Okay, so I am a baseball fan. I am not a Texas Rangers http://texas.rangers.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=tex fan or a Houston Astros http://houston.astros.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=hou fan, but living in Texas, I would have liked to see the Rangers and Astros play each other in the American League Championship Series. Especially since the New York Yankees http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=nyy and Boston Red Sox http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=bos were out of it.
Well what happened was that Gregg Abbot, the Texas Governor's verified Twitter account http://www.wfaa.com/story/sports/mlb/rangers/2015/10/12/did-gov-abbotts-office-jinx-2-texas-mlb-teams-one-tweet/73839364/ prematurely congratulated the Astros on a win against the Kansas City Royals http://kansascity.royals.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=kc on October 12, 2015. The tweet was attributed to a staff member, but it does not matter. Any baseball fan knows that "it ain't over till it's over" http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34324865 http://www.yogi-berra.com/ . That jinxed not only the Astros, but the Rangers as well. There was to be no all Texas ALCS. I strongly believe that! I am not superstitious, I do not believe in the occult, but I do believe in Karma. And I think presumption and arrogance, like pride, goeth before a fall.
My biggest hope about this is that Texans everywhere will realize what an arrogant, presumptuous governor has been elected in Texas, and maybe, in the future, a more real, down to earth, in touch with the people governor will be elected. Can sports influence politics, I hope so!
Showing posts with label karma. Show all posts
Showing posts with label karma. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
The Way it Works; This is the Way it is Supposed to Work
I did too much last night. After work, I fed the cats, took out trash, did chores and housework, went to the pool and did a PT routine, came home, did more housework while I started dinner, and had a late dinner, then worked on the computer for a while, transferring information from my old computer to my new computer. The files do not transfer directly, so I have to embed the information in an email and send it to the new computer. I will not have to re-type everything, my other option, although I will have to transfer it to word file formats and re-format everything.
I must have stayed up later than I realized. I could not get up this morning, so I called in. I was feeling like crap! Even the cats knew I did not feel well, and did not wake me up, asking for breakfast! Amazing! But, I forced myself to get up and go in, if nothing else, to prepare the materials for the early morning group I am doing on Wednesday. I was not concerned, my boss is supportive, I have plenty of leave, and most importantly, I get my work done. I got to work about 9:30. Had I rushed, I could have gotten there at 9 AM, but I could not force myself to rush. I had forgotten about a treatment team meeting at 9 AM, but it was cancelled for reasons not related to my absence!
I was on one of my wards late this afternoon for a session with a patient. My plan was to review his treatment plan, which usually takes less than 10 minutes. I would then return to my office, do the paperwork involved, and leave about 5 PM. And claim sick leave due to my late arrival.
The patient's plan was to discuss his therapy materials. He had been a patient years ago, when we had groups and counseling and he was disappointed he did not have access to the same this time. When we first met, I told him I was not a counselor, but I was available to talk to him about his issues and family. This was only our second meeting, and he was going to talk about the therapy materials he had worked on. Very soon, he decided he needed to talk about the family situation that lead him to seek help from psychiatric services most recently.
So, the session extended longer than I had anticipated, but that was okay. When that session ended, I was told another offender was having a crisis and wanted to speak to me.
This person is a long term patient who has used external coping mechanisms: work, school, day room time, to help him. He has resisted learning and using internal coping mechanisms: relaxation skills, meditation, changing his thinking, changing his perspectives and expectations, working on his self-talk, self-image.
We had a very intense session. Much of it revolved around his intense emotions, his intense reactions, and his inability to handle these with the coping mechanisms he uses. He ended up asking for some written information on relaxation exercises. He changed from very, very angry, to mollified but not happy or content. But not at risk of acting out on his anger. And not at risk of being so disgusted that he will be non-compliant with his medication. This is why I go to work!
This session ended close to 5:45 PM. By the time I documented these sessions, it was about 6:40 PM. If I had showed up at or about 8 AM as I normally do, I would have put in a 10 and a half hour day, or more. I would have still done it. If I have a personal commitment after work, I will not necessarily stay late to take care of patients. But I did not have a plan for after work, and in fact, my plan was to go home and chill at 5 PM, and use leave.
