It has been a long couple of days so far, and I really should be headed to bed. The night shift looms.
Picked the guy up at the airport last night, and we got to sleep not long after midnight. I headed for home before 6am and phoned to wake him for work at 8am.
So, I wonder what new rumors and or variations he is hearing today? I don't really care. It doesn't bother me, but he is upset by it all. At Christmas, I asked Chris if she remembered him from when she worked there. She didn't. As she commented when I told her I was dating one of the staff, "Oh, I know the grapevine just loves that, fucking Peyton Place."
Last night, I told him that I want a divorce. As this quarter of school is looking as bad as the last, I feel justified. "Ah, you know how I am when I am in my books." I repeated that I wanted a divorce. He continued to ignore me.
I so hate AOL. Benazir Bhutto was assassinated yesterday; it was not on the scrolling front page clicks or even listed in a Top Stories link. However, the fact that Paris Hilton is being essentially disinherited by her grandfather giving 97% of his fortune to charity was right up there along with Mother Of The Year Britney Spears and her knocked-up teenage sister. Oh, and knocked-up Jessica Alba is now engaged to her baby daddy. And, Mischa Barton's mug shot from a DUI arrest made the front page. I have not clicked over to Yahoo yet, but I'm not holding much hope for content of a much higher caliber.
Being me, I had to pop on over to Yahoo and take a peak. I will give them credit, they had valid content on their front page. **NOTE TO SELF : Change home-page on Mike and Amanda's laptop.**
The guy and I were just settling in to sleep last night. After I had asked for my divorce and we were talking about my boss wanting to use some of his pharmacology books this quarter. My phone rang. It was Brian. I answered the phone with, "Were your ears burning?" No. He had called to tell me that one of our patients had just died within the last hour. I told Hindolo that Carl had died. "When?" "Just a little bit ago. Brian was calling to let me know. That's just something the nurses do." I'm just calling Jane now to make sure that someone has phoned Carol. Someone forgot to phone me once, and it was a great shock to come back to work a few days later, be in the middle of report and ask about someone to be told that they had died earlier in the week. So, Carol was always the person who would make sure I got a call if I happened to be off. I want to make sure Carol gets a call as she is on vacation this week.
Carl was one of the people that I really hadn't expected to still be there when I came back to work last year, but I was really glad to see that he was. He was sans both legs above the knee when I returned, and he was by no means as sharp as he had been when I worked there previously, but he was still Carl. He was not without his moments of clarity and even managed to grab my ass one day when I was wearing the insidious hoochie-momma low-rise jeans. LOL That was Carl.
I am off to bed. I'll have some thoughts on some relevant things with the next entry. That's the plan, anyway.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
The Official 2007 Christmas Letter
TO: Friends, Family, Extraterrestrial Intelligent Entities, Charismatic Evangelicals, Devotees of Anime, Double-espresso Drinkers, Knitters for Political and Social Change
Salutations and such -
As I am sitting here with the non-Maoist Cultural Revolution Gang of Five and taking a break from finishing the last three-and-a-half inches of the turtleneck on my Christmas sweater, I pause to reflect on events of questionable relevance from the last year.
2007 was the year of disarray. If it was possible to be messed up, it was. If it was possible for it to be broken, it happened. Procrastination was the order of the day. Money went faster than it came.
Social blogging networks were the new prevailing distraction this year. I finally got around to doing a bit of something with my MySpace and Multiply pages. I still post to del.icio.us on occasion. Stumble Upon just didn't do it for me. I have yet to peruse Digg. (I feel I need to leave something for the new year.) I think I'm also on Facebook and Tagged. I gave up my memberships for the Pogo game site and don't miss it at all after it having been an internet staple for nearly 6 years. I gave up a couple of internet forums and joined a few more. Other than a couple of friends, I have completely disassociated myself with all people and things relating to The Way International.
I reconnected with some old friends and acquired some new friends. There are still a couple of friends that I need to reconnect with. And, I really need to quit being such a lazy ass and find a couple of people from years gone by.
The last time we were all together as a family was at my dad's funeral. Today we will be all together with my mom's new boyfriend.
I have met my soul mate, and he makes me crazy to the very depths of my soul.
My daughters are my daughters. In some ways consistency is good; in other ways it serves merely to make me wish I lived further away.
The summary of all that is that isn't is complete.
Wishing you a cool yule & a great 2008!
Monday, December 24, 2007
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Sunday Night & Headed to Bed
The day started off with temperatures in the mid-50s and steady rain. It quickly became very windy and quite cold with the occasional snow-fluffy seen streaking by.
It made for a long day at work. After working the Friday overnight on only 2 hours of sleep followed by watching the gang o' five until 4pm yesterday while the kids shopped, I was pretty well burnt-out come 7pm tonight.
Still no hi/bye/thinking of you/fuck off/miss you/couldn't care less if you died from Hindolo. And Joni says I should email him a Christmas card anyway. Yeah. I'll get right on that.
I need to head to bed. I'm watching the kidniks tomorrow. That should be fun. I balked at the prospect of shopping tonight in the cold and was simply too exhausted to do it yesterday when relieved of the children. So, I will be headed to the fabric store with 5 children in tow on Christmas Eve day. Oh, what a blog that will make.
It made for a long day at work. After working the Friday overnight on only 2 hours of sleep followed by watching the gang o' five until 4pm yesterday while the kids shopped, I was pretty well burnt-out come 7pm tonight.
Still no hi/bye/thinking of you/fuck off/miss you/couldn't care less if you died from Hindolo. And Joni says I should email him a Christmas card anyway. Yeah. I'll get right on that.
I need to head to bed. I'm watching the kidniks tomorrow. That should be fun. I balked at the prospect of shopping tonight in the cold and was simply too exhausted to do it yesterday when relieved of the children. So, I will be headed to the fabric store with 5 children in tow on Christmas Eve day. Oh, what a blog that will make.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Another Effed Up Friday Morning & I Gotta Work Later
I should be sleeping. Not close to happening yet. I'm awaiting packages from FedEx and from the USPS. If I don't get to them before the hood rats do...
The Princess is at the sitter's with the little boys. When I dropped them off at school this morning, she was convinced that her mother had said she could stay home today because she "was sick last night." News to me. I made her get out of the van. In the middle of the parking lot then ensued the screaming hissy fit because she didn't have her backpack. I put her back in the van and took her to the sitter's.
My daughter is bitching because Rick didn't pay his child support and that bank account is overdrawn. Michael's check was $900+, and she isn't sure how she is going to be able to feed everyone this week, let alone buy Christmas presents. She's mad because I had an attitude about the Princess's behavior this morning.
Work is gonna be screwed up because Brian denied a request for a day off that wasn't submitted in time (Usually not a problem, except for the holidays when you pretty much have to stick to the policy because of the number of time off requests.) so we're pretty certain she is going to call off for tomorrow night, leaving me stuck to cover at least the evening portion of the shift and then be back in at 7am Sunday.
I am more than a little hurt that Hindolo hasn't bothered to try and call me back since I missed his call Tuesday. He hasn't even responded to the email that I sent him Tuesday after I missed his call.
All in all, it is shaping up to be a pretty miserable lead-in to Christmas.
Oh yeah, and happy winter solstice.
The Princess is at the sitter's with the little boys. When I dropped them off at school this morning, she was convinced that her mother had said she could stay home today because she "was sick last night." News to me. I made her get out of the van. In the middle of the parking lot then ensued the screaming hissy fit because she didn't have her backpack. I put her back in the van and took her to the sitter's.
My daughter is bitching because Rick didn't pay his child support and that bank account is overdrawn. Michael's check was $900+, and she isn't sure how she is going to be able to feed everyone this week, let alone buy Christmas presents. She's mad because I had an attitude about the Princess's behavior this morning.
Work is gonna be screwed up because Brian denied a request for a day off that wasn't submitted in time (Usually not a problem, except for the holidays when you pretty much have to stick to the policy because of the number of time off requests.) so we're pretty certain she is going to call off for tomorrow night, leaving me stuck to cover at least the evening portion of the shift and then be back in at 7am Sunday.
I am more than a little hurt that Hindolo hasn't bothered to try and call me back since I missed his call Tuesday. He hasn't even responded to the email that I sent him Tuesday after I missed his call.
All in all, it is shaping up to be a pretty miserable lead-in to Christmas.
Oh yeah, and happy winter solstice.
Incubus - Warning
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvZY3-y4l8Q&feature=related
The embed feature has been diabled by Sony BMG Entertainment et al.
You'll have to click the link.
The embed feature has been diabled by Sony BMG Entertainment et al.
You'll have to click the link.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Tuesday Morning
I awoke to find a missed call on my phone. I had left it downstairs on my desk when I finally made it to bed early this morning. The call was from Hindolo. 6:04am. That's what I get for having phoned him a couple of times that early.... It made me feel a bit better and a bit saddened at the same time.
I'm doing some laundry. Getting ready to seam this sweater.
I have one auction that I'm bidding for on eBay. I should be able to get it fairly easily. It is a cross stitch pattern. I have decided that my first cross stitch project will be angels - a Celtic angel and an African angel. I found the Celtic angel pattern on closeout from Annie's Attic, and I found the African angel from the same series on eBay.
I need to get back to work on the househould drudge.
I'm doing some laundry. Getting ready to seam this sweater.
I have one auction that I'm bidding for on eBay. I should be able to get it fairly easily. It is a cross stitch pattern. I have decided that my first cross stitch project will be angels - a Celtic angel and an African angel. I found the Celtic angel pattern on closeout from Annie's Attic, and I found the African angel from the same series on eBay.
I need to get back to work on the househould drudge.
Monday Evening
I am supposed to be finishing the last of the chainette fringe on this scarf. I will get back to it shortly. I didn't make it out to finish my shopping today. I was simply too fatigued.It is now about four hours later. I have been working on the scarf. I had a nice chat with Genny. Our conversations are always fun. We talk about so many different things. Tonight was mainly about her work, her clients - current and former, and some of the obstacles they face with referrals to and help (or lack of help) from other agencies and problems with public transportation. I was appalled by some of the problems and issues with the public transportation system.
We talked for a bit about the guy. How I feel that I'm just "something you have." Much in the same way that you have a house or you have a car. I think much of it is cultural. Arranged marriages are still very normal in Sierra Leone. A wife is something that you have.
He appreciates me for my intellect and my sense of humor. He does genuinely care for me. However, everything else and everyone else comes before me because I'm just "something you have."
That hurts.
Break time is over. Back to work on this scarf. I think this is going to be the last thing I do gratis. I will make things for gifts, certainly, but these side projects simply take too much time away from what I need to be doing. I'll be back when I finish this scarf. It will be finished tonight.
It is nearly 1am. The scarf is done!
Next project, finish seaming and stitch on the collar for my teal chenille (There, I said it again.) Christmas sweater.
Brian phoned me earlier tonight. When I told him that I was shopping on line, he asked if I was buying yarn. LOL Not buying, but getting my order ready for the yarn to make my sweaters for myself for next year. I made three this year. I hope to get in five for 2008. Two tank tops, a t-shirt, a fancy little pullover, and a bulky cardigan. The first three listed will work up quickly. The cardigan should as well. It's that little pullover that will take the time. I picked yellow for it, but I'm not so sure about it now. Maybe a coral or a peach. All the rest are to be worked from multicolor yarns.
After we had finished speaking of my yarn addiction and the fact that I still have not finished and delivered his pillows and window treatments, we did talk about work. Well, one aspect of work.
I was bad and played the "I will call the state" card. And, I will, too.
Nurses are required to distribute cigarettes to some of the residents. It creates more problems than you can imagine. The rationale for this is that the staff cannot be trusted to do it. The staff in another apartment manage to distribute cigarettes to their two ladies without difficulty. Brian agrees with us (several of the other nurses and myself) that it is not the function of the nurse to give out cigarettes. Our Health Care Coordinator argues that the staff cannot be trusted to do it.
