The last two days

I have come home about 8 pm,  gotten ready for bed,  and fallen to sleep,  then was up at 1 am.  Yesterday,  in fact,  I baked bread and boiled eggs in the middle of the night,  and I have been eating on that bounty all day.

Tonight I was at least able to take my medicine that relaxes my neck.  Yesterday I had to be up at 5 am,  so I didn't take them at 1 or 2 since they make me loopy.  As a result,  I've hurt a little all day.  So that wasn't good at all.

The meeting at KMLA was a success.  I've got some interest in my journals,  which need to be decommissioned.  I really got got along well with the librarian who drove us up there; we chatted the whole way up and back,  and she offered help with the physical aspects of packing and breaking up the library,  since I'm on my own for that. People were,  of course,  sympathetic to my situation.  I've known about this for awhile,  and had announced it back some time ago,  but now that it's a reality,  it seems more pressing,  of course.

This morning I got an Indeed alert of a part-time job at the Central Library in the Kentucky Room,  the history centre where people study genealogy and other aspects of Kentucky's past.  I looked into it,  and there are actually two positions.  They are associate positions,  not full professional librarian ones,  but the pay is better than that of some positions I've seen advertised in surrounding counties requiring a Master's degree. Also,  I checked with their human resources department to see if my library degree would,  according to some policy,  disqualify me somehow from consideration, (I saw no reason to waste their time if this were the case), but they just care if the minimum requirements (in this case a Bachelor's degree)  are met.  The only difference between the two positions is the hours, one on Wednesdays,  one on Thursdays.  Otherwise,  they are the same,  working Monday,  Tuesday,  and every other weekend.  I should apply for each position separately to be considered for both,  according to the woman I spoke with.  That would up my chances.  It's a great place to work,  I have a degree in history and a background in preservation and cataloguing,  and it would help with expenses,  allow me to save money before the job loss,  have some money coming in afterwards, and maybe,  just maybe,  get my foot in the door in terms of full-time employment.  So my plan is to apply to both tomorrow.  I don't think it requires certification,  but I'm going to send in my application for that as soon as I get paid,  and that may help.

Wish me luck!

Ahhh

I'm finally home,  and I'm stretched out with my neck and back straight and it feels much better,  although I've got numbness and tingling going down my sides where the pressure is temporarily off the nerves.  I've been wanting to lie down all day because I knew it would help.  I've taken arthritis Tylenol,  but it didn't really touch it.  I need an anti-inflammatory,  like ibuprofen or naproxen,  even though they're not great for the kidneys.  I think I still have a little ibuprofen somewhere,  although I gave my big bottle to A. I've also used muscle rub,  which helped just a bit.  I took my preliminary dose of tizanidine a little while ago,  which is a mild muscle relaxant.  That will probably help more. I'll take the rest before actually going to bed.

Because of the flare-up,  I emptied my backpack of every little thing I could. It's not very heavy,  really,  mostly medicine and toiletries.  I don't even have a book in it now, just my Kindle and a single-subject notebook  for taking notes along with a couple of Kindle books on ancient Greek.

Today I had my teeth cleaned and then went to YKWIA's and went to the grocery for a few items he needed. Now I'm home listening to Pandora. Think I'll set an alarm and lie here in a darkened room stretched out for a little while.  The plan is to blog on the computer later (I'm on my phone right now).  And I found a job I can apply for and want to learn a little more about writing a curriculum vitae,  as it is academic and requires one,  so I need probably need to tweak mine.

Okay,  that's all for now.

Year 50

Yesterday was my 49th birthday, meaning I am now in the fiftieth year of my life.  It makes you think about where you are and where you're going.  I will have a lot of uncertainty in my life as the year progresses; this time next year I'll be 50, will have been at my job for 20 years,  and will be laid off from both positions when the hospital moves to the new medical centre and an ambulatory care model,  with no room or plan for a library. This makes me sad,  although at least was given some warning. Not everyone is so lucky.  My hope is to find a position that can use my skills,  flexibility,  and willingness to work as a team player to their fullest.  (And which has health insurance.) :) Wish me luck.