But more importantly, if I had arrived at work at 8 AM, starting a patient session shortly before 5 PM would have been very difficult for me. For years, I have known that I cannot start difficult patient sessions in the late afternoon, because I am drained emotionally and physically, and it does not usually go well. But it was not that late into my work day. It helped that this is a patient with whom I have a good rapport. The session was productive, and felt like I helped this patient.
So, I was supposed to go to work late this morning. Years ago, I used to sometimes say I should listen to my internal messages, because when I did not, something went awry. One of my early supervisors used to tell me to listen to those messages, even if it meant calling in late to work, leaving work early, calling in sick for a day, rescheduling my day to start late and work late, or whatever. I did not accept her lead, and until I got to my current job, did not have the flexibility to do so in my other jobs (except to call in sick for the day.) The longer I work at this job, the more comfortable I feel about doing just that: Flexing my day based on Karma.
This is the way it works; this is the way it is supposed to work.
I must have stayed up later than I realized. I could not get up this morning, so I called in. I was feeling like crap! Even the cats knew I did not feel well, and did not wake me up, asking for breakfast! Amazing! But, I forced myself to get up and go in, if nothing else, to prepare the materials for the early morning group I am doing on Wednesday. I was not concerned, my boss is supportive, I have plenty of leave, and most importantly, I get my work done. I got to work about 9:30. Had I rushed, I could have gotten there at 9 AM, but I could not force myself to rush. I had forgotten about a treatment team meeting at 9 AM, but it was cancelled for reasons not related to my absence!
I was on one of my wards late this afternoon for a session with a patient. My plan was to review his treatment plan, which usually takes less than 10 minutes. I would then return to my office, do the paperwork involved, and leave about 5 PM. And claim sick leave due to my late arrival.
The patient's plan was to discuss his therapy materials. He had been a patient years ago, when we had groups and counseling and he was disappointed he did not have access to the same this time. When we first met, I told him I was not a counselor, but I was available to talk to him about his issues and family. This was only our second meeting, and he was going to talk about the therapy materials he had worked on. Very soon, he decided he needed to talk about the family situation that lead him to seek help from psychiatric services most recently.
So, the session extended longer than I had anticipated, but that was okay. When that session ended, I was told another offender was having a crisis and wanted to speak to me.
This person is a long term patient who has used external coping mechanisms: work, school, day room time, to help him. He has resisted learning and using internal coping mechanisms: relaxation skills, meditation, changing his thinking, changing his perspectives and expectations, working on his self-talk, self-image.
We had a very intense session. Much of it revolved around his intense emotions, his intense reactions, and his inability to handle these with the coping mechanisms he uses. He ended up asking for some written information on relaxation exercises. He changed from very, very angry, to mollified but not happy or content. But not at risk of acting out on his anger. And not at risk of being so disgusted that he will be non-compliant with his medication. This is why I go to work!
This session ended close to 5:45 PM. By the time I documented these sessions, it was about 6:40 PM. If I had showed up at or about 8 AM as I normally do, I would have put in a 10 and a half hour day, or more. I would have still done it. If I have a personal commitment after work, I will not necessarily stay late to take care of patients. But I did not have a plan for after work, and in fact, my plan was to go home and chill at 5 PM, and use leave.
But more importantly, if I had arrived at work at 8 AM, starting a patient session shortly before 5 PM would have been very difficult for me. For years, I have known that I cannot start difficult patient sessions in the late afternoon, because I am drained emotionally and physically, and it does not usually go well. But it was not that late into my work day. It helped that this is a patient with whom I have a good rapport. The session was productive, and felt like I helped this patient.
So, I was supposed to go to work late this morning. Years ago, I used to sometimes say I should listen to my internal messages, because when I did not, something went awry. One of my early supervisors used to tell me to listen to those messages, even if it meant calling in late to work, leaving work early, calling in sick for a day, rescheduling my day to start late and work late, or whatever. I did not accept her lead, and until I got to my current job, did not have the flexibility to do so in my other jobs (except to call in sick for the day.) The longer I work at this job, the more comfortable I feel about doing just that: Flexing my day based on Karma.
