Long week.

This has been a murderously long week. . . so far.  67 hours crammed into 5 workdays. That's Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and tomorrow.  Today I'm actually off. 

We had tickets to a preview showing of "Unaccompanied Minors" on Tuesday.  Both myself and Scott were under the impression that I would be taking the boys to this movie.  Unbeknownst to us, our other two co-workers had planned that the one would come in at 6pm and take them to the movie. Now, both Scott and I knew that with these things we should have left at 5:30 to be at the theater at 6pm.  The movie was to start at 7pm, but you're not guaranteed a seat. I've seen plenty of people in the past turned away because they arrived later on. So I had the boys all ready to go at 5:30 when one of our co-workers stopped me and informed me that our other co-worker was coming in at 6 to take the boys.  I was pretty disappointed as I was looking forward to this all week.  I had worked from 6-8 in the morning, had four hours off, and come in at noon again in order to work until 11.  And this other co-worker is coming in for a couple hours to go have fun with the guys?  What is that?

Well, Scott had to leave at 8pm so someone had to relieve him as a few of the boys couldn't go to the movie.  That's what I figured the other co-worker was coming in for.  In all fairness, it was her day off so she was helping out.  But I'm the one working completely insane hours.  Don't I deserve some kind of break?  Am I just here to be the mean guy who gets the boys up each morning, insisting they actually get up instead of wasting their time lying in bed? When do I get to be the staff they have fun with?

Enough of my rant.  On more positive notes, I got to meet Ickey Woods Tuesday morning at our networking breakfast. It seems he's also interested in our business venture--I think he actually signed on after the meeting as well.  What's also interesting is that his Ickey Woods Foundation has a very similar mission to Boys Hope Girls Hope.  He could be a great contact both personally and for our organization. And Boys Hope Girls Hope could be a good contact for him and his organization as well.

For now, I'm going to enjoy my day off.  I'm meeting with my supervisor at St. Joe's (where I still work some hours occasionally) today at 2. Seems they neglected to do an evaluation on me since 2005, so I'll be due a retroactive raise.  Good times.

Going good

I'm really going to try to update this more.  Now that I have internet access in my room, it'll help.  Still working on getting connected to the wireless though.

I'm actually on duty today from 6a-6p, but I am able to take downtime as long as I don't overdo it.  The boys were a pain this morning.  They were allowed to stay up late last night.  I was off duty, and I try NOT to comment on how anyone runs their shift.  We're all adults and I trust that we all make decisions for a reason. However, I'm going to ask my co-workers to make sure that if they let the boys stay up late, it's a night where they are responsible for having to get them up in the morning.  I have a feeling it would only happen once. ;-)

In the meantime, I feel like my home business is about to start blowing up.  We're doing a lot of activity which seems to be proving productive.  I'll be working on that this evening too.

Well, better get back to the grind.  I still have to shower and change.

Long time.

I know I haven't updated in a while.  I haven't been able to set my computer up with the wireless network in the house, so finally I signed up for a dial-up account and am using the scholars' phone line while they're at school and at night when they're asleep.  I'm still determined to connect to the wireless, but I've not been able to get the configuration right.

Anyway, welcome to my A-framer brothers (I'll leave the explanation of the name just between us).  Feel welcome to comment on the blog at any time.

More Work Surprises

As I was about to leave work today, Sister Melanie (our Executive Director)happened to be at the house for dinner. She told me she wanted to talk to me a moment before I left.

We went out into the garage to talk. I guess I'm the only one she is telling at the moment. She told me that she had offered Scott (the guy who was unjustly fired) his job back, and that they were meeting for lunch tomorrow. I guess she must have realized after seeing Darin for what he is that Scott was a better man than she knew. Scott was so obviously set up by Darin--at least to those of us who know the dynamics of the house.

Scott said he wasn't sure whether he'd accept the offer as he may have a better offer on the table, but his heart is very much with the guys at our house.

