Some Weeks, You Just Survive

I wouldn't go as far as to say that this week was a bad week for me, personally. It was most definitely a bad week, for a lot of the folks around me, which makes it a challenging week, personally, when sometimes you just don't know what to do for others.

Monday: average day, final staff meeting, can't really recall much about this day

Tuesday: a man was killed by a steel plate in the service level of one of the buildings at work; found out about this around 3 pm and immediately went into fact finding mode; got to hear all of the gory details while in medical and the first responders/emts were going through the post-incident debriefing

http://www.pjstar.com/news/x61384796/Contract-worker-killed-in-accident-at-Cats-Tecnical-Center

Wednesday: woke up early and got several boxes of Lesters (local donut-house goodness) to take into work as comfort food for the staff; the guys investigating the incident both looked like they hadn't slept for days; went down to the service level and did a pre-OSHA visit sweep - stood at the spot where the guy died for about 5 minutes just staring into space; sat around a conference room phone with the rest of the staff and just watched everyone mindlessly eat donuts while getting instruction from corporate and our attorney; enjoyed a subdued going away party and cleaned out my desk to leave

Thursday: was at hospital from 6:30 am to 9 at night; Mama had a partial knee replacement; afternoon excitement came courtesy of Mama's roommate (OSF too crowded for her to get a private room) - a gal my age that had been in a head-0n collision that closed 29 that morning. I take this road to work (well, Friday was my last day of that) and it's freakin' dangerous - everyone driving all crazy-like with no center divider. There's at least one spectacular crash (usually fatal) on this road a year in the mornings, usually in the summer and it results in the road being shut down to clear across the bridge. I went to the other side of the curtain and stayed with the gal until her mother got there; the news had announced that she was dead during the morning news and updates and it wasn't retracted until noon. Highlights of the day included seeing Mama get color back in her face and feeling well enough to eat a fish sandwich, dinner with Dad at the Hofbrau (mmm - sauerbraten, spatzle, and red cabbage), and getting an act of kindness certificate from the head nurse for hanging with the girl that was injured until her mother arrived.

http://www.pjstar.com/news/x120332772/Traffic-back-to-normal-on-Galena-Road-after-head-on-collision

Friday: didn't get into work until around 9:00, but when I did get there, I had 6 dozen donuts for the shop offfice and shop floor; walked around handing out donuts for about an hour and then straightened up my desk for about 45 minutes before being collected to go to another going away luncheon at T.G.I. Friday's - and having a couple hours of enjoyable company and good advice for how to be a supevisor. I got to hear a lot of stories about the strike back in the 90s and we talked about the recent smoking ban. Finished cleaning out my desk, labeling stuff for the next person to occupy the area and left to go sit in the sun and drink beer. Went to the hospital, then to dinner, and finished the evening falling asleep watching "Spies Like Us"

http://www.pjstar.com/archive/x1170287629/UAW-files-unfair-labor-practice-against-Caterpillar-over-smoking-ban?view=print
http://www.pjstar.com/news/x2031783662/UAW-Cat-suspends-workers-who-defy-smoking-ban