Vic Fires - Can't Sleep on Standby

So I am on standby to head to Vic to assist with St John Ambulance - can't sleep and am listening to radio online. Its devastating and to possibly be there by tomorrow night is scary but I am willing to do anything to help.

Vomit - A job definition.

Vomit - I am officially over it.
When I first was nursing it didn't seem to worry as much - that and my first job was working in a gynae/oncology ward which was rife with PONV (Post-op nausea and vomiting).
Now in my emergency nurse catch, dispose, antiemetic = no more vomit life I can't seem to tolerate it as much. I tend to get the green around the gills feeling every time now.
Perhaps its the patients attitude. They expect you to catch it, wipe their faces, rub their backs and talk nice - then don't even apologise that it has been delivered on your shoes, up the wall or over the bed.
Might be a motivating factor for the career change - it will still be there but if I see it I certainly won't have to touch or clean it up. Bliss!

The Year of the Blog

Obvious by now that I have an on again - off again relationship with blogs I have found this one from 2 years ago.

What hasn't changed since then:

• I don't own an AIBO but I still want one - oh and yes the price has appreciated.
• I still don't do freaky email.
• I still look like me.

What has changed since then (besides being able to find blog that I had lost):

• I work somewhere else - namely an emegency department, no longer with snotty nose school kids.
• I am applying for medicine next year.
• I own a house.
• My credit card debt is higher than ever.
• I have another blog, dedicated to my journey from RN to Dr, hosted on Medstudentsonline which has had far more posts and readers (prob about 5 people...) than this blog has ever had. Find it here.

Why did I find my lost blog? 1. I still love the diaryesque idea of putting ones words on cyberpages and distributing them out there for the world to read. 2. I was reading a awfully hilarious blog of another emergency nurse and realised I too had stories to tell. 3. It probably still is the best way to get my up to date life across to people - if I keep it up to date! 4. I think I actually can write - which is funny cause I am nowhere near as quick thinking when I speak - I had to laugh at myself reading my last I lost my blog post.

So check out my other blog, encourage me, laugh and catch up - 2009 may yet become the year of the blog

My Desktop Picture!

I was looking at my desktop picture intently just then so I thought why not share the love and you can stare at it intently too.

Now how is that for a beautiful bunch of people - thats a group photo for CanTeen National Camp back in January taken at Roma St Parklands in Brisvegas. Now do a where's wally to find me...hehe.

Anyways off to play a touch of Warcraftie goodness - Its Alexandia - Kul Tiras - Alliance!!

Ciao

Dreaming of AI

Ok so I have this long time obsession with robotics and gadgets. I was fortunate enough to spend some time at my local Unis robotics lab just playing around (of note thier big hydralic powered spider!). I own a Mindstorms 2 Set and have spent many hour at play with it, I also have a R2-D2 Mindstorms robot. So what kind of tech buff would I be if I didn't own the pinacle of AI achievement at least by todays standards - a Sony AIBO. Yes I have wanted one of these for a while now...seemingly cost was the biggest factor but now I have others to face, notably availability. Thats right last year Sony decided that they would halt their production line of robotic dogs (they say to produce their home consumer line - ?walking talking Discmans?) which is kind of a shame because its really the only product in its class (its a big class) which actually had penetrated the market and could be found in many peoples homes as you guessed it a dog replacement. Ok so its not fluffy and no can't lick you but it appeals to me as it doesn't smell, won't make a mess and it contains a computer of course. In fact a Mind 3 AIBO can perform many a miraculous thing e.g. facial recognition, record its own blog, play music, read the news and be your alarm clock. Not to mention come when its called, learns tricks and charges itself. The facial/image recognition gets me - it will after it looks at me recognise not only my face but that I am its primary caregiver and upon much learning I could even show it a photo of what music I want to listen to and it will begin to play it. It grows - from a puppy to a mature adult bot and beyond with a bit of software programming. People around the world have taught them to do things that were never in the instruction manual like ascending and decending stairs. Its what they call an Autonomous Robot and yes it is the pinnacle of market in terms of availability to the everyday person (NASA might have better)
Yes all this does come at a price - in fact the most recent Auction I saw was for $2000 Aud but is it worth it? Well considering the price may actually appreciate - I suppose so.
What would I do with my AIBO? Besides having it as my robotic companion, I think I would like to use it to teach children about robotics and for it to make friends with special kids through my volunteering...the applications are limitless.

Ok so I lost my last Blog

I am turning a new leaf - and creating a new blog. Its not like I deliberately lost the last one (I could find it if I tried!) and I wasn't very good at posting on it anyways. So during my recent frolics in the land with no physical space (the internet...) I have grown envious with the amount of people with blogs so I am yet again going to put my life in cyber-writing. Yes I have a myspace account, and yes I don't use it - I have a few friends on there but its all so generic and I don't have time to make it work for me (if you really want to have a look its at http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendID=126373136)
So the plan is for me to blog, blog and blog some more - why? Well not only to benefit myself as I can look back over some of the absurd things I have written but well to benefit people I know so they can keep up to date on me and to a lesser extent to benefit people I don't know (FYI - I don't do freaky emails or messages)
So thats about it really - feel free to post, comment or even set up your own blog and link it to mine. Its all abou that 6 degrees of separation stuff!!

Hugs - Cara