something

i had some things to write about. there were a few things in my head throughout the day yesterday that i felt i wanted to put here. then, as often seems to happen, i get here and cant think of what they were. sigh.

i miss my time here, i know that. i miss getting here on a regular basis with things to say, and time to catch up on what everyone else is saying. i fear being forgotten about because im absent so much. but honestly, part of the challenge is drawing a blank when i do sit down to write. and part of the challenge is finding it hard to to focus. its been a while since i could read for more than ten minutes at a time. i have a thinking that it could be because we have been so busy at work - and i do a lot of reading at work. i sort out the faxes, so i have to read what they are to know where to deliver them. i sort out the mail, so i have to see what is junk, what is patient labs reports or doctors notes, what is patient payments and what is insurance payments, and what is invoices, and go through all the magazines sent to the doctors. at least i dont have to read all this, i just have to scan it enough to know what it is. then i have to take all the faxed referrals and scan them to see who is being referred for what, and check to see if they have been to our office before, fill out the intake sheet, enter the information in the computer and make the appointment, unless it has to go up to the doctor for review first. then i have to make the chart and send the forms to the patient. i also have to call all the patients for the next office day and try to confirm their appointment, and go through all the next day superbills and see if any of the insurances require an authorization, and stamp them for the date of the visit. while im doing all this, i have to check in the patients when they start arriving, and check them out when they leave, taking their copays, and making their next appointment. sometime during the day i also have to enter the previous days charges and payments. and even though i am not the phone receptionist, i have to answer the phone a lot, or take calls for appointments and new patient referrals. we have been so busy the last few months that i am just fried by the end of the day.

i still have to drive across town and pick up the beau from his job, and sometimes we have to stop by the postal office on the way home. i feed the cats and the dog when we get here, and clean up whatever they might have done during the day. then there is laundry to get going, maybe find time for something to eat, and a little yard work just to do something physical. by 8pm i try to get into the shower, and then go sit in front of the television for some down time. the beau takes care of our ebay enterprises after work, and so is on the computer in the evenings quite a bit anyway. my main time is about an hour in the mornings before we leave, and on weekends.

so here it is the weekend, and i am at a loss for what to say. i havent had time to have any issues to deal with. maybe thats a good thing. i have started to read ‘boundaries‘, a book loaned to me last week by one of the nurses i work with. so far i have read the first chapter, but it has me hooked. if i can just sit down this weekend, i might get more of it read.

i might get really ambitious and work on my long neglected spanish too.

this year i have had more issues with my eyes than before - they burn a lot. i think with all the rain we have had there is more something in the air that is bothering me. that doesnt make reading any easier. i used to read a lot as a child. in spite of being hyper and dyslexic. i miss it. i used to write a lot more too.

its nice having a three day weekend, i really needed the break. we arent doing a lot. yesterday i just hung out most of the day, and when it cooled down outside a bit i put more mulch on my flower beds, and washed the front room windows and the glass on the front door.

i think i will try to get the brackets up for the shelves in this room. its the only room thats a mess, albeit an organized mess. there just isnt any place to put stuff, so its kind of all over. its my goal to remedy that this weekend. once the brackets are up, we can see how we want the shelves placed, and then actually get them put up too. that will be a good thing.

so, finally a post, about something. and a weekend to recharge. feels good.

google Tags: weekend, books, reading, work

the question

has the climate changed in the office, or is it just me? well, it only seems that way with one person, so i dont want to behave as though it were everyone. so maybe it isnt just me then. not my imagination, and perhaps not my subconscious doing.

a couple of weeks ago i played a video at work of a ventriloquist with a very funny puppet for the girls at work who hadnt seen it. the puppet is a dead suicide terrorist, and the act deals with terrorist racism, but in such a funny way. the office manager was among those watching and laughing as much as the rest of us. we laughed at the fun made of muslim extremists. we laughed at the fun made of an anorexic celebrity, and the suggestion that another was gay. we laughed when certain muslim beliefs were joked about. we laughed when the jews were the target of the jokes. but when pedophilic priests were brought up, the room went dead silent. two or three of the women i work with are catholic, and two of them were among those watching the online video. one of them was the office manager. her demeanor toward me hasnt been the same since. i really think she was personally offended.

the thing is, catholicism wasnt made fun of. pedophilia among a well known religious leadership was. and why was it ok to laugh about other peoples religious beliefs, especially when it was the belief itself that was the joke, but not ok to laugh at the abuse of power by leaders in another belief system, when their beliefs werent even in the equation? why was it ok to laugh about anorexia and homosexuality, but not pedophilia? these same women would not hesitate to laugh about non catholic christian leaders who have been publicly reprimanded for misusing organizational funds.

of the two women who didnt like the joke about pedophilic priests, only the office manager has changed her attitude towards me. and i didnt write the guys material, i just played the video because overall it was a pretty funny gig. the other one hasnt changed towards me that i can tell.

truth is, the office manager hasnt been herself since she came back from her last vacation. the general consensus is that its her daughter that is on her mind. she has a daughter that has an addiction to alcohol. given what ive heard over time, i sort of wonder if she is bipolar. i know it wears on her mother deeply, and has been going on for years. her mother is broken hearted over it. i feel for her, because being a mother i can understand what it must be like.

id like to reach out and just turn the whole thing around for her.

still, its hard working with her with this weight on her, because its making her a little crazy.

guess im just rambling on. this started out on one direction, and as often happens, has worked itself into a whole other light. thats what i like about talking things out.

