Sunday 15 August 2010

Eighth week and punting

I'm sure I've said it before, and I'm sure I'll say it again, this "working all day" thing is definitely not as good as lounging around as a full time student. I seem to be tired all the time, although going away last weekend probably contributed to the fatigue. Not that I did anything exhausting, but going away meant that I didn't have weekend recovery time at home.

Food labelling screen shot from my presentationI've lost track of which Dietetic Week we're in, other than this was my eighth week out of twelve, and I don't think there was any theme. The great news is that my Healthy Eating presentation is done and delivered to a charming group of older people, mostly ladies, in the lounge of a sheltered housing complex. I haven't had my written feedback yet, but the supervising dietitian seemed pleased on the whole, albeit with some valid criticisms of the content I'd chosen.

I've felt more competent overall, although there are occasional glitches when I feel very incompetent indeed. There was one minor indiscretion where I queried something in a patient's medical notes to my supervising dietitian and the person who had written it was standing next to us, but I think I got away with it. I have had to go to my placement mentor to let off some steam about one of the other dietitians, but we came up with a plan together to cope with it. It's all going quite well, really.

Last weekend was splendid, in the company of friends who have been friends for such a long time it feels nostalgic to think back to when we got to know one another at university in the mid-1980's. More than 25 years ago. Family JJL&J invited the group of friends that tend to spend New Year together every so often, and many of us assembled on Saturday to set up our campsite in their back garden. Mr A couldn't come - he was on a pre-arranged motorcycle trip in southern Scotland, getting devoured by midges and sleeping in some hammock arrangement.

I brought Mr A's enormous 1980's A-frame tent, Lola II and Mr M brought Lola's little dome pop-up tent, and our other camping neighbours M&N brought a tent that they'd bought three years ago when camping was trendy (they are a trend-setting couple after all) and never used. This palatial nylon residence not only had a hallway and two rooms, but came with a lighting system. Now that they have actually slept in it, I doubt that it will emerge from its compact storage bag again - I don't think they are that keen on camping, really.

Once all the tents were up and we had eaten lunch, we all went punting. Unfortunately the weather was changeable, and there were a succession of small bursts of rain, but nothing to dampen our spirits. We needed two punts to cater for the full party, but of course Lola II had brought walky-talkies, although the main use for these was to hurl distant abuse and sing songs to each other. We briefly moored to eat cake, but the weather wasn't great for leisurely dallying. Other punting parties provided the most amusement, especially the hen party who had an inflatable 'member' in their punt, which distracted our navigators to the extent that we hit the bank.

The rest of the weekend passed in an enjoyable manner, including games, food, more games, more food, walking and more food. It was lovely to see everyone, and look forward to our next get-together at New Year.

Punting in a rain shower

1 comment:

cernoise said...

Went punting a year ago with the brood. T lost his wedding ring in the Cam - did you happen to spot it?