Food for Thought

I'm all about the Cleveland Food Bank. 

We donate to it regularly - several times per year. And with their tie in to Harvest for Hunger, I never go to the grocery store where I don't donate $10.  Why that is only a promotion 1-2 weeks per year is beyond me. 

My thing is:  no one should ever go hungry.  No one.   

Ditto of doing without shelter, but one problem at a time. 

With work, we are encouraged to do volunteer time - something I usually haven't done, and mostly just relegated to cash / cheque / credit card. But you know, work is correct, we should be giving back to the community, so when I suggested the management team do something as a team, they ok'd the Food Bank as the area with which we'd work. 

Yesterday, we spent a few hours up there, along with other volunteers they had, assembling meals for children who don't have a way to eat regularly once the school year is completed. My employer actually does have a lunch program during the summer where kids and their families can get a free lunch - I'm always disheartened how little is seems to be used.  But it costs money to get there, right?  And that is not always something every family has. 

We all had jobs - but 90% were walking around an area collecting one item per table for each bag and tying the bag. 5% was putting it six meals per box and sealing it.  The other 5% (me) was making the empty boxes. 

I'd take the unassembled box, fold in all the necessary flaps, tape what needed to be taped, stack them in fives then move them over to the packing area. 

Naturally, I went at it. OCD comes in handy here. And I thought about autistic kids who need a job, and doing something like this probably is good and soothes them. It did me.  I think I was doing about 15 boxes every 5 minutes. I think. Oddly, I didn't time it or count how many I made.....so..........progress. 

Have you ever seen Parks & Rec when Jerry / Garry / Larry just stuffs envelopes for 12 hours?  Yeah - that was me. I recognized it early and really leaned into it. 

Someone said, you're making too many boxes for what we have. And perhaps I was. But we wouldn't be the only crew doing this over the days, week or months. Someone, at sometime, is gonna need those boxes. 

We prepped about 10,000 meals yesterday. There were already a few dozen boxes made before I got there, but I made a bunch, and I hope it helps getting the good out the door. Everyone else got in a few miles of walking doing their thing. I stood in one place - and I was happy doing it. 

Song by: Squeeze

Crush

I know the last posts have been downers - I get it. 

Unfortunately, I do not have any words of wisdom or humour today. Work was exhausting yesterday, and it didn't help I slept 90 minutes later than I normally do. I ended up with zero morning time, or breakfast. It was up and straight to the gym. 

That said, a 30 minute run had me focused, so my blahs weren't too blah. And my gym crush was there, so there's that. So, that was an ok hour to spend. 

I don't think he pulled up his shirt for me, but who can say for sure? 

And yes, I'm creepy. Sue me. 

I don't know my run for Saturday as of yet. I thought they'd have told us the distance and route. I know we're done with the big runs. So I'm guessing the others will be 6-8 miles? All doable.  ....and who a year ago would have thought I'd ever say that? 

This evening - if things go as planned - I will be meeting a fellow blogger for a drink. Maybe two. 

No, I won't say who. Not now. 

I can't remember the last blogger I met. Or how long ago. Years, I'm guessing. Well, you know, Covid and all. Oddly, there's still a few I'd like to meet, today being one of them. 

I just have to get through work today. My plans for getting stuff done has already been thwarted by a "water intrusion" in an administrative area. Rehoming people, even temporarily, is what I get to do today. I think this makes it the fifth flooding event since I've taken this job, not even three years ago. 

Anyhoo.........here is to blogger meeting time!  More on that in the future.  Probably. 

Song by: Jimmy Eat World

Sad Song

 I honestly hesitated to write about this, as it was just upsetting........but here goes, and somewhat stream of conciousness. 

Wednesday started off iffy. I get to work and walk in the front entrance, which I almost never do. But as I approach, almost all the lights are off. As it turns out we were running on emergency power. As it turns out, it didn't affect me. My building was fine. 

On Wednesdays, I have my 1:1 with people who report to me. At my first one, I was told another employee's son had committed suicide the night before.

He was 12. 

