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State of the Corvid

Hi there! I just had a moment of "this is why my brain is not allowed out alone" and I need to get it out so I can stop being horrified by it.

Down the rabbit hole we go.....Collapse )

The state of the Corvid

So..... its been a while, and life is the carnival it always is. Good news is the days of waking up and realizing that my makeup is less Eowyn and more Devine are pretty much finished. Bullets below:

1. I'm leaving the Mid-west, tying my DH and the wenchlette to a wagon and heading West. Hopefully there will be no dysentery.
2. I have a phenomenal job in Las Vegas. DH will start grad school in January.
3. This means that despite the great job, we are still living like grad students.
4. We'll hopefully have a place to live, but since I'm an "Independent Contractor" we can't purchase a home for the next 2 years. This stresses out the DH. And me.
5. Because I have to pay my own taxes and health insurance.
6. We don't know where we'll be living, since we can't buy a house and rentals are questionable. Since I can't guarantee I won't loose the contract.
7. I will be living in the same town as my family... for the first time in my married life.
8. DH and Family are like Crisco and Gasoline.
9. No DH did not get the job in VA..... he is mostly crushed.
10. He did get a job teaching CPR classes and doing TB screening for 35k a year in Kansas.
11. DH is going to be with me in LV, in spite of whatever his family says.
12. Jokes about him being a "houseboy", "house husband", " Trophy Husband" or "Kept Man" are NOT FUNNY. It's the first time /ever/ he hasn't had some kind of a job. He's struggling.
13. This means many travel plans are dead. This makes me sad.
14.I start new job on September 19. So I have 9 days to pack my house, sell my things and get to Vegas.
15. Wenchlette is /thrilled/. Weirdly Vegas hasn't started school. UNLV is moving in this week.
16. DH is in Vegas, where because of aforementioned move in, there is no one in the Graduate College to speak too.... nor can he buy us a house. This is frustrating to him.
17. I have packed exactly 1 box. I am at a point where I am ready to throw everything away and start over.
18. I don't have to shovel snow this winter!!!!!!
19. Thanksgiving and Yule with divorced parents, my own family.... see Crisco and Gasoline.
20. I am going home where I can teach the wenchlette about the desert. I'm very excited. I just have to get /done/ with everything else!

The definition of crazy......

So, part of my job is to "take care of" staff time sheets. It seems pretty straight forward, right? Time in, time out, make sure they have 40 hours a week (or more).

SLE = Sick Leave Emergency. To be used for caring for family members who are ill.

SLR = Sick Leave Regular. To be used for sick time for you.

You can't have overtime on the same day you are out sick, but you can have overtime in the same week if the time off been pre-approved by a minimum of 2 days.

But the staff has never been informed of the differences, there is no policy written down and hey if they take 8 hours sick and want to work over and clear it with their supervisor so they take less sick time, that should be okay.... right?

Wrong.

If you have been sick at all in a week and you take "SLE" then you loose any overtime that week. Even if you took 8 hours. If you take SLR? Then you can work over and get overtime that week, or use it to cover time off that week. (Please note time worked over 40 hours in a week is multiplied by 1.5 and can be banked for usage later or paid out.)

So, if we have a Dr. who consistently puts his nurse into an overage, and they finally drop? They don't get that overtime, even if they worked 11 hours over in 3 days. Unless you happen to be a favorite of someone, and then... well...... :shuffle shuffle:

I just got 2 timesheets to correct. This has been an ongoing battle as the "Admin Secretary" spent all of 5 minutes training me, 3 months picking it all apart (as in "I've rejected these time sheets; while alphabetized they are not separated by department. Please separate, re-alphabetize and have them to me by 5pm :at 4:45 on a Friday:. Next month? "Sheets have been separated by department, please commingle departments and re-alphabetize.") and 3 months completely silent.

All leading up to January when she elected to start CCing my supervisor on any corrections she has requested. She also began changing my staff's timesheets to match what she thought they should be, several days prior to the end of the month.

In January she did so, but I thought "Hey, she's trying to make sure I'm not overwhelmed when I get back from my 4 sick days in a row. Eh.... but okay."

In February she sent an e-mail to my staff on February 23rd asking for them to send her any changes they might have. I informed her it wasn't necessary and that she should have e-mailed me, because the staff was now confused as to whom was responsible for changes.I also asked her to e-mail me if she had questions or concerns.

In March? She was changing my staff time /daily/, to reflect what she thought it should be. I snapped and e-mailed her telling her my issues and asking if she was so concerned regarding my performance, perhaps she would like the task returned to her. (It had been hers for the 3 previous years and she is responsible for all the other departments). No reply, no change.

Oh, and every time I've received a "notice of change" from her? She's immediately left the building, usually for the day sometimes as long as 3 days.

