Last week I did some investigating on ideas to organize mail and clutter. Also ran across some articles debating “cleaning” vs. “organinzing”. This really got me thinking. All these years I thought i was organized. Turns out that was only half true. I didn’t truly have a system in place to deal with incoming mail, receipts, unpaid bills, etc. It all went into a pile on the counter and once or twice a week went with the laundry upstairs where it joined another existing pile. Then once in a while it would get sorted through and paid/entered/filed.
So, ladies and gentleman, let me tell you about my new system! I was pumped after i received my new basket in the mail on Friday afternoon. I immediately put in my folders labeled: Bills due by the 15th; Bills due by the 30th; Bills due (for those bills i’m not sure when they can get paid); Reciepts; To File; To Enter/To Do. It looked great! But only took up a small portion of the basket.
I decided it would look best and be the most functional on the catch-all counter. *Admit it, you have one in your house too!* Our catch all counter is about 4 feet long and this is where we (previously) piled mail & papers, charged the phone, stored the cookbooks, charger for my MFR radio, charger for the cordless landline phone, kleenex box, etc. Quite the smorgasbord of stuff.
Then, on the main counter under the phone with the answering machine is where i kept the message pad. On the wall under the phone was a wood mailslot box type thing. In that i kept deposit slips, stamps, pens, letter opener, customer phone list.
Then i had a brain fart. I can put all that stuff in my new basket! So now everything is in ONE place. When it’s time to pay bills or create invoices or work on anything financially, i can just grab the basket and head to the computer. Now I can pay bills every other week without worrying about being late. I send invoices to our customers every other week in the winter, so that information can just accumulate until I’m ready to work. It’s perfect!!! 
So far, it seems to be working perfectly. I bring in the mail, toss the garbage, and sort into the proper folder. No more piles. And i know where to find it when i’m ready to deal with it. My counters are less cluttered alogether and I took down the ridiculous mailslot thingy. Cookbooks that didn’t fit on the shelves went into the cupboard. A nice plant is hiding cords to chargers. I also installed the under-the-counter radio/TV i got for Christmas. Except for a fresh paint job, my kitchen is nearly perfect!
Sunday I spent the day in the ER on my clinical rotation. It was….. not what i expected. I was really looking forward to it. It wasn’t horrible, but it’s definatly not in my career path anymore. The nurses and doctor were very unfriendly. The triage staff were grumpy. I was made to feel like i was in everybody’s way and unwelcome.
I guess I was expecting a tour of how the system works from admitting the patient, to triage, to the actual care of the patient based on their chief complaint and assessment findings. Since I’m an EMT student, I anticipated them explaining how the hospital works and what I can do in the field to make their job easier or better for the patient.
Nothing. Nada. Zip.
I got there about 7:30 am and there was only one patient, so it’s not as though they were busy. All the nurses huddled together and complained about how overworked they were. The doctor – I have no idea where she was half the day. The triage crew were the best. Grumpy, but asking me to help them and explaining what I could do to help. Any time I tried to ask questions, I was either ignored or was given an answer – with attitude. There was one lady there who sat at a desk the whole time. Her scrubs were a different color, so i asked her what her job was. She said “everything” (with flair), and turned to the nurses to bitch about discuss the schedule for the day. I still have no idea what her title is or what her job is.
An ER tech arrived at about 3:00 and he was very nice. He explained to me what his job is, what is required to get the job, and the salary range (which is not very much). The nurses treated him like crap too. But, he was very upbeat and genuinely enjoyed his job. My rotation was over at promptly 4:00 when the next student arrived. Apparently 2 students at once is especially frowned upon.
ugh. Next clinical i will try at another hospital. Maybe it was just a bad experience.
