Prep Genrl Weekly Prep Thread: August 15 ~ 21, 2021

ReneeT

Veteran Member
Oh no Renee, what's the game plan?

Best guess - long hours and short staffing - which since we're all pretty stressed, tired, and crispy around the edges anyway isn't going to go over well....

When Covid first hit, staff were great about pitching in where/when they were needed - for our normal pay and standard overtime pay of time and a half over 40 hours (most floor RN's work 3/12's). People started getting tired and bigger hospitals in bigger towns in the area were offering higher wages and better staffing, so we started bleeding staff. Me, I don't like playing with the knife and gun club type patients they have in the big towns, so I stuck it out in the sticks. They gave us a raise and started offering bonus $$ for picking up shifts when things got busy - like $50/4 hours, $100/8 hours, $150/12 hours - in addition to any overtime pay we had coming. Then we got an annual raise; but it wasn't much more than the ones we usually get. Then the 'bonus' shifts stopped a month or so ago when pretty much everything slowed down (except psych). I let the younger ones have all those extra shifts - would have picked up at least a few if no one else did, but was grateful that they picked almost all of them up. I did my share of picking up shifts over the past twenty plus years (and put it to good use.) The calls and texts I got today said we'd get DOUBLE bonus pay for picking up extra hours. So for working Sunday night, I'll get my normal hourly rate and night shift differential, plus $200 ($25/hr) for picking up the 8 hour shift. And once I hit 40 hours for the week, anything over that will be time and a half.

And I wouldn't do it if it wasn't for leaving my co-workers high and dry because I am mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted. We are full - State Hospital isn't taking patients because: Covid, Developmental Centers aren't taking patients because: Covid, Group Homes aren't taking patients because they can only have one person per room instead of two due to Covid, Nursing Homes aren't taking patients for the same reason, and Substance Abuse Treatment Centers aren't taking patients because: Covid. Even if we test 'em and they are negative.

I won't be surprised if my September vacation gets cancelled by managment. (Seven more work days... make that eight...)

I have already told Hubby I will retire if the Covid Vax becomes mandated, and may even bump my license to 'inactive' status.
 

WanderLore

Veteran Member
Oh man, my heart goes out to you! My mom is retired RN, 40+ years.
I remember once many years ago that she quit her FT at a hospital to go to work as private nurse for a billionaire hiv patient in his home. That was in Miami.
She did that for a few years until he passed but they were great Friends. I think he left her something in his will.
She went back to floor work. She was an awesome nurse, best ever. She was an EMT in Texas prior to nursing school.
 

Marseydoats

Veteran Member
Best guess - long hours and short staffing - which since we're all pretty stressed, tired, and crispy around the edges anyway isn't going to go over well....

When Covid first hit, staff were great about pitching in where/when they were needed - for our normal pay and standard overtime pay of time and a half over 40 hours (most floor RN's work 3/12's). People started getting tired and bigger hospitals in bigger towns in the area were offering higher wages and better staffing, so we started bleeding staff. Me, I don't like playing with the knife and gun club type patients they have in the big towns, so I stuck it out in the sticks. They gave us a raise and started offering bonus $$ for picking up shifts when things got busy - like $50/4 hours, $100/8 hours, $150/12 hours - in addition to any overtime pay we had coming. Then we got an annual raise; but it wasn't much more than the ones we usually get. Then the 'bonus' shifts stopped a month or so ago when pretty much everything slowed down (except psych). I let the younger ones have all those extra shifts - would have picked up at least a few if no one else did, but was grateful that they picked almost all of them up. I did my share of picking up shifts over the past twenty plus years (and put it to good use.) The calls and texts I got today said we'd get DOUBLE bonus pay for picking up extra hours. So for working Sunday night, I'll get my normal hourly rate and night shift differential, plus $200 ($25/hr) for picking up the 8 hour shift. And once I hit 40 hours for the week, anything over that will be time and a half.

