Saturday January 13th 2024

Tweety, BSN, RN · Jan 13, 2024

Good morning!

Joe, does the air conditioner cover keep cold air from the outside from coming through the air conditioner? Never heard of that.

I was in a bad mood after work and decided not to post. Went to bed and hope to shake it off. I can always tell before a needed vacation that I'm irritable. Just a lot of irritations, patient complaints. One guy complained his bed was too hard and we were the worst hospital ever. Another son didn't believe the swallow study his father failed and we were incompetent. Another daughter put me on a three-way call with her father for him to make complaints that his condom cath fell off and he was wet. We were 100% occupied with people lined up. We got one patient that was in the ER for 92 hours.

We have a written guideline over which patients we are to take and it clearly says "no heated high flow oxygen". So they had one coming to us and I pushed back and had to endure a lecture that "guidelines" were not policy and we do take heated high flow, blah blah blah. This patient was stable, blah blah blah. I was so annoyed I threw the guidelines in the trash. In my end-of-shift report to the management team I complained that I wasn't told the policy change and requested staff education.

Anyway, sorry for the rant which is why I didn't post yesterday and I ranted yet still.

I'm off today and was supposed to start my vacation but I was denied a day and have to work tomorrow which isn't my usual scheduled Sunday and it's the fourth Sunday in a row. They didn't really deny me as they called and asked and I caved and said yes. Bleh...then I'm off and will get my act together.

Today, I'm just going to yoga and cook. I have lunches made but need some dinners.

Have a great day.

No Stars In My Eyes · Jan 13, 2024

? ?. Well, here it is: when I got up I found MORE pee on MY bed, and it isn't from ME !! It's at the bottom of the mattress this time. I think Momo is "in heat" because now I also have little blots of blood on the fitted sheet. I have stripped it off and turned the ceiling fan on high. Will have to flip the mattress later on, maybe line the mattress with 30x36 underpads UNDER the fitted sheet. Wish I had one of those full-size mattress protectors; I can't keep doing this sheet changing thing EVERY DAY! And thank goodness this is an OLD mattress!

Now I have to look it up online....how long is a heat period supposed to last in a 7 year old dog? EGADS! I've not ever had an unspayed female before. She hasn't lost her 2 lbs the vet said she had to lose before they'd spay Momo. And after a spay, she is supposed to have a recuperation, ie being 'quiet' for 2 weeks! Yuh, right, She's mostly calm and quiet, but she will get down from the sofa and go up the stairs from the den and sit on the top step to keep track of me when I go up the stairs. It's like one of those them-there attachment kind of syndrome deals, or whatever ya call it. *SIGH*

Almost time to get Nannie up; can't wait to see the state of HER bed! And even if it isn't wet, the laundering task continues. Every time I get a tad ahead of it, the laundry pile seems to grow again! Wish it wasn't so fruitful with its multiplying!

By the way, just to let you know, tmb, the dehumidifier has not sucked one single drop of humidity out of the air since it was set up. And it is right at that corner, too. I hope that's a good sign. But at least yesterday's rain didn't get wild and heavy. We are possibly to get a dusting of snow Monday or Tuesday....the first snow here in 2 years. But a dusting won't contribute any amount to much wetness.

Later, y'all.

Anyway, thanks, Crunch, for the good words. And Tweety, not to make you feel bad, but I'd ruther be here doing endless laundry than dealing what you seem to get slammed with at LEAST a time or two a week.

Will someone tell me why it is always some old guy who has decided spontaneously to buy a scratch-off ticket and ends up with a 10 million dollar win? TEN MILLION! GADS! I should be so lucky! HAH!

Welp, nothing to it but to do it ... put my head down and start plowing through the laundry. One of these days I'll get to go back up to my 'new' room and pick up and finesse the tasks I want to accomplish there, and THEN I get to start in on the disgusting mess in the 'old' bedroom. I really wouldn't mind so much if SiL devoted an entire day to Nannie-care; I'll have to ask her about that today; maybe she and my niece can split up a day or something.

And I STILL haven't rec'd the birth cert for hubby from the SC Health Dept. What is their frickin' problem?

Ah, well, you know I'll be back by here later. Maybe I'll have a miracle (or a mackerel as one of my prior patients used to call it.) to report; wouldn't THAT be wonderful? Just gimme some time and money, that's all I want, money and time! Guess there are a lot of us in that boat!

nursej22, MSN, RN · Jan 13, 2024

Good morning. The sun is out and the thermometer is up to double digits! The wind is till blowing though. It got down to zero Friday night, and wind chill of -20 or something. I was changing out hummingbird feeders to keep one thawed and drinkable. The little hummers would zoom by and chirp each time I came out. I've been putting insulated coats on the dogs to go out. I've also got a couple of pee pads that were used. the dogs are bored, and getting into and chewing things they wouldn't ordinarily do. I'm bored too. The fireplace guy fixed the fireplace, which helps, because it's on the windward side of the house the cold blows through there.