I'll let that sink in for a minute. 

I was devastated for his mother. I was devastated for him, and I don't even know him. It still hasn't truly sunk in. 

For the life of me, I could not (and cannot) wrap my head around the scenario in any way, shape or form. Mostly the age piece.  I cannot fathom what a kid would be going through that is so bad that the option was killing himself. 

But today's world is a big, ugly place. It probably was when I was 12 too, but save for the playground, no one bullied you. Now it's thousands of potential people all through Al Gore's world-wide-web.  Clearly, I have zero idea if that was the issue, but the endless amounts of negativity that can come in any on-line form, can make people severely depressed. And worn down. 

Hell, I've been on an anti-depressant for almost a decade. I'm not sure I could have gotten through the BLOTUS years - and since - without it. 

I keep coming back to the family. The mom. How does someone even recover from something like this?  The short answer is: they don't.  Not fully. Not possible. 

As it turns out, I had to tell a few folks, and there is seemingly no good way to ease into that conversation. I honestly tried, but without luck.  Naturally, the mood the rest of the day was not good. I pitied the folks who got in my way. I was unkind, and unapologetic. I stand by it. Annoyances of behaviour that I had tamped down in the past, I no longer did. I was CRANK-y.  I still might be. 

This is the second work-related suicide in less than two months. It turns out it's kind of brutal. 

My image - once again - is the National Suicide & Crisis Hotline. I really wish people would use it. It's so important. 

Song by: Rachel Sweet

To Lose My Life

I don't often talk about work here, and kind of won't now, but.........

A little over a year ago, I had an employee in a leadership position. She was nice enough and when I came on board, I needed her more than she needed me. It was at the height of Covid and I knew almost no one in the mix, herself included. 

As time went on, she became far less reliable, but I still needed her. Invariably, I would get an email, call or text saying "does April still work here?"  As she was "out in the field", I didn't see her that much, but I knew she had a lot of sites and was buy.  But the questions persisted and became more frequent. 

Her availability became horribly noticeable and even started shirking our 1:1s.  Then recruiting would tell me she wasn't making interviews that were set up, though she claims she was there and hired people - all of which turned out to be big fat lies. 

I attempted to counsel her. Disappearing for days on end is usually a bad sign and I always assume drugs or alcohol. She admitted to nothing being wrong but I still steered her to EAP.  As far a I know, she rejected it.  So I had to proceed. 

Management doesn't get corrective actions per se. A 'note to file' apparently is supposed to be a bad thing. I think it's lame. But HR assured me most people quit when they get one. When I gave it, I made a bet with HR that April would file for FMLA and how long before it would happen. They told me I was crazy. 

....and I was. I had guessed a week. It took her four HOURS to file. 

I never heard from her again. 

Of course, I had to wait 12 weeks to even be able to post that job. Attempts at texting were for naught. Attempts to get keys and her laptop back were time wasters. When HR finally let me terminate her, it was through certified mail. 

Fast forward 13 months.   

Sunday night at 20:35, I start getting texts from work folks. It seems like April had taken her own life. I just didn't get the notice, but the screen shot from her husband's IG or Facebook account. 

Social Media is a fucked up thing.  I post for funny shit (jury is still out on that), but not to convey life changing anything.  Her husband's post started out about losing his loving wife and mother to their kids - and how they'd meet in another life. 

Yeah - somewhat standard, though fucked up it was only a few hours after her death. 

But then it went on:  WHY APRIL.  WHY WHY WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DO THIS!??!

What. The. Fuck. 

I get grief but this is a cry for attention. Not help. Attention!  Her family and friends get to see this. Her ex co-workers did. And then sent it out to anyone who didn't see it. 

Little sleep, had I, on Sunday night. 

I had to start out my Monday staff meeting with the news of her passing. That's all I said, because no one needed to know more and I had no answers to their questions either.  My boss stopped in afterward to see how I was doing. 

Of course, I feel bad for her kids - one being like 5 - but I tried over weeks and months to help her just get her work life together and even what the underlying issue might be. Clearly there were other issues at play, none of which I am trained to fix.  

