Catching Up ... Again!

Wow, I did it again and missed another whole week in between posts!  Ooops ... I've had good reason, though, as last week I was as busy as that little fella in the picture above as I worked a whole bunch of days in a row to make up for the time that I had taken off to wander around Cape Ann and Concord/Lexington in Massachusetts and tossed in an overtime shift for good measure while I was at it.  I had two day shifts that were bracketed on each end with double shifts so it made for a long work week but it was worth it to have had six days in a row off previous to that in spite of the fact that I hate getting up early!

Saturday found me up early yet again as I had a table at the Canterbury Historical Society's Annual Indoor Tag Sale and yet again it was worth it as I made about $80 selling stuff that I hadn't even looked at in years and totally forgot I had until I dug it out for the sale.  My goal was to a) make back the $10 that I paid for the table and b) not bring back a carload of stuff - goals that were quite nicely accomplished!  Having just one table at a tag sale is so much easier than doing an entire tag sale at one's own home; hopefully I can join in again next year!

Sunday it was back to work followed by grocery shopping on Monday before work (there really WAS nothing to eat in the house this time!) and then another double on Tuesday before my short work week ended and I got to sleep in this morning before finally catching up on a bit of blog reading.  As I was so far behind in that, I used the option to mark everything as read that was over a day old (I don't recall that Google Reader had that option before but it's great!).  I just hope that I didn't miss any major news anywhere - if I did, please let me know!

I was going to spend my next four days off just hanging around the house and catching up on things but then the thought dawned on me last night that perhaps this would be the perfect chance to go spend a few days out on Cape Cod before tourist season begins and I don't want to go anywhere near the place as it's too crowded and the cost of lodging skyrockets. Provincetown is on my list of places that I need to cover for my project with the Hawthorne Hotel plus there are lots of lighthouses out there that I just need to photograph!  The plan is to take the girls along with me and then keep my fingers crossed that they get along for the trip otherwise I may be just leaving them out on the Cape!  I made sure to book a hotel in Hyannis that has an indoor pool, free WiFi, free breakfast, and as a bonus it's within walking distance of the Cape Cod Mall so if that doesn't keep them happy, I don't know what will.

I'm hoping that while Jamie and I attempt to climb the Pilgrim's Monument in Provincetown so that I can get some pictures, that Amanda will look around at some of the many art galleries that are there and get some inspiration for new artwork. I'm not even going to ask her if she wants to do the monument with us as she's got a bit of a fear of heights - something I used to have but have surprisingly gotten over as I've gotten older.  Must be that whole "I need to take pictures!" thing that supersedes that whole "it's too high!" thing! I've only been to P'Town once so I'm looking forward to the trip as well as lunch at The Lobster Pot which I seem to recall as being very, very good!

So, I guess I'll go make a list of places that I want to wander to and then think about tossing some clothes in a suitcase!  Hope your Wednesday and the rest of the week is wonderful!

40 in 56

I've got a short week at work but not because I'm working any less hours, I'm just working them all at once. Double, double, single gives me my entire 40-hour week all packed into the space of three days. I'm sure I'll be wiped out come 3:00 p.m. Wednesday but then I've got four glorious days off - with the exception of a quick annual OSHA refresher Sunday morning.

So why the crammed hours this week? I switched shifts with a fellow dispatcher so he could go to a job fair in Virginia for a railroad company. Kevin loves all things train and his dream job would be working on the railroad. We've all got our fingers crossed that he comes back with good news. If not, at least he got to take an Amtrak trip so maybe that will be worth something ... maybe??

Speaking of which, in 10 days I'll be taking an Amtrak ride myself when I head south for my cruise - a vacation that can't come soon enough! Especially with the craziness of work lately. Speaking of which, I gotta go!

It's Going to Be One of "Those" Winters

As I was heading into work early yesterday morning via ambulance transport - not to worry, I was in the passenger seat! - myself and the the two EMTs who had ventured out into the nasty weather to bring me into work were discussing when the last time we'd had a major winter storm like the one we were in the midst of.  We decided that it was around Christmastime in 2002 as best we could all recollect but there was no doubt about it, we were having ourselves a doozie of a storm and we all came to the conclusion that we were going to be having one of "those" winters as this was the third time in less than a week that we were receiving a decent amount of snow.  Granted, yesterday's close-to-two feet of snow made the weekend's 8 to 10 inches pale in comparison but still ... snow three times in one week?  And they're predicting another storm this Sunday and possibly again on Tuesday or Wednesday of the next week.  Oy!

Anyhow, even though I was only supposed to work eight hours yesterday, I ended up staying for a little over 16 hours as one of the other dispatchers couldn't make it in and as I'm a fool dedicated employee, I offered to stay to cover for her.  After all, I was already there so why not just stay?  It wasn't a hideously busy day as obviously all doctors' offices were closed and hospitals weren't trying too hard to send people back to their respective nursing homes and such in the middle of a storm but 911 is still 911 regardless of the weather so we had a fair share of emergencies ... sort of.

I had brought my camera to work with me as Callie likes it when I take pictures from the window in dispatch so I've got two here plus one more over on Picturing A Moment in Time:

The picture above is the view from our window in dispatch probably around noon or so.  We overlook American Wharf Marina and the Norwich Police Department is just a bit to the right of us so you can see the entrance to their lower parking lot.  I think buses were running but if not, that guy at the bus stop was going to be waiting awhile!  I had to vignette this one as trying to take a picture through a window of a lot of white snow is a lot trickier than one might think!  Without the vignette, the picture just kind of fades away.

