I am returning to my old job at the psychiatric hospital. I miss wearing jammies to work and only driving 2 miles to get there. I miss working with upbeat folks even though we deal with depression and mental illness. I will miss my evenings off but I like the mornings to myself even more. I will have Friday and Saturday off every week so I can still do most things with friends and family. I will have to work some holidays but I know that if something special is coming up, Kimberly will get me off for it and without playing any games.
I am not giving any real notice to the state. It's not like a hospital, anyone can take over for me. I have only one complaint outstanding that I just need to clear as a "no deficiency" with my supervisor and finish off the paperwork. We are in training next week so I am not scheduled for a survey so I can go anytime. I've already taken some things out of my office. I'm sure no one will even notice. There are 4 women in an office of over 30 that I feel I could talk to but even then I have not told any of them what is going on. My resignation letter is done, citing financial reasons for quitting.
Have I said recently how damn cute and sweet my dog is? I move from room to room and there she is, never out of eye contact, she will move every time I do. The state job with the 4 10 hour days has not been good for her either. On those 4 ten hour days I am just pooped out. It is dark when I leave and dark when I come back.
Back to work! I need to clean the living room floor and get some sealer down, Sammie will need to chose another room to stay in.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Being a "Government Employee"
So I have finally settled into my job as a HFEN (health facilities evaluator nurse). The job is that of a regulator and pretty much looks for the negative. Although I am not afraid to say "that isn't the right way", I tend to be more of the teacher as opposed to the regulator.
I could probably deal with that side of things in this job if the office was a pleasant place to be but 50% of the supervisors have MAJOR personality/emotional issues. I would speak my mind to 4, maybe 5 women out of 30 in the work place. Otherwise it is a watch over your shoulder and be careful what and to whom you speak. I should say we are not talking about just simple gossip, I am talking about backstabbing nasty stuff.
I recently had to serve a Citation (it comes with a $1000 fine) to a facility in the east district. It involved a long ride and was my first one so the supervisor had to go. She chose another newbie (the previously mentioned "Spackle Make-up Lady"). SML drove the state vehicle on the way out there even though I did not mind using my vehicle. I got to sit in the back and smell the natural gas until that tank ran out and we switched to regular gas. Both the super and SML put their seats back as far as they could, causing me to sit sideways. The physical discomfort was minimal to the rest though.
I think it started to get really bad after seeing the prisoner bus at the gas station. Super and SML felt so sorry for those men in shackles. Super's son was arrested and had spent time in jail because he was black........not because of the drugs found on his person. SML just could not understand how a friend's son could have gotten 12 years for armed robbery just because he approached a guy at an ATM saying give me that money and indicated that he had a gun when the guy tried to resist. They used some other directions and went off on an exit I had not used on my previous trip, when I mentioned this I was pretty much shot down. So we got to drive all over the fields while SML and Super talked smack about why anyone would chose to live out there, how stupid they must be, etc ad nauseum. Like, this is where lots of your food comes from and if these people did not feed you, you would be shit out of luck! So we have been driving for a while and cross a major road. I mention that we should turn here and get our bearings again, nope! Super is going on. I have already done the professional courtesy and called the facility to let them know we are going to be late. Meanwhile SML and Super are laughing about it being an adventure and I should enjoy it. NO! YOU DUMBASS BITCHES! It is not an adventure. We had a 1p appointment to serve a citation for a serious incident to the facility. The facility has to write their plan of correction at the time we serve it.
So eventually we get there and serve the citation. We go to lunch while they write the plan of correction. That means we have to go where the Super wants even if it is expensive. She does not know where it is of course and it takes us some time to get there cause they still won't stop for directions (I do interject that if we had taken my car we could have found it easily). We have a really long lunch and I drive the car now. We are approaching the turn to the facility and Super has to throw in "have you missed the turn", no you can't turn onto the street, you have to take the next one.
The ride home is equally nauseating because they want to stop at the casino with a state vehicle, I am driving now and remind them that we are in a state vehicle and there are people watching. The final big thing is when Super mentions that her daughter thinks all filipinos are stupid and lazy. SML throws in some smack and Super says, well maybe 95% are, not all of them. The best thing is that Super is a minister's wife and give so much of her time to her church, she has also mentioned her church gave her the Jaguar she drives (I wonder if the parishioners know that). SML also considers herself a very serious catholic. She goes by the rules and would not even do a u-turn in a clear area. I thought there were some rules in the church about how to treat your fellow man, I must have missed the one that said it is ok to look down your nose at people that are different from you.
I am sure that not all government offices are like this (otherwise I would be the same as SML and Super) but it has reinforced my belief that unionization is not really desirable because there is no getting rid of a bad employee. They run to the union and it is just too much work to get the out so the workplace becomes complacent. Inefficiency is accepted as the norm, efficiency is not desired. I don't do well with that cause I can't pretend to be something I am not.
I could probably deal with that side of things in this job if the office was a pleasant place to be but 50% of the supervisors have MAJOR personality/emotional issues. I would speak my mind to 4, maybe 5 women out of 30 in the work place. Otherwise it is a watch over your shoulder and be careful what and to whom you speak. I should say we are not talking about just simple gossip, I am talking about backstabbing nasty stuff.
I recently had to serve a Citation (it comes with a $1000 fine) to a facility in the east district. It involved a long ride and was my first one so the supervisor had to go. She chose another newbie (the previously mentioned "Spackle Make-up Lady"). SML drove the state vehicle on the way out there even though I did not mind using my vehicle. I got to sit in the back and smell the natural gas until that tank ran out and we switched to regular gas. Both the super and SML put their seats back as far as they could, causing me to sit sideways. The physical discomfort was minimal to the rest though.
