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beansideI slept til 8am and it was glorious. (Mind you, I woke up at 5 and had to figt myself back to sleep, but still.). Mind you, I'm going to enjoy this, as I only have 1 more week of 5:15am wakeups. After that, it gets moved to 4:30, since my shift will move to 7am-3pm. The only thing I want to do this weekend is run up to the backup center where they're going to have us training so I know where it is before Friday when we go up there for orientation.
I can't believe we've only got four days left on the academy. It's boggling my mind. Seven weeks seemed like such a long time back in September, and now it's almost over. And I know the next six "weeks" will fly by, too. (I put weeks in parentheses because a dispatcher's week is actually 8 days. Five days on, three days off, except every six weeks you work an extra day and only have 2 days off.) That's how we end up with a rotation of days. Every week, you shift a day forward, so sometimes you have weekend, sometimes you don't. They've only officially given me my first two weeks of work, but if I extrapolate from that, I'm going to have Saturday the 18th off, and Thanksgiving weekend off.
I'm working Thanksgiving, which makes me happy, and I'll tell you why. My county has a weird thing. If you're not scheduled for a holiday, you still get paid for it. Because it's not your fault you weren't scheduled. On the other hand, if you work it, you get your pay, plus that extra pay, so double time. But then, there's the few sacred holidays that are considered "super holidays". If you're off, they function the same, you get paid for it. But if you're on, you get that same pay, plus your salary, which is paid as double time, effectively giving you triple time. That's Thanksgiving, Christmas and the Fourth of July. I am happy to work every single one of those. There is nothing I do on any of those holidays that can't be shifted to another day or done at a different time of the day for $76/hr.
This is without a question, the most money I've ever made in my life, and I'm really enjoying not having to freak out at the end of the week, wondering how I'm going to get groceries. Especially right now, dad's prescription coverage is in the donut hole, so we're dealing with paying a LOT more for his pills. It's nice to be able to chip in on that without cutting myself short. And to be able to occasionally go out for dinner somewhere nice.
Yesterday, we finished off the protocol by using the software, which does everything we laboriously did with the cards for us. I understand wanting us to know how to use the cards in case of computer issues, but goddamn. The software is SO easy. The instructor was super nice, and gave us an hour and a half lunch. A few of us decided to go to a local restaurant and have lunch, which was sadly meh. I mean, I wasn't mad about it, but I wasn't wowed either. Tuesday, presuming that we pass, I don't know if people are going to go out or not, but I feel like we should. Have dinner and celebrate that we did it. I don't know if everyone is going to want to go, or if everyone is going to pass. According to the instructor, there's two people who are below 80% and need to do really well on the finals. Whether he's saying that to scare us, I have no idea.
I'm coming to the conclusion that I shouldn't have taken time off from studying, because it feels like most of my braincells have fled. I'll get back in the swing, but it's definitely giving me some anxiety. But, I have three days to restuff my brain with all of this.
Okay, I have definitely babbled enough for today. Everyone have a most excellent Saturday!
I can't believe we've only got four days left on the academy. It's boggling my mind. Seven weeks seemed like such a long time back in September, and now it's almost over. And I know the next six "weeks" will fly by, too. (I put weeks in parentheses because a dispatcher's week is actually 8 days. Five days on, three days off, except every six weeks you work an extra day and only have 2 days off.) That's how we end up with a rotation of days. Every week, you shift a day forward, so sometimes you have weekend, sometimes you don't. They've only officially given me my first two weeks of work, but if I extrapolate from that, I'm going to have Saturday the 18th off, and Thanksgiving weekend off.
I'm working Thanksgiving, which makes me happy, and I'll tell you why. My county has a weird thing. If you're not scheduled for a holiday, you still get paid for it. Because it's not your fault you weren't scheduled. On the other hand, if you work it, you get your pay, plus that extra pay, so double time. But then, there's the few sacred holidays that are considered "super holidays". If you're off, they function the same, you get paid for it. But if you're on, you get that same pay, plus your salary, which is paid as double time, effectively giving you triple time. That's Thanksgiving, Christmas and the Fourth of July. I am happy to work every single one of those. There is nothing I do on any of those holidays that can't be shifted to another day or done at a different time of the day for $76/hr.
This is without a question, the most money I've ever made in my life, and I'm really enjoying not having to freak out at the end of the week, wondering how I'm going to get groceries. Especially right now, dad's prescription coverage is in the donut hole, so we're dealing with paying a LOT more for his pills. It's nice to be able to chip in on that without cutting myself short. And to be able to occasionally go out for dinner somewhere nice.
Yesterday, we finished off the protocol by using the software, which does everything we laboriously did with the cards for us. I understand wanting us to know how to use the cards in case of computer issues, but goddamn. The software is SO easy. The instructor was super nice, and gave us an hour and a half lunch. A few of us decided to go to a local restaurant and have lunch, which was sadly meh. I mean, I wasn't mad about it, but I wasn't wowed either. Tuesday, presuming that we pass, I don't know if people are going to go out or not, but I feel like we should. Have dinner and celebrate that we did it. I don't know if everyone is going to want to go, or if everyone is going to pass. According to the instructor, there's two people who are below 80% and need to do really well on the finals. Whether he's saying that to scare us, I have no idea.
I'm coming to the conclusion that I shouldn't have taken time off from studying, because it feels like most of my braincells have fled. I'll get back in the swing, but it's definitely giving me some anxiety. But, I have three days to restuff my brain with all of this.
Okay, I have definitely babbled enough for today. Everyone have a most excellent Saturday!
