Now We're Getting Somewhere...

I have achieved something great.

I have passed my driving theory test.

=]

Ok, maybe it's not great - it's uber good, but not great. Passing the minor detail of driving a car would be great. But that will come in time; not too long now I don't think. A couple of weeks maybe?
But hey, at least I've passed step one of this whole driving malarky. And after a good-ish mock test last night (just a few small glitches which need polishing up - it was dark, may I add) during which I didn't feel too nervous, I think it should be alright when it comes down to doing the real deal.

Aside to this success, I'm also really excited. Tomorrow the RC gang is off to Carbisdale Castle for some Emergency Response training magic ^^
I am determined that this year's weekend away will kick the ass of last year's - on reflection I didn't post a blog about it despite me saying I would at a later date. Maybe because it ended up being so spectacularly crap that I just didn't want to reminisce. I wasn't very well after a rather long-winded, highly emotional week, and I wasn't strong enough to tackle the demands of trudging across snow-covered hillsides and playing with bandages on river banks. Therefore I felt pretty miserable that weekend, which doesn't mix with late nights and boozey banter.
This year, however, should be - and will be - a lot better.
No doubt I'll end up writing about it when I come back, so watch this space......

It's baaack! So rev your engines...

The engines revved, the air filled with the unmistakable smell of petrol, and the countryside came alive with the competitive roaring of a row of growling motorbikes.
Suddenly the green flag came down upon the muddy earth, and they were off!

Yes, the holy, almighty, oh-so-dependable-to-happen-monthly duty that is Moto X has returned.

Well, technically it's the second race of the year, but let's not get bogged down in the realities... for me it was the first.

However, this Moto X was unlike any other I'd been to before. It was based...
*Jeremy-Clarkson-style dramatic pause*
...in a field.
We're not sure why the usual woodland track of Woodside was unacceptable, but perhaps the incredibly windy conditions of the previous night had disabled it somehow. Either way, this new and randomly located track was twice as long, rather hilly, and had several blind bends which we as first aiders couldn't see unless we owned a pair of x-ray specs.
Our eyes and ears were substitued by strange men on quad bikes who clearly enjoyed racing around like maniacs without a care in the world. And when one lad did come flying from his bike at the furthest bend behind a summit, it was one of these speedy-boys who drove off without us, to locate the 'injured' one. Meanwhile, Ronnie, Ian and Christine dived into the 4x4 bouncy castle that is Red Echo 2 and meandered round the course to try and reach the casualty.
This stopped when they noticed the casualty had actually just jumped on the back of the speedy quadbike and was in fact not injured at all.
Caitlind and me had a great laugh watching RE2 - capable of conquering all terrain (ha!) - struggle back out of the dip it found itself in.

That was the only excitement of the race.

The rest of the day was spent taking immensely hilarious photos, faking fall outs on Bebo to worry people, giving me the cold shoulder for the majority of the afternoon, and finally, when it all ended, we returned to the safety of a proper road, which Red Echo 6 seemed incredibly grateful with (the poor rust bucket can't deal with hills or rough ground of any gradient without it's wheels squealing in pain - no joke).

Couple the uneventfulness with the biting wind, lack of shelter, and no chips from the burger bar because the fryer broke down, and what do you get?
A cold and hungry, but generally amusing, experience.

We're Back in Business!

A whole new year of Red Cross duties... Here we go again!

But God, how I've missed it. It's not until you slip back into the ol' blue boilersuit and fight to get your boots back on and tied properly that you realise just how much you've missed the excitement and sometimes right waste of time that comes with being on first aid duty.

So far there have been three duties, with a fourth to come this approaching Sunday, but first let's reflect on the joys of the events so far...

Saturday 1oth

The Burghead Clavie. Yes, we have returned to the very beginning of all RC annual duties. You know it's the New Year for real when the Clavie comes back round again. It was very much the singed uniform again, rather like last year, but in fact it was probably worse this year.

You see, Ronnie was team leader, which meant he was in charge of pairing us up for the duty. it was all fine and dandy at first, until someone pointed out the highly precious and non-fire-resistant material that makes up the £400 Emergency Response jackets. You'd think ER jackets would be fire-retardent... I'm sure they are, but there you go; don't argue with the boss...

So, because muggins doesn't have a fancy-pants 400-pounds-worth piece of material to drape over my shoulders (yet) I was put at the front of the parade with John, who was feeling my pain too, and told that if the tar and embers from the burning stack messed up our hi vis it wouldn't matter as much.

Well, it wasn't those exact words, but it was something to the effect. It wouldn't be a lot of money down the drain anyway. Maybe I should've worn my own version of the highly expensive ER jacket - something resembling a large neon-yellow potato sack - and tried to burn it. Then it would've given an excuse to get me a nice, snug, tailored one sooner. Why do you only think of the good ideas ages after the time it was needed?

So John and me flanked the clavie all the way through the little fishing village, right up to its resting place on top of the hill that once was part of an old pictish fort. The moment the smouldering barrel crumbles and sets the hill alight, the moment the people of Burghead rejoice, and welcome in the pictish new year with great enthusiasm, before buggering off to the pub for celebratory beers. A pleasure we, as on-duty first aiders, long to join in with, but can't.

Instead, our version of celebrating was far more entertaining, standing out in the cold and being arranged in certain formations so Caitlind could use her arty-farty photography talents and snap pictures of our illuminated backs on her camera. Yes, our backs. I mean, we're nae such a bad looking bunch... really...

Actually, in agreement with another first aider, it was somewhat like a Red Cross outing, what with getting 'holiday' snaps and so on.

Anyway, it was a good, albeit cold, night. I actually love the Clavie, just cos it kicks start the first aiding mood all over again, even though - and this is surprising - we never seem to get any casualties.

This is what the ER team really get up to...

In a line, ladies and gents...

Sunday 11th and Monday 12th

It's blood donor time!

Possibly the one duty which purely shows our good nature as volunteers, rather than our first aiding skills. Although on Monday night, we did assist one of the nurses in helping a poor lassie who nearly passed out on the table. That got the adrenaline going a bit, all for about... oooh, 2.5 seconds?

Still, at least she was alright, what with several cups of orange juice being delivered to her by the minute, and with her feet in elavation for a lengthy period of time.

The rest of the duty was taken up by mine and Caitlind's continual rants and ramblings, Caitlind's need ro rearrange the cups in nice neat rows according to flavour of juice (and my interference when I made a Red Cross symbol out of the blackcurrant juice cups) and the odd game of "I Spy," the latter of these games going something along the lines of:

"I spy with my little eye, something beginning with....... J."

"Oh no, we're nae playing that again....... Jug?

And a little while later, after "I Spy" had worn off, I killed time by constantly trying to remember which four other emergency services use blue lights on their vehicles. This went something along the lines of:

"Ok, there's four of them... So, there's coastguard, blood transfusion, bomb disposal... coastguard, blood transfusion, bomb disposal... there's coastguard, blood transfusion, bomb disposal... coastguard, blood transfusion, bomb disposal... coastguard, blood transfusion, bomb disposal..." (and so on...)

Then, two hours later after the duty, Caitlind receives this text:

"Mountain Rescue!!!"

Yes, I love duties.

Before...

After...