,and what my team, the Coventry Blaze can do.
So now that I consider myself a true Hockey fan, I popped down to the hockey locker today to pick up a copy of Ignite, the Blaze magazine. The assistant manager of the Blaze, Luc Chabot was in there looking very hung over. I don't blame him mind, I bet there were a few sore heads this morning.
Anyway carrying my copies of Ignite, I started walking back to the car, when I was stopped by a local BBC news crew, who asked if I wouldn't mind answering a few questions. Not being in a rush I agreed. Their first question was whether I'd heard of the Coventry Blaze. We all had a laugh as I showed them what I was carrying. They went on to ask whether the team deserved a civic reception, and what I thought about it.
So all in all, it's not been a bad few days.
Anyway next day there we all are on the unit in Sligo, with what looks like a reasonably big list ahead of us. However disaster strikes when the kit decides it's not going to play ball.
Break downs are a right pain in the neck, with everyone getting stressed about cancelling patients and things, and often the biggest problem can be no one wanting to make a decision. But I have to say that to everyone who was involved credit, a decision was made promptly and unfortunately the list was cancelled.
However this presented a very tempting opportunity. Coventry blaze were playing the Edinburgh capitals in a match that would decide the league title if Coventry were to win it. So I faced a decision. Do I race as quickly as possible to Belfast airport to try and change to an earlier flight with the hope of getting to Coventry in time for the game. The chances of making it were slim. With no idea if there even were earlier flights, and no guarantee of being able to get on an earlier flight.
I decided to give it a go, after all what did I have to loose? I hadn't planned on going to the game so the way I saw it was that getting to the skydome would of been a bonus. So off I set from Sligo hospital, some 400miles away from the Skydome. The journey was going fairly well, with those narrow Irish roads being relatively quiet. With no radio in the hire car I kept myself awake by humming some of the tunes I'd hopefully be hearing later in the evening. This quickly turned into random chants of 'PEASY PEASY' every time I overtook the assorted tractors on the roads. I soon found myself crossing the border into Northern Ireland, and with that came better roads and the chance to speed up a bit. With each passing mile, my optimism increased, I was sure I was going to make it. But I still had to change my flight.
So some three hours after leaving Sligo I pulled up at the hire car return at Belfast, oblivious the the fact that I was humming Chelsea dagger perhaps a little too loudly. I quickly found the BMI baby ticket desk and smiled sweetly at the rep. "Changing your flight? Certainly sir, let me just check. Right there's a flight to Birmingham at 16.55" A quick check in my head, and I estimated that I'd land at about 6 o'clock. Perfect. Changing the flight cost me £80, but somehow my credit card lept out of my wallet and over the desk.
Now my next worry was, what if I get to the Skydome, and it's sold out? All this would of been for nothing! So it was on to the Internet to get the number for the booking line. There it was. Done. My ticket would be waiting for me.
Everything was going to plan, could it work, would everything fall into place? I spent the next couple of hours worrying about mechanical failure, weather problems, and anything else that could scupper my chances. Then, my flight was called, early! We all boarded, early! no one was left behind, no one got lost in the bar, everything looked rosy. Captain announces over the tannoy in a slightly surprised voice that everyone is on board, and that we will be leaving EARLY! and that due to a strong tail wind, we will be arriving even earlier!!
I didn't relax until I heard the undercarriage come up and saw the rugged Ulster coastline disappearing behind us. So at 5.40 we landed at Birmingham, and by 6 I was headed down the A45 towards Coventry. Nothing was going to stop me now.
At 7pm I pulled up in the carpark and walked the short distance to the skydome. I spotted Badger, whose first words to me were "You're supposed to be in Ireland!" With that I quickly collected my tickets and stood in my usual spot, savoring the atmosphere.
The game itself was a fairly usual Blaze affair, with Coventry quickly securing an unsurmountable lead. As the clock ticked down the minutes the atmosphere inside the arena was incredible. The title was insight, the cup was in the building!
The final hooter sounded and the arena erupted into euphoria, we'd done it and I WAS THERE! To see how much the win meant to the players and fans was a moment I'll never forget. In fact the only occasion that I have to compare it with is the 1987 FA cup final.
