Sacramento's on Fire!

So, I'm in Sacramento and have been working on the floor for a week.  I still haven't figured out how to juggle a life with 8 hour work days . . . I know, everybody else in the world does it, but, I have never had to work 8 hour days.  I have worked 12 hour shifts for either 2 or 3 days in a row, would have a couple or three off in a row, and then do it again.  I wouldn't have much of a life at all while I worked the twelves, but then would have a nice chunk of time to relax, take trips, or socialize.  I'm still trying to learn how to balance all that throughout the week.  I will say, I don't think it's as tiring to spread the work hours out a bit and working more of a day schedule is probably helping that as well.  If any of you have any insight as to how to manage a well-balanced life working 8 hour days, feel free to email me!  : )

I haven't figured it out yet. . . But Sacramento always smells like Sunray did during the fall when they were burning corn stubble in the fields and sometimes the sky is just as brown! I haven't heard anything on the news about wildfires anywhere, but there must be some somewhere.  Very strange.  And the sun never really seems to fully shine here.  I don't think we're that much further north than the panhandle of Texas, either.  The latitude of Sacramento is 38.70 N and the latitude of Lubbock (not really the panhandle) is 33.58 N.  So 5.12 degrees further North and for some reason, the sunlight always seems like it's either early morning or late evening, even when the sun is as high as it gets!  Is it smog?  I know it's fall now, but really, should it make that much of a difference?  I'm really baffled. I miss the sun!

Another baffling thing about California:  many nurses wear fanny packs . . . yep.  I have never needed a fanny pack full of 3 different pairs of scissors, 2 sets of hemostats (surgical clamps we use as pliers or grippers), 2 rolls of tape, and 8 pens.  Call me crazy.  If my already stuffed pockets don't have what I usually need, I walk out of the room and go get it.  I'm a little behind the times!

Okay, so back to Sacramento:  I haven't really figured out much about the city other than it smells like fire. I have found the rough part of town (I think I'm living in it, judging by the smell of maybe something like "wacky tebacky" around 2 am every night--I've put in a request to move and should be this week)!  I have driven through Old Town, which looks like it might be a neat place to visit at least a couple of times.  I work down the street from the capitol, which is nice.  Sac has many trees (it is known as "the city of trees.") which are turning, so that is a nice sight.  The weather is very pleasant and we usually have a high of 60-65 degrees.

The hospital is nice and reminds me very much of where I did my schooling at the big Covenant.  The layout of the floor is  very similar, so it feels somewhat like home in that way.  Everybody I've worked with is very nice and welcoming.

So, on the to do list is to find interesting things to do, maybe somewhere to do some volunteer work, and make some local friends!

 Sorry no pictures. I'll take some good ones this week and post them!  Hope you are all doing well and feeling especially blessed!