Kaz's Journal

Hi All. I haven't made many postings lately as I have had a lot going on in my private life. As a result of this I will be moving out of my family home today and unfortunately will not have access to the internet where I am going, so won't be able to keep up to date with all your news.
I just want to say thank you so much to all the people who have been such a wonderful support, I wouldn't have had the strength to make this move without you all, so thanks again.
None of this will stop me going to festivals and gigs so hope to keep in touch with you all if only once or twice a year! lol

This week we had another reminder what our job is all about. We went to a home where a smoke alarm that I had fitted alerted a Dad that there was a fire upstairs where his 3 sons were, and luckily everybody got out without injury and the firefighters were called out before too much damage was done. If only this Dad could talk to some of the people we meet every day who refuse to let us fit alarms as "they go off all the time"or"they look so ugly on the ceiling".
On a lighter note, only 7 weeks to Infest, I'm so looking forward to it :)

Current Mood: happy
Current Music: SAM Synthetic Adrenaline Music

Been a bit of a frustrating week this week due to van troubles. I won't bore you with the details just to say that the garage had it for a whole week (while we managed on a day to day basis with any transport we could borrow) could find nothing wrong, and within 4 hours of getting it back we had the same problem. It seems to be with the immobilisation unit, it doesn't want to switch the immobiliser off when we unlock the van, so the only way to start it is by locking ourselves in first!
The week ended on a better note with a wonderful night out with our favourite watch and a promise that it will be a regular event :)

Current Mood: happy
Current Music: This morn' omina 7 years of famine

Was told some great news yesterday. It's official, we have saved our first life! One of the smoke alarms we fitted last year went off and the firefighters got there in time to rescue the homeowner :)

Current Music: Combichrist What the f**k is wrong with you people?

I wasn't looking forward to today, as it was the first time my daughter was having her hair cut since the disastrous trip last September when she ended up wearing a hat! Fortunately her hair looks great and she is pleased with it ( so pleased that she wanted me to take pictures!) so it's big sighs of relief all round.

Current Mood: relieved
Current Music: W.A.S.T.E This is what we seek

Xmas
Was a bit of a funny xmas this year. I was sent home from work on the 23rd as I looked so ill, and spent most of the time from then until Xmas day dosed up with various cold/flu remedies and feeling pretty awful. Felt a bit better for the actual day though.
You know the saying "you've cooked your goose" well I didn't! Well I attempted to, but when all the veg etc: was ready my goose was still raw, so we all had a vegetarian xmas dinner followed by goose with jacket potatoes for supper!
Mother-in-law came for boxing day and was her usual self, say no more. Then my mum and dad the following day which was much more fun, but I feel like all I've done is cook and wash-up! Talking of which I feel a little let down by my two as although this was my first xmas back working full-time and I wasn't well I still had to do everything. This was compounded when I got an invite for us all to go out on New Year's Eve, something we have never managed to do, and I got the usual negative response from them both and had to turn the invite down. To the people who invited us I am so sorry, I would have loved to have seen the New Year in with you.
Anyway, that's enough moaning.
Happy New Year to everyone, hope you all have a great 2007.

Current Mood: okay
Current Music: W.A.S.T.E

Sad event
As you probably know, two firefighters from East Sussex were killed in an explosion on Sunday. It has always been sad to hear of the death of anyone in the emergency services, but now I work with them and have got to know them better it feels more like a death in the family. The firefighters themselves have in their usual manner, got on with the job that needs doing whilst mourning two very well liked and respected colleagues.

How people live
We made a visit to a house yesterday that has to be our filthiest ever and it just shocked me that people could live this way.
The owner had 3 large dogs which must have been allowed to urinate wherever and whenever they wanted, the hall floor (which was laid with ceramic tiles) was just awash with urine, and as I went up the stair carpet it was sodden and the smell was horrendous. Up on my ladder at the top of the stairs my eyes were watering with the ammonia. Then just when we thought things couldn't get worse, the owner decided to let the dogs out of the lounge so we could meet them! They all jumped up covering us in god knows what and the one that greeted me was so pleased to see me he urinated all over me including my face!
We got out as quick as we could and rushed gagging back to the van where we cleaned ourselves up with wet wipes and then drove back to the station for a hosing down!

