| Writers Block |
[Nov. 27th, 2009|07:18 am] |
Oh-My-Goshles.
I still have writers block and its really starting to piss me off.
All i've done since i last blogged about my writers block is edit bits and rearrange other bits and all i've actually managed to do is lower my word count by 200.
Grrrr!!!
I need some inspiration. Any ideas are welcome!
????? |
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| Not good |
[Nov. 24th, 2009|05:07 pm] |
I managed to bend my car key.
It still works but does occasionally get stuck.
Am now trying to make a plan for what to do if it snaps while the engine is switched on... |
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| B-U-F-F buff! |
[Nov. 21st, 2009|11:27 am] |
OMG.
Why did i ever think that New Moon wasn't going to live up to my expectations?!?
Super yumminess! And yes Jacob Black is all of the buff wih his top off.
I'm going to watch it again with my mum and another time with Jenny. And if anyone else would like to come and see it your more than welcome to join us!
I have to go and calm down now. |
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| Slowest days of my life! |
[Nov. 15th, 2009|06:02 am] |
5 DAYS TO GO!!!!!!
Though i would normally complain that the days are going too fast this is no longer the case. Apart from Doctor Who tomorrow (BBC 1 at 7pm) i could do without these next 5 days!
Maybe i should write to Gordan Brown...though with the postal strikes the letter probably wont get there till after the week is up.
Oh well, just got to hang on till friday. Then its topless vampires and werewolves for everyone! |
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| And what are you looking forward to? |
[Nov. 11th, 2009|12:54 am] |
Dark, dark and more dark.
LIKE MY SOUL!
Kidding! But seriously even the happiest-go-luckiest person can feel the sadness that comes with this season and so, i feel, its important to have something to look forward to.
Me, Jemma, Zara and my sister Sarah are looking forward to the 20th of November because we have cinema tickets for 'New Moon', the sequel to 'Twilight'. We are self admittedly Twi-groupies and are counting the days till we put in our vampire fangs and queue up for hot dogs with the other overly obsessed fan girls and boys.
Times maybe hard and things might be getting you down but you have to find something to look forward to!
So, What is everyone going to look forward to then? |
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| I'm such a trend setter |
[Nov. 1st, 2009|12:40 am] |
My dad has now signed himself up for laser eye surgery too!
Well its fair enough. I am ALWAYS RIGHT! |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 31st, 2009|11:02 pm] |
Monday the 12th at 8.30am i went under the laser. Ooohhhh
THE CONSULTATION
But i should start with the initial consultation, which was great.
I left my details on the Optical Express website and they phoned me the next day in the afternoon, i spoke to a very friendly and pleasant lady who made an appointment for me he same week. She told me at the time all the stuff i needed to bring with me and let me know that i needed to take my contact lenses off for 24 hours before the consultation. Grr, i hate wearing my glasses!
At the consultation i was met by my personal consultant Bobby, who was extremely friendly and cute! Actually the level of customer service across my whole experience has been exemplary, all the staff i've dealt with have been friendly but professional and really set a standard.
WORST CASE SCENARIO
I'd been considering laser eye surgery for a while and the only thing i'd worried about (and not been able to do much research on) was the risks. After all the tests and a detailed description of what actually happens during the surgery the optometrist let me ask my questions the first of which was "what is the absolute worst case scenario?". I had heard all the horror story's of people going blind and having extreme pain and wanted to know whether this was true and what the chance of it happening to me was I was therefore surprised to learn that there were no facts behind these stories and that the absolute worst thing that could happen to me was a nasty infection which was highly unlikely to happen with all the antibiotic and steroid drops i would be using and so long as i followed all the post op advice.
GOING FOR IT
After the consultation was over i knew i was going to go for it.
I booked the next available appointment at the closest location which turned out to be at the Trafford shopping center (making it that much easier for me to talk my sister sarah into taking me there and back!).
That's when i told my family and friends about it and got mixed reactions, most people were happy but some were concerned and weren't as comforted by the optometrists words as i had been and some thought it wasn't worth the risks as it wasn't 'necessary surgery' which is easy to say when you have always had 20-20 vision i guess.
ON THE ROAD
As my appointment was early in the morning and we had to go to manchester in the commuter traffic i wanted to set of as soon as possible.
