Carmelo Alongi

Carmelo Alongi is a student who has just started his training at University with the London Ambulance Service to become an EMT and eventually a Paramedic. Hopefully this blog will allow an interesting insight for everyone into the process of training tomorrow's Paramedics, and a chronicle of my life as I progress. I blog under this name as a tribute to my Italian Grandfather, Carmelo Alongi.

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Lucy Did Good.

I passed my C1. I'm happy, as I only got 6 minors, not bad considering the actual test is an hour long. I didn't crash either.

One step up the ladder I suppose.

About next week, as I'm sure I've already mentioned about 48 times that's when I start "properly" . I think I shall post once every day to show you all what's happening, I'll hopefully grab a couple of photos to put up too.

I feel like I'm flying as high as the kite I'm flying...

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

As Lucy and I trundle round London..















As I drive around London in this Van, I think about just how much I'm enjoying it. I must admit I do secretly pretend I'm driving something big and yellow, although in a way I wish I wasn't as it looks bloody hard.

I'm starting to appreciate just how hard it must be driving something this big through heavy traffic on Blues.

Although one thing you learn driving something so big is just how responsible you have to be, motorbikes and cyclists have a terrible habit of creeping up the inside on both sides of the road, so I try not to squish them. Its actually really nice to drive, the steering is light and the clutch is good. I also like the driving position, when I get back into my Golf after driving Lucy for 4 hours my Car feels like nothing more than a souped up go-cart. My test is lined up for tomorrow, *hopefully* I'll do fine. I do not enjoy retakes of any kind.

I look forward to next week....















This photo acts as a good metaphor for how close I feel to actually starting, I'm about 20 meters away from the front door of HQ. I'm 4 days from starting training. One is a short walk, one is a short wait.

I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As is clearly demonstrated I haven't lost an ounce of enthusiasm.

Sunday, September 24, 2006

September.


What has September brought for me?
  • Daddy Long Legs for a start.
  • The Fair, and all the associated smells of vomit mixed with candy floss, burgers and beer topped with the screaming antics of drunken teenagers.
  • The end of a long summer of fun spent with the Missus.
  • My first shot of Sambucca.
  • My first day at University.
  • New shoes!!!
  • Lots of new people.
  • A new determination to get fit.
  • A sense of how young I am.
  • A sense that despite being young, I'm reasonably mature.
  • Driving through London for the first time.
  • Getting to grips with driving in London.
  • Getting lost in London in my car.
  • Finding my way again.
  • Me fixing my MP3 player.
  • Lots of rain.
  • Lots of sun.
  • Wind!
  • A new exhaust for my car.
  • A wealth of knowledge gained by reading any one of the many blogs to the right.
  • A realisation that I use far too many bullet points in posts at the moment.
  • An intention to stop using aformentioned bullet points.
  • A very interesting spell in Control.
  • My first sit in an Ambulance.

I'm sure there was lots more, but it's been quite an eventful month so far. I've been lonely, been happy, been angry and been intrigued. Its only the 24th.

Its nice to be able to reflect, isn't it?

Friday, September 22, 2006

Free Money!

  • I love free money. So much. So its great to see that in the post this morning my University has decided to give a £150 bursary. Great!
  • My bank has finally gotten off its arse and started the process of sending me my 10 free CDs.
  • I start my C1 driver training on Monday, with my test scheduled for Thursday.

  • Apparently the Missus has just been in a (small) car crash, she wasn't driving but I understand everyone in the car is pretty shaken up, but not hurt.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

LAS Education and Development of Me.

I start at a training centre in South London on October the 2nd, at 8:30. I finish at 16:30, and then repeat the same process till Friday. Tis a long week. Also a fitness test on the 3rd, but I'm not sweating about it (get it?!) as I feel fit as a fiddle at the moment, having only yesterday ran from my Halls to Wimbledon and back, a good 5 miles I reckon.

It all feels a bit like joining the army:
  • "when reporting for duty"
  • "Operational Uniform"

Lots of militaristic terms were being thrown about in the letter I received. The countdown has begun. Carmelo is actually, really, 100% doing it. Who would of thought that?

