I don't know what has gotten into my clients. Maybe it's the weather. Maybe it's the time of year. Maybe they're stressed out. Or maybe, just maybe, I've been way too nice to them up until now and now they're just taking advantage.
I've had countless clients just not show up for their appointments lately. I'm not talking once every other week. I'm talking almost daily. At least one appointment daily that is a bust because that person didn't show up for their massage. Not only am I losing money (which sucks!) but I'm left sitting doing nothing at work.
Just this morning I'm in the bathroom getting ready to blow dry my hair and I hear the phone ringing and Andre grumbling on his way to it. Who was it? My office.
office: Hi Jenna!
Me: (knowing this can only mean one of two things) Hello
office: Umm, I have a question for you.
me: Yes?
office: Well, I just wanted to check what time Bob Smith (clearly not his real name) has his appointment with you?
me: 10:00. (it was 9:15 at the time)
office: Oh, well he's here.
me: Well I've never start before 10 am on Wednesdays, so there's nothing I can do about it.
Now instead of just saying okay, hanging up with me and taking care of the situation herself, she hands him over to me. *rolling eyes skyward*
So I explain that he has two appointments booked this week. 10am this morning, and 10:15 on Friday morning. As usual he doesn't have his blackberry with him (the whole cause of this situation) and can't check what time (if any) he had put on his calendar. So in the end, he loses out on his massage today because he can't write an appointment down.
This isn't the first time that Bob Smith has "forgotten" what time his appointment is at and just showed up whenever. And usually "whenever" is at least a half hour to an hour before his scheduled time. The last time it happened I had a break so I was able to get him in early, but people can't just expect that I have nothing better to do then sit at the front desk of the office waiting patiently just in case they feel like walking in.
Why do people buy or carry around palm pilots, day planners, or blackberry's if they are not going to put their damn appointments in them? I get at least 1 call a week from a client (who I know has a blackberry) calling to check the time of her appointment. Why not just check your damned calendar? Oh yeah, you didn't put your appointment in there. What is the function of those little electronic devices if not to tell you where you need to be at any time? Do they think I'm impressed if they pull it out?
If they really want to impress me, they can just show up on time for a change.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
It feels so real now
So Andre and I have decided to say farewell to hormonal birth control. Partially with the intention that will help with my (extremely) low libido, and so we will know what my cycles will be like after years on the birth control pill. Only a handful of people know about our decision (and well of course, now all of my readers!). We will not be telling our parents because they will just get their hopes up for no reason.
We still aren't ready for children right now, so we will still be using other forms of birth control, but for now we will bid farewell to the pill.
I had my yearly physical (oh yeah!) on Friday so I discussed our choice with my doctor and she was supportive our choice and sent me for some blood work to check on my immunity to Rubella so if I do not have an immunity I can have that taken care of in advance of us trying to get pregnant.
Andre and I have been talking about this for awhile now, to make sure that this was a decision that we were both ready for, but for some reason telling my doctor made it seem so much more real. It wasn't just a conversation topic at home, it was real, we were really going to do this. For so many years the main purpose of my yearly physical was just to get a refill on my prescription for the pill.
Now every month I will get to know my body again. It will learn to think and function without the help of artificial hormones. I'm not looking forward to the cramping, the irritability and the acne (especially not the acne!) but I am looking forward to getting to know my body again. I'm sure there will be many exciting posts about how things are going (or not going) over the next few months.
We still aren't ready for children right now, so we will still be using other forms of birth control, but for now we will bid farewell to the pill.
I had my yearly physical (oh yeah!) on Friday so I discussed our choice with my doctor and she was supportive our choice and sent me for some blood work to check on my immunity to Rubella so if I do not have an immunity I can have that taken care of in advance of us trying to get pregnant.
Andre and I have been talking about this for awhile now, to make sure that this was a decision that we were both ready for, but for some reason telling my doctor made it seem so much more real. It wasn't just a conversation topic at home, it was real, we were really going to do this. For so many years the main purpose of my yearly physical was just to get a refill on my prescription for the pill.
Now every month I will get to know my body again. It will learn to think and function without the help of artificial hormones. I'm not looking forward to the cramping, the irritability and the acne (especially not the acne!) but I am looking forward to getting to know my body again. I'm sure there will be many exciting posts about how things are going (or not going) over the next few months.
Little Miss Suzie Homemaker
That is who I feel like today. Here I am blogging about my domestic exploits today with my apron still tied around my waist.
I already have turkey broth made from our delicious turkey that we had for Thanksgiving dinner last night cooling in the fridge, and dinner simmering in the slow cooker. Yummy salsa chicken! We were going to have some ribs in the slow cooker today to get away from the poultry but I wasn't chanelling my inner domestic diva last night and as a result the ribs are still frozen solid in the freezer. Ooops.
