The End Times

Yesterday

This week is orientation week for my new job. Part of the process is for everyone, so I was sitting with people who will be working with administration, people who will be working in the cafeteria, people who will be working in all parts of the hospital. That was the first two days. After that, some of them went to work, but my orientation and training went on. There is a lot of documentation that has to be done with patient care, and we have to be trained on those systems.

We are also all responsible for finishing up a ton of online learning. I had 31 different presentations to go through and take exams on when I signed into my newly created work account. And as I watched, 11 more were added. Then, just when I thought I was making headway, having finished about ten or so, another 15 appeared. I have to learn everything from how to combat a fire to how to deal with an active shooter in the hospital to how to deal with radioactive materials....

Today

Orientation continues. This morning, I had a class that was more specific to my area. We dealt with ethics and patients' rights and responsibilities. In the afternoon, I went and met my supervisor and toured the unit where I'll be working. Then I spent another hour or so working on the online learning things that I'm responsible for. While I was working, another 20 were added to my list.

Because my vertigo is still an issue, Dave has been driving me and today was particularly stressful for him because of it. I had to go to one building in the morning, so he had to drive me there. Then I had to go to the hospital where I'll be working in the afternoon, so he had to come and pick me up and drive me there. Because I wasn't sure how long I was supposed to stay at the hospital, Dave was kind of on-call all afternoon. I only ended up staying about two and a half hours at the hospital, so then Dave had to come back and pick me up. I'm hoping that I'm feeling well enough to drive myself by next week...In fact, I had been feeling better until I went to the audiologist and that kicked off this crazy relapse of the vertigo. It's fading again--only triggered when I do certain things--so I am hopeful.

What else is going on? I'm not really allowed to post about the particulars of my job, of course. But I will say that because my experience with this type of patient care is so limited, it's difficult for me to judge how well the unit is run. I know that there has been a certain amount of staff turnover recently, which is somewhat suspicious, but I'll have to wait and see. Every area of healthcare is stressful, of course, but this area may be particularly stressful. We'll see.

It's been kind of a discombobulated week anyway. I've been sleeping over at Kelly's house with the pups, so I'm getting ready for work there. That has meant running back and forth from our place to Kelly's because I forget things at one place or another. And my schedule is not set, which is disorienting. One morning I have to be at work at seven, one morning at nine, one morning at eight, and tomorrow at seven forty-five. Why can't they just make it ONE start time? Seven across the board? Or eight? I mean. Then we're jumping around from place to place. Part of orientation is in the main hospital. Part of it is in the IT department. Part of it is in another facility....Sometimes we have to drive from one place to another in the middle of the day. (Always fun when you don't have a car or, like me, are dependent on someone else for a ride.)

Starting next week I'll be orienting on the unit, so I'll be working Thursday/Friday/Saturday from seven a.m. to seven p.m. I'll do that for a few weeks before I start my usual schedule of Monday days and Thursday overnight. We'll see how that works out for me. I'm willing to give it a try. (Talk to me again in six months.)

Anyway, so that's some stuff. Here's some other stuff:

I also, for the first time in my life, joined a union this week. A couple of the union leaders came to talk to us during orientation and I went ahead and signed up. There are union dues--about $35 per paycheck or about $70 a month--but I'm okay with that. I believe in unions and I'm happy to put my money where my mouth is. The union is currently in negotiations for pay raises, which would benefit us and them.

So that's a thing.

What else? Oh. I lost my old badge from when I was a student and, because I'm now an employee of the same organization, I had to pay $20 to get my new badge. Dealing with the toads and the trolls in the badge office is not pleasant, but it must be done. I swear, they get more toady and more trollish each time I go into that office. Some of them literally look like toads and trolls. It's like the whole office is staffed with minor characters from a Miyazaki film.

I just started to earn some money and I'm already paying it out for stuff associated with the job. (Don't get me started on buying new scrubs...which reminds me that I have to order some online and take them in to get embroidered with the hospital logo.)

And other stuff, too:

I'm trying very hard not to pay attention to the news recently. I can't focus at all on the white supremacist in the white house and his open racism. And how many pedophiles does one have to be friends with before you can say that there's something fishy going on? How many women have to say he raped them before we believe? (Look how many it took to bring Cosby down. No one trusts that women are telling the truth, even about rape. Especially about rape.) How many brown and black women (Congresswomen, no less) does he have to disparage before we believe that he is racist? How many brown people--brown children, brown babies (!!!) does he have to rip from their families and put in cages before we believe that he is racist? And the sad thing is that still he'll get a certain percentage of brown people to vote for him because he's a republican. The party of family values, my ass. Or they are, I mean, as long as your family is white. And rich.

Ugh.  I have to stop. I could make myself crazy thinking about it. I'm glad I have a marketable skill now that I can use in other countries. I'm renewing my passport before it's too late because I am going to be ready to leave the country. I really think that it's coming. We already have concentration camps along the border and ICE agents "detaining" brown people, even American citizens. I mean, what the fuck do you think comes next?

It makes me wonder: How many Jews missed their moment? How many Jews couldn't leave Germany in time--or didn't believe that things would get as bad as the did--and were murdered in camps as a result?

It makes me wonder: Have I missed my moment? Am I going to be able to get out of the country when it's time? Will someone be willing to hide me when the ICE agents come to my door or will my republican, trump-voting neighbors turn me in?

I honestly believe that if he gets reelected that we brown people, even those of us who are American citizens, are in trouble. Real trouble.

This is Reverend Barber. He believes that Jesus cared about the poor, the sick, the hungry. He thinks that people working should be paid a living wage. He had this to say today:

To love the real evangelicalism of Jesus that begins w/ concern for the poor, broken, sick, & immigrant is to despise the false hijacked evangelicalism that focus on hating gay people, despising immigrants, building walls, blocking health care, & supporting racism.

— Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II (@RevDrBarber) July 26, 2019