Blog Vacation

I will be taking the month of August off, off blogging, not off work. Thrilling accounts of playing with string , fabric, and healthcare will resume in Sept.

Linen

Doing the Rachael! I copied the pattern from a blouse I loved , but had worn to death. I should do a close up of the buttons, because I stacked the wee red vintage ones on top of larger pale green- Coke bottle green- buttons. The fabric was already embroidered.

It was really difficult to work with black. I've never had good vision, but this was tough. Maybe age. Time to get new specs, I guess.

Yes, the picture shows my large self. I'm going to try and live with that. It's actually very flattering, in person, but nothing is flattering enough to make me look skinny.

A very odd day

Weird day. Had one little old person I had to teach ho to self inject, and she was brilliant. Understood soap, water, handwashing, not an issue, lets keep it clean, how do I dispose of the needles, thatnk you very much. She had been described to me as frail, difficult, hard of hearing , and not well educated. Well. So much for report.

Second was a small business owner who needed the same teaching. College educated, young ( that would be MY age), laptop at the bedside kind of person. Got angry when I mentioned that soap was an important part of washing ones hand, that licking ones fingers pretty much negated the effect of washing hands, and that yes, you have to wipe the spot on your skin with alcohol. "How about hand lotion?" "Uhm, what?" "Hand lotion. Alcohol is very drying, everyone knows that, and I don't like the smell. Hand lotion is much more soothing." Well, it's to kill any germs on the skin's surface before you PUNCTURE it with a NEEDLE and inject your medication. "Germs", I was informed, "don't run in her family." I knew I should have finished that MS, because golly, I did not know that .

On handwashing I had this odd conversation with another nurse about handwashing in disgusting bathrooms. Worse, or better that skipping and using Purell or washing outside the bathroom, at a nice sink that is pedal or sensor operated, thus protecting mine cuticles from contamination of the last person who inexpertly washed their hands and then touched the taps. This other nurse has rocking hand hygein, and I would let her do a sterile dressing change on my very own body, any time. We figured it was a draw, but neither of us ever wants to be seen NOT washing our hands in the bathroom. We both wash in the bathroom, and then at the very next sink, to get the bathroom sink cooties off.

Who's Got the Power?

So, me and 2,000 or so of my nurse friends went to Oakland today. These things always charge me up- at work, I deal with nurses who won't even fight for their own overtime and here I get to hang with folks who will actually carry a sign and chant themselves hoarse. More details on the CNA site.

Note: A previous version of this post had another picture. I was contacted and asked to remove it so I give you Martha Kuhl, CNA treasurer, addressing the crowd instead. Note the poster to her left. We all got cool t-shirt versions of that.