This has been my first full season following the Coventry Blaze. I've been to Cardiff and Sheffield and followed the team through the good and bad matches. Ice hockey has been a real revelation for me, OK so I'm still learning all the technicalities, but for me it's pure entertainment. I now relish the thought of Sunday evenings,and what my team, the Coventry Blaze can do.
So now that I consider myself a true Hockey fan, I popped down to the hockey locker today to pick up a copy of Ignite, the Blaze magazine. The assistant manager of the Blaze, Luc Chabot was in there looking very hung over. I don't blame him mind, I bet there were a few sore heads this morning.
Anyway carrying my copies of Ignite, I started walking back to the car, when I was stopped by a local BBC news crew, who asked if I wouldn't mind answering a few questions. Not being in a rush I agreed. Their first question was whether I'd heard of the Coventry Blaze. We all had a laugh as I showed them what I was carrying. They went on to ask whether the team deserved a civic reception, and what I thought about it.
So all in all, it's not been a bad few days.
Saturday, 17 March 2007
My best video
The story behind the video:
I'd not long had my new digital camera, a rather nice Pentax Optio 550. With rembrence day approaching I was asked to take a few pictures that might be useful for a future PR campaign. It was only once i'd got home and looked at the pictures that afternoon that I thought, these are pretty good. So, I put on a random CD, which just happened to be Belinda Carlisle and settled down to a couple of games of solitaire or what ever. It just so happened that I decided to take another flick through the photos at the point that the last track came on. The effect was immediate. I didn't just have a few good photos, I had somthing that had real warmth, real feeling.
The video was made in Microsoft movie maker, as I didn't have anything else at the time and took the best part of the afternoon and evening to make. The eagle-eyed will notice that there's a variation on how long each picture is on for. It's sync'ed with the music!
The last picture of the group took a while to create. That image is actually two pictures spliced together. The first one i took had people walking down the right hand side, and the second had people on the left. So I took the good half of each. Thankfully no-one moved too much.
Dennis
I just thought i'd put a few words on here about my good friend and colleague, Dennis, who's recently had a major operation and is quiet seriously ill. Den is Divisional superintendent of City of Coventry division and is someone i've had the honor of knowing and working with for many years now, ever since i've been in St. John for that matter. Being an ex RAF mechanic, Den always had a vast array of anecdotes about his time in the force, and would readily relay these to anyone who was within earshot. I can remember one duty that I was on with him, think it was the Town and Country festival, he was over the moon when a Wing commander from the RAF gave Den his pen.
There were many occasions when I crewed the ambulance with Dennis, but there will always be one occasion that sticks out. It was the day of the Caribbean festival in Coventry's War Memorial park. I was crewing with Dennis when we got a call asking if we could help out the Ambulance service that evening. We agreed and at the end of the duty we duly set off for an evening shift transporting the usual bog standard cases into hospital. It got to around 11pm and we'd just finished a job and phoned in for the next. The controller gave us details of an immediate job, which was very unusual as we only normally did urgents. So off we set on this immediate job. We hadn't gone half a mile and the phone rang again. it was control saying "Cancel your immediate for a 999 case" Now this was very unusual, in fact it was my first 999 ever. So off we set, racing round Coventry answering 999's for the rest of the evening. Our final job was passed as a collapse, however when we turned up our casualty was in quite a bad way. It was bad enough that we took one look and both said para's. I went back to the ambulance to phone control, who of course had nothing to send us. I went back into the house, and sure enough the casualty had gone into respiratory arrest. The situation was bleak, with no sign of help, we decided to transport. Just as we were loading our casualty, an ambulance service ambo turned up. The paramedic who jumped out was well known to us, so we said with a sigh of relief "Thanks for bailing us out" to which he replied "Nope, YOU'VE bailed us out, we've got no oxygen".
The Para jumped into the back of our ambulance, and we set off for hospital, with me bagging the patient en route. The casualty made a recovery, and self discharged later.
It was that shared experience that brought us closer together, and since then we've had a lot of respect for each other.