I'm really hoping he comes back. It sucks being the only male staff. It's good to have the womans' touch over at the house, but when a (boys) place is run mostly or exclusively by women, the boys suffer. Many women who work with kids try to remake boys into what they see as well behaved children--in other words, good little girls. I'm sure that statement may offend some women but it's the truth. It's simply a matter of not understanding what is normal behavior for a boy.

At any rate, as long as they're going to hire someone else, I'd rather it be another man--preferably Scott.

SCORE

I got the position. 

The meeting was mostly just to ensure that I was committed to taking the live-in position.  They had the offer and my new employment agreement all typed out and ready for me to sign, which I did.  They offered me $1500 more per year than I was making when I initially came on last year as a live-in Residential Counselor.  On paper it looks like less than I currently make as the dollar figure is $1500 less per year than my live-out salary.  But even just accounting for rent I won't have to pay it amounts to $3000 more per year.  Add utilities, phone, and internet and it becomes $4800 more per year.  Consider what I'd spend on laundry and it jumps to around 5200 more per year.  On top of that, add food costs and gas savings.  Other benefits are free YMCA membership, free cable TV (I don't currently subscribe), etc.  And since I'm only taxed on my actual income and not the fact that I'm given room and board, I save in taxes.

I told the boys this evening.  I know they were pretty happy about it, but one boy was really excited.  I knew he would be as I think right now I'm one of the few people in the house who doesn't treat him like crap.  The other boys all pick on him and since he's irritating, some of the new staff end up jumping down his throat over the littlest things. 

I think my teammates are pretty happy too.  It means more hours (the trap of salary) for me and increased responsibility (all good for the resume) and they all do look to me for guidance since I know the boys very well already, having worked with them for a year now.

We had an all-staff meeting for all three houses today at the office.  Afterward, my teammates and I had an impromptu meeting to revamp the point system.  We ended up coming up with something we could all be happy with.  Afterward we all went out to lunch and just got more acquainted.

Yeah, it was a good couple of days.

Letter to the Bosses.

Since I hadn't heard much about the live-in position where I work and I know they're looking to make a decision soon, I decided it wouldn't hurt to nudge them a bit and pitch myself even further.  So I sent the following e-mail.

Dear Katrina and Sister Melanie,

I haven’t heard much from you regarding the live-in position as of yet.  In fact, the most I’ve heard is that you’re looking at a few different candidates.

As you go about making the decision, I hope you will keep several things in mind. Of course, first of those are that I have been working at the View Place house for over a year now, and I’ve worked hard to develop relationships with each of the scholars.

I did begin as a live-in staff.  I left and went part time for some personal reasons, not the least of which was that I felt constantly criticized, talked down to, and undermined in front of the scholars by the other live-in counselor.  I rarely have trouble getting along with anyone, so this is not normal for me. I tried to speak no ill of him at that time. Since then, I’ve tried to give him the benefit of the doubt and have even advocated for him on occasion as I choose to believe he doesn’t mean to come across the way he does.  I want the focus of this letter to be positive, but I know the particular issue of my having left live-in before will come up.

I stayed part time due to my belief in the program and my belief that I could really make a difference in the scholars’ lives.  There were times when I even rescheduled or canceled plans when I was needed to help out extra at the house due to my dedication to the cause. When I saw an opportunity to come back on full time, I went for it.

Now a live-in position has come open.  Let me be so bold as to say that I am the person for that spot.  The boys are going to need someone living in that they know, trust, and respect.  They are going to need a male living in.  Boys are no more comfortable having all women caring for them than girls are having all men caring for them.  Boys have problems they won’t be comfortable talking to a woman about.

At this point, everybody is looking to me for my knowledge on the boys and the house routine.  I have to advocate for the staff to the scholars, and I have to advocate for the scholars to the staff as well.  I think I’m doing my share and then some, just out of necessity.  That will all even out, but until the new staff and the scholars can get to know and respect each other I will end up being the liaison.  I’m taking the initiative to take care of getting prescriptions filled, get scholars into activities, set medical and dental appointments, and get the vehicle maintenance up to date—all while trying to keep up with the regular house duties as well.  That’s a lot to juggle, and will be much easier to focus on if and when I don’t have to switch focus each day from home to work to home to work to home to work (okay, you get the point).