And I wouldn't do it if it wasn't for leaving my co-workers high and dry because I am mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted. We are full - State Hospital isn't taking patients because: Covid, Developmental Centers aren't taking patients because: Covid, Group Homes aren't taking patients because they can only have one person per room instead of two due to Covid, Nursing Homes aren't taking patients for the same reason, and Substance Abuse Treatment Centers aren't taking patients because: Covid. Even if we test 'em and they are negative.

I won't be surprised if my September vacation gets cancelled by managment. (Seven more work days... make that eight...)

I have already told Hubby I will retire if the Covid Vax becomes mandated, and may even bump my license to 'inactive' status.

Just throwing this out there for you --- it took 6 weeks for me to get my first SS check. I retired 4/30, and got my first check 6/15. I did have a little severance pay from work to tide me over. I had heard horror stories about dealing with SS, but I did not have one bit of trouble with them, it just took a long time to get started. HTH!
 

ReneeT

Veteran Member
Thanks for the info, Marseydoats. We have no debt, and the monthly bills aside from the phones and property taxes are low so we can get by on Hubby's income until things shake out; I'll just have to hope Hubby doesn't keel over when he sees what health insurance is going to run us - it's come out of my paycheck for the past 24 years and working for a hospital meant the bills were fairly low.
 

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
Got the 4 boxes of ivermectin that I ordered for pick up and 4 more boxes. Do I need to keep this refrigeratred?

So the town we went to we'd never been to before, Dh said I've been there once and don't need to go back again. There were small masks required at Dollar Tree and tractor supply, but no one insisting. At these two stores only a few masked people, in both stores the cashiers had their masks around belos their chins. Talked to a few people who are not getting the jab and people are really starting to wake up about what's going on with the jab. At walmart there was a huge sign but no nazi at the door and about 1/3 of the people were unmasked. This walmart had a different kind of set up that was confusing. The walmart app on my phone would not open up to my list. I did not have a paper list, so I tried to remember what I wanted, so I check the list when I got home and only forgot one thing that I can do without.

Finally got my orders delivered, over on the cabin porch, of course. A big stack of boxes, I'll probably leave them until tomorrow, got to get the stuff I bought in town.

God is good all the time

Judy
 

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
Just throwing this out there for you --- it took 6 weeks for me to get my first SS check. I retired 4/30, and got my first check 6/15. I did have a little severance pay from work to tide me over. I had heard horror stories about dealing with SS, but I did not have one bit of trouble with them, it just took a long time to get started. HTH!
That's about how long it took me to get mine.

God is good all the time

Judy
 

hiwall

Has No Life - Lives on TB
My tale of woe at the hiwall homestead.
On Sunday we had a short but very hard rain. We got 1-1/3" of rain in about 45 minutes. We have been getting rain here and ground was already soaked up. A huge amount of water ran down from the hills just behind our house. This caused no issue at the house or out-buildings. The running water flattened large patches of grass and weeds in our fields.
The problem came when all that water pooled at the lowest spot on our property where our well happens to be located. Our well head sticks up about a foot above the ground. This was not enough and the well head was under water for an unknown length of time (the rain came in the evening).
Our well continued to function normally but the surface water contaminated the well. Fine clay had also entered our well making the water very cloudy so it looked like dirty wash water.
Luckily we do have a camp style water filter that we used for drinking water. On Monday I started running water out of a garden hose to help clean the well out. I would run water for 20 minutes out of every hour. I did this from Monday through Thursday. I also opened the well and dumped two gallons of plain bleach in to purify the water.
By Thursday afternoon our water was again clear and the chlorine smell in the water was gone. Things are now back to normal and my wife will even drink our water again.
This was all my fault. When looking at the place I saw right away that the well was in the only low spot and at some time in the future that area would likely flood. Back then I knew I had to have a plan to fix that problem but I never did anything.
4 years later this happened. Yesterday I cut the bottom from a 50-gallon blue plastic barrel. The whole top of the barrel is removable because it is held on with a band clamp. I buried a foot of that barrel in the ground and it now covers our well head to a height of 2 feet. And it is kind of sealed. So it is very unlikely this problem will ever happen again.
It was also a freak storm that caused many in the area trouble and forced the county to work all week fixing roads in the close-in area.
So now everything is great again. We are thankful that we had that water filter but we could have just bought bottled water or got drinking water from a neighbor. Everyone here helps neighbors.
 