This is the same staff that they will have passing medications to the residents once we go over to the I/O Waiver program. The staff can be trusted to give medications but are not competent enough to distribute cigarettes?
Brian said he would talk to Barb tomorrow and reiterated several times not to call the state. I told him that all I know is that I had better not have to be handing out cigarettes at 6am Saturday morning. We will be done with this shit once and for all, and we will be done with it tomorrow.
The reason that my BS threshold was surpassed on this issue was because Sunday evening, I had to stop in the middle of my 5pm medication pass (The second heaviest pass of the day. Only morning is heavier, and it is split between two shifts.) and deal with why someone was out of cigarettes. As I told the supervisor, there is someone here 5 days a week, 8 hours a day whose responsibility it is to make sure that this resident's cigarettes are purchased, and I am NOT that person. The final straw was when the supervisor (who is the supervisor of this individual who is supposed to be purchasing the cigarettes) said he would revise the sign out form so that nursing would have to notify the person whose job it is to be on top of this when we distributed the last pack. NO MORE!!
I was over to my office and on the phone to Brian so quick it would have made your head spin. Every time he has talked with me since, I have been in an absolute livid tizzy about it. Enough is fucking enough!!
If they refuse to fix it, I am certain the state will find a way to remedy the situation. A call to the state means a re-survey. An unannounced re-survey. Much easier to fix the cigarette distribution problem than to go through another week with the survey team in the house.
Here is a bit of insight into the staff that will soon be passing medications to people who, for the most part, have no idea what it is they are taking.
On Sunday, the nurse was called to one of the apartments. On arrival, the question was asked, could the nurse please check out this resident as they were worried about his kidneys. In explaining their concerns to the nurse, they stated that his pants were so tight that it had taken three of them to get his pants on him and zipped up. They were worried that if his pants were too tight, it might bruise his kidneys.
When I got to work Sunday morning and was told this story by the two nurses who had already lived it and were still laughing about it, all I could do was sit there for a minute. Finally, I said, "OK, I have to say this. Can you please remind me again who the retarded people are?" Fits of hysterical laughter ensued from them.
This is who my company intends upon having give medications to the clients.
That is way beyond scary. I don't think that is even in the same time zone as scary.
Oh, it would be so nice to hit the lottery right about now! LMAO Of course, I would actually have to remember to buy a ticket for the lottery for that to happen.
It's 2am, and there are short people who need to see me bright and early.
Ciao
Monday, December 17, 2007
Monday Morning
I am having a cafe mocha and wishing I could still be in bed. I did sleep well last night and was awake before my alarm went off this morning. The Monday morning saga was no clean uniforms for the princess, and her dawdling around so long that she didn't have time for a shower. (I hate my daughter more than not these days.) The little boys slept late, and my arthritis was very painful so I asked Pam if she could take the kids to school. The battery in her van was dead, so she drove them in mine. Amanda had also not called the babysitter to see if she would watch the boys today. Why do I bother to ask her to do anything.
I'm exhausted. Worn down from the weekend of changes in shifts and sleeping patterns. More of the same in store for the upcoming weekend with the overnight shift scheduled for Friday. Then comes the week of the five 12-hours shifts - three days and two nights. Can you say "insanity?"
As far as that guy goes, I am still thinking hard about that one.
I'm exhausted. Worn down from the weekend of changes in shifts and sleeping patterns. More of the same in store for the upcoming weekend with the overnight shift scheduled for Friday. Then comes the week of the five 12-hours shifts - three days and two nights. Can you say "insanity?"
As far as that guy goes, I am still thinking hard about that one.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
In From The Cold
It was a long day running in and out of the cold. With the wind chill, temperatures were in the teens. Due to drop into single digits overnight.
I am tired. I am in pain.
I did want to go shopping tonight after work, but I had no desire to be out in the weather any longer. I was very glad and very thankful to be coming home to a warm house.
I went upstairs. Out of pettiness, the dog had trashed my bed. I re-made it and switched on the electric blanket.
I think I will go crawl into it and see if a good night's sleep changes my mind about telling the guy that I am done.
I am tired. I am in pain.
I did want to go shopping tonight after work, but I had no desire to be out in the weather any longer. I was very glad and very thankful to be coming home to a warm house.
I went upstairs. Out of pettiness, the dog had trashed my bed. I re-made it and switched on the electric blanket.
I think I will go crawl into it and see if a good night's sleep changes my mind about telling the guy that I am done.
Out of Bed Early
We have remained relatively unscathed by the snow and ice storm that is moving through this weekend. It has been raining for about the last twelve hours; temperatures have remained above freezing. Nearly all of the snow that had fallen during late yesterday morning and early afternoon has melted away (to the dismay of the German Shepherd dog). She who loathes the rain has returned inside and had seemingly been out trying to play in the last of the snowfall as she is soaked to the skin. Grubby beastie.
*Note to self* All references to canines should henceforth be made in Gaelic (a la Robert Burns) for more apt effect.
I am still recovering from the weekend of switched shift times. Not an easy thing to do when it involves planning for working a night shift and then being called in to work a day shift. I was scheduled off yesterday but was on call to cover any call offs for the night shift and the day shift today that were anticipated due to the storm. That would be why my sleep pattern is so erratic that I was awake at 2:45am this morning. That shouldn't have to happen due to some fortunate breaks with temperatures remaining above freezing, and I will probably be working my own 11am to 7pm shift today.
I made an observation when I was called in to work Friday day shift. I found it to be amazing how Helen manages to stay where she is scheduled to be when Hindolo isn't around. She is moving to New Jersey in January. I will leave that one alone, pending the actual move, of course.
I bought some groceries the other night when I decided to head to Wal-Mart at 1:30am before the storm blew in. In keeping with the plan of changing my eating habits to vegetarian and organic at the beginning of the year, I picked up a few things. I have already begun to change what I eat. Makes the transition easier. As I was buying some groceries, I decided to go ahead and pick up some organic stuff. Talk about "things that make you go hmmmmmm." Definitely requires more investigation as to why organic items are nearly double the price of their commercially produced counterparts.
Done on a commercial scale, though labor intensive in some aspects, organic farming is not that much more expensive than traditional commercial agricultural practices. My gut feeling would be that, as with traditional agriculture (OK, commercial farming as it is practiced in the US), it is the middle men who are profiting the most.
Organic milk, $3.00 for a half gallon. Commercially produced and marketed milk, containing bovine growth hormone (BGH - sale of this milk banned by Canada and the EU), $3.50 for a gallon. Organic peanut butter was nearly double the price of "natural" peanut butter for the same size jar of the same brand. My Starbucks organic coffee was only $1 more than their non-organic varieties. Eggs from the free-range chickens which had been fed whole grains (what a novel concept), were double the price of a dozen commercially produced eggs. The pattern of disproportionately higher prices continued to be noted in all other price comparisons of organic vs non-organic products.
This is 2007. Production methods are well-established, markets are widespread, and certification programs are well-entrenched. It has to be the "middle man syndrome." As we have steadily continued to abominate foods with our growing and processing techniques, the demand for organic products is greater than the supply (This brings up the quandary of importing "organic" products from other countries to fill the gap. Another whole chapter in the organic supply and certification chain.) according to several sources that I have read. This would account for higher pricing to a degree, but I would be willing to bet that organic producers are not being paid double what their commercial counter parts are being paid. More investigation will be in order.
I chatted briefly with Genny last evening before she went off to finish the last of her Christmas shopping. Hopefully, I will finish mine today and tomorrow. Friday was supposed to be my last day shopping, but I didn't get to do it with having to work.
The snow and ice that was forecast may not have been a factor in the storm, but this wind that is currently beginning to blow surely is. My power is flickering. Going off just long enough to make the computer have to restart. PITA
Guess that means it is time to publish or perish.
*Note to self* All references to canines should henceforth be made in Gaelic (a la Robert Burns) for more apt effect.
I am still recovering from the weekend of switched shift times. Not an easy thing to do when it involves planning for working a night shift and then being called in to work a day shift. I was scheduled off yesterday but was on call to cover any call offs for the night shift and the day shift today that were anticipated due to the storm. That would be why my sleep pattern is so erratic that I was awake at 2:45am this morning. That shouldn't have to happen due to some fortunate breaks with temperatures remaining above freezing, and I will probably be working my own 11am to 7pm shift today.
I made an observation when I was called in to work Friday day shift. I found it to be amazing how Helen manages to stay where she is scheduled to be when Hindolo isn't around. She is moving to New Jersey in January. I will leave that one alone, pending the actual move, of course.
I bought some groceries the other night when I decided to head to Wal-Mart at 1:30am before the storm blew in. In keeping with the plan of changing my eating habits to vegetarian and organic at the beginning of the year, I picked up a few things. I have already begun to change what I eat. Makes the transition easier. As I was buying some groceries, I decided to go ahead and pick up some organic stuff. Talk about "things that make you go hmmmmmm." Definitely requires more investigation as to why organic items are nearly double the price of their commercially produced counterparts.
Done on a commercial scale, though labor intensive in some aspects, organic farming is not that much more expensive than traditional commercial agricultural practices. My gut feeling would be that, as with traditional agriculture (OK, commercial farming as it is practiced in the US), it is the middle men who are profiting the most.
Organic milk, $3.00 for a half gallon. Commercially produced and marketed milk, containing bovine growth hormone (BGH - sale of this milk banned by Canada and the EU), $3.50 for a gallon. Organic peanut butter was nearly double the price of "natural" peanut butter for the same size jar of the same brand. My Starbucks organic coffee was only $1 more than their non-organic varieties. Eggs from the free-range chickens which had been fed whole grains (what a novel concept), were double the price of a dozen commercially produced eggs. The pattern of disproportionately higher prices continued to be noted in all other price comparisons of organic vs non-organic products.
This is 2007. Production methods are well-established, markets are widespread, and certification programs are well-entrenched. It has to be the "middle man syndrome." As we have steadily continued to abominate foods with our growing and processing techniques, the demand for organic products is greater than the supply (This brings up the quandary of importing "organic" products from other countries to fill the gap. Another whole chapter in the organic supply and certification chain.) according to several sources that I have read. This would account for higher pricing to a degree, but I would be willing to bet that organic producers are not being paid double what their commercial counter parts are being paid. More investigation will be in order.
I chatted briefly with Genny last evening before she went off to finish the last of her Christmas shopping. Hopefully, I will finish mine today and tomorrow. Friday was supposed to be my last day shopping, but I didn't get to do it with having to work.
The snow and ice that was forecast may not have been a factor in the storm, but this wind that is currently beginning to blow surely is. My power is flickering. Going off just long enough to make the computer have to restart. PITA
Guess that means it is time to publish or perish.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
S.O.B. (Standard Operational Bullshit)
My mom has a boyfriend. As she said, he is "old school." LOL Gotta love it. She has known him forever; before she ever met my dad. So, I guess that's OK. She said they nearly had to take a drive down here to Cowlumbus for me to meet him before he would take my mom out to dinner. They settled for my middle sister meeting him instead as she lives the closest. My response to Mom telling me this, "A phone call to me wouldn't have sufficed in his book?" She says he's very nice, and he will be there for Christmas.
I had a couple of witty things that I had been wanting to blog that have gone swirling through my mind over the course of the afternoon. Now that I have sat down to do this, not a sight of them. ~sigh~
I would much rather use the little >< (have to put them that way or they are misconstrued to be code) but that is not allowed here.
Oh yeah... one of those items came back to me ~shudder~
Disclaimer: Any former members of The Way International, proceed with caution. Religious dogma and cultish triggers ahead.
I had a PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) moment when I opened my mail this afternoon. All relating back to my time in that crazy little place called The Way International. Or TWI, as we escapees/exilees refer to it.