Sarah was not best pleased to be woken up at six in the morning but to her credit she did get up, without hitting me. Though she did spend the rest of the day cursing me under her breath.
Jemma was much more cheerful and bouncy when we picked her up form her flat at six thirty which, of course, made Sarah even grumpier!
It was still dark as we set of from Preston but as we drove towards our destination the sun started to rise. I took of my glasses and soaked up the beautiful blur, i realized in that moment that i would never see the same again. That, instead of glasses or contacts correcting and shaping my vision i would be able to see with my own eyes. I admit i cried a little bit...but don't tell anyone.
GETTING SCARED
OK. So maybe i made us get up a little early but i didn't want ot take any risks!
We arrived at a very deserted and locked up Trafford center at about 7.30am. Yes Sarah, i'm still sorry.
That's when i started to get little butterflies in my tummy! At 8am after some staff had arrived and gone inside we decided to venture in and hunt down the right shop. Walking around the shopping center we kept expecting to get in trouble, it was completely empty but for a cleaner and a security guard.
We found Optical Express (closed) and after Jemma got us shouted at by the cleaning lady (for trying to break in) we opted for sitting on the bench across from the shop.
MORE TESTS
A little while later a rather serious business man wandered over to the store with his up-her-own-bottom-wife in tow and was let in to the shop by the same cleaning lady who had told us off. We followed him in and i gave the very friendly staff my name, filled out yet more forms and waited my turn.
I then had more eyes tests and had some pictures taken of the insides of my eyes (very cool). It was all very through and very comforting and once again i feel the need to rave about the high quality of customer service!
Then i had my eye drops explained.
1- Intensive tears - keeping my eyes well lubricated and washed out will help the healing process massively.
2- Steroid drops - to improve the speed and strength of healing in my eyes.
3 - Antibiotics - pretty self explanatory.
I also got the goggles i would have to wear at night (to stop accidental eye rubbing!).
That's when i got to meet my surgeon. Friendly, polite and professional (just like all the Optical Express staff i dealt with) and to top it all of he had a South African accent which immediately put me at ease.
He did his own examination and explained what would happen in the surgery and then we were ready to go.
LASER EYE SURGERY
I entered the room with the surgeon and he introduced me to his nurses and asked me to lie down on the bed. He gave me a little hat to keep my hair out of the way and some cotton wool to put over my ears (they used a lot of drops). He the put the drops in my eyes that would numb and freeze them and after a few moments used a mini-vice type object to hold my eye open.
Then came the 'eye-flapper' (Sarah's terminology). Its a device which cuts a flap out of the outer layer of the eye then peels it back so that the cornea is exposed. That was really weird and i was feeling quite frightened at this point, though the staff were constantly reassuring me.
"Ok Rebecca we are starting the laser now, there's going to be a loud noise and a funny smell. Keep focused on the red light." says the nurse. I was completely shocked when i realized that the 'funny smell' was burning. I could actually smell my cornea burning! That's some weirdness right there. 10 seconds later it was finished. The surgeon used the same 'eye flapper' to put the flap back into place and put a loose patch over it while he repeated the surgery on the other eye.
I know this doesn't sound too pleasant and though i was uncomfortable and a little scared at times i should point out that at no point during the surgery did i feel any pain.
I'd gone into the surgery at 8.30 and was out before 9.00.
I CANT OPEN MY EYES
I was taken back into the eye test room where the surgeon made sure everything was ok and proclaimed that the surgery had gone great. I thanked him profusely though i still felt inadequately and the nurse led me down the hall into a dark, quiet room and offered me a a drink whilst i sat and briefly recovered.
The nurse had told me that i would be sensitive to light and that my eyes would really sting but i'd thought i would be ok with my sunglasses on.
Boy was i wrong.I called Sarah and Jemma to let them know that it was over and they headed back to the shop to meet me, as soon as we stepped out into the shopping center with its lovely glass roof i realized it wasn't going to be so easy.
But i'd promised Sarah we look round some shops before we left as a thank you for bringing me so we wandered about a bit. The stinging got so bad that i had trouble keeping my eyes open. But me being blinded wasn't going to stop Sarah from shopping! So she and Jemma led me gently round the Trafford center trying to resist the urge to walk me into poles and fountains
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
We got into the car and headed back home at about 10am (the shortest Trafford Center trip in Sarahs life!). By this time the sun had fully risen into the cloudless sky and what i would normally class as a beautiful day turned out to be a nightmare as even with my eyes closed and sunglasses on the direct sun light intensified the stinging.
