Where the Queen holds her garden parties...bit brown this year. 

Cool shot of the London Eye, or at least I thought so. 

Rob, doing his photo thing while Nicole checks out the square 

Big Ben 

This picture is almost cartoonish to me. I can't decide if it's something about the bright blue sky with puffy white clouds, or the traffic in motion, or what.

Almost Famous!!

Weird coincidences sometimes...there is now a picture of me online on Rob's professional photography web site. I'm not going to post the URL here since it's an awful picture where I'm pulling a face. Ok, it's funny, but not definitely not flattering. It's in a series of pics taken at the house party we went to in the Cotswolds. And strangely enough, I arrived home today and found a note from my neighbor stating he had a parcel for me. It was from Jinny, who had sent over the bikini I accidentally left behind in Vermont, as well as a surprise...several summers ago, I was an extra on the set of a movie being filmed at Green Mountain College in Poultney, the next town over from the lake in Vermont. Well, my surprise was a DVD of that movie, "Ordinary Sinners" and I am almost famous! Thanks Jinny! It's been amazing watching all the familiar scenery in the film, including the fabulous swimming hole at the old marble quarry in Dorset. Jinny's note included the statement that I only got one guess as to what was in the wrapping paper-- well, I was nowhere near right, Jinny, you definitely pulled one over on the girl who likes to surprise everyone else!

In other news, I've sent off two applications today, two more to go this week. And I have a blister on the ball of my foot...totally random, I know, I have no idea how I did that.

The Queen's Dresses

While I have seen the changing of the guards more times than I care to remember outside of Buckingham Palace while my parents were living here, I had never been inside the Palace. But yesterday, Nicole and I toured the State Apartments, because Nicole had seen online that there was a limited time exhibit of the Queen's Dresses. She couldn't get any tickets online, but we took a chance and went anyway, and managed to get ourselves tickets for an hour later. The State Apartments were very lavish, and we learned a lot about them through our free audio tour. One thing I hadn't realized was that Her Majesty is actually Queen of I think it's 11 different countries! It was all very interesting. And the display of her dresses was fascinating as well, 80 different dresses some from as far back as the 1940s. There was one that Nicole and I decided was a very 70s, child of Aquarius dress, because of its design and colors, and sure enough the placard stated she'd worn it in 1978. There was a lot of bling, in the form of diamante, sequins, pearls, and beads. Quite often her coutourier, or dress-maker/designer, tried to incorporate something of the countries she was visiting into her dresses. Thus she had California poppies all over the top of a dress for a visit to California, an Asian-influenced style for a visit to Thailand, etc. Very thoughtful, eh? We had a nice long walk through the south gardens on our way out of the castle, much of which was very brown from the drought...I guess the Queen is no exception for the hose pipe ban.

We then met up with Rob, who'd been off taking engagement photos of a couple in Richmond, and wandered around Westminster doing the touristy thing for a bit. He's one of those people who just seems to know something about everything...I brought up the conversation with my dad, because Nicole wanted to know what my parents thought of me looking for a new job in England, and the whole power thing came up again. Apparently, England is in a similar position, having ignored their own power needs for some time, and are now on the verge of having I think he said 30 reactors built in France, to then be used to supply power in the UK. Usually you flippantly remark about it being a small world in terms of knowing the same people, but in this case, maybe it's a small world with similar problems, at least for so-called first world countries.

Nuclear Power

Had a nice conversation with my dad yesterday, now that they're back from the family reunion in Michigan. Sounds like everyone had a good time, and the assisted living building my grandfather has just moved into sounds like a really good place for him. Good care, nice new facility, more social opportunities.

My dad told me they're headed into a heat wave this week, with temps predicted to be in the high 90s to low 100s. And I quipped that they should come live in a country again where you have no AC at work and none at home. However, I went on to say that a lot of the British look down on Americans in a way for our level of energy consumption and pollution that we create. And my dad said that evidently, nuclear power has come back to the forefront of the discussion for energy sources. Production of energy and the building of power grids has been largely neglected for too long now, and as a result all the brownouts and blackouts are getting worse, and it's nearing a serious problem. My dad thinks pretty soon there's going to be a big scramble on the power front, as the demands for energy increase, and the power companies try to make up for not doing anything the past decade or two to expand. Given that there's never been a nuclear power failure (some near misses for sure, like Three Mile Island), seems like more people are willing to revisit the nuclear power issue at this point. I think I need to do some reading up, cuz this is pretty interesting, but I don't know much about the nuclear power debate, or alternative options.