After the huge fallout from when TWI imploded, a bunch of splinter ministries formed. Someone signed me up for teaching CDs from one of them. In the mail today, I received a "Christmas Card" from this ministry. Being that we cultists did not celebrate or acknowledge Christmas.... go figure.
Anyway, inside this card was a little pocket-type calendar for 2008. The cover was imprinted with 2 Corinthians 9:8.
The first page, use this address for "Abundant Sharing" translated - "Send me your money" (as Mike Muir begins to scream in my head).
Next page (s) the prayer list...
1. Word over the World
2. ******* Family
3. Doulos of Christ
4. Lights of the World
5. Advanced Class
6. Foundational Class
7. Yourself
8. Your Family
9. Your Fellowship
Oh FUCK! Talk about "triggers."
Next page... The twelve principles of how the Word of God interprets itself:
1. Just as it is stated
2. Men's additions
3. The context
4. To whom it is addressed
5. The correct administration
6. Original biblical meaning
7. Defined internally
8. First occurrence
9. Other occurrences
10. Scriptural agreement
11. Problem verses
12. Complementary Scripture
eh, not QUITE like it was stated in the old, original cult, but still close enough to make me shudder...
Then, the calendar pages... At the top of each "Speaking in Tongues..." and a different blurb for each month related to speaking in tongues (what it is, what it does for you, etc)
As we (the cult) did not celebrate Christmas, Jesus Christ's Birthday is listed as being September 11. (Stolen from the work and research of E. W. Bullinger, I might add.) and December 25th is listed as being "The Holiday." Hey, this is an obviously more liberal bunch than the original bunch of cultists. In the previous incarnation, in any reference to December 25th, it was known as "Ho Ho Day."
I literally did freak when I saw that prayer list.
The only thing missing from the old days was "The Word of God is The Will of God."
It wouldn't surprise me if The Way had trademarked that particular phrase.
That can be about the only reason that I can think of off the top of my head why it would not have been used.
As it is coming up on 11pm EST, and I would have been due to get off work in two minutes if I had gone to work, I suppose I will go ahead and dish on why it was that I boycotted work today.
We received a Christmas bonus with our paychecks today. Mine was all of $25. Because I'm contingent. Fucking assholes. I was embarrassed to take that thing to the bank. And, it's my daughter working at the bank. I was going to take it to Chase (the bank it was written on) and cash it, but the $5 fee to do so and the gas expended to get there would have made it really not worth the effort. My son-in-law was incredulous. My boss was down-right pissed! So, they appreciate me $25 worth. Well, that will be about the quality of work they'll get out of me for the next 18 days, too. I will live down to their level of appreciation. I guarantee it.
I'm contingent. That's why I covered 96 fucking hours this last two weeks.
I'm contingent. That's why I'm in two to three times a week to make sure labs are getting done.
I'm contingent. That's why I went and did a 2nd quarter IPP that was due at the beginning of the month that one of their valuable nurses couldn't manage to do though it was her assigned job.
I'm contingent. I'm not worth a shit to them, so I'll be fucked if I'll do a thing for them.
So, that's why I wouldn't go to work today. I decided to let two of their valuable nurses handle things.
I have not yet begun to be an A-word.
I had a couple of witty things that I had been wanting to blog that have gone swirling through my mind over the course of the afternoon. Now that I have sat down to do this, not a sight of them. ~sigh~
I would much rather use the little >< (have to put them that way or they are misconstrued to be code) but that is not allowed here.
Oh yeah... one of those items came back to me ~shudder~
Disclaimer: Any former members of The Way International, proceed with caution. Religious dogma and cultish triggers ahead.
I had a PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) moment when I opened my mail this afternoon. All relating back to my time in that crazy little place called The Way International. Or TWI, as we escapees/exilees refer to it.
After the huge fallout from when TWI imploded, a bunch of splinter ministries formed. Someone signed me up for teaching CDs from one of them. In the mail today, I received a "Christmas Card" from this ministry. Being that we cultists did not celebrate or acknowledge Christmas.... go figure.
Anyway, inside this card was a little pocket-type calendar for 2008. The cover was imprinted with 2 Corinthians 9:8.
The first page, use this address for "Abundant Sharing" translated - "Send me your money" (as Mike Muir begins to scream in my head).
Next page (s) the prayer list...
1. Word over the World
2. ******* Family
3. Doulos of Christ
4. Lights of the World
5. Advanced Class
6. Foundational Class
7. Yourself
8. Your Family
9. Your Fellowship
Oh FUCK! Talk about "triggers."
Next page... The twelve principles of how the Word of God interprets itself:
1. Just as it is stated
2. Men's additions
3. The context
4. To whom it is addressed
5. The correct administration
6. Original biblical meaning
7. Defined internally
8. First occurrence
9. Other occurrences
10. Scriptural agreement
11. Problem verses
12. Complementary Scripture
eh, not QUITE like it was stated in the old, original cult, but still close enough to make me shudder...
Then, the calendar pages... At the top of each "Speaking in Tongues..." and a different blurb for each month related to speaking in tongues (what it is, what it does for you, etc)
As we (the cult) did not celebrate Christmas, Jesus Christ's Birthday is listed as being September 11. (Stolen from the work and research of E. W. Bullinger, I might add.) and December 25th is listed as being "The Holiday." Hey, this is an obviously more liberal bunch than the original bunch of cultists. In the previous incarnation, in any reference to December 25th, it was known as "Ho Ho Day."
I literally did freak when I saw that prayer list.
The only thing missing from the old days was "The Word of God is The Will of God."
It wouldn't surprise me if The Way had trademarked that particular phrase.
That can be about the only reason that I can think of off the top of my head why it would not have been used.
As it is coming up on 11pm EST, and I would have been due to get off work in two minutes if I had gone to work, I suppose I will go ahead and dish on why it was that I boycotted work today.
We received a Christmas bonus with our paychecks today. Mine was all of $25. Because I'm contingent. Fucking assholes. I was embarrassed to take that thing to the bank. And, it's my daughter working at the bank. I was going to take it to Chase (the bank it was written on) and cash it, but the $5 fee to do so and the gas expended to get there would have made it really not worth the effort. My son-in-law was incredulous. My boss was down-right pissed! So, they appreciate me $25 worth. Well, that will be about the quality of work they'll get out of me for the next 18 days, too. I will live down to their level of appreciation. I guarantee it.
I'm contingent. That's why I covered 96 fucking hours this last two weeks.
I'm contingent. That's why I'm in two to three times a week to make sure labs are getting done.
I'm contingent. That's why I went and did a 2nd quarter IPP that was due at the beginning of the month that one of their valuable nurses couldn't manage to do though it was her assigned job.
I'm contingent. I'm not worth a shit to them, so I'll be fucked if I'll do a thing for them.
So, that's why I wouldn't go to work today. I decided to let two of their valuable nurses handle things.
I have not yet begun to be an A-word.
aaaaaaaarrrrrrrggggggghhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!
I am in the midst of fighting the temptation to call off work. If I lose, oh well. LMTCFAO Seriously, though I really need to go... finish out this month... be done... Oh, fuck it, I'm just gonna call off, brb...
OK, you know it's the right time to call off when even the boss is laughing and commenting "I understand completely and don't blame you one bit." while taking the call off.
I am going to segue into other topics before I let the bullshit work politics completely ruin what can otherwise be a good day.
My daughter's Lemon Bastard Hound is doing a sufficient job in the "make me have a bad day" department by himself. He was grubbing in the ash tray (miserable creature) and dumped the whole thing into my purse. eeeeeee-d-yot quadruped Now, he has the nerve to lie sleeping in the middle of the floor as if nothing is amiss. I ought to kick him on my next trip by.
"Innovation is not the product of logical thought, even though the final product is tied to a logical structure." - Einstein
Suppose I should get on to the thrilling adventure that is doing the laundry.
OK, you know it's the right time to call off when even the boss is laughing and commenting "I understand completely and don't blame you one bit." while taking the call off.
I am going to segue into other topics before I let the bullshit work politics completely ruin what can otherwise be a good day.
My daughter's Lemon Bastard Hound is doing a sufficient job in the "make me have a bad day" department by himself. He was grubbing in the ash tray (miserable creature) and dumped the whole thing into my purse. eeeeeee-d-yot quadruped Now, he has the nerve to lie sleeping in the middle of the floor as if nothing is amiss. I ought to kick him on my next trip by.
"Innovation is not the product of logical thought, even though the final product is tied to a logical structure." - Einstein
Suppose I should get on to the thrilling adventure that is doing the laundry.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Why I Hate Yahoo v3.0.1.6
In all honesty, I should have known better than to try and report the scam/fraudulent message that I received in my yahoo 360 mailbox.
Yahoo sends these messages through their own server network and not even their own email app (yahoo mail), so you never see the sender's addy or information, only the yahoo system relay addy.
any way... in trying to do the right thing, I tried to report this fraudulent email to the best of the ability that yahoo's system would allow me (give me access to pertinent info, etc)
complaint from me...
response from them....
response from me to them....
2nd response from them....
final response from me to them....
LOL, they may cancel my account after this....
anyway, here is their 2nd response to me, and my final response...
Yahoo! 360 <360-abuse@cc.yahoo-inc.com> wrote: Dear (insert name of Karma's primary identity),
Thank you for writing to Yahoo! 360.
Unfortunately, once you delete a 360 message, the URL is no longer valid
as the message is gone (the URL is the location of the message in your
mailbox, not the page of the person who sent the message). In the
future, please provide the URL of the 360 home page of the person who
sent the "spammy" message so we can investigate and take action.
Thank you again for contacting Yahoo! 360. Let me know if you have any
questions.
Regards,
x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x
and, just htf am I supposed to have their homepage addy?
it's an automated message sent through your system, on your servers... their addy isn't even listed on the message, only the 360 relay addy...
thank you for yet another reminder of why it is that I moved to google
Yahoo sends these messages through their own server network and not even their own email app (yahoo mail), so you never see the sender's addy or information, only the yahoo system relay addy.
any way... in trying to do the right thing, I tried to report this fraudulent email to the best of the ability that yahoo's system would allow me (give me access to pertinent info, etc)
complaint from me...
response from them....
response from me to them....
2nd response from them....
final response from me to them....
LOL, they may cancel my account after this....
anyway, here is their 2nd response to me, and my final response...
Yahoo! 360 <360-abuse@cc.yahoo-inc.com> wrote: Dear (insert name of Karma's primary identity),
Thank you for writing to Yahoo! 360.
Unfortunately, once you delete a 360 message, the URL is no longer valid
as the message is gone (the URL is the location of the message in your
mailbox, not the page of the person who sent the message). In the
future, please provide the URL of the 360 home page of the person who
sent the "spammy" message so we can investigate and take action.
Thank you again for contacting Yahoo! 360. Let me know if you have any
questions.
Regards,
x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x
and, just htf am I supposed to have their homepage addy?
it's an automated message sent through your system, on your servers... their addy isn't even listed on the message, only the 360 relay addy...
thank you for yet another reminder of why it is that I moved to google
Rant in A Minor
I could have done with a couple of more hours of sleep. Nonetheless, I'm vertical now. Deal with it.
Slightly fumed that assholemonkeyboy didn’t even bother to ring the phone and wake me to say goodbye before hopping a flight to Yerp.
My friend, Al, confused my noncaffeinated brain with that one earlier.
I am caffeinated and on a bent.
You know, some people’s children never cease to amaze me. OK, amazed may not be exactly the effect I’m going for here. hmmmm… Leave me walking away shaking my head in utter disgust and revulsion? Thinking they should be thankful that breathing is an autonomic brain function? Wondering who was supposed to be watching the shallow end of the gene pool?/Have me convicted that there is a valid reason cousins are not allowed to marry?
Are you getting the drift of where I was headed with that thought?
Genny's shelter has a website now. It launched the other day. I made it there the first day it was up. Being that I am usually six months behind in whatever it is that I am surfing for, it was a landmark day in my internet experience.