hiwall

Has No Life - Lives on TB
At least you got some rain! We're still in a drought in Iowa. Rain coming tonight, though.
We are getting rain and since our monsoon started here we have received almost normal monsoon rain amounts. But we are sooo far behind and the area lakes are still very low. We do have a lot of forage now for animals but that could turn bad if we go back to drought conditions again. The dry foliage would increase the fire danger. We are all just waiting to see what the rest of the year brings us.
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
August is always one of our hottest and dryest months. There has been a change in our normal weather pattern this year. So far, August has been lots cooler and wetter than normal. When we see this type of pattern change in August, it means a bad winter for us. I haven't seen any official predictions for our winter weather, yet.

I received part of my Sam's order(2 cases of pinto beans), yesterday, and my Chewy order. It makes me nervous when I don't get a complete shipment. I checked tracking on the rest of it this morning, and it said that the delivery had been delayed. Wondering what that means?
 
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Digger

Veteran Member
I bought 27 pounds of tomatoes from the and some frozen okra to can okra creole. I am pretty much giving up on the garden. Let the deer get fat for the freezer this fall.

Last night was my night at my mother in laws. She told me to go through a box in the spare bedroom and get anything I could use. There was medical tape, A&D ointment and a couple of other things I forgot what they were. She is cleaning out some as she can. There are lots of old catalogs and such that need to go. My father in law would not let them be thrown out. Virginia tells us what to go through and she rest. The hospice nurse said she would sleep more and more as the end gets closer. She is out of bed only about an hour a day now.
My father in law fell in the nursing home yesterday but nothing is broken. The nurse put a sign on his wall that says his wife is sick and can’t take care of you. You are here to get stronger. In reality he will not come home. We can’t take care of him anymore.

My daughter and son in law got the Johnson and Johnson shot in March. Now my daughter has a knot on her leg just a little above her foot. She had a Doppler ultrasound yesterday after the regular ultrasound was inconclusive. What they know is it is not a tumor.It maybe a cyst or a blood clot. She is only 28. I would appreciate any prayers for her. People where she works are flipping out asking if it is from the shot. She tells them they don’t know yet. But if it is a clot, I am saying yes it is. It maybe a cyst though. Her foot is swelling from it and the dr told her to take a baby aspirin daily till they figure it out.
 
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SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
I bought 27 pounds of tomatoes from the and some frozen okra to can okra creole. I am pretty much giving up on the garden. Let the deer get fat for the freezer this fall.

Last night was my night at my mother in laws. She told me to go through a box in the spare bedroom and get anything I could use. There was medical tape, A&D ointment and a couple of other things I forgot what they were. She is cleaning out some as she can. There are lots of old catalogs and such that need to go. My father in law would not let them be thrown out. Virginia tells us what to go through and she rest. The hospice nurse said she would sleep more and more as the end gets closer. She is out of bed only about an hour a day now.
My father in law fell in the nursing home yesterday but nothing is broken. The nurse put a sign on his wall that says his wife is sick and can’t take care of you. You are here to get stronger. In reality he will not come home. We can’t take care of him anymore.

My daughter and son in law got the Johnson and Johnson shot in March. Now my daughter has a knot on her leg just a little above her foot. She had a Doppler ultrasound yesterday after the regular ultrasound was inconclusive. What they know is it is not a tumor.It maybe a cyst or a blood clot. She is only 28. I would appreciate any prayers for her. People where she works are flipping out asking if it is from the shot. She tells them they don’t know yet. But if it is a clot, I am saying yes it is. It maybe a cyst though. Her foot is swelling from it and the dr told her to take a baby aspirin daily till they figure it out.

I'll be praying for your daughter!
 

Marseydoats

Veteran Member
August is always one of our hottest and dryest months. There has been a change in our normal weather pattern this year. So far, August has been lots cooler and wetter than normal. When we see this type of pattern change in August, it means a bad winter for us. I haven't seen any official predictions for our winter weather, yet.

