Early Risers.

[jonny777]

4 hours ago, PupCam said:

I find these Websites/Apps fascinating and amazingly accurate when you are close enough to witness the results!

 

https://www.lightningmaps.org/#m=oss;t=3;s=0;o=0;b=;ts=0;y=50.0077;x=1.7578;z=5;d=2;dl=2;dc=0;

 

I think that the reason there is only a prob 40 of certain weather on aerodrome forecasts is that they are not allowed to have any other option. If it is less than 40% it is counted as not worth adding to the length of the message; and if it is over 40% then it has to be included in the main part of the forecast anyway. However, rules may have changed since my day. 

[Dave Hunt]

I don't mind needles and having blood taken but I've had several instances of nurses being unable to get into a vein successfully and spending ages grubbing about inside my arm. A couple have resorted to getting doctors to come in and do the job but one about ten years ago made such a mess of it that the following morning I had a bruise almost from wrist to shoulder. I haven't given blood since I was a teenager as the RAF didn't allow aircrew to donate due, I think, to reduced oxygen levels for a few days afterwards that could affect altitude tolerance and when I was in Singapore I got dengue fever so the transfusion people don't want my blood anymore.

 

I had a good experience with our GP practice this afternoon. It started off badly as it took six phone calls and even when I got onto the queue there was a wait of twenty minutes to speak to a Checkpoint Charlene. But then things got better as after I had told her briefly why I wanted a consultation she said that a doctor would call me back and ten minutes later that happened. When I explained my problem the doctor asked me to go and see her 45 minutes later, which I obviously accepted, so all in all the whole thing took quite a few days less than I could have expected pre-covid. To say I was surprised is an understatement but it does go to show that the system can work well.

 

The dreaded cleaning and tidying of the shed went well, starting at 0930 and being finished five hours later. The amount of rubbish and muck we got rid of was incredible but at least I can now see the workbench as well as through the windows, small vehicles can travel on parallel bits of metal without bumping into various discarded items, I can find things without searching through piles of junk and several missing items have turned up.

 

Cheers for now people.

 

Dave         

[PupCam]

1 hour ago, New Haven Neil said:

The evening is most pleasant, bodes well for the bike club tomorrow.  We have a new neighbour, who is joining us for the first time, he has Italian bikes, so it'll probably break down.

He'll definitely have to get home before it gets dark ....

 

A couple of years back at a bike meet I heard a noise I hadn't heard for 40 years.   It was a mid-70s Benelli 250 2 stroke.   A very distinctive sound that I knew well as a mate had one back in the day.      The lady riding it had to leave before it got dark   

 

What can't be seen on the photograph is the missing tail pipe on the near-side exhaust.     Apparently it parted company with the bike at speed somewhere on the A1M on the way up

 

 

1 hour ago, polybear said:

So Puppers has a "thing" for Matron Hattie does he?  Ok......

Not Matron Hattie but ....

 

21 minutes ago, JohnDMJ said:

However, when Gunther von Hagens presented a four-part TV series on the internals of the Human Body, I watched with interest! (Albeit a little like a licensed, modern-day 'Burke and Hare' style of provision)

 A couple of years back Puppers & Mrs Puppers (who is VERY squeamish) visited the now permanent Body Worlds exhibition in London.    Absolutely fascinating.   Surprisingly it only took about 2 minutes to get over the "Oh, that was once a real walking, talking human" voice in the head as each exhibit passed.    As I say, an amazing and deeply fascinating experience - you should go!

 

[Ian Abel]

3 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Good Lord what a lot of girlies

That made me laugh...

 

I never really had/have trouble with giving blood either for the routine (now required due to age apparently!) tests or donating.

 

It was AFTER that was the problem. For reasons unclear to anyone in attendance, numerous occasions, it takes me an age to recover enough to be stable on my feet.

Several doses or orange juke and other goodies plus the odd ogle at a pretty nurse usually solved it, but often 20+ minutes resting there.