There was a notification on the website for the 2007 Homeless Memorial Service. It stated that the service was to be conducted by a Reverend (male name) and Minister (female name). I asked Genny if the lady minister was the very cool lady pastor she had told me about. She said that it was not her but was a friend of the male Reverend. (The male reverend is the pastor of the big church who doesn't "get it.") She said they are all very into introducing themselves with titles. Being me, I asked if when I meet them, am I allowed to introduce myself as Sycophant Karma Dogma? That had Genny rolling.
Of course, I used my real name rather than KD. You all do not get my full real name. You know too much shit about me as it is. You pretty much know everything except my name and the color and style of the panties I'm wearing. Given the right mood, it is possible I would endow you with that lil tidbit of TMI as well. So, for inquiring minds in the TMI department, suffice it to say that my panties are bra are generally colorful but rarely matched.
And, according to some blurb that I came across while surfing, the y-chromosome types rate that look in lingerie a 7/10. Being that no look scored higher than 8/10, I'll take it. LOL The internet is much like 3D reality - lots of banality, a few gems.
I talked with Seth briefly this morning. He was on a bent about stupid people. (Must be one of those days.) He was glad to hear that I was coming to the Philly area. He said he would introduce me to all of his artsy friends. In the interim, I told him to direct all of his artsy friends to www.opensourceresistance.net
The Stasi are already here.
I'm off to forage for some food. More later.
Off to Bed
The night shift went pretty well. I'm tired. More than a bit achy. The temperature plummeted from an unseasonable and balmy 65 degrees to 39 with rain most of the night. Of course, once I no longer had need to be running around in the rain, it stopped.
Hindolo came by work last night to have me weigh his luggage for his trip. The things I do.
My drama queens were none too dramatic. Nate did attempt to take their place. I let him know that Joni was on grounds and asked if he needed me to call her. I got a quick "no," and he went back to bed and no more screaming was to be heard. Harold, however, moaned and yelled all night long.
I shouldn't have to be rolled out of bed at 1:30 to go watch the boys when my daughter leaves for work as my son-in-law is home again today. The payday before Christmas, and he has missed two days of work. This means that my daughter will be asking me to pick up some of the slack regarding spending money on presents for the kids. I'm not going to do it. I have already decided how much I'm spending on Christmas. And, what I'm spending is what I'm spending. Period.
K.C. has become quite adept at finding the catnip these last few days. I do not know what has gotten into her. No matter where I put it, she gets it down and scatters it all over the floor. Wretched beastie.
I'm tired. I'm cold. I hope my bed is warm.
Hindolo came by work last night to have me weigh his luggage for his trip. The things I do.
My drama queens were none too dramatic. Nate did attempt to take their place. I let him know that Joni was on grounds and asked if he needed me to call her. I got a quick "no," and he went back to bed and no more screaming was to be heard. Harold, however, moaned and yelled all night long.
I shouldn't have to be rolled out of bed at 1:30 to go watch the boys when my daughter leaves for work as my son-in-law is home again today. The payday before Christmas, and he has missed two days of work. This means that my daughter will be asking me to pick up some of the slack regarding spending money on presents for the kids. I'm not going to do it. I have already decided how much I'm spending on Christmas. And, what I'm spending is what I'm spending. Period.
K.C. has become quite adept at finding the catnip these last few days. I do not know what has gotten into her. No matter where I put it, she gets it down and scatters it all over the floor. Wretched beastie.
I'm tired. I'm cold. I hope my bed is warm.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
What is that thing?
This as been floating around the paranormal (and the abbe-normal) groups. I haven't seen if Google has verified whether or not this is a glitch.
Miscellany
I was reading my Yahoo inbox. Something like 5000 emails there. I joined a knitting forum. The emails from that group as well as email from my paranormal group go to my Yahoo mail. The knitting list boasts about 10K members from all over the world. It generates a lot of posts, but I think the 60 folks from my paranormal group are still ahead! LOL
The paranormal group is fun. All sorts of stuff is posted. Jokes, recipes (They have formed a separate group for recipes, now. Yummy! Dawn just posted one for winter tea blends and another for Crockpot Black Bean Soup that really caught my eye. Some other deliciously fattening stuff, too but I am dieting right now. LOL), sports, science, some regional history. It's a cool list. That's why there are so many emails in my box. When I was going through the severe depression, I wasn't checking my email very often. And, I don't want to go through and just delete it without checking it out.
There was a post on the paranormal list today about ways to know you've had too much holiday cheer. There were a couple of other holiday lists included. How to confuse Santa. Things to say about gifts you don't like. One of the items on the confuse Santa list was to hang Easter Eggs on the tree and dress like the Easter Bunny and proclaim to Santa that the neighborhood isn't big enough for the both of you.
I know a girl who used to decorate her Christmas tree with Easter Eggs. In fact, that was one of the things we did at her Christmas parties, dye the eggs. She was a hoot - Mormon girl from Idaho with half-finished body tattoos and disproportionate breast implants. She used to wear long, green acrylic fingernails, and she drank lots of champagne.
The whole point of the preceding three paragraphs was to be able to mention Christie and her Easter Egg tree.
On my second day aboard the densely populated knitting list, I saw a name that I haven't seen in probably 15 years. I had thought about this girl often through the years and wondered if it was her. I had known her in high school. She was a year behind me in school, in the same class with my brother.
Cena was one of those people that I never got to know very well but always did like. She had a pretty crappy living situation in a blended family. She was very intelligent and had great strength of character. She was pretty much always on the "outside," too. I did drama. She did music. Neither of us had more than a couple of friends in high school, but we did have a few "friends." There was always just something in the back of my mind that drew me to her as a kindred spirit.
The next time I saw her was in the early '90s at a doctor's office where I was working. We had sat outside of the office on the curb talking and smoking for a long while after appointments had ended for the morning. It was a good encounter. I left the area a year or so later and left the state two years after that.
When I saw her name, I had to email her and ask if it was indeed her. It was. Too funny. Sort of karmic that I would see her name on that list, she wrote in her reply. She knits beautifully, and she spins as well. As that is going to be the next textile endeavor for me, she suggested maybe we get together after the holidays for a spin-in. Sounds wonderful! She even directed me to a couple of spinning groups.
She is married now and has two young children; living the idyllic life on some property with rabbits eating the garden and raising lots of weeds! LOL She lives maybe 30 minutes away, but now with technology, I won't have to lose track of her again when I pick up and roam. And, while I remain in exile here, I will have a friend and kindred spirit nearby.
That guy! I left him a message at 11pm to go home and charge his phone and call me. Unfortunately, I was foolish enough to admit that I had no genuine intention of dropping in. My back is pretty achy tonight, and I had soaked in the tub and was warm and relaxed. I love him, but I do have an electric blanket to keep me warm. LOL I really did not want to go out in the cold and the rain. Ugh!
I left him another message at 12:20am. Telling him goodnight and my plans were to sleep until about 3pm tomorrow as I have to work tomorrow night. He still hasn't arranged transportation to the airport for his flight Wednesday, as far as I know. When I asked him about it Saturday, he couldn't even find the e-ticket to tell me what time the flight left. (Why is it again that I love this man?)
When I arrived at his apartment Saturday night, he told me had been packing. It appeared more to be clothing, shoes, and luggage strewn about. As he was still shopping tonight, I'm sure there has not been much progress made with the "packing." I'm sure he was messing with it a bit this evening when he got home from shopping. As well as winding-down from having to go to work this morning and make statements regarding several things that are being investigated and then having to drive an hour to school to finish up one clinical recall.
Knowing how he is, I will give him a break and be understanding as to why he didn't call back. However, understanding does not remove the temptation for me to take a page from Jonathan's book of how a three-year-old perceives frustration and disappointment: "I call you bad word, Hindolo. I call you bad word."
My coworkers are nuts. I believe I have already mentioned Dorothy's backpack. She carries everything in the world in there. Everything from a bra (in case she forgets and leaves the house without one) to memory boost tablets (in case she remembers they are there so she can take one) to duct tape (which is a really good idea and I need to put some in my backpack).
Then there is Chris. He and I came at the same time years ago. He is the only original one left from our group. (I left for two years and came back.) Everything about Chris is unique. Oddball sense of humor and no mental filter. What a combination. However, he is very loyal and very trustworthy. He accuses Joni of being straight but afraid to come out about it. LOL He and his ex have been together apart for more years than they were together together. (Sounds like Al and me.)
He is a dog lover. He had to have his German Shepherd put down a few months back. He had just had pictures taken with him a couple of weeks prior. Very nice photos. He brought one in for his desk. We were talking quadrupeds the other day, and he brought up the subject of the bipolar chow-lab mix. omg! I rolled. Only Chris.
Then there is Angie. (We have two Angies and both of them are riotous in their own respects.) This Angie is staff in one of the apartments. She is in her early 40s, works two jobs. Single at present. No children. She said she realized when she was younger that having something that weighed pounds come out of her body was simply not for her in any way. She is an independent woman with a brain and more than a bit of a feminist. She happens to be African American, and she is quite opinionated on the subject of men.
We talk quite a bit about the men we work with and the men who are the significant others of some of our coworkers. She commented a couple of weeks ago when we were having a conversation about men: "He's not a man. He's just anatomically correct." omg, what an observation! I told her that was going to the blog. Here it is, and to give proper credit, Angie said that was her mother's observation on the condition of some members of the y-chromosome clan. Thank you, Miss Mary for that insightful truism.
It is after 3am. I should be able to get to bed here shortly. I do have to schlep kiddos in the morning and then return home to sleep until about 3pm. That is the usual plan anyway. Michael came home from work at noon quite ill with some sort of GI virus. In fact, he was so ill that Amanda had to pick him up from work and drive him home.
It is doubtful that he will be going to work tomorrow, so I may get out of having to deliver children to the appropriate drop-offs tomorrow morning and simply be allowed to sleep through. Oh, wow, going to work a night shift with a full measure of sleep. That almost NEVER happens, and I worked nights for many years.
It is after midnight PST, and I have yet to see Al. Maybe I should give him a buzz and see if he is nurking about somewhere. Nurking = napping + lurking. I have mentioned my propensity for creating my own vocabulary.
I did talk to Genny earlier. She is excited about the possibility that I will be able to come. She told her boss that her evil twin is on the way, and her boss was also excited by that prospect. She had not even mentioned my blog yet. LOL
One of her staff, referred to as Mini-Me by Genny, was rather disturbed at the prospect of the cartoon character names. Mini-Me eventually confessed that it was because she didn't want to be labeled as Road Runner. Genny said the funny thing was that it really did fit. LOL
Genny also said that she is formulating an attractive offer for me as I declined the first one. It isn't about money for me. It's more about serving. Hindolo and I happened to talk about that earlier today.
We have a very debilitated and very medically fragile client in the apartment where he works. This is one of those ones that I am always doing something extra for. Not necessarily for any acute problem, usually it is more of comfort measures type of things. Hindolo really likes this client. As he said to me a while back, "I like that old man." In talking today, he said he uses that particular client as his inspiration/model for how to serve people. I think he will make an excellent nurse because he "gets it."
So many people go into service fields such as nursing and do not realize that it is a service position. That's why there are bad nurses taking care of my people. You have no idea of the depth to which that disturbs me. My clients are often incapable of expressing their needs, or they express them in ways that are quite different from how "normal" people express them. Even some ambulatory, verbal patients will not say they are having pain. If you ask, they will answer. The problem lies in the fact that no one will ask them.
I had a client who had a broken collar bone. The surgeon put a pin in it. The pin came loose and was starting to protrude through her skin. The reasoning for nurses not giving her pain medication was that she didn't complain of pain. My rationale for giving her pain medication was that, if I had a pin protruding out like that, I would be needing pain medication.