It was nice he checked in, but I did what I could and she refused my reaching out. 

I will say, I think I shocked my boss when I said, "I'm never getting that laptop back now.....". 

The National Suicide Hotline is:  988. 

Song by: White Lies

Out of Time

I've run out of time for the day. 

Long work day, after the gym, that is.  And then I had to go to an awards ceremony.  

One of my nurses was anonymously nominated for an award. Not only did she win it, but she got the system nurse of the year award. 

That's a huge deal. We have 15 hospital system and hundreds of practice sites in the ambulatory world. 

To be selected the best of the best is incredible. 

Truth being told, did I want to be at a ceremony until 20:00?  I did not. But there is no way I didn't want to show my support. And I got to meet her parents and her KEY-ute husband. 

There were 22 awards given out overall. And I was kind of irked that she wasn't singled singled out. It was the top award and they just did every awardee alphabetically. It would have been nice acknowledged for that. 

She was extremely excited that I came to support her. Of course, I would. A good boss would or should. 

But I got home well after 20:00, still had to eat dinner (late) and get my gym bag together 

Now it's bed time. 

Song by: Rollings Stones

Yesterday

Yesterday was one of those days I'd opt never to relive. 

In a way it was just a totally shitty day. Due to two employees - one being a doc - I literally got nothing done during the day. 

Nothing. 

I mean, I answered emails, but my list of 'to-dos' got longer, as nothing got dropped from that list. 

It. Made. Me. Cranky. 

Actually, getting nothing done is kind of ok, but these people were just hyper assholes and hyper needy. It's a bad combo. 

On the plus side, I didn't come home and drink, and trust me, I considered it. 

But I have a weigh-in in two weeks. I was not here for my weigh-in in August. I could have done it before or after returning from vacation, but I just said, 'nahhhh'.  At this point I'm just hoping I maintained my previous loss. 

As my running is still thwarted (maybe in 2 weeks) my cardio is not as earnest. So, I've been spending more time with weights. That won't do much for my scale, but if I'm adding muscle, maybe I can be ok with my poundage going up slightly. 

I guess we will see. Until then, it's time for bed. I get to do it all over again. 

Song by: the Beatles

Burnout

I realized late this last week, that I haven't had  / taken a day off since "new years", which technically "gave" that to us on December 31st of 2021, just due to the day on which January 1st fell. 

Honestly, we are almost done with the first third of 2022 and I have not taken one fucking day off. 

Not one. 

This explains my my overall malaise and being run down on my "time off", and why I think I'm being totally unfocused at work. 

I actually like my job and the folks with whom I work, but there are times lately where I just don't care or put forth my usual effort.  I don't think the not taking time off thing is a coincidence with the other stuff. 

The joke is - it's so hard to take time off due what you are forced to come back to in terms of emails and unfinished projects. I do love how my boss is living this right now.  He took off four days for a wedding and two days at a conference - not in a row.  One of my counterparts is gone and my boss is filling in while he hires. ....and he cannot keep up. 

I should my mention, my counterpart had about 75% less staff than I do. He had maybe 5-6 practice sites. Me?  28. I think my boss is figuring out my life better now, but it's of little comfort. 

Should 710 and I not find a long weekend - and soon - then I'm taking off 3-4 days just to do nothing. My problem is; if I'm at a staycation, I'll log in to work. That is the opposite of my goal. 

I think the gym has helped in terms of my mental health. And my physical stuff too. I am possibly going to weigh myself tomorrow, as it should put me at the 4 week mark of my getting back to the gym. I've only missed three days in that time.  Mondays are difficult for me, due to a 07:00 meeting I have, and for which I have to prep on the morning of. I could go after work, but I know I won't. And I'm sure the place has a very different vibe than the 05:00 time. 

I've been trying to do so much more self-care this year, but I'm failing in the biggest way, and the most obvious one as well. 

The irony is: I am such an advocate for me 220+ folks on not burning out, clearly I can't take my own advice. 