Diary Entry Part Two

Here's part two of my diary. Wordy I know, sorry.

My Diary Entry (Part two of two)

Well after last week’s heavy events I’m pleased to say that this week has been much more light-hearted. As to whether this is because the “guy” mentioned last week has been ignoring me or not is something I ponder. I suspect it has something to do with him reading the last entry; he hadn’t started his diary yet and was looking for “inspiration”. Of course I had nothing to hide, and let him read my entry. I wasn’t afraid to let him read it, why should I hide my opinion?

Well I saw him read the first page, but that was all he could stomach. He left immediately, and the worst thing was I didn’t feel the slightest bit guilty. I feel I can only truly express myself through my writing; it’s defiantly my preferred medium of communication. Its part of the reason I keep my Blog online (no URL I’m afraid, I need secrecy), it allows me to comment on things in a way that I can never do in real life. In a way it allowed him to see a clear slice of my point of view, undiluted by the niceties and rules of etiquette experienced in normal life. After that I pretty much left the issue to lie, as I haven’t really been bothered by it.

However, one thing I have been bothered by this week is how young I feel. Initially, being one of the youngest on the course made me feel proud that LAS and the University had picked me, but increasingly it’s becoming a subject of concern to me. Everybody seems to have so much more experience than me, in everything. I dislike immensely feeling like I don’t have the wisdom of age behind me, I feel in a way I’m missing a key part of getting me through this job. On the other hand though, I have no intentions of wishing my life away. I may be young, but that’s not my fault is it? I think the best way to get through this is to hush up and start listening to others. It’s a strange position that I’m in at the minute, being fully aware of how naïve I am, but being unable to do anything about it. I’m definitely too young to start worrying about varying levels of consciousness.
I also believe that my youthfulness may be a help. My enthusiasm for this course remains unabated, despite the others seeming to have a slight lull in concentration as what we are doing at the moment isn’t directly linked to ambulances. In a way that makes me feel mature about various things we do, as I seem to be the only one in the room at times who seems genuinely interested. Again, being patient as I am is a skill I feel quite proud of being so young, so maybe this youth business isn’t all bad, and anyway I don’t pay income tax. So ha.

Writing this without touching too much on the forthcoming essay is difficult, as the series of presentations we saw gave me a great deal to reflect on. I think here I shall reflect on the personalities of people in the group, as the essay is a more formal affair where I’m restrained somewhat. So, let’s begin.
First point, I have even more respect for nurses than I did before. My mother has been a nurse her entire life, and is now on matron level, I suspect that’s the main reason I wanted to go into healthcare. The two guys on the course who are presently male nurses have my up most respect. I realise that male nurses are becoming more and more accepted into our culture, but they seem to still carry quite a burden of stereotype. I feel so envious of how they can work in a culture that seems to be dominated by a feminine view of things and still retain their masculinity. It also seems slightly odd and more to the point ironic that the culture they are going into now seems a much more masculine one, dominated by bad humour. Almost the reverse of where they are at the minute. Brave guys.

Second, and more important point. I get on with every single person. During my life I’ve tended to find I’m very much a person of poles, you either like me or hate me. To be fair I tend to do this to others, so it can only be expected back to me. Which is why I’m still astounded as to why everyone still seems to like me, and I still like them. I know in terms of real time we haven’t spent that much time together, but I feel we all have bonded well. Especially after last night at The Little House. I’ll leave it at I drunk a bit too much. Too much being a single pint. Also in a turn of events I didn’t see coming, the other group from SECAS joined in with us. Up till now I personally saw a slight divide forming, but I now can see that isn’t a problem, as they are a good bunch who seem to me just as fun loving as we are. Every time I leave the group to go back to my little room I think what a great group of people they are, and genuinely look forward to spending the next three years with them living my dream.

Well that’s it. My diary is complete. I’ve moved into University, met a great group, had deep religious debates, missed my girlfriend, eaten well and I now look forward to starting my ambulance module.

Monday, September 18, 2006

Little Old Me.

Its not often in life that I feel small, (being 180cm tall and weighing 97Kgs, metric I know but I can't work in imperial), so it was startling when it happened twice today.

