DC-Slash

It's Tuesday! We survived Monday, go us! I'm a little tired this morning because I had some trouble staying asleep last night. Right before bed I had a random bout of free floating anxiety (no clue why.) and I just had a horrible time getting to and staying asleep. I got enough sleep that I can function, I'm just a little tired.

I've got a handful of things to do today. I've got a couple of patients to call, and reschedule, plus our Columbia office opened up more of the cardiac MRI slots, so I need to fill them. Plus of course, whatever else they find for me to do.

Yesterday was busy as expected. I busted my ass with calls and calling patients back, and did a little bit of work on the Cardiacs. The job posted, but they did something wrong, and no one can see it. Amanda mentioned to them that she wanted to fill internally, so they set it as private? But you're supposed to be able to see it if you know the listing number, and it's not doing that, so we'll see if they get that fixed today. I really am eager to get this done. I want things settled, so we can celebrate.

Once I have an offer letter, I'll get some Asti and we'll toast my new job over a nice dinner from somewhere. But that is not going to happen today. I don't really know how long it'll take once they fix the listing. Hopkins is many things, but fast moving isn't one of them.

I wonder if the unrest was part of my anxiety last night. I'm not change averse, but even good change is stressful. I just want it done, so I can settle into a new role and find out what all the new job will entail.

Hopefully, I'll also hear back from the one I don't want that I interviewed with. Even though it's not the job for me, I'm curious to see if they offer it to me. (Everyone wants to be wanted.) Plus it gives me a better idea what to ask for salary if I get to negotiate.

I'm pretty high up on my current pay band, so we'll see what we can get.

We currently have no games scheduled until Sunday. I was thinking about running a couple of MotW games, but I don't know if I want to do two games in one day. I may do one at about 1:30? We have to take the dog to the groomer, so it might have to have an extra long bio break to go pick him up, but that would be okay. I do have to work on Saturday, but I'm admin, which is usually easy as pie.

I realized that my brain is such mush that I was mixing up which weekend it is. The pet sitter isn't til the 21st, which is not this weekend at all! This year has been so much that I am thoroughly messed up.

I created a Facebook page for our sailing, which has 54 members already. I want to drum up enthusiasm, but I don't know what question to put in there. I got the important ones, food and excursions, but now I'm at a loss. I will have to consider it further.

Okay, time for me to hop off and get ready for working. Pants ahoy!

Everyone have an awesome Tuesday!

It's Sunday, and I survived my long days the last three days! I slept in til 7am this morning, which was very nice of my body and my cat. Today is only one game, that I don't have to DM, and the rest of the afternoon will be resting.

Work yesterday wasn't bad. It wasn't too busy, though my boss had left me a to-do list, so I did that, took a few calls, and got out at 12 on the dot. Then it was off to grab my prescriptions and lunch.

We took a risk on timing, but decided to try a new restaurant, the Kenilworth Gourmet. It was actually pretty good. I'll definitely go back for something other than brunch, but my crab benedict was lovely and Jess' strawberry french toast was delicious. Bonus fries, we were home with over half an hour to spare before our first game.

The first game was fun, with a battle against an opponent that vastly outclassed them. Still, they persevered and won!

Then, we relaxed for a couple of hours, ordered dinner, and spent some time with the brother in law. He informed us that he's mostly packed for Alaska. We still have 88 days til we leave! But he is very excited, and it's really cute. We discussed some of our dining options, and decided that we don't really need Tracy's Crab Shack in Juneau. We've got a Dungeness crab feast to go to in Ketchikan and a seafood boil on the ship, so we're probably pretty good on shellfish. I would like to get a king crab leg while I'm in Alaska just to see if there's a difference between that and the one I can get here in MD. (I'm sure there will be.) The excitement is slowly starting to build again after the valley between planning & booking and research to under 90 days. We meet with the dogsitter in 2 weeks. Hopefully Yoda's not an asshole to her.

After that, it was dinner and game two, where we boarded the trauma train. I love the Crooked Moon so far. It's got a good story, but it leaves space for the players to do their thing too. There's places to pull in the players backstory, and it's great. The artwork is gorgeous. We were joking that last night's session was the Trauma Train. You're on a train to the afterlife, and you're trying to help corrupted haints move on. You can kill them, you can talk to them, whatever you want. The players were really creative and helped all the haints with their unfinished business and sent them to their reward. There was also a mail room with letters from the living to the newly departed, and from the departed to the living. Good lord, the angst and trauma. It was great.

Then they fought the creature that lived in the burner of the train. The train still sadly crashed, and now they're fighting the actual corrupted engine of the Ghostlight Express. poisontaster is going to get to fistfight a train with her monk character. It'll be great.

I slept pretty well, aside from a couple bouts of leg spasms. I don't know why my body hates me so much, but I got bananas and will be stuffing them in my face and increasing my water intake. Maybe have a gatorade before bed, because ow.