Same rationale for a client who has problems with arterial circulation in her lower legs. We try very, very hard to prevent problems with her legs and feet, but she has this chronic ankle wound that opens up every year or so that takes 3 to 6 months to heal due to her poor circulation. I give her pain medicine daily when that wound is open. Only 2 other nurses do the same. If my ankle looked like that, I would be taking pain medicine two or three times a day. Additionally, having the circulation problem that she has is painful in and of itself.
Oh, and of course, if you decided to give pain medications, you have to sign them out on the narcotics log and sign two additional places on the medication record. Because it involves additional documentation, some nurses won't give pain medications. What a fucking pathetic excuse that is.
My peers cannot understand how I can be burnt out on nursing. They tease me about being a walking medical book. Ken thinks that I should go be a clinical instructor at a nursing school. My mom is still irritated that I refuse to go to medical school and be a doctor. Ideally, I would like to be the person who mentors new staff on how to care for our people. I mean, we have brand new people coming in who have no idea how to turn that 200 pound spastic quad every two hours.
One of the supervisors used to be my overnight staff on weekends. He had been working there quite a while. I found him trying to turn the 200 spastic quad. He had no clue how to do it even remotely close to the right way. All of these patients who have mobility issues and untrained staff. Still. There are lots of incidental medical things that are delegated to the staff. Nurses are supposed to inservice the staff on these procedures. From what I saw the staff doing a couple of weeks ago when changing a catheter drainage bag, the nurses aren't doing a very thorough job of inservicing. It was a serious "walk away, don't say a word, if you do you'll be fired for sure" type of moment with these two staff. I went to the office, vented, cooled down, and came back. I was completely incredulous.
Fortunately, the bag had been changed by the time I came back.
It is 5:30. I am toast. Nite
The paranormal group is fun. All sorts of stuff is posted. Jokes, recipes (They have formed a separate group for recipes, now. Yummy! Dawn just posted one for winter tea blends and another for Crockpot Black Bean Soup that really caught my eye. Some other deliciously fattening stuff, too but I am dieting right now. LOL), sports, science, some regional history. It's a cool list. That's why there are so many emails in my box. When I was going through the severe depression, I wasn't checking my email very often. And, I don't want to go through and just delete it without checking it out.
There was a post on the paranormal list today about ways to know you've had too much holiday cheer. There were a couple of other holiday lists included. How to confuse Santa. Things to say about gifts you don't like. One of the items on the confuse Santa list was to hang Easter Eggs on the tree and dress like the Easter Bunny and proclaim to Santa that the neighborhood isn't big enough for the both of you.
I know a girl who used to decorate her Christmas tree with Easter Eggs. In fact, that was one of the things we did at her Christmas parties, dye the eggs. She was a hoot - Mormon girl from Idaho with half-finished body tattoos and disproportionate breast implants. She used to wear long, green acrylic fingernails, and she drank lots of champagne.
The whole point of the preceding three paragraphs was to be able to mention Christie and her Easter Egg tree.
On my second day aboard the densely populated knitting list, I saw a name that I haven't seen in probably 15 years. I had thought about this girl often through the years and wondered if it was her. I had known her in high school. She was a year behind me in school, in the same class with my brother.
Cena was one of those people that I never got to know very well but always did like. She had a pretty crappy living situation in a blended family. She was very intelligent and had great strength of character. She was pretty much always on the "outside," too. I did drama. She did music. Neither of us had more than a couple of friends in high school, but we did have a few "friends." There was always just something in the back of my mind that drew me to her as a kindred spirit.
The next time I saw her was in the early '90s at a doctor's office where I was working. We had sat outside of the office on the curb talking and smoking for a long while after appointments had ended for the morning. It was a good encounter. I left the area a year or so later and left the state two years after that.
When I saw her name, I had to email her and ask if it was indeed her. It was. Too funny. Sort of karmic that I would see her name on that list, she wrote in her reply. She knits beautifully, and she spins as well. As that is going to be the next textile endeavor for me, she suggested maybe we get together after the holidays for a spin-in. Sounds wonderful! She even directed me to a couple of spinning groups.
She is married now and has two young children; living the idyllic life on some property with rabbits eating the garden and raising lots of weeds! LOL She lives maybe 30 minutes away, but now with technology, I won't have to lose track of her again when I pick up and roam. And, while I remain in exile here, I will have a friend and kindred spirit nearby.
That guy! I left him a message at 11pm to go home and charge his phone and call me. Unfortunately, I was foolish enough to admit that I had no genuine intention of dropping in. My back is pretty achy tonight, and I had soaked in the tub and was warm and relaxed. I love him, but I do have an electric blanket to keep me warm. LOL I really did not want to go out in the cold and the rain. Ugh!
I left him another message at 12:20am. Telling him goodnight and my plans were to sleep until about 3pm tomorrow as I have to work tomorrow night. He still hasn't arranged transportation to the airport for his flight Wednesday, as far as I know. When I asked him about it Saturday, he couldn't even find the e-ticket to tell me what time the flight left. (Why is it again that I love this man?)
When I arrived at his apartment Saturday night, he told me had been packing. It appeared more to be clothing, shoes, and luggage strewn about. As he was still shopping tonight, I'm sure there has not been much progress made with the "packing." I'm sure he was messing with it a bit this evening when he got home from shopping. As well as winding-down from having to go to work this morning and make statements regarding several things that are being investigated and then having to drive an hour to school to finish up one clinical recall.
Knowing how he is, I will give him a break and be understanding as to why he didn't call back. However, understanding does not remove the temptation for me to take a page from Jonathan's book of how a three-year-old perceives frustration and disappointment: "I call you bad word, Hindolo. I call you bad word."
My coworkers are nuts. I believe I have already mentioned Dorothy's backpack. She carries everything in the world in there. Everything from a bra (in case she forgets and leaves the house without one) to memory boost tablets (in case she remembers they are there so she can take one) to duct tape (which is a really good idea and I need to put some in my backpack).
Then there is Chris. He and I came at the same time years ago. He is the only original one left from our group. (I left for two years and came back.) Everything about Chris is unique. Oddball sense of humor and no mental filter. What a combination. However, he is very loyal and very trustworthy. He accuses Joni of being straight but afraid to come out about it. LOL He and his ex have been together apart for more years than they were together together. (Sounds like Al and me.)
He is a dog lover. He had to have his German Shepherd put down a few months back. He had just had pictures taken with him a couple of weeks prior. Very nice photos. He brought one in for his desk. We were talking quadrupeds the other day, and he brought up the subject of the bipolar chow-lab mix. omg! I rolled. Only Chris.
Then there is Angie. (We have two Angies and both of them are riotous in their own respects.) This Angie is staff in one of the apartments. She is in her early 40s, works two jobs. Single at present. No children. She said she realized when she was younger that having something that weighed pounds come out of her body was simply not for her in any way. She is an independent woman with a brain and more than a bit of a feminist. She happens to be African American, and she is quite opinionated on the subject of men.
We talk quite a bit about the men we work with and the men who are the significant others of some of our coworkers. She commented a couple of weeks ago when we were having a conversation about men: "He's not a man. He's just anatomically correct." omg, what an observation! I told her that was going to the blog. Here it is, and to give proper credit, Angie said that was her mother's observation on the condition of some members of the y-chromosome clan. Thank you, Miss Mary for that insightful truism.
It is after 3am. I should be able to get to bed here shortly. I do have to schlep kiddos in the morning and then return home to sleep until about 3pm. That is the usual plan anyway. Michael came home from work at noon quite ill with some sort of GI virus. In fact, he was so ill that Amanda had to pick him up from work and drive him home.
It is doubtful that he will be going to work tomorrow, so I may get out of having to deliver children to the appropriate drop-offs tomorrow morning and simply be allowed to sleep through. Oh, wow, going to work a night shift with a full measure of sleep. That almost NEVER happens, and I worked nights for many years.
It is after midnight PST, and I have yet to see Al. Maybe I should give him a buzz and see if he is nurking about somewhere. Nurking = napping + lurking. I have mentioned my propensity for creating my own vocabulary.
I did talk to Genny earlier. She is excited about the possibility that I will be able to come. She told her boss that her evil twin is on the way, and her boss was also excited by that prospect. She had not even mentioned my blog yet. LOL
One of her staff, referred to as Mini-Me by Genny, was rather disturbed at the prospect of the cartoon character names. Mini-Me eventually confessed that it was because she didn't want to be labeled as Road Runner. Genny said the funny thing was that it really did fit. LOL
Genny also said that she is formulating an attractive offer for me as I declined the first one. It isn't about money for me. It's more about serving. Hindolo and I happened to talk about that earlier today.
We have a very debilitated and very medically fragile client in the apartment where he works. This is one of those ones that I am always doing something extra for. Not necessarily for any acute problem, usually it is more of comfort measures type of things. Hindolo really likes this client. As he said to me a while back, "I like that old man." In talking today, he said he uses that particular client as his inspiration/model for how to serve people. I think he will make an excellent nurse because he "gets it."
So many people go into service fields such as nursing and do not realize that it is a service position. That's why there are bad nurses taking care of my people. You have no idea of the depth to which that disturbs me. My clients are often incapable of expressing their needs, or they express them in ways that are quite different from how "normal" people express them. Even some ambulatory, verbal patients will not say they are having pain. If you ask, they will answer. The problem lies in the fact that no one will ask them.
I had a client who had a broken collar bone. The surgeon put a pin in it. The pin came loose and was starting to protrude through her skin. The reasoning for nurses not giving her pain medication was that she didn't complain of pain. My rationale for giving her pain medication was that, if I had a pin protruding out like that, I would be needing pain medication.
Same rationale for a client who has problems with arterial circulation in her lower legs. We try very, very hard to prevent problems with her legs and feet, but she has this chronic ankle wound that opens up every year or so that takes 3 to 6 months to heal due to her poor circulation. I give her pain medicine daily when that wound is open. Only 2 other nurses do the same. If my ankle looked like that, I would be taking pain medicine two or three times a day. Additionally, having the circulation problem that she has is painful in and of itself.
Oh, and of course, if you decided to give pain medications, you have to sign them out on the narcotics log and sign two additional places on the medication record. Because it involves additional documentation, some nurses won't give pain medications. What a fucking pathetic excuse that is.
My peers cannot understand how I can be burnt out on nursing. They tease me about being a walking medical book. Ken thinks that I should go be a clinical instructor at a nursing school. My mom is still irritated that I refuse to go to medical school and be a doctor. Ideally, I would like to be the person who mentors new staff on how to care for our people. I mean, we have brand new people coming in who have no idea how to turn that 200 pound spastic quad every two hours.
One of the supervisors used to be my overnight staff on weekends. He had been working there quite a while. I found him trying to turn the 200 spastic quad. He had no clue how to do it even remotely close to the right way. All of these patients who have mobility issues and untrained staff. Still. There are lots of incidental medical things that are delegated to the staff. Nurses are supposed to inservice the staff on these procedures. From what I saw the staff doing a couple of weeks ago when changing a catheter drainage bag, the nurses aren't doing a very thorough job of inservicing. It was a serious "walk away, don't say a word, if you do you'll be fired for sure" type of moment with these two staff. I went to the office, vented, cooled down, and came back. I was completely incredulous.
Fortunately, the bag had been changed by the time I came back.
It is 5:30. I am toast. Nite
Monday, December 10, 2007
36:42
I’m about to go soak in the tub. Wait on that guy to get home and call me back. We killed his cell phone battery while he was shopping for a “haut.” That would be translated as “hat” for those whose L-1 is English.
You know, I think we have talked more in the last couple of days than we have in the last month. And, even managed to get in some genuine laughs.
I have threatened that if he does not call, I will simply show up at his door. He informed me that he was still shopping. I had to explain that I meant I would be showing up in two or three hours if he did not phone me back. I sometimes wonder which of us is the more “blonde.” Then again, I suppose he was merely thinking that he didn't want me to be waiting in the cold while he was still out. awwwww.... he really is sweet. Even though I'm convinced it is about 51% “sweet” and 49% “a-word.”
