We fielded over 60,000 calls last month. I can feel it. My August stats came in and I'm functioning at 108%. I confess a secret thrill, because a performance stat is like a grade and I haven't had a grade in such a long time. I'm like Lisa Simpson - grade me, please!
But it has been very busy with the new school year. The Katrina disaster has also shoved a lot of displaced folks into our system. The state office is frothing over the methamphetamine situation in the state and rightly so. It's terrifying to look at how many of my calls involve meth use and even more so to hear about the number of meth labs that have kids running around in them.
Lots of caller who frustrated me to no end today. I found myself hitting the mute button and sighing. Normally I restrain myself. But hey, when they tell you the guardian practices some crack ass psuedo mysticism and is possessed by evil spirits so she lets the 11 year old be raped by her meth dealing cousin? I can't help but sigh. Really, she's a good person when she isn't possessed!
We keep a white board up for the ridiculous stuff we hear. There's one up there about a child who was so happy with her improved reading skills. When the teacher asked how she improved, the child said that her grandfather put a choke chain around her neck and choked her everytime she got a word wrong. The child said it hurt, but it was sure worth it to bring that reading score up!
Okay, that may not be funny to most of you. But I laughed myself hoarse when I read that.
The other day I sat down to work on my writing and ended up with a completely, wildly different story arc. So I may have to scrap the entire chunk of novel and start fresh. Or, save it and put it together as the prequel with some tweaking. I don't know. I will be so happy when I move and have more space. Things are cramped right now.
I keep staring at the massive Poe limited edition line over at the Lab, and trying to convince myself to order everything. I sure as hell don't need it, but I want it.
But it has been very busy with the new school year. The Katrina disaster has also shoved a lot of displaced folks into our system. The state office is frothing over the methamphetamine situation in the state and rightly so. It's terrifying to look at how many of my calls involve meth use and even more so to hear about the number of meth labs that have kids running around in them.
Lots of caller who frustrated me to no end today. I found myself hitting the mute button and sighing. Normally I restrain myself. But hey, when they tell you the guardian practices some crack ass psuedo mysticism and is possessed by evil spirits so she lets the 11 year old be raped by her meth dealing cousin? I can't help but sigh. Really, she's a good person when she isn't possessed!
We keep a white board up for the ridiculous stuff we hear. There's one up there about a child who was so happy with her improved reading skills. When the teacher asked how she improved, the child said that her grandfather put a choke chain around her neck and choked her everytime she got a word wrong. The child said it hurt, but it was sure worth it to bring that reading score up!
Okay, that may not be funny to most of you. But I laughed myself hoarse when I read that.
The other day I sat down to work on my writing and ended up with a completely, wildly different story arc. So I may have to scrap the entire chunk of novel and start fresh. Or, save it and put it together as the prequel with some tweaking. I don't know. I will be so happy when I move and have more space. Things are cramped right now.
I keep staring at the massive Poe limited edition line over at the Lab, and trying to convince myself to order everything. I sure as hell don't need it, but I want it.