Tag Archives: Employment

Just a Typical Monday at Work & Art Therapy

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World!!! It’s a typical Monday at work for me. The best part of the work week for me is Mondays because I get to do an Art Group with and intern who is getting a degree in art therapy. Granted the Art Group is at the end of the day but it makes Mondays more bearable. I love my job and am grateful that I can co-facilitate the art group with a great art therapist intern. My clients are awesome artist and do their best work listening to music so we have some “music therapy” along with doing art.

I had supervision with my supervisor today. For some reason it appeared awkward to me which is unusual for our supervision. I love my job with a passion and am grateful that I am not micromanaged by my supervisor. She is pretty laid back is a good egg.

Billie was a great coworker today and stayed by my side during most of my shift. His unconditional love and support when I need it is never ending and am grateful he able to pick up on my emotions. I love my cat Billie Dean so much. Plus, he is a great coworker.

I do not have much more to say in this particular blog post. I do want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you the reader, read my blog. If it wasn’t for you the reader, reading my blog I would not be writing my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. Peace Out, World!!!

Having a Tough Day at Work

Posted on by Gertie

Good Afternoon, World!!! I am currently having a tough day a work. Part of it is because I didn’t get much sleep last night due various reasons which included my neighbors being dickwads during a time where most people actually sleep or at least try to sleep.

Today is just one of them days. I have two clients schedule which I had a session with one of them already and will see my next one at 2:00pm; Seattle time. Today has been primarily being in meetings all day as well as dealing with clients in crisis as I am apart of the Thursday crisis coverage team.

Anyway, some of the crisis calls I have taken today have been triggering for me. I think it is partly due to the lack of sleep last night. Anyway, I am grateful for my colleagues as I have been able to do check-in’s with a couple of them after a couple of rough crisis calls from clients.

I have amazing colleagues and an awesome supervisor. I love my employer and feel supported by everyone including the leadership team. Having an awesome employer and colleagues is super helpful everyday especially and challenging days like today.

And of course I am working from home today so I can’t forget to mention how supportive of a colleague my cat Billie Dean has been today. I know for fact he knows I am needing the extra cuddles and love he is giving me. Animals including my cat, Billie have unconditional love especially for their humans.

I do not have much more to say in in this particular blog post. I do want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you the reader, read my blog. If it was not for you the reader, reading my blog, I would not be writing my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. Peace Out, World!!!

Intro to Poetry; Day 6: Screens

Posted on by Gertie

Damn You, Covid-19

by Gertie

Staring at a computer screen all day give me a headache

but the headache is well worth it as it is

because I love my new job more than I realize.

A job that is helping me along my career path even though staring at a 

computer screen all day isn’t the most fun thing in the world to do.

I don’t blame my career choice for me staring at the computer

all day; I blame this stupid ass

pandemic known as Covid-19.

If Covid-19 didn’t happen, meeting clients in person;

face to face would be happing and not having to do

virtual appointment would be ideal to not having to stare a stupid computer screen

all day.

Damn you Covid-19, you are causing me to get migraines due to

staring at a computer screen all day;

just to help my clients.

The migraines are well worth it though as

helping my clients is the best feeling in the world.

A Season of Change

Posted on by Gertie

Happy Holidays, World!!! It has been six weeks since my last blog. I do not have an excuse to why have not blogged in the last month and a half. It was just pure laziness. It is my hope that I will start doing what I did on several different occasions. In fact I hope to restart my plans for blogging this Sunday, December 13th. I plan on starting my “Weekly Plans” post this Sunday. Starting, Saturday, December 19th, I plan on doing my “Weekly Check-In” post. Part of the reason why I stopped these post was because of my current job schedule but thankfully, I will be able to start them back up.

The reason why I will be able to start them back up is because tomorrow (Saturday) night will my last shift at my current employer. I put in my notice because, I will be starting a new job on Wednesday, December 16th as a Peer Specialist. It is a fulltime office job. It Monday through Friday during typical office hours. I am having some pretty high anxiety with starting a new job especially since it is fulltime. I know I will do okay with it but I am still anxious as hell.