's ok, I'm 51% “a-word”and 49% “could possibly be sweet if I tried harder.”
In any case, I'm off to soak in the tub and bake some of the soreness out of my back.
You know, I think we have talked more in the last couple of days than we have in the last month. And, even managed to get in some genuine laughs.
I have threatened that if he does not call, I will simply show up at his door. He informed me that he was still shopping. I had to explain that I meant I would be showing up in two or three hours if he did not phone me back. I sometimes wonder which of us is the more “blonde.” Then again, I suppose he was merely thinking that he didn't want me to be waiting in the cold while he was still out. awwwww.... he really is sweet. Even though I'm convinced it is about 51% “sweet” and 49% “a-word.”
's ok, I'm 51% “a-word”and 49% “could possibly be sweet if I tried harder.”
In any case, I'm off to soak in the tub and bake some of the soreness out of my back.
another tired Monday
My alarm was ringing, unheard, for nearly an hour this morning when I was awakened by my daughter pounding on my wall. Gotta love it. She had to run out the door to work upon my arrival over here.
Clothes had been laid out last night. The little boys have new socks. Has my daughter been reading my blog? Or does she just know me well enough to have realized that my BS thresh hold has been surpassed?
The boys have been pretty good this morning. I left a voice mail for that guy to call me. And he did, surprisingly. His phone battery was dying, so he told me he would call me back later after his last clinical recall this afternoon.
He leaves Wednesday. I work tomorrow night. I want to spend some time with him before he leaves. He returns on Thursday after Christmas and back to work on Friday.
He mentioned trying to find a dining room table while he was in Europe. I told him to visit the flea market in Paris and get me an 18th Century French farmhouse table. Probably, no absolutely, a bit too eclectic in decorating style for him... but, I'd be in heaven.
The Asian print I found for the dining room will go well with the chairs. Now... to find a table.... I'm not holding my breath on the French farmhouse one. It wouldn't go with my $2.92 Art.com thrift store print anyway. lol He is too funny. Expensive furniture for the living room. Expensive dining room chairs. But telling me he will be happy with looking for a $200 dining room table. ~rolls eyes~ One more reason that I love him, I have to admit.
I'm still trying to convince him that he needs to let me have at the apartment while he's away and come home to a beautiful place.
Going to pause here. I need to find something to eat and get some more coffee.
Clothes had been laid out last night. The little boys have new socks. Has my daughter been reading my blog? Or does she just know me well enough to have realized that my BS thresh hold has been surpassed?
The boys have been pretty good this morning. I left a voice mail for that guy to call me. And he did, surprisingly. His phone battery was dying, so he told me he would call me back later after his last clinical recall this afternoon.
He leaves Wednesday. I work tomorrow night. I want to spend some time with him before he leaves. He returns on Thursday after Christmas and back to work on Friday.
He mentioned trying to find a dining room table while he was in Europe. I told him to visit the flea market in Paris and get me an 18th Century French farmhouse table. Probably, no absolutely, a bit too eclectic in decorating style for him... but, I'd be in heaven.
The Asian print I found for the dining room will go well with the chairs. Now... to find a table.... I'm not holding my breath on the French farmhouse one. It wouldn't go with my $2.92 Art.com thrift store print anyway. lol He is too funny. Expensive furniture for the living room. Expensive dining room chairs. But telling me he will be happy with looking for a $200 dining room table. ~rolls eyes~ One more reason that I love him, I have to admit.
I'm still trying to convince him that he needs to let me have at the apartment while he's away and come home to a beautiful place.
Going to pause here. I need to find something to eat and get some more coffee.
It is nearly 3am. My quick, little four hour shift morphed into a six hour shift because of a call-off and finished at a 9 hour shift due to the sundry things which never fail to go wrong. I left work a bit after 1am.
It was wretchedly foggy on the drive home. Luckily for me, it is a straight-shot down one street. The fog was so heavy that I could not see from one traffic light to the next. I feel for the people who had to drive on the freeways or to the outlying areas.
I am suddenly very tired. The lack of sleep since last Monday has caught up with me, it would seem.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
45:16
The title of this entry is an inside joke for my friends Genny and Al. (See Al, I can mention you in my blog without being irreverent.)
It is a bit earlier than I would have liked to be out of bed. Only because I went to bed too late last night and was up too early this morning for the amount of sleep that I got yesterday morning after work. I have thought of going back to bed but think I will have some coffee and go to work a bit early to start on the next round of shuffling lab orders.
Talked with my boss yesterday about the possibility of changing my hours beginning in January and February so I could go to Philadelphia and work at Genny's shelter. He is willing to work my schedule here so I can go there and help out.
As far as watching my grand kids go, my daughter's over-reaction to me wanting to pick up a 3-11 on Tuesday pretty well sealed that. I only have 30 hours scheduled for the two-week pay period that starts with my shift today. By working a 3-11 shift, the boys would have to be at the sitter's from 2pm until about 4:30 when Michael gets home. The big kids would have to go to the sitter's after school for about 45 minutes. It isn't like Pam would have a problem dropping them off as the sitter's is around the corner and half a block up. My daughter, being the unrealistic and reactionary A-Word that she is regarding anything at all that interferes with her agenda, screams at me, "Well, I'll just find a day care and have the boys go 8 to 4:30 Monday through Friday since you can't seem to watch them." This is also the same daughter who tells me to pick up some work whenever I can. Last time, the screaming was because the day before simply wasn't giving her enough notice. This time (with 3 days notice), a full-scale hissy was warranted. I'm so done.
About going to Philly... (Yes, Genny, I'll email my resume. I did get around to reading those abstracts for the study, though.) Genny and I have very similar problems with our respective staff. The bottom line being that they just don't "get it." So, I want to go and work as part of her staff. Help with some mentoring, do some work on communication skills and interpersonal relationship skills, etc. Those same sort of things that I try and do with my staff. I can understand some of the issues that I have with my staff in relating to the clients more than I can with why Genny's staff has trouble relating with her clients.
My clientele have mental retardation (some cases quite profound) and developmental delays. My clients also have some very serious physical disabilities. It can be very difficult work. But, omg, you would think that after working with Marguerite for a year they would be able to figure out that they can give her something to do so she won't sit and scream. Let her fold washcloths and hand towels. No, they aren't folded perfectly straight, but who cares. She's productive and not bored and screaming. In some ways, my staff are very different from the people that we serve.
Genny's staff.... well, they tend to want to see themselves as very different from the people that they serve. Granted, some of her chronic homeless clients have serious mental health and substance abuse issues. The problem there isn't the clients; the problem is the system that allows them to continue to fall between the cracks rather than be proactive in serving them. Her staff, however, do not seem to want to face the reality that some type of life-changing event and the loss of two or three paychecks would put them in exactly the same position as many of the clients that come through the shelter. In talking with Genny about her staff, I kept coming away with a sense that her staff felt that the clients should feel grateful for and indebted to them simply because they were "there."
When Genny and I were talking last week about her current pending round of having to fire some staff, the topic of them "not getting it" came up again. She commented that she cannot even get her staff to understand that talking on two phones right next to someone who was trying to sleep was inappropriate because, after all, that person should be grateful just to be warm. That was enough for the huge "OH HELL NO!" streak in my personality to lurch. I was incredulous that her staff viewed themselves as being THAT different from the clients. (Granted, my staff are very different from the clients in many capacities, however, consideration and respect are not to be labelled among those differences.) Genny commented that her staff had the attitude that the clients should view them as gods. My response of "Fuck that." merited an "Exactly." from her.
Well, the immediate fix to the problem of needing to cut the staff's ego to a manageable level was decided to be to open the next house meeting with deciding which cartoon characters represented various staff. (My idea on the cartoon characters. Her idea to do it at the house meeting. LOL This is why we are evil twins. Can you see why Al is leery whenever we all three get together for a chat? He has yet to pay us back for the F-Game. Genny, please remind me what the next idea for some sport was. I can't recall it, now. It's OK. Al assures me that he reads my blog, but I know otherwise. LOL) Genny was sure that the clients would love it.
That conversation was enough to convince me that I really should offer my assistance to serve her clients by working as part of her staff. I know what her staff makes for salary. It isn't a lot of money, but it is more than my staff make. So, while I would be under-paid working on her staff, you must consider that I am already under-paid in my current position as well... to the tune of at least $7 to $10 per hour. Even more if I were to work for a staffing agency or in critical care.
Genny, being Genny LOL, took that offer and countered with a different position. They will be doing a nine-month Critical Time Intervention case study. It is a program designed to prevent homelessness in high risk groups. (High risk groups are the populations who are at greatest risk for becoming the chronic homeless.) From the two abstracts that she emailed me to read, it is an awesome model. Should be very, very successful. The study sounds quite interesting and it is a very tempting offer. It's one of those rare opportunities that is an important service, a challenge to complete, and looks good on a resume to boot, LOL!! Me, being me, will probably pass on the offer.
Though it would be a wonderful opportunity, in my heart I know that I would be far better suited to (and have more fun with) guiding the staff that prove worth guiding into how to better make a difference in the lives of the people that they serve and loving on her clients.
Her people have a myriad of health issues as well. So, I'm sure that I could find more than enough to challenge me there. Not only in cultivating enough of a level of trust with her clients but getting her staff to be observant for manifestations of medical problems.
My people (in theory) receive 24-hour medical management, and I still find that I am not in any way lacking in over-looked signs and symptoms and problems and issues..... My staff are not medical people, either. I have a few who are certified nursing assistants. I have a few who are in nursing school. (They can miss some pretty scary stuff, so I hope it comes together for them BEFORE they're given a license and turned loose upon unsuspecting ill people.) So, I do mentoring with my staff on signs, symptoms, manifestations of various illnesses. A whole lot of teaching in those areas, the truth be known. It yields good returns. I have staff who will call around and track me down to have me come assess someone and to listen to their concerns about what they are seeing that is unusual. I check out the client and then tell my staff what I need them to be observing for in order to try and help figure out what is going on with our client.... patterns and trends.
Their observations and follow-up have helped to get people evaluated at the hospital (and in this particular case, admitted) when the previous nurse had assured them that the client's problems were nothing more than "a head cold." From all appearances, it did seem (symptomatically) to be just a head cold. From what I have encouraged my staff to observe about changes in behavior and actions and in responses and in routines, they were suspicious that more was going on than was apparent. They were right. And, I got my staff some good kudos directly from our health care coordinator and assistant director for their observations and actions. (Now, I'm working on getting them a bit of extra $$ for their actions. It isn't much financially - a $25 gift card from Target, but it does help say a little more than just "good job." Especially since it was going beyond the scope of their formal job description.)
That's the type of awareness and sense of responsibility and accountability that I try desperately to impress upon my staff. There is nothing, concerning our clients, that is "not our job." We may not be the ones who can do anything to fix the problem, but we can get the problem directed to the attention of the people who can fix it.
It is a bit past 11:30. I am going to jump in the shower and head out.
I didn't bother to shower at that guy's place this morning. Just got up, came directly home, took some pain medication.
He did, at least, call when he got out of the shower and saw that I had gone. And, he did sound a bit dismayed that I had simply left without saying anything to him. I told him that I needed to take my medicine and wasn't going to get my hugs this morning anyway as he is presently angry with me (over some new disparaging rumor about his character that he admits he knows I have no connection with but will not tell me what it is). (So why is this my fault?)
"That is why you just left?"
"No, I left because I figured why be in pain AND be disappointed."
At least I had managed to get a smile out of him this morning. I heard it in his voice.
Out...
P.S. The fractal is titled "Sadness and Hope"
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Night Shift
Made it through the night with only incidental drama and with few real events. Just wondering about some things that we do on my job that are really stupid. Why is it that we expect someone who is on a pureed diet to be able to swallow a mouthful of large pills? Why do we expect people to get out of bed at 6am on the weekend and expect them to be well rested when we are in bothering them every 2 hours during the night?