This picture was taken from a different area of the building and looks towards the north.  That big snow-covered brick building is Christ Church and just to the other side of it is a big house that has been turned into apartments that had a roof collapse from the weight of the snow.  You can read about that here if you're so inclined.  I sent a couple ambulances over to stand by so that the displaced residents had someplace warm to wait until the Red Cross was able to find them shelter and then we gave a few of them a ride to that location.  Fortunately no one was hurt but there are ten people without homes now.

Anyway, speaking of dispatch, it's about time for me to head back over there and work today's shift.  Normally I'm there for 16 hours on Thursdays but my boss offered to cover for me for awhile this morning so that I could recover from yesterday's 16+-hours and sleep in a little later.  I very happily said "yes" and "thank you" to his generous offer as even though the money is nice, I'm getting a little too old to do double-doubles with only eight hours in between - as painful as that it is for me to admit!  Thanks again, Matt!

Oh, and may I just say to all of the paramedics, EMTs, my fellow dispatchers, and the handful of other folks who battled the storm and made it into work yesterday - you all rock and I'm proud to say I work with you!

Not to Keep You Waiting Any Longer But ...

... I'm going to be keeping you waiting a little longer!  Now, I know ya'll have been really looking forward to my post(s) about our recent stay at the Hawthorne Hotel and please believe me that I am working diligently at picture-editing and the like but it's been a pretty hectic last couple of days what with spending three days in Massachusetts before hostessing our what-has-now-become Annual Dispatch & Scheduling Christmas Party at my house last night.  As you can see from the picture below, a fine time was had by all but of course I had to spend most of Saturday cleaning the house, baking some desserts, and just generally running around like a chicken with my head cut off to make sure everything was just "so"!  It's the Virgo in me and I just can't help it sometimes!

In case you're wondering what we're doing in that picture - one of our former dispatchers who left the company last spring to move to Oklahoma and start a small restaurant, was diagnosed with cancer shortly after he moved west.  Russ loved his Jack Daniels so we thought it would be nice to have a toast in his honor and take a picture to send out to him just to let him know we hadn't forgotten him and that he was there with us in spirit last night if not in person. Cheers, Russ!

As for the rest of this post, Amanda is probably going to want to wring my neck or take away my Nikon when she sees it, but I thought it would be fun to post some of the "outtakes" from when I was trying to get her to pose in front of the door to the second room that we stayed in at the Hawthorne like I've done in the past with Jamie.  Needless to say, it was quite the undertaking!

"Okay, so what do you want me to do?"

"But I'm not scared so how am I supposed to look scared?"

"Derp!"

"Snort!"

"How about we go for contemplative instead of scared?" 

"I know!  We shall ward off the evil within!"

"Oh come on, Mom! Don't you have at least one you can use yet?"

Well, I guess it's pretty easy to see who the actress in the family is ... 

Now if you'll excuse me, I guess I'll go back to working on that other post now! 

I'd Like to Thank the Academy ...

As I may have mentioned (or not), I haven't been working anywhere near the number of hours that I had been working now that we are actually up to staff in our dispatch center - knock on wood or any reasonable facsimile!  I've picked up an extra shift or two here or there but right now 40 hours a week is the norm and even though my paycheck is decidedly lighter, I'm rather enjoying a standard work week and having more time to do things other than tell ambulance crews where to go and sometimes what to do when they get there!

I believe I also mentioned a couple times that work had been totally stressing me out for awhile there but I contribute most of that to the fact that I was totally stressed about so many other things that work couldn't help but be added to the mix.  As much as I try, it's not possible to leave all of the personal baggage in the hall by my locker and some of it invariably gets carted into the dispatch center with me.  I wish that weren't the case but alas, I'm only human.

All that said, it was quite the very pleasant surprise when I went into work this past Tuesday afternoon that not only was there some of Renee's extremely delicious chocolate-chip banana bread waiting for me but my supervisor handed me something that I really wasn't expecting - the award for Employee of the Month for June!

I have always thought that it's pretty darned cool that I work for a company that recognizes its employees even though there are those who think the program is in need of a revamp (a sentiment that I have shared myself from time to time as even though it is a good program, I think it has the potential to be great).  I sure the heck don't ever remember getting any sort of recognition when I worked for the Cop Shop - with the exception of the much-appreciated thank you's from the guys on the street from time to time - so working for a company that not only appreciates its employees but let's them know it does is really a very nice thing.

What makes this recent award surprising is that six years ago I was awarded Employee of the Month in July of 2004 - an award that put me in the running for Employee of the Year which I was very honored to receive in January of 2005.  With the title came a really nice plaque, a parking space close to the door, and a lot of ribbing from my fellow dispatchers as well as the realization that I had pretty much hit the pinnacle of my success with the company after only my first year of employment with them.  I'm pretty sure that no one has ever gotten Employee of the Year twice and I was also told that as a former Employee of the Year, chances were good I wasn't going to get Employee of the Month again as it wouldn't be fair to the other employees if the same people got it over and over again. Logical?  Yes.  Depressing?  Yes.  Less of an incentive to do a good job?  No.

Whether I was ever going to get another award from the company or not, I have this thing called a work ethic that was handed down to me by my parents who got it from their parents who got it from ... well, you know where I'm going!  I was taught that if you're going to do something then do it to the best of your ability no matter what because even if no one else ever notices, it's a matter of personal pride and at the end of the day I still have to answer to myself.

