West End

Yay!! I think the 5-pound West End ticket offers season is starting up again...there weren't really any over the summer. But tonight, we're going to see Canterbury Tales by the same theatre company who put on The Complete Works of Shakespeare in 90 Minutes. I had my 15 minutes of fame last time I saw this company perform the play I just mentioned. It was on a winter break during college, and I had come "home" to England where my parents were living at the time. My aunt, uncle, two cousins and their wives had also come over for the holidays, so my parents got tickets for all of us, having seen the show already themselves. They specifically asked for certain seats in certain rows, knowing that the cast would call some of us up on stage. I was one of the lucky few, and received some on-the-spot direction as Ophelia in front of a packed house. Good thing I did so much theatre in high school, or I think I might have frozen on stage. But it was seriously good fun!! So I'm expecting a very good show tonight. And hopefully, there will be lots more plays to see for a fiver over the winter.

pumpkins and steroid shots

Anybody out there dealing cortisone injections? Think my hips could use a couple! Little tip: if you work in rehab, and have tendinitis in your hips, the day after you run a decent-mileage race, you're pretty much useless as far as transfers and manual handling go. So you better have some understanding colleagues who are willing to pitch in, or your dept better have access to an electric standing frame. (Fortunately, my dept has both.) I checked the RunLondon web site today, and the South team won, by an average time of 56 minutes 7 seconds. (North average was 56 minutes 26 seconds.) Booooo-- I ran for North.

I walked home from work, and having decided to skip the gym (on Cecilia's advice, she runs marathons, and said a walk was plenty), stopped in at Tesco's. I have two patients who had to go cold turkey on smoking and drinking as a result of their strokes, one of whom I posted about recently because he was actually a full-fledged alcoholic (the one who freely admits he's got the attention span of a goldfish). As it turns out, he's very good at crosswords, Sudoku, and other word games, and this helps to keep his mind off the drink. Since we're running out of puzzles for him at work, I stopped to get him a cheap book of puzzles, and wouldn't you know it, Halloween is catching on over here. Tesco's had pumpkins for carving, and all kinds of decorations and costumes on display. From what I hear, a few (very few, but still more than none) trick-or-treaters even knocked on our door last year. This is very, very recent, and I wonder why it has so suddenly caught on over here?!

A small deviation from the routine

It's funny how we make assumptions, even little ones, on a daily basis. Like me this morning for instance. I never think I'm going to run into anyone I know on the Leytonstone high street, mainly due to the fact that in the seven months I've been living here, I've never randomly encountered a friend or colleague. So this morning, as I'm walking up the high street, lost in my thoughts, I pretty much screened out all the noise as usual. There was a very loud honk directly across the street from me, but I ignored it, since there are people honking all the time, it's just part of what you have to put up with, living on a busy road. The honk sounded across the road again, and this time I looked...as it turned out, it was my friend Andi, another OT who now works off site at an intermediate care facility. But she happened to be driving to the hospital today to get some bloodwork done, and saw me walking, and thought she'd give me a lift.

Anyway, a little factoid for you: This past summer was the warmest the UK has had in 234 years, which is the amount of time for which they have been keeping records of such things. So basically this summer had the hottest average temp in recorded UK weather history. And September was the warmest September that anyone can remember too-- I must say, it was really nice. October has been somewhat gray thus far, but still, fairly warm...

I did it, I did it, oh yeah, yeah, yeah

My hips are none too happy with me, but I did it! The RunLondon 10k in Hyde Park was this morning...apparently something like 30,000 people were there, and I believe it. Way too many people. To call it a madhouse would have been a bit of an understatement. But quite a rush to have a big crowd cheering! Good weather for it too. So now I need to figure out whether I actually want to run a half marathon, and how my hips continue to feel over this coming week will be a big factor.

I was going to treat myself tonight for my accomplishment by watching The Mummy Returns, but it's missing. Again. I brought the DVD over here and it disappeared, and the one roommate who was borrowing my DVDs said she didn't have it. So eventually I re-ordered it on sale, and my mom shipped it over to me. It was a set that also included The Mummy, and The Scorpion King. I just now went to get it out, and my new copy of it has also now disappeared. The other two DVDs are in there, but The Mummy Returns is gone. Very, very weird.

