the anniversary

Mom and I made our way to the site of Rocky’s grave. Nope that is not it. Over to the left a couple paces. Well hell that is not it either. The overgrown pine bush that practically covered his stone was gone. Nice. But where the hell are all the wind chimes. The only ones left were in the tree next to him. really. I felt my heart sink. It was so nice to see the stone but I was hoping whoever pulled out the bush kept the chimes. We sat and visited in the sun, taking pictures and sharing memories. We got ready to leave and I asked that we go over to the office.

I went in, one guy on the phone and a totally clueless guy was there to direct people to their loved one’s final resting spot. The owner? Not on site and maybe on vacation. The main groundskeeper came in to talk to me. I asked about the pine bush. Oh well the last winter we had was really hard on it. So I took it out he says. Okay I replied and you did a great job of replacing it with sod, but where are the wind chimes. Well I didn’t know who they belonged to. I replied you could have called and I would have come and got them. You see he said, I just didn’t know who to call. The bush you took out was covering my husband’s stone, who do you think would have put them there. When mom filled out the paperwork for the plot there were contact information, both hers and mine. But maam…I had a chipper and I had to get rid of the bush and there were 10 of them. I told him that  was shitty customer service and I hurried out the door. So close to crying and over dollar store decorations. But dear god I felt so violated. ass hole. Ten of them, so he knew. Think I will call this week and maybe the owner will be in.  But mom says to let it go. I will but first I need to talk to the owner and get this off my chest. Rocky wouldn’t have it any other way, better then them than him. 

traffic report

Traffic is much better since school is out. Not by much but better. Yesterday was interesting I made a split second decision to turn onto 55 just past Ho Depot right before Eagle. I make my way north to Beacon Light Road and see that traffic is backing up going towards Horseshoe Bend. The heck? Holiday traffic and rush hour at a complete stand still for miles. Sorry guys I would like to stay (not) but Ima gonna have to turn. Once home I found out that somebody’s camper trailer stalled or stopped on its way to all points north, thus causing people to be late for their holiday fun. darn. I still got home 10 minutes early, which is less than the one hour I am used to driving.  It looks like my commute home will be in the 60 minute range, while my morning because I can go in at anytime will be 30 to 40 minutes. But its like I told my friend Beth, I would have driven 2 hours to NOT work in Caldwell. I am looking into the Van pool program that Ada County has, just haven’t really had the dedicated time to do so. I do not want to carpool, no.

I don’t have any plans this weekend other than to visit Rocky’s grave and hang his wind chimes. What I would really like to do is cut the bush back considerably then have a sturdy concrete bench put in.  I am not going to trim the pine bush at the grave this weekend, too wet. I will go back in a couple 2 weeks to do that. I will no doubt putter about in the back yard cleaning up where I can and decorate with the stored yard art that I display every year. The plants are growing like crazy with all this Seattle weather we are having.  Or maybe I will putter around in the house. You can’t do enough puttering.

dammit! The stove is not working correctly. I checked the burners and they all come on. Hopefully it is the thermostat and not needing an entire new fucking appliance. Dear god do I need to replace another appliance??? Getting really old with this shit. The stove? Not heating. I tried to heat up some garlic knots and it was taking forever to preheat. I opened the oven door? Barely warm. crap!!!

I postponed the installation of my windshield because of the rain. So I got that to look forward to paying on. I had gotten my eyes checked last month and they used a medical code for my dry eyes. Which means they used my medical insurance. I got the EOB and most if not all went to my deductible. I got the bill a few days later and they had not billed my vision insurance at all and stated I was to pay the entire fee. um no. So I called my medical insurance people, who conference called the eye place. We set them straight, my medical insurance is secondary. Bill VSP first ya num nuts! Gosh, don’t make me tell you how to do your job!

Work? Well I am getting the hang of it. I am getting the names to faces of my coworkers and I recognize the faces of my patients. With radiation treatment we see them every day, so I get to know them. For the most part every one of the patients are nice but I have met a few who are total shits. But hey, who says cancer has to be fun. You be you cranky patient, I got where you are coming from. Lucky for me I don’t take it personal. The odd thing about my job is; I do not schedule the radiation patients. Although that is what it implies on my title. No the radiology techs schedule that and dear lord they are difficult to get a hold of when I have a patient calling in. Because they are the only department who does not check their emails or staff messages. I am told to call. serious? What do I schedule? Follow up appointments for the radiation treatment providers. I have three providers. But then I also schedule the lab draws, injections like Lupron and the infusions like Lutathera and Xofigo. Sometimes the patients will stop by my desk and schedule follow up appointments. But for the most part they leave and I don’t know to check them out until I notice their appointment is still open hours later. So interesting. I have to make sure the calls that come in are for the correct location. I don’t schedule for any of the other department locations as they have their own staff who do that.

