The start of an interesting journey...

Hello.

Welcome.

Let's get the show on the road...

This week has been a week of all sorts of things...

First of all, my son (and his girlfriend) was visiting and I got to see him a bit while he was in town. It is always good to see him when he visits because he's his own man now and we have a good understanding now. He is still enjoying life in the RAF and I am still immensely proud of him. It was particularly nice to have a family dinner with My son, his girlfriend, our daughter and us... I am now looking forward to the next visit.

As I mentioned last week, I started a few shadow shifts, at the care home, this week but I ended up phoning them because I was waiting for the call... but it didn't come. I think that there were crossed wires and we were both expecting to be called. Anyway... I have now shadowed an early shift and a late shift and already know that I have made the right choice in my career direction... the care system needs all the help it can get.

I have shadowed some lovely people and have been able to do certain tasks... but no personal care yet; that will come after I have had my induction training this coming week.

I have already seen a wide spectrum of dementia symptoms and have really had to think about how I should react... but when I have had the opportunity to step in and help, it has been truly rewarding. I can safely say that spending time in the company of some of the residents has been a joy and I am really looking forward to being able to help them through their care needs. There are also challenging aspects of dementia care but I will have a lot of help and guidance at my disposal so I should be able to cope. I could say that I should have done it years ago but I think that these opportunities come along when you most need them and I think that I am old enough to cope now... I think that I am in a better place, now that I have more life experience. Obviously, other people will have different ideas but for me, I think that I would have struggled if I had decided to do this earlier in my life.

So that means that I will get induction training this coming week and will be starting work, proper, the week after. Obviously, I won't be left to it... I will always have someone with me but I will be able to help with everything and get used to how to do things properly.

Am I tired? YOU BET!

After almost two years of being a domestic technician (staying at home... pottering about... doing a few chores and a bit of DIY...), spending 7 hours on my feet was a bit of a culture shock... and it didn't help that I was looking forward to it so I haven't had the best sleep. When I got home at 22:00hrs last night, I was shattered... but in a good way. Luckily, I only have three days on the training and after that, four days off before a string of early shifts. Then it will just be a case of getting back into the swing of things again.

It is also good that the Care Home that I have chosen to join is run by a charitable, not for profit, organisation so it fits into my 'post military' agenda quite nicely.

Speaking of charities, I have also been doing a little bit of charity stuff with Marie Curie and have raised £110.00 through a little raffle that I ran and once the cheque was written, I went and counted a bunch of charity boxes with the committee chairperson; as part of my treasurer's role. It's now paid into the bank as well. Here's a link to Marie Curie, just in case you wish to learn more about the great work they do:

Marie Curie Link

Hobby wise, things have been very slow. When you are waiting for 'real life' things to happen, the motivation to spend time on a hobby wanes a bit... but that said, I have managed to get a little bit more paint on my Demiurg Earth Guild Drones. These are just the unfinished ones from the unit of ten, that I showed last week. As you can see, they are starting to all look similar:

Click the Pic!

I still have knees, eyes, 'back tubes' and 'head tubes' to paint but I am doing little bits at a time so that I don't get bogged down. 

I have ordered some paint from Hasslefree Miniatures and am awaiting its arrival. Without it, I will have no green for my Earth Guild Drones... hopefully, it will turn up soon but I am not in any immediate rush and realise that Hasslefree Miniatures were hit by floods and have had quite a bit of clearing up to do.

I have a strong feeling that I won't get much hobby time this coming week but I guess only time will tell.

Well... that's it for this week.

See you from the letter-box!