Today I get 2 timesheets, both noted for changes (BTW: I turned them in on Tuesday) the changes requested contradict each other.......

Yep, she's gone again. "Out sick for the rest of the day". Her supervisor is out, and when I saw her at lunch she never mentioned a thing... even that she was leaving because she was ill.

Super Boss has gotten more information than I, evidently with me moving jobs I am no longer Admin Sec's "equal" but instead am supposed to dual report to Super Boss and Admin Sec. Had I known this? I never would have taken the job. Super Boss says "No, she reports to me" but Admin Sec keeps calling it a "reporting relationship."

I'd call out tomorrow, if I didn't know that the 30 minutes I was early this AM wouldn't count towards my Chi-Kalb time off. ;headdesk, headdesk:

So, it's not as cool as SweetPea86.....

So, about lunch time I start hearing a lot of whispering and cooing coming from the East side nursing station. I hear things like "He's soooo cute" and "Lemme hold him!" so I'm thinking probably a new baby.

Boy, was I wrong.

It was a dog. A tiny purse sized dog.

So I call someone who has a higher paygrade than me. "Hey. are we allowed to have non-service animals in the clinical areas?" "Nope. Please tell the nurses to tell the patient to remove the dog." "I'd love to, but a Provider is carrying the dog and a nurse just said 'Don't take him out, it doesn't bother us a bit!' "

Yep, my staff started acting like they'd never seen a dog before, much less one who tried to wipe his filled anal glands all over the clinic floor ("Oh, Poochy. :squeal: Nooooooooooooooo :squeal:"). In.A.Medical.Clinic.While.The.State.Board.Of.Pharmacy.Was.Doing.An.Inspection......... (I did mention that the Pharmacy is on the East side of the building and shares a hallway with the Nursing Station, right?)

SO, a person higher on the food chain than I made the Provider give the dog back (The one he'd carried into several rooms) and made the patient reschedule her appointment since "it's to cold to leavey Poochy outsdieums."

I went and ate raw fish, in a non-dog restaurant. and came back to a Nurses Station that isn't speaking to me 'cause I'm "mean".

Oh, why are there stupid people in the world and why do I keep having to deal with them?
I moved, like 6 months ago. Right into the place I should have been all along! (We are not giving energy to the Big-Scary_Lay-Off-Monster who could snatch me away.)

People who had treated me as pond scum soon realized I was cheerful, perky, and I knew what the hell I was doing. Other than a few personality conflicts resolved with a big cheezy grin, I have been treated with respect and down right joviality since I moved back in June.

Earlier this day, there was a conversation revolving around furniture:

Awesome Co-Worker H: "I like this kind of thing :shows catalogue picture: You know that homey country look."

Awesome Co-Worker J: "Oh, that's nice. I like thinks a bit simpler."

Me: "Yes, that's noce. I too like simpler things, Shaker or Mission style."

ACWJ: "Yeah, I love Mission"

Co-worker who just walked in: "What?" :Blush:

ACWJ: "I like Mission style furniture?"

CWWJWI: "That's not what I heard."

Me: "Oh, no.. there was no a-r-y on the end of that sentence."

And then we all had a giggle.

Yay!
So, IAII came in, just after my last posting. He was, of course, charming to the receptionist and then because I am nosy and couldn't /not/ get involved I wandered up front.

Me: "Hi, was I just speaking with you on the phone?"

IAII: "Maybe, I call a lot of people."

Me: "Were you asking about a heavy metal reaction to vaccine?"

IAII: "Maybe, like I said I call a lot of people."

Me: "O_o, okay... well I just thought I'd let you know that the measles vaccine can be ordered without Thimerosol so if you'd like to get a shot you can and I would recommend it since we've had measles in the area."

IAII: "Yeah, what's your website?"

Me: *writes it down along with fax number* "Here you go."

IAII: "I'd like to schedule an appointment for the shot too. I mean since I'm going to have no choice."

Me: "Actually, you have several choices. *explains them yet again* and you can decide if you want a shot or not, since you are eighteen."

IAII: "Oh, yeah, right. My Mom's afraid I'm going to get Autism if I get the shot, from the heavy metals."

Me: O_o

Receptionist O_o

Him: "Thanks! See you later!"

So I wander into the Pharmacy and ask about the Measles vaccine. We don't have any... but the MMR (MMRII for prurient interest) is preservative free........ that's right, no heavy metals of any kind. It does have Bovine fetal serum (less than 1 part per million)..... I'm afraid he's going to think he has Mad Cow, so I'll give him the prescribing info, but I'm not going to hi-light it.
Me: "University Health Center, this is Corbae, how may I help you?"