I'm off to meet Tufts Nicole in central London for a touristy type day, though I'm pretty tired-- between the massive lorries and street-sweeping trucks that race down Harrow Rd at night, making all the houses shake not to mention the awful noise, as well as the group of people screaming French at each other under my window for going on an hour in the wee hours of this morning, I didn't get the sleep I was hoping for (even though I thought I'd sleep like the dead after a night of dancing!). Ah well. More later.

"It's the freakin' weekend, Baby, I'm about to have me some fun"

Amazingly enough, I've been out for one thing or another every night this week. I'm exhausted and could probably do with a night at home, but have had an invitation and feel compelled to go out again tonight! It's Friday after all, and I'm actually in London for the weekend, not on my way somewhere else. I can always recuperate tomorrow morning, right? Have a nice long lie-in, go for a run, have a shower, and relax before getting ready to do the Saturday night thang!! Umm, and somewhere in there fill out a few job applications due by Monday. Is this a summer phenomenon? There's just so much to do all the time, both on the weeknights, and I've had or made all these opportunities for holidays and weekend trips. Maybe it's a I have no air conditioning and no worthwhile TV, so I'd rather be out, thing. Whatever, I'm having a ball! And now I'm going to take my overly tired, bouncing off the walls self, and see if I can find some work to do. Love to all, Allison.

A few members of the group heading to the races! I think there were a good 20-25 of us in all. 

The track... 

I never did figure out the entire betting board, but the column on the left told you how many bets had been placed on each dog to win, and on the far right, how many bets on each dog to place (first or second). 

Come on Tink, come on number 4, move your bloomin' arse!! 

Dog Racing

In spite of the fact that I did not win a single bet I placed-- seriously, how can you lose on Tinky Terror-- I had a great time! I met a lot of new people, who were all extremely nice and a lot of fun. Plus I may have made some useful connections with regard to my job search. It was a really interesting experience. People turned up in suits and dresses, and there were private boxes and champagne for the posh element-- those people who were dog owners or connected to dog owners I guess. And then there were the rest of us, who bought round after round of Smirnoff Ice or shandies or beer, and crowded round the rails screaming out names and numbers as the dogs raced by. There were a lot of obscenities flying around, though I don't think any turned up on the video, they're kind of lost in the roar.

Greyhound

No, I don't mean I'm taking a bus! I actually mean greyhound, as in the dog. For a truly East End experience, or so I'm told, I'm joining flatmate Nicole and others for a night at the Walthamstow race track!(By the way, my stories at work cause a lot of confusion so from here on out, I'll identify who I'm talking about as flatmate Nicole or Tufts Nicole in case it's not clear on this blog either.) I'm playing a bit of hooky today, having left work an hour early because I literally had nothing to do all day. I was so excited for one patient on Birch ward this afternoon, got up there and was told by the SHO that because she has a UTI, there's no point in any OT intervention yet, I'll have to wait. I can't even begin to explain what an extended period of lack of productivity and opportunity to make a difference does to you. Deflating doesn't even begin to cover it. So anywho, I'm home to have a cold shower, maybe a nap, and head off for the dog races! Let you know all about it later tonight or tomorrow!

COTA vs OTA

Caffeine is a good thing! Diet Coke every morning, with aspartame as a carcinogenic, maybe not so much. I am beat this morning. Serves me right for a late night, I suppose.

I am boggling this AM over occupational therapy assistants. They don't get any training over here! Prior to getting the job I mean, they do get training on the job. But they don't have to have a degree, they don't have to be certified, they don't even have to be registered. Annette was telling me she saw an advert in the paper, and just applied for the job. Hell, we spent lord knows how many classes just trying to come up with a good definition for OT during our Tufts program, how on earth are people reading the job section in the paper going to know what occupational therapy is all about?! OT assistants in the US must complete a two-year program, and take the certification exam which gives them that all important C (COTA), before they can get a license to practice. At our dept meeting last Wednesday, Barbara was telling all the OTAs that since we're slow at the moment, they should use the extra time to do treatments with patients, practice transfers, etc. Am I just being ridiculous to think that treatment should be left to the qualified OTs over here?!!