Looking forward to seeing each and everyone of you.

words of wisdom

I did not get hired for the geriatric part of the department, in fact they don’t have one. So once again I am blessed with working with a very young woman. Actually she is training me on the nuances of scheduling for my position. She is 24 years old, just graduated with a Bachelors in Health Science from BSU. She is Hispanic which I did not know, I just thought she was very good with speaking Spanish. She is model gorgeous and funny. I will call her Alex because that is her name.

Alex is not familiar with the vernacular of the Depression era. So every time I pop off with a saying that I learned at my father’s knee. ‘What does that mean?’ Like; don’t take any wooden nickels or see you in the funny papers. She quickly looks to google for information. But this is ok because she is constantly dropping phrases on me which leave me clueless. Evidently I am baller because I wore a pair of KEDs that had biker chick screen printed on them. I guess I impressed her with my fashion sense. She is quickly learning I am not to be judged by my appearance.

My supervisor tells me I am doing a great job. This is such a different world that I am working in than the one to the west. Taking time off is not a big deal, if I am done and want to leave a little early; I can. If I have to stay late to take care of a call, this too is not a big deal. I don’t have to adjust my time the next day for overtime. In fact overtime is something that is expected to happen. I will work by myself on 3 of the 5 days this coming week. There are so many questions but any answers will be gladly given by the nurses who sit behind me. All the little things I took care of? Faxes, stocking supplies, making sure there is plenty of water and various other things? The nurses take care of all of that. Well I won’t try to dissuade them. Oh there are still crazy people who work down in the basement with me but I can spot them a mile off and engage my shields.

What day is the family reunion? Yeah it is no doubt on a Saturday some time in June but would kind of like to know in case anyone is coming to town a few days before so I can ask for time off.

I have an appointment for a windshield replacement. I was going to do it eventually. Rock chips were adding up but yesterday at the car wash something hit one of the rock chips just right…crack right in the middle from top to bottom. dammit. NO I don’t believe the car wash was at fault. Now if there had been no blemishes and my windshield was damaged, oh hell yes I would  have gone Virginia on their ass. So nope this is outa pocket. But I would like to have at least a year go by before I have to make a major purchase…I have less than 100 dollars left to pay on the refrigerator. Another thing that this means; the appointment is on this coming Thursday. They are coming to the house to replace the windshield. Which means I have to leave the truck here. I am driving the red bomb mobile that I bought off of Jim. Should be interesting. I can’t lock the doors, the speedometer is off like 10 mph, there is NO windshield washer reservoir and it just generally smells like a decaying car. On the plus side I won’t notice if someone bangs their door into mine.

possible showers

I want to pick up some flowers or plants, maybe both. Probably both. The weather is just right for planting. How do I know. I know absolutely nothing about planting or gardens. I just buy the plant and plop it in the pot.

I have an 8 oclock dental appointment this morning. Gonna get the choppers checked, its an annual thing. I ordered my glasses online. Hope they fit, cheers.

Work. For the most part I pretty much dick around. Not much to do. Well not like the previous, where I was doing something the entire time. Nope there are moments of leisure in between bouts of intense gotta do it now kind of stuff. I did find out I do not schedule any radiation treatment. Nope. I don’t even cancel it. I take care of the provider appointments like follow up or add ons for the radiation oncologists. Eventually I will schedule the CT SIMs, look it up on google. I will wait. But right now I am getting the other stuff up in my head. I somehow schedule for some of the oncology medication appointments. But so far for only two, Lutathera and Xophilgo. spelling correctly is optional. These medications are highly radioactive. So they are infused in the hospital and not the ONC MED suites upstairs. MSTI only occupies two floors of the Anderson building’s 6 floor building. in case you were wondering. Presently there is a butt load of construction going on around my hospital. Since the hospital talked the city into letting them have a street, they had to give up a little property in exchange. This happens to be the nice little grassy area between my building and the hospital. They are putting in a road. I think I am going to hear a lot of screeching of brakes.

The azaleas you saw on my facebook page? Is right out the back door of my building. I want some. I am going to look for some today.

Home life? The man child has purchased a Play station and has installed it in the living room. I found that I would much rather watch him play than have me play. I have little of no eye/hand coordination. The graphics are nice.

lets decorate

I don’t know how I didn’t get a sunburn yesterday. I was outside all day cutting up the tree. Then filling up the truck and unloading at the dump. I owe them $3.50 because I snuck a rimmed tire out. But I put it where it belonged. Its not like I tossed out with the branches. rude. But they only take cash or checks. All I had was a card. I made two trips without losing a branch once.

I hired out my lawn mowing. Yeah I know its the size of a postage stamp. But it kicks my butt and I would rather do something else than that. Hire Tonya across the street. She uses my mower and does a dam good job. Those girls are always doing stuff for me. Helps me with moving heavy stuff and keeps an eye on the place when I am not around. Such nice neighbors.

