Almost ready...

The guest room is starting to shape up.

A friend at work gave me some light blocking curtains a few weeks ago, and they fit the windows perfectly.  Dave got those hung up yesterday. 

We will finish getting the room ready today.

The other things that need to get done are smaller projects, and mostly, they are the stuff Dave has put off until the last possible minute, since he leaves town tomorrow.

I did two of his projects yesterday, because it was driving me nuts!

There are cleaning projects that I can work on during the week in the evenings, too.  Unlike many people I have stayed with, I like my house to be clean and tidy when house guests arrive.

This house will be my version of tip-top by Friday afternoon when my sister and brother in law arrive.

I've gotten over my anger about the situation at work.  It's not worth my energy. 

It's time to send the lease renewal to my tenant in the condo.  I am really glad that I have not had to raise his rent for a long time.  The refi I did last year has guaranteed him another year at the same rate, without me taking a shortfall.

Other than that, I need to get off my butt and get this day started.  Daylight's burning, and we are getting together with friends in the middle of the day on top of it!

Oh, and it's Fathers Day.  This one is harder than Mothers Day for me, for a completely different reason.  Miss you, Daddy.

Ch Ch changes....

Well, I was interviewed for the job last Wednesday, and I was told on Thursday that I was not being offered the position.

All three of the people in my department who applied will have to be trained intensively, but I was told that "we need someone who is going to hit the ground running."

I have no idea what that means, but oh well.  It's clearer than clear to me now that the favoritism factor has not changed in the least with the new structure.

The other two from my department are actually requiring TRAINING for their second interviews!  They're taking up hours of other people's time....getting....TRAINING...but yet, they seem to be able to hit the ground running, and I am not??

That is complete....Bull. Shit.

A friend suggested that they don't want to lose me from my current position.  If that was the case, THAT is what they should have told me, rather than something that made me feel worthless.

So, a friend is working on my resume, and I might just have a different job some time this year.

We'll see.

I also found out that a man in my office, who has only been there 2 years, has far less responsibility, and has multiple absences and disciplinary write ups, makes .40c more an hour than I do.

He was disqualified from applying for the job due to his absences, and he was whining to me about it, and said how much of a raise the job would have brought him.

Anyway, it was discouraging, to say the least, since I was the one who was the most qualified, but am NOT the one who hangs out with the boss socially.

I am underpaid, undervalued, and underutilized, and I have had just about enough.

We had some heavy rains this past week.  The street outside of my office turned into a raging river, and the parking lot flooded.  Fortunately, my car was not there that day (Dave and I usually ride share, and whichever car we are using gets to sit in his parking garage all day).

Of course, water came into the building, part of which was condemned after a flood in 2013, the summer I started this job.  The part that was condemned is where I sit.

We are pretty sure there's still mold in the walls, because most of us spend our work days with allergy symptoms that go away over the weekends.

Of course, the company line is that the building has been tested, and it's mold free.

Whatever.

There's not much else to report.  I got lots done yesterday, from mowing to painting patio furniture.  Today will be a bit easier, with guest room prep being the main focus.

Maybe we'll get some lottery tickets today....

Sum Sum Summertime

This past week has been eventful.

I got to work on Tuesday to find a job opportunity in my email.  They've created a new position at work, Training Coordinator.

I meet ALL of the qualifications, so, I tweaked my resume, and applied.  It would be an .89c an hour raise, and it COULD mean that I would get an office, and not have to deal with sitting in the call center anymore.

The posting just closed on Friday, so I would imagine that interviews will start this coming week.

I know of one other person in my area who also applied, and who I also know meets NONE of the qualifications except that she graduated high school.

Then, my boss finally came back to work on Tuesday as well.  We found out why she has been gone for 3 weeks.  She has cancer.

Neuroendocrine carcinoma.  It's in her abdomen.  She started chemo on Wednesday.

I think maybe she needs to retire NOW.

Had my monthly visit to the clinic.  It was supposed to be labs, doctor, and injection, but the doctor wasn't there, so it was a nurse visit... I just didn't KNOW it was going to be a nurse visit.

The experience itself was pretty awful!

I had to wait 30 minutes to get my port accessed, flushed, and labs drawn.  My doctor appointment time came and went before anyone ever even acknowledged that I was sitting there.

Then another patient in the treatment room was in distress, and no one bothered to pull the curtain.  This was upsetting to some others in the area, and was highly inappropriate.  The curtains around each treatment chair are there for a reason... someone getting their first chemo treatment doesn't need to see another patient throw up and pass out in the next chair.

A nurse I had never seen before (there has been a rotating door in this department ever since the take over) finally arrived at my chair.  

She asked if I was just there for my Xgeva injection.  

