It makes me so mad

Besides feeling close to the bear I have always felt something special for the wolf. It is as I have a conection to these two wild animals.

As of 1st January a legal hunt has been for 27 wolfs even thou there are only around 250 in Sweden. The hunt lasted less than a week and there has been no selection what so ever. Instead of killing old or sick animals they have shot at any wolf seen. How many that has been shot but not died there is no record of.

I have hated this hunt since I found out about it. I know, farmers do get cattle killed (even if it is very seldom/extremly rare) but they also get a contribution from the government to install wild life safe fences.

I think I really “lost it” when I found out that not far from here they killed a Alfa couple with puppies, puppies that now have to survive alone in the coldest winter we have had for a very, very long time with – 30C in some places around Gävle. The female wore a radio collar.

The photo was found on http://www.rovdjur.se/

The first anniversery

A year ago I started this blogg and to be honest I wasn’t sure that I still would be writing a year later. I have to admit that I posted more frekvently in the beginning than I am now.

I read through the post I wrote a year ago and I have to admit that what I hope for not has been done. Well, a couple things have almost happened:
- I didn’t go to London I November but I have booked a trip in May. I have bought an entrance ticket to Chelsea Flower Show on the 29th. I hope the weather Gods are with me and lets the sun shine.

- The kitchen hasn’t been remodelled – yet. Beside me on the floor are the tiles, wallpaper and paint and on Thursday the “kitchen” itself is coming. If the builders don’t turn up on the 18th January ,,, well, I am most certainly going to say a few things that can’t be printed.

- I have gained, not lost, some weigh which isn’t very fun. However, two years ago I took the decision to do something about my weight and in a few months I lost almost 15 kg. I have decided to do the same thing again. I know it will be tough, I’m going to miss my evening snack, chocolates etc. This added to that I have already started to go to work during weekends to do some training (today I walked/jogged at a speed of 7km/hour for 30 min) and will start to “Zumba” in a few weeks time makes me hope that I’ll turn the negative weight situation to something positive. Perhaps I should keep some sort of diary this time?

- I wrote one chapter after editing the two I had then it all ended. It’s silly really since the story is ready in my head, all it needs is to get down on paper.

- My illness hasn’t behaved at all this year and has given me a lot grief. I know that compared to what other people have/got it’s nothing to talk about but it is my reality. I hope for next year that my health takes a positive turn. I am going to go back to the doctor at least one more time for a “check up” and can only pray that they now think I’m well enough. I don’t think I can handle any more experimenting with my medicine. I think it works fine right now. Also I don’t want to have a meting like the last one, it was so unnecessary. It could have been done by phone to be honest, instead I had to go there with all the anxiety it means. It’s almost feels like a “good” patient to train interns on.

- I still lack in the being better friends department too I’m afraid, even if I feel I’m a little better that before.

All in all 2010 can only be better …

So a year from today I hope to write about
- a new kitchen and perhaps even a bathroom
- London
- a good health year
- a finished story
- more Hoya plants - and much more

So sad

At 3 am some idiot put a light to our billy goat, making it go up in flames. I just can’t understand why this needs to happen each year, why people can’t see it for the Christmas symbol it is. I guess it’s fun to see if you get caught (which only has happened ones) and if you are drunk I guess it’s a fun challenge to get and take.

At the same time as it burned down the webcam’s places around it went down and when they came up again the goat was burnt.

It’s so so sad.

The first photo is found on Wikipedia, Swedish version, the second photo is from the newspaper today.

White Christmas

With just a few more days before Christmas and with snow and minus degrees predicted I think I safely can say that the whole of Sweden will for the first time in many years have a white Christmas.

In Gävle we have had snow for nearly a week now with degrees down to -13 C. However I woke up this morning as the news on the radio told me that in Trelleborg, where my parents live and almost as south as you can get in Sweden, tanks were placed beside the ambulances ready to leave is an emergency happened. People were warned to go outside and definitve drive on the roads. Still the news showed cars on the roads, in trouble.

As the snow is still falling I guess my collegue might have a hard time to drive to work as she lives about 45 minutes drive from Gävle. I guess I should start preparing my mind that I'll be cancelling her patients first thing tomorrow morning. And that I'll be ploughing through the snow myself.