I need to till the back yard. But I think I will put that off a couple weekends. I might do it Memorial weekend. Mom and I are visiting Rocky’s grave that Monday. I will take my limb cutters and gloves (for the overgrown plant by the grave). Plus a couple of wind chimes to hang. Probably go for lunch afterwards. 11 years. I had a coworker ask me last week how did I get over Rocky’s passing. I told her that I was still working on it. But staying busy helps. STAY BUSY!!! Even if it kicks your butt.

I stopped at a charity plant sale at the Tractor Place. I bought 3 tomato plants, a thornless raspberry plant, a succulent of some kind, and a couple of plants I have no idea what they are. But they are all green and healthy. Next week I think Zamzow’s opens and they will have stuff on sale. I got to get more plants to fill my pots. So many pots.

Royce, I don’t know if you got my message on facebook. I am holding on to the microwave that we had on the counter in case you want it.

Every year a survey is sent out asking about the clinic or department that each employee works at. It is anonymous and the information is gathered by a disinterested party. I did put my name on it and the questions were related to the clinic in Caldwell. So I roasted them. I pulled no punches. I laid it on the line. Plus several other straight to the point cliches. I hope someone calls for more information. The clinic is a cesspool of drama. But most of all? It made me feel better.

Happy Mother’s day, I love you all.

 

possible new favorite

Kind of excited to have an entire weekend to do stuff at home. However part of that is chopping down the Japanese maple in the front. Dammit! Last year it had a couple dead limbs, this year? More than half and it looks really red neck. By the way, if I were living in a metropolis? It would look ghetto. Its a location thing.

At work? There is this guy that looks like MetroMan from Megamind. Without the tights. I probably mentioned this before as I am old and losing my memory. What doesn’t help is the young man of the house is rearranging every god dam cabinet or drawer. dear god it will push me into an early grave. Last week? After Jason installed the microwave? The young man decided my spice cabinet needs to be organized. So if I want to bake or cook? I need to grow two and a half feet to reach anything. stuff like that. Speaking of Jason, he put his house up for sale. Wonder if he is going to move out of the valley. I don’t know. So I get to put shit back where it belongs.

This week at work we had our yearly BBQ put on by the hospital. Hooray, I finally got to attend one, well actually my third one. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time before. Then? Yesterday the auxiliary ladies or man put on their Mother’s Day plant sale. I bought a shade plant, could be a begonia. I don’t know. I liked it and bought it.

I am getting the hang of how they want the patients to be scheduled for their radiation treatment. Plus I get to watch the train wreck family dynamics when a patient refuses treatment. It is heart breaking, young woman with 3 small children. Has a terminal diagnosis. Her parents have her children as the patient is in an assisted living situation. Patient refused treatment and the parents threatened to not let her see her children unless she continues care. The hell people. So I guess the staff had a come to jesus meeting with the folks. Pretty sure this won’t be the last I see something like this. Me? I just check people out and tell them to drive safe. No use telling them to have a nice day. But I imply it.

My job is very relaxed. It allows me to go get a cup of coffee or explore a little. Just as long as I let the nurses know that I will be back in 10 to 15 minutes. I don’t wander far. For the most part I am being trained by a lovely and gorgeous 24 year old named Alex. She is graduating today with a bachelors in science. She knows her stuff and is funny. I spoke to the powers that be regarding a work stand station. You know sitting is the new smoking. I would have to go through the entire routine of an ergonomics evaluation, employee health meeting, a doctors exam with a written request. Which I did 3 years ago and still have the paperwork. Nope it has to be current and once I get this all complete? The paperwork is handed in to somebody that makes a buttload of money and that takes anywhere from 6 to 9 months for a reply. No guarantees even if the doctor says I need one. OSHA much? Yeah so my hip has started acting up and I will be damned if I have to go have another series of physical therapy visits. I know what I need to do. I ordered a station and it arrived Thursday. Now all I need is a chair so I can occasionally sit with out be ergonomically out of wack. Why did I not bring my station from Caldwell? Well it was starting to show wear and tear. It was huge, bulky and difficult to raised and lower. So I got one that has a gas spring riser, think shock. It is frowned upon to purchase your own and really I wasn’t told I couldn’t. Plus while talking to the lady who is OCD in charge of all of that kind of stuff? She told me she was going to buy her own. Game on!

So I got that going for me.

comic snob

I had my 2 month hair appointment yesterday. I had the usual done. A trim and a gloss. No dye chemicals. So my hair looks like I eat a high fat diet…but then it did before the appointment.

I have known this girl for something like 15 years. I have watched her daughter grow up via school pictures and facebook. Hairdresser gal is liberal in all her views and extremely funny. She also talks A LOT! I once took an 18 month hiatus from her because I grew weary of her chatter plus I was in between jobs. I tried different stylist through Groupon coupons. Don’t do this. If anything try out local ‘hair’ colleges this will save you months of trying to undo the damage from the young stylist with the tatooed angel wings on her back.

