Got grapes?

Wow, what a grape, I mean great time of year to be here in Napa. You can finally see the grapes hanging on the vines. We got this upclose picture in nearby Yountville. The grape harvesting has started by some of the vineyards. Just incredible.

Work is ok. We have a bunch of new grads in training and a couple that just got off of orientation. They also hired a new group of travelers so there is an abundance of new faces around. I am awaiting my exit. The search for a new assignment doesn't look too promising. As you can assume not many nurses want to go to Oklahoma which would make the job market great you would think... but since not many nurses want to go there the number of travel companies that have assignments there are few. And some of the ones I have called have not gotten back with me. Very frustrating. As of tomorrow I have 30 days left here in Napa. Would you be scared? Not knowing where you will live or work 30 days from now? Think about that....not too much though, cuz now I'm even scaring myself!! Just kidding. I'm fine, I'm used to it. I have faith that everything will work out just the way it's supposed to. More pictures to follow as we will be touring the redwoods soon. Take care and remember first do no harm.

Going back to work

Back to work
So even when it's back to work, it's still better here than back home. Sorry guys, I love being from Cleveland, not living there. Napa is beautiful, the hot air balloons in the sky every morning, sunshine all day, nice cool evenings. I'm even learning to like the morning fog, the longer it stays the cooler the day will be. One of my traveler friends has moved on. She started with me in May and her last week was last week. I totally missed her all week because my sister was here and I only worked my 3 days. It's a bummer, she was really fun. Whenever one of us was having a hard day we would help each other or just be there to listen. Lucky for me she only moved to San Francisco so I can see her again before I leave CA. It's an unusual feeling for me because I am usually the one leaving. Hopefully the rest of my assignment will go smoothly without my friend to commisurate with. It's only 2 short months now,I'm sure it will fly by. I still have a couple of places I'd like to visit and then there's the whole finding a new assignment thing. That usually consumes the whole last month of an assignment. Which is great, because by the end of an assignment I'm usually counting my days. If it's a good assignment I'm counting the days the last month, if it's a bad assignment I'm counting from the first week. So, I'm lucky, it's been a good assignment so far. But, I am looking forward to spending some time with my family. We are headed to Oklahoma next, most of the tornados should be gone by then. Along with the unbearable heat, I hope. We'll see how different nursing is in the plains states and how I will survive without staffing ratios. I must say, it's the best thing about nursing in California, hopefully the governor realizes it.
posted by TravelingNurse @ 11:05 AM

3 Comments:

At 8:24 AM, Third Degree Nurse said…
Love the balloon! Kind of close to those power lines, though.And although I wouldn't want to live in Cleveland either (I used to live in Akron, which was close enough),I've thought about doing an internship at the Cleveland Clinic. Ever worked there?

At 11:43 AM, TravelingNurse said…
The balloon picture was taken as this balloon was landing. I have not worked at the Cleveland Clinic just at Hillcrest Hospital which is part of the Cleveland Clinic foundation. I enjoyed working at Hillcrest. I have worked at University Hospital of Cleveland and found it to be very interesting. Lots of things you won't see anywhere else.The apartment we get from the travel company usually is a one bedroom. We have often asked for a two bedroom and generally have to pay something minimal if anything for the extra room. When we went to Phoenix we got a 2 bedroom so family and friends could visit and we actually had some company. It was so nice.