Finally it was recommended that "as good as it was to give blood donations, maybe it's better to abstain". Oh well, I tried for a while

 

[simontaylor484]

I have seen the Mrs cut open twice 

Emergency c sections for both boys

Had a slight panic that I had thrown the charger for my Bosch drill in one of the bags that has gone in the skip. Just been down to middle floor to look and its in the tool box phew.

[The White Rabbit]

1 hour ago, Dave Hunt said:

I don't mind needles and having blood taken but I've had several instances of nurses being unable to get into a vein successfully and spending ages grubbing about inside my arm.

 

Me too. Excepting the last one, all the blood tests I've had have have required several attempts, usually in different places and into double figures. I have perfected my hostile glower and "I am not a pincushion" comment. These were all doctors and nurses but a casual observer could be forgiven for thinking they were a hospital porter impersonating medical staff for a bet or a hidden camera programme. Last time, one false 'stab' and second time lucky. I almost fainted. In surprise. 

 

No problem about seeing blood (so long as it's not mine and gushing out, then I will panic). I don't know what our medical members have observed but I have heard a theory which runs along the lines of the more macho and/or larger members of the population generally tend to be sensitive to the sight of blood, whereas the smaller, quieter members of society are less squeamish. 

 

And on that potentially controversial note, I'll bid you good night. 

[Coombe Barton]

... such is the life of the academic ...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2021/06/17/some-say-one-thing-some-say-another/

[New Haven Neil]

Puppers, a pal in my Kollege days had one of those Welsh bikes - Benelli - same as that one but red.  It went very well, but the crank only lasted 10k miles.  Now, the Morini 3 1/2 behind it....yum.  Always wanted one, couldn't afford one.  Now I can afford one, I can't fold myself on to one to ride it.  Pah!

 

As for the XL, something not right in the rebuild today, can't get the cam sprocket on as the chain is too tight - suspect one tensioner blade isn't seated correctly - head off AGAIN then.  #sigh#  At least I didn't build the rest of the head/cambox up.  This bl**dy bike has fought me for 30 years....there's always, but always something up with it.   I didn't build it but bought it of someone else who had rebuilt it, there's a lesson there.  Never had another bike like it (we've had about 40), total Christine job.

[iL Dottore]

2 hours ago, JohnDMJ said:

….I would require a general anaesthetic for anything 'intrusive'….

Depending on what needs to be done you may well be out of luck on that. Over the past years there has been a move away from general anaesthesia to local anaesthesia for all but the most extensive operations.  And even some abdominal and cranial operations are now done with local anaesthesia. Of course, this “local” anaesthesia is not what most people think of when they hear those words. It generally involves nerve blocks, epidurals and the like as well as intravenous administration of sedatives and serious analgesics. At my last knee surgery, also done under “local“ anaesthesia I received both fentanyl and propofol intravenously and although I was technically awake, in reality I was off communing with the fairies! When I asked the anaesthesiologist what he was  administering to me intravenously and he replied I said “Ooh, I like those! Can I have some to take home?“ and made him laugh.

 

I think there are two factors that have allowed for an increased use of “local“ anaesthesia: the advances in surgical and anaesthetic technology (such as the so-called “keyhole“ surgery)  and the fact that that patients who do not receive a general anaesthetic tend to recover faster and have less complications afterwards.

18 minutes ago, The White Rabbit said:

… I have heard a theory which runs along the lines of the more macho and/or larger members of the population generally tend to be sensitive to the sight of blood, whereas the smaller, quieter members of society are less squeamish. …

So have I, but I can’t really say one way or another if that is a truism. One thing that I can say for certain is pain (and sometimes the accompanying fear) really makes people react in the very strange ways.

 

Isn’t medicine fascinating?

 

Good night all!

