DavidFR

Retired 3 months ago at age 62 years and 9 months - the youngest I could legally retire and have a livable, if not full pension. My pension is pro-rata since I arrived in France in my mid 30s, but with supplementary bits I've contributed to it's livable. I already get a health service pension from the UK where I started off, and I continued voluntary contributions to the UK state system so will get that as an extra at age 67. I qualified at age 23 and have always nursed apart from a 2 year break where I did a TEFL course and taught English in a language school. Having had a rich, varied career in 2 countries I don't regret nursing, but it was time to go and I don't miss it. At this age it isn't how many years have I got left, it's how many GOOD years have I got left. Age and health take their toll. You have to enjoy life while you're still mobile and continent. As we say in France: profites-en (make the most of it).

Great thread. Recently retired (end June). Loving it. What do I miss? The salary. Nothing else. Money isn't everything and I'm adjusting to a reduced income. Not the first time I've accepted a cut. After 17 years of nights I'm enjoying sleeping at night and eating meals at regular times. Time to read a paper every day, books, cinema, exhibitions, meeting friends for lunch. Plans for language courses and walking group. How did I ever have time to go to work?

https://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=od_S8t86F0M "On The Sea" is a very moving Welsh film. Classic middle aged family man coming out story - nothing original but very sensitively done. The drudgery of living in a small isolated town is very well portrayed, as are the expectations of "family" and "community." Filmed on the beautifully bleak island of Anglesey, the cinematography is stunning. Worth seeing.

Interesting how this varies. When I trained in the UK in the 80s students didn't go near IVs. You had to be qualified and each hospital had its in-house IV certificate which you did shortly after starting. The pain was each time you changed jobs you had to do the new hospital's certificate. This also meant agency nurses didn't do IVs which was an extra workload on the permanent staff. By the time I left in 2001 this had changed and some hospitals even let agency nurses give IVs. Unsure of the current situation. Here in France IV skills are an integral part of the training. Especially from the start of year 3 (French IDE or RN training is 3 years 6 months) students practise on real patients - under strict supervision of course. Hence most new grads are already competent in IV skills. It's just assumed that an IDE (RN) can give IVs, site IVs etc. We don't have a second level nurse here so no LVN equivalent.

Are IV skills not a part of your general RN training in the US?

Your post is an insult to the Ukrainian people and proof you do not believe in democracy. I'm beginning to doubt you are who say you are. Not sure you are really in Florida or that you are even a nurse. I would suspect you of being a Russian troll, however I'm assuming the mods have checked out your IP number. (?) Your content section in your profile shows that you never post in actual nursing threads, apart from the school nurse/trans debate where your sole purpose for posting was not to offer any clinical insight or intellectual debate but to simply bash the LGBTQ+ community and tell lies about how STIs are spread (rather like your claim that simply being gay makes me "high risk" for HIV.) Somebody in that thread wisely suggested not interacting with you since you only post not to debate but to push prejudices. I should have taken that good advice then. However I'm taking it now since "debating" with you is a sheer waste of time. So I'll say goodbye to you. Do feel free to come back and have the last word. You know it'll kill you not to.

That means none. Perfectly relevant since you have constantly criticised communism and socialism and confused the two. You accuse countless non-comunists of being communists because you don't know what communism is. Lepage. I would say Onfray and Bonnardel though I'm not sure with your rigid world view you'd accept left leaning libertarians as libertarians.

Kindly answer the question you have been avoiding for over a month: Which contemporary communist theorists have you actually read?

Try Andrew Wilson "Ukraine's Orange Revolution" for starters. A far more reliable source than your beloved despot Vladimir Putin. You think Putin was democratically elected, with rigged polls, no independent media and opposition figures in prison or murdered?

Absolute proof you do not know what communism is.

I am half Ukrainian and have family there living the reality. Your assertion is an insult to a people who spent years under the occupation of the Soviet Union and now after a brief period of independence once again face Russian aggression. Educate yourself. Read a few books. Rely on news sources other than Fox News and social media - and your vivid imagnation. Now please would you answer the question above about communism which you have conveniently avoided for over a month, while continuing to make wild claims about "socialism" and "communism" which you have no understanding of.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitter_Christmas Almodovar fans, the latest is a cracker! "Amarga Navidad" (I saw it in French as "Autofiction" - why do they change the titles? "Bitter Christmas" in English, a far more accurate translation). Evidently semi-autobiographical. The story of a scriptwriter creating a screenplay inspired by real events going on around him. I read an interview with Almodovar in the French press where he described this as his most risky film to date. No twists or big shocks but I get it that the "story telling a story" concept risks not working in cinematic terms, however it does work. Like all Almodovar films, complex and requires thought and concentration. Take a Xanax before you go in!!

You do know his country's been illegally invaded and he's fighting a war against an aggressive hostile neighbour? Do you not think that's his priority? He has repeatedly said there will be elections once the war is over. No reason to disbelieve him. Also no reason to believe he won't accept the results, unlike Trump who has falsely claimed election fraud once and will very possibly try it again.

Such a pathetic assertion it is laughable. You keep referring to communism but you don't appear to know what it is. When challenged previously you ran away from the discussion and stayed silent for a month. However some of us have the memory of an elephant, so I'll ask you again. Which contemporary communist theorists have you actually read?

Thank you so much Tweety. I love Ian McKellen and this film would have passed me by had I not seen your post. Having left the UK many years ago British films sometimes pass me by. Saw this yesterday at your recommendation and absolutely loved it. BRILLIANT!