Another angle on this issue. The CU is now officially disaffiliated from the Guild, and is pressing on with its mission this week.
January 30, 2006
Pressing on with the MCSE
It would appear that Microsoft’s approach to the XP exam I failed has changed very recently. Every single question was expressed in terms of a case study, and some obscure aspects of XP were the subject of a number of questions. Some other issues, previously not covered, have also appeared in the exam. So, it wasn’t just me & where I was at in mid-December – though that didn’t help, obviously.
My training provider should be sending me some updates for the courseware they issue. In addition, I’ve decided to follow the advice to study XP and Server 2003 together, then do the exams. This was what people were expected to do a while ago, but then the exams were formally separated. They seem to “lean” on each other to a great extent, and the Server 2003 manual seems to reinforce a lot of the XP course. I’m now awaiting a start date for the Server 2003 online tutorials.
In addition, the centre where I go for tutorials has kindly offered some space for me to set up my own mini-network, and I spent today doing that using some castoff PCs. Two Celeron 633 PCs, 8Gb HDD, now bumped up to 128MB RAM each. One has Server 2003 on it, one XP Professional. Very satisfying setting them up. I had to do a bit of work on them: put a floppy drive in one, boost the RAM, deal with a Server installation problem using a portmanteau solution from a couple of Google searches. The two PCs are connected by a crossover CAT-5, but are not as yet talking to one another, and are not connected to the Net at all. My aim is to do all the practical exercises on them, as far as possible, and really get to know the system.
Many people are bemused to discover that I like doing this stuff. I’m bemused to discover that people enjoy EastEnders…
January 25, 2006
“Students ban Christian group”
The alarmist headline comes not from the Christian press, but from the Birmingham Post.
BUECU (Birmingham University Evangelical Christian Union) is no longer recognised as an official society because it will not allow people of any and all faiths (or none) to become members and leaders.
Let’s think of this another way. Is the Guild seriously suggesting that a Christian should be able to become president of the Muslim society? Might it be that the same Muslim society could be thrown open to (say) members of far-right organisations planting members in there to deliberately destabilise it? The President of the Guild claims that fifteen other faith organisations have already agreed to these changes – why on earth would anyone want someone unsympathetic to the aims of their organisation to be a leader or even a member?
I hesitate to use a Daily Mail-style cliche, but this really is political correctness gone mad!
January 23, 2006
L’s chemo starts soon
Another day at the hospital…just a quick update.
L is to be part of the clinical trial discussed last time, and starts her treatment on Tuesday 30 January. The treatment cycle will run like this…
- Tuesday: L is given chemotherapy. It takes a couple of hours for pharmacy to prepare it, and then abour forty-five minutes for it to be administered intravenously.
- Wednesday: L goes in to hospital again, this time for an injection of a drug designed to boost her white cell immunity.
- Following Tuesday: L goes in to give a blood sample so they can keep tabs on how her immune system is doing.
- Tuesday after that: the cycle begins again…
and that cycle will happen eight times in total.
She also received her wig voucher! So, a trip to Rackhams to choose something suitable will be happening soon.
I think we are both pleased that treatment will be starting soon. The sooner, the better.
More to come in both blogs…
January 19, 2006
eMusic – another DRM free download service
I have just chanced upon eMusic. This is quite a good deal: you pay a fixed price every month for a certain number of MP3 downloads – again, no DRM involved, so burn them onto CD, put them on your non-white, non-brittle MP3 player, use them freely. The introductory deal is 99c for the first month, giving you 40 tracks, thereafter $9.99 – that’s three or four single albums for £5.70!
It’s mainly independent labels, but a wider range than Bleep. I am a big fan of the Freakzone, Stuart Maconie’s show on BBC 6 Music. He plays a wide range of stuff, from post-punk to minimalist, prog to electronica, jazz to metal. eMusic almost seems tailormade for Freakzone fans – already, I’ve discovered Sufjan Stevens, Nurse with Wound, Faust, the Fall, Peter Blegvad, just to name a few.
Regarding the Music for Scanners mix CD: Steve has suggested a few appropriate tracks, and Yiota pointed out the Adelaide MRI scanner playlist, which curiously veers between new agey stuff and Zappa. They recommend his “Francesco Zappa” album. These are synthesied versions of the little-known eighteenth century composer’s work. Yes, they really are genuine, not Zappa pastiche. I just downloaded the album from eMusic. It’s quite Switched-On Bach, and sounds suitably soothing.
Incidentally, some people have wondered how to leave comments here. If you look at the bottom of each post, you’ll find a link giving the number of comments made. You’ll have to set up a login name and then I have to allow it – it stops “comment spam”.
January 17, 2006
Music for Scanners – ideas please
I have had a date for the MRI scan for my knee – Feb 8th. I expected to be waiting months.
