Last night in the comments, I was being unintentionally morose about my lack of employment (I know, I do have a job, but with both the boys back in school, it really doesn't feel like it, and I'm not good at doing nothing all day), and L brought up the possibility of working as a forensic medical examiner.
Basic duties...I'll just quote Lestrade here: examining injured people in custody, examining people who claim to be sick/injured, people who claim to be the victims of police brutality, take blood samples, write out death certs. at scenes, and sometimes present your findings in court. And also, I think, from the reading I've been doing, examining assault victims. I'm going to talk to someone he knows about it and find out a bit more. There's not as much additional training as I would've expected, though there is some.
I talked to Sherlock about on the way home from school. He seems alternately excited and worried about how much I'd be gone, which I'm a little concerned about too. Obviously, he and Mycroft are my first responsibility, and I'm not quite sure it would be fair to them. But I don't know enough about it yet to make a decision either way, so that'll have to wait.
I think I'm also signing up for krav maga lessons at a place Anthea recommended, too. I'll let you know how it goes.
ETA: This was Lestrade when I went into the bedroom just now...
Basic duties...I'll just quote Lestrade here: examining injured people in custody, examining people who claim to be sick/injured, people who claim to be the victims of police brutality, take blood samples, write out death certs. at scenes, and sometimes present your findings in court. And also, I think, from the reading I've been doing, examining assault victims. I'm going to talk to someone he knows about it and find out a bit more. There's not as much additional training as I would've expected, though there is some.
I talked to Sherlock about on the way home from school. He seems alternately excited and worried about how much I'd be gone, which I'm a little concerned about too. Obviously, he and Mycroft are my first responsibility, and I'm not quite sure it would be fair to them. But I don't know enough about it yet to make a decision either way, so that'll have to wait.
I think I'm also signing up for krav maga lessons at a place Anthea recommended, too. I'll let you know how it goes.
ETA: This was Lestrade when I went into the bedroom just now...
L - I love you, by the way. In case there was any doubt.
154 comments:
Yeah, you would have to examine and record your findings for assault victims - both the fighting sort and the sexual sort (although obviously many are both.) You should definitely talk to Manas about that. It can be difficult.
I don't know how it'll work with the boys - I mean, obviously I'll help as much as I can. And you'll go days without doing much and then be manic at other times, like all doctoring, probably.
What's Krav Maga?
if it would fit in with the boys it sounds like something you would 'enjoy' but the responsibility for the boys does limit things a bit I guess.
I would echo the question What's Krav Maga? ;-)
It's a kind of martial art, with a more practical focus than many of them have. They use it in the Israeli army, and the Mossad.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krav_Maga
It sounds...yeah. Deadly.
Better to be prepared, I think, given the way our lives keep going.
Yeah, true.
And you'll be able to stand up to Sherlock's surprise attacks.
I might just start wearing padding around the house.
At least they don't let him use weapons yet...
I'm hoping we can at least introduce a 'no weapons practice in the flat' rule. We can...take him to the park or something if he needs to practice. There really can't be enough room here for him swinging a lethal weapon!
There isn't enough room here to swing a degu, let alone a foam sword or whatever he'll end up with.
a foam sword sounds very much safer than I'm imagining...
Yeah...I'm hoping for foam. I know there are wooden ones, and it's too easy to picture the kind of damage even the average small child could do with one of those.
indeed. The ways his eyes lit up when he saw my ASP (baton, people, before you wonder!) would have struck fear into anyone within radius.
He's hazardous enough with the pointy end of a carrot, if dinner preparation tonight was any example...
Exactly.
I'm going to ask him to beat me unconscious with the frying pan. He'd jump at the chance. If I let him photo the damage.
A hot bath might help?
soften me up, for a better splat-factor?
I'll go and say goodnight to the Boy Wonder and yeah, maybe have a bath.
right now Lestrade stop thinking about going to bed, don't joke about it, don't think about it and every time your mind wonders to it distract it. Set an alarm for half an hour before you want to go to bed and when it rings grab a pen and piece of paper and write down all the things that are in your head and worrying you or things you have seen and done today that have bothered you then fold it up stick it in an envelope and give it to John, he won't read it he'll just keep those things safe for you and keep you safe from them.
