Health
So I saw my doc. He came in all happy and apologetic as the appointment came from me requesting a new prescription for my diabetic medications. Since I was now under the care of an endocronologist, we didn't need to have the appointment. If I wanted, we could end there and there wouldn't be any charge. Thankfully my doc is cool and was happy to hear me out on the FMLA issue as well as my aches and pains.
For the FMLA, he agreed to fill out the paper work. I was honestly worried as I knew exactly what the requirements were and I wasn't sure he'd fill it out right. To qualify for FMLA the doctor writing it out has to say he treats me at least twice a year. Hell, my neurologist only sees me once a year and this is my general practitioner who technically doesn't treat my migraines any longer. But, as much as I want the FMLA, I don't want to influence the doc on it. I want honesty. I'll get more into the FMLA part in the work section.
The aches and pains... well, it didn't go down as planned. I expected to get a semi cardiac work up. General labs had been done, but maybe some troponins, which they could draw that very day (there's a lab in the same office and they come to the exam room to draw blood now!). Maybe he'd want a ECG. He'd of course want to take a good listen to the heart and lungs and maybe, just maybe, an X-Ray. But he immediately focused on the chest pain and only the chest pain. No X-ray. He said the labs had been good, and troponins should be taken 2 hours apart to show how they're increasing or decreasing in your system. AND taking troponins is something you do when you suspect a recent cardiac event... in other words an emergency.
So, after a good listen and exam, he said I should see a cardiologist as a walk in appointment. I was taken aback and didn't realize, until I got out into my car, we never addressed my back. Fuck. So yeah, that still aches. My chest still aches. And now I'm going to go to a cardiologist that I know is going to hit me hard on smoking. At least they scheduled it quickly. The appointment is tomorrow morning.
A couple days ago I had a visit with my endocrinologist. That couldn't have gone better. When I last saw him, I weighed in at 286 pounds and had an A1C of 9.7 (normal is 5.7 for a non diabetic, diabetic goals should be below 7). We changed my medication and he got me to stop worrying so much about my breakfast meals (since then I've taken the easy route of a sandwich instead of trying to find a low carb meal I can eat regularly). On Friday I weighed in at 263 pounds and my A1C showed 6.3! If that were a raw number, it would show Pre-diabetes. Of course I only get that number through diet and a lot of medications, but still! I'm so excited by that number.
The only thing he was concerned about was my elevated blood pressure. It was 140 over 82. So he took my "little old lady dose" of my primary blood pressure medication and doubled it. He also commented, just in case I was worried, that his personal dose of the same medication was twice my new dose. So I have a lot of head room on this med.
I did experience several migraines, including one on a Sunday. I know... just KNOW... that stress plays a big part of my migraines as they most often occur on work days. But I still get them when I travel and on weekends and boy that sucks. Two of the migraines were 'mild' in that I would take being at work and more or less ended at the end of the day they began. But two were horrible and one lasted two days. I'm fairly sure it lasted that long because I felt I couldn't leave work which just made the migraine worse and made it so I couldn't relax by the time I DID get home. Again, I'll go over that when I come to the work section.
Oh, and just to put it here, I also experienced what I believe was sciatic pain in my left hip both this past Friday and Saturday. It hurt, I couldn't sit for long periods, didn't have a physical component (i.e. I couldn't increase or decrease the pain by rubbing on that area), and it felt like lightning starting at my hip and moving down my leg to my knee. That's classic sciatica. But this morning... it feels fine. Maybe it's just a weird one off of pain, but if I continues I wanted it mentioned here so I could see when I first experienced it. May 7th.
Finances
I paid off the Amazon card. That'll be a nice change up as the interest rate was about $70 a month. Certainly not a financial change that will alter my purchasing decisions, but it was the right thing to do.