I had one staff in particular who was quite disappointed that I was working all night. The comment I got when I showed back up in the apartment at 12:30am was, "I thought you would have gone home by now." The look on her face when I told her that I was working the overnight let me know that I had ruined her night's sleep. I'll have her fired by the end of the month for sleeping. I may not have caught her last night, but I still have more nights coming. I will be adding in some additional night shifts for training a new nurse who starts next week. Funny how some of the overnight staff really hate to see me on grounds past 11pm. It's OK though, they hate to see Edie, Joni, Brian... any one who would actually fire them for being asleep.
It's late/early, and the dog is indicating to me that I should be in bed.
I had one staff in particular who was quite disappointed that I was working all night. The comment I got when I showed back up in the apartment at 12:30am was, "I thought you would have gone home by now." The look on her face when I told her that I was working the overnight let me know that I had ruined her night's sleep. I'll have her fired by the end of the month for sleeping. I may not have caught her last night, but I still have more nights coming. I will be adding in some additional night shifts for training a new nurse who starts next week. Funny how some of the overnight staff really hate to see me on grounds past 11pm. It's OK though, they hate to see Edie, Joni, Brian... any one who would actually fire them for being asleep.
It's late/early, and the dog is indicating to me that I should be in bed.
Friday, December 7, 2007
30 Minutes and Counting...
I’m having one last cup of coffee before I return to bed. The mark of a true night shift nurse. I talked with Brian this morning. I commented that I was up until 3am. He said how can anyone be awake at 3am. My response was that was why I worked nights and he didn't.
The snow is coming down pretty steadily - fine and wet. Good for making snowballs kinda snow. Should make for fun driving later.
Pam yelled from her kitchen window as I was going out to warm the van that she would take the kids to school this morning. I had the little boys at the sitter's house and was back by 9:20. Not too different from my usual time frame, unfortunately.
I keep telling my daughter that I want clothes laid out and children bathed the night before. I may as well be talking to the dog. None of this has come to pass. I am tired of having to rummage through drawers and baskets of laundry to try and find clothes on a daily basis. I still have no idea where socks for the little boys may be. I haven't put a pair of socks on them in at least two weeks because I can't find any. I refuse to dig through an over-sized laundry basket full of unmatched socks to try and locate two pairs of bitty socks. Things will change for next week or she can bathe and dress her own children and get them to the sitter's and to school. I am done! I had to go down to the basement yesterday and find two small winter coats to wash up for the boys to wear. I have been taking them out in this frigid weather in sweatshirts and light jackets. (Without socks.) I bought a winter coat for Jonathan last year, which he has out grown, but Gabe would certainly be able to fit it. Of course, Gabe can still fit his own winter coat from last year. I found Gabe's old coat and Trinity's old size 4T "dalmatian print" coat for Jonathan to wear. He loves the "doggie coat." Amanda had said that she planned to get new winter coats for the little boys when we were shopping and she got new winter coats for the big kids. Two months later, no winter coats for the little boys and no snow boots for anyone. However, newly released DVD's proliferate each and every Tuesday, except for this last one. As they had to spend $120 for a new ignitor and adapter unit for their furnace, there was no extra money for DVDs. My son-in-law must have whined about this a great deal at work because one of his coworkers, Crazy Mary (Yes, she really is crazy.), bought two new releases for him this last week. Apparently my grandchildren would have perished had they not been able to see the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie the day it came out on DVD.
I have run 10 minutes over on my time limit, but I certainly do feel a bit better. Now, about that guy....
The snow is coming down pretty steadily - fine and wet. Good for making snowballs kinda snow. Should make for fun driving later.
Pam yelled from her kitchen window as I was going out to warm the van that she would take the kids to school this morning. I had the little boys at the sitter's house and was back by 9:20. Not too different from my usual time frame, unfortunately.
I keep telling my daughter that I want clothes laid out and children bathed the night before. I may as well be talking to the dog. None of this has come to pass. I am tired of having to rummage through drawers and baskets of laundry to try and find clothes on a daily basis. I still have no idea where socks for the little boys may be. I haven't put a pair of socks on them in at least two weeks because I can't find any. I refuse to dig through an over-sized laundry basket full of unmatched socks to try and locate two pairs of bitty socks. Things will change for next week or she can bathe and dress her own children and get them to the sitter's and to school. I am done! I had to go down to the basement yesterday and find two small winter coats to wash up for the boys to wear. I have been taking them out in this frigid weather in sweatshirts and light jackets. (Without socks.) I bought a winter coat for Jonathan last year, which he has out grown, but Gabe would certainly be able to fit it. Of course, Gabe can still fit his own winter coat from last year. I found Gabe's old coat and Trinity's old size 4T "dalmatian print" coat for Jonathan to wear. He loves the "doggie coat." Amanda had said that she planned to get new winter coats for the little boys when we were shopping and she got new winter coats for the big kids. Two months later, no winter coats for the little boys and no snow boots for anyone. However, newly released DVD's proliferate each and every Tuesday, except for this last one. As they had to spend $120 for a new ignitor and adapter unit for their furnace, there was no extra money for DVDs. My son-in-law must have whined about this a great deal at work because one of his coworkers, Crazy Mary (Yes, she really is crazy.), bought two new releases for him this last week. Apparently my grandchildren would have perished had they not been able to see the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie the day it came out on DVD.
I have run 10 minutes over on my time limit, but I certainly do feel a bit better. Now, about that guy....
~sigh~
I'm working on heading out the door a bit early for work. Really, I am. Gotta do something while I'm sucking down that last cuppa joe and rolling a couple of cigarettes. It is cold. I do not want to go out. Tucson take me away!
OK, off to dress myself in 18 layers and brush my teeth. To hell with the makeup. Back later for a continuation of the drivel & other things as well.
Home again, home again...
It's coming up on 2:30am. I was supposed to be off work at 11pm. I clocked out at 1:30am. I started my rounds at 7:05pm and finished at 10:50pm. What a night! Then, it was on to finish entering labs. I had a readmission that I had to have drawn in the morning. I missed the cut-off time for entering them into the computer to have them drawn in the morning. Being me, I wrote them out and added the diagnosis codes and handed them to her nurse and told her to have the phlebotomist draw them along with everyone else in the morning. It is that or they can make a special trip out on Saturday morning. Doesn't matter to me.
Brian called and wanted me to call him back. I was in the middle of tonight's heifer skirmish and didn't get a chance to return the call before he went to bed. After the bitch-slap fest was finished, I had my tube feeding changes to do. In the middle of spilling formula all over my medication cart because you can't get the air out of these bags like they promise you can, my hypochondriac with the noncompliant, over-bearing sisters came back from the emergency room where it was determined that he had nothing going on with his digestive tract other than his sisters allowing him to graze freely from the refrigerator and taking him out to eat fast food.
I was trying desperately to do my paperwork when one of the nurses stopped by the office to tell me that one of our guys with the current intestinal bug was still throwing up. As he was becoming dehydrated and is diabetic with bad kidney function to being with, we sent him over the the ER. I was about to leave when I got a call from my staff at the hospital with him that the ambulance personnel didn't give the hospital his information packet. I copied and faxed it to the hospital.
Add in my own assigned patients who are sick with the intestinal virus, having to change an ileostomy appliance because its owner is OCD and won't leave it alone, the fire drill...
It didn't make for a very good night.
It's nearly 3am. I should probably go get some sleep. With the way things have gone, I'm sure my daughter will be scheduled to open tomorrow, and I will have to assume kiddo duty at 7am.
With any luck, I will be home and back to bed by 10am. The night shift looms tomorrow.
OK, off to dress myself in 18 layers and brush my teeth. To hell with the makeup. Back later for a continuation of the drivel & other things as well.
Home again, home again...
It's coming up on 2:30am. I was supposed to be off work at 11pm. I clocked out at 1:30am. I started my rounds at 7:05pm and finished at 10:50pm. What a night! Then, it was on to finish entering labs. I had a readmission that I had to have drawn in the morning. I missed the cut-off time for entering them into the computer to have them drawn in the morning. Being me, I wrote them out and added the diagnosis codes and handed them to her nurse and told her to have the phlebotomist draw them along with everyone else in the morning. It is that or they can make a special trip out on Saturday morning. Doesn't matter to me.
Brian called and wanted me to call him back. I was in the middle of tonight's heifer skirmish and didn't get a chance to return the call before he went to bed. After the bitch-slap fest was finished, I had my tube feeding changes to do. In the middle of spilling formula all over my medication cart because you can't get the air out of these bags like they promise you can, my hypochondriac with the noncompliant, over-bearing sisters came back from the emergency room where it was determined that he had nothing going on with his digestive tract other than his sisters allowing him to graze freely from the refrigerator and taking him out to eat fast food.
I was trying desperately to do my paperwork when one of the nurses stopped by the office to tell me that one of our guys with the current intestinal bug was still throwing up. As he was becoming dehydrated and is diabetic with bad kidney function to being with, we sent him over the the ER. I was about to leave when I got a call from my staff at the hospital with him that the ambulance personnel didn't give the hospital his information packet. I copied and faxed it to the hospital.
Add in my own assigned patients who are sick with the intestinal virus, having to change an ileostomy appliance because its owner is OCD and won't leave it alone, the fire drill...
It didn't make for a very good night.
It's nearly 3am. I should probably go get some sleep. With the way things have gone, I'm sure my daughter will be scheduled to open tomorrow, and I will have to assume kiddo duty at 7am.
With any luck, I will be home and back to bed by 10am. The night shift looms tomorrow.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Back for Another Round aka I Hope My Pain Medicine Works Soon
The wiring in my house gets a C+ for functionality but a A- for creativity. I had taken a space heater to the bathroom earlier so that it would be oh so toasty and sauna-like in there for my bath. When I went upstairs, I found that the circuit breaker had popped. Lovely.
Down to the basement, snag an extension cord on my way back upstairs (an industrial heavy-duty one, OK), plugged the heater into the outlet in my bedroom that is on the wall that borders the hallway, and set about re-warming the bathroom.
I had forgotten about the bathroom (and studio and bedroom) being wired on one circuit. This particular circuit includes the outlet on the wall just inside my studio door (comes across the stairway to the bathroom), the vanity lights above my sink, the outlet (ground fault interrupted, mind you) next to the sink, the outlet on the wall that is the outside wall of the house (traverses on around behind the tub enclosure), and ends with the wall outlet on my bedroom wall that is common with the bathroom.
Whomever happened to wire this particular circuit had some serious issues.
It is for this reason that I keep plenty of 9-volt batteries for not only my smoke detectors but for the battery back-up on my alarm clock that I have no choice other than to have plugged into that outlet.
It was during round two of warming the bathroom that I posted the YouTube classic "Where the Hell is Matt?" video to the blog. That video has been viewed over 8.4 million times on YouTube. Who knows how many times it has been forwarded and posted to other places (blogs, MySpace, etc.) on the www.
I am clean, relaxed, and headed to bed shortly.
I did a revised bruise count while in the tub. Left foot - 2, right foot, right ankle, palm of right hand - 2 (How hard to you have to hit to bruise your palm, anyway?), inner aspect of right hand, right forearm, right upper arm, upper back, lower back - 2. It's beginning to look ugly on the posterior half of my body.
Talked to Brian tonight about working tomorrow evening. He's going to try and schedule three of us on because I'm banged-up. If not, I'll get the split of 4 rather than 5 apartments. I told him I just won't be able to do five with the way I'm feeling. Maureen won't be happy about that, but I generally take 5 when it is just the two of us working. Tomorrow, I need a bit of a break.
Down to the basement, snag an extension cord on my way back upstairs (an industrial heavy-duty one, OK), plugged the heater into the outlet in my bedroom that is on the wall that borders the hallway, and set about re-warming the bathroom.
