Carpel Tunnel Syndrome

I have had this Carpel Tunnel crap for a while now and am really getting fed up with it. I started out with just wearing a brace. It helped some but not really. Then the doctor put me on some medication (I forget what its called) to help with inflammation and pain. Since that didn't work, I went back for the next step, a cortisone shot.

After 45 minutes of sitting and thinking about how much its going to hurt, nervous sweat running down my forehead, the doctor finally came in. He explained that this was the last step before having to perform surgery. And now its time. I really hate shots so here goes..... They mix latacain with the cortisone, to help with the pain. I have to tell you that the shot was not bad but it did hurt. I could instantly feel a cool fuzzy feeling in my thumb then the rest of my fingers went to sleep. The cool fuzzy turned to warm tingle. The pain was really intense right at the spot of injection. There was instant relief, No Pain. I actually was not feeling much of my hand at all. The doctor put my hand in a fist and cupped his over it, rolling it back and forth. I could feel the medication flowing through my fingers, very wild sensation. My hand was real stiff for most of the day, but No pain!!!! Yesterday every joint hurt but not intensely. Today, I have very little pain. You know when you bump into something and you get that half second of pain, its very tolerable, but enough to say "ouch". It seems to be getting better each day! Just hope it lasts. The doctor said that it could last a week, a month or 6 months. One of the other doctors said she had 1 single injection and the inflammation never returned. A friend said that he had the cortisone shot in his knee and never had any problems with it after that. So lets see what happens. It's really nice to get rid of one of my nagging pains. Now if I could just get rid of this pain in my ass called "A Job" I would be even more happy..... and that is a new post coming up next. So stay tuned for the continuing saga of my pathetic life...... right here on your favorite blog Flight Of An Eagle.

I Got Over It, Or Did I?

I posted about not getting the foreman's position a few days ago, being all butt hurt and all the mixed feeling. I did get over it and now glad that its not my position. Our big boss convinced Corey, the former foreman, to stay on as a mechanic, which helped tremendously. But things seem to be in chaos. David is not doing a bad job but is making a few decisions that I don't think are quite right. Without getting anybody in trouble, one of the many examples that I could give you are, he flipped a coin to give me an answer to a problem I had the other day. It was a $500 part that I had to replace. He also made the call to replace an alternator when the battery was bad.. not the alternator. I don't think that that's right but...........you make the call. When I have had to make decisions like that I have always asked for a second opinion. According to another co-worker you should always allow the person working on the unit to thoroughly go over the problem before making a snap decision. I agree. but I am not in charge so... and something else other department heads are bitching about us not getting the trucks out faster and how nothing seemed to get done. (keep in mind, I alone, work on 12 or more trucks in one day) So the solution was to drop work on all pickups and trailers and only work on big trucks (18 wheelers). All the Ford's and Chevy's we have that need work will go to some one else like the Ford or Chevy House! Mind you, one of the last trucks that we sent up there, took them 3 MONTHS to get to. So I don't think this is going to go over very well. We were also told that when we work on Saturdays that all we are supposed to fix is the air conditioners. Mind you the trucks may be falling apart and not running but the air conditioners are going to be working great! Go Figure.

I give up! So I have made up my mind. I am going to approach my boss and inform him of the transfer I want to make. I am wore out and burned out with the position I have and will do what it takes to get away from it. Even if it means going to work for another company!

I plan on going to work, within the company, to work for another department being a measurement tech. They read and repair meters for the rigs. I am told its easy work, good pay, and they get quarterly production bonus' too. Being a mechanic, the only time we get any kind of recognition, or bonus or praise of some kind is during Christmas where the bonus' are company wide.

In a way, I brought this on myself. I wanted to be a pee-on that just did his job making lots of money with no responsibility. I have outdone that and proved my self too dependable/responsible. I've got to quit doing that!

Life is good otherwise and I am just going to take it all in stride. A war may brake out but in the end I will win. I think what I need to do is get my balls out of Shelly's purse and just say what I have to say!

Amazed

This is amazing. I have never had this many people view my blog. According to Feedburner, my post about the supposed "Tornado South of Fort Stockton" has 435 visits in the last 30 days.

Someone even posted comments about it on an Audi Forum site. Its funny, I don't believe this person really read my comments about the picture very well. He/She wrote:

Sorry Folks, but the image is a FAKE. Here, it says the tornado was at a different rig in March, not April. Weird? Naw, just fake. http://flightofaneagle.blogspot.com/2008/04/tornado-south-of-fort-stockton.html The tornado and lightning are real, but the rest is photoshopped. The image is from 2006 from Florida, not 2008 from Fort Stockton, Texas. Snopes isn't always right, but since the tornado and lightning were posted in 2006 and updated on Snopes in 2007, this can't be Fort Stockton in 2008. Note that it was reported to be from Missouri before being reported from Texas, but without the oil well. http://www.snopes.com/photos/natural/sedalia.asp I was suspicious as I don't recall the radio tower south of Ft. Stockton or the trees. <>

O well, glad I gained a few more readers. And by the way, SandRidge does have a few rigs that drill for oil, but these are drilling for gas. There is a radio tower out there, you just can't see it from the road.

I Need To Just Get Over It

As of last Friday, our shop foreman has put in his two week notice, and is going to go to work for as an adjuster for an insurance company. So, as everyone knows, I am the foreman's assistant. Everyone that needs work done comes to me if Corey was not available and I would handle all the delegations and paperwork. Since he was leaving I thought that I would get the foreman's position. I have been working for the shop for over 2 years now, know whats going on, and already know all the in's and out's of the position. However, I did not get it. With mixed feeling, let me step back and give you a little bit more info on who did and why I am not el heffe (I think that's how you spell it).
Some time back an entire bay was taken from the shop and set up for truck inspections. Because of the massive fleet and the amount of tickets that were being give to our drivers for DOT violations (anything that the DPS would pull you over for), the company decided that this would be best to help eliminate the problem. David is a friend of mine and is very close friends of our big boss. David moved back to Fort Stockton from Austin to work in this DOT Lane. They actually are getting paid to inspect a handful of trucks, then stand around and do nothing for 8 hours of the day. David worked as a mechanic many years ago when the company was very little. I guess that was good enough for the big boss to say "Put him in charge." He is a very hot tempered, sometimes ill mannered, short fused man. Though he is a great guy, he is just not management material. The big boss said, that he did consider a couple of us for the position, but thought it best to bring in someone from the outside. "I can't afford to loose anymore help on the floor."
Here is where the mixed feelings part comes to play. I do a lot of work for the shop. And am very depended upon. I've been told by several of the guys that I should have been put in charge, no questions asked. That really makes me feel good; knowing I have a crew that's "got my back". On the other hand, some days, I'm so glad that I am not the decision maker. I'm not going into detail because it is too much to blog about right now, but yesterday was stupid crazy and being in charge of mass hysteria was not something I wanted to deal with. Guys, I make decent money; the over-time is great, so that is NOT the issue right this moment.
My issues are:
I am not allowed to transfer to another department.
I am not able to move up the ladder to a better position.
I cannot go to work for any other company in this area doing the same work for the amount of money that I am being paid; am I going to have to stay in the same position till I die just because of the pay?
Flip side:
I am respected as a hard, dependable worker
Do not have to deal with managing others,
Am in the situation to perform my work the way I want to,
I am not expected to be on call 24/7,
I do not have to do extra work to fill in for what other co-workers didn't or couldn't do,
Put in more overtime just to catch up on the things like paper-work....

Does any of this make sense? Maybe not, but I had to get my jumbled thoughts out so that I might be able to just "get over it"