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Havin' a Good Day
Feb. 27th, 2010 02:37 pmTime for another update. I've noticed that I only tend to update when I'm in a really good mood, and it is in fact rare that I'm not... although there are times I'm not, just for the record.
Anyway...
In the "bad mood" category, just for balance, we can take a look at Tuesday. I work 40 hours a week nowadays. I haven't been doing this for very long, maybe a couple of weeks at that rate. Now, keep in mind that, even though when you combine jobs, there have certainly been times I've worked more than 40 hours a week in the past 3 years or so, these jobs were all broken up, and at alternatingly weird hours, so it never felt like 40 hours for some odd reason. Working 40 hours broken up into 5 8-hour shifts isn't something I've done in WELL over 5 years.
I had NO IDEA how hard it would be to re-adjust.
So, anyway, if you'll recall, I'm doing the 5 8-hour shifts per week thing of home health care, which I really love, and I also have that staffing job where I give them my availability, and they let me know if they have anything that day. They have until 10pm to either cancel a shift already given (I only work midnights) or to give me a shift I hadn't previously been told about. This past Tuesday, I'd been told I had a shift, and I was DESPERATELY hoping it would be cancelled. Yeah, I know, bad for the wallet, but I was exhausted beyond belief. So, come 9:30pm, no one had called to cancel my shift... at which point I'm in tears, lamenting this fact, and having no legitimate excuse whatsoever to call off. So, given that I didn't like the other choices, either, I went to work, of course. It wasn't even a bad night, and it was steady enough to keep me awake, plus, unlike the home healthcare job when I'm, for all practical purposes, basically alone with my (sleeping) client most of the night, I had other staff members to keep me awake. I even got what turned out to be a pretty easy assignment. So, really, can't complain.
But, as any of you who are also on my Facebook know, a weird thing happened at the end of the shift. To quote that post:
Counted narcotics last night with a new grad nurse, who was much flustered. Somehow we missed that one of the counts was off. Not a hugely bad thing, since they're legitimately accounted for elsewhere, but now I'm stuck here until the PM nurse can be reached and convinced to come in to correct the error on the right form. They've left at least 2 voicemails so far. No telling when she'll show up. I'm tired, hungry, and want to go home, but it's just as much my fault as anyone's... *sigh* And I soooo didn't want to work last night at ALL...
So... I'm sitting there, wondering when I'll get out of there, and thinking that I worked that night, and what if I was stuck there until the other nurse came in at 3:00pm, and that was assuming she was scheduled to work at all.... Hell, I know I don't answer my phone on my days off, and maybe she was the same way... So I sent an email to the scheduler at my full-time job, basically saying I'd explain later, but I might not be able to go to work that night, and that I'd let her know more when I knew more. She emailed back and said that she had someone to cover if need be (which she said was unusual to be able to pull off) and to keep her posted. Well, after staying there an hour or two, they had me talk to the Director of Nursing, and I had to fill out a statement on the whole incident, and they let me go home. Which meant, luckily, that I'd have time to get my usual amount of sleep before work that night. So, I called the scheduler to let her know, and explained the whole sordid story, etc.. I also told her that, even though I could now work, I was exhausted, and the availability of someone to cover was VERY tempting. We agreed it would look bad, though, so I was still gonna work, but somehow between the two of us ('cause I honestly can't remember which one of us brought it up again), we took another look, and she compared my hours to the hours of the nurse that was gonna work for me, and decided that, since I had more hours than she did (including a tiny bit of overtime), she would just give the hours to the other nurse.
OH BLESSED RELIEF. I slept for 8+ hours, more than I'd slept in days... woke up, cooked dinner, curled up with the Beastie to finally get around to watching Stardust (we even put away our phones for the duration! *gasp*), and went right back to bed and slept another 5+ hours. GLORIOUS, I tell you.
So, Friday was payday. I was excited 'cause it was supposed to be my first full 40-hour paycheck, but it turns out that it was for the week I was sick a couple of days, so notsomuch. But, I was still able to cash the check and run to the co-op and get some stuff we'd been out of, and splurged on some veggies and a couple of other things (mmmm... coconut butter). Didn't do much other than that, though, 'cause I worked that night, and I didn't wanna tire myself out again.