So in short, Get well soon Dennis. We're all thinking of you.
There were many occasions when I crewed the ambulance with Dennis, but there will always be one occasion that sticks out. It was the day of the Caribbean festival in Coventry's War Memorial park. I was crewing with Dennis when we got a call asking if we could help out the Ambulance service that evening. We agreed and at the end of the duty we duly set off for an evening shift transporting the usual bog standard cases into hospital. It got to around 11pm and we'd just finished a job and phoned in for the next. The controller gave us details of an immediate job, which was very unusual as we only normally did urgents. So off we set on this immediate job. We hadn't gone half a mile and the phone rang again. it was control saying "Cancel your immediate for a 999 case" Now this was very unusual, in fact it was my first 999 ever. So off we set, racing round Coventry answering 999's for the rest of the evening. Our final job was passed as a collapse, however when we turned up our casualty was in quite a bad way. It was bad enough that we took one look and both said para's. I went back to the ambulance to phone control, who of course had nothing to send us. I went back into the house, and sure enough the casualty had gone into respiratory arrest. The situation was bleak, with no sign of help, we decided to transport. Just as we were loading our casualty, an ambulance service ambo turned up. The paramedic who jumped out was well known to us, so we said with a sigh of relief "Thanks for bailing us out" to which he replied "Nope, YOU'VE bailed us out, we've got no oxygen".
The Para jumped into the back of our ambulance, and we set off for hospital, with me bagging the patient en route. The casualty made a recovery, and self discharged later.
It was that shared experience that brought us closer together, and since then we've had a lot of respect for each other.
So in short, Get well soon Dennis. We're all thinking of you.
Tuesday, 6 March 2007
Just not good enough - RANT WARNING
So no posts at all for February, so quick summary follows:
Wet, Snow, Dark, Ice Hockey, Work, Football.
Other than that just the usual mid winter blues. So Whats new? Well Windows Vista for one. It's OK, not a huge leap forwards but it's quite nice.
Work, again OK, not a lot to say about it really.
Now St. John Ambulance, my number 1 hobby. Where do I start? Well the way my shifts have been falling recently I've missed a few SJA courses, not a huge deal, I can catch up. Now I had to do my ILS re-qualification with work in February, so I thought great, do it during work time, and get it APL'd. They're bound to accept ILS as it's a resus council accredited course.
WRONG. Not only have they* not accepted my certificate, but they've gone as far as to accuse me of forging it! This is unbelievable. How dare they make such an accusation without talking to me first. If what they are alleging were to be true then two things should happen, 1, I lose my job and 2, I get thrown out of SJA.
It's really disgusting that they can make such rubbish up, I have never been accused of anything like this before. Various senior officers have suggested that I take this further and formal, but to be honest I really don't want to waste my breath. They're not worth it.
Anyway, thats it for the moment, i'm off to repair the keyboard after bashing it so much, so TTFN
*Traing services
Wet, Snow, Dark, Ice Hockey, Work, Football.
Other than that just the usual mid winter blues. So Whats new? Well Windows Vista for one. It's OK, not a huge leap forwards but it's quite nice.
Work, again OK, not a lot to say about it really.
Now St. John Ambulance, my number 1 hobby. Where do I start? Well the way my shifts have been falling recently I've missed a few SJA courses, not a huge deal, I can catch up. Now I had to do my ILS re-qualification with work in February, so I thought great, do it during work time, and get it APL'd. They're bound to accept ILS as it's a resus council accredited course.
WRONG. Not only have they* not accepted my certificate, but they've gone as far as to accuse me of forging it! This is unbelievable. How dare they make such an accusation without talking to me first. If what they are alleging were to be true then two things should happen, 1, I lose my job and 2, I get thrown out of SJA.
It's really disgusting that they can make such rubbish up, I have never been accused of anything like this before. Various senior officers have suggested that I take this further and formal, but to be honest I really don't want to waste my breath. They're not worth it.
Anyway, thats it for the moment, i'm off to repair the keyboard after bashing it so much, so TTFN
*Traing services
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