I said no, and explained to her that she would need to do my port flush and draw my labs now, and that I would be back after my doctor appointment for the injection, if my labs showed that I was good to go.  

First, she asked me a question about my port that I had NO idea how to answer... "Do you have a 3/4 inch?"  I said "I have no idea, no one has ever asked me that before in 3 years of treatment  It's a Power Port, if that helps."
She just grunted, and said "I bet it's a 3/4" without telling me what the HELL she meant.

It took her two tries to access the port  (Actually, NONE of the nurses in the treatment room can access ports well except the ONLY ONE who is left from before the take over and she was off that day.  I have learned to request her)

As if her difficulty with the port wasn't bad enough, she almost pulled out the access before she drew my labs. 

When she said "Okay, done!  Now take a deep breath..."  I asked, in astonishment, "You drew my labs already?"  

She looked at me blankly, and I reminded her that I had already told her I would need my labs drawn through the port.

She actually argued with me and said "you don't need your labs today."

I said "Yes, I do....that's why I have been sitting here for 30 minutes! I was supposed to see my doctor 10 minutes ago."

She walked away, talked to the nurse as the desk, came back, and apologized.  

She put the syringe on the port access, and drew my blood.....

Then, she said "hold this."

I looked up at her, and said "Did you say you want me to hold something?"  

And she had me HOLD THE SYRINGE FULL OF MY BLOOD that was attached to my port access, and she walked away again.  I didn't have sterile hands or gloves on....

What the actual fuck?  (I've since been told that she can lose her license for that)

She mumbled something about a cap or a tip or something....went back to the nurse at the desk, and had her come back over to my chair with her, where she took the syringe back from me and did whatever she needed to do.

Wow.

So, my labs were finally drawn, the port flushed, and I was ready for my doctor.

Found out it was a nurse visit, which is fine... that went fine, other than the fact that my labs weren't ready yet.  
The nurse didn't really have an answer about my sudden and drastic weight gain, other than to say that the removal of the chemo probably is now allowing the latest hormone blocker to make me gain.  These fucking hormone blockers have been the worst part of all of my treatment protocols.

Anyway, l later, when it was time for my injection, and I went back over to the treatment room, another nurse that I had never seen before (who was an LPN, not an RN) hit a bad spot with the needle, so that it burned all the way in, and then bled. 

All in all, it was a pretty horrifying experience!  

Unfortunately, I never saw either nurse's names, just their big RN and LPN badges... but I logged everything on my patient portal, and it will be seen by the doctor and others when he gets back from vacation.

SHEESH!!

Yesterday, Dave got his big tattoo worked on some more, and while we were there, I went ahead and got the 3rd piercing in each ear that I have been wanting.

Today, we had a break from the heat, and got the back yard done before he left to go meet his son for a beer.

I stayed home and watched part of the Cubs game, and will be doing a little bit of house work.  

Sadly, it's already 3 pm.... I hate that our time off goes by so freaking fast.  Those winning lottery tickets keep illuding us, though.

4 day weekend

The first 2 days of our 4 day weekend have been just about perfect.

We went to the bank on Friday morning, and started the process for doing a home equity loan in order to consolidate and pay off our credit card debt.  This loan will improve our monthly cash flow, so that we will be able to start saving something every month, so that we will maybe not need to use credit anymore.

Then, we went and got all of the errands done before grabbing lunch.

At 2, we treated ourselves to a maincure/pedicure at a place my massage therapist recommended.

After that, we stopped over in the Plaza district at my favorite retro store, and picked up a few vintage dishes for a deal.  He's getting ready to move, so he's giving discounts!!

Once we got home, we were free and easy, so it was a very low key evening.  The best part was that the day seemed to last far longer than normal!

Yesterday, I mowed most of the back yard while Dave went for his weekly visit to his dad.  I developed a bad head ache, though, which ended up staying with me most of the day.

It was hot and muggy out, which was probably why I got the head ache.

I got some of my weekly chores done, but didn't go about anything with any sense of urgency, knowing that there would be ample time to get everything done, for a change.

I'll finish them today, eventually.

Yesterday, one of the projects I worked on that kept me inside where it was cool was to go through all of my clothes, winter and summer.  That resulted in more drawer space in the dresser in back where I store my "off season" clothes, more drawer space in the bedroom dresser, and more closet space! AND, I'm not even finished yet.

I had lots of surplus dance class wear that I never wear anymore, lots of t-shirts that I never wear anymore, lost of cold weather stuff that I have hung on to since moving (like really warm sweaters that I loved for years, but are too warm for Oklahoma), and miscellaneous other stuff that just gets moved back and forth when the seasons change.  Some of it was well-meant gifts that I have never worn.