Gosh, Tweety, what a horrendous shift. I hope you can get some relaxation and recreation today.

Woo hoo, Joe. Early time off! I think our very cold weather is coming your way. Bundle up!

Stars, it sounds like you may need to make a stern call to the birth certificate office. I mean, you are a senior on a fixed income who depends on SS.

toomuchbaloney · Jan 13, 2024

We are double digit below zero but the sky was clear for my 0600 dog potty rotation and the aurora was filling the sky over the cabin. I'm thankful that we aren't getting the snow dump that everyone (apparently) south of us is enjoying.

My huskies don't wear jackets to go out, but they do get cold feet if there's no place for them to get off the snow. When we keep them inside during the Winter they don't get the really bushy pad fur, like the wild canines.

Tweety, your post makes me glad I'm retired.

Tweety, BSN, RN · Jan 13, 2024

J22, I've been in Florida too long and can't handle cold temps like that.

Huskies must be good dogs from what I hear.

My first dog was attached to me and followed me everywhere. Waffles is someone like that but lazy. She has a bed where I sit on the computer and spends time with me there, and a bed outside the kitchen where she spends time when I'm in the kitchen. Almost always when I get up and leave a room she'll wait a few to see if I'm coming back and if not she'll go to the next bed to be near me. But often she's lazy and says in the bedroom. I have to have a waterproof mattress protector under my sheets because Slowbro likes to vomit in the bed. He usually likes to wait until I've washed and changed the sheets.

I got a text I had an appointment with a barber that I stopped going to over a year ago and at a time I won't even be in town. I was able to cancel it online but I hope I haven't been hacked or something.

Also got a text that they can make a cash offer on my 2018 Toyota when I get it serviced this week. No thanks, I don't like having a car payment.

toomuchbaloney · Jan 13, 2024

Brrr.

The drug poop will be frozen and easy to find.

No Stars In My Eyes · Jan 13, 2024

tmb, I do NOT like your weather report! BRRRRR! As the Calvin & Hobbes cartoon once said...."That's so cold it freezes your boogers!"

Hey, I don't want to jinx myself, but here's the laundry status. One load in process in the dryer, one load washed and waiting to go in the dryer, and the final load is being washed. That's right....the FINAL LOAD! I have lost track of how many loads of laundry I have done this week; it's been punishing,to say the least!

Since I shopped and restocked everything yesterday or the day before (?) TONIGHT I have ordered a pizza and boneless, naked chicken wings for supper. The pizza will have mushrooms, black olives, Italian sausage and bacon on it. I'm hungry!

It's here! YUM!

Bye!

CrunchRN, ADN, RN · Jan 14, 2024

We are all worried about the "power grid" here in Texas. Again. Pretty sure we will roll the dice in the Summer/fall and move to Ocala. I will be 62 and haven't interviewed for a job in 20 years. Ackward?

No Stars In My Eyes · Jan 14, 2024

Crunch~ Moving away from power grid problems would be a good idea; moving is one thing, but having to search for and interview for a job? Seems like, from what I read on here, the interview process is different from how it used to be. I wonder if they still ask an applicant, "Where do you see yourself in 5 years, 10 years?" Um, I wonder if you could respond, "Duuuh! RETIRED!" I mean, that'd be truthful, wouldn't it? ?

I am relieved and proud to tell y'all THE LAUNDRY IS ALL DONE! ? I can hardly believe it!

Nannie is now in bed, and I am going upstairs to relax under the down blanket and read for a while. But, uh-oh, I have to put the clean fitted sheet on the by-now-dried mattress first: It's always something! (The Never Ending Story Of My Life!)

Next purchase: water (and pee) proof mattress cover!

Nobody better wet anything tonight or tomorrow!

Ado Annie, ASN, RN · Jan 14, 2024

Tweety, I hope you enjoy your much-needed vacation and it restores you.

Stars, that is a lot of laundry. And I agree that it's time to call and nag about the birth certificate.

I wonder if I could get my dogs to use pee pads, especially during this cold spell. Just like that, the temp was like 18 yesterday morning and it will get worse before it gets better. But it *will* get better.

Joe, hooray for an early end to the work week! I might have to check out The Old Dark House.

TMB, I couldn't do it. The coldest I've experienced was -27 in Kokomo, but even that was just for a day or 2.

I have put some time this weekend into studying for the CIC exam. At least I find it interesting.

Yesterday I worked on the quarterly submission of CMS quality data that is due Feb 1. My upload failed because CMS just changed the data map to have several possible values for a patient's sex but the tool we use to package the data for submission still uses only "M", "F", or "U". Which are not valid values for the new map. I submitted a ticket and we shall see what happens. I don't see a way for me to manually change the packaged data.