Technorati Tags: work

and the beat goes on …

Technorati Tags: work,conflict

this morning we wont be taking the phones off service at the usual 830 time. the office manager is going to talk to us about resolving conflict in the workplace. great. just great. we had two employees who were all upset and in tears yesterday, both for entirely different situations. there are ten of us, all female, all between the ages of 40 and 60. it was the two who have been there the longest, one twenty years and one nineteen years, who were so up in arms. and it usually is. they are both the kind you have to walk on eggshells around, or they get their feelings hurt. but neither of them is careful for anyone elses feelings. not that i dont like both of them. i like everyone i work with. it just kind of surprises me the lack of professionalism and maturity i see at work. its so often ‘all about me’. we have four doctors in this office, all who are of the utmost professionalism. its not that they are without conflict, because they have to hammer out their own scheduling differences too. that was what one of the outbursts was about yesterday - which IV nurse was going to work labor day weekend. i cant imagine what would happen if the doctors acted like that. the other outburst im not really sure about. the nurse involved had just come back from a few days off. her friend and coworker had given her a heads up about a fussy patient who was on the phone, or on voicemail, or something, and she just flew into a tizzy about having just her brother - who, incidentally passed away several months ago. the friend-coworker finally had enough of walking on eggshells, and told her she wasnt going to apologize for delivering messages anymore. i was proud of her for that. i told her she wasnt responsible for anyone elses emotional well being. we do what we can to be respectful and courteous, but we cant go around trying to protect every one from any little thing that might set them off. everyone is responsible for their own reactions and responses. we are theoretically adults. yeah right.

exasperated

yesterday i was really peeved by the time i got home. our office manager had been in a huff all day because her mail hadnt been dealt with during the week she was on vacation. i believe it was only one person she felt should have taken care of it. but she was demonstrating her bad temper to every one except the IV nurses, as far as i could tell. she was blaming it on us talking too much. the thing she usually overlooks is the time she spends chatting with the nurses, as well as looking things up online - i have seen her monitor on other things besides her work during the same work hours we all have - and the other inconsistencies in her administration of corrections and allowances. she has on two different occasions expressed my perfume has given her an instant headache, on those really rare days i even wear a little. but one of the business office women wears a very heavy fragrance every day - the kind that fills the room and stays there - and what is more she reapplies it at both smoke breaks and at lunch in an attempt to cover the smell of her heavy smoking. she is the only one who gets to have two additional breaks a day to accommodate her habit. any of us can go down to the first floor to the snack room and get treats when its not busy, but woe to the one who would go twice a day every day and stay gone fifteen minutes each time, regardless of patient flow. she isnt the only one with inconsistencies and moody temperaments. there is usually something petty going on.

mind you, i dont dislike working there. every time i feel gripey about the pettiness, i come back to the fact that its still the best place i have ever worked. and really, for ten women to work as well together as we do is pretty amazing. my little gripe sessions are shared only with one other at work, or i stew about it while i take my shower in the evening, and then im fine by the time im done, as if all that annoyance goes down the drain with the soap and water. it is only annoyance, and i dont want to make a federal case out of it, because then i would be doing the same same thing that aggravates me in the first place. wouldnt that be amusing?

so having gotten it off my mind, im ready to start a whole new day, and have fun at work, and make the front office a cheery place for patients to encounter on their way in and back out of again.

thanks for listening.

Technorati Tags: work,office,coworkers

where’s waldo?

where have you been?

you haven’t been by your room in days.

did you fall off the earth?

did you hit her head and forget who you are? well, you never really knew who you were any way …

still …

where could you have possibly gotten off to?

im here. i really have been all along. sort of. ive been in my head.

well, not just there … ive been around.

let me explain.

the last two weeks or so everything has been kind of rearranged. first, i had that awful virus that made me cough and have all that congestion. dragged on for over thirty days. i never really felt ‘bad’, except for a couple of days when i was short of breath. made me kind of tired. but otherwise, i was more annoyed with it.

then the beau informed me his hours had been changed, and for the next two months he was going to have to go into work at 6 instead of 8 in the morning. so i get up at my usual time, but i take my shower right away, and then get him up to get ready. then i take him to work, and come home and feed sammy. then i get sleepy, and take a nap with her before i go to work. thats why i havent been here in the mornings, except briefly to look around.

in the evenings the beau has been tending more to our ebay site, and i have had other things to do around the house. so i havent been here at all in the evenings. instead, i have started a couple of books, spent some time talking to my mother on the phone, and keeping the house a little more diligently. then we get ready for bed, maybe watch a little television or try to watch a movie without falling asleep, and climb into bed around 9:30 or 10.

