Monday, October 22, 2007

First Night in Forever

that I got a comfortable sleep.

Recently the overwork/not enough rest has shown itself in RLS.

Did you know that news anchor Brian Williams, who indicated on TV that he doesn't believe RLS is real, is from Elmira NY? He lived one street down from us (long before we lived here).

My own special version of RLS includes the feeling that my legs have somehow managed to find themselves on sandpaper instead of sheets. Wet sandpaper, at that.

MS stands for Mighty Strange.

pb
Little Pond

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Can't even tell you how long it's been

but I do know that I'm tired:

Too many 6-day weeks and too much anxiety are taking their toll. Feels like another bladder infection. Been up only three hours and ready for a nap. Work tonight starts at 4pm.

My immediate boss still expects the ax to fall. He believes that his changeover to hourly wage presages a more convenient layoff for Gannett.

Gotta say, though, our wages can't amount to much, even combined. The only bad thing would be that the need for using entry-level workers...

They will need to keep one of us. After all, our night workers are famous for the need to call one of us at home. Often. Very, very often. Our department head has no experience in our workings. My boss and I are it.

Well, once they are trained, then what? After all, if they blanch at the thought of paying our overtime, then they would prefer to pay an entry-level employee.

And next week the red flag will probably fly when they have to pay me a 7-day week. My boss will be on vacation. Reverse and repeat sometime in November for my week off, only will our hireling working the overtime, while my boss assumes most of my duties.

After that, all bets are off.

pb
Little Pond

Monday, October 08, 2007

Yippee...

We can finally expect some relief for all the overtime worked.

Frankly, the extra pay isn't real compensation for the damage to my health. Extra money just goes into the big black hole that comprises our "budget," and the extra
work leaves me exhausted, unable to sleep without having nightmares, full of twitches and neuralgia, and craving some relaxation.


My house is dirty and dusty, smells musty, and needs a thorough scrubbing. Even the mirrors have a coat of dust on them. Gardener/husband RJ is beginning to track really mucky earth back and forth, and leaves are sticking to everyone's shoes.

You know what smooshed up leaves look like on the bottom of a shoe? Guess, keeping in mind that we have part-time custody of a dog.

But we need rest over all.

Happily, rest is forthcoming.

pb
Little Pond

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Stiffer and Fatter

When I'm nervous and unhappy, I eat. What with all the trouble at work and a recent bout of bad brakes on the Geo, we are now heavier than Husband RJ.

The two of us were harboring some sort of virus for about three weeks, during which we spent a great deal of time scoping out restrooms, county-wide. Now RJ is nearly the weight he was when we two tiny young-folk wed. I most assuredly am not.

Except for a rather nasty paunch, I look okay, but feel terrible.

Things are going, little by little, to worse at the paper. Three people gone from nights, replace by a worker who will give us fifteen hours. Not really enough time to properly train him over the next month. Looks like I'll be getting a lot of phone calls when he has to fly solo...

A shirt I regularly wear was cutting off the circulation in my arms last night. It's time to pare back. Again.

Monday I walked (using my monopod camera support as a walking stick) from the auto repair shop back home. Taking my time and snapping pictures along the way, it took about an hour to go thirteen blocks. Unfortunately, although rather fortuitously, I stopped to shop for hiking boots. They were marked down to about $70, and were very heavy.

By the time I got home, my neck was sore and stiff from supporting the camera. My body still aches from walking all off-kilter, carrying the shoes. A monopod (Sunpak) is rather fragile, and does not make a good walking stick. And the sidewalks are very bad in Elmira.

On the upside, I've slept very well the past three nights. I will clean the house today and maybe that will ensure a decent nap, too.

pb
Little Pond