We spend most of the time catching up with gossip, talking about people neither one of us know but through each other. I then mentioned ENDGAME and my day with my son. Hair gal went off, seems she is a Marvel Comic purist. Hollywood did Stan Lee a disservice with not NOT staying with the story line. yikes. Then she proceeded to tell me how it all went down. um Historically the hollywood producers do not follow a book. Its called artistic license, did not shut her up. So I sat through the rest of my appointment day dreaming about a quiet stylist who knew what she is doing. Pretty sure quiet stylist is a oxymoron.

I was suppose to hook up with one of my new coworkers to pick up a bicycle. We got to talking and I told her that I collect bikes. Miniature ones and pointed out one on the shelf at my work station. She said she had a bike for sale and no one was calling on it. I asked what kind, BEACH CRUISER. Like the one (not JUST like mine) I sold. Her’s cost about 350 dollars and it has flat tires, a few scratches and a broken kick stand. I said I would like to check it out and if I like it I would offer her $75. bonus!!! It comes with a white basket. So we were to meet up.  I had been playing with the idea of getting a higher quality bike but did not want to pay a buttload of money, because??? First of all I am not miss got rocks and I might ride it once and decide it was a bad idea. So used and higher quality fit my bill. Probably will take care of this transaction after work one day. She lives up Broadway and that is just the road piece from work.

I got home yesterday and sat down for a minute. Woke up three hours later. Did not get anything done like I wanted. I need to trim the hell out of my Japanese maple. Lots of dead branches. Plus I need to till up a good portion of back yard because of grass, stupid rain. But I figure I will get the yard up to the way I want before the reunion in case anyone stops in. By then I hope to have my awning up and my yard art set out well artistically.

just one more petty thing

I have a friend in the billing department. We met when we both worked in Caldwell, got along like a house of fire. Made each other laugh everyday. Good times. Her manager sends out a daily funny. Could be a silly photo or cartoon. My friend sends it onto me and I had shared it with the Caldwell clinic, everyday. And if I missed a day or my friend was on vacation? I would hear about it. Hey! Where is my cartoon? So I passed this onto Nicole to share with the group. The other day I forwarded one to her and reminded her to share because the clinic girls really liked it. She wrote back that Amy and Martha told her to stop sending them out. fuck is that! Of all the bullshit I have put up with that one really pissed me off. How freaking petty. Plus the newest hire doesn’t start until later this month, so things are going to be ‘tight’. Don’t need frivolity and fun mucking up the works. stupid cows.

I enjoyed myself this week. I sat and watched the first two days. I watched them answer the phone and schedule. So I basically stepped up and took over. I made the trainers stick around for questions and entertainment. The people I work with are so appreciative. They absolutely love that I know what I am doing and all I need to learn is how they do stuff in the programs we use. And I have a lovely red note book to look through if I have questions. Or what I really do is look at a previous appointment and just copy it. I got the grand tour a couple of times. I got to see all the different types of imaging machines that they use. I have been introduced to a bazillion coworkers. I was invited to attend chart rounds with the doctors and nurses. Was told I could attend anytime. I have gotten the tour of the pediatric floor and noticed that all the nurses are model gorgeous. So I left because I sure didn’t fit in. So as much fun that I am having, it hits me that a lot of the patients are on palliative care.

I have also pretty much taken over my area. I started my cleaning. It was very dusty. Then I started looking at the organized piles of papers in all the paper trays and folders. Um yeah last printed 2014, toss. I threw out lots of paperwork. Don’t think we need orders from 2016. nope. And one page lessons that have been printed off the company intranet. Guys? They are on the internet for a reason, ya just pull it up and read it off of the screen. What if the computer goes down? Well you can’t very well use the lesson to follow how to do something in the computer if it ain’t working now can you? sheesh! I sold my stand station to a gal in Caldwell and requested one to use at MSTI. Looks like there will be a wait but I will get one.

I guess I am an anomaly of sorts. Oh really. Yeah seems that I know my way around the computer or any techy thing really. I had to teach my 24 year old trainer how to place a laptop onto a docking station so she could use the work station. ummm Youth. Yeah you can use the hell out of a smart phone but I fear that’s as far as it goes. Which reminds me, I bought a fire stick for the clinic in Caldwell. Had it on my prime account, canceled it off my account. Pretty sure said firestick (I was reimbursed) is laying in disuse in a drawer with no boob tube to soothe the masses. Martha didn’t know how to put it on her account, good god. I refuse to help out. The girls up front know what to do but can’t seem to do anything without direction.

IT IS FAR EASIER TO ASK FOR FORGIVENESS THAN PERMISSION