As work goes

Claire just told me that I am funnier than I look. I think she meant that as a compliment, but I'm still trying to work it out.

There are some things in life I recently realized (or realised if you prefer) that I always accepted as 'givens'. For example, walking home from work across the Auckland Domain up by the museum (first picture) at say 6 p.m., and it's dark outside, there's a crisp breeze, maybe about 5 degrees (40F), many trees have lost their leaves, and I think Christmas must be coming soon, and Ohio State must be playing football this Saturday. Because these things happen in Autumn and Winter, and it's Winter. Seasons have always been a constant in life, and it's a bit hard to adjust.

Claire and I took a walk today from our villa to the hospital (second picture) across the domain (Auckland's largest park) - I particularly wanted to show her the view from our office... it's pretty spectacular. Claire took a few photos out of the window. I'm on the 14th floor, second from the top, and my desk overlooks Auckland to my left (3rd picture) and out over the harbour and nearby islands to my right (4th picture).

I must admit, working in a hospital is quite an experience. My job is with the Auckland District Health Board and the Auckland City Hospital (the building I work in is pictured). I've recently spent several hours in the Emergency Department (ED) with a couple of the head nurses. They really are heroes. It's no surprise that there are so many tv shows about hospitals and the ER. Next week we're supposed to make notes and observe the processes in the ED including during a 'Resus', or resuscitation, when a patient comes in critical (which happens every day) and a team of nurses and doctors drop everything and greet the ambulance as it pulls in. They have every range of patient you can imagine. Our first time down security was stationed at one of the beds for a known 'bad' patient they expected to have a violent situation with, and apparently were not disappointed.

As for the weekend, just a calm one, back home Claire was excited to bake (pictured) some banana bread (pictured - yes, we really did put a picture of a loaf of bread on our blog - Claire is very proud)... Looks good to me! Not sure if it will make it until Sunday's breakfast or not, and that's only a few hours away!