"I Vant To Sort Your Blood!"

Warning We Weaponise Words!

Blood! Give me blood!
Oh OK; I'll sort your urine, faeces,
sputum, biopsies, and amputations, too!

Oh, hey there, Wednesdayers!

So exciting stuff! After only one week on ranking up and spinning down, I've been moved to a new section as I've been deemed capable! Mwahahahaha! The fools!

Now while I'm super excited to be moving onward and upwards I'm not liking this new section very much XD Now I'm at the sorting point and my goodness if it isn't really mentally draining! I know people think that MLAs do very little but seriously the amount of information I have to hold in my brain and apply to every sample is mad!

So the new section covers everything before racking up! I have to sign for the delivery of samples at the specimen reception door, remember to collect the samples from the specimen drop box and make my way to the Phlebotomy bleeding bays about once an hour to pick up their samples too! 

Little boxes on the hillside, little boxes made of tiki taki!

When I'm not doing all that I have to open the bags delivered and sort them out. We get samples for Microbiology, Cytology, Biochemistry (including Immunology), Haematology and Histology (collectively Pathology lol). I have to look at each form and separate them out to where they have to go. While I'm doing that I need to look out for certain urgent tests to make sure they get prioritised. All the Micro samples have to be stamped before they can be sent away, the Cytology and Histology samples are collected regularly and the Biochem and Haematology manual entry forms have to be separated from scannable forms.          

All the scannable Haematology and Biochemistry samples are sent over to be racked up, the manual entry forms have to be racked up by me...in all that free time I get from doing all the rest of this stuff lol.

I'm still under here...somewhere!

Before you think I'm just being a wimp let me explain 2 facts: 1) I am the only person on this section and all the samples pass through it. 2) Biochemistry and Haematology deal with somewhere in the region of 3,500 samples A DAY! That is just 2 of the 5 disciplines, I am on this section for half the working day so, on my own, I am handling over 1,750 samples in a shift! Yeah, my brain starts to go runny about 3 hours in XD.

I say over because I don't know the stats for Microbiology, Histology or Cytology but Micro I would guess at half again, Histo and Cyto are much less, though...luckily.

It's hard work and I'm not enjoying it as much, but I feel when I get better at it and when I go onto a normal rota (2 hours 4 days a week) I will enjoy it a lot more. At the moment I'm on there all day every day and even though I'm only 3 days in I'm exhausted! 

My supervisor, Javi, wants me on their for at least 2 full weeks! But next week I'm in Watford on my mandatory training for 3 days so thats going to push me to another 2 blog posts! Sorry :( I'll try not to moan much now I've got it out my system! 

Going to head off now for bed! I'm shattered!

Your ever humble blogger,

Alikay. 

My Rack Is Bigger Than Yours!

Work Witterings We've Written. 

Hi-de-Hi Campers!

So this week I have started my new job. I'm sure everyone is relieved as I've been writing about practically nothing else since I began posting again! 

Doesn't even come close!

I have done 2 shifts so far, and everything is going really well. The job I'm doing is split between 4 or 5 tasks and I'm currently training on my first section, Racking up. Racking up is basically taking the samples that have been sorted for Haematology, Biochemistry, and Immunology (Blood Sciences) and taking them out of the bags that they come in, checking the forms for any urgent tests that have been missed, time stamping signing and coding the form before putting the samples in a huge test tube rack (it holds 200+ test tubes). Then we load the tests that need spinning into the centrifuge racks and spin them down. The forms go on to another section and the spun samples rejoin the unspun samples in the rack and then are left for when the forms have been dealt with.

I'm finding that even though it is very repetitive, as I am on that section all day everyday until I am competent at it, I'm enjoying being back in a lab and the people are really nice so I'm having a blast. I'm already racking on my own so hopefully I can be signed off the end of this week and move on to training in a new section!

The flat is now completely unpacked and is feeling very much like home so everything seems to be going well! Now if I can just balance my budget I'll be singing! Don't worry it's metaphoric singing I wouldn't blast your ears really!

I'm heading off now then so I can get ready for work at 2pm. Hope you're all doing well.

Your ever humble blogger,

Alikay

P.S. I thought I would mention that this post falls exactly 3 years after our first! I guess that would have been an awesome achievement if the blog had been active all that time but I hope that I can carry on for at least a year...and maybe entice some old friends back!

3 of 7 Back Again

Wednesday Washes Weathered Words

Well hello there my lovely Wednesday-ers,

So I am now moved in to the flat. It's strange how excited I am at this new start, even if I have a few moments of missing people from back home! I have met my landlord who is super nice! Had a problem with my toilet and he came within an hours notice to fix it. He gets a thumbs up from me hehehe.

I've spent most of my time in the flat unpacking and trying to find what boxes all my stuff is in. I've unpacked my kitchen and bedroom almost completely now so just need to push ahead with my living room/study XD gosh I feel grown up having an area called my "study" but it's just my desk in the corner of my lounge :P.

I've had a trial run walking to the hospital, and nipped into town to have a look around. Hemel isn't exactly them most exciting place in the world but it has everything I need to live quite comfortable including a very close-by fish and chip shop, supermarket, pharmacy and newsagents! Yay for short walks for milk/bread emergencies!

I really can't stay much longer! Sorry it's short one/you're welcome! Lots to do before Monday when I start work eeek!

Your ever humble blogger,

Alikay

The Post of Woden's Day

We Wrap Word-Waders With Well Wishes!  

Hello again! 

So the packing is well and truly under way. I've had all my checks back from the estate agents and now I've been given a moving date for the 11th...eeek!

I've thrown out so much stuff; racking up 5 black bags of rubbish, 2 of recycling and 2 for the charity shop. That's 9 black bags of stuff I don't want or need that I have somehow managed to store in my bedroom! I don't even know how I managed to get into bed at night!

I've booked a van and am due to drop my paperwork of at their office at 2.30pm before heading on over to the flat to pick up my keys from my actual landlord at 3.00pm. Fingers crossed it all goes well!

Life seems to have been dragging for so long now, that this change into the mad rush of getting everything ready is a nasty shock to my system. I just hope everything goes as smoothly as it can. 

I am now 100% certain that I will be starting in the lab on the 20th, so that'll give me a nice week of getting settled in the new flat, before I have to juggle work commitments as well. I'm hoping to be unpacked and used to the area ready for my first day, and if I get time I'll do one or two trial runs to the lab, to make sure on the Monday I know where I'm going and how long it'll take me. It will give me an excuse to get out the flat and investigate the town center, too.

I guess there isn't much more to say today, and I am really pushed for time as I need to be packed by this Friday, so we can load the van ready to run down the Saturday morning. Mom's partner, Kevin, is taking the Friday off work to help me out. 

I'm having all my farewell meals this week too, different groups of friends all want to say ta ta, and I'm so rushed already I just feel like hiding in bed until next week.

Friday is my big family send off, so hopefully I will have the van packed before we go out to a little pub I like in Wombourne, called the Red Lion. Nothing fancy, but good homemade, hearty food and the prices are good too!

Right I'm going to sign off now so I can go and meet my old work mates for dinner. Hope you all have a lovely week!

Your ever humble blogger

Alikay

Wednesdays Child Is Full Of Woe

Welcome Warmly Wednesday Wobblers,

So Here it is my first proper post in a loooong time. I realise that this blog fell apart a bit, but I am determined to blog once more. Maybe others will join me (providing they remember their log in details) Maybe they won't.

So exciting times for me! I have now been unemployed for a very long time. I seem to have made a firm mess of my life so far. However, I have been offered a job in the Haematology and Biochemistry lab at Hemel Hempstead, quite close to London and I have accepted it.

To be brutally honest I am not entirely sure I have made the right choice. It's a big move, far away from my friends and family, rent is expensive and the position isn't completely full time (just 30hrs a week). So I'm hoping the fact it is the only band 3 job I've been eligible for will make up for it!

I've run the calculations and I can afford it, but times are going to be tough for a while until I can get some extra hours here or there :/ I've put a deposit down on a nice little flat now though so I'm just waiting for my credit and work checks to come back to find out if I'll be living in a box or not :P Everything seems to be moving so fast I can barely keep track of what I need to do or what has been done!

I guess that's the reason I want to start blogging again. I'm on the precipice of a whole new chapter in my life and I could be moving forward into a wonderful new life or just be making another huge mistake. It would be good to have something to look back on when I'm ready to move on again to see how my initial fears and anxieties panned out and to hopefully be able to see, and learn from the mistakes I made along this path.

Fingers crossed for me, guys!