Week 171: Why aren't they taking their shoes off?

December 11, 2021

The talk in front of the CEO I mentioned last week went really well and it was just wonderful to get to help someone work through what they wanted to say and then see them say it. It’s a good gig to be “the techie” in a bunch of talks because nobody expects the techie to give an interesting, accessible and concise talk. Under promise, over deliver.
The other day, E turned to me very conspiratorially and said: “mummy… have you ever eaten… chocolate… ON TOAST?!?!”. And, do you know what, I lied and said no because I didn’t want her to realise that chocolate spread exists. Not Yet.
I made a Kitschmas Wreath as a work Christmas party thing. Visually, it is a lot, pretty sure Lachie hates it. Anyway, never mind. It’s mine forever now.
On Thursday, following a fever, C had a seizure. Equipped with our new medication for such occasions I called 999 because the paramedics need to be on hand the first time if the seizure gives an adverse reaction. They got there in six minutes which is pretty fast right! They also sent quite a lot of people… an ambulance, a van and then even a chap on a motorbike. The medication worked and there were no adverse effects, but they still took him to A&E for monitoring, so he and I stayed overnight.
In the ambulance they have a literal cat flap with a brand name like “cat pal” which they use as the door to a bin.
When all the paramedics stormed the house, E (nearly four years old) was sat on the stairs and only asked: “why aren’t they taking their shoes off?”
When I gave the consultant on shift a run down of his medical history she asked if I was a medic 💅
In the children’s A&E they do stuff to make it cheerful. Like the sticky pads that they stick to kids to attach a heart monitor to have cat faces on them. All the plasters that hold in cannulas have teddy bears. I find this industrialised cuteness very soothing. The other thing they do, which I find very stressful is blutack cutouts of various random cartoon characters on the walls. These cutouts inevitably curl at the edges and just look a bit shit.
The thing I was supposed to be doing on thursday night was watching And Just Like That. Where are we at fam? are we enjoying it or nah? I will keep watching it, I think i’d watch it even if it was utterly terrible. I have seen the second movie more than once even though it is objectively one of the worst films ever made. 15% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes.
[SPOILERS] I cried when they… sorry just so we’re clear, I’m about to do a massive spoiler… killed Big. And then again at the funeral. Sarah Jessica Parker is good at acting isn’t she.
I found the rest of it quite embarrassing. I think if they really wanted to make everyone more “woke” then they could have done that in a way that didn’t make my entire body cringe itself inside out. I’ll leave the proper criticism to Tom who is way better at experiencing things and then saying what he thinks about them.