Cockroaches are gross. I don't think I've ever even seen one live before coming to California, not this many anyway. The far end of the building has been fighting an infestation for several months, with exterminators coming several times. If you don't know much about them, they like to come out at night when it's dark. Our kidsroom is one of the infested rooms, and the two times I've had to go in for things at night I could hear them walking on the linoleum floor and countertops when I walked in - no joke. I saw at least twenty of them the first time I walked in, and needing to check the computer hookup, I took a couple minutes to get myself adjusted to their presence and they to mine or else scurried away from the light. When I bent down to plug something in and a big one climbed out of the electrical socket, I think I seriously came close to a heart attack. This morning the exterminator came again, and after we were allowed re-entry into the room dead skeletons were all over the floor. I immediately resolved to vacuum them up. Unfortunately there were many live ones mixed in with the dead. After many squeals and squeamish cries of anguish, my co-worker and I managed to alleviate those visible. Out of sight, out of mind, for now.
After a weekend in spent in bed, I was elated to finally get out of my apartment and see the world again today. I caught a bug mid-week last week and began feeling rather snuffly, sneezy, and a little "off" in the head (as stopped up nasal passages somehow seem to stop up the brain as well). Of course, I took it only as seasonal allergies. With children coughing, sneezing, salivating, and transferring countless other unknown questionable substances from themselves to me, it was only a matter of time before I caught something. Plus the fact that half the city has some sort of flu or cold virus. I thought I was getting over it Saturday as I started to get my voice back, but my body decided that the scrumptious Chinese dinner I ate that night needed to go. And it did, as soon as I was able to get myself back into the building and make it to the bathroom. Saturday night was the most miserable I've had in a while, waking up nearly every hour from nausea and restlessness. I tend to be super independent, but this was one of those times when I felt pretty helpless and desperate and... yes, I had to call my mommy in the middle of the night just to cry and hear her voice. Even though mommies don't necessarily have magical healing powers, there's something about having them coddle you when you're sick - even if it's over the phone as a working 20-something - that makes you feel a bit stronger, like you can go on, just because you know they heard you.
I haven't been in my room for that extended a period of time like... ever, and while unpleasant, it forced me to slow down and get some much-needed rest.
But before my personal sickness issues erupted, we had more drama at Door of Hope Glendale. Two of our youngest moms got into a huge argument, one accusing the other of stealing her wallet and made threats to fight (both have been involved in gangs in the past). It mightn't have been so bad except that the accusing mom's husband is gang-affiliated and she told him about it... and though in Vegas at the time, he said that he'd "take care of it" the next day"... and our staff didn't want to take chances on the possibility of that being a real threat. They sent the accused mom to her grandmother's for the weekend, and both moms are going to be exited from the program, due to this and other violations. It's rather sad to see them go this way. Their kids too...
Guess what! I got to experience a southern California hurricane on Thursday! Well, not exactly a hurricane. More like a hurricane without the rain. It was more powerful than any hurricane winds I ever experienced back home (but I must admit that I've never experienced a head-on hurricane like the Carolinas or the Gulf). The city where I work had damage, but thankfully wasn't as bad as some of the adjacent cities/towns. I was on-duty that night and a little paranoid that I might have a tree come crashing through a window. My curtains even blew about a bit because the windows are old and not super-tight to the sill. Our power went out for about half an hour. A resident called me while in bed, about 12:30 a.m.:
Resident: "Hi, Jessica, I'm sure you've been getting lots of calls."
Me, a bit groggily: "Um, no actually I'm not sure what you... [looking at blank security cameras] Oh. I guess the electricity went out."
Me, thinking: And exactly what do you expect me to do about it, now that the whole city, possibly whole county, is out of power?
Resident: "I wonder if maybe you should call the power company just to let them know that we're out."
Me: "I'm sure they are getting lots of calls right now, but I'll see what I can do. Please let me know if you have any more issues or concerns. I'm here for you!" (with a smile in my voice for encouragement)
Besides letting the program director know we were out, calling back the resident to check on her, and searching for the flashlight no one knew if we had that definitely had no batteries in it, I returned to bed, laughing a bit to myself at the whole situation, particularly my inability to do anything whatsoever. And soon I noticed the camera lights had popped back on.
I think that call was more for emotional support than anything :)
No comments:
Post a Comment