This is the way it works; this is the way it is supposed to work.
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Your Karma Just Goes Away
Since about 2008, my life has been easy. I was recovering from the grief of the loss of my mother, but she was in a better place. Since 2007, I had been to the Northeast for a number of family events: a funeral, 3 weddings and a graduation. I made an independent trip just to travel around and visit family and friends. I made trip to Seattle, Washington that was very fine. I made a trip to Northeast New Mexico that was so relaxing that the sense of well being lasted with me for months. I made a trip to Phoenix to visit my brother and his extended family.
Life was good.
I have had some health issues since then, but mostly hip and leg pain, commonly referred to as sciatica. And, finally after toughing through it for several years, I sought treatment and am getting medication and physical therapy for it.
Since late August, I have had a series of events that have caused me distress. I have chronicled these, and will not again in this article, do so.
But it occurs to me that this is not the first time in my life that my Karma just "went away." I will not revisit the times this has happened in past, except to say that it usually surrounded a life changing event. A career change, a divorce, a death, a move. The thing is, I am not sure what life changing event I am experiencing right now.
I am a firm believer laws of physics: a body at rest tends to stay at rest; a body in motion tends to stay in motion. I think this applies to human life. When we reach a plateau or level of stasis, our lives go on in a pretty even keeled sort of way.
Upset the applecart, and all heck breaks loose, and one change after another occurs. The problem is, I am not sure what I did to upset the applecart. Was it a sprained ankle? That seems so ridiculously minor that it would have this impact on my life.
I think that my time was due. And even a small thing upset the applecart of life enough to cause my series of distressing events.
Life was good.
I have had some health issues since then, but mostly hip and leg pain, commonly referred to as sciatica. And, finally after toughing through it for several years, I sought treatment and am getting medication and physical therapy for it.
Since late August, I have had a series of events that have caused me distress. I have chronicled these, and will not again in this article, do so.
But it occurs to me that this is not the first time in my life that my Karma just "went away." I will not revisit the times this has happened in past, except to say that it usually surrounded a life changing event. A career change, a divorce, a death, a move. The thing is, I am not sure what life changing event I am experiencing right now.
I am a firm believer laws of physics: a body at rest tends to stay at rest; a body in motion tends to stay in motion. I think this applies to human life. When we reach a plateau or level of stasis, our lives go on in a pretty even keeled sort of way.
Upset the applecart, and all heck breaks loose, and one change after another occurs. The problem is, I am not sure what I did to upset the applecart. Was it a sprained ankle? That seems so ridiculously minor that it would have this impact on my life.
I think that my time was due. And even a small thing upset the applecart of life enough to cause my series of distressing events.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Email, Suddenlink and Customer Service
My Internet Service Provider (ISP) is Suddenlink http://home.suddenlink.net/, which changed from Cox Cable about 5 or 6 years ago. Except for the increasing prices, I have generally been more pleased with Suddenlink than Cox, with whom I had had running battles for years.
With Cox, I battled misleading advertising, poor service, rude customer service and untimely service. Suddenlink has done better. But not by much.
Most of the time my internet and cable TV service has been pretty good. I have learned to refresh the TV cable boxes and the internet connection modem and routers without having to contact Suddenlink.
Generally, when I have a problem, customer service is pleasant. When I had to have someone come to my home, that person was nice. The last time that happened, the technician told me my modem was outdated. I wrote to Suddenlink, and told them I could have had restored service sooner, if their online staff could have told me the same thing. They were very nice. That was a while back.
At the end of November 2012, Suddenlink had a serious problem with it's email platform. I realized this because not only could I not access email on my computer, I could not access email from their website. Suddenlink acknowledged the problems with their email platform. It took a couple of weeks to resolve, but it was resolved. My main email account was less affected than a secondary account I have. (I have a third account that I no longer use at all.)
Since Suddenlink acknowledged this problem, they gave credit to my account (and I assume, the account of others) for the problem.
