Oh, BTW ^__^

If you wanna check out the vacation photos, don't forget to scroll all the way down and read them going up. Got it? Good.

Worst Episode Ever!

Alright- So Patriot Getaways was good enough to refund the $35 "cleaning" fee that I paid upon reservation. Go me. I've found that there are more and more reasons to bitch about something (in a conservative and professional way) if you don't feel as though you aren't getting your money's worth. Go me, again.

So last night was the absolute night from hell. Two patients had to go to the ER, which meant the floor was left very much short handed for a good portion of the night. During the period where I was on my own, (with the exception of the Charge Nurse, who was very busy herself) my patients were going crazy, trying to climb out of the bed, and whatnot. Another patient was found face-down in the floor, screaming (of which his perfectly cognizant roommate 'didn't seem to hear... '- horseshit!) So he had to go get stitches. Or something. I was totally stressed out, we were way behind getting our morning round finished, breakfast trays were very very very late, and when I tried to get help from some of the day crew who came in 15 minutes early I was met by something like "Well, we work 16 hour shifts and they won't let us go to work early."

My reply should have been "well, I'm not asking you to work, I'm asking you to stand on your feet for 10 minutes and feed somebody." (We had three people on the floor feeding and about 8 people that needed to be fed) So rather than do something for the patients out of the goodness of the heart, they'd rather let them go hungry. We barely finished (and in one case, didn't finish) by the time the kitchen staff came to pick up trays.

By the way, there were two people sitting in the conference room waiting for the time when they would be "allowed" to go to work. One of them is way cool, she usually does help out in the dining room if she comes in early. The forbiddance came from the day shift/evening shift Charge Nurse who is a guy (so-to-speak), married to a woman, and suffers from a huge case of denial.

He is married to a nurse (with whom I used to work at the Seventh Circle of Hell and she's pretty nice too) and thinks there is nothing more important that wealth (or debt, however you want to interpret it...) and big flashy cars. I thought all gay dudes were supposed to be good actors? This one sucks at being straight. But I digress.

While cleaning up for the last - last round (picking up dirty towels which are used as bibs) and making sure our patients are turned in the direction they are supposed to be turned, I was hit and scratched by one guy who just couldn't part with his egg and cereal stained bib. He sucks.

There's this other guy who likes to pretend he's going to run you down in his electric wheelchair. He sucks too.

Needless to say, I came home crying after such a horrific night, but Big was right there to cuddle me, put me to bed, and stay with me until I fell asleep.

God, I'm lucky as hell.

Yeah, here's where Kelly starts throwing tomatoes at me!

So, I'll have a nice salad. :)

By the way, if anyone cares, I have some pictures (not many, but some) of my trip. I didn't get nearly as many as I would have liked, because I kept running out of the house without my camera. I got a bunch of pictures of Big, fully dressed, being adorable, anyway. But I didn't post those... mine! My Big! Dammit!

They can be found in the fancy pants links section, along with Kelly's site. Check em out, ya mean.

Dear Patriot Getaways:

This past weekend (June 3rd – 5th) I stayed at “Hideaway Haven” and I have to say that although the cabin itself was beautiful, my stay was anything but. The cabin was left littered with receipts from previous guests and there were long strands of dust and spider webs dangling from the end tables. Furthermore, I hardly got any sleep at all during my stay because the beds were very, very uncomfortable and the bed on the loft was sprinkled with glitter (yes, I said GLITTER). The Jacuzzi frame was covered in globs of wax from previous guests and the headrests were not properly attached. Also, the phonebooks were seriously outdated and the cabin contained no current information for tourists, such as the Steak Factory card that is supposed to be left in cabins within Steak Factory delivery limits.

While cleaning the cabin, to ensure that it was left in better condition than left to me, I discovered a pillow missing from the couch. Speaking of which, the condition of the furniture was quite disheveled and worn. Two of the chairs for the kitchen table had signs marked “Send for repair: Hideaway Haven.”

All and all, I’d have to say this was the worst vacation I’ve ever taken and I hope that Patriot Getaways takes the steps to make sure that their name is not on such a poor quality product in the future.

I had a previously good experience with Patriot Getaways last year, and have bragged to my friends about the wonderful lodgings available. I would hate to retract all of that with tales of this year’s excursion.

By the way, I realize that I am sending this e-mail to the reservations department, but there is no address for comments or complaints available on the website. I trust that it will be forwarded to the appropriate people, or I will be forced to take further action.

Thank you very much,

Me.