No sign of a pick up date for the new bike. Tons of things to do at work and more to organise in life. This combined with the long comuting hours makes life difficult in the Madrid heat.
Fortunately it is time for a relaxing and action filled weekend in Barcelona!
Moto GP de Catalunya - a romantic weekend away
This is a question I have been thinking about al lot since I attended a first aid course last autumn. The opinion seams to differ in between countries witch is confusing.
Previously when I have attended fist aid courses in Sweden the instructions have been clear about the priority, if the person is not breathing, remove the helmet. Naturally removing the helmet is a trycky business and it has to be done with great care of the neck and spine, there is a special procedure to do it safe, preferably by two people. But if you don’t breath you die, so helmet of to start mouth to mouth and chest compression.
At the first aid course last autumn, here in Spain, the teacher got a bit upset when I told about what I had previously learned. She claimed that it was to risky for the spine and that mouth to mouth could be done through the visor gap (aparently she didn’t know how a healmet fits the head) or simply just do the compressions. She also said that in Japan mouth to mouth is not done at all, only chest compressions. Later when I checked info with friends in Sweden, that are both bikers and medical doctors, the information was clear, helmet off, but do it safe. So aparently this is something that are thought differently about in different countries. A bit surprising that there isn’t standardised European guidelines about this.
Since I often ride alone the matter of bringing vital info has always been ocupying me. Before I have made cards to put in my wallet or in my bag, but this can be difficult to find for others. Now one solution was presented by the Swedish bikers union, SMC. They have sent ICE medical cards to their members to put inbetween the shell and the padding of the helmet combined with a sticker saying “medical card in helmet”. All neat and nice if the helmet will be removed.
Medical card
When riding behind a Tele Pizza scooter delivery I could read a sticker on his healmet saying “in case of an accident, don’t remove helmet”. So it might be the case that I now live in a country where I in case of an accident will die with my spine intact and with my helmet on. Maybe this is to prevent people ripping the helmet of at first chance, but I think rather educate people how to do it prorperly than inform not to.
But I found something that might be more usefull outside Sweden, U-tag ICE. It is an Id plac to put around your neck and the beauty with it is the USB that you can fill with the information you want and it works in 7 different languages. Some initial information can also be engraved on the plac. Additional stickers can be ordered to stick to the bike to inform that ICE can be found on the rider.
U-tag ICE
Everything went smoothly at the bike shop and now I’m waiting for the Kawasaki to be prepared. Unfortunately I’m being held up again by paperwork and it feels like this blog is turning in to a whiny series about the difficulties of getting papers in order in Spain, especially during summer. Well this is not the intention but the fact is that my bank is being messy and the bank transfer to the bike shop is not coming through due to a – to me – not understandable error. Hopefully, I will get some answers from the bank man tomorrow. Another thing that was necessary was to be registered on the new address. According to the system my id number/NIE is registered to the first address I had in Spain, that is now 5 years ago and I am registered still on the previous address in Alcobendas. So for the papers for the bike tax and possible other stuff to reach me I have to get this organised. This can only be done at daytime and on a pre-made appointment. Hopefully, my fiancé can sort that out on Wednesday. Another thing is that inbetween bikes I will have to commute to work by public transport, which is a 1 ½ hour single journey, I spend less than half that by bike. So while part of me is jolly happy that the deal is settled, another part is sick and tired of Spanish paper work and bureaucracy.
Smile! Me & den Svarte Japanen
A Kawasaki might put a smile on my face but Ducati still has a place in my heart. I was delighted to see Rossi riding his Ducati to a podium today. My congratulations!