All that said, though, it's still really nice when someone says "Hey, nice job!" or "We appreciate the effort you've put in!" as like I said above, I'm only human and we humans like the equivalent of a good head scritch every once in awhile ourselves. I'm going to consider my recent award a very nice head scritch!

I just find it kind of funny that I got the award for the month when I took a vacation!  I wonder if they're trying to tell me something??

Tuesday Tidbits

Considering that I'm leaving for Florida on Friday afternoon, you would think I might be spending my time at least looking at my sorry-excuse-for-hot-weather wardrobe and trying to figure out what I can wear while I'm in the Deep South but oh no, I'm puttering around the house doing other things and spending way too much time on the computer - again.  And to think I used to be so organized!

The battle of the lawn continues but I'm not sure who's winning the war yet.  I did put some insecticide out last Sunday in the hopes that I can run out anything that may be munching on the grasses but I can't really tell if it's working yet.  The grass that hasn't been eaten is definitely growing nicely and is in need of mowing but I'm putting it off as long as possible being that I won't be able to mow it again until I get back from Florida next Wednesday.

So far I'm putting off both packing and mowing ... it's going to be a busy end of the week!

I did manage to get my reservations made for what I think is going to be a really cool ghost tour in Saint Augustine for Jamie and I to go on.  I found a 90-minute tour at ghoST Augustine that not only goes out to the lighthouse that's reportedly haunted but conducts the tours via transport in a 1977 Cadillac hearse!  I can't even begin to tell you how jealous Amanda is! 

Thanks to my friend MightyMom, I added the Audiobooks application to my iPhone and I've got Pride and Prejudice all downloaded to listen to on my flight down to Jacksonville.  The application has all sorts of books to download and listen to, a lot of really good classics included.  Considering there's just enough movement on a plane for me to be subject to motion sickness should I try to do any actual reading, an audio book is the perfect solution!  I'll be so caught up with Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy that I'll be in Florida before I know it!

Amanda is wrapping up her final full week at school and she couldn't be happier about it.  I've never quite figured out why everyone is always in such an all-fired hurry to get out of high school but she sure is.  My fingers are crossed for good weather for her graduation next Friday!

This week's weather is a far cry from last week's weather when it was hot and humid just about every single day.  The storms that blew through on Sunday brought some nice cool weather behind them and it's been absolutely lovely the past two days - perfect sleeping weather but for some reason I woke up early again today. It could be all the noisy birds that happily singing away in the trees!

I received my Social Security Statement in the mail yesterday that tells me my estimated benefits for future retirement based on my current earnings rate and it looks like I'll be dispatching ambulances for another 18 years or so.  Should I retire at 66 years, 8 months I would be getting $1,706 a month but if I hang onto until I'm 70 that bumps up to $2,256 a month.  Sixty-two isn't even a consideration as I'd only be getting $1,113 a month and with my 401K doing nothing but plummeting with the current economy there's no help there.  Kind of scary to think that I'll be just as old - if not older - than a lot of the people we transport now!   I hope I'm still able to remember all the codes we have by then or that I can enunciate properly around my false teeth!

Speaking of work, I really need to get myself off of the computer and get a few things done before I have to go in later this afternoon; I've got laundry to finish, dishes to put away, chicken to cut up for salad, and a myriad of other things that I keep putting off.  Besides, it appears that someone thinks I have been on the computer more than long enough ...

Okay, okay, I get the hint, Tesla!  Everyone have a great Tuesday!

Happy Anniversary ...

... to me! Today marks the 7th year of my employment with American Ambulance. Seven years of working some crazy shifts, taking a few interesting 911 calls in amongst the standard stuff, and oftentimes wanting to pull my hair out as I try to figure out where on earth I am going to possibly fit another call on the spreadsheet without pushing my road crews totally over the edge. A former co-worker once compared this job to a game of Tetris and he was pretty spot-on!

Obviously American wasn't my first job and working EMS has certainly been an eye-opener at times but in spite of the craziness and the stress I can honestly say that I like my job; the reason for that being I have met some truly wonderful people during the course of my career and they are what make the job what it is.

I never set out in life to be an Emergency Medical Dispatcher but I am and I can't think of another place I'd rather be doing it than where I am in spite of the occasional grumbling! So let's see what the next seven years brings, shall we??

Meanwhile ... Back at Work ...

Due to losing another dispatcher at work, my schedule has been shuffled around a little bit (again) in order to try to fill in some of the blanks. My new schedule has me doing an evening shift on Wednesdays and then turning around 8 hours later to come back in for a double-shift on Thursdays. It's not anywhere near as bad as it sounds as that's the nature of emergency dispatching from time to time but I get the feeling I'm going to be looking a lot like this most Thursday mornings ...

Granted, I'll be wearing a uniform but I think you get the idea!

Still working on that Baltimore post but I hope to have it up and running by tomorrow provided I can stay awake long enough when I get home tonight to put the finishing touches on it. In the meantime while I'm dispatching ambulances, I hope everyone has a great Thursday no matter what you find yourself doing!

P.S.,

Comment moderation has been turned on for a little while just so's you know!

Of Parties and Shoes

Today is going to be a very busy day as I will not only be trying to get some moving stuff taken care of but tonight is the employee party that American Ambulance holds for us every year. They call it the holiday party but considering we are way past Christmas and Valentine's Day is nowhere in sight, I think of it just as the annual employee party and let it go at that.

