I hope your teaching year is getting off to a grand start. I was trying to assess with Deborah Tobola if my new job was better, less stressful than teaching at the joint??? That's a crap shoot. It is a state job. The pay is 2/3rd of my teaching salary, and the learning curve continues to grow. As soon as I get one thing under my belt, it seems they add something new to the mix. Or there's another training that alerts me to how little I know this job. When there's a 200+ page manual of regulations by which you must 'cite' the facilities for their deficiencies (Talk about political correctness) And it's written in Legalese, there's a lot to learn.
Since I take a lap top and printer into the field, there's a lot of computer finickiness around which one has to tiptoe. And language must be precise, reports must be submitted in an ultra specific format. The department reorganized first of July and caseloads changed. Oakland picked up 700 Senior facilities form another office, and although one Analyst, who had done senior work before said it was a snap, OY VEY! There are always medication issues. A lot of auditing of medical records, daily delivery of those medicines, actually looking at med labels, numbers, dates, dosages, making sure everyone has a prescription, and that it has not expired. Talk about tedium.
It is always changing, challenging. I put in lots of overtime without getting paid (I know I did that at Fremont - sometimes at the joint) Most times if I want to get out of the office and into the field - always the preference - overtime is a must to prepare for going into the field. Consequently, I leave at 7 am and often don't get home until 7 pm.
But I've found an outdoor pool in a pocket of Brisbane, four miles from my house, that is generally sunny when I get home and I can get in some outdoor laps. (yay!) Weekends have so many possibilities and seems lots of people are passing through. A girlfriend I had not seen since 8th grade, a family and school friend, came through 2 weeks ago and yet another Daytonian arrives here next week.
My brother called at 4 pm yesterday and after ten minutes of chitchat said he was in SF. I thought he was kidding - That is often one of his ploys. But no, he was going to the Giants game, did I want to go? Sure! as long as it's not football, I'm down. So I found my way on public transit to AT&T park (on the waterfront - I thought it was in some SF 'Wrigley Field' kind of area. Three hours of one on one time with my brother hasn't happened since my sister passed away, and I was so incoherent at the time - So, the Giants are easy to find, the stadium is gorgeous and we had great seats. My bro said the sailboats in the Bay wait for when the homerun gets knocked out of the stadium and land in their boat!. Damn, can those guys hit the ball far! And I understood the exhilaration of watching a sporting event with 41,000 other people. Usually I prefer the 100+ cabaret venues - like my Tuesday night encounter with 85 year old musical singer Barbara Cook, but it was fun. My bro was very aware how add I was in terms of following the plays, and I said it would be like when he gets dragged off to a theatrical performance with me. . . .Don't think my brother has cared about any of my singing since I lived in SF 40 years ago. Oh well, We all have our passions. (And I also saw on stage "War Horse' which was stunning, and a heart felt one man show "Humor Abuse. " That was a memoir of a son learning to be a clown, growing up in the Pickle Family Circus, working as the second banana to his father's leading clown. It was marvelous and at 37 the guy still does back flips!
So that's my lengthy run down. Think I'll copy, paste and blog it. Come visit me in SF. I am a city girl! xo Delilah