Time has started to fly by again, thanks to my new rotation

I am having the best professional week I've had since moving here. I will be learning about normal movement from some pretty skilled therapists on my stroke unit. I will be attending a 6-day Bobath Course, to learn some more about normal movement, and learn specialized intervention techniques for working on good alignment with stroke patients. I will be having one-on-one training sessions once a week with my Senior OT who is also the Rehab Stroke Team Leader, on anything my little heart desires...from seating to dyspraxia to cognitive assessment and interventions. I will have six patients just about every day, with whom I will have the chance to build a therapeutic rapport as I carry through on rehabilitation treatment plans I have helped to establish. I will be setting problem-based treatment goals, with client input. We have an electric standing frame for use with "heavy" stroke patients, who barely have sitting balance...one man's wife was almost in tears today, seeing him for the first time in a vertical position, rather than just laying in bed.

I do NOT have to attend department business meetings anymore. I WILL be presenting to my new stroke rehab team on kinesio-taping of the shoulder, since I took a course about this time last year.

And finally, anyone out there have any suggestions on interventions addressing attention? I have a patient who is an alcoholic, and as a result of his stroke, currently involuntarily sober, and he forgets that he cannot walk, he wants a drink so badly. As he joked to me (coping strategy!) on my first day, he has the attention "of a goldfish". We have no way of knowing if there were cognitive issues due to the alcoholism before the stroke, and generally speaking, he's good on perception, orientation...but there is no safety awareness, no insight, no judgement. I'll be working this over with the Senior OT, but as I need to start with attention on the perceptual/cognitive hierarchy, I would appreciate it if any of you OTs have suggestions on interventions addressing attention.

I am a happy, happy girl.

"There's so much that we share, that it's time we're aware"

I have met a guy, a new friend, whose parents, believe it or not, lived in Freehold, NJ for 10 years or so. I think he said something like 1993 - 2004. So he went to boarding school at Stonybrook here in the UK, which he tells me is where they taped Three Men and a Little Lady, for 6 months out of the year, and spent the other 6 months in Freehold. So he knows all about things like the Point Pleasant boardwalk as THE place to be on a hot summer night when you're in high school. And he did say he misses having a decent beach so nearby... what have I been telling y'all about the Jersey shore, hmm? It's not just me, I'm not crazy, sure it's not tropical, but there's just something about the Jersey shore. Anywho, my dad will kill me when he reads this post, for putting it in his head, but I just can't help myself...
It's a small world after all, it's a small world after all
It's a small world after all, it's a small, small world!

Apologies, I know I've lost most of my reading audience by now, guess I've just been too busy and I'm still struggling with the whole sitting in front of the computer thing-- I do have lots to write about, and I will, just not tonight. I'm exhausted, and am going to bed early. And probably not tomorrow night, because I'm in London in the afternoon for an AMPS update meeting at the National Hospital of Neurology (or quite simply, Queen's Square, to those in the know), and then will pick up my RunLondon 10K tshirt at the Niketown on Oxford St. in time to have dinner and attend at play at the final week of the Globe Theatre season-- A Comedy of Errors. In a note to self sort of spirit, I will be blogging about Halloween, fall in general, hospital fashion, my new rotation, and some of my new patients, by Thursday at the latest. But for a quickie-- I'm very excited about my new placement, and I think there is the potential to learn a lot. Night, night everyone, love to all.

Which "Scrubs" character are you?

http://scrubs.mopnt.com/fun/personality/

Apparently I'm JD. I suppose that's better than coming up as Elliot ;)

Security Terror levels

The British are feeling the pinch in relation to recent bombings and have raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved." Soon though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." Londoners have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies all but ran out.

Terrorists have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to a "Bloody Nuisance." The last time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was during the great fire of 1666.

Also, the French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide". The only two higher levels in France are "Surrender" and "Collaborate."

The raised level was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France's white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the country's military capability.

(LOL. Courtesy of my Aunt Grace)

It's finally here...

LAST DAY, LAST DAY!!

