May the good Lord take a liking to you.

Dottie was a wonderful friend to me and our picture still comforts me.

I sure wouldn't want to avoid Jesus. To me that would be scary because he is my comforter. Sometimes I feel like he is my only friend. His yoke is easy and his burdens are light. He is my shepherd when I feel lost. I can ask him questions and he doesn't mind. He is so compact I can take him anywhere.

Three days without a post. That is depressing. Just got my van washed off at the car wash. Sure nice to have the warm weather.

Didn't realize that N AR got so much damage. We only had an inch or so of sleet and it melted in 2 days.


We got hammered. It was like the loud version of Rice Krispies with the snap, crackle, pop. Mom told me to just go lie in her bed that one day because one way to my house on the pavement was solid ice and the other dirt road to my house had too many whole trees laying across the road. Then she had my younger brother, Ben to move my car out of the driveway and I glad he did because there was a large tree limb where my car had been. We were, the neighbors on my road, driving over high line wires and telephone wires. Was just talking to one LPN who was doing laundry at the laundry and car wash place on South 14 towards Ralph and she said while I was in the gas station that she still doesn't have power at her place. Had to put all my food in the trash that was in the refrigerator because the power had been out for so long.

Dippy, working at the nursing home has helped me in so many ways that I have lost count. As an introvert it has forced me to be an extrovert. Issues that I thought I had just because I was a guy I have found gals with the same issues. So it made me wonder if they are really issues at all. It has improved my communication skills because it has forced me to deal with people that I would normally have shied away from because I felt intimidated by them. In some cases with lazy people what we have found that works with the team work versus sections aspect is that aides who have problems with other aides is that the work is divided up so that certain aides have their own sections or people that they are held accountable for. Hence, the older fashion phrase of, "That ain't my job." becomes highly effective sometimes. But then the problem with that is you are dealing with human lives versus machine parts so the commodity is more precious. Each aide is liable due their license. One nurse even said she trusted me which for a recovering addict and alcoholic is like receiving the Pulitzer prize. In cases where I have to be the bad guy and go above someones head I find hard to do because once the drama starts it takes a while to calm down. It is like the rippling effect of a pebble tossed in a body of water. Confronting the violator is best like settling out of court can be best. I have had to resolve my differences with others just for survival's sake. I find that no one likes to be used or abused or neglected for that matter where I work. I have communicating with the sane ones easier than communicating with the dementia ones. At least we can come to some common ground. I have actually found some really good stuff in the nurses' aide handbook. If I look good then the nurse looks good because my actions affect her job. I have found that it has helped me to get fewer write ups.

Doing good Greer. Just glad to be able to get online. Waiting till Tuesday to have the power company come turn off my power to my well pump house which is on a separate meter. The three big limbs that fell on that line jerked the eyelet and weather head off. The electrician said I might have to get a new breaker box there because of the strain on the lugs. I got power to the house though. Nice weather, today. How you doing?

The only real long term relationships I am doing well with are the long term care community but even some of them try to get away from me. It has helped me though to do with issues that I have unconsciously tried not to deal with. Have just about had to face some of my demons. Fortunate for me some of those demons weren't nearly as scary as I thought they would be. I have even made friends with some of the demons. What helped was to realize that they were just humans like me. The other disembodied souls I just started to stay away from. They were just bringing me down anyways. If the demons have some positive feedback that might help that is one thing but if they are just going to just rattle my cage then they can just go haunt someone else. Since the grief has been letting up so are a lot of the demons. I guess I just ain't as much to play with as I once was.

Your job is tougher than mine. Just have 27 residents on my section. Two of those are permanently bed ridden so that drops it down to 25. What gets me are the sun downers. You put them to bed and then they get back up. Your post reminded me of Hell boy where he tells that one monster after he shoots it; "Now stay down." But you really can't do that at the Nursing Home. One aide I work with we cooperate easily but another wants to wait till the last minute. Like you got all this time with call lights and alarms going off. The other day she said though that she sees why we must start earlier.

I agree with you, Allen. The verse about confessing your sins one to another has helped me just this last week. My charge nurse pointed out something that I had missed this last week. But she was tactful this time. She said, "I am not trying to get onto you but just trying to help." We had came to an agreement in our venting with another that we are both defensive and don't take criticism very well - constructive or destructive. I am sure it has something to do with that we are both intelligent people and have big egos to pacify. She pointed out that like her pointing out my mistake that I should have pointed out something that she missed as well. It reminds me of the scripture; "The word quickens but the spirit makes alive." Also the scripture of, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." There are times I have to desensitize and I can become to sensitive or what others may refer to as being touchy. It is the job that I do with working with the public. At one time I discovered that I had to quit knocking the establishment because I was part of the establishment. As my ex used to say, "I bring it on myself and have no one to blame but myself.

After my van stalled the last time at the gas station and had to have it towed to Cheevers the mechanic found out that my alternator was wired up wrong. While it was there I asked him to fix my gas gauge and to fix up the afroingenuity of the wiring harness. He rewired it and now the alternator charges right and the fuel gauge works.

Luckily, I had the propane tank filled before the ice storm hit. As you remember I was having that problem with the well pump. So I was out of water. I had put in the wrong pressure switch which short circuited my well pump. Then the ice storm hit. Thousands of electric company power trucks trying to replace poles; Fixed downed and broken electric poles with wires and trees making roads impassible and couldn't even get to my house. So I was taking showers at mom's house and the nursing home. They sat up beds for the employees to sleep at who couldn't get to their houses. for a while we didn't even have power at the nursing home so we were all walking around with flashlights. Then the main water supply got contaminated and they had the boil instructions or people were drinking bottled water. It is still a mess down here. Obama declared our area a disaster area and we still got people with no power. So my electrician came out here today and told me he couldn't fix where the main cable power to the well pump house until the electric company come back out here Tuesday to shut that power off. It started out as a little problem but escalated.

I get no down and then I get up, again. Never gonna get me down. So nice to have electric after being without for weeks. Still cleaning up after the ice storm that hit us.

Finally got my electric back on. Still limbs and trees to clean up after.

I did. Today was even better. I survived the ice storm and got my power back on.

I agree.

I apologize.

I have trouble focusing right now. I didn't put them in prison.

I don't know if Obama is Christian or not.