Beautiful Pain
Sequence of Events
starting June 22nd...
1. (6/22) During my clinical experience at a nursing home to earn my CNA lisence(kind of like a student doctor's internship at a hospital) I was partially responsible for a 104 year old woman who is tube fed, severely contracted and unconcious, being rolled out of her bed and falling on her head from the hospital style bed's top height. I tried to catch her but she was so heavy that she just slid right out of my arms, down my thighs and smacked her head on the floor. She bled all over the floor and I got some on my pants and shirt while lifting her back onto her bed with the CNA I was training with. Then once RNs started showing up, the CNA blamed it all on me.
2. (6/22) I got home from my clinical experience to hear a message from the HR deptartment on my answering machine. I returned it only to be fired from the head of HR, not my own supervisor, on the phone. I was fired for not adhering to the dress code and for using profane language in front of a resident. This comes not three weeks after I had a meeting with my supervisor who said that I was respectful of the residents and that I was living up to the Mount's mission statement. The only thing that I could improve on was using the computers during break time and I did. I started to go down to the computer classroom on my breaks. This came as a total shock. I was not told once that I wasn't adhering to the dress code and I couldn't fathom saying anything remotely offensive in front of a resident. When I stated this to the HR head he said that since I was within my 90 day probationary period he didn't think that they should have to say anything to me about it. I later found out that what I said, the profanity, was actually not said in front of a resident. It was said in front of a co-worker. I was comiserating with her after dealing with a VERY difficult resident, and I said to my co-worker "I need a fucking drink." As for the dress code bullshit, I never once wore anything I wasn't supposed to, A: scrubs B: Sleeveless shirts C: sweatpants. The shirts that I sometimes wore might be interpreted as very short sleeves but I would expect someone in a supervisor position to say something to me. I always said that I loved that job, it was my favorite job I have ever had. They KNEW I would never intentionally do anything to jeopradize that. My best guess for the real reason I was fired? Political or it had to do with the fall that I had at work on 6/4.
3. (6/22) I decided to get away and visit some friends in Portland OR, for a much needed break
4. (6/23) I leave for Portland at 5:00 on a Friday...BIG MISTAKE! It took me 2 hours to get from Seattle to Olympia and when I'm just a touch outside of Olympia, I get a flat. Fortunatly it was on the drivers side so my rear wasn't hanging out on I-5 as I changed the tired but I was still quite annoyed by the additional delay. I did about 85-90/mph the rest of the way to Portland, stopping once for gas and to try to fill the deflated tire. There was a nasty leak/tear at the base of the air intake stem which meant that I had to make the rest of the trip still on my spare.
5. (6/23) I arrived in Portland around 9:00 to the sweetest Pig Dog face I had ever seen and some really awesome friends. We took a refreshing bike ride at night and it was SO NICE and so peaceful after everything that had happened.
6. (6/24) I meditated for the first time, for a half an hour. I couldn't believe how quickly the time seemed to go by. When I was done I felt this incredible sense of "wow-I-did-it" and the overwhelming need to cry, but it was a good cry...just a little embarassing to do after not seeing my friends for almost 3 years.
7. (6/25) My friends took me to a river in outside of Portland and we had a great day in the hot sun and in the river rapids. I smacked one of my legs so hard going over a rock that I still have a 3x2" bruise on my thigh.
