Greetings from Temple! I have a lot of news!
I’ll start by letting you all know that I really wanted to get up here and be able to add to my ‘journal’, but, yours truly forgot to call good ol’ Southwestern Bell to have a land line setup. Duh! I’m so used to having Road Runner and not worrying about a phone line, dial up internet connections.
So, having said that – I didn’t realize that I wouldn’t be able to get online until Sunday when El and I were moving me up here.
Saturday, El had to work. She was relieved of her duties early due to the blinding cold weather. We loaded up some of my crucial effects and arrived in Temple just in time to sign our lease and get our keys. My temporary bachelor pad is modest. It’s an apartment, what can I say? I can say this: We don’t have quite as much storage space as our place in Austin. I think this is a good thing because when El moves up here, we’ll be forced to get rid of a lot of our stuff. Also, (and I’ve mentioned this before) rent is so much cheaper. I think we have pretty much the same amount of square footage here, and we pay $301 less!
We got $300 off this first months rent because El found coupon for this complex online. Next month, we get another $50 off because of a referral from this complex’s sister complex. I might get an additional $200 off next months rent as well because I referred another Scott & White employee (if she signs a lease here). But, that $200 off for the referral will cost me a pint of blood. See what happens when you work at a hospital! I’ll touch on that later.
Sunday was the big day. I had to load up everything I needed and kiss Riley goodbye (for now). It was kind of sad leaving. I was pretty nervous about the move and the new job, so I didn’t get all watery in the glazzies.
You want to talk about cold?!?!? I had to ride the trusty Shadow 70 miles in 38 degree weather against a northern wind. I have never been so cold in my life.
We got to Temple and moved in the futon and my clothes. El went to the laundry room and washed some towels and a comforter for me. We went to Subway for dinner and to the Super WalMart for my groceries.
Elise left around 11pm. I could have sworn I was being shipped off to war. It was as if we were never going to see each other again – we didn’t want to let each other go. She finally drove off. I came upstairs – then I got choked up. I told her to call me when she got home so I would know that she made the trip safely. Luckily, a local TV channel was showing the first episode of the X-Files, so that occupied my mind until El called.
Monday morning came early. I had a nightmare that was luckily halted by the alarm. My dream was that a doctor found a tumor on my right lung…
Anyway – Monday was orientation. I went outside at 7:30am to warm up the Shadow. It was 26 degrees out. I had to scrape frost off the seat. I arrived at orientation on time. A group of approximately 30 of us had to sit through 7 hours of formalities and the like – typical orientation.
There was a lady named Mindi who kept talking about the Scott & White blood bank. She was a new/returning employee, also going through orientation. Mindi is a marketing coordinator for the S&W blood bank. That’s where my $200 off next months rent comes in. I came home from orientation and had to go to the apartment leasing office to turn in our walk-through. Mindi was in the office inquiring about apartments. She recognized me and said “Hello”. The office manager said I would get $200 off next months rent if Mindi signs a lease. Mindi got excited for me and told me that if I received the referral discount, that I would have to go in and give blood. I told her I would (and I will).
I don’t know if I’m at liberty to discuss this, but last month, a person contracted HIV from a blood transfusion at Scott & White. Scott & White has their own blood bank. This incident was a rare case where the blood supply was low and blood had to be brought in from an outside source (San Antonio). So, for the record, the blood containing HIV wasn’t from Scott & White. Look at me, I haven’t been there but a day and I’m already sticking up for them!
Today was first day of actual work. I reported to my ‘office’ (glorified cube) at 8am. I got the tour of the hospital and the cafeteria. It’s a hospital – don’t really know what to tell you. If you’ve been in a hospital, then you know what I’m talking about.
My computer needs to be setup by the IS department (establish password, map network drives, etc.). So, I don’t have access to my computer as of yet. sentence deleted. Today I basically sat there and read S&W materials. I had 2 meetings to attend too. They were okay, but I obviously didn’t have anything to contribute. That will come with time. But, all in all, I think I’ll enjoy myself there.
Other than that, I’m really lonely. I have two lawn chairs acting as living room furniture and a small television to keep me occupied. I miss my wife like you wouldn’t believe.