The everyday tale of a small Welsh family transported to New Zealand on the whim of the "head" of the family, Mike
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Be Glad You are not Married To Me!!
*Mike gives a sigh*
Jacqui: "Whassup?"
Mike: "Oh, nothing. Just the sudden realization that I am mortal, and will one day die"
Jacqui "???!!!"
Women of the World, give thanks to Jacqui, from sparing one of your number this fate...
Be Good
Friday, December 14, 2007
Merry Christmas, have a pay rise!
Hi,
Y'know how when you pull a brick on piece of elastic, nothing happens then you get a face full of brick?
Well.....
I have worked as a Radiographer at Hawkes Bay for 3 and a half years. In that time I have done what I consider to be "the job", in other words, a lot more that is written on my position profile.
I have always thought that you get out of any job what you put in, so whenever any opportunity came up to do a bit extra, I did.
This started with Health and Safety stuff, then departmental documentation, then some computer stuff etc.
My role changed from a basic "MRT" (Medical Radiation Technologist) to MRT (PACS superuser) PACS is the system we have for storing and retrieving digital images, to MRT Angiographer (cardiac) PACS Superuser.
All good clean fun. Job became bigger, but more rewarding. Pay didn't really go up much, but that really wasn't a concern. I could feed my family, and I don't believe in chasing the dollar.
Anyway, my PACS boss gets pregnant,(thanks Jack) and I take on her role in February for initially 6 months. Which feels like a vindication for the extra I put in. Lovely!!
Then my manager resigns. This I am pissed off with, because I really like working for her, and I will miss her input and stuff.
Then...
The Manager (acute services) and clinical head of my department ask me to apply!! and I am "acting up" until the job has been decided on!!!!
This is nice, if terrifying..
So in a 3 month period I go from MRT to Charge MRT (acting) which is a 75% increase in pay!!!!
So I bought an xbox 360, and tickets to go back to the UK to see the olds..
There is no guarantee that this post is going to be mine. I would be surprised if it was, in which case I go back to PACS administrator (acting), and there is no guarantee that THAT role will not go (if the PACS admin comes back after her baby full time)...
So in 8 months I could be back where I started.
Not really, because as long as I do the absolute best I can in whatever role I am allocated, I will have gained a shedload of experience..
I also have the knowledge that my Big Boss thinks that I candle these roles, even if only temporarily..
Which is a real pat on the back, and that is nice
Be Good
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Teddy Bears and Hidden Agendas
It never ceases to amaze me how really stupid people are. You may have heard about the Brit schoolteacher working in Sudan who managed to become embroiled in a diplomatic shit storm after getting arrested for insulting Islam.
Her Crime? Allowing her school class to name a teddy bear Mohamed.
Now the Muslim takes the graven image thing much more seriously than does the average Christian. You cannot paint God. The reason is that God said not to in one of the 10 commandments. You also cannot make a representation of Mohamed, in case it gets worshipped. In fact, in many Muslim cultures you are forbidden to paint any living thing, or naturalistic environment.
This is why in many Islamic countries their artwork is based on geometry and calligraphy. (And beautiful it is too). To a non-Christian, the puzzling thing is why Christan's tend to ignore this prohibition, rather why the Muslims follow it, but I digress.
Naming a teddy bear Mohamed is wrong under the strict interpretation of Sharia law that they follow in the Sudan. But here is where I lose the thread. The Teacher didn't name the bear, her pupils did. Now I am not suggesting that the children be punished, but what about their parents? Surely they are responsible for the religious teaching of their kids? If not the kids parents, who did teach them? Their Imam? Jail him!
The kids took a poll, so it wasn't one rogue apostate. It was most of them. If this was such a terrible insult, why didn't these kids know? I mean, if a Christan kid wanted to name the class hamster "Satan, destroyer of worlds" I am sure there would be a little murmur of dissension? So whats going on.
The teacher worked in a school where the pupils were mixed Christian and Muslim. Sudan is a country where the north is Muslim, the south Christian, and they hate each other with a passion. they have had wars and stuff, and there is at the moment a very uneasy peace. There is another thread. The British used to run the Sudan.
There is always someone who prefers conflict to peace. If you are an empty, soulless shit head, there is a happy glow from hatred that fills the hole where the love should be. I would try to feel pity for these people, but I cannot be bothered to try. Nothing makes these type of people happier that having someone to despise. In Zimbabwe, their asshole of a President manages to cling to power buy telling the people that Britain is sabotaging the economy, and wants to regain control, giving his people the unseen, external enemy that every tyrant needs. In Sudan the enemy is Britain and Christan's.
Enter a British, Christan teacher working in a school trying to reconcile the warring factions who made the mistake of allowing her pupils to make a minor gaffe over the naming of a teddy bear. So why do you thing she was arrested?
She is home now, after British Muslims protested vigorously at the injustice. In fact, every single other Muslim country condemned this act of stupidity. Though in Sudan, some people wanted her killed, but what are you gonna do? There are assholes everywhere