Employee Relations

Apparently, Maya was somewhat misled about the nature of this job. Having 4-5 patients at a time really means having 6. Working “every third weekend, if ever” actually means “every weekend.” Also “we’re hiring more nurses’ aides and should have them by the time you start” seems to really mean there is only one aide for the whole 44 bed unit. All this plus being off peek form after seven weeks not working has made for a real rough time for Maya. She’s really feeling overwhelmed. We did this whole traveling thing so that she could get away from a job she didn’t particularly like and work under better conditions for a while. She likes the work if the job isn’t too stressful. So far, this has not been what she hoped for. This is Maya’s schedule for the next few weeks. Green means go to work!

In happier news we’ve really been seeing a lot of stuff. Of the fifteen things on our “see this” list we’ve already done 6. On Sunday we went to the Maclay Gardens State Park. The park is quite large with camping and trails and such but we went to just the gardens themselves. There are some huge live oak trees. One we saw had branches that curved out and down so much that they touched the ground. Spanish moss grows on everything here. Really. Everything. We saw some hanging from the bumper of a truck in front of us the other day. We learned at the visitor center that it’s not actually a moss but a type of air plant and a relative of the pineapple! There were also some stuffed birds so you would know the types that you could spot in the park. One type is the common grackle. So for those of you interested, here’s what an actual grackle looks like. Gra-kul, gra-kul, gra-KUUULLL.

The garden isn’t so much manicured flower beds and trimmed bushes with brick paths between, although there is some of that. It’s more about interesting plants all planted in close proximity to each other with many ways to walk through and among them all. There are definite worn paths through some areas but nothing says you have to go any particular way. Humorously, one of the only signs in the gardens was this one:

Matt was transported back to undergraduate days when he took History of the European Enlightenment and talked about garden design and how it changed from the precise order along the lines of Versailles to a preference for a less ordered, more natural look. Voltaire said that gardening itself was what counted, not the garden as an object. Matt can’t seem to locate a great site on the subject to link to but those interested should be able to find some information out there on the changing aesthetic of gardens. All the best to you and yours!