No matter what you call it, though, I look forward to the party every year as it not only gives me a chance to dress up a little bit but it also gives everyone the opportunity to socialize outside of a work setting without having to worry about 911 ringing again or your ambulance being called out for an emergency. During the course of the evening there will be dining and dancing and service awards given out (I'm up for my five-year pin this year) as well as the naming of the Employee of the Year.

I think I have a pretty good idea of who is going to be getting the coveted parking space in the front of the building this year and if it's who I think it is, he well deserves it. That might sound funny as you would think that anyone who gets Employee of the Year deserves it but, unfortunately, sometimes it kind of feels like the person who should have received it got cheesed and it went to someone who knew how to play the game better. That's only happened once since I've been at American but still - I really had to wonder what the Executive Team was thinking that year but that's probably enough said on that before I get myself in trouble here!

Those of you with whom I am friends on Facebook will probably recall that I was on a mission last Saturday to find shoes to wear to tonight's shindig but was having no success in finding footwear that was both attractive and yet comfortable at the same time. Having back issues and being a bit of a clod when it comes to walking around in heels, I have to be really careful about what I put on my feet but at the same time, I don't want to look like someone's grandmother (even though I am, in fact, someone's grandmother!).

The Fashion Nazi's at work had strictly forbidden me to wear slippers or some snazzy black sneakers (which I thought might be kinda cute) but the search was proving to be quite futile until I stumbled across a website called Endless.com (and no, this isn't a paid post for them!). Like my other favorite shoe website, Zappos, this website promised free shipping both ways and they had a fantastic selection. I typed in the sort of shoes I was looking for, hit search, and was given pages and pages of some great-looking shoes at quite reasonable prices.

I narrowed my choices down to three different pairs, called Amanda into the living room for a consult, and ended up choosing this lovely pair here that cost me a mere $19.90 plus tax. They didn't have free overnight shipping, like a lot of the shoes did, but the website said I would have them in plenty of time and - sure enough - I did as they arrived on Wednesday. I figured if they weren't comfortable in real life I could send them back using the free return shipping and it would be no harm-no foul but they are quite comfortable and I was even able to take a walk around the inside of the house without turning an ankle - woohoo!

With any luck I'll keep the things on my feet all night though I wouldn't place any money on that as I never seem to keep my shoes on when I'm doing the dress-up thing. A lot of it is going to depend on how my back holds up and how much time I spend on my feet overall - perhaps I could sneak my slippers in with me just in case? Considering I don't usually spend a lot of time on the dance floor (being a clod not only limits my ability to wear high heels but also to dance), my feet should be just fine.

I'm really looking forward to the evening and will be sure to take pictures and let you know what a good time it was - and whether I was right on my guess for the new Employee of the Year! Of course, that post may be a little while in coming as I've got to be at work bright and early Sunday morning at 7:00 a.m. no matter what time I get home tonight and will be there until 11:00 p.m. - ugh! Methinks I may not get to that post until Monday at the earliest or maybe even Tuesday depending on how long it takes me to recover!

Manic Monday - Tradition

The word of the week at the Manic Monday Meme is 'tradition' but rather than write about an old tradition, I thought I would make mention of a new one that Jen and I recently started at work on those long 16-hour shifts we spend in the dispatch center every Sunday. Some of you might remember that back in October I journeyed down to New York City to attend a live taping of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and, because it was Movie Week, I came home with a free three-month subscription to NetFlix which has turned out to be a pretty darned cool thing to have as it has become invaluable on those long Sunday shifts.

Jen and I now have what we call "Chick Flick Sundays" and in between 911 calls, routine transfers, and the other aspects of the job, we watch three movies to help pass the time. So far we've watched both Pride and Prejudice (the BBC version) and Sense and Sensibility, Made of Honor, Enchanted, Hair Spray, The Importance of Being Earnest, P.S. I Love You, Shakespeare in Love, The English Patient, What a Girl Wants, Love Actually, The DaVinci Code, and a whole bunch of other movies that I can't recall right off the top of my head. I know for sure that we've watched every Colin Firth movie that we could get our hands on because - yeah, we're shallow - we both adore Colin Firth!

It's turned out that this new tradition is a great way to pass the time on Sundays and we've decided that when my current free subscription to NetFlix runs out, we're going to split the cost to continue it. After all, why stop a good thing?!?

Oh, speaking of good things ... or in this case not so good things ... we watched Mamma Mia! this past Sunday and I've just got to wonder who on earth ever told Pierce Brosnan that he could sing? Oh my aching ears! The movie was a lot of fun, though, and it was darned hard not to sing along but I didn't want to ruin the movie for Jen as singing is not my forte! Though that didn't stop her when we were watching The Sound of Music later in the shift!

One last thing when it comes to our new "Chick Flick Sunday" tradition - no men are allowed in dispatch unless they are dropping something off or making a copy of something - some traditions are just more sacred than others if you know what I mean!

Waving at You While I'm Working (Again)

Remember how awhile back I said that my schedule was changing at work and that I would be working less hours?

Yeah, well, scratch that ... my schedule changed yet again at work and I am now working even more hours (56 a week to be exact; at this rate I'm going to need to start taking Phentermine to give me a little bit of an energy boost!).

You folks enjoy the waves while I head back into work just 8 hours after I left work last night. This is truly becoming a vicious cycle!

Beginning a Journey Around The Sun

A few weeks ago I posted this picture of the Mohegan Sun Casino and Hotel as part of my Big post for Mo's Manic Monday Meme. You may remember or you may not. You may also remember that I briefly mentioned that I would be starting a new part-time job here once I had gone through licensing and all that fun stuff - or you may not! It's okay if you don't remember, I have trouble remembering what day it is half the time so I'm sure not going to hold a leaky memory against anyone else!

