Men are Pigs

Written towards the end of my month of flights.

I’ve been on 16 flights over the last 3 weeks.  I’ve noticed I don’t mind sitting next to a female stranger, but male strangers definitely make sharing space harder.  Why?

• Men sit with their legs spread; pretty much taking up as much room as they can.  Personally, I do not like my own legs to be pressed together, being forced to have a stranger’s leg pressed against my own, with him in MY SPACE
• Men believe they own the arm rest.  Again, I don’t want some stranger’s sweaty arm resting along mine for an entire flight.

Yes, I know most men are physically larger than most women, but I have shared my arm rest with some pretty large women and I have never had a large woman rest her arm or leg against mine for an entire trip.  Men, wise up.  You are sharing very tight quarters in modern airplanes. Don’t take up more than your share!

August Musings

I forgot to post THIS writing, done in August:

What was Switzerland like?

I absolutely loved the chalet in which we stayed, I loved the countryside, too.  The food was quite excellent, indeed.  I enjoyed spending time with my father, my kids, and my boyfriend.  What I did not like about it was:

• Bug bites.  Lots of mosquitos. Lots of biting flies.  Lots of wasps.  Only 2 of the 3 bit me, but I happen to have developed an allergy to one of them. Yuck.
• Getting bats shooed out of the house.  We did learn to turn off indoor lights if we were sitting outdoors at twilight. We also learned to close our bedroom windows when it turned to dusk
• Being with people, even beloved family, 24/7.  Yes, showering with a boyfriend is fun, but really, that is (sometimes) my ONLY chance to be alone.  Once, I wanted to take a walk to find some quiet time to let my thoughts wander, and I got company on the walk.  I do love my family very much, but in order to feel settled and comfortable, I need some alone time, too.  Don’t get that on family vacation
• Prices.  When I was a little girl, the exchange rate was 4 SFr to the dollar.  When I was there about 5 years ago, it was 2 SFr to the dollar.  This trip, the dollar dropped to below the SFr.  It was expensive here 5 years ago. Now it’s doubly so!
• Learning to get everything one needs before Sunday.  The small towns shut down on Sunday, thus no groceries or other shopping for necessities.  This isn’t so bad, but it’s a tad difficult for a 24 hr grocery shopper to remember.

So, how was Morgan? Quick Answer: Nothing to complain about.

Oops, I forgot to post for a LONG time

It's been a long year.  I'm much better now, thank you. I got a new job 7/25/11 and on that day I flew to Madison, WI for training.  A few days later I flew home, arriving home around 2 am, only to turn around and head back to the airport with my kids to go on vacation (which was its own ordeal).  I return from 2 weeks in Europe to do the same - arrive in the evening and head out the next morning on a 6 am flight. Only this time I'm jet-lagged.  Learning something when one is horribly tired is difficult.  A flight back home, a weekend free, and back out to Wisconsin yet again for more training.  I believe it was 18 flights in 4 weeks.  Since then, I have been certified in Epic Orders, I've supported a "go-live" event which included 3 hospitals, working 130 hrs in 2 weeks. And I'm tired!
  I just heard that the hospital is asking for more support over the next two weeks, so I may be heading back to more 12 hour shifts.. I guess I can rest when I'm dead.

Team work

I believe most people recognize good teamwork when it happens.  What is involved?  Good team members, good leadership, clear communication, understood and common goals, and practice trying to get there.  Most good teams have pre and post meetings surrounding important events.

When teams have dissent, unclear communication and unclear goals, then chaos reins.  Decisions by leaders will be questioned because the decisions were not made through a team process and members of the team will question every decision made when done without input.
 
I currently work where we do not reliably have good teamwork. Leaders have pulled themselves from discussions with the team members, decisions are questioned as they appear to go against the standing practice, team members, due to lack of leadership following agreed upon rules, feel free to go their own way.  Everyone is not working well together, to say the least.  I currently hate where I work.  I hate the favoritism, I hate the lack of communication, I hate the "us vs  them" feeling, the secretiveness, and the general flavor of the place.

Thoughts on love, for Valentines Day

I had messaged some of my friends/family members earlier today, wishing them a Happy Valentine’s Day.  The mother of my somewhat of a boyfriend (he lives far away, so I am reluctant to call him a boyfriend) texted me back with words of wisdom about love.

She said:  "Love is an interesting concept. We want it, we need it, we miss it, we fight for it, we can’t define it for quantify it. It comes and goes, it changes and lasts forever.  You know it when you have it and you know when you don’t."

My response:  And so many flavors of it exist; lover, parent, friend, humankind, to name just a few.

I was pondering this, and pondering over my conversation with glomund last night.  I ponder because there is a significant age gap between us, with me being 17 years older than him.  I began to realize that the age difference doesn’t matter so much.  I likened us to being two pieces of a puzzle that fit together well.  He thinks I am beautiful and I very much admire his voice.  Both of us don’t think we have the qualities the other admires, and yet, we are pleased with the other.

So many characteristics we find pleasing about the other.  I enjoy his concern for me and his frequent checks that I am okay.  He appreciates that I care about his thermal comfort, as he is oftentimes far too warm for comfort.  It doesn’t matter so much that one of us is younger than the other, what matters is that we bring out good characteristics in the other person. I could go on forever, but the points itself don't matter.  What does matter is that we become better people because of the other one.

With love, one becomes the person one wants to be.

Grateful

Processing the intake paperwork today.  Many of the admissions from this weekend are the same story; placental abruption, fetal distress, emergency cesarean delivery, baby depressed but okay.

I am so grateful for two healthy kids. So very grateful.