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13 July 2022 (Wednesday) - Another Road Trip

As I peered into the internet over brekkie I was presented with some memories. One of a really good weekend in Europe four years ago going to the geo-mega-event in France. And a rather sadder one – is it really a year since Terry died?

 

I scoffed toast, then drove out to Canterbury. There is a private hospital there and the hospital laboratory manager is someone with whom I used to work in years gone by. I actually turned her down in her first interview for a managerial position some twenty years ago. She has got some vacancies, and another mutual friend suggested I might like to apply. Taking the line that it never hurts to go have a look-see I went to have a look-see.

I was tempted by what I saw.

The department is much smaller than the one in which I currently work, and has (about) one per cent of the daily workload that I currently have. And with no A&E or maternity departments the place is entirely devoted to planned surgery. Consequently there is incredibly little scope for “brown alerts”; the bane of the life of any professional blood tester.

But…

The hours of work aren’t really what I had in mind. The place opens at half past eight in the morning and closes at six in the evening. The rest of the time the place is covered by an “on-call” system in which people are called in from home whenever they are needed (which isn’t often). I was told that he on-call system meant that (for all that I would rarely be called in) I would be expected to be available one night in every four, and one entire weekend each month.

Where I currently work the shift pattern means I have mornings off to walk the dogs, and early finishes to walk the dogs… and over a week’s more annual leave.

Oh well… it didn’t hurt to have a look-see.

 

From Canterbury I drove to Folkestone to see “Daddy’s Little Angel TM”, “Darcie Waa Waa” and Pogo. All were very well. I arrived to find “Darcie Waa Waa” had just had her nappy changed which was something of a result. I sat with her in my lap and Pogo nuzzling up against me for an hour before coming home.

 

“er indoors TM had arranged for an engineer to come to sort out the lights in the cooker hood which have never worked since the new kitchen was installed a couple oof months ago. After ten minutes the nice man announced that the motherboard was poggered, and that his office would be in touch.

 

As I waited for the engineer, and once he’d gone I watched some of Sky’s take on “The Midwich Cuckoos” until “er indoors TM came home. She boiled up a very good bit of dinner, and with it scoffed we cleared up the pee that Bailey peed all over the sofa (who’d have dogs?) then watched the first episode of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds”. It was rather good…

 

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