Then, after I took a nap to try to kick the head ache (aspirin didn't touch it, but it finally succumbed to a double dose of ibuprofen), we went out to a favorite antique mall that is close to home, and found a few inexpensive treasures.

Now, today and tomorrow, we don't have anything pressing that we HAVE to do, so we plan to go see a movie in the heat of the afternoon (at matinee price), and tomorrow, since it's supposed to be slightly less hot out, we will go to the Paseo arts festival.

The only thing I don't like about going to the movies is how it eats up so much of a day off...I feel like, in a way, I am missing part of my time off...and you know how precious my time off is to me!

OH!  Speaking of that!  My sister called last weekend and announced that she and her husband are coming to visit the last weekend of June!

Great!!  Except that I had already taken or scheduled my maximum allowed 7 days off in a calendar quarter at work.

Yes, we are restricted as to how MUCH of our hard-earned time we can take off in a quarter.

It's OUR TIME, but we can't just use it whenever we need to or want to!  I have NEVER worked anywhere else that does this....

The policy DOES specify, however, that special consideration can be made.

Anyway, I looked at the calendar, and I counted days off taken by other people, and there was one who has 10 days off next quarter, and there were three who each had 8 or 9 days off this quarter....all of them are taking exotic vacations....and I just want a couple of days off to spend at home.

SO, on Monday, I put in the time off requests, and immediately sent an email to my boss and the department supervisor (who is not my supervisor, but I have to go to her because my boss is so often absent.  My boss has been out of the office, without reason or explanation, since May 10th) asking for special consideration.

In the email, I explained that I had JUST found out on Sunday.  I explained that they are coming the LAST WEEKEND of the calendar quarter, and that I had no way of knowing this would happen when I took my vacation week in April, and I explained that it's my only opportunity to see any family members this year.

I backed it up by saying that I had never asked for more than 7 days in a quarter before, and that my attendance is exemplary, as they know.

In the back of my mind, I was prepared to cancel the floating holiday that I had scheduled for this past Friday, if that would make a difference....but I did not OFFER to do that in my email.

2 or 3 days went by, no reply.

Then, my days off were approved!

No one ever replied to my email, or to my "thank you" email (and this is no surprise....there is very little evidence of humanity in the management of my office),  but I got the time off!

Which is good, because if they had refused it, I would have probably taken it higher, and they probably KNEW THAT  (look back at my post about the ice storm, if you're interested).

Anyway, the good news is, my sister and brother in law are coming for a very short visit.

My former massage room needs to be cleaned and readied for guests.  We will spend some time doing that this weekend, and then we have a month to perfect it.

Right now, though, it is time for me to make brunch! Left over carnitas, scramble, and polenta! OH, and beermosas!

Have a good Memorial day holiday, and never forget the meaning of the day.

Front door slam!

So, our hoped for, really cool, wooden screen door did not happen.

The first one arrived from the manufacturer badly damaged.  Our contractor refused it, and asked Lowe's to order a new one.

The new one was worse.

Instead of a screen door that looks right for the age of the house, we now have a storm door just like on the back, only in brown instead of white.

It looks good, matches the colors of the woodwork, and will actually provide much better protection against the elements than the screen door would have.

It was also about $100 less expensive!

(We got white on the back of the house because it will reflect the heat.  The front door is under the front porch roof, so the sunlight rarely hits it.)

It stormed last night, and this morning, it's refreshingly, delightfully cool and breezy outside.

Both doors are open, storm door windows are dropped, and the fresh air flowing through the house is heavenly.

THIS was our goal, so we are happy.

It just took 6 weeks longer than we wanted, but that's okay.  It's done, and we got a break in the hot weather to test it out.

In anticipation of the rain last night, we got the back yard mowed yesterday.  The front didn't need it yet, but it will, now that the rain has come.

After my share of the mowing, I did my usual chores, got my MUCH needed monthly massage, and made dinner for a friend.

Today, Dave is going to make his weekly visit to Pop, and I have a couple of cooking projects on the menu.

It should be a nice, relaxing day.

Which is good, because the stress level at work has been higher lately, and I need to adapt.

I have been there almost 5 years (July 29),  and all of a sudden, every TINY thing that I do (or do not do) is being scrutinized.

I am being watched, and I know it.

I actually got "thrown under the bus" for asking someone else to do THEIR job, so that I could do mine.  And the funny thing is, it was such a TINY task that I asked them to do, yet someone tattled on me, and I got a nasty email from my boss.

I always do my work with utmost integrity and efficiency, and just lately, they're trying to find ANYTHING to pin on me.

For one thing, they are NOT used to employees with a solid work ethic.

It's HIGHLY unusual in my place of employment.  My own co workers joke about how I am the only one in our area who actually WORKS ALL DAY LONG.