I'm already having fun, though I woke up completely knackered...flatmate Nicole wasn't going to use her bike today, so she offered it to me. What a difference to cycle to work! Less than half the time to walk.

I'm getting tired of bad movie nights

Lord, save me from housemates who belong to DVD by post plans, and insist that we watch cheesy awful teenage flicks, such as tonight's Oscar winner Bring It On: All or Nothing. Yup, I had no idea, but they did indeed make a sequel to the teen cult hit, Bring It On. I may have laughed once, but generally, it was pretty painful. So another public service announcement for y'all, this one goes in the "don't bother" column too.

Read 'em and weep

Oh man, I am way too full...we had our basic grade hour and a half lunch today at a cafe with seriously yummy food. Unfortunately, today is also the birthday of one of the physios that I work with, and I am just about to head out the door for some North African/Lebanese food. Aggh, not sure I'll be able to get anything else down. I'll have to stick with an appetizer for my meal or something. Several OT things to talk about after today, but that'll have to wait for another post.

Nicole just walked in as I was putting on a splash of makeup, and we've decided we're going to start a poker night. Well, cards night in general. The only deck we have right now is my deck of Wizard, so I have some new initiates for one of my favorite card games! And then as soon as we get a regular deck of cards, we'll alternate with poker, and suck more people in as we go. I know how to play Texas Hold 'Em, and Nicole knows how to play some other version, so it should be fun!!

Thoughts of the Day

I haven't been posting as much lately...part of that is due to the fact that it's very hard to get access to the one computer at the day hospital lately. And part of it is also due to me being sick and tired of sitting in front of the computer. I mean, one of my big reasons for hating the corporate world was being plonked in front of the computer for most of the day. Anywho, hope that hasn't made the blog less interesting-- maybe it's even for the better, without so many postings from me per day to wade through.

This week I've been back on the inpatient wards for the afternoons (last week I was stuck at the day hospital, working on my appraisal, which did not by any means take up all my afternoons, leaving me bored as usual). By the way--only 3 DAYS LEFT on this rotation-- and really not even that. Tomorrow is pay day, which means I go out for a nice lunch with the basic grades and we spend all afternoon together for our monthly meeting. And Thursday, Ann and Annette are taking me out for a nice long lunch. So really, only two mornings and Friday are left. But as I was saying, today I was on one of the inpatient wards, speaking to an older woman who seemed like she really couldn't have cared less. She was fully functionally independent, and safe in that regard to return home. The only reason she was somewhat ok with dealing with me was because she'd been told as soon as the OT assessed her, they'd send her home. As it turned out, they then decided that she needs a psych assessment to do with issues of depression, so she did not in fact get to go home this evening. Anyway, throughout my entire session with her, she behaved as if she were totally bored, and just wanted to get it over with...except when I started to thank her for her time and get up and leave to write my report. Then she grabbed my hand, and wanted to know about my accent. I told her I was American, and she didn't believe me, telling me I didn't sound American. But then she decided that since I'm American, I must have men falling all over me. And so, with a twinkle in her eye, she asked me, "You must be courting a lot, eh?" and winked at me. At first I stood there stunned, at the huge switch in her behavior and attitude towards me, and then I started to laugh. In a couple of seconds, my brain processed the word courting which I don't believe I've ever heard anyone use before except for in Jane Austen movies...and thought of its connotations or, if you prefer, its association with long term, as in, end result of life partner. When I'd finished laughing, I answered her in the negative, thanked her again, and began to walk away again when she called out "Don't worry, they will!" And I thought to myself, no, they won't. Because the truth is, I've never been courted. I've been pursued, most definitely, still am, and thus probably I should have told her yes, because she probably meant courting in a more modern sense. But I've never been with anyone who has looked at me with an eye to the long term. In a metaphorical sense, for me the game has always ended once the cat has caught the mouse, because the cat then realizes it doesn't know what to do with the mouse. The chase was the fun part. Theoretically "long term" is a nice, warm, fuzzy idea, and I am over the moon for my friends who have found their life partners. Realistically, it's pretty scary, because it seems near impossible you'd ever find someone to stay with you through thick and thin. I'd rather rely on myself. And maybe, just maybe, that means for once, I'm no longer wearing my heart on my sleeve. I've wished I could be that way for so long, and I don't know if it's a good or a bad thing, but it's a change of pace for awhile.

