Why?
The short answer is because i am back to work.
The long answer is that because i am the one with the chemical/environmental background and there is no one else, the public and the city officials are heavily dependent on me.
This is not a good thing.
And Grant knows it well, but they are calling me in for weekends.
The short answer is the Scofieldtown dump.
The long answer is that the environmental health director refuses to do sampling during the work days and so it must be done on weekends.
My part? I have to ensure that samples are collected and kept properly before they are sent to the state lab.
And there are certain tests that are done before hand to ensure that.
I also set up the first level of sampling, but further sampling is being directed by the office of operations now.
Then there is the paperwork that must be filled out for each sample and the I record everything in the labs database.
That is all on the days the sampling occurs. A few other things I can do a few days after, mostly for my understanding of the soil and how things track, but they are not critical either.
The tests are titrations and tax my eyes significantly, so the few hours I spent were me out significantly.
Why do I do this? Because there really is a health issue and there is no one else to do it.
I consider it extremely important for the residents in that area to have this info and so I will delay things for a bit.
Anyone from Stamford want to know what a crazy chemist recovering from this brain tumor operation with "Diplopia" has to sacrifice in order to ensure your well being? It is all here.
This is a new twist to my adventure and today, I took off so I can have a day to relax my eyes.
I will continue to do this until the sampling is over.
10 comments:
Being the only one who knows how to do a specific job is not good. You feel pressured, and responsible.
Taking time to rest your eyes is a must do.
Some days I hate having useful skills. Like today. I wanted to go home and have a lie down / diarrhea attack, and they wanted me to work through lunch to do I/T stuff. We compromised - I set the computer to run a long update and then went to the bathroom.
But it's kind of relieving when the layoffs begin and I make the cut.
Oh boy, take care of your health and of your time!If I had to do this, I would be very angry - hope that at least they pay you overtime on the Saturdays that you work!
sir, please consider training an apprentice...
I'm so sorry you are the only one who can do it, but I'm glad you are there for those people. It is a very big sacrifice you are making of your time. Take good care of yourself. I hope it ends soon!
Hi Joey-
So glad you took a day to rest your eyes. Your work and those you work for wont really care if 6ou go blind or whatever. And I am speaking for myself here when I say I thought I was indispensable at my work and that many would suffer if I didn't forge on - I couldn't have been more wrong. It was quite humbling to realize that but more importantly it was all quite freeing.
Love Gail
peace.....
We all have to do what we believe we have to do. Glad that you are taking off a couple of days. You need to take care of yourself otherwise there will be no one in the long term to do the sampling.
Gail - Sadly i learned when I was out for those 3 months most of the work was "deferred" and none of the validation work was done. Not a good thing for a responsible lab. My coworkers are very good at what they do, it just is not in the environmental -legal work - validation of results. i am not indispensable, but this work would not happen with out me doing it.
Cherie - As far as hiring someone - I have long asked, but the city is in budget crunch mode - for a long time. When I first came there were 3 technicians and the director and a clerical person. at one point we expanded by one, but now we are down to me and another tech and a part time boss and a clerical person. Short sighted fiscal irresponsibility I call it.
Jeanette = Am I angry? At the incompetence making this a situation - absolutely.
Grant - they can not "lay me off", I have been there too long and know way too much.
Mark and Lou - the day off is and will continue to be essential - I am not only needing to go in Saturday and Sunday, but they want me to go to an upcoming night meeting! I get to take the day off before the meeting.
Pheromone Girl - it will end soon, but I see 2 weeks up coming with a lot of pressure.
I think I have a ticket for a half price hour long massage, which I will use soon. And yes it is overtime and double time, since i must be there both days to ensure the samples are "validated".
joey, please make sure you take care of yourself FIRST! if not you, who?
OK look, it was me who dumped plutonium and hamster urine into the dump which is giving you those readings. I'll come by and clean it up. OK?
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