What A Day It’s Been
I hoped for a quiet night. On Wednesdays the number of chores I have to check is reduced because the custodian does the bathrooms and so the residents who are assigned a bathroom to clean don’t have to do that. It started out pretty much like every other day. Residents came and went. Supper was had. Then came time to do a building check. I found a resident was missing. I went around the house again in search of that residents. That resident continued to be missing. Turns out that resident was in fact, not in. So I phoned that resident (right before phoning the National Monitoring Centre heretofore known as NMC) and said, “It’s way past your curfew, where are you?” The resident replied in a slightly panicked voice, “Oh my God! I forgot! I’m on my way now.” So I call the NMC and tell them about the resident. They say give the resident until 8:15. I phone the resident again at 8:10 to ask about where they are on their journey back (because I’m concerned that the resident hasn’t come home yet). I get a very peevish sounding “I’m on my way now. I’ll be there soon” but no information as to where the resident is. Shortly after warrants were issued for the resident’s arrest. This resident is now considered unlawfully at large or UAL.
A while later, after having hung up from the NMC I realized one of our reporting Centre offenders is late. Happily for that offender arrived to report just as I was getting the book out to call that offender into the NMC. That offender was very lucky because I was in a rapidly deteriorating mood.
Twenty minutes later the police come to the Centre looking for our now UAL former resident. Yeah. So I told them that if the resident turned up I would have called them to pick the resident up. As such, being UAL means that the resident is not at the half-way house. I gave the police constables the addresses the resident had recently signed out to and off they went.
Half an hour after that I have to call another resident. I ask that resident, “Where are you? Your curfew is up and you should be back.” The resident responds, “I thought I had until 11. That’s what the other residents said. They said that when you’re working your curfew goes from 9 to 11″ I said, “No, it doesn’t and you need to be here 10 minutes ago.” The resident responds, “I’m on my way now.” (Where have I hear thatbefore?)
So I make another call to the NMC. I give them the information about this resident and they say, “Call when the resident turns up and let us know that resident’s condition and the breath test results.” So I do just that. Happily this resident actually does come back. The difference, other than being two separate people, is that this resident has more to lose. This resident has been out a little longer, has a fairly good paying job and is beginning to make roots in the community – that and the resident’s spouse is also in the community and that’s frequently something that they don’t want to lose. I phoned the NMC back and let them know the resident returned, that the resident’s condition was normal and everything was happy.
So that was my night. In between piles of phone calls and a lot of documentation I filled the coffee filters, sugar, creamer, jams/peanut butter/honey dispenser, made juice and did the other fills. I did building and room checks, assisted with chores, fielded phone calls for residents, answered questions, did random breath tests and dispensed advise. I hardly got to watch any of the Scooby Doo DVDs I took to work. I am very glad I didn’t have any reports given to me. That would have truly sucked. Despite all that though, I love my job. I might be tired and in need of a holiday, but I love my job.
I also need new shoes. My gym shoes are great for a short time in the gym but they’re not meant for running around like a maniac at work. I should go to bed. I have to get up to make something resembling supper for me tomorrow night. I think I’ll make an omelet or something like that. It’s easy to make and doesn’t take a long time.