However, since then, I have had intermittent problems with my secondary account. A few weeks ago, I could not access my secondary account because the password was rejected. It was a night when I really needed to use the account. I called Suddenlink for technical assistance, and talked to a very nice technician. We reviewed the connections, and she decided that the problem needed to be referred to an engineer. She said it might be 2-3 days to correct, and if was not corrected, to call again. The next night, the secondary email account was working.
Friday 2-1-13, I experienced the same problem. I called it in to Suddenlink and after reviewing my connections, the technician said the server was down, and connectivity should be restored after a few hours. (I told the technician of my previous problem, and how it had been resolved by referral to an engineer. He said in this case, since the server was down, there was no need. He acnowledged that if the problem did not resolve in a couple of hours, I needed to call back and have the problem referred to an engineer, and he would note that on my account.)
It was late, I was tired, and went to bed. Saturday 2-2-13, the secondary account still did not work.
I called in agan for help. The technician I talked to did not want to hear about the history of my problem. More than once, after giving me instructions, he said the problem was fixed when it was not. At one point, he told me it was a Microsoft problem, but I refused to accept that answer. When he realized the account was suspended, he told me to run my anti-virus and call back. He totally refused to accept that the problem should be referred to a supervisor or engineer.
I did run the anitvirus. To no avail. When I called back to Suddenlink, I told the technician the entire history of my problem, including the fact that I was so upset with the attitude of the prior technician that I was ready to leave Suddenlink. I insisted that this technician listen to every prior report of my problem and my story. When we went through the technical problems, and she realized that I had run the anit-virus and was still having problems of having my email account suspended, she immediately said she would refer it to a supervisor. She told me it would take 20-30 minutes, gave me her name and extension. She said she would call me if they needed to talk to me about something else. She said I could call and ask for her extension, if I needed to talk about something else.
About 30 minutes later, the email program started to work approriately. I waited an hour and did not hear from the technician. I called and asked for her, but was told she was away from her desk. I told the technician I was talking to that she did not need to call back, but could he tell her I was calling to thank her.
I also sent a complaint to Suddenlink. They agreed that my Saturday morning experience was inappropriate and would be addressed. I hope they give kudos to the technician who helped me, but that was not part of the email I recieved.
With Cox, I battled misleading advertising, poor service, rude customer service and untimely service. Suddenlink has done better. But not by much.
Most of the time my internet and cable TV service has been pretty good. I have learned to refresh the TV cable boxes and the internet connection modem and routers without having to contact Suddenlink.
Generally, when I have a problem, customer service is pleasant. When I had to have someone come to my home, that person was nice. The last time that happened, the technician told me my modem was outdated. I wrote to Suddenlink, and told them I could have had restored service sooner, if their online staff could have told me the same thing. They were very nice. That was a while back.
At the end of November 2012, Suddenlink had a serious problem with it's email platform. I realized this because not only could I not access email on my computer, I could not access email from their website. Suddenlink acknowledged the problems with their email platform. It took a couple of weeks to resolve, but it was resolved. My main email account was less affected than a secondary account I have. (I have a third account that I no longer use at all.)
Since Suddenlink acknowledged this problem, they gave credit to my account (and I assume, the account of others) for the problem.
However, since then, I have had intermittent problems with my secondary account. A few weeks ago, I could not access my secondary account because the password was rejected. It was a night when I really needed to use the account. I called Suddenlink for technical assistance, and talked to a very nice technician. We reviewed the connections, and she decided that the problem needed to be referred to an engineer. She said it might be 2-3 days to correct, and if was not corrected, to call again. The next night, the secondary email account was working.
Friday 2-1-13, I experienced the same problem. I called it in to Suddenlink and after reviewing my connections, the technician said the server was down, and connectivity should be restored after a few hours. (I told the technician of my previous problem, and how it had been resolved by referral to an engineer. He said in this case, since the server was down, there was no need. He acnowledged that if the problem did not resolve in a couple of hours, I needed to call back and have the problem referred to an engineer, and he would note that on my account.)
It was late, I was tired, and went to bed. Saturday 2-2-13, the secondary account still did not work.
