Long weekend but not free

Well, although yesterday by all accounts should’ve been a ‘great sleep day’ it did not turn out to be so. I no longer have small children or babysitters to blame for interrupting my day sleep and the day was one of those dreary rainy ones which are best slept through but….after doing all the required day sleep planning (shutting off the phone and leaving a message, putting up the dark window blind, sticking signs on the door warning any approachers that I was hibernating, putting in my ear plugs and setting the white noise machine on) then crawling into bed at 8:30 a.m. I promptly became unconscious until….2 p.m. and that was it. There was no more sleep to be had. I stayed horizontal until 3 p.m. in hopes that I might drift back to sleep but not the case so was up until this a.m. Last night was one of those really long nights. I am not usually amongst the ranks of my co-workers who sleep poorly during the day but did identify with them last night. I had returned from the NSNU Bargaining Conference by 8 p.m. on Monday night and managed to sleep in Tuesday morning so I really shouldn’t whine.

It appears that this may be a ‘hard bargaining year’ according to the union president due to the economy and government cutbacks so as usual I am heading into the union situation during exciting times. I was amazed at the many things I learned in my first conference and so must try to find a few minutes to type up some minutes for my union sistas. We haven’t been active locally for a few years so have been out of the loop with the finer details. A good use for my talents and outlet for my angst about ‘being invisible’ as I told my coworkers last night after reading a story in the local newspaper celebrating the recruitment drive which had netted six new RNs (in addition I would make seven as there were three hired before I moved over and three after) during the past year. It is a rather free feeling to think that if I don’t exist I can’t be called to task for some of my actions and not being tied to a ‘return of service agreement’ means I am without encumbrances.

Last night was nonstop so that did not afford a chance to succumb to the sleep deprivation and it was a good (long in the tooth crew) which at least meant no worries about watching your back or not knowing the players. And since none of us had lost the ability to laugh (even at ourselves) it was less painful than it sounds. They assured me that (with the latest hoopla over recruitment) I was completely reabsorbed back into the fold of long term, underappreciated staff who loved me. Ha! Who needs a reception when you can order out from A-1 pizza and have it delivered?

The shore captain headed down to the city for meetings today and the plan is to seek a father of the bride suit with the bride’s consultation after his meetings finish. Since he had to be sent back to remove his grey work socks and exchange them for dark socks to go with the black shirt and pants which he wore for the graduation…it is always wise to have a fashion advisor accompany him for such important events as there will be photographic evidence of his choices.

Since I have just regained consciousness, put on a loaf of brown bread, made some supper for the rally truck mechanic aka only son and excavated some of the debris left by two males cohabiting with me, I am now off to provision this place (and seek high-speed internet access to post this) in less remote locale. Groceries in house are required as I am headed out for my TNCC (trauma nursing) course tomorrow pm. The schedule is Friday evening 6 – 9:30 p.m. and 8am – 6 pm Saturday and Sunday which is a full way to spend the long weekend in May eh? Not much time in there for a Frenchy’s shop but I will have time to catch up with a former work team mate who has snagged a 60% position in ER after bailing from the previous circus as I did. He summed it up when he emailed “all I get is chest pain when I look back to that time now”. I head back to work on Monday morning for a LD, the first of my four shifts. There were murmurings from a coworker last night who was spontaneously offered to switch my day on Monday for a LN but she would “let me know” and after I woke up today it occurred to me that this likely had to do as much with the 12 hrs of holiday premium to be earned as her wanting to ‘give me a break’ as she proposed it. Whatever – let me know.

A friend asked if I am enjoying my Kobo ebook reader and the answer is yes but I just need to find some time to actually read the books I’ve downloaded and Kobo zendesk (yes that is the name) can’t help with that. Although they are amongst the most professional and efficient group of techs I’ve encountered as the term ‘help desk’ should sometimes be prefaced with an un!