Travel Nursing: One Last Rant

I'm officially retired after 34 years as a Dialysis RN, and there are still a few bridges left to burn. Let's start with the end: my one and only stint as a Dialysis Travel Nurse.

Gazillions of companies to choose from, all of whose emails never ever go away. Wide variability in benefits, salaries, perks. I picked THE ONE company that didn't pay a completion bonus at the end of my contract. Go figure. Their website is classic bait and switch.

• Reimbursement for obtaining state nursing license. (Yeah, AFTER your 13 week contract is over.) But no reimbursement for actually driving to/from Phoenix, staying in a hotel, the required fingerprinting, the $30 internet charge to document current licensure in my home state...
• Actual travel reimbursement to and from your assignment. (Unless you live in Mexico.)
• There were $800 of unreimbursed medical expenses prior to actually signing, not mentioned anywhere on their website, and pre-employment medical screening is not covered by my private health insurance. They required a recent Medical Release (physical), blood tests to prove Varicella and Hepatitis immunity, and a Mantoux. Plus 2 days in a hotel to await the reading of the Mantoux. The only thing they covered was the drug screen. I have never in 34 years had to pay for my own Hepatitis Antibody test. Faxing all this from Staples? $30, unreimbursed.
• Completely furnished apartment provided. Seriously? The merchants of Show Low AZ benefitted greatly after my arrival there. You'll need lamps (you only get ONE), light bulbs, waste baskets, laundry basket, pillows, bedding, towels, plates, cups, bowls, glasses, cutlery, utensils, pots and pans, broiler pan, cooking and serving ware, toaster and coffee maker, ice cube trays, bathroom rug/mat, TV, DVD player, radio, a frickin' cable for the cable TV, flashlight and candles for power outages, shower curtain and rings, paper towel holder, and a hook for your bathrobe. Really, no light bulbs?
• It's RENTAL FURNITURE. Not new, not even clean. My recliner had a toddler's dirty sock and a  child's plastic watch in it, plus CheeTos. And my bed was infested with bed bugs, which led to 3 weeks in a cheap motel (because MY agency's "cap" on lodging was $70/day) while my building underwent extermination. That was a nightmare.
• 24 hour on-call support. My recruiter never once answered her phone, always voice mail. So you press 0 to get the switchboard, and that person says you have to go through your recruiter. I explain why I cannot wait for her to return my call (bedbugs, whatever) and that I need to speak to housing NOW. I get voice mail... I press 0...
• The job itself wasn't anything new. After doing this 34 years, I would hope not. They did have an even stupider-more-antiquated-computer-program to learn than the one I was used to. And while I was hired as a Charge Nurse, I worked 75% of my shifts as a Patient Care Tech. And when I WAS scheduled as Charge, I didn't get the promised $3/hour extra Charge pay that was in my contract, because that dialysis company doesn't HAVE charge nurses in Arizona. They have something called a Team Leader instead, who doesn't even necessarily have to be on the premises that day "but is always available for questions or help".  Yeah, right. Never did figure out who my Team Leader was. Probably the Clinical Manager (who is terrific), because the other RN was too new to be a resource. I did like the staff there, and the patients were mostly great (after they realized I knew what I was doing). Fairly even mix of Apaches, Mexicans, and affluent white transients who vacation there. One Apache woman taught me to say "How are you?" in Apache, which turned out to REALLY be "How're they hanging?" Very funny.

Would I do it again? Well, no, because I'm retired now. But yes, if I had to work again. I'd ask more questions, negotiate a better contract, and require a bed bug inspection before I move in. And now that I know what a Furnished Apartment is..This is pasted from their website:

  Your apartment will be in move-in condition complete with furniture and utilities all prearranged for you.
  When you arrive at your destination (usually two days before your assignment starts), you only need to pick up your key, unpack and start learning your way around town.

Like learning where to buy light bulbs so I can find the frickin' toilet...
 

We are SELF-CONTAINED!

But MAN, we're crowded in here now!