Song by:  Green Day

Like a Prayer

For all the people I've taken through HR lately, and fired, my turn could easily be up next. 

For the holiday, a friend / co-worker / psychiatrist got me this "fucking" calendar of the day. 

It sits behind me, facing outward for any and all to see. The non-problem is: I don't see anyone and almost no one comes into my office. Covid - dontcha know. 

Yes restrictions are lifting, but it's a hospital, so in certain ways, they're not. Even if fully lifted, 90% of my staff works not in my building, let alone the same floor. The 'n' is very small of who will see something like this:

But outside my office is a desk built for secretarial support. I don't have, nor need, a secretary. I've been doing my own faxing since I was a tween. 

The other day, I heard some noise outside my office and jokingly go, "what the hell is going on out there???". 

It turns out, someone was moving in at that desk. She doesn't report to me.  ....and she's named after a character on the Colbys. You'll have to figure that one out.............on all levels.

While she set up her desk, she didn't start until this last Monday. But on her desk, is a page-a-day calendar that is diametrically opposed to mine:   bible verse of the fucking day. 

Oh, and she says, "have a blessed day".  And, "g-d never gives us more than we can handle". 

HOW - and I say this nicely - HOW, is this going to end well for me??

Sailors blush at my language choices. 

I totally get that I'm gonna offend someone, but honestly, why isn't it just as offensive to me when someone spouts religion.  How is 'have a blessed day' any better than "have a great fucking day'? 

I have a feeling, I'm about to find out.  Not today. Not tomorrow, but.........it's gonna come back to bite me. Mark. My. Words. 

Song by: Madonna

Let Go

I'll start this off by saying: I'm not a monster. 

....yet, I am. 

I'm a boss. You know?  Somewhere under me, 229 folks fall under me. Well.......227, probably by the end of today. But you know, it will be back to 229 when I replace them. Should someone else not fall away before that happens. 

I REALLY try not to fire two people in one day. In theory, I should try not to fire anyone, but that seems unrealistic. As Donny Osmond and his brother sang, "one bad apple, don't spoil the whole bunch of girls...", but make no mistake, there are bad apples, and they can get that whole bunch disgruntled. 

That said, I am sad to have to fire one of these folks.Still, it was a bad infraction, even if done for the seemingly right reasons. It is an automatic termination. 

However, the other...................I am going to have so much internal glee, I can barely stand it.  ....except, I'm guessing this gal would cut me given the chance. And it's quite possible she'll try to take that chance. 

She is a time thief.  What she thought is, she wouldn't get caught. 

Honestly, if the supervisor who is currently out on leave weren't, oddly, she might not have noticed. But I did. Somehow I found out she was clocking in without actually being on site. One day not even coming in, but swiped in and out. 

She figured out how to VPN in and clock in via the intranet. She'd clock in on time and show up later. Sometimes much later.  Her co-workers didn't tell me, because they assumed she had spoken to me. Her undoing were two texts saying she'd be late due to a "tire hole" and the next day, "meeting at her kid's school".  She even said she'd be in at 09:30.  Unfortunately, those texts came 15 minutes or so after she already clocked in...........but wasn't at work. 

Now, in my book, you're to be at your desk ready to work at your start time. Not driving up to a building, swiping in, parking, grabbing coffee and then walking to your desk.  Hell, this chick was still. at. home!

BALLSY. 

Still a terminable offense. 

But she refused to show remorse, which I kind of get. But challenged me on "where you got your information".   

My answer:  YOU!

You sent texts - which she claims to know nothing of. Nor does she believe Kronos - our timekeeping system. Our the IT tracing off-site IP addresses.  Or the time, I watched the time appear, while I was at her work station, hung out for 50 minutes with no sign of her.   She refuses to believe any of it. Or at least admit to any of it. 

At one point there were tears. {yawn}

What she didn't count on was me not caring. Tears do not sway me. Empathy in these situations is on a break. A very long break. 

I'm not sure why there were tears, except for HR (via Zoom) asked, "is everything ok at home".  HOLY MOTHERFUCK.  

