A Very Long Day

It’s been one of those Mondays which never seems to end. The ride in to work on the train was quiet and tedious. When staff finally did get in there was never ending discussion of a conference they all attended over the weekend—actually, there was another staff which did not attend her husband had open head surgery which got her out of attending. Then there was the never ending staff meeting which started an hour later then usual because all the State vehicles had to be ferried back to the State parking lot. The staff meeting lasted nearly to lunch time and most of the staff meeting’s content was a rehash of the earlier rehash of the weekend conference. Then I warmed up my lunch from yesterday’s BBQ then back to work on my writing up of the Quarterly advisory board. I take notes during this meeting then render minute’s from the notes. Usually I take better notes and try to do the minutes or the minutes outline the same day as the meeting so I have a fair memory of what really took place. Not so, for this meeting. First the notes are skimpy at best and then I have been putting the writing off cause I know the amount of work this will take because the notes are so poor. This dilemma is really sort of a Catch-22 but I have been struggling with them all day between phone calls. I think I am about half done. I know I am going to have to do some “call backs” to see, if what I have authored is the same as what they think they may have said. Just stuff.

My partner went to lunch and never came back. She called a few minutes ago indicated she was exhausted an she just could not come back...would I OK? Sure no problem. It's a slow day so what the heck. I had toyed with the idea of leaving at 4:00. I worked through lunch Friday when I was holding down th fort all by myself. So, I geared down for the long haul and focused on the minutes. My office has a toll free”800” number to be able to take disability questions statewide. Since the office our organization is located in is also a statewide office and they have access to the 800 number and recently( with in the last year) has started using the number as their own...rather their consumers have started using the number. What this means is that my partner and me are becoming the phone receptionists for the office. Again, this used to not bother but lately it's becoming a bit annoying especially when I am involved in a real call. A nuisance other office call comes in and we have to put our call on hold and pass the other call along. It's all a pain. Then the real receptionist is all over the office and I start getting the regular calls too...a very long day.

On the train home is another guy I know in a wheelchair, a head injury survivor. So, I am exhausted, siting on the train wanting to read my book but am compelled to communicate with Rex who has a great challenging communicating. I have to totally focus on what Rex is saying so when I reply he knows I really understood what he said. I was lucky and he existed after just a couple of stops. I got a couple of pages read and rolled home in the sun. I had my 25 cent hat and I was cool in all matter s of the word. I

hope to get some sleep tonight, the end of a very long day.