The computer purchase went on my primary card. I'd already decided to return my monthly credit card payment to what it was pre-pandemic. $400 a month. I might up that some more. The Amazon card is a little different in that I pay it off on every pay period. I don't want it to slide over a month and earn any interest. So technically it's payment is based on what I bought those particular two weeks. It could be $25. It could be $300. I plan out a $200 payment every pay period. What I might do, to help get the computer paid off more quickly, is put anything above my Amazon payment, up to $200 total) toward the credit card.
So, lets say it's the pay period I'm going to pay the credit card. For the past year, that would have been a $200 payment. Now it's a $400 payment. But if I add the Amazon payment it could be more. So I bought $58 of 'stuff' from Amazon. I'd add the extra $142 I'd budgeted for Amazon onto my regular credit card. Not a huge amount, but it wouldn't hurt my budgeting and be extra down.
No, unless I spend more than I budgeted (which happens half the time... my budget is an average), I should end up with $2,711.89 left in my primary account. I haven't been funneling money into my savings, so it's down to just under $400. Now, realistically, I don't want my cash flow to drop below $1,000. I don't know why, but that's always been my mental safety zone. If I come to a purchase decision that's, say for example, $800. I know I can just buy it. I have the money in the account, don't have to dip into my extra savings (which at a time was over $3,000), or put it on a credit card. Just buy. If it's over $1000 I could probably get it the same way, but I'd have to actually check the account. The safer way at that point would be to put it on the credit card as it always has over $1000 in available credit. If I did have it nearly maxed out (which the computer purchase did), I could add it to my Amazon card. Or, if the situation were dire and for some reason I had both credit cards maxed, my gas credit card.
Quick aside, if I never mentioned it, I got a credit card from BP. It's technically a VISA from Synchrony Bank, but it's BP branded. I put all of my gas on there so it's an incredibly easy way to check on how much gas is costing me month to month. For example, at a quick glance I can tell you that last month I spent $185.00 in gas. The month before was $205.73. Not bad numbers for a Mustang!! Anyway, I chose BP because not only was it a decent interest rate, it got me a bonus of 5 cents off per gallon. I also use the BP app (pay for gas in my car before even stepping out to the pump!) which is linked to the card and earns me an additional 10 cents off per gallon. So I get my easy budgeting, a credit card with a guaranteed open balance, and 15 cents off per gallon. Oh, and BP gas stations are conveniently located close to me and on my commute to and from work.
Back to the credit card and computer payments. So I should end up this pay period with a little over $1,700 'extra'. BUT, not every pay period is perfect. The next period I actually spend a little more than $200 more than I'll bring in with my check. The 'extra' left over at that point should be $1,400. So, I think I'll put $1,500 down on the credit card, paying half of the computer off. If I can sell the computer next month for $1,500, I then upgraded my computer for 'free'. Not really... I'm not stupid enough to count it up that way as that 'extra' money is now gone, but I'd be back at my 'home' station with no extra debt on the credit card (costing me monthly interest). I'd also still be paying more each month on the credit card payments AND maybe even more on top of that, depending on how I spend on Amazon that pay period or month.
I know it's small potatoes in my monthly budget, but its the small details like this that I tend to sweat and budget out that help me prepare, plan, and be ready, for more impulse decisions. Like this computer. I wasn't worried that I could pay for it and still be safe.
Oh, and speaking of small details, I'm considering canceling my dash pass membership. I pay DoorDash $9.99 a month that saves me he delivery fees and some of the other fees when I order through them. On most orders, it saves me about $3.00. But if I don't door dash the Sunday fast food breakfasts for Mom, R, and I I'm only paying for Door Dash about once a month. I thought I could convince Mom and R to always use my door dash as we'd save money, but I did that once with R... he was buying us some Outback Steakhouse for Sunday dinner while mom was feeling sick, and I just copied it over to mine and paid for it. The meal was just under $100 and my dash pass saved us about $8. I think a savings of around 8% is worth it. But R took it as an affront, as if I were trying to steal his thunder and pay for the meal... which by the way I had no intention of spending $100 on Sunday dinner and was happy to have R pay for it! I just figured he could send me the cash afterward as I just wanted to save us... save HIM... some money.
