More of the Same and Something Different

I've been fairly busy lately with school and work stuff. I went to hospice again on Friday. I made more phone calls for various reasons and went through files for several hours. I'm not exaggerating about that either. There are around 1300 files and I had to go through them with a list I had of everyone from San Joaquin County and mark their files with a green marker. Even with the list it took forever. They weren't in order on the list. Well, there were in a order but not the order in which the files are arranged. The names on the list were in alphabetical order only, whereas the names in the files are arranged by the month of the family member's death first then in alphabetical order. Also, I had to file copies of letters sent to all the family members of people who died in the month of September. On Monday I had to do more of the letter filing, but after a couple hours of that I got to go on a ride along with one of the nurses. We went out to 3 houses. The nurse had to drop off supplies, check medication, and change one person's catheter. The time went by pretty fast since a lot of it was spent traveling (2 people actually lived in Ceres). By the way, I definitely would not want to be a nurse, so people should not suggest that to me again. I'm getting a little tired of explaining what I'm doing in school to people also. When I say that I'm doing my internship at hospice, people naturally want to know what my major is. When I tell them it's sociology I either get blank stares or people think that the word is synonymous with social work. Although I do want to get into social work, this creates the impression that I know what I'm doing and I definitely do not have any idea what I'm doing. Whenever I hear anyone repeat what it is they think I'm doing it's always wrong. I guess it doesn't matter though.

Meat Hats

This has to be one of the weirdest things I've seen online. This is from a website about meat hats. http://www.hatsofmeat.com/

Internship, Day 2

Monday was my second day at hospice. I called people who hadn't completed certain forms to find out what their answers were to the questions they had left blank, but I didn't get a hold of anyone and had to leave messages. Then I called other people because hospice had mail returned due to incorrect addresses. I couldn't reach most of them but I got the correct addresses for a couple of people. Those I did not speak with I had to send letters to, although that made little sense to me. Why send letters to people telling them that we have been unable to contact them because the address we have on file is incorrect and the mail that was already sent has been returned? Won't the letters we send out to say this be returned as well, for the same reason? Oh, well. I just did as I was told. After that I called people who did not live near Modesto to tell them that information about support services in their area was being sent to them. Then I had to make copies of the information being sent to each person as well as the letter sent with it. One copy went into their file, the other I put into an envelope which I sealed and addressed to be mailed to them. After I was done with that I made more of the kind of phone calls that I had made on Friday. This time they were 6 month calls (I made a mistake in my last blog, it is actually 1 month, 6 month, and 12 month calls that are made - the 3 month call is something that will be implementing this next year). People don't really talk much during the 6 month calls so they went much more quickly than my calls on Friday. I should probably start on my journal sometime soon (I have to write a journal about my internship for school and turn it in so I thought I would just modify the blogs that I write).

My First Day at Hospice

Yesterday was the first day of my internship. I got my name badge and then was given a short tour of the place. Then I was shown how to make bereavement phone calls. These calls are made to family members one month, three months, and six months after someone has died. I was making the one month calls yesterday. I just had to ask the person how they are doing and then tell them that we have individual and group support services available if needed. Or I left a message on the answering machine saying the same thing. It wasn't too hard. A lot more people talked to me than I thought would. One woman spoke to me for about an hour. Most didn't talk for quite that long but I was still surprised at how much they would tell a person they'd never met before. I'm supposed to go back on Monday as well. I don't know when; I'm not given specific times to do anything since I'm technically there as a volunteer. I don't really know what I'm doing on Monday when I get there either. It would be much easier if they would give me more definite instructions. Oh well, I guess I'll figure out where I'm supposed to be when I get there.

Bloody Mary

I was just talking to family members recently and we were wondering where the whole chanting-Bloody-Mary-in-front-of-a-mirror-thing came from (Actually, some family members didn't even know what I was talking about). Well, I came across this story and since it's close to Halloween here it is. I should warn you, however, this retelling is not well written but it's interesting to see the story that started it all.

She lived deep in the forest in a tiny cottage and sold herbal remedies for a living. Folks living in the town nearby called her Bloody Mary, and said she was a witch. None dared cross the old crone for fear that their cows would go dry, their food-stores rot away before winter, their children take sick of fever, or any number of terrible things that an angry witch could do to her neighbors.
Then the little girls in the village began to disappear, one by one. No one could find out where they had gone. Grief-stricken families searched the woods, the local buildings, and all the houses and barns, but there was no sign of the missing girls. A few brave souls even went to Bloody Mary's home in the woods to see if the witch had taken the girls, but she denied any knowledge of the disappearances. Still, it was noted that her haggard appearance had changed. She looked younger, more attractive. The neighbors were suspicious, but they could find no proof that the witch had taken their young ones.
Then came the night when the daughter of the miller rose from her bed and walked outside, following an enchanted sound no one else could hear. The miller's wife had a toothache and was sitting up in the kitchen treating the tooth with an herbal remedy when her daughter left the house. She screamed for her husband and followed the girl out of the door. The miller came running in his nightshirt. Together, they tried to restrain the girl, but she kept breaking away from them and heading out of town.
The desperate cries of the miller and his wife woke the neighbors. They came to assist the frantic couple. Suddenly, a sharp-eyed farmer gave a shout and pointed towards a strange light at the edge of the woods. A few townsmen followed him out into the field and saw Bloody Mary standing beside a large oak tree, holding a magic wand that was pointed towards the miller's house. She was glowing with an unearthly light as she set her evil spell upon the miller's daughter.
The townsmen grabbed their guns and their pitchforks and ran toward the witch. When she heard the commotion, Bloody Mary broke off her spell and fled back into the woods. The far-sighted farmer had loaded his gun with silver bullets in case the witch ever came after his daughter. Now he took aim and shot at her. The bullet hit Bloody Mary in the hip and she fell to the ground. The angry townsmen leapt upon her and carried her back into the field, where they built a huge bonfire and burned her at the stake.
As she burned, Bloody Mary screamed a curse at the villagers. If anyone mentioned her name aloud before a mirror, she would send her spirit to revenge herself upon them for her terrible death. When she was dead, the villagers went to the house in the wood and found the unmarked graves of the little girls the evil witch had murdered. She had used their blood to make her young again.
From that day to this, anyone foolish enough to chant Bloody Mary's name three times before a darkened mirror will summon the vengeful spirit of the witch. It is said that she will tear their bodies to pieces and rip their souls from their mutilated bodies. The souls of these unfortunate ones will burn in torment as Bloody Mary once was burned, and they will be trapped forever in the mirror.

The Internship BEGINS!!! MUAHAHAHA!!!

My first blog on this blog site! Hurrah! Well, I'm finally starting my internship this week (Friday). I think it'll be good. I'm going to be working at the hospice in Modesto. I will be in the office mainly, but they're going to let me go out with the social workers as well to see what they do - since that is what I am interested in. It has taken forever to get started there. I had to talk to a zillion people, fill out a bunch of forms and get poked with needles (okay, only one needle but I still didn't like being stabbed). I'm going to have to work more hours per week than I had originally planned because I am starting so much later than I was supposed to have started. It's a good thing I quit my job or I'd have no time to do anything!