Quick update with regards to The End. We now have it confirmed that we're covering it which is good news for us (well, at least me and a couple of others who were looking forwards to the 'battle') so it's now just onto the booking of the resources, finding out about the doctor that has been hired (apparently an A&E one which is promising) and final planning of deployments and such like.

QOTD:

[Stan is about to shoot Roger; Francine, Hayley and Steve stand in the way]
Stanley Smith: Nobody threatens my family! Now get out of the way or I'll shoot you all!
Hayley Smith: Oh, God, it's my junior prom all over again.

Today was the LINKS committee training/handover day. A hell of a lot more useful than the up coming SU committee training day and guaranteed more fun. Basically it now provides me with more reason to claim freedom and let my successor take over as unit leader.

Not actually going to happen quite yet, still need to reorganise the big black box of doom and such like plus finish off some training on PRFs but it'll happen soon enough.

One particularly interesting point during the day though was when I went over resource assessments for duties and working out a quote for the SU/event organiser. For reasons I don't entirely recall now we did the resource assessment (based on the HSE Event Safety Guide used nationally) based upon providing cover for the battle of Helms Deep from Lord of the Rings. There were a few questions raised about the numbers attending the event (decided on <200,000 in the end), whether it would include over night camping, temporary outdoor structures or just be over a wide spread area. Another sticking point was whether there would in fact be a hospital at all and if so what class of hospital.

Eventually we settled on a score of 87 which is off the charts effectively as the top bracket is > 75. I then next went onto sorting out a price to quote the organiser for this event starting at county list prices for equipment (though in hind-sight I did miss out sustenance). This came out as costing around £16,690.88, suggesting to us that Essex offers a fairly good rate for battle field medical cover seeing as this was for 200 first aiders, 35 ambulance aiders, 24 nurses, 12 doctors, 15 ambulances and 3 support vehicles. As Cyborg said it wasn't so much providing cover as introducing a third faction to the battle.

QOTD:

Gimli: Oh come on, we can take 'em.
Aragorn: It's a long way.
Gimli: Toss me.
Aragorn: What?
Gimli: I cannot jump the distance, you'll have to toss me.
[pauses, looks up at Aragorn]
Gimli: Don't tell the elf.
Aragorn: Not a word.

When you take into consideration ASP's recent post on the Thunderdragon's blog it is somewhat risky and foolish to make this blog but equally its one I feel I need to talk about.

The End (as previously seen) is a fairly large event, the largest covered by my LINKS unit and potentially now rates amoungst the largest covered in the county (as all duties with over 5000 people in attendance are meant to be handed over to county command). Around two and a half weeks ago we delivered a letter to several people in the SU dictating what resources we needed and how much it'd cost them (as usual giving them a 60% discount off list prices). We also stated that we needed their response by last Friday.

Against all odds we heard nothing. On Friday me and my replacement stormed the SU corridor on two occasions finding it all be deserted and when I did find someone they didn't realise it was the deadline and had thought someone had contacted us already. Theoretically this meant that we were going to sent them another letter yesterday pointing out that we could no longer cover it or certainly now without increasing the price. This letter would also have been copied to several outside figures resulting it a M.A.D situation which could have seen the end of the unit (ironically enough).

We backed down from that idea in the end and decided to give them a final chance today where they directed us to someone not part of the original letter (and it seems they're not able to pass letters around) so we're now giving this guy until the end of the week before úber letter and trouble. Though still we're effectively currently not covering the event most probably meaning death.

Far too much hassle to be going through during exam period but by the end of the week the negotiation/hostage ransom will be over and its just a matter of booking ambulances/paramedics and general personal.

QOTD:

O'Neill: "Teal'c, look scary and take point."

Quick return to blogging, basically an excuse not to revise...

F.E.A.R. With it's blasted electric ninja monkeys (or Replica Assassins as I believe they're technically known) and demon girl is one of the few games that has ever scared me whilst playing (though I admit I didn't get very far with Doom 3 before I had to return it to my brother).

I've now finally completed the game having become stuck literately 40 seconds away from the end about 6 months ago in a section where I just have the demon girl (young woman at this stage) marching towards me with no where to run to. The 'secret' to how to get past it is a tad boring and I'm very confused that I didn't reach it sooner, I hadn't been shooting the girl enough. For someone that does occasionally rely on the age old tactic of spraying and praying I can't understand how I failed to shoot one slow moving person walking in a straight line 11 times.

Regardless it's now over, might try playing through it again soon though or get one of the expansion packs (though the demon girl apparently gets scarier in those).

QOTD:

Jacques: Don't cry, my dear. I may not have been born a king, I may not have lived like a king. But at least I can die like a king.
[He strides to the guillotine with dignity]
Executioner: Your Majesty, do you require a blindfold?
Jacques: None.
Executioner: Have you any last request?
Jacques: None.
Executioner: Test the guillotine!
[Another executioner triggers the guillotine; the blade comes down and chops the head off a wooden dummy]
Jacques: *Holy shit!* Uh, wait! Wait! Last request, I have a last request!
Executioner: What is your last request?
Jacques: Uh, Novocain.
[the executioners confer]
Executioner: There's no such thing known to medical science!
Jacques: I'll wait!