Wednesday, October 30, 2013

New Job, New Responsibilities, New Stress, New Meds

My job recently changed and my area of responsibility has increased significantly.  I went from having about 60 employees to well over 100.  The type of work those employees do varies greatly, and I have a mix of white and blue collar work.  I've never managed a blue collar workforce, and there are vast differences from what I'm used to.  For example, I'm having difficulties with a few employees who are having major disagreements with each other, and this has led to threatening behavior.  I have rarely, if ever, seen this before in my career, and it has me obviously concerned.  In fact, an outbreak of violence is a distinct possibility.  Of course, if this actually happens, removal of the employee is likely.

This is really kind of sad to see, since the way things are in the federal government right now, those with jobs should be pretty thankful that they have one.  Furloughs, shut-downs, sequesters.... this is a bad time to be a Fed.  The last thing one should be doing is putting themselves at risk of losing theirs.  So I've got to fix the problem.  And because I'm new to the situation, there are some trust issues.  They don't know me, and I really don't know them.  I'm going to have to meet with them separately and talk about the problem and hope that I can get them to work together amicably.  I know, it sounds like it should be easy.  Stay tuned.

***

The stress I'm dealing with has increased along with my job responsibilities.  I hate stress.  It stresses me out.

I went to see my doctor on Saturday.  I'm a type 2 diabetic, and I have high blood pressure and hypertension, so check-ups are a necessary thing.  As a single dad, I'm concerned about being around for my nine year old daughter.  She lost her mom when she was a baby, and while I'm trying hard to find her a new mom in the form of a companion for me, there's really nothing on the horizon.  So, anyway, I went to see my doctor.  I was a bit worried that he wanted to do a full physical, but fortunately all he needed to do was some blood work.  I went through the litany of issues I'm dealing with (sleeplessness, stress, arthritis in various body parts, big feet, hair everywhere, a lumpy skull, teeth grinding, sleep apnea, restless legs, snoring, missing gall bladder, poor posture, dizziness, and probably a few other things I can't remember).  He gave me the old speech about not being young anymore.  It reminded me of something my Dad likes to say all the time:  "Gettin' old ain't for sissies!"  He's right.

Anyway, he called me yesterday with the results of my blood work.  I'm actually in better shape than I had guessed!  My diabetes is well in control, blood pressure is normal, cholesterol is a little high, but liver enzymes are high, too.  He wants me to have an endoscopy.  He also referred me to get a sleep study done.  Both ought to be a lot of fun.  The rest of my issues are just getting the right mix of meds, getting more exercise, and eating better.  I can't remember a time when that wasn't what I needed to do.  Anyway, I'm thankful that things seemed as well as they did.  I guess I'm going to live for a little while longer.

***

I'm planning to go car hunting this weekend.  I haven't looked at a new car in over 5 years.  I currently have two, one is 9 years old, and the other is 5.  I've had zero car payments for almost a years now.  You can get used to that after a while!

Anyway, on my wishlist is a Jeep Wrangler, preferably the 4-door Unlimited model.  I would likely trade in my current Jeep, which is low mileage despite being a 2004 model.  I hope to get the all done sometime this weekend, but we'll see how it goes.  I'm due for new tires, as well, for my Jeep, and that could cost me anywhere between $800 and $1000, which is crazy.  We'll see how it goes.

In the meantime, I just fell asleep in the middle of typing this, so I'm outta gas.  Time for bed.

Have a great evening, everyone!

No comments:

Post a Comment