Take another piece of paper and write down all the good things about today, things that made you smile things you remembered from days ago anything that made you feel happy. Fold it up and go put it under your pillow. Have a nice drink and a hug with your doc and go to bed. the good things will be there to look at if you are disturbed in the night and the bad things are being looked after for you by someone else.
I'll give it a shot, Anon.
Although I'm not certain I entirely know what's bothering me. But I'll have a stab at it.
Anon, that's a lovely strategy. I hope it works for you L.
I'll trade you lists.
it works for me and I think it could work for you two. you trust each other to keep you safe and protect you BUT the sealed envelope is the thing, you keep each other safe from worries without taking on the other persons worries. protection without guilt :)
Going to have to make sure I put your somewhere far away from my 'good' list, or I'll be lying awake, fancy a read to cheer myself up and descend into some nightmarish world...
Sealed envelopes are clearly the way to go, yeah.
kay. going to write my lists in the bedroom once i'm dry.
I'll be there in a few minutes.
Oh my god.... what have you done? i am laughing so hard I might rupture something.
bedsnail!
what!!
it's quite hard typing with my eyes.
You can come and share my shell though.
Wait, I've found a suitable illustration to add to the post...
hope it isn't actually a photo of me as a bedsnail...
No, this one has a caption. For added...snailiness.
I think I have shell jealousy. Mine wasn't that neat.
but I bet most snails can't operate a smartphone with their eyes, so I can feel good about that.
now get in my shell, you slug.
Thought you'd never ask.
Night all.
Sherlock, don't salt us in the morning...
Oh my God. Greg Lestrade, you are a complete nut. A loveable one, though.
Well, made John laugh, which was the point.
Although almost made him laugh out a few organs, which was going a little too far.
Guess he wasn't expecting a surprise snail in his bed.
Not one that could use a smart phone, certainly.
Night gents :-)
*studiously avoids mentioning slime trails*
I would say I could change career from average DI to exceptional snail. But I'd never be able to get a retirement flower shop as a snail... I'd eat all the stock
Nameless - I had already studiously avoided mentioning exactly that!.
how do I get paper out of an envelope using my eyes?
I think you don't. You just look at the foldy up paper with the good stuff from under you pillow. You know, like the look on John's face when he saw the snail!
Goodnight all! (I like your plan, Anon, I'm going to try it.)
rsf
Hi L, hope you get some sleep soon. FWIW I always liked reading familiar cookery books, they're so non-threatening and comforting that it always sent the worries out of my head.
And if it really kept on going longer I get out of bed and make myself warm milk, better than staring at the ceiling I suppose?
John, Krav maga is vicious, and pretty fun. My paramedic instructor was an avid fan, he's an Israeli paratrooper now, and was a serious tough guy but I can still make him blush by reminding him I nearly made him cry when I put a tourniquet on him once...oops, hehe
RSF - it was the bit with the good stuff I was referring to. I put it in an envelope too. I don't know why. I was distracted by making John a surprise bedsnail, to be honest...
Cheers Jaws.
Think tomorrow I'm going to try a no-coffee-after-4pm rule.
John, it sounds like the FME job would be great for you, if it works out with the timing. And I hope your martial arts class is fun.
Lestrade, you are amazing! I've never heard of the bed snail, but now I can't stop laughing. The illustration really made it, lol.
Hope you all get some sleep tonight.
That Lestrade/snail is too funny--thanks for the big smile, however extraneous! :) (And I really hope you're having better luck sleeping tonight, L.)
