O. Henry and the Oakland Airport

11:58am, pacific standard time, Oakland International Airport, Oakland, California, USA, Friday morning, October 14, 2022. They installed a short story kiosk at the Oakland Airport. You put your hand over a sensor indicating the story length you desire then, instantly, a strip of paper is dispensed, free of charge. The story lengths are 1 minute, 3 minutes or 5 minutes. I chose 5 minutes and got O. Henry’s, The Cactus. It is a good read and, I must say, a fun and novel way to encounter excellent writing.

Short story dispensed at Oakland, California airport

Thursday afternoon, Dublin, California

3:16pm, pacific standard time, hotel in Dublin, California, USA, Thursday afternoon, October 13, 2022. Left work a little early, still feeling run down. Lying in bed, watching baseball, looking for a place to live. I will grab dinner in a little bit then get some rest. The day was good. Went to the office, took care of some reports, finished a conference call.

Which is best?

6:08am, pacific standard time, hotel in Dublin, California, USA, Wednesday morning, October 12, 2022. I don’t feel secure because of constant worry at work; a forgotten task, a difficult decision gone awry or an important metric missed. At any time my career could fall apart. I hate living with the stress but I wonder; is it best to face challenge and potential failure or, should I play it safe and enjoy security? The latter seems smarter, but I always choose the former.

A little more relaxed

5:09pm, pacific standard time, hotel in Dublin, California, USA, Monday evening, October 10, 2022. Woke up this morning feeling anxious and grouchy. Air travel and issues at work didn’t make the situation any better. But I made it to the hotel, caught up on emails, bought dinner and just finished eating. Now I feel a little better and a little more relaxed.

So much will be different

3:16pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Dana Point, California, USA, Sunday afternoon, October 9, 2022. Left Chandler at 5am this morning and got to Dana Point just before 11:30am. The drive was alright but I have been sad realizing next month I will not come to Dana Point any more. That is going to be hard. So much will be different in the next couple of weeks.

Good day

4:17pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Chandler, Arizona, USA, Saturday afternoon, October 8, 2022. Spent the day working on payroll, reading and going for a walk. Now I am watching football and getting ready to head to Orange County tomorrow morning. It has been a good day to re-energize and get ready for the next work week.

Work win

2:12pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Chandler, Arizona, USA, Friday afternoon, October 7, 2022. It has been a busy day, even though I am working from home. We are trying to set up care for a complex patient. I need to be thorough and diplomatic to address multiple concerns. So far, things have gone smooth. I am excited. If we are able to pull this off it will expand our service capabilities and open up new referral sources to care for more patients in the future.

I won’t look back fondly

6:43pm, pacific standard time, hotel in Dublin, California, USA, Wednesday night, October 5, 2022. It is the two year anniversary of restarting my career in hospice operations. That position was not very good, and the company was garbage but, the job got me where I am today, so I am thankful. Often, when I look back, I realize painful things lead to happier moments. Which happens to be the case now. And while I appreciate the job I started two years ago, I won’t look back on it fondly any time soon.

Good day

5:56pm, pacific standard time, hotel in Dublin, California, USA, Tuesday evening, October 4, 2022. I had a good day. First, the big meeting between our nurses and the new pharmacy went smooth this morning. Then, I got a handle on a vexing overtime issue that was keeping me up at night. Finally, I am feeling physically better and getting my appetite back. All in all, it was a pretty good day.

Dublin, California, October 3

5:07pm, pacific standard time, hotel in Dublin, California, USA, Monday evening, October, 3, 2022. Woke up feeling well enough to go for a walk and do a light workout this morning. In fact, I got up so early I still had time to read the news and pack before morning meetings. I left the apartment at 9:30am and drove to the airport. After catching an afternoon flight to Oakland I got to the hotel at 3:30pm. I just finished responding to emails and phone calls. Dinner is on its way, then time for an early turn in.