At any rate, after attending Orientation and receiving my gaming license from the State of Connecticut Gaming Commission, I had my first training shift this past Tuesday evening in the communications center for Mohegan Tribal Public Safety. Even though I have been a dispatcher for more years than I care to count at this point, I must confess to being a tad bit good deal nervous when it comes to learning this new position.

At American Ambulance I dispatch ambulances and wheelchair vans - that's it - nothing else. At Mohegan Tribal I will be dispatching not only EMS personnel but also police and fire personnel as well as monitoring cameras, alarm systems, elevators and escalators, parking garages, and the gas station along with a whole host of other things that I can't even begin to remember right now! Even though I have been a Police and Fire Dispatcher in the past, that means virtually nothing to me as I begin this new job because as far as I'm concerned, I'm a rookie - plain and simple!

Along with myself, two other dispatchers were hired on for per diem work with the Tribe - one a fellow dispatcher from American and another a dispatcher at Station M in Montville and we all need to go through a good 40-hour training period - at the very least! John, the dispatcher from Montville, also came in for the training shift with me on Tuesday night so together we had a chance to be overwhelmed at the magnitude of the new job we had taken on.

I have a slight advantage over John and Kevin, my fellow dispatcher from American, in that I worked at the Mohegan Sun once before as a blackjack dealer and I'm at least a little bit familiar with parts of the casino that they aren't. As Lisa, the lead dispatcher, gave John and I a walking tour Tuesday night it was nice to see that some things hadn't changed in the 6 years since I'd been there but there was a lot that had. The Sun is just about ready to open their latest expansion - the Casino of the Wind - and there's still a lot of construction going on, especially in the area where they are building a second hotel. To remember where everything is will definitely take some time!

During my next training shift (today from 6 a.m. to noon), I'll be spending a couple of hours walking the complex with one of the Fire Inspectors as he shows me the ins and outs of the entire complex including the new construction, back-of-the-house areas, and any place else he thinks I'll need to know about. I suspect it will be more than a bit overwhelming but I'm looking forward to it as the Inspector I'll be with also works as a part-time dispatcher at American and he is the King of Snark as well as one of the funniest guys I know. Don't tell him I said that, though, I don't want him to get a swollen head though from what Lisa was saying the other night I get the feeling that he may already have one as he's not "just a" Fire Inspector at the Sun but more like a Fire God. He's been there since the place first opened and he knows where everything is - everything. It's hard not to be impressed.

In addition to knowing the above mentioned Fire God and having worked with Lisa when she was a part-time dispatcher at the Norwich Police Department many years ago, I have the pleasure of being able to work once again with some of the guys and gals that I have dispatched in the past. Seems like when a lot of officers retire after their 20-years at Norwich PD, they head down and become Tribal Police Officers at Mohegan - Artie, Joe, Diane, Elaine, Mike, and Todd are all there as well as the man who used to be my very first Lieutenant at NPD - Frank. He's been the Commander at Mohegan Tribal PD since its inception but seemed just as I remembered him when I went in for my interview (though maybe a tiny bit grayer!). In addition to the officers I know, there are also several paramedics I've had the pleasure of working with - Mark, Lindsay, Jeff, and Eddie - who work for the Mohegan Tribal Fire Department.

The Mohegan Mobil Station as seen at night

I'm looking forward to being a police dispatcher again and while having some familiar faces and voices at my new job will be great, I still think it's going to be rather intimidating for quite some time. It's always been my contention that anyone who takes on a dispatch position should treat that position with respect and a bit of nervousness as every dispatch center is different and no matter how long you've been doing it, you've always got something new to learn. I figure I've got plenty to learn and am plenty nervous about it but to me that's a good thing. Nerve-wracking but good!

Oh, and I almost forgot! One of the best things about all this is that because I am an employee of the Tribe and not the Casino itself, I can still gamble there should I choose to! The only stipulation is that I don't do it on any of my breaks but I'm sure that won't be a problem as I only test my luck, or lack thereof, every so often but I do like to go with my Mom from time to time plus the Beach Bunch that I'm spending a week with in September have expressed an interest in going to the Sun. I've shown it off to Mo and Mags once last October but I'll be happy to show it off again to everyone in September as the Sun beats "the wonder of it all" every time as far as I'm concerned! And I would say that whether I worked there or not!

"I think I shall miss you most of all." ~ Dorothy, The Wizard of Oz

As a former military brat, member of the Air Force myself, and someone who has moved around a good amount over the years (ten states as of this count), I've had to adjust to a lot of people coming and going through my life.  A good part of our lives is spent meeting people either through our schools, our churches, our hobbies, our jobs, our lives in general ... but life is change and it's a sure thing that a good majority of those people that we meet are only going to be in our lives for a little while before they move out of it in one way or another.  We graduate from high school or college, we move to another city or state, we stop taking that class or participating in that hobby, or perhaps we find another job.

Some of the people that we meet become faded memories while others make an indelible impression on our hearts and our lives that stand the test of time and/or distance.  Those are the people that it becomes the hardest to say good-bye to and even though I should be used to such things by now I'm not really and if I try to tell you otherwise then you can certainly call me a liar because that's exactly what I am.