But he continues to do that. Put it on his own order and pay all the fees. Mom does the same. So if I'm only ordering a family meal around once a month and getting myself out of the house on Sunday mornings to go and get our breakfast, why am I paying them $10 a month again?
A small detail considering my budget, but that's still $120 a year!
Family Friends
Not much going on here. J wants us to go out for lunch again. I feel bad saying no, but Michigan was blowing up with COVID again when she asked and I figured NOT going out was safest. It not only would keep us safe, but would keep others safe from us carrying it. It also would help discourage restaurants as we encourage or discourage them with our wallets. Maybe next weekend.
E sent A and I a text which made me feel old with my old friends. He said it was the greatest Family Guy episode in a long time. I liked Family Guy well enough so I got the free trial at Hulu to check it out (I like it... I don't like it well enough to pay $11.99 to watch one episode!). It was one of their 'story' episodes where Peter (I'll pause here and say if you don't know Family guy, just skip to the next paragraph as I'm not going to explain these characters or the show) and the family lose power or internet and he tells a story. In this case, how he and Lois got married. The whole thing was a riff on the 90s in general and the TV show Friends in particular.
I love that the 80s nostalgia will run over and cover the 90s too... but damn it, I got every single reference. I understood it as I lived through it! As an adult! Fuck, I feel old. And I'm only a couple years older than A and E. I have old friends.
B is getting used to working his new full time schedule. I'll be honest, I am so happy he took the plunge and went to work full time. Sure, he lost almost all of his free time as he'd been part time for so freaking long... but he's now earning money that will help him get his family back together. I hate his wife and wish he'd divorce her, but that's not my call. It's a strange schedule though. Six days on, two days off. That rotates until he has the last two days of a week off and the first two days of the next week off. Long weekend right!? Wrong. Their week ends/begins Wednesday/Thursday instead of Saturday/Sunday. So his four day weekend is Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday off. Weird.
R is as grouchy as ever, but he's heading 'up north' next weekend. His friend has a little cabin in the upper peninsula (Da U P!) and they go fishing and... fishing... and fishing... yeah they fish a lot. They do enjoy the nature, cook out, drink, smoke pot, ride their bikes/quads, and do other stuff. But it's primarily the fishing.
Work
Having so many nurses off sucks. The schedule is tight, nurses are signing up for overtime that hate overtime just to avoid getting mandated, and I'm still having to mandate nurses again and again. The HUM did mention that the state is opening up three positions for us. An LPN, an RN, and the RN13. The LPN will likely just be one of our contract LPNs taking the position, and then us hoping we can get another contract LPN so it can be a net gain (one more State LPN means one more person to mandate... in other words less mandations per individual over all!).
The RN position is a little trickier. I'm fairly sure we have true open space on our RN roster, so we can hire a brand new state RN and not bother our contractual RNs. Right now we have 5 contractual RNs. One has been offered a state position and is in the last bits of paperwork to get hired on. One is a traveling nurse and is making double what any state nurse makes, so there's no way she'd want to hire on as a state employee. The other contractuals are happy where they're at. They're not lured by paid holidays, paid leave, paid sick leave, a retirement package, health insurance, or any of that. What they do like is the freedom of scheduling. Where our nurses have to request time off, they just tell me what days they want off. Oh, it can't be once the schedule is out, but that means about a month in advance. Any vacation they want, they get. They also do not get mandated. I couldn't mandate them even if I wanted to.
BUT the problem is we're only allotted a certain amount of RNs. Contractual, traveling, or state. We still count any of our nurses that have been dragged up to another facility on our roster. So if this state position fills us up, we're fine. BUT if we're full and we hire a new state nurse, we'd have to let one of the contractual go. And the state is pushing us into that position as they don't want contractual any longer. I think sometime this year, I'll probably lose at least one contractual nurse that is a great member of our team. They won't apply, they won't accept a state job, and we'll fill in their slot with a nurse we don't know, leaving them out in the cold.
The RN13... FUCK YEAH!!!!! It's About Damn Time!