I. Don't. Care. 

I traced the infractions going back two months. This isn't a one off.  This is a systematic fleecing. I created a very very detailed spreadsheet of every date, every swipe - and her first transaction at work.  Even if she WAS on time, tell me why you didn't do your first entry until 3:11 after arrival? 

I'm a dick. 

For the record, her crying story had sooooo many holes in it - more than her alleged tire! - that as soon as she was out of the room, I pointed them all out to a very unaware HR rep.  The rep apologized to me saying, "sorry I was rough on her".    HUH? 

I swiftly told her, you were not hard enough. This isn't good cop / bad cop.

I'll get HR's final determination today, though they claim they'll recommend termination.  I'm assuming they won't.  But I also have a bet with my boss that this chick never shows up again. 

Fingers crossed. 

Song by: Frou Frou

I'll Stick Around

It can be fun when art imitates life. 

At work, as it is a hospital, patients and visitors get screened for Covid at the entrances. Well, the entrances that are now open. Due to the pandemic there are only limited ways in and out of the hospital. This lessens the likelihood that someone gets in without getting their temp taken and the pertinent questions asked. 

They also must take, and wear, a sticker like the one to your left. It has the date of the month on it. It lets folks know they were screened that vey day. 

Employees uses to have to go through that screening process too. Then we went to an app that screens us. Then they just decided we should just go on good faith we'd self-police. As if.  They encouraged employees to pick up a sticker and wear them too. I did for a while, but they aren't great on clothes when you pull them off and even worse on your ID badge. So I don't. 

Or didn't. 

Last year, I showed and out door light pole covered in the discarded stickers of visitors and staff. 

Part of me was amazed the organization didn't clear them off. Part of me was glad they didn't. I think it symbolized commitment, resilience, perseverance, continuity and the passing of time. 

The organization also has an art department, that acquires, and sometimes sells,  works of art - all of them local. This go-round a few people did art projects with these dots. 

It looks as much like Jeff Sessions as is does Anthony Fauci. The tag claims it is the latter. 

At least RBG is better. 

However, they also opted for an interactive piece of art too. And daily I've been participating. 

I now pick up a date sticker and place it here.   ....or there. 

Yes, we are paying homage to the lamp post.  Now, do I think they could have made it more actual sized? Yes, I do. But that said, I don't know where one can send this out to be printed. Probably not Fed-Ex / Kinkos. 

I'm more surprised how many people are NOT doing this. But then, I don't know how long it will be up, but usually the art is there six weeks, and we're only a week in. So.......here's hoping. 

Song by: Foo Fighters

I'm Looking Through You

Not that any of you care about my back - it just seems better than doing a nothing post, which is what I really felt like doing today. 

Work has just been s-h-i-t-t-y and I'm in a mood. A s-h-i-t-t-y mood at that. 

My aching back might have some contribution to that, it is not a big factor. 

It's sad I have an ortho guy. He's seen me for my shoulder, elbow and knee. Therapy and / or injections for all.  Luckily, he does more than joints, as he'll be seeing me for my back on Wednesday. 

I told him, via email, he probably missed me and I need at least one visit with him per year. 

He put in radiology orders for me and I went and got those done yesterday. As of this writing, there are no results in my electronic medical record. I might not get those until I see him. I don't expect anything earth-shaking. 

By end of day, I seem to do pretty well, but yesterday until 2p, it was fairly painful then degraded to annoying. Much like me - in general. 

I'd say you'll get an update, and most likely will. But you know, holidays are upon us, so we'll have other scheduled posts in the queue. 

Song: the Beatles

Dirty Work

You will find this somewhat unbelievable, but I rarely drink during the week. 

This week is not one of those weeks. 

It's well known in healthcare that you can tell it's a full moon by the crazy activity that occurs at hospitals. Everything about this week has said every day has been a full moon - which isn't really possible. And it's barely a half-moon anyways. 

I rarely discuss work here, and will be vague-ish.  But each day has surpassed the last in terms of craziness and neediness. 