So, this morning after work, I made my run down to Arthur for milk (also got eggs, cream, and butter... and finally was able to get some cheese!), stopped at a new country store I hadn't tried yet (was hoping they had gallon jars cheap, like Beachys does, since it's more on the way, but none to be seen), then headed back to Champaign.
I'd been wanting to try this place for a while, and I had enough left over from my paycheck to get a couple of things. Finally found the place (it wasn't hard, just took me a while to get the address) and picked up what I'd ordered. I'm totally excited about trying this stuff! Got to meet the guy, his wife, and their 2 beautiful black cats. He also happens to be on the Board of the co-op I linked to above, and is really involved in the local food movement, and is passionate about his products. (Make a few clickys on the hyperlink and go to his blog... some great entries.) So, chatted with him for a while, and came home, finally.
Non sequitur, while I'm thinking about it. The other place I went today was the library, to turn in some DVDs. One of these was the aforementioned Stardust. The other was season three of Beauty and the Beast. This was a show I never watched when it was out... I maybe caught part of one episode, enough to know it was fantasy-based, and had a hulking hot blonde in it. (Normally, I'm not a fan of hulking, but the whole cat-like thing made it work.) ... OK, as I was doing the hyperlink thing, I was reading some of the comments on the board, and they've all been good so far. *blink* OK... if I'd watched it back in the day, maybe. Hell, I'd have probably been totally hooked. (Just so happened this was right about the time I started college, and had to share my tiny TV with roommates... would never have worked out.) But now... egad. OK good, OK fine, I can totally see the appeal of Vincent... I mean, c'mon... hot otherworldly guy who is completely devoted to you, and yet, stays in his own little hidey hole and for the most part, only comes rushing to your aid when you're in danger and need his immediate help, but is totally available to you when you want to hang out at his place... please he can read your mind. What's not to love? And maybe I just should've let myself fall into that fantasy, but, strangely, I've come to ENJOY the hard work of relationships, and not living in a fairy-tale world. Crazy, I know. Plus Catherine just PISSED me off. What was supposed to be passion about her work and helping others came across as whiny to me. As the show progressed, she relied on Vincent more and more to bail her out of trouble, rather than using all those street-fighting skills she was supposedly so exceptional at. And the whole they-never-kissed thing just ANNOYED me. OK, you love him with all your heart, but you won't even kiss him? WTF??? And I was annoyed that she didn't just say fuck it all, I'm gonna ditch my life and live below with you (hey, the relationship was already dysfunctional by any standard of reality), rather than constantly lament about how they could "never be together". When she finally suggested it at the end of season one, I was shocked and impressed, but of course, Vincent had to go and play the martyr again and tell her not to. Of course, when she listened to him and stayed above, he then went and had his own private little temper tantrum in his room. OK, so then... season three. She gets PREGNANT?? They never even kissed (which I figured was another appeal of the show for frigid 80s bitches - all the romance, and no putting out!), and all the sudden she's having his baby?? And then the completely anti-climactic scene where he finally kisses her after he's sat up with her corpse all night. And let's not even discuss the badly resolved plot-lines that shouldn't have been brought up on the first place... although I'm willing to cut 'em some slack on that one, since they might not have had much notice the show was ending, and may have had to scramble on that one. So yeah... the idea, pretty cool in general... the costuming was phenomenal - is this where Steampunk got its start?... and again, Vincent was hot. I won't say it was a waste of time, 'cause I'm glad to have watched it, but... *shakes head* Just damn...
But I digress....
BlckwngdOrcl, being the bestest husband in the whole wide world, helped me carry stuff up the stairs when I got home, and I combined my recently-gotten goodies into a yummy breakfast, during which we watched CNN on the 'quake in South America. *sends energy* Good of them to explain how the rating system works, which helps me understand how an 8+ quake can cause less devastation and loss of life than a 7+ quake. Still sad, though. Today's coffee selection, in our quest to try all the flavored coffees of the roastery, was Jamaican-Me-Crazy. No idea what the flavors were supposed to be... we both rated it about a 7, which means it's not on the buy-again list. (Caramel Kiss, however, IS... OMGtehYUM.) Then, I felt the urge to come in here and write. I'm off work tonight, so I can stay awake with relative impunity, but I gotta tell ya, at about 2:30pm, this is way past my bedtime, people! I'll probably hang out here a little while, then curl up in bed with a book (currently re-reading Anne Rice's stuff) and see if I end up staying awake or falling asleep. Dinner is leftovers on our own, so no pressure to be up at a certain time to cook or anything like that.