  • First incident was in the car on a roundabout near Lord's Cricket ground. This giant green coach just didn't see me at all and nearly squished me inside my Golf against a wall! Its not like I crept up in his mirrors.

  • Second incident was on my bike, I'm still getting used to riding in London. This HGV again just didn't see me and nearly took me out with the rear end of his trailer, not fun I can tell you. I have a funny suspicion that I'll be attending lots of RTCs when I start doing shifts.

Also, a note to the fat lady in a BMW 5 series, number plate starting GIL 75, you are a silly, fat old hag whom has no right to beep incessantly at others when they don't let you into the lane you want. You were clearly in the wrong, and your Channel Sunglasses were obviously fake.

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Emergency Ambulance...

...what's the problem? Tell me exactly what happened. That's what I heard an awful lot yesterday. Let me explain a little.

Yesterday, myself, the Missus and a few guys from my group went to LAS control to have a look around, with the help of an EMD on the course, mentioned here.

It was incredible.
The room is divided into two sections, the call takers who take 999 calls and transfer requests, and dispatch the other side. London is broken down into sectors, each sector has its own desk for management. In addition to this is the FRU desk, they watch all the 999 calls come in and send a resource if they deem it appropriate. Lastly is the HEMS and biker desk, who again watch all the 999's come in and send help if needed. I never really understood how the bikes are tasked until now, they operate within a certain footprint of central London, and are sent if the dispatcher believes it will be beneficial for the patient to have early Paramedic intervention. This differs from the cars, as a lot of the time they're crewed by Techs as there simply isn't enough Paramedics to staff all the cars. The bikes have VERY loud sirens.

After staring in awe at the organised chaos before us, we were able to sit in with one EMD each and listen to the incoming calls on headsets. I was sat with a lovely lady named Helen. At first, which I was glad about, the calls were mostly transfer requests from wards and Doctor's urgents. First thing, they receive a lot more urgents than I thought they would. Also some of the injuries described by the Doctors sounded reasonably nasty, including an 80 year old lady who had a broken pelvis and arm, yet hadn't called for an ambulance. Another was a request from a ward to transfer a patient with Encephalitis. When Helen heard it she shot me a look of "what the hell is that?!", especially as they wanted a blue light transfer. Once the call had ended we looked it up in the medical dictionary, and discovered two things:

1. That Helen had spelt it right despite never hearing about it before
2. That Encephalitis is in fact swelling of the brain caused by a virus. Its actually quite rare and potentially lethal, obviously the nurse wasn't lying when she said she wanted a blue light run..

After a few requests to transport patients with various ailments, the 999 calls started coming.

My God.

People do not have a clue how to use the ambulance service. At all. In the slightest. A vast majority of the time most of the callers simply wanted a lift. There were two calls that stuck out to me as to genuinely needing an ambulance, one where a man was finding it so hard to breathe he could barely talk, the other where a girl had rang about her diabetic brother who was seemed like he was having a Hypoglycemic attack. The others were from reasonable nut cases, including a man who had banged his knee last night, decided that he had ruptured his ulcers, and wanted a wheelchair. He was sat in Euston station, and then proceeded to give us the most exact description of a person I had ever heard...right down to his army wings, explaining he was an ex-soldier. It also amazes me how most people seem to think throwing their entire medical history at the EMD seems to help matters, this guy starting talking about his GTN spray at which point both of our eyes lit up a little, but we both realised it nothing to do with the present call.

The one call that made me angry was the Hoax. This 16 year old girl gives a full address, contact number and name before starting giggling down the phone about her friend overdosing on something, before hanging up. The worst part was that Helen had to ring them back to confirm if they did or did not need an ambulance, which after some abuse to her they answered "No". Why do people do this?!

Well, while my calls weren't exactly nerve shredding stuff, it was typical that the Missus was sat the other side of the room listening in to every exciting thing happening in London, including a "suspended", where the EMD she was with was talking a man into how to give CPR, and a lady who was stuck in her car after trying to drive to hospital to give birth but started while on the way, in the driver's seat. Another call one of the guys got was a man who had a dog bite to the well, um er, you know..........ouch.

