The Blues of the Game

Overtime at the hospital is not as easy to come by as it once was.

Like everyone else who was a part of the great recession of 2009, we have learned we can live on a whole lot less. Which makes it difficult to not look back at the gravy train days of double and a half over time and not wonder: "How come we aren't debt free yet?" I know the answer - we really thought we had trimmed down to the basics. The basics now make the basics then seem luxurious.

So, now Scott signs up for whatever overtime he can manage. And if it falls short of our 24 hrs/week goal, we then get to play the "Call-In" game. The basics of the game are this: In an effort to keep costs low, hospital overhead is keeping staff to a minimum. However, hospitals being what they are means they usually do need more nurses then scheduled. So, Scott calls in, offers his services, and they accept. Usually. The upside? More overtime. The downside? Nothing predictable.

I hate to knock our blessings since we know many, many, many people who would be thrilled to have the problem of playing the game. But I am, quite frankly, wishing for the easy days of scheduled overtime. It was easier, somehow, when we knew ahead of time if it would be an evening with Scott or an evening without. I am finally feeling the Dave Ramsey adage of "Live like no one else so you can live like no one else."

Ah, I know I am just singing my version of the blues. I'm only sorry there wasn't a great sax in the background to really jazz it up.