Another reason why I am so nervous is because of my cat, Billie Dean. Billie is use to me being gone for work once a week for about fourteen hours as well as a once week volunteer shift for about four hours. Now, Billie will deal with me being gone for about ten hours a day for five days a week. Plus, one day week I will gone for about four hours due to volunteering. Billie is a real lovey dovey type of cat that wants his person home as much as possible so I worry about possible separation anxiety on his part. On a plus note, I will be able to work from home about half the time so I am sure this will help Billie the Cat get adjusted to my new work schedule. I love my cat so much and don’t want to put him in any type of stress.

I don’t have much more to say. I do want to thank you all for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you do read my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. Have a great evening world. Peace Out, World!!!

Middle of the Night Ramblings from Work

Posted on by Gertie

Hello, World!!! It is the middle of the night in my corner of the world. In fact, I am currently at work. I work an overnight shift for twelve plus hours every Saturday night. I am not a big fan of night shifts nor am I fan of having a twelve plus hour work shift. Even though I am not a fan of a couple of things regarding my job, I am glad that I have a job. Many people are out of work due to the pandemic which is why I am grateful for my job.

As many people are aware of if they live in the United States, is that the West Coast of the United States is having some really bad wild fires. Due to the fires California, Oregon and Washington all have very hazardous air quality. As someone who was born in California and spent the first sixteen years of their life there, I remember horrific air quality. Nothing like it is now. I currently reside in Seattle and have never seen Seattle’s air quality this bad. Hell, I never seen California’s air quality as bad as it is there right now. Something that the mayor of Seattle is shut down all the parks and beaches from Friday till Sunday due to the air quality. I understand why she did it but I think people realize how bad the air is by just looking out their windows. But then again people lack common sense, now a days.

I do not have much more to say in this particular blog post. I do, however want to thank you all for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you do read my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. I hope everyone has a great Sunday a head of them. Peace Out, World!!!

A Pre-Work Post

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World!!! I am now awake and about to get ready for work. Part of me doesn’t want to go to work. The part of me that doesn’t want to go to work is the part where my depression symptoms are acting up. I know ultimately me going to work will help with my depression symptoms. As much as I do not like night shifts, I am grateful to have a job for several reasons. One such reason is that working does help with my mental health symptoms.

The part I don’t like about working is the fact, I am away from my cat, Billie Dean. Billie is my emotional support animal (ESA) and helps me a great deal. On a plus note, coming home from work or any other place, having Billie greet me at the door is always an awesome feeling.

As I type this blog I realize that I need to put my art supplies in my backpack so I can take them to work. Specifically, my coloring supplies. I take my coloring supplies so I can color at work to help keep myself busy. I have a lot of down time at work. I love to color. It is a type of meditation for me.

I do not have much more to say in this particular blog post. I want to thank you all for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of thing that you read my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. I hope everyone has a great rest of your weekend. Peace Out, World!!!

A Post About the Fear I Have for the People I Serve

Posted on by Gertie

Good Morning, World!!! At this very moment I am at work. I have been at work for ten and a half hours. I have another two and a half hours left of my shift. I am tired as hell. I will be eager to get home for many reasons but I need to get some shit off of my chest.

I work with homeless individuals for young adults. Many of whom aged out of the foster care system and have a major distrust of the police. Anyway, I work in a shelter that is in Downtown Seattle. Right in the middle of where the riots are. The thing that pisses me off is that many of the police officers have accused some of the young adults of looting. Sadly, many of the folks being accused are people of color and the police officers that are doing the accusing are white. I know for a fact that the young adults I work with were involved with the peaceful protest and had absolutely nothing to do with the riots as they didn’t want to be apart in harming their community. Many of the young adults were harassed by white police officers as they were trying to get to shelter. Many of the folks I work with just want justice for George Floyd and many other like Mr. Floyd that were senselessly murdered by white cops.

I just hope that people realize that the murder of George Floyd needs to be dealt with. I say this because people of color live in fear everyday of their life that some white person or even worse a white cop will kill them. I worry most about the homeless folks who are of color as they get harassed even more than other people. Please lets all just take care of each other.