Krav maga is extremely practical (and deadly)--I have to think it's a good weapon for your arsenal, John. (And if your teacher trained in Israel, you might ask him or her if they've heard of the Tora Dojo--most Israeli martial artists have some familiarity with Chaim Sober, the founder of the dojo, although more for the karate than t'ai chi. :))
And in case anyone is curious, the way I, at least, feel after a 25-hour fast is overall achy (that would be the dehydration, especially the headache bit) and a little queasy. (No, I didn't overeat after, it's the skipping medications.) I really don't find the "focusing attention" theory works out very well--it's true I didn't spend the day thinking about going home to eat, but I also couldn't keep my attention on anything at all for more than a minute or two!
Blurgh. Too tired to work and too awake to sleep. That what comes of eating breakfast at 9:00 pm. :(
I left John dealing with a slow moving Sherlock snail in the living room.
Hope they reach school one day...
Hee! At least he'll be easy to catch... :D
He's so funny when he thinks we've been having fun without him. He wouldn't come out of his shell at first.
John - the FME job sounds like it would be right up your street, if you can find a way to make it work around your other commitments; although I would have thought that working with assault victims would be very tough.
The krav maga sounds right up your street in a totally different way, and rather less emotionally difficult...
Hope you managed to get snail!Sherlock to school on time :-)
Being sure adults were doing fun stuff after I went to bed was my number one reason for not wanting to go to bed when I was Sherlock's age... :D (No, it didn't work for me, either.)
A useful day gentlemen?
I hope its been a good day in some way whatever else its been :-)
How was school Sherlock?
Busy. And since my 4pm caffeine-ban, torturous.
You?
pointless, annoying and not caffeine free ;-)
Busy is good for you I would have thought as it'll keep you awake and help with tiredness later.
I hope you're home on time and have a relaxing evening :-)
Sorry to hear that.
And yeah, I hope so. Just getting ready to leave... see if Sherlock is still a mollusk by the time I get home.
Oh, surely being a snail for a whole day would be too slow? (Or was it? Are you still being a snail, Sherlock?)
Maybe decaff coffee? Or is it a cardinal sin in your books?
I got some decaf today actually. The girl at the shop swore it was good... we'll see.
I was hoping he'd give it up for school, but wondered if he'd be back in his shell once home.
Don't have any, Jaws. Am trying to survive on tea.
really, Danger? What is it, ground or beans? (don't say instant or I may have to re-evaluate our relationship)
Beans. I know better than to get you instant.
where from?
(i am leaving. honest. just packing paperwork. and salivating at the thought of coffee, even if it is decaff.)
That fancy place near Sherlock's school. Not Starbucks, I promise.
:) I meant where in the world was it grown, tea-boy!
Oh! I'll check.
It says Kona. That's good isn't it?
This has nothing to do with coffee or tea, but I was sent a zombie joke that I think is good for Mycroft:
What do physicist zombies eat? BRAAAAANES!
Kona?? That's...was it ridiculously expensive? And I cann't believe it's decaf...that's... I'm sure it'll be lovely.
In other words, yes, very good. far too good. far too good for me, and far too good to be dacaff!
I just asked her for good decaf and said you were picky about your coffee. it wasn't that much, especially compared to insomnia.
Ha, you may be right. I'm sure it will be amazing. Thank you for thinking of me. It's really, really very kind of you.
Hope it helps. Or at least tastes good. :)
was he?
I have to say that I never knew that you could get decaff that wasn't instant because I never knew they could decaff beans but it sounds like a decent brew can be looked forward to without keeping you awake which is always good :-)
Have a good evening all of you.
Sherlock was not a snail. He saw me approaching the flat and transformed into a Gibbon in time to swing off the stairs and launch onto me.
The coffee is amazing and the best thing that's happened to me all day.
I approve of Sherlock's choice--I would think that Gibbons have much more fun than snails! (Snails, after all, can't DO very much.) :)
Here's hoping the cutoff on the caffeine yields some nice sleepy results.
A slow transfer over to decaff all the time if its that good?
I love a good welcome home and Sherlock's welcomes are pretty impressive :-)
I'm trying to sleep AnonyBob, not descend further into masochism.
I bet it's even tastier with caffeine.
I'd bet you're right ;-)
As a rather heavy drinker of something I'm not allowed to mention I was very much joking about living without caffeine. I hope the change works wonders for you but small steps are far more likely I know.
