Changes big and small

This has been a year of many changes, both large and small. Sometimes I feel a tad overwhelmed by it all and feel at a loss to try to digest it all and make some sense of it. There are changes at work, changes at home, changes in my life, changes in the nation, changes in the world, and even, after 13 long years of having the same e-mail address, that's even about to change as I at long last make the anticipated switch to broadband since I recently bought a reconditioned laptop computer to replace the old dinosaur desktop I've had for going on 10 years now. Even the gym where I have worked out is closing so that's yet another change that I must digest as well. Two of the four business partners who were running it wanted out and the remaining two didn't want to manage it on their own, so tonight marks its final night in business and I don't know what lies around the corner for what's going to happen next, but my trainer (and now former physical therapist, since he quit the PT business to become a high school science teacher) assures me that we'll still work out, but he's not sure where where yet. Chances are pretty good that we'll be back at the old PT facility where he used to work and where we used to workout before he and the other partners started the gym where we eventually moved in November of 2007. So if we're back at the PT facility again, well, at least it will be old and familiar turf, since I've gone there far too frequently in recent years for injury rehab, so I know the place too well and it's also well equipped with fitness equipment so that's one advantage of returning there. Another one is that it's a mere few blocks from my home at my doctor office building in downtown Kent, within easy walking distance of home. So that makes it attractive for me to be so close to where I live.

Other changes that I've been trying to deal with are the fact that at work, staff vacancies are no longer being filled due to state funding cuts, so we just lost a staff member who was transferred to a short staffed branch and who we cannot replace. Another is out on what appears to be a very lengthy medical leave and who probably will not be able to return anytime soon. We have other staffers who have medical problems that need attention as well and several awaiting surgeries, so.....it's going to be one of those school years where we have to make due with skeleton staff and those of us left are going to have to work harder and do more with less time with which to get it all done. Can you say, STRESS? I've had to prioritize work and let go those tasks which I think don't need attention at the immediate moment in favor of those I feel do require more time and attention and which are more time sensitive than others. I take work home at night that can be done on my home computer and stored on a jump drive so that I can get more done in the office. To say I am tired is an understatement. I am exhausted, and sadly, I suspect that vacation requests will be denied due to our staffing situation and that at best, we may be allowed a day off here, a day off there, but no more vacations of any significant length. I suspect that even asking for a week off, particularly during high demand seasons like the holidays or summer, may become a thing of the past as well. I'm not even so sure that my usual summer vacations will be allowed or that I will be permitted to have even a week off during Christmas. I suspect that this situation will become the permanent "new normal", as we will probably never again experiece the kind of state funding we once had in the roarin' 90's. Those days are over forever, I have a feeling.

And of course, there's always the so-called "health care reform" situation still simmering and causing rampant controversy, but that's a rant for another time. Suffiice it to say that even thinking about the prospect of a desperately watered down bill, which is probably what we'll get when all is said and done, adds to my already high stress levels at the moment. I'm tired of putting off necessary health care because, even with insurance, I cannot afford it because of co-pays and deductibles that any health care bill coming out of Washington will not address. That has me seeing red, and I know I am not alone in feeling this way, but then, our voices no longer get heard anyway. It's the lobbyists and big corporations who help re-elect candidates who ultimately get their way and who buy policy with their megabucks. We are no longer a nation OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE and FOR THE PEOPLE, but then you may call me a "socialist" for thinking that it ought rightly to be a nation where THE PEOPLE come first, not big money, corporations or lobbyists. I'll happily take that title of "socialist", thank you!