Lazy Blogging (or How I start posts and forget to post them)

I wrote that Mr Valentino post when I was in hospital. I was in for a few more days after that post was originally written but I managed to escape and since then I've had two more interviews. Neither of them have been successful although I did get through the initial stage of a group interview it's just me personally on a one to one basis that lets me down, the second interview was with two interviewers (not as daunting as I imagined) but again did not get the position. 

It really must just be me because in each of those interviews an English person conducted it one was even from Bury the black pudding munching waster so employers are not xenophobic they appear to be far from it with almost every interaction whilst in hospital and in retail places being with an expat I must just be one of the unemployable  unlucky ones which is a bit of a fucker really seeing as I can;t wait to start earning. I know I need to "sell" myself better and show this eagerness outwardly during that most vital of moments the interview! 

Will I ever be "the best man for the job"? I seriously bleeding hope so and soon as previously moaned about this place is kinda on the expensive side. I really want to start enjoying things a little bit more and by that I mean getting out and exploring this place, that for now, I'm calling home. This does need employment as public transport is incredibly expensive (another moan I think) and vehicle ownership is a definite non starter without an income. Even fully employed real adults are running back to mum for some spends I really do hope that isn't me when I'm in my 50's quite an embarrassment (well for me it would be) and I'm only guessing my landlord is in his 50's he might be younger but the sun has ravaged his skin and from the stories he tells he's had a full, illegal, not always fun life.

But seriously I can't let repeated failure to get a job get me down it's all those employers loss not mine, well I haven't lost but gained valuable interview experience and I'm seeing all these as "practice" jobs until I find The One Job, the Job to rule them all.

Luckily my phone is still hanging on in there and I'm able to post and search for jobs from the comfort of my own tin roofed shack.

Keep up with the joys of my mounting failures to gain employment on twitter #JobHunt

Mr. Valentino (or How I stopped hating and learned to love thy neighbour)

Right so after that little outburst the other day I have had a few more "normal" encounters with staff, a laid back self proclaimed "physio-terrorist" who doesn't like airway clearance who took me on a not just a wander but all they way down stairs to the gym far better than treadmilling it for 15 mins I'll tell ya that.

Well time here on what has been cheerfully #CellBlockG54 isn't as gruelling as I initially feared it was going to be. Much of the staff are pleasant enough but quite a few have either no social skills or it's just a terrible bedside manner/patient interaction, no conversation, no interest like I said it may just be the way most wards work but some of them are nice enough and have a little chitchat which makes the day a little more bearable.

In other news I did FINALLY get that car much to my utterly indescribable sense of being done over good n proper. Let's just leave it that we wasted 200 quid to drive less than 6 miles away and have the car blow up on us, the guy didn't actually live at the house we picked the car up from and neglected to pick the phone up again. It's just been left where it died on the highway motorway.

JOB HUNT update, after what I thought was a well executed interview at a famous fried chicken establishment they failed to call to inform me of my success on getting the position. Taking the initiative I called them everyday only to be fobbed off by some lackey that the managers were still "processing applications" this so called manager had intimated to RahRah that there wasn't many applicants anyway four days after we were told we would hear about our success or failure we got not a phone call but an email a bit cheeky I thought, they must've have had a slew of applicants far more suitable for the positions on offer. I've also been rejected by the home of the Big Mac, yes that's right a former crew member has not been welcomed back to the fold McFamily my arse.

Almost forgot the title of this post is the guy who is in the room next door Mr. Valentino lots of old guys keep visiting him and there's lots of loud and sometime aggressive Italian arguments conversations, I do hope no one comes to try and "whack" this old gent as it'd be terribly traumatising if something like that were to happen. I think film has many a thing to answer for when it comes to my thought processes. Anyway he's ill and so am I so can't really hold it against him if people are winding him up in Italian (I'm just guessing there as my understanding of Italian leave much to be desired) why else would there be the raised voices?

Back on to frantic application filling in and signing up to employment agencies, still no word on where my driving licence is my mate who sent it has been incommunicado since he said he'd sent it bit of a worry as that was over two weeks ago and there were some iNeb disks in there. People with iNebs will be aware that these disks are needed to use the device I'm not entirely sure as to why Phillips decided this regulating of doses was a requirement of the device but it is so there ya go.

So still immobile, unemployed and not 100% in the health department but still winding up staff and enjoying it the best I can.

Thought I'd be escaping this place today or tomorrow but some kidney functions have been elevated or some other shit so they want to repeat that and then with living pretty far away (only on public transport I might add) they'd prefer to keep me in but they're gonna test my iv making skills later today  just in case.

So that's me signing off for a little while far more regular updates can be seen on twitter by searching for #CellBlockG54 I'm quite confident that I am the only person using that particular hashtag and it will never be trending. 

Is it just me?

WARNING THIS IS A RANTY TO FUCK POST

Right so I am on #CellBlockG54 ward G54 in Perth and I'm finding things a little difficult. I knew things would be different but I would expect to be able to speak to staff and then them understand me.

This, it appears is far too much to ask for from an English speaking country. They are either acting or I have no idea how these people became nurses (the majority of them NOT all of them) there are several things that have wound me up the past few days of being here and I'm not sure if it is them or just me.

Three incidents leap to mind right now and I shall recount them here and you can decide for yourself if it's them or me.

Incident One.

Set the Scene:- It's around 9pm and the night nurse has come in to get my evening meds, she asks
"Do you need creon?"
"No, I have them when I eat" My reply
"So you want some food?"
"No"
"So your having some creon now then?"
"No I only have creon when I have something to eat"
"Oh so you want some food now?"

