Tag Archives: Job

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!!!

Still Gloomy but Hopeful

Posted on by Gertie

Good Afternoon, World!!! My depression is still acting up a little bit. Wish it wasn’t but it is something that I have dealt with for as long as I can remember. The gloomy weather isn’t helping much but it also makes me feel slightly better knowing the weather fits my mood.

Even though my mood is still low, I am hopeful. Even in my last post I was hopeful but now I am even more hopeful. I am at my grandpa’s spending time with him and doing my laundry. I am grateful for my family especially my grandpa. Not very many 40+ year olds still have a grandparent left which is why I am extremely grateful to have my grandpa in my life.

Another reason why I am feeling hopeful is that I have a job interview next week at a local mental health agency for a peer specialist position. The peer position is for supportive housing and thankfully I have experience working in supportive housing as well as a peer. I am hopeful that I could be on the short list but I wouldn’t be surprised if I don’t get the job. The reason being is that the job is at the mental health agency I am a client of.  Yes, it is okay to be employed as a peer at the agency where you are a client at just as long as you don’t work for the program you are a client of. In fact my employment specialist made sure it was okay before I applied. Again, I am hopeful that I will be on the short list but realistically know that they most likely won’t hire a client and I am okay with that. At least I will have the experience of an interview.

Anyway after I am done writing this post, I am going to start reading a book. Not sure which one as I brought two to choose from. Both of which are science fiction books. I really enjoy science fiction and fantasy genres. I really enjoy reading. I will let you know what book I am reading and hope to let you know what I think of it after I am finished with the book.

I do not have much more to write about in this particular blog post. I 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 Friday. In fact I hope everyone has a great weekend ahead. Peace Out, World!!!

Anxiety + Insomnia = No Sleep For Me

Posted on by Gertie

Hello, World!!! It is the middle of the night in my corner of the world and I am unable to sleep. Having anxiety doesn’t help the fact that I have insomnia and due to both sleep is a no go for me at the moment.

Long story short, my apartment building has a community patio and my apartment is right above it. I live on the second floor and of course the patio is on the first floor. Anyway, the same two neighbors have been constantly loud and noisy for hours on end nearly everyday of the week for two months now. I have complained about it to the apartment management and they can’t or won’t do anything about. I have called the Seattle Police non-emergency line on two occasions and due to the pandemic aren’t dealing with noise complaints at this time. So, it is starting to affect my anxiety big time. It bothers me that my neighbors don’t give a shit and that neither the apartment management nor Seattle police are doing anything about it. On a good note, I have emailed all my complaints so they are dated and time stamped and in three of the five complaints I mentioned it was effecting my physical and mental health as well as my disability. I informed them of this as a precaution to protect my ass. Thankfully, I am not the only neighbor bothered by the loud and noisy neighbors.

Another thing that probably isn’t helping with my insomnia is my part time job working at night. In fact it’s a twelve hour night shift. I like my job for the most part. I just don’t like it being twelve hours at night. I don’t do well with night shifts. Something I have done was apply for two jobs yesterday (Monday, May 18th, 2020) to work at local nonprofits. I also put in an application about a month ago at Costco. I am not holding my breath on any of the jobs especially at this point in time with Covid-19 going on.

One of the things that has been helping with the Covid-19 stay at home order is my cat, Billie Dean. Billie is such a lap cat who loves his belly rubbed. Billie also loves his two front paws massaged. I am beyond grateful for Billie and love him so much. I do miss my last cat Lil Gertie and think of her everyday. I talk to Billie about her. Billie love his cat tree and looking out the window. He appears to be entertained by the crows and squirrels which entertains me. If it wasn’t for Billie I am more than positive that my anxiety would be higher with my loud ass neighbors on the patio.

I don’t have much else to say so I am going to end this post. I want to thank you all for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my post. I hope everyone has a great rest of your night. Peace Out, World!!!

Friday Night Ramblings

Posted on by Gertie

Happy Friday, World!!! Well, it is still Friday in my corner of the world. Fridays are the days I stay up all night so I can sleep all day on Saturdays. I sleep all day on Saturdays because I work a twelve and a half hour shift on Saturday nights. Overall, I enjoy my job even though I am going to start actively look for a new job. The reason why I am actively looking for a new job is because my current position at work is a night shift and the day shift positions at my current employer are ones that I most likely wouldn’t enjoy.

