Pre-Gustav...the preparations

The dreaded hurricane watch flags are out.....

Everybody is in the midst of preparations, especially making sure windows are protected....


Until all of the houses end up looking like that...

Some people have taken and left their cars to the very few higher ground places on the island...

Even small planes make no exception....


And now we are all waiting for the storm!

Meet Molly the beige female, a Humane Society dog that I am currently fostering and the unknown choc lab mix, a 3 legged from the neighborhood that is currently sleeping more often then not in front of my house. And we are all in for the hurricane:)

Gustav...the perfect storm?

It started on Tuesday. At work. One of the computers was opened with a satellite image of a storm over Haiti. "What is that, a hurricane, haha" I said, passing by. "Maybe", my boss said quite seriously. "well now... what's it called? Gustav?"

I didn't understand nor took it too seriously. Yes, the hurricane season was opened on 1st of June. Yes, 4 years ago there was Ivan. Al thou the island has been 100% rebuilt after the 2004 grade 5 hurricane, I have seen plenty of pictures, on books and private collections. What force is enough to bring a huge fridge from inside a normal, big villa and smack it in 2 in the middle of the yard, 100 m away? What takes a jeep and brings it in the middle of the pool?

Well... still these stories seemed far away. Not this year, it is one in 200 years of that magnitude. I still hope that. But, as Gustav kept bouncing back and forth from tropical storm to hurricane status, and slowly progressing towards us, the good inhabitants of Cayman Islands became prepared.

It is very unusual for an European that has not experienced anything like this before.
All the houses seem to have their eyes closed. With hurricane shutters, or for the cheaper versions, with pieces of wood hammered across. Everybody got dozens of cans and water and candles. Some cars, and even 2 small plains, have been safely parked across the few, rare, higher places of the island. Everything is shutting.

Even us...the hospital is empty. The 4 full time residents have been fostered. Not far away, the Humane Society shelter is also trying hard to evict the animals. I have one of them, a big dog called Molly. We're only doing very big emergencies for the days to come.

It's right now across Jamaica, moving slowly (which is bad) and has been quite unpredictable. One can only meditate thou on the modern technology available...100 years ago such hurricanes were deadly and unexpected.

I...am quiet. Took the dogs to the beach tonight, watched a fantastic sunset. The quiet before the storm. Nothing announced Gustav's closeness...

And yet, as I was safely tucked in tonight in front of the computer, all of a sudden, the more then normal winds have turned into very serious winds. More then I remember them in a terrible night on the ridge of Fagaras (that is my personal worse). And a rush of rain, beyond any torential rain I have experienced before.

And it is still in Jamaica, and these small storms are only the messengers....
Brrrr.... Keeping you posted provided the net doesn't break down, which it will eventually together with the water and electricity, which will be shut down even just for safety measures.

It is still 18 hours away...

One of my nights

We are a 4 vet practice, and we kept considering what would be the best routine to split the on call nights amongst us. Our practice does after hour emergency service, and there is a lovely phone that we have to keep close to us in those nights when we are on call and answer it regardless of time. Originally we had a week each one of us, and for the whole week we would have the phone, on turns. Coming out fully drained out of the week on call (and somehow before you knew it...it was your turn again:) we decided to switch the strategy and just keep the phone one night at a time. Thus, 1 night in 4, I am on call.

Currently, due to holiday/ hurricane season, most people are away from the island and there is a certain feeling of relaxation, especially when it comes to the dreaded on call nights.

I was almost certain it was going to be one of those quiet Friday nights, when all else that remained on the island are out having a good time, and every animal soul will be safe and sound in their homes.

How wrong I was:) It started at 7 pm. Wife has got a parrot, husband gets bitten in the face by the parrot. Husband throws the parrot on the floor, parrot stunned, not moving, panic, why did you throw the parrot?!, aaargh, and that's when they called me.
We arranged a clinic meeting, half an hour later. By then the parrot had recovered uneventfully with all limbs intact, a pain killer for his contusions and off they went. Wife was happy, husband will probably not touch the parrot ever again.

At home, in bed, midnight. Dozing off happily, when the phone rings. Cat, attacked by dogs, just barely was found in the yard, unable to move hind legs. Panting, shocky, the whole picture. Again meeting at the clinic, thankfully i never fell asleep driving over. Exam, IV, fluids, steroids, antibiotics, XRays, temporary closure with surgical staples of the few superficial wounds.

2 hours and a half later, back in bed. This time, I think to myself contently, the night is nearly over, what can go wrong now, time to doze off.

Wrong;) 4 am, a seizuring dog and his worried owner were calling. Luckily, I may say, this is a dog known to have seizures for years, and all the meds don't seem to do much for him, they last a couple of minutes every time and he recovers uneventfully (so far, at least). Knowing the whole history, we postponed till the next morning, bright and early.

This time, I really adored the 1 in 4 nights on call. Another consecutive night like that....

What I saw lately...

Almost a month ran by, and no posts;) I hope y'all are holiday-ing somewhere keeping you away from computers. I don't have this excuse even... anyway, for your viewing pleasure, 2 interesting things I came across lately....

...this is a fun-to-watch 10 min short movie put together by a vet student from over here, it is an intro to mast cell tumors, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJuJQ3VCXlE . I liked it. Came in on good terrain, as I just referred a grade II mast cell tumor case post-surgical removal.

...second thing, far longer, about an hour and a half, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo , takes you onto the last lecture of a reputed american professor, that knowing he is about to die, puts together a very inspiring and optimist last lecture, going back to life's essentials. Inspired me as well to go back to a childhood dream, so I have decided to start again serious riding lessons. There are venues on the island for it now, and for once I can afford it;) The question will be now... will I find time?

...and third of all...to all of you that know me...this is what my climbing gear is doing lately...actually apart from one climbing trip, this is the sole task of my quickdraws nowadays. No comment. They are solid thou:)

And that last picture... is my unreliable dock buddy. I keep a fair distance, but he's harmless. There is a snake around thou...brrrr....