So after spending about 2 hours in EOC the EMD showed us round the ambulances and cars that were parked about. First we had a look inside the Zafira pictured below. It wasn't exactly reassuring that whenever the radio was pressed both the horn and blue lights came on.



The guys (excluding myself, the EMD and the Missus) in front of the dodgy car...

After that we had a look at a spare ambulance, prodding about in the back and front. It was very interesting, bigger than I expected too. I'm sure I'll have more time to dote on the interior details of ambulances later, so I won't bore you with it now.



(My first view from the cab of an ambulance in the passenger seat, I'll probably get bored of looking at it, but I want to savour the moment)

What a great day. I enjoyed myself so much, and sharing the experience with the Missus felt good too. She's now considering becoming an EMD as a career after Uni, bless her.

I learned an awful lot, about how useless the AMPDS system can be, how difficult it can be to understand what the hell people are saying, how stressful it can be, how much abuse EMDs get and how good it feels to hear someone who genuinely needs an ambulance get one. I now have the deepest respect for all EMDs, you guys do a fantastic job, despite having your hand's tied. So to Mark Myers at Nee Naw and Beaker at Not so Newbie at EOC, thank you so much for doing what you do, and despite all the crap you face everyday still being able to smile and be friendly. Cheers.


(This isn't the post all the swearing was about last time, I gave that up as a bad idea)

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Hell.

You know what? I just spent 45 bloody minutes typing a post, 45 BLOODY MINUTES, spilling my heart out and the bloody computer crashed. All of it gone. Completely. I'm now bloody ****** off. I'm off to sulk. Maybe tomorrow I'll try and retype it. Gr.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Religion vs. Science vs. My Conclusion.

Here's draft number two of that assignment I wrote:

I moved into my frankly dank and rather depressing room, and was feeling rather low, so was glad that the guy across from me was near the same age as me and doing the same course. We had similar tastes in music, and he seemed nice enough. We talked, and met up with a girl also on the course. After the classic student “take a beer and chill” session we decided to go exploring round Tooting.
First point of reflection, I apparently have no sense of direction at all. I always relied on having a good internal compass, yet still managed to get us very, very lost. We ended up 2 postcodes away with a good 3 miles between ourselves and Tooting high street. However, since this situation has occurred I have driven through London numerous times and got lost on purpose, but managed to find my way back on course without the use of maps. I’m reasonably happy to place this isolated incident into a “freak moment” category. I also suspect the addition of alcohol didn’t help all that much either.

Despite this, spirits were high and off we ventured, eventually ending back at the palace that is St. George’s Grove. Since the house is still empty, we occupied the common room, letting the TV fill the uncomfortable gap when we ran out of things to talk about. Until a programme regarding the war in Iraq came on. I made a flippant comment about how the Army was more of a religion than anything else, as the mindset to be able to kill a man was something that needed to drummed into the mind using a highly disciplined doctrine. I didn’t expect the guy I met to demand me to explain myself. I did, and in the process found out that he was a committed Christian. Meeting a person who is so devoted to one thing is a rare event in my life, so I began to ask him questions about his viewpoint on certain things, so I could be a bit more aware.

Classic clashes between science and religion, the theory of evolution, creation and of course aliens all flew into my line of questioning. He answered, but I wasn’t sure whether I was making him feel uncomfortable about the issues presented, his body language said he wasn’t exactly pleased, so I eased off.

In bed that night I reflected on the answers he gave me, and pondered them for some time. When I asked about his views of evolution, he simply stated God made animals and God made Human’s. That was his answer. I was desperate to start ranting to him about the reams of “apparent” scientific evidence, but I didn’t. Partly because I was biting my tongue so hard it bled a little, partly because I was stunned. His absolute conviction that it was a fact seemed near the far reaches of my comprehension. It seemed to him as real as fact that God made the earth in seven days as to me that it was a process that took billions of years.
However, the manner in which he presented it to me seemed slightly arrogant, and when I said that Christianity in general appeared occasionally arrogant, he seemed to care very little, almost reinforcing my view. I still don’t know what to quite think about it all, as I have no wish to insult him. I think the short answer to a long question is just to try and avoid the subject of religion, as views differ so much I can easily see why so many wars are started over it.