Stopped to pick up a bed frame at IKEA on the way home from the airport. Ron assembled it quite handily, and while only pine, seems very well made.

Monday I drove back to Hermosillo alone while Ron rearranged furniture. I'd seen pillowtop mattresses at both WalMart and Sam's Club for 1490 pesos ($112), and we decided to just put plywood under it. I did get lost in Hermo for a while, because my detour had a detour, and nothing looked familiar. Finally found WalMart, bought the mattress, stopped on the way home at LaRumba (GREAT hardware store in Miguel Aleman) for the plywood. Bed assembled, made, slept on, perfect. Here's how the furniture's been arranged FOR NOW. I'm dissatisfied with the crowdedness of it, it may change.

Double bed in corner, with Jack Sparrow watching me...

Screen divider

Futon at an angle for traffic flow

Not much traffic flow...

Baskets for clothes, walking stick for hanging stuff, laundry basket beneath

So no more wild dance parties inside the casita, it's too crowded. We shut off the AC in the fifth wheel and it's just sitting there, clean, ready for guests...

And here are a few more photos from Minnesota I forgot were in the camera.

Jon taking the kids to Montessori. Yes, Dylan has a mohawk...

They're holding hands!!!

Nora got the sunglasses at Savers thrift store.

Eli and Ruby after school

Caprice's yard. Biggest hostas I ever saw.

And that's all I know.

Home Sweet Home

So my awful summer is over, and I'm home in Kino Bay for good. But first!

Our Minnesota Trip

We drove to Tucson on Sept. 9 so Ron could be seen at the VA there. However, someone in their eligibility department had cancelled his appointment without notification. Now rescheduled for early October. It had already been a headache of a day, because the truck was making a loud "something's dragging" noise the whole way, and Ron couldn't see what it was. Nor did he want to get it looked at before it became something horrible. (I think I heard my dad rolling in his grave.) In Tucson, we found a Big O shop by the VA that advertised brake repairs, and drove away 3 hours later with a new drive-carrier-thingy and minus $300. Not too bad. Got a motel room and crashed.

Flew out of Phoenix the next morning to Minneapolis on Southwest. Rented a car, and drove to daughter #3 Julie's house in St. Paul. SO great to see those faces! Just a quick visit, then drove to St. Cloud to stay at Jon's overnight. More great faces! Next day a reunion dinner at daughter #1 Caprice's house, and my friend Kristin joined us with her daughters. LOTS of great faces there! That night back to Julie's. Next night at Jon's. Then up to friends Brian and Joy's place in Dalbo. (That was poker night at a lakeside bar. None of us won, but had tons-o-fun.) Then a night at Caprice's house (shopping and Olive Garden for me and Caprice, billiards for Ron and Don), followed by the last two nights at Julie's with backyard campfires.

Flew back to Phoenix Saturday, where Ron proceeded to have a cardiac event: racing erratic heartbeat, sweaty, fatigue, short-of-breath. He didn't want to go to the ER, but we weren't anxious to leave the vicinity of medical care should it be required, so we stayed at the Desert Diamond Casino Hotel. Next morning, he was OK, so we drove home. Oh! We'd left the new air conditioner on in the casita the whole week FOR THE CAT and it was 68 degrees in there! YAY! Still summer here, upper 90s with high humidity.

Now we need a vacation from our vacation. Here are some photos:

Chef Don, Ron, Kristin

Jon

Caprice, Leben

Julie

Nora, Eli, Dylan

Max

Ruby

Nora

Eli, Ruby, Ron

Almost the whole family, plus one...

All because two people fell in love...

On Becoming A Geezer

Aging is an interesting experience. "Seniors" are punchlines to jokes, judging from the email forwards from friends (very few of which I find humorous, as I have a very sophisticated dry/black sense of humor). Since my early teens, I have loved and valued Old Folks, envied their wisdom, experience, and their non-chaotic settled life. Drama-free. Time to savor life's moments. I was SO looking forward to Becoming A Geezer! But the reality is a bit of a letdown...

Body Parts Warrantee.

