Activity weekend
All sorts this weekend. Started early as A and I had the day off to go Skiing. This is because the indoor ski dome place in Milton Keynes runs three hour beginner lessons but the availability is really bad. We needed to go before April and when I booked in mid Feb there were no places left on weekend courses that were before our deadline. We had to book a weekday morning. Anyway we were a little bit late (35mins) and the receptionists were really down on our chances of the instructors letting A join the class. I tried to remain calm and just about did but I fuming underneath. Of course the instructors didn't mind and A joined the class which was lead by the oldest ski instructor in the world. I was delighted to see A snow plowing down the slope at half a mile an hour within 30 seconds of her standing on skis. She really enjoyed it and put it all down to the excellent teacher. She also had a laugh with the others in her group. I suspect that A has just got the point of skiing which is that it is for fun and that competition isn't what its about at all. Needless to say when we get to the Alps I am sure she will love it.
Friday night I spent at K as the surgical reg on call and my worst nightmare occurred. Sorry I can't be specific here. There is a massive gap in provision for this one problem. Its the same in most district general hospitals. K being no exception. It leaves the doctors on the ground watching someone bleed to death and being able to do nothing about it except fill them up again and hope it stops. I managed to keep this woman alive until I handed over to the daytime team. I was a massive effort and I used up a good portion of the hospital's supply of blood products. I phoned every tertiary referral centre who were all very helpful but none would take her without an investigation I and everyone else present in the hospital could not actually do. The consultant who can do this investigation arrived in the morning. I hope she managed to get to definitive management. The plans to centralize specialist interventions will lead to more of this crap.
I slept most of Saturday and in the evening we went out to dinner with one of A's friends. This lady has being going to some form of group therapy and organizing this evening out was part of her treatment plan. If A had told me this before I went I would have definitely refused to go. My heart sank when she whipped out some self help literature during the main course. But in fact it was quite interesting and the lady herself is so pleasant and funny you couldn't help but join in and suggest different ways of meeting her targets. I ended up drinking a bit more than the others and possibly was a bit loud. However I figured at least I don't have a powerpoint presentation and handouts for everyone so I can probably get away with it.
Sunday we went up to visit my cousin J and her partner M for lunch. It was smashing and I'm not just saying that because they will be reading this. Roasted Jerusalem Artichokes were there amongst the usual Sunday roast veg and were really interesting smelt wonderful with a really earthy taste. The chicken was lovely and J's nutroast acted as a really nice stuffing substitute especially because it was quite spicy. I am toying with the idea now of making a chicken dish stuffed with a spicy version of traditional stuffing. Probably a boned chicken joint rather than a whole bird then you could slice it and have the stuffing running through the middle. I remain very impressed with J's plans to become a plumber and I am sure it will make her fortune in the future. Lioness Plumbers all female plumbing cooperative or something like that. I can see the fleet of pink vans and matching dungerees now. Free pink sink plunger with every callout.
However on the way home events turned for the worse. I was low on petrol and not knowing where the nearest station was headed for the main road back towards London thinking I would come across one. I was wrong.
We were going uphill. It was quite a steep one the car started spluttering. I knew if we crested the hill and were going down the other side the petrol would get to the engine again and the station would be just over the hill surely. We were so close to the brow of the hill but it just died. What's more we were in a single lane section of roadworks and so we were blocking the whole thing and causing a tailback. I could have cried. I pulled off the road onto the soft verge as much as I could. A asked "are we braking down" I said "we've run out of petrol" A said "really?" I screamed "YES!" and stormed off to get fuel stupidly leaving my mobile phone in the car. Anyway in fact there wasn't a petrol station just over the brow of the hill or indeed the next or the next hill. I asked directions from an old lady who told me to carry on in the direction I was going. I did but after half an hour's trudging still no station. Then I asked another local who told me I had been going in completely the wrong direction. All in all it took about an hour and a half to get back to the car with fuel. I was knackered and my feet were killing. A had been worried. There had been no working payphones to call her from.
Now that I have the fuel can, I am debating whether or not to keep it full. It's probably illegal. I have only ever run out of petrol twice in my life including this time. Perhaps not.