There has been an employee who is self-harming, a provider who is just a complete ass to me, short staffing, someone I have to fire - and my favourite:  the person who applied for FMLA two weeks after she quit!!!!

She actually called in her last three days. I'm not sure she even called in to say she wasn't coming. And since she hadn't even worked her first 90 days, she had no PTO to cover this.  Apparently that became a problem for her financially. 

T. S.  

So, she actually filed paperwork to to get FMLA the last week of her job. What she probably didn't know - or care - is that one is required to use the first six days as PTO before paid FMLA kicks in. But she has none and now no job to accrue said PTO time. 

I mean, the claim was IMMEDIATELY declined, but still.   

Oh - then her number kept popping up on my phone.  Yeah - I wasn't about to answer that. 

Management is exhausting.  222 babies. Some better behaved than others...........but that's all relative. 

Song by: Steely Dan

Straight On

Am I phoning these in?  It feels like it lately. 

That doesn't bode well for you - and less for me. 

I went to my second office today. First time in weeks, it seems. I was working off-site and somewhat nearby. At least closer than my main workspace. 

This place has been dead for months. It's an administrative building, so no actual clinical anything. Finance, HR, IT and the likes have been working from home. But today, while still far from being full, there was more life in the parking lot than I'd seen for the last 17 months. 

Inside had a different vibe. People who used to have office didn't anymore - or were at last moved, some to other office, some downgraded to cubes. At least no one kicked me out............yet. 

On the IT floor, the folks I know who were there, were seemingly gone, with posts over the name plates with new names on them.  I made assumptions, of course, but no one around to axe. 

Before I left for the day, I had to use the restroom. 

First off..............really? 

Yes, make the 'straight women' joke. I did.  Well, in my own mind. There was no one around to hear anything I had to say. 

So, we are going through a major overhaul of our clinical IT systems - and it will take three years to complete. Official kick off was three days ago.  I'm assuming all those post-it names were the transition team and everyone else got kicked out for them.    ....and guessing the directions for where to go #1 and #2 were for the newbies. 

But the directions in the pic. And the sequence of the sign itself.  Awful!

90% of the people needing these restrooms won't be coming at that sign head on. I didn't either. I just stepped back to take the pic. 

Straight - the direction and not the women's lifestyle / choice - isn't accurate, as the women's room is two feet to the left and not behind the filing cabinets. 

And for continuity sake shouldn't it be:  Women Straight; Men <---- ? 

By the time it takes to figure out where to go, one has already gone.........if you get my drift. 

Looking back on this post now, it should just about no lesbians in the bathrooms. 

Song by: Heart

Tired

It was a 12+ hour work day yesterday. Meeting after meeting, few of them good. 

Some of our poor Legal staff. I think they must just loathe me. I have to believe I engage them more than any other hospital administrator.   .........yet, here we are. 

Of course, it's work - so I'll never give you the particulars, or even remote real life scenarios. I just employ some problem children - and I'll leave it at that. 

Still, barely into halfway through the week (well, kind of) and I'm kind of wiped. I think the second half of the week will be better?  It will end with another call with Legal................on Friday starting at 17:00.  

Still...........I'll take it.

That said. I'm drafting this and going to bed.  

Song by: LCD Soundsystem

It Only Takes One Shot

2021-2022 flu shot is in the books. On the books?  .....whichever. 

I got my flu shot, is what I'm trynasay - as the kids say. Or so I'm told.    Youths!

Isn't the saddest looking sign / table you've ever seen? 

Someone doesn't know how to center a sign, clearly. And maybe ran out of tape. 

This all begged me to ask the question - are these the people I want ticking a needle in my arm? 

The whole set up for employee flu shots the last few years - at a hospital (!!!)  - has been, well.......unsatisfying. 

These are held in a lobby that essentially connects three buildings.  Out. In. The. Open. 

This is well and fine for most women, as they tend not to wear long sleeves and can more easily expose and arm. As it is almost never tube-top or halter season for us dudes, I have to unbutton my shirt, take it of and then put it back on..................in the lobby what connects three buildings and always has lots of traffic. 