• Gravity. Maybe Seniors on planets with less gravity than our Earth look better than we do? From my jowls to my bosom to my butt, everything moves south like Minnesota Snowbirds. Most of it also gravitated around to my abdomen. Handy place to find food I've dropped, though. Helps avoid having to pick it up off the floor, which hurts my knees, which is why those reacher/grabber tools are SO nice.

• Knees. Now THOSE are replaceable, I know, but still...First thing out of bed in the morning, having to check the daily knee status to see how your day is going to go, decide to medicate or not, can pretty shoes be worn, or will it have to be something sturdy and sensible?

• Vision. Nearsighted at birth, I had glasses at age 4. Contacts at 14. Back to glasses with bifocals late 20s when the bifocal contacts proved painful. Then a series of stronger and stronger myopia/bifocal prescriptions. Now the bifocal part of my glasses is only effective for that distance between my face and the speedometer in the truck. Anything closer requires taking them off. Reading, computer, crocheting, everything. I can't light my cigarette without taking off my glasses. And how the hell does one find one's glasses in the morning without one's glasses?

• Pigmentation. Where does it go? (Yes, I know, age spots) I was born with blond hair on my head, but dark brows, lashes, and everywhere else (if you get my drift). The hair on my head started turning white early on, but it looked sort of salon-frosted, so I didn't mind. But the white hair "everywhere else" is a shock to see every day.

• Speaking of shocks. It seems that crushing chest pain episode I had recently was a mild heart attack. All these years of abusing my body by what I put into it and not exercising  lead to only one thing: lots of medical tests. I almost need a secretary to manage my doctor appointments schedule. But they do give me something to do, somewhere to go. Apparently that's how seniors are meant to fill those empty hours of retirement. I'm thankful to realize this, was a little worried.

Financial Security

This might be laughable, but a fixed income is no laughing matter. What do you mean I can't buy what I want whenever I want it? Should have saved more. What a concept! A registered nurse for 35 years, I miss my salary more than anything else, except maybe my dignity.

Dignity

Loss of. I remember being SO embarrassed of my mother when I was 13. She could be relied upon to chauffeur me to events with her hair in rollers and a gaudy headscarf tied over it. But I'm learning to accept my own loss of dignity. Took the cat out for a walk today wearing my flannel Lucy Ricardo pajama pants, Crocs, and a stained T-shirt without a bra. But I'm almost positive nobody saw me.

Reverence

Nobody reveres me like I always revered seniors. The kids don't even call. I suppose we reap what we sow, but you'd THINK my valuable advice, opinions, and experiences  would be sought more often. Or occasionally. Or even annually. Ingrates! Hence this blog...


And then you die.

It's so hard when you lose your grandparents, then your parents, but when your peers start dropping off, it's a real eye-opener. One major force in my botched child-rearing is the compelling urge to spare my children from pain and heartache. I find myself slowly withdrawing from their lives, possibly hoping that my eventual death will not be the gut-wrenching, OMG-this-is-too-painful-to-bear experience I went through in losing my dad. (No, I'm not a saint like my dad was, so it's probably overkill to worry. But still...)  Sure, I want them to miss me, remember me sometimes, but sweet, funny little memories rather than an aching sense of loss. To spare them that pain would mean the world to me.

Retirement Looms!

Six more shifts to work, then I'm done forever. We leave Show Low Sunday September 4, straight home to Kino (11 hour drive). We'll only be home 4 days, because Ron has a VA intake appointment in Tucson on September 9. He's switching from Minneapolis VA to Tucson. We'll stay overnight there or in Phoenix, then fly out of Phoenix on the 10th for a week in Minnesota. Then back home for good!

Beach.
My roof at sunrise.
ATV rides.
Ladies Who Lunch.
Beach.
Hermosillo shopping trips.
SEGUNDA shopping trips!
Beach.
Shrimp.
Happy Hours.
Did I mention my beach?

I found these in my camera, forgotten photos. A moonset in Kino, taken at dawn the week I drove down to pick up Ron and the cat.