So, that's it.
And how are you? :)
Anyway...
In the "bad mood" category, just for balance, we can take a look at Tuesday. I work 40 hours a week nowadays. I haven't been doing this for very long, maybe a couple of weeks at that rate. Now, keep in mind that, even though when you combine jobs, there have certainly been times I've worked more than 40 hours a week in the past 3 years or so, these jobs were all broken up, and at alternatingly weird hours, so it never felt like 40 hours for some odd reason. Working 40 hours broken up into 5 8-hour shifts isn't something I've done in WELL over 5 years.
I had NO IDEA how hard it would be to re-adjust.
So, anyway, if you'll recall, I'm doing the 5 8-hour shifts per week thing of home health care, which I really love, and I also have that staffing job where I give them my availability, and they let me know if they have anything that day. They have until 10pm to either cancel a shift already given (I only work midnights) or to give me a shift I hadn't previously been told about. This past Tuesday, I'd been told I had a shift, and I was DESPERATELY hoping it would be cancelled. Yeah, I know, bad for the wallet, but I was exhausted beyond belief. So, come 9:30pm, no one had called to cancel my shift... at which point I'm in tears, lamenting this fact, and having no legitimate excuse whatsoever to call off. So, given that I didn't like the other choices, either, I went to work, of course. It wasn't even a bad night, and it was steady enough to keep me awake, plus, unlike the home healthcare job when I'm, for all practical purposes, basically alone with my (sleeping) client most of the night, I had other staff members to keep me awake. I even got what turned out to be a pretty easy assignment. So, really, can't complain.
But, as any of you who are also on my Facebook know, a weird thing happened at the end of the shift. To quote that post:
Counted narcotics last night with a new grad nurse, who was much flustered. Somehow we missed that one of the counts was off. Not a hugely bad thing, since they're legitimately accounted for elsewhere, but now I'm stuck here until the PM nurse can be reached and convinced to come in to correct the error on the right form. They've left at least 2 voicemails so far. No telling when she'll show up. I'm tired, hungry, and want to go home, but it's just as much my fault as anyone's... *sigh* And I soooo didn't want to work last night at ALL...
So... I'm sitting there, wondering when I'll get out of there, and thinking that I worked that night, and what if I was stuck there until the other nurse came in at 3:00pm, and that was assuming she was scheduled to work at all.... Hell, I know I don't answer my phone on my days off, and maybe she was the same way... So I sent an email to the scheduler at my full-time job, basically saying I'd explain later, but I might not be able to go to work that night, and that I'd let her know more when I knew more. She emailed back and said that she had someone to cover if need be (which she said was unusual to be able to pull off) and to keep her posted. Well, after staying there an hour or two, they had me talk to the Director of Nursing, and I had to fill out a statement on the whole incident, and they let me go home. Which meant, luckily, that I'd have time to get my usual amount of sleep before work that night. So, I called the scheduler to let her know, and explained the whole sordid story, etc.. I also told her that, even though I could now work, I was exhausted, and the availability of someone to cover was VERY tempting. We agreed it would look bad, though, so I was still gonna work, but somehow between the two of us ('cause I honestly can't remember which one of us brought it up again), we took another look, and she compared my hours to the hours of the nurse that was gonna work for me, and decided that, since I had more hours than she did (including a tiny bit of overtime), she would just give the hours to the other nurse.
OH BLESSED RELIEF. I slept for 8+ hours, more than I'd slept in days... woke up, cooked dinner, curled up with the Beastie to finally get around to watching Stardust (we even put away our phones for the duration! *gasp*), and went right back to bed and slept another 5+ hours. GLORIOUS, I tell you.
So, Friday was payday. I was excited 'cause it was supposed to be my first full 40-hour paycheck, but it turns out that it was for the week I was sick a couple of days, so notsomuch. But, I was still able to cash the check and run to the co-op and get some stuff we'd been out of, and splurged on some veggies and a couple of other things (mmmm... coconut butter). Didn't do much other than that, though, 'cause I worked that night, and I didn't wanna tire myself out again.
So, this morning after work, I made my run down to Arthur for milk (also got eggs, cream, and butter... and finally was able to get some cheese!), stopped at a new country store I hadn't tried yet (was hoping they had gallon jars cheap, like Beachys does, since it's more on the way, but none to be seen), then headed back to Champaign.