8. (6/26) I began my journey home. I had a massage appointment at 5:00 so I left at about 1:45 to give myself plenty of time. Ten minutes after I left my friends house I hit stop and go traffic on I-5 heading out of Portland. I was in stop and go traffic for 45 minutes in 106 degree weather because some jackass decided to threaten to attempt suicide on the bridge between Oregon and Washington on a Monday afternoon. I hope he jumped. In hinds sight, at this point I should have pulled off the road and let my engine cool off, because when I first left Seattle my clutch was at the point where it worked but needed to be replaced. But I wanted to make it to my appointment so I pushed on. 45 minutes later my car started to really labor going over even gentle hills. I had to slam it into third to maintain speed at 65-70/mph. After about another 45 minutes I knew this wasn't good. I pulled off the highway at Exit 79, in Chehalis. (Almost directly between Seattle and Portland, about 90 miles out of Seattle) When I came to a stop sign I had to stomp on the gas to get the car to move and fortunately there was a gas station just a block away. I got the car into the parking area, turned off the engine and just started to sob. It took me a good ten minutes to compose myself to go into the gas station to ask for help. I couldn't have asked for a better place to break down but that didn't make the experience anymore fun for me. There was an auto shop about a block away and I walked there and got an estimate on how much it would cost to have my clutch replaced....650.00...750.00 if I needed a new fly wheel. I said I would call my father (My family is full of race car drivers and auto shop owners) and come back if I needed to. I wasn't ready to call my father so I called Doug. He was at work and lucky for me, his co-workers were sympathetic to my plight. They helped him finish his work in about 45 minutes and let him come down to get me. Meanwhile he told my crying self to find a restaurant and get myself out of the heat. A drink wouldn't hurt either. Again, lucky for me there was a Mexican restaurant behind the gas station...and it was happy hour. I went in, sat down, had a drink, took a deep breath and called my dad. He told me to call around to tow trucks and see how much it would cost, but to not pay more than 250.00. I waited a little bit and enjoyed some more maragitas and their daily special before I started to call around. The best deal that I could get was an ESTIMATED 300.00 and it might cost more depending on traffic. I called my dad and he said that he'd just talked to my uncle who owns an auto shop who had said that 650.00 to replace a clutch was a pretty good deal. I walked back to the auto shop but they were closed. I cleared my car spending the night in the gas station parking lot with the attendant and left them all of my info. I called the auto shop and explained the situation. Doug arrived about 6:30 and we went back into the Mexican place to have a drink before we hit the road. I got home at 9:00pm. A trip that should have taken 2.5-3 hours took about 7.5 hours and completely drained me and Doug's savings for our wedding.
9. (6/27) I lost my other job taking care of the kid with CP. I had thought that I would be getting a fulltime job at the Mount so I gave her my two weeks notice. When I came home and called she had already gotten someone to replace me.
Ahh, the beautiful pain that is life.
starting June 22nd...
1. (6/22) During my clinical experience at a nursing home to earn my CNA lisence(kind of like a student doctor's internship at a hospital) I was partially responsible for a 104 year old woman who is tube fed, severely contracted and unconcious, being rolled out of her bed and falling on her head from the hospital style bed's top height. I tried to catch her but she was so heavy that she just slid right out of my arms, down my thighs and smacked her head on the floor. She bled all over the floor and I got some on my pants and shirt while lifting her back onto her bed with the CNA I was training with. Then once RNs started showing up, the CNA blamed it all on me.
2. (6/22) I got home from my clinical experience to hear a message from the HR deptartment on my answering machine. I returned it only to be fired from the head of HR, not my own supervisor, on the phone. I was fired for not adhering to the dress code and for using profane language in front of a resident. This comes not three weeks after I had a meeting with my supervisor who said that I was respectful of the residents and that I was living up to the Mount's mission statement. The only thing that I could improve on was using the computers during break time and I did. I started to go down to the computer classroom on my breaks. This came as a total shock. I was not told once that I wasn't adhering to the dress code and I couldn't fathom saying anything remotely offensive in front of a resident. When I stated this to the HR head he said that since I was within my 90 day probationary period he didn't think that they should have to say anything to me about it. I later found out that what I said, the profanity, was actually not said in front of a resident. It was said in front of a co-worker. I was comiserating with her after dealing with a VERY difficult resident, and I said to my co-worker "I need a fucking drink." As for the dress code bullshit, I never once wore anything I wasn't supposed to, A: scrubs B: Sleeveless shirts C: sweatpants. The shirts that I sometimes wore might be interpreted as very short sleeves but I would expect someone in a supervisor position to say something to me. I always said that I loved that job, it was my favorite job I have ever had. They KNEW I would never intentionally do anything to jeopradize that. My best guess for the real reason I was fired? Political or it had to do with the fall that I had at work on 6/4.