During the 40 minute drive home i tried brief patches of opening my eyes and by the time we were pulling of the motorway at preston i found that i could hold my eyes open without as much stinging.
I have to admit that i cried on the way home too. Not because of the stinging but because when we pulled into Preston i took my sunglasses off and looked at the trees and fields and could already see better than i had with my glasses.
I CAN SEE
When we got home i went straight to bed to rest and after the stinging subsided a little more i fell asleep.
When i woke up the stinging had completely stopped though my eyes did feel a little weird and uncomfortable.
And...i could see. Just like that. Better, further and with more clarity than with glasses or contact lenses. I could not believe it. I genuinely felt like some one was trying to fool me! (Yes i cried again, *sigh*)
THE NEXT DAY
The next day i had my '24 hours post surgery appointment'.
Once again the customer service was exemplary. They ran some eye tests, checked the flap was in place and was starting to heal.
Everything was fine, the optometrist confirmed that my eye sight was better than it had ever been and that my eye's were already healing well.
THE FOLLOWING WEEK
For the week after eye surgery i had to use eye drops several times a day and wear goggles overnight. The eye drops were just fine and although the goggles were a little awkward and uncomfortable i didn't feel deprived of any sleep.
At the end of the week i had my 'one week post surgery appointment'. As if i actually need to tell you that the staff were still amazing. I was told that my eye's were fine and that i no longer needed the drops and didn't have to wear those stupid goggles anymore.
NOW AND POSSIBILITIES
Its now been almost 3 weeks since my eye surgery and everything is still great, my eye sight really couldn't be better.
I was told some of the possible 'side affects' i might experience during the recovery period - Slightly poorer night vision, 'haloing' around bright lights and dry eyes.
Though i do still use lubricating eye drops a couple of times a day to keep my eyes moist i haven't suffered from any of the other possible problems.
Soon i will have my 1 month post opp appointment and though i'm expecting everything to be hunky dory i will blog about it!
DID I MISS ANYTHING?
I don't think i did but if you think i did or if you have any questions please feel free to comment.
Sorry it took me sooooo long to get this up here but i do have a life! |
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| Laser eye surgery |
[Oct. 11th, 2009|12:47 am] |
This monday at 0830am my operation will begin!
I'm super excited.
Its a big price for a little operation but it will change my life.
There are so many things you underapriciate when you have 20:20 vision. Everyday things like taking a shower or driving your car become just a little bit harder when your contact lens pops out or your glasses mist up!
Any way i'm gonna do a full blog about the whole thing after my eye's recover. |
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| 'Kay sara sara what ever will be hakuna matata' week. |
[Oct. 9th, 2009|01:44 pm] |
Today is day one and to kick us off mum and Andy are heading of to the islands of the Maldives to do some mal-diving (get it?!?).
Plus me, Sarah, dad and Jenny are heading to the comedy store tonight so we can mock Jenny!
So what's everyone else doing to kick of week? Don't forget to think positive! |
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| Rubbish Week |
[Oct. 9th, 2009|01:32 pm] |
I broke my phone.
I flushed my guppy (accidentally).
I crashed my be-loved car, colin.
I was thrown of the back of a horse.
I fell through the living room floor.
And i twisted my ankle.
It was a super lame week.
But we are now THINKING POSITIVE! Its our new catch phrase.
This week is 'Kay sara sara what ever will be hakuna matata' week. |
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| Oscar |
[Sep. 26th, 2009|05:07 am] |
Oscar is a cat.
He is sat outside the doors at work. Meowing. A lot.
I fell kinda bad for him but cant tell if hes gotten himself lost or what. Hes got a plain hard plastic collar on, like he's escaped from the RSPCA. And why did he come hang outside the hospital?
The patients like him though, people keep coming out to stroke him but i'm worried that he will take that as too much encouragement and stick around. Mind you, there is this midwife whose afraid of cats. She keeps coming down for a smoke and looking through the glass cause shes to afraid to go outside. Super funny.
I'm worried that he will still be here in the morning, in which case i will feel the need to do something about it.