Wales

Hee hee, I have a flip flop tan, which I don't believe I've had since I was a lifeguard. Combo of all my holidays from Italy onward and sitting outside fairly often for lunch I guess. The lines will probably be very distinct by the time I get back from Turkey!

So I am in the middle of planning a trip to the Gower, near Swansea in Wales. I believe I'll probably go the weekend of August 19th. I got the recommendation from Rob and Nicole, well, Rob really I guess since he went to uni at Swansea. Though it's not particularly cost efficient, I had mentioned to them I was thinking of taking a trip on my own for one of the 2 free weekends I have in August. I thought about Cornwall but it's apparently a 5-hour trip, and between petrol and B&B and spending money, I figured that was too expensive. The Gower is closer, and I'm quite excited about going to Wales actually, since I've only ever been to Cardiff. I have heard it is beautiful countryside. I've looked up rental cars on the easyjet site, and B&B prices too, and was pleasantly surprised- it'll be at least double what I normally spend on a weekend going out, but manageable. Besides, it's payday today, and I'm feeling rather flush with cash since I didn't spend much a'tall during July whilst I was on vacation with the fam. Regardless, I'm thrilled with the idea of my own Welsh adventure, especially since it involves driving!! I'm already putting together an Ipod driving playlist ;)

Right, I'm off for my monthly all-afternoon Basic Grade meeting. Ciao for now...

Hype Machine

It's official, I will be in Sarajevo for two days, and then on the Turkish coast for a week at the end of August. I'll actually be in Turkey over the Labor Day weekend, which is good to keep my mind off not being at the lake. Maja booked the all-inclusive Turkey piece of the trip last week, and I booked my flight to Sarajevo today for a pretty decent price. And I handed in my holiday request at work- I'm not worried about it since none of my requests so far have been denied.

I've got a new cool music internet site I've been checking out lately- a new friend I met at the party on Saturday told me I should have a look at the hype machine (you can google it). Officially the party line is that this site keeps track of new songs posted on the best blogs about music, MP3 blogs. You can listen to all the songs listed for the day with your choice of media player. But in general, you can look up just about any artist or any song. It's a pretty awesome web site, take a look next time you're web surfing!

Fritos Fight, as promised

Maybe you had to be there? Just a small taste of silliness at the lake. You just never know what's going to happen!

A little rusty...

I've started writing again, for the first time in, well, years I think. Since my trip white-water rafting the Grand Canyon in, what, 2002. (Can you guess I don't have any patients again this morning?) I've got an idea for possibly the start of a book, which is something both my mom and I have thought about doing over the years...if I have time this weekend (my first one at home since the middle of May), I may see if I can get it started. Probably won't go anywhere, but it never hurts to try, eh?

Anyway, before I think too much about it and am too embarrassed to post, here's a work in progress, inspired by the weekend (any such thing as copyright for a blog?!):

Sheep in the valley
Tangle of flowers in my hand
Cool water on my toes
My eyes drinking in the land

I tilt my head to the sun
Wait for relief from the breeze
Listen to the silence between
The humming of the bees

I try to keep my mind empty
Lately it hasn't left me alone
I try to savor just the moment
The here and now, it's all I own

Run London

So Brokeback Britain was a good comedy show, they zinged everything from council tax to customer service to trying to get a permit for parking a car to the dating scene. I've decided I can't actually share some more snippets- or rather, won't share- because it just won't do it any justice on this blog, you had to be there. Oh, and they also went after all the British men who take their shirts off (and sometimes a lot more, you might see them in just skivvies in the park) for the slightest patch of sun...it still boggles my mind because you don't see that in the US, or apparently in Australia, unless you're at a pool or a beach town. But these guys are walkin' around London, burnt bright red with beer bellies hangin' out.