For another thing, I know for sure that my boss has grown to dislike me.

A year or so ago, there was an incident having to do with a form for Medicare that she misunderstood the meaning of, and assigned me to fill out and submit.  I didn't have most of the information needed for the form, because I do not work in the Medicare department, so I had to get the information from her.

The result was that we didn't get Medicare payments for several weeks, and then, when the error was corrected (by my boss's boss, who oversees our department AND the medicare department), we were slammed with weeks worth of payments to post.

When I was asked why I submitted that form, I was honest, and said it was a task that was assigned to me with high importance, and that the assignment, AND most of the information on the form, had come from my boss.

Naturally, as a result, my boss had to take the blame for her mistake, instead of me.

Ever since then, she rarely speaks to me or looks me in the eye.  She emails me from the other end of the office, instead.  Mostly I don't ask her for ANYTHING anymore.

If I have an issue or a question, I go to the supervisor, instead, even though I am at the same level as the supervisor, and the supervisor and I both report to the director.

BUT, the good news is, there is at least a rumor that the boss is planning to retire this year.  That would be very, very good (for ALL of us)....so there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

I already do half of her job, and the other half will probably go to the department supervisor.  Who knows?

Whatever the case, we all know that our boss is a complete flake. That form was only one example of her flakiness.

She forgets words in mid sentence, she forgets to do things, and she clearly needs to retire.

I suspect she may be in the early stages of Alzheimer's, some other form of dementia, or that some medication she is on does this to her (I know she is on psych meds, she told me).

Anyway.... I have always been a "keep your head down, and do your job" kind of person, and that will never change.

I deserved that Team Member of the Month award I got, and I will continue to do my job to my utmost like I always have.

If they are trying to find a reason to fire me, they are going to have to work very hard at it.
Hopefully, time will run out on my boss before that happens.

AND, in a final note, the assistance program check for my January and February treatment bills has finally been cashed. 

We are now waiting to see what comes next from SSM Health.  Last thing we knew, they were going to turn me over to collections for non payment.

Since the bills have been paid, and THEY cashed the check, that had best not happen. 

I am breathing a little easier, though, knowing that the check cleared the bank.

Off to the kitchen to get started.  Have a great day, gentle readers!

Sunday work day!

We paid a crew to mow the lawn SHORT just one week ago.

The back yard has grown about 4 inches this week, so it HAS to be done today. 

Sigh...

I will do that while Dave goes to his dad's.  He'll mow the front either this afternoon, or some night during the week before the rain comes.  IF the rain comes.

Later today, I will grill up a big batch of chicken for this week's lunches.  I'll combine it in portions with either roasted beets, roasted broccoli, or raw zucchini... which does not freeze and re heat well if it's already cooked.

Dave has finally decided to get serious about losing the weight his doctors have told him to lose for over a year, so we are working on it.  Part of that is my job of getting our diet cleaned up again, part of it is letting the liquor cabinet stay empty, and part of it is him exercising more.

I have also gained weight since my good news in April, because I spent a month celebrating by saying yes to sweet treats and more carbs in general.

Dave has 20 to lose, and I have 10.... He will probably lose his faster than I lose mine.  Not fair!

Our front screen door MIGHT be installed soon....only about 6 weeks later than anticipated.

The first one came in broken in several places.  Our handy man went to pick it up, and it was so badly damaged that he refused it, and had them make a new one.

Now that it's too hot out to use it, I am a little frustrated.

We DO have the windows open this morning, but it won't last long.  It's going to be 90 again today, with high humidity (humidity is currently 79%).

I cleaned the house yesterday, and made crock pot carnitas for our friend, whose wife is overseas.

We enjoyed an evening hanging out, watching "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

I got so much done yesterday, and the house looks great.

Dave was getting the next phase of his sleeve tattoo done, so he wasn't underfoot, haha!!

I don't really acknowledge mother's day, but I know some people who read this are either great moms, or were loved by their moms....so, for you, happy mother's day!

Finally...

... a full weekend at home, with decent weather!

We tried to get started on mowing the front yard yesterday for the first time.  It was several weeks late for us to be doing that, and the yard was COVERED with balls from the neighboring sweet gum tree, deep in the high grass.

Dave was having a horrible time trying to get our reel mower through the lawn.

Thankfully, a passing landscaping crew stopped just a couple of doors down, and he went and talked to them.

We paid someone to mow our lawn again.  Oh well...now it's really cleaned up. 

Dave raked the sweet gum balls up while I put three bags of garden soil into the flower bed.

It was a good day. 

Today, he will work on hacking stuff down in the back yard that got out of hand last year.

We are off to a brunch date now, though...so I'd better hit the shower!