I've had to say goodbye to an awful lot of people that I've cared about over the years and lately I've been having to say it way too frequently at work as people who have come to mean a lot to me are advancing their careers and leaving American Ambulance behind.  I know that in the big scheme of things that's how life works and I certainly don't begrudge these people the chance to move on to a job with possibly better wages and benefits that may or may not be closer to home; to head off for schooling that will help them to reach their final career goal; to do what's best for their families; or to just make a change because they feel they need one in their lives.  No, I don't begrudge them those things at all but that doesn't mean I'm not going to miss them and that going to work won't be quite a bit less enjoyable then it was when they were there.

Change is inevitable and is oftentimes a good thing, but that doesn't mean that change doesn't hurt a bit when someone you've come to think of as more than just a fellow employee works his or her last shift with you.  Monday night I worked my last shift with two of those someones and my life now feels a bit emptier for having done so and I know that when their days to work roll around again and they aren't there, there's going to be a hole there that no one else can fill.

This is JM and Seth - I believe I may have mentioned them a time or two before in previous posts about EMS Week or other work-related things; I think I might also have mentioned that they didn't make guys who looked like this back when I was their age - or maybe I thought I just mentioned that!  Seth is the one who is doing a Howie Mandel impression and seems to have misplaced his gorgeous hair but he assures me that it will be growing back in, especially considering his wife hates the current Jean-Luc-Picard-wannabe look!

These guys are not only darned cute but they have two of the best personalities I have met in a long time.  They first met working at American Ambulance but you'd never have known it as they acted like they had known each other forever; they could be brothers, they could be cousins, or they could just be great friends who look and act quite a bit alike.   They were also two of my brightest rays of sunshine when a day was starting to get a bit overwhelming and dismal.  They made me laugh, they made me smile, and they made me feel like I was a great dispatcher - in other words, they made me feel good about myself and my job.

Seth is leaving American to go work at a rival ambulance company that just happens to be a five-minute commute from his home and which offered him a deal he couldn't refuse.  He recently got his paramedic license and will be using it to help save lives in northeastern Connecticut, which is fortunately where my mother lives.  Should I feel a bout of chest pain or difficulty breathing coming on, I'm going to drive to my Mom's house and call 911 from there as long as I know Seth is on duty!  Even if I feel like I'm going to die, I won't care as long as he's the one doing the patient care!

JM is going to be attending paramedic school in Hartford so he is leaving American on a full-time basis in order to pursue his paramedic license.  It's a grueling school but I've no doubt he's up to the challenge and will be an excellent paramedic when he's done with the program.  He's going to try to pick up shifts at American when he can but I get the sneaky feeling his schedule is not going to be any too free all that often.  Based on that, it feels like he is leaving, too.

To have "lost" one of these guys was bad enough; to have lost both of them ... well, suffice it to say that I am in mourning!  Even though I am happy for both of them and wish them both luck on their chosen paths, I will miss them both something fierce.

Despite my sadness though, what's a final shift without a cake?  Seth had mentioned before that he loved chocolate and that no one had ever made him a cake (which I still find very hard to believe!) so I made a chocolate cake with a chocolate cream cheese filling and chocolate frosting.

Aesthetically it most definitely wasn't the best-looking cake I had ever made but the boys seemed to like it and we made sure to have some nice cold milk to wash it down with because what's a rich chocolate cake with chocolate filling and frosting without milk?!  Pretty overwhelming, that's what!

Despite all of the chocolate, though, it really was bittersweet for me as I was happy that they liked the cake but sad about the occasion that warranted it.  When they went back out on the road to transfer a patient out of a local hospital emergency room back to her nursing home, my last radio transmission to Seth was darned near impossible to get out around the lump in my throat because I already missed him even though he has assured me he's "only a text message away" and won't be gone from my life forever.

Still ... goodbyes are hard and they don't get any easier as you grow older.  Experience has taught me that.  I am really going to miss these guys.

Good luck to you both, Seth and JM.  Thank you for making my job that much more enjoyable and for making me smile and laugh even when I thought I didn't want to.  You're the best and when I say that, this time there's no way anyone can call me a liar because it's true!

Congratulations to a Co-Worker!

Before I get caught up on the Web reading diet pill reviews in regards to the post above, I wanted to take a moment to give a shout-out to one of the guys I work with at American Ambulance who received his medical control today and is now cleared to work as a Paramedic with the company.

A big congratulations to Rob and I'm sure you'll do just great! Just remember, though, that new medics tend to get a lot of distance calls in the beginning so don't take it personally when all you hear is 19 Code 3 ... rather than 24 Code 1, Paramedic Intercept to the town of ... !

Way to go! Now get out there and save some lives!

I've Got a Question, You've Got an Answer

It's been an absolutely crazy week for me at work as I worked double shifts on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. If I'm doing my math correctly, that means from Monday morning at 7:00 until last night at 11:00 I worked 48 hours out of 88. Methinks I just spent way too much time sitting behind a dispatch console but I guess that's what happens when I decide to spend a week off gallivanting in California! No wonder it was six years since my last visit!

As I was thinking about dragging myself out of bed this morning to accomplish a few things on my day off - including making some blog rounds! - a couple of questions popped into my head that I thought might be a good basis for this post:

How many of you work crazy hours like I do?
What's your normal work week consist of?
Do you have a normal work week??

Anyhow, I'm off today but back to work tomorrow with shifts through until Tuesday so I'd best get going on that blog reading I'm so behind in. Why do I have a feeling of dread about opening my Google Reader?

Update: Good grief, people, there are 257 unread posts in my Google Reader! Please forgive me if I hit "Mark All As Read" and start over! Aiyee!!!