As I end this post here at work, there is still a major police presence and the National Guard is present as well. Sadly, people are still committing arson as well as looting. I want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you have taken the time to read my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. I hope everyone has a great Sunday. Please protest peacefully. Stay safe while you are out protesting. I don’t want anyone to get hurt. Peace Out, World!!!

Full of Anxiety about Job Interview

Posted on by Gertie

Good Morning, World. Right now I am full of anxiety regarding my job interview later on this morning. I am not sure why I am anxious about it but I am. Personally, I am always anxious before job interviews.

On the plus note about my job interview is that the weather is nice out here in Seattle. That means I do not have to wear a jacket or sweater which can be a bit cumbersome at a job interview especially when you depend on public transportation or car services like Lyft.

Right now the hard part for me is trying to keep my cat, Billie, from sitting on my lap. As much as I would love for my cat, Billie, to be on my lap, I want to limit the amount of hair I get on me. Sadly, I don’t have one of those lint rollers. I totally forgot to buy one when I was at the store last night.

I do not have much more to say in this particular blog post. I just want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you read my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. I hope everyone enjoys their Wednesday. If you live in Seattle, I hope you enjoy the weather. Peace Out, World!!!

A Before I Leave for Work Post

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World!!! I am up for the day and mostly ready for work. Overall, I slept pretty well. Even though I woke up earlier than I would have liked at least I know I woke up naturally and not by rude and noisy neighbors. In fact this was the first Saturday that I was not woken up by the same two loud and noisy neighbors on the patio in about a month. Just grateful to not be woken up so rudely.

As I type this blog post, my cat, Billie Dean is laying in my lap. I love the fact that he is in my lap at moment because my anxiety is high at the moment. Also, another reason I love the fact he is in my lap is that I won’t be able have cuddle time with him tonight due to the fact I’ll be at work for more that twelve hours.

I do not have much more to say in this particular blog post. I just want to thank you all for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you read my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. Have a great rest of your weekend. Peace Out, World!!!

A Midnight Post

Posted on by Gertie

Hello, World!!! It is midnight in my corner of the world. I am staying up all night due to the fact I have to sleep all day. I need to sleep all day on Saturday’s because I work a twelve and a half hour night shift. I really enjoy my current job with the exception of it being a night shift. I am not a big fan of it being twelve and a half hours but I think if it was a day time shift I would be more accepting of a twelve and a half hour shift. My colleagues are great and it feels like a family type environment. The clients I work with are awesome. My supervisor is super supportive. I think the reason I have stayed at my current job for so long is because of my colleagues and supervisor as well as it being a supportive environment. The main reason I am looking for a new job is I don’t do well with a night shift.

Speaking of looking for a new job, I mentioned in an earlier post, I have a job interview at a local mental health agency. I hope I get the job because I love working in supportive housing. I also love being employed as a peer support specialist also known as a peer counselor. I am trying to not get my hopes up high about getting the job because if I don’t get it, I don’t really want to be let down. No matter what if I don’t get it the job, I will be let down but if I keep my expectations low then the let down won’t be so hard. I am looking forward to the interview because I will consider it practice especially if I don’t get the job.

Anyway on to something completely different. One of the ways I will keep myself from falling asleep is doing some art. I will be doing different mediums (genres) of art. I will be doing some coloring, painting and some collage. I most likely be combining the collage with some painting. I love my completed art work when it combines painting and collage. It is very interesting. I also enjoy giving my art away. People wonder why I don’t sell it. I don’t sell it because I don’t think its worth very much. I also love being able to give people hand made gifts.

The best part of Friday nights is that I get to spend the entire night awake with my cat, Billie Dean. I really think he appreciates when I don’t sleep at night because that way I spend the night playing with him and being awake with him. I love my cat so much. I really enjoy the fact that he is a cuddle bug. I think if it were up to him, he would spend all of his time in my lap.

I do not have much more to say. I just want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you read my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. I hope everyone has a great Saturday. I also hope everyone has an awesome weekend ahead. Peace Out, World!!!