Tempus Fugit
Posted on Saturday 12th April 2008
My parents flew back to the UK yesterday after a 3 week holiday with us. It barely feels like they’ve arrived so we were rather sorry to see them go. In the interim they learned a great deal about the history and culture of Adelaide, tried the local produce - no it wasn’t just wine, we also introduced them to the Aussie traditional meat pie, wood-oven pizzas and some of the better local beers - and showed them indigineous flora and fauna.
While we packed as much into their time here, we did reserve a certain portion as “flop” time. After all the whole point of getting away is to relax, not return needing another break to get over your holiday! We also had a number of get-togethers so the respective (almost) in-laws could meet and get to know one another. It’s only been 7 years since Regan and I met, so it was about time! It was also nice to return the hospitality favour, since we’ve visited with them many times, yet never had them stay with us.
Now life must return to normal …. except it won’t really. In the next couple of weeks I will be undertaking my aeromedical orientation course so I can join the Mediflight team and go out on retrievals and first-responder calls. This involves learning how to manage a patient in the back of a helicopter and, worst of all, how to escape from one, while upside-down and underwater.
Speaking of underwater, I will soon be doing my full Open Water Scuba Certification. This means I can go anywhere in the world, hire some gear and jump in the water. It will come in useful when we return to the UK in September as I’m sure my sister is already planning a dive! I’ll post pictures of my in my newly bought gear and clutching my certificate as soon as.
Also of news is that I have sorted out work for next year. From Feb to August next year I will be working full-time as a Retrieval Service Registrar, which will mean a lot of time clocked up in the back of plane or helicopter ferrying sick patients round South Australia and sometimes further afield. Then for the second half of the year I will be back to the Royal Adelaide Hospital ICU to finish off my training. At some point in the year I hope to take the ICU Fellowship exam, but have a lot on my plate at the moment so this is in limbo.
So all in all, rather busy!
P.S.: The update notification mail-out system has bugs so may not work till I can fix it. Please check here yourselves in the meantime, as you may not receive emails about new posts.