I had forgotten about the bathroom (and studio and bedroom) being wired on one circuit. This particular circuit includes the outlet on the wall just inside my studio door (comes across the stairway to the bathroom), the vanity lights above my sink, the outlet (ground fault interrupted, mind you) next to the sink, the outlet on the wall that is the outside wall of the house (traverses on around behind the tub enclosure), and ends with the wall outlet on my bedroom wall that is common with the bathroom.
Whomever happened to wire this particular circuit had some serious issues.
It is for this reason that I keep plenty of 9-volt batteries for not only my smoke detectors but for the battery back-up on my alarm clock that I have no choice other than to have plugged into that outlet.
It was during round two of warming the bathroom that I posted the YouTube classic "Where the Hell is Matt?" video to the blog. That video has been viewed over 8.4 million times on YouTube. Who knows how many times it has been forwarded and posted to other places (blogs, MySpace, etc.) on the www.
I am clean, relaxed, and headed to bed shortly.
I did a revised bruise count while in the tub. Left foot - 2, right foot, right ankle, palm of right hand - 2 (How hard to you have to hit to bruise your palm, anyway?), inner aspect of right hand, right forearm, right upper arm, upper back, lower back - 2. It's beginning to look ugly on the posterior half of my body.
Talked to Brian tonight about working tomorrow evening. He's going to try and schedule three of us on because I'm banged-up. If not, I'll get the split of 4 rather than 5 apartments. I told him I just won't be able to do five with the way I'm feeling. Maureen won't be happy about that, but I generally take 5 when it is just the two of us working. Tomorrow, I need a bit of a break.
First Snow of the Season
It has been a lazy day. The continued snowfall has trickled to a minimum, which is good. I cannot shovel what has already fallen. As I am scheduled to work tomorrow evening and over night on Friday, I am hoping the pain and the stiffness dissipate rapidly over the next 24 hours. I do not want to call off for a couple of reasons. This is the last check before Christmas. If I do not call off this month, I lose an attendance point off of my total. I had lost one for September and one for October. Gained one back behind the abscessed tooth in November. Having gone to contingent status, this is the only way I have of losing points.
I did put a small load of socks and underwear in to wash. I couldn't manage to carry anything other than a small basket. If I can do one small load tomorrow and again on Friday, I will be good to go through the weekend. Gotta love the logistical changes necessitated by a bad fall.
The sidewalks were shoveled by Michael and Isaiah. My daughter informed Michael that he would be shoveling them when he got home from work. They are salted as well. The temperature wasn't too bad earlier, but it is falling steadily. Around 23 now with the wind chill at 15. Looking at a low of 14 that will have the wind chill in the single digits.
I hope the shelter workers are out rounding folks up. Genny told me earlier in the week that they had had their first "Code Blue" and rounded up 20+ additional folks. I am not certain what the contingency plans are here now that the Open Shelter is no more. Faith Mission used to be very reluctant to take any additional people. The Volunteers of America shelter would take additional people, if they had they room. Without the Open Shelter, the VOA is always running at capacity and turning people away. Guess I need to make phone calls to the Community Shelter Bored and the County Commissioners tomorrow and inquire.
I found a warehouse. It's absolutely huge! I like it. I don't know if the owner would be willing to part with it or not. Doesn't hurt to ask. It's about a block and a half from the house. It is vacant. I still like the one over on Gift Street that is two story but currently being used as storage and owned by a company outside the city. The one on Gift would certainly be closer to what is being rehabbed into an arts district on this side of the river, but distance can have benefits as well. The size of the one up the street from my house is nearly twice the size of the one on Gift St and is single story. There is no parking, not even on the street. However, there is a condemned house right next door... Trust me, this would not be paving paradise to put up a parking lot.
I think I'm going to close this here and take a hot bath to bake some of the pain and stiffness (at least momentarily) out of my back.
Cthulhu Continuation
It is Wednesday morning. Awoke to the German Shepherd girl doing the "most happy dance." I opened the door to evidence the reason for the dance - snow, about four inches of that white stuff covering everything in sight.
Yesterday ended up being not such a good day after the fall. I was in bed well before 9pm.
No bruises had appeared yesterday, other than to my right ankle. This morning, there is a pretty nasty one across my low back. My arms and hands remain very sore and the position changes from standing and sitting are a serious challenge. Red marks still across my upper back and upper arm so there is still a possibility of bruises appearing.
I think my household chores are going to be limited to schlepping laundry. I was planning on re-arranging some furniture and cleaning the basement. Not likely.
It is eleven months until the next presidential election. The idiocy has not yet begun in earnest.
Hillary waffles on every issue in order to try and appear everything to everyone. Obama's biggest liabilites remain that he is a black man with an unusual name. Just can't see that flying in the heartland. You know why they call this the heartland, right? .... because the brain isn't here. Being an Arizonan and generally leaning towards the conservative side of things (at least upon initial investigation of a subject; views subject to alteration once more facts are accumulated), I do like John McCain. I think he is a great senator. I don't want him for president. His views on seeing this un-winable war to the end are directly responsible for that. I will not, in good conscience vote for anyone who thinks it a good idea to continue to suck the life-blood out of our nation's economy and kill part-time soldiers for oil. Besides, corporate America is already doing a more than satisfactory job of sucking the life-blood from our economy... and allowing the poisoning of our children and our pets in the process.
Of course, when it comes to ending the war, the democratic congress promised great things when they were elected in 2006. You see how much has not been done.
I am still in favor of the line-item veto. I am in favor of term limits. I concur with Kurt Vonnegut's assessment that we need to fix that flaw in the U.S. Constitution whereby it seems that only the nuts want to be president.
Romney promised a whole bunch of shit in order to be elected governor, was elected, and then discovered that people did expect him to DO something. Nothing about Rudy Giuliani makes him stand out from the crowd. Dennis Kucinich is part of the entrenched system as well.
I still haven't checked out Ron Paul, I will confess. The vast majority of people that I have seen "debating" about Ron Paul in various popular/social internet venues still can't determine what "libertarian" stands for. Does their espousement of "free-market economy" mean that they feel it's ok for Nike (substitute any other large corporation) to be exploiting third-world workers for the sake of profit?
John Edwards is "Gore Lite." Similar views, less the cahones. Though I will state, once again, I was very, very disappointed that Gore compromised his principles to get on the ticket with Billy. John Edwards, like many of the other candidates, exemplifies what is wrong with the current system. There are no original ideas, no thought, no innovation.
This is so shaping up to be a Same Shit Different Day presidential bid.
I have begun to wonder (since the days of Reaganomics if the truth be told) if we would not be better off under a parliamentary system of government. Not much would change about our legislative process, but we would certainly be able to get the fucking nimrods out with greater ease. Of course, the system is certainly opposed to that sort of thinking.
Until then, CTHULHU FOR PRESIDENT!! Why settle for the lesser evil?
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Cthulhu for President. Why Settle for the Lesser Evil?
In a bit of a mood. My back aches from when I wrenched it while driving to work and had to swerve sharply to avoid hitting a car that pulled out in front of me. My leg is numb because the sciatic nerve was irritated when I wrenched my back. And, I am cold!
In order to be warm in this house, I have to set the thermostat at 76 degrees (inadequate insulation and drafty storm windows). With natural gas prices being what they are, I cannot afford to set my thermostat that high this year. I could if I didn't have to pay $3 a gallon for gas for my car, too. The rate for natural gas is $1.296 per 100 cubic feet. The current rate expires January 1. I am certain it will take a hefty jump on January 2.
We are supposed to get some snow tomorrow evening. One to three inches. Possibly more snow on Wednesday. Yuck!
I roll my own cigarettes. I have a feeling that one of these days soon I'm going to get pulled over by a cop who thinks I'm smoking a joint. I generally buy the tubes that come with the filter attached, but I still prefer smoking a non-filter cigarette.
It has become Tuesday. A bit past noon. I just took a bad fall from the top of my back steps when the hand rail broke loose. Ended up falling on top of the rail and one of the kids' toys, on my back. Hit both my hands and forearms and right upper arm on something. The broken iron railing, I'm thinking. Landed with my knees bent and my left foot and ankle took a hard hit into the ground. Oh damn, am I ever gonna be sore from this one!
In order to be warm in this house, I have to set the thermostat at 76 degrees (inadequate insulation and drafty storm windows). With natural gas prices being what they are, I cannot afford to set my thermostat that high this year. I could if I didn't have to pay $3 a gallon for gas for my car, too. The rate for natural gas is $1.296 per 100 cubic feet. The current rate expires January 1. I am certain it will take a hefty jump on January 2.
We are supposed to get some snow tomorrow evening. One to three inches. Possibly more snow on Wednesday. Yuck!
I roll my own cigarettes. I have a feeling that one of these days soon I'm going to get pulled over by a cop who thinks I'm smoking a joint. I generally buy the tubes that come with the filter attached, but I still prefer smoking a non-filter cigarette.
It has become Tuesday. A bit past noon. I just took a bad fall from the top of my back steps when the hand rail broke loose. Ended up falling on top of the rail and one of the kids' toys, on my back. Hit both my hands and forearms and right upper arm on something. The broken iron railing, I'm thinking. Landed with my knees bent and my left foot and ankle took a hard hit into the ground. Oh damn, am I ever gonna be sore from this one!
Monday, December 3, 2007
Got in from work a bit ago. Even though it was in the mid-50s today, temperatures are due to drop about 20 degrees over the next few hours. There is a wind advisory in effect until 6am tomorrow morning. Lovely. It rained heavily late this afternoon and this evening. Should make for some icy driving early in the morning.
Sent the guy an email telling him to be careful driving tomorrow morning. I would have called, but I'm sure he was all "talked out" after the 2:02 conversation we had earlier this evening. (That's two minutes, two seconds, by the way.)
Our previous phone conversation was 2:13. Or was it 2:18? (No, Genny, I haven't talked with him since then. LOL)
Have you any idea how frustrating it is, after being ignored for days on end, to talk and have it only be for two minutes?
In all sincerity, I believe that he would genuinely like to classify me as "high maintenance." I am wondering about his criteria and previous girlfriends who have been described as high maintenance. And, I'm wondering about the girlfriend from grad school whose photo in the album merited, "I'm not sure why we broke up." I could venture a couple of guesses on that one and probably come close to a correct answer.
Just noticed that the temperature here has dropped 10 degrees in the last hour.
Now, down another 6 degrees in the last 45 minutes. The winds are about 30mph and the wind chill is making it feel about 12 degrees colder than the actual temperature of 39.
Miserable. I am inside my house and am aching.
It is Monday morning and the high temperature today is supposed to be 32. It is 30 degrees now. Gotta love it. And to think I would complain about low temperatures in the 40s and 50s in Tucson.
Gotta do something to try and get warm here.
Sent the guy an email telling him to be careful driving tomorrow morning. I would have called, but I'm sure he was all "talked out" after the 2:02 conversation we had earlier this evening. (That's two minutes, two seconds, by the way.)
Our previous phone conversation was 2:13. Or was it 2:18? (No, Genny, I haven't talked with him since then. LOL)
Have you any idea how frustrating it is, after being ignored for days on end, to talk and have it only be for two minutes?
In all sincerity, I believe that he would genuinely like to classify me as "high maintenance." I am wondering about his criteria and previous girlfriends who have been described as high maintenance. And, I'm wondering about the girlfriend from grad school whose photo in the album merited, "I'm not sure why we broke up." I could venture a couple of guesses on that one and probably come close to a correct answer.
Just noticed that the temperature here has dropped 10 degrees in the last hour.
Now, down another 6 degrees in the last 45 minutes. The winds are about 30mph and the wind chill is making it feel about 12 degrees colder than the actual temperature of 39.
Miserable. I am inside my house and am aching.
It is Monday morning and the high temperature today is supposed to be 32. It is 30 degrees now. Gotta love it. And to think I would complain about low temperatures in the 40s and 50s in Tucson.
Gotta do something to try and get warm here.
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