The Computer Ate My Homework

I have now half written this post 3 times, but every time I go to finish it it has disappeared! So I will now chuck the shits, condense what I have to say into 10 lines and hit post!

I have a stalker who has followed me around, stolen my mail and invaded every one of my internet 'sanctuaries'. So to cut a long story short, I have been hiding, both physically and in cyberspace. It all seems to be under control again now, but I must say it completely unnerved me.

I have moved my blog and shut down some of my other sites. My mail is a big issue though as I expected to have my University Offer by now, so I will call tomorrow and ask them. I am really hoping they have not sent it! My Federal Police Clearance was posted out 4 weeks ago and several other letters have never arrived, so I will also have to get a PO Box and get everything redirected! Grrrrr!

But on a more positive note, everything else is moving along nicely. I have been given a new opportunity at the Nursing Home shadowing one of the RNs for a few shifts a weeks, so that is really cool.

Anyway, thats about it for now! Thanks for listening!

Legs Eleven

I turned up for my shift this morning to be greeted by a Rec Centre full of LOL's and our token bloke Reg all of whom were looking rather anxious. "There's no-one here!" was the chorus. What the? As nobody had turned up to run bingo they had raided the cupboard and set up themselves and were now starting to panic, but apparently I was their saviour! I was expected to call bingo, me, the one who learned how to play a week or so ago from a demented lady! Holy crap! The microphone was promptly jammed into my hand and that was that! Only two options available - call the damn bingo or run away and let the riot begin! So I sucked it up and away we went! "legs eleven" "and lovely legs they are!" "Zipp it, Reg, or I'll call security" Apparently he has a thing for the fiesty ones. Well I made it through without too many complaints, but call me Chicken, it is never going to be something I put my hand up for!
So now I have destressed and I'm off for the afternoon shift and whatever suprises that may bring!

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone.]

Trolley Dolly

What did I learn today?

• Never skip Kevin's room with the Canteen Trolley - He doesn't move fast but he will track you down.
• The trolley run consists of 1 hour ambling up and down corridors, 1/2 hour standing in corridors trying to figure out which way we were heading, 1 hour searching for lost wallets and purses (daughters seem to steal a lot of them) and 1 hour calculating and recalculating and recalculating the price of the two items you are calculating. (Thinking I should be able to shorten the trolley run by about 1.5 hours simply by walking at a reasonable pace, remembering which direction I am heading in and knowing how to calculate change in my head quickly.)
• Your Bingo Partner will always remember you and be in a great mood on the day you don't work with her!
• Everyone wants chocolate!
• Those with a sense of humour will be waiting in the lounge every Mon in the hope that you will roll the trolley getting it out of the lift!
• Most of the Auxiliary Ladies have worse memories than most of the Patients.
• If you get your toes run over by the trolley it really hurts!
• Putting your feet up with a coffee and a smoke in the staff garden at the end of a shift is really quite therapeutic.

I love this job! What a hoot!

My Big Bingo Win

"You will be helping 'Hilda' with Bingo today. She has dementia and is rather ummm... difficult. Just go along with anything she says."

Shit! Firstly, I have never played Bingo! Secondly, I know nothing about dementia! So I am left standing there trying to wrestle the querulous old so & so into her chair while she mutters about not knowing how to play either and the blind leading the blind. So I plant her in her seat and steal her stick just in case she decides to whack me with it and firmly tell her 'We will figure it out. How hard can it be.'
Seems that you don't have to remember that you play every week, the instinct just kicks in. Well we didn't win a thing!!!! Damn it, not sure who was more pissed off! We watched everyone else's piles of chocolate bars and talcum powder get bigger and bigger and never even got close! So, every 10 mins or so she would start to sulk and tell me that she wasn't going to play any more and that I would have to do it, but she would soon take over again as soon as I got a few numbers. Somehow we got through it and I found that I had quite enjoyed myself, between dealing with 'Hilda' and placing markers on numbers for the lady on the other side of me during her very frequent micro-naps I had been quite busy and time had flown.
My only concern was that 'Hilda' had not enjoyed herself. But as I was leaving the woman in charge pulled me aside and said 'That was great! We told you she was difficult but you handled her really well. That is the first time she has stayed for a full round of Bingo.' Wow! Must admit that then I felt great! Didn't really do much for my first shift, but I left feeling like I had had a big win!

Bingo Time!

Well I finally got off my butt and finalized my paper work for the Nursing Home. Have to report for duty on Friday in time for 1 O'clock Bingo!
So I am going armed with great advice from a great friend.

Friend - "Now if you are reading out the BINGO numbers - speak slow and clear."

My Response - " And very bloody LOUD!!! LMAO"

Bring It On! It is all starting to happen now! 

Something I Have Been Avoiding

Five weeks ago I went and applied at the local Nursing Home to be a Volunteer Carer. This is mainly to back up my application to go to Uni next year. As part of the application process I have to submit a written proposal stating among other things what I have done ie. community involvement, work experience in the nursing field.
If my score on the STAT test is high enough I will get in with no problems, but if my score is average these extra things will be the one's to push me over that line and get my application approved. So I have enrolled in all sorts of classes etc but according to the Uni Entrance Officer the voluntary work will be looked upon very favourably and count for big points. So I have submitted my application for Police Clearance, but in the mean time I can start at the NH with just a Stat Dec signed by one of their senior staff.
I have been up there three times to get the Stat Dec signed by this woman but every time she has been out of the office. But to tell you the truth I have not exactly chased this woman down as I am not exactly excited about the whole thing. 
OK, so it was completely my idea, and I know I will probably love doing it but.... As a  VC I will spend my time working for the Leisure and Lifestyle Department, which basically means as well as spending 1 day running the Op-Shop, I will be filling 3 days a week taking LOL's for walks and drinking lots of cups of tea.  I will probably enjoy this immensely but there are so many other things I am feeling the pressure to do.
So I got a call from the NH Office last week which made me feel incredibly guilty. They are so excited to have me on the team and can't wait for me to start. I have met the ladies I will be working with and they seem really great. We spent a lot of my initial meeting with them laughing and I have no doubt that I will fit in well, but it is not ultimately where I want to end up. In fact Aged Care would probably be my last choice.
I was chatting online with my Aunt who lives on the other side of Oz last week and she asked what I was hoping to study. When I told her Nursing her response was 'Great! You will be able to take care of all us oldies in years to come'. BLOODY HELL! Glad she could not see the look on my face at that one! I love my family but the thought of combining them and aged care is the stuff nightmares are made of!
So tomorrow I will go and sign off on the last of the paper work and organise when I am starting. I will no doubt enjoy the whole experience and make some useful contacts, so it is time to get my act together and just do it!