Now if I just could remember what I had booked in my calender myself ...

kitchen update

After all the setbacks with my kitchen it has now slowly started to get going.

The kitchen itself was ordered in October and will be delivered in January, last Saturday I ordered the tiles and wallpaper (today I got a call telling me that the wallpaper has arrived), and Monday I ordered the floor and that will turn up on the 14th January.

And today – I got my new stove home.

It doesn’t fit; it’s not even supposed to fit, as the plane was that it wasn’t to be installed until the kitchen was in place. And it is not the stove I once ordered. I have learned a lot during the past months especially about stoves. The oven has got, and this I didn’t know until I looked in the instruction book, a pizza/pie function and two sorts of grill functions besides the ordinary warm air and heat function. I think my stove and I are going to have some great moments together. The fancy display the first stove had isn’t there but who cares. Just because it’s fancy doesn’t mean it’s functional, and who knows it might just have been one of those things that looks good but works like crap.

However I am happy that I did do my saffron buns Sunday as I’m sure it will take some time before my new friend Electrolux and I are on the same waveline!

Another step closer to my holiday in London

Hotel is booked. Flight is booked. Today I have ordered a ticket to Chelsea Flower Show on my birthday and Ritz a few days earlier. Now I think I should start to check what the theatre market has to offer – even if I’ll get most of those tickets in London. Now that sounded like I would go every evening! I do know however that if there is a very special one that I want to see it might be better to pre-order it and take a chance.

Still ....

Another day closer to my London holiday

Isn’t it typical?

This should normally be a very busy period at work but it’s not. I have since the 1 December only seen 17 patients (compared to normally 24) I wouldn’t say so much I guess it was so that I have now finished all the paperwork I had laying on my desk, done some inventory among the disability equipment we rent, read the magazine I had etc. it’s getting boring and the worst part is that the rest of the month don’t look any better, with one exception: I’m going to have, nearly every day, a evaluation/testing of possible dementia. Those sessions create paperwork and right now I’m happy for that!!

I guess I should try to remember today when I have more than I barging for in a few months time.

And the situation will toughen up. From the first of January a new health care system starts in Sweden, meaning that we all shall have picked a health care centre. The health care centre will get a certain sum of money, based on several things population aged being one. What the politicians have been thinking of here in Gävle I don’t know but basically it is like this that if you are young and in no need of medicinal care you have “top status” aka it’s you everyone want to have listed at the centre since you will bring money and not cost anything. Having said that you might have guessed that even if the same system “rules” over Sweden the containes is different.

My company will continue with the two health care centres they have in Gävle but the economy prognosis isn’t too good. Having said that I mean it’s not that we are going to close but we won’t expand either. Rehab is, for instance, a huge cost factor for them and we are in for some changes. As an OT there isn’t any too way to bring in some extra patient points either, instead we will have to think twice or three times before handing out equipment. We will always put our patients well being first but if it can be done with equipment that cost less but are equally good well than that’s what we have to give them. In Gävle it has for many years been so that the patients have to pay for certain things themselves. We can lend for a short period of three months and then under certain situations. These situations and the length of time have sometimes been floating but during the past year we have already started to “stiffen” things up a little and more is to come. Now everything isn’t as black as it may seem. We have lots of ideas of how we are going to extend the service to the population we serve. We are as prepared as we can get.

I’m more worried about things that I can’t do anything about. For instance has the director for the community heath care centres already declared that her health care centres will be allowed to continue as they are now, and during next year prepare for 2011. Hummm, their economy is really, really bad today. How isn’t it going to be if they don’t do anything? And it’s my tax money they are spending!! How can you compete against someone who continues spending money and give what the patient demands while we have to find solutions to the problem and perhaps suggest something equally good but not what the person wanted?

Competition- you might wonder, well in a way it is as anyone who wants and can full fill the qualifications can start a health care centre, even I. However for there are just so many people to enlist so we have to “compete” and win will be listed patients.

In a way I feel sorry for the staff. I know that we are a much better prepared here as we always have been involved and informed of our economy status and how things are/can be effected if something is done. Also we have been a slim organisation from the beginning. We are prepared and used to work in a high tempo. I still have colleagues in the community health care centres that think that 2 patients/day is OK. The demands on us are not that hard as a fulltime OT should have at least 20 patients/week (the problem now is low “input”). I think they might have a really hard wake up.