I have had a busy week at work this week. I have not had as many opportunities to blog as much as I would like. In addition to that Sebastian and I have been producing the podcast as well as organising some changes in that department which have been time consuming. However, today I received a comment about my blog from a real life person, which was nice.
I am sure my colleagues are sick to death of hearing about my supposed “hobby” which sometimes feels like a second job. But I have to say I still enjoy it. I did not really think that many people outside of the blogosphere really got the idea of blogging, podcasting or the on-line community. But today I was proved wrong, to a degree. Not only that it was from a source I thought most unlikely.
While I talk mostly with those that I work directly with and they know a lot about what I do in this forum, I do talk to other people about it. Indeed I will talk to anyone that will listen! I can’t help it I am a fanatic. Anyway, as some of you know I am a nurse in a busy operating theatre. We have two tireless secretaries that work at the “front desk”. They are tops and are crucial to the smooth running of our department. Well, I arrived at work today and I was there not five minutes and one of the girls (is that politically correct? Sorry if it is not) came up to me and straight off the cuff told me that they went to the “Rooster’s Rail” last night and had a poke around. They had also paid a visit to an article that they liked and had touched them. Wow! I felt very humbled by the comment and encouraged. But the thing that interested me the most was the fact that this person said that it was like reading about a different person. Or a side to myself that they did not know existed. That I came to work and I had a front of professionalism and that behind that they did not realise that there was another person.
Just a mention about the picture. Totally unrelated to this post. I tried to find a cool, funny cartoon of a secretary but could not find one that A: was not porn and B: you did not have to pay for. So I got a picture of a Secretary Bird (there are some other great shots of birds there as well, check them out on Flickr) and chucked it up there. The reason for the bird? Well as Seb said “that bird looks like it would kick your arse”. I saw them on a telly show and trust me they would, they can kill and eat venomous snakes! On with the blog…
I am glad that they “saw” this other person and that they realised that I was something other than a nurse. While I like to keep my professional life very separate to my on-line community, my blog and podcast, I realised that I have lost some of my blogging anonymity. I am not sure what I think of that. I don’t mind but do I have to think about what I write here? I would like to think that I will continue on and be happy that people are reading my blog. I guess the other thing that I might keep in the back of my mind is the fact that this person admitted that they had visited the rail, what about those that don’t tell me. Does my boss check my blog to make sure I am not slandering anyone or saying things I should not? Not that I would, but to other bloggers out there that like to keep their private life private, it is not as private as you might wish it to be.
I have a number of motivations for keeping my on-line life separate (you will notice that I did not say private). One is that what I do for a living is remarkably different to what I do here. In real life I am a Registered Nurse, a senior member of staff and hold a position as a Level Two in our department. I work in an operating theatre where we do hundreds of operations a month. I scrub for cases (you know… when the surgeon says “Knife!” – I am the one that hands it to him or her) and manage the floor after hours. I don’t know that you can get much different. The other thing is that because of the work that I do and that I work for the government I have to cautious about what I say. I can not blog about operations that I might have scrubbed for or patients, it is illegal. The other thing is that I will not talk about people that I work with, that would be asking for trouble as well. This is one of the few times I will mention what I do or people that I work with. But this time it has context and I wanted to share my thoughts on the matter. Sebastian has often asked why I do not let the two parts of my life mix and I hope that this helps him and others understand that.
That aside, I was delighted to get a comment in real life. To actually see a persons reaction to what you have done was great. I would not mind if anyone that I work with came here, I am proud of what I am doing and after all this is a public platform. However, think twice before you say something on a blog you might regret.
A special thank-you to Rebecca, you are most welcome to come back anytime. I hope you like the person that you did not know existed.
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Rooster's Rail 
Why I Appear to have Two Different Lives
July 6, 2006 — The RoosterI have had a busy week at work this week. I have not had as many opportunities to blog as much as I would like. In addition to that Sebastian and I have been producing the podcast as well as organising some changes in that department which have been time consuming. However, today I received a comment about my blog from a real life person, which was nice.
I am sure my colleagues are sick to death of hearing about my supposed “hobby” which sometimes feels like a second job. But I have to say I still enjoy it. I did not really think that many people outside of the blogosphere really got the idea of blogging, podcasting or the on-line community. But today I was proved wrong, to a degree. Not only that it was from a source I thought most unlikely.
Just a mention about the picture. Totally unrelated to this post. I tried to find a cool, funny cartoon of a secretary but could not find one that A: was not porn and B: you did not have to pay for. So I got a picture of a Secretary Bird (there are some other great shots of birds there as well, check them out on Flickr) and chucked it up there. The reason for the bird? Well as Seb said “that bird looks like it would kick your arse”. I saw them on a telly show and trust me they would, they can kill and eat venomous snakes! On with the blog…
I am glad that they “saw” this other person and that they realised that I was something other than a nurse. While I like to keep my professional life very separate to my on-line community, my blog and podcast, I realised that I have lost some of my blogging anonymity. I am not sure what I think of that. I don’t mind but do I have to think about what I write here? I would like to think that I will continue on and be happy that people are reading my blog. I guess the other thing that I might keep in the back of my mind is the fact that this person admitted that they had visited the rail, what about those that don’t tell me. Does my boss check my blog to make sure I am not slandering anyone or saying things I should not? Not that I would, but to other bloggers out there that like to keep their private life private, it is not as private as you might wish it to be.
I have a number of motivations for keeping my on-line life separate (you will notice that I did not say private). One is that what I do for a living is remarkably different to what I do here. In real life I am a Registered Nurse, a senior member of staff and hold a position as a Level Two in our department. I work in an operating theatre where we do hundreds of operations a month. I scrub for cases (you know… when the surgeon says “Knife!” – I am the one that hands it to him or her) and manage the floor after hours. I don’t know that you can get much different. The other thing is that because of the work that I do and that I work for the government I have to cautious about what I say. I can not blog about operations that I might have scrubbed for or patients, it is illegal. The other thing is that I will not talk about people that I work with, that would be asking for trouble as well. This is one of the few times I will mention what I do or people that I work with. But this time it has context and I wanted to share my thoughts on the matter. Sebastian has often asked why I do not let the two parts of my life mix and I hope that this helps him and others understand that.
That aside, I was delighted to get a comment in real life. To actually see a persons reaction to what you have done was great. I would not mind if anyone that I work with came here, I am proud of what I am doing and after all this is a public platform. However, think twice before you say something on a blog you might regret.
A special thank-you to Rebecca, you are most welcome to come back anytime. I hope you like the person that you did not know existed.