Still Tired, After All These Hours . . .

It's certainly been a day of ups and downs here at work. I was called in last night due to a death and my being on call. Thing was, I took a sleeping pill as I had spent the last few nights having little sleep (racing thoughts and stress about life the universe, and employment). So I was really groggy when I answered that call. The family didn't seem to notice, so either I'm that good, or they were equally spaced out!

Today was the usual drudgery of meetings, patient visits, and missed appointments. But I was pretty up, as I was able to get answers to questions I had regarding the application process. I also received the kudos of colleagues and several recommendations / references for the position. But then came the drop - I had to talk to Human Resources.

First off, I found out that the per day pay is less than I was originally told. Still good pay, mind you, but nowhere near as good as the original quote. Then I was told that I couldn't buy into the hospital insurance plan, as I won't technically be an employee of the hospital - it's called a fee basis position, which makes me a contractor / mercenary / mini-Halliburton sans Dick Cheney. Yucks all around.

HR is evil. That's all there is to it. When I was working towards getting a chpalain job, it was HR that gave us all a hard time, both at headquarters and here. Now it's HR again, giving me vast amounts of paperwork (that they already have) to fill out and less money and fewer benefits (okay, no benefits). Granted, I knew that there weren't any benefits, but they won't even let me pay full for the same ones I have now. So now One Ring and I have to find insurance coverage for me. She's covered by her Ph.D. program, but I'm going to be out of the loop very, very soon.

I am having a Milton moment.

Good thing I'm leaving in 30 minutes. Peace.