I've gone and done it now...housemate Nicole told me she and Dave had signed up for a 10K race in London in October. It's called Run London, it's for charity, and I've signed up now as well. As soon as it cools down a bit more, it's time to lace up my runnin' shoes again. It'll be a good indicator for me too-- I was offered the idea of running a half marathon awhile ago and turned it down cold, mainly because of my hips. But they haven't been bothering me for some time, and I think I've maybe been selling myself short. I'm a sporty person, and a half marathon might just be a great challenge. I have plenty of time to train, both for endurance and strength. So I'll do the 10K first, and go from there. Rather exciting!

And the job search is on!

I have a South African OT I'm friendly with looking for adverts for me in the journals she gets. I personally have now bookmarked the NHS web site, and am hoping to catch up with Jo this week to ask what resources she used when she was looking a few months ago. Rob's parents are advocating for Cheltenham. I guess it will just really depend on what's out there. I'm assuming that with the current budget cut/turnaround culture there won't be much, but maybe as September and October come around I'll find something. And I'll be looking for Senior 2 positions which should help, since I believe the Basic Grade positions are the ones that are so hard to get currently, with all the new graduates out there.

Cotswolds

What a weekend! How much can you cram in? Well, let's see. I took the train to Guildford on Friday to meet up with Nicole and Rob, who had dinner waiting...awww. We then drove to Rob's parents' house in Shipton in the Cotswolds. Ship, for sheep. It's a beautiful little village. Rob's parents were waiting for us, and they are really, really lovely. We sat up talking for a long time in their gorgeous back yard, sorry, garden, at first with wine and beer. But then we switched to the homemade sloe gin. Gin, sloe berries, and sugar. Boy does that stuff go down easy! Too easy. It's very alcoholic and very tasty and I had way too much, which I paid for the next morning. But well worth it. Mr. Brown works for the British version of the NSA (I can't remember the initials for the British one), and took off early the next morning for Washington DC to spend two weeks working with his counterparts. But Mrs. Brown and Smedley the cat kept us company over the weekend. On Saturday, after a nice lie-in, we hit the road for a couple of Cotswold hot spots. We first went to Bourton-on-the-Water, where among other things we witnessed a rubber ducky race on the river. We drove through Stow-on-Wold (wold meaning hill), and then stopped at a beautiful little village called Bibury just as a gigantic thunderstorm hit. I have great pictures of Arlington Road, and was really appreciating the town for its lack of tourists, when the thunder started and the skies opened up, and we got drenched. So we headed for a nearby pub Rob knew of, but they had lost power and so were not serving food. We waited out the worst of the storm with pints of Stowford Press, the best cider I've tasted yet, and then raced back to Rob's house to get dressed for the evening. Rob loves to open up on country roads that are only big enough for one car, and let me tell you, from the passenger seat, it's even more fun when you've had a pint of cider!! I was loving it! Maybe even better than a rollercoaster. Saturday night we went to a house party/30th bday- a brother of a good friend of Rob's. I met tons of people and had a pretty British experience- although I must say it reminded me a lot of an American BBQ or backyard summer party as well. I played croquet (I'm not bad a'tall) and badminton and got very competitive (US beat UK!), games in the pool too. We had kebabs on the grill (the bab prounced as if you're saying the first half of the word babble, NOT pronounced as bob) and strawberries and cream, I drank Pimms till I was delirious and having a bit of difficulty with the croquet mallet, and heard British slang like "innit" as in, "It's really grand the weather cleared up for the party, innit?" and skinted, and more. Everyone was really warm and friendly and I had an awesome time. I mean, it was ace! Hmmm, yeah, I could live here :) Maybe 6 months really is the magic number.

Today we did some sightseeing around a town called Winchcombe. We had cream tea, checked out the gargoyles and grotesques at the cathedral and wandered around a bit. I learned about the Jurassic limestone escarpment the Cotswolds are built on from Rob. We then had a BBQ in the backyard of Eldersfield (Rob's parents' house) where I had another jug of Pimms (beginning to see a pattern here), and I think I may have accidentally adopted a little kitten who may show up here in another week or two- oops. Another story there which I'll relate if she shows up. For now, I'm exhausted from still being jet-lagged and from all that partying and touring...thankfully we did get a break from the heat. Couple of pics for you...

Arlington Road, Bibury, but I'm in the way. There's a better pic coming up. Check out those thunderous skies though! 