As you said in my goals meeting, you haven’t begun to see what I’m capable of accomplishing. And I can accomplish so much more when my focus is not split.

Thanks for your consideration,

Al

 Well, it appears that I did manage to kick the process into high gear.  We're meeting Monday morning.  They were discussing a few concerns which it appears I answered in my e-mail already.  It pretty much seems like I've got the position.

Work.

Well, I still don't know whether I'll be going live-in at Boys Hope or not.  Fortunately, it seems my co-workers are seeking my help and guidance more now (guess they realize they don't know everything about how to run the house or deal with the boys after all).  My boss seems to be showing more appreciation of us as well.  I think the stress is lifting a bit and we're all settling down, although the house is still in disarray from not being able to put things in the rooms.  The exterminators will be coming again in a couple weeks, and then we'll probably be clear to put everything back. 

As for the boys, they're being real pains, and my co-workers are pretty frustrated with them.  I took the time to talk 1:1 with a few of them about behaviors and expectations.  Our youngest co-worker (who is having the most trouble with them) got the idea from me as well.  It's good that she wants to tackle the behaviors, but she seems to expect that they'll respond the same way to her as they do to me.  But I've developed relationships with these guys for a year, so it's only natural that at this point they'll listen to me more and be more open with me.

I talked to Darin a few minutes ago.  He seems pretty happy although he misses the boys.  They miss him too.  I actually do as well.  I grew to like the guy, even though initially having to live with him was insufferable.

Well, that's about all I have for now.  I'm hoping to be able to start packing to move into the house soon, but we'll see if my superiors have enough sense to take me on as a live-in again.

Survey

This survey was too accurate for comfort in some ways.  I'm pretty honest with myself about myself, so even when there were areas I didn't like to admit this survey was right, I knew it was accurate.


My Personality

Neuroticism	80
Extraversion	52
Openness To Experience	70
Agreeableness	88
Conscientiousness	41

Test Yourself Compare Yourself View Full Report MySpace Surveys, MySpace Codes and hi5 by Pulseware Survey Software

Occupational Hazards.

http://apnews.myway.com//article/20060904/D8JU2MR00.html

Appreciated

I worked at St. Joe's this evening.  As I walked on the unit, I got mobbed as usual for hugs.  We had a pretty good night, with only a few outbursts (with the staff they have now, that's pretty darn good.  Back when I worked the weekend, outbursts were rare).  The kids were excited to watch the fireworks outside tonight, so we let some of them stay up past their bedtimes a little as long as their behavior had been okay.

My co-workers and my boss were all very appreciative of me as well.  That's a relief after the week I had at Boys Hope.  My coworkers and the kids are good to me, but my superiors at Boys Hope seem to not value me anymore.  So it was nice to go to St. Joe's and have everyone from the clients to my boss be so happy to have me around.

Yes, I'm still alive.

What a busy week.  Monday--work.  Tuesday up at 5am, work at 6am, off just in time to get to the dentist.  Trying to sleep before going to St. Joe's for a half shift.  Got off at 4am Wednesday.  Up at noon Wednesday to get to Boys hope for a meeting, then work til 9.  Up at 5am Thursday to get to work at Boys Hope by 6am.  Off at 2pm, just enough time to get some things done before going to the dentist at 4pm.  Got some sleep before going to St. Joe's for a shift.  Found out about 7:30 am that (lucky me) my name was pulled this month for a random drug test when I really needed to go home and sleep before getting to work at Boys Hope.  Started off, decided there was too much traffic.  Went home and showered before setting off to get something to eat and then go pee in a cup.  Got home and happened to call Boys Hope.  Found out that we were meeting at 1pm instead of 2pm and NOBODY TOLD ME.  Worked until 7, went to Applebees to meet friends Scott and George.  Came home at 9.  Slept.  Went NOWHERE on Saturday, just recouped from my week.