It all just tastes like coffee anyway.
It all just tastes like coffee (which tastes burnt) to ME, Sherlock! But not to people who like it. Kind of like wine, so I'm told. :)
(ETA: Your captcha app HATES me. :()
I drink good Italian in a French press when I have decaf coffee, really thick and with a tiny dash of milk, mmm heavenly. I couldn't drink full caffeine coffee most of the year as it was reacting badly with my medication and upsetting my stomach, so I bought the nicest decaf I could afford :)
Talking of medication and insomnia, I don't recommend it but I found having my full complement of painkillers (codeine, paracetamol and diclofenac potassium) and half a glass of whiskey meant I'd be unconscious for 8 hours, great around exams when we were all pretty stressed
do you not think people would complain Sherlock if just because it was decaff it tasted of something else?
It is pretty good. (Tea's still better, of course.)
If it tastes burnt it probably is burnt, RR, which probably means it's a cheap bean badly roasted.
Jaws... French press being a cafetiere?
And after what happened the last time I was half out of it on meds I'll stick to trying 'natural' remedies.
They ALL smell/taste burnt to me, L. I think it's a natural property of the coffee bean. Or my taste buds. I have a very unsophisticated palate!
I have not had good luck myself using anything stronger than low-dose OTC antihistamines as sleeping pills--either they have no effect on my sleepiness level, or I sleep like the dead but don't feel like I've been asleep at all. (And obviously you are okay, Jaws, but isn't mixing pain meds and alcohol something doctors strongly recommend against?)
please please please can we not have the alcohol and meds conversation again please.
This isn't just paracetamol Jaws was talking about, Anony, codeine is a pretty heavy-duty drug.
I would imagine we all know what codeine is, RR. And it is a conversation we've had before. And no, AnonyBob, we don't need to have it again.
Alcohol and painkillers makes me sleep, but I feel like something that crawled out of a bog the next day, so it isn't worth it.
rsf (who is beginning to consider starting an InsomniacsRus group)
Well, if anyone has anything strong handy could they pass it over? My headache's causing the inside of my head to leak out of my eyes.
(It's the dregs of dehydration. But drinking isn't fixing it.)
*headdesk* Sorry, late again... I need to start reloading the page or something before I post.
rsf
Sorry to bring it up again, didn't realise! Back to the regularly scheduled blog: did you make anything interesting for dinner, John?
And yep, a French press is a cafetiere (one's the American name I presume?). I live in a shared student flat so I can't drag around a proper coffee machine and I refuse to pay through the nose for a (usually badly-made) coffee. For an all-day study session I make a big pot and keep it warm, then just refill as required!
I've managed to swap the filter coffee pot in our office from one that sits on a hot plate and stews disgustingly to a proper thermos pot... it's not much, but every little helps!
any improvement in what gets you through the day can only be a good thing Greg :-)
I hope you sleep well tonight or at least that you sleep a little better than you have been doing.
I tried coffee when I was younger and couldn't stand the taste, it just tasted bitter to me. So I thought, a few years ago, that maybe my taste buds had changed and I should give it a chance. I got one of those mix drinks of chocolate and coffee, because I'm a huge choco-holic, and figured I would try to ease into it.
I was only able to drink about a 4th of it before I had to throw it away. It still tasted just like bitter coffee, and was making me sick to boot. I guess some people are just tea drinkers.
I do feel envious of all you coffee drinkers out there, though, since you have so many choices and flavors that look amazing.
I never was too picky about it until my husband started drinking coffee, and when he did he researched what the best was, and how to make it, so then I got spoiled on good stuff.