One of the grotesques at Winchcombe Cathedral. I learned in Oxford that it's only a gargoyle if it serves as a rainspout. Man, I miss Oxford. 

The rubber ducky race in Bourton-on-the-Water 

Arlington Road 

Sheep and valley near Sudeley Castle 

Part of the BBQ spread in front of Nicole 

Garden (backyard) at Eldersfield 

The front of Eldersfield, in the village of Shipton. 

Brokeback Britain

Doh! I forgot my wallet at home. Of all the days, it had to be the one where I'm taking off for the weekend. Shouldn't cause me too much trouble though, as I should be able to dash home at lunch, or leave slightly early without anyone being bothered about it.

Nicole and I are going to see a comedy show on Monday, "Brokeback Britain." It's two men, one American, one Australian, who have been living in the UK for 6 years, and have a lot to say about living here as foreigners. The publicity about the show says that the British complain so much about their own country that these two comedians are just trying to fit in ;) Apparently most of the show is taking the mick, but they will talk about the things they like as well. There's a quote from the Australian talking about how much he loves the binge-drinking and casual sex culture..."It's relatively easy to pull here. Particularly if quality isn't an issue." I'm sure I'll have more snippets for you after Monday night-- should be good!!

Paging Dr. Johnson

Ever since I became a certified, registered OT (US) or alternately, ever since I qualified (UK), my family has decided I am expert in all areas of occupational therapy, physical therapy, and medicine. Any physical problem large or small in my immediate or expanded family, and everyone turns to me for answers.

On occasion, when treating a patient who is in a great deal of pain, I have involuntarily demonstrated empathic tendencies (if you believe in that sort of thing). I flush bright red, sweat, become light-headed, nauseous, and take on their pain. Last time this happened at the hospital I was working at in NJ, I was unable to manage it, and had to get someone to take me home since I was useless as far as working with any more patients that day. Generally speaking, ever since I became aware of this phenomenon, I've been able to build up a barrier. But especially when I'm caught by surprise, this reaction can get away from me.

These two things are related, as I'm about to describe. We were checking out Tunnels Beach, where we'd heard the best snorkeling had been all week. Tressa and my dad headed out with their gear through the shallow underwater coral features, while my mom and I sat on the beach slathering on sunblock. But I watched their progress from where I sat, and I remember laughing when I saw my dad sort of flop down and start cruising around in shallow waters, rather than wade out to where it was deeper like Tressa was doing. All of a sudden he stopped, stood up, and walked out to where Tressa was still standing. For some reason, this caught my attention. They turned toward each other, presumably talking, and then my dad turned and headed back to the beach. And I said to my mom, "Dad's coming back, I think something's wrong." And she said it was probably just a problem with the equipment. A minute later, Tress started to follow him back. So I said again, "No, I think something's wrong." My mom still didn't believe me, but a few minutes later my dad was slowly trudging through the sand up to our towels, clutching his two hands together and around his snorkel. He announced he had sliced his hand open on some coral, as I watched blood run down his arm. My mom immediately began looking around for a bottle of water to flush out the wound, as my dad turned toward me, peeled back the skin flap, and asked what did Dr. Johnson think. The cut was in the V between thumb and forefinger and it was deep. Thankfully no nerves or tendons were severed, but the cut had gone right down to one of his tendons, which was glistening white in the wound. Through the roaring in my head I heard myself say he needed to keep pressure on the wound and he needed stitches. I tried to control my own reaction to his injury, as I took the excuse to sit down, and look through our guidebooks for info on walk-in clinics or hospitals. There was none. In the end, I finally thought to call the Tourist Board on one of my parent's cell phones and get the info. And after they'd left to go get his hand sewn up, I had the bright idea of getting myself into the ocean to help contain my own visceral, or empathic if you like, reaction. Once I had had stumbled out past the shallow water, it occurred to me that passing out in the ocean was quite possibly worse than passing out on the sand, but luckily this time, with the cool water and deep breathing I was able to shed the pain and shock that wasn't mine. Ah, the joys of Johnson vacations ;)

Anyway, here are a couple more pictures for your enjoyment.

