The 'NO' Man

It seems I have a new nickname at work.  A few nurses have been jokingly calling me this for awhile, but I actually heard our physician say this to me just a couple days ago.  I am evidently now known as...

The 'NO' Man.

I know from this and my blog that a 'NO' Man could be quite the funny.  But no, they don't know anything about Caitlyn or my femme proclivities.  No, what they're referring to is my capability to look a patient in the eye and simply tell him No.

Can I have some Tylenol?  No.  Can I have a bottom bunk detail?  No.  Can I have a base unit detail?  No.  Can I get some softer shoes?  No.  Can I see the doctor?  No.  Can I not be charged for this visit?  No.  Can I see a different nurse?  No.

No.

It's really quite simple to say, especially when it's not coming from a point of malice.  And I honestly don't work from a point of malice.  I don't want to hurt anybody or piss anybody off or not provide someone with medical care.  But I saw a facebook meme recently that seems to fit my work persona quite righteously:

I'm so sick of work

I think I might be having trouble at work.  I have a pretty good job with good benefits.  At my current level of experience I get 4.7 hours of annual leave and 4 hours of sick time each and every pay period.  So more or less, each month I get a day off of work if I'm sick or have other health concerns.

I put it that way because I can use 'sick time' for preplanned medical procedures.  I used sick time when I had my wisdom teeth pulled.  I used sick time when my mother had an procedure done at the hospital.  And of course there's the more often used... calling in sick to work (or as I use it, going home early because I'm sick).

Now I know everybody is an individual and comparing something like this to other coworkers isn't exactly a good idea.  But it's about all I have.  My coworkers have a LOT of sick time built up.  Enough so that when we're fully staffed and slow they'll use their sick time to go home early instead of their annual leave.  They do it regularly enough that our supervisor would ask 'OK, who has a headache?' instead of 'OK, who wants to go home?'.

Many of them also have long term disability and that comes in two price points.  You pay full price for it until you have 130 hours of sick time in the bank, then you get a steep discount.  If you never used sick time, that should take you about a year to build up.  Most of my coworkers have that steep discount as they've collected well over 130 hours of sick time.

So... I bought a dildo.

I thought long and hard (go ahead... laugh at the unintended double entendre) about where to post this.  The Masks blog or here.  I mean, is this Caitlyn or Calvin?  And I guess the best answer is that it's both.  And since I'm pulling 'Calvin' out of the 'Caitlyn' blog, I figure it should go over here.

But fair warning;  this is sexual and fetish and fantasy and open and honest.  I'm blushing right here and now just imagining what i'm going to be talking about and I'm only on the second paragraph.  I guess it doesn't help that I've already titled this post and I've already got that image of the woman in pink sunglasses (mask?) drooling on her dildo.  But anyway.... here it goes.

I posted earlier this month about a road trip I was going to take.  I took it, and it was just as fun and as relaxing as I was hoping for.  I didn't realize just how stressed out I was in just about every aspect of my life.   Work, Home, Friends, Family, Fantasy, Calvin, and Caitlyn.  I was stressed out and needed a break.  So the two days driving down was a good partial relaxation.  I felt the stress just melt away the two days I was with A and his family.  That left the two days driving back and that was... well, it was eye opening.

On The Road Again!

So I've found over the last few years that I really REALLY like traveling.  I mean I honest to god LOVE to travel.  Drive or fly, it doesn't really matter as they both have their own level of adventure.  I'm now constantly considering trips to make and/or thinking about my next vacation.

(Quick break here... I swear, the song that just came up on iTunes.... Radar Love by Golden Earring!)

Anywho, I like to travel.  Last year ended with a drive down to Dallas in early December.  This year began with a drive over to Detroit for the car show (North American International Auto Show).  I knew I was going to plan another few trips as well as some smaller side trips, but the long ones take planning.  Planning and Vacation time.  I've found out that it's actually quite rare for us to be fully staffed, so it can be hard to just 'take time off'.  It's not that the supervisor at work is mean and won't give it... but if we don't have another person to just cover my shift and they have to utilize overtime, it's a hard no. Thankfully between the Civil Service Commission and the Union, we have our twice annual vacation book.  In April and October we pass around a book and we get to lay claim to any days off we want.  Well... any days where someone more senior hasn't already laid claim (it goes around in order of seniority), and any days that you'll have enough vacation time for.