I
have had a horrible week at the day job. I don’t write about it much. I feel
like I live two separate lives – one here on the computer and on the internet,
where I can be the person I want to be, where I can dream and write and travel
time and the world and do all those things I want to do and then there is the
real world where I have to earn real money doing a real job, a job where people
think they know me but they pretty much don’t have a clue. Maybe I need to
embrace that mystery, that double-life more. Imagine I am a super-hero, mild
mannered certified medical assistant by day, saving the world through words at night.
So,
anyway, as I opened with, my alternative personality has had a horrible week so
far. We are so short-handed at work, and the week after next, when a co-worker
will go out on medical leave for three weeks, that will put us a total of three
people short, not counting the people which management has already deemed
unnecessary and have laid off. Meaning that the handful of us who are left have
to split the duties of five others. And since some of those who are left barely
want to do their own jobs, they surely aren’t going to take on any more work.
And maybe all of this would be almost tolerable except – we work in the medical
field! We take care of patients! Sick patients, hurting patients, dazed and
confused patients! But at the end of the day, I am left so dazed and confused
that I don’t know which end is up. And don’t even say the “i” word. (That would be “insurance”,
which is the only thing in my world which is a bigger joke than management.)
Sorry
for the rant. I am just exhausted.
Somehow,
though, I have edited a few more chapters on my novel, having gone through chapter
21, which makes this 53% complete. Hmm, six more days to finish it. I will give
it my best shot.
How
about you? Are you working a day job to pay the bills while you wait for your
writing-train to enter the station?
I hope things ease up at work. Such a challenge when work doesn't run smoothly. Take care of yourself!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Bev, I don't see an end in sight to my work stress, except that I can retire in 61 months! I'll make it til then!
DeleteLove that heroic identity: "mild-mannered certified medical assistant" by day! You guys may be short-handed (and overworked), but I appreciate your caring for your patients. I've always worked, so even now retired, I still feel like I do have a job, being a writer. It's not so much making a living now as it is writing that meets my goals and helps tell my stories in ways that appeal/enrich my readers. So, maybe celebrate that 53% and all those steps that bring you closer to meeting your goals. Cherish each day (even the tired ones!), and I will hope for a good week for you.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Beth, for the support. You always make me feel better about things.
DeleteArgh, it's always by cutting staff that people hope to achieve things and yet we need people to help people! Hope work goes easily for you nonetheless...Sometimes I wish I could do nothing but write all day but then I wonder whether the urgency of never having enough time actually forces me to write more!
ReplyDelete