Mortality has been on my mind a lot of late

In seems like everywhere I look, things are hastening to their natural end. Tonight one of my beloved ‘nieces’, a collie shepherd who is about 16 years old, has been doing very poorly. Something has hurt her; I don’t think it was another dog, but she’s bloody under her right ear, and is very unsteady on her feet and more out of it than normal (and lately the senior moments have been more numerous than when she’s alert). So far, even when she’s slowed down, she’s come back and done pretty well. But she was obviously wanting to drink earlier, had her mouth right over the water, and couldn’t seem to. That’s not a good sign. My friends are going to call the vet first thing in the morning and see if they can get her an appointment. We did go ahead and give her the arthritis medicine in the hopes that it would help with some of the pain. The other dogs usually give her a wide berth because she is old and cranky, and there’s been no known dog fight or anything. It’s possible she tangled with something out in the bushes or got trapped and pulled loose. We don’t really know. But hopefully tomorrow at least the vet can see her and make her more comfortable. But we may be looking at the end. She’s been a wonderful and loyal dog. Considering her size, her age is remarkable. I do hope she’ll be alright, but I’m steeling myself for if she’s not.

Today I had my second performance appraisal in a week; I have two jobs at the hospital. I got pretty high marks, and I’ll be getting a raise (yay!) In the first appraisal, I was very candid with my primary boss about looking for another job, and she agreed that I had to pursue what’s best for me. In the second appraisal, my other boss asked me what my plans were at this point, when the hospital shuts down and moves to a new building as an ambulatory care centre. I explained that best case scenario, I find another job that has benefits and is full time. While I could stay to the bitter end and collect a severance, be eligible for unemployment, and have health care for a limited time, it’s very uncertain as to the particulars, a lot of the severance would go to taxes (although I’d get some back as a refund the next year), etc. I did tell him that I will have been here 20 years come next year, right before the move, and I’ll also be turning 50 (another reason mortality has been on my mind as of late), and it will be harder to be looking for a job. And I may need to look outside of the library field, maybe do something along the line of my second job in revenue cycle, if possible. We further discussed that if something did come up in the hospital, I would consider staying, although I’d probably have to take a pay cut, because my library rate is very good, and even though my charge capture position is much lower, it averages out to more than most of those jobs pay, and he was candid about that. He suggested that I could perhaps do something there in fiscal services, and even though I don’t have a formal background in accounting, I can obviously do similar things. Of course, at this point, they’re not sure how many positions in fiscal services will be going, either, so it’s not like he can say, yes, there’s a position you can have. But I think he’s happy with my willingness to take on other duties and help where needed, and I think if something came up, he would recommend me and prefer to retain me. The most likely place to have an opening would be scheduling, which I am trained in, at least to a point. I said I wasn’t sure I’d like to do that five days a week all day, but I would be willing to try, if the pay wasn’t terribly low. The main concern I have at the moment is continuing to have health insurance, and while I might find something on the exchanges, we have excellent insurance and it would be nice to keep it. But benefits are the main goal. That being said, I am having trouble making ends meet, mainly because I’ve overextended myself on debt in the last couple of years. So a pay cut, while it may be inevitable, is not going to be fun, either. Anyway, I asked him to let me know if anything came up, and to keep me in mind for future openings. It couldn’t hurt.

It’s been a very long week, it seems. Tonight I missed the return of ‘Grimm’ because A really needed to go to the store and do a large grocery run. YKWIA recorded it though, and we’ll watch it tomorrow. I also need to see the last two ‘Heroes: Reborn’ episodes. Oh, and he’s been recording the ‘Sword of Shannara Chronicles’ but we haven’t seen them yet.

So, tomorrow I need to:

1. Possibly take the dog to the vet (it’s very close to where they live, but the poor thing is too unsteady to walk up there, right now).
2. Take A to get his medicine, or at least go by and get it for him.
3. Possibly take him to get his hair cut.
4. Take in the Time Warner Cable equipment.
5. Do a very small grocery run for a couple of items they didn’t have tonight.

Okay. I’m pretty tired, and it’s after midnight. Good night.