Browse Author: beakatude

Fish Out of Water

I just got home from my second day at my new job. The commute has been pretty easy and takes me about 45 mins door-to-door. My first day was rough since I was expected to be there by 8:00 am. That meant waking at 6:15 and being packed and out the door by 7:00 am. That was rough, but I did it.

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I hopped on Muni at 7:08 and transferred onto BART at 7:21.

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I got off at MacArthur Station at 7:36 and caught the hospital shuttle at 7:37.

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I arrived at the front door of the hospital by 7:42.

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Monday morning was all orientation: Corporate structure, Health and Safety, Customer Service, blah blah blah… I didn’t even have to stay for benefits and didn’t get out until 1:00. Then I headed over to Rehab, where I will be working and started shadowing and training right away. I also got my badge, which made me an official employee. Yay! The rest of the day was lots of training and learning how to navigate their computerized documentation system. Overall, my first day was just awkward. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do and they weren’t exactly sure what to do with me either. At the end of the day, I was more than ready to go home and was simply exhausted.

Today was far more interesting. I also got to arrive a bit later in the morning – 9:00 am. I also met up with someone who I was going to shadow for the morning, whom I had already worked with at Children’s Hospital LA. That was cool! I also met one of my cousin’s PT classmates who works there. We were both very excited to meet each other. I’m starting to get the hang of things and slowly settling in. I’m just a little bummed that they didn’t really have a place for me to set my things down just yet. I’m going to be using a workstation that is currently being used by the guy who I have been training under for the past two days. He practically lives there so there’s clothes, food, and papers everywhere. It sounds like he’s going back home to Canada for a few weeks and then it’s unknown whether he will be returning or not. Does that mean I will get to take his desk when he’s gone and then give it back if he returns? I have no idea and it’s a little annoying.

I assisted on a couple of evaluations and treatment sessions today and the kids are so cute and a lot of fun to work with. It’s so different working with kids who can talk and interact with you. I’m used to kids with Autism, who often avoid eye contact and aren’t able to really have a relationship with you. I was also unsure of what to expect from these kiddos but very quickly realized that I actually know what I’m supposed to do and it was all coming back to me.

So, tomorrow I will have my first patient. It’s weird calling them patients since I’ve been calling them students or kids all this time. I think I’m going to start bringing in my books and belongings to help me get a handle on things. Perhaps that will also force my desk-partner to start cleaning up his space. 🙂

Fridge Update

Yesterday when Jes got home, he decided to just remove the overhead cabinet.  It just took a bit of unscrewing and a slight tug on some nails that held it up to the top but it came down in one piece without crushing either one of us (I was holding the cabinet up as he unscrewed).

The second step was to change the door handle to the right side.  That took a little figuring out but Jes did it and it’s perfect now.  Then we slid the fridge into its new and improved spot with our wine fridge sitting on top of it.

In celebration of our new fridge, we went to Costco, Trader Joe’s, and Safeway today to stock up on essentials.  Jes also cooked our first dinner in the new condo and of course it had to start out with frying up some bacon.  Yum.

Yep, it’s too big.

These past few days have been fun but a bit crazy.  Here’s a little update…

On Tuesday night, we went to the Bangs’ house for some homecooking.  Vyl prepared us some Chinese food that was so yummy.  Thanks again, Vyl!  After dinner we played Wii.  We went fishing, raced on cows, and played laser hockey.  What fun!

My parents drove up on Wednesday afternoon and brought their minivan filled with our belongings and Koa too.  It was great to see them again and it was fun to watch Koa getting to know his new surroundings.

On Thursday morning, the movers came with all of our furniture and boxes, which was something we thought would never happen after the last encounter we had with the shady guys that picked up our stuff over a month ago. We also thought that the Homeowners Association (HOA) wasn’t going to allow us to move our stuff in because we didn’t have proof of the moving company’s workman’s comp insurance…which they actually don’t have. Another obstacle was the fact that the movers said they were coming in the morning but the HOA didn’t have that slot open for us to move and gave us the afternoon slot instead. So, Thursday came and the movers showed up at 8:30 am. We called the HOA and luckily the morning slot opened up and didn’t even ask for the workman’s comp stuff! Hooray! I was very pleased with the guys that came this time around. They were nice and very careful with our things.

In the evening, we went to Lowe’s to order our fridge and washer/dryer unit. We had to order a special-sized fridge since the stupid builders decided to build a fridge space that would only accommodate something that was shorter than 67 inches. Most standard fridges are usually around 68 inches…great. Afterwards, on our way to dinner, we stopped at Costco to pick up a small dorm fridge to hold us over until the real one came. Turns out they had the fridge we wanted all along, it was $100 cheaper, and was available for delivery the next day! So, this morning, I went back, had the fridge put on a cart, wheeled it over to the check-out, and had them put it aside for delivery. It arrived this afternoon and it’s finally sitting in our condo. There’s just one catch. Jes had a hunch that the model we bought from Costco was going to be too big and his hunch was right. It’s too tall for the space and somewhere along the way we goofed. *sigh* So, now it’s time to find someone to cut the cabinet so that our gigantic fridge (69.88 inches to be exact) can fit into the space. Until then, it will sit in our foyer ready to greet anyone who visits.

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Our stuff is here!!

The movers are here and have started bringing it up. Woohoo!! I finally get a couch to sit on and a bed to sleep on tonight. Life is good.

beakatude is online

dsc_7829.jpgMr. Internet came by today to hook us up. We are now connected and I won’t have to go down to the 4th floor lounge. It’s so nice to be back online.

I also ventured out into the city today to run some errands and rode on the T Train for the first time. There’s a stop right across the street from our condo so for $1.50, I hopped on and got off at Powell St., which is right under the Nordstrom! When all was done, I hopped back on with the same pass and rode back home for free.  Apparently you can ride Muni all you want within a 90-minute window. I also found this site called NextBus, which has real-time predictions of when your next train is expected to arrive. Neato.

My parents are driving up with their mini-van filled with our belongings and Koa. On Thursday, the movers are coming with the rest of our things. I can’t wait to sleep in my own bed again. It’s been over a month now and my back is really paying for it.

I’m a melter.

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We had a fun time in Sequoia this weekend. The weather was much more pleasant than I had anticipated. The weather forecast said it was supposed to be 100 degrees but it wasn’t. The campsite was convenient and had lots of shade. We also got to see lots of really big trees. We visited Auto Log, Tunnel Log, and the General Sherman Tree. I also learned how to play Blokus, which Ryan brought on the trip. Jes hiked 6 miles with the Bangs while I stayed behind with the Sokol-Juns for a mini-hike to some little pools in the stream nearby and played 4 games of Blokus.On Saturday afternoon, as we were touring the different tourist sites, we stopped at Auto Log and I used my little Canon digi to help prop up Michelle’s camera for a group photo. When the photos was taken, I forgot to take it back grab the camera and I didn’t realize it was missing until we were at the next site. To my dismay, it was gone by the time we drove back to the site…*sniff* Oh man, Jes was really mad at me and I was kicking myself the rest of the day. I’m still kicking myself. I filed a report at the Lost and Found but I doubt it will show up. Boo…it had some cool photos that Jes took on his 6-mile hike.

So we’re back in our condo with no furniture, no appliances, and no internet. I’m in the 4th Floor clubhouse again trying to upload some photos. This might take a while.

Oh yeah, it sprinkled today! I can’t believe it was at least 90 degrees in Fresno but in the low 60s as we drove into the SF area.

UPDATE:  Here are the photos from our camping trip.