And no, I'm not disregarding my rule from way back when I started this blog to not discuss my dating life on this semi-public forum. As the above are just my current thoughts and theories (which most of you know are likely to change at any given moment), and nothing to do specifically with any one person I'm dating, I don't think I've really given anything away, have I? As always, specifics are only through personal emails. ;)

Politics

Every time I pick up a paper these days, there's more noise about which politician has done what to get himself noticed as a candidate for the next Prime Minister of Britain...and given the scandal and corruption that has also been all over the news, I was laughing my butt off at the following joke from Mom #2:

Max the farmer was in the fertilized egg business. He had several hundred young layers (hens), called pullets and eight or ten roosters, whose job was to fertilize the eggs.

The farmer kept records and any rooster that didn't perform went into the soup pot and was replaced. That took an awful lot of his time so he bought a set of tiny bells and attached them to his roosters.

Each bell had a different tone so Max could tell from a distance, which rooster was performing. Now he could sit on the porch and fill out an efficiency report simply by listening to the bells.

The farmer's favorite rooster was old Butch; a very fine specimen he was, too. But on this particular morning Max noticed old Butch's bell hadn't rung at all!

Max went to investigate. The other roosters were chasing pullets, bells-a-ringing. The pullets, hearing the roosters coming, would run for cover.

But to Farmer Max's amazement, Butch had his bell in beak, so it couldn't ring. He'd sneak up on a pullet, do his job and walk on to the next one.

Max was so proud of Butch, he entered him in the county fair and Butch became an overnight sensation among the judges, The result...The judges not only awarded Butch the "No Bell Piece Prize" but they also awarded the "Pulletsurprise" as well.

Clearly Butch was a politician in the making. Who else but a politician could figure out how to win two of the most highly coveted awards on our planet by being the best at sneaking up on the populace and screwing them when they weren't paying attention?

Trouble in Thailand

Most of you have probably heard about the coup in Thailand on the news by now...it's been in conversations I've had over the past week and a half with Tufts Nicole, who has plane tickets to go with her fiance in November, and with Vivien, because the two of us are going in late March/early April of next year. Most reports coming out of Thailand talk about the "bloodless" coup, the Thai King backing the coup, and how democratic elections to replace the ousted prime minister will be taking place as soon as possible. I was rather amused this morning, however, when the radio show I listen to announced that all the photos and publicity coming out of Thailand are of people smiling- even soldiers with tanks in the background in Bangkok- because their country depends on tourism, and they don't want people to stay away because of the coup. And it seems to be working-- the BBC interviewed a Danish couple who talked about how excited they were to be there during the coup.

My other favorite news items today:
Boy, three, buys car on internet

Hamlets

Ok, so I'm finally going to post a couple of pics from last weekend's pub walk...this weekend has also been gorgeous, and I've been out and about, enjoying it, but nothing too major to report.

On our walk last weekend, we went through what was called a "hamlet" in our pubwalk guide, and as we went along, Nicole and I entertained ourselves by trying to come up with a definition. Rob finally interrupted and told us it had to do with what defines a city. Although in modern times, cities are generally defined by population, traditionally (or historically) in England, they've been defined by churches. That's right, churches. A town with a cathedral is a city. So Guildford is a cathedral city. Salisbury, which most likely would not qualify as a city for its population, is a city because of its cathedral. This little place we passed through on our walk had once had a chapel, but never a church, and thus it was a hamlet. Man, I love this kind of stuff! This country is just chock full of things that fascinate me...

Sun-dappled scenery from last weekend's pub walk near Brook.

Countryside walks cut right through farms, with stiles to help you climb over the fences... if the farm animals aren't coming up to you to check you out, then they aren't all that bothered by your presence either, which was the case with Shawn the Sheep here.

A sixteenth century house...the bricks on the lower level of the house go every which way!

Autumnal Equinox

It's the first day of fall, officially!! This has always been my favorite time of year, though I suspect I'll have a much different experience this year, over here in the UK...not least of all for lack of fall foliage.