Boundin'

Yesterday was one of the best, unplanned, days I have had in a long time.

I woke up at 8:30 to get ready to meet a friend at 9:30 at the Hob Nob. It is a great little restaurant out on 6th Avenue that is directly across from Wright Park. I met with my friend for breakfast and we caught up since I have not seen her for weeks. During which I ordered the three egg crab omelet with hashbrowns and wheat toast. Actually, I just ordered toast. I let the server choose what type of toast . . . don't ask me why.

The omelet was good, not fantastic. There were some pieces of shell in the omelet which made it a little less than desirable but the server was very perky, friendly, and sociable. I would recommend this place to anyone that comes by.

After breakfast I was going to leave to go to supervision. In looking at the clock, I'd only have 30 minutes left of supervision so I decided to follow my friend instead. We walked around Wright Park, looked at the fountain, and watched the ducks. My friend is moving to South Korea to teach English so that was probably the last time I'll be seeing her for quite a while. We hugged and she left.

I began driving home and realized how anxious I had been feeling due to the stress from the situation with my job. The thought came to mind to go to the forest that I went to a few years ago on my birthday. I hadn't been there since and I began thinking of the wondrous adventure I would have. I drove to the forest and began walking around, following a path I had not gone down before. I walked past hundreds of blackberry bushes and I could not help to snatch a few berries from their vines. I think it helps that blackberries are considered weeds around here which is why they grow so freely. After approximately 30 minutes, I sat down for a break and then decided to go back to my car.

Well, on the way back I got lost. I had a tug of war with several trees, brutally molested by many blackberry bushes and was attacked by four mosquitoes. Ultimately I found some telephone wires and followed them back to the main road, where I found my car.

I then went to Fred Meyers to find a pair of shoes. Apparently the largest they have is either 12 or 13 in most sizes. I, of course, needed 1/2 to 1 size larger than they had. Ah well. So finally I went home to take a nap.

I awoke and my roommate needed my help making meat and cheese platters for work the next day. I helped him from 6:00PM through 12:30AM. It was great fun, we joked, ate a lot of meat, and just talked.

I went to bed around 1:00AM and I was so tired because I knew I would have to do therapy today.

So now I have a mild suntan due to my struggle in the forest and I had a great therapy day. Although I still feel somewhat stressed about the job issue, yesterday helped a lot. It pulled me out of the routine I had been following . . . and it was glorious.

So how was your day?

Warning

I've noticed that recently I've been wanting to be more reclusive. I can only attribute this to not knowing what my future holds. Usually when I do this I get things figured out more quickly.

Now you know the rest of the story.

Back at Work

I’m at work again and man is this depressing. The majority of the employees are talking about getting fired, losing their benefits, other jobs, how they will survive, etc. I am aware of the situation and doing what I can so I will be employed, but these conversations are not helping. They are also talking about how frustrated they are and how the ‘county’ should be doing more to take care of them during their time of transition.

I understand that this is how some people cope. They need to relate to people and figure out what they are going to do. As such, I am not intervening. More than anything, it is frustrating for me because I am normally a very positive person and I am doing my best in staying focused and proactive.

When people have asked how I am, I have honestly responded with “mildly depressed.” It is an accurate diagnosis. When I mention it, people turn their head and start to console me. They then attempt to give me advice on how to manage it. The only reason I mention it is because people ask, “How are you?” By sharing it, I do not want advice or to hear the typical “everything will be okay.”

I know that everything will be okay, I know it will work out, and I know it will take time for everything to sort out. I understand that people are trying to help and be supportive. All I need at the moment is for somebody to listen and be sympathetic. That’s all. If they are aware of other possible jobs . . . that would help too.

Yes, this is a minor rant. As mentioned in my previous post, things will probably get worse before they get better. This is, however, keeping you apprised of the situation and how I’m dealing with it.

The News Keeps Getting Better

So, it has been released that after closing down Crisis Triage and Evaluation and Treatment, that three new units will be opening at another location. Two will be similar to the Evaluation and Treatment center (what most of my work posts have mentioned) and one will be similar to Crisis Traige but simply referred to as a living room model.