3. (6/22) I decided to get away and visit some friends in Portland OR, for a much needed break
4. (6/23) I leave for Portland at 5:00 on a Friday...BIG MISTAKE! It took me 2 hours to get from Seattle to Olympia and when I'm just a touch outside of Olympia, I get a flat. Fortunatly it was on the drivers side so my rear wasn't hanging out on I-5 as I changed the tired but I was still quite annoyed by the additional delay. I did about 85-90/mph the rest of the way to Portland, stopping once for gas and to try to fill the deflated tire. There was a nasty leak/tear at the base of the air intake stem which meant that I had to make the rest of the trip still on my spare.
5. (6/23) I arrived in Portland around 9:00 to the sweetest Pig Dog face I had ever seen and some really awesome friends. We took a refreshing bike ride at night and it was SO NICE and so peaceful after everything that had happened.
6. (6/24) I meditated for the first time, for a half an hour. I couldn't believe how quickly the time seemed to go by. When I was done I felt this incredible sense of "wow-I-did-it" and the overwhelming need to cry, but it was a good cry...just a little embarassing to do after not seeing my friends for almost 3 years.
7. (6/25) My friends took me to a river in outside of Portland and we had a great day in the hot sun and in the river rapids. I smacked one of my legs so hard going over a rock that I still have a 3x2" bruise on my thigh.
8. (6/26) I began my journey home. I had a massage appointment at 5:00 so I left at about 1:45 to give myself plenty of time. Ten minutes after I left my friends house I hit stop and go traffic on I-5 heading out of Portland. I was in stop and go traffic for 45 minutes in 106 degree weather because some jackass decided to threaten to attempt suicide on the bridge between Oregon and Washington on a Monday afternoon. I hope he jumped. In hinds sight, at this point I should have pulled off the road and let my engine cool off, because when I first left Seattle my clutch was at the point where it worked but needed to be replaced. But I wanted to make it to my appointment so I pushed on. 45 minutes later my car started to really labor going over even gentle hills. I had to slam it into third to maintain speed at 65-70/mph. After about another 45 minutes I knew this wasn't good. I pulled off the highway at Exit 79, in Chehalis. (Almost directly between Seattle and Portland, about 90 miles out of Seattle) When I came to a stop sign I had to stomp on the gas to get the car to move and fortunately there was a gas station just a block away. I got the car into the parking area, turned off the engine and just started to sob. It took me a good ten minutes to compose myself to go into the gas station to ask for help. I couldn't have asked for a better place to break down but that didn't make the experience anymore fun for me. There was an auto shop about a block away and I walked there and got an estimate on how much it would cost to have my clutch replaced....650.00...750.00 if I needed a new fly wheel. I said I would call my father (My family is full of race car drivers and auto shop owners) and come back if I needed to. I wasn't ready to call my father so I called Doug. He was at work and lucky for me, his co-workers were sympathetic to my plight. They helped him finish his work in about 45 minutes and let him come down to get me. Meanwhile he told my crying self to find a restaurant and get myself out of the heat. A drink wouldn't hurt either. Again, lucky for me there was a Mexican restaurant behind the gas station...and it was happy hour. I went in, sat down, had a drink, took a deep breath and called my dad. He told me to call around to tow trucks and see how much it would cost, but to not pay more than 250.00. I waited a little bit and enjoyed some more maragitas and their daily special before I started to call around. The best deal that I could get was an ESTIMATED 300.00 and it might cost more depending on traffic. I called my dad and he said that he'd just talked to my uncle who owns an auto shop who had said that 650.00 to replace a clutch was a pretty good deal. I walked back to the auto shop but they were closed. I cleared my car spending the night in the gas station parking lot with the attendant and left them all of my info. I called the auto shop and explained the situation. Doug arrived about 6:30 and we went back into the Mexican place to have a drink before we hit the road. I got home at 9:00pm. A trip that should have taken 2.5-3 hours took about 7.5 hours and completely drained me and Doug's savings for our wedding.
9. (6/27) I lost my other job taking care of the kid with CP. I had thought that I would be getting a fulltime job at the Mount so I gave her my two weeks notice. When I came home and called she had already gotten someone to replace me.
Ahh, the beautiful pain that is life.