I called in agan for help. The technician I talked to did not want to hear about the history of my problem. More than once, after giving me instructions, he said the problem was fixed when it was not. At one point, he told me it was a Microsoft problem, but I refused to accept that answer. When he realized the account was suspended, he told me to run my anti-virus and call back. He totally refused to accept that the problem should be referred to a supervisor or engineer.
I did run the anitvirus. To no avail. When I called back to Suddenlink, I told the technician the entire history of my problem, including the fact that I was so upset with the attitude of the prior technician that I was ready to leave Suddenlink. I insisted that this technician listen to every prior report of my problem and my story. When we went through the technical problems, and she realized that I had run the anit-virus and was still having problems of having my email account suspended, she immediately said she would refer it to a supervisor. She told me it would take 20-30 minutes, gave me her name and extension. She said she would call me if they needed to talk to me about something else. She said I could call and ask for her extension, if I needed to talk about something else.
About 30 minutes later, the email program started to work approriately. I waited an hour and did not hear from the technician. I called and asked for her, but was told she was away from her desk. I told the technician I was talking to that she did not need to call back, but could he tell her I was calling to thank her.
I also sent a complaint to Suddenlink. They agreed that my Saturday morning experience was inappropriate and would be addressed. I hope they give kudos to the technician who helped me, but that was not part of the email I recieved.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
It Started as One of Those Days
I had ordered an inter-library loan book, and received an email that it was available, but at the main library branch, and not the branch near my house, to which I had asked it be delivered. I did not call to verify this, as I had business near the downtown library, so checked there in person, only to be told the book was at the branch near my house.
No problem, I also had business in that part of town, so went to the branch library. But, they could not find the book: they check the inter-library loan bag, the hold shelves (where it should have been) the administrative shelves, and the stacks. It was not there. The book is not checked out to me, so personally, I am not concerned about this, except that it is a book I do want to read.
The check out clerk suspects the book will show up in an inter-library loan bag on Monday. I have reason to suspect she is correct: Usually, in addition to an email alerting me that the book is available, I receive a phone call from the branch library informing me that the book is available. I did not receive such a phone call on Friday.
I would hate for the book to be lost.
From the library I went to the post office, to purchase postage paid post cards. Frequently, when I order these, I am offered post card stamps. But, I do not want just the stamps, I want the post cards. The clerk had difficulty locating post cards, but found some; not as many as I ordered, but some. I use them for a monthly meeting announcement, and I actually have enough left from last month's meeting, so that is not an issue. The clerk told me this was the first time she sold post cards.
I have considered in the past purchasing post cards at an office supply store, and just purchasing the stamps. But the deal the United States Post Office provides can not be beat: each card only costs $.03 vs. about $.09 per card from an office supply store.
Things got better when I went to purchase groceries and supplies: I found everything that was on my list, and came in under budget.
No problem, I also had business in that part of town, so went to the branch library. But, they could not find the book: they check the inter-library loan bag, the hold shelves (where it should have been) the administrative shelves, and the stacks. It was not there. The book is not checked out to me, so personally, I am not concerned about this, except that it is a book I do want to read.
The check out clerk suspects the book will show up in an inter-library loan bag on Monday. I have reason to suspect she is correct: Usually, in addition to an email alerting me that the book is available, I receive a phone call from the branch library informing me that the book is available. I did not receive such a phone call on Friday.
I would hate for the book to be lost.
From the library I went to the post office, to purchase postage paid post cards. Frequently, when I order these, I am offered post card stamps. But, I do not want just the stamps, I want the post cards. The clerk had difficulty locating post cards, but found some; not as many as I ordered, but some. I use them for a monthly meeting announcement, and I actually have enough left from last month's meeting, so that is not an issue. The clerk told me this was the first time she sold post cards.
I have considered in the past purchasing post cards at an office supply store, and just purchasing the stamps. But the deal the United States Post Office provides can not be beat: each card only costs $.03 vs. about $.09 per card from an office supply store.
Things got better when I went to purchase groceries and supplies: I found everything that was on my list, and came in under budget.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)