Ahhhhhhhhh.

Nope, that's not a tornado in the background. . .

It's the sound of our nation's founders and millions of other sane people spinning in their graves.

Here's what our so-called conservative leaders think is a good idea.

Teen-Screen

It's not a new idea.  I'm sure I've posted about it before.  But as someone in the mental health field who already sees enough overdiagnosed kids, this is just unthinkable.  It's nothing more than a gift for the pharmaceutical companies.

I'm a big fan of the free market and business in general.  But this is the antithesis of the free market.  Corporations' incestuous relationship with government is not capitalism.  It is called Mercantilism and it's just as bad an idea as fascism or socialism.  If you don't know what those terms mean, educate yourself on the subject.

Electric Fireplaces

*a sponsored post

Now here's a concept that's new to me.  The Electric Fireplace. I first learned of these today, from The Fireplace Lowdown blog. I"m not sure whether heating with electric is cheaper than gas or not.  There are probably different factors involved in determining the amount of energy used, but what's really important (to anyone who would be interested in one)is the aesthetic value of a fireplace.  I've always enjoyed sitting in front of a fireplace myself, enjoying a good book or good conversation with friends.  But I'm not sure it would be the same with a fake fire.  I guess that's all an individual preference, but I'd be willing to give it a try.

Comment Away.

It was just pointed out to me that I had comments set to "only registered users" or whatever.  I have just changed that to "anyone can comment."  That's the way I wanted it to be all along.  Sorry about the oversight.

Blessings in Disguise

The other day Scott had talked about possibly getting together with me and some other friends at Applebees.  Today, we talked and he said he had forgotten he had already made plans with his girlfriend.

That worked out great for me in the end.  I had to go pick up some of my Boys Hope guys from school and drive them home.  By the time I got done with that, it was rush hour, so I stopped at P.F. Chang's for dinner in order to avoid the traffic. 

After dropping off the van, I headed home.  I decided to go for some Dairy Queen before going home though.  Anyway, not long after I had sat down to eat my blizzard, a group of four people walked in.  It was two of my old St. Joe's kids with two staff.  They were very happy to see me, as I was to see them.  I got multiple hugs from each of the kids.  They took their ice cream to go, but both of the kids sat down and talked with me while the staff were waiting for their orders to be made.  It was a good time.

That about made my night.

Bill O'Reilly Rots your brain.

Here's the proof.

Sheesh.

Things at work have been really bizarre lately.  The boys are at their respective homes due to an infestation of bedbugs at the house.  We staff have been busy preparing the house for and cleaning up after the exterminators came.  We have to do the same thing in two weeks as they have to treat the house again for those bedbugs who hatch in that time.

Darin just announced he's leaving on Labor Day.  That will put a lot of the house responsibility on me since I've been there a year.  I also very possibly will go back as a live-in staff.  That will certainly solve my apartment problems.

Anyway, I'm exhausted from all this chaos.  That is all.

Gnarls Barkley

This has to be my best cd purchase in a long time. I like when a hybrid band comes around which doesn't fit comfortably in just one genre.

Gnarls Barkley's "St. Elsewhere is one of those rare finds. It's somewhere between r&b, alt-rock, jazz, blues, etc. The first track, "Go-Go Gadget Gospel,"is a semi-gospel type of thing and serves mostly as an extended album intro, then goes right into the first single--"Crazy." That's the first tune I heard from these guys. I was hooked just by that one tune. Then I heard "Smiley Faces" on the radio as well. When I heard Gnarls Barkley's cover of the Violent Femmes' "Gone Daddy Gone," I knew I had to pick up this cd.

I'm definitely not disappointed. Every song on this 14-track cd is great.

You've gotta check it out.

Test

Snakes on a Plane

I went to the theater fully expecting this movie to be so bad it was funny. I was pleasantly surprised.

No, it isn't the greatest movie ever made. There are some definitely cheesy parts which could have been left out. At least one of those scenes was obviously one of the scenes which were added in order to rate an R rating.

