Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Is it Catsup, or Ketchup?

No. It's Catch-up.

I haven't posted much lately because I've been so dog-assed busy at work that I've been so dog-assed tired at night. I'm still trying to decide why I like my job. Is it because of the people I work with? Beullah and Charo are a riot! And everyone else is so nice. There is a great camaraderie there and it's a real pleasure to be with them every day. But some of the stress is giving me an ulcer. I've had two aides call me all last week begging me for work. I got an assignment for one who was so grateful and she thanked me repeatedly. The she fucking no-shows for work. This poor old lady is sitting at home all alone, waiting for someone to come help her get out of bed and feed her! I fired THAT bitch's ass on the spot. I call in the next one who again, was so happy I found something for her. The little old lady likes her, so I offer this aide the assignment permanently and cancelled the other one I had scheduled for the rest of the week. Apparently this chick was off her meds or something because she called 5! times to go over her schedule for the week. Then I get a call from Little Old Lady saying that the aide is freaking out and is leaving. I ask to speak to the aide who tells me that she is getting 5 different stories from 5 different people and she can't take it anymore and don't worry about paying her. I told her that I wasn't but she needed to finish her shift otherwise she could be held liable for abandoning her patient. As I was telling her that, she handed the phone to "LOL" and walks out of the house. So now we have to scramble, beg and bribe someone to go over there. On NO notice. The day before a holiday. And I couldn't go because I had to go to a new patient to introduce that aide and get the contract signed. We finally got the sales manager to go there to sit with "LOL" and try to smooth things over. And this is all while we are trying to fill assignments for new cases that want to start Thursday. No one answers their phone the day before a holiday. NO ONE! Instead of just saying no. So all these people who have a history of not returning calls are now in-activated. They are never going to get calls from us.

Some of the jobs are damn near impossible to fill too. Here's how clueless I am...During my interview I was told that some of the patients request a "blue-eyed blonde" for help. I said something about these people not understanding that we are a health care staffing agency, not a dating service. Beullah clued me in by telling me that apparently this is code for "Don't send me no damned colored girl". Um, what? I really did not know that is what they were requesting. Assholes. Then they back-pedal and say that it's not THEM, their father is a little "narrow minded". Most of the time "Dad" is in a coma or so far in dementia that he has no idea WHO is taking care of him. Reality check? We have about 5 "cheerleaders" on staff. Most of these people finally realize that if they want help they are going to have to get over their fucking racial biases or take care of their parents themselves. Some are slightly more subtle though. They ask if they can "interview" the aide beforehand. I tell them that the aide and I come together for the first visit so we can get the paperwork done and the aide and I can evaluate the environment together. I know what the family wants...they want to make sure the aide is white. Unbelievable! And when we tell all these bigoted fucks that what they are asking for is illegal, they don't care.

I also think I am getting jerked around by the company. I was hired to ultimately be branch manager of a new office. I would spend a few weeks in the corporate office to learn the ropes, then 2 days in corporate 3 days in new office until new office was up and running. Then I would be branch manager and get a big raise for the title. Until then, I would be a staffing liaison which pays a lot less. Ok, I understand learning curve. No problem, it would only last about a month. The other person they had in the office who would be the S.L. for the corporate office ended up being let go because she had no phone skills whatsoever. And Beullah is in no hurry to replace her. She doesn't want to go through the process of training someone else and having HER not work out either. So until she decides to get her shit together and take a chance on someone else, I am stuck in corporate unless I have to run out to new office for an interview. AND I don't get my raise until then either.

For the past two weeks, I woken up in the middle of the night gasping for air as I am choking on acid reflux-near bile. I chug some Pepto and spend the rest of the night on the couch with my head propped up on the arm. This kind of freaks my shit out because that was how my friend Peggy died 5 years ago. Up until now I really thought it was a suicide. Now I am wondering if it really was her choking on vomit since her husband told me she was found covered in it. I need to try some Prilosec or something. If that doesn't work, then its off to a doc for something stronger. Freak-out aside, I am not sleeping well because of this.

There are some things that I do love about the job, but I am wondering if all the stress is worth it. I put aside my thoughts about creating my own professional organizer business since I got this job. I know it would take a while to get that started and we couldn't survive without a steady paycheck from me. I may revisit that idea, but I have no idea when I could even start that...I am just so dog-assed tired to do it.
Manic Witch wove her spell:: 7/04/2007 08:06:00 AM ::
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