Andy and Roiben return after a few month's with...

...basically a few month's worth of catchup discussion:

Join us for over an hour and a half's worth of us just enjoying being back on mic.

In this episode, Andy digs out a pre-recorded segment about the game Persona 3 before going on to mention a few of the other games he has been playing in recent months.

Andy and Roiben met up in the New Year to watch and discuss Inception. Which they did... at length.

The first part of the discussion is a mostly spoiler-free overview. The second section goes into more in-depth discussion, but is flagged up as such. If you're thinking of rewatching (or just watching) this film, you might want to stop when we tell you.

In this episode, Andy and Roiben go over some useful tips for if you ever have to takke someone to the A&E Ward at hospital. They also discuss visiting people who are in hospital for a while.

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Intro: Brief explanation of interruption to new schedule.
Quick note about hospital visits taking up much of my free time.
Good opportunity to visit a topic we had considered a while back.

Segment 1 - A&E
I have done a few A&E runs in the past. It is never a
pleasant experience but there are a few tips that can come in useful.

   * You will be asked questions. Take time to jot down or grab samples if appropriate. If your friend of family member is liable for A&E visits (e.g. long term illness complications) then keeping notes to hand can help.

      * Their address details
      * Their doctor?
      * Contacts details (yours)
      * Any meds they are taking. Doses if you can remember.
      * What happened.
      * Anything they have taken.

         * Whether OD, allergic reactions, accidental poisoning or just OTCs or alcohol, knowing what they have had can help.
         * It may be the cause, or it may just affect what treatments they can use. Timing and doses can be useful.
   * Other useful tips

      * If your drive to the hospital, grab cash if you have any. Parking will not be free, and you may be in for a long wait.
      * Snacks! Long wait, and their vending machines won't be cheap.

Segment 2 - Hospital Visits
So, you have a friend or family member in hospital for a while. What do you do next?
There are a few things it can be useful to bear in mind if visiting a hospital for a period of days of weeks.

   * Car parking
      * As mentioned, this is not cheap. Make sure you always have cash. Some hospitals have a weekly or monthly ticket option. A bit like season tickets on a train, these are pay upfront and save money over time.
      * If you know of other parking or options in the area, make use of them.
   * Hand sanitizer pumps
      * These are stationed through the hospitals and required usage. Especially in this time of year, they can be very harsh on your hands.
      * Moisturise regularly. Especially if you are prone to chapped skin.
   * Bring things to do. They will need to eat, have therapy, go to sleep, etc.
   * Visit when you can. Time can be limited, and if you have work or school then you can't necessarily be there all the time. Make it when you can, it will be appreciated.
      * That, and it gives more things to talk about if you've done things between visits

We finally make a start on breaking the hiaitus as Andy talks up the Transformers comic "Last Stand of the Wreckers" and Roiben joins in to discuss deaf rapper Signmark and this autumn's Sencity London event

After finally moving and finally getting settled, I finally got around to recording a short "where the heck have I been" segment. This was actually ready a month ago, ready to upload the day my internet went down again. By the time it got back up, things got hella-hectic.

Still, I'm finally back online (hopefully) permanently. And with many things to discuss on-mic some time soon.

Andy K here, just giving a quick update as to the status of the podcast.

I've not given up on it. However, "Real Life" is intruding in a major, yet not-actually-bad, way. I'm now in the process od moving house. So much of my spare time is taken up with either packing or paperwork. And the rest is spent deperately trying to relax. So I decided to record a quick segment to basically say exactly this.

After a brief late-summer hiatus, Andy K and Roiben return with a new episode of Here's the Thing.

Rather than the usual format, we basically chat about what we've been up to since the end of August as well as hinting at one or two things that we intend to review in the future. (pending home-releases for rewatching)

We also mentioned "Lee's BSL Songs" (http://www.youtube.com/user/lovesbth), a  really cool YouTube Channel of songs interpreted in British Sign Language.

In this episode, Roiben provides co-hosting duties once again. She tells us about ther ecent BBC TV Drama The Silence. We discuss Bank Holidays, and why they can be frustrating. And in the concluding part of our mini-arc on school, we discuss what it was like for Roiben as a diabetic.

This is another short episode.

Roiben tells us about why she recommends the Psy Changeling series of novels.

In When Worlds Collide, we start a discussion on attending school with disabilities by covering being deaf in mainstream education.