The Taking of Pelham 123 & other stuff.

I sat & watched the 2009 remake of this movie tonight starring Denzel Washington & John Travolta. I've never watched either it, or any of its predecessors, although I had heard of it. Its a damn good movie. Its a very credible action movie with a certain amount of related violence that shocks with it's gritty realism, not entertains because of its improbability. The fact that it has been remade 3 or 4 times kind of speaks for a very strong story line. It kept my eyes open for 90% of it anyway, which is doing real good for me at the moment. we seem to be having a bit of a time of it at the moment you see, which makes for very broken nights on both our behalfs.

I explain. When Jude was in hospital, she naturally had her BIPAP machine there with her. Easier than using a hospital one as hers is set up for her & she trusts it. Trust is an important factor for her these days. Anyway, our BIPAP is somewhat newer than the hospital ones & different to operate. Sadly, Jude had nurse Hamfisti assigned to her for one of the night shifts who obviously thought that the way to turn it on was to press the on button as hard as you can while screwing it remorselessly in a counter clockwise (I think) fashion. This as I eventually found out has the lovely effect of making the button part company with its housing & partly disappear down it's own fundamental orifice. This has the ongoing effect of sending the machine into paroxysms of test modes, spontaneous startup/shutdown cycles & all sorts of fun things that , at 2.00 AM, present all the entertainment of a slow motion train wreck.

I finally figured it out, figured how to get it useable & phoned the Sleep Clinic at Waikato to make arrangements to uplift a replacement. The next hurdle was getting someone to sit with Jude while I was away. (4 hours is just a bit too long on her own) Our usual person had an important appointment on the day & couldn't do it. We ended up double booked, but the main thing was that I could go off & not worry about her which was great. Enter the new BIPAP machine. Apart from it sounding like no.2 engine on a 747, it worked well. Too well in fact. Way too well. Jude started complaining of wind & it got to the point where I was literally having to deflate her every hour or so during the night via her PEG tube. We nutted it out between it that this thing was pushing too much air into her & because of her reduced muscle control, a substantial amount of it was being pushed into her stomach. Another trip to the sleep clinic on Saturday afternoon revealed that the original technician that set the machine up didn't set the flow right & it was pushing through half as much again as it was supposed to. All is now well, with the noise greatly reduced & Jude getting the right amount of air that she is supposed to. The moral of the story ? If you are being given equipment of any kind, particularly replacement stuff, Don't be afraid to get it operating while you are still at whatever clinic you're at. It could save you trips & sleepless nights later on. Jude is doing OK. She is recovering as well as can be expected, but I do have a sneaking suspicion that she did get a hairline crack in at least one of her ribs during resusc. She doesn't complain, but I can see it in her eyes when I turn her over at night. I know how it feels, because I've done it myself 2 or 3 times & the only healer is time, about 6 weeks of it.

I finally got out for a walk this afternoon. Just lately its been a case of commitments that don't allow it or weather that precludes much more than the obligatory 100 yard dash to let the little dog do what she has to, but today was beautiful. I couldn't get out this morning because of visitors, washing & other stuff, so we went this afternoon. There is something rather nice about a Sunday afternoon stroll. It's surprising how many people are out & about either with or without their beloved pets. One thing I love about walking with a dog is that it acts as a superb icebreaker & allows me to meet all sorts of interesting people. Today, I met this lovely young couple feeding the ducks. They are Tasmanian (we wont hold that against them) & have been working at Wanaka. She is now working for DOC in Thames doing work in the Biodiversity Field, whatever that is & they are living up the Kauarenga Valley. We had a lovely chat. Its small pleasures like this now that keep me reasonably sane & happy..