Sorry folks,
My blogs have been a bit infrequent lately. I’ve just finished presenting a couple of webinars for the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society (IVAS). The conference was originally going to be in Glasgow, Scotland but we have adapted to the online format like so many other people at the moment. So now I have a moment to catch up on my to do list. Like this blog…
Workload
You’ve probably realised by now that your local vets have been under the pump since the beginning of the whole Covid pandemic thing. We are all grateful to still have a job; still employ the vet nurses, receptionists and support staff but it has been a tough, hard slog. Everything takes longer to do; appointments have increased with people noticing pet health issues as they are home more and many puppies and kittens have been adopted since the start of lockdown. The stress of waking up slightly ‘off’ and thinking is this a symptom, do I get tested? How will the workload cope if I have to take time off? Unfortunately the veterinary profession is not the best at looking after their own wellbeing and sadly we have heard of more colleagues who have taken their own lives in recent times.
R U OK
R U OK day has just been and gone. I was flat out at work, ate half a lunch on the hop and was feeling worn out and frazzled. At that point in time, I decided to open the mail. There was a thick padded envelope which piqued my interest. The Kit Kat with an R U OK sticker on it lasted all of 30 seconds. It was from Box Hill TAFE where I do some teaching for the Animal Biomechanical Medicine course. Apart from the sugar hit, it was so nice to think that someone took the trouble to send me something even if it was only a chocolate bar. Sadly, the ‘permission to pause’ card was tossed as being unrealistic.
Not a mullet
The other grateful moments I’ve had have been my recent haircuts. Between the first and second Covid wave in Melbourne, my daughter turned 21 and I was lucky enough to be able to visit her. For her birthday, she gave me a Covid haircut. Five minutes into the haircut, she helpfully informed me that she learnt to cut hair by watching YouTubes on’ how to cut a mullet’! The end result was actually great and ‘not a mullet’.
A week ago, my hairdresser was still closed and I was getting desperate for another haircut. This time I got a ‘groom’. Yep. the dog groomer at work obliged and I received a number four with the clippers and was sent out to get the hair blown out by the fur blower. I just narrowly avoided a Justin Beiber look too.
So today wasn’t about anything ‘vettie’. It was about seeing my human side of life as a vet.