Today, I get to play a little goth bard, which should be fun. I love my character a lot, and I have a good time playing her. It is funny that both of the characters I play are little rich kids with questionable parents. They're wildly different, but the overarching theme is there. Go figure, I may have some parental issues that I'm using D&D to work through?

This afternoon, post game will be nap time. I am going to take it easy and just relax and enjoy the rest of my day. I think cooking will wait til tomorrow, but we'll see.

Okay, time for me to hop off and contemplate whether I want to put pants on. Everyone have an outstanding Sunday!

It's Saturday and I'm thinking about a nap later today. I've got a bunch of things to do today. Mostly games and work, with one foray out to get my meds in the middle. I am going to be damned tired at 10pm tonight when I finish the second game.

Yesterday was not horribly busy. I did my thing, I called a lot of patients, cleaned the list up a bit from some STAT patients by virtue of making room. I like that spreadsheet. There's something so satisfying about removing a patient from it because you got them in. Less satisfying when you call with a great spot for them and here "oh, we already had it done at Advanced Radiology. I was going to call you." First, no you weren't. Second, enjoy your subpar MRI. And in the meantime, I have to be like "That's perfectly understandable, have a wonderful day."

I filled a couple of cardiac slots, and then I took a few calls. And then at about 2pm, A asked if I was working today. I admitted that I was, and she sent me a to-do list. So I probably won't be taking much in the way of calls today. At three, she went to her meeting with Peg, and I left to go to my interview. I dressed up nicely in black flats, heather gray dress pants, a vibrant emerald green wrap shirt and a black military style velvet jacket. I looked pretty good. Very sharp and dare I say a little cool. (The military jacket is magic, I tell you.)

The drive wasn't bad, just past the mall. Took me about 15 minutes. Then, I called for someone to come let me in and escort me where I needed to be. They hadn't given me a room #, just "second floor," So my escort and I wandered all over until a coworker took pity on us and let us know that it was actually on the third floor.

I sat and waited for a few minutes, and then they came and got me.

It was a panel interview, with managers from various depts, and they all had one or more questions for me. Most were your bog standard "tell me about a time..."

I gotta admit, with like 9 people, it felt a little bit intimidating. But I persevered.

It went really well. I brought up a few things that other candidates did not, like making official communication in writing, because documentation is important. At one point, cardiology stopped asking questions to tell me that I was a very good public speaker. I was clear, composed, had a pleasant voice and tone and he didn't have to ask me to rephrase or clarify things. Which was nice to hear. I mentioned that I am a DM in my spare time, so part of it is painting the picture clearly for the players.

It was a long ass interview. Probably went for about 50 minuntes. Most of the time, they're scheduled for that, but they usually last 30.

So now I wait to see if I can trigger a bidding war.

Yup, saying that is still surreal. I said to Jess, it's not that I don't know that I'm a good worker. I'm smart, curious, and regularly like to anticipate the companies needs and give that to them. I knew I was making a position for myself--I've done it every time. But every time I've done it, it's not been recognized. This is the first time someone has said "We appreciate this, and we'd like to reward you." And this interview was "We see what you are doing and we would like to see if you're a good fit for us." And that felt good.

It was tiring, but I'm glad I did it, whether they offer or not. I did surprise them, trying to get a feel for the office and team. I had intelligent questions planned, and I threw a little surprise in there, and asked for their employee engagement or GLINT score. I felt like that earned me a little more credibility, like I wanted to know what I was walking into. (It was 68. Radiology's is 82, and this is one of the cases where higher is better.) Honestly, knowing that the people are so unsatisfied, I don't know that I would have taken the job even if I didn't have another in my pocket--that's even lower than our campus-wide average, which I believe is 74. (Radiology is a special sunbeam.)

So, that's all good. We'll see if they offer, and what they'll offer and go from there.

After that, we played game, which was super fun.

Today, I shall play two games! And work. And make it to the pharmacy. It'll be a busy day. Tomorrow, more game, but only one, and it's DMed by poisontaster . So that'll be a bit easier.

Mostly, I think I shall rest tomorrow. Maybe I'll cook? Maybe not. Though I do have a lovely head of cabbage, bacon and pork. That could be tasty, if I fry it up with some onions and garlic. I love sauteed cabbage. It's another vegetable that I've convinced Jess isn't so bad along with mashed turnips.

As of this morning, there is now 89 days until our big vacation. We're below 90! *muppet flail* It still doesn't feel real. I don't know when it will. Will it be when I pack? Will it be when the airport transport picks us up? When the plane takes off? Will it be when we land in Seattle? When we cross the Canadian border? Or will it not be until we're walking up the gangplank to the ship? I just don't have a clue. I know Disney felt real when we put our bags away and walked down to the lounge to watch the fireworks. You could see Cinderella's castle right across the lake, and then they played the firework music and it suddenly hit me that we had made it and I cried.

So I may have a delayed reaction. We'll have to wait and see. We have so many things coming up that I'm excited about. Plays and cruise and concerts. It's going to be a busy year. Our year of Yes.

Okay, time for me to go forth and get myself awake and ready for work. Everyone have the absolute best Saturday!