I think it started to get really bad after seeing the prisoner bus at the gas station. Super and SML felt so sorry for those men in shackles. Super's son was arrested and had spent time in jail because he was black........not because of the drugs found on his person. SML just could not understand how a friend's son could have gotten 12 years for armed robbery just because he approached a guy at an ATM saying give me that money and indicated that he had a gun when the guy tried to resist. They used some other directions and went off on an exit I had not used on my previous trip, when I mentioned this I was pretty much shot down. So we got to drive all over the fields while SML and Super talked smack about why anyone would chose to live out there, how stupid they must be, etc ad nauseum. Like, this is where lots of your food comes from and if these people did not feed you, you would be shit out of luck! So we have been driving for a while and cross a major road. I mention that we should turn here and get our bearings again, nope! Super is going on. I have already done the professional courtesy and called the facility to let them know we are going to be late. Meanwhile SML and Super are laughing about it being an adventure and I should enjoy it. NO! YOU DUMBASS BITCHES! It is not an adventure. We had a 1p appointment to serve a citation for a serious incident to the facility. The facility has to write their plan of correction at the time we serve it.
So eventually we get there and serve the citation. We go to lunch while they write the plan of correction. That means we have to go where the Super wants even if it is expensive. She does not know where it is of course and it takes us some time to get there cause they still won't stop for directions (I do interject that if we had taken my car we could have found it easily). We have a really long lunch and I drive the car now. We are approaching the turn to the facility and Super has to throw in "have you missed the turn", no you can't turn onto the street, you have to take the next one.
The ride home is equally nauseating because they want to stop at the casino with a state vehicle, I am driving now and remind them that we are in a state vehicle and there are people watching. The final big thing is when Super mentions that her daughter thinks all filipinos are stupid and lazy. SML throws in some smack and Super says, well maybe 95% are, not all of them. The best thing is that Super is a minister's wife and give so much of her time to her church, she has also mentioned her church gave her the Jaguar she drives (I wonder if the parishioners know that). SML also considers herself a very serious catholic. She goes by the rules and would not even do a u-turn in a clear area. I thought there were some rules in the church about how to treat your fellow man, I must have missed the one that said it is ok to look down your nose at people that are different from you.
I am sure that not all government offices are like this (otherwise I would be the same as SML and Super) but it has reinforced my belief that unionization is not really desirable because there is no getting rid of a bad employee. They run to the union and it is just too much work to get the out so the workplace becomes complacent. Inefficiency is accepted as the norm, efficiency is not desired. I don't do well with that cause I can't pretend to be something I am not.
Aging
I did hit 52 last Sunday and I do feel the ravages of 52 years walking on these knees. I see my skin getting different colors and losing it's elasticity. But mostly it is about the dog.
Poor Sammie, being of the canine influence, is aging much faster than I. Once she started having white hairs around her face, t just got more and more pronounced. Of course dyeing is not an option and truthfully she is just not that vain! But as I rose at 6a on a Saturday morning after a fitful night, she lie there sound asleep. She has lost a lot of her hearing so that helps her sleep so well but I even turned on the light in this dark fall weather. Still nothing.
She is not as limber either and she has the hack/gag thing going on as well. My friend, Melissa, said her dog does the same thing. Her dog, Boo, just turned 14. Sam will turn 14 in January. We are steeling ourselves for the inevitable and while Melissa and her husband are already planning for a transitional dog, I am planning for a full on care giving break.
Sammie has meant so much to me over the years and we have developed a great relationship. I don't believe that you can just go out and replace this individual. Although Sam IS a dog, she has many personality traits that make her a special companion, a match for me as her "owner".
Unlike some people I have known over the years, I hope I will be able to recognize the time when Sammie should be released from this world, if she does not simply slip away in the night. The first thing I do when I wake up is to look over and see if she is still breathing because she does often sleep so deeply. The unconditional love she has given me through the years has so enriched my life. I never quite understand people who do not like animals, don't really trust or like them either. Even if a human does not chose to have a pet, dislike of an animal is a red flag for me in regards to character.
Poor Sammie, being of the canine influence, is aging much faster than I. Once she started having white hairs around her face, t just got more and more pronounced. Of course dyeing is not an option and truthfully she is just not that vain! But as I rose at 6a on a Saturday morning after a fitful night, she lie there sound asleep. She has lost a lot of her hearing so that helps her sleep so well but I even turned on the light in this dark fall weather. Still nothing.
She is not as limber either and she has the hack/gag thing going on as well. My friend, Melissa, said her dog does the same thing. Her dog, Boo, just turned 14. Sam will turn 14 in January. We are steeling ourselves for the inevitable and while Melissa and her husband are already planning for a transitional dog, I am planning for a full on care giving break.
Sammie has meant so much to me over the years and we have developed a great relationship. I don't believe that you can just go out and replace this individual. Although Sam IS a dog, she has many personality traits that make her a special companion, a match for me as her "owner".
Unlike some people I have known over the years, I hope I will be able to recognize the time when Sammie should be released from this world, if she does not simply slip away in the night. The first thing I do when I wake up is to look over and see if she is still breathing because she does often sleep so deeply. The unconditional love she has given me through the years has so enriched my life. I never quite understand people who do not like animals, don't really trust or like them either. Even if a human does not chose to have a pet, dislike of an animal is a red flag for me in regards to character.
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