We've been short at least one RN13 for almost the entire time I've been in my position. It started with Ja as the HUM along with 13s T and D. I didn't like D. We'd worked as floor nurses together and we just had opposing views on nursing and management. I worked at getting her out of her position and I believe she left on medical leave about 4 months after I started. K came on as an acting 13. 13 by the way is the pay code for the nursing supervisor position. I don't know why the supervisors go by Nurse Manager or Nurse Supervisor, but they don't. They just go by 13. Anywho, T retired a little after that... maybe six months.
We hired on K as a permanent 13 and brought up H as another acting 13. H loved the job, but only because he saw it as easy. It's not easy and he was making K's and my jobs harder by not doing his well. We eventually knocked him back down and brought up Jo as an acting. Jo was fine... but he'd only been hired on as a state nurse for a few months and had only been working as an RN for a few months more. He wasn't qualified to take the actual position. He's young though, a hard worker, takes learning and doing seriously, and would have made a great 13. But, this is where it started to go downhill fast.
There was a 13, M, at a different facility that had been trying to transfer in for years. I guess she was already upset that both K and I had been hired as new 13s instead of letting her transfer. But that's the way J worked. She was, I hate to admit it, small minded and didn't like new people. Hell, M came with a glowing recommendation and was a great 13. Anyway, she actually threatened to quit if she couldn't transfer, so that led the state to force her upon us. Jo had to step back as a floor nurse, but our team was complete with full state employees. No 'acting' 13s. Ja running the show, K, M, and myself. But two things happened in quick succession. Ja took medical leave. She had ongoing medical issues which made COVID more of a threat to her and at first, she thought she had it. She didn't... but she never came back. M was also pulled back to her old facility as they were so badly staffed. That's when we lost a total of 5 nurses to that facility. That left K and I running the whole thing. K was eventually pegged as the acting HUM which left all 13 responsibilities to me. Technically, K and I handled them together... but she could have just laid it all on my lap while she worked on the HUM responsibilities.
M eventually came back and K officially got her position as HUM, and that's been our team for about 6 months now. K running the show with M and I sharing the 13 responsibilities. There are just SO many responsibilities and one of the biggest ones on my plate is scheduling. I make the 4 week schedule and I make each daily schedule. Neither K nor M get in my way on these issues and, for the most part, refer all questions regarding scheduling to me. That's because its a huge task and takes a lot to manage it well. But that task is in addition to me running half of the facility. I do all the paroles. I have to do my drug and tool counts. I have to answer all letters to the supervisor on that side of the facility and do all the grievances on that side of the facility. I manage the nurses that work on that side of the facility and help manage the others (just as M helps mange mine). I'm also assigned 'extra' tasks like auditing several of our policy directives. I have to participate in the monthly safety meetings, case management meetings, operations meetings... and evidently it's been expected that I'd participate in the monthly special management meetings even though the special management housing is on the other side of the facility and under M's supervision.
I won't lie. I have yet to manage all of this correctly. Stuff gets dropped. Stuff gets done half assed. I get in trouble.
So, getting another 13 to take some of that off my plate would be VASTLY appreciated. Ideally, I'd return to where I started, out in our RTP units. There are less daily/weekly/monthly tasks to do and I could focus on the schedule, managing nurses, and participating in all of these damned meetings.
Now, one thing that happened when I was told we had these positions opening up was our HUM saying who would make a good fit or not. I know we have at least 4 nurses that want a management position. Some have previous management experience, some have a lot of nursing experience. None of them are perfect. But then again, I'm not perfect, M isn't perfect, K wasn't perfect, and neither T nor D were perfect. But K knocks each off by stating a problem they have. So-and-so is a little too bossy (sounds like a good trait for a supervisor, even as I admit its not a good trait for a floor nurse). So-and-so made some mistakes in her charting (M, K, and I still make mistakes in our charting!). H was lazy when he was an acting 13. And Jo... well, he's only been pulled to the other facility, been made their acting 13 for 3 months now, and is now fully qualified to take the position. But the warden was once pissed at him and K says she couldn't hire him without the warden's say.
