Well... that was a week I have no wish to repeat. The loss of Sandy, a MRI scan not going as planned and a job interview saw my stress levels soaring past eleven on the volume knob. The house feels empty without her presence and lots of things remind us of her. Sadly, her back legs went completely and I had to make the decision at the vet appointment to euthanise her. She had a wonderful life and we spoilt her rotten. When her ashes are returned we intend to scatter them at her favourite spot near the dock.
 The MRI scan did not happen as squeezing my large body into a very narrow tube resulted in a panic attack and I scarpered very quickly. I will focus on gentle exercises and physio techniques to reduce the discomfort because I shan't be attending for any further scans. The job interview is for a hospital liaison post and I have been offered the job. Three days a week and I can cycle or bus to work if required as most of the work will be in A & E (emergency department) or on the wards. Assessing emergency or urgent psychiatric referrals. The days are long and potentially there will be odd weeks where I work four days but I am happy with this. No more case loads and the paper work is significantly less, although targets and stressful difficult decisions are still part of the job.
 So all in all an 'interesting' week which hasn't been improved by the current outbreak of feline wars in the household. Sherlock either hides under our bed or in the garden to escape Maisie who has turned into a monster.  She is asserting her dominance but despite a variety of interventions including felaway she continues to harass and stalk poor Sherlock. Sadly, I think we will have to re-home Maisie because she has started on the other two cats and she is not changing her behaviour. It's a shame because she is a lovely little cat but it may be that she needs to be the only cat in the household. But today the sun is shining and it is relatively mild (Balmy by your standards Scoakat!) so I intend to enjoy the day. I hope your day is a good one too.
TTFN.

                                    Poor old pooch. Sandy 2003 - 2017. 

      Rest in peace girl, you can fetch all the balls you want now.

I have a date for the MRI scan for the week after next at 07.30! That's the a.m... Blimey, I must be the first patient that day unless they start at 7 or even 6 a.m! I am not complaining because I would be there at 6 just to make some progress on this problem. After some weeks of little sleep I took time off and I slept for two whole nights of ten hours each. Out like a light as I have spent several weeks where some days I wandered around in a zombie like state. However, pain relief when required, gentle exercises and relaxation is helping out at times. Enough about my health moaning, it is what it is and life goes on. The cool thing is that I might get copies of my MRI and can use it as an avi for social media!

A colleague who is an agency nurse and he was with the team for six months suggested I join an agency; do several months work and take the rest of the time off to relax. He pointed out the benefits:  better money, pay off mortgage early and variety of work. He also suggested working and living away for those several months so I get to see different parts of the UK. It is a tempting prospect albeit a mercenary approach but managers, once you get past their double speak and bullshit, look at the lowest common denominator which is money and number crunching. Perhaps a rethink and change in attitude is required for the next couple of years? We'll see...
TTFN.

A visit to the dentist this morning for my six monthly check up and all is well. My regular dentist was on leave but another impossibly slim Catalan woman had a rummage around my wide open gob. She noted a couple of minor issues but they didn't warrant any interventions and I stated my preference for leaving well alone. She was slightly perplexed by the self removal of  the troublesome tooth and I apologised for not having it to hand for her to examine. No.1 son was somewhat freaked out by it and threw it away much to my annoyance.

I am pleased to have the day off after another sleepless night as I can quietly doze off in my armchair and catch up on much needed sleep. Roll on the MRI scan and hopefully appointments with the physiotherapist otherwise I may have to start sleeping in the armchair as that relieves the discomfort. The downside of that is waking up with two or three cats fast asleep on one!

TTFN.

                                                       Happy New Year!

A bit late in the day but I made the mistake of burying my nose into research on one particular series of tanks ( Vickers E series which led to the Russian T26 and Polish 7TP tanks). Given that the heavens opened this morning and a damp grey day this afternoon, I opted for a quiet day in with lots of tea and finishing off the chocolates. Hence the hours flew by as I followed up leads, watched videos of old film and dipped into forums and blogs. I may have ordered two more models to add to the stash as I plan to make up a small collection of this particular series of tanks.
No new year resolutions other than enjoying life and avoiding the idiots. If I can do the latter at work I will count it a success!
Wishing you few readers who still pop in here a happy, healthy and fun filled 2017!

TTFN.