There's a lot to like about the movie, despite the obvious cheese factor that goes along with a movie like this. There's always that when creatures are attacking and some gore is involved. That, and some of the dialogue is horrible. And the title is one of the most dreadfully bad titles in cinematic history.

But overall, I found it entertaining and a fun view for my money.

Sponsored posts.

Since I don't post as regularly as I'd like, I'm going to try something new. In order to find things to blog about, I've joined Pay Per Post. I can choose from different opportunities to post about products and/or services that may interest me. In return, I am paid a small one-time amount. When I do a sponsored post, I will indicate that it is a paid post.

It's a good concept. If you decide to join, please say you were referred by me (mr_al@fuse.net) as there are also benefits for referring others.

I guess we'll see how it goes.

Officially Official

Yep, the corrected certificate came today.

http://www.alnewberry.com/certif.jpg

Check it out.

Finally almost close to being pretty close to maybe being rested up.

Well, it's been almost a week now since I've been back from Washington D.C. What a wild, fun, exhausting, exhiliarating trip it was.

I was pretty much on duty from 7:30 am each morning until 10:30 or 11:00 pm each night when the boys finally got settled for the night. They were pretty good despite some initial difficulty. I think mostly they were trying to impress the older guys.

Tuesday we visited the Smithsonian Institute. We only got to the museum of natural history and the National Air and Space museum, but there were a lot of fascinating things to see there. That evening, we got out to see the sites in D.C., including the Jefferson and Lincoln memorials, Korean and Vietnam memorials, and such.

Wednesday, we visited the White House and the Capitol building. That evening, we went to the National Zoo, but it was later in the evening and there wasn't much to see. Most of the animals had gone to bed.

Thursday we got to go on a Duck tour. A Duck is an amphibious vehicle, so part of the tour was on land and part on water. It was pretty impressive. After that, we took a drive to Six Flags America for some R&R Six Flags was a pretty small park, really, compared to what I'm used to. But there were a couple of really cool rides. And the few of my guys who were paired with me got to see a whole different side of me. They're not used to seing be be exciteable.

Friday was the long ride home, which we also made fun.

Saturday and Sunday nights I worked at St. Joe's, which wore me out even more. Monday and Tuesday were spend playing catch-up, yesterday we had a meeting for work, and today I had to go to the house and mow the lawn.

So maybe this weekend I'll be able to recoup.

Official.

Well, mostly.  I got my certificate in the mail, but they misspelled my name, so I've got to get a corrected one.
Click here to see my certificate.

A Party of Real Principle

Since the Libertarian Party has decided in its last convention that it stands for nothing, we need a new Party of Principle for us libertarians who remember it's about winning liberty, not elections.

My friend Tom Knapp has come up with the solution.  A new party, the Boston Tea Party, with a small yet all-encompassing platform which covers everything libertarians stand for.  The state that this platform can never be altered.

Now there's a party of principle.

I hereby endorse the Boston Tea Party's platform and announce my joining of said party.

Congratulate me.

I am now a certified hypnotist.

I had the verbal portion of my final test tonight.  I did very well, if I do say so myself.  Don't have to--my instructor told me I did excessively well.  I only missed one on my final written exam, and aced most of my other tests.

So now I can make new cards up.

Al Newberry, C.H.

Next step, work on completing the training for Certified Hypnotherapist.

Who Knew?

Okay, so I decided I'd try out turkey bacon for the first time.  I bought one package despite the 2 for $4 deal, not knowing whether I'd like it or not.

Well, I'm eating some right now, and it's really rather delicious.  It cooks up rather easily as well, not curling up like crazy as regular pork bacon does.

Yummy. 

And. . . Victory

Well, I start full time at Boys Hope on the 16th.  Not as much of a pay cut as I was afraid it might be--not that money was such an important consideration.  I turned in my notice at St. Joe's already, although I'll probably stay on PRN again.

In the meantime, I referred my supervisor to Boys Hope.  Maybe he'll end up being my new boss over there as well.