The difference in taste of coffee from a drip pot and from a cafetiere is so marked it's unreal. The flavor is much more nuanced in pressed coffee. Better, too, IMO. That's all we have at home. But I'm not too snobby so a friend of mine and I share our own personal drip pot at work for which we buy good stuff, and leave the rest to fend for themselves! :)
And I know I've said it before, John - your nannying isn't just babysitting - you stand in loco parentis for the boys, and while I know things are a bit more complicated than that, plenty of us out there have kids and full-time jobs, too. So if you feel like you need something more, I bet you could find a way to fit at least occasional FME work into your life, if that's what you wanted. Whatever you decide, though, I hope the decision makes you happy, or at least satisfied that you've made the right one.
There are so many ways to make a difference to coffee, Maz.
I'm usually a strict espresso-based coffee boy, bit if it's a long black coffee, then pressed is probably better. And everything makes a difference, from the grind to the water temp, the filter and the roast, the milk - if any - being steamed to the right temp and the foam being done correctly, the pressure the water is put through at... everything!
Sadly too many people never try good coffee.
(the number of people I've seen boil a kettle and dump it into a cafetiere of what would have been decent coffee....)
(the number of people I've seen boil a kettle and dump it into a cafetiere of what would have been decent coffee....)
Those people include me. He hid his horror well at the time.
Just realised what I was getting myself into, Teaboy. (or taboo, my phone insists)
You okay?
I take it that's the equivalent of microwaving the water to not-quite-boiling-point for a cup of tea?
Yeah, doing all right. Meeting Manas tonight, if you can watch Sherlock?
How are you?
Nameless - if it is, I feel like I should retroactively apologise... Although, to be honest, I've done that too when there no other options.
Husband is looking at going espresso only, but I don't know if it's better to get one of those little pots you put on the hob (they're almost like the old-style percolators, maybe?) or an actual...espresso-brewing machine thing?
Sorry, busy. Yes, fine for Sherlock. How is he?
Could be better. Case isn't going as I wanted.
Maz - depends how much youll use it and how much you want to spend!
He's an elephant. Apparently they can communicate over great distances by stamping their feet.
Right... he better hope I don't become a big game hunter on my way home...
I find it surprisingly easy to picture you with a big hat a big gun.
I don't think I'd have the heart to shoot anything. I'd let them eat me, instead. David Attenborough's made me soft...
I'm sure elephant-Sherlock would fend off the lions.
He'd probably trample me with excitement.
He may trample you with excitement when you get home. He's got the idea that because I'm going out, you and he are going to eat all the ice cream and cake in the world for dinner.
He's an elephant. Apparently they can communicate over great distances by stamping their feet.
Really? That's awesome! Sherlock, do you know if they listen to other elephants stamping with their ears or if they pick up the vibrations through the ground? Has anyone been able to figure out what they're saying to each other?
I think it's through their feet, RR, from what I remember.
Sherlock, I thought we could hark back to when I was a kid, have a mug of bovril and some cream crackers...
Noooooo, pizza and ice cream! Or sandwiches made from crisps.
One of the teachers where I work was having a crisp butty for his dinner today. Of for the southerners among us, a crisp sandwich for his lunch. Most of the rest of the staff came over all nostalgic!
Lancs. Anon
Thanks, L! (And now I'll have to see what else I can find out about elephant communication. :D)
We used to have vinegar sandwiches. And sugar sandwiches :)
My grandma attempted to raise my older siblings on sugar butties, it's a wonder they had any teeth...
Lancs. Anon
Oh, and they also used to take a flask of Bovril with them to the football to drink at half-time when they'd got thoroughly frozen.
Lancs. Anon
a crisp sandwich
? What you call crisps is what we call potato chips, right? How can you put those in a sandwich? Don't they turn all to crumbs and dribble out the sides? (And why spoil perfectly salty and oily potato chips with bread?)
Are you kidding? It's the ambrosia of the gods! (well actually ambrosia is rice pudding but anyway)
You can't make them too far in advance or the crisps go soggy and they work best with sliced, white, mass produced bread which kind of bends round the crisps so that they don't fall out, and really what can be wrong with salty, oily bread? It works particularly well with salt and vinegar flavour!
Lancs. Anon
They are great. Butter and crisply... But no, Sherlock, we're not having any.
We'll make calzone, and one for John, for when he rolls in pissed. You know what doctors are like.
