Boy. After being out of a full time job for 5+ years, and pretty much used to grabbing an extra couple of hours of sleep in my van (between when the shelter closes and the library opens. Unless I sleep longer!), it’s TOUGH to go to a place of business for five to eight to ten hours a day and use my brain the entire time!
Fun, but tough!
The business considers anyone who puts in over 30 hours a week to be full time. My boss scheduled me for 35 hours for the week, but sent me home a little early on day one because I’d done really well, and had scheduled me until 8:30 on Wednesday, even though the phones re-direct to another facility, at 8 pm… so I left early that day too — now nearly an hour “out of pocket.”
But, she also told me that I could punch in early, as long as I don’t go over 40 hours for the week. So, when I arrived early, I punched in and went over my notes or started typing up procedures I use. I still have a few more procedures to do, but the boss has me scheduled for more hours over the coming 2 weeks. She said the issue is making sure that when I’m answering phones, I have an experienced employee (shift lead, office manager) to back me up/answer questions.
Yesterday was pretty awesome. I got there way early, so T the shift lead (not using names because the owner of the veterinary facility(ies) does not like Social Media, so it’s best for me just to be a generic employee with few opinions at a generic vet hospital) — T the shift lead sat with me during most of the morning, because she was feeling kind of punky, and felt better sitting and watching. She was highly complimentary about how well I handled most of the calls.
Really: It had been 4 days, and I could set up grooming and boarding appointments, and tell people we’re open, or that doctor so and so is in today or tomorrow… how long did it take the first operator to get trained?!
I mean, there’s an art to it: Check to ensure that Fluffy’s vaccinations are up to date, ask if Fluffy wants a specific groomer, check to see if that groomer isn’t booked with more than 8 assignments/day, does the owner want a call reminder, confirm the phone number for a reminder, and make the appointment — then call “Day Care” if the grooming is for tomorrow, so they can start the paperwork…
And with boarding, the options are pretty astronomical, from Standard to Suites. On that, I have to look at the pet’s past record, and say, “Looks like Fluffy was boarded at Platinum level last visit. Do you want to keep that — with the day care play time?” Most of the owners keep the same level they used before, though one person wanted to move from Gold (no day care playtime) to Platinum, so I had to add a note to get the pets evaluated for daycare.
There were also the emergencies… I mentioned lab pups that ate — well, anything. One ate tupperware lids, another ate mulch. Yesterday I had a woman who had clipped a Rottweiler’s nails, and cut one too short, and it wouldn’t stop bleeding. I asked her to come in, and told her we’d arrange to have an exam room open so the dog could go right in — just to limit the mess as much as possible (plus, the thought of an unhappy/in pain Rottweiler in the waiting room was a little disconcerting.)
Best name I saw all week: Hamilton. Guess the pet. Go ahead, I’ll give you time — I’ll add it to comments.
So, on Tuesday, Ozzie (one of their regular patients, a 17 year old dog!) sent us some delicious thin crust pizza. On Wednesday Mr. and Mrs. Claus, representing one of the vendors, stopped in with some cookies, and Friday I got some Starbuck’s Hot Chocolate from another vendor. I heard it mentioned that one of the dog food companies is going to give every employee a bag of dog food. (My sister’s bull terrier will benefit from that!)
As I mentioned yesterday I sat with T the Shift leader in the morning, who was highly complimentary, and then later I sat with M the office manager (also the HR lady who set up my interview and hired me.)
In the morning I got a phone call from a woman who was angry that her pet’s file had not been faxed to Pawsitively Heaven (a place similar to Midwest Animal Hospital, but with a HUGE training area), but still offering vet services and day care and boarding. I had my notes in front of me with a huge black marker PAWSITIVELY HEAVEN and their fax number written down, and said, “I’m sorry ma’am, but I did fax that information in the morning, but I’m sorry if it didn’t get through as expected...:”
Then she was angry because Paws.Heav. told her that her dog was due for distemper. A quick scroll though vaccinations showed no issues (no vaccinations shown in red), so we took a more in depth look, and sure enough, the distemper showed an expiration date in the year 2170. The customer hung up, to bring her dog in for distemper and to talk to the practice manager. And unfortunately, that’s when we saw that the flu vaccination had the same year on it.
As a system tester, I want to know why, when a clerk enters a date dozens of years in the future, it isn’t questioned. (Really? the vaccination is good for 150 years, when the dog is only good for 15?? the pop up could read, snidely. Or, more professionally: Please confirm expiration date of DHLPP vaccine.)
The program should be set up to question any entry beyond what the vaccine parameters allow. For example, the vet sells 1 or 3-year rabies. So, if an entry is made for 4 years or more, question it. This vet only sells 1 year distemper, though others in the state also provide 3 year distemper: Decide whether to question anything above 1 year, or use the same 4 years or more option as Rabies. A couple of services are only good for 6 months — question 7 months or more.
I wrote to the 3 people I interviewed with (2 office managers, 1 practice manager) and made those suggestions, and also suggested that they consider having someone query the database for any entries after December, 2020, so that we could make sure we don’t have any others like that. I said those ideas were due to my system tester/business analyst gene, and if they weren’t helpful, I’d keep similar thoughts to myself. :)
Anyway, that’s what’s been going on this week. I think I got in 37 ½ hours, total… not bad, given that I was only scheduled for 35, and sent home maybe an hour early over a couple of days. I know my hours through 12/30 (and am really hoping I have my birthday 12/31 off, since I’m working 12/30.) Hours for all of January (including 12/31, I guess) will be entered by 12/23.
Now, to PADS… I stopped in on Wednesday (the only day I had a morning open) and met with Tim, my case worker. He is setting me up for Late Arrival, but wants me to go out and start looking for an apartment.
Understand: I have NO money other than what kossacks have provided me for gas and starting a new job costs (for example, the scrubs I ordered didn’t fit, so I ordered some similarly colored slacks and blouses, plus my no-skid shoes, which were “adopted” by Meteor Blades.) And yes, I plan to bank what I earn, but I can’t imagine any apartment welcoming me until I have a couple of months of rent in my bank…
Also: Thank you to everyone who donated to get me through to that first full check in mid January! You have all been so helpful (though I think my first full check will actually be 12/29 — for 12/11 — 12/22; and then my second check might be a little low, depending on how many missed hours from a Christmas Monday and New Year’s Day Monday I can make up. And then again to full pay check at the end of January.
(Back to the apartment info...) And I have friends who have been provided apartments, with an agreement that they pay a percent of their gross, plus electric, and another service pays the remaining rent. Plus a caseworker stops by regularly to check on things. (I think someone said every other week on the case worker checks.) So, I know what Tim said isn’t the whole story. So, I mentioned that to a coordinator at the interim shelter site last night, and she updated some form — mostly with my new income info, but some other information as well. Apparently that’s the form that is looked at, when this housing is offered… I’m sure glad I kept asking about it, instead of relying on what Tim said.
I’m going to play Microsoft Mahjong for awhile now.