Now I have to get ready for work over at Boys Hope, so I'll post more later.

Bunches of Stuffs.

A few interesting tidbits from today.  I got up at 2:30 after working overnight last night.  Around 3:00 or 3:30 the interim program director at Boys Hope called me regarding an e-mail I had sent him proposing hiring me full time instead of just hiring another part time residential counselor.

I'm meeting with him at 11:30 tomorrow morning about it.  It would be a bit of a pay cut for me, but I'm dedicated to the organization.  I really believe in the organization.

Also, three of the cds I pre-ordered came in.
Saint--The Mark
Servant--Shallow Water.  Their first album.
Servant--Rockin' Revival.  Their second album.

So after stopping to get my mail and picking up these cds, I headed off to eat at LaRosa's Pizza.  I've been on soft foods for a week due to a tooth issue, but I'm able to eat solids again.  Also down another five pounds, so I was rewarding myself.

And I'm going back for hypnosis again on Wednesday evening.  About time for reinforcement.

Keep your fingers crossed for me on the job situation.

Mr. Al Goes to Washington

Well, I got the time off, and I called my boss at Boys Hope.  I'm going on the trip to D.C. with the boys.  It will be a working trip, but nevertheless with people I enjoy being with.  And I've done very little traveling in my life, so the new experiences will be a positive.

I'll probably feel like taking about a thousand showers after having been in D.C. for a week, but it'll be fun. ;-)

Higher Education.

I just had to share this video one of my Boys Hope Scholars and I found yesterday.

Doesn't exactly inspire confidence in this higher education institution.

This close.

I'm so close to finishing my beginner course in hypnosis. I am studying for my final exam and will have to verbally demonstrate my abilities to my instructor over the phone before I'm done.

But then I will be a certified hypnotist. With that and about $3.75 I can buy a gallon of gas, but I'll be ready to head into the advanced course and work toward being a certified hypnotherapist. With that, I'll be able to maintain a private practice as a hypnotherapist. That's about a one-year program, all distance education.

I'm excited but nervous.

Bored

Yep. I'm bored. I'm sitting here at Boys Hope bored. Just got back from taking one of the guys to Tae Kwon Do, and another just back from his baseball game. One's watching TV and the other is playing video games.

I'm hoping this one tooth that's been bothering me gets back to normal soon. I can't go to a dentist until July since St. Joe's screwed up my dental insurance and I had to wait until open enrollment again.Grr. I'm just trying to maintain until then. This new mouthwash I've been using has seemed to work wonders, but I was without it for a couple weeks and the tooth began flaring up again. Now I expect it to start getting better in the next few days.

For now, I'm on soft foods. My right gum is inflamed somewhat, making this one tooth loosen, and causing pain. So biting down on anything is not an option right now. And the other side of my mouth is where I have the other tooth which bothers me.

One thing I know is that it can't get much worse, it has to be all uphill from here.

D.C. or no D.C.

I got a call today about going on the Washington D.C. trip with Boys Hope. I had to tell them I was really shaky on the possibility of getting the time off from St. Joe's. It's July 24-28, which is over a month away, but July is the prime vacation time and I'm sure there are a lot of staff ahead of me who requested time off. I went ahead and submitted the request this evening, along with a note explaining the situation and the opportunity to take a trip to Washington. I explained that I had just been asked to chaperone tonight, and that's why I didn't submit the request earlier.

Anyway, I'm hoping to be able to go. It also looks like I might be starting my new hours pretty soon, unless of course Boys Hope steals me away from St. Joe's. If they did, it would definitely free me up to go on the Washington trip with them.

First post with Semagic.

Consider this a test post. Since I'm going to try to use this as my primary blog, I want to find out if I can post effectively with Semagic.

So here goes.

test testtesttesttesttesttesttest

New Beginning.

What used to be Ex-Reprobate webzine is now my personal blog, linked straight from http://www.alnewberry.com

I figured Blogger was a better choice than 360 since yahoo kept screwing up my posts. Now this should work better.