The flamingoes I added to Ron's cacti-pottery-shard border around the RV pad. They were a dollar at the dollar store in Show Low! What a bargain, huh!

I couldn't believe how much my baby Jumping Cholla Cactus had grown! These were just little balls that grabbed my pants leg one day, and I stuck'em in the ground.

And here's the ugly stick and wire bunny fence Ron made around the giant ocotillo. Those jackrabbits tried to eat their way through our property this summer, Ron said.

So I'm just waiting it out, comfortably in the AC in Show Low. They certainly do have nice weather here, though it rains every afternoon. Highs upper 80s, upper 50s overnight. Having swapped my foster cat Fig for my own mean, lazy bastard Rocky, there's much less cat-entertainment here. Rocky hasn't even wanted to go out much, seems content to sleeep in the air conditioning.

Today's my day off, Ron and I are going trout fishing on The Rez. He doesn't want to buy a non-resident Arizona fishing license, and the Apaches only charge $6 a day to fish. He brought the fly rods. I have my WalMart Zebco combo I bought on my arrival here. Hopefully, we'll catch a few before the rain starts...

How does this happen?

For at least 3 years I've avoided TV news programs, mostly due to my disgust of the media's addiction to sensationalism more than the actual news items themselves. I do read the world and local headlines on my Yahoo home page daily, and open links that interest me (if Norton says it's OK...) And every now and then I'm compelled by some unseen hand to open something I know up front will probably upset me for days.

This was one of them: the father in Louisiana who decapitated his disabled son because he'd grown tired of caring for him.

News Article

I keep wondering what events or circumstances in this person's life could have led to this? What could possibly make him think it was OK to do this? Is it ALL abysmal parenting? Bullying? Maybe a genetic anomaly? I've spent small blocks of time in Louisiana, and the climate alone almost made ME nuts. Is it possible some parent somewhere right now is making a mistake with a child that could someday snowball into a travesty like this?

I watched a woman at Wal-Mart a couple of weeks ago backhand a toddler (maybe 3 to 4 years old) across his face and shout "SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH !!" with a twisted, ugly face. No, I did nothing except cringe. Yes, I should have called the police. Add that to the list of contributing factors: people who witness abuse and remain silent.

I can't help but think that poor and non-parenting are the major catalysts. From withholding affection to permissiveness (in an attempt to earn love), lack of discipline to excessive discipline, and a disinterest or unwillingness to be vigilant of a child's whereabouts and contacts: the list of parenting errors reads like a How-To Manual on how to raise a homicidal psychopath.

I believe all of us committted some of these errors at some point while raising our own children. Why are they OK? If there was a list, a mandatory-must-read-guideline for parenting, could this be stopped? Are there experts out there right now working on one?

Here's my plan, conceived of long ago: Forced sterility from birth, reversible after proof of moral and financial responsibility is demonstrated to an elected panel of judges. Big Brother is watching. I wish he'd been watching this guy.

Home again!

Back in sunny (hot, sweltering, miserably humid, melting) Kino Bay for a few days. I brought down an air conditioner for the casita. Turns out those thick walls are great for keeping the cold OUT, not so much in! It took 3 days to bring the inside temperature down to 71.
Here's a photo, with an impromptu curtain covering the bottom of the window:

Our fifth wheel is simply a large, efficient oven, and it's air conditioner cannot cope with this heat. Even running 24/7 (which it doesn't:  the circuit blows every 15 minutes when it's over 95 outside) the inside doesn't get below 90.

It's great to be home, though. The desert/ocean smells SO good. I go beachcombing in the mornings before it hits 90, then spend afternoons in the AC cleaning up what my husband didn't during the last 3 months. He didn't eat any of the food I left for him, and didn't throw it out, either. When I cleaned out the fridge, I had 4 large trash bags we had to haul to town. Yes, he's very thin...

My new favorite thing is cruising around on this:

Can't you just see me on it, going to Ladies Who Lunch and loading up that basket with coyote skulls and turtle shells?