Seriously it felt like this went on forever but seeing as I am out of that particular time loop it didn't but it wasn't the last bout of weirdness.

Incident Two.

Setting the Scene:- Again in the evening (it might be a night nurse thing now I think about it) again around evening drug time.

"So your due a Hyper Tonic Saline (HTS) now?" I had just started this treatment that afternoon and told the physio due to it making my throat irritated I would work up to three times a day. So I answered
"No, I've had it today"
"It's written up for three times a day" I then went on to explain what I had agreed with the physio that afternoon.
"So are you having this HTS now or a little later?" It's the creon debacle all over again in a different guise.
"No I'm not I just told you what I have agreed with Jamie" Jamie is the physio in question in case you were wondering.
"Well I'll have to get the doctors to change that"
"Fine but they'll only have to change it back in a few days when I am doing it three times a day" This sentence was met with an odd look that made me think staff aren't used to patients refusing treatment or questioning "What is Written".
"Just write down that I've refused treatment" I said this and she did look ever so surprised like it was a secret code only a few select individuals know about.
"Yes I suppose I will" She smiled and left me too it.

Incident Three:-

The Scene, as if you couldn't guess the theme by now was again late in the evening. This evening I was to resume PEG feeding, I have a button and in the afternoon explained what adaptor I needed to connect the giving set to my button. Apart from the "feed" not being feed but a few bottles of supplements thrown in a bag and set up didn't bother me much. Again I had to explain what I needed and she toddled off came back and informed me that there were none in the entire hospital not a one. So she asked......

"Do you do this at home?"
"Sometimes..."
"Well tomorrow can maybe you go home and get some of them?"
"erm...... no I'm not from here and whilst travelling I haven't been feeding"
"Why don't you carry these things with you?" As she said this I really did think she was joking as she knew I'd been travelling, we'd spoke about it the night before, but as I turned to her the look on her face was deadpan serious.
"Well whilst I've been travelling round South East Asia I haven't really been feeding as I cant carry the pump, the giving sets, the feed, along with all my other medication" Just as seriously as I was getting rather vexed at this type of thing happening more often. So she left me alone for a while then when putting up my i.v's for the night she asked.
"Do you drink? Like drink water?" Deadly fucking serious, I kid you not do I drink water? What the fuck kind of question is that followed by
"Do you eat?" Twenty minutes before she asked me that she'd brought me a banana what did she think I was going to do with that?
"Yeah I drink water" and just held up the as yet uneaten banana shook it and nodded my head toward it knowingly, she didn't say anything else and left the room.

and that my dear friends is just three of the things, like I said to begin with talking to some of the nursing staff is just plain difficult. Don't ask me if I want something if it's actually something you want. This was a pillow to prop my arm on whilst she changed the dressing on my PICC line I'm capable of keeping my arm straight whilst you put a new dressing on, You want my arm on a pillow so just ask that.
As the title of the post suggest's I'm not all together sure if it's just me or it is them. I'll keep an eye on it and mention any other battle of words later on.

Time to rest up, get better and join the workforce.

Peace V 

(I'd do two fingers but a V will just have to do)

Job Hunt, Hospital trips & Mobility

Firstly I must apologise for not appearing to be as committed as I made out in my last post, the course of oral antibiotics hasn't worked according to plan and that coupled with the furious dash to secure employment has kept one rather tired of late but I am pleased to report that after one interview I feel I might be gainfully employed by next week.

The job in question is with a well  known fried chicken eatery, which I'll admit isn't what I was hoping for but "needs must" as the saying goes. I didn't tell them that I do have a planned admission but I didn't want to seem cocky by presuming that I have the job in the interview. So that's the other big thing this week I will be admitted to hospital no CF only ward but to the chest ward.

Wasn't overly bothered about this until the CF nurse John said over the phone that I'd be having a PICC line, now I've always associated these being used when people are really quite poorly indeed, with terrible access and seeing as I have had a port for some good few years now my veins are back to being the envy of any heavy intravenous drug user. My port was removed back in December after it became infected (awful feeling I must say but only for a few hours after it had been used for some treatment) so a PICC line will be just another experience. I must admit I really enjoyed watching having my port out, apart from the pressing of my neck as they were actually pulling the catheter out other than that it was all hunky-dory and did I mention terribly interesting.

So as far as I can tell and from the brief tour John gave us the ward environment is similar to home, own room, bathroom, TV, fridge all necessary (apart from the TV) to minimise cross infection one of my pet hates/issues but that's another story if they have the Wi-Fi then that'll be a god send as using ones phone isn't the best of solutions for surfing this vast cyberspace that seems to all be contained in a device that fits in my pocket, amazing really but not the best.

In other news the car I "won" on that internet auction site and was ever so infuriated when the seller failed to contact me has amazingly  been in contact! I can collect my vehicle on Tuesday. A bit of a piss take and I did get all excited as I read the message waiting for the doc at clinic but I'm reserving excitement until I have the keys and I'm driving away laughing maniacally into the night, it'll probably be afternoon but that doesn't sound as dramatic now does it. Diving away laughing maniacally as the car is worth a pretty penny, well it will be once the few things that are not broken but not working well are fixed. I met a mechanic the other day so I do hope he'll do me a favour n quote cheap for the work but who needs power steering anyway? I am ever so excited to be mobile again, the public transport round here is good-ish but so fucking expensive and I suppose petrol isn't that cheap but still cheaper than home and a weird thing they just whack an extra 10-15 cents on the price just for Easter weekend? seems mad to me but they do it all the time apparently. Just another local/national thing I'll have to get used to.

So I'll sign off with yet another apology that's what I seem to do a heck of a lot and hope you are all doing well and if your not then I trust you are heading in the right direction.