I looked at the current job openings for the company that will be opening the living room model as the other companies have no job postings yet. Their minimum requirements for working there is a Master's Degree in the mental health field and four years of full time experience in working with chemical dependency, mental illness, and clients in crisis.

In other words, I'm no longer qualified in working at the job that I've been doing for the past 2 1/2 years.

I have a feeling that these posts are going to get increasingly depressing for a while. You have been warned.

Unemployment, Here I Come

So, I attended the meeting about my job and I learned that "Optum has decided not to contract with [Pierce County] for any of our services."

They stated that we will remain employed until the end of September. They are starting to work on our 'pink slips' so we can file for unemployment.

There are mild hopes that Optum will change their mind, but it seems doubtful.

It Is Our Fate

Finally we were given some news at work. One of my coworkers called and let me know that there is a "mandatory meeting for all employees" tomorrow. In short, our future is decided.

Speculation does no good, however clients from the outside have been telling staff members what they "heard" will be happening. If so . . . it's going to be an interesting journey.

Also, I applied for another job with the agency I am currently volunteering for. Basically, it's exactly what I'm doing now except I'll have a larger caseload. That's about it.

Also, I did enjoy coming back to visit for a short time. Sorry I couldn't see everybody. Because of my job, I had very limited time. Hopefully I'll be able to come back for at least a week, if not longer, next time.

There will probably be another update tomorrow night.

No Answer

Well, supposedly today we would be learning what Optum would be doing with the county. Apparently they were unable to determine what, of all the options, would be the best to choose for the county. So, they decided they needed more time and would let us know later.

So what does this mean? It means I'll be coming back to visit for a week. If I learned I would be unemployed I wouldn't visit Utah it might make some more financial difficulties for me in the near future. However, since there is no resolutions . . . I might as well come back.

So I'll see some of you in a few days.

Budget Cuts

As you've known from previous posts, my life (or according to this blog) is my work. As such, there was recently an article from one of the new stations giving an example of the budget cuts in the works due to the county's mental health system being taken over by a business only in it for the profit. Here's the article.

Cuts to mental health deeper than expected in Pierce County

06:05 PM PDT on Thursday, August 6, 2009

By DREW MIKKELSEN, KING 5 News

PUYALLUP, Wash. - Gerald Pratt knew the state’s latest budget was going to hurt mental health facilities like the one he owns. He just didn’t think they’d be this painful.

“Worst I’ve ever seen,” said Pratt, owner of Puyallup’s Valley Community Inn, Inc. for nearly 28 years.

Pratt’s facility has room for 50 clients. Since July first he’s had to discharge 6 because of budget cuts.

Mental health providers in Pierce County have been told they may have to eliminate 15 percent of their beds.

That worries relatives of clients at the Valley Community Inn.

“I’m afraid she’d just starve to death,” said Chris Woodford, whose sister, Mary Mathews has lived at the facility since 1979.

Woodford does not know where her 68-year-old sister would go if she was discharged.

“She’d be wandering the streets or maybe living under the freeway,” said Woodford.

Optum Health began working as the Pierce County’s Mental Health Authority in July.

Their director said the 15 percent figure is a worst case scenario, and providers have been told every attempt will be made to avoid such a drastic cut.

An Unexpected Night

This has been an amazingly nice night at work and once again I realize how much I love my job.

Tonight I went to work on Crisis Triage. I was assigned one client because we started out with a census of 4 (which is extremely low). I completed the intake and the individual spent the rest of the shift in their room. Due to the low census, the CNA got sent home at 5:00. For the remainder of the night I was the CNA which means I basically did 15 minute checks to see where the people were. As the night progressed we maxed out with a census of 6 people. All but one person were assigned to one room. So it was very simply to hunt everybody down. I took four steps out of the office, looked into the room, looked into the hallway, and went back into the office.

It was rather simple, yet good. Also I ended up taking a crisis call from somebody who was concerned because they were at the low end of their bipolar mood swing. She talked for a little bit, I confirmed that she wasn't crazy, and she determined what she needed to do to resolve her problem.

Of course in the last ten minutes of work, two new people showed up at the same time. But . . . overall it was a good evening. I got to help someone, catch up with my coworkers, and eat a 4-cheese calzone. Overall, it was a great night.