Yet on the other hand, I need to be able to reflect on this experience and draw something positive from it, instead of ignoring the issue completely. London is a town full of different views and religions, and I hate being ignorant. First port of call, a definition of “creation”:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creationism

Basically, “creationism is the active acceptance of an origin belief that humanity, life, the Earth, or the universe as a whole was specially created by a supreme being or by supernatural intervention”

So far, I don’t have a problem with that statement. I have no problems accepting that God or something similar created the world; I simply have a problem with ignorance. This ignorance I mention comes in the form of blind belief that some Christians display in terms of the development of the world (as outlined above). For instance I take the theory of evolution.

After 2 years of A-level biology, I see no real reason how this can be a theory, when it is simple enough to demonstrate it inside of a Petri dish with some Bacteria. When I mentioned this to the “guy”, he stated that natural selection was a fact, i.e. survival of the fittest, but that it was a separate issue to evolution. I felt somewhat confused, as he seemed to mean that God created the world X number of years ago, and it has since progressed on since then. This sounds an awful lot like evolution to me.
Yet something inside me says that despite the mounds upon mounds of evidence to suggest the world may have come about in a way stated other than in the Bible, committed Christians will never listen. I think the faith they have over rides all over elements, not so much “clouds their judgement” as it does completely dominate their view. That is something that I don’t think I can ever have. This isn’t something I can accept easily, but grudgingly, something that I must. I don’t feel that I can empathise with the view, as it so polar to my own.
Therefore, in the future, if and when this subject comes about again, I feel I can respond to arguments with a better backing of evidence behind me, but also an understanding of where the other party is coming from.

Realising this I know full well that I can’t change the other’s view, nor would I want to. This reflection and research simply gives me a better grounding on to which I can base and back up my own opinions, and has also clarified the matter for me in my own mind. I now feel I have a comfortable belief about the creation of the universe, one that seems to take into account both religious and scientific ideas. For me, both opposing forces hold the answers to the other’s question. Science can go as far back as it likes, and prove just how old the Universe is by measuring light many thousands of light years away, yet it can’t answer the simple question as to why it happened in the first place. For me, that takes a leap of faith. Yet on retrospect religion needs to heed science. My rational and logical mind sometimes screams out at the blind ignorance some people put in the name of belief. They ignore proof put before them, and it seems to me a somewhat waste of a mind, in a way.
As far as I can see the most powerful gift we have is the freedom to make up our own minds, not do so and rely on the propaganda of an institution alone seems, to me at least, slightly idiotic. People seem to be afraid of making up their own minds, and find comfort in having a higher authority do this for them. I do not.

So, my conclusion to this rant of mine?

I now have a strong idea in my mind about the origins of the Universe, a confirmation in my mind that it is my choice to make that decision and an understanding of another’s viewpoint on the matter. Not bad for my first week at University.


Sorry if anybody takes offense to this.

Monday, September 11, 2006

Is your Cactus dead yet?

Is the question the Missus has just asked me over a text message. How rude. I'm a vegetarian, of course I can look after a Cactus!

Well wasn't today fun. We sat in the classroom, and we learned all about various learning styles and the roles people take in teams (I'm a Chairman Plant, and an Active Theorist, both contradictions in terms). No really I actually enjoyed it, even if I must admit that I was playing devil's advocate with the lecturer simply for the fun of it. I also started getting to know my fellow students a bit better, and they are an absolutely stellar bunch. I like all of them, well those with LAS anyway.....
...as the other half of the group are with the South East Coast Ambulance Service, and have somewhat segregated themselves from "us lot". I don't really know them that well to be honest. Afterwards we sat in the Pub for about an hour talking.
Somebody mentioned about LAS blogs, only my friend knows that I do this out of that lot, so we both shot an interesting look at each other. I kept quiet, and that was the first time I felt a sense of anonymity about this whole "blogging" experience. Odd.
One of the guys works in Central Ambulance Control already, his stories were fantastic. He also occasionally goes out to drive crews about in trucks to keep up his blue light training in case he needs to drive control vehicles, so it was nice hearing about his experiences. Best of all on Friday he said he shall show us round CAC to see what its like inside, which is good as some of us and the Missus are meeting up to look around London on Friday too. I feel oddly content, yet I have a huge hole in my heart. Being away for so long from my Missus is hard, yet at the same time here I am pursuing my dream. Torn is a better word.