IAII (Ignorant Anti-Immunization Idjit): "Um.. I have a hold and I have 1 measles, but I have a opt out right in my home state so I want to do that here."

Me: "Okay, well Iowa doesn't have an 'opt out' and instead you must complete documentation for a medical or religious reason."

IAII: "Yeah, so I want to do that. I have a religious reason that is I can't have process heavy metals..."

Me: "Okay, you might want to stop and organize your thoughts, you are about to say several things that do not jive, and I don't want you to misspeak yourself."

IAII: "Okay" 35 seconds pass

IAII: "I can't get a second Measles shot."

Me: "Okay, you can get a measles titer, which is a blood test that looks for antibodies to the measles, or you can have your regular medical provider complete the State of Iowa Medical Exemption form, the link is on our website."

IAII: "Okay, but I can't metabolize heavy metals."

Me: "Right, so you will need to either receive a titer, and it come back positive, or you will need to go to our website, print the State of Iowa form and have your regular medical provider complete it and fax it to our office."

IAII: "If you would stop and listen to me...... I CAN NOT HAVE THE MEASLES SHOT..."

Me: "So, you would need to follow my...."

IAII: "If you would just stop being rude and listen to my issue.... I Can't get the measles shot. I have a very rare condition that can not metabolize heavy metals..."

Me: "Okay, so a titer or a medical exemption..."

IAII: "Why do you have to be rude? I'm telling you I CAN"T DO *insert hysterical whining*.."

Me: *click*

Nope, he didn't call back. I /love/ when they want to argue.... I mean this guy /really/ wanted an argument... so badly I didn't even have to take part in the argument. :)

And the "Win" for today...

Ring Ring

Me: 'Thank you for calling University Health Center, this is Corbae. How may I help you?"

PITA: "Yeah, I have a hold."

Me: "yes"

PITA: "Yeah, what is it about?"

Me: "Well, you'd need to start with who you are."

PITA: " Why do you gots to be so rude? I'm jus askin"

Me: "Sir, it's considered basic telephone etiquette. I have told you who I am, you in response tell me who you are."

PITA: "Lissen, I ain't telling you..."

Me: :click:

Ring Ring (same number... shock!)

Me: 'Thank you for calling University Health Center, this is Corbae. How may I help you?"

PITA: "Hello, this is Bob Smith. I have a hold. I'd like to know what to do to remove it."

Me: "Certianly, let me check your record...."

I count it a win!

There should be a cultural uprising!

I love my phone. Please, don’t get me wrong. My prrrrreeeeccciiioooousssssss that helps me find where I’m supposed to be going, helps me keep track of the $ I’m spending, and happens to allow me to communicate with people across the county (and Canada).

That said, I am mourning the days when parents taught children how to answer the phone, and how to leave a message. The lack of education and care is being blamed on cell phones.

Evidently, messages and cell phones are so ubiquitous (and smart) that identifying yourself is no longer necessary. It’s at least 3x a day I get the following message”Hi, I have a hold. Call me back so I can talk about it.” Or the equivalent “my name’s Todd. Call me back.”

Despite the fact that I have the longest message in Christendom. Really. It’s been clocked at 3.5 minutes (which in today’s world is “like hours”.) I give my name, where I work, apologize for not being able to take the call, and then I get into all kinds of info, like the fax number where documents can be faxed to my attention, the e-mail address, the fact that it can take up to 24 hours when we are open for business to have a hold lifted, request the caller’s name, student ID and phone number. And I still get “Paul. Call me.”

We have 28,673 students for Fall 2010 (last set of info I could get records for). Do you know how many Todd’s or Paul’s there are? Do you know how many students have a phone number listed that is either their parents, or a phone that was never connected in their dorm?

And the reason? “My child has a cell phone. They don’t know these things. You know, they just list people’s names and you never have to know the number or anything.” Um…….. /bullshit/.

It’s bad parenting. It does not prepare the person for leaving professional messages once they are out of college, nor does it help them get answers.

And if I get one more facebook or linked in request to the TSHCMMR account, I swear I am going to send a worm to disable the computer at the keys, because the problem is clearly PEBCAK.

I sound like Mama Morton and Velma, but I swear “Whatever happened to nice manners, and ‘please may I’ and ‘yes, thank you’?”

Thoughts regarding today (10-20-10)

It was "Boys will be boys" when women (and a few brave men) stepped forward to stop rape.

It was "Straights don't understand" when gays stepped forward to stop discrimination based on sexual orientation.

It was "Whites and Blacks don't mix" when people of color (and a few brave whites) stepped forward to stop discrimination based on the color of a person's skin.

Using the words "Kids will be kids" negates all of those who have called "Bullshit" on the status quo and stepped forward to make a change.

Use your voice, make a choice, intervene even if they aren't your own kids.

Bystander intervention works.