Hells bells - a man of many talents hey. I don't think I'd be able to work on someone's teeth like that!
I had a filling blow out after a deep dive in Madagascar (must have had a air leak under pressure), and took a couple of days to get stopped up temporarily by the local clinic there - I can sympathise with the discomfort that your patient was in.....
They're lucky to have you there!
Hi Sam!
You know there is an old saying; 'fake it till you make it' and I am sure I may give any real dentist a big skrik if they see how I 'practice' dentistry but lets be real - this is as remote as it gets and one needs to make plans and expeditions like these are filled with compromises. The positive though, the patient is so chuffed and happy that she wants to make a follow up appointment for another tooth that has been bugging her occasionally but here I will need to draw the line and say not worth taking the risk because if I really happen to stuff up she can loose the tooth. You see I feel 'lucky' when I completed a dental procedure successful but now she thinks I am good just because it worked out and no I am absolutely out of my comfort zone when it comes to dentistry.
Yesterday late afternoon Santjie came back from the mountains on the 'round island trip' with the birders. They were behind still working, and I went down to the brown store to paint.Did not have my radio with me (my bad
) and she came to ask me if I am willing to take charge in making a plan to get the parcels ashore because the ship has arrived and the birders are not here to use absailing gear. The conditions were good and the captain needs to make use of his time wisely because with these guys time is money. I love doing things like this and got to work, got some rope and she followed with the rest of the team. We set up a system where I was in a safety harness to work on the edge and clipped in on a rope and even a 'b-line for added safety. I practised my rope throwing skills and when the little powerboats arrived we got to work. They put all the parcells (one by one) in blue plastic crates and then they pulled back on the rope while we pull up to try and avoid the parcells to drag through the water. Still there is a swell and we got my small bin in the water but lucky Ri's waterproofing skills was spot on! Also someone else parcel in the water but again no water damage.
After having everything ashore we had to carry it to the second ladder and haul it up again and then carried it to the last very high rope ladder and haul for the last time and then carry all the parcels back to base. It was hard work but the team worked like a well oiled machine. Then the birders were back and they had to do 'pest control' on our parcels to check for bugs ad seeds. In the end we all had our parcels at around 20H00 for ourselves and a lot of excitement although I feel very sad for Mel....her parcel did not come ashore and we do not know where the mistake came in but think someone at saws did not deliver the parcel in time...
I got so many nice things from real good quality coffee beans (some team members here loves coffee big time like me) to a couple of 3 liter boxes of red wine and a 5liter beer!! I have seen this before but never up close and I will keep this for special occasions sure thing! Also a couple of chocolates which is always great to have as it gives you instant energy on long and hard hikes. The headlamp Led-Lensor - WOW! Gives the most brilliant white light and can even focus and most important water proof plus a back up energiser. We use headlamps we often, some of us even daily and this is one of the must haves for any expedition with extra batteries. Some bike, Popular mechanics, Entrepreneur magazines and then that 'Apple Mackbook' which I have not yet switched on because I do not want any pressure on me once I start learning how to use it. Looking very much forward to start working on it though especially photo editing. A very fancy case for it (Thule)....hydration bladder which is a huge bonus only in the space it takes vs my 1liter recycled saline bottles I am using.
I am not sure who to thank for the contributions made to all of the above because Ri did not tell me who contributed yet but at least I know I can start by thanking her for the initiative. She should just (Please Ri) sent me the bill of the difference in order for me to settle asap! Sorry for a lack of words or let me rephrase by saying words can not justify the real appreciation I feel for everyone that did contribute. My birthday is still a bit far off (5 April) and I am spoiled rotten to have received such a big present early from Wild Dog friends and best of all - I did not even met 95% of you ever in person but I hope to change that when I get back!
Thanks again Ri and WD Friends!!
We are now at a new internet service provider (Since Thursday) but I do not really note a big difference. Yes I got the page open but yesterday I could not make a post in good weather conditions. We were reminded that it is a shared 1mb line but still why did it work better for a few months? Hope that they can solve this with the correct lining up of the satellite dish later the year during takeover if that is the real issue. Herewith a couple of cellphone pics of yesterday (Vukile gave his phone for Santjie to take some pics while we were busy) but you will get the idea although we are much further away from the water as it appear as for in higher. Hope to update with some other pics of my recent quick trip up to Goneydale.
Topic: A Strong Back: The Adventures of Tom Mc Sherry (Read 513172 times)