I wonder how pissed mum will be if i brought another cat home... |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 26th, 2009|04:16 am] |
THE NIGHT
So we (Myself, Sarah, Jemma and Zara) had our big boozy night out on monday and i think its fair to say i was completely gazeboed. After vodka and tequila at the house i was laughing hysterically, falling over and being generally drunk and this was before we'd even called a taxi.
My sister, Sarah, made me drink a glass of water and promise to act sober so that the taxi driver wouldn't refuse to take us. When we got into the cab sarah insisted that our black driver was a rasta and that he had been smoking pot in the taxi, then she tried to buy pot of him (which i thought was an amazing and hysterical idea).
Then Jemma revealed that she had brought a pint glass of booze with her and handed it around the taxi until the driver told sarah she couldn't have it anymore which is when she threw it out of the taxi window. It made a really funny smashing sound as far as i can remember.
When we got into town i needed to go to a cash machine before the club but i was so drunk i couldn't actually enter my own pin number then when Jemma tried to help me i thought she was trying to steal from me and rugby tackled her. Sorry Jem.
After stolen shots of Sambuka, Smirnoff Ice and other alchapoppy type things i truly was living in my own world, a world where i was a fantastic dancer and grinding up and down the mirrored walls in the middle of the club was totally ok.
After the vigorous dancing we had a sit down and decided to go home and eat the pizza sarah had bought and left in the fridge. Even though i wanted subway (and still do, thank you very much).
The taxi driver insisted that he wouldn't be able to turn around at the bottom of the grove and asked us to get out at the top at which point Jemma started to run down the grove and i started chasing her. Really, really fast. Everyone says it was because i was drunk but i swear i was running at like 50 miles an hour! Anyway, all this running super fast meant that when i caught up with Jemma i tackled her -again- and now she has giant sized bruises on her legs. The only reason i was chasing her is cause i wanted to open the door first (which totally made sense at the time). Sorry again Jem.
So we all eventually get inside the house and sarah make's all sit on the trampoline while she cooks the pizza. But she's too fucked to even get the oven hot so has the bright idea of sticking it in the microwave, this is after she drops the pizza toppings all over the floor then just picks them up and puts them back. Food poisoning all round.
After eating cold pizza, chilling out on the trampoline, shouting at Jemma and trying really hard to sweep up while drunk we decided it was bed time.
Zara got a taxi round to her house so we could all have beds to ourselves. I should point out that it was a 60 second taxi drive as Zara only lives 3 streets away.
THE MORNING AFTER THE NIGHT
After throwing up about 4 pints of orange stuff (what did i even drink that was orange?!?)i was reminded of a line from one of my favorite songs "why do i feel so dehydrated when i drank so much last night?" so i ventured downstairs to drink as much water as i could keep down. After that Sarah and Jemma showed up and we chatted about the night before. I felt pretty rough but not even close to how i felt after thailand! And by the next day i was completely fine.
SO Sarah and Jemma are planning to go out this Monday and im trying to decide whether or not to join them. I did have fun and if i went out i probably wouldn't drink quite as much but somethings still holding me back.
Hmmm
PS - Holla to hedgihog! |
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| My book |
[Sep. 21st, 2009|04:02 am] |
The other thing i do at work (Other than blogging and "working") is write my fictional novel currently named 'Selfish'.
I've had writers block for a while now though so left it where i was up to and started writing random segments from future chapters in the hope that it would give me some inspiration as to where i'm going.
However rather than helping me work on the section im up to ive actually managed to write whole other chapters of the book.
Hmmm, maybe i need to try harder? Or maybe i need to try less and it will just come to me? |
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| One night and one night only |
[Sep. 19th, 2009|11:18 pm] |
So i've been without alcohol (bar a few slip ups) for nearly three years and its been pretty good. Its never really bothered me as i've never been one for going out and getting plastered, well, except that one time in thailand but we don't talk about that do we?...poor sandwich...
Any way, i WILL be going out this monday night and getting really, really, really drunk either to see what i'm missing or to reaffirm that abstaining was the right choice for me.
If you live in Preston i will be at Roper Hall on Monday night, probably humiliating myself so make the most of it and come on down! |
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| Alarm! |
[Sep. 17th, 2009|09:31 pm] |
The fire alarms going off at work, its the most exciting thing that's happened for ages!
