So we’re a week and a half back to the grind. Over the break I had been pondering some of the issues I was having at work. For one, I wrote my report of recommendations for the Choiseul Arts and Crafts and haven’t heard anything more on it.  Secondly, I am stationed in the north of the island, but my assignment covers the satellite centers that are scattered all over the island.  For awhile, I was riding along with Selma down to Choiseul.  That was great; I met a lot of the people and got a good understanding of how things run.  But she was working on something completely different from what I’m supposed to be working on.  And that program ended in about October.  So that means I’m supposed to be working in Choiseul, but I have no way to get there.  I’m not allowed to drive the center’s van, and no one has been able to get together compensation for me to take the bus.  Lastly, we’re all supposed to have a "community partner" who we work with, exchanging information and expertise.  We’re not sent here to DO a project, but to teach someone else while we do a project.  So all this together means that I sit in the main center with nothing to do.

By no means do I dislike my job.  The people are great, and to their credit I have my computer back and running now.

So these were things that I was weighing over break. Right before I went back, I put together a list of a few things I thought I could work on and I planned to meet with the General Manager.  I figured that even if my report was still under consideration, there were a few things that I could do regardless.  Most of the things were shot down as either being under someone else’s jurisdiction or still dependent on the discussion of my report.  The one concrete thing I was able to walk out of the meeting with was that I will work on writing a new curriculum for customer service.  It will be mainly geared at the employees at Choiseul, but it I want it to be flexible so they can teach it to all the trainees.  So that’s what I’m working on now.

On the matter of having a community partner within the organization, there was nothing conclusive.  In some ways I am almost hesitant to attack that one very much.  It’s necessary and would make me a lot more productive here, but I don’t want to have to answer to anyone or made someone’s toadie.  I think one guy who’s here, Mr. Modeste, the community outreach officer, would be a good bet.  He’s also sort of working on the satellite centers, although I think in a different capacity.  There had been discussion of us working together back when he started, in November or so, but nothing more has come of it.  On this, I may take matters into my own hands.  We’re having a Peace Corps training at the end of the month to make plans and set goals with our organizations.  We’re all supposed to bring someone, so I invited both the General Manager and Mr. Modeste.  I think at least Mr. Modeste should be able to attend.

Needless to say, I’m rather frustrated.  I think the cause of some of the confusion at work is that they are short-staffed now and there was some re-shuffling right about when I started.  From that, no one really has the responsibility for me and I get sort of lost in the shuffle.  I’m trying to remain positive, at least until I can see the aftermath of the training at the end of January.  After that, we may need to talk.

Yesterday was the first day back at swimming.  All of my regulars were back, plus two kids who came on the wrong day.  They did well, but it was easy and fun stuff anyways.  We had some races and jumping-in-and-swimming-across-the-pool things.  My two smallest guys, Alexi and Cameron, stayed in the longest, almost 45 minutes.  They’re the biggest on contests.  We had a contest for who can blow the biggest bubbles and who can make the best splash jumping in.  When I asked Cameron what he got for Christmas, he told me "a police car, but it mash up." (Meaning it broke).

After practice, we had a coaches’ meeting.  A lot of it concerned the team, which doesn’t concern me so much.  But they have established standards for the kids that they’ll have to meet before they can move up to the next level.  This will give me a good idea of what to have them work on and what direction to go.  If only my real job had that! My only issue now will be crowd control.

In other news, Cheeto had a bit of a spell the other day.  I woke up on Saturday and he wasn’t right outside my bedroom like normal.  I called for him, and he didn’t come.  I also noticed that there were little barfs all over the place.  I looked high and low for him, in the bathtub, behind the doors, in the cabinets, even outside.  About 15 minutes later I found him under the couch cowering.  When I reached for him, he arched up and hissed and puffed up his fur.  I was really freaked out because otherwise he’s always the bouncy kitten.  Finally I was able to get hold of him.  He purred, but was still all spaz-y.  So I called the vet, and he said to bring Cheeto in.  He needed to go in anyways, so I figured then was as good a time as any, and I could kill two birds with one stone.  I wrapped Cheeto up in a towel and took him on the bus.  Under normal circumstances, he would have been pinging all over, but he just sort of passed out.  The vet sketched me out just a bit.  This is the same vet where Snippy the dog escaped with a broken and mangled leg, only to be discovered several months later, healed but still mangled.  He never took down Cheeto’s name or asked me about what he had eaten lately.  He wanted to keep Cheeto for observation for a few hours.  Later, when I went to pick Cheeto up, the vet told me that he had worms and an intestinal infection. I got two kinds of medicine and a bill for $100.  It could have been worse, and now Cheeto is home-free until neutering time.  He was looking a lot better when I went to pick him up, and has gotten better in the days since then.  I got him some real cat food and have been mixing that with his other stuff.  He doesn’t like taking the medicine, but I think he gets enough down to do him good.  He’s looking more solid now, especially compared to Deb’s cat who really porked up in the past week or so.  All’s well that ends well.