I'd been wanting to try this place for a while, and I had enough left over from my paycheck to get a couple of things. Finally found the place (it wasn't hard, just took me a while to get the address) and picked up what I'd ordered. I'm totally excited about trying this stuff! Got to meet the guy, his wife, and their 2 beautiful black cats. He also happens to be on the Board of the co-op I linked to above, and is really involved in the local food movement, and is passionate about his products. (Make a few clickys on the hyperlink and go to his blog... some great entries.) So, chatted with him for a while, and came home, finally.
Non sequitur, while I'm thinking about it. The other place I went today was the library, to turn in some DVDs. One of these was the aforementioned Stardust. The other was season three of Beauty and the Beast. This was a show I never watched when it was out... I maybe caught part of one episode, enough to know it was fantasy-based, and had a hulking hot blonde in it. (Normally, I'm not a fan of hulking, but the whole cat-like thing made it work.) ... OK, as I was doing the hyperlink thing, I was reading some of the comments on the board, and they've all been good so far. *blink* OK... if I'd watched it back in the day, maybe. Hell, I'd have probably been totally hooked. (Just so happened this was right about the time I started college, and had to share my tiny TV with roommates... would never have worked out.) But now... egad. OK good, OK fine, I can totally see the appeal of Vincent... I mean, c'mon... hot otherworldly guy who is completely devoted to you, and yet, stays in his own little hidey hole and for the most part, only comes rushing to your aid when you're in danger and need his immediate help, but is totally available to you when you want to hang out at his place... please he can read your mind. What's not to love? And maybe I just should've let myself fall into that fantasy, but, strangely, I've come to ENJOY the hard work of relationships, and not living in a fairy-tale world. Crazy, I know. Plus Catherine just PISSED me off. What was supposed to be passion about her work and helping others came across as whiny to me. As the show progressed, she relied on Vincent more and more to bail her out of trouble, rather than using all those street-fighting skills she was supposedly so exceptional at. And the whole they-never-kissed thing just ANNOYED me. OK, you love him with all your heart, but you won't even kiss him? WTF??? And I was annoyed that she didn't just say fuck it all, I'm gonna ditch my life and live below with you (hey, the relationship was already dysfunctional by any standard of reality), rather than constantly lament about how they could "never be together". When she finally suggested it at the end of season one, I was shocked and impressed, but of course, Vincent had to go and play the martyr again and tell her not to. Of course, when she listened to him and stayed above, he then went and had his own private little temper tantrum in his room. OK, so then... season three. She gets PREGNANT?? They never even kissed (which I figured was another appeal of the show for frigid 80s bitches - all the romance, and no putting out!), and all the sudden she's having his baby?? And then the completely anti-climactic scene where he finally kisses her after he's sat up with her corpse all night. And let's not even discuss the badly resolved plot-lines that shouldn't have been brought up on the first place... although I'm willing to cut 'em some slack on that one, since they might not have had much notice the show was ending, and may have had to scramble on that one. So yeah... the idea, pretty cool in general... the costuming was phenomenal - is this where Steampunk got its start?... and again, Vincent was hot. I won't say it was a waste of time, 'cause I'm glad to have watched it, but... *shakes head* Just damn...
But I digress....
BlckwngdOrcl, being the bestest husband in the whole wide world, helped me carry stuff up the stairs when I got home, and I combined my recently-gotten goodies into a yummy breakfast, during which we watched CNN on the 'quake in South America. *sends energy* Good of them to explain how the rating system works, which helps me understand how an 8+ quake can cause less devastation and loss of life than a 7+ quake. Still sad, though. Today's coffee selection, in our quest to try all the flavored coffees of the roastery, was Jamaican-Me-Crazy. No idea what the flavors were supposed to be... we both rated it about a 7, which means it's not on the buy-again list. (Caramel Kiss, however, IS... OMGtehYUM.) Then, I felt the urge to come in here and write. I'm off work tonight, so I can stay awake with relative impunity, but I gotta tell ya, at about 2:30pm, this is way past my bedtime, people! I'll probably hang out here a little while, then curl up in bed with a book (currently re-reading Anne Rice's stuff) and see if I end up staying awake or falling asleep. Dinner is leftovers on our own, so no pressure to be up at a certain time to cook or anything like that.So, that's it.
And how are you? :)
