Work, Trips, and Cons!
Well it turns out that my video post last time around was a complete bust (only 5 views, and 3 of them were my own). So it's back to regular text posting unless I have something else to vlog about in the future.
Anyway, it's about time that I posted about relevant things that have happened in the past few weeks, for my own benefit, and for the commenting pleasure of my readers. First things first, let's talk about work. Work's been kinda nice, as far as the business levels and the effect that it's been having on my sanity. As I mentioned in my last vlog, I'm working a different shift than I have been for the past almost 4 years. Now that I'm working days, my mental health has been significantly better, and my home life has been pretty cool too. But there's still a problem, and it's going to be affecting our well being sooner or later. Long story short, we're still horrendously short staffed. The county is broke, and is on a hiring freeze (both for sworn and professional staff like myself). So that would usually mean that the existing staff would have to start working overtime to fill in the gaps, right? Nope. As of the beginning of last week, ALL overtime (both paid and "saved/non-paid") is forbidden. So how are we filling those vacancies? By "carping", which means that people in specialized positions (detectives, administrative, sergeants, lieutenants, etc...) are being forced to work both patrol and the front desk to help alleviate the shortcomings. Typically, I'd be supportive of such practices, but the problem here is that those people aren't trained to work positions like the front desk, and this "help" ends up having to be babysat by myself and my co-workers, and ends up being more stressful than before! The other issue is that people like detectives are getting pulled away, weeks at a time, from their investigations, and they're beginning to pile up. I had one detective say that she has a pile of cases on her desk that keep coming in, and she's been at her desk for 3 days out of the past 10, and people are wondering why things aren't getting done! So, this little escapade that we have going on here is becoming quite the headache, and it's going to take some sort of miracle to get out of this mess that we're in.
On the more fun side of things, last week, myself and Annie decided to take a VERY impromptu trip to Arizona. We literally decided on Monday that we were going to drive out to the desert on Wednesday and return that Saturday. Of course, we had to visit tally-kat and her fiance while we were there, as well as Annie's dad. It was seriously a really great time. Our friends were so awesome for letting us crash their pad on such short notice, and for entertaining us, on such short notice. We got to go to the casino, check out some local eateries (which were AMAZING), and generally putz around doing cool-kid things! I'm very glad that everything worked out the way it did. I'm almost considering making that sort of trip on a monthly basis, since my mother-in-law has a house out there. I mean, what's a 6-hour drive every month to go see friends and family? And now that my schedule sort of allows it, it could very well be a plausible option. Maybe if I plan things out next time, we could do something with the group of people that I know out there. It could very well be good times!
Let's see... what else... In two weeks, there's going to be a local furry con that's going to be happening. At first glance, Antheria seemed to be something that I was just going to check out, and really not spend a lot of time or money on. But as the days went by, I was learning that a lot of people that I know are actually going to be coming here and enjoying the con. So it looks like I will be an attendee at their first shot at a con in LA. Only problem was that I made this decision a little late in the game and pre-registration closed before I could secure my spot. I should have signed up months ago when I was able to get a 25% discount on the sponsor membership, but alas, I didn't. If it's worth it, I'll do it next year. Anywho, I"ll be taking pretty_omi's advice and just "ghost" for a little while, and if it's worth it, I'll get myself a badge to do some of the more entertaining stuff. I mean, what's a visit to a con without visiting the DD or something, right? The other thing is that I won't be suiting at Antheria, simply because I won't have a room to change/shower in. Those kinds of things are essential when suiting, I think. Plus, I'd have nowhere to store my suit, and I really am not comfortable leaving it in the car. Besides, FC is around the corner, and I'll definitely get my fix then!
So that's it for now, I was able to get a lot out and hopefully there will be more antics in the future that I'll be able to post about.
Anyway, it's about time that I posted about relevant things that have happened in the past few weeks, for my own benefit, and for the commenting pleasure of my readers. First things first, let's talk about work. Work's been kinda nice, as far as the business levels and the effect that it's been having on my sanity. As I mentioned in my last vlog, I'm working a different shift than I have been for the past almost 4 years. Now that I'm working days, my mental health has been significantly better, and my home life has been pretty cool too. But there's still a problem, and it's going to be affecting our well being sooner or later. Long story short, we're still horrendously short staffed. The county is broke, and is on a hiring freeze (both for sworn and professional staff like myself). So that would usually mean that the existing staff would have to start working overtime to fill in the gaps, right? Nope. As of the beginning of last week, ALL overtime (both paid and "saved/non-paid") is forbidden. So how are we filling those vacancies? By "carping", which means that people in specialized positions (detectives, administrative, sergeants, lieutenants, etc...) are being forced to work both patrol and the front desk to help alleviate the shortcomings. Typically, I'd be supportive of such practices, but the problem here is that those people aren't trained to work positions like the front desk, and this "help" ends up having to be babysat by myself and my co-workers, and ends up being more stressful than before! The other issue is that people like detectives are getting pulled away, weeks at a time, from their investigations, and they're beginning to pile up. I had one detective say that she has a pile of cases on her desk that keep coming in, and she's been at her desk for 3 days out of the past 10, and people are wondering why things aren't getting done! So, this little escapade that we have going on here is becoming quite the headache, and it's going to take some sort of miracle to get out of this mess that we're in.
On the more fun side of things, last week, myself and Annie decided to take a VERY impromptu trip to Arizona. We literally decided on Monday that we were going to drive out to the desert on Wednesday and return that Saturday. Of course, we had to visit tally-kat and her fiance while we were there, as well as Annie's dad. It was seriously a really great time. Our friends were so awesome for letting us crash their pad on such short notice, and for entertaining us, on such short notice. We got to go to the casino, check out some local eateries (which were AMAZING), and generally putz around doing cool-kid things! I'm very glad that everything worked out the way it did. I'm almost considering making that sort of trip on a monthly basis, since my mother-in-law has a house out there. I mean, what's a 6-hour drive every month to go see friends and family? And now that my schedule sort of allows it, it could very well be a plausible option. Maybe if I plan things out next time, we could do something with the group of people that I know out there. It could very well be good times!
Let's see... what else... In two weeks, there's going to be a local furry con that's going to be happening. At first glance, Antheria seemed to be something that I was just going to check out, and really not spend a lot of time or money on. But as the days went by, I was learning that a lot of people that I know are actually going to be coming here and enjoying the con. So it looks like I will be an attendee at their first shot at a con in LA. Only problem was that I made this decision a little late in the game and pre-registration closed before I could secure my spot. I should have signed up months ago when I was able to get a 25% discount on the sponsor membership, but alas, I didn't. If it's worth it, I'll do it next year. Anywho, I"ll be taking pretty_omi's advice and just "ghost" for a little while, and if it's worth it, I'll get myself a badge to do some of the more entertaining stuff. I mean, what's a visit to a con without visiting the DD or something, right? The other thing is that I won't be suiting at Antheria, simply because I won't have a room to change/shower in. Those kinds of things are essential when suiting, I think. Plus, I'd have nowhere to store my suit, and I really am not comfortable leaving it in the car. Besides, FC is around the corner, and I'll definitely get my fix then!
So that's it for now, I was able to get a lot out and hopefully there will be more antics in the future that I'll be able to post about.