Ed Icionsub

My last trip to the recycling center put me over in Hermitage and I decided to drive a little further up the road to check on a few things. The next town up has a few stores that I don’t usually patronize, but I’ve been searching for a few specific items and thought I’d have a go with the stores in Lakewood. To my surprise, the new nursing home that has been under construction since March looks like it is about finished and should be opening soon.

There is a sign out front advertising a hiring fair. Evidently there will be a need for several CNAs, housekeepers and maintenance workers. My step daughter has been looking into the CNA programs here and was even recently checking http://www.blueskyscrubs.com/categories/Scrubs/Scrubs-for-Women/ to get an idea of how much she will need to spend on nursing uniforms.

Most of the nursing homes here will sponsor interested applicants while they attend school for their CNA certificate. The classes are widely available through technical schools and community college campuses. They have schedules for mornings, afternoons and evenings, so it is possible to work a job and also take classes. Once she has earned her CNA certificate, the nursing home will give her a full time position and all she needs is a week’s worth of uniforms to get started in her new job.

Tonight I watched a popular network show that was about a crime that had to be solved and how the series stars went about finding the perpetrator.

My thoughts afterward were that the killer took advantage of people who were ill and in desperate times, at the lowest points in their lives. That was despicable. On the other hand, the show made the point that treatment methods were more successful than the average treatment in California. I wonder how much truth might have been behind that statement, as I cannot find any real successful recovery rate statistics for California or any other states.

When I am evaluating a program or a service, I like to hear from customers and clients, not just the salesperson or the owners of the business. When people who found success are willing to step up and share their experiences, that means a lot to me.

Watching the BBC America cable channel gives me some great shows that aren’t seen in America, plus the commercials are different and interesting. For example, today I saw a commercial for Dyson. I’m sure you know about their invention for vacuum cleaners – it has a different way to create suction, plus the machine has a ball on the back for better maneuverability. Their commercial was geared toward the British audience, and even used a phrase that we never hear in the States, “a tiddly bit.”

So, I was inspired to learn a little more about Dyson, as I never thought much about them being a British company, but here they were advertising on the BBC channel. Turns out that the company does a lot more than just vacuum cleaners. I found out that Dyson hand dryers are made for public restrooms and restrooms in large manufacturing companies or office buildings, as an air dryer is more sanitary than cloth or paper towels. Personally, I believe that air hand dryers are better for the environment, too.

Dyson invented these cool airblade hand dryers that move air differently and more efficiently than the old fashioned hand dryers. They also make a special kind of cooling fan. All based on their unique way of looking at moving air – whether for suction or for ventillation and cooling.

There’s nothing worse than being out of town on a business trip and having a dental problem. My stepdaughter is on a business trip to Charlotte and when they went out to dinner she bit down on something in her burger and broke off part of her tooth. That hurts! The restaurant was totally apologetic and offered to pay her dental bill. So that’s a help. But she has to find a dentist in a strange town to see her on an emergency basis and that’s the challenge. She might have to just deal with a toothache until she can get back home to her own dentist.

How do you find a dentist when you are out of town? Or new to an area? I was worried about that very thing when I moved out to California. Luckily, I found one near the hotel that I lived in for the 2 months it took to find a condo out there. They helped me with regular dental work and they recommended a good Periodontist for me, too. After all, just about everybody over the age of 40 is at risk of gum disease.

Although my dentist in California was very good, I found out when I got back to Tennessee that her prices were more than double what I would pay here in Nashville. After all, the cost of living is very high in California. so you have to expect that the professional services will be higher, along with everything else.

While volunteering for the non profit, I was invited to several high level management training conferences. I think that attending those conferences was something that added a lot to my understanding of non profits and working with volunteers.

Volunteers can be a tough crowd to control and keep motivated. It is like herding cats. They all have different expectations and varying levels of skills. So a good manager has to know which people to recruit for the various committees and tasks. You have to be careful t no over use the good ones, keep the earnest ones busy, and motivate the reluctant ones to participate.

After 5 years with the non profit, I decided to take a break. It was so hard to see so many of our “consumers” sick and many passed away while I was involve with the Board. One month I had to attend 3 funerals of men whose families I had become very fond of. That was hard on my heart, even though I knew I was helping. I just needed a break and was gratified to be awarded the organizations “Volunteer of the Year” at their annual meeting. I do plan on going back, perhaps next year.