[tigerburnie]

G'night all

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Just had a very interesting Zoom meeting about the Gravesend West branch. Apart from the railway interest my dads family came from Gravesend and in fact my dad was born very close to the branch just over 101 years ago. I must admit to having a phobia about needles being stuck into me until covid came along and I decided to bite the bullet. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was worrying over nothing, the first jab I felt but it wasn't that painful and the second I felt nothing more than a pin prick.

[Erichill16]

Evening All,

Good to learn that Mr Hunt senior is making progress and long may  it continue.

Due to bils absence, we have had another day looking after the boys, mil and Sydney so not much work got done. 
As mentioned earlier, I’ve had a face to face consultation with my gp. I was in the consultation room for a good  half an hour and he was very thorough, checking up on my long term conditions as well as looking at my foot/ankle/knee problem which I had  originally gone with. I’ve never mentioned my fight with  the black dog that follows me around, just can’t.
I did however leave with an appointment for another blood test, a new prescription item and another long term condition to consider. I did manage to avoid a blood test today but I did endure a digital rectal examination which came as a complete surprise. Good job I followed my grandma’s advice and always go out in a new pair of boxers as you don’t know what may happen.

I do feel guilty that I have managed to get treatment relatively easily especially as my problems aren’t  really urgent or life threatening though I’ve put up with them for a couple of years. GP did say I shouldn’t wait so long next time before seeking out medical treatment.

Hopefully a lie in tomorrow, then a trip to get some gf food and some time for  paperwork but it must done by 3:00pm as the boys are coming for a sleepover.

Goodnight All,

Robert

[JohnDMJ]

 

9 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

Depending on what needs to be done you may well be out of luck on that. Over the past years there has been a move away from general anaesthesia to local anaesthesia for all but the most extensive operations.  And even some abdominal and cranial operations are now done with local anaesthesia. Of course, this “local” anaesthesia is not what most people think of when they hear those words. It generally involves nerve blocks, epidurals and the like as well as intravenous administration of sedatives and serious analgesics. At my last knee surgery, also done under “local“ anaesthesia I received both fentanyl and propofol intravenously and although I was technically awake, in reality I was off communing with the fairies! When I asked the anaesthesiologist what he was  administering to me intravenously and he replied I said “Ooh, I like those! Can I have some to take home?“ and made him laugh.

 

I think there are two factors that have allowed for an increased use of “local“ anaesthesia: the advances in surgical and anaesthetic technology (such as the so-called “keyhole“ surgery)  and the fact that that patients who do not receive a general anaesthetic tend to recover faster and have less complications afterwards.

So have I, but I can’t really say one way or another if that is a truism. One thing that I can say for certain is pain (and sometimes the accompanying fear) really makes people react in the very strange ways.

 

Isn’t medicine fascinating?

 

Good night all!

 

My triple hernia (by keyhole) and my first and third endoscopies were under general anaesthesia.

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[laurenceb]

Night awl

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

After watering the plants this morning, my first task was to mop the cellar floor, as it felt very dusty and gritty under foot and I don’t want to get in the wrong books by leaving dusty footprints about, as Sheila planned to mop the kitchen after breakfast. Once that was done and the mop and bucket were cleaned (I have my own which stays in the cellar), I set up my test track and had a play tested my new locomotive, I’m glad to say that it worked fine. I then packed everything away and carried on with the job of clearing up the rubbish from under the living room floor. It’s now starting to look a bit tidier, but there still quite a bit to do. However, I only did half a day in the cellar today as I had an appointment with the dental hygienist this afternoon. Thankfully the lovey Anna was happy with everything and I came away 20 minutes later with cleaner teeth than when I went in. 

 

Last night after tea, I set up a fruit tea loaf, which was left soaking overnight. I added the flour and got it in the oven before I set off for the dentist. After tea tonight, I made the base for a chocolate orange cheesecake, the topping will be made tomorrow. This will be tomorrow nights desert as Mike and Sarah are stopping by for tea. 