Oh, fire trucks just arrived! |
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| Colin the car |
[Sep. 17th, 2009|06:36 pm] |
Today i parked next to a beautiful, shiny, blue BMW today. It must have cost a fortune! It belonged to one of the on-call doctors who was talking on his mobile phone. I was getting my lunch bag out of the boot when the AA van showed up and popped his bonnet.
I was early and intrigued so hung about for a bit (pretending to tidy my car).
The doctor was irate! He'd only had the car a fortnight and was livid that it had stopped running. As i was leaving i heard mention of a tow.
That really brightened up my day, not that someone was suffering with car problems but because it reminded me how lucky i am.
I have had 'Colin', my 1996 ford fiesta, for nearly 1 year now and i haven't had a single problem. I swear that car runs on love, i would keep him over that shiny, blue BMW any day! |
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| JUST a receptionist. |
[Sep. 17th, 2009|05:21 pm] |
Midwife - "Have you found the notes for the lady who just came in?"
Me - "Which lady?"
Midwife - "The one that just came into delivery suite, like i said."
Me - "Well we've been quite busy a lot of people have just come in, do you know her name?"
Midwife - "Her second name was something like Smith or Smart."
Me - "I cant look up her notes without at least her name"
Midwife - "For fucks sake, so i'm going to have to go upstairs even though i'm already rushed off my feet?"
Me - "No. I can phone upstairs for you."
Midwife - "Well why have i been stood here talking to you. When i could be doing something worthwhile."
Me - "I get that your stressed but i'm not going to put up with you speaking to me like that, its really disrespectful."
Midwife - "Don't get up yourself, your just a receptionist."
At this point the midwife walked away and went back upstairs, ten minutes later a Health Care Assistant (HCA) came downstairs with the info i needed and i went and got the notes.
Now this is not the first time i've been talked down to by a midwife and i don't think it will be the last, normally it wouldn't bother me. Normally i'd laugh it off with one of the HCA's and forget about it but today something the Midwife had said really had bothered me.
I am 'just a receptionist'. My philosophy in life say's that no matter what you do, how much money you make or how much you give away it does not make you a better person or a more important person than anyone else. You can be kinder, you can have more power, you can be smarter but that doesn't make you better. No one is 'JUST' anything.
Or at least that's what i thought before, now i think about it more i realize my job and i are just a conveniance, the hospital would be fine with out me, people would find their way to the right place on their own. So, am i really 'just a receptionist'?
I've been a sales assistant, trained as a hairdresser, worked at a call center and even worked at McDonald's (For 4 Hours). Am i a 'Just' person? |
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| Dora the explorer |
[Sep. 15th, 2009|06:11 am] |
Did you know that Condors can speak both english and spanish?!?
Thank god for kids telly! |
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| Night work in winter |
[Sep. 15th, 2009|05:42 am] |
Its still dark!
If it was 0545 on a tuesday morning just a couple of weeks ago there would have been un filtered sun light streaming through the glass double doors at work but now its so dark that the only thing i can see is the dirty yellow light in the 'smoking shelter' just a couple hundred yards from where i'm sat.
I remember last winter (cant believe i've been working here nearly a year!), I'd finish work at 0730am and it would be dark i'd then go to bed and by the time i'd gotten up for work it would be dark again. Winter was always my favorite season, i've never liked the heat, never cared about getting a tan and i will still be wearing my bermuda shorts on christmas day, much to my friend's dismay. But the sun i do truly love and that's why i'm worried about the upcoming winter. Last year i was to excited about my brilliant new job to care about missing out on the winter sun but now the excitements worn off and the days are getting shorter i'm getting worried about the kind of depression the changing seasons can bring. |
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| National Health Service |
[Sep. 15th, 2009|05:29 am] |
Ok so now i feel bad for hating the NHS after re-watching Micheal Moores 'Sicko', a documentary about the health care industry (or lack there of) in America.
I know we are very lucky to have the care we need, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week no matter how much you earn. In principle its a fantastic idea - that we all tribute some of our own money so that the whole can benefit. Its the cut backs of pretty much everything that means its struggling and because its struggling and therefore not meeting up to standards there are even more cut backs.
Does it make you want to pull your hair out as well?!? |
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