Getting the Right Fortune

Every other Thursday is the day that we all look forward to at work the most - payday! The money may not stay in my checking account long before it makes its way into someone else's coffers but for at least one day every other week, I have a little money which means I can splurge a bit and maybe order lunch out rather than eat whatever unappealing food stuffs I might have brought from home.

I wasn't the only one in that mindset today as out of the six of us in the room, four decided that Chinese food sounded pretty good for lunch. Renee had leftover barbecued ribs that she brought in from home that smelled divine so I can fully understand why she choose to pass on the Chinese; had I brought something more appetizing than a leftover piece of chicken and a stale pita pocket, I might have opted out also but the lure of the MSG was calling so I figured why not?

Along with our entrees, the take-out place had of course tossed in a handful of fortune cookies as what's Chinese food without a fortune cookie? The little pile of cookies sat between Wayne and myself on the counter at the dispatch console so when I finished my very tasty Moo Goo Gai Pan, I grabbed a fortune cookie out of the pile, cracked it open, and got a fortune that said this -

Well, how do you like that? It's true! I guess I grabbed the right cookie! This time next week I'll be out in California and probably groaning because I ate one too many chile rellenos but that's okay because I won't have to go to work in the morning like I do tomorrow and not having to go to work is definitely a vacation no matter how you look at it!

Of course, that's not until next week so for now, I'm going to bed a bit early as my day off tomorrow is not my day off tomorrow and it's back to work for me for a little extra overtime ... sigh ... I'll catch up to everyone a little later on - I promise!

I've Got a Question, You've Got an Answer

Now I know you're all just sitting on the edge of your seats waiting to hear about my meeting with Queen Mimi last evening but due to some personal obligations and other technical issues (such as waiting for royal approval from Her Majesty on which pictures I can or cannot use for my post!), it's going to take some time before I actually have that post ready to go.

In the meantime, I was inspired by a post I saw the other day over at Dottie's Place for this post and thought I would borrow from that post and ask those questions myself. She was writing about her job and asked some good questions -

Do you like your job?
If you could be anything, what would it be?

I thought that those were some great questions and they got me to wondering about how many people really do like what they get up and go out the door to do in order to make a living every day? How many would rather be doing something else and what would that something else be?

I actually do like my job - most of the time! - but there are times when I want nothing more than to run screaming from the room while tearing out my hair in great bunches. Well, maybe it's not that bad but there are days when I sure the heck don't want to get out of bed in the morning and go beat my head against a spreadsheet all day! Even though I am a 911 Emergency Medical Dispatcher, the biggest part of my job is trying to dispatch ambulances or wheelchair vans to routine transports and still have enough people left in the city to cover a call when 911 does ring. It's tricky at times - especially when the number of calls outweigh the number of crews that I have working and every hospital, nursing home, and doctor's office wants transportation and they want it now! I have to say that being a police/fire dispatcher was a heck of a lot easier because you didn't schedule calls - you took them as they came in and prioritized them and dispatched them that way. Depending on call volume sometimes people had to wait before we could get an officer out to their house for a non-emergency call but you did the best you could.

Emergencies, for all that they get your blood racing and can be stressful, are the easy part of my job. Do I like walking someone through CPR or the Heimlich maneuver on the phone? Probably not but it's easier than trying to shoe-horn yet another discharge from a hospital into an overly loaded ambulance whose crew hasn't had time for a cup of coffee - never mind lunch!

Now, as to what I would really like to do ... ah, if I could do it over again there are several other choices I might have made. I would love to have been a lawyer - particularly a criminal lawyer - and been able to argue my case in front of the court, maybe then I could afford to look at Hilton Head rentals! If not that then I probably missed my calling by not becoming a history teacher. I have always loved history and think I would have done well in a career of that sort. One other thing I really wouldn't mind doing is taking on a job as a tour guide at a national park - particularly a Civil War one. I could definitely see myself giving tours at Gettysburg or Antietam and being quite happy doing that. Of course, I'd probably be yelling at people to get their kids off the cannons and monuments but beyond that, I think I'd really enjoy it.

Now - how about you? Do you like what you do? Do you want to do something else? What's your dream job?

Can I Get a Big D-U-H Over Here??

If I had harbored any doubts that I was starting to lose my memory at all, I was able to put all doubt aside this morning when I did, or actually didn't do something, that I haven't done in - well, since I can't remember when! Apparently, I had agreed to swap shifts with one of the other dispatchers today back in mid-February and agreed to work Wayne's day shift while he was to cover my evening shift but I completely and totally forgot all about it.

Amanda was spending the weekend over at Jason & Amy's with Cate so I had the whole house to myself last night so I was rather enjoying it. After doing a little bit of cleaning, I had stayed up late first playing a little bit of Rock Band on the Xbox 360 and then working on my Manic Monday post for tomorrow. I have to write it on the weekend as I'm normally at work on Sunday evenings and then from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. on Mondays so if I don't do it early, it doesn't get done. I'd missed last week's and wanted to make sure I got a post done for this week.

I had the post almost complete around 2:00 a.m. and figured I would add pictures and tweak it before going into work this morning so I finally went up to bed a lot later than I normally would. Even though I was tired I couldn't fall asleep right away so it was pretty darned late/early before I finally got to sleep. At 7:21 a.m. when the phone rang I was most definitely a bit disoriented and wasn't even sure who I was talking to ...

"Hi Linda, it's Dave from work calling. Did you forget you switched shifts with Wayne today and were supposed to be at work?"

"Mmmpphhh ... I did? I don't remember doing that, are you sure?"