Current Mood: shocked
Current Music: This morn' omina 7 years of famine

Day trip to London
When

anarcadia ,

taz_65 and I bought our return tickets to Victoria yesterday I thought what a bargain it was at £12.50, by the end of the day I felt Railtrack should have paid me to go on the train! In their infinite wisdom, they had decided to do engineering work on a Saturday, which meant that we had a 45 minute bus journey followed by standing room only all the way to London.
Luckily I still managed to get to the Barbican for 2.30pm with enough time to get changed and put my face on, as believe it or not I was doing a model shoot! I was in two minds whether to do it or not, but on the day I was so glad I did as I thoroughly enjoyed it. Yet another experience to keep me going when I'm in my old dears home!

Current Mood: happy
Current Music: Sonar Alien Overdrive

On Friday I had one of those days where as a mum you feel like your guts have been pulled out and turned inside out! My daughter has waited months to go and get her hair cut, she has looked at loads of styles and even drew exactly what she wanted so that the hairdresser could see what she meant. All was going well until he got to the front, then I think he panicked when he discovered that her hair would not lay how he wanted and just kept cutting it shorter and shorter! I knew something was wrong as soon as I saw her with a hat on! She just sobbed and sobbed, it tore my heart out. It couldn't have happened at a worst time she starts college on Monday where she knows no-one and really needs to be at her most confident. We went into the town and searched for hats or hairpieces with no success, then we decided to call into our local hairdresser and see if she could at least balance the cut. Luckily we struck gold, she was great, very sympathetic and has turned the disaster round. My daughter still has to come to terms with having her hair so short (it was below her shoulder!) but she now has a cute urchin cut that is perfectly acceptable and she won't have to wear a hat :)
I just hope all goes well for her on Monday now.

Current Mood: anxious
Current Music: Shnarph! Atmen

This week
Well, I managed to survive this week, don't know how! I am no good when it's hot, I hate it, get irritable and want to do nothing. Unfortunately none of this is allowed when you are in the world of work and so I've been walking the streets of Brighton with a ladder under one arm and a toolbox in the other and having to smile at the same time! Some people have been great offering us iced drinks, and it's a great excuse to sit in the shade of a pub garden at lunchtime. The week has had it's ups and downs, I was serenaded by a builder with all the songs he could think of with "fire" in the title, quite clever I thought and we have met some great people, but there's always one exception. We were told about a deaf lady who can't hear her smoke alarm and her neighbours were worried about her, we rang her bell and were told we were stupid cows and to go away in no uncertain terms!
Just been told the new Pow(d)er Pussy CD is on it's way to me, hope it arrives tomorrow as hubby is at work and I can play it really loud! Only 5 weeks to Infest now and I've realised that this time last year I was sewing already, so I must start that this weekend, just hope it's cooler then, if not i shall just have to stand by the open fire exit the whole weekend!

Current Mood: hot
Current Music: Soman Unleash

My big day out
Spent all day getting to and from London for a 15 minute appointment! But it was worth it, I have been told that I am extremely unusual ( my family could have told him that!) and that there are only another 4 people in the UK with the same problem and I am the best example! I am growing too many nerves which is making me hypersensitive to pain, and my nerves are so busy sending pain signals that they can't be bothered with the ones that help me to feel things, hence no sense of hot/cold etc: No cure, but there is no reason why it should develop into a problem with muscle strength which is what I really wanted to know. I will just go for 6 monthly check-ups to keep an eye on any progression.
I shall now try to forget about it all until the new year and the best way to do that is some internet shopping I think, and I'm really looking forward to Friday night and some great music :)

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Xotox Psi

First day out!
Just finished my first proper day out on the job in my little van. It couldn't have been a worse day for me, the hottest so far this year and I am not good in the heat. I just want to crawl into a cool place and be plied with icy drinks, instead of which I was pounding the streets and humping ladders and tool boxes about! But I did survive, which means if I can do it today, I can do it any day, btw sorry about the rain later in the week, that was me saying "I'd rather be doing this in torrential rain" and it looks like I got my wish!
I'm off to London tomorrow to see the Professor I saw a few weeks ago for him to tell me what he has found after all my tests. It would be great to have a definitive diagnosis, but I'm not holding my breath as I've thought this so many times with so many people. Just hope the air-conditioning is working well on the train!

Current Mood: hot
Current Music: Shnarph! Atmen

Yay, it's the weekend!
Well I have successfully completed my first week at work and boy am I knackered! All the new stuff to learn, my poor brain, it's so long since I was lectured to for 8 hours a day! Got to go out in my uniform yesterday (well almost, haven't got our official footwear yet. I did offer to wear my purple D.Ms, but they weren't keen!)and visit some poor unsuspecting members of the public. I think if my hands can cope with the physical side of things it should be a good job, and all the people I've met so far in the Fire service have been really nice. I especially like our big boss who has already asked if we are up for an end-of-training piss-up!
Looking forward to the new club night on the 7th July.