Saturday, September 09, 2006

The hindrances of Modern Technology.

You know occasionally when you do something so stupid you could hurt yourself? Guess what I did...


..This is a "self-scan" checkout. At our local superstore they've been installed for quite some time, and I've been using them fine. Until last night. I was about to pay for our goods using my Debit Card, fumbled and the stupid card feel into the machine!!! The next 15 minutes involved myself and the attendant attempting to dismantle the machine while the Missus stood there looking embarrassed. Did we find it? Of course not.

So off we went to customer services to leave my name and number, and we hear a shriek of excitement. The attendant comes running over waving a card in her hand, I'm thinking "GREAT!".

I then look at the card and realise that its an American Express Credit Card. Not mine. I sighed. And sighed again. Then proceeded to phone the bank, and have the card cancelled while a new one is sent to the bank near my University.

On Friday.

Looks like I'll be writing myself a few checks. I am living by the motto it could have been worse, and at least my money's safe. Also the fact that some other poor sap has obviously dropped their's into the machine too makes me feel slightly better.

Friday, September 08, 2006

I have Returned.

Well I'm back at home. Thing's weren't exactly "banging" at Uni so I came home a couple of days early, much to the delight of the Missus. I was over the moon to see her again, I missed her a lot. I'm still doing work though, planning for a presentation that myself and my partner are doing to the group in 2 weeks time. Gulp.
I booked my driving lessons and test, so the week starting the 25th of September I shall be driving this for a week, in anticipation of bright yellow things with blue lights:


(the van, not the man)
The problem is that is the week she starts Uni, studying Law. Her parents are off on holiday as is her twin, so she's scared of being alone. I'll try to be there as much as possible to support her, but I know she's strong inside.
Apart from that the Missus got me a University pack that consisted of a bottle of cider, holiday photo album and a cactus. I want to name the cactus something, but I'm not sure what. I suspect that the reason for the cactus was that's all she thinks I can deal with!
I was touched.
She also got a new ipod, and I am grudgingly starting to accept that itunes is quite a good bit of software. I hate being wrong.
I'm driving through central London Sunday back to my Halls, ready for a Monday start. I still stick to my original statement that London driving is bonkers.
Things are progressing.

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Wasted Journeys?

Well today my friend and I decided to try and find the training centre where we shall be, well, trained. Off we set this morning, ready for a long walk. We were following the green kite on my map that indicates an ambulance station. We walked and took the bus and eventually got there:

Bugger. No we didn't. I took us to the wrong green kite. I felt, to say the slightest, idiotic. Ah well. We asked inside and a very nice officer showed us the way on the map to the training centre, even walking out to the bus stop with us to show us which one to take. The bit that made me smile was when he said he was looking forward to seeing and working with us on placement.
Anyway, back on the bus and we did get there in the end:
We walked straight into the ambulance yard, I don't think we were allowed in either, which may explain the funny look the mechanic gave us.
On a more serious note, apparently us vege's are now fair game for eating:

Monday, September 04, 2006

Religion vs. Science vs. My confusion

I just wrote this for an assignment to do a diary entry (never thought that writing this would come in useful) and thought it was one of the better pieces I had written lately:


I moved into my frankly dank and rather depressing room, and was feeling rather low, so was glad that the guy across from me was near the same age as me and doing the same course. We had similar tastes in music, and he seemed nice enough. We talked, and met up with a girl also on the course. After the classic student “take a beer and chill” session we decided to go exploring round Tooting.
First point of reflection, I apparently have no sense of direction at all. I always relied on having a good internal compass, yet still managed to get us very, very lost. We ended up 2 postcodes away with a good 3 miles between ourselves and Tooting high street. Fantastic start. Despite this, spirits were high and off we ventured, eventually ending back at the palace that is St. George’s Grove. Since the house is still empty, we occupied the common room, letting the TV fill the uncomfortable gap when we ran out of things to talk about. Until a programme regarding the war in Iraq came on. I made a flippant comment about how the Army was more of a religion than anything else, as the mindset to be able to kill a man was something that needed to drummed into the mind using a highly disciplined doctrine. I didn’t expect the guy I met to demand me to explain myself. I did, and in the process found out that he was a committed Christian. Meeting a person who is so devoted to one thing is a rare event in my life, so I began to ask him questions about his viewpoint on certain things, so I could be a bit more aware.

Classic clashes between science and religion, the theory of evolution, creation and of course aliens all flew into my line of questioning. He answered, but I wasn’t sure whether I was making him feel uncomfortable about the issues, his body language said he wasn’t exactly pleased, so I eased off.
In bed that night I reflected on the answers he gave me, and pondered them for some time. When I asked about his views of evolution, he simply stated God made animals and God made Human’s. That was his answer. I was desperate to start ranting to him about the reams of “apparent” scientific evidence, but I didn’t. Partly because I was biting my tongue so hard it bled a little, partly because I was stunned. His absolute conviction that it was a fact seemed near the far reaches of my comprehension. It seemed to him as real as fact that God made the earth in seven days as to me that it was a process that took billions of years. The manner in which he presented it to me seemed slightly arrogant, and when I said that Christianity in general appeared occasionally arrogant, he seemed to care very little, almost reinforcing my view. I still don’t know what to quite think about it all, as I have no wish to insult him. I think the short answer to a long question is just to try and avoid the subject of religion, as views differ so much I can easily see why so many wars are started over it.

Addition: I do believe in "something", and inside I feel very spritual. There is more to life than exsisting. I'm also very sure that the Church is in general a good thing, it inspires good morals and examples to live your life by that are very good. I just don't see why religion and science can't sit happily together, they fill each other's gaps.

Science: The big bang happened don't know why. Duh God!

Religion: Earth in seven days. Fossil record. Skeletons. Carbon dating. Etc. Can't these things be God's work?!

Well here we go...

First day. Sorted. The people I met were varied and from every background, and not one I didn't like. We did a day of "learning how to learn", involving learning how to write in terms of reflective practice. It wasn't exactly riveting stuff, but I did find out that my first observational placement's start in about 6 weeks, I can't wait.

We were all excited to be there, its nice to be in a room full of people with whom you share a common interest.

Despite the fact that I was one of the youngest in the room, I didn't care. I'm here for me, and intend to enjoy the hell of a ride that I will experience as I carry on, despite the fact my room isn't great.

I'm here!!!!!!!

Sunday, September 03, 2006

Here I am..


Well. I'm here. That's the view from my bed. The people here are nice enough, I just feel homesick and I miss the Missus a lot too. Carmelo is lonely.

Saturday, September 02, 2006

Good Afternoon One and All!

Well, I have returned. After leaving at 6:30am, got home at about 12:30pm. No traffic problems, which was great, unlike the poor people on the other side of the A303 going to the Red Bull Air Race. Silly little people. Nothing quite beats the feeling of flying past a "jam" doing 70...

O I forgot. Tomorrow I move in to my Halls of Residence, and Monday I start. Just like that. Finally I start living the dream, scary stuff.

Well this is it then. No it hasn't dawned on me yet about the immensity of the task before me, but I can't wait to start. I'm also very, very, very, very, very, very scared about leaving all of my loved ones at home, especially the Missus, after a week together I feel closer to her than I ever have.


AND TO MR. DEFIB!

How's that for a British Beach? The infamous Fistral. Newquay's my second home, well it was at least until my Nan died, but I'm still a bit in love with the place, despite the tourists.

I'm also very pleased to see Magwitch has returned to fine form after a missed absence. Welcome back.

Well that's it for now, I'm going to finish packing. I'll post tomorrow with a photo to show you the horror of my room...
 

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