Extinguishing Fires

Yesterday I attended a lecture on how to evacuate the building I work in during times of crisis, mainly in case of fire. A part of this meeting was allowing us to use fire extinguishes and seeing how the different kinds of extinguishers work. That part was actually rather practical for at-home scenarios. I own an old extinguisher that the previous owners of my apartment left and it's last checked 2006 so I plan to have it looked at after this event.

The Reykjavik Airport Fire Department hosted the exercises and here's one shot from it, with a Fokker 50 from Air Iceland taxiing on the runway of Reykjavik Airport in the background.

With a family of one and a half child (step-daughter) and a dog, this is one area I'm more aware of in recent years. I would encourage anyone to give this subject a thought. As an Air Traffic Controller a lot of my training was about teaching the right reactions in case of emergencies. A sudden fire is known to cause panic and even more so when you have absolutely no idea what to do. Thus it's always good to have some idea about what you can or should do in case of a fire.

Of course, the first rule of thumb is always to call for help and get people away from danger.

OJTI and Greasing the Brain

I returned to work after my maternity leave two weeks ago. It was both pleasant and exhausting. I've been fortunate enough to get a chance to exclusively stay at home with my son for 7 months. It's been a great time but I was ready to get back to reality and start my life as a working mom.

Upon my return I was thrown right onto a two week course to become an On Job Training Instructor, or OJTI as my abbreviation happy profession calls it. I enjoy training horses and dogs so getting a paid course on how to train people on the job was a fun insight and experience. Many interesting lectures and also some roleplaying exercises. No one can become an Air Traffic Controller without putting in the hours on the job and it's the same with being an instructor. The roleplaying was valuable and often amusing but I know that the real learning experience will come if I sit with a student as his or her instructor.

First, however, I must myself sit down as a student. Returning to work after nine months away means I'm not let loose in the centre on my own just yet! Thankfully, I must add. I feel very much like someone who was in peak form but hasn't exercised for months... I'm out of breath just going out! I'm awfully slow but with every hour I put in I can feel my brain tracing down old knowledge and starting to shape up. It's just this awful feeling of knowing I've been better that bothers me... and motivates me. I'm sure this won't take too long!

The Dog School

Me and Bella had a test last week in the dog school we've been attending for the past five weeks. It is a part of an incentive for dog owners to attend lessons in dog ownership, on rules and basic training. Passing both parts of a test, written and practical, gives owners a discount of annual licence fees for the rest of the dog's life.


It wasn't a terribly difficult test. We had to demonstrate only a handful of basic skills, such as sitting and lying on command, a well mannered walk on a leash, recall and waiting.


The five week course was a lot of fun and very educational. I must confess that physically it was very difficult for me and little Bella was challenged mentally. I enjoyed meeting other dog owners and seeing different problems people faced. It was good practice for me and my dog, she's very bad socially with other dogs. She gets overexcited and wants to meet the other dogs and play but she doesn't quite know how to behave and easily gets anxious if things don't go too well. The school helped her meet dogs in a positive setting and learn to be a little less nervous and approach them more politely. I hope we can expand on that now that it's finished.


We did pass our test although I must confess we ran into trouble with the wait command towards the end of the course. I hope to do more doggie activities with Bella later, when my pregnancy is over and body back to normal. It's very rewarding for both of us and good to get taught and see how other people do with their dogs.


Until then we are going to have to get creative and amuse ourselves here at home.