 

I’ve never had any problems with needles etc and there doesn’t seem to be a problem with getting any red stuff from me either. There was one time though, when I was coming to the end of2 years of chemo, which was given 4 weekly, they couldn’t get a cannula into a vein in my hand. They tried both hands several times but couldn’t find a vein, so in desperation, they called over a more experienced nurse, who successfully found a vein and inserted the cannula straight away with no problem at all. 

 

Glad to read of the good progress that Dave H senior is making. 

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

 

[The Stationmaster]

First Aid At work is an interesting area - the GD was well into it, with regular re-training, while working for Tesco although apart from one suspected heart attack it was mainly sprains, and cuts & grazes.   And that seems to be par for the course just about everywhere nowadays.    The railway industry was - as so very often - well ahead the field when it came to first aiders and quite a few of those I knew were also St John Ambulance Brigade in their spare time but the odd thing about it was that minor things apart their skills were rarely needed at the day job.  Anything really serious such as the results of a human interface with the wrong part of a train was almost inevitably well beyond First Aid level.  

 

The worst things that I ever came across injury wise - where First Aid could at least mitigate the effects until the professionals arrived - invariably involved passengers involved in punch ups or having a heart attack or fainting and falling down as a consequence.  So not really any different from anywhere else.  Oddly among virtually all the First Aiders I knew over several decades the worst things they had ever had to deal with  were outside railway property where they went to help until an ambulance turned up.  Rather different potential for more serious injury where people were working with machinery or were involved in shunting etc

[Dave Hunt]

2 hours ago, The White Rabbit said:

I don't know what our medical members have observed but I have heard a theory which runs along the lines of the more macho and/or larger members of the population generally tend to be sensitive to the sight of blood, whereas the smaller, quieter members of society are less squeamish. 

 

And on that potentially controversial note, I'll bid you good night. 

 

I suppose that as a 6ft 3in ex-rugby player and fast jet pilot who has no problem with the sight of blood, even his own, and has watched with interest operations he was undergoing on a monitor whilst on 'local' anaesthetic, that I must be unusual then? Unless the theory is, shall we say, a load of cobblers?

 

Dave

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[BR60103]

I don't like to see the needle going in. If I look away, they can jab me and drain me all they like. Unfortunately, the nightly news starts with 20 minutes of people having needles stuck in their arms.  I also didn't like biology classes where we had to cut up defenceless little dead bodies.

 

Having had our second jabs last Saturday, Dayle had two emails from the place where we had our first ones.  I looked and found that I had only one -- in the Spam folder.

 

 

Edited June 18, 2021 by BR60103
typography

[iL Dottore]

10 hours ago, Erichill16 said:

….I do feel guilty that I have managed to get treatment relatively easily

especially as my problems aren’t  really urgent or life threatening though I’ve put up with them for a couple of years. …

Why feel guilty? The GP is doing what a GP is best placed to do - triage (i.e. decide if to manage in-house or refer) and care for long term, chronic, conditions.  I sometimes get the impression that many regard any sort of medical condition or injury as not terribly important if it isn’t both acute and dramatic.  And people couldn’t be more wrong. Unattended and unmanaged, many chronic conditions are only diagnosed when too much damage has been done for that damage to be reversible (Type II Diabetes Mellitus comes to mind).

From your description, it certainly sounds like you have a top notch GP!

I am surprised that you didn’t mention “the black dog“ to your GP. Depression comes in many forms and most types are eminently treatable. But the first step is to find out what sort of of depression it is (e.g endogenous or reactive for a start) and that only can be done by a dispassionate professional (self diagnosis of psychological and psychiatric conditions is definitely Not A Good Idea).

 

Anyway, good to hear that you are being “sorted out”

10 hours ago, JohnDMJ said:

My triple hernia (by keyhole) and my first and third endoscopies were under general anaesthesia.

Not everywhere is at the cutting edge of medical and surgical practice!