Yeah, they have a 'privacy screen', but still.............

Like my Covid booster, it took longer to change than it took to get jabbed. 

"Jabbed" is the wrong word. I felt nothing - and haven't for years! - and 12 hours later, the site isn't even sore. I suppose after three Covid shots, anything will feel better. 

But inoculated within an inch of my life. Still wearing masks. Still washing my hands obsessively. I don't expect to get the flu, or a cold this upcoming season - just like last one. 

Yay me!

Song by: Lera Lynn

E-Mail

I got nothing. 

Re-entry to work has been tough-ish.  It started with coming back to 996 emails. 

Nine Hundred and Ninety Fucking Six. 

I'm down to about 440.  ......after two days.  Mind you, I got another 300 since being back, so in a way I'm down from 1296.  Kind of. 

So,  I'm kind of tired of looking at a screen - hence the "I got nothing". 

....because, I got nothing. 

Song by: the Pet Shop Boys

Floods

I have been temporarily been semi-displaced at work. 

The floor on which my main campus office sits somehow got flooded over the weekend. 

Oddly, an education coordinator went in to the office on Sunday and found it this way (to your right).  I think I was the last one to leave on Friday, and I'm 99.99% sure it wasn't anything I did, but there is no real way of knowing when the rain to terror (see what I did there?)  started. 

In theory, security is supposed to be making rounds, but we're a little off the beaten path in terms of the patient care areas, so I don't think it happens as often as they say it does. 

It seems something on the roof leaked, yet the floor between us and the roof didn't really get touched and the floor below is worse off than the hit we took. 

As it is, my office was mostly spared. Water got under the door and ruined a box of basically nothing. Possible water damage on the legs of two of my chairs, but it never quite made it to, or beyond, my desk. 

Still, my wing of the floor is deemed 'uninhabitable'. 

Potential mold and mold spores are the rationale. So, us folk had to find other places from which to work, be it home or wherever. 

As it happens, I have a second office in another location - which is still pretty empty. Maybe 10% full. Even then, it's a private office avec door, but no one is ever around.  Honestly in my 'section' which might have 200 cubes, I can count on one hand how many people are there. 

So for the next 2-3 weeks (or in construction terms 4-5), I will be working there or from home. 

It's the constant noise of the always running dehumidifiers that would drive me nuts. As it is, I won't have to hear them from 10 miles away. 

Song by: Sir Sly

My Shot

Choo Choo.  All aboard the Vaccination Station. 

While I don't feel #blessed, I do feel lucky and somewhat privileged to have gotten my first Moderna vaccine. 

Thanks Dolly. 

I get that I work at a hospital. I get that I rarely, anymore, work remotely. So yes, that puts me higher in the chain to get it. And had all the front line workers - including environmental services and nutrition workers - not gotten it first, I might have refused. 

Last Thursday, I got word that they had the vaccines lined up and as it turns out, so many of that Wave 1 had gotten them, they hadn't filled the slots for people to use the doses that were ready to go. And that the area was taking walk-ups for employees. 

Honestly, I kind of thought I was being pranked and that I'd be turned away. It turns out, I wasn't. 

A simple consent and scheduling of my second dose, I was taken around the corner to these stations. There were 10 cubes and maybe half were filled with folks taking a needle in the arm. As the shot is intramuscular and to be given 2" below the shoulder, the shirt had to come off.  

The shot was harmless. Whomever gave it to me did it flawlessly.  

Then I went out and sat for 15 minutes - each patient given a timer. Each seat was at least 6' away from another, and of course, we all had on masks. We were watched to make sure we had no adverse reactions. 

Overall, I did not experience any side effects. A few hours later my upper arm was sore. Tetanus shot sore. Not flu shot sore. It hurt that night when I rolled over in my sleep and I had discomfort reaching for a cereal bowl the next morning. But two rounds of Motrin helped and 48 hours later, there was almost no pain. 