weekends i havent been here simply because its been nice here, a rare thing for this part of the country. so although i have been home, i havent been in the computer room. ive been playing with the dogs, and organizing stuff that accumulates (like mail, things we buy but dont put away, and stuff that gets thrown in my closet for safety against chewy cats). the beau worked a couple of saturdays, and then spent a couple more at midas - oh thats another blog for later - and sundays we have gone to see a couple of movies, and gone shopping.

so you see, ive been here, but i havent been.

you could have told some one. we were all worried something had happened to you.

im sorry. it wont happen again.

weekend storm

the storm and ice blew in thursday night. the winter queen came in with unusual fanfare, blanketing everything with the snowy folds of her gowns, her white hair whipping with the wind. you could just about hear the pounding of the hooves of her horses, galloping roughshod over everything in their path. the wheels of her carriage scattered ice in all directions. but the cold that came in with her was like a henchman riding at her side. his icy breath sent living things scurrying for warmer shelter.

i welcomed the ice queen. one of the few true winter people am i. though i can scarce stand in her presence for long, her beauty enthralls me, her freezing breath cools me. armed with sweater and boots, and long stockings, i can come and go as i please when she is here. not so with summer’s burdensome heat. to me, summer is a harsh, oppressive queen in this southern land. she has more powered here than in the north, her favorite realms being around the belly of the planet. she loves the most populated places best.

not so winter. she is a lady. fierce and rugged, she can be very stern. but she preserves the things she freezes, and keeps them pristine. nothing rots in her kingdom. nothing decays, or stinks.

not everyone loves her like i do. many prefer the sweltering of summers heat. but when her scepter touches things for too long, they wilt, they spoil, they send off offences to the nose and eyes. her wand brings tiny flying biters in hordes that do not relent. it dries up the waters, and burns the grass, filling the air with smokey ash.

im glad winter is here. i will enjoy her as long as she will stay.

the gift

yesterday was a good day. i was blessed (blessed means empowered) in an unexpected way.

it began with me arriving at work ready to do a couple of small tasks i had left on my desk the day before, when i was too tired and short on time to get them done. of the three of us that make up the front office, H leaves before me and M leaves about an hour after me. M seems to need to meddle with other people’s work. she has a big heart, and knows her stuff, but often doesnt seem to trust the rest of us to do our job right. she can be down right bossy. this has caused some resentment amongst the flock.

well i looked for my small stack of ‘to dos’ i had left for myself, and it was gone. this really angered me, because it throws me off considerably. if i am going to be responsible for certain things, i need to be able to keep track of my own items, so i know where i am with any one process. we work as a team on these things, and communication is important. so is trust. taking things off my desk to do them her way after i leave violates trust, and breaks down communication. i had to track down what she did, undo it because i had already taken care of the thing except for one little detail, and also take back another thing from her stack that i wasnt ready to give her.

when she came in, we had a confrontation. it got a bit heated, but i remained calm, and stood my ground. in the end i won out, and gained the respect of the others in the office that overheard the dispute. we ended on a positive note as well. i was quite pleased with the outcome.

the best part, however, came after i got home. during the drive, i proceeded to describe this encounter to the beau, explaining what i felt, what i said, what she said, what the others thought…the whole episode. he listened closely, and with interest. later that evening, when i asked him what he was chuckling about, he said, ‘oh, that whole thing with you and M. i was just thinking about it, and i am really impressed with how you handled it with grace and control. it reminded me of gloria copeland.’

i want you to know, glria copeland is someone i truly admire, and respect, and am inspired by. she is a real woman of God in my opinion. for the beau to tell me he was thinking about my experiences of the day, was impressed with my handling of the thing, and was comparing me to gloria…..this was the icing on the cake. this was the gift. this was my honor.

buried under job security

i am so tired! work has been….work!

i set the appointments at the clinic i work at. i do a lot more than that, but that is my primary position. that alone involves more than meets the eye. for one thing, i also take new patient referral information. when another doctor wants to send a patient to us for a consult on something he/she is treating, they call us. i and another girl take most of these kinds of calls. they involve getting the basic information on the patient, the referring doctor, and the insurance. then we have to get some records faxed to us. after that, the third lady who worked in the front office verifies the insurance coverage and benefits. then i take all the paperwork and put together the chart, and mail forms to the new patient. somewhere in there i also enter the patient information into our system and set the appointment. since i have been there, the busiest i have been with this particular process has been maybe 10-12 new charts in a day.

this last week, i have had 3 times as many new patients to make appointments and charts for. this is all while still handling my usual daily routines, which consist of scheduling followups and post hospital follow ups, rescheduling some people, and checking in and back out the daily patients. plus entering the charges for the prior day. and then anything extra to help the other two women, or either of the two nurses. compound this with all the new patient referrals still coming in….and you get the picture.

i have been buried in job security this week….(pant pant….collapse).

so…how was your week?