Current Mood: exhausted
Current Music: Soman Sound Pressure

2nd Day
Don't worry, I'm not going to bore you with every one of my days at work, but this one needs a mention.
I spent the day learning First Aid at the Training Headquarters and was surrounded by men in uniform putting out fires, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven!

Current Mood: happy
Current Music: Xotox PSI

My first day
Well, what a day! I am absolutely shattered, they are fitting so much into this training it's making my brain ache! Doesn't help that overnight I developed a stinker of a cold, so spent a lot of the day with a tissue in my hand :(
But the worst part of the day has to be when I managed to have an accident in one of the brigade's rapid response cars while I was having my driving tested! Luckily it was definitely not my fault ( someone ran into the back of me while I was stationery at a roundabout) but it didn't make me feel any better, especially when one of the top guys gave us a lecture this afternoon and happened to mention it was his! I can see I'm going to be the butt of a lot of "women driver" jokes from now on.
Anyway, I am so tired I can't even manage a quick look for boots on ebay, but just wanted to say thanks to all who sent me good luck messages, it was really kind of you.

Current Mood: exhausted
Current Music: TMO. le serpent blanc-le serpent rouge

Another sad loss
Yes, I'm afraid we had another sad day yesterday, my last guinea pig was put to sleep. It's so weird that it should happen again that two die within days, from totally unrelated problems. The trouble with having rescue animals I suppose, a mix of ages and health problems. I realised that this is the first time I can ever remember being without a pet. Sorry I have forgotten about George my daughter's goldfish, we bought him for her when she was 6 months old and she's 18 this month! Every time I clean him out I think I'm going to kill him, but he still manages to soak me splashing about! Oh, and he's got very good at playing "dead" he lays on his side on the top of the water and you think he's finally given up, but as soon as you walk towards him he swims away. I can see him smirking, thinking " had you then didn't I?" I think it's to pay me back for leaving him reading the same "no fishing" joke on his sign for 17 and a half years!
Changing the subject completely, I really love this Soman album, I am just going to have to order "Sound Pressure" now I think ;)

Current Mood: okay
Current Music: Soman Unleash

Back online at last!
Oh how wonderful to have my p.c back, I didn't realise just how much I relied on it until this last two weeks. Mind you it didn't stop me ordering CDs as soon as I got back from Dark City, the last of which has just arrived :)
I am no good in this hot weather, my brain just can't function properly and I am not in the best of moods, it doesn't help that I can't have a shower at the moment (yes, I am washing, just not showering!)as I still have steri-strips on from my visit to London last week. I was referred to a Professor at Hammersmith hospital who specialises in small nerve fibre problems, he and his 5 colleagues did a battery of tests on me including injecting me with histamine! The good? news is that they did find some irregular results, and once they have looked at the skin biopsies they took they may be able to tell me what is going on.
Other news is that my daughter has decided to go back to college and do some A levels, I am very pleased that she has reached this decision, and by herself.

Current Mood: happy
Current Music: Soman Unleash

Still haven't got my p.c back, so having to borrow net time, hate it, especially having someone looking over your shoulder the whole time, rather stifles free expression!
I now have a starting date for the job it's 2 weeks today, aarghh! Can't wait to earn my own money though. I have started a shopping list already, heading it is a fantastic skirt I saw at Dark City made by Jed Pheonix it has a bustle made of D rings, lots of metal, just my sort of thing! All the music I ordered when I got back is starting to arrive, and I love it all so far, just waiting for Soman and XPQ21 now.

Current Mood: optimistic
Current Music: Insekt Teenmachine

A great weekend
Well, Dark City lived up to all I had been told. It was great to meet up with old friends and make new ones, and to discover new bands. I'd just like to comment on the ones that stood out for me.
Soman was incredible, I danced my little boots off! XPQ21 were great and I think that Controlled Collapse have real promise, it will be interesting to see how they develop. Insekt were a revelation, they were really different, no wonder their CD sold out!
I had not seen Combichrist live before and I could see why everyone said I had to see them. What a performance, I could watch all night, the ideal way to end the festival, on a high note!
All in all a perfect weekend.
Unfortunately it was down to earth with a bump though when I got back. Hubby confessed that he had managed to download some spyware onto my p.c, so I am using my daughter's until we can re-format! I then went to see my guinea pigs and both of them were ill and no-one had noticed! So this morning it was an emergency visit to the vet, and unfortunately one of them had to be put to sleep :(
I can see I shall have to leave stricter instructions for my lot when I go to Infest!

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