Ivan the terrible

[gwyn]

I'm sending out my prayers, such as they are from an agnostic heathen, to all my friends and their families who are having to deal with this terrible series of hurricanes in the southeast and Caribbean. tiashome, is your family OK? I really hope so. I saw the footage of Jamaica and it looks horrible there. Everyone be safe!

On a totally unrelated note, is there anyone on my flist or who reads this LJ who's either in the medical field or have been in the medical field, especially in a hospital? I need some fic help with injuries and descriptions and would like to ask you a few questions if you'd be willing. I figure I can easily get away with goofy police and FBI procedures, since the source was just as goofy, but I am a stickler for at least a reasonable amount of accuracy in other things. (you can contact me at gwyn_r at livejournal dot com)

Speaking of e-mail -- I took the offer of a gmail invite and am really disappointed. I can't access it anywhere with firewalls, which means it's useless at work and it didn't come up at my dad's, either. I have other sites that I can't access because of their firewalls, and can only access at home or a friend's computer, but part of the reason I did the gmail was for all-the-time access for a totally fannish account, which my others aren't. I have no trouble with either hotmail or yahoo at any place. I can't even find out where I can write to them to tell them their beta version sucks since I can't get into it. It seems odd to me that both Yahoo and Hotmail can make a site that is accessible even with twitchy firewalls, but gmail cannot. Not so well done, them.

Comments

[minim_calibre]

Huh.

My GMail worked behind the firewalls when I was still working. I wonder if it's on a specific exclude now or something.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Oh, hmm. That never occurred to me, but how would you even find that out? It seems odd -- I mean, it lets me log in, but then says Loading, and then gives me nothing but blank space. I get it at the other place where I frequently can't access restricted password sites that I have no trouble with otherwise. I can't figure it out. But since I can't use it at work, it seems pointless, since at home I'm on dialup and the sloooowness of using web-based mail at home just doesn't make it worth it. Might as well just use the regular drizzle account. Sigh. Technology hates me.

[minim_calibre]

Try hitting refresh. That always worked for me when it was giving me the blank space.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Okay, either you have magical powers, or something happened. I went in to try the refresh thing (I'd done it once, but maybe it just didn't process) and it came up on the first try. I have no idea why, after well over two dozen attempts, it worked.

OTOH, everyone on my team has a hosed connection today and our server is down but everyone who can help is at the company meeting, and I'm the only one who can get into anything (usually I'm ten steps behind). So maybe the gods are smiling on me due to your magical powers.

[umbo.livejournal.com]

It's been awhile since I worked as a nurse in the hospital, but I do have some experience in that area, so I'd be happy to try to help--I have spent some time floating to the ER and ICU in the past....

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

D'oh! I didn't even think of that, but of course, I remember you talking about that. I'll e you -- though, I think you're travelling soon, correct? (crossing fingers for you)

[unovis.livejournal.com]

I can't access it with some browsers. I kept AOL 5 on one computer because it's the least horrible, and least cluttered, version so far but I have to switch to Opera or Mozilla to view gmail.

My buddy Ron doesn't have a problem viewing it through the firewalls of the NYPL computers, though.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Weirdly, just when I complained about it, it started working. I don't know why. I've tried twice a day for the past two weeks and nada; today, I've sent three mails. Bizarro. I don't know how long it'll last.

[ascian3.livejournal.com]

Hotmail and Yahoo often work reliably because they're specifically excluded from being blocked by firewalls. Gmail might be too new to have earned an exclusion.

Here's their bug reporting page:
http://services.google.com/inquiry/gmail_bugs/

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Aha. Okay, that actually makes a kind of sense. After weeks of trying, I finally got in today, just when I complained. So maybe it was just a process of time. I'm going to see if it holds, though.

[buzzczar.livejournal.com]

I came to your LJ from ginmar's. Her writing about Iraq and her life in general impressed me and she seem quite taken with your work, so here I am looking for more interesting writing.

BTW, I'm married to an RN who, although no longer nursing, works in admin for the transplant center at the state medical university. She is my medical source and I'm certain she would be glad to answer your medical/hospital related questions.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Hi! ::waves:: Ginmar is so sweet to mention me in front of all those people. ;-) Hopefully I will actually write something interesting and worthwhile! Lately I seem to be bogged down in stupid stuff. That time of year, I think.

Thank you for the med help offer, too! I have all these ideas and I want to make sure they're at least plausible. Even if exaggerated, it's good to try for something resembling reality.

[tiashome.livejournal.com]

My grandma came through the hurricane fine, chica, with just some roof and water damage. Thanks for thinking of her. It could have been much, much worse, but luckily Ivan swerved a bit at the last minute and there was no direct hit on Kingston. Now the folks in New Orleans and parts of Florida have to get ready -- hope they survive it OK.

[zanthinegirl.livejournal.com]

Hi, I'm *really* new to LJ, but saw the link on your site. I'm not sure if you still need it, but I might be able to help. I've worked in the medical field for about 10 years now (I just moved to Seattle and now work at the University of Washington Medical center) so if you still have some questions let me know. I'll do my best to answer!