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Re: $3 for a water or $7 for a beer, anyone? + my weekend summaryOF DOOM

Daniel J. Temmesfeld wrote:

>this weekend, within a 36-hour period, I...
>  
>
>- saw King's X (stunning performance of mostly older
>    material)
>- saw Joe Satriani (he was kind of boring, though)
>- saw Dream Theater (Doug Pinnick of King's X came out and
>    sang on one song, too)
>- saw Tomahawk (Mike Patton is a master of noise)
>- saw Tool (nevermind... Maynard James Keenan is king of
>
Full weekend indeed.  I would have traded you, if you wanted...but I 
suppose it's too late now.

>- got a speeding ticket (d'oh! - amortize that over 2 years,
>    though, and it's basically $3.75/month charge for
>    speeding; so not too bad)

Very good way to think of it.  On the other hand, I'm still  on the flat-rate $0.00/month introductory rate, and have been for over five years.  It's not that I drive legally, it's just that I'm apparently good at dodging cops.  =)  That, and talking my way out of things; the worst I've ever had was a verbal warning.

>*and* i managed to get my laundry done, too...
>  
>
You're a better man than I.

I *did* manage to get dishes done, and that was a higher priority.  The 
laundry just may get done in a bit here.

The poblem is, I'm dead tired.  My job just about killed me.  I didn't 
get the hours I had scheduled until last Wednesday.  Up until that 
point, I was planning in having a nice, relaxing weekend with my family. 
 It turned out to be the work weekend from hell.

(Optional bacground:  My month-old job is working as a Direct Support 
Technician with developmentally disabled adults.  That means I help them 
live their day-to day lives.  Think customer support...with some tough 
customers.  We have everything from quadriplegia to mental retardation 
and behavior disorders.  The DSTs work in a group home with between four 
and eight residents, helping them with whatever they need to get by. 
 It's very need-based.  Some clients just need gentle reminders that 
it's time to take a bath.  Others, you have to bathe them.  It's an 
adventure a minute.

I enjoy it, really I do, because I'm really a techie by trade - and this 
stretches my brain in ways drugs could never do.  I like experiencing 
life, and this is more real than pretty much anything I have ever done. 
 On the flipside, this job stresses me more than any job has before. 
 Because I'm so out-of-my-element, there's danger around every curve. 
 Or so it seems.)

As I said, I was going to have a relaxign weekend, while it turned out 
to be anything but.  I started at a house with four weelchair-using 
clients friday night at 5.  I worked until 10:30 that night, then got to 
sleep at the house.  At six in the morning, I was back on the clock for 
a three-hour shift.

Things calmed down again until Sunday morning at nine, when the *really* 
long day started.  There would normally be a second staff member for the 
bulk of the day, but the holiday weekend made it impossible for the 
house manager to get a second person to help me.  Effectively flying 
solo, I had the whole day from when I got there until eleven at night. 
 Some people have  ahard enough time trying to take care of themselves 
over the course of a day, imagine taking care of four people in addition 
to yourself.

So, I finally got to sleep again, only to be waken again at 3:30.  One 
of the residents had to go the bathroom, and I was just the guy to take 
her there.  It was just five minutes of work...but interrupting my sleep 
like that is not the way to make me cheerful.  Especially since I needed 
to be back up again at six.  This morning wasn't too bad, since it's a 
holiday they get to sleep in.  I got home and passed out.  I was 
originally going to nap for a couple hours, but it turned into four and 
a half hours due to my overall lack of sleep.  I got back up and futzed 
aroud for a good portion of the afternoon and early evening, until 5:30 
rolled around.  At that time, the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hello, is Christian there?"

"This is he."

"Oh.  This is Violet at [second home name].  Did you know you were 
supposed to work tonight from five to eight?"

"Uh...when did that happen?"

"I don't know, you're on the schedule."

Great, I think.  More work is just what I need.  Especially work no on 
took the time to inform me of until /after I was supposed to be there/. 
 So, I get on my bike and head out for three more hours of work.  It 
wasn't so bad, but I feel I was thoroughly useless.  Since I'm new at 
the second house, I don't know any of the clients well - so it's hard to 
relate and work with them.  After this weekend I should be better 
prepared to work with them.

But...wow.  I'm glad it's over.  I was effectively on the job for 
forty-two hours out of the last seventy-six.  It hurts.

Thanks for listening to me complain. I'm sure some of you have had it 
far worse at one time or another, but I really needed to let that out...

-Smitty the Work-a-holic (yeah, right)

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