I Had a Week, Ultimate Putter, Trainer Abandonment Issues

This week was a profound one for me. Those of you who are local know about the healthcare strike that occurred involving my hospital system. We have been in preparations for this for many months, and this week was it. By Friday night, I was so exhausted and simultaneously wired that I couldn’t even sleep. All I could do was lie in bed and stare at the ceiling while trying to control my racing thoughts and transitory PTSD. It was an epic week. And it left me to ponder the wonders of humanity. While I witnessed some truly atrocious behavior, I also witnessed the absolute best of humanity. I saw what happens when people truly come together as a team in a crisis and work for a common goal. The complexities of operating a health care system during a work stoppage are legion. It requires that people go all in on supporting each other and doing whatever it takes to make sure that patient care is not compromised and that the massively complex system continues to operate. Although tensions were very high, days were epically long, and we were all completely out of our minds with stress and fatigue, there was a never a doubt that we were a team and that we would take care of each other, no questions asked. We were all stretched to the max, yet kindness, caring and generosity of spirit were in abundance. And we did it. We made it through and we protected our patients and our workers and we supported each other. I am so proud of my colleagues and so proud of our volunteers who contributed a great deal to the success of the operation. I’m never going to forget what people are capable of in a crisis.

In order to recover from my complete emotional and physical burnout from this week, I downloaded a fun little game called “House Flipper.” It’s kind of like “Viscera Clean-Up Detail” but way more chill. It’s the ultimate putter-er. You hole up in a little shack and do contracting work while trying to save up enough money to buy your own house and spruce it up. I’ve really taken to it. I enjoy the little stories that go along with the jobs I get assigned, and I could paint, spackle, mop and decorate contentedly for hours. Meanwhile, my own apartment remains a sty in desperate need of dusting and vacuuming, but I’m having too much fun cleaning virtually to worry about that.

On the same day my trainer carefully guided me through my very first bench press with an unloaded 45 pound bar, he announced that he will be going on leave for two months because he and his wife are “having a son” and he wants “stay home with his new infant” and “help out with the baby.” Pffft. Whatever. Fine, I get it--his “newborn infant” takes priority over training my clumsy bag of bones. He totally triggered my abandonment issues, but to his credit, he arranged to set me up with Big Arms Stacy in his absence. He said he wanted me to get proper instruction in his stead, and that this Stacy person would be good for me. I call her Big Arms Stacy because she has these astonishingly muscular arms that I routinely gaze at from a distance while trying not to be creepy. She also has a tiny waist and long dark hair and is very pretty and all of the guys in the gym are constantly flirting with her. I’m a bit intimidated by her, but my trainer said she’s a total workout beast and he feels confident that she will be a good stand-in for him while he bonds with his new little guy. I’m looking forward to formally meeting her since I’ve been too shy to approach her on my own. I’ll miss my trainer, but maybe it will be good to switch things up a little bit and get a different perspective. And maybe I’ll get some insight into how she got those big arms.

This is unrelated, but all I’m capable of today besides pretend cleaning is watching cute animal videos. Enjoy this delightful Tiny Cat! It cuts off rather suddenly but I’m sure you can find the full episode somewhere.

--Kristen McHenry