Everytime I make something for dinner, I think of my great-grandmother. Before she passed, (She passed away 8 years ago when I was 21) she sat me down one day and asked me if I knew how to cook. At that point she was bed ridden as a result of her lung cancer. I told her of course I knew how to cook. Then she got this frustrated look on her face and said that she knew that I could bake, but could I cook dinner for my husband one day?
I probably rolled my eyes and said that she didn't have to worry, my future husband would not starve. I think her and Andre would've got along. She loved to cook, and he loves to eat! I don't know why but I've been thinking about her a lot lately. She's just been on my mind for some reason.
I already have turkey broth made from our delicious turkey that we had for Thanksgiving dinner last night cooling in the fridge, and dinner simmering in the slow cooker. Yummy salsa chicken! We were going to have some ribs in the slow cooker today to get away from the poultry but I wasn't chanelling my inner domestic diva last night and as a result the ribs are still frozen solid in the freezer. Ooops.
Everytime I make something for dinner, I think of my great-grandmother. Before she passed, (She passed away 8 years ago when I was 21) she sat me down one day and asked me if I knew how to cook. At that point she was bed ridden as a result of her lung cancer. I told her of course I knew how to cook. Then she got this frustrated look on her face and said that she knew that I could bake, but could I cook dinner for my husband one day?
I probably rolled my eyes and said that she didn't have to worry, my future husband would not starve. I think her and Andre would've got along. She loved to cook, and he loves to eat! I don't know why but I've been thinking about her a lot lately. She's just been on my mind for some reason.
"In the childhood memories of every good cook, there's a large kitchen, a warm stove, a simmering pot, and a mom."
~Barbara Costikyan
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Our day of shopping
Since everyone (or at least my one loyal reader :o) is waiting to hear how shopping went I decided I would procrastinate making dinner and post instead!
I have to say that the day went 100 times better than I thought it would. I really had no idea what to expect, but expected the worst if that at all makes sense.
She gave me a huge hug when we first met up which was nice since we hadn't really seen each other for so long aside from the accidental meeting at Kelsey's. We actually talked a bit after lunch about how awkward it was when we met up on the Saturday. They are usually visiting his parents on Saturday evenings, and I think it was just weird to see them out at a restaurant, especially since Pam and I had already made plans to meet up on Monday.
We were able to talk about a lot of things that have been going on, some drama that has been going on with her family, what they've been up to, how her husband hasn't been home very much being he's a Mutual Fund Accountant for an American company in Toronto, and it's been busy with the stock market crashing almost daily.
Then we talked about her Post Partum Depression. It's bad, not like she has a hard time getting out of bed, bad, but like she's thought about ending her own life sort of bad. She would never harm the baby in any way, but her depression is at a level it hasn't been in years. She's visiting her psychiatrist every week, and they have increased her medication, but I still worry about her especially since her husband is never home. Thankfully she lives very close to her grandmother whom she visits daily, and her mother who has helped her a lot with the baby.
She is also suffering from a very high level of anxiety which they are treating her for which she has never suffered from. It was a little strange seeing her so compulsive about checking the baby in her stroller. Abbey would be sleeping in the stroller and she would be checking her every few minutes.
I even got her to visit the Early Years Centre at the mall too which I was happy about. I'm hoping now that she's familiar with it she won't be so uneasy about going to the mall alone if she wanted to walk with Abbey but the weather outside wasn't good. They also have a ton of workshops, and groups that they run at different locations in the city, so I'm hoping she'll get out more and meet some other moms once she's feeling better. I think that would be good for her especially since I'm so busy with work during the week.
I don't know how often we'll be able to get together now with work being busier and me not having an abundance of spare time during the work week, but I told her that at the very least I have the first Monday of every month off, so we can at least do something then. Only time will tell how things will work out, but if this day was any indicator, it will be okay, different then before, but okay.
I have to say that the day went 100 times better than I thought it would. I really had no idea what to expect, but expected the worst if that at all makes sense.
She gave me a huge hug when we first met up which was nice since we hadn't really seen each other for so long aside from the accidental meeting at Kelsey's. We actually talked a bit after lunch about how awkward it was when we met up on the Saturday. They are usually visiting his parents on Saturday evenings, and I think it was just weird to see them out at a restaurant, especially since Pam and I had already made plans to meet up on Monday.
We were able to talk about a lot of things that have been going on, some drama that has been going on with her family, what they've been up to, how her husband hasn't been home very much being he's a Mutual Fund Accountant for an American company in Toronto, and it's been busy with the stock market crashing almost daily.