I received part of my Sam's order(2 cases of pinto beans), yesterday, and my Chewy order. It makes me nervous when I don't get a complete shipment. I checked tracking on the rest of it this morning, and it said that the delivery had been delayed. Wondering what that means?

Part of the vitamins I ordered were supposed to be here yesterday. On Wed., they were 50 miles from me. Thursday, they shipped them to Pa. I live in the mid-South. Friday they arrived back where they were on Wed. This morning, they went back to Pa.. Shipment now says it's delayed. I guess the box has the wrong bar code on it.
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Part of the vitamins I ordered were supposed to be here yesterday. On Wed., they were 50 miles from me. Thursday, they shipped them to Pa. I live in the mid-South. Friday they arrived back where they were on Wed. This morning, they went back to Pa.. Shipment now says it's delayed. I guess the box has the wrong bar code on it.

This is the first time I've had a problem with a Sam's order. Sometimes, I get more than one package, but they still arrive within a couple of days of each other. I've never got a message saying the order has been delayed. I'm still waiting on coffee, eye vitamins, paper plates, and several personal care products.
 

Meemur

Voice on the Prairie / FJB!
Got up at sunrise, went walking, went to Target (minor odds and ends, holes in my inventory). Did some weeding. My rain gauge shows almost 1.5 inches of rain last night. The corn fields look much better! I'm on checking the news, id'ing several weeds, and then grabbing a picnic lunch and heading out. Have an excellent Saturday!
 

amazon

Veteran Member
This is the first time I've had a problem with a Sam's order. Sometimes, I get more than one package, but they still arrive within a couple of days of each other. I've never got a message saying the order has been delayed. I'm still waiting on coffee, eye vitamins, paper plates, and several personal care products.
I've had that happen. It said delayed.. I forgot about for a week or two. Tracking said damaged. It was never delivered. I emailed CS. No response.
 

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
Got all the walmart boxes unloaded, one at a time and the stuff put away. The empty boxes stored in the cabin, DH is using the cardboard for insulating the walls in the back two rooms.

I have some muffin mix that I'm considering using for waffles. DH loves waffles, I can take them or mostly leave them, not that they aren't tasty but too many carbs.

I fell asleep earlier than usual last night, with the lights all on in the front of the house. DH turned them off when he got up this morning, I was too tired to care.

God is good all the time

Judy
 

aviax2

Veteran Member
DH was able to isolate the leak yesterday so the rest of the house had water, yay! He had to make a second trip for more plumbing supplies to complete the job when he discovered the valves that should of had the ability to be turned off, wouldn’t/couldn’t for some reason. The vanity cabinet is now out of the hall and the vanity top out of my kitchen and back in place. I managed to get a few loads of laundry done, jars washed and 6 quarts of green beans canned.

SB- I’ve been having issues with Sam’s for the past few months. Even a small order is shipped out in several packages at different times.

Digger- Prayers up for your daughter.

Our area has been/is under a flash flood warning. We’re ok at our place but several counties near us have had horrible flooding and people are missing.
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
DH was able to isolate the leak yesterday so the rest of the house had water, yay! He had to make a second trip for more plumbing supplies to complete the job when he discovered the valves that should of had the ability to be turned off, wouldn’t/couldn’t for some reason. The vanity cabinet is now out of the hall and the vanity top out of my kitchen and back in place. I managed to get a few loads of laundry done, jars washed and 6 quarts of green beans canned.

SB- I’ve been having issues with Sam’s for the past few months. Even a small order is shipped out in several packages at different times.

Digger- Prayers up for your daughter.

Our area has been/is under a flash flood warning. We’re ok at our place but several counties near us have had horrible flooding and people are missing.

Storms have been rolling through here off and on all day. Knocked our power out twice. Flash flooding here for some areas, too.

I'll check the tracking on my Sam's order again tomorrow. I have so much still coming, I know it'll be in several boxes. Maybe, shipped from different locations.
 
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