On another note the snow is now gone in Seattle. Well, mostly gone depending on where in the city you are in. I am grateful it is gone. I am not the biggest fan of the snow or the cold. The snow even had both PAWS in Lynnwood and PAWS Cat City close on Tuesday with limited staff and volunteers so my shift as well as the later shift didn’t need to go in due the early snow closer I was sad about it.

Despite being sad about not being to volunteer for my regular shift on Tuesday, I was able to pick up a shift on Thursday. I was able to shadow a couple of experience volunteers with the adoption process which made me happy to see cats get adopted. In fact four cats got adopted and was happy to be able to see it from the other side as I remember being the adopter when I was adopting Lil Gertie. So experiencing as a volunteer was awesome. Granted I was only observing due to the fact I am new and still learning the ropes. The two shift I have done at PAWS Cat City have been awesome and am beyond grateful for the opportunity to volunteer.

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

Weekly Plans

Posted on by Gertie

SUNDAY

  • Take nap when I get home from work. (Yes, I am still at work)
  • Do some art
  • Have dinner with friends
  • Work on workbooks

MONDAY

  • Go to DSHS to sort out the food stamp situation. (That’s if it doesn’t snow)
  • Do some art
  • Lunch with a friend who lives in my building
  • Get meds
  • Work on workbooks

TUESDAY

  • Volunteer at PAWS Cat City. (Looking forward to having some kitty time.)
  • Attend work meeting in the evening. (Hoping for snow so I can use it as an excuse to not attend.)
  • Work on workbooks

WEDNESDAY

  • Sleep in
  • Lunch with my grandpa. (I love spending time with my grandpa.)
  • Do some artwork.
  • Work on workbooks
  • Clean apartment

Thursday

  • See therapist
  • Attend DBT Group. (Hopefully it doesn’t get cancelled for any reason.)
  • Work on workbooks
  • Do some art work.

FRIDAY

  • Do some art work
  • Work on Workbooks
  • Clean apartment
  • Visit with my grandpa

SATURDAY

  • Sleep all day
  • Work all night

Weekly Check-In

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World!!! This is my weekly check in and I really didn’t do as much as I had planned on doing. The main thing I did was hang out with friends. Mostly hanging out with friends throughout the week is what helped me the most. It appeared that hanging out with friends including eating food and lots of it. So, I had great company and awesome food.

Another thing that I did this week was volunteer at PAWS Cat City. It was mostly learning the day to day operations. Some of which I already knew as I experienced it as an adopter of a cat at PAWS Cat City. I also got a lot of kitty time. Specifically with one cat in particular and I am hope she got adopted. I am really happy that I am volunteering there as it is going to be a great healing process for me in regards to Lil Gertie and I feel like this is a way I am honoring her memory.

I didn’t attend any of my groups this week. I didn’t attend the D&D group due to a migraine and really want to attend it. Now as far as my DBT group it was cancelled “due to snow” at 8:30ish in the morning when I know for a fact there was no snow in the city of Seattle and informed the clinician of it. He then stated “oh it is cancelled due to the potential of snow.” When I asked why he didn’t wait till later in the morning to make sure if the weather would actually have it snow the clinician didn’t have an answer so I said bye and hung up. It didn’t snow in Seattle on Thursday and was quite upset I was lied to.

Now I am on way to work. Thankfully, no snow yet. I hope we don’t get snow as I am not a big fan of the white stuff. I do not like the cold that comes with it as well. Snow is a big deal here in Seattle and pretty much closes down the city. Anyone who has lived in Seattle during snow already knows this. I think I should finish getting ready for work. I hope work goes well tonight.

I do not have much more to say. I want to thank you for reading my blog as it is greatly appreciated from end of things. Have a great weekend everyone. Peace Out, World!!!!

A Good Sunday So Far

Posted on by Gertie

Good Afternoon, World!!! Before I tell you how my Sunday as been I would like to tell you something about my blog. As you can tell, I have advertisements on my blog. Every time some clicks on an ad I get a cent or two from each ad however before getting the money from the ad, I have wait till all the money reaches one hundred dollars before I can receive it. It suck that I have to wait to get the money but I hope that you my reader will click on the advertisements to help me earn some extra money.

Okay now I can tell you how my day went. I got off work and got some sleep. Not much sleep but some sleep. A short sleep because I wanted to go to lunch with my friends. Being about to talk about work with my friends is quite helpful when you are eating lunch. I love being with my friends.

I do not have much more to talk about. I just hope you all have a great Sunday. Thank you from the bottom of my heart fro reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things. Peace Out, World!!!