But I had no fever. No chills. No other symptoms. All is good. 

I'm looking forward to round 2.  I'm really looking forward to someone getting these shots out to the masses. 

Song by: the cast of Hamilton

Bad Day

I'm not necessarily one who abhors change. I am sure I don't feel rigid.  I'm also 91% sure other people would disagree with me on this. 

That's on them. 

I have one true pet peeve, and that's being late. For the most part, I don't mind if others are late (well, to a degree), but I hate being late. 

A former COO I worked with, who was military all the way, would say 'if you're on time, you're late'. I'm not sure I'm that bad, but I got his gist. 

So yesterday, I was hosting a 07:00 webinar, but it was still 06:25 and I was still at home. I still had to take out the garbage, etc. 

710 was a love when I asked him to do it. 

The problem arose when both "our" cars were out of the garage. Over the weekend, a skunk sprayed the outside of the garage and everything inside smelled, including his car. "My" car was a loaner from the dealer, as mine is actually being fixed. 

The loaner is just slightly bigger than my current one. It turns out - size does matter. 

With 710's car out, I had less maneuvering room - which pitted house against car. 

The house won. 

I know you think that white is the reverse light. It is / was not. It had red plastic all around it. Had. Past tense. What you don't see is the scrape on the car too.  Fuck me gently with a chainsaw, Heather. 

But.........I wasn't late. I was just cranky the rest of the day. 

This served me well to deal with people who needed, let's say to be dealt with a firmer hand. 

However, the joke was on me. Upon getting to the loaner in the parking garage, I had a ticket. The car was not displaying my hang tag from the rear view mirror, as I left it my actual car.  Mind you - there have been dozens of times over the last five years where that thing isn't hanging and not one ticket. 

Granted, I can appeal this, and no doubt "win", but it was just the cherry to the day. I actually did laugh. Sure, it was an evil henchman laugh, but a laugh nonetheless. 

Then after the dog walk, there was this. 

Honestly, I almost never drink during the week, but it seemed to call for it.  ....and I answered that call. 

I'll deal with the car dealer later this week. 

Song by: R.E.M.

Hangin' on the Telephone

It's come to this:  talking about work. 

That was my 'to-do' list from yesterday. I ticked off nine things completely and started a butt-load of others, but not necessarily near completion. 

Nine isn't bad. The day before, it was three. 

It's not that I'm non-productive, it's that I get pulled 851 different ways during the day, and that's if I don't have 4-8 meetings per day. I swear, some days we meet about meeting. It's exhausting. 

#1 on my list is my voicemail, and changing the message. 

Someone had to remind me that when I took this new job in June, I never changed my title, etc. Of course, anymore you listen to your voicemail via your email or computer. You don't actually have to dial into your voicemail account - which, it turns out, is a problem. 

In 19 months I haven't had to access it. But need to to record a new message, but I don't remember my password. 

So, call the HelpDesk, right? For a reset. 

You call in with your user ID, which brings up a host of info, but they still ask you for it anyways.  {sigh}

I tell them my issue, and the following is more or less the exchange:

IT: "we don't have that phone number in the system. It doesn't exist. 

Me: "well it does exist, I'm calling from it"

IT: "Sir, I'm telling you, there is no such number."

Me: "Since I know you can see my number on your incoming phone line, I know you can see my number, and it says 216.666.6666.  

IT: "maybe I can get your number by your name. What's your name". 

So at this point, I know they know my name, because they asked for my user ID.  And 'maybe they can pull up my number by my name'?  I'M CALLING YOU FROM THE NUMBER I ALREADY GAVE YOU!!!!!

But pissing off IT is always a bad move, yet one I cannot help. Or resist. 

Clearly, this check cannot help me. She'll have to pass it along to someone else. 

IT: "what number can they reach you at?"

Me: "this one!" 

IT: "is there a secondary number?"

Of course there is always my cell, but I refused to give that to them. Let them call my non-existent number to tell me it doesn't exist. That is now my goal. 

It's still on my 'to-do' list. 

Song by: Blondie