I can understand why the Herniorrhaphy/hernioplasty would be done under a general anaesthesia (although “local“ is frequently used nowadays, even for this sort of surgery). As for endoscopies  it all depends on the preference of the doctor.  Use of a  “light anaesthesia“  is not uncommon and is basically enough happy juice to make you doze off and really not care too much about what goes on in the world!

9 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

….Anything really serious such as the results of a human interface with the wrong part of a train was almost inevitably well beyond First Aid level.

I think I had only completed my paramedic training and started on the job by a few days when we were called to manage the aftermath of a drunk teenager being hit by a freight train.  My senior colleague was first to go under the wagon where the body was after the train came to a stop and came out to report to us that it would be a fairly easy job as “he’s not broken up too bad“!

9 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

I suppose that as a 6ft 3in ex-rugby player and fast jet pilot who has no problem with the sight of blood, even his own, and has watched with interest operations he was undergoing on a monitor whilst on 'local' anaesthetic, that I must be unusual then? Unless the theory is, shall we say, a load of cobblers?

 

Dave

Could be Dave, could be.

Of course, like the military, the medical profession has its own insider Black humour and - definitely politically incorrect - shorthand for describing problematic individuals (in the medical profession, of course, such individuals are patients). My friend, and former GP, told me about something frequently used at A&E at the University of Basel hospitals: the Scumbag Index. The rating for which was obtained by multiplying the number of tattoos by the number of missing teeth. My friend adamantly maintains that it was an incredibly fast and accurate way of identifying “difficult” patients.

 

And on that inked and edentulous note I bid you a happy POETS day.

 

ID

p.s. Good to read that your father is slowly but steadily improving, Dave.

Edited June 18, 2021 by iL Dottore
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[chrisf]

Greetings one and all

 

There was a little flurry of activity yesterday.  Just before 11 am came the announcement that Bristol Pride is “postponed”.  It was not a total surprise but unwelcome nonetheless - although the possibility of my dodgy knee misbehaving in public has been avoided for the time being.  The weekend hotel booking was cancelled forthwith.  Pity: I had been looking forward to my first stay in a Holiday Inn.  Never mind: the Scalefour Society AGM is on the same day, if it goes ahead.  Leighton Buzzard is not as far from me as Bristol and I will not need a hotel.  That’s me trying to be positive in case gentle readers had not realised.

 

The other news from yesterday is that I have the date for my bone scan – 30th June.  I have to attend the Nuclear Medicine department for two things – a Nuclear Med injection at 10 am and a NM Bone Whole Body at 1.30 pm.  This is at the behest of Professor Oncologist.  I suspect he fears that the cancer is continuing to munch its way through my body.  Oh well, there is only one way to find out and that is it.  Apparently I will stay radioactive for 12 hours after the scan and must not have close contact with children under 12 and pregnant women.  No change there then.  In much larger print is the admonition to attend the appointment wearing a face covering.  It’s such a comfort to see that the authorities have got their priorities right.

 

Robert Erichill, if you have the black dog following you around your GP needs to know.  When I was diagnosed in 2005 I knew that something was wrong but I did not know what.  Fortunately my GP spotted it at once but coming to terms with it took rather longer.  The condition is far more widespread than the statistics would have us believe and the conditions under which we have all been living for the past 18 months or so have not helped.  It is easier for me to give advice than for you to take it, but never be afraid to ask for help. 

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris   

[polybear]

Only in the USA - what with so much gun crime n' all - they can't get a Firing Squad together:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-57496839

 

In other news:

Bear awaits the arrival of the Scaffolding Team today - I suspect they might just get a bit damp if the Met Office predictions are correct....

Whilst a certain South American company comes in for a lot of flak, Bear ordered a Washing Machine Isolation Valve at 1230 yesterday - and it was delivered same day (at 2030 to be precise).  Impressed.  It means that a certain Bear will be doing some plumbing this morning.