By the way... the warden has absolutely NO say in who gets hired as a nursing supervisor. None. We certainly wouldn't want to hire someone that he doesn't like out of spite... but if he's qualified and does a good job, then I don't see why we make a decision that's good for us and might upset the warden. K took this opportunity to clap back at the idea that she was the "Warden's Princess". That's a nickname she's earned. Note that word choice there... she's EARNED it. She thinks it's because the warden likes her and suggested she get the permeant HUM position. I, as well as everybody else that thinks of her as the Warden's Princess disagree. She earns that nickname because she does whatever the warden says. That's WHY he wanted her as the HUM. Ja may not have been a great HUM and she certainly had her own problems... but she ran healthcare as it should be. Something along side custody, but not under the thumb of custody. If the warden can control the HUM, then custody controls healthcare. And right now, custody controls healthcare. Anyway, there's no reason to try and convince her that Jo would be a good candidate as she just won't cross what she believes the warden would say. Hell, I could go face to face with the warden and convince him that Jo is the best man for the job without any consideration... but she won't even think about that. She's under his thumb and in this respect is actually anticipating his wants instead of even considering our needs.
So after she eliminated every single nurse, she came back to two. M, who has been one of our midnight nurses for over eight years now, and G who has been an afternoon nurse for about eight years. M has stated before that she likes midnights both for the hours and the fact that she doesn't like people. I like M, but I don't think she has the desire to be a supervisor. G, I believe, has the ability but he's wound really tight. He's also told me that he, in no way whatsoever, wants my job. Umm... okay. So neither of her choices has said they want the job. Others have said they want it, but they've been eliminated already. What happens if we don't get any external applicants, don't convince M or G, and have some of the other 'eliminated' nurses apply?
I don't have an answer to that. I don't think K has an answer either. I thinks he's going on the belief that she'll find her candidate, convince them to apply, and then decide to hire them before any interviews are done.
eek... I almost forgot to mention the FMLA. Well, in short it got approved. It couldn't have happened at a better time as it was on the second day of a migraine and it saved my bacon. I can use it up to 8 times a month, for up to two days at a time. I can use sick leave or annual leave to cover it and if I run out, I go into a non paid status that isn't quite lost time.
I'm hoping, of course, that I don't have to use it all that often, but it's nice to know I have it in case I am about to get written up.
Entertainment
Why can't I finish anything. I was watching The Americans back in December/January, but got distracted by several movies. By the time I was ready to return, I didn't. I started watching something else. Then something else. Then most recently I moved on to Mad Men. I took a little break and then last night instead of cueing up the next episode, I just wandered around Youtube. I ended up on Doctor Who in general and the Weeping Angels in particular.
A quick word about Doctor Who and my relationship with the show. I was introduced to it in High School when it was circling the drain. But it had been on for 26 seasons at that point. I thought the idea was cool, but never really got into it. Fast forward to 2005 and the revived it. I liked that they didn't fast forward or skip a 'generation' or anything like that... they just picked up where they left off with a new Doctor. I've seen bits and pieces of it and have always wanted to make the Weeping Angels into a monster for a Dungeons and Dragons campaign. Well, last night I decided to watch an episode about them. At the end of the episode, the two companions of the Doctor were... killed? I just had to see the next episode and find out who the next compaion would be... but she died in that very episode. So I had to watch the next one. And at the end of that episode it's clear she WILL be the companion, but she isn't the companion yet. So now I want to watch the next episode.
Well fuck, now I kind of want to pause it there, back up, and watch the whole thing. Not the WHOLE thing... I'm not watching bad BBC sci fi from the 1960s, 70, or even 80s. But I could start with the revival and watch the 175 episodes since.
Damn it.
Umm... no new songs. I did get 'King of Wistful Thinking' but that was a bit of nostolgia and it's already fallen out of favor.
I obviously just updated my previous post. Still happy about getting the new computer.
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