Then we talked about her Post Partum Depression. It's bad, not like she has a hard time getting out of bed, bad, but like she's thought about ending her own life sort of bad. She would never harm the baby in any way, but her depression is at a level it hasn't been in years. She's visiting her psychiatrist every week, and they have increased her medication, but I still worry about her especially since her husband is never home. Thankfully she lives very close to her grandmother whom she visits daily, and her mother who has helped her a lot with the baby.
She is also suffering from a very high level of anxiety which they are treating her for which she has never suffered from. It was a little strange seeing her so compulsive about checking the baby in her stroller. Abbey would be sleeping in the stroller and she would be checking her every few minutes.
I even got her to visit the Early Years Centre at the mall too which I was happy about. I'm hoping now that she's familiar with it she won't be so uneasy about going to the mall alone if she wanted to walk with Abbey but the weather outside wasn't good. They also have a ton of workshops, and groups that they run at different locations in the city, so I'm hoping she'll get out more and meet some other moms once she's feeling better. I think that would be good for her especially since I'm so busy with work during the week.
I don't know how often we'll be able to get together now with work being busier and me not having an abundance of spare time during the work week, but I told her that at the very least I have the first Monday of every month off, so we can at least do something then. Only time will tell how things will work out, but if this day was any indicator, it will be okay, different then before, but okay.
Work Frustration
Back-story: I am kind of like and independent contractor in a medical office. I rent out the space, but am not considered an "employee" there. I am also the sounding board for most of the people there. Aside from one part-time male doctor there, we're all women and all friends. Not to say that there aren't any problems, but for the most part it's pretty good.
Now, lately a lot of the girls in the office have had issues with the office manager. She has a habit of being very judgemental, dishonest, and a hypocrite. For example, she will talk to one of the girls about how they are sharing too much of their person life with one of the patients, but then the next day she will be going on and on about her boyfriend and their relationship with a patient (even if the patient is clearly not interested). Everyone (myself included) as noticed this particular situation occur one too many times, and it's not professional.
Now this office manager and one of the associates have had some run-ins lately. Mostly regarding scheduling issues. Just this Friday the associate had noticed a blank spot in her schedule and knew that with the patient load that she had earlier that day she would be behind and added a buffer. She went into her treatment room and came out a short time later to find a patient had been added where she had placed the buffer.
She questioned the OM about this and she stared right at her and told her "there was no buffer there". She lied right to her face. I was preparing to leave for the day and witnessed the whole thing. The assoc. told her that there was a buffer right there and she was sure of it because she added it herself. Then the OM started to back peddle and ramble about the person being in pain, and needing to come in, blah, blah, blah. What about the people that were in pain on the cancellation list that were waiting to come in? Apparently their pain didn't matter.
The assoc. was LIVID, but couldn't do much at the time since the OM's parents were sitting right in the waiting room at the time this all happened. She's not so angry about putting someone in when a buffer was there (it sadly happens all the time, and as a result she often will be running a half hour late by the end of the day). She is angry because the OM just lied right to her face, and didn't even apologize.
The OM sometimes will come to me for opinions on things as well, and it's getting harder and harder to be supportive when she is just blatantly abusing her power.
It will be interesting to see how things will unfold at work this week.
Now, lately a lot of the girls in the office have had issues with the office manager. She has a habit of being very judgemental, dishonest, and a hypocrite. For example, she will talk to one of the girls about how they are sharing too much of their person life with one of the patients, but then the next day she will be going on and on about her boyfriend and their relationship with a patient (even if the patient is clearly not interested). Everyone (myself included) as noticed this particular situation occur one too many times, and it's not professional.
Now this office manager and one of the associates have had some run-ins lately. Mostly regarding scheduling issues. Just this Friday the associate had noticed a blank spot in her schedule and knew that with the patient load that she had earlier that day she would be behind and added a buffer. She went into her treatment room and came out a short time later to find a patient had been added where she had placed the buffer.
She questioned the OM about this and she stared right at her and told her "there was no buffer there". She lied right to her face. I was preparing to leave for the day and witnessed the whole thing. The assoc. told her that there was a buffer right there and she was sure of it because she added it herself. Then the OM started to back peddle and ramble about the person being in pain, and needing to come in, blah, blah, blah. What about the people that were in pain on the cancellation list that were waiting to come in? Apparently their pain didn't matter.
The assoc. was LIVID, but couldn't do much at the time since the OM's parents were sitting right in the waiting room at the time this all happened. She's not so angry about putting someone in when a buffer was there (it sadly happens all the time, and as a result she often will be running a half hour late by the end of the day). She is angry because the OM just lied right to her face, and didn't even apologize.
The OM sometimes will come to me for opinions on things as well, and it's getting harder and harder to be supportive when she is just blatantly abusing her power.
It will be interesting to see how things will unfold at work this week.
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