Work - the toil of our hands.

Gosh, it's been almost a year since I posted a blog post. I guess I just got stuck writing about my European trip because I was creating a scrapbook, my first one ever, and I was talking about it with so many people that I got tired of it. :) I might still fill in some old post so I can feel a sense of accomplishment about that series of blog entries. We'll see.

So just to update you on my life, after almost a year of unemployment, I am finally working again. I was laid off, or officially "bumped" from my job at OHSU last year. The BUMP means that if someone gets laid off, they can request to bump someone else out of their job, if the laid off person has higher seniority. So in my case, I was working in Epic Support (help desk for hospital staff using the electronic medical record.) Then after 9 months, I got a new assignment working directly on one hospital unit, supporting everyone on that unit as Epic Site Support. Very different work. Instead of waiting for people to call me and ask for help, I had to now chase down folks and force them to take my help. Well, not exactly but it does get a bit uncomfortable when you have to tell an attending physician that they are charting wrong on their patient. :) It was fun hanging out in the nursing station and rounding on patients with teams of doctors (yes, it's JUST like Grey's Anatomy, without the sex and drama, or even blood, oh so it's NOT like Grey's Anatomy at all, but I digress.)

After about 3 months of doing that, I was called into our IT office by a manager which made me kind a nervous. I soon found out that my own manager and 4 of my former co-workers from the Epic Support team were being laid off. Well, to make matters worse, I should have been one of the four since I have the lowest seniority in this behemoth of a union organization, but they decided to give me another job and move me to another team to shield me from the lay off. Not cool. I wasn't going to complain about having a job but long story short, one of my coworkers who was laid off bumped me out of my job, just like the union intended. Never mind that no one believed that he was qualified to do the job or that the rules state that you can bump someone from a job you have never done, which may mean a huge learning curve and probably a bad fit. Alas the union has only one priority: SENIORITY. So then the real drama began with harsh words (all spoken by me) in the cafeteria to my "bumper" and lots of of trash talking behind people's backs about the whole mess by everyone involved and two weeks later, I was at home collecting unemployment, but not before having to train my bumper and introduce him to all my coworkers. Brutal!

So to help me think on the positive side, here is a list of good things about being unemployed:

1. I took a Once in a Lifetime vacation to Italy and Greece.
2. I got to see my old friend Julie, finally visiting her in her stomping grounds of Philly.
3. Julie took me on a trip to Boston, crossing off the last city on the list of places I've wanted to visit in the US.
4. I drove out to CO via SLC, Boise, and Steamboat Springs to see old friends, including my best friend Daniela, at the Crusade staff conference. Had a great time there, feeling even more a sense of closure.
   
5. I enjoyed Portland in the summer time, unencumbered by the hassles of a job.
6. Didn't have to trek through the snow at 7am to get to the bus in the winter.
7. Spent ALOT of time with my family.
8. and last but not least, became very thankful for the privilege of having a job.

I must admit, it was very hard not working for that long. I became despondent and depressed about ever finding one at all. Then, out of the blue, my former teammate Karen sent me a link to a job at OHSU. I decided what the heck, I've applied for every other job at OHSU and in Portland. I sent in my application. I was called in for an interview and offered the job two days later. It was easy and painless and I felt it was a divine experience.

I now work at OHSU in the payroll department and I am the computer analyst on a project to implement a scheduling software to the inpatient hospital units. I am really enjoying it so far. The best part being the fun people and the joy of knowing that I am contributing to the world and feeling and sense of accomplishment. Things we all need as people navigating this world.