Glad it is coming though. My knee still can be uncomfortable, and I am beginning to wonder whether an op will be needed.
The letter I have had mentions that the scan will take twenty to forty-five minutes and is quite noisy, but I can take a CD to be played to me while it takes place.
So the question is: what should be on Music for Scanners? You have probably noticed that anyone can leave comments on this blog. Any ideas for a 45 min mix CD? It might have something to do with scanners, hospitals, knees (?!), or just be really good to listen to. And can you come up with a better title for the whole thing too?
My first suggestion: Walking With Thee by Clinic. Geddit?
The results from the op
Another afternoon in that peculiar setting of NHS waiting rooms and multiple consecutive appointments.
1.30: arrive at clinic. L sees the nurse, also her key worker, to have her dressings looked at and a substantial amount of fluid removed from under her arm, equivalent in volume to one-and-a-half cans of Coke. L felt much more comfortable after that!
Then, another wait. This is in the long corridor of treatment rooms and chairs, with various folks waiting. Most appointees have someone else with them, seemingly a partner or friend. One or two are alone, including a bloke whose name is called. Yes, men can get breast cancer too.
Next we see the surgeon who performed the operation. The tumour is described as “no special type” of cancer, but is grade 3, putting it as the most active of tumours. It was 19mm across, probably about the smallest a lump can be and be detectable. They also removed a margin of good tissue from around the lump which was clear. So, the malignancy has all been removed. They also took lymph nodes out from under her left arm. Twenty were removed: one was found to contain cancer cells. So, the cancer was set to spread around the body.
The next thing they need to determine is exactly what type of cancer it is. It has no hormone receptors, which affects the type of treatment they can use. We don’t as yet know whether Herceptin will be useful either – results of that test won’t be through for a week or two yet.
All this adds up to the treatment we expected: chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy. After that, L will be followed up for at least five years, with checkups every two years (about the length of time it takes a tumour to develop and show up via mammogram).
After this, another long wait – why doesn’t the WRVS do nice coffee any more? – and then an hour with the oncologist. He reviews the same information as above, with some added details.
The chemotherapy will be a standard treatment called Epi-CMF. Epirubicin is administered every three weeks for four doses, then a cocktail of three drugs, four lots four weeks apart. Their aim is to kill fast-growing cells, like cancer, but they also affect other cells like hair and nails, and can have a permanent effect on fertility. These drugs are poisonous, and can have some unpleasant side-effects. Quite how L will react to them remains to be seen.
The hospital is running a clinical trial at the moment whereby exactly the same drugs are used but over a shorter period of time, so that the overall chemotherapy treatment takes four-and-a-half months instead of seven. An extra drug is also administered to help bolster the immune system. It’s believed that this “kicks the cancer while it is down”. L has been offered the chance to take part in this trial, and seems minded to do it. If nothing else, it gets it all over with quicker! (Details of the trial here for the medically minded.)
We finally left the hospital at 5.45. It may have taken a while, but the fact is we had lots of time with specialists – some internationally known – and have a great deal of confidence in the level of care L is getting.
A day later, I confess to feeling low. I think it takes a long time for things to upset me, to burrow through the Yorkshire hide and sink in. Jesus is Lord, and I believe He is in control, no matter what Richard Dawkins thinks. Still doesn’t stop me feeling low though. Look at the psalms, after all. Wide variety of emotions expressed, but still showing faith in God – they are, after all, addressed to Him!
January 10, 2006
“Back to life, back to reality…”
This has been a difficult time. Not only has L been in hospital & come out to convalesce, I have just had an almighty head cold which left me feeling like a zombie for much of the last week – thankfully, it’s on the retreat. I think it was questionable who was looking after whom, at one bit 
.
L too is recovering. She is finding her left arm painful and numb, but is certainly set to get out and about. Normality is beginning to creep in. I’ve been back at work this week, E has been in nursery, and all being well I shall be having some more paid work coming my way soon. Things have also changed at church – a new leadership team, with first meeting tonight. Very exciting.
I also need to get back into the MCSE, both starting a new course (Windows 2003 Server) and looking at retaking my previous exam.
Normality helps so much when things feel so abnormal.
January 7, 2006
SocietyGuardian.co.uk | Society | A choice in the wilderness
SocietyGuardian.co.uk | Society | A choice in the wilderness
That rare thing: the Guardian has an article about something Christians are doing that doesn’t run it down or give the usual negative spin.
I may read the Guardian, but it doesn’t represent my faith in any way!
The Manchester Eden Project gets a good write-up, anyway.
January 5, 2006
L is now out!
L came out today at about 2.30pm. She’s quite well considering – much more mobile than I expected and even has pretty good use of her left arm.
She will be giving more detail on her blog in future, so this will have to do for the moment – in the meantime, she’s off to bed!