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This blog reflects my personal experiences and opinions and does not represent or reflect those of DierenAmbulance Nederrijn.
This morning was a meeting to finalise some of the content in the next issue of the Dierenambulance Nederrijn magazine (#49). I gave myself a pat on the shoulder for cycling in, although a push on the back would have been more useful. Who says Holland is a flat country?!
Blackbird
It seemed weird turning up without the excited anticipation of an upcoming animal rescue shift, but one of the centralists asked me to fetch a rescue box from one of the ambulances. It was to be used for a blackbird that someone had brought in personally.
She was keen to move the bird herself from the shoebox to the rescue box but I stopped her; I’d forgotten to bring her some hygienic gloves which are necessary to prevent the oils from our own hands interfering with those on a bird’s feathers.
It was her first time, so I gave her a couple of tips and off she went, and the bird went in!
There was one more tip to give her – one which I’d only learned with Sally (my regular driver) on my last shift. The rescue boxes have 2 interlocking lids which need to be closed in the right order. It’s a 50% chance of getting it right, and a pain when it’s done incorrectly because it means the box needs to be partially re-opened so that the lids can be closed and locked properly – risking escape from the creature inside.
Sally discovered each of the lids have a “1” and a “2” printed on them, indicating which one to close first (and second)! 😉 I passed this info on. It’s taken me nearly a year to learn this, so I can easily save time for my colleague! 🙂
I hope this isn’t conceited to say: I liked being useful and deployable here! And it set me up in a good mental stead for the magazine team meeting!
Magazine Meeting
I’m deeply conscious about my non-native Dutch in these meetings, for obvious reasons. I write in English then translate it into Dutch. Errors come anyway, and then edits. By the time the finished Dutch article is finalised it may be far away from what I thought I had written!
The team obviously know Dutch better than I do, and they also understand the Dutch readers better than I do. Subtle cultural difference aren’t so subtle when they’re written, and in that sense especially, their input is invaluable!
These meetings have opened up a new world for me because they’re enjoyable! It could be that there are no alpha males screaming for attention and hogging the discussion. Or it could be that we have a very specific set of things that need to be discussed. Or that when we deviate and talk less about the article and more about the content I find it interesting!
The discussions today went well, going through each item and nailing down exactly what was needed to make it publishable. For this issue I have 6 items lined up, notably one about my adventure chipping a cat; I enjoyed the practical side, and I really enjoyed speaking to the cat-owner specifically for the article which ‘wrote itself’!
We’ve another meeting in a couple of weeks when hopefully everything will be ready to send to the printer. Although I take the deadlines seriously, I’ve come to learn to take them with a pinch of salt. All of my articles were ready, as requested, but not all of the others were!
Bat
One bonus of the meeting was nothing to do with the meeting. One of the bat experts we work with came onsite to pick up a bat that had been rescued. Although I didn’t get to have a chat with him, at least I’ve seen him. So although he doesn’t know me, at least I’ll be able to put a face to his name!
And incidentally, one of my articles is about a bat rescue! 😉