"Yeah, Wayne's at the EMS Conference and when we called his house and woke his wife up she said that he had switched shifts with you."

"Oh bother ... okay, give me 20 minutes and I'll be in but I really don't remember switching shifts at all."

A few minutes later, while I was brushing my teeth, it dawned on me that I was talking to Dane and not Dave which would explain why I couldn't figure out why on earth Dave, who doesn't work dispatch and never works Sundays, would be calling me! I gotta tell ya, I was completely and totally out of it this morning!

I got to work almost exactly 20 minutes later, still totally unable to remember doing the shift swap, but when I logged onto the computer and opened my Outlook a reminder popped up telling me that I was covering for Wayne with a shift swap. Duh! Yeah, thanks for nothing! That needed to pop up yesterday so I would have remembered and gone to bed at a reasonable hour!

Sigh ... growing old truly sucks sometimes! I wonder what else I forgot??

More Party Pictures!

Thankfully there were no more Line of Duty death notifications in my email box when I got home last night after working my 16-hour shift and I've got my fingers crossed that there won't be any more for some time to come. It breaks my heart every time I get one of those things as I know that some poor person somewhere has given their life while upholding the law. There's that certain amount of trepidation every time I open one, too, so it's a always a relief not to find one waiting for me.

Because my last post was such a sober one, I wanted to use this post as the opportunity to show off some more pictures from Saturday night's employee party. Mo requested "pictures of the hot stud" and Mimi wanted pictures of the hand-kissing event but there were none taken and I rather doubt I'm going to be able to assemble everyone for a retake! There is, however, one picture in the following slideshow of myself and JM, the young EMT (or "hot stud" as Mo called him!) I danced with. It's a pretty close close-up that I almost wasn't going to publish and then thought, "oh what the heck, why not?, post the thing"! Personally I don't think that anyone looks all that great in a close close-up so you'll have to take my word for it that JM was much cuter in person and he had a personality that was absolutely charming, to say the least. He certainly made my night!

As for the other people in the pictures, I'll give you a quick run down of the players: Jennifer is a part-time scheduler who works in dispatch with me and whose husband is currently going through the State Police Academy; Chica is a scheduler and her husband Hugo is the excellent sandwich maker I mentioned in Sunday's post; Renee is one of the nicest people ever and is the Employee Scheduling Coordinator who also works in our office; Beth is a full-time scheduler and her boyfriend Bob works as a dispatcher for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe; Russ is a fellow dispatcher; Jenifer is my weekend dispatch partner; and Frank is a part-time dispatcher and Dawn is his girlfriend. Hopefully I didn't leave anyone out!

Mimi, sorry there wasn't more romance - it isn't that you haven't taught me anything, it's just that there were no opportunities available but I did have a lovely evening and a really good time. That counts, right??

On Parties and Awards

No time to visit other blogs today as I need to get gussied up for my company's annual employee party (they call it a "holiday party" but I've never been quite sure exactly what holiday they're referring to!). This is the one event of the year where I actually attempt to do something with my hair, toss on some make-up, put on a nice dress, and wear pretty - yet painful - shoes that normally end up being taken off halfway through the night because I just can't stand it anymore!

Along with Service Awards, Attendance Awards, and the like, tonight they will announce who the new Employee of the Year is. If I were a gambling woman, I'd put my bet on one of the billing clerks as, per popular opinion around the company, it's "their turn on the other side of the building". I don't think that's the criteria the award should be based on and I certainly hope that isn't the case. I think it should go to the employee most outstanding and most deserving but that's just one former Employee of the Year's opinion.

At the annual party in 2005, I was awarded Employee of the Year for 2004 and I have to say that I felt it was a great honor as well as a goal attained. When I first began at American Ambulance in June of 2003 and found out they had an Employee of the Month/Employee of the Year program, I made it my goal to attain that title. I hadn't expected to accomplish that goal quite so quickly but I sure the heck wasn't going to turn it down either!

What made it even more special was that when I was named Employee of the Month in August of 2004, I was nominated by over 30 of my fellow employees and per our Human Resources Director that apparently was pretty darned unheard of. To have had that sort of support, vote of confidence, and recognition from fellow employees meant even more to me then becoming Employee of the Year who is picked by the Executive Team from the pool of winners of Employee of the Month.

I wish I could remember more about that night and that holiday party but it's a bit of a blur. I had somehow managed to mess up my back the night before the party and spent part of the morning at the Emergency Room barely able to move! I was diagnosed with a lumbar strain, given some pretty powerful muscle relaxers, and sent home with the doctor's approval to go to the party (he apparently knew I needed to be there) and then stay out of work for several days.

Fortunately my friend Paula was going with me that night so she drove to the party and kept tabs on me throughout the evening. Apparently I gave one heck of an acceptance speech; note: never ever under any circumstances tell a room full of EMS people that you really ought to be home flat on your back - at least not if you embarrass easily! Even in my prescription-drug-induced state I remember being very honored and thrilled, though. Beyond that, most of it's a haze though I distinctly remember the year's worth of harassment that I got from my fellow dispatchers on the receipt of my award!

Whoever wins tonight, I wish them congratulations and hope that they remember their special evening with clarity and pride as getting any sort of positive recognition from the place you work for is really a very nice thing. Sure, you get harassed something awful by your fellow employees but the award is validation that you've done a good job and we all need to know we've done well from time to time.

Now, I need to go work on my hair and try to find my earrings ... I promise to try to post some pictures tomorrow!