jaw dropper

I have a cat in my in-tray. It doesn't really compare.

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When the day starts with a call from one of the department supervisors, it can't be good.

When the call goes like this, "Hey, MidnightGuy called out. How late do you think you can stay," it's not going to get any better.

So, here we are, it's now 2:30 am(ish) on Christmas Eve, and I'm at the nuthouse in the midst of an ice storm that has shut down three major roadways in the area.

I'll be here for about another hour and a half, and then I get to try to slide my way home.

Luckily, I don't need to use any of those major roadways to get there, and my route is essentially pretty flat.

On the upside, I am off on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

My ambulance crew has just returned from the city and they have advised me that I am basically stuck here until it thaws.

Freezing rain continues to fall.

I just watched the ambulance guy throw salt on the wheelchair ramp.

The salt slid down the ramp.

All should be well soon, wolf. We had icy roads,rain, too and this morning it's warm and just regular rain. roads MUCH better.

good luck to you Wolf.

I hope someone will / did come along with refreshments.


I read up a few pages and just let me say.


Yeah, :eek:

The ambulance crew braved the ice and sleet, and went to the WaWa and brought me back cigarettes.

Made the remainder of the shift bearable.

I went up to sleep in the crew quarters just after 0600. I set two alarms, slept through the watch, and failed to enable the cellphone despite having set the new wake time, so I woke up on my own at around 1045.

Ice had completely melted, am now home, had breakfast, and am preparing to nap.

Have a good nap!

A couple months ago there were consultants milling about the nuthouse.

They were talking to people, observing systems and processes, and generally being intrustive.

The nuthouse newsletter came out on Monday, and reports some of the recommended changes.

The CFO is going to become the Hospital Administrator. This is generally regarded as a good thing, as the current Administrator was never really Administrator material. He's staying with us and taking a more clinically oriented job.

The big shocker is that the Director of Nursing (DON) was apparently declared a useless appendage by the consultants. It's not that we didn't know that she was a useless appendage, but for someone from the outside to spend a week poking around and identify this with laser-like accuracy, that's impressive.

The surprising part is that the DON is no longer employed by the hospital ... I mean office packed up, escorted out of the building not employed. This is the current great mystery.

The woman has worked for the nuthouse for THIRTY YEARS.

One would have expected a dignified two week notice and a nice luncheon.

But she's just gone.

What's worse ... the nuthouse newsletter was out and available to employees several hours before the DON was outta there.

Her name may become a verb ... much in the same way that "went [name of commitment director that went crazy and stopped showing up to work]" is used.

Any complacency we had about having a stable job in a down economy is now GONE, and the stress levels are through the roof.

How many people work there?

What about pension? Did she get anything? How could they just make a long term employee just disappear like that? Are these new consultants actually magicians?

Around 200 - 225, I think.

We honestly don't know anything about her severance arrangement, if any. We just know she's gone and it appears to have been announced before it happened. For all we know she could have been given notice two weeks ago and she just went quietly, but word on the street is calling it a termination. We dont' have a pension plan, but we do have a 403(b). Depending on what happens in the next few weeks, the consultants could be either evil wizards or the good guys.

I would not suggest this approach:

Precisely why I avoided conversing with the consultants like the plague.

The DON probably spent hours yammering at them about how wonderful she is, which could have contributed to her demise. One of my cow orkers did talk to the consultants. We're watching his situation carefully.