This was snapped right after this monk seal barked at me for getting too close to his napping spot on Ke'e Beach. Mossy Mouth. 

Getting ready to head up from a morning of snorkeling at Queen's Bath, a large lava pool.

The Johnson women 

I'm not sure whether these steps were built because the red clay gets really slippery when wet, or because you tend to slide on loose clay when it's dry. Probably both. Canyon Trail, Waimea Cayon. 

On the Canyon Trail at the ridge of Waimea Canyon 

I love the scraggly tree in this one... 

Gorgeous view from a scenic overlook in Koke'e State Park, Waimea Canyon. 

A long summer afternoon

Whee...no patients on Birch ward either, since my one patient from yesterday was rather suddenly taken home by her son. I think he was pissed off because he said he wanted carers twice a day and he didn't care that his mother wants to stick with only once a day because he has power of attorney. So the social worker had to come and explain that actually power of attorney doesn't mean he can do that. So he apparently said something along the lines of well, fine, but then I'm taking her home right now.

So I rolled up my scrubs, put on my flip flops and have been sitting behind the desk writing discharge summaries. And thinking about the air conditioner wars my sister and I had in Hawaii. I turned it on, she turned it off, I turned it on, she turned it off or switched to fan only, and so on. I wanted it on at night, since I don't have the luxury of AC here, and she wanted it off, because ever since the Peace Corps she's had this distorted sense of hot and cold. She's been known to wear sweatshirts mid-summer. I think I should have been allowed to win those wars, since it was my only chance at sleeping in a cool room this summer, but what do I know?

My family has taken off driving to Michigan this morning for an extended family reunion. Unfortunately, my grandfather fell again last week, and has a bruised and stitched up face. Huh, I guess he and my dad can compare stitches (that story to come tonight with a few more pics). Luckily, he was just outside the doctor's office for an appt at the time, so he got help quickly, but ended up in the hospital for treatment. I'm sure it's not the way he wanted to appear for the reunion and my heart is with him.

Most of my pics from Hawaii are now on Flickr, I think, and I've been uploading videos to YouTube, but I won't bore you with more rope swing and jumping off cliff ones. There are also a couple videos that highly amuse me because they're just me and Tress standing at water's edge, or treading water in front of a waterfall since we hadn't been told it was a video as opposed to a still shot. Not really blogworthy though with their lack of action ;)

Uh-oh. Just heard there may be a train strike tomorrow, I need to go check this out so I can come up with a backup plan for tomorrow evening. I just hope the Cotswolds are cooler than London!

Beat the Heat

We have a grand total of 4 patients this morning, none of whom need OT. I'll be making my afternoon rounds to Birch ward, but they've been quiet this week too. One of our 4 patients this morning, bless, has been complaining of being cold and asking for blankets. Everyone kind of looked at her in disbelief when she first started saying she was cold.

So, Allison's beat the heat plan:
-Don't start running training the week of temps in the 90s, when you have no AC to come home to! A bit of a captain obvious thing there I guess.
-Drink lots of water.
-After informing your housemates, feel free to wander around in bra and underwear, or less.
-Cold showers as needed.
-Cold packs for the back of your neck.
-Have a fan directly on you at night and forget the pajamas! Also, I need to buy some cotton sheets, the jersey ones are killing me.
-And finally, buy some white polo tshirts which we're allowed to wear at work when it's over 80 degrees or so, instead of the stupid tunics!
-Leave London!!! Done- Headed out on Friday.

Whirly Bird

Today's pictures have a theme...a bird's eye view of Kauai. There are a lot of different types of lava around, some spout holes in old lava flow along the coast, striated cliffs, etc. Our helicopter pilot told us there were 39 volcanic craters on the island, Wai'ale'ale Crater being the biggest and most famous. It used to be a sacred place of worship for the Hawaiians, back when the crater was still whole and filled by a lake. These days, Wai'ale'ale gets the most rain of anywhere on the island and is apparently the wettest spot on earth, with tons of waterfalls temporarily created gushing down its steep walls. I think I've got a picture of it. A lot of the old island is covered in lush greenery. My dad's favorite question the whole trip was "But where does the red clay come from?" He was trying to reconcile it with the origins of the island.

Our chariot awaits...