Friday night I spent at K as the surgical reg on call and my worst nightmare occurred. Sorry I can't be specific here. There is a massive gap in provision for this one problem. Its the same in most district general hospitals. K being no exception. It leaves the doctors on the ground watching someone bleed to death and being able to do nothing about it except fill them up again and hope it stops. I managed to keep this woman alive until I handed over to the daytime team. I was a massive effort and I used up a good portion of the hospital's supply of blood products. I phoned every tertiary referral centre who were all very helpful but none would take her without an investigation I and everyone else present in the hospital could not actually do. The consultant who can do this investigation arrived in the morning. I hope she managed to get to definitive management. The plans to centralize specialist interventions will lead to more of this crap.
I slept most of Saturday and in the evening we went out to dinner with one of A's friends. This lady has being going to some form of group therapy and organizing this evening out was part of her treatment plan. If A had told me this before I went I would have definitely refused to go. My heart sank when she whipped out some self help literature during the main course. But in fact it was quite interesting and the lady herself is so pleasant and funny you couldn't help but join in and suggest different ways of meeting her targets. I ended up drinking a bit more than the others and possibly was a bit loud. However I figured at least I don't have a powerpoint presentation and handouts for everyone so I can probably get away with it.
Sunday we went up to visit my cousin J and her partner M for lunch. It was smashing and I'm not just saying that because they will be reading this. Roasted Jerusalem Artichokes were there amongst the usual Sunday roast veg and were really interesting smelt wonderful with a really earthy taste. The chicken was lovely and J's nutroast acted as a really nice stuffing substitute especially because it was quite spicy. I am toying with the idea now of making a chicken dish stuffed with a spicy version of traditional stuffing. Probably a boned chicken joint rather than a whole bird then you could slice it and have the stuffing running through the middle. I remain very impressed with J's plans to become a plumber and I am sure it will make her fortune in the future. Lioness Plumbers all female plumbing cooperative or something like that. I can see the fleet of pink vans and matching dungerees now. Free pink sink plunger with every callout.
However on the way home events turned for the worse. I was low on petrol and not knowing where the nearest station was headed for the main road back towards London thinking I would come across one. I was wrong.
We were going uphill. It was quite a steep one the car started spluttering. I knew if we crested the hill and were going down the other side the petrol would get to the engine again and the station would be just over the hill surely. We were so close to the brow of the hill but it just died. What's more we were in a single lane section of roadworks and so we were blocking the whole thing and causing a tailback. I could have cried. I pulled off the road onto the soft verge as much as I could. A asked "are we braking down" I said "we've run out of petrol" A said "really?" I screamed "YES!" and stormed off to get fuel stupidly leaving my mobile phone in the car. Anyway in fact there wasn't a petrol station just over the brow of the hill or indeed the next or the next hill. I asked directions from an old lady who told me to carry on in the direction I was going. I did but after half an hour's trudging still no station. Then I asked another local who told me I had been going in completely the wrong direction. All in all it took about an hour and a half to get back to the car with fuel. I was knackered and my feet were killing. A had been worried. There had been no working payphones to call her from.
Now that I have the fuel can, I am debating whether or not to keep it full. It's probably illegal. I have only ever run out of petrol twice in my life including this time. Perhaps not.
posted by Phil at 1:11 pm
2 Comments:
The hilarious thing about this was that we ran out of petrol just when I was on the phone to RM & wife - who were telling us to avoid the road we were on at all costs, as they had been stationery stuck in traffic for two hours!
They were tickled pink at the thought of us being stationery, just like they were - by our own doing.
I managed to do quite a lot of meditation, so was actually quite pleased with myself, but just got grumpy when we got home due to the late bedtime arrangements. I think there are a few lessons here:
1) Sat Nav is more important than a DAC or dishwasher (especially if it's got where petrol stations are on it)
2) Always remember your mobile phone, especially in an emergency
3) Sleep is more important than computing or work
4) Get Morganised - and stay one step ahead of the bastards at all times - preferably not running out of petrol while you're on the phone to them travelling at speed down the A40.
What a nightmare! My 2cv didn't have a (working) petrol gauge so I used to panic about running out all the time. It only happened once though. Just about where you were, by the sounds of it. And I didn't have my mobile phone.
I am pretty sure you are not supposed to keep petrol cans full. If they get hot they can go bang.
I am very happy indeed when anyone likes my nut roast! It's like my personal crusade... if you want the recipe you can find it here
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