Wednesday, August 29, 2007

And now, the end is near...

The end of "Elvis month," that is. Though I am not an Elvis fanatic, it has been kind of fun to find different Elvis lyrics for my blog post titles. And though I am not an Elvis fanatic, I do enjoy that month of the year when it's easy to find his movies & concerts on TV. I wouldn't enjoy them as much if I watched them constantly.

In addition to the end of Elvis month, I am nearing the end of a chapter in my career. I have officially started at Vanderbilt, & on my days off, I'm going to my old job in Clarksville to help them out & train my replacement (or replacements - not sure how that's going to pan out). I do miss my former co-workers, but...I will be glad when I don't have to work 50 hours a week anymore. Last week, my last full week at the office, I worked 45 hours. This week, I'm already exhausted. I do get Labor Day off. That will be nice - a 3 day weekend.

The new job is a lot to learn, & very busy compared to my old one. My old job could be a lot of work, but there wasn't as much going on at once. It sort of evens out - at my old job, I was the only tech & had 4 to 5 patients a day. All scans are on a single-head camera & I do it all - starting IV's, scanning, prepping & stressing, scanning again, & processing. At the new one, I'm one of 4 techs who have 16 to 20 patients a day. There are three dual-head cameras & nurses help start IV's & prep & stress patients.

One really good thing about it is that they're very understanding about the learning process. They don't expect me to walk in ready to do everything. It's much more gradual. They want me to master the paperwork & injection process before moving on. I don't know that I've got it all down pat but I'm moving along quickly, in my opinion. It may take me forever to get it all down. But, it could be a lot worse. Everything is coming together. Now if I can just get the money together.

The kids have adjusted well to the change. They're riding the bus in the mornings, but the afternoons are still much the same. I was always gone 4 days a week, sometimes late in the evenings, & usually Randy got home before me. I get home about 30 minutes to an hour later than usual. We've got something going on 4 nights a week most of the time. I can't say it's changed our lives a whole lot - it's just a little more complicated, but not a lot. I think Randy's willing to help, for the trade-off of getting out of some of our debts. That part of the equation still seems a long way off. For some reason, the money hasn't caught up with the budget yet. Hopefully, in a couple of weeks, it will, & then the sacrifices will seem more worthwhile.

Well, it's time for me to leave to go to the "old" job. Later!

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