Well, as that variety of sandwich wasn't a staple of my childhood, calzone sounds a lot yummier to me. :) (But there definitely is no food as good as childhood favorites!)
John is looking very smart for his date. I'm jealous ;)
Don't have too much fun without me...
Potato chips on sandwiches are great! Now I'm craving one for lunch.
A crisp sandwich sounds like a challenge. I may have to try one. But every place has a specialty. In France they sometimes make chocolate sandwiches. Here in Massachusetts they make fluffernutter sandwiches, which are peanut butter and marshmallow fluff. And my nieces and nephews in Pennsylvania like 'lassy bread, which is molasses (the very light kind) on toast.
rsf
rsf
Mmm, crisp butties :-) Salt'n'vinegar crisps also work pretty well in cheese sandwiches, or egg & cress sandwiches, I've found. Anything to improve the uninspiring mass-produced sandwiches from the shop I usually end up having for lunch.
ReRe - I get the impression that Americans don't tend to use butter or spread in their sandwiches? The butter helps stick the crisps to the bread. Very tasty :-)
Lestrade - vinegar sandwiches? 0_0 Never heard of that. Sugar sandwiches, on the other hand... *nostalgia*
FLUFFERNUTTERS! Now THAT's a sandwich. :) *instantly craves a fluffernutter*
Nameless, I'd imagine it depends on the sandwich. I think middle America is supposed to use mayonnaise on sandwiches a lot? Me, I tended to like peanut butter sandwiches best as a child (see above!), which is already two spreads (if not Fluff for the second, jelly or honey, mmmmmm honey...), no more required. And of course on deli sandwiches, any spread but mustard is just sacrilege. :)
Have you all been having a good evening, gentlemen? :)
Uh.. yeah. John, how soon will you be home?
You and Sherlock OK, Lestrade?
Yeah, brilliant, Sherlock is bargaining hard for a late night.
John, just in case, the blood in the kitchen isn't blood. It was going to be play-dough! And then got too much food colouring in it, so then we made it into fake blood and brains and some guts. They're in the fridge.
And Argon will, I think, go back to her normal colour after a few dust baths.
Hope everything's OK, Lestrade.
Lancs. Anon
that sounds like a brilliant evening :-)
I'm so glad you've had fun together.
That sounds like an ace night!
Lancs. Anon
Ha. Leaving now, should be home pretty soon. And thank you for warning me about the not-blood.
And Argon will, I think, go back to her normal colour after a few dust baths.
Lol! Sounds like the pair of you have definitely been having some fun :-)
Sherlock says he'll stay up until you're back and help me clean up.
Guess which half of the statement I believe?
Ha! That sounds like a most wonderful evening, actually... :D
So do we have a pink degu or did she go all the way red?
Quite red. Just one Sherlock size handprint where he grabbed her...
I bet Mercury tells Argon that she should never let amateurs color her hair... :D
Sherlock's greeting when I got home: 'You should go out more often.'
It's always nice to have alone time with the adults in one's life.
Especially with food coloring.
if that isn't a good sign I don't know what is John:-)
Did you have an interesting chat about the job?(drinking session ;-) )
Yes, how did the meeting go, John?
AH, he says that. but as his bedtime was approaching and you weren't home yet he was looking all sad and wanting to know when you'd be back and if he could stay up and if, even if he couldn't, you'd go in and see him when you were back.
Glad he's not ready to dispense with me entirely just yet.
The meeting went well. Just need to think about it for a while.
he definitely isn't :)
Yeah, I hope he was helpful, and honest in a non-off-putting way... if that makes sense.
No, he was great. Interesting man, and very informative.
Yeah, there's not a lot that'll happen in the job that he hasn't seen at one time or another.
I could tell, yes, even before he said how long he'd been at it.
Glad you've got him to talk to. I don't want to...dunno, I mean, I don't know what you've seen or done, don't want to sound patronising. So it's good you can talk to Manas.
No, I can see what you mean. It would be different, in a lot of ways. Harder in some.
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