Friday, February 6, 2009

Day One-Hundred-Twenty-Eight: I've Had Enough

WARNING: This is not the typical happy-go-lucky note/post I put up. I am upset and mad and all of thise emotions rolled into one great-big-pain-in-the-butt-mess! No small children or animals were harmed in the making of this post.

So, I just spent the entire night at work freezing my arse off (pardon me, Dominic). No heat in my work area. Yeah! And, on top of that, I could barely move as it was yesterday. The cold made it even worse today!

So, my boss decided to change things up on us. I guess (and, I say guess because no mention of this was made to me before, during or after my time as manager) our houses were sleeper houses. That means that for 4 hours each graveyard shift, the worker gets to sleep. Normally, I would be all for that. But, with my conditions, it is just a hassle. I have sleep apnea...I stop breathing when I sleep! I'm in danger of not getting enough oxygen to my brain and dying in bed. Not a great condition to have. Well...it is under control with a CPAP machine that continuously pumps air into my lungs so I won't die. So, I can't sleep without this machine or I run the risk of not waking up the next morning (worst case scenario).

Also, I sleep SO HARD that normal alarm clocks don't wake me up. I have to wake up in order to care for my client and get that client ready for work, so I need the alarm clock. My cell alarm won't work because it isntl "jolting" enough. At home, I have a bed shaker for an alarm clock that scared the poo out of me the first time I used it! But, at least I wasn't late for work! Lol!

Anyway, both of those things I need to do my job safely and effectively and both of those need to be plugged in to an electrical outlet. According to company policy, and state law, we as workers are not allowed to plug in any device into client's homes. It is called "financial exploitation" and is punishable by dismissal and jail time if you are caught by the state. So, my boss wanted me to either stay awake during those 4-hour sleeper shifts or sleep without my pump and risk death. (Ok, I'm being a LITTLE melodramatic, but sleep apnea isn't anything to mess around with. It is suspected to be the major cause of SIDS.) So, it's not like I'm not used to staying awake all shift. That's not what I take issue with. The issue I have is that during that 4-hour sleeper shift, I only get paid $9.00 an hour. That's over 30% less for those 4 hours. Now, everyone who works an overnight/graveyard shift gets paid $9.00 an hour. But, because of my medical condition, my boss wanted me to stay awake...and still only get $9.00 an hour. I told her that wasn't fair. She went to her boss' boss, as well as HR, and got approval for me to plug in my pump and sleep during those sleeper shifts.

Yay!

Not!

Because now, I get to unplug my pump and alarm clock at home, clean out the pump, prep it for travel, bring it to work, set it up but not plug it in until midnight, get ready to sleep, plug in my pump and alarm clock, set the time, set the alarm, fill the pump with water for the humidifier, get cozy on the couch (which isn't built for "larger profiles"), toss and turn all night because my back can't handle sleeping on a couch, hope I don't fall off and hurt myself, wake up in the middle of my shift to help my client use the bathroom, go back to sleep, wake up at 4am, turn the pump off, turn the alarm off, unplug both, empty the water, prepare it for travel, pack them both up, take them to downtown Seattle with me, bring them home, unpack them both, set the time on the clock, set the alarm, fill the pump, plug it in, arrange my mas so it doesn't get stuck on my bed frame, settle into bed, sleep for 8 hours, get up and do it all again.

For 30% less money